Gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

DRUMLANRIG.
109
Waters of Annock and Irvine, in the lower
part of their course, bounded by Femvick on
the north-east, and extending nine miles in
length, by one to three in breadth. The land
declines in gentle slopes from the east, and is
well cultivated, enclosed, and sheltered by
plantations. It is noted for the excellence of
its dairy produce. The village of Dreghorn
occupies a pleasant situation on the road from
Irvine to Kilmarnock, two miles east of the
former. Its name is derived from words sig-
nifying the dwelling by the swamp.— Popula-
tion in 1821, 856.
DREINICH, an islet in Loch Linnhe, Ar-
gyleshire, near the large island of Lismore.
DRON, a parish in the south-eastern ex-
tremity of Perthshire, extending about four
miles in length and breadth along the north
base of the range of Ochil hills, into the beau-
tiful district of Strathearn. It is divided from
Abernethy on the east, by the rivulet called
the Farg, and has the parish of Dumbarny
on the north. The name is derived from a
word signifying a ridge, the church and manse
being placed on such a situation. The sur-
face is in some parts broken and irregular, but
in the lower district the land is flat and fertile,
being a portion of the rich carse of the Earn.
Recently a handsome new Gothic church has
been built, and is a fine object on the rising
ground on the left, in approaching the Bridge
of Earn from the south. — Population in 1821,
523.
DRUM, (LOCH OF)alake in the parish
of Banchory Ternan, Kincardineshire, on the
north side of the river Dee. It is about three
miles in circumference.
DRUMLADE, a parish in the north-west-
ern part of Aberdeenshire, lying on the east
side of the Deveron river, below Huntly,
bounded by Forgue on the north. It extends
nearly six miles by a breadth of from four to
five miles. The surface is composed of small
hills and valleys ; some of the former are cov-
ered with fir, but most are arable. The val-
leys produce excellent crops. The district
possesses freestone, limestone, whinstone, and
slate. — Population in 1821, 871.
DRUMLANRIG, a village in the parish
. of Durisdeer, in the western part of Dumfries-
shire, lying on the west bank of the Nith,
aboutseventeenmilesnorth-west of Dumfries.
In the vicinity, on the summit of a knoll, stands
Drumlanrig Castle, reckoned the finest seat of
the Duke of Buccleugh and Queensberry.
Massive and imposing, though not in the best
style of architecture, this large quadrangular
house was built by the great statesman William
first Duke of Queensberry ; and its erection alto-
gether occupied the ten years preceding the
Revolution. The architraves of the doors and
windows are decorated with a wearisome repe-
tition of stars and hearts, the arms of the
Douglasses, and besides a thick oak door, it is
secured by a grate of ponderous iron, which is
still regularly shut every night. Till a recent
period, Drumlanrig Castle lay in a very
neglected state, having been little occupied
since the death of Charles, third Duke of
Queensberry, in 1777. It has been put into
the best order by the present noble proprie-
tor, who, since his majority in 1827, has
had the good taste to select this magnificent
house as his principal residence. Drumlanrig
was the prima sedes of the Queensberry family,
who, descended from a bastard of the Dou-
glas family, were originally only lairds or gude-
men of Drumlanrig. They rose to noble rank
amidst the civil broils of the seventeenth cen-
tury. Duke William, who built this mansion,
was so much shocked afterwards at the sums
it had cost him, that he wrote upon the bun-
dle of accounts, " the deil pyke out his een
that looks herein," a ludicrous appeal to poste-
rity, intended, we suppose, to prevent them from
thinking him a fool for spending so much mo-
ney upon a house. It was the tradition of his
family that he, after all, slept only one night
in it ; being taken ill in the night, and finding
it difficult to procure attendance in such a
wide-spread establishment, he resolved never
to risk his life in it again. At Tibbers, in the
neighbourhood of the castle, are the remains of
a Roman camp. Till recent years, there was
preserved in the park around Drumlanrig a
herd of the aboriginal wild cattle of Scotland,
which were of a pure white colour, with fiery
red eyes, and perfectly untameable. Pennant,
who travelled about sixty years ago, describes
them from personal inspection.
DRUMLITHIE, a village near the mid-
dle of Kincardineshire towards the east side,
in the parish of Glenbervie, where some manu-
facturing is carried on. The road from
Laurencekirk to Stonehaven passes near
it, and it is distant from the latter six miles.
DRUMMELZIER, (pronounced DRU-
MELLYER,) a parish in the south-western