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54-562: In 2024, the festival took place between 27 September - 6 October. The 2024 festival had over 250 planned events, with a focus on discussing the Galloway Coast and climate change . Performers at the 2024 festival included actor Alan Cumming , poet Pam Ayres and writer Irvine Welsh . The first festival took place in 1999. In 2007, the Wigtown Festival Company became a registered charity. In 2013, there were 7500 visitors to

108-563: A whodunit by Dorothy L. Sayers , initially published in the US as Suspicious Characters , sees Lord Peter Wimsey , on holiday in Kirkcudbright , investigating the death of an artist living at Gatehouse of Fleet ; the book contains some remarkable descriptions of the countryside. S R Crockett , a bestselling writer of historical romances active before the First World War, set several novels in

162-523: A church or monastery at Whithorn , Wigtownshire , which remained an important place of pilgrimage until the Reformation . A Brythonic speaking kingdom dominated Galloway until the late 7th century when it was absorbed by the English kingdom of Bernicia . English prevalence was supplanted by Britons and Norse-Gaelic ( Gall-Ghàidheal ) peoples between the 9th and the 11th century. This can be seen in

216-524: A copy of the Wycliffe Bible was circulating in Galloway around 1520, and secret groups (proto-conventicles) gathered to hear a man named Alexander Gordon preach from it. With the end of the monasteries, the large ecclesiastical landholdings created under the medieval Lordship of Galloway were broken up amongst hundreds of small landowners. In the case of Dundrennan Abbey , much of the abbey's lands came into

270-569: A crannog, the Black Loch of Myrton site was later recharacterized as a "lochside village". Promontory forts are highly topographically-defined sites, which in Galloway generally occupy coastal promontories overlooking the Solway Firth. Investigation of one such site at Carghidown revealed a "sporadically occupied refuge" according to Toolis, who also notes that "hardly any promontory forts occupy strongly defensive locations or have immediate access to

324-473: A gradual incorporation of Galloway into Scotland. Scotland's legal system was administered as a system of three provinces, each with a justiciar (high official). The Justiciar of Galloway was one of these, along with justiciars for Lothian and "Scotia" (lands north of the Forth and Clyde). Additionally, Whithorn remained an important cultural centre; medieval kings of Scots made pilgrimages there. Folklore holds that

378-560: A mixture of dairy-focused pastoral transhumance and intensive agriculture, with pockets of arable land being intensively cultivated by some peasants, while others migrated between upland and lowland pastures with their herds. Landowners such as Sir John Murray, the earl of Annandale , received large land grants in Ulster which were only suitable for pasture. In order for their tenants in Ireland to pay rent, an export market had to be created, which

432-593: A number of Iron Age and Roman period sites indicate the Scottish Southern Uplands as a possible ore source for the lead material, though it is unclear how early extraction of lead could have taken place in Galloway specifically. Metallurgical testing done on three lead beads recovered from the Carghidown site (dated to c.  360 BC–AD 60 ) indicated a closer affinity to the Southern Uplands than to

486-638: A period of Scottish allegiance, a Galloway contingent followed David, King of Scots , in his invasion of England and led the attack in his defeat at the Battle of the Standard (1138). Alan died in 1234, leaving three daughters and an illegitimate son, Thomas ( Tomás mac Ailein ). Alexander II of Scotland , Galloway's suzerain, planned to divide Galloway between Alan's three daughters and their husbands (all Norman noblemen) and to exclude Thomas under Norman feudal law. However, Thomas considered himself Alan's heir under

540-485: A physical festival in September 2021. 2021 performers included the crime writer Val McDermid and the novelist Nadifa Mohamed . The 2022 festival involved over 200 events, with novelist and speakers including Karen Campbell and Hugh McMillan . The 2023 festival took place from the 22 September to 1 October. Performers and readers included Nigel Planer , Kate Mosse and Jo Caulfield . Regular festival events include

