Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/110

 98 KIRKCUDBRIGHT pasture, barley or more generally oats ; second year, green crop ; third year, wheat, oats, or barley ; fourth year, hay or pasture, which is generally continued for three additional years. It is now be coming a very common practice to sow out in grass after turnips without taking a corn crop, the soil being also frequently allowed the advantage of the manure of the sheep which have eaten the turnips on the ground. Of corn nearly the whole area is under oats, which in 1881 occupied 31,061 acres, while only 933 were under barley and bere, and 146 under wheat. Of green crops the area under turnips and swedes in 1881 was 14,596 acres, under potatoes 2847, mangolds 91, carrots 38, cabbage, kohl-rabi, and rape 402, and vetches 117. The total number of horses in 1881 was 5395. Of these 3789 are stated to be used solely for agricultural purposes, and 1606 to be unbroken horses and mares kept solely for breeding. The breeding of Clydesdale horses has of late years been increasing. Cattle in 1881 numbered 40,737. The Ayrshire breed of cattle was intro duced into Galloway about the beginning of the century, and has risen rapidly in favour, being now the principal stock in &quot;West Galloway. Polled or Galloway cattle is a common breed in East Galloway, especially on inferior farms, and is still preferred for dairy purposes on many low country farms. The number of cows in 1881 was 12,071, of other cattle above two years of age 14,002, and of cattle under two years of age 14,664. The number of cattle to every 100 acres under cultivation was 22 - 8, the average for Scot land being 23. Within recent years the increase in the number of cows has been very great, cheese-making, in which much progress has been made, now occupying the chief attention of the farmer. Cattle feeding is also largely practised, and for this purpose large quantities of lean cattle are imported from Ireland. Sheep in 1881 numbered 362,289, an average of 202 1 to every 100 acres under cultivation, the average for Scotland being 141 - 3. Blackfaced sheep are the most common on the high grounds, and even on the lower parts the Cheviot breed is decreasing owing to the low price of wool. in some districts crosses of a Leicester tup with a blackfaced or Cheviot ewe are common. Pigs, which are kept principally on dairy farms, are generally fed on whey and Indian corn. In 1881 theynumbered 5667. The following table gives a classification of holdings according to size in 1875 and 1880 : 60 Acres and under. From 50 to 100 Acres. From 100 to 800 Acres. From 300 to 500 Acres. From 500 to 1000 Acres. Above 1000 Acres. Total. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. No. Acres. 1875 1880 761 775 11,377 11,458 265 254 19,874 19,481 416 451 75,218 82,601 113 120 43,049 45,699 29 25 18,453 15,844 1 1 2,014 2,022 1.585 1,696 1G9.9S5 177,105 In 1872-73 the land was divided among 2386 proprietors, and amounted to 571,950 acres, with a gross annual value of 360,960. Of the owners 1908, or 79 per cent., possessed less thanl acre, and the average value was 12s. 8d. per acre. There were three pro prietors who possessed upwards of 40,000 acres, viz., the earl of Galloway, 55,981; H. G. Murray Stewart, 45,367; and William Forbes, 40,445. Other eight possessed upwards of 10,000 acres. Manufactures. The principal ports are Kirkcudbright, Creetown, and Gatehouse. Linen, woollen, and cotton goods are manufactured in the towns and villages, and there are also breweries, distilleries, tanneries, and paper-mills. Shipbuilding is carried on to a small extent at Kirkcudbright. Lead is obtained at Woodhead and Minni- gaff ; there are extensive granite works at Dalbeattie and Creetown; and at Dalbeattie there are brick and tile works. Deep-sea fishing is prosecuted in the Solway, and salmon fisheries at the mouths of the rivers. Railways. A line from Dumfries to Castle Douglas is continued by Gatehouse and Creetown to Newton Stewart, and a branch line runs south from Castle Douglas to Kirkcudbright. Administration. The county includes twenty-eight parishes. Quarter sessions are held on the first Tuesday of March, May, and August, and the last Tuesday of October; and justice of peace small debt courts are held at Kirkcudbright, New Galloway, Castle Douglas, Maxwelltown, Gatehouse of Fleet, and Creebridge. The county forms a portion of the sheriffdom of Dumfries and Galloway. A sheriff court is held twice a week. A sheriff circuit small debt court is held at Castle Douglas, Maxwelltown, New Galloway, and Creetown, and a small debt court for the whole stewartry at Kirk cudbright. The county returns one member to parliament, and the biirgh of Kirkcudbright unites with Annan, Dumfries, and Lochmaben in returning another, New Galloway uniting with Wigtown, Stranraer, and Whithorn in returning a third, while Max welltown, a portion of which is in the county, forms part of the burgh of Dumfries. Population. From 29,211 in 1801 the population gradually in creased till it was 43,121 in 1851. Since then it decreased in 1861 to 42,495 and in 1871 to 41,859, but in 1881 it was 42,126, of whom 19,796 were males and 22,330 females. None