DALRY, a parish, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright,
15 miles (N. N. W.) from Castle-Douglas; containing
1215 inhabitants, of whom 574 are in the village
of St. John's Clachan. This parish, the name of which,
signifying the "Royal Dale", is derived from a level
and fertile plain called the Holm, is about fifteen miles
in length, and seven miles in breadth, comprising 33,000
acres. Its surface is diversified with hills, of which
some are green to their summit, and others are covered
with barren heath; the proportion of arable land is
very small, nearly four-fifths of the area being pasture.
The river Ken, which rises in the northern extremity of
the parish, forms the western boundary between it and
the parish of Kells, and after a beautifully-winding course,
flows through Loch Ken into the river Dee. The smaller
streams are the Blackwater, the Earlston, and the
Stronriggan, which run through the parish into the Ken;
they all abound with trout, and in the Ken are found
also pike and salmon. The chief lakes are Lochinvar,
Boston, Knocksting, and Knockman, of which Lochinvar,
about fifty acres in extent, is the most important;
the others arc all of very small dimensions, and undistinguished
by any features requiring notice. In Lochinvar
are the remains of the ancient castle of the Gordons,
Knights of Lochinvar, and afterwards Viscounts Kenmure;
and near it is a cairn, raised as a trophy on a
spot where the first knight killed a wild boar that in-
fested this part of the country. The scenery along the
banks of the Ken is enriched with ancient woods of considerable
extent, of which the largest is that of Earlston,
formerly a hunting-seat of the Earl of Bothwell, and in
which are some plantations of stately fir.
The SOIL on the Holm lands is tolerably fertile, yielding
favourable crops of barley, oats, turnips, potatoes,
and rye; and the hills and higher lands afford excellent
pasture. The system of agriculture is improved; and
the surface has been drained, and inclosed with stone
dykes of sufficient height to afford shelter to the cattle.
Great numbers of sheep and black-cattle are reared in »
the pastures. In the village is a post-office under that y ti^*^-*
of Castle-Douglas; and facility of communication is »
maintained by good roads, of which those leading from
Kirkcudbright to Ayr and Glasgow, and from Newton-
Stewart to Dumfries and Edinburgh, intersect the parish.
The annual value of real property in Dairy is £5768.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposcs the parish is within the
bounds of the presbytery of Kirkcudbright and synod of
Galloway. The minister's stipend is £217. 12., with a
manse, and a glebe valued at £20 per annum; patron,
William Forbes, Esq., of Callendar. Dairy church, erected
in the year 1832, is a neat structure containing 700 sittings:
in the churchyard is an aisle of the old church,
quite detached from the present building, and which is
the burying-place of the Gordon family. There is a
place of worship for members of the United Presbyterian
Church. Two parochial schools, the masters of which
have a yearly salary of £25 each, with a house and garden,
in addition to fees, are supported by the heritors,
and together attended by more than forty children. A
grammar school was founded by Dr. Robert Johnson, of
London, who endowed it with £1000 for the gratuitous
instruction of the children of the parish; it is under the
management of two masters, who have salaries of £15
a year each, and is attended by nearly 120 children. The
building, erected in 1658, comprises a good dwellinghouse
and schoolroom, with eight acres of land attached
to it. There are remains of ancient buildings on
the adjoining farms of Benbreck and Manquhill, supposed
to have been the residence of a branch of the Galloway
family; and in various parts of the parish are intrenchments
for the security of cattle during the times of the
border warfare. See Clachan, St. John's.