Agnews of Lochnaw

30 FIRST SETTLEMENT AT LOCHNAW. [l330.
cured of continued diseases by washing therein." 1 As to the
name : —
In the time of the Crusades a Scottish warrior, carrying
on his shield a boar (which in Gaelic, the old Galloway tongue,
is " Cullach,") was conspicuous from his personal daring in the
Holy Land. On his return, William the Lion, in reward of
his prowess, granted him the lands of Myrton, Glasserton, Kil-
leser, and Auchtnaught ; and the soldier adopted as his patronymic
the word " Cullach," his old nom-de-guerre. His son was thence
naturally styled Mac-Cullach, and was called Godfrey, after
Godfrey de Bouillon, King of Jerusalem.
At Auchtnaught, in Kirkmaiden, the foundations of a large
and strong building are to be traced at the present day, which
the peasantry call " the hunting-seat of the M'Cullochs." It
has been ruinous for ages, but probably was in existence at the
settlements of the Agnews at Lochnaw.
Cardoness, in the stewartry, came, at a very early period, into
the possession of the M'Cullochs through an heiress, respecting
which there is a whimsical tradition.
A certain laird of Cardoness having exhausted his resources
in the building of his castle, joined a band of border thieves, and
amassed considerable property by plunder. During twenty years
of married life his wife had borne him nine daughters ; but this
did not satisfy his now increased anxiety to perpetuate his name,
and he threatened his lady that unless at her approaching con-
finement she produced a son, he should drown her and all her
nine daughters together in the Black Loch, and look out for
another wife. The probability of his carrying out this threat
was not doubted for a moment, and hence great was the joy
of both the lady and her neighbours when she actually presented
her husband with a boy.
It was then mid-winter, and the lake firmly frozen over,
whereupon the laird announced his determination of giving a
1 Symson's Large Description of Galloway. He adds of the castle, " Part of
this house is built upon a little round hillock, whereof there are several artificial
ones in this country, called Motes."