1s. 4d. in winter; and a female's wages, also without victuals, average about 8d. per day for turnip work, 10d. per day for hay, and 1s. 6d. for harvest work. The number of agricultural labourers in the parish is about 45; of artisans, about 20. There are no able-bodied labourers who cannot find employment. The price of meal is from 1s. 6d. to 1s. 8d. per imperial stone; of potatoes, 12s. per boll; of coals, L.1, 3s. per ton of 36 cwt. V.—PAROCHIAL ECONOMY. Market-town.-The market-town of Gatehouse is divided from the parish by the Fleet; of which, indeed, a considerable portion, called Fleet Street, lies on the Anwoth side of the river. There is no village nor post-office in the parish, Gatehouse being the post town. Roads. The turnpike road between Dumfries and Portpatrick runs through the parish, nearly along the line of the shore. Previously to its being opened about forty years ago, the public road was most inconvenient, and almost impracticable. It left the shore at Gatehouse, and, regardless of hills or any obstruction, it went by a somewhat irregular line over the Corse of Slakes, an eminence about 800 feet above the level of the sea. The distance from Gatehouse to Creetown is three miles and a-half greater, but the road is nearly a dead level, and is one of the best in Scotland, affording one of the most beautiful and picturesque drives that can easily be imagined. Some of the parish roads are good; others are much neglected. A mail coach passes through the parish daily, to and from Dumfries and Portpatrick respectively. Ecclesiastical State.—The parish church is situated rather more than a mile from Gatehouse, and about half a mile inland from the Fleet. It was built about seventeen years ago on a piece of ground about 250 yards from the old venerable structure, and is most substantial and commodious. The manse, which of late has undergone extensive repairs, and is a superior building, is within a quarter of a mile from the church. The glebe contains about 7 acres; and the stipend, according to the Report of the Commissioners of Religious Instruction in Scotland, is L. 247, 10s. 7d. leaving a surplus of vacant teinds to the amount of L. 41, 18s. ld. The stipend, however, is variable, as all the proprietors, except those of Cardoness and Kirkdale, who pay in money, are assessed according to the fiar's prices.* Sir David Maxwell of Cardoness is * We may state that the stipend, in Rutherford's time, consisted of 200 merks Scots, (about L.11 Sterling), derived from the teinds of the parish, and of a voluntary contribution on the part of his hearers.-Life of Rutherford, p. 41. the patron. The number of communicants in the parish church has not of late years been less than 250, nor more than 300. There is a Dissenting chapel in Anwoth at Fleet Street, belonging to the Secession, but only about forty persons in the parish attend it. The number of Roman Catholics is about 20. There are a few" Free Church" adherents in the parish, who attend public worship in Gatehouse. The following is a list of the ministers of the parish since the Revolution: Michael Bruce, 1689; Thomas Hay, 1696; George Garthshore, 1714; William Ainslie, 1724; John Welsh, 1727; Robert Carson, 1753; William Gordone, 1770; Hugh Gordon, 1790; Thomas Turnbull, 1809; Thomas Johnstone, 1839. Education.-There is one parish school with the maximum salary, besides two Sabbath schools. The salary of the parochial teacher is the maximum. There are 20 children whose parents are unable to pay school fees, who receive their education gratis. Poor. The number of paupers on the permanent roll is 16; on the occasional, 6. There is no legal assessment. The church collections on Sabbath average fully L. 40 yearly; and there is an annual income of L. 4, 10s. 4d. from a mortification; in addition to which there is a small sum, varying in amount, from the usual parochial sources. But the heritors voluntarily contribute such a sum additional (generally about L. 30) as may be required for the support of the poor. From the poor's funds are paid the salaries of the precentor, beadle, session-clerk, presbytery and synod clerks and presbytery officer. The total sum disbursed in 1843 was L. 80. Mr Murray of Broughton makes an annual allowance to a medical man for attending the poor, both in Girthon and Anwoth. There is no pawnbroker's shop in the parish; nor is there any begging on the part of the inhabitants. Inns.-There are two inns, both in Fleet Street. Savings Bank.-There is no institution of this kind in the parish; but not a few of the parishioners take advantage of the savings bank in Gatehouse. Library. There is one circulating library in the parish. MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. Anwoth, from its being chiefly a pastoral parish, has perhaps undergone as few changes within the last fifty years as any other district in the south of Scotland. There are, however, some departments in which a favourable contrast may be drawn, within that period. A new turnpike road has been made through the KIRKCUDBRIGHT. Bb parish; and the old line by the Corse of Slakes (which was by far the steepest and the longest road-ascent in Galloway), has been virtually abandoned; the Fleet canal has been constructed; a new church and manse have been built; the church collections have risen from L.14 to L.40; the stipend has been tripled; the schoolmaster's salary has advanced from L.11 to L.34, 4s. 41d.; the rental of the parish has been doubled; the houses of the farmers, and their general style of living, have been much improved; superstitious opinions aregreatly weakened, if not eradicated, unless on the part of the older portion of the population, or in the more remote and thinly inhabited districts of the parish; the wages of labour have increased about 25 per cent., while the price of the leading articles of food, meal and potatoes, for example, is about the same as in 1794; butchermeat being a little higher, but clothing much cheaper. Indeed as to female servants, their wages are stated at L.1, 15s. per half year at that date: They now vary from 1.2, 10s. to L.3. Peat was the only fuel used in the parish, except by the resident heritors, in 1794; about equal quantities of coal (brought from the opposite coast of Cumberland) and peat are now burnt. The number of paupers, however, has risen, within the last fifty years, from 10 to 21. The church collections, and the usual parochial revenue were, in 1794, sufficient for their relief; now, though all these sources of income have become more ample, the heritors have to advance a yearly sum of about L.30. On the whole, however, the standard of living and the means of comfort among all classes are greatly elevated, and the character and condition of the people have been improved. October 1844. STEWARTRY OF KIRKCUDBRIGHT. THIS Stewartry is situate betwixt 54° 43′ and 55° 19′ north lat., and 3° 33′ and 4° 34' west long. It is bounded on the north, by the shires of Dumfries and Ayr; on the east and south, by the Solway Frith and the Irish Sea; on the west, by the county of Wigton. It extends from east to west above 48 miles; and its breadth varies from 17 to 30 miles. It contains about 882 square miles. About two-thirds of the surface is mountainous; and it is calculated that about 110,000 acres are cultivated. The valued rent is L. 114,637, 2s. Scots. The real rent in 1831 amounted to L.213,308. The Stewartry has a constituency of 1336, and sends one member to Parliament. The population in 1841 amounted to 41,119. The occupations of the people, according to the census of 1831, were as follows: Occupiers of land employing labourers, Do. Labourers employed in agriculture, Employed in manufactures, in retail trade and handicraft, 871 490 2648 529 2299 440 . 1076 805 108 2378 |