DURISDEER, a parish, in the county of DuMFRIES;
containing, with part of the village of Carronbridge,
1445 inhabitants, of whom 107 are in the village
of Durisdeer, 6 miles (N. by E.) from Thornhill.
This district, which in ancient times was covered with
wood, is supposed to derive its name from duris, signifying
a door, and deer, a forest. Several great families
have been connected with it, the chief of which are
those of Douglas, Stuart, the Menzies of Enock, and
the Hunters of Balagan. Its castle, with the fortresses
of Dumfries, Dalswinton, and Morton, by an agreement
between the English and the Scots, was demolished, as
troublesome to the former, at the restoration of King
David Bruce, who, after being captured at the battle of
Durham, had been kept eleven years prisoner in England.
The parish is eight miles long and six broad,
and contains nearly 20,000 acres. It is almost surrounded
by hills, covered with grass, heath, or bent,
and the highest of which are the Lowthers, on its northeastern
side, which rise 3130 feet above the level of the
sea: the climate is bleak, but dry and healthy. The
river Nith runs through the lands, in a direction from
north-west to south-east, and besides this important
stream, there are five considerable burns, viz., the
Enterkin, the Carron, the Hapland, the Maarburn, and
the burn at Crarie-Knoll.
The soil in general is loamy, deep, and fertile, in
many places inclining to a reddish colour; in some
parts it is gravelly and sandy, and occasionally wet and
heavy. About 7896 acres are cultivated, 9554 are hillpasture,
and 2000 are occupied by wood, including 500
acres that are of natural growth: the plantations chiefly
consist of hard-woods, in the thinning of which every
tree is in course of time removed, except the oak. The
usual kinds of grain and various green crops are raised,
of good quality; the cattle are of the Galloway breed,
and the sheep the black-faced: the improved system of
husbandry is followed, and considerable advances have
been made in fencing, the construction of farm-buildings,
and the formation of roads. The annual value of
real property in the parish is £7901. The rocks in the
hills are whinstone or greywacke, and on the low
grounds chiefly sandstone of a red colour, and very soft.
though in some places white, and of a much firmer
texture: quarries have been opened for stone adapted
for farm-buildings and dykes. Drumlanrig Castle, in
the parish, a seat of the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry,
whose property extends over a very large district
in this part of the country, is described under its own
head. The village is situated near the eastern boundary
of the parish, on the road from Dumfries to Edinburgh.
Ecclesiastically the parish is within the bounds of the
presbytery of Penpont, synod of Dumfries; patron, the
Duke of Buccleuch. The stipend of the minister is
£221, and there is a manse, with a glebe valued at £25
per annum. Durisdeer church, erected in 1720, contains
a handsome marble monument, representing James,
second Duke of Queensberry, weeping over the form of
his deceased duchess: a vault attached to the church
is the burying-place of the family. There are two parochial
schools, in which the classics and the usual
branches of education are taught; the salaries of the
masters are respectively £30 and £24, with about £10
fees each, and the accommodation of a house each. A
third school is carried on in the parish, at Enterkinford;
the master receives £10 per annum from the Duke of
Buccleuch. About a mile above the church are vestiges
of a Roman camp which appears to have been a summer
station connected with the camp at Tibbers.