BALMAGHIE, a parish, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright,
four miles (N. VV.) from Castle-Douglas;
containing 1252 inhabitants, of whom 275 are in the
village of Laurieston, and 243 in that of Bridge of Dee.
This place takes its name from its ancient proprietors
the Mc Ghies, whose ancestor, an Irish chieftain, settled
here at an early period, and who retained possession of
the chief estate in the parish till near the close of the
last century, when the Balmaghie property was purchased
by the present family. The celebrated castle of
Threave, anciently the baronial residence of the family
of Douglas, was built upon the site of a more ancient
structure belonging to the lords of Galloway, who for
many years exercised a kind of sovereignty independent
of the crown of Scotland. In 1451, the eighth Earl of
Douglas, in retaliation of some aggression on his territories,
seized Sir Patrick Maclellan of Bombie, and
detained him prisoner in the castle of Threave, intending
to bring him to trial by right of his hereditary jurisdiction;
and on the arrival of Sir Patrick Grey of Foulis,
commander of the body-guard of James II., with a
warrant from the king demanding his release, Douglas,
suspecting his errand, instantly ordered Maclellan to be
beheaded in the court-yard. A succeeding Earl of
Douglas, levying war against his sovereign, was worsted
in the conflict; and the castle was eventually besieged
by the king in person. On this occasion, the artillery
making no impression upon the walls, which were of
extraordinary thickness, a blacksmith who witnessed the
assault offered to make a cannon of sufficient power for
the purpose; and the family of Maclellan providing him
with iron for the work, he constructed the enormous
cannon afterwards called Mons Meg, weighing more
than six tons and a half. This formidable engine, which
was made in the vicinity of the royal camp, being with
great difficulty dragged to a commanding position in
front of the castle, the first shot spread consternation
among the besieged, and the second pierced through the
wall of the castle, and entering the banquet-hall, carried
away the right hand of the countess, who at the moment
was raising a goblet of wine to her mouth. The garrison
immediately surrendered, and the king presented to the
blacksmith, whose name was Mc Kim or Mc Min, the
lands of MoUance, as a reward for his ingenuity in
devising and accomplishing the means of his success.
This castle was the last of the various fortresses that
held out for the Earls of Douglas, after their rebellion in
1453; and subsequently to the fall of that family, and
the consequent annexation of Galloway to the crown of
Scotland, which took place in 1455, the castle was
granted by the sovereign to the family of Maxwell, who
became hereditary stewards of Kirkcudbright, and afterwards
Earls of Nithsdale. During the parliamentary
war in the reign of Charles I., the Earl of Nithsdale,
who held the castle for the king, kept up in it a garrison
of eighty men, with their officers, at his own expense;
and when no longer able to maintain it against its assailants,
the king, who could send him no assistance,
recommended him to make the best terms that were
possible for the garrison and himself. As hereditary
keepers of the castle, the earls used to receive a fat cow
annually from each parish in the stewartry; and on
selling the estate in 1704, they reserved the castle and
the island, to which they appointed a captain in order
to secure their right to the cattle, which were regularly
paid till the attainder of the earl for rebellion in 1715.
There are still some very conspicuous remains of the
ancient castle, situated on an island about twenty acres
in extent, formed by the Dee, at the south-eastern angle
of the parish; they are the most striking object in the
landscape, and consist chiefly of the keep, which was
surrounded by an outer wall, with four circular turrets,
one only of which is standing. Several stone balls
weighing from one to three pounds and a half, and a gold
ring supposed to be that worn by the countess when
her hand was shot off, were found in the castle in 1843;
and in the year preceding, a large ball of granite nineteen
inches in diameter, thought to be that discharged
from Mons Meg, was found by some labourers who
were clearing the ground.
The PARISH, which is situated nearly in the centre of
the county, is bounded on the north by the Blackwater
of Dee, and on the east by the river Dee. It is
about nine miles in length, and seven in extreme
breadth, comprising 22,000 acres, of which nearly 7000
are arable, and the remainder meadow, pasture, and
waste, with a moderate proportion of woodland and plantations.
Towards the south-east the surface is tolerably
level, but in all other parts hilly, though not strictly
mountainous: the higher grounds command extensive
views, including the Carsphaira and Minnigaff hills to
the north-west, and to the south-east those of Cumberland,
with the Isle of Man in clear weather. In the
uplands are several lakes, of which Loch Grannoch, or
Woodhall, the largest, is about two miles and a half in
length and half a mile in breadth 5 and with the exception
of Lochinbreck, which abounds in trout, they are
all well stored with pike and perch.
In the valley of the Dee the soil is fertile, and there
arc extensive and productive tracts of meadow adjoining
the river; the principal crops grown are oats, barley,
potatoes, and turnips. The system of agriculture is
improved; the farm-buildings are generally substantial
and commodious, and those on the lands of Balmaghie
are all of recent erection, and of a very superior order.
Bone-dust is used as manure for turnips; the lands
have been well drained, and arc mostly inclosed with
stone dykes. The moorlands afford tolerable pasture
for sheep, of which about 4000, of the black-faced breed,
are annually reared; and about 350 of the white-faced,
a cross between the Leicestershire and the Cheviot, are
annually reared on the low grounds. The cattle, of
which about 1000 are fed every year on the uplands,
are of the Galloway and Highland breeds; and on the
lowland farms are numerous cows, principally Galloways,
although the Ayrshire breed is being more and more
introduced. The annual value of real property in the
parish is £6603. The substrata are chiefly greywacke
or whinstone, and in the higher lauds granite is found
m abundance; but there is no limestone, so that what
is required for building or agricultural purposes is
brought from Cumberland. The plantations are not
extensive, but thrive well; they consist mainly of larch
and oak, which appear adapted to the soil. Balmaghie
House, an ancient mansion, in which parts of an older
building have been incorporated, is pleasantly seated
near the river Dee, in grounds beautifully undulated,
and embellished with plantations. Duchrae House, a
handsome mansion of grauite, built in the old English
style, about the year 1S24, is finely situated near the
confluence of the Dee and the Ken. Ecclesiastically the
parish is within the bounds of the presbytery of Kirkcudbright
and synod of Galloway: the minister's stipend
is about £23.5, with a manse and glebe rated
together at £42. 10. per annum; patron, Capt. Gordon,
R.N. The church, built in 1794, is situated near the
Dee: it is in good repair, and contains 400 sittings.
There are two parochial schools; one at the village of
Laurieston, the master of which has a house, and a
salary of £30, with fees averaging nearly an equal sum;
and the other at Glenlochar, the master of which has a
salary of £21. 6. 6., with fees amounting to about £14.
Besides these, is a third school, endowed by the Society
for Propagating Christian Knowledge.