Galloway Hills
Encyclopedia
The Galloway hills are part of the Southern Uplands
of Scotland
, and form the northern boundary of western Galloway
. They lie within the bounds of Galloway Forest Park
, an area of some 300 square miles (777 km²) of largely uninhabited wild land, managed by the Forestry Commission
. The unusual place names, reflect a mixture of the Old Norse
and Scottish Gaelic languages and hint at the range of influences which have acted on society within the area over the centuries.
) and south (Solway Firth
), the "Galloway Hills" to the north, and the River Nith
to the east". So if we were to say "The hills of Galloway" we would be including all the hills within this area; but as the first sentence implies the "Galloway hills" is usually taken to mean a collection of ranges which lie mainly south of Loch Doon
and which are not constrained by political boundaries. The boundary between Dumfries and Galloway Region and Ayrshire
in Strathclyde
Region runs west to east over Kirriereoch hill
, drops south of Mullwharchar to the shores of Loch Enoch
, before heading northwards up the east shore of Loch Doon, and so runs more or less through what might well be considered the heart of the Galloway hills - around Loch Enoch.
and Straiton
, both in Ayrshire. The B741 runs on an east/west line between these two towns on its way to the town of Girvan
on the Firth of Clyde
. So the B741 could therefore be taken as the northern limit of the Galloway hills area.
From Straiton a minor road (no name on the Ordnance Survey map) runs south by Stinchar Bridge through the north west corner of these hills to meet another minor road which runs from Glentrool
village northwards towards Girvan and Maybole
. This latter road forms the western boundary of the Galloway hills. It follows the valley of Water of Minnoch and for most of its length it passes through the extensive forestry plantations which lie to the west of the Galloway hills.
to Ayr
road) forms the eastern boundary of the these hills. As it heads south from Dalmellington it passes through the valley which separates the Galloway hills from the Carsphairn and Scaur Hills
hills to the east. This valley is known as the Glenkens. There is an extensive hydro electric scheme (commissioned 1935/36) with several dams and power stations that runs down through the Glenkens
to end at Tongland Power Station near Kirkcudbright
.
The A713 passes through Carsphairn village on the Water of Deuch and St John's Town of Dalry on Water of Ken
. It also passes close to New Galloway
at Kenbridge , at the northern end of Loch Ken. From New Galloway you can take the A712 through the hills to Newton Stewart
. This road passes Clatteringshaws Reservoir
, the Queen's Way , Dunkitterick Cottage (the birth place of Alexander Murray
), a deer range, a wild goat park and Murray's Monument.
, Loch Dee
and Clatteringshaws Reservoir. This for them would be the notional true heartland of the Galloway hills. The Southern Upland Way
and the National Cycle Network
Route Number Seven travel along this line. A slightly looser use of the phrase Galloway hills would certainly include the ranges which lie to the south of that line.
(711 metres). The top of Cairnsmore of Fleet is over 2 kilometres in length running almost north-south and it has tops at either end. To the south of this again is a group of small coastal hills around Cairnharrow just to the west of Gatehouse of Fleet
. Immediately beyond that is the A75 Euroroute
running close to the shore of the Solway Firth.
(797 metres) which lies some 5 kilometres to the north east of Carsphairn village and is the prominent hill to the east of you as you walk the Rhinns of Kells. It belongs in its own range, the Carsphairn hills.
on the west, The Rhinns of Kells to the east, and the Dungeon hills in between.
(768 metres), Tarfessock (697 metres), Kirriereoch
(786), Merrick
(843 metres) and Benyellary
(719 metres). Merrick is the highest hill in the south of Scotland though at less than three thousand feet it is not a Munro
. These five hills have ridges running off them to the west making the "Awful Hand", Benyellary being the thumb. This hand is best seen from near Waterhead on Minnoch as you head south from Stinchar Bridge towards Glentrool village. The Awful Hand ridge is 9 kilometres in length as the crow flies; from the top of Shalloch on Minnoch to the top of Benyellary. This sounds like not very much but there are some stiff climbs along the route especially around Kirriereoch and the Merrick. Also you have some 3 kilometres walk in to the two terminal tops from any road.
(814 metres), Millfire (716 metres), Milldown (738 metres) Meikle Millyea (746 metres), Little Millyea (578 metres) and Darrou (479). Darrou lies about half way between Loch Dee and Clatteringshaws. The Rhinns of Kells is 15.5 kilometres as the crow flies from Black Craig to Darrou and the ridge has a double curve on it making it somewhat longer than that. It tends to be a gently undulating ridge along its length making for relatively easy walking.
(645 metres), Snibe hill (533 metres) and Craiglee (531 metres). Craiglee is to an extent an outlier from the main ridge lying as it does at the eastern end of the Rig of the Jarkness which runs east to west. Craiglee is just north of Loch Dee. The Dungeons, as they are often called, are 11 kilometres from the top of Craigmawhannal to the top of Craiglee as the crow flies. None of these hills get to the same heights as some hills on the other two ridges. However, apart from Mullwharchar they are much more rocky and rugged and are therefore popular with the rock climber and those who like a bit of scrambling when they walk in the hills.
A planning application was made in January 1978 to Kyle and Carrick District Council by the UKAEA to test drill on Mullwharchar for the purpose of dumping nuclear waste. On 24 October 1978, the Council rejected the application after considerable local protest.
However, the surface of the highest loch in the corridor to the west of the Dungeons, Loch Enoch, is actually around 490 metres above sea level. With Loch Trool being about 70 metres above sea level you can see that this corridor rises significantly as it passes (over a distance of some 5 kilometres) between the hills on either side.
The surface of Dry Loch of the Dungeon the highest loch to the east of the Dungeons is around 330 metres above sea level and most of the Silver Flowe immediately to the south of it lies fairly level at about the 270 metres mark all the way back south to Loch Dee (around 225 metres above sea level). The explanation for this is that the Silver Flowe is a floating or blanket bog and is consequently flat in nature.
These two burns are separated by a short ridge, (3 kilometres long), which runs north from Buchan Hill just north of Loch Trool to Craig Neldricken immediately south of Loch Enoch - the Buchan Ridge.
It is quite possible to use the Buchan Burn route to get to Loch Enoch and you will pass the Grey Man of the Merrick (see picture above), on your left as you near Loch Enoch (OS ref. NX427842). The more popular route however, because of the scenic interest, is to take the Gairland Burn and head north past Loch Valley
, Loch Neldricken
and Loch Arron before you get to Loch Enoch. This is often called the "Loch's Route onto The Merrick" - though you still have a 350 metre climb up Redstone Rig from Loch Enoch to the Merrick.
Taking the west side of Loch Neldricken you will pass a place called in the maps the "Murder Hole" which refers to an incident in Samuel Crockett's
novel "The Raiders" - though it is claimed that the real murder hole is near Rowantree Bridge (OS Ref NX354907) on the Water of Minnoch where the bodies of waylaid, murdered travellers were dumped .
