SANQUHAR, a parish and burgh (royal), in the county of Dumfries, 12
miles (N. W.) from Thornhill, and 57 (S. W. by S.) from Edinburgh;
containing, with the villages of Wanlockhead and Crawickmill,
and the hamlets of Crawickbridge and Windyedge,
3577 inhabitants, of whom 163S are in the burgh. This
place, which is of great antiquity,
appears at a very early period to have been included
in the possessions of a younger branch of the
Ross family, lords of the Isles; from whom it passed,
by marriage with the daughter of the last Ross, lord of
Sanquhar, to William, sou of Thomas, Lord Crichton, in
the reign of Robert Bruce. The barony was subsequently
purchased from the Crichton family by Sir William
Douglas, of Drumlanrig, and is now the property of the
Duke of Buccleuch, who derives the inferior title of Earl
of Sanquhar from this place. The town is pleasantly
situated at a short distance from the river Nith, on the
high road from Dumfries to Ayr, and consists principally
of one spacious street nearly a mile in length. A public
library was established in 1800; it contains nearly 1900
volumes, and is supported by subscription, There is
also a Freemasons' lodge. One of the chief branches of
trade is the weaving of cotton for the Glasgow manufacturers,
who supply the yarn: this affords employment
to about 100 men; and the tambouring of muslin is also
pursued to a considerable extent, about 400 females being
engaged in it. The knitting of stockings, formerly
very extensive, and carried to a high degree of perfection,
is almost discontinued. An extensive carpetmanufacture
has Ijcen established at the village of Crawickmill,
in which are numeroiis looms of the most aj)-
proved construction, with the rc(|uisite machinery for
preiiaring, dyeing, and spinning the yarn. In this establisliment,
in which more than 200 persons are employed,
about eighty tons of wool and 20,000 pounds of
English worsted yarns are annually consumed. A few
of the carpets are sold in the immediate neighbourhood,
and iiome are sent to the London market; but the
greater number are exported to North and South America,
to Hamburgh, and St. Petersburgh. Four fairs are held,
one every quarter, and four annual markets; the former
for general business, and the sale of shoes, onions, and
other articles; and the latter for cattle.
The town was erected into a royal burgh by charter
of James VI., granted to Robert Crichton, lord of Sanquhar,
in 1596, and under which the government is
vested in a provost, three bailies, a dean of guild, a
treasurer, and eleven councillors. There are five incorporated
trades, the weavers, tailors, hammermen, shoemakers,
and squaremen; but none of them possess any
exclusive privileges. The magistrates exercise the usual
civil and criminal jurisdiction. The town-hall, situated at
the end of the High-street, was built at the sole expense
of the Duke of Queensberry, and is a neat structure with
a tower. Sanquhar is associated with Annan, Dumfries,
Kirkcudbright, and Lochmaben, in returning a member
to the imperial parliament; the number of registered
voters is fifty-one. A savings' bank, in which the sums
deposited amount to £5000, was opened in the town in
1819. Facility of communication is afforded by turnpike
and other roads, which are kept in excellent order;
and by bridges over the Nith and the other streams.
The Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle railway will pass
by Sanquhar. A post-office is established, and the
British Linen Company have a branch bank here, opened in 1S31.
The PARISH is about eighteen miles in length, and of
varying breadth, comprising an area of 38,880 acres, of
which 5513 are arable, 735 acres woodland and plantations,
and the remainder hill pasture, moorland, and
waste. It is bounded on the north-east and south-west
by hills of considerable elevation, of which Lowther on
the north-east, connected by a chain of heights with the
Hartfell mountains, towers 3130 feet above the level of
the sea, while Black-Larg hill on the south-west, near
the junction of the counties of Ayr and Galloway, is
2890 feet in height. The lands are divided into two
nearly equal portions by the river Nith, which intersects
the parish from south-east to north-west, and on both
sides of which extends a fine vale more than five miles
in length, whence the grounds have a gradual acclivity.
The Nith flows with a serpentine course, receiving iu its
progress the Crawick and the Minnick on the north-east,
and the Euchan and the Killoe on the south-west, with
numerous smaller streams. In the vale the soil is in
general dry and gravelly, in some parts a rich loam; at
a greater distance from the river, on both sides, it is
chiefly clay and moss, deep, and well adapted for pasture.
The crops are oats, barley, jjotatoes, and turnips. The
system of husbandry has been improved; draining is
extensively practised, and the lands have been inclosed:
the farm-houses are mostly commodious. Great attention
is paid to the rearing and management of live-stock.
The cattle are usually of the native breed; and the sheep,
of which more tlian 20,000 arc kept, are all of the blackfaced
breed, with the exception of about 2000 of the
Cheviot, and a few of the Leicestershire. There are 280
acres of natural wood along the banks of the rivers, consisting
of oak, birch, and hazel; and on the lands of
Eliock arc above 450 acres of plantations of oak, ash,
mountain-ash, elm, birch, beech, hazel, Swedish maple,
larch, spruce, silver-fir, balm of Gilead, and Scotch fir;
all under excellent management and in a very thriving
state. The substrata are limestone, whinstone, and
greywacke; with coal and lead-ore. The limestone,
which is found only between the town of Sanquhar and
the village of Wanlockhead, has been wrought, but not
with any great success. The coal is found in great
abundance in the valley of the Nith, and at present
three mines belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch are in
operation, employing about sixty men; the produce is
of good quality. There is also a seam, the property of
the burgh, in which twenty men are employed. The
lead-ore is extensively wrought at the village of Wanlockhead,
which is described under its own head. The
annual value of real property in the parish is £9,'399.
Eliock House, the seat of James Veitch, Esq., about two
miles from the town, is an ancient mansion, and supposed
to have been the birthplace of the Admirable Crichton.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposes this place is within the
limits of the presbytery of Penpont and synod of Dumfries.
The minister's stipend is £264. 19. "2., with a
manse, and a glebe valued at £30 per annum; patron,
the Duke of Buccleuch. Sanquhar church, erected in
18'24, is an elegant structure in the later English style of
architecture, and contains 1000 sittings. A chapel, or
preaching station, in connexion with the Established
Church, was built at Wanlockhead in 1*5.5, by the
mining company, for the benefit of the persons employed
in the mines; it contains250 sittings, and the minister has
a stipend of £65, paid by the Duke of Buccleuch, with a
house, and a small portion of land. There are places of
worship for members of the Free Church, the United
Presbyterian Church, Reformed Presbyterians, and Baptists.
The parochial schoolmaster has a salary of £.'34.
4. 4., with a house and garden, and the fees; also the
interest of £100 bequeathed by the late Rev. David
Martin, a native of the parish, and a clergyman of the
Church of England. The Crichton school, the master of
which has a salary of £58, was erected within the last
few years, at a cost of £3000, including the site of the
building and the endowment for the master. A school
is also supported by the mining company in the village
of Wanlockhead. The remains of the ancient castle of
Sanquhar are situated on an eminence in the vicinity of
the town, and form an interesting and picturesque ruin;
it was for some time in the possession of the English
during the reign of Edward I., but was retaken by Sir
William Douglas, who put the garrison to the sword.
The Rev. Andrew Thomson, an eminent divine, and
minister of St. George's church, in the city of Edinburgh,
who died in 1831, was a native of this parish.