Gazetteer of Scotland

GAL
GAL
interfperfed with valleys, which arc'
tolerably fertile in favourable feafons.
Jn this parifh lies Loch Marl, a large
frefh water lake, containing many
beautiful ifiands. This lake is formed
by the union of two large rivers, which
take their rife in the E. end of the pa-
rifh, and are in Gaelic denominated
Kenlochew, or " the head of the loch
river." The coaft of Gairloch is fa-
mous for the cod and herring fifhery.
The chief proprietors are, Sir Hector
Mackenzie of Gairloch, the Macken-
zies of Gruinord of Letterew,of Kern-
fary, and of Coull ; all of which, ex-
cept the laft, have feats in the parifh.
Population in 1791, about 2200.
Gairney; a fmall ftream which
rifes amongft the hills in Kinrofsihire,
and difcharges itfelf into Loci) Leven.
Gala River takes its rife in the E.
end of the pariih of Heriot, in the
county of Mid-Lothian, and, after re-
ceiving a confiderable augmentation
of its ftream from the water of Heriot,
it runs S. and palling Galafhiels, dif-
embogues itfelf into the Tweed. The
whole courfe is Angularly romantic,
and the fcenery on its banks has fired
the imagination of many poets, who
have celebrated its beauties in feveral
paftorals. " The braiv lads of Gala
water" is a beautiful Scots fong.
GALASHIELS ; a village and pa-
riih in the diftrict of Tweedale. The
parifh is of an irregular triangular fi-
gure, on an average about 5^ miles in
breadth, lying partly in the county of
Roxburgh, and partly in that of Sel-
kirk; the Tweed, which divides it into
two parts, being the boundary of the
two fhires. The furface is hilly and
mountainous ; the higheft point, Meg-
bill, being elevated about 1480 feet
above the level of the fea. The hills
are moftly green, and furnifh excel-
lent fheep pafture. The foil is various,
being partly a deep loam on a till bot-
tom, and partly a fhallow loam upon
gravel, with which it is much mixed.
Confiderable attention is paid to the
rearing of fheep, and the improve-
ment of the wool. Befides the Tweed,
the parifh is interfered by the Etterick
and Gala waters, which are well
known from the beautiful paftoral
fongs to which they give their name.
The village oiGalaJhieh, part of which
is fituated in the parifh of Melrofe, is
finely fituated on the banks of the
Gala, and contains about 780 inhabit-
ants. It has been long noted for tbe
manufacture of coarfe woollen cloth,
known by the name oiGalaJkiets Gray,
of which about 50,000 or 60,000 yards
are annually made. The rocks are
chiefly of fchijtus and whinftone ; and
the red ochrey earth, and the chaly-
beate fprings, ftrongly indicate the
prefence of iron. Population in 1791,
914.
GALATON ; a village in the pa-
rifh of Dyfart, in Fifefhire, containing
about 430 inhabitants, who are chiefly
employed in making nails, and other
fmall iron work.
GALLOWAY. The diftrict of
Galloway comprehends two counties,
viz. the ihire or ftewartryof Kirkcud-
bright, and the county of Wigton ;
the particular defcription of which
will be given under thefe articles.
This diftrict, in the earliefc ages of
which we have written accounts, ap-
pears to have been peopled by that
nation, which the Roman writers term
the Selgova and Novanta ; the inha-
bitants of Dumfriesfhire being includ-
ed under the fame general name.
The Roman province of Valentia,
which extended over the greater part
of the N. of England, and S. of Scot-
land, muft neceffarily have included
this diftrict ; but being farther remov-
ed from the contefted ground, which
lay nearer "the center of the kingdom,
the inhabitants feem fcareely to have
been driven out of their poiTeffions :
and, when the Romans left the ifland,
the native lords recovered their go-
vernment without difficulty. The in-
vafion of the Anglo Saxons forms a
new aera in their hiftory ; for, upon
the foundation of the Northumbrian
monarchy by Ida, Galloway was unit-
ed to that kingdom, and the ancient
inhabitants feem to have been driven
back into the mountains, while their
invaders poffefied themfelves of the
fhores. When the Saxon monarchs
loft their territories in Scotland, the
rightful owners regained pofieiiion of
the whole country, from the confines
of Ayrfhire on one fide, to the moun-
tains of Clydefdale and the Solway
Frith on the other. About this time
the Danifh invaders appeared on the
coafts, and the Scots, and inhabitants
of the fouthern diftrict, became mu-
tually interefted to co-operate againir.