Gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

212
DUMFRIES-SHIRE.
dale or Cannoby is besides, of the very worst de-
scription, or is so, at least, at the time we are
now writing. The limestone of the shire has
been of great value in improving the lands.
Marie also abounds in various parts, and of free-
stone and whinstone there is great plenty in all
places. Marble is also procured for different use-
ful and ornamental purposes. Near the confines
of the county, at Wanlockhead, there are inex-
haustible mines of lead. The agricultural
capacities of Dumfries -shire lay long in a state
of abeyance. It was not till shortly after the
year 1760 that its energies began to be deve-
loped. The first melioration of the condition of
the county may be traced to the establishment of
Banks at Ayr and Dumfries, from 1763 to
1774. Charles, Duke of Queensberry, who
died in 1778, was likewise actively instrumen-
tal in improving, at least the districts of Niths-
dale and Annandale.* The latter district was
also greatly bettered in condition by the Earl
of Hopetoun. The upper parts being unfit for
producing corn, sheep are the principal source
of profit, and this nobleman spared no means
to meliorate the breed and improve the wool.
He brought from England skilful persons to
instruct the people how to sort, comb, spin,
and weave their wool, which laid the basis of
the after prosperity of the district in this de-
partment. Nor was this nobleman inattentive
to the cultivation of corn. He abolished thir-
lage to his mills, and energized the rising spirit
of agricultural improvement, by giving liberal
leases to farmers. Eskdale owes its improve-
ment to the skill and liberality of the grand-
father of the present Duke of Buccleugh. The
» What good was done by the venerated Duke Charles,
may perhaps be said to have been counteracted by his
debauchee successor, the late Duke William, who took
grassums over more than six hundred farms, many of
them large, and cut all the woods on his estates, to make
money for a lady, now of elevated rank, said to be his
natural daughter. At one time a great part of the
parish of Tinwald was one extended forest. This noble-
man sold the forest to a timber merchant, who intended
to cut it gradually, one hag this year, and a second the
next, and so on, that he might make the most of his bar-
gain; but information having arrived, that old Queens-
berry was ill in London, and thought to be a-dying, a
great number of axes were put in requisition, and " green
Tinwald" laid bare in the course of a few days. It is a
certain fact, that those who held grassum farms were the
most sluggish husbandmen in the whole county. Very
few of them made money; in some cases they became
bankrupts, and, in more, subset their lands. The grass-
ums were broken after a long law-suit, and damages
claimed and paid to a great extent. In a few cases they
nmountod to about £l0,C00 for one farm I
western road from London to Edinburgh,
leading along the Esk from the English march
to the vicinity of Selkirk, was chiefly made at
his expense. In the lower parts of the shire,
the late Sir John Heron Maxwell, and Mr.
Pulteney Malcolm, did much to introduce good
husbandry into the district. Among existing
land-improvers, the first rank in the county
must certainly be assigned to C. G. S. Men-
teath, Esq. of Closeburn, in Nithsdale. His
estate, which is about ten miles long, and, in
some places, eight miles broad, has long been
in a state of the highest cultivation, and vies
with any thing to be found in Scotland. Even
the least fertile spots have been improved by
drainage, and the application of lime, up to the
very base of the hills — so that a sportsman,
who can clear the burns, may course over it a
whole day, without the slightest risk of wet-
ting his feet. Mr. Menteath is an extensive
lime-burner, and, from his knowledge of me-
chanics, has improved greatly on the old me-
thod of working the kilns. Rut this gentle-
man's forte seems to be irrigation, by means
of which he has worked perfect marvels.
Land, in the very front of his mansion-house,
which thirty years ago was not worth five
shillings an acre, now lets freely at LA, 10s.
and L.5. During certain dry seasons, when
the plains and uplands were parched or rather
burnt, Mr. M. by means of irrigation, produc-
ed from the lands in question different crops
of grass, which were valued at L.IO per acre.
The expense incurred in effecting these vast
improvements, averaged about L.12, and in no
instance exceeded L. 15 per acre. Mr. Men-
teath is understood to be a most liberal land-
lord, and is fond of introducing a little orna-
ment into the humblest cottages on his estate.
With a view to this, the occupants are allow-
ed lime for white-washing, and are presented
with flowering and ornamental shrubs, that
their gardens and dwellings may look trim and
neat. In a village near his residence, a school-
house has been built, and a school-mistress ap-
pointed, who teaches needlework, sewing,
reading, writing, arithmetic, and geography, to
from forty to sixty children. The patron de-
frays the whole expense. Another improver
has been J. J. Hope Johnstone of Annandale,
Esq. M. P. for the county, who is universally
esteemed as a landlord and country gentleman.
His tenants live very happily under him, and,
contrary to custom, axe allowed to keep grey-