STRANRAER  , a royal and

police burgh and seaport of Wigtownshire, Scotland . Pop . (1901), 6036 . It' is situated at the head of Loch Ryan, an arm of the North Channel (Irish Sea), 59 M . S.S.W. of Ayr by the Glasgow & South-Western railway, with a station in the town and at the harbour . It lies 39 M . E. by N. of Larne in Co . Antrim, Ireland, with which there is daily communication by mail steamer . Stranraer, originally called St John's Chapel, became a burgh of barony in 1596, and a royal burgh in 1617 . In the centre of the town are the ruins of the castle of the 15th century, occupied for a time by John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, when he held the office of sheriff of Galloway (1682) . The principal buildings within the parish are the old town hall, now used as a volunteer drill hall and armoury; the county buildings, containing the town hall and court house; the academy; reformatory and the Wigtownshire combination poor-house . Dairy utensils and implements are made; there are several nurseries; brewing and' milling are carried on, but the bulk of the trade is in farm and dairy produce .

Pier and harbour accommodation has been extended and the shipping is brisk . The oyster beds, for which Loch Ryan was once noted, are not cultivated, but the fisheries (white fish and herrings) are still of some consequence . Three miles east of Stranraer is Lochinch, the residence of the earl of Stair, a modern structure in the Scots Baronial style . It stands in grounds 4000 acres in extent, which include the White and Black Lochs and the ruins of Castle Kennedy, finely situated on the isthmus between the lakes . This castle was erected in the reign of James VI. for the earls of Cassilis, and passed into the hands of the Stair family in the 17th century . It was struck by lightning in 1716 and burned down and never rebuilt . The estate is famous for its plantations and Dutch gardens, the pinetum containing the most representative collection of araucarias, deodars and other conifers in Europe . A mile south are the green mounds marking the site of the abbey of Saulseat, founded for Premonstratensian monks by Fergus, " king of Galloway, early in the 12th century . It stood on the banks of a small loch and was known as the Monastery of the Green Lake from the mass of confervae with which the water was continually covered . Four miles west by north of Stranraer is situated Lochnaw Castle, the ancient seat of the Agnews, who were hereditary sheriffs of Galloway till 1747, when hereditable jurisdictions were abolished . The five-storied embattled tower in the centre dates from 1426, and the modern mansions from 182o . On the coast, 7i M. south-west of Stranraer by rail, lies Portpatrick, formerly called Port Montgomeric .

Owing to its proximity to Ireland (si m. to

Donaghadee), it was for more than 200 years a starting-point 984 of the mail service between Great Britain and Ireland . In consequence, however, of the frequent violence of the south-westerly gales and other causes, the communication ceased in the middle of the 19th century, and the artificial harbour de-signed by John Rennie has gradually fallen into decay . The town is in repute as a holiday resort for its healthy climate and beautiful situation .