If you go east of Loch Neldricken you can gain access to Loch Enoch by the Wolf Slock. Both of these latter named places figure prominently in the Crockett novel. The sharp granite sand on the beaches of Loch Enoch itself was at one time collected and sold for sharpening knives and scythes.
In McBain's book "The Merrick and Neighbouring Hills" there is a fascinating description of how McBain tried to find the depth of Loch Enoch by cutting a series of holes on its icy surface and dropping a weighted line into it - quite alone when he did so. He worked out a depth of 105 feet at what he reckoned was the deepest point.. McBain was an intrepid hill walker/climber who was much devoted to these hills and his book exudes his love for the wild places. It is an excellent read for anyone interested in walking hills in general but especilly these hills.
with a Blanket bog
of international importance. It is part of the Merrick Kells Biosphere Reserve and is a Ramsar site for the quality of its peatlands and wetlands. The Ramsar Convention
, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation of wetlands and their resources. The convention is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem; it takes its name from the Iranian city of Ramsar and came into force in 1975. The reserve is owned by Forest Enterprise
but is managed through a lease by Scottish Natural Heritage
.
Soon after this the land was taken over by the Forestry Commission and the sheep grazings became dense forest, but not before the death of a 17 year old shepherd called Ralph Furlow, an employee of the Department of Agriculture, whose job it was to cross the Rhinns of Kells to tend to the sheep still in the Dungeon area. On 27 January 1954 he was overwhelmed in a snow storm and his death is commemorated by a monument just below Millfire on its east side.
Heading west from Back Hill for the Loch Enoch area the route taken was up the Nick of the Dungeon, a steep boulder-strewn climb, after you had negotiated your way through the watery pools of the Silver Flowe. Months could pass between seeing anyone else from the outside world. The "hirds" and their families had therefore to be both resourceful and self-reliant to spend their working lives there, and it will always be one of the attractions for those who go into wild country like this that you are forced to take responsibility for yourself; the place asks questions of you that you are obliged to take seriously.
The battle which Bruce's Stone commemorates was actually fought (in 1307) at the south east end of Loch Trool where Muldonnoch (561 metres) falls steeply into it. South east of Muldonnoch is Lamachan Hill (717 metres), and from there you can head south west along a ridge to Large Hill (676 metres) or head east over Bennanbrack (685 metres) to Curleywee (674 metres) where you join a small ridge that runs north/south. North takes you one and a half kilometres over White Hill (606 metres) to Loch Dee. The southern ridge is some three and a half kilometres long gradually dropping in height over its length to Black Benwee (368 metres).
Some two kilometres east of Loch Dee a ridge of hills runs from just south of Darrou in a south westerly direction and in fact these hills are really a continuation of the line of the Rhinns of Kells. From north to south the hills are Cairngarroch (557 metres) Cairnbaber (569 metres above the Buckdas of Cairnbaber), Millfore (656 metres) and Drigmorn Hill (545 metres).
There is also a small range of hills just to the west of Clatteringshaws Reservoir. On Darnaw (472 metres) the highest of these hills there is monument to those who died here in an air crash on 2 February 1937 .
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Besides the air crash site just mentioned on Darnaw there are many more crash sites (some with monuments) in the Galloway hills area. There is a monument on Cairnsmore of Fleet which lists 9 aircraft which have crashed there. There is a monument on Craignaw
to the pilots of an F-111 which crashed there on 19 December 1979. During World War II, Dumfries and several other places in south west Scotland were heavily involved in the training of pilots etc. for the war effort and many of the crash sites date from this era .
, an area of 300 square miles (777 km²) of mixed landscape with three visitors' centres and offering many recreational facilities. On 15 November 2009, the park became the first Dark Sky Park in the United Kingdom.
and the Northern Isles
, Galloway had a long history under the Lords of Galloway
(from the early 12th century until 1234) of being largely independent of the Scottish crown. Going back beyond that there is thought to have been a kingdom of Galloway perhaps going back to the aftermath of the expulsion of the Vikings from Dublin in 902 and the subsequent loss of control by the former Northumbrian masters of Galloway.
Galloway was long regarded as a wild and lawless place - somewhat other from the mainstream of Scottish Culture, which was as much as anything to do with its remoteness and inaccessibility. The Galloway hills played an important part in this image especially as at various point in history it was a place of refuge for fugitives who did not fit into, or defied, the power structure of their times There is still a sense of otherness about the place.
was crowned King of Scotland on 25 March 1306 little more than a month after he had been involved at Dumfries in the murder of John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch
, otherwise known as the Red Comyn, (a serious rival for the kingship of Scotland, as his mother was Eleanor Balliol who was the eldest daughter of John I de Balliol)
.. Another branch of the Comyn family at his time was that of John Comyn
Earl of Buchan
. His father Alexander had been Sheriff of Wigtown (1263-1266) and a Guardian of Scotland (1286–89), and they held land in the south west of Scotland before being granted the lands in Buchan
- which explains why there are place names with Buchan in them in the Galloway hills area like Buchan Hill and Dungeon of Buchan.
Bruce's army lost to Edward I
's forces at the Battle of Methven
in June of 1306 and he became a fugitive hunted not only by occupying forces of Edward but also by the Comyns and the Balliols
. He escaped to Rathlin Island
off the Irish coast but by February 1307 he was back in Scotland, in the Galloway hills, with a tiny handful of followers and totally encircled by his enemies - a king hunted like an animal. However, following a successful early raid on the English forces at Raploch Moss near Clatteringshaws, he had his first victory against the English forces at the battle of Glen Trool
. Though this was probably more of a minor skirmish in the guerrilla mode of William Wallace
, it was important from a propaganda point of view in the recruitment of men to Bruce's cause.
In 1929 on the 600th anniversary of Bruce's death, Bruce's Stone was placed high above the northern shore of Loch Trool from where legend has it that he had commanded the ambush which took place on the Steps of Trool on the other side of the loch. He lived for some 3 months as a fugitive in these hills before he was able to break out of his confinement and go on eventually to the much more significant victory at Bannockburn
in 1314 which gave Scotland some relief in the first War of Independence
and the near subjugation to the English Crown which had ensued after the death of King Alexander III
on 19 March 1286.
Robert the Bruce's brother Edward
who was later to become king of Ireland had long since carried out a successful campaign against the Comyn/Baliol faction in the south west of Scotland before Bannockburn.
struggled against the will of the Stewart Kings
in their attempts to impose Anglican and even (with James II) Catholic practices in the Scottish Church
. The Presbyterian Church claimed that every man was equal in the eyes of God, could read and understand the Bible for himself and therefore needed no hierarchical form of priesthood, especially one which was appointed under the patronage of the most powerful people in the land, to act between them and their God. The covenanters believed that the reformation
settlement in England had simply replaced the power of the Pope over the church with the power of the king over it and they would not have their religious freedom laid down for them by the crown.
