St Mungo

"ST. MUNGO, (or Castle Milk) a parish in Annandale, county Dumfries, Scotland. It contains the post town of Lockerby, situated near its northern boundary, and is 4 miles W. by N. of Eccles-Fechan. It was anciently called Abermele, from its situation at the confluence of the Mele or Milk with the Annan, and afterwards Castle-Milk, from the famous castle of the Bruges, lords of Annandale, built here in 1170; but after the Reformation it took the name of St. Mango, the popular form of St. Kentigern, the British saint, to whom the church was dedicated. It was given by King Robert Bruce to the Archbishop of Glasgow as a mensal church in the 13th century. It lies in that part of the shire of Dumfries which was formerly called the Stewartry of Annandale, and is surrounded by the parishes of Cummertrees, Dalton, Dryfesdale, Hoddam, and Tundergarth, to which last this parish was for a short time annexed. The parish is 5 miles long from N. to S., and its greatest breadth about 3 miles, with an area of 7 square miles. The surface is in general level, except some eminences of small elevation towards the centre and northern end, called the Barrhill, and Nut-Holm Hills, on which are vestiges of a Roman and several British camps. It is watered by the Annan and the Milk, the banks of the latter river being fringed with natural wood, and both abounding with salmon. The climate, though subject to heavy rains, is nevertheless healthy. The soil along the banks of the Annan and the Milk is a rich alluvial loam, about 18 inches deep, but the uplands are sterile, with a subsoil of sandstone rock or trap. About 300 acres are under wood, chiefly plantations, and the same number uncultivated, the remainder being arable. The principal landed proprietor is Jardine of Castle-Milk, but there are eighteen other smaller holders. There are several marl pits in the parish, and limestone is quarried. Game is abundant, but fuel is expensive. The great road from Carlisle to Glasgow runs through the E. end of the parish by the bridge over the river Milk, and the line of the Caledonian railway intersects it, having a station at Lockerby. This parish is in the presbytery of Lochmaben and synod of Dumfries, and in the patronage of the crown. The minister's stipend is £174, besides a glebe valued at £60. The parish church, erected in 1841, is situated near the centre of the parish. There is a parochial school, the master's salary being £34 48. 4d. with £30 fees. The only mansion in this parish of any historical interest is Castle-Milk, originally built by the Bruces, the ancient lords of Annandale, in the middle of the 12th century. It passed as the marriage dowry of the daughter of King Robert Bruce to Walter, High Steward of Scotland, and descended to their son Robert, the first of the Stewarts who came to the crown, in 1371. It afterwards passed to the Maxwells, Douglases, and other families, and now belongs to the Jardines by purchase. It was besieged by the Duke of Somerset while Protector during the minority of Edward VI. of England, and was again assaulted under Oliver Cromwell, whose intrenchments are still visible. The old castle was dismantled and modernised in the year 1707, when it was converted into a dwelling house, and in 1796 it was entirely rebuilt."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)
Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]