Keir, a Nithsdale parish of Dumfriesshire, whose church stands near the right bank of Scar Water, 13/8 mile SE of Penpont village and 2¾ miles SW of the post-town Thornhill. It is bounded N by Penpont, E by Closeburn, S by Dunscore, W by Glencairn, and NW by Tynron. Its utmost length, from NW to SE, is 7 miles; its utmost breadth is 27/8 miles; and its area is 7890 acres, of which 84½ are water. Shinnel Water runs 2 miles north-north-eastward along the western border to the Scar; Scar Water winds 31/8 miles east-south-eastward along the northern and north-eastern border to the Nith; and the Nith itself runs 5¾ miles south-south-eastward along the Closeburn boundary to the south-eastern extremity in the vicinity of Auldgirth Bridge. The southern border is traced by Glenmids Burn; and six other rivulets, each about 1½ mile long, rise in the interior, and run in almost parallel lines, at nearly regular intervals, north-north-eastward to the Scar and to the Nith, one of them traversing a romantic wooded ravine, and forming in one part a very beautiful waterfall. Springs are everywhere abundant; and two small lakes, one of them containing leeches, were formerly in the W, but have been drained. Low flat alluvial land, with an elevation of from 80 to 280 feet above sea-level, lies along the Nith, the Scar, and the Shinnel; and a steep wooded bank flanks most of that land all down to the extreme southern extremity. Thence the surface rises to 604 feet near Blackwood, 1171 on the Glencairn border, and 887 at Capenoch Moor; and, as seen from the highway between Thornhill and Closeburn, presents a picture of no common beauty. Silurian rocks predominate, but newer rocks occur; and limestone and sandstone have been worked at Barjarg and Porterstown. The soil of the haugh lands is rich alluvium; of the tablelands is mostly gravelly or sandy; and of the arable portions of the hills is generally a rich loam, full of stones. About one-half of all the land is arable; a fair proportion is under wood; and the rest is variously meadow, hill pasture, and waste. Gone are a standing stone near the parish church and a ' Court Knowe ' on the glebe; but a stone on Keir Hill marks the spot where James Renwick often preached in the days of the persecution, and the site of an ancient chapel is on Kilbride Hill. Mansions, noticed separately, are Barjarg, Blackwood, Capenoch, and Waterside; and the property is divided among five. Keir is in the presbytery of Penpont and synod of Dumfries; the living is worth £343. The parish church (1814; renovated 1880) contains 330 sittings; and the Lower public, the Upper public, and Capenoch infant schools, with respective accommodation for 59,100, and 75 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 62, 60, and 43, and grants of £55, 4s., £55, 7s., and £34, 9s. 6d. Valuation (1860) £5253, (1883) £6615, 12s. Pop. (1801) 771, (1831) 987, (1861) 849, (1871) 828, (1881) 745.—Ord. Sur., sh. 9, 1863.
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