In some ways their principles were political harbingers on the path towards later principles of democratic forms of government and were seen at the time as dangerous sedition by kings who still believed in the Divine right of kings
. The National Covenant was drawn up in 1638 and it is from this that the Covenanter
s take their name - with reference beyond that to the Covenants of the Bible
.The south west of Scotland was a particular hot bed of resistance to the will of the kings in religious matters and over time both sides in this conflict went to extreme ends to have their way.
In their case however their struggles to survive in these hills and practice their beliefs there through conventicles are counted in years rather than months. Eighty two persons were summarily killed by the troops during the Killing Time
(1684–85). Since these are only the ones which were witnessed and recorded the numbers could be much more. "All over the more desolate parts the covenanters were being massacred by the soldiers and their bodies left to rot on the heather where they fell. No records were kept of such killings; the victims were simply regarded as 'missing' for none of their relatives or friends knew how or where they had died. For many year after the killing times shepherds were continually finding on hills and moors the bleached skeletons of covenanters who had been killed in this way". The matter was not resolved until after the Glorious Revolution
of 1688 when under William of Orange
presbyterianism was finally established as the faith of most Scots, though even he found the more fanatical Presbyterians hard to handle.
In the 18th century the stonemason Robert Paterson
devoted his life to going round the country restoring the monuments of the covenanting martyrs and Walter Scott used this real life character as the model for "Old Mortality
".
along the Solway Coast - sitting as it does only around 20 miles (30 km) from the Isle of Man
, the pathway for most contraband goods. The Galloway hills offered a refuge for these far from idealistic lawless rogues and ruffians - somewhere to retreat to in times of trouble and as a safe route for the strings of up to 200 laden horses which carried their goods to Glasgow or Edinburgh. "During the early 18th century Galloway was infested with gypsies,and it was no accident that Sir Walter Scott
should have introduced Meg Merrilees and her tribe into his novel 'Guy Mannering
' which is set in the Stewartry
."
Gypsy or "Tinkler" clans were heavily involved in the trafficking side of smuggling - getting the contraband to its market. The most notorious of these gypsy smugglers was Billy Marshall (King of the Gypsies
) who is said to have fought at the Battle of the Boyne
in 1690 at the age of 18 and died on the 28th November 1792 – 120 years old and having married 17 times. He was also one of the leaders of the Levellers (not to be confused with the Levellers
in England). These Levellers in Galloway knocked down dykes during the night as quickly as enclosing landlords built them during the day.
Another story from west Galloway which helped to give an extra edge to the picture of lawlessness in the area was the legend of the extensive cannibal family of Sawney Bean.
Scotland's National Bard Robert Burns
was an excise man in eastern Galloway at the time of his death in 1796.
Southern Uplands
The Southern Uplands are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas . The term is used both to describe the geographical region and to collectively denote the various ranges of hills within this region...
of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and form the northern boundary of western Galloway
Galloway
Galloway is an area in southwestern Scotland. It usually refers to the former counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire...
. They lie within the bounds of Galloway Forest Park
Galloway Forest Park
Galloway Forest Park is a woodland park in Scotland, principally covering woodland in Dumfries and Galloway. It is operated by Forestry Commission Scotland....
, an area of some 300 square miles (777 km²) of largely uninhabited wild land, managed by the Forestry Commission
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
. The unusual place names, reflect a mixture of the Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
and Scottish Gaelic languages and hint at the range of influences which have acted on society within the area over the centuries.
Location
The location of Galloway is described as follows, "Galloway is contained by sea to the west (North ChannelNorth Channel (Great Britain and Ireland)
The North Channel is the strait which separates eastern Northern Ireland from southwestern Scotland...
) and south (Solway Firth
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway, on the western end of Dumfries and Galloway. The Isle of Man is also very...
), the "Galloway Hills" to the north, and the River Nith
River Nith
The River Nith is a river in South West Scotland.-Source, flow and mouth:The Nith rises in the Carsphairn hills of East Ayrshire, more precisely between Prickeny Hill and Enoch Hill, 7 km East of Dalmellington...
to the east". So if we were to say "The hills of Galloway" we would be including all the hills within this area; but as the first sentence implies the "Galloway hills" is usually taken to mean a collection of ranges which lie mainly south of Loch Doon
Loch Doon
Loch Doon is a body of water, in Carrick, Scotland. The River Doon issues from its northern end, while the loch itself receives waters from Loch Enoch via Eglin Lane....
and which are not constrained by political boundaries. The boundary between Dumfries and Galloway Region and Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
in Strathclyde
Strathclyde
right|thumb|the former Strathclyde regionStrathclyde was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created by the Local Government Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc Act 1994...
Region runs west to east over Kirriereoch hill
Kirriereoch Hill
Kirriereoch Hill is a hill in the Range of the Awful Hand in the Southern Uplands of southern Scotland. It lies on the border of the old counties of Ayrshire and Kirkcudbrightshire, or the modern regions of Dumfries and Galloway and South Ayrshire...
, drops south of Mullwharchar to the shores of Loch Enoch
Loch Enoch
Loch Enoch is a multi-basin loch in Galloway to the east of Merrick and south of Mullwharchar. The loch is situated in a granite basin and has several small islands and some beaches on its shore. The sharp granite sand of these beaches was collected and sold for sharpening knives and scythes...
, before heading northwards up the east shore of Loch Doon, and so runs more or less through what might well be considered the heart of the Galloway hills - around Loch Enoch.
Northern and western boundaries
The northern limit of this hill area is around the small towns of DalmellingtonDalmellington
Dalmellington is a market town in Ayrshire, Scotland. In 2001 it had a population of 1407. The town owes its origins to the fault line separating the Southern Uplands of Scotland from the Central Lowlands...
and Straiton
Straiton
Straiton is a village on the River Girvan in South Ayrshire in Scotland, mainly built in the 18th century, but with some recent housing.It was the main location for the film The Match, where two rival pubs played an annual football match as a challenge...
, both in Ayrshire. The B741 runs on an east/west line between these two towns on its way to the town of Girvan
Girvan
Girvan is a burgh in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of about 8000 people. Originally a fishing port, it is now also a seaside resort with beaches and cliffs. Girvan dates back to 1668 when is became a municipal burgh incorporated by by charter...
on the Firth of Clyde
Firth of Clyde
The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran.At...
. So the B741 could therefore be taken as the northern limit of the Galloway hills area.
From Straiton a minor road (no name on the Ordnance Survey map) runs south by Stinchar Bridge through the north west corner of these hills to meet another minor road which runs from Glentrool
Glentrool
Glentrool is a collection of mountain biking routes through the heart of Galloway in southwest Scotland. The mountain bike routes are part of the 7Stanes project by the Forestry Commission throughout the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway....
village northwards towards Girvan and Maybole
Maybole
Maybole is a burgh of barony and police burgh of South Ayrshire, Scotland. Pop. 4,552. It is situated south of Ayr and southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. ...
