Early history The country west of the
Nith was originally peopled by a tribe of
Celts called
Novantae, who long retained their independence. After
Gnaeus Julius Agricola's invasion in 79 AD, the country nominally formed part of the
Roman province of
Britannia, but the evidence is against there having been a prolonged effective Roman occupation. There was a Roman temporary marching camp at Shawhead, in Kirkpatrick Irongray. After the retreat of the Romans, the fate of the Novantae is unknown. By the 6th century, Galloway was part of the
Brythonic kingdom of Strathclyde. During the ninth century, the region was part of the
Kingdom of Northumbria. A
hoard that has been attributed to either a Northumbrian metal-worker, or a Viking campaigner, was deposited near Talnotrie c.875-900.
11th, 12th, and 13th centuries During the next two hundred years the area was subject to incursions by Danes, Saxons and Scandinavians. After
Malcolm Canmore defeated and killed
Macbeth in 1057, he married the dead king's relative, Ingibiorg, a Pictish princess, (the view that there were
Picts in Galloway in historical times cannot be wholly rejected) an event which marked the beginning of the decay of Norse influence. The Galloway chiefs became lieges of the Scottish king, while retaining some independence as the sub-kingdom or semi-autonomous
Lordship of Galloway. Following the death of Lord
Alan of Galloway in 1234 the area was brought fully under the control of the Scottish crown.
14th and 15th centuries In 1308 the district was cleared of the English and brought under allegiance to the king, when the lordship of Galloway was given to
Edward Bruce. In 1369
Archibald the Grim,
Earl of Douglas, was given the part of Galloway east of the
River Cree, where he appointed a steward to administer the area, which became known as the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. The following year, he acquired the rest of Galloway west of the Cree, which continued to be administered by the king's sheriff, and so became known as the Shire of Wigtown. This led to the local custom of referring to Kirkcudbrightshire as
"The Stewartry" and
Wigtownshire as
"The Shire", which continued into the 20th century. In 1455
Threave Castle, the most important fortress in Galloway, which Archibald the Grim had built on the Dee immediately to the west of the modern town of
Castle Douglas, was reduced and converted into a royal keep.
16th and 17th centuries As the Douglases went down the Maxwells rose, and the debatable land on the south-east of Dumfriesshire was for generations the scene of strife and raid, not only between the two nations but also among the leading families, of whom the Maxwells, Johnstones and Armstrongs were always conspicuous. After the
Battle of Solway Moss (1542) the shires of Kirkcudbright and Dumfries fell under English rule for a short period. The treaty of
Norham (24 March 1550) established a truce between the nations for ten years; and in 1552, the
Wardens of the Marches consenting, the debatable land ceased to be matter for debate, the parish of Canonbie being annexed to Dumfriesshire, that of Kirkandrews to
Cumberland.
18th century McCulloch and Gordon families were of
Cardoness Castle, Anwoth Parish and Rev.
Rutherford was minister of
Anwoth. After the
union (1707) things mended slowly but surely, curious evidence of growing commercial prosperity being the enormous extent to which smuggling was carried on. No coast could serve the "free traders" better than the shores of Kirkcudbright, and the contraband trade flourished until the 19th century. The
Jacobite risings
of 1715 and 1745 elicited small sympathy from the inhabitants of the shire. In the 1760s a
military road was constructed from Bridge of Sark, near
Gretna, Dumfries and Galloway to
Portpatrick by
Major William Caulfeild.
19th century : Former headquarters of Kirkcudbrightshire County Council Elected county councils were established in Scotland in 1890 under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889. Kirkcudbrightshire County Council established its headquarters at
County Buildings, 121–123 High Street, Kirkcudbright, being a converted pair of late 18th century houses. A large extension was built in 1952 to the rear of the building facing Daar Road. Kirkcudbrightshire was abolished as an administrative county in 1975 under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. A two-tier system of regions and districts was put in place instead, with the area becoming part of the
Dumfries and Galloway region. Most of Kirkudbrightshire became part of the
Stewartry district. The two
parishes of
Kirkmabreck and
Minnigaff in the west of the county went instead to the
Wigtown district, while the five parishes of
Kirkbean, Kirkpatrick Irongray,
New Abbey,
Terregles, and
Troqueer in the east of the county went to the
Nithsdale district. Further local government reform in 1996 saw the Stewartry, Wigtown and Nithsdale districts abolished and their functions passed to Dumfries and Galloway Council, which continues to operate
area committees based on the pre-1996 districts, subject to some boundary changes where ward boundaries no longer follow the pre-1996 district boundaries. The former Stewartry district is used as a
lieutenancy area under the name the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright. ==Geography==