Imperial gazeteer of Scotland, or, Dictionary of Scottish topography > Volume 1

BIGGAR.
165
BILLY CASTLE.
and In}' the parishes of Dolphinton, Walston, Libber-
ton, and Outer. Its outline is triangular; its great-
est length is 6J miles; and its area is about 7,289
statute acres. The Clyde traces a small part of the
western boundary; and Biggar Water flows through
tho centre. The general character of the surface is
indicated in what we have said, in the preceding ar-
ticle, respecting the vale of Biggar Water. The
hill district is more extensive than the plain; and
the hills have a rounded contour, and an unpictur-
csque appearance. About 750 acres are under wood,
and about 400 are wildly pastoral ; but most of the
remainder of the surface either owns the dominion
of the plough or might easily be made to own it.
There nave been important recent improvements in
the reclaiming of land; and another very interesting
improvement was recently effected for restraining
the inundations of Biggar Water. The average
rent of land is about £1 per acre. The landowners
are numerous. The total yearly value of raw pro-
duce was estimated in 1835 at £12,028. Assessed
property in 1865, £12,890 17s. lOd. The chief man-
sions are Carwood, Biggar-Park, Cambus-Wallace,
and Edmonston-Castle, — the last a splendid pile,
built after a design by Gillespie Graham, and situ-
ated in a secluded vale in the east. A tumulus or
moat-hill, 120 paces in circuit at the base, 54 paces
in circuit at the top, and 36 feet high, is situated at
the west end of the town, and seems never to have
been opened. Vestiges of ancient camps, of round-
ish outline, occur in three places in the parish.
Four large stones, which seem to have formed part
of a Druidical circle, surmount a round hill on the
lands of Oldshields. " There is tradition of a battle
having been fought at the east end of the town, be-
tween the Scots, under the command of Sir William
Wallace, and the English army, who were said to
be 60,000 strong, wherein a great slaughter was
made on both sides, especially among the latter."
[Old Statistical Account.] " It has been alleged,"
Bays Mr. Carrick, " that, on this memorable occasion,
Edward commanded in person; but such could not
have been the case, as the English monarch was not
in the country at the time. That a considerable
battle was fought in the neighbourhood, there is
reason to believe, as well from current tradition, as
from the number of tumuli which are still to be seen.
These accounts, however, are decidedly at variance
with truth, both in regard to the amount of the
English, and the person who commanded. It is more
probable, that the enemy did not exceed 8,000, or at
most 10,000 men, part of which appears to have
been under the command of Roden, Lord de Which-
enour. On the side of the Scots, Sir Walter New-
bigging headed a body of cavalry. His son David,
a youth, at that time little more than fifteen years of
age, held a command under him, and the well-tried
military talents of the father were not disgraced by
the efforts of the young patriot, whose conduct on
this occasion was afterwards rewarded by the honour
of knighthood, probably conferred by the hand of
our hero himself. The 'family of Newbigging came
originally from England; and Sir Walter and his
son, on this occasion, found themselves opposed to
their near kinsman, the Lord of Whichenouiv ' [' Life
of Wallace.'] Edward II. spent the first six days of
October, 1310, at Biggar. — In 1651, Boghall castle
in this parish, held out for the commonwealth of
England, against General Leslie's army. This
strength has long been dismantled, and has nearly
disappeared, but more in consequence of the ruth-
less hand of man than that of time. Boghall stands
upon a flat, or rather a marshy ground, half-a-mile
south from the town, and is probably so called from
its situation. This castle formerly belonged to the
Flemings, Earls of Wigton, a family of great anti-
quity. They acquired the lands and barony of Big-
gar by the marriage of Sir Patrick Fleming with
one of the daughters and co-heiresses of the bravo
Sir Simon Fraser, of Oliver Castle. This Sir Patrick
was the second son of Sir Robert Fleming, who died
in 1314; and, like him, was a faithful friend to King
Robert Bruce. In 1451, Sir Robert de Fleming ob-
tained a cbai-ter from James II., erecting the town
of Biggar into a free burgh of barony, and by the
same was created a lord of parliament, by the title
of Lord Fleming of Cumbernauld; and, on the 15th
of June, 1452, Malcolm Fleming, his nephew, pro-
cured a grant under the great seal, of the lands and
barony of Boghall, and some other estates. The
road from Edinburgh to Dumfries by way of Elvan-
foot, and the branch of the Caledonian railway from
Symington to Peebles, intersect the parish ; and the
railway has a station at the town. Population of
the parish in 1831, 1,915; in 1861, 1,999. Houses,
337.
This parish is in the seat of a presbytery in the
synod of Lothian and Tweeddale. Patron, Fleming
of Cumbernauld. Stipend, £263 14s. 7d.; glebe, £30.
Unappropriated teinds, £146 5s. 7d. Schoolmaster's
salary now is £60, with about £75 fees and other
emoluments. The parochial place of worship was
built in 1545, and largely endowed, by Malcolm
third Lord Fleming, lord-high-chamberlain of Scot-
land, as a collegiate church for the support of a pro-
vost, 8 prebendaries, 4 singing-boys, and 6 poor
men. It is a cruciform structure. The steeple was
never finished ; and porch, vestry, buttresses, arched
gateway, organ gallery, and oaken ceiling have been
destroyed; but the body of the building remains en-
tire and in good repair, and in 1834 was supplied
with new seats and with a large addition to the sit-
tings. There are two United Presbyterian churches
— the one with 750 sittings, the other rebuilt in
1866. The parochial school is recent and hand-
some. The burgh school was founded in 1859.
The Town op Biggar stands south of the centre
of the parish, at an intersection of public roads, 10J
miles south-east of Lanark, 15 west by south of
Peebles, and 28 south-west of Edinburgh. It con-
sists pincipally of one very wide street, situated on
a rising ground at a little distance from the left
bank of Biggar Water, and enjoying a fine southern
exposure. But a large modern suburb stands on the
right bank, partly on a steep brow, and partly on
lower ground, with sloping gardens; and to a spec-
tator approaching by the Carnwath road, this sub-
urb presents a very beautiful appearance. The
town is a burgh of barony. It has offices of the
Commercial, the Royal, and the National Banks.
It has also a savings' bank, a corn - exchange,
and three public libraries. Fairs are held on
the last Thursday of January, old style, on the last
Thursday of April, on the third Thursday of July,
old style, on the last Thursday of August, and on
the last Thursday of October, old style. Population
in 1841, 1.395; in 1861, 1,448. Houses, 238.
BILLIKELLET. See Cumbrays (The).
BILLY CASTLE, the ruin of an ancient fortalice
on the eastern verge of the parish of Bunkle, Ber-
wickshire. It stands on a grassy knoll, in a se-
questered situation, surrounded by wood, about a
mile south of the village of Auchincraw. Only a
piece of wall about 12 feet high and a few detached
fragments now remain. But the original castle was
surrounded by the dangerous morass of Billy mire,
and was a building of great strength and consider-
able size. It was erected in the 13th century to
protect the possessions of the powerful Earls of
Dunbar; it afterwards became the property of the