. This latter road forms the western boundary of the Galloway hills. It follows the valley of Water of Minnoch and for most of its length it passes through the extensive forestry plantations which lie to the west of the Galloway hills.
Eastern boundary
The A713 (Castle DouglasCastle Douglas
Castle Douglas , a town in the south of Scotland in Dumfries and Galloway, lies in the eastern part of Galloway known as the Stewartry, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet.-History:...
to Ayr
Ayr
Ayr is a town and port situated on the Firth of Clyde in south-west Scotland. With a population of around 46,000, Ayr is the largest settlement in Ayrshire, of which it is the county town, and has held royal burgh status since 1205...
road) forms the eastern boundary of the these hills. As it heads south from Dalmellington it passes through the valley which separates the Galloway hills from the Carsphairn and Scaur Hills
Carsphairn and Scaur Hills
The Carsphairn and Scaur hills are the western and eastern hills respectively of a hill range in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. Ordnance Survey maps don't have a general name for the hill area as a whole. Also, Ordnance Survey use "Scar" rather than the local spelling of "Scaur" - the word is...
hills to the east. This valley is known as the Glenkens. There is an extensive hydro electric scheme (commissioned 1935/36) with several dams and power stations that runs down through the Glenkens
Galloway hydro-electric power scheme
The Galloway hydro-electric power scheme is a network of dams and hydro-electric power stations in Galloway, south west Scotland. It was built between 1930 and 1936....
to end at Tongland Power Station near Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.The town lies south of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie, in the part of Dumfries and Galloway known as the Stewartry, at the mouth of the River Dee, some six miles from the sea...
.
The A713 passes through Carsphairn village on the Water of Deuch and St John's Town of Dalry on Water of Ken
Water of Ken
The Water of Ken is a river in Galloway, south-west Scotland. It rises on Blacklorg Hill, north-east of Cairnsmore of Carsphairn in the Carsphairn hills, and flows south-westward into the Glenkens valley, passing through Carsfad and Earlstoun lochs, both of which are dammed to supply the Galloway...
. It also passes close to New Galloway
New Galloway
New Galloway is a town in Dumfries and Galloway Region, southwest Scotland. It lies on the west side of the valley of the Water of Ken, a mile north of the end of Loch Ken...
at Kenbridge , at the northern end of Loch Ken. From New Galloway you can take the A712 through the hills to Newton Stewart
Newton Stewart
Newton Stewart is a burgh town in the south of Scotland in the west of the region of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire....
. This road passes Clatteringshaws Reservoir
Clatteringshaws Loch
Clatteringshaws Loch is a reservoir in the Dumfries and Galloway district of southern Scotland. It was created by damming the Galloway River Dee as part of the Galloway Hydro Electric Scheme....
, the Queen's Way , Dunkitterick Cottage (the birth place of Alexander Murray
Alexander Murray (linguist)
Alexander Murray was a Scottish linguist and professor of Oriental languages in Edinburgh University Murray was born at Dunkitterick, Kirkcudbrightshire, and after graduating from Edinburgh University, became parish minister of Urr in his native shire...
), a deer range, a wild goat park and Murray's Monument.
Southern boundary
For most users of these hills, "the Galloway hills" would mean the ranges which lie north of a line running eastwards along the north shores of Loch TroolLoch Trool
Loch Trool is a body of water in Galloway, south-west Scotland lying in the valley of Glen Trool. It is the source of the Water of Trool which flows to the Water of Minnoch and the Cree.It was the location, in 1307, of the Battle of Glen Trool....
, Loch Dee
River Dee, Galloway
The River Dee, in south-west Scotland, flows from its source in Loch Dee amongst the Galloway Hills, firstly to Clatteringshaws Loch, then in to Loch Ken, where it joins the Water of Ken. From there, the Dee flows southwards to Kirkcudbright, and into Kirkcudbright Bay to reach the Solway. The...
and Clatteringshaws Reservoir. This for them would be the notional true heartland of the Galloway hills. The Southern Upland Way
Southern Upland Way
Opened in 1984, the Southern Upland Way is a coast to coast walk in Scotland between Portpatrick in the west and Cockburnspath in the east....
and the National Cycle Network
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network is a network of cycle routes in the United Kingdom.The National Cycle Network was created by the charity Sustrans , and aided by a £42.5 million National Lottery grant. In 2005 it was used for over 230 million trips.Many routes hope to minimise contact with motor...
Route Number Seven travel along this line. A slightly looser use of the phrase Galloway hills would certainly include the ranges which lie to the south of that line.
Outlying ranges to the south
As you approach Clatteringshaws Reservoir on the A712 heading for Newton Stewart you have a hill called Cairnsmore of Dee or Black Craig of Dee (493 metres) to the south of you. This is not a particularly high hill but it offers excellent views from the top over Clatteringshaws into the heart of the Galloway hills. Likewise to the south as you pass Murray's Monument there is an outlying range of hills around Cairnsmore of FleetCairnsmore of Fleet
Cairnsmore of Fleet is a mountain in the Scottish Lowlands, on the edges of Galloway Forest Park. It is home to the most extensive area of open moorland in Galloway, and has been designated as a biosphere reserve.-Topography:...
(711 metres). The top of Cairnsmore of Fleet is over 2 kilometres in length running almost north-south and it has tops at either end. To the south of this again is a group of small coastal hills around Cairnharrow just to the west of Gatehouse of Fleet
Gatehouse of Fleet
Gatehouse of Fleet is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, which has existed since the mid-18th century, although the area has been inhabited since much earlier...
. Immediately beyond that is the A75 Euroroute
A75 road
The A75 is a major road in Scotland, heading west along the south coast of Scotland from its junction with the A74 motorway at Gretna. It continues past Eastriggs, Annan, Dumfries, Castle Douglas, Gatehouse of Fleet, Newton Stewart and Glenluce before ending at Stranraer.The majority of the road...
running close to the shore of the Solway Firth.
Hills named Cairnsmore
Besides the two Cairnsmore hills just mentioned there is a third "Cairnsmore" acting as a prominent sentinel around the borders of the Galloway hills. This is Cairnsmore of CarsphairnCairnsmore of Carsphairn
Cairnsmore of Carsphairn is a 797m high hill in the Southern Uplands of southern Scotland. An alternative name, rarely used nowadays, is Cairnsmore of Deugh...
(797 metres) which lies some 5 kilometres to the north east of Carsphairn village and is the prominent hill to the east of you as you walk the Rhinns of Kells. It belongs in its own range, the Carsphairn hills.
Access roads
- Some two kilometres south of Dalmellington on the A713 you can pick up a forestry toll road which brings you down the west side of Loch Doon, passing the reconstructed Loch Doon Castle and bringing you out at Stinchar Bridge. You pass close to Loch Riecawr and Loch Bradan. The Barr to Loch Doon Cycle Route uses this forest road.
