Physical Features.— The coast-line has a total length of about 120 miles. On the eastern boundary the estuary of the Cree expands into Wigtown Bay. Between Wigtown and Luce Bays is the peninsula of the Machers, of which Burrow Head is the southern extremity. Luce Bay has a length of about 15 miles and an average breadth of 12. By its indentation on the south and that of Loch Ryan (about 9 miles long and nearly 3 broad) on the north the two-pronged peninsula of the Rinns is formed, of which the Mull of Galloway, the most southerly point in Scotland, is the southern extremity, and Kirkcolm Point the northern. The coast is more or less precipitous, with many small inlets, few of which, on account of dangerous hidden rocks, afford suitable landing-places for vessels. Loch Ryan forms, however, a splendid natural harbour, of which Stranraer is the port. Portpatrick on the Irish Channel is the nearest port in Great Britain to Ireland, and 7 miles to the south is Port Logan. With the exception of Port William on its eastern shore, Luce Bay is destitute of harbours. Wigtown Bay includes on the Wigtown side the small harbours of the Isle of Whithorn, Garliestown, Wigtown, and Carty, but the upper portions of the bay are not navigable at low water. The county is occupied almost solely by Silurian strata, its characteristic feature being a series of rocky hills, which extend more or less over the whole county, attaining their highest elevation in the north, on the borders of Ayrshire. A considerable number range between 400 and 800 feet in altitude, the highest summits being Miltonish (970 feet), on the northern border, and Craigairie Fell (1000 feet) in Kirkcowan parish. A great part of the county has a wild and bleak appearance, the hills being covered with heath and whins, while in the lower parts there are long stretches of bog and moss. The Silurian rocks are in some parts interpenetrated by small areas of granite; and immense granite boulders are occasionally scattered over the lower grounds, doubtless the result of the Glacial action of the Kirkcudbrightshire ice bed. Along the western edge of Loch Ryan there is a narrow band of Carboniferous strata, consisting of sandstones which have been classed as calciferous. They rest unconformably on a narrow belt of Permian strata separating them from the Silurian rocks. In the Carboniferous strata various plant impressions are met with. Between Luce Bay and Loch Ryan, and on the upper shores of Wigtown Bay, there are raised beaches. Galena, copper pyrites, and barytes have been found in small quantities; grey shales for roofing slates and flags for pavement are dug at Cairn Ryan on the eastern shores of Loch Ryan, where sandstone is also quarried for building purposes; from the clays in the neighbourhood of Stranraer bricks are manufactured. Owing to the irregular hilly character of the county the streams, though numerous, are generally small. The Cree, forming the boundary with Kirkcudbrightshire, flows past Newton Stewart and Carty into Wigtown Bay; the Bladenoch, from Loch Maberry on the Ayrshire border, falls into Wigtown Bay at the town of Wigtown, after having received the Tarf, the Malzie, and the Black Burn; and the Luce, formed by the junction of the Main Water and the Cross Water at New Luce, flows south into Luce Bay. There are a very large number of lochs, but none of them very extensive, the principal being the beautiful one in Inch parish included in the grounds of Castle Kennedy, Lochs Maberry and Dornal on the Ayrshire border, Loch Connel in Kirkcolm parish, Loch Ronald in Kirkcowan parish, and Castle Loch and the four lochs of Mochrum in Mochrum parish. Dowalton Loch, at the junction of Kirkinner, Sorbie, and Glasserton parishes, was drained in 1862.

