New Luce

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Luce, New, a village and a parish of N Wigtownshire. The village, standing 195 feet above sea-level, on the left bank of the Water of Luce, at the influx of Cross Water, has a station on the Girvan and Portpatrick railway (1876), 5 miles NNW of Glenluce, under which there is a post office.

The parish consists of the northern part of the ancient parish of Glenluce, which was divided into the parishes. of New and Old Luce in 1647. It is bounded NW and N by Ballantrae and Colmonell in Ayrshire, E by Kirkcowan, S by Old Luce, and W by Inch. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 9 3/8 miles; its breadth, from E to W, varies between 3 5/8 and 6 3/8 miles; and its area is 45 1/5 square miles or 28, 929½ acres, of which 53¾ are water. The Main Water of Luce, entering from Ballantrae, runs 8 7/8 miles south-south-eastward along the Ayrshire and Inch border till at New Luce village it is joined by the Cross Water of Luce, also rising in Ballantrae, and winding 11¾ miles southward-for the first 1½ mile along the Colmonell border, and then through the interior of New Luce parish. As the Water of Luce, their united stream flows 2 7/8 miles south-by-eastward, mainly along the boundaries with Inch and Old Luce, till, at Gabsnout, it passes off into the latter parish. A number of rivulets flow to one or other of these streams, or else to Tarf Water, which runs 9 7/8 miles south-south-eastward along all the eastern boundary, and which, at the SE corner of the parish, is joined by Drumpail Burn, running 4 miles southward through the interior, then 2 1/8 miles north-eastward along the eastern part of the southern boundary. At Gabsnout the surface declines to 100 feet above sea-level; and thence it rises northward to 531 feet at Gleniron Fell, 607 at Bught Fell, 807 at Balmurrie Fell, 888 near Artfield, 834 at Quarter Fell, 725 at the Stab Hill, 900 at Murdonochee, and 970 at Miltonish. ` The scenery around the village, indeed of the parish generally, is not remarkable for beauty. There are plantings on both the Main Water and Cross Water, which give their banks a syhan aspect; but generally the landscapes are bare and monotonous. Still, a ramble in the Moors in summer weather is never without pleasure, and a visit to the " auld grey cairns " is always interesting.' The predominant rocks are Silurian; and lead was. mined on Knockibae farm in the latter half of last century. The soil, for the most part naturally poor, has been somewhat improved by draining. Chief atten tion is paid to the rearing of sheep and black cattle. The ` prophet, ' Alexander Peden (1626-86), was minister for three years prior to his ejection in 1662, when, at the end of his farewell sermon, he closed the pulpit door, and, knocking thrice upon it with his Bible, thrice repeated: ` I arrest thee in my Master's name, that none ever enter thee but such as come in by the door as I have done'-a prediction indeed fulfilled, as no man preached there till after the Revolution. New Luce is in the presbytery of Stranraer and the synod of Galloway; the living is worth £208. The parish church, built about 1821, contains 400 sittings. A neat Free Church station is of recent creation; and two public schools, Glenwhilly and New Luce, with respective accommodation for 32 and 101 children, had (1882) an average attendance of 12 and 74, and grants of £23, 11s. and £61. Valuation (1860) £3900, (1884) £5608. Pop. (1801) 368, (1831) 628, (1861) 731, (1871) 661, (1881) 706.—Ord. Sur., shs. 3, 4, 7, 8, 1856-63.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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