- From Glentrool village there is a minor single track road that takes you eastward to Bruce's Stone on the northern side of Loch Trool, a distance of some 6 kilometres. The road stops here for vehicle traffic but the N7 National Cycle Network Route carries on from there right over to Clatteringshaws.
- You can also take a car as far as Craigencallie (Ordnance Survey ref. NX503780) which lies about half way between Loch Dee and Clatteringshaws. Access to the single track road which takes you there is just west of the Dam at Clatteringshaws reservoir on the A712.
Three ridges
As mentioned above the heartland of the Galloway hills lies to the north of Loch Trool and many excellent walks into that particularly wild remote territory start from the extensive car park by Bruce's Stone. There are three ridges which run northwards from the Loch Trool/Loch Dee/Clatteringshaws area - The Awful HandRange of the Awful Hand
The Range of the Awful Hand is a range of hills in the Southern Uplands of Scotland named due to their resemblance to the fingers of a hand. The hills, starting at the 'thumb' are:*Benyellary *Merrick *Kirriereoch Hill...
on the west, The Rhinns of Kells to the east, and the Dungeon hills in between.
Awful Hand
Taking the Awful Hand from north to south we have the following tops Shalloch on MinnochShalloch on Minnoch
Shalloch on Minnoch is a Corbett at the north end of the "Awful Hand" range in the Southern Uplands of southern Scotland.-References:...
(768 metres), Tarfessock (697 metres), Kirriereoch
Kirriereoch Hill
Kirriereoch Hill is a hill in the Range of the Awful Hand in the Southern Uplands of southern Scotland. It lies on the border of the old counties of Ayrshire and Kirkcudbrightshire, or the modern regions of Dumfries and Galloway and South Ayrshire...
(786), Merrick
Merrick, Galloway
Merrick is the highest mountain in the Southern Uplands of southern Scotland and is part of the Range of the Awful Hand.The shortest route of ascent is from the car park in Glen Trool...
(843 metres) and Benyellary
Benyellary
Benyellary is one of the Galloway Hills, in the Range of the Awful Hand. Its peak is at an elevation of above sea level....
(719 metres). Merrick is the highest hill in the south of Scotland though at less than three thousand feet it is not a Munro
Munro
A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over . They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet , who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3,000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain...
. These five hills have ridges running off them to the west making the "Awful Hand", Benyellary being the thumb. This hand is best seen from near Waterhead on Minnoch as you head south from Stinchar Bridge towards Glentrool village. The Awful Hand ridge is 9 kilometres in length as the crow flies; from the top of Shalloch on Minnoch to the top of Benyellary. This sounds like not very much but there are some stiff climbs along the route especially around Kirriereoch and the Merrick. Also you have some 3 kilometres walk in to the two terminal tops from any road.
Rhinns of Kells
Taking the Rhinns of Kells from north to south we start on Black Craig (528 metres) on the east bank of Loch Doon, followed by Coran of Portmark (623 metres), Meaul (695 metres), Carlin's Cairn (807), CorserineCorserine
Corserine is the highest point of the Rhinns of Kells range in the Southern Uplands of southern Scotland. The usual route of ascent is from the car park at Forest Lodge to the east of the hill via Loch Harrow and North Gairy Top. Forest Lodge is a short drive from the village of St. John's Town of...
(814 metres), Millfire (716 metres), Milldown (738 metres) Meikle Millyea (746 metres), Little Millyea (578 metres) and Darrou (479). Darrou lies about half way between Loch Dee and Clatteringshaws. The Rhinns of Kells is 15.5 kilometres as the crow flies from Black Craig to Darrou and the ridge has a double curve on it making it somewhat longer than that. It tends to be a gently undulating ridge along its length making for relatively easy walking.
Dungeon hills
Taking the Dungeon hills from north to south we have Craigmawhannal (357 metres) just south of the south end of Loch Doon, followed by, Hoodens hill (568 metres), Mullwharchar (692 metres), Dungeon hill (610 metres). Craignairny (595 metres), CraignawCraignaw
Craignaw is a small but very rocky hill in centre of the Galloway Hills of southern Scotland. Unlike many hills in the Southern Uplands, Craignaw has a complex and rocky summit area, with a long line of crags and rough ground on the east side. The hill is largely composed of granite...
(645 metres), Snibe hill (533 metres) and Craiglee (531 metres). Craiglee is to an extent an outlier from the main ridge lying as it does at the eastern end of the Rig of the Jarkness which runs east to west. Craiglee is just north of Loch Dee. The Dungeons, as they are often called, are 11 kilometres from the top of Craigmawhannal to the top of Craiglee as the crow flies. None of these hills get to the same heights as some hills on the other two ridges. However, apart from Mullwharchar they are much more rocky and rugged and are therefore popular with the rock climber and those who like a bit of scrambling when they walk in the hills.
A planning application was made in January 1978 to Kyle and Carrick District Council by the UKAEA to test drill on Mullwharchar for the purpose of dumping nuclear waste. On 24 October 1978, the Council rejected the application after considerable local protest.
Between the ridges
There is relatively low ground between the Dungeons ridge and the other two ridges on either side of it and this lower ground passes through the whole hill area from north to south forming two corridors through the hills.However, the surface of the highest loch in the corridor to the west of the Dungeons, Loch Enoch, is actually around 490 metres above sea level. With Loch Trool being about 70 metres above sea level you can see that this corridor rises significantly as it passes (over a distance of some 5 kilometres) between the hills on either side.
The surface of Dry Loch of the Dungeon the highest loch to the east of the Dungeons is around 330 metres above sea level and most of the Silver Flowe immediately to the south of it lies fairly level at about the 270 metres mark all the way back south to Loch Dee (around 225 metres above sea level). The explanation for this is that the Silver Flowe is a floating or blanket bog and is consequently flat in nature.
Lochs between the Awful Hand and the Dungeons
There are two burns which feed into the eastern end of Loch Trool on its northern shore, the Buchan Burn (the more westerly) and the Gairland Burn.These two burns are separated by a short ridge, (3 kilometres long), which runs north from Buchan Hill just north of Loch Trool to Craig Neldricken immediately south of Loch Enoch - the Buchan Ridge.
It is quite possible to use the Buchan Burn route to get to Loch Enoch and you will pass the Grey Man of the Merrick (see picture above), on your left as you near Loch Enoch (OS ref. NX427842). The more popular route however, because of the scenic interest, is to take the Gairland Burn and head north past Loch Valley
Loch Valley
Loch Valley is a loch in Galloway Forest Park to the east of Buchan Hill, north of the Rig of the Jarkness and southwest of Craignaw. It drains via Gairland Burn down to Loch Trool....
