Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright
is situated at the mouth of the Dee, 6 miles from the sea
and 30 miles South West of Dumfries. The old form of the name
of the town was Kilcudbrit, from the Gaelic Cii Cudbert, the
chapel of Cuthbert, the saints body having lain here for a
short time during the seven years that lapsed between its
exhumation at Lindisfarne and the re-interment at Chester-le-Street.
The
town, which witnessed much of the international strife and
Border lawlessness, was taken by Edward I. in 1300. It received
its royal charter in 1455. After the battle of Towton, Henry
VI. crossed the Solway (August 1461) and landed at Kirkcudbrightto
join Queen Margaret at Linlithgow. It successfully withstood
the English siege in 1547 under Sir Thomas Carleton, but after
the country had been overrun was compelled to surrender at
discretion. Lord Maxwell, earl of Morton, as a Roman Catholic,
mustered his tenants here to act in concert with the Armada;
but on the approach of King James VI. to Dumfries he took
ship at Kirkcudbright and was speedily captured.
