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

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Lilfle-ferry, At this ferry is an excellent roadstead,
where vessels of considerable burden can lie at
anchor ; but a bar runs across the entrance. On
the Sutherland coast, too, in calm weather, vessels
of small burden may lie in safety ; but a formidable
bar extends from this coast almost to the south
side of the frith, called, from the incessant noise,
the Gizzing Briggs. The banks, however, forming
this bar, are not so closely connected but that ves-
sels may enter with safety under the direction of a
pilot. The shores produce shell-fish, and the banks
abound with cod and haddocks ; but no vigorous
exertion has been made to render these fisheries an
object of importance.
DORNOCK,* a parish on the Solway frith, in the
district of Annandale, Dumfries-shire. A small part
of it, in the form of a pentagon, and containing an
area of about a square mile, is detached from the
main body, and lies about i a mile to the north,
bounded on the west by Annan, and on the other three
sides by Kilpatrick- Fleming. The main-body, which
also is pentagonal, is bounded on the north-east by
Kirkpatrick- Fleming ; on the east, by Gretna; on
the south by the Solway frith ; and on the west
and north-west by Annan. The extreme length of
the parish, including both parts, but not the inter-
mediate space, is 4 miles ; its extreme breadth 2^
miles ; and its area 3,880 acres. Nearly the whole
surface is cultivated, and well-enclosed. The soil,
in general, is loam on brick earth ; and, though ra-
ther damp in winter, is productive of luxuriant
crops. Neither coal nor limestone has been found ;
but freestone is plentiful. A brook rises in Robgill-
moss, a small bog in the northern or detached part,
and traverses the main-body through nearly its centre.
Perennial springs of the purest water abound. Kirtle
water washes the north-east boundary, and contains
a few trouts, eels, pike, and perch. The coast is about
2J miles in extent, and is low and sandy. The Sol-
way frith is here 2 miles wide, and fordable during
the recess of the tide. Fearful accidents, however,
are liable to assail any passenger not intimately ac-
quainted with the peculiarities of the path. The
tide flows with the rapidity ofarace-horse, and comes
careering along with a breast of waters 4 or 5 feet
high. Great quantities of salmon, grilse, and floun-
ders, are here caught, chiefly by means of trap-stake-
nets, and sent off to the market of Carlisle. The
parish is traversed from east to west by the great
road from Carlisle to Port-Patrick ; and is other-
wise well-provided with means of communication.
As to antiquities, there are remains of a Roman mi-
litary road, a druidieal temple, and a strong square
tower, — the last is on the estate of the Marquis of
Annandale. Various and remarkable tomb-stones,
one or two of considerable antiquity, are to be seen
in the burying-ground. On what was anciently a
moor in the parish, a battle is traditionally said to
have been fought between the Scotch and English,
the former commanded by Sir William Brown of
Coalston, and the latter by Sir Marmaduke Lang-
dale and Lord Crosby. The English, it is said,
were defeated, and both of their commanders slain,
and afterwards interred in Dornock church}'ard.
Two stones, each 6| feet long, 2 broad, and raised
in the middle like a coffin, mark the place of the re-
ported interment. On the sides of these tombs are
cut hieroglyphics, like the broad leaves of plants,
and other antique figures quite unintelligible. A
spring- well on the spot where the battle was fought,
is still called Sword-well, and probably acquired the
* The name ia derived either from the Gaelic Durnochd,
which signifies ' the bare or naked water;' or from Tor or Dor,
'an oak,' and nock, ' a knoll or hill/ signifying jointly, l an
ouk-covered eminence.'
name from some swords of the defeated having been
found in its vicinity. The village, or hamlet of
Dornock, a poor and unimportant place, stands on
the great highway, | of a mile from the shore. Po-
pulation of the parish, in 1801, 788; in 1831, 752.
Houses 148. Assessed property, in 1815, .£4,135.
— Dornock, formerly a rectory, is in the presbytery
of Annan, and synod of Dumfries. Patron, the Duke
of Buccleuch. Stipend £208 3s. 6d. ; glebe ±'25.
Church built in 1793 ; sittings 300. — Schoolmaster's
salary £34 4s. , with £24 other emoluments. There
are 2 schools non-parochial.
DOUGLAS, a large parish in the upper ward of
Lanarkshire ; bounded by the parish of Lesmahagow
on the north and north-west ; Carmichael and Wiston
on the east; Roberton and Crawfordjohn on the
south-east and south; and Muirkirk in Ayrshire on
the west. In length it extends upwards of 12 miles,
an;! varies from 4 to 7 in breadth. According to the
New Statistical Account, its superficial area contains
about 28,004 Scots acres, of which 3,816 are arable,
22,376 pasture, 1,492 wood, and 320 flow-moss. It
is watered by the Douglas, which rises in Cairntable,
and after a course of about 16 miles, falls into the
Clyde, and greatly swells the volume of its waters.
The Douglas water in its course receives several
streamlets, which lend beauty if not fertility to the
parish ; the names of which are the Peniel, Monks,
Podowrin, Kinnox, Glespin, Parkburn, and Craig--
burn. The aspect of the parish is one which pos-
sesses in a considerable degree the elements of rural
loveliness, presenting as it does all the pleasing
alternations of hill and dale, woodland and streamlet.
Cairntable rises to the height of more than 1,600
feet above the level of the sea, and generally the
parish is high-lying, none of it being at a lower ele-
vation than 650 feet above the sea-level, and near] y
40 miles distant from the coast in every direction.
As has been stated, by far the larger portion of the
superficies of the parish is laid out for pasture, and
the stock of sheep which it maintains is estimated at
nearly 16,000 head. " The winds generally blow
impetuously about the time of the equinox, and fre-
quently in autumn shake a deal of corn. They blow-
mostly from the south-west, which being the direc-
tion of the river, and the banks high on each side,
what would be accounted a moderate breeze in other
places, is here often a kind of hurricane." [Statis-
tical Account of 1792.] — But although this is a dis-
trict of which it may be occasionally said, that
" Winter lingering chills the lap of May,"
it is an extremely healthy one, and instances of
longevity among the inhabitants are frequent. The
parish is rich in mineral wealth, and such is the
thickness and abundance of the seams of coal, that
the supply, it has been stated, will be exhaustless for
centuries. Much of it is sold out of the parish to
a considerable distance. Limestone and freestone
are worked, and the presence of ironstone has been
ascertained. In the year 1 792 a small cotton spinning
and weaving factory was established at Douglas vil-
lage, by a Glasgow company. After having been in
existence for a few years, it was discontinued ; but a
manufacturing connexion having been then formed
with Glasgow, it is still kept up, and the greater
portion of the inhabitants of the village of Douglas
are employed in the trade of handloom weaving. In
early times the village of Douglas, in addition to
being a burgh-of-barony, was a place of considerable
importance, and its magistrates possessed the powet
of life and death over culprits ; but, like many other-
towns in Scotland which basked in the sunshine of a
feudal chief, it has survived its pristine dignity. The
road from Edinburgh to Glasgow by Carnwath,