Kirkcudbright

Kirkcudbright
Scottish Gaelic: Cille Chuithbeirt[1]
Scots: Kirkoubrie[2]
Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright  Kirkcudbright shown within Dumfries and Galloway
Population	3,447 (as of 2001)
OS grid reference	NX685505
Council area	Dumfries and Galloway
Lieutenancy area	The Stewartry of Kirkcudbright
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	KIRKCUDBRIGHT
Postcode district	DG6
Dialling code	01557
Police	Scottish
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Dumfries and Galloway
Scottish Parliament	Galloway and West Dumfries
List of places UK Scotland

Kirkcudbright, (/kərˈkuːbriː/ kirr-KOO-bree; Scots: Kirkoubrie, Scottish Gaelic: Cille Chuithbeirt) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

The town lies southwest 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 (10 km) from the sea. It was the county town of the former county of Kirkcudbrightshire, also known as the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright.

History

An early rendition of the name of the town was Kilcudbrit,^{[citation needed]} derived from the Scottish Gaelic "Cille Chuithbeirt" (Chapel of Cuthbert), the Anglo-Saxon saint whose mortal remains were kept here for seven years between exhumation at Lindisfarne and re-interment at Chester-le-Street.^{[citation needed]} The "kirk" element is Old Norse in origin and itself superseded the term chirch which was derived from Old English.^[3]

Spottiswood, in his account of religious houses in Scotland, mentions that the Franciscans or Grey Friars had been established at Kirkcudbright from the 12th century. No traces of the Greyfriars or Franciscan dwellings remain in the parish of Kirkcudbright.

In 1453 Kirkcudbright became a Royal burgh,^[4] and about a century later the magistrates of the town obtained permission from Mary, Queen of Scots, to use part of the convent and nunnery as a parish church. From around 1570, Sir Thomas Maclellan of Bombie, the chief magistrate, received a charter for the site, its grounds, and gardens. Maclellan dismantled the church in order to obtain material for his proposed castle and proceeded to have a very fine house, MacLellan's Castle, built on the site.

After defeat at the Battle of Towton, Henry VI of England crossed the Solway in August 1461 to land at Kirkcudbright in support of Queen Margaret at Linlithgow. The town also successfully withstood a siege in 1547 from the English commander Sir Thomas Carleton, but after the surrounding countryside had been overrun was compelled to surrender.^[5]

The Tolbooth was built between 1625 and 1629 and served not only as the tolbooth, but also the council offices, the Burgh and Sheriff courts, the criminal prison, and the debtors' prison. One of its most famous prisoners was John Paul Jones, hero of the American navy, who was born in nearby Kirkbean.^[6][7]

The Kirkcudbright Railway opened in 1864, but the railway line and station closed in 1965.

The war memorial dates from 1922 and is by George Henry Paulin.

Kirkcudbright Training Area

Like many other remote areas during World War II, a 4,700 acres (19 km²) area to the south east of the town and extending to the coast of the Solway Firth, was acquired by the Army in 1942, as a training area for the D Day invasion.^[8][9] The area remains in active use for live-firing exercises to this day. Part of the training area is the Dundrennan Range, a weapons development and testing range. The use of this range for the testing of depleted uranium shells has been controversial.^[10][11]

Museums

The Stewartry Museum was founded in 1879 and was at first based in the Town Hall until it became too small. The collection moved to a purpose-built site and contains the local and natural history of the eastern part of Galloway, formerly known as Kirkcudbrightshire and now known as the Stewartry. Britain's earliest surviving sporting trophy, the Siller Gun,^[12] is part of the collection, as are paintings by many local artists.

The Tolbooth building is now used as an Arts Centre.^[13]

Notable people

Jessie M. King's house, the Greengate.

Kirkcudbright has had a long association with the Glasgow art movement, which started when a colony of artists, including the Glasgow Boys and the famed Scottish Colourists, such as Samuel Peploe and Francis Cadell, based themselves in the area over a 30-year period from 1880 to 1910.

Many of them moved to the town from Glasgow, including E A Hornel, George Henry, and Jessie M. King, and their presence led to Kirkcudbright becoming known as "the artists' town", although town residents see the town as a "fishing town": as the town has a harbour, this soubriquet may have originated more from tourist board publicity^[14] rather than local usage.

Kirkcudbright has been home to some professional footballers, most notably Bob McDougall, George Cloy and David Mathieson.

David MacMyn, Scottish rugby internationalist, was from Kirkcudbright as was Ellis Cooper-Frater's family.

Sport

Kirkcudbright is represented in the South of Scotland Football League by St. Cuthbert Wanderers F.C.. The club's best known ex players are Bob McDougall, Billy Halliday and David Mathieson

Cinema and literature

Kirkcudbright Harbour

The whodunit Five Red Herrings by Dorothy L. Sayers involves the artistic community of Kirkcudbright.^[15] In 1975, the book was made into a film shot in the town, with Ian Carmichael playing the lead role of Lord Peter Wimsey.

The town also provided locations for the cult 1973 horror film The Wicker Man. Several parts of the town can be easily recognised in the film.

References

External links

• Media related to Kirkcudbright at Wikimedia Commons
• Visit Kirkcudbright Website
• Kirkcudbright Community Website