KIRKPATRICK-FLEMING, a parish, in the county
of Dumfries, 6 miles (E. N. E.) from the town of Annan;
containing, with the hamlet of Newton, and the village
of Fairyhall with Hollee, 1692 inhabitants. This parish
derives its appellation from the celebrated Irish saint,
Patrick; Fleming, the name of the ancient lord of the
manor, having been added, to distinguish it from other
parishes called Kirkpatritk. On account of its situation
near the border, it was formerly the arena of many sanguinary
conflicts; and the numerous towers still remaining
in the vicinity testify the active warfare to which its
position exposed it. The family of Fleming, who were
very conspicuous in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,
held certain lands here by the tenure of defending
them at all times against the English. Their chief
seat and castle was at i?e(/-//n?/, where, towards the conclusion
of the reign of John Baliol, thirty of their followers
were besieged by an English force at the time of
one of Edward's incursions into Scotland, and, after
bravely defending their post for three days, chose rather
to perish in the flames kindled around the castle by the
enemy, than to submit to capture. This castle, as well
as another at Holm- Head, the property of the Flemings,
has entirely disappeared; but a third, at Stone-house,
also formerly possessed by the family, and now the property
of the Earl of Mansfield, is still partly standing in
the neighbourhood.
The old Tower of fVoodhouse, said to have been the
first house in Scotland to which Robert Bruce came,
when fleeing from Edward Longshanks, also remains.
It was then possessed by the Irvines, one of whom Bruce
took into his service; and after having made him his
secretary, he knighted him, and in reward for his fidelity
and services, presented him with the lands of the forest
of Drum, in the north of Scotland. Near this tower, a
little northward, stands the cross of Merkland, an octagonal
stone pillar nine feet high, and elegantly sculptured.
The time and occasion of its erection are doubtful
J but it is supposed by some to have been raised to
perpetuate the memory of the murder of IMaxwell, master-
warden of the marches, who was stabbed on this
spot by a man of the name of Gas, from the ])arish of
Cummertrees, in revenge for a sentence which Ma.xwell
had passed upon a cousin of his. The particulars are
these. Ma.\well, just before the murder, had been in
pursuit of the Duke of Albany and tlie Earl of Douglas,
who for some time had been exiles in England, but who,
making an incursion into their native land in 1483,
pioceeded to Loclimaben, and plundered the market
there, in order to try the disposition of tlicir countrymen
towards them. He came up with their forces at Burnswark,
from which place an action was fought as far as
Kirkconnol, when Douglas was taken prisoner, but the
duke contrived to make his escape. Maxwell, having
recovered the booty, and obtained a victory, was leisurely
pursuing the remnant of the iiostile army, and resting
from his weariness through marching anil fighting, when
he fell by the clandestine attack of his malicious foe.
The cross that surmounts the pillar is composed of three
fleurs-de-lis, and, according to a tradition long current in
the district, commemorates the spot where a chief of the
border family of Carruthers was slain, nearly in the
manner above described, when retreating after the defeat
of Solway Moss. The three fleurs-de-lis composing the
cross, being the armorial bearings of the Carruthers family,
give a greater air of probability to this tradition.
The present parish comprehends the old parish of
Kirkconnel, which is said to have derived its name from
Connel, a saint who flourished at the commencement of
the seventh century; and within the burial-ground of
Kirkconnel there still remains a part of the ancient
church. The parish is about six miles long and three
broad, and contains 11, ,5*5 acres. It is bounded on the
north and north-west by the parish of Middlebie, on the
east and north-east by Halfmorton, on the south and
south-east by Graitney, and on the west and south-west
by the parishes of Annan and Dornock. The surface
consists of a succession of gentle undulations and fertile
vales, in the latter of which are cultivated fields inclosed
by fine hedge-rows, or ornamented with thriving plantations.
The Kirtle, the only river, runs through a romantic
vale; the banks are covered with rich clusters
of natural wood, and adorned with plantations, gentlemen's
seats, and ancient towers. It contains trout, eels,
and perch; and after a course of about eighteen miles
from its source in the parish of Middlebie, it falls into
the Solway to the east of Redkirk, in Graitney.
The SOIL in some parts is light, resting upon gravel,
sand, or rock. In other places it consists of a deep
strong earth, of a red cast, and mixed with a considerable
proportion of sand; and this description of soil, with
slight variations, and lying upon a subsoil sometimes
of clay and sometimes of gravel, is the prevailing kind
in the southern part. Large portions of the parish are
mossy land, varying in depth from six to eighteen Inches,
and resting upon a bed of clay. The clay found as a
subsoil under ridges, peat-mosses, and soft bogs, is generally
white, blue, or red. There is also in the parish
a portion of the land called whitestoiie land, which, though
naturally barren, is capable of some degree of improvement.
About S060 acres are cultivated or occasionally
in tillage; 2009 are in coarse pasture; 900 are wet moss;
and 605 are occupied by wood. Much of the land now
waste is considered capable of profitable cultivation.
