Grace the Duke of Buccle In referenc rior order. to give every e of lime. in hu Р ris' formality, but not ibrary in this parish, but no We have also a Friendly society, established, ★ 104 and forty years ago, for affording relief to its members by fall into distress, and a small sum for their decent in wet when they are. P-The average. removed by death. number of persons receiving parochial-aid about 45, and the average sum allotted to each is about 1s. per Besides church collections, which amount to about L. 22 week. per annum, and which are altogether inadequate to the support of ing, at an average, to the annual sum of nearly L. 100. I am sorry to add that the disposition among the poor to seek parochial reour poor, we have a regular assessment made twice a-year, amountlief is rapidly increasing, and is seldom or never considered as in rishes, the feelings of the English poor upon this subject are grathe smallest degree degrading. In this and the other border paInns, &c.-We have about ten small inns and alehouses in the parish, which have the worst effects upon the morals of the people.Our fuel is peat and coal, the former of which is obtained in mosses, nearly exhausted by the work of years; the latter is brought from the coal-pits of His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, in the dually gaining ground. now parish of Canobie, distant about twelve miles, and from the thriy ing town of Annan, about seven miles distant, whither it is conveyed over the Solway from Cumberland. The English coal is higher in price than that of Canobie, and costs about 8s. per ton, but is considered ultimately as economical as the other. MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. The more prominent variation betwixt the present state of this parish and that which existed at the time of the last Statistical Account, may be stated to be, a superior mode of husbandry,—an infinitely more improved state of the roads,—and more widely diffused and enlightened education; in short, a greater advancement in refinement,—and a greater enjoyment of worldly comforts. With pleasure I anticipate now a gradually increasing accession of parochial prosperity. Population is making rapid progress, and contributing its share in laying the foundation of national strength. Drawn up July 1831 -Revised October 1835. PARISH OF DALTON. PRESBYTERY OF LOCHMABEN, SYNOD of Dumfries. THE REV. THOMAS H. THOMSON, MINISTER. I. TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY. Name and Boundaries.-THE parish of Dalton, prior to the Reformation, was divided into two parishes, that of Meikle Dalton and Little Dalton; but, since their union in 1633, the church of Meikle Dalton is used by the parishioners of the united parishes as their place of worship,-the ruins of the church of Little Dalton now enclosing the burial ground of the descendants of the Carruthers of Holmains. The name of the parish is evidently AngloSaxon; Dal-ton or Dal-dun, signifying the fort in the dale. There are the remains, accordingly, of a fort on a hill in the immediate neighbourhood of the village of Dalton, at which village, in ancient times, the baronial courts were held. The parish is 6 miles in length from north to south, and 3 miles in breadth; its boundaries are, Lochmaben on the north, which intersects it; Mousewald on the west; Ruthwell on the south; Cummertrees and the river Annan on the east. Geology. Betwixt the Holmains and Almagill-hills, lies the vale of Little Dalton, in the north end of the parish. These hills are 500 feet above the level of the sea, and run from north to south. They are composed of transition rock of greywacke, which sometimes alternates with greywacke slate. The direction of the strata appears to be from east to west, and their dip to the north. The next class of rocks in the parish, in point of age and extent, is the independent coal formation, which lies in the hollow of the transition rocks, such as the reddish-brown-coloured sandstone on the banks of the Annan. In the south end of the parish, the grayish white sandstone, abounds with limestone of an inferior quality. The next formation is that of floetz trap, considered as the newest of the universal formations, because it rests on all the others. Of this formation, there are only individual links, such as greenstone and porphyritic amygdaloid. The manse of Dalton is founded upon the amygdaloid rock at its western ex ty or forty years ago. less true religion. We have less religious formality, but not Library. There is a circulating library in this parish, but no other literary institutions of any kind. Friendly Society.—We have also a Friendly society, established, I believe, about forty years ago, for affording relief to its members when they fall into distress, and a small sum for their decent interment when they are removed by death. Poor. The average number of persons receiving parochial-aid is about 45, and the average sum allotted to each is about Is. per week. Besides church collections, which amount to about L. 22 per annum, and which are altogether inadequate to the support of our poor, we have a regular assessment made twice a-year, amounting, at an average, to the annual sum of nearly L. 100. I am sorry to add, that the disposition among the poor to seek parochial relief is rapidly increasing, and is seldom or never considered as in the smallest degree degrading. In this and the other border parishes, the feelings of the English poor upon this subject are gradually gaining ground. Inns, &c.