Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

KIRKMABRECK
offers on the whole a poor appearance; and has a post
office, with money order, savings bank, and telegraph
departments, an inn, and a long-established distillery.
A foot-bridge over the Almond was constructed in 1846
to give access to Ratho station, and is over 100 feet
long. The parish church, dating from the 12th century,
and restored in 1884 at a cost of £2000, has a fine S
Norman doorway, and includes the old burying vault of
the noble family of Stair, with the ashes of the first
countess, the ' Lady Ashton ' of Scott's Bride of Lam-
mermoor. The Free church had a spire added in 1880.
Pop. (1861) 572, (1871) 647, (1881) 747, (1891) 958.
The parish contains also Winchbitrgh village in
Linlithgowshire and Newbridge hamlet in Edinburgh-
shire. Its church having once belonged to the Knights
Templars, it was anciently called Temple Liston. The
Boundary Commissioners in 1891 transferred to this
parish the eastern portion of the Auldcathie detached
part of Dalmeny parish, but gave its Edinburgh-
shire detached portion, situated at Listonshiels and
comprising 1892 acres, to the parish of Currie. Other-
wise the parish remains as formerly, partly in the county
of Linlithgow and partly in that of Edinburgh. It is
bounded on the NW by Abercorn, N by Dalmeny,
E by Cramond and Corstorphine, S by Ratho and Kirk-
newton, SW by Uphall, and W by Eeelesmachan. Its
utmost length, from E to W, is 6 miles ; its utmost
width is 4| miles. Almond Water winds 6f miles
north-eastward along all the Midlothian boundary of
the Linlithgowshire section, which is traversed by Brox
and Niddry Burns, two affluents of the Almond, whilst
a third, Gogar Burn, flows f mile along all the Cramond
boundary. The Union Canal goes 2J miles across the
southern portion of the parish, and, after making a
detour through Uphall, proceeds If mile northward
through the western part of the Linlithgowshire section.
Springs are abundant and not a little various, affording
ample supplies of pure water, and offering solutions of
magnesia, lime, and iron. The surface is a plain diversi-
fied with very gentle rising-grounds, and, with altitudes
ranging from 80 to 320 feet above sea-level, everywhere,
but specially along the Almond, presents a pleasing
appearance. The rocks belong to the Calciferous Sand-
stone series of the Carboniferous formation, with inter-
sections of basalt, trap tuff, and diorite; and include
sandstone, limestone, ironstone, bituminous shale, and
whinstone, all of economical value. A beautiful durable
sandstone is quarried on Humbie farm, and furnished
the material for the Glasgow Stock Exchange. The soil
here and there is a very wet clay, on some haughs is
light earth or deep sand, and elsewhere varies from a
strong clay to a rich black mould. But a small propor-
tion of the parish is under wood, nearly all the remainder
being in a state of high cultivation. Prof. Andrew
Dalzell, F.R.S. (1742-1806), the eminent scholar, was a
native. A field SW of the village of Kirkliston is
pointed out as the spot where Edward I. of England
encamped on his way to Falkirk (1298); and near some
large stones in a field by Newbridge, stone coffins, spear
heads, and other relics of some ancient battle have been
found. A prominent object is the stupendous viaduct
of the Edinburgh and Glasgow section of the North
British railway over the Almond; and the chief anti-
quities are the Catstane, Illiston or Eliston Castle,
and Niddry Castle. These are all noticed separately;
as also are the chief mansions, Newliston, Clifton Hall,
Fox Hall, and Ingliston. Kirkliston is in the pres-
bytery of Linlithgow and synod of Lothian and Tweed-
dale; the living is worth £338. Kirkliston, Newbridge,
Newhouses, and Winchburgh public schools, with
respective accommodation for 372, 158, 100, and 187
children, have an average attendance of about 225, 135,
90, and 150, and grants amounting to nearly £230,
£120, £80, and £150. Pop. (1881) 2580, (1891) 3777,
of whom 3053 were in Linlithgowshire. — Orel. Sur., sh.
32, 1857.