All kinds of grain and green crops are produced, and of
good quality: of the latter, turnips and potatoes are the
most abundant, and the grain is principally barley and
oats. An immense number of swine are kept; and fattened,
to a great extent, upon potatoes. The best method
of husbandry Is understood and practised; farm-dung
is used as manure, and lime is procured from several
neighljouring places. Great advances have been made
in the draining of morasses, and the conversnm of moors
into good arable land. The houses, also, have undergone
an entire change within the last thirty or forty
years, the mud and clay huts covered witli tliatch having
been disi)laced by neat and convenient buildings of stone
and lime, roofed with slate. The rocks in tlie ])arish
are |)rlnclpally of the sandstone formation, and are found
of various colours; Init those that prevail most are a
dark-red and white, which are exceedingly hard and durable,
and admit of a fine polish. There Is also excellent
limestone. The annual value of real ])roperty in
Kirkpatrick-Flcming Is £'()'.i^i. The mansions are,
Springkcll, the seat of Sir John Heron Ma.vwell, a
remarkably elegant building in the Grecian style; Mossknowe,
the residence of Col. Graiiain, enriched with fine
plantations and gardens; Langshaw; Wyesbie; Cove;
and Broatshoiise. The population are principally employed
in agriculture, the only manufacture being that
of cotton, which is carried on by about 1 50 weavers employed
by a house in Carlisle. The road from Carlisle
to Glasgow and to Edinburgh, by MoEfat, passes for five
miles through the middle of the parish, and in the western
corner crosses a road which runs from Annan to Edinburgh,
by Langholm and Selkirk, in a northern direction.
Four bridges have been thrown over the Kirtle,
and there are one or two in other parts: all of these, as
well as the roads, are in good repair. Great facility of
intercourse is also afforded by the Caledonian railway,
which has a noble viaduct across the Kirtle; it afterwards
runs along the ridge of the east bank of the river,
and passing by the Kirkpatrick station on the line, quits
the parish for the adjoining parish of Graitney.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposBS the parish is in the
presbytery of Annan and synod of Dumfries; patrons,
alternately. Sir John Heron Maxwell and Colonel Graham.
The stipend of the minister is £226, with a good
manse, and a glebe of about twenty-four acres, worth
£25 a year. Kirkpatrick church, a plain edifice, was
partly rebuilt about the year 1780, and was thoroughly
repaired in 1835; it is capable of accommodating SOO
persons. In the churchyard lie interred the remains of
several members of the Coultharts of Coulthart, chiefs
of their name, who in the last century possessed considerable
property in the parish. The members of the
Free Church have a place of worship. There are two
parochial schools: the master of the Kirkpatrick school
receives a salary of £'25. 13., with about £30 fees, and
£5 from a bequest by Dr. Graham, of Mossknowe, for
instructingeight poor children gratuitously. The master
of the Gair school receives the same amount of salary as
the other master, with £23 in fees; and both masters
have the allowance of house and garden. The usual
branches of education are taught; in addition to which,
at the Kirkpatrick school, instruction is given in the
classics, mathematics, and French. A parochial library
and a savings' bank have been established. In the
burial-ground of Kirkconnel are still to be seen the
tombstones of " Fair Helen" and her favourite lover,
Adam Fleming. A rival of Fleming's having unsuccessfully
courted Helen, vowed revenge, and soon found an
opportunity to attempt his purpose. Seeing the lovers
walking together on the banks of the Kirtle, he was
about to take the threatened revenge on Fleming; but
being observed by Helen in the midst of the bushes, she
rushed to her lover's bosom to rescue him from the
danger, and received the fatal wound herself and expired.
Fleming immediately despatched the murderer on the
spot, and afterwards went abroad to serve under Spain
against the Infidels, in the hope of wearing out the impressions
of his love and grief. He soon returned,
however, and stretching himself on Helen's grave, expired,
and was buried by her side. Upon the tombstone
are engraven a sword and a cross, with the inscription.
Hie jacet Adam Fleming. The Scotch ballad so well
known, describing the murder, is said to have been
written in Spain by Fleming himself. Not far from
Cove, a piece of gold worth £12 was found about a
century ago, eighteen inches under ground: on one end,
the word Helenus was stamped in Roman capitals.
There are three chalybeate springs in the parish, nearly
alike in qualitj', and also one of a strong sulphureous
nature, highly celebrated in scrofulous and scorbutic
cases, and which Sir Humphrey Davy considered to
possess properties similar to those of the Moffat well.
The late eminent physician, Dr. James Currie, was born
here in the year 1756. He was the author of yi Commercial
ami Political Letter to Mr. Pitt, published under
the assumed name of Jasper Wilson, in 1/93, and which
excited much attention, and passed through several editions.
He also published a Life of Burns. This was
likewise the birthplace of the late Rev. Mr. Stewart,
of Erskine, so famous for the cure of consumption.