Wigtownshire I

Wigtownshire was a constituency in the old Scottish Parliament before 1707 and it often returned a member of the Agnew family. By the 19th century, the seat was divided between the Tory earls of Galloway and the Whigs and Liberals led by the earls of Stair.

Herbert Maxwell, the seventh baronet of Monreith, was elected in 1880. In accordance with tradition, he did not canvass the tenants of the earl of Stair but recalled that one farmer kindly pledged to “do him nae ill”.

After his victory, the man confirmed his promise with Maxwell but said that he had also been “bound in honour to vote for the laird [Stair], so I just put a cross against both your names”.

Wigtownshire was the only seat in Scotland to return a Tory in every election between the 1867 Reform Act and 1918.