Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 3

GALATOWN
first-named county, and joining the Tweed near Melrose,
after a course of 21 miles, during which it descends
from 1100 to 300 feet above sea-level. From its source
on the northern verge of Heriot parish, the Gala first
flows for 2 miles eastward to the boundary of a detached
portion of Stow parish, and thence takes a south-
south-easterly direction, which it maintains to the
SE border of Edinburghshire, successively crossing
the eastern wing of Heriot parish, tracing the boundary
between Heriot and Stow, and traversing the main
body of the last-named parish. "Within Stow parish it
receives, on the right, the Heriot Water and the Lug-
gate Water — the former a tributary almost as large as
the Gala itself — and on the left, the smaller affluents,
Armit or Ermet Water, Cockum Water, and Stow Bum.
Its further course lies in a south-easterly direction,
chiefly along the boundary between Roxburghshire and
Selkirkshire, till it reaches the Tweed, into which it
falls a little below Abbotsford, and about 2J miles W of
Melrose. The course of the Gala is remarkably sinuous ;
and the road from Edinburgh to Jedburgh and Carlisle,
which traces the windings of the river along the E bank
is, says Mr Chambers, at least a third longer than the
crow-flight. An older road ran along the W bank ; but
the North British railway line, which traverses almost
the entire length of the valley, crosses and recrosses the
stream several times. The river-basin consists for the
most part of a narrow valley flanked with rounded hills,
and jiresents scenery with all the usual characteristics of
the Scottish Lowlands, alternating agricultural and
pastoral scenes with the rougher beauty of uncultivated
nature. At the beginning of the century, the Gala dale
was almost entirely pastoral and nearly destitute of
trees ; but since then much of the ground has been
broken up by the plough ; and numerous plantations
have arisen, in many cases as the protection or ornament
of the private mansions along the banks. Of these last
the chief are Crookston, Burnhouse, Torsonce, Bow-
land, Torwoodlee, and Gala. As a fishing-stream, the
Gala was once famous for the abundance of its trout ;
now, however, it has been so much over-fished, that a
considerable amount of time and skill, and perhaps a
certain amount of good fortune, are required to secure
even a small basket. The Gala waters Stow village,
and 2 miles of its course lie through the busy to^vn of
Galashiels, whose mills sometimes in summer draw off
almost all the water from its natm-al channel. There
are several ruined castles and towers in the valley of the
river, and traces of perhaps a dozen ancient camps. The
name Gala has been connected with the Welsh garw,
' rough ; ' some authorities derive it from the Gaelic gwala,
meauiug ' a full stream. ' An ancient name for the
vallej' was Wedale, sometimes explained as meaning the
vale of woe, as having been the scene of some sanguinary
prehistoric struggle ; others connect it with the Norse
Ve, a temple or church, and translate the name ' holy
house dale. ' In Wedale Dr Skene places Guinnion, the
scene of one of the twelve battles of Arthur. Two bal-
lads, one of them by Burns, celebrate the ' braw lads o'
Gala Water.'— Ord Sur., sh. 25, 1865. See Sir Thomas
Dick-Lauder's Scottish, Rivers (Edinb. 1874).
Galatown. See Gallatotvn.
Galbraith. See Inch Galbraith.
Galdry or Gauldry, a village in Balmerino parish,
Fife, on a plateau on the centre of a ridge of hill, 1 J mile
S of the Firth of Tay and 4i mUes SW of Newport. It
has a police station.
Gallangad, a burn of Dumbarton and Kilmaronock
parishes, Dumbartonshire, rising near Dougnot Hill
(1228 feet), and winding SJ miles north-by-eastward,
till, near Drymen station, it falls into Endrick Water.
During the last 2J miles of its course it traces the boun-
dary between Dumbarton and Stirling shires, and here
bears the name of Catter Burn. —Ord. Sur.,sK 30,1868.
Gallary. See Gallery.
