Mochrum () is a coastal

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and Church of Scotland parish situated to the east of

Luce Bay Luce Bay is a large bay in Wigtownshire in southern Scotland. The bay is 20 miles wide at its mouth and is bounded by the Rhins of Galloway to the west and the Machars to the east. The Scares are rocky islets at the mouth of the bay. Bombing r ...

on the

Machars , photo = File:West Coast of the Machars - geograph.org.uk - 3085411.jpg , photo_width = , photo_alt = , photo_caption = Luce Bay coastline of The Machars, south of Auchenmalg , map = UK Scotlan ...

peninsula and southwest of

Wigtown Wigtown ( (both used locally); gd, Baile na h-Ùige) is a town and former royal burgh in Wigtownshire, of which it is the county town, within the Dumfries and Galloway region in Scotland. It lies east of Stranraer and south of Newton Stewart. I ...

and in the historical county of Wigtownshire in

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or i ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It covers and is approximately in length and in breadth. The parish contains the eponymous village of Mochrum, as well as Port William and the

clachan A clachan ( ga, clochán or ; gd, clachan ; gv, claghan ) is a small settlement or hamlet on the island of Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland. Though many were originally kirktowns,MacBain, A. (1911) ''An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaeli ...

Elrig Elrig ( gd, An Eileirg, meaning "the deer run") is a clachan or hamlet in the historical county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Located in the Machars peninsula, it is about north of Port William. Elrig is the birthplace ...

Etymology

Mochrum is recorded as ''Mochrumm'' in

Blaeu Blaeu is the name of * Willem Blaeu (1571–1638), Dutch cartographer and father of Joan Blaeu * Joan Blaeu (1596–1673), Dutch cartographer and son of Willem Blaeu * '' Blaeu Atlas of Scotland'', by Joan Blaeu, published in 1654 * ''Atlas Blaeu'' ...

as a hill-name. It is a

Cumbric Cumbric was a variety of the Common Brittonic language spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" in what is now the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and northern Lancashire in Northern England and the souther ...

name formed of the elements ''moch'' 'pigs, swine' and ''drum'' 'ridge'. It is possible, but unlikely, that the name is

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

rather than Cumbric, formed of the

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

elements ''muc-druim''.

Kirk of Mochrum

Mochrum

kirk Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk'' ...

was built on the site of a previous church building dating back to the 12th century. The former building was largely destroyed by fire in the 1770s, and the current building used most of the former building's rectangular walls in its construction in 1794, and was substantially altered again ca. 1840. The churchyard contains ten war graves, of which four male and one female are unknown.

History

Sir John Dunbar of Mochrum was killed at the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

in 1513. He was survived by his wife Janet Stewart, and his third son Gavin Dunbar (1490-1547), became

Archbishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Scottish Episcopal Church, it is now part of the ...

in 1524. A fortified mediaeval manor house is located at Castle Island, also called Drumwalt. Myretoun McCulloch was owned by the McCullochs, and in 1574 they had the 5-

merkland A markland or merkland ( gd, Marg-fhearainn) is an old Scottish unit of land measurement. There was some local variation in the equivalences; for example, in some places eight ouncelands were equal to one markland, but in others, such as Islay, ...

of Balsalloch in the "Barony of Myretoun". Myretoun Castle is on the Monreith Estate, on the border of Mochrum and

Glasserton Glasserton is a civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is on the Machars peninsula, in the traditional county of Wigtownshire. The parish is about in length, varying in breadth from , and contains . The Parish It is th ...

parishes. It was owned by Sir William Maxwell, and then the Maxwells built

Monreith House Monreith House is a category A listed Georgian mansion located east of the village of Port William in Mochrum parish in the historical county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The classical-style house was designed by Alexand ...

. Myrtoun Castle was built on an earlier motte, but was there also a castle and motte on the island.

