Berwick-Upon-Tweed

BERWICK-UPON-TWEED, a port, borough, market-town, parish, and county of itself, 55 miles (E. by S.) from Edinburgh, and 334 (N. by W.) from London; containing 8484 inhabitants. The name of this town, which Leland supposes to have been originally Aberwick, from the British terms, Aber, the mouth of a river, and Wic, a town, is by Camden and other antiquaries considered as expressive merely of a hamlet, or granary, annexed to a place of greater importance, such appendages being usually in ancient records styled berewics, in which sense of the term Berwick is thought to have obtained its name, having been the grange of the priory of Coldingham, ten miles distant. The earliest authentic notice of Berwick occurs in the reign of Alexander I., and in that of Henry II. of England, to the latter of which monarchs it was given up, with four other towns, by William the Lion, in 1176, as a pledge for the performance of the treaty of Falaise, by which, in order to obtain his release from captivity after the battle of Alnwick, in 1174, he had engaged to do homage to the English monarch as lord paramount for all his Scottish dominions. Richard I., to obtain a supply of money for his expedition to the Holy Land, sold the vassalage of Scotland for 10,000 marks, and restored this and the other towns to William, content with receiving homage for the territories only which that prince held in England. King John, upon retiring from an unsuccessful invasion of Scotland, burnt the town, upon which the Scots almost immediately rebuilt it. In 1291, the Commissioners appointed to examine and report on the validity of the title of the respective claimants to the crown of Scotland, met at Berwick, and pursued there the investigation which led to the decision in favour of John Baliol. Edward I., having compelled Baliol to resign his crown, took the town by storm in 1296, upon which a dreadful carnage ensued; and here he received the homage of the Scottish nobility, in the presence of a council of the whole nation, and established a court of exchequer for the receipt of the revenue of the kingdom of Scotland. Wallace, in the following year, having laid siege to the town, took, and for a short time retained possession of it, but was unsuccessful in his attempt upon the castle, which was relieved by the arrival of a numerous army. Edward II., in prosecuting the war against Scotland, assembled his army here repeatedly, and made several inroads into the enemy's territory. Robert Bruce obtained it in 1318, and having razed the walls, and strengthened them with towers, kept it, notwithstanding several attacks from Edward II. and III., until it surrendered to the latter after the celebrated battle of Hallidown Hill, within the borough, which took place on the 19th of July, 1333. As a frontier town, it was always the first object of attack on the renewal of hostilities between the two kingdoms; and, after repeated surrenders and sieges, it was ceded to Edward IV., from whom and his successors, as well as from preceding kings of Scotland, including Bruce, it received several charters and privileges, in confirmation and enlargement of the charter granted by Edward I., in which the enjoyment of the Scottish laws as they existed in the time of Alexander III. had been confirmed. After having been exposed, during the subsequent reigns, to the continued aggressions of the Scots and the English, Elizabeth repaired and strengthened the fortifications, and new walled part of the town: the garrison which had for some time been placed in it, was continued till the accession of James to the English throne, when its importance as a frontier town ceased. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I., it was garrisoned by the parliament.

Arms.

The town is pleasantly situated on the northern bank, and near the mouth, of the river Tweed, the approach to which, from the English side, is over a handsome stone bridge of fifteen arches, built in the reigns of James I. and Charles I., and connecting it with Tweedmouth on the south. The streets, with the exception of St. Marygate, usually called the High-street, Castlegate, Ravensdowne, the Parade, and Hide-hill, are narrow, but neatly paved, and the houses are in general well built; the town is lighted with gas, and an abundant supply of water is obtained by pipes laid down to the houses from the public reservoirs, which are the property of the corporation. Fuel is also plentiful, there being several collieries on the south, and one on the north, side of the river, within from two to four miles of the town. A public library was established in 1812, and a reading-room in 1842; the theatre, a small neat building, is opened at intervals, and there are assembly-rooms which are used on public occasions. The new fortifications, which are exceedingly strong, have displaced those of more ancient date, of which only a few ruins now remain; the ramparts afford an agreeable promenade, much frequented by the inhabitants. The present works consist of a rampart of earth, faced with stone: there are no outworks, with the exception of the old castle, which overlooks the Tweed, and is now completely in ruins, and an earthen battery at the landing-place below the Magdalen fields. The line of works towards the river is almost straight, but to the north and east are five bastions, to two of which there are powder magazines; the harbour is defended by a four and a six gun battery near the governor's house; and a saluting battery, of twenty-two guns, commands the English side of the Tweed. There are five gates belonging to the circumvallation, by which entrance is obtained. The barracks, which were built in 1719, form a small quadrangle, neatly built of stone, and afford good accommodation for 600 or 700 infantry. To these, was recently attached the governor's house, for officers' barracks; but that building and the ground adjoining, formerly the site of the palace of the kings of Scotland, were lately sold by the crown to a timber-merchant, and are now occupied for the purposes of his trade.

The port was celebrated in the time of Alexander III., for the extent of its traffic in wool, hides, salmon, &c., which was carried on both by native merchants, and by a company of Flemings settled here, the latter of whom, however, perished in the conflagration of their principal establishment, called the Red Hall, which was set on fire at the capture of the town and castle by Edward I. The port has, at present, a considerable coasting trade, though it has somewhat declined since the termination of the continental war: the exports are, corn, wool, salmon, cod, haddock, herrings, and coal; and the imports, timber-deals, staves, iron, hemp, tallow, and bones for manure. About 800 men are employed in the fishery: the salmon and trout, of which large quantities are caught, are packed in boxes with ice, and sent chiefly to the London market; great quantities of lobsters, crabs, cod, haddock, and herrings are also taken, and a large portion forwarded, similarly packed, to the metropolis. The principal articles of manufacture, exclusively of such as are connected with the shipping, are, damask, diaper, sacking, cotton-hosiery, carpets, hats, boots, and shoes; and about 200 hands are employed in three iron-foundries, all established within the present century. Steam-engines, and almost every other article, are made; the gas-light apparatus for Berwick, Perth, and several other places, was manufactured here, and iron-works have lately been erected at Galashiels, and at Jedburgh, by the same proprietors. The harbour is naturally inconvenient, the greater part of it being left dry at ebb-tide; it has, however, been recently deepened by several feet, and vessels of large tonnage come to the quay. The river is navigable only to the bridge, though the tide flows for seven miles beyond it: on account of the entrance being narrowed by sand-banks, great impediments were occasioned to the navigation till the erection, in 1808, of a stone pier on the projecting rocks at the north entrance of the Tweed; it is about half a mile in length, and has a light-house at the extremity. This, together with the clearing and deepening of the harbour, has materially improved the facilities of navigation, and been of great importance to the shipping interest of the place. On the Tweedmouth shore, for a short space, near the Carr Rock, ships of 400 or 500 tons' burthen may ride in safety. The smacks and small brigs, formerly carrying on the whole traffic of the place, are now superseded by large and well-fitted steam-vessels, schooners, and clipper-ships. There are numerous and extensive quays and warehouses, and a patent-slip for the repair of vessels; and the town will soon have the further advantage of a railway to Edinburgh, in continuation of the projected railway along the east coast hence to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The market, which is well supplied with grain, is on Saturday, and there is an annual fair on the last Friday in May, for black cattle and horses; statute-fairs are also held on the first Saturday in March, May, August, and November.

