Dornock

   DORNOCK, a parish, in the county of Dumfries; including the village of Lowthertown, and containing 847 inhabitants, of whom 203 are in the village, 2 miles (E. by S.) from Annan. The name of this place is usually derived from the Celtic words tor or dor, signifying an oak or wood, and nock, a knowe or hill, and is said to have been applied in consequence of the forests of oak once growing here. According to a prevailing tradition, a battle was fought upon a moor in the neighbourhood, between a party of English under Sir Marmaduke Langdale and Lord Crosby, and a body of Scots under Sir William Brown, of Coalston, in which the English were defeated, and both their commanders slain. The supposed graves of the two leaders are still shown in the churchyard, and a spring near the spot where the battle was fought bears the name of the Sword well. At Stapleton is a strong square tower, with battlements on the top, built by a person of the name of Irvine, it is supposed as a place of safety against the depredations of the English borderers. The parish reaches from east to west about two miles and a half, and from the Solway Frith, on the south, to the river Kirtle, on the north, measures five miles, comprising about 5000 acres. It contains some beautiful scenery, and is much frequented for its sea air and bathing, its extent along the coast being about three miles. The small river Kirtle and the Solway comprebend the chief of its waters; in the former eels and pike are found, and in the latter, salmon in considerable quantity, though not in such abundance as formerly.

   The whole of the land is under tillage, with the exception of such portions as are necessary to support farm-stock; the mosses, which alone are uncultivated, amount to about 300 acres, and 150 acres are plantation. Oats and barley are the only grain sown, and potatoes and turnips, with large quantities of hay, are the chief green crops, and all are of very good quality; the soil is in general productive, and is of a loamy nature, with a hard tilly bottom. The cattle are of the Galloway breed, and about 200 cows are kept for the dairy; a considerable number of swine are annually fattened, and are salted, made into hams, and sent to England. The best system of husbandry is adopted; the manure used is farm-yard dung and lime; draining has been carried on to a good extent, and improvements are still in progress. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3503. Robgill Tower, an old border fortress, modernised, and now the residence of the Smail family, is beautifully seated on the banks of the Kirtle. The village of Dornock is pleasantly situated upon a gentle eminence about a mile from the coast, and commands a fine view of the Frith; a third of the inhabitants are engaged in hand-loom weaving and the manufacture of checks and ginghams. The great turnpike-road from Carlisle to Portpatrick runs through the centre of the parish from east to west; a mail passes daily, and a coach to Edinburgh travels three times a week through the village. The ecclesiastical affairs are directed by the presbytery of Annan and synod of Dumfries; patron, the Duke of Buccleuch. There is a manse, built in 1845, with a glebe valued at £25 per annum, and the stipend is £208. The church, built in 1797, is a plain unadorned structure, containing 300 sittings: in the churchyard are some ancient and very curious tombstones. There is a parochial school, in which all the usual branches of education, and sometimes Greek and Latin, and also mathematics, are taught; the master has a salary of £34, with about £20 fees, and the allowance of a house and garden, with an acre of land. The remains of a Druidical temple exist in the eastern part of the parish, on the farm of Eastriggs; at the distance of about 200 yards west of it, is a large cairn; and at the same distance eastward is another, of smaller dimensions. Old British coins and pieces of armour are sometimes found.