KIRKMAHOE, a parish, in the county of Dumfries,
2 miles (N.) from Dumfries; containing, with
the villages of Dalswinton, Duncow, and Kirkton, 1568
inhabitants. The appellation of this parish is of doubtful
origin; but it is supposed to have been derived
from the position of its church in a hollow place, or
near a river: the church is situated in a fine valley,
and there are evident traces of the river Nitli having at
some time run close by the church. The place is of
considerable antiquity. According to ancient records,
the monks of Arbroath obtained from David II. a grant
of " the church of Kirkmaho, in the diocese of Glasgow",
the patronage of which, however, appears to have
been retained by the Stewarts, who had succeeded the
Cumin family in the barony of Dalswinton. In 1429 the
rectory was constituted a prebend of the bishopric, with
the consent of Marion Stewart, the heiress of Dalswinton;
of Sir John Forrester, her second huslaand; and of
William Stewart, her son and heir; and the Stewart
family long continued to be patrons of this prebend.
At the Reformation, the rectory of Kirkmahoe was held
by John Stewart, second son of the patron. Sir Alexander
Stewart of Garlics. In the seventeenth century,
the patronage passed, with the barony of Dalswinton,
from the Stewarts, Earls of Galloway, to the Earl of
Queensberry, in whose family it remained until the death
of the last Duke of Queensberry in the year 1810, when
it came to the Duke of Buccleuch.
The lands were portioned in ancient times into the
four large estates of Dalswinton, Duncow or Duncol,
Milnhead or Millhead, and Carnsalloch, with which most
of the historical memorials of the parish are interwoven.
The estate of Dalswinton, or " the dale of Swinton ",
was first possessed by the Cumins: in 1250, Sir John
Cumin held this manor as well as that of Duncol, and
gave the monks the liberty of a free passage through
the lands of the two manors to their granges in the
west. On the accession of Bruce, Dalswinton was
granted to Walter Stewart, third son of Sir John
Stewart of Jedworth; and it remained in the family
till 1680, when, with some exceptions, the barony was
disposed of to the Earl of Queensberry. The estate
afterwards came to the Maxwells, by whom it was sold
at the latter end of the last century to the late Patrick
Miller, Esq. It contains 5132 acres, and comprehends
about one-third part of the parish. The barony of
Duncow was forfeited by the Cumins, like that of Dalswinton,
on the accession of Bruce; and was given to
Robert Boyd. In 1550, Robert, Lord Maxwell, was returned
as owner of it in right of his father, of the same
name and title; and it continued in the family until
about sixty or seventy years ago, when it was sold to
various persons. It was in this village that James V.
spent the night before he paid the angry visit, recorded
by historians, to Sir John Charteris of Amisfield: the
site of the cottage where the king slept, near the Chapel
hill, was pointed out by a large stone which remained
there till about half a century ago. The estate of Millhead
was possessed in 1700 by Bertha, wife of Robert
Brown of Bishopton, and heiress of Homer Maxwell of
Kilbean, from which family it passed about 1810 to
Frederick Maxwell, Esq.: it contains 1061 acres. Carnsalloch
in 1550 belonged to Robert, Lord Maxwell, whose
family held it till 1750, when it was sold to Alexander
Johnston, Esq.
The PARISH is seven miles and a half long, and its
extreme breadth is five miles and a half. It contains
about 15,000 acres, and is bounded on the north by
Closeburn parish, on the north-east and east by Kirkmichael
and by Tinwald, on the south and south-east
by Dumfries, on the west by Holywood, and on the
north-west by Dunscore. The northern and eastern
parts are hilly, the land ascending gradually till it terminates
in heights, some of which are between 600 and
800 feet above the level of the sea: the hills of Wardlaw
and Auchengeith rise to 770 feet, and have a declivity
southward. The loftier grounds are covered witli heath
and coarse grass, affording pasture fit only for sheep.
In the vicinity of Tinwald, also, are some undulations
interspersed with low-lying tracts of morass, and which,
when not kept in tillage, are soon overspread with furze
and broom. The river Nith runs along the western
boundary of the parish, and intersects it at one corner.
There are also several small streams or burns, which
abound in trout, and are in many parts distinguished by
romantic scenery: the Duncow burn forms three waterfalls,
one of which, in rainy seasons, has a striking and
imposing appearance.