By charter of incorporation granted in the thirty-eighth year of James VI., the government was vested in a mayor, bailiffs, and burgesses; and there were, besides, an alderman for the year, a recorder, town-clerk, towntreasurer, four serjeants-at-mace, and other officers; but the controul now resides in a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen councillors, together composing the council, by whom a sheriff and other officers are appointed. The borough is distributed into three wards, and its municipal and parliamentary boundaries are the same; the mayor and late mayor are, pro tempore, justices of the peace, and twelve other gentlemen have been appointed to act as such, under a separate commission. Berwick was one of the royal burghs which, in ancient times, sent representatives to the court of the four royal burghs in Scotland, and on being annexed to the kingdom of England, its prescriptive usages were confirmed by royal charter. It sent representatives to parliament in the reign of Henry VIII., since which time it has continued to return two members. The right of election was formerly vested in the freemen at large, in number about 1140; now, the resident freemen and certain householders are the electors, and the sheriff is returning officer. The limits of the borough include the townships of Tweedmouth and Spittal, lying on the south side of the river. The corporation hold courts of quarter-session for the borough, and a court of pleas every alternate Tuesday, for the recovery of debts to any amount; and a court-leet is regularly held under the charter, at which six petty constables are always appointed. The town-hall is a spacious and handsome building, with a portico of four massive circular columns of the Tuscan order, a portion of the lower part of which, called the Exchange, is appropriated to the use of the poultry and butter market; the first story contains two spacious halls and other apartments, in which the courts are held, and the public business of the corporation transacted, and the upper part is used as a gaol. The whole forms a stately pile of fine hewn stone, and is surmounted with a lofty spire, containing a peal of eight bells, which, on the sabbath-day, summon the inhabitants to the parish church.

The living is a vicarage, within the jurisdiction of the consistorial court of Durham, valued in the king's books at £20; net income, £289; patrons and appropriators, the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The church is a handsome structure in the decorated English style, built during the usurpation of Cromwell, and is without a steeple: one of the Fishbourn lectureships is established here, the service being performed in the church. There are places of worship for members of the Scottish Kirk, the Associate Synod, the Scottish Relief, Particular Baptists, Wesleyans, and Roman Catholics. A school for the instruction of the sons of burgesses in English and the mathematics, was founded and endowed by the corporation, in 1798; to each department there is a separate master, paid by the corporation, and the average number of pupils is about 300. The burgesses have also the patronage of a free grammar school, endowed in the middle of the seventeenth century, by Sir William Selby, of the Moat, and other charitable persons. The Blue-coat charity-school was founded in 1758, by Captain Bolton, and endowed with £800, since augmented with several benefactions, especially with one of £1000 by Richard Cowle, who died at Dantzic, in 1819; the whole income is £155, which is applied to educating about 150 boys, of whom 40 are also clothed. A pauper lunatic house was erected in 1813, and a dispensary was established in 1814. A considerable part of the corporation land is allotted into "meadows" and "stints," and given rent-free to the resident freemen and freemen's widows, according to seniority, for their respective lives. Among the most important bequests for the benefit of the poor, are, £1000 by Richard Cowle, £1000 by John Browne, in 1758, and £28 per annum by Sarah Foreman, in 1803. Some remains of the ancient castle of Berwick are still visible, and of a pentagonal tower near it; also of a square fort in Magdalen fields, and some entrenchments on Hallidown Hill; but all vestiges of the ancient churches and chapels of the town, the Benedictine nunnery, said to have been founded by David, King of Scotland, and of the monasteries of Black, Grey, White, and Trinitarian friars, and of three or four hospitals, have entirely disappeared. During the reigns of William the Lion, and of Edward I., II., and III., and other Scottish and English monarchs, Berwick was a place of mintage; and several of its coins are still preserved. There is a mineral spring close to the town, which is occasionally resorted to by invalids.

Berwickshire

BERWICKSHIRE, a maritime county, in the southeast of Scotland, bounded on the north by the German Sea and Haddingtonshire; on the east and north-east, by the German Sea; on the south by the river Tweed, which separates it from the English counties of Durham and Northumberland; and on the west and south-west, by the counties of Edinburgh and Roxburgh. It lies between 55° 36' 30" and 55° 58' 30" (N. Lat.), and 1° 41' and 2° 34' (W. Long.), and is about 35 miles in length, and 22 miles in extreme breadth; comprising about 446½ square miles, or 285,760 acres, and 7408 inhabited houses, and 381 uninhabited; and containing a population of 34,438, of whom 16,558 are males, and 17,880 females. The county derives its name from the ancient town of Berwick, formerly the county town, and was originally inhabited by the Ottadini; after the Roman invasion, it formed part of the province of Valentia, and though not the site of any station of importance, it is intersected by several Roman roads. After the departure of the Romans from Britain, this part of the country was continually exposed to the predatory incursions of the Saxons, by whom, about the middle of the sixth century, it was subdued, and annexed to the kingdom of Northumbria, of which it continued to form part till the year 1020, when it was ceded to Malcolm II., King of Scotland, by Cospatrick, Earl of Northumberland, whom that monarch made Earl of Dunbar.

From its situation on the borders, the county was the scene of frequent hostilities, and an object of continual dispute between the Scots and English. In 1176, it was surrendered by William the Lion to Henry II. of England, by whom he had been made prisoner in battle, as security for the performance of the treaty of Falaise, on failure of which it was for ever to remain a part of the kingdom of England; but on payment of a ransom, it was restored to the Scots by Richard I. In 1216, it suffered greatly from the army of John, who, to punish the barons of Northumberland, for having done homage to Alexander, King of Scotland, burnt the towns of Roxburgh, Mitford, and Morpeth, and laid waste nearly the whole county of Northumberland. During the disputed succession to the Scottish throne, after the death of Alexander III., this district suffered materially from the contending parties; and in 1291, the town of Berwick was surrendered to Edward I. of England, who, as lord paramount of Scotland, received the oaths of fealty and allegiance from many of the Scottish nobility. The inhabitants soon after revoking their allegiance to the English crown, Edward advanced with his army to Berwick, which he took by assault, and held a parliament in the castle, in 1296, when he received the oath of allegiance; and in the year following, he made Berwick the metropolis of the English government in Scotland. The town was restored to the Scots in 1318, but, after the death of James III., was finally ceded by treaty to the English, in 1482; in 1551, the town, with a district adjoining, called the liberties of Berwick, was made independent of both kingdoms, and invested with peculiar privileges. After Berwick ceased to be the county town, the general business of the county was transacted at Dunse or Lauder, till the year 1596, when Greenlaw was selected by James VI., as the most appropriate for the purpose; and that arrangement was ratified by act of parliament, in 1600.

The county was anciently included in the diocese of St. Andrew's; it is now almost wholly in the synod of Merse and Teviotdale, and comprises several presbyteries, and thirty-four parishes. Exclusively of the seaport of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which has a separate jurisdiction, it contains the county town of Greenlaw, the royal burgh of Lauder, and the towns of Dunse, Coldstream, and Eyemouth, with the villages of Ayton, Gourdon, Earlstoun, Chirnside, Coldingham, and others. Under the act of the 2nd and 3rd of William IV., the county returns one member to the imperial parliament. The surface varies in the different districts into which the county is naturally divided, and which are the Merse, Lammermoor, and Lauderdale; the Merse is a level district, extending for nearly twenty miles along the north bank of the Tweed, and about ten miles in breadth, and is richly fertile, well inclosed, and pleasingly diversified with gentle eminences, and enriched with plantations. The district of Lammermoor, nearly of equal extent, and parallel with the Merse, is a hilly tract, chiefly adapted for pasture; the district of Lauder, to the west of the two former, is diversified with hills, affording good pasturage for sheep, principally of the black-faced breed, and a coarse breed of black-cattle, and has fertile vales of arable land, yielding abundant crops. The highest hills are in the Lammermoor range, varying from 1500 to 1650 feet in height: the principal rivers are, the Tweed, which forms the southern boundary of the county; the Whiteadder, the Blackadder, the Leader, and the Eden, which are tributaries to the Tweed; and the river Eye, which falls into the sea at Eyemouth. The coast is bold and rocky, rising precipitously to a great height, and is almost inaccessible, except at Eyemouth and Coldingham Bay, and in some few points where there are small beaches of sand or gravel near the rocks. The minerals found are not of any importance; some coal has been discovered in the parishes of Mordington and Cockburnspath; limestone, marl, and gypsum have been quarried, but to no great extent, and freestone and whinstone are abundant. The rateable annual value of the county is £252,945. The chief seats are, Thirlstane Castle, Dryburgh Abbey, Mellerstain, Hirsel, Marchmont, Lady Kirk, Blackadder, Dunse Castle, Kelloe, Mertoun, Spottiswood, Ayton, Dunglass, Wedderburn, Paxton, Langton, Kimmergham, and Nisbet.

