Topographical dictionary of Scotland > Volume 2

WHIT
WHIT
middle by a rivulet, over which is a neat bridge. There
are no manufactures carried on ; and the only trade is
that which the town derives from its proximity to the
small port of Isle of Whithorn, which is separately de-
scribed, and from the pursuit of the usual handicrafts
requisite for the supply of a neighbourhood. Branches
of the Bank of Scotland and the Edinburgh and Glasgow
Bank, and an agency for the Aberdeen Insurance office,
have been established ; and a fair, chiefly for hiring
servants, is held annually at Midsummer, and a cattle
market monthly from April to January. The town was
erected into a royal burgh by charter of King Robert
Bruce, which was confirmed by charter of James IV. in
1-571. The government is vested in a provost, two
bailies, and fifteen councillors ; but there are no incor-
porated trades possessing exclusive privileges, and every
inhabitant is free to carry on trade within the burgh.
The magistrates have the usual jurisdiction of burghs
royal ; but no civil causes are brought for their deci-
sion, and in criminal matters their jurisdiction extends
only to breaches of the peace. The town-hall, situated
on the west side of the principal street, is a substantial
structure with a tower and spire, and attached to it is a
gaol, used as a place of temporary confinement. The
burgh is associated with New Galloway, Stranraer, and
Wigton, in returning a member to the imperial parlia-
ment ; the number of qualified voters at present regis-
tered is fifty.
The parish is bounded on the south by the Irish
Channel, and on the east by the bay of Wigton ; it is
about eight miles in extreme length, and varies from two
to five miles in breadth, comprising an area of 10,000
acres, of which the whole, with the exception of about
L 200 acres of meadow and a little waste, is arable. The
surface, though generally level, is marked by numerous
hillocks of various form and appearance, most of them
covered with briars and whin, which give to the parish
an aspect of sterility. There are no rivers of any im-
portance ; but three small burns flow through the lands
into the sea, each of which in its course gives motion to
some corn-mills ; and there are numerous springs of
clear water, of which one, on the Isle of Whithorn, is
slightly chalybeate. The several lakes have been drained,
and some of them brought under tillage : of those which
have not been cultivated, some form peat-mosses, and
others produce great quantities of excellent marl. The
coast, which is more than nine miles in extent, is in
some parts bold and rocky, especially towards Burrow
Head, on the south, where many of the rocks rise per-
pendicularly from the sea to a height of 200 feet. Some
of the rocks are perforated with deep caverns ; and on
the east are several bays, whereof the principal are, Port-
Allan, Port-Yarrock, and the Isle of Whithorn, at which
last is a commodious harbour.
The soil is generally fertile, and in some parts a rich
vegetable mould resting upon a bottom of rock ; it has
been much improved by a liberal use of bone-dust and
guano as manure. The chief crops are, wheat, oats, bear,
barley, potatoes, and turnips. The system of husbandry
is making steady progress ; a due rotation of crops is
uniformly observed ; the farm-buildings are substantial,
and roofed with slate, and the lands mostly inclosed
with stone dykes. The cattle, once wholly of the
Galloway breed, and to the improvement of which the
greatest attention is paid, have since the increase of
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dairy-farms been partly of the Ayrshire breed ; and con-
siderable numbers are now fed on turnips till fit for the
market, and sent by sea to Liverpool. The plantations
are gradually increasing in extent, and at Castlewigg
are some noble specimens of oak, ash, beech, and firs.
An attempt was at one time unsuccessfully made to
work coal ; and at Tonderghie, copper of rich quality
was discovered by a mining company from Wales, but
the works have long been discontinued. The rateable
annual value of the parish, according to returns made
under the Income tax, is £10,313. Castlewigg, the
seat of Hugh Hathorn, Esq., is an ancient and venerable
mansion, beautifully situated in a richly-planted demesne,
near the western border of the parish; and Tonderghie,
near the southern coast, the seat of Hugh D. Stewart,
Esq., is a handsome modern mansion, commanding a
fine view of the English coast and the Isle of Man. The
only village is Isle of Whithorn, which is described
under its own head.
The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintend-
ence of the presbytery of Wigton and synod of Gallo-
way. The minister's stipend is £'246. 15. 9., with a
manse, and a glebe valued at £"20 per annum ; patron,
the Crown. The church, erected on part of the site of
the priory in 1822, is a substantial and neat structure
containing S00 sittings : in the churchyard are the only
remains of the priory and cathedral, conveying but a
faint idea of the ancient grandeur of the buildings.
There are places of worship for members of the Free
Church, the Secession Synod, and Reformed Presby-
terians, and a Roman Catholic chapel. Of the two
parochial schools, one is in the burgh and the other at
Isle of Whithorn : the master of the burgh school has a
salary of £39, with £6. 6. in lieu of a dwelling-house,
and the other master a salary of £19- 10.; the school
fees averaging £50 per annum in the aggregate. About
half a mile to the west of the town are the remains of
a Roman camp, and numerous Roman coins have been
found near the priory, and in various other parts of the
parish. On the shore are the ruins of several castles
and fortresses, which are supposed to have been built
for the protection of the coast from the frequent incur-
sions of the Scandinavians, who made the Isle of Man
their common rendezvous in their predatory attacks on
this part of the country.
WHITHORN, ISLE OF, a sea-port village, in the
parish of Whithorn, county of Wigton, 2§ miles
(S. E.) from the town of Whithorn ; containing 495 inha-
bitants. This place, which is situated at the head of a
small bay in the south-eastern coast of the parish,
derives its name from an island at the mouth of the
bay, on which are the ruins of an ancient church sup-
posed to have been the first place of Christian worship
erected in this part of Scotland. The island is less than
half a mile in length, and scarcely a quarter broad ; it
affords shelter from easterly winds to vessels entering
the bay, but is not distinguished by any particular
features of importance. The village is neatly built, and
principally inhabited by seamen and others employed in
the trade of the port, which consists chiefly in the
exportation of cattle, sheep, and swine, grain, and other
agricultural produce ; and in the importation of coal
and lime from England, and various kinds of merchandise
for the supply of the district. The harbour, though
narrow at the entrance, has good accommodation for