•  Gilnockie, Dumfries Shire

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In 1882-4, Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland described Gilnockie like this:

Gilnockie, a station on the Langholm branch of the North British railway, in Canonbie parish, Dumfriesshire, 2¾ miles N by W of Riddings Junction, and 4 SSE of Langholm. The Border peel-tower of Gilnockie stood on a small promontory, washed on three sides by the river Esk, so steep and rocky as to be scarcely accessible except on the land side, and defended there by a deep ditch. ...

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It gave designation to Johnie Armstrong, the Border freebooter of ballad fame, and puts in a claim against Hollows Tower, a little higher up the river, to have been his principal residence. Seemingly it became ruinous soon after Armstrong's execution by James V. at Caerlanrig (1529); and, eventually obliterated to make room for a bridge over the river, it is now not represented by even the slightest vestige. (See Durie.) Distinct remains of a Roman station are on a rising-ground a little N of the station.—Ord. Sur, sh. 11, 1863.

The location is that of Gilnockie Castle, as named on modern 1:25,000 maps, with the former station to the east and the peel tower to the north-west.

Gilnockie through time

Gilnockie is now part of Dumfries and Galloway district. Click here for graphs and data of how Dumfries and Galloway has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Gilnockie itself, go to Units and Statistics.

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