Bigga Isle

BIGGA ISLE, in the parishes of Delting and Yell, county of Shetland. It is a small isle, lying between the mainland of Shetland and the island of Yell, in the sound of Yell; half of it belongs to the parish of Yell, and half to that of Delting. The inhabitants consist of a few families who pasture black-cattle and sheep.

Biggar

BIGGAR, a parish and market-town, in the Upper ward of the county of Lanark, 12 miles (S. E.) from Lanark, on the road from Dumfries to Edinburgh; containing 1865 inhabitants, of whom 1395 are in the town. The original name of this place, as it occurs in several ancient charters, is generally written Biger, or Bigre, and is supposed to have been derived from the nature of the ground on which the castle of the family of Biggar was situated (in the centre of a soft morass), and to have been thence applied to the whole of the parish; and from the same circumstance, the castle assumed the name of Boghall. The manor was granted by David I. to Baldwin, a Flemish leader, whose descendants still retain the surname of Fleming; they appear to claim a very remote antiquity, and the name of Baldwin de Biger appears in testimony to a charter, prior to the year 1160. Some accounts, chiefly traditional, are still retained of a battle fought at this place, between the English forces under Edward I., and the Scots commanded by Wallace, in which the former were defeated; and though not authenticated by any historian of acknowledged authority, the probability of the event is partly strengthened by the frequent discovery of broken armour in a field near the town; the name of a rivulet called the Red Syke, running through the supposed field of battle, and so named from the slaughter of the day; and the evident remains of an encampment in the immediate neighbourhood. On this occasion, Wallace is said to have gained admission into the enemy's camp, disguised as a dealer in provisions, and, after having ascertained their numbers and order, to have been pursued in his retreat to the bridge over Biggar water, when, turning on his pursuers, he put the most forward of them to death, and made his escape to his army, who were encamped on the heights of Tinto. A wooden bridge over the Biggar is still called the "Cadger's Brig;" and on the north side of Bizzyberry, are a hollow in a rock, and a spring, which are called respectively Wallace's seat and well. The Scottish army under Sir Simon Fraser is said to have rendezvoused here, the night previous to the victory of Roslin, in 1302; and Edward II., on his invasion of Scotland, in 1310, spent the first week of October at this place, while attempting to pass through Selkirk to Renfrew. In 1651, after Cromwell's victory at Perth, the Scottish army, passing by Biggar, summoned the place, at that time garrisoned by the English, to surrender; and in 1715, Lockhart, of Carnwath, the younger, raised a troop for the service of the Pretender, which, after remaining for some time here, marched to Dumfries, and joined the forces under Lord Kenmure.

The town is finely situated on the Biggar water, by which it is divided into two very unequal parts, the smaller forming a beautiful and picturesque suburb, communicating with the town by a neat bridge; the houses in this suburb are built on the sloping declivities, and on the brow, of the right bank of the rivulet, and have hanging gardens. The town consists of one wide street, regularly built, and from its situation on rising ground, commands an extensive and varied view; most of the houses are of respectable appearance, and within the last few years, several new and handsome houses have been erected. There is a scientific institution, founded in the year 1839. A public library was established in 1791, which contains about 800 volumes; another was opened in 1800, which has a collection of more than 500; and a third, exclusively a theological library, was founded in 1807, and has about 700 volumes. A public newsroom was opened in 1828; but it met with little support, and has consequently been discontinued. The trade consists chiefly in the sale of merchandise for the supply of the parish and surrounding district, and in the weaving of cloth, in which latter about 200 of the inhabitants are employed. A branch of the Commercial bank was established in 1833, and a building erected for its use, which adds much to the appearance of the town; and a branch of the Western Bank of Scotland has since been established. A savings' bank was opened in 1832, for the accommodation of the agricultural labourers, of whom there are about 460 depositors; and the amount of their deposits is about £3500. The market is on Thursday; and fairs are held at Candlemas, for hiring servants; at Midsummer, for the sale of wool; and on the last Thursday in October (O. S.), for horses and black-cattle; all of which are numerously attended. The inhabitants, in 1451, received from James II. a charter, erecting the town into a free burgh of barony, and granting a weekly market and other privileges, which grants were renewed, at intervals, down to the year 1662.

The parish, which borders on the county of Peebles, is about 6½ miles in length, and varies very greatly in breadth, being of triangular form, and comprising about 5850 Scottish acres, chiefly arable land. The surface is generally hilly, though comprising a considerable proportion of level ground, particularly towards the south, where is a plain of large extent; the hills are of little height, and the acclivities, being gentle, afford excellent pasture. The principal stream is the Biggar water, which rises on the north side of the parish, and, after a course of nearly two miles, intersects the town, and flows through a fine open vale, to the river Tweed; the Candy burn rises in the north-east portion of the parish, which it separates from the county of Peebles, and falls, after a course of three miles, into the Biggar water. The scenery is highly diversified; and the approach to the town, by the Carnwath road, presents to the view a combination of picturesque features. The soil is various; about 1000 acres are of a clayey nature, on a substratum of clay or gravel; 2000 are a light black loam, resting upon whinstone, and the remainder sandy, and black loam inclining to peat-moss. The system of agriculture is greatly improved, and green crops have been introduced with success; the chief produce consists of oats and barley; much attention is paid to the management of the dairy, and to the improvement of live stock. The cattle are mostly a cross between the native and the Ayrshire breed, which latter is every day becoming more predominant; many sheep are pastured on the hills and acclivities, and the principal stock regularly reared are of the old Tweeddale breed. Great progress has been made in draining and inclosing the lands; two mills for oats and barley have been erected, and there are not less than twenty-five threshing-machines, of which one, constructed by Mr. Watts, has the water-wheel 50 feet below the level of the barn, and 120 feet distant from it, the power being communicated to the machinery by shafts acting on an inclined plane. The rateable annual value of the parish is £7329. About 750 acres are in plantations, chiefly Scotch fir, in the management of which much improvement has been made by the introduction of a new method of pruning; and on the several farmsteads, are numerous fine specimens of the hard-wood timber, which is better adapted to the soil, and is consequently growing gradually into use, in the more recent plantations. Of these, the ash and elm seem to thrive best; and the beech and the plane also answer well. Among the various mansions are, Edmonston, a castellated structure, pleasingly situated in a secluded vale near the east end of the parish; Biggar Park and Cambus-Wallace, both handsome residences, in the immediate vicinity of the town; and Carwood, a spacious mansion, recently erected, and surrounded by young and thriving plantations.

