Closeburn (

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

: ''Cill Osbairn'') is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

, Scotland. The village is on the

A76 road The A76 is a major trunk road in south west Scotland. Starting at Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire, the A76 goes through or immediately by-passes Hurlford, Mauchline, Auchinleck, Cumnock, Pathhead and New Cumnock before entering Dumfries and Gall ...

south of Thornhill. In the 2001 census, Closeburn had a population of 1,119. Closeburn is recorded as ''Killosbern'' in 1185. The first element of 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 ...

''cill'' 'cell or church'. The second element is a saint's name, but none has definitely been identified. Between 1849 and 1961 the village had a railway station. Although Closeburn railway station is now closed, the

Glasgow South Western Line The Glasgow South Western Line is a mainline railway in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, and then either via Dumfries, or Stranraer via Ayr, with a branch to East Kilbride. History The line was built by several railway compan ...

still runs through the village. The nearest stations are at

Sanquhar Sanquhar ( sco, Sanchar, gd, Seanchair) is a village on the River Nith in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, north of Thornhill and west of Moffat. It is a former Royal Burgh. It is notable for its tiny post office, established in 1712 and con ...

and

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

. The village is the former location of

Wallace Hall Academy Wallace Hall is a 2-18, state-operated comprehensive school in Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. The school serves all school-aged children in the local area, with three distinct schooling types operating under one building. ...

, founded in 1723 and now based in Thornhill. The former schoolhouse, built in 1795 and incorporating the original buildings from the 1720s, is a Category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Situated east of the village is

Closeburn Castle Closeburn Castle is a privately owned tower house, probably of the 14th century, but possibly older, and is one of the oldest continually inhabited houses in Scotland. The castle is located 1 km east of the village of Closeburn, in the hist ...

, a Category B listed

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

that was until 1783 the family seat of the Kirkpatrick family. The

River Nith The River Nith ( gd, Abhainn Nid; Common Brittonic: ''Nowios'') is a river in south-west Scotland. The Nith rises in the Carsphairn hills of East Ayrshire, more precisely between Prickeny Hill and Enoch Hill, east of Dalmellington. For the ma ...

is on the western boundary of the parish of Closeburn. The eastern part of the parish contains several hills, including the Queensberry, at the southern end of the

Lowther Hills The Lowther Hills, also sometimes known as the Lowthers, are an extensive area of hill country in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, though some sub-ranges of hills in this area also go under their own local names - see "Hillwalking" below. They f ...

, part of the

Southern Uplands The Southern Uplands ( gd, Na Monaidhean a Deas) are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotland's three major geographic areas (the other two being the Central Lowlands and the Grampian Mountains and the Highlands, as illustrated ...

. Several streams flow through the area, and the gorge and waterfall at

Crichope Linn Crichope Linn or Crichop Linn, originally Creehope is a gorge and waterfall near Gatelawbridge in Dumfries and Galloway, southern Scotland. ''Linn'' is the Scots language word for ''waterfall''. The etymology of the names 'Cree' or 'Crich' may der ...

, north-north-east of Closeburn was chosen by

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'', ''Rob Roy (n ...

in his novel ''

Old Mortality ''Old Mortality'' is one of the Waverley novels by Walter Scott. Set in south west Scotland, it forms, along with ''The Black Dwarf'', the 1st series of his ''Tales of My Landlord'' (1816). The novel deals with the period of the Covenanters, ...

'' as the lair of John Balfour of Burley. The hamlet of

Gatelawbridge Gatelawbridge is a hamlet in the region of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is situated two and a half miles east of Thornhill and near the gorge Crichope Linn. The origin of the name is unknown though in the past the locals called it Gateley ...

, east of Thornhill, is on the boundary of Closeburn and

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton H ...

parishes near Crichope Linn. The nearby

Brownhill Inn Brownhill Inn, now just called Brownhill (NX 902 911), was an inn approximately mile south of Closeburn, Dumfries and Galloway, Closeburn, on the A76 road, A76, which itself is about south of Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway, Thornhill, in Dumfr ...

was a favourite haunt of the poet

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

whilst he was working at an excise man or gauger in the area and was the site of inspirational events that led to the bard writing several poems, odes, etc. John Bacon was the landlord immortalised in verse by Burns and his wife was Catherine Stewart whose parents had run the Closeburn Kirk Brig Inn. Her brother was Willie Stewart who was the factor or grieve of the Closeburn Castle estate.John Bacon - Burns Encyclopedia
/ref>

Notable residents

* John Bacon was a friend of Robert Burns, a vintner and landlord at the Brownhill Inn. * Prof John Hunter

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

LLD, joint founder of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

, born here in 1746. * James Williamson, church minister, mathematician and joint founder of the

was minister here in 1757.

References

External links

Brownhill InnVideo footage and tales of the Closeburn churches.Video footage of the 11th century Dalgarnock Kirk site and burial ground'Crichope Linn - Devil's Cauldron, Burley's Leap and the Souter's Seat.
{{authority control Civil parishes of Scotland Villages in Dumfries and Galloway Parishes in Dumfries and Galloway

Notable residents

See also

References

External links