URR, a parish, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright,
85 miles (E. N. E.) from Castle-Douglas; containing,
with the villages of Dalbeattie, Hardgate, Haugh, Springholm,
and part of the village of Crocketford, 3096 inhabitants,
of whom 996 are in the rural districts. This
place, the name of which is of obscure origin, claims a
considerable degree of antiquity. From the remains
of some fortified camps, and the discovery of Roman
coins and military weapons, it is supposed to have been
visited by the Romans. The parish is bounded on the
west by the river Urr, and is nearly sixteen miles in
length, and rather more than two and a half in average
breadth, comprising an area of 30,000 acres, of which
25,000 are arable, 1000 woodland and plantations, and
the remainder meadow, pasture, and waste. Its surface,
though for the greater part even, is diversified by a range
of heights called the Larg hills, which have an elevation
of 600 feet above the level of the sea; and the scenery,
being enriched with wood, is generally of pleasing character.
The only lakes of any importance are those of
Milton and Achenreoch, the former about three miles,
and the latter two miles and a half in circumference;
they are both situated near the northern boundary of
the parish, and contain perch and pike. The river Urr
has its source in Loch Urr, on the confines of Dumfriesshire,
and flows southward into the Sohvay Firth, receiving
in its course several small tributaries: of these
the chief is the burn of Kirkgunzeon, which is navigable
for vessels of sixty tons from Dalbeattie to its influx.
Several kinds of fresh-water fish are taken in the river,
which formerly abounded also with salmon.
The SOIL, except in the upland parts of the parish,
which are moorland, is generally, though light, of great
fertility, and in a state of high cultivation: oats, barley,
wheat, potatoes, and turnips are the chief crops. Husbandry
has rapidly improved within the last half century,
and large quantities of grain and other produce are exported
to Liverpool and other English markets. Great
attention is paid to the breeds of live stock: black-cattle,
sheep, and swine are reared in considerable numbers;
and since the introduction of bone-dust as a manure for
turnips, many sheep have been fattened for the market,
and sent by steamers to Liverpool. The plantations are
extensive, and in a thriving state; they consist of oak,
ash, elm, and Scotch fir, for which the soil seems well
adapted, and many of the trees have attained a luxuriant
growth. In this parish are limestone and ironstone, the
former of very hard and compact texture, and the latter
also of good quality, and in great abundance; but from
the want of coal, neither of them has been wrought.
The hills to the south are of a ligbt-grey granite, and
quarries have been opened, from which materials were
raised for building the houses in the village of Dalbeattie.
The annual value of real property in the parish is
£10,457. Spottes, the seat of William Young Herries,
Esq., is an ancient structure situated on the east bank
of the Urr. The villages are described under their respective
heads. Fairs, chiefly for hiring farm-servants,
are held at Dalbeattie in April and October; and facility
of communication is afforded by the turnpike-road from
Carlisle to Portpatrick, which intersects the parish.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposcs this place is within the
limits of the presbytery and synod of Dumfries. The
minister's stipend is £232. 19. 6., with a manse, and a
glebe valued at £30 per annum; patron, the Crown.
The church, erected in 1815, at an expense of £1000, is
a neat plain structure containing 81 5 sittings. A chapel
in connexion with the Established Church, the minister
of which is appointed by the managers and male communicants,
was lately erected in the village of Dalbeattie;
where, also, are a Free church, a place of worship for the
United Christian Congregation, and a Roman Catholic
chapel. There are a place of worship for members of
the United Presbyterian Church at Hardgate, and one
for Reformed Presbyterians at Springholm. Parochial
schools are maintained at Urr, Dalbeattie, and Milton;
the masters have respectively salaries of £22. 8. 9., £18,
and £11, in addition to their fees. On the estate -of
John Sinclair, Esq., of Redcastle, is a rude pillar of red
granite, about twenty-five feet high, which, tradition says,
marks the spot where rest the ashes of one of the princes
of Galloway, there slain in battle. In the parish are
several moats, of which that of Urr is sup])osed to be
one of the most extensive in the kingdom j it is situated
on the bank of tlie river, about half a mile from the
church, and is surrounded with a fosse. At I<>dingham
was found, some years since, a tripod of Roman workmanship,
of a very hard metal, apparently a ccmiposition
of tin and copper; and three small silver coins of
Adrian, Tiberius, and Commodus, have been discovered
about a mile from the moat. A Roman javelin, also,
has been found in a peat-moss in the upper part of the
parish. The Rev. Dr. Alexander Murray, an eminent
professor of the Oriental languages, was for some time
minister of Urr.