A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
Mochrum (Gael. Magh-dhruim, 'ridge of the plain'), a village and a coast parish in Machers district, SE Wigtownshire. The village, 2 miles NNE of Port-William and 8 SW of Wigtown, is a pleasant little place, with two inns, a post office, the manse and parish church, a good school, and a row of some twenty houses.
The parish, containing also Port-William and Eldrig villages, is bounded NW by Old Luce, N by Kirkcowan, E by Kirkinner, SE by Glasserton, and SW by Luce Bay. Its utmost length, from NNW to SSE, is 11¼ miles; its utmost breadth is 57/8 miles; and its area is 40 square miles or 25, 601 acres, of which 863¼ are foreshore and 666¾ water. The coast-line, 9¾ miles long, over the first mile from the Glasserton boundary rises steeply to a height of 100 feet sheer out of the water, But else here is fringed by an old sea-margin of flat smooth gravel, 50 yards broad, with high grassy braes Beyond. A number of burns rising in the interior run south-south-westward to Luce Bay; but the drainage is partly carried eastward to the Bladenoch by head-streams of the Water of Malzie. Of eleven lakes and lakelets, mostly in the N and NW, the principal are White Loch (4¾ x 12/3 furl.), Eldrig Loch (4 x 1 furl.), Mochrum Loch (1½ mile x 3 furl.), and Castle Loch (1¼ x ½ mile). The two last, 6½ and 8 miles NNW of Port-William, contain a number of islets, with which, and its wooded headlands, Mochrum Loch has no common beauty. The surface is everywhere hilly, chief elevations from N to S being Craigeach Fell (426 feet), the Doon of May (457), Mochrum Fell (646), Bennan Hill (500), Eldrig Fell (432), Milton Fell (418), and East Bar (450)- heights that command a far-away view to the Isle of Man and the mountains of Ireland and Cumberland. Thus, with but small aggregate of level land, Mochrum comprises large tracts of rocky eminence and mossy swamp, bleak and barren in aspect, and thinly interspersed with patches of good dry arable land. The predominant rocks are Silurian, and the soil along much of the seaboard is very fertile Loam, either light or strong and deep; on the lands towards the centre is thin and stony; and on the higher grounds is moorish. Some 200 acres are under wood; and a large extent of moorland has been brought into cultivation. In 1832 a bone-crushing mill was opened at Eldrig village, and from that date the 'Old Mill of Mochrum' has been quite an institution in the county. The lands of Mochrum were given in 1368 to Thomas Dunbar, second son of Patrick, Earl of March. The Dunbars, his descendants, who took title from Mochrum, and had their seat at the Old Place of Mochrum, were a somewhat distinguished family. Cadets of the house founded the families of Dunbar of Clugston and Dunbar of Baldoon, the latter now represented by the Earl of Selkirk. Gavin Dunbar, son. of Sir John Dunbar of Mochrum, became prior of Whithorn about the year 1504, was afterwards made preceptor to James V., and became in 1524 Archbishop of Glasgow, in 1528 Lord-Chancellor of Scotland, and in 1536 one of the Lords of Regency during the king's visit to France. The family was raised to the baronetcy in 1694, and is now represented by Sir William Dunbar, seventh Bart. (b. 1812; suc. 1841), Liberal M.P. for Wigtown 1857-65. Since the close, however, of the 17th century, the Old Place and the estate of Mochrum have been held by the Earls of Dumfries and Marquises of Bute. Engirt with ash-trees, and standing near the NE end of Mochrum Loch, the Old Place consists of two square four-story towers, and dates from the last quarter of the 15th century. Since 1873 it has been carefully restored by the present Marquis. On an islet in Castle Loch are remains of an older castle; and the ruins of Myrtoun Castle, the seat of the M'Cullochs, crown a mote-hill near the shore of the White Loch. Other antiquities are a large double-dyked fort on Barsalloch Brae, the Mote of Boghouse near Mochrum village, the Carlin Stone near Eldrig Loch, a vitrified fort on the Doon of May, remains of Chapel Finian (By the country people called 'Chipper-Finnan' or 'the Well of Finnan') on the shore 5½ miles NW of PortWilliam, Cairn Buy still further NW, etc. Monreith, noticed separately, is the principal mansion; and sir H. E. Maxwell, Bart., M.P., divides most of the parish with the Marquis of Bute, 2 lesser proprietors holding each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 5 of between £100 and £500, 1 of from £50 to £100, and 16 of from £20 to £50. Mochrum is in the presbytery of Wigtown and the synod of Galloway; the living is worth £216. The parish church is a plain edifice of 1794, and, as enlarged in 1832 and 1878, contains 800 sittings. Free and U.P. churches are at PortWilliam; and four public schools-Culshabbin, Eldrig, Mochrum, and Port-William-with respective accommodation for 60, 80, 119, and 220 children, had (1883) an average attendance of 31, 54, 56, and 122, and grants of £41, 15s., £39, 12s., £40, 12s., and £102, 16s. Valuation (1860) £12,250, (1884) £16,003, 19s. 4d. Pop. (1801) 1113, (1831) 2105, (1861) 2694, (1871) 2450, (1881) 2315.—Ord. Sur., shs. 4, 2, 1857-56.
(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)
| Linked entities: | |
|---|---|
| Feature Description: | "a village and a coast parish" (ADL Feature Type: "populated places") |
| Administrative units: | Mochrum ScoP Wigtownshire ScoCnty |
| Place names: | MAGH DHRUIM | MOCHRUM |
| Place: | Mochrum |
Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.