Hutton and Corrie

   HUTTON and CORRIE, a parish, in the county of Dumfries, 7 miles (N. N. E.) from Lockerbie; containing 809 inhabitants. The name of Hutton appears to be derived from the term Holt, signifying an elevated piece of ground or a mound of earth, from some mounds of artificial construction in the district, used in ancient times as seats of deliberation, and for the administration of justice. Corrie, which was joined to Hutton soon after the Reformation, derives its appellation from a rivulet which runs through it, and the name of which, in the Gaelic language, signifies "a narrow glen," the stream issuing from a glen. On the farm of Closs, in the parish, are some remains of a place called Maskersa, where the Grahams, of Gillesbie, formerly had their residence, but from which they removed, more than 300 years ago, to a tower on the brink of the Dryfe, which was a fortress of great strength, surrounded by a fosse. Of this family the descendants still retain property in the neighbourhood. It was in the tower of Gillesbie that the first president of the court of session was for a time confined, when taken away to prevent his giving a decision in a suit in which one of the parties thought he had too much influence.

   The parish extends twelve miles in length, from north-west to south-east, and the average breadth is about three miles; it contains nearly 23,000 acres. It is bounded on the north-east by the ridge of hills which divides Annandale from Eskdale; on the south-east by the water of Milk, which separates Corrie from the parish of Tundergarth; and on the north and west by the parishes of Wamphray, Applegarth, and Dryfesdale. The general aspect of the country is diversified with an agreeable variety of scenery. Towards the north the hills are covered with verdure, and the banks of the Dryfe with wood, the effect of which is considerably heightened by the course of the stream, which runs over a gravelly, and frequently a rocky, bottom. In the approach to the Milk, the view is somewhat similar; but the features of the landscape are less marked and prominent. On the heights between these two waters, the scene is reversed, and becomes bleak and rugged. The soil in some places is mixed with a fine gravel, and in others with good clay; in the high lands it is mossy or moorish. About 3000 acres of land are occasionally cultivated; the remaining 20,000 have not been ploughed within the last fifty years. Much of this ground was formerly in tillage; but the consolidation of the small farms has led to the conversion of a considerable quantity of ploughed land into pasture. All kinds of white and green crops are raised, with the exception of wheat; and the system of husbandry followed is adapted to the improved state of agriculture. About two-thirds of the lands are employed as sheep pasture in nine or ten regular breeding farms, keeping about 10,000 sheep, which are wholly Cheviots, except 600 or 700 of the black-faced breed. The cattle, which are also of superior quality, and much attended to, are of the black Galloway breed. The rateable annual value of the parish is £5300. The communication of the people is chiefly with Dumfries, seventeen miles distant. The roads were formerly in bad condition; but they have been entirely re-constructed within the last thirty years: they consist partly of two lines, one of which leads from Dumfries towards Hawick, and the other from Moffatt towards Langholm and Carlisle. There are bridges over the Dryfe, Corrie, and Milk, which, as well as the roads, are kept in good repair.

   The ecclesiastical affairs are directed by the presbytery of Lochmaben and synod of Dumfries; patrons, the Johnstone family, of Annandale. The stipend of the minister is £241, with a manse, built in 1803, and since enlarged and improved, and a glebe of above thirty-five acres, worth £25 per annum. The church is situated near the Dryfe, equidistant from the north-eastern and southern extremities of the parish; it is in good repair, and accommodates 312 persons with sittings. There is a parochial school situated in the Hutton division of the parish, where the classics, mathematics, and French, with the usual branches of education, are taught. The master has a house and garden, with a salary of £27, and about £20 fees; he has also two-thirds of the interest of £260, bequeathed in 1802, by Mr. James Graham, a native of the parish, for teaching poor children reading, writing, and arithmetic. There is another parochial school at Corrie, which has been for a considerable time endowed with a bequest by Mr. Edward Moffatt, of Exeter, consisting of the interest of £280, for teaching the children of this division of the parish reading and writing. In 1820, Col. James Wilson, grand-nephew of the founder, added £20 per annum to the salary, on condition of the master teaching the children arithmetic, and that the school should be considered as endowed, he and his heirs appointing the master. The heritors of Corrie have for some time paid the master about £16 a year; and besides a house and garden, he has five acres of good pasture ground. The same branches of instruction are taught as in the school at Hutton. The relics of antiquity consist of the remains of several old intrenchments of a circular form, called British forts, and of a rectangular one at Carter-town, which was a Roman camp, and is supposed to have been a post of communication between Annandale and Eskdale, where the Romans had several stations.