Archaeology

Mochrum is the site of numerous prehistoric forts, earthworks, standing stones, and

crannóg A crannog (; ga, crannóg ; gd, crannag ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were bu ...

s About from

Monreith Monreith ( / 'mon-REETH'; gd, Am Monadh Rèidh) is a small seaside village in the Machars, in the historical county of Wigtownshire, Scotland. A ruined church near Monreith is called "Kirkmaiden-in-Fernis" and was dedicated to St Medan. The chan ...

is Barsalloch Point, where evidence of human encampments as early as 6000 BC may make it the oldest dated settlement in Galloway. Barsalloch

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

fort at Mochrum, as well as both early and medieval crosses. There is another Iron Age hill fort at Doon of May hill fort. The foundations are all that is left of Chapel Finian, a 10th-11th-century chapel standing on an old raised beach at Corwall Port. It most likely takes its name from Saint Finnian who was educated at nearby

Whithorn Whithorn ( �ʍɪthorn 'HWIT-horn'; ''Taigh Mhàrtainn'' in Gaelic), is a royal burgh in the historic county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, about south of Wigtown. The town was the location of the first recorded Christian ...

and died ca. 579 AD. The site was probably a landing place for Irish pilgrims to

Saint Ninian Ninian is a Christian saint, first mentioned in the 8th century as being an early missionary among the Pictish peoples of what is now Scotland. For this reason he is known as the Apostle to the Southern Picts, and there are numerous dedication ...

's shrine. It is shown on

Timothy Pont Rev Timothy Pont (c. 1560–c.1627) was a Scottish minister, cartographer and topographer. He was the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an a ...

's map in Blaeu's Atlas, as "Chappel finan". Druchtag Motehill is a steep-sided mound and site of a 12th-century

motte-and-bailey castle A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

, lying about north west of Mote Brae. The Old Place of Mochrum was built in 1368. A

crannog A crannog (; ga, crannóg ; gd, crannag ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were bu ...

is in Elrig Loch. A standing stone, the

Carlin Stone Carlin Stone or Carline Stane is the name given to a number of prehistoric standing stones and natural stone or landscape features in Scotland. The significance of the name is unclear, other than its association with old hags, witches, and the ...

, can be found on The Derry, near to the head of Elrig Loch. The ruins of a mediaeval chapel can be found at Barhobble, which is near to the House of Elrig.

Gallery

File:Cave Dwelling, Rocks of the Garheugh - geograph.org.uk - 423474.jpg, Garheugh Cave File:Castle Island, Castle Loch - geograph.org.uk - 427786.jpg, Castle Island,

Castle Loch Castle Loch is a shallow eutrophic loch covering an area of around 100 hectares in the town of Lochmaben in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies to the west of Mochrum Loch and has 2 islets. The ruined Lochmaben Castle lies at the southern e ...

File:The Castle Loch Burn - geograph.org.uk - 812519.jpg, Castle Loch burn flows from Castle Loch into Mochrum Loch File:Bronze Age cairn on Mochrum Fell - geograph.org.uk - 719838.jpg, Bronze Age cairn on Mochrum Fell File:Burial cist on Mochrum Fell - geograph.org.uk - 719860.jpg, Burial cist on Mochrum Fell File:Old Place of Mochrum.jpg, Old Place of Mochrum, Drumwalt File:Mote of Crailloch, Mochrum.jpg, Mote of Crailloch and site of chapel on the right File:Mote of Crailloch (1).jpg, View from the base of Mote of Crailloch File:Mochrum_Fell.jpg, view of Mochrum Fell File:Doon of May Iron Age Hill Fort.jpg, Iron Age Hill Fort, Doon of May File:Mote of Druchtag - geograph.org.uk - 1752121.jpg, Mote of Druchtag File:Barsalloch Point - geograph.org.uk - 214287.jpg, Steps to Barsalloch Fort Iron-Age Settlement File:Elrig Loch Crannog.jpg, Elrig Loch

on the right

References