The origin of the parish is rather obscure; but it appears that a chaplaincy was founded here, in expiation of the murder of John, Lord Fleming, chamberlain of Scotland, who was, in 1524, assassinated by John Tweedie, of Drummelzier, his son, and other accomplices. For this purpose, an assessment in lands was given to Malcolm, Lord Fleming, son of the murdered lord, with £10 per annum granted in mortmain, for the support of a chaplain, to pray and sing mass for the soul of the deceased in the parish church of Biggar, which Malcolm, in 1545, made collegiate, and endowed for a provost, eight canons and prebendaries, and four choristers, with six aged poor men. On this occasion, the church of Thankertoun, which had previously been bestowed on the abbey of Kelso, by one of his predecessors, was given up to Malcolm, by the monks, and annexed to the collegiate church. The parish is now in the presbytery of Biggar and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, and in the patronage of the family of Fleming; the minister's stipend is £263. 4. 7., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £30 per annum. The church, erected in 1545, was formerly an elegant and venerable cruciform structure in the later English style, with a tower which was not finished, as the Reformation occurred while the building was in progress. This structure, though complete in every other respect, and uninjured by time, has been dreadfully mutilated: the western porch, the vestry communicating with the chancel, and having a richly-groined roof, the buttresses that supported the north wall of the nave, and the arched gateway leading into the churchyard, though perfectly entire, and beautiful specimens of architecture, were all taken down about fifty years since, and the materials sold for £7, to defray some parochial expenses. The interior of the church underwent, at the same time, a similar lamentable devastation; the organgallery was removed, and the richly-groined roof of the chancel, which was embellished with gilt tracery, was destroyed, and replaced with lath and plaster, for uniformity. The church has lately received an addition of 120 sittings, by the erection of a gallery; it has been also newly-seated, and affords considerable accommodation. There are places of worship for Burghers, and those of the Relief Church. The parochial school affords education to about 180 scholars; the master has a salary of £34. 4. 4., about £75 fees, and a house and garden.

At the western extremity of the town, is a large mound, more than 300 feet in circumference at the base, 150 feet on the summit, and 36 feet in height, supposed to have been, in ancient times, a seat for the administration of justice; it appears to have been also used as a beacon, and to have formed one of a chain extending across the vale between the Clyde and the Tweed. There are several remains of encampments, of which one, about half a mile from the town, is 180 feet in circumference, defended by a deep moat and double rampart; and near Candy bank, is another, of oval form. On the banks of Oldshields, are some Druidical remains consisting of four upright stones, near which arrow-heads of flint have been found; and on the lands of Carwood, two Roman vessels of bronze were discovered in a moss; one, holding about two quarts, has a handle and three legs, and the other, less elegant in form, holds about eight quarts. The venerable remains of the castle of Boghall, which gave so great an interest to the scenery of the beautiful vale in which they were situated, have been almost demolished, for the sake of the stone; and little more is left than a small angular tower, which serves to mark the site. The late Dr. A. Brown, Professor of Rhetoric in the University of Edinburgh, and Robert Forsyth, Esq., an eminent advocate, were natives of the parish; and many of the landed proprietors have been eminently distinguished in the annals of their country.

Bilsdean

BILSDEAN, a hamlet, in the parish of Oldhamstocks, county of Haddington, 2½ miles (N. E.) from Oldhamstocks; containing 59 inhabitants. It is seated on the sea-shore, and is chiefly inhabited by fishermen, whose principal employment is taking lobsters for the supply of the London market; various other kinds of fish are also caught here, whereof the most common are turbot, cod, haddock, and herrings. Several boats belong to the creek, carrying four men each.

Birdstone

BIRDSTONE, a village, in the parish of Campise, county of Stirling, 1 mile (N.) from Kirkintilloch; containing 100 inhabitants. It lies east of the road from Kirkintilloch to Campsie, and a little west of a small stream that falls into the Kelvin water, on the confines of the county.

Birgham

BIRGHAM, a village, in the parish of Eccles, county of Berwick, 2½ miles (W.) from Coldstream; containing 241 inhabitants. This is a small ancient village, seated on the north bank of the Tweed, opposite to Carham, in Northumberland; and the road from London to Edinburgh, by way of Kelso, and that from Kelso to Berwick, pass through the place. It is noted for several events connected with history, among which was the meeting, in 1291, of the twelve competitors for the Scottish throne, with the commissioners of Edward I., of England, to represent their claims, acknowledging his paramount authority over Scotland. One of two burial-places in the parish is situated here.

Birnie

BIRNIE, a parish, in the county of Elgin, 3 miles (S.) from Elgin; containing 407 inhabitants. This place is said by some to have been the site of the first cathedral of the diocese of Moray; and it is probable that Simeon de Tonei, one of the bishops, was buried here, in 1184. The parish is nearly of an oblong figure, extending about seven miles in length, and one and a half in mean breadth, and contains nearly 8000 acres, of which about 2000 are under tillage, 304 under wood, and the remainder waste. It is separated from the parish of Knockando, on the south, by the junction of the parishes of Dallas and Rothes, and is bounded on all the other sides by the parish of Elgin. It lies on the north side of the high ground which rises between the Spey and the flat of Moray. The surface is irregular and abrupt, is marked with several ravines and high hills covered with heath, and has in general a bleak and rugged appearance; it is also intersected with the three rivulets, Lennock, Barden, and Rashcrook, which flow into the Lossie, a stream containing abundance of common trout. The arable soil is generally of a gravelly or sandy kind, occasionally clayey, and by the sides of the Lossie and of the rivulets it is loamy; other plots are of a mossy or moory nature. All kinds of grain are produced, as well as potatoes and turnips, with a small quantity of flax. The cattle, which have been lately much improved, are usually a cross between the low-country cows of Moray and West Highland bulls; the sheep are chiefly Cheviots, and the horses, though small, are active, and well adapted for ploughing the light shallow land of which the parish mainly consists. The improved system of agriculture is followed, and very considerable advances have recently been made. The rateable annual value of the parish is £1249. The chief rocks in the district are sandstone and gneiss, with a small proportion of slate. The ecclesiastical affairs are directed by the presbytery of Elgin and synod of Moray; the patronage belongs to the Earl of Moray, and the minister has a stipend of £156. 8. 4., a portion of which is received from the exchequer, with a manse, and a glebe of about eight acres of good land. The church is a very ancient structure, repaired in 1817, with accommodation for 250 persons, and contains a fine Saxon arch, separating the choir from the body of the edifice; also a stone baptistery, and an old bell composed of silver and copper, of an oblong figure, which tradition asserts to have been made at Rome, and consecrated by the pope. There is a parochial school, the master of which has a salary of £26, with a house and garden, and about £4 fees; and the poor have the benefit of a bequest producing about £3 per annum. About a mile east from the church, on the side of the road, is a stone called the "Bible Stone," having the figure of a book distinctly engraven on it; and in the corner of a field once called Castlehill, the foundations of what is supposed to have been the ancient episcopal palace were dug up about half a century ago.

Birsay and Harray

BIRSAY and HARRAY, a parish, in the county of Orkney; containing 2406 inhabitants, of whom 1634 are in Birsay, and 772 in Harray. These two ancient parishes, which were united under the earls of Orkney, originally constituted a province or district called "Bergisherard," signifying, in the Norwegian language, lands appropriated to the diversion of hunting; and previously to the rise of Kirkwall, here was the residence of the earls, and the bishops, of Orkney. There are still considerable remains of the episcopal palace, occupying a beautiful site near the sea; by whom it was originally built, is not distinctly known, but numerous additions were made to it, from time to time, by the Sinclairs, who were styled indifferently princes and counts of Orkney. It was subsequently enlarged and improved by Robert Stuart, brother of Mary, Queen of Scots; and above the principal entrance, was a stone bearing an inscription to that effect, with armorial bearings, and the motto Sic Fuit, Est, et Erit; which stone passed into the possession of the Earl of Morton, to whom the lands were sold, and from whom they were afterwards purchased by Sir Lawrence Dundas, ancestor of the Earl of Zetland, the present proprietor. The parish is about eleven miles in extreme length, and eight miles in extreme breadth, and is bounded on the north and west by the sea; on the north and east, by the parishes of Evie, Rendal, and Firth; and on the south and west, by the parish of Sandwick, and Loch Stenness. The surface, towards the west, is for some distance level, but towards the east more elevated, rising into hills of considerable height. It is diversified with several lakes of great beauty, abounding with trout and other fresh-water fish, and frequented by numerous kinds of aquatic fowl; and the lands are intersected by various rivulets and smaller burns, which, for want of bridges, interrupt the communication.