, Loch Neldricken
Loch Neldricken
Loch Neldricken is a loch in Galloway to the south-east of Merrick, south of Craig Neldricken and west of Craignaw. The loch is almost bisected by a long promontory. It drains via the short Mid Burn into Loch Valley and then via Gairland Burn down to Loch Trool....
and Loch Arron before you get to Loch Enoch. This is often called the "Loch's Route onto The Merrick" - though you still have a 350 metre climb up Redstone Rig from Loch Enoch to the Merrick.
Taking the west side of Loch Neldricken you will pass a place called in the maps the "Murder Hole" which refers to an incident in Samuel Crockett's
Samuel Rutherford Crockett
Samuel Rutherford Crockett was a Scottish novelist, born at Duchrae, Balmaghie, Kirkcudbrightshire, the illegitimate grandson of a farmer....
novel "The Raiders" - though it is claimed that the real murder hole is near Rowantree Bridge (OS Ref NX354907) on the Water of Minnoch where the bodies of waylaid, murdered travellers were dumped .
If you go east of Loch Neldricken you can gain access to Loch Enoch by the Wolf Slock. Both of these latter named places figure prominently in the Crockett novel. The sharp granite sand on the beaches of Loch Enoch itself was at one time collected and sold for sharpening knives and scythes.
In McBain's book "The Merrick and Neighbouring Hills" there is a fascinating description of how McBain tried to find the depth of Loch Enoch by cutting a series of holes on its icy surface and dropping a weighted line into it - quite alone when he did so. He worked out a depth of 105 feet at what he reckoned was the deepest point.. McBain was an intrepid hill walker/climber who was much devoted to these hills and his book exudes his love for the wild places. It is an excellent read for anyone interested in walking hills in general but especilly these hills.
Silver Flowe
The Silver Flowe is a National Nature ReserveNational Nature Reserves in Scotland
National Nature Reserves in Scotland are established by Scottish Natural Heritage. Until 2004 there were 73 National Nature Reserves in Scotland, as per the list below...
with a Blanket bog
Blanket bog
Blanket bog or blanket mire is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses of undulating ground. The blanketing of the ground with a variable depth of peat...
of international importance. It is part of the Merrick Kells Biosphere Reserve and is a Ramsar site for the quality of its peatlands and wetlands. The Ramsar Convention
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation of wetlands and their resources. The convention is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem; it takes its name from the Iranian city of Ramsar and came into force in 1975. The reserve is owned by Forest Enterprise
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
but is managed through a lease by Scottish Natural Heritage
Scottish Natural Heritage
Scottish Natural Heritage is a Scottish public body. It is responsible for Scotland's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government and acts as a government agent in the delivery of conservation designations, i.e...
.
Backhill of Bush
Today Backhill of Bush is closed and sealed, the Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) no longer maintains this bothy, and the Forestry Commission who own the property have sealed it. However until around 1950 it was still in use as the home of a shepherd (or "Hird" in local parlance) working a part of the land known as the Dungeon of Buchan and was reckoned to be the loneliest such outpost in Galloway with the Silver Flowe to the west and the Rhinns of Kells to the east.Soon after this the land was taken over by the Forestry Commission and the sheep grazings became dense forest, but not before the death of a 17 year old shepherd called Ralph Furlow, an employee of the Department of Agriculture, whose job it was to cross the Rhinns of Kells to tend to the sheep still in the Dungeon area. On 27 January 1954 he was overwhelmed in a snow storm and his death is commemorated by a monument just below Millfire on its east side.
Access into the heart of the Galloway hills from the east and west
The route Ralph Furlow would have used to cross the Rhinns was that used by the former residents of Back Hill - going over the saddle between Corserine and Millfire (OS. Ref NX516863). In earlier times a funeral party taking a "hird's" wife's dead body over the Rhinns was caught in a snowstorm in this saddle and the body had to be left there for several days.Heading west from Back Hill for the Loch Enoch area the route taken was up the Nick of the Dungeon, a steep boulder-strewn climb, after you had negotiated your way through the watery pools of the Silver Flowe. Months could pass between seeing anyone else from the outside world. The "hirds" and their families had therefore to be both resourceful and self-reliant to spend their working lives there, and it will always be one of the attractions for those who go into wild country like this that you are forced to take responsibility for yourself; the place asks questions of you that you are obliged to take seriously.
Habitation in the Galloway hills
There are the remains of several other former buildings scattered around the Galloway hills area; notably at Glenhead (NX433800) close to the Southern Upland Way for example, and at Culsharg (NX416822) on the "tourist route" from Bruce's Stone to the Merrick. The latter can still be used as something of a shelter in bad weather, though it is far from MBA bothy standard. Buildings still in use are to be found around the periphery of the Galloway hills heartland but apart from forest tracks, there are neither public roads nor buildings in use in the heartland itself.Minnigaff hills
These hills (which offer excellent views into the heartland of the Galloway hills) lie just south of the east end of Loch Trool and they stretch to the shores of Clatteringshaws Reservoir. Their southern boundary is the A712 New Galloway to Newton Stewart road.The battle which Bruce's Stone commemorates was actually fought (in 1307) at the south east end of Loch Trool where Muldonnoch (561 metres) falls steeply into it. South east of Muldonnoch is Lamachan Hill (717 metres), and from there you can head south west along a ridge to Large Hill (676 metres) or head east over Bennanbrack (685 metres) to Curleywee (674 metres) where you join a small ridge that runs north/south. North takes you one and a half kilometres over White Hill (606 metres) to Loch Dee. The southern ridge is some three and a half kilometres long gradually dropping in height over its length to Black Benwee (368 metres).
Some two kilometres east of Loch Dee a ridge of hills runs from just south of Darrou in a south westerly direction and in fact these hills are really a continuation of the line of the Rhinns of Kells. From north to south the hills are Cairngarroch (557 metres) Cairnbaber (569 metres above the Buckdas of Cairnbaber), Millfore (656 metres) and Drigmorn Hill (545 metres).
There is also a small range of hills just to the west of Clatteringshaws Reservoir. On Darnaw (472 metres) the highest of these hills there is monument to those who died here in an air crash on 2 February 1937 .
Air crash sites
Craignaw
Craignaw is a small but very rocky hill in centre of the Galloway Hills of southern Scotland. Unlike many hills in the Southern Uplands, Craignaw has a complex and rocky summit area, with a long line of crags and rough ground on the east side. The hill is largely composed of granite...
to the pilots of an F-111 which crashed there on 19 December 1979. During World War II, Dumfries and several other places in south west Scotland were heavily involved in the training of pilots etc. for the war effort and many of the crash sites date from this era .
Galloway Forest Park
The whole area of hills that we have been discussing on this page falls within Galloway Forest ParkGalloway Forest Park
Galloway Forest Park is a woodland park in Scotland, principally covering woodland in Dumfries and Galloway. It is operated by Forestry Commission Scotland....
