Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

KIR
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KIR
overthrown, the emancipated stewartry was placed
under a stewart-depute, whose functions were the
same as those of the sheriff-depute. The first stew-
art-depute, at a salary of £150 a-year, was Thomas
Miller, advocate, who, rising to the top of his pro-
fession, became president of the Court-of-session,
and ^eft a baronetcy with a fair name to his family.
— The district west of the Urr belonged anciently
to the bishopric of Galloway, and composed the
deanery of Desnes; and the district east of that
river belonged to the bishopric of Glasgow, and was
comprehended in the deanery of the Nith. A simi-
lar ecclesiastical division — simply substituting synods
and presbyteries for bishoprics and deaneries — con-
tinues to exist. The district east of the Urr belongs
to the synod of Galloway, and is distributed into 18
parishes, 16 of which constitute the presbytery of
Kirkcudbright, while two are included in that of
Wigton; and the district east of the Urr, distributed
into 10 parishes, belongs to the synod and the pres-
bytery of Dumfries.
Kirkcudbrightshire has two royal burghs, Kirk-
cudbright and New Galloway, and several consider-
able villages, — Maxwelltown, Gatehouse-of-Fleet,
Creetown, Dalbeattie, Castle-Douglas, and Dairy.
It sends one member to parliament. Constituency,
in 1839, 1,331. There are few large estates. The
valued rent of the whole stewartry, in Scottish
money, is £114,571 19s. 3d.; the annual value of
the real property, as assessed in 1815, was £213,308.
Population, in 180], 29,211; in 1811, 33,684; in
1821, 38,903; in 1831, 40,590. The population, in
1831, was distributed into 871 occupiers of land
employing labourers; 490 occupiers of land not em-
ploying labourers ; 2,648 agricultural labourers ;
1,056 labourers not agricultural; 529 manufacturing
operatives; 2,299 persons employed in retail trades
and handicrafts; 440 capitalists ; 118 male-servants;
and 2,378 female servants. The total number of
families, in 1831, was 8,283; of inhabited houses,
6,604 In 1834, there were 49 parochial schools,
conducted by 55 teachers, and attended by a mini-
mum of 1,830 scholars, and a maximum of 3,549;
and 56 non-parochial schools, conducted by 60 teach-
ers, and attended by a minimum of 888 scholars, and
a maximum of 1,839.
KIRKDALE. See Kirkmabreck.
KIRKDEN, a parish in the Sidlaw district of
Forfarshire, bounded on the north by Dunnichen,
Rescobie, and Guthrie; on the east by Inverkeilor;
on the south by Inverkeilor and Carmylie ; and on
the west by Dunnichen. It measures in extreme
length from east to west 5J miles ; and in extreme
breadth from north to south 2A miles ; but it is nearly
bisected by an interjecting part of Dunnichen 1|
mile by 1, and comprehends only about 4,000 acres.
An entirely detached section, measuring 1^ mile by
J, lies a mile north of the north-east part of the
main body, is chiefly covered with wood upon natu-
ral moorland, and has a population of only 4 families.
The surface of the main body of the parish lies at
probably 250 or 300 feet above the level of the sea ;
but it is not in itself hilly, except at the west end,
and even there has more an undulating than an upland
aspect. About 1,200 acres of the area are dry kindly
land, mixed with small stones, and called by the far-
mers a beachy soil ; about 900 acres are deep dry
land upon a bed of till ; and the rest is naturally wet
and spongy, lying upon a bed of cold clay, but has
been greatly improved by draining. Nearly the
whole parish is adorned and sheltered by a judicious
interspersion of wood. The climate is salubrious,
and in general clear ; but is remarkable for dense
dark fogs rolling in from the German ocean, and
settling down for several hours in successive even-
ings in spring. Lunan-water, coming in from the
west, runs 2i miles along the northern boundary ;
and Finny or Vinny-burn, coming in from the south-
west, flows 3^ miles along the boundary, and then
2 miles sinuously in the interior, joined in the way
by a rill of 4 miles length of course from the south-
west, and falling into the Lunan just before it leaves
the parish. The streams furnish eels and excellent
burn-trout ; and are subordinated to the driving of
machinery. Manufactures, in connexion with Dun-
dee, and in the linen staple, engage a large part of
the population. Their chief local seat is the modern
village of Friockheim, situated in the north-east
corner of the parish, on the bank of the Lunan, and
near the Arbroath and Forfar railway. The village
was commenced by Mr. Andson, is arranged upon a
regular plan, maintains itself by the spinning and
weaving of coarse linen fabrics, and has a population
of about 550. The parish has no peat within itself,
and little in its neighbourhood ; and gets all its fuel
from Arbroath, distant from the nearest point 6
miles. The turnpike between Arbroath and Brechin
runs across its east end ; and roads send off ramifica-
tions over all its surface. On a plain between the
Finny and the Lunan stands an obelisk, with nearly
effaced sculpturing of horses and other objects, sup-
posed to have been erected upon the defeat of the
Danes by Malcolm II. On the baronies respectively
of Id vie and Gardyne, are two artificial mounds called
Laws, the scenes, in feudal times, both of judicial
trial and of capital punishment. One of them is now
covered with plantation. The castle of Gardyne,
built in 1568, with a capacious modern addition, oc-
cupies a romantic situation on the brink of a preci-
pice overlooking the richly-wooded course of the
limpid and purling tributary of the Finny, half-a-mile
above their point of confluence. Population, in 1801,
674; in 1831, 1,039. Houses 213. Assessed pro-
perty, in 1815, £2,935. — Kirkden is in the presbytery
of Arbroath, and synod of Angus and Mearns. Patron,
the Crown. Stipend £157 18s. 5d. ; glebe £13.
The church was built in 1825. Sittings 525. The
village of Friockheim, and a district around it, be-
long to the quoad sacra parish of Friockheim :
which see. According to ecclesiastical survey, in
1836, the population of the whole parish quoad civilia,
was then 1,137; of whom 1,087 were churchmen,
and 50 were dissenters.: — Schoolmaster's salary £25
13s. 10d., with from £11 to £12 fees, and £6 other
emoluments. There are two non-parochial schools.
KIRKDOMINiE, an ancient chapelry within the
old parish of Girvan, but included in the modern
parish of Barr, in the south of Carrick, Ayrshire.
The chapel stood on an eminence on the north bank
of the Stincher, and belonged to the monks of Cross-
raguel. The inhabitants of the circumjacent coun-
try petitioned, in 1639, to have it erected into a par-
ish-church, but do not seem to have been heard.
When the parish of Barr was erected in 1653, the
roof of the chapel was, with singular economy, car-
ried off and placed on the new parish-church. A
great annual fair is held at KirkdominEe. See Bark.
KIRK-FORTHAR, an ancient chapelry in the
district of Kirkcaldy, and shire of Fife. About the
beginning of the 17th century, it was suppressed and
annexed to the parish of Markinch. The chapel is
in ruins, but the burying-ground is still in use. It is
10.5- miles north of Kirkcaldy.
KIRKGUNZEON, a parish in the south-east di-
vision of Kirkcudbrightshire ; bounded on the north
by Lochrutton ; on the east by New-abbey ; on the
south by Colvend ; and on the west by Urr. It is
of an oblong form, stretching north and south, with
a small westward projection at its south-west cor-
ner ; and has an extreme length of 7 miles, and a»