Dalbeattie (, , meaning 'haugh of the birch' or Dail bhàite 'drowned (i.e. liable to flood) haugh') is a town in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Dalbeattie is in a wooded valley on the Urr Water east of Castle Douglas and south west of Dumfries. The town is famed for its granite industry and for being the home town of William McMaster Murdoch, the First Officer of the RMS Titanic. Etymology Dalbeattie is a Gaelic name, recorded in 1469 as Dalbaty. The first element of the name is Gaelic dail 'water-meadow, haugh'. There are two possible interpretations for the second element. The most common is Gaelic beithich, genitive singular of beitheach 'abounding in or relating to birch trees', derived from beith 'birch'. Dalbeattie would thus mean 'haugh of the birch'. The second interpretation takes -beattie to be bhàite (from bàite) 'drowned', meaning 'liable to flooding'. W. J. Watson offers this derivation for Dalbate in Middleby. Dalbeattie is popularly interpreted as 'birch valley' or 'birch vale', which is adopted in the names of local businesses such as Birch Valley Dental Clinic and Birchvale Theatre. The interpretation of the first element as 'vale' or 'valley' may be due to confusion with the word dale. The association with 'valley' goes back to at least 1955, when the Third Statistical Account records that the 'accepted derivation' is Celtic, meaning 'the valley of the birches'. History The formal beginnings of Dalbeattie originate in 1781 when George Maxwell of Munches and Alexander Copeland of Kingsgrange (or Colliston) decided to encourage the development of the town by feuing their property. The Maxwells owned the land on the north side of the burn and the Copelands owned the land on the south side. They also established a soup kitchen for local workers. The building of the bridge over the River Urr at Craignair in 1797 and the rapid expansion of the granite industry in Dalbeattie attracted more people to settle in the town. Governance The town is under the management of Dumfries and Galloway council and is located in the Abbey ward. The town is in the Westminster constituency of Dumfries and Galloway and currently represent by Alister Jack. In the Scottish Parliament the town is within the Galloway and Upper Nithsdale constituency and the South of Scotland region and was represented by Alex Fergusson. Geography Dalbeattie is situated in the Urr valley