The soil is generally fertile, though varying in different parts of the district; that of the lands called the barony of Birsay, is a mixture of clay and sand, producing luxuriant crops of oats and barley; in other parts, a deep black loam prevails, producing grain of good quality, and also potatoes and turnips. Sea-weed, of which abundance is found on the coast, is used for manure; and the system of agriculture, though well adapted to the present state of the farms, might, under a different tenure, be very greatly improved. The substrata are principally limestone and clay-slate, the latter of which is quarried for pavements and roofing; building-stone is also found here, and in some parts of the district marble and alabaster have been discovered. The manufacture of straw-plat is carried on extensively, affording employment to nearly 450 of the female population; the males are employed in agriculture and in the fisheries. There are twenty boats belonging to Birsay, which, during the season, are engaged in the cod and lobster fishery; and five are employed in the herring-fisheries at Stronsay and Wick, whence they generally return with remunerating success. The coast, however, is rocky and precipitous; and the want of a convenient harbour, is unfavourable to the extension of the fisheries of the place. Fairs for cattle and horses are held annually.

The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Cairston and synod of Orkney; the minister's stipend is £218. 6. 8., including an allowance of £8. 6. 8. for communion elements, with a manse situated at Birsay, and two glebes valued together at £21 per annum; patron, the Earl of Zetland. The church of Birsay is an ancient building, enlarged in 1760, and containing 565 sittings; the church of Harray, a neat plain building, erected in 1836, contains 400 sittings. There are places of worship for members of the Free Church, the Original Seceding Congregation, and Independents. The parochial school of Birsay is well attended; the master has a salary of £26, with a dwelling-house and garden. A school at Harray, also, is supported by the General Assembly, who pay the teacher a salary of £25, with a house and garden, and other perquisites; and there is a parochial library, containing nearly 180 volumes, chiefly on religious subjects. About half a mile from the site of the episcopal palace, is the brough of Birsay, a portion of high land at the north-western extremity of the parish, formed into an island by the action of the sea, and to which access by land is obtained only at low water. From some remains of walls, there appears to have been an ancient fortress on the spot, though when or by whom erected is not known; a chapel dedicated to St. Peter, was subsequently erected on the site, of which the only remains are part of a wall and one of the windows. There are also remains of ancient Picts' houses, and upright stones, in various parts of the parish.

Birse

BIRSE, a parish, in the district of Kincardine O'Neil, county of Aberdeen, 2½ miles (E. S. E.) from Aboyne; containing 1295 inhabitants. This place was formerly called Press, a word of Gaelic origin, signifying a wood or thicket, and most probably used in reference to the extensive forest and woods in the district. The parish is situated at the south-eastern extremity of the county, and approaches in form to a square, varying in length from eight to ten miles, and in breadth from six to nine or ten miles. It comprises upwards of 40,000 acres, of which about 3360 are cultivated, nearly 4000 under wood and plantations, and the remainder wet and rocky, a large part of which is too rugged to be brought under the plough. The surface consists of hills and mountains, with three valleys stretching eastward. The valley on the south is the largest; and though narrow, bleak, and wild at its western extremity, where it is called the forest of Birse, about five miles further it begins to expand, and continues to improve in its scenery from this point to its termination, at the union of the Feugh with the Dee, near the village of Banchory, in Kincardineshire. The former of these rivers waters it for a distance of many miles, and much adorns the rich and beautiful scenery in the midst of which it takes its departure from the parish. The valley called Glen-Chatt is smaller than the former, and is watered by the Cattie burn; and the third strath forms a portion of the vale of the Dee, but is divided into two parts by the burn of Birse, and ornamented in its centre by the church and manse. The Grampians traverse the south of the parish, where also runs the river Aven, and one of the range, called Mount Geanach, rises between 2000 and 3000 feet in height, and gives to the locality a wild, and in some parts a romantic, appearance; the Dee runs along the northern boundary, and unites, with the peculiar features of that portion of the parish, to render its scenery most attractive. The moors abound with grouse and a great variety of wild-fowl, and the rivers and mountain streams with trout; the Dee has also salmon, grilse, eel, and pike, and the lovers of angling find here every facility for their favourite amusement. The soil is a light loam, in many parts rather gravelly, and takes its leading character from its mixtures of decomposed granite and sand, which are sometimes clayey; oats and barley are the usual grain cultivated, and potatoes and turnips, with grass for pasture and hay, also form a considerable part of the produce. The sheep are the black-faced; the cattle are much mixed, and in general small and of inferior quality, but the kind which most prevails is the Aberdeenshire polled and horned; the state of husbandry has been considerably improved within the last twenty years, the rotation of crops having been introduced, with a few other modern usages. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4106. The rocks comprise granite, a blue stone called heathen stone, and limestone, of which last there are two or three quarries in operation, the produce being used generally for agricultural purposes; the granite is found in large blocks scattered on or near the surface, and is used for building, without the trouble and expense of quarrying, and a fine specimen of red porphyry is found in the river Dee.

The mansion of Finzean, on the south side of the parish, and in the vale of the Feugh, is an ancient structure, built in the form of three sides of a square; that of Ballogie, situated in the centre of the district, is a neat and comfortable residence, partly ancient, and partly modern, and, like the former, surrounded with well-laid out grounds and thriving plantations. The male population are chiefly engaged in husbandry, and many of the females in knitting worsted stockings, in the winter season, for which most of the wool produced here is purchased, carded and spun, in summer. A suspension-bridge over the Dee, on the west, was built by the Earl of Aboyne, in 1828, and rebuilt in 1830, in consequence of its destruction by the flood; a communication is thus opened with the north, and another bridge over the Dee, called the Bridge of Potarch, built in 1813, continues the road from Brechin to Huntly and Inverness, over the Cairn o' Mount and Grampians: the turnpike-road on the south side of the Dee, from Aberdeen to Braemar, also opens an important means of intercourse. Four fairs are held at Bridge of Potarch, in April, May, October, and November, for cattle, sheep, horses, coarse linen, sacking, &c., that in October being the principal. The parish is in the presbytery of Kincardine O'Neil and synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of the Crown; the minister's stipend is £158. 7. 4., a portion of which is received from the exchequer, with a manse, and a glebe of four acres. The church, inconveniently situated in the north-western part of the parish, is a neat substantial edifice, erected in 1779, and capable of accommodating between 500 and 600 persons. There is a Roman Catholic chapel near Ballogie. The parochial school affords instruction in the usual branches; the master has a salary of £28, with a house, £6. 10. fees, and an allowance from the Dick bequest. Another school is supported by money derived from the fund of Dr. Gilbert Ramsay, who was rector of Christ-church, Barbadoes, and left £500 for the endowment of a free school in this, his native parish, £500 to the poor, and a sum for the erection of a bridge over the Feugh; a religious library was established in 1829, and a savings' bank in 1837. The chief relic of antiquity is a castellated ruin called "the Forest," said to have been erected by Bishop Gordon, of Aberdeen, for a hunting seat.

