Balmaclellan
Balmaclellan
| |
---|---|
Balmaclellan | |
Location within Dumfries and Galloway | |
OS grid reference | NX653791 |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | CASTLE DOUGLAS |
Postcode district | DG7 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Balmaclellan (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Mac-a-ghille-dhiolan,[1] meaning town of the MacLellans) is a small hillside village of stone houses with slate roofs in a fold of the Galloway hills in south-west Scotland. To the west, across the Ken River, the larger and more prosperous New Galloway lies below the Rhinns of Kells.
Location and people
Balmaclellan is one of four parishes in the northern district of the
In 1887, John Bartholomew's "Gazetteer of the British Isles" Described the inhabitants as "... of a mixed
The population was 554 in 1801, 634 in 1901 and 550 in 1951.[4]
History
The upper village has a 12th-century
Balmaclellan Parish Church was built in 1753 and added to in 1833 by local architect William McCandlish.[1]
Balmaclellan was once a centre of the
The churchyard also contains what is probably the earliest civic war memorial in Scotland. It commemorates five men from Balmaclellan who died in the Crimean War.
They are:
- William Barr, Rifle Brigade
- James Gibson, 42nd Highlanders
- Joseph Gordon, Lance Cpl.,Royal Sappers and Miners
- James McMichael, Lance Cpl., 46th Reg
- Thomas McRobert, Fusilier-Guards. [2]
A sixth man John Henry Upton Spalding Lt. RN., an officer who died at Sebastopol, is commemorated on his family's tombstone but not on the memorial itself.[7]
Near the edge of the Balmaclellan churchyard there is a rough uninscribed whinstone pillar that looks like an ancient monument, and is locally said to mark the grave of a witch.
To the south of the village, on the north bank of the Shimmers Burn, lies
Literary References
The Scots comedy, Torwatletie (1940), by playwright Robert McLellan, set during the Jacobite rising of 1715, depicts the household of a nominally fictional Laird of the district.
William Le Queux's novels The Czar's Spy (1905) and The Place of Dragons (1916) have scenes set in the area.[12]
Notable people
- Bridget D'Oyly Carte DBE, (1908-1985) frequent Summer visitor to Barscobe Castle.
- Sir Hugh Wontner GBE CVO, (1908–1992) was an English hotelier director of the Savoy hotel and politician. Restored the 17th century tower house of Barscobe Castle as his holiday home.
- Richard, 12th Lord Belhaven and Stenton (1903-1961) lived at Barlay House.
- assyriologist. Lived at Craig, Balmaclellan. In 1938 she bequeathed an art gallery to the people of Castle Douglasalong with many of her paintings. Buried in Balmaclellan Cemetery.
- Ian McCulloch, actor, starred in Survivors BBC 1975-77 and also starred in Italian Gialli horror films, lives with his wife the artist Mary-Clare Cornwallis at Balmaclellan.
- Sam Heughan (born 1980), actor, star of Outlander.
- Robert Paterson (stonemason)1715-1810 "Old Mortality"
- J B Pick, 1921-2015, author, friend and biographer of Neil M Gunn.
- Professor Ted Cowan, FRSE, 1944-2022, formerly Professor of Scottish History at the University of Glasgow and Director of the university's Dumfries campus.
References
- ^ Lower, Mark Antony (1860). Patronymica Britannica: A Dictionary of The Family Names of The United Kingdom. London and Lewes: John Russell Smith and G. P. Bacon. p. 209. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ "Gen Uki.org: Balmaclellan". Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ "Met Office Auchincruive 1971-2000 averages". Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
- ^ a b "A vision of Balmaclellan". Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ "Overview of Balmaclellan - Dumfries and Galloway". Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
- ^ "Visit Southern Scotland.com: Balmaclellan". Archived from the original on 25 May 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ "Balmaclellan Crimean War". Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- ^ "Balmaclellan Archaeology Notes". Archived from the original on 2 May 2022. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ "A Witch's Execution". Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2008.
- ^ "About". The Hidden Mill. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Ironmacannie Mill (Category A Listed Building) (LB3315)". Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.