—We have about ten small inns and alehouses in the parish, which have the worst effects upon the morals of the people.Our fuel is peat and coal, the former of which is obtained in mosses, now nearly exhausted by the work of years; the latter is brought from the coal-pits of His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, in the parish of Canobie, distant about twelve miles, and from the thriying town of Annan, about seven miles distant, whither it is conveyed over the Solway from Cumberland. The English coal is higher in price than that of Canobie, and costs about 8s. per ton, but is considered ultimately as economical as the other. MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. The more prominent variation betwixt the present state of this parish and that which existed at the time of the last Statistical Account, may be stated to be, a superior mode of husbandry,—an infinitely more improved state of the roads,—and more widely diffused and enlightened education; in short, a greater advancement in refinement,—and a greater enjoyment of worldly comforts. With pleasure I anticipate now a gradually increasing accession of parochial prosperity. Population is making rapid progress, and contributing its share in laying the foundation of national strength. Drawn up July 1831 -Revised October 1835. PARISH OF DALTON. PRESBYTERY OF LOCHMABEN, SYNOD OF DUMFRIES. THE REV. THOMAS H. THOMSON, MINISTER. I.-TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL HISTORY. Name and Boundaries.-THE parish of Dalton, prior to the Reformation, was divided into two parishes, that of Meikle Dalton and Little Dalton; but, since their union in 1633, the church of Meikle Dalton is used by the parishioners of the united parishes as their place of worship,-the ruins of the church of Little Dalton now enclosing the burial ground of the descendants of the Carruthers of Holmains. The name of the parish is evidently AngloSaxon; Dal-ton or Dal-dun, signifying the fort in the dale. There are the remains, accordingly, of a fort on a hill in the immediate neighbourhood of the village of Dalton, at which village, in ancient times, the baronial courts were held. The parish is 6 miles in length from north to south, and 3 miles in breadth; its boundaries are, Lochmaben on the north, which intersects it; Mousewald on the west; Ruthwell on the south; Cummertrees and the river Annan on the east. Geology. Betwixt the Holmains and Almagill-hills, lies the vale of Little Dalton, in the north end of the parish. These hills are 500 feet above the level of the sea, and run from north to south. They are composed of transition rock of greywacke, which sometimes alternates with greywacke slate. The direction of the strata appears to be from east to west, and their dip to the north. The next class of rocks in the parish, in point of age and extent, is the independent coal formation, which lies in the hollow of the transition rocks, such as the reddish-brown-coloured sandstone on the banks of the Annan. In the south end of the parish, the grayish white sandstone, abounds with limestone of an inferior quality. The next formation is that of floetz trap, considered as the newest of the universal formations, because it rests on all the others. Of this formation, there are only individual links, such as greenstone and porphyritic amygdaloid. The manse of Dalton is founded upon the amygdaloid rock at its western ex tremity; from this point, it runs east as far as Langholm. The alluvial formations are very extensive, and consist chiefly of great masses of gravel and sand, which spread over the low lands of the parish, and are formed into ranges and groups of little hills. There is evidently no immediate agent in the neighbourhood which could have collected such immense quantities of matter, apparently the diluvium of the deluge. The sand and gravel cover the solid rocks, principally those of sandstone, and appear upon examination to be composed of the fragments of the various formations found in the vale of the Annan. In the high lands of the parish, the soil is chiefly composed of the waste and debris of the transition rocks, which is fertile; but many of these rocks are covered with common indurated clay and heath, and are barren. The transported soil on the banks of the river, being of a loamy nature, is rich and fertile; but that of an older date, composed of light gravel and sand, which in dry seasons is very unfavourable to vegetation, when moistened with frequent showers, is very fertile in the production of barley. It has been supposed that the river Annan, at some remote period, instead of its present course, where it discharges itself into the Solway at a short distance from the town of Annan, followed a different course through this parish, running in a southern direction from the mansion-house of Dormont, through a long track of level meadow and peat-moss, and fell into the frith at a short distance from Cummertrees church, three miles west from Annan. It is along this line where the greatest quantity of the alluvial formations are deposited, which are strikingly illustrated in hills and ridges of gravel and sand. These evidently appear to have been carried out of the valley of the Annan by a mighty flood of waters, and deposited at the termination of the transition rocks, which enclose it to a great height. After the deluge, the valley of the Annan must have been a lake; but its waters bursting a passage through a transition rock at Dormont, (the present course of the Annan,) the valley has been drained of its waters, with the exception of a number of lakes in the adjoining parish of Lochmaben. During a flood, the river at Dormont, and for several miles along its course in a northern direction, lays the whole country under water; but were the landed proprietors interested to unite in deepening a very small portion of the bed of the river at Dormont, where it bursts through the transition rock, the beautiful holm lands along its course, with their luxuriant crops, would be preserved in safety. |