Agriculture. —Although the rainfall exceeds the average in Scotland, the climate is not specially unfavourable for the ripening of crops, and frosts are not generally of long continuance. A considerable portion of Wigtownshire consists of stony moors, which have insufficient soil to render reclamation possible. Along the shores there is some extent of gravelly soil, which, however, requires heavy manuring to render it fruitful. Where the higher districts are arable a rocky soil prevails, better adapted for grass and green crops than for corn crops. A large extent of the county is black top reclaimed from moors; in other districts loam and clay prevail. The most common method of cropping is a six years’ shift of oats, green crops, corn crop, and three years’ grass. According to the Agricultural Returns for 1887, the arable area was 147,063 acres or about 46 per cent, of the whole, considerably above the average for even the lowland counties of Scotland. The area under corn crops was 37,392 acres, of which 35,511 were under oats. The latter area has not materially changed within the last thirty years, the chief diminution having been in wheat, which in 1855 occupied 7343 acres and in 1887 only 736. Barley and bere in 1887 occupied 796 acres, rye 38, and beans 310. The bulk of the green crops consists of turnips and swedes, occupying in 1887 15,678 acres, whilst 1902 acres were potatoes, 229 mangold, 100 carrots, 153 cabbage, &c., and 135 vetches. There were 69,326 acres under clover and rotation grasses and 21,883 under permanent pasture. In 1881 (the latest return) there were over 8009 acres under woods, and in 1887 there were 40 under nursery grounds, 6 under market gardens, and 7 under orchards. The large area under grass and turnips is owing to the general prevalence of dairy farming. In 1887 the number of cattle was 42,062, of which 21,197 were milch cows, a number exceeded in only four other counties in Scotland, although in the number of its cattle it is surpassed by ten counties. The Galloway cattle, a black polled breed, are now chiefly confined to the eastern districts, the Ayrshire being found a much more suitable breed for dairy purposes. In some cases Galloway bulls are kept for breeding with Ayrshire cows. Many dairy farms send milk to Glasgow and the neighbouring towns; but the manufacture of cheese has greatly increased within late years, large cheese factories having been established. Dunlop is now almost wholly superseded by Cheddar cheese. Horses, chiefly Clydesdale, for which breed Wigtownshire has acquired some fame, numbered 5699 in 1887; sheep, chiefly blackfaced on the hilly farms, and in other districts crosses with Leicesters and other long-woolled breeds, numbered 116,264; and pigs 10,380. From 1345 returns obtained from occupiers of land in 1887, out of 147,104 acres 142,266 were rented and occupied and 4838 owned and occupied. The following table gives a classification of agricultural holdings according to size in 1880 and 1885 :— [table]

According to the latest landowners’ Return, the county was divided among 1820 proprietors, possessing 309,087 acres at an annual value of £230,589, or about 14s. lid. per acre. Of the proprietors 1674 possessed less than one acre each. The following owned over 5000 acres each :—earl of Stair, 79,174; E. J. S. Blair, 37,268; earl of Galloway, 23,203; marquis of Bute, 20,157; Sir W. Maxwell, 16,877; James M ’ Douall, 16,290; Sir Andrew Agnew, 12,962; D. Hunter Blair, 8255; William Maitland, 7848; Sir J. Dalrymple Hay, 7400; R. Vans Agnew, 6777; W. C. S.

cloister, and a small portion of the church in the Early English

Hamilton, 6300; Mrs S. Ο. Μ‘Taggart, 5998; Lieut.-Col. Sir W. T. F. Agnew Wallace, 5785; and R. H. J. Stewart, 5552. Communication.— The Portpatrick Railway crosses the county from Newton Stewart by Kirkcowan, Glenluce, and Stranraer to Portpatrick. From Newton Stewart the Wigtownshire Railway passes south by Wigtown and Garliestown to Whithorn. The Girvan and Portpatrick Railway branches off from the Portpatrick line at East Challoch near Dunragit and passes northwards by New Luce. There is a line of steamers to Ireland by Portpatrick.

Manufactures and Trade.— Although agriculture is the main industry, there is a variety of small manufactures in the towns, including a woollen factory at Kirkcowan, engineering and locomotive works at Stranraer, hand-loom weaving in various places, distilling, tanning, and currying. The fishing industry is of almost no account. There is, however, an oyster fishery in Loch Ryan, and herrings are caught in Loch Ryan and the Bay of Luce. The value of the salmon fisheries, including those of the rivers, is less than £1000 a year.

Administration and Population.— From 22,918 in 1801 the population had by 1821 increased to 33,240 and by 1851 to 43,389; but it declined to 42,095 in 1861, to 38,830 in 1871, and to 38,611 (males 18,143, females 20,468) in 1881. In point of density Wigtown stands twenty-first among the counties of Scotland, the number of persons to the square mile being 79. The proportion of females to every 100 males was 112'82, the largest proportion of any county with the exceptions of Orkney and Shetland and Forfar. The number of persons who could speak Gaelic was only twentyeight. The town population in 1881 numbered 9060, the village 8574, and the rural 20,977. The county has three royal burghs— Wigtown (1789), Stranraer (3455), and Whithorn (1643). The last two are also police burghs (Stranraer, 6342). Part (2645) of the police burgh of Newton Stewart is within the county, the remainder being in Kirkcudbrightshire. Newton Stewart is also a burgh of barony, as are likewise Glenluce (901) and Portpatrick (591). The county returns one member to parliament. Formerly Wigtown, Stranraer, and Whithorn formed with New Galloway a group of burghs returning one member, but by the Act of 1885 they were merged in the county. The county includes seventeen parishes. Wigtownshire is in the same sheriffdom as the counties of Kirkcudbright and Dumfries. Sheriff courts are held during certain periods at Wigtown and Stranraer, and quarter sessions are held at Wigtown and Glenluce.