Bishopmill

BISHOPMILL, a village, in the parish of New Spynie, county of Elgin; containing 755 inhabitants. It is a suburb of Elgin, from which town it is distant about half a mile, and is on the north side of the Lossie, the former course of which river was nearer the town than the present course. The village is included within the parliamentary limits of the borough of Elgin, the cross of Bishopmill being the extreme northern boundary.

Bishopsbridge

BISHOPSBRIDGE, a hamlet, in the parish of Cadder, Lower ward of the county of Lanark; containing 213 inhabitants. It is situated in the western part of the parish, and on the road from Glasgow to Kirkintilloch. An infant and sewing school was established here by Mrs. Stirling, and is at present supported jointly by that lady and Mr. Stirling, of Caddar, who have built a good house for the residence of the mistress, to whom they pay a salary of £30, which is augmented by the fees.

Bishopton

BISHOPTON, a village, in the parish of Erskine, Upper ward of the county of Renfrew; containing 315 inhabitants. It is a modern village, situated on the south side of the Frith of Clyde, a short distance north of the road from Port-Glasgow to Paisley; and a post-office under the latter town, has been established, having three daily deliveries.

Blackburn

BLACKBURN, a village, chiefly in the parish of Livingstone, but partly in that of Whitburn, county of Linlithgow, 7 miles (W. by S.) from Mid Calder; containing 443 inhabitants. This village is pleasantly situated on the river from which it derives its name, and on the road from Glasgow to Edinburgh; the inhabitants are partly engaged in agricultural pursuits, and partly in the cotton manufacture, for which there is an establishment, affording employment to about 120 persons. A branch office has been established here, under the post-office at Whitburn. Subscriptions have been opened for the erection of a church; in the mean time, public worship takes place in the village school-room, and there is a meeting-house for Independents.

Blackford

BLACKFORD, a parish, in the county of Perth, 4 miles (S. W.) from Auchterarder; containing, with part of the quoad sacra parish of Ardoch, 1782 inhabitants, of whom 547 are in the village. This place probably derives its name from the ancient word fiord, a way; being equidistant from the towns of Perth and Stirling, between which it formed the principal line of communication. The parish is bounded on the north by the river Earn, and on the south by the river Devon, and is about 10 miles in length, and 5 in breadth. The surface is considerably varied with level and elevated grounds; the Ochil hills, of which the sloping acclivities afford excellent pasturage for sheep, intersect the parish towards the south, and the low lands are fertilized by several small rivers, which add much to the beauty of the landscape. Of these, the river Machany, which rises in the high lands of the parish of Muthil, after flowing through this parish, falls into the Earn at Kinkell. The Ruthven, which has its source at Gleneagles, in the parish, is but a small stream, having its course through the glen of Kincardine for nearly three miles, when, taking an easterly direction, it flows through the parish of Auchterarder, into the river Earn; and the river Allen, which also rises at Gleneagles, takes a westerly course through the parish of Dunblane, and falls into the river Forth. The soil, especially in the northern part of the parish, is rich, and in good cultivation; the system of agriculture is improved, and considerable portions of waste land have been reclaimed, and are at present under tillage. Much attention has also been paid to the growth of plantations, which have been extensively formed on the wide moor of Tullibardine, and in other parts; the principal trees of older growth are, oak and birch. At Tullibardine, are still remaining a few trees of a plantation of thorn, raised by a ship-wright, in commemoration of the building of a large ship for James IV., in which he had been employed. The rateable annual value of the parish amounts to £10,700.

The village is inhabited principally by persons engaged in weaving, and the manufacture of a coarse kind of woollen-cloth affords employment to a considerable number; a factory has been erected, in which machinery has been introduced, and from seventy to eighty persons are regularly employed, exclusively of many who work at their own homes. Two fairs are held annually; but from the proximity of Auchterarder and other market-towns, they are not much attended. The parish is in the presbytery of Auchterarder and synod of Perth and Stirling; the minister's stipend is £206. 11., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £18 per annum. The church, built in 1738, and recently repaired, is adapted for a congregation of 500 persons. The parochial school affords a liberal course of instruction; the master has a salary of £34. 4. 4., with the customary fees, and a good dwelling-house and garden. There are several remains of ancient military works, connected probably with the Roman camp at Ardoch, to which station they are supposed to have been out-works; also numerous cairns and tumuli in different parts of the parish. Some remains likewise exist of the castles of Kincardine and Ogilvy, the walls of which are of great thickness; and at Gleneagles and Tullibardine, are the remains of chapels. The lands of Tullibardine give the title of Marquess to the Duke of Atholl.

Blackness

BLACKNESS, a village, in the parish of Carriden, county of Linlithgow, 3 miles (E.) from Borrowstounness; containing 107 inhabitants. This place, formerly the sea-port of Linlithgow, and the residence of numerous merchants, who carried on an extensive trade with Holland, Bremen, Hamburgh, and Dantzic, in which they employed thirty-six ships of large burthen, is now an inconsiderable hamlet, distinguished only by its royal castle, which is one of the four Scottish fortresses kept in repair according to the articles of the union of the two kingdoms. The harbour and quay are in a ruinous state; the custom-house has been converted into lodgings for the few individuals who, during the summer, resort to this deserted spot for the benefit of bathing; and the only business carried on is the occasional shipping of bricks and tiles made at Brickfield, in the immediate vicinity, and the landing of lime and manure. The castle, which is still entire, is situated on a promontory on the south shore of the Frith of Forth, near the influx of the Black burn, and at a small distance from the village; and is supposed to occupy the site of a Roman station on the wall of Antonine, which, according to most writers, terminated at this place; but the date of the present structure is not distinctly known. In 1481, the castle, with eight ships at that time in the harbour, was burnt by the Engglish fleet; and in 1488, the nobles who had rebelled against James III., held a conference with that monarch here, which was called the "Pacification of Blackness." In 1542, Cardinal Beaton was imprisoned in the castle, by the Earl of Arran, then regent, but he was soon liberated, through the influence of the clergy; and after the battle of Pinkie, in 1547, Lord Clinton, the admiral of the Engglish fleet, took three, and burnt seven, of the vessels lying in the harbour. The castle was garrisoned by the French forces, under the command of General D'Esse, in 1548, and also under the regency of Mary of Guise; but in 1560, it was taken by the sheriff of Linlithgow. In 1571, it was garrisoned by Claude Hamilton, a zealous adherent to the interests of Mary, Queen of Scots; and by him it was held, in her name, till 1573, when it was delivered up to the Earl of Morton, then regent. During the progress of the Reformation, and the contests that arose between the advocates of Presbytery and Episcopacy, the castle was frequently a place of confinement for the non-conforming clergy; and in the latter part of the 18th, and earlier part of the 19th century, it was chiefly occupied by French prisoners of war. The earls of Linlithgow were hereditary constables of the castle, till 1715, when that office was forfeited, on the attainder of James the sixth earl, for his participation in the Earl of Mar's rebellion. There are a governor and a lieutenant-governor attached to the castle, neither of whom is resident; and the garrison, till lately, consisted of two gunners, a serjeant, two corporals, and fifteen privates; but, at present, the only inmates are an inferior officer and his family. The buildings consist of a principal tower, with ramparts commanding the entrance, and a court-yard, and have accommodation for 100 men.

