What is "drummore"

Not to be confused with Drummuir, north east Scotland

Drummore (from Gaelic An Druim Mòr meaning "the great ridge") is a village at the southern end of the Rhins of Galloway in Wigtownshire, Scotland: it has two satellite clachans, called Kirkmaiden and Damnaglaur. The village lies where the Kildonan Burn runs out to the sea, a few miles north of the Mull of Galloway. It is the most southerly in Scotland, and further south than the English cities of Durham and Carlisle. It is in the Dumfries and Galloway Council area and the parish and community of Kirkmaiden and is about from the nearest major town, the ferry port of Stranraer. In 1998 the population was 310.

Drummore shares its name with High Drummore a mile up Glen Lee, and also with Drummore Glen half a mile to the east. The underlying name is clearly the Gaelic "druim mòr" or "big ridge", and it has been suggested that this reflected the motte associated with the castle of the Adairs of Kinhilt, whose lands were granted in 1602 by King James VI. The rather scattered incidence of related names, however, makes it more likely that the hill-ridge itself is in question, although at it is not all that prominent compared to the Muntloch Fell and Inshanks Fell a mile or two to the west, or even the Mull of Galloway itself, three miles (5 km) to the south.

A branch line was proposed in 1877 linking to the Portpatrick Railway. It was opposed by the feudal landowner, the Earl of Stair, and finally abandoned after the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank in 1882; aspects of the village's street layout still reflect plans for the railway.