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An aerial view shows a stone obelisk standing on a hilltop wrapped in mist, hawthorn bushes and a winding path covering the slopes below.
Dumfries and Galloway

Murray's Monument

An obelisk on the Queen's Way for a shepherd's boy who became a professor.

Welcome

The obelisk stands on a knowe above the Queen's Way, the road that runs through the Galloway Forest Park between New Galloway and Newton Stewart, and it is there for a man almost nobody has heard of.

Alexander Murray was born in 1775 in a shepherd's cottage at Dunkitterick, a few hundred yards along the road, and taught himself to read from a catechism his father chalked on a board. He went on to Edinburgh and to languages - Hebrew, Arabic, Abyssinian, and a good many more - and ended as Professor of Oriental Languages at the University, dying at thirty-eight the year after he got the chair. The monument went up in 1835. It is a short steep walk from the roadside, the ruins of the cottage are signposted nearby, and there is a waterfall in the burn below.

Before you go
How long
Half an hour to an hour
Cost
Free
Getting there
Small car park on the A712; a short steep path up to the obelisk.

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Did you know

A tall stone obelisk stands on a grassy hilltop shrouded in mist, hawthorn bushes in bloom scattered around its base.
Did you know

A shepherd's boy taught from a chalked board.

Alexander Murray was born in 1775 in a cottage at Dunkitterick along the road, and learned to read from a catechism his father chalked for him.

A tall stone obelisk stands on a grassy hilltop shrouded in mist, hawthorn bushes in bloom scattered around its base.
Did you know

Professor of Oriental Languages.

He ended as Professor of Oriental Languages at Edinburgh, having taught himself a long list of them, and died at thirty-eight.

A tall stone obelisk stands on a grassy hilltop shrouded in mist, hawthorn bushes in bloom scattered around its base.
Did you know

Raised in 1835.

The obelisk went up twenty-two years after his death, on the hill above the road he was born beside.

Emily Rose Mawson

From our guide to Dumfries and Galloway

This plinth-like landmark commemorates Alexander Murray, a local shepherd boy who became Professor of Oriental Languages at Edinburgh University. It’s a steep climb to get there, but worth it for the panoramic views across the landscape to Cairnsmore of Fleet. From the top you can follow part of the trail used by pilgrims on their way to Whithorn.

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Where it is

Above the A712, the Queen's Way, between New Galloway and Newton Stewart.

Close byThe rest of Dumfries and Galloway, near at hand.
  1. Whisky barrels line a gravel path beside a distillery's glass-fronted timber buildingGalloway DistilleryGin made from scratch at Newton Stewart, with fir from the hills and weed from the shore.7 miles 9 min by road
  2. Inside ReadingLasses: shelves of new books by women writers on one side, and the café counter on the other, with cakes under glass domes, a chandelier and bottles on a shelf above.ReadingLassesA bookshop and café on South Main Street in Wigtown, specialising in books by and about women, with homemade cakes.11 miles as the crow flies
  3. Otter floats among a group in calm water, paw raisedRSPB Wood of Cree11 miles 25 min by road
  4. A woman with grey hair and glasses smiles beside a large tree trunk in woodland, wearing a green jacket with a round embroidered badge.Freelance RangerA countryside ranger who will take you pond dipping, or out under the dark sky.11 miles 14 min by road
  5. Visitors sit at wooden picnic tables outside CatStrand Arts and Crafts buildingCATSTRANDThe Glenkens' own arts centre, in the old school at New Galloway.11 miles 14 min by road
  6. Copper pot stills in a row in the still house at Bladnoch Distillery, under a timber ceiling, with the spirit safe beyond.Bladnoch DistilleryA Lowland malt whisky distillery on the River Bladnoch near Wigtown, with tours and a café.12 miles as the crow flies
Directions
Roofless ruin of a turreted mansion surrounded by autumn woodland from aboveAttractionsKenmure Castle12 miles

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