CLOSEBURN, a parish, in the county of Dumfries;
containing 1530 inhabitants, of whom 123 are
in the village, 2| miles (S. S. E.) from Thornhill. This
place was anciently called Kill-Osburn, from Cella Osburni.
It was formerly remarkable for its very ancient castle,
which for many centuries, together with the greater part
of the parish, belonged to the family of Kirkpatrick.
The parish of Closeburn was annexed to the abbey of
Holyrood, and the parish of Dalgarno, now included
witRin the limits of Closeburn, to the abbey of Kelso;
but the family of Kirkpatrick possessed the patronage of
both churiies, as well as the larger part of the lands.
In the year l6o6, these churches were united by the
General Assembly held at Linlithgow, in which union
they continued till 1648; they were then disjoined, and
so remained until 1697, when Dalgarno was again annexed
to Closeburn. The parish is ten miles in extreme
length,and seven and a half inextreme breadth, containing
30,189 acres. One of its principal features is the valley
of Closeburn, situated in the mountain range, composed
chiefly of transition rock, which runs across the island
from the German to the Atlantic Ocean. The surface
of the parish gradually rises from the western extremity,
til! it attains its highest elevation at the north-eastern
boundary, at which part is Queensberry hill, one of the
loftiest heights in the south of Scotland, and sometimes
called the Queen of Hills, rising 2140 feet above the level
of the sea. The land in the western and midland districts
is chiefly in tillage; there are considerable plantations
towards the east and north, and in this direction the
high grounds consist of extensive moors, unfit for the
plough, but affording good pasture for sheep. The river
Nith runs along the south-western and western, and the
Cample along the north-western and western, boundaries
of the parish. Among the numerous smaller streams
the most distinguished is the Crickup, which, falling over
a precipice ninety feet high, forms the celebrated cascade
known by the name of " Grey mare's tail ". The course
of this stream is beautified by much bold and romantic
scenery; and at Crickup Linn, a second fall, the stream
runs through old worn massive rocks, and is shrouded
from the eye in its passage by rich and varied foliage,
presenting a singularly interesting scene, which the author
of H'averley has compared to the retreat of Balfour of
Burleigh, in Lanarkshire.
Along the river Nith the soil is a fine rich loam:
higher up, it is a sandy gravel to the depth of twenty
feet, well adapted for barley and turnips; and as the
ground further rises, it is of the same nature, but strong
and deep, with a mixture of clay, which feature it retains
till the high land is reached. About 56s3 acres are
under tillage, and 23,006 in pasture; the natural woods
and the plantations cover about 1500 acres. All kinds
of grain are produced, with the usual green crops: the
cattle are of the Galloway and Ayrshire breeds, and great
attention is paid to them; the sheep are of the short
black-faced breed. A limestone rock of great extent was
discovered many years ago, of which advantage was
taken by the proprietor of the parish, who burnt and applied
the contents of it so plentifully that large tracts of
sterile ground, much of which was moor, were brought into
cultivation. From this period the inhabitants date the rise
of their present flourishing system of husbandry. A plantation
of ninety acres, consisting of Scotch fir sixty years
old, was lately cut down, and disposed of for £10,000;
the soil upon which it grew was poor and sandy, and
not worth sixpence per acre when the trees were planted.
The annual value of real property in the parish is £ 1 1 ,873.
The rocks consist of greywacke, limestone, and old red
sandstone. The limestone-quarry above referred to consists
of two distinct beds of different qualities, separated
from each other by about eighteen feet of impure limestone;
the upper bed is of too caustic a nature for the
soil, but the under bed is wrought, and supplies an immense
quantity of lime. Closeburn Hall, the seat of Sir
Charles Stuart Meuteath, Bart., is a spacious structure
in the Grecian style, situated in one of the most beautiful
valleys in the south of Scotland. There are two turnpil<eroads,
one of which connects Annandale with Nithsdale;
the other forms a part of the great road from Glasgow
to Dumfries and Carlisle, and, at a distance of four miles
northward, has a branch to Edinburgh. Great facility of
intercourse is also afforded by the Glasgow, Dumfries, and
Carlisle railway.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposes the parish is within the
bounds of the presbytery of Penpont and synod of
Dumfries; patron, Sir Charles Menteath. The minister's
stipend averages £240, and there is a substantial and
commodious manse, with a glebe of eleven acres, valued
at £19 per annum. Closeburn church was built in 1741,
and has within these few years been thoroughly repaired;
it is a handsome building, conveniently situated, and will
accommodate 6r)0 persons with sittings. The principal
school, which is of some eminence, is a free school, conducted
by a rector and two assistants. It was endowed
in 1723, by John Wallace, Esq., a native of the parish,
and a wealthy Glasgow merchant, who left £1600, part
of which was to be appropriated to the erection of premises,
and the remainder to be invested in land for the
master's salary, which at the present time amounts to
£.500 a year. In this institution the children of the parish
are taught gratuitously all the branches that constitute
a polite education. The chief relic of antiquity is
the castle, a vaulted quadrilateral tower about fifty feet
high, thirty-three long, and forty-five broad; the walls
of the ground-floor are twelve feet thick, and from the
general style of the building it is conjectured that it must
be eight centuries old. There are several large cairns in
the parish.