Blackridge

BLACKRIDGE, lately a quoad sacra parish, chiefly in the parish of Torphichen, county of Linlithgow, 3 miles (N.) from Bathgate; containing 900 inhabitants, of whom 94 are in the village. This parish included portions of the civil parishes of Torphichen, Shotts, Bathgate, Slamannan, and New Monkland; the village is situated at the west end of the first-named parish, near the river Avon, and the inhabitants are employed in agriculture, and in the mines and quarries in the neighbourhood. The church was erected by subscription, in 1838, and is a neat structure, containing 400 sittings; the minister derives a stipend of about £60, from the seat-rents and collections. The parochial school is well attended; the master has a salary of £29, the proceeds of bequests, and 100 merks, together nearly £35; and the fees average about £11. A parochial library has been established.

Bladnoch

BLADNOCH, a village, in the parish and county of Wigton, 1 mile (S.) from Wigton; containing 215 inhabitants. This village is pleasantly situated on the north bank of the river Bladnoch, over which is a bridge, connecting it with the parish of Kirkinner, on the south. An extensive distillery has been established for the making of whisky, in which about twenty persons are constantly employed, and which annually consumes about 16,000 bushels of barley. There is also a small salmon-fishery carried on here, and various kinds of white fish are taken in the bay.

Blair-Atholl

BLAIR-ATHOLL, a parish, in the county of Perth, 20 miles (N. by W.) from Dunkeld; containing, with part of Tenandry quoad sacra parish, 2231 inhabitants. This place, of which the name, in the Gaelic language, signifies "the plain of Atholl," comprises the four ancient parishes of Blair, Lude, Kilmaveonaig, and Strowan, united into one parish in the early part of the 17th century. In the reign of James V., that monarch, with his mother, and the pope's legate, were entertained at Blair Castle with great hospitality, by the Earl of Atholl, who, for their diversion, accompanied them in a celebrated hunt on the north side of the mountain Beinnghlo. The castle afterwards became the head-quarters of Viscount Dundee, in the memorable battle of Killiecrankie, which took place on the fields of Runrory, on the north side of Girnag mountain. It was, indeed, frequently occupied as an important military station, not only during the times of feudal warfare, but also in the rebellion of 1745, and in 1746 was garrisoned with a force of 300 men, under the command of Sir Andrew Agnew, whom the Duke of Cumberland, on his arrival at Perth, had despatched to take up his quarters here, and so cut off all communication between the northern and southern parts of the country. In order to gain possession of this station, Lord George Murray, accompanied by several officers of the Highland army, and with a force of 100 men, was sent to surprise the castle, which, from its scanty supply of provisions, he attempted to reduce by famine; and having made prisoners of all the detached out-posts, he took up his head-quarters in the village, and closely blockaded the castle. But, after having reduced the garrison to the last extremity, he suddenly raised the blockade, and returned to join the army of the Pretender, at Inverness; and on the following day, the garrison were relieved by the Earl of Crawford, and received the thanks of the Duke of Cumberland, for their gallant defence.

The parish is bounded on the north by the Grampian hills, and is about thirty miles in length, and eighteen miles in average breadth, comprising 105,000 acres of hill pasture, 3000 arable land under cultivation, and 2500 woods and plantations. The surface is finely varied with hills and valleys; on both sides of the river Garry, is an extensive and fertile plain, constituting the vale of Garry, and extending from the pass of Killiecrankie to Strowan, terminating in hills of which the slopes are under cultivation, and the summits clothed with heather. In the Grampian range are several lofty mountains, of which Beinn-ghlo, Beinn-mheadhonaidh, Beinn-chait, and Beinn-deirg are the principal; the mountain Beinn-ghlo, which stands upon a base many miles in circumference, has four detached summits, of which one has an altitude of 3720 feet above the level of the sea, and the others are little inferior in height. The surface is also diversified with lakes, of which one of the chief is Loch Garry, near the boundary of the counties of Perth and Inverness; it is inclosed on all sides by hills of lofty elevation, and is about six miles in circumference, abounding with trout of excellent quality. Loch Tummel is a picturesque sheet of water, four miles in length, and nearly a mile in breadth, tastefully embellished with an island of artificial formation, on which are the ruins of a castle, and inclosed with banks richly cultivated, and interspersed with small hamlets; this lake also abounds with pike and trout of the largest size. The river Garry issues from the lake of that name, and, after a course of nearly thirty miles, in which it receives the streams of the Erichkie, Bruar, and Tilt, falls into the Tummel, at the south-eastern extremity of the parish; the Tummel has its source in Loch Tummel, and urges its rapid and impetuous course but for a short way through the parish. The river Tilt, from the loch of that name, on the summit of the Grampian range, after a course of sixteen miles, flows into the Garry at Blair, and, in its progress, displays a succession of beautifully picturesque scenery. Almost all the rivers form interesting cascades; the falls of the Garry, obstructed in its course by shelving rocks, are peculiarly interesting, and those of the Tummel are magnificently grand, from the vast body of water which is precipitated from rocks clothed to their summits with stately birch-trees. The Bruar, also, descending from a height of many feet, forms a succession of cataracts, rendered still more striking from the beauty of the surrounding scenery.

The soil is various; in the valleys, and on the slopes of the hills, a light loam, or a gravelly soil, prevails, and the more elevated lands are mossy. The chief crops are, different kinds of grain, and turnips, for which latter the soil is well adapted, and of which large quantities are raised; the farm-houses are generally well built, and considerable improvements have been made in husbandry, under the auspices of the Atholl Club, which distributes annual prizes for the promotion of agriculture and the breed of stock. The cattle are usually of the black Highland breed, to the rearing of which great attention is paid; about 1200 milch cows are regularly pastured, and 30,000 sheep are annually fed, all of the black-faced breed. The rateable annual value of the parish is £11,847. Atholl forest, formerly enjoying many privileges, is partly in the parish, and about 12,000 head of red deer are found within its limits. The natural woods situated in the parish are principally oak, ash, birch, alder, and aspen; and the plantations, which are very extensive, consist of Scotch firs, spruce, and larch, with lime, elm, and plane trees, of which there are some very fine specimens in the park of Blair. The substratum is chiefly limestone, part of the great vein extending from near Callender to Braemar, and is quarried for manure and other purposes, but not in sufficient quantity for the lands, in consequence of the scarcity of fuel for burning it; marble, also, of various colours is abundant, especially a vein of green colour, much esteemed for mantel-pieces and other ornamental purposes.

Blair Castle, already noticed, the baronial seat of the Murray family, and the residence of Lord Glenlyon, is a spacious well-built structure, supposed to have been erected by John Cumin, of Strathbogie, who became Earl of Atholl in right of his wife; in 1750, it was reduced by the taking down of two stories, and converted into a family mansion. It contains a handsome suite of state apartments, but its castellated appearance has been lost, by the removal of its turrets; it is inclosed in a very extensive park, embellished with ancient timber and thriving plantations, and the grounds, which are laid out with great taste, command a rich variety of scenery. Her Majesty and Prince Albert, on their second visit to Scotland, spent three weeks at this place, in September 1844; the castle was prepared by Lord Glenlyon for Her Majesty's reception, and he introduced to the royal notice the most remarkable features of the vicinity. Lude House, a spacious modern mansion, likewise within the parish, occupies an elevated site, and forms an interesting feature in the scenery of the Garry; Auchleeks is also a handsome modern mansion, pleasantly situated. A post-office has been established, which has a daily delivery; and fairs are held at Blair-Atholl, on the 2nd of February for general traffic, and the third Wednesday in May for horses and cattle; at Tilt Bridge, on the 25th of June and the 20th of August (O. S.) for cattle; and at Trinafour, on the third Tuesday in March (O. S.), for horses, and the Wednesday in October before the tryst of Falkirk, for cattle. The parish is in the presbytery of Dunkeld and synod of Perth and Stirling; the minister's stipend is about £200, with a manse, and the glebe is valued at £150 per annum. The parochial church is a handsome and substantial edifice, of modern erection, adapted for 650 persons, and the churchyard is spacious; a church was erected in the Strowan district, in 1829, for a congregation of 450 persons, and divine service is performed on two consecutive Sundays at Blair-Atholl, and every third Sunday at Strowan. The old church of Kilmaveonaig was rebuilt in 1791, and appropriated as a place of worship by the Episcopalians; and there is also a meetinghouse for Baptists. The parochial school affords education to about a hundred scholars; the master has a salary of £34. 4. 4., with £30 fees, and a house and garden. There are vestiges of an old religious establishment on the banks of the Tilt, called Cill Aindreas, consisting chiefly of sepulchral remains; and in various parts of the parish are upright stones, the remnants of Druidical circles, near some of which are traces of ancient cemeteries. The walls of the church of Lude are also still remaining.