History and Antiquities.— The portion of Galloway now forming Wigtownshire was in early times occupied chiefly by the Novantae. When the district was overrun by the Romans under Agricola in 82, they fixed their headquarters at Whithorn (Leucophibia), and one of their principal stations, Rerigonium, was on the eastern shore of Loch Ryan. The Devil’s dyke, a defensive work of the Romans, extended from Loch Ryan to the upper part of the Solway Firth. A sketch of the early history of Galloway, including Wigtownshire, is given-under Kirkcudbright (vol. xiv. p. 98). The district was the scene of the labours of the Christian missionary St Ninian (q.v.), who arrived at Whithorn (Candida Casa) towards the close of the 4th century. Whithorn was a bishop’s see from 727 till the Reformation. In addition to the caves on the sea coast, which, like those of Kirkcudbrightshire, are associated with early human occupation, the ancient inhabitants have left traces of themselves in cairns, standing stones, hut circles, and remains of ancient villages. Numerous early relics have also been dug up, including flint and other stone implements, as well as a great variety of ancient bronze implements and ornaments. The Dowalton crannogs were the first lake dwellings discovered in Scotland, and are among the most remarkable in the country. Among the ancient fortalices may be mentioned the sea towers of Carghidown and Castle Feather, south of Whithorn; the ruins of Baldoon, south of Wigtown, associated with events which suggested to Scott the tale of the Bride of Lammermoor ; the tower of Corsewall near the west shore of Loch Ryan; the foundations of a Norse stronghold in Cruggleton Bay; Dunskey at the head of Castle Bay, built in the 16th century, but occupying the site of an ancient fortress; the fragments of Long Castle at Dowalton Loch, the ancient seat of the

M‘Doualls; the castle of Mochrum and Myrtoun Castle, the seat of the Maccullochs, in Mochrum parish; and the ruined tower of Sorbie, the ancient keep of the Hannays. Of the Cistercian abbey of Glenluce, founded in 1190 by Roland, lord of Galloway, the principal remains are the chapter house in the Decorated style, the walls of the style. The ancient cathedral of Whithorn, though in a dilapidated condition, forms a picturesque ruin, and near it are some slight remains of the ancient priory founded by St Ninian. The Dominican priory of Wigtown, founded in 1267, has, like the ancient castle, entirely disappeared; and only some slight mounds remain of Saulseat abbey, founded for Premonstratensians by Fergus, lord of Galloway, in 1148. Wigtown was probably created a sheriffdom in the 13th century. In 1341 the earldom of Wigton, which included the whole of the county, with the jurisdiction of a regality, was bestowed upon Sir Malcolm Fleming. In 1372 the earldom was purchased by Archibald Douglas, who the same year was created lord of Galloway. In the reign of James I. William Douglas of Leswalt was sheriff of Wigtown and keeper of the castle of Lochnaw; but in 1426 the constableship of Lochnaw, with the sheriffdom of Wigtown, was acquired by Andrew Agnew. These dignities continued to be held by the Agnew family tül 1682, when Sir Andrew Agnew refused to take the test and was superseded by Graham of Claverhouse. At the Restoration in 1688 the office of sheriff was restored to the Agnew family, and they held it till the abolition of hereditary jurisdictions in 1747. The principal modern mansions are Galloway House, built in 1740, the seat of the earls of Galloway; Castle Kennedy, built by the first earl of Stair after the destruction of the old castle by fire in 1716; the baronial castle of Lochnaw, including, with large modern additions, the battlemented tower of the ancient building; and Barnbarroch House, the seat of R. Vans Agnew.

See Symson, Description of Galloway, 1823; Murray, Literary History of Galloway, 1882; Sir Andrew Agnew, Hereditary Sheriffs of Galloway, 1864; Histories of Galloway, by Mackenzie, 1841, and P. II. Mackerlie, 1870-78.