tance of dung as a manure, are difufing the practice of laying their black cattle out in the open fields all winter, and are now beginning to feed them in houfes or fhades. The foil, not only of this parifh, but of almoft the whole county, being warm and dry, in wet fummers produces luxuriant crops of corn and grafs. The crops here have been very plentiful thefe laft 4 or 5 years.

Exports, Prices of Weges, &c.--Unpromising as the appearance of the country is, this parifh produces confiderably more grain than is confumed by the inhabitants. There are ge nerally exported from it, annually, about 2500 Winchefter bufhels of barley to Whitehaven, Lancafier, and Liverpool; and from 3000 to 4000 ftones of oatmeal to the fea-port and manufacturing towns in the weft of Scotland; befides confiderable quantities of potatoes to the English market. The exporting prices of barley here have been, on an average of the last 10 years, 2s. 81d per Winchefter bufhel, and of oatmeal 1 s. 9 d. per ftone of 17 lib. 10 oz. averdupois. Potatoes are fold at from 2c s. to 30 s. per ton. The prices of butcher meat here are regulated by the Dumfries market. The fmaller articles of provifion, fuch as butter, fowls, eggs, &c. are rather high, as there are very frequent opportunities of conveying them to the fea-port towns in the north of England, where they find a ready market. The wages of mechanics, and prices of labour of all kinds, have of late years rifen very high here, as in all the other farming counties in the fouth of Scotland.

Woods and Plantations.-From the great quantities of large and full grown oak timber, ftill in good preservation, which are dug up in the many finall fpots of peat mofs in the parifh, it would appear that natural wood had abounded in it.

Indeed,

Indeed, the vulgar tradition is, that, a few centuries ago, it was wholly a wood or foreft. There are ftill fome natural wood-lands in the interior parts of the parish; and several fmall plantations of barren timber have been made lately, which thrive well. Very many attempts are now making to rear fruit orchards in the parish; but, owing to the extreme thinness and lightness of the foil, and the unfavourable expofure of this part of the country to the fouth-wefterly winds, they do not promife much fuccefs.

Fif, &c.-The kinds of fish taken here are falmon, white flounders, plaise, some soles of a very large fize, skate, and, very rarely, turbot; but the great ftaple is cod, of which large quantities, and fome of excellent quality, are taken here, and carried to Dumfries, and other neighbouring smaller towns, and fold at from 1 d. to 3 d. per pound. Of thell fish, large quantities of cockles and muscles are found on the coaft; alfo fhrimps, wilks, and other fmaller kinds, of little value. No companies are affociated here for the purpose of carrying on any fisheries. Moft part of the inhabitants, however, near the coast, are occafionally employed in fishing, but all as fingle adventurers. The fhallowness of the water near the shore, and the roughness of the sea in the cod fishing feason, render the use of boats in fishing dangerous, and almoft impracticable. The shores produce 15 or 20 tons of kelp once in 5 or 6 years; an article reduced nearly one half in price fince the barilla act was paffed in 1781.

Ecclefiaftical State.-The church, which is fituated near the S. W. corner of the parish, one mile N. from the frith, and at the fame distance E. from the water of Urr, was built in 1771, is very plain, but large and commodious. The manse, which ftands about a quarter of a mile N. E. of the church,

upon

upon the banks of a lake of 50 acres extent, and in form of a crefcent, was built in 1763, for what was at that time underitood to be the legal allowance, 1000! Scotch, and confequently upon a fmall plan, and poorly executed. In 1777 it was repaired, and fome additions made to it. The glebe confifts of about 6 acres. The annexed parish of SOUTHWICK lies to the eastward, and the minifter poffeffes alfo a glebe there of about 8 acres. Although the walls of the old church of Southwick, which ftands in a very romantic small ftrath, about 4 miles E. from the parish church, itill remain in many places at their full heighth, yet there is not the fmalleft tradition of any incumbent there, or of any circumftance relating to it as a feparate charge. It appears to have been annexed to Colvend ever fince the reformation. In February 1650, Mr David Hope, then incumbent, obtained decreet against the heritors of both parithes, modifying the ftipend at 3 chalders of victual, two thirds meal and one-third bear, and 400 l. Scotch of money, with go merks for communion elements. By a new decrect in 1789, the ftipend was modified at 801. Scotch, with 40! Scotch for communion elements, and the victual continued. However long thefe parithes have been united, their antient boundaries are ftill diftinctly known. Colvend is to Southwick, in point of rental, extent of territory, and population, nearly as three to

two.

School.-There was modified, fo lately as April 1793, 200 merks of fchool falary, of which one fchoolmatter, who teachVOL. XVII

es

*There has been found lately a diary of the perfonal expences of King EDWARD I of England, in one of his expeditions against Scotland, kept by his purfer, or fome of the domeftics in his fuite, where, among other articles, is ftated a small fum, offered, with his devotions, to cur Lady of Southwick.

es within a mile of the church, enjoys 7 l. 2 s. and has upwards of 40 fcholars; his income may be 181. per annum. The remainder of the modified falary, with 21. yearly of mortified money, is given to another teacher, who keeps a school in the eastern end of the parish, and has ufually 30 scholars. His yearly income is about 131. The heritors have lately affeffed themselves in 60 1. for building two commodious and fufficient school-houfes, which will be executed in fpring 179.4.

Population. Although the number of births, which is generally about 36 annually, greatly exceeds the number of deaths, which is from 18 to 24, yet the population feems not to have increased much thefe 18 years. This, and the excefs of the number of females to that of males, may be accounted for, by many of the young men going to fea, or to fettle abroad. In 1772, by an epidemical malignant fever, and in 1774, by emigration, the population of this parith fuffered two fevere fhocks, from which it hath fcarcely yet recovered. Notwithstanding thefe circumstances, however, there has been an increafe upon the whole within The number of inhabitants at prefent,

thefe 40 years.

Occupations. It is impoffible to clafs the above inhabitants by their respective occupations. About 52 are failors. The farms being numerous and small, many husbandmen are occafionally also masons, wrights, carpenters, fhoemakers, wea

vers, and tailors, and one man profeffes fometimes two, or even three of thefe different mechanic branches.

Horfes and Black Cattle.-There are in the parish upwards of 200 horfes, being confiderably more than are fufficient for all the purposes of agriculture; but fo it generally happens where there are many very fmall farms. There are kept about 650 milk cows or breeders, all the offspring of which are preserved, and carefully reared to aged cattle. There are about 1300 rifing cattle, from 1 to 4 years old, kept the year round, at which age, when they are arrived, they are fold lean to thè graziers on the fouth-eastern counties of England, at from 7 1. to 10l. a-head. All these are of the true Galloway breed, moftly wanting horns, not of the largest fize, but very handtome. The breeds both of horfes and black cattle in this parith have been much improved within these 5 years.

Sheep and Goats.-There are about 2000 fheep kept in the parish, and about 100 goats in the more remote and mountainous grounds. Among the fheep there are fome flocks of the brown-faced small old Scottish kind, with fine fhort wool; the greatest number are of the black-faced kind. There are alfo a few upon the lower and more improved grounds of the larger breeds, with white faces, which have in later years been introduced from England *.

Minerals.

* About 6 or 7 years ago, a gentleman of this parish, a Mr CROSBIE, then master of a vellel in the Baltic trade, purchased from fome Laplanders he faw at Stockholm, a Lapland ram with 4 horns, of about the fize and weight of the common blackfaced sheep of this country; but his great excellence was his fleece, which was very abundant, and remarkably fine and filky. He brought him home to this country, with which he seemed