Old Photograph Harbour Port William Scotland

Old photograph the harbour in Port William, Wigtownshire, Scotland. An interesting part of this harbour's history is its connection with what was evidently a flourishing contraband trade. Clone Farm, for example, about a mile North of Port William, was the local headquarters of the Manx smuggling firm of Morrison, Gault and Company, probably in the 1770's, and had cellars for concealing its goods. A similar arrangement was in force at Balcary, in the Stewartry, though there the company built the headquarters itself. Again, in 1777, the crews of two armed luggers forced a party of 25 soldiers to allow them to land their cargo, rewarding them duly with 36 casks of spirits. A military and customs post was established at Port William in 1788, and smuggling was believed to have been largely put down by 1796. The barracks of the Customs force served for many years as the stables of the Monreith Hotel, and its shell was only demolished in 1978. Port William is a small fishing village in the parish of Mochrum, Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, in south west Scotland. It is surrounded by the hamlets of Elrig, Mochrum and Monreith. The village lies 23 miles east of the town of Stranraer, on the coast of Luce Bay. It looks directly over to the Mull of Galloway, the most southerly point of the Scottish mainland and, on a clear day, both the Isle of Man, and Ireland are visible from the rugged coastline.



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