Wigtown, a county forming the SW. corner of Scotland, the western half of Galloway, bounded by the Irish Channel, Ayrshire, the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, the Solway Firth, and the Irish Sea. Its length from E. to W. is 30 miles, its breadth from N. to S. 28 miles. Area, 327,906 acres; pop. (1851) 43,389; (1901) 32,685. Wigtownshire is deeply intersected by Loch Ryan (q.v.) and Luce Bay. The western peninsula thus formed, known as the Rhinns of Galloway, is 28 miles long from Corsewall Point to the Mull of Galloway. The south-eastern portion of the county forms a blunt triangular peninsula - the Machers - ending in Borough Head. The rest of the county bears the general name of the Moors, great part being occupied by bleak fells and high mosses. The surface is diversified, but the only hills of 1000 feet are on the northern borders: one solitary peak in the Rhinns, Cairn Piot, reaches 593 feet. The chief streams are the Cree, Bladenoch, Luce, and Piltanton. The lakes are very numerous, but small. The climate is mild, but moist. The entire industry is agricultural, 46 per cent. of the surface being arable, and the dairy farms having a high reputation. Towns are Stranraer, Wigtown, Newton-Stewart, Whithorn, Portpatrick, and Glenluce. See W. M'llwraith's Guide to Wigtownshire (1876); also books cited at Galloway.

Wigtown

Wigtown, a royal and municipal (and till 1885 parliamentary) burgh and seaport, on the W. side of Wigtown Bay, 129 miles SSW. of Edinburgh. It has a Tudor town-hall (1863), a parish church (1853), and in the churchyard the graves of the 'Wigtown martyrs,' an old woman and a young girl who, refusing the Abjuration Oath, were tied to stakes and drowned by the incoming tide, 11th May 1685. Pop. 1330.