594-803: A sample from the Isle of Man . The area around Whithorn, containing both the Carghidown and Rispain Camp sites, appears to have become a local power centre. The Carghidown site is located only a short distance to the east along the coast from St Ninian's Cave , while the Rispain Camp site is several miles inland. Following the start of the Roman conquest of Britain , the Roman general Gnaeus Julius Agricola campaigned northward, reaching Scotland around AD 79. A possible comment about "trackless wastes" may have referred to Galloway, but this

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648-670: Is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire . It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway . Galloway is bounded by sea to the west and south, the Galloway Hills to the north, and the River Nith to the east; the border between Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire is marked by the River Cree . The definition has, however, fluctuated greatly in size over history. A native or inhabitant of Galloway

702-403: Is an open-air none recycled water hydroponics relationship. The below described circumstances are not in perspective, have limited duration, and have a tendency to accumulate trace materials in soil that either there or elsewhere cause deoxygenation. The use of vast amounts of fertilizer may have unintended consequences for the environment by devastating rivers, waterways, and river endings through

756-476: Is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops. Alternatively, for the purposes of agricultural statistics, the term often has a more precise definition: Arable land is the land under temporary agricultural crops (multiple-cropped areas are counted only once), temporary meadows for mowing or pasture , land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow (less than five years). The abandoned land resulting from shifting cultivation

810-644: Is called a Gallovidian. The region takes its name from the Gall-Gàidheil , or "stranger Gaels", a people of mixed Gaelic and Norse descent who seem to have settled here in the 10th century. Unlike other regions of the Scottish Lowlands , Galloway remained a Gàidhealtachd area for much longer and a distinct local dialect of the Scottish Gaelic language survived into at least the 18th-century. A hardy breed of black, hornless cattle named Galloway cattle

864-604: Is native to the region, in addition to the more distinctive Belted Galloway or "Beltie". Galloway comprises the part of Scotland lying southwards from the Southern Upland watershed and westward from the River Nith . Traditionally it has been described as stretching from "the braes of Glenapp to the Nith". The valleys of three rivers, the Urr Water , the Water of Ken and River Dee , and

918-459: Is not arable according to the FAO definition above includes: Other non-arable land includes land that is not suitable for any agricultural use. Land that is not arable, in the sense of lacking capability or suitability for cultivation for crop production, has one or more limitations – a lack of sufficient freshwater for irrigation, stoniness, steepness, adverse climate, excessive wetness with

972-569: Is not included in this category. Data for 'Arable land' are not meant to indicate the amount of land that is potentially cultivable. A more concise definition appearing in the Eurostat glossary similarly refers to actual rather than potential uses: "land worked (ploughed or tilled) regularly, generally under a system of crop rotation ". In Britain, arable land has traditionally been contrasted with pasturable land such as heaths , which could be used for sheep-rearing but not as farmland . Arable land

1026-434: Is the seawater greenhouse , which desalinates water through evaporation and condensation using solar energy as the only energy input. This technology is optimized to grow crops on desert land close to the sea. The use of artifices does not make the land arable. Rock still remains rock, and shallow – less than 6 feet (1.8 metres) – turnable soil is still not considered toilable. The use of artifice

1080-634: Is thought that the Iron Age inhabitants of the Barsalloch Fort site were the Novantae people. The Rispain Camp site is also associated with the Novantae. In the west, the city of Rerigonium (literally 'very royal place'), shown on Ptolemy 's map of the world, is a strong contender for the site of Pen Rhionydd , referred to in the Welsh Triads as one of the 'three thrones of Britain' associated with

1134-663: Is unclear. The source of this comment is the version of Tacitus' Agricola which is contained in the Codex Aesinas . The Codex Aesinas is a composite work produced in the 15th century, which is based on a now-lost 9th century work, the Codex Hersfeldensis , which contained portions of the Agricola . The interpretation of "trackless wastes" is based on material thought to derive from the 9th century codex, with an original Latin in avia primum transgressus ("first crossing into

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1188-416: Is unsuitable for cultivation, yet such land has value for grazing of livestock. In British Columbia, Canada, 41 percent of the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve area is unsuitable for the production of cultivated crops, but is suitable for uncultivated production of forage usable by grazing livestock. Similar examples can be found in many rangeland areas elsewhere. Land incapable of being cultivated for