Gallato-wn, a suburban village in Dysart parish, Fife,
5 furlongs NNW of Dysart station, commencing at the
N end of Sinclairtown, and extending \ mile northward
along the road from Kii-kcaldy to Cupar. It is included
GALLOWAY
in the parliamentary burgh of Dysart, but (since 1876)
in the royal burgh of Kirkcaldy. Originally called Gal-
lowstown, it took that name either from the frequent
execution at it of criminals in feudal times, or from the
special execution of a noted robber about three centuries
ago ; and it long was famous for the making of nails.
It now participates generally in the industry, resources,
and institutions of Sinclairtown ; and it has a Free church
and a public school.
Gallengad. See Gallangad.
Gallery, an estate, with a mansion, in Logiepert parish,
Forfarshire, on the right bank of the North Esk, 5 miles
NNW of Dubton Junction. Its owner, David Lyall,
Esq. (b. 1826), holds 1576 acres in the shire, valued at
£1932 per annum. A hamlet, Upper Gallery, stands
3 miles nearer Dubton. — Ord. Sur., sh. 57, 1868.
Gallow or Gala Lane, a rivulet of Kirkcudbright and
Ayr shires, issuing from the Dungeon Lochs, and running
6J miles north-by-eastward, chiefly along the mutual
boundary of the two counties, to the head of Loch
1)0011.— Ord. Sur., sh. 8, 1863.
Galloway, an extensive district in the south-western
corner of Scotland, which originally and for a consider-
able period included also parts of Ayrshire and Dum-
friesshire, has for ages past been identified simply and
strictly with the shire of Wigtown and the stewartry of
Kirkcudbright. The name, though inextricably inter-
woven with Scottish history, designates no political
jurisdiction, and is unsanctioned by the strict or civil
nomenclature of the country. The district is bounded
on the N by AjTshire and Dumfriesshire, on the E by
Dumfriesshire, on the S by the Solway Firth and Irish
Sea, and on the W by the Irish Channel and Firth of
Clyde. Its greatest length, from E to W, is 63J miles ;
and its greatest breadth, from N to S, is 43 mUes. It
is divided into three districts — Upper Galloway, includ-
ing the northern and more mountainous parts of the
two shires ; Lower Galloway, embracing the southern
and lowland sections E of Luce Bay ; and the Ehinns of
Galloway, consisting of the peninsula SW of Luce Bay
and Loch Ryan. Galloway has long been famous as an
excellent pastoral district ; and though its unsettled
condition long kept its agriculture in a backward state,
the last hundred years have seen splendid progress
made. The Galloway breed of horses is celebrated, and
large droves of polled black cattle used to be reared for
the southern markets. Of late, however, Ayi'shire
cattle have been superseding the native breed ; and
dairy-farming is coming into favour. The absence of
coal, lime, and freestone has protected Galloway from
the erection of busy industrial or manufacturing centres.
The surface, on the whole, is undulating ; and to quote
Mr Henry IngHs, ' there is no district of Scotland more
rich in romantic scenery and association, few which
possess the same combination of sterile grandeur and
arcadian beauty, and fewer still which are blessed with
a climate equal in mildness of temperature to that of
Galloway. The tulip-tree flourishes and flowers at St
Mary's Isle, and the arbutus bears fruit at Kirkdale.'
But for all save historical details, we must refer to our
articles on Kiekcudbeightshirb and Wigtownshire.
The district, afterwards called Galloway, was in early
times held by tribes of the nation of the Brigantes.
Ptolemy, writing in the 2d century of our era, calls
them Novantes and SelgovEe. The former occupied ths
country W of the Nith, and had two towns — Lucopibia
at Whithorn, and Kerigonium on the E shore of Loch
Eyan. The Selgovte or Elgovte lay to the E, extend-
ing over Dumfriesshire, and their towns were Trimon-
tium, Uxellum, Corda, and Carbantorigum, whose sites
Dr Skene finds respectively on Birrenswark Hill, on
Wardlaw Hill, at Sanquhar, and at the Moat of Urr,
between the Nith and Dee. A large amount of ethno-
logical controversy has been waged over these peoples ;
some authorities recognising in them a Gothic, others a
Cymric, and others a Gaelic, race. The authority we
have just named considers them to have been Celtic
tribes of the Gaelic branch. Intercepted by the Britons
of Strathclyde from their northern Gaelic relations, and
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