GELSTON, a village, in the parish of Kelton, stewartry
of Kirkcudbright, 3^ miles (S. by E.) from
Castle-Douglas; containing 146 inhabitants. It lies in
the eastern part of the parish of Kelton, in which it is
now comprehended; but it was anciently a parish of
itself, and here are the ruins of its church, which fell
iuto decay previously to 1689, when the union of the
two parishes and that of Kirkcormack took place. A
small burn, flowing in a northern direction, passes near
the village, and falls into the Carlinwark loch; while two
others take a south-eastern course, one on each side of
Gelston hill. Gelston Castle was built by the late Sir
William Douglas, Bart., and is remarkable for the elegance
of its architecture, and the romantic beauty of its
situation. In the village is one of three parochial schools.
Various antiquities have been discovered in the neighbourhood:
on opening a sepulchral tumulus, near Gelston,
a stone coffin was found, seven feet long and three
wide, which contained human bones of unusual length
and thickness.