The SOIL on the high grounds consists in numerous
places of deep moss, beneath which is a gravelly earth,
resting upon a red till or slaty rock. On the sloping
grounds it is gravelly, with a considerable mixture of
sand, and small round stones; and on the low or holm
land the soil is alluvial, mixed with clay. In every
direction is a profusion of pebbles, of ditferent sizes,
rounded and polished by continued attrition, and many
of them variegated with beautiful lines and colours.
This is altogether an agricultural and pastoral parish,
and the capabilities of the soil are for the most part
developed. Grain of all kinds is grown, with the usual
green crops. The sheep are of the Cheviot breed, crossed
with the Leicester; numerous lambs are reared on the
hilly grounds, and on most of the farms the calves are
disposed of to the Dumfries butchers when about six
weeks old. The husbandry in the district is of the most
approved kind; the land is subject to good surface
drainage, and is secured, where necessary, by strong embankments;
the farm-houses are comfortable dwellings,
and suited to the character and circumstances of the
highly-respectable tenants who occupy them. Much has
been done in the way of reclaiming land; and plantations
are to be seen in many places. It was in this parish
that an inestimable addition was first made, in
1786-7, to the agricultural products of Britain, by the
late Patrick Miller, Esq., of Dalsvvinton, who, in that
year, introduced the Swedish turnip into Scotland. From
two ounces of seed, a great part of the now extensive
culture of this valuable esculent may be said to have
sprung; for, as soon as Mr. Miller had obtained, from
the original plants on his own estate, a sufficiency of
seed for his neighbours, and his friends in the Lothians
and elsewhere, it was sown by them with avidity; and
in a short time, extensive breadths of land were laid out
in its successful cultivation. Large importations of the
seed, it is true, were subsequently made by the British
seed-merchants, to supply the increasing demand for
it; yet prodigious quantities of the turnip are now
raised in both countries, and in Ireland, from the proceeds
of the stock sown at Dalswinton. In this parish
the rocks consist chiefly of sandstone, frequently impregnated
with red iron-ore: white marl has been found
in the southern parts; and red soft sand, mixed with
gravel and stones, is in some places abundant. The annual
value of real property in Kirkmahoe is £9357.
The principal mansions are Dalswinton and Carnsalloch,
both of which are modern; and the different
estates are ornamented with fine specimens of stately
timber, consisting of ash-trees, elm, chesnut, and rows
of beech. There are five villages, of which Duncow, the
largest, has a manufactory for coarse woollen-cloths,
worked by water and steam: the village of Dalswinton
is of recent origin. The road from Dumfries to Closeburn
runs for nearly six miles through the parish, which
is also intersected by the Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle
railway. Ecclesiastically the parish is within the
bounds of the presbytery and synod of Dumfries; patron,
the Duke of Bucclcuch. The stipend of the minister
is £238, with a manse, built in 1799, and a glebe
of eight acres of good land valued at £14 per annum.
The church, erected in 1822, is a well-built structure,
rendered picturesque by the foliage in the churchyard
and its vicinity. At Carnsalloch is a mausoleum or family
sepulchral chapel, in the pointed style, recently
erected by the Right Hon. Sir Alexander Johnston; it
is of very handsome design, the windows filled with
stained glass, the floor paved with encaustic tiles, and
all the details are of an artistic character. There was a
meeting-house at Quarrelwood, belonging to the Cameronians;
but it has been converted 'into a poor-house.
Three schools are maintained, each of which is partially
supported by a parochial allowance. The master of the
school at the village of Duncow receives a salary of
£2."). 1,3. 3.; the salary of the master at Dalswinton is
£17; and £8 are given for the support of a third school
at Lakchcad, a remote comer of the parish. At each of
the schools all the usual branches of education arc
taught; and instructiim is occasionally afforded in the
classics and mathematics. The total amount of fees received
by the three masters is £80. About £.^00 have
been bequeathed to the poor; and the sum of £.5 per
annum was left by Mrs. Allan of Newlands, for the
gratuitous instruction of fatherless children at the parish
schools. In digging for the foundation of the church,
some inconsiderable relics were met with. It may be
stated, in relation to this parish, that the application of
steam-power to the navigation of vessels was first successfully
illustrated at Dalswinton, in 1788, by Mr. Miller,
of whom mention has been already made. It is also
deserving of record, that the introduction, in 1790, of
the modern threshing-machine into this district, was
effected under the auspices of Mr. Miller, who first used
it on his own farm of Sandbed, in the presence of a
number of the agricultural class, whom he had invited
to witness its operation, with a view to manifest its efficiency
and encourage its adoption. Bishop Corrie, of
Madras, was a native of the parish; as was also the late
Allan Cunningham. See Dalswinton.