Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

DAL
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DAL
but uninteresting labours of settlement within their
appropriate districts. Ceantir was the portion of
Fergus, Lorn possessed Lorn to which he gave his
name, and Angus is supposed to have colonized Da,
for it was enjoyed bv Muredach, the son of Angus,
after his decease. Thus these three princes or chiefs
had each his own tribe and territory, according to the
accustomed usage of the Celts ; a system which in-
volved them frequently in the miseries of civil war,
and in questions of disputed succession. There is no
portion of history so obscure or so perplexed as that
of the Scoto-Irish kings and their tribes, from their
first settlement, in the year 503, to their accession to
the Pictish throne in 843. Unfortunately no contem-
poraneous written records appear ever to have exist-
ed of that dark period of our annals, and the efforts
which the Scotch and Irish antiquaries have made to
extricate the truth from the mass of contradictions
in which it lies buried, have rather been displays of
national prejudice than calm researches by reason-
able inquirers. The annals, however, of Tigernach
and of Ulster, and the useful observations of O 'Fla-
herty and O'Connor, along with the brief chronicles
and historical documents, first brought to light by
the industrious limes, in his ' Critical Essay ' — a
work praised even by Pinkerton — have thrown some
glimpses of light on a subject which had long re-
mained in almost total darkness, and been rendered
still more obscure by the fables of our older histo-
rians. Some of the causes which have rendered this
part of our history so perplexed are thus stated by
Chalmers in his Caledonia. "The errors and confu-
sion which have been introduced into the series, and
the history, of the Scottish kings, have chiefly origi-
nated from the following causes: — 1st. The sove-
reignty was not transmitted by the strict line of he-
reditary descent. There were, as we shall see, three
great families, who, as they sprung from the royal
stock, occasionally grew up into the royal stem ; two
of these were descended from Fergus I. by his grand-
sons, Comgal and Gauran ; the third was descended
from Lorn, the brother of Fergus. This circum-
stance naturally produced frequent contests and civil
wars for the sovereignty, which, from those causes,
was sometimes split ; and the representatives of
Fergus and Lorn reigned independently over their
separate territories at the same time. The confusion
which all this had produced can only be cleared up
by tracing, as far as possible, the history of these
different families, and developing the civil contests
which existed among them. 2d. Much perplexity
has been produced by the mistakes and omissions of
the Gaelic bard, who composed the Albanic Duan,
particularly in the latter part of the series, where
he has, erroneously, introduced several supposititious
kings, from the Pictish catalogue. These mistakes
having been adopted by those writers, whose object
was rather to support a system, than to unravel the
history of the Scottish monarchs, have increased,
rather than diminished the confusion." Although
the Dalriads had embraced Christianity before their
arrival in Argyle, they do not appear to have been
anxious to introduce it among the Caledonians or
Picts. Their patron-saint was Ciaran, the son of a
carpenter. He was a prelate of great fame, and
several churches in Argyle and Ayrshire were dedi-
cated to him. The ruins of Kil-keran, a church de-
dicated to Ciaran, may still be seen near Campbellton
in Kintyre. At Kil-kiaran in Hay, Kil-kiaran in
Lismore, and Kil-keran in Carrick, there were cha-
pels dedicated, as the names indicate, to Ciaran.
Whatever were the causes which prevented the Dal-
riads from attempting the conversion of their neigh-
bours, they were destined at no distant period from
the era of the Dalriadic settlement, to receive the
blessings of the true religion, from the teaching of
St. Columba, a monk of high family descent, and
cousin of Scoto-Irish kings. See Icolmkill.
DALRIE. See Killin.
DALRUADHAIN. See Campbellton.
DALRULZEOX. See Captjth.
DALEY,* a parish near the centre of the district
of Cunningham, Ayrshire. It is bounded on the
north and north-east by Kilbirnie ; on the east by
Beith; on the south by Kilwinning; on the south-
west by Ardrossan ; on the west by West Kilbride ;
and on the north-west by Largs. Its extreme length,
from north to south, is about 10 miles; and its
breadth varies from li to 9. It is narrowest in the
middle ; is nearly dissevered toward the north by the
parish of Largs; sends out an arm 3 miles northward
from its main body; and is, in consequence, of ex-
tremely irregular outline. The surface consists prin-
cipally of four vales, with their intervening and over-
shadowing uplands. The principal vale stretches
south-westward along its eastern division, and varies
from a mile to i a mile in breadth. This vale is
watered by the meanderings of the river Garnock,
and abounds in fertility and the beauties of agricul-
tural landscape. The other parts of the parish,
though well-watered with the Rye, the Gaaf, and
other streams flowing south-eastward and falling
into the Garnock, are in general hilly, and in some
parts, especially toward the north, almost mountain-
ous. Bedland-hill, between the Gaaf and the Eye,
rises 946 feet ; and Carwinning-hill, to the eastward
of the Eye, rises 634 above the level of the sea. At
Auchinskich, 2 miles from the village, in a romantic
and sylvan dell, is a natural cave, 183 feet in length,
and from 5 to 12 in breadth and height, stretching
away into the bowels of a precipitous limestone crag,
and ceiled and panelled with calcareous incrusta-
tions which give it the appearance of Gothic arched
work. Coal, at a comparatively inconsiderable depth,
is, in three places, worked from seams of from 2£to 5
feet thick. Limestone abounds in strata of unusual
thickness, and in general imbosoms numerous petri-
factions. Iron-stone frequently occurs. Agates
have been found in the Rye. Li the holm-lands of
the parish the soil is a deep alluvial loam; along the
base of the hills it is light and dry; in some districts
the soil is clayey and retentive; and in others it is
reclaimed and cultivated moss. The parish is inter-
sected by the Glasgow and Ayr railway, and is in other
respects well-provided with means of communica-
tion. On the summit of Carwinning-hill are vestiges
of an ancient fortification, two acres in area, and
formed of three concentric circular walls. Near the
end of the village is a mound called Courthill, — one
of those moats, so common in Scotland, on which
justice was administered. Urns and other antiqui-
ties have, in various localities, been dug up. In
this parish the insurrection of 1666 broke out against
the Privy council's measures for the erection of epis-
copacy. Dairy was the birth-place of Sir Bryce
Blair, who resisted the usurpation of Edward I.,
and the home of Captain Thomas Crawford, who
captured Dumbarton castle in the reign of Mary
The village of Dairy is beautifully situated on a
rising ground on the right bank of the Garnock, im-
mediately below the confluence of the Rye with that
river, and not far above the confluence of the Gaaf.
It commands an extensive view to the south and the
* Chalmers derives this name — which was formerly written
Dalrye — from ihe Gaelic Dal, ' a valley,' and Bye, the name of
oae of the streams by which the parish is intersected. But the
writer in the New Statistical Account prefers a derivation from
Dal and High, ' a king,' making the name mean ' the King's val-
ley ;' and he observes that a part of the site of the village is
still called Crottanry, which he supposes to be a corruption of
Croft an High, ' the Croft of the king.'