, an area of 300 square miles (777 km²) of mixed landscape with three visitors' centres and offering many recreational facilities. On 15 November 2009, the park became the first Dark Sky Park in the United Kingdom.
Galloway hills in Scottish history
Like the Western IslesOuter Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides also known as the Western Isles and the Long Island, is an island chain off the west coast of Scotland. The islands are geographically contiguous with Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland...
and the Northern Isles
Northern Isles
The Northern Isles is a chain of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The climate is cool and temperate and much influenced by the surrounding seas. There are two main island groups: Shetland and Orkney...
, Galloway had a long history under the Lords of Galloway
Lords of Galloway
The Lords, or Kings of Galloway ruled over Galloway, in south west Scotland, for a large part of the High Middle Ages.Many regions of Scotland, including Galloway and Moray, periodically had kings or subkings, similar to those in Ireland during the Middle Ages. The Scottish monarch was seen as...
(from the early 12th century until 1234) of being largely independent of the Scottish crown. Going back beyond that there is thought to have been a kingdom of Galloway perhaps going back to the aftermath of the expulsion of the Vikings from Dublin in 902 and the subsequent loss of control by the former Northumbrian masters of Galloway.
Galloway was long regarded as a wild and lawless place - somewhat other from the mainstream of Scottish Culture, which was as much as anything to do with its remoteness and inaccessibility. The Galloway hills played an important part in this image especially as at various point in history it was a place of refuge for fugitives who did not fit into, or defied, the power structure of their times There is still a sense of otherness about the place.
"Cradle of Independence" - A king as a fugitive
Robert the BruceRobert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
was crowned King of Scotland on 25 March 1306 little more than a month after he had been involved at Dumfries in the murder of John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch
John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch
John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch and Lord of Lochaber or John "the Red", also known simply as the Red Comyn was a Scottish nobleman who was an important figure in the Wars of Scottish Independence, and was Guardian of Scotland during the Second Interregnum 1296-1306...
, otherwise known as the Red Comyn, (a serious rival for the kingship of Scotland, as his mother was Eleanor Balliol who was the eldest daughter of John I de Balliol)
.. Another branch of the Comyn family at his time was that of John Comyn
John Comyn, Earl of Buchan
John Comyn was Earl of Buchan and an important member of Clan Comyn during the early 14th century. He was a chief opponent of Robert the Bruce in the civil war that paralleled the War of Scottish Independence. He should not be confused with the better known John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch, who...
Earl of Buchan
Earl of Buchan
The Mormaer or Earl of Buchan was originally the provincial ruler of the medieval province of Buchan. Buchan was the first Mormaerdom in the High Medieval Kingdom of the Scots to pass into the hands of a non-Scottish family in the male line. The earldom had three lines in its history, not counting...
. His father Alexander had been Sheriff of Wigtown (1263-1266) and a Guardian of Scotland (1286–89), and they held land in the south west of Scotland before being granted the lands in Buchan
Buchan
Buchan is one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by the council in 1996, when the Aberdeenshire unitary council area was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994...
- which explains why there are place names with Buchan in them in the Galloway hills area like Buchan Hill and Dungeon of Buchan.
Bruce's army lost to Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
's forces at the Battle of Methven
Battle of Methven
The Battle of Methven took place at Methven in Scotland in 1306, during the Wars of Scottish Independence.-Comyn's Death:In February 1306, Robert Bruce and a small party of his followers killed John Comyn, also known as the Red Comyn, before the high altar of the Greyfriars Church in Dumfries...
in June of 1306 and he became a fugitive hunted not only by occupying forces of Edward but also by the Comyns and the Balliols
House of Balliol
The House of Balliol was a Picard and Anglo-Norman family who began to rule some estates in England in the reign of William Rufus. In the late 13th and 14th centuries, two members of the house were kings of Scotland....
. He escaped to Rathlin Island
Rathlin Island
Rathlin Island is an island off the coast of County Antrim, and is the northernmost point of Northern Ireland. Rathlin is the only inhabited offshore island in Northern Ireland, with a rising population of now just over 100 people, and is the most northerly inhabited island off the Irish coast...
off the Irish coast but by February 1307 he was back in Scotland, in the Galloway hills, with a tiny handful of followers and totally encircled by his enemies - a king hunted like an animal. However, following a successful early raid on the English forces at Raploch Moss near Clatteringshaws, he had his first victory against the English forces at the battle of Glen Trool
Battle of Glen Trool
The Battle of Glen Trool was a minor engagement in the Scottish Wars of Independence, fought in April 1307. Glen Trool is a narrow glen in the Southern Uplands of Galloway, Scotland...
. Though this was probably more of a minor skirmish in the guerrilla mode of William Wallace
William Wallace
Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight and landowner who became one of the main leaders during the Wars of Scottish Independence....
, it was important from a propaganda point of view in the recruitment of men to Bruce's cause.
In 1929 on the 600th anniversary of Bruce's death, Bruce's Stone was placed high above the northern shore of Loch Trool from where legend has it that he had commanded the ambush which took place on the Steps of Trool on the other side of the loch. He lived for some 3 months as a fugitive in these hills before he was able to break out of his confinement and go on eventually to the much more significant victory at Bannockburn
Bannockburn
Bannockburn is a village immediately south of the city of Stirling in Scotland. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a burn running through the village before flowing into the River Forth.-History:...
in 1314 which gave Scotland some relief in the first War of Independence
Wars of Scottish Independence
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries....
and the near subjugation to the English Crown which had ensued after the death of King Alexander III
Alexander II of Scotland
Alexander II was King of Scots from1214 to his death.-Early life:...
on 19 March 1286.
Robert the Bruce's brother Edward
Edward Bruce
Edward the Bruce , sometimes modernised Edward of Bruce, was a younger brother of King Robert I of Scotland, who supported his brother in the struggle for the crown of Scotland, then pursued his own claim in Ireland. He was proclaimed High King of Ireland, but was eventually defeated and killed in...
who was later to become king of Ireland had long since carried out a successful campaign against the Comyn/Baliol faction in the south west of Scotland before Bannockburn.
Covenanting fugitives
Through most of the 17th century the Presbyterian Church in ScotlandPresbyterianism
Presbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
struggled against the will of the Stewart Kings
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...
in their attempts to impose Anglican and even (with James II) Catholic practices in the Scottish Church
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
. The Presbyterian Church claimed that every man was equal in the eyes of God, could read and understand the Bible for himself and therefore needed no hierarchical form of priesthood, especially one which was appointed under the patronage of the most powerful people in the land, to act between them and their God. The covenanters believed that the reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
settlement in England had simply replaced the power of the Pope over the church with the power of the king over it and they would not have their religious freedom laid down for them by the crown.
In some ways their principles were political harbingers on the path towards later principles of democratic forms of government and were seen at the time as dangerous sedition by kings who still believed in the Divine right of kings
Divine Right of Kings
The divine right of kings or divine-right theory of kingship is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God...
