Skirling (parish)

SKIRLING, a parish, containing a post-office village of its own name, on the west border of Peebles-shire.  It is bounded by Lanarkshire, and by Kirkurd, Broughton, and Kilbucho.  Its length southward is 3¾ miles; and its greatest breadth is 1¾ mile.  Its surface all lies at a considerable height above sea-level, and is rolling and uneven; yet has no mountains, and only three hills, all small and verdant.  About four-fifths of it are in tillage; about 30 acres are wooded; and what remains is partly moorland, but chiefly green pasture.  The soil, though generally light, is fertile.  The drainage is into Biggar-water, which runs eastward along the southern boundary.  The yearly value of raw produce was estimated in 1834 at £5,614.  The real rental in 1860 was £2,274.  The village if Skirling stands near the middle of the parish, 2½ miles north-east of Biggar, and 25 south-south-west of Edinburgh.  Fairs are held here on the Wednesday after the 11th of June, and on the 15th of September.  Population of the village, about 100.  Population of the parish in 1831, 358; in 1861, 317.  Houses, 63.

This parish is in the presbytery of Biggar, and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale.  Patron, Sir W. H. Carmichael, Bart.  Stipend, £239 19s. 1d.; glebe, £50.  Unappropriated teinds, £60 0s. 11d.  Schoolmaster's salary, £45, with about £26 fees.  The parish church is a very ancient building, largely repaired in 1720, and containing upwards of 200 sittings.  There is a Free church, with an attendance of 190; and the amount of its receipts in 1865 was £115 5s. 11d.  There is a subscription library.  The name of the parish was anciently written Scrawline, and appears in record in that form in the reign of King Robert the Bruce.