SKIRLING, a parish, in the county of Peebles, 2 miles (E. N. E.) from Biggar; containing 345 inhabitants, of whom 75 are in the village or hamlet of Skir- ling, and the remainder in the rural districts. This place, the name of which, in some ancient documents written Scraicline, is of uncertain derivation, is not distinguished by any particular event prior to the reiirn of Robert the Bruce, by whom the barony, together with the advowson of the church, was granted to John Monfode, to whose successors the gift was confirmed by charter of David II. From this family the barony passed to the Cockburns, and subsequently to various other families till the time of the Revolution, when it was in the possession of General Douglas, a member of the Queensberry family, after whose death at the battle of the Boyne it was purchased by John, first Earl of Hyndford, and given to his second son, the Honourable William Carmichael, whose descendant Sir Alexander Gibson Carmichael, Bart., is the present proprietor. The parish is two miles and a half in length and nearly the same in breadth, and comprises about 3330 acres, of which 2610 are arable, forty woodland and plantations, and the remainder rough pasture and waste. Its surface is pleasingly undulated, in some parts rising into hills of inconsiderable height. The Biggar water skirts the parish for some distance on the S(mth, and is the principal stream. It has been deepened so as to receive the numerous drains that have been laid down for the improvement of the lands, by which means, and by embankments, a considerable portion of unproductive ground has been reclaimed and brought into profitable cultivation. The stream, however, is still far from being sufficiently deep to allow of the improvement of which the fine level land on its banks is susceptible. There is little variety in the scenery; the want of wood renders it destitute of beauty, and the imperfect state of the inclosures gives it rather a bleak appearance. The soil, however, is generally fertile, and the pastures rich, with the exception of a few patches: the crops are, oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips. Agriculture is advanced, and the rotation plan of husbandry usually practised; the lands are well drained, and all the more recent improvements in implements have been introduced. Lime, bone-dust, and guano are plentifully used; and the farm-buildings, though inferior to some others in the adjoining districts, are substantial and commodious. The dairy forms a principal object of attention; the cows are mostly of the Ayrshire breed, and so much care has been bestowed on their improvement that many of the premiums awarded at the annual exhibition of Biggar have been adjudged to farmers of this place. A few sheep are reared, all of the black-faced breed. The annual value of real property in the parish is £2258. The village is pleasantly situated, and has facility of communication vtith Biggar, the nearest market-town, and with other places in the district, by roads kept in excellent repair. Fairs are held on the third Tuesday after the 11th of May, the first Wednesday after the 11th of June, and on the 15th of September, for cattle and horses. There is a small prison for the temporary confinement of offenders, under the jurisdiction of a baron-bailie appointed by the lord of the barony. Ecclesiastically this place is in the presbytery of Biggar, synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, and in the patronage of Sir Alexander Gibson Carmichael: the minister's stipend is £216. 4. JO., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £60 per annum. Skirling church, which is conveniently situated, is an ancient edifice; it was thoroughly repaired in 17'20, is still in good condition, and adapted for a congregation of 200 persons. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship. The parochial school affords a useful education; the master has a salary of £34. 4. 4^., with £'25 fees, and a house and garden. Attached to the school is a library supported by subscription, comprising a collection of about 300 volumes of well-selected works. A friendly society, also, has been established more than forty or fifty years. There are no vestiges of the ancient castle of Skirling, the very site of which has been obliterated by the plough. It was long the residence of the Cockburn family, of whom Sir James Cockburn in the sixteenth century held the castle of Edinburgh for Mary, Queen of Scots, and was appointed one of her commissioners at the conference at York. From the firm fidelity with which he adhered to the fortunes of that queen, he became obnoxious to the regent Murray, by whose order bis castle of Skirling was utterly demolished in 1568. Several coins of Adrian and Antoninus have been found at Greatlaws, in the parish, within the last five-and-thirty years; and near the same place were discovered some very ancient sepulchres, formed of upright flags of whinstone covered with a slab of the same material. At Kirklaw- Hill are slight remains of some religious establishment whose history is altogether unknown. Howe, the celebrated painter of cattle, was a native of Skirling, of which his father was minister.