KIRKCUDBRIGHT, (Stewartry of.) The stewartry of forming the eastern division of the an cient province of Galloway, is hounded on the east, north, and west, by the counties of Dumfries, Ayr, and Wigton ; and on the south, by the Irish sea and the Solway Frith. It is divided into 23 parishes, and, according to the survey of Mr. Ainslie, contains 449,316 Scots, or 564.840 English acres.
The stewartry of Kirkcudbright is generally hilly, and uneven in its surface. But the district lying to the north west of a line, drawn from the middle of the parish of Iron gray to Gatehouse, may be termed mountainous, when com pared with the other or lowland district, where the hills, with a few exceptions, are much less high, and where, if the surface is not rocky, they are generally cultivated. At first view, one would be apt to conclude, that even the lower district of the stewartry was much better fitted for pasture than tillage, and this, in many instances, is really the case. But the soil of the hollows between the little knolls or hills, consisting chiefly of a gravelly or hazelly loam, is often of an extraordinary fertility ; and in a wet summer, the arable knolls are covered with luxuriant clops. A considerable extent of alluvial land along the Solway Frith, is endowed with the usual productive powers of suc h soils. In the greater part of the mountainous districts, the hills have a bleak and barren appearance, being almost en tirely covered with heath and moss ; but in the parish of Carsphairn, on the confines of Ayrshire, the heath disap pears, and the mountains are covered with grass, affording excellent sheep pasture. The varied surface of the coun try, affords many fine situations for building; and several proprietors have judiciously availed themselves of the na tural advantages of the soil, whose beauties they have heightened by ornamental plantations.
The stewartry is watered by several fine streams. The Ken and the D&:ugh rise on the borders of Ayrshire, and, after uniting, pass near New Galloway, and expand into the beautiful and romantic Loch Ken. The Dec falls into this lake, and gives its name to the refluent river, which falls into the sea five or six miles below Kirkcudbright.
It is navigable for vessels cart ying 200 tons to Tongueland bridge, about two miles above Kirkcudbright; and a little below the town it forms a spacious bay, termed the Manx man's Lake, where 100 vessels may lie in perfect safety, defended from the fury of the sea by a small island at the mouth of the river. The different salmon fisheries on the Dee let for about L.900 per annum. The other rivers in the stewartry, are the Urr and the Fleet, navigable for small vessels to Dalbeatie and Gatehouse, about lour miles from where they fall into the sea ; and the Nith and the Cree, which have their sources in Dumfries-shire and \Vigtonshire, and divide these counties from the stew artry.
The climate of the lower district of the stewartry, is rather moist in summer, but extremely mild in winter, where the snow seldom lies for any length of time. In the tipper district, however, the frost is often severe ; and heavy falls of snow frequently cause considerable losses to the sheep farmers. The climate has perhaps been ame liorated, by the improvements of the soil. Intermittent fevers, once very prevalent, are stated to have now en tirely disappeared ; and if any reliance call be placed on the ratio of the deaths to the whole population, given in the statistical account of the parish of Crossmichael, the chances of longevity are there greater than in any other district of the empire.
Several remains of antiquity are to be met with in the stewartry. The magnificence of the ruins of Sweetheart and Dundrennan abbeys, attest the wealth and power of the clergy in remote ages. The baronial and feudal residences must at one time have been numerous ; and the remains of Craignair Castle, believed to have been a favourite resi dence of John Baliol ; of Threave castle, the residence of the Douglasses, lords of Galloway, Kenmore Castle, Gar lie's Castle, Cardonness Castle, &c. &c. are still more or less entire. The moat of Urr is reckoned one of the larg est artificial mounds in the kingdom.