JOHNSTONE, a parish, in the county of Dumfries,
9 miles (S. by E.) from Moffat; containing 10/2 inhabitants.
It is generally sujjposed that the name of this
place was derived from some ancient and important personage
of the name of John, distinguished either by his
possessions or achievements, and to whose name the ordinary
Saxon termination ton or toiin was added. From
time immemorial the lands have been the property of
the family of Johnstone, lairds of Annandale, whose castle
of Lochwood, now in ruins, was situated in the north
of the parish, and almost surroinided l)y impassable
bogs and marshes. This fort, which was a place of great
strength, and inaccessible to a foe, induced James VI. to
declare that " he who built Lochwood, though outwardly
an honest man, must have been a knave at heart".
About the end of the sixteenth century, it was burnt by
Robert, natural brother to Lord John Maxwell; in revenge
for which the Johnstones, who were a warlike
tribe, assisted by the famous Buccleuch, the Elliots,
Armstrongs, and Grahams, the bravest of the warriors
of the Scottish border, attacked and cut to pieces a party
of the Maxwells near Lochmaben, where the incendiary
himself, Robert, was among the number of the slain.
Those who escaped taking refuge in the church of Lochmaben,
the sacred edifice was burnt to ashes by the
Johnstones. This rash and sacrilegious act occasioned
the memorable battle of Dryfesands, in which the Johnstones
finally prevailed. Lord Maxwell being attacked behind
and slain by "Will of Kirkhill", while engaged in
single combat with Lord Johnstone.
The PARISH is situated in that district of Dumfriesshire
known by the name of Annandale, and comprehends
a considerable portion of the old parishes of
Garvald and Dumgree. It is six miles in length, and
averages three in breadth. On the north it is bounded
by the parish of Kirkpatrick-Juxta; and on the east by
Applegarth and Wamphray, from both which parishes
it is separated by the river Annan. On the south, at a
narrow part of about a mile, forming the vertex of the
triangular figure of Johnstone, is the parish of Lochmaben;
and on the south-west, the river Kinnel divides
the lands from Kirkmichael parish. The country is
generally flat with a gradual ascent towards the west.
A large proportion of the surface is stony, supplying
great facilities for filling the thorough-drains that have
been cut to so considerable an extent of late years, and
that are so necessary to prepare the land for the successful
operation of the subsoil plough, now in very
general use. The whole of the parish lies between the
rivers Annan and Kinnel, with the exception of 2000 or
3000 acres to the west of the latter stream, which in
their ascent towards Nithsdale rise about 1200 or 1500
feet. The two rivers form a junction two miles below the
southern extremity of the parish. The Annan abounds
with yellow and sea trout, eels, and salmon. Its banks
are subject, in rainy and snowy seasons, to violent inundations,
from which great mischief has arisen to the crops;
two of the most remarkable floods were in August 1/82,
and in August, September, and October 1790.
The SOIL of the flat alluvial land along the Annan is
a dry loam or gravel: in other parts the soil is chiefly a
light loam, resting on gravel or rock, or a moorish soil
lying upon a retentive clay or till; and there are several
peat-mosses, extending to some hundreds of acres. Of
the total area, between 5000 and 6000 acres are under
tillage; about 5000 are uncultivated, or in natural pasture;
from 509 to 1000, which have never been ploughed,
are considered capable of cultivation; and 1500 are
under plantations or natural wood. Wheat was at one
time unknown in this district as a part of the produce,
but it is now partially cultivated; other kinds of grain
are raised, and the green crops, of which turnips and
potatoes are the principal, are abundant and of good
quality. The most improved system of husbandry has
been for some time adopted, and within the last half
century the aspect of the parish has been changed by
the construction of roads, the formation of inclosures,
and especially by the number of comfortable dwellings
erected for the accommodation of the labouring classes.
Pigs are reared in large numbers, and hams and flitches
are sent in great quantities to England. There are two
sheep-farms, on which the stock consists partly of the
native black-faced, and partly of Cheviots. The cattle
are the Galloway, except upon two or three of the farms,
where they are of the pure Ayrshire breed. Great
attention has been paid to the improvement of the cattle,
and in several instances the farmers have obtained premiums
from the Upper Annandale Agricultural Society.
The plantations receive much care: they were greatly
increased about half a century ago by the then Earl of
Hopetoun, at which time a large quantity of Scotch firs,
interspersed with larch and spruce, were added to the
former stock. About a dozen fallow-deer brought from
Hopetoun House, in the year I'SO, were put into an
inclosure opposite the house of Raehills, and after a
while broke loose, and established themselves among
these extensive plantations: since that time no one has
been able to capture or control them; and they are now
increased to the number, as is supposed, of about 200
or 300. The rocks in the district consist of red sandstone,
and whinstone, the latter of which varies much in
its fineness and consistence. Attempts have been made
to discover a vein of lead-ore, the existence of which
seemed to be indicated by several portions occasionally
found above the surface, near Lochwood ruins; but the
expected success has not attended the undertaking. The
annual value of real property in the parish is £4408.
The mansion-house of Raehills, the seat of J. J. Hope
Johnstone, Esq., descendant of the Earls of Hopetoun,
was principally built by James, third earl, grandfather
of the present possessor, in the year 1786; and is a castellated
edifice, of the old baronial style which prevailed
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. A large addition,
fronting the south, and containing an elegant suite of
apartments, has lately been erected, constituting it one
of the most splendid and imposing mansions in the south of Scotland.
This is entirely an agricultural parish, and the population
are scattered. The road from London to Glasgow,
by Carlisle, passes for five miles through the parish;
and that from Dumfries to Edinburgh, by Moffat, for
the same distance: a turnpike-road from Moffat to Lochmaben
and Annan runs for six miles, from north to
south, nearly through its centre. There is a bridge over
the Kinnel at St. Ann's, and one across the Annan at
Johnstone Mills, besides several bridges over the smaller
streams: all these, with the roads, are kept in good repair.
Ecclesiastically the parish is within the bounds of
the presbytery of Lochmaben and synod of Dumfries;
patron, Mr. Johnstone. The stipend is £165. 13., and
there is a good manse, with a glebe of ten acres worth
about 20s. per acre. Johnstone church, which is inconveniently
situated, at the eastern extremity of the
parish, was built in 1733, and rebuilt on an enlarged
scale in 1818; it is now a comfortable and commodious
edifice. There is a parochial school, where
Latin, Greek, and French, and all the usual branches
of education are taught: the master has the maximum
salary, with the fees, which average about £21 per annum,
and £3 received from a bequest left by the late
Mr. Aitkin, farmer, of Kirkbank; he has also the
legal allowance of land. Of two other schools, the
teacher at Goodhope receives £16 a year from the patron
of the parish, with about £10 fees; the master of
the school at Cogrieburn-bridge has an income of £10,
independently of the fees. The parochial library, now
consisting of 300 volumes, was established in 1828, by
the minister of the parish. There was once also a farming
society, founded in 1818, which proved beneficial in
supplying a stimulus to improvements in husbandry,
and especially in the rearing of cattle; but it is now
discontinued. Near the farm of Crawknowes is a small
barrow, or tumulus, said to mark the spot where the
Laird of Lochwood, in a private quarrel, shot the Laird
of Dumgree, whose body he afterwards hid in the earth.
The only other memorial of antiquity is the old castle of
Lochwood, already referred to, supposed to have been
built during the fourteenth century. Dr. Matthew Halliday,
physician to the Empress Catherine of Russia, and
Dr. John Rogerson, who succeeded him in that station,
were born in the parish of Johnstone; the latter died
about twenty years since.