LOCHRUTTON, a parish, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright,
4 miles (W. S. W.) from Dumfries; containing
659 inhabitants, of whom 130 are in the village of
Lochfoot. This parish, which is situated in the eastern
portion of the stewartry, takes its name from a lake on
what was formerly the great road to Ireland, called in
the Gaelic language Rutton, or " the straight road." The
district is four miles and a half in length and three miles
in breadth, and comprises nearly SOOO acres, of which
about 6500 are arable, meadow, and pasture; 250 woodland
and plantations, and the remainder moss, moorland,
and waste. Its surface is boldly undulated to the south,
east, and west, rising towards the boundaries in those
directions into considerable elevation, but subsiding
towards the north into a rich and pleasant vale. The
lake from which the parish takes its name is about a mile
in length, more than half a mile in breadth, and abounds
with pike, perch, and eels; in the centre is a small
circular island, partly artificial. The only river is the
Cargen Water, a small stream issuing from the lake, and
which, after receiving various tributaries in its course for
nearly two miles through the parish, falls into the broad
stream of the Nith below Dumfries.
In this parish the soil is generally a light shallow
loam, and the arable lands are under good cultivation;
the crops are oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips, with
the various grasses. The farm-buildings are substantial
and commodious, and the various improvements in husbandry
have been adopted. A considerable number of
cattle and sheep are fed on the pastures, and sent to the
English markets; and large quantities of oats and barley
are forwarded to Dumfries for sale. The principal substrata
are whinstone and granite: limestone is found,
but of very indifferent quality; and a bed of shell-marl
has been discovered, which is used as a substitute for
lime. The Markland Well, a chalybeate spring supposed
to be efficacious in diseases of the stomach, is resorted to
during the summer and autumnal months. Lochfoot is
a small village, inhabited chiefly by persons engaged in
rural pursuits. There are a mill for oats and barley, and
one for dressing flax, both of which are driven by the
stream from the lake; and to the latter mill is attached
machinery for carding wool and for savi'ing timber. The
great military road from Dumfries to Port])atrick passes
through the whole length of the parish. The annual
value of real property in Lochrutton is £3836. For
ecclesiastical purposes this place is witliin the bounds
of the presbytery and synod of Dumfries: the minister's
stipend is £182. 6. 4. with a manse, and a glebe valued
at £15 per annum; patron, the Duke of Buccleuch.
Lochrutton church, a neat plain structure erected in 1819,
contains 300 sittings. The parochial school is attended
by aljout seventy children: the master has a salary of
£.50, with a house and garden, and the fees, averaging
£15 per annum; also the interest of a bequest of .£62.
A small school situated at the extremity of the parish is
partly supported by a bequest from the Rev. George
Duncan, formerly minister. On a hill in the eastern extremity
of the parish are the remains of a Druidical
temple; and near the lake is still, tolerably entire, one of
the towers of the ancient castle of The Hills, a stronghold
of the Douglas family when lords of Galloway: in this
fortress Edward I. is said to have passed a night, on his
route from Caerlaverock to Kirkcudbright.