Borgue (pronounced ; ) is a village and parish in the

Stewartry of Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbrightshire ( ) or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative county ...

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

, Scotland. It lies 5 miles south-west of

Kirkcudbright Kirkcudbright ( ; ) is a town at the mouth of the River Dee, Galloway, River Dee in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, southwest of Castle Douglas and Dalbeattie. A former royal burgh, it is the traditional county town of Kirkcudbrightshire. His ...

and 6 miles south of

Gatehouse of Fleet Gatehouse of Fleet ( ) is a town, half in the civil parish of Girthon, and half in the parish of Anwoth, divided by the river Water of Fleet, Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire, within the council administrative area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. ...

. The name Borgue (recorded as ''Borg'' in 1469) is from

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''borg'' 'stronghold'. Borgue Parish Church was built in 1814 and designed by architect

Walter Newall Walter Newall (3 April 1780 – 25 December 1863) was a Scottish architect and civil engineer, born at Doubledyke in the parish of New Abbey in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. He was the leading architect in the Dumfries ar ...

with alterations dating from 1897 to 1898. Due to a dwindling congregation it closed in August 2018. The churchyard contains the late C19 Gothic mausoleum of the Gordons of Earlston. According to folk tradition, Borgue was once the home of a boy who could consort with the

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

Castle Haven dun

Within the parish, near Kirkandrews, and due west of the village of Borgue, is Castle Haven, an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

hill fort of uncertain date which is designated a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...

. Only about 10.5m x 18m in size, Castle Haven is of an unusual D-shape with an almost straight west wall running along the edge of a cliff. The fort is now overgrown and difficult to discern in the landscape, but a nearly concentric outer wall remains; the main entrance is in the arch segment to the north, while a smaller access at the south end leads down to the beach. Another peculiar characteristic of this fort is the almost totally hollow construction of the wall, which contains three galleries of different lengths within its thickness; six adits lead to the galleries. Steps lead to the top of the wall. Artefacts found during restoration - two spiral bronze finger rings and a blue and white glass bead - indicate that its users were relatively prosperous. There were also fragments of an enamelled medieval brooch.

Notable people from Borgue

* The poet William Nicholson, the 'Bard of Galloway' *

Hugh Blair of Borgue Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

, eccentric 18th century laird. * Very Rev George Cook,

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

in 1876, who was minister of Borgue 1867 to 1888 *

Samuel Smith Samuel Smith may refer to: In politics *Samuel Smith (Connecticut politician) (1646–1735), early settler of Norwalk, Connecticut and deputy of the General Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut in 1691 *Samuel Smith (1754–1834), British member ...

(1836–1906), Liberal politician *

John James Pringle John James Pringle (1855 – 18 December 1922) was a Scottish dermatologist. Biography Pringle was born in Borgue, Kirkcudbrightshire and educated at Merchiston Castle School. He graduated in medicine from the University of Edinburgh in 1876 ...

(1855–1922), dermatologist * Henry, Lord Dalziel (1868–1935), newspaper proprietor and MP * Sir Robin Gray (1931–), Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1990 to 1993, who was born in Borgue * Adam Gray. Local historian and author * Randolph, Earl of Galloway (1928–2020), Scottish nobleman and the 13th Earl of

Galloway Galloway ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...

List of listed buildings in Borgue

List of listed buildings in Borgue, Dumfries and Galloway This is a list of listed buildings in the parish of Borgue in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's ...

References

* This article is partly based on a translation of :de:Castle Haven (Borgue) on German Wikipedia

External links

Borgue (Oot o' the World an' intae Borgue)

Borgue Primary School website

Borgue Parish Home Page

Transcriptions and photographs of Gravestones in Borgue Parish
{{authority control Villages in Dumfries and Galloway Kirkcudbrightshire Parishes in Dumfries and Galloway