Feet, Water of, a small river of Girthon parish, SW Kirkcudbrightshire. The Big Water of Fleet is formed at a point 2³/8 miles above a 20-arch viaduct of the Portpatrick railway, by the confluence of Carrouch, Mid, and Cardson Burns, which all three rise on the eastern side of Cairnsmore of Fleet (2331 feet). Thence it runs 6½ miles south-south-eastward along the Kirkmabreck and Anwoth border, till it is joined by the Little Water of Fleet, which, issuing from triangular Loch Fleet (3 X 2 furl.; 1120 feet), has a south-by-easterly course of 7¹/8 miles. After their union, near Castramont, the stream, as Water of Fleet, flows 4¾ miles south-byeastward, and then, a little below Gatehouse, expands, over the last 3⁵/8 miles of its course, into the fine estuary of Fleet Bay. It traverses charming scenery throughout its middle or lower reaches, and is navigable by small vessels up to Gatehouse. Its waters are strictly preserved, and trout, sea-trout, and herlings are plentiful, but salmon nowadays are few and far between.—Ord. Sur., shs. 4, 5, 1857.

(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)