. The National Covenant was drawn up in 1638 and it is from this that the Covenanter
Covenanter
The Covenanters were a Scottish Presbyterian movement that played an important part in the history of Scotland, and to a lesser extent in that of England and Ireland, during the 17th century...
s take their name - with reference beyond that to the Covenants of the Bible
Covenant (biblical)
A biblical covenant is an agreement found in the Bible between God and His people in which God makes specific promises and demands. It is the customary word used to translate the Hebrew word berith. It it is used in the Tanakh 286 times . All Abrahamic religions consider the Biblical covenant...
.The south west of Scotland was a particular hot bed of resistance to the will of the kings in religious matters and over time both sides in this conflict went to extreme ends to have their way.
Killing Times
The full weight of the state was brought against the fanatical religious idealism of the covenanters; most of whom were ordinary people. Over a protracted period of time they were hunted in the hills of Galloway much as Bruce had been and were prepared to risk summary and brutal execution for their beliefs if caught. Those suffering this fate were seen by their fellows as martyrs for the cause. Like the Bruce they were idealistic fugitives in the Galloway hills fighting for what they believed in and there were several battles between the covenanters and the crown forces in various parts of Scotland.In their case however their struggles to survive in these hills and practice their beliefs there through conventicles are counted in years rather than months. Eighty two persons were summarily killed by the troops during the Killing Time
The Killing Time
thumb|240px|[[Margaret Wilson |Margaret Wilson]], one of the 'Wigtown Martyrs', executed by drowning in the incoming tide of the Solway Firth ....
(1684–85). Since these are only the ones which were witnessed and recorded the numbers could be much more. "All over the more desolate parts the covenanters were being massacred by the soldiers and their bodies left to rot on the heather where they fell. No records were kept of such killings; the victims were simply regarded as 'missing' for none of their relatives or friends knew how or where they had died. For many year after the killing times shepherds were continually finding on hills and moors the bleached skeletons of covenanters who had been killed in this way". The matter was not resolved until after the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688 when under William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
presbyterianism was finally established as the faith of most Scots, though even he found the more fanatical Presbyterians hard to handle.
In the 18th century the stonemason Robert Paterson
Robert Paterson (stonemason)
Robert Paterson was a Scottish stonemason, who suggested to Sir Walter Scott the character of "Old Mortality".-Biography:Paterson was born near Hawick in 1715...
devoted his life to going round the country restoring the monuments of the covenanting martyrs and Walter Scott used this real life character as the model for "Old Mortality
Old Mortality
Old Mortality is a novel by Sir Walter Scott set in the period 1679–89 in south west Scotland. It forms, along with The Black Dwarf, the 1st series of Scott's Tales of My Landlord. The two novels were published together in 1816...
".
Smugglers and gypsies
The 18th century was the heyday of smugglingSmuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
along the Solway Coast - sitting as it does only around 20 miles (30 km) from the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
, the pathway for most contraband goods. The Galloway hills offered a refuge for these far from idealistic lawless rogues and ruffians - somewhere to retreat to in times of trouble and as a safe route for the strings of up to 200 laden horses which carried their goods to Glasgow or Edinburgh. "During the early 18th century Galloway was infested with gypsies,and it was no accident that Sir Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
should have introduced Meg Merrilees and her tribe into his novel 'Guy Mannering
Guy Mannering
Guy Mannering or The Astrologer is a novel by Sir Walter Scott, published anonymously in 1815. According to an introduction that Scott wrote in 1829, he had originally intended to write a story of the supernatural, but changed his mind soon after starting...
' which is set in the Stewartry
Stewartry
Stewartry 1975-dateStewartry is a committee area in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.It was formerly one of four local government districts in the Dumfries and Galloway Region of Scotland....
."
Gypsy or "Tinkler" clans were heavily involved in the trafficking side of smuggling - getting the contraband to its market. The most notorious of these gypsy smugglers was Billy Marshall (King of the Gypsies
King of the Gypsies
The title King of the Gypsies has been claimed or given over the centuries to many different people. It is both culturally and geographically specific. It may be inherited, acquired by acclamation or action, or simply claimed. The extent of the power associated with the title varied; it might be...
) who is said to have fought at the Battle of the Boyne
Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...
in 1690 at the age of 18 and died on the 28th November 1792 – 120 years old and having married 17 times. He was also one of the leaders of the Levellers (not to be confused with the Levellers
Levellers
The Levellers were a political movement during the English Civil Wars which emphasised popular sovereignty, extended suffrage, equality before the law, and religious tolerance, all of which were expressed in the manifesto "Agreement of the People". They came to prominence at the end of the First...
in England). These Levellers in Galloway knocked down dykes during the night as quickly as enclosing landlords built them during the day.
Another story from west Galloway which helped to give an extra edge to the picture of lawlessness in the area was the legend of the extensive cannibal family of Sawney Bean.
Scotland's National Bard Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
was an excise man in eastern Galloway at the time of his death in 1796.
Further reading
- Atkinson, Tom (1982)South West Scotland Luath Press Barr Ayrshire
- Crockett S.R. (1894) The Raiders (1894 T Fisher Unwin London and 1992 Alloway Publishing).
- Irving, Gordon (1971) The Solway Smugglers Dinwiddie Dumfries
- McBain, J. (1929 and 1980) The Merrick and Neighbouring Hills (1929 Stephen and Pollock of Ayr - 1980 Jackson and Sproat Ayr)
- McCormick, Andrew (1932) Galloway (The Spell of its Hills and Glens) John Smith Glasgow
- McFadzean, Dave (2004) Tales 'o the Back Buss GC Books Wigtown
- McKerlie, P.H. (1891) Galloway In Ancient and Modern Times Blackwood Edinburgh and London
- MacLeod, Innes (2001) Where the Whaups are Crying (A Dumfries and Galloway Anthology) Birlinn Edinburgh ISBN 1 84158 149 6
- Oram, Richard (2000) The Lordship of Galloway John Donald Edinburgh ISBN 0 85967 541 5
- Robertson, John F. (1963) The Story of Galloway 1985 edition published by Lang Syne Publishers Glasgow ISBN 0946 264 49 X
- Russell, James Anderson (1962) The Book of Galloway Blacklock and Farries Dumfries
- Sayers, Dorothy L (1931) The Five Red Herrings New York: Harper & Row. 1971 ISBN 0-06-015796-8
- Temperley, Alan (1979) Tales of Galloway Mainstream Publishing ISBN 1 85158 026 3
External links
- Information on Hill Walking in the Galloway Hills
- Rock and Ice climbing in the Galloway Hills
- Galloway Climbing
- Interactive Map of the whole Galloway Hills area with Hill Walking Routes
- Summary of Hill Walking Routes on the Merrick and the Dungeons
- Summary of Hill Walking Routes in the Rhinns of Kells