1242-547: Is vulnerable to land degradation and some types of un-arable land can be enriched to create useful land. Climate change and biodiversity loss , are driving pressure on arable land. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in 2013, the world's arable land amounted to 1.407 billion hectares, out of a total of 4.924 billion hectares of land used for agriculture. Agricultural land that

1296-686: The Church of Scotland , ultimately triggered the Presbyterian backlash of the 17th-century Bishops' Wars , which saw the appearance of the Covenanters as a religious, political, and military force. The Covenanters began as participants in conventicles , which, similarly to the use of Mass stones by the equally illegal Catholic Church in Scotland , were unsanctioned secret religious services that took place outdoors, in barns, or in granaries. The Covenanter movement

1350-527: The Highlands . This area is known as the Galloway Hills . Historically Galloway has been known both for horses and for cattle rearing, and milk and beef production are both still major industries. There is also substantial timber production and some fisheries . The combination of hills and high rainfall make Galloway ideal for hydroelectric power production, and the Galloway Hydro Power scheme

1404-539: The Cree, all running north–south, provide much of the good arable land , although there is also some arable land on the coast. Generally however the landscape is rugged and much of the soil is shallow. The generally south slope and southern coast make for mild and wet climate, and there is a great deal of good pasture. The northern part of Galloway is exceedingly rugged and forms the largest remaining wilderness in Britain south of

1458-468: The Gaelic system of tanistry . In the ensuing Galloway revolt of 1234–1235 , an army of Galwegian rebels ambushed Alexander's royal army and nearly inflicted a defeat before relief forces arrived to support the king. The rebels retreated to Ireland, and Alexander left Walter Comyn, Lord of Badenoch to subdue Galloway; Comyn sacked its abbeys before fleeing when faced with the return of the rebels. The rebellion

1512-656: The Grim , Earl of Douglas . In 1369, he received 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 part 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 . The two parts of Galloway thereafter were administered separately, becoming separate counties . The High Medieval period saw

1566-660: The Neolithic; these include the Drumtroddan standing stones , the Torhousekie stone circle , and the Cairnholy chambered cairn. There is also evidence of one of the earliest pit-fall traps in Europe which was discovered near Glenluce , Wigtownshire . The Iron Age is where prehistoric archaeological remains and recorded history overlap for Galloway. Galloway's Iron Age sites are similar to

1620-437: The accumulation of non-degradable toxins and nitrogen-bearing molecules that remove oxygen and cause non-aerobic processes to form. Examples of infertile non-arable land being turned into fertile arable land include: One of the impacts of land degradation is that it can diminish the natural capacity of the land to store and filter water leading to water scarcity . Human-induced land degradation and water scarcity are increasing

1674-658: The annual James Mirrlees lecture, which marks the local Novel Prize economist. The Anne Brown Prize has been given since 2021 for the best essay . It is named for Anne Brown, a former chairwoman and trustee of the festival and comes with a £1,500 financial prize. The festival runs an annual international poetry competition and awards three separate prizes for compositions in English, Scottish Gaelic and Scots . Prizes are given to winners. Galloway Galloway ( Scottish Gaelic : Gall-Ghàidhealaibh [ˈkal̪ˠaɣəl̪ˠu] ; Scots : Gallowa ; Latin : Gallovidia )

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1728-507: The candidates for the Scottish Crown. Consequently, Scotland's Wars of Independence were disproportionately fought in Galloway. There were a large number of new Gaelic placenames being coined post 1320 (e.g. Balmaclellan ), because Galloway retained a substantial Gaelic speaking population for several centuries more. Following the Wars of Independence, Galloway became the fief of Archibald

1782-543: The century after Agricola's campaign, Ptolemy's work is a Roman perspective on Britain following the conquest, and not necessarily a reflection of pre-Roman social or ethnic groups. Ptolemy listed two peoples as inhabitants of the area around Galloway: the Novantae in the west (associated with Wigtownshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and southern Ayrshire) and the Selgovae in the east (primarily associated with modern-day Dumfriesshire). It

