The Machars
The Machars ( Scottish Gaelic Machair Ghall-Ghaidhealaibh , from Scottish Gaelic machair : "plain", "flat country") is a peninsula in the Scottish Council Area Dumfries and Galloway .
geography
The peninsula juts out of the land mass into the Solway Firth to the southwest of Dumfries and Galloway . It has a roughly triangular floor plan, which is limited to the west by the Luce and to the east by Wigtown Bay . Their northern demarcation is diffuse. The boundary points are the towns of Newton Stewart and Glenluce . The A75 connecting both places can be used as the northern border. The area of the Machars is given by Francis Groome in the 19th century with almost 150 square miles, which corresponds to around 400 square kilometers. Cape Burrow Head marks the tip of the peninsula. The largest Machars towns include Whithorn and Wigtown . Historically, the peninsula was part of the county of Wigtownshire .
The sparsely populated peninsula has a wavy profile of pasture and meadow and partly boggy landscapes. The most important waters include the lakes Castle Loch , Mochrum Loch , Elrig Loch and the White Loch of Myrton , all of which are located near the west coast. One of the largest rivers in the Machars is the Bladnoch with the Tarf Water that flows into it . The Water of Luce and the Cree are border rivers of the Machars, flowing south at Glenluce into Luce Bay and at Newton Stewart into Wigtown Bay.
history
The settlement of the Machars can be traced back to the Stone Age . Prehistoric settlements, crannógs , cairns and cup-and-ring markings are found in above-average density. The Machars are home to the Clyde ( Cairnholy , Mid Gleniron ) and Bargrennan tombs ( Water of Deugh , White Cairn ). The Barsalloch Fort is an archaeologically examined Iron Age complex .
It is possible that Saint Ninian established the earliest Christian location in Scotland near Whithorn and spread the doctrine from there. From the 5th or 6th century, Christian use of the site of the later Whithorn Priory is assured. Tombs and archaeological findings that are dated to this period open up the possibility of a monastery being built in the late 6th century. A monastery building from the 8th to 9th centuries is secured. The Ninian shrine in the monastery church was a popular pilgrimage destination in the Middle Ages .
Parts of the Machars belonged to the lands of Clan McCulloch , who built Myrton Castle there . In the late 17th century, the holdings passed to the Maxwell clan . The Old Place of Monreith defense tower and the later Monreith House mansion also go back to the Maxwells. Other fortifications are the Sorbie Tower of the Hannay clan as well as Ravenstone Castle and Isle Castle . The castle Baldoon Castle near Bladnoch , however, probably dates from the early 17th century. It was used by the Scottish writer Walter Scott as a model for the castle in his novel The Bride of Lammermoor .
With the whiskey distillery Bladnoch, which has been active since 1817 , the southernmost active distillery in Scotland is located in the Machars.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Donald Greig, Darren Flint: Dumfries and Galloway - Local, Characterful Guides to Britain's Special Places , Bradt Travel Guides, 2015, 1st edition, pp. 187-190. ISBN 978-1-84162-861-5
- ↑ Machars in: FH Groome: Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical , Grange Publishing, Edinburgh, 1885.
- ^ Entry in the Gazetteer for Scotland
- ↑ Scheduled Monument - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ↑ Entry on Whithorn Priory in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
- ↑ Entry on Myrton Castle in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
- ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ↑ Garden and Designed Landscape - entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ↑ Entry on Baldoon Castle in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
- ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
Coordinates: 54 ° 49 ′ 0 ″ N , 4 ° 30 ′ 0 ″ W.