Kirkmabreck, a parish of SW Kirkcudbrightshire, con-
taining the seaport town and station of Creetown, and
comprising since 1636 the ancient parish of Kirkmabreck,
990
KIRKMABRECK
with the greater part of that of Kirkdale. It is bounded
NW by Minnigaff, NE by Girthon, E by Anwoth, and
SW and W by Wigtown Bay and the estuary of the
Cree. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 10 miles; its
utmost breadth, from E to W, is 6| miles; and its
area is 25,011i acres, of which 1659 are foreshore, 128|
links, and 192J water. From the Palnure's confluence
to Creetown ferry, the Cree curves 3 miles south-south-
eastward, at the ferry having a high-water width of 5J
furlongs, which broadens to 3| miles in sandy Wigtown
Bay. Palnure Burn winds 1§ mile south-south-west-
ward along the Minnigaff border to the Cree; Graddock
Burn runs 5 miles south-westward along the same
boundary to Palnure Burn ; Carrouch Burn and Big
Water of Fleet run 5f miles south-south-eastward along
the boundary with Girthon; and Skyre Burn runs 2 J
miles south-by-eastward along that with Anwoth; whilst
Moneypool Burn, flowing 6| miles south-westward to the
Cree's estuary at Creetown, is one out of several streams
that drain the interior. Chalybeate springs are at
Pibble, Muirfad, Cuil, Falbae, Ferryburn, Blackmire,
and other places; and that at Pibble has enjoyed some
medicinal repute. The coast, with an extent below
Creetown of 5f miles, is mostly flat and sandy, but
towards the south-eastern extremity becomes rocky,
bold, high, and precipitous, and there is torn with
fissures and pierced with caverns, some of them offering
romantic features, and one at Ravenshall Point bearing
the name of ' Dirk Hatteraick's Cave. ' The immediate
seaboard is low and richly embellished ; but all the
interior is a congeries of hills and mountains, intersected
with vales and hollows. Chief elevations, from S to N,
are BarLolm Hill (1163 feet) and Cairnharrow (1497) on
the Anwoth border, Larg Hill (969), Cambret Hill (1150),
Cairnsmore of Fleet (2152), and Meikle Multaggart
(2000). The uplands, rising in successive ridges, are
partly green and partly clothed with a mixture of heath
and verdure; present, with their intersecting hollows, a
series of interesting landscapes; and, whilst forming a
noble horizon to the views from the seaboard, command
from their summits extensive and magnificent views
over much of Galloway, over part of England, and across
to Ireland and the Isle of Man. The rocks are variously
granitic, metamorphic, and Silurian. A granite quarry,
1£ mile S by E of Creetown, has been largely worked
since 1830 by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Trust for
the construction of the Liverpool docks; a second, at
Bagbie, 1J mile farther SSE, has been worked since 1864
by a Liverpool company; and there are other two on
Fell farm, near the crown of the hill at whose base is
the first. Lead ore occurs at Blairwood, Drumore, Glen,
and Mark; fine specimens of galena have been found in
Moneypool; and a copper mine was opened about 1835
at Craigneuk, but did not succeed. The soil is alluvial
along the Cree ; and elsewhere is mostly gravelly or
moorish, and much encumbered with granite boulders.
About 5300 acres are under the plough, and some 900
are meadow. Antiquities other than those noticed
under Cairnholy, Glenquicken, Barholm, and Cars-
luith are Caledonian stone circles, the site of the large
tumulus of Cairnywanie, the ivy-clad ruins of Kirkma-
breck old church, vestiges of Kirkdale church, and the
site of Kilbride chapel. Dr Thomas Brown (1778-1820),
professor of moral philosophy in Edinburgh University,
was born at the manse; and another native was Samuel
Douglas (d. 1799), the founder of Douglas Academy in
Newton-Stewart. The Rev. Patrick Peacock, a dis-
tinguished sufferer in the cause of the Solemn League
and Covenant, was for some time minister; and Major
M'Culloch, beheaded at Edinburgh in 1666, was pro-
prietor of the estate of Barholm. Mansions, noticed
separately, are Barholm, Cassencarrie, and Kirkdale.
Kirkmabreck is in the presbytery of Wigtown and synod
of Galloway; the living is worth £312. The parish
church and a U. P. church are noticed under Creetown;
and two public schools — Kirkdale and Kirkmabreck —
with respective accommodation for 70 and 323 children,
have an average attendance of about 65 and 210, and
grants amounting to nearly £60 and £210. Pop. (1801)