1836-757: The context of both the vacuum left by Northumbria being filled by the resurgent Cumbric Britons and the influx of the Norse into the Irish Sea , including settlement in the Isle of Man and in the now English region of western Cumbria immediately south of Galloway. If it had not been for Fergus of Galloway who established himself in Galloway in the mid-twelfth century, the region would rapidly have been absorbed by Scotland. This did not happen because Fergus, his sons, grandsons and great-grandson Alan, Lord of Galloway , shifted their allegiance between Scottish and English kings. During

1890-436: The desert, hydroponics , fertilizer, nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides , reverse osmosis water processors, PET film insulation or other insulation against heat and cold, digging ditches and hills for protection against the wind, and installing greenhouses with internal light and heat for protection against the cold outside and to provide light in cloudy areas. Such modifications are often prohibitively expensive. An alternative

1944-457: The discovery of such sites eliciting antiquarian interest. For example, the Black Loch of Myrton site (which likely dates to around the 5th century BC) was discovered due to loch-draining activities in the area of the Maxwell family estate during the 19th century. The site received the attention of a local antiquarian, Sir Herbert Maxwell , who conducted a basic excavation. Initially thought to be

1998-455: The festival, more than half of which were from outside Dumfries and Galloway. A report commissioned by the Wigtown Festival Company in 2013 estimated that the festival contributed £2 million to the regional economy each year. This was three times higher than that estimated by a similar study in 2008. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the festival was held entirely online. It resumed as

2052-485: The hands of the family of its last abbot, Edward Maxwell. Following the death of the pre-Reformation Bishop of Galloway in 1575, there were disputes over who would be bishop, and the see was vacant for a considerable period of time in the late 16th century due to opposition to episcopal polity by the Presbyterian faction within the Church of Scotland . The Anglo-Scottish Union of the Crowns took place in 1603, leading to

2106-405: The impracticality of drainage, excessive salts, or a combination of these, among others. Although such limitations may preclude cultivation, and some will in some cases preclude any agricultural use, large areas unsuitable for cultivation may still be agriculturally productive. For example, United States NRCS statistics indicate that about 59 percent of US non-federal pasture and unforested rangeland

2160-650: The last recorded speaker. In modern times, Stranraer was a major ferry port, but the company have now moved to Cairnryan . Galloway has been the setting of a number of novels, including Walter Scott 's Guy Mannering . Other novels include the historical fiction trilogy by Liz Curtis Higgs, Thorn in My Heart , Fair is the Rose , and Whence Came a Prince . Richard Hannay flees London to lie low in Galloway in John Buchan 's novel The Thirty-nine Steps . Five Red Herrings ,

2214-466: The legendary King Arthur , and may also have been the caput of the sub-Roman Brythonic kingdom of Rheged . Rerigonium 's exact position is uncertain except that it was 'on Loch Ryan ', close to modern day Stranraer ; it is possible that it is the modern settlement of Dunragit ( Dun Rheged ). According to tradition, before the end of Roman rule in Britain , St. Ninian established

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2268-402: The production of crops can sometimes be converted to arable land. New arable land makes more food and can reduce starvation . This outcome also makes a country more self-sufficient and politically independent, because food importation is reduced. Making non-arable land arable often involves digging new irrigation canals and new wells, aqueducts, desalination plants, planting trees for shade in

2322-539: The region including The Raiders and Silver Sand . Galloway is also the setting of several memoirs, including Devorgilla Days written by Wigtownshire author Kathleen Hart, an account of life in Wigtown , Scotland's national book town. 55°03′N 4°08′W  /  55.050°N 4.133°W  / 55.050; -4.133 Arable land Arable land (from the Latin : arabilis , "able to be ploughed ")

2376-407: The relatively low occurrence of rotary querns at sites in the area. Roughly contemporary with the Rispain Camp site, a cluster of roundhouses at Dunragit (dating to the early centuries AD) was revealed to contain examples of native (i.e. non-Roman) pottery. Certain households in Galloway seem to have taken social prominence later in the Iron Age. Lead items appear; isotope analysis of goods at