of the towns exceed 3000 in population. Kirkcudbright, a royal and parliamentary burgh, has a population of 2571. New Galloway, Maxwelltown, Castle Douglas, Dalbeattie, and Gatehouse are police burghs. The principal villages are Auchencairn, Creetown, Crossmichael, Dairy, Haugh of Urr, Kirkpatrick-Durham, and New Abbey. History and Antiquities. Anciently Kirkcudbrightshire formed part of the kingdom of Strathclyde, being occupied partly by the Novantse, who held the whole of Galloway westward from the Dee, and partly by the Selgovse, whose territory stretched eastward from the Dee to Northumbria. One of the towns of the Selgovre, Car- bantorigum, in all probability occupied the site of the stronghold called the Moat of Urr. In 79 B.C. Agricola landed on the shores of the Solway Firth and overran Strathclyde, but the district was not completely subjugated by the Romans till the building of the wall of Severus in 208. Many traces of Roman camps are still to be seen, and a very perfect one exists at Pulcree in the parish of Anwoth, Some suppose that the important indications of human occupation in the caves on the coast were due to the fact that some of the inhabitants betook themselves to these during the Roman occupa tion (see &quot;Accounts of the Exploration of the Borness Cave&quot; in Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot., 1874, 1875, 1877). The Pictish tribe which, according to Bede, inhabited Galloway in 608, is supposed by Skene to have been the original Novantse, a tribe, he thinks, of Gaedel or Gaelic Fichts who retained their independence because of the isolated position of the country. In the 7th century the region was invaded by the Angles, but their rule over it ceased about the end of the 8th century. In 740 Alpin, king of the Scots of Dalraida, was slain in battle, probably near the site of the pre- eent town of Kirkcudbright. The name Galloway, by which tho country occupied by Kirkcudbright and Wigtownshire is now known, seems first to have been applied to it while it formed part of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria, the word Galwetha being formed from Galwyddel the Welsh equivalent of Gallgaidhel, the word meaning the Gaels under the dominion of foreigners. Of the ancient inhabitants of Galloway there are in Kirkcudbrightshire a large number of relics. In several of the lochs crannogs or lake dwellings as well as canoes and a variety of implements and other remains have been found. Druidical circles are very common, and among the numerous cairns maybe mentioned that of Drumlawhinnie on the moor of Barclay in Minnigaff parish, which is 891 feet in circumference. Of the Pictish kilns there are several specimens in the parish of MinnigaiF and in other places. The most notable old forts are a very ancient one on a sea-cliff near Borgue, an old Pictish tower at Rattra in the same parish, a circular fort with vitrified walls at Castle Gower, parish of Buittle, and others on the hill of Halfarne, Crossmichael, the hill of Dunguile, Kelton, and on Ben- arty hill. An old wall known as the Devil s dyke, supposed to have been built previous to the Roman invasion, passed through Galloway from Lochryan into Dumfriesshire. In the 9th century the district was invaded by the Danes, and so much harassed that many of the inhabitants emigrated to Wales. In the following century Galloway along with Strathclyde was subdued by Edmund and brought under the rule of Malcolm I. of Scotland. Some time in the llth century it was subdued by the Danes and the Norwegians, but in the beginning of the 12th century they were overpowered by a Celtic chief Fergus, who founded a line of lords of Galloway, some of whom asserted their independence of the Scotch crown. The line became extinct in the male branch in 1234, after which Galloway was for some time under the rule of Edward I. of England. The lordship in the female line became divided between two families, one of whoso representatives, John Baliol, laid claim to the crown of Scotland, but in 1308 the district was freed of the English and brought under allegiance to Robert Bruce, after which the lordship of Galloway was conferred upon Edward Bruce. Later in the 14th century Galloway again espoused the pretensions of the Baliols to the throne of Scotland, but the district was finally completely sub jugated in 1353 by Sir William Douglas, whose descendant Archibald received from the crown in 1371-72 the lordship of Galloway. After the forfeiture of the estates of the Baliols, Kirkcudbright was placed under the immediate rule of the crown, and was governed by the royal steward, whence it has still the name of the &quot;stewartry,&quot; but it appears that the stewardship was afterwards transferred to the Douglases, and was not restored to the crown until the for feiture of their estates in 1455. The principal old castles are Threave Castle on the Dee, the seat of the Douglases, for the reduction of which during the siege of 1455 it is said that the famous cannon Mons Meg was manufactured ; Cardross Castle, on the west side of the Fleet ; and tho castle of Kirkcudbright, which belonged to the lords of Galloway, and was frequently the residence of royalty.