A year or two ago at Kirkcudbright harbour I overheard a new resident giving a quick summary of Kirkcudbright’s history to a group of even newer residents. Having described the present harbour with reasonable accuracy he pointed downstream to the wooden pier, which he described as the old harbour where the sailing ships used to tie up. His lecture was given in ringing tones that do not invite interruption, so I kept silent. Now that the pier is reported to be about to disappear it is perhaps a good time to record its true story.
