Kells, Dumfries and Galloway

Kells, a former parish, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, 14 miles (N. W. by N.) from Castle-Douglas, and 19 (N. by W.) from Kirkcudbright; containing, with the burgh of New Galloway, 1121 inhabitants.

This place is supposed by some to derive its name from its elevated situation, of which, in the Gaelic language, the word is descriptive; others deduce it from the British Cell, on account of the extensive woods formerly existing here, and of which considerable remains are still found imbedded in the various mosses. The parish, which is one of the largest in the county, is bounded on the west and south by the river Dee, which separates it from the parishes of Minnigaff, Girthon, and Balmaghie; and on the east by the river Ken, which divides it from Dalry, Balmaclellan, and Parton. It is about sixteen miles in length and eight miles in extreme breadth, comprising an area of 47,500 acres, of which by far the greater part is mountain pasture, and, with the exception of about 400 acres of woodland and plantations, the remainder is arable and in good cultivation. The surface is irregularly broken, rising towards the north into a range of lofty mountains, including the most conspicuous heights of Galloway, of which some have an elevation of 2700 feet above the sea. The arable lands, which are chiefly along the banks of the Ken, are tolerably level, and interspersed with copses of oak and birch. The lower grounds are watered by numerous rivulets, which intersect the parish in various directions, and form tributaries to the Dee and to the Ken. The Ken has its source on the confines of Dumfriesshire, and, after entering the parish on the north-east, receives the waters of the Deuch, and at the southern extremity unites with the Dee. There are also many lakes, of which those of Loch Dungeon and Loch Harrow, in the north, are of considerable extent, but both inferior to Loch Ken, on the eastern border of the parish, which is about five miles in length and three quarters of a mile in breadth, and by far the most eminent for the beauty of its scenery.

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