2430-479: The rest of Scotland. Its distinctive type sites consist of crannogs , promontory forts, and duns . Galloway has a preponderance of crannog-type sites compared to certain other regions of Scotland. This is due largely to the region's geography favouring lochs (or now-former lochs), as well as a bias toward higher survival rates of undisturbed sites available for archaeological investigation due to loch-draining taking place later in Galloway than in other regions, with

2484-487: The sea." While many surviving sites represent sporadically-occupied locations or individual households, there are also examples of multiple-household settlements. One of these is the Rispain Camp site near Whithorn, which contained a form of bread wheat unique amongst Iron Age sites in Galloway. This is a possible indication that Rispain Camp had different agricultural practices than elsewhere in Galloway, especially given

2538-655: The supremacy of the Stuart dynasty in Britain and Ireland. James , the Stuart monarch of both Scotland and England, heavily policed the activities of the riding clans of the nearby Scottish Borders , leading to a large number of Borderers emigrating or being transported to Ireland or to the American colonies. The Plantation of Ulster began around this time. Attempts beginning under James VI to enforce Caesaropapism , episcopal polity , high church Anglicanism , and Laudianism within

2592-538: The trackless wastes") having been corrupted into annonave prima transgressus , which is grammatically incorrect in Latin. The interpretation that this passage refers to Galloway is based on contextual information, as the work later refers to "the part of Britain that faces Ireland", which is seen as referring to southwestern Scotland. In the 2nd century, the Alexandrian geographer Ptolemy produced his Geographia , which

2646-713: The year 1667. It was in this year that the importation of Irish cattle to England was banned. However, the importation of Scottish cattle was not banned; this created a new opportunity for Galloway landowners to profit from illicit Irish cattle. By this time, a number of prominent individuals associated with the Stuart monarchy held lands in both Galloway and in Ulster, facilitating the illicit trade, which "may have been tolerated for political reasons". Many of these landowners were also Episcopalians . Galwegian Gaelic seems to have lasted longer than Gaelic in other parts of Lowland Scotland , and Margaret McMurray (d. 1760) of Carrick (outside modern Galloway) appears to have been

2700-461: Was begun in 1929. Since then, electricity generation has been a significant industry. More recently wind turbines have been installed at a number of locations on the watershed, and a large offshore wind-power plant is planned, increasing Galloway's 'green energy' production. It is thought that aspects of the Barsalloch Fort site in Galloway date to the Mesolithic period . A number of sites date to

2754-496: Was eventually ended with the return of royal forces. The result was a partition of Galloway, serving to fragment it administratively, though some ecclesiastical (the bishopric) and judicial (the office of Justiciar of Galloway ) offices survived further into the High Medieval period and beyond. Alan's eldest daughter, Derbhorgail (Latinized as Dervorguilla), married John de Balliol , and their son (also John ) became one of

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2808-455: Was particularly popular in the southwest of Scotland. Covenanters had skirmishes with government troops in Galloway, some of which featured the "Galloway flail", a variant of the agriculturally-derived melee weapon . Galloway's agricultural economy was indirectly affected by the 17th-century Plantation of Ulster. Peasants in Galloway had, dating back to the Middle Ages, traditionally practiced

2862-482: Was soon sanctioned by the Scottish Privy Council, for Irish cattle to be exported to England via Galloway. Some landowners used the cattle trade in the 17th century as a way to grow their landholdings, as the system of a large number of small landholders began to consolidate into larger estates. The Irish cattle trade increased until up to 10,000 head of cattle per year were being exported through this route in

2916-468: Was written c.  AD 150 . This work included Britain. No surviving copies of the Geographia exist which are older than the 13th century, creating the possibility that details may have been lost or distorted. Ptolemy credited much of his work to a now-lost atlas by Marinus of Tyre , a previous geographer whose work is thought to have been created around AD 114. Though it would have been written within

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