Blair-Logie

BLAIR-LOGIE, a village, in the parish of Logie, county of Perth, 2 miles (N. N. E.) from Stirling; containing 124 inhabitants. This village, situated at the foot of the Ochil hills, is celebrated for its beauty and cleanliness, and the salubrity of its air, and is much visited by invalids, for its goat's-whey; it contains a small library belonging to the parish, and there is a place of worship connected with the Relief denomination. On the heights is the Castle of Blair-Logie, now occupied by a farmer.

Blairburn

BLAIRBURN, a village, in the parish of Culross, county of Perth; containing 85 inhabitants.

Blairdaff

BLAIRDAFF, Aberdeen.—See Garioch.

Blairgowrie

BLAIRGOWRIE, a burgh, market-town, and parish, in the county of Perth, 58 miles (N. by W.) from Edinburgh; containing 3700 inhabitants, of whom 2600 are in the town. The term Blair is of doubtful etymology, by some supposed to be derived from a Gaelic root signifying a mossy locality, and by others thought to come from a word denoting the scene of a battle or of war: Gowrie was the ancient denomination of the district in which the parish is situated, and has been used as an affix to distinguish it from several other places of the name of Blair. The town stands not far from the eastern boundary of the county, bordering on Forfarshire, and on a pleasant eminence on the western bank of the river Ericht, forming the first step of the acclivity of the hill of Blair. From its secluded and remote neighbourhood, it has been free from the collisions of the great political and religious tumults which have been felt so frequently and extensively throughout the country, the only historical recollection noted of this kind being the passage of the celebrated Montrose through the place, in one of his hostile descents into the valley of Strathmore. But what, at the commencement of the present century, was a small, quiet, and inconsiderable village, has since grown into a bustling manufacturing and market town; and not only the inhabitants of this spot, but those of the parish generally, have exchanged their rural for a commercial character, and the peasantry have given place to artizans, partly through the breaking up of the cottar system, by the consolidation of small farms, but chiefly through the extensive introduction of manufactures. About forty years since, the village consisted of small, unsightly thatched houses, collected in the vicinity of the church; but it now contains some good streets, well lighted with gas, supplied by a joint-stock company established in 1834; and its new and attractive character has, for some time, been gradually drawing, from the other parts of the parish, a considerable portion of the people to take up their residence here. It is approached by several good roads from different quarters; but the most considerable is the great north road from Perth to Fort-George, which enters the parish at the southern boundary, about two miles distant, and crosses the Ericht a little way from the town, by the bridge of Blairgowrie. This river, forming the eastern boundary of the parish for ten miles, is, in connexion with its bridges and roads, a lively and interesting feature in the strikingly beautiful scenery which is commanded by the well-cultivated hill of Blair; it has its course through diversified and romantic combinations of woods and rocks, and falls into the Isla at Cupar-Grange. The hill of Blair, immediately behind the town, is ornamented with the church, and skirted by a deep well-wooded ravine stretching down abruptly nearly to the river. From the churchyard, a view of the first order is obtained, embracing the whole valley of Strathmore, in the northern portion of which part of the parish lies, and terminated on the east by the Hunter hill of Glammis, and on the south by the picturesque chain of the Sidlaws. Near the town, are the mansions of Newton and Ardblair, large structures in the castellated style, the former commanding beautiful and extensive prospects over Strathmore, and being itself seen as a conspicuous object from several parts; and not far distant, is Blairgowrie House, a large edifice, situated on the low grounds to the south of the town, the whole of the vicinity of which partakes of that varied and rich scenery characteristic of the lower or southern division of the parish, the northern district exhibiting the features of a highland locality.

The spinning-wheel, formerly so much in use here, has been entirely superseded by machinery; and there are at present in operation, worked by water-power, five mills, employing about 200 hands, who are engaged in the spinning of flax and tow into yarn. The flax used is imported into Dundee from the Baltic, and, after being spun, is either taken to the former places for sale, or disposed of to manufacturers in the neighbourhood, and in Alyth and Cupar-Angus. The value of flax annually consumed at three mills near the town, is from £20,000 to £26,000 per annum, and the value of yarn spun at the same mills, from £33,000 to £36,000. About 350 persons are occupied in weaving yarn, by hand-looms, into cloth of different fabrics, consisting of fine dowlas and drill, but especially Osnaburghs and coarse sheetings; and these are sold at Dundee, though sometimes shipped, on the part of the manufacturer, direct to North and South America and France. The only other branch of trade carried on is that of salmon-fishing, which, however, is in a very low state, the rental for the whole course of the Ericht, from the Keith to the boundary of the parish, being only £21. 12. per annum. This change from its former extent, which was very considerable, is owing partly to the circumstance of there being fisheries on the Tay and Isla, and partly to the erection of the numerous mills on the river, which in summer drain off nearly the whole of the water. A general post-office is established in the town; and besides the road from Perth to Fort-George, already noticed, there is a road from Blairgowrie to Cupar-Angus, made turnpike in 1832, which quits the parish about two miles south of the town; and the line of road from Kirriemuir, Forfar, and other places, to Dunkeld, passes through the town, in crossing the parish from east to west. A market, which is well attended, is held on Wednesday, in alternate weeks, during winter and spring, for cattle and grain; and there are annual fairs in the town, on the third Wednesday in March; the 26th of May, if it fall on Wednesday, if not, the first Wednesday after; the 23rd July; the first Wednesday in Nov.; the 22nd Nov., or first Tuesday after; and the Wednesday before Falkirk tryst. Blairgowrie was erected into a burgh of barony by charter from Charles I., dated 9th July, 1634, in favour of George Drummond, then proprietor of the estate; and in the year 1809, the town was created a free burgh of barony by a charter from Colonel McPherson, the superior, and the burgesses were empowered to elect a bailie and four councillors for the management of the affairs of the burgh. The bailie, and two of the councillors, vacate their offices every two years; and their places are filled up by the burgesses. The police is in accordance with the general police act, and under the controul of the chief magistrate and four commissioners, the latter being annually elected by the £10 householders; but the provisions of the act respecting watching and paving have not been adopted, the householders being bound by their charter to take the watching by turns, themselves personally, or to provide substitutes. There are two cells in the lower story of the town-house, used as a prison, for the punishment of offenders within the jurisdiction of the burgh magistrate. The town is one of the seats of the quarterly sheriff-court, under the Small Debt act, and a polling-place for the county parliamentary elections.

The parish consists of a principal portion, about seven miles long, and one and a half mile in average breadth, and of two detached parts. One of these, lying north-west of the large division, and separated by branches of the parishes of Kinloch and Bendochy, contains a tract on each side of the river Ardle, consisting of the estates of Blackcraig, Wester-Cally, and Whitehouse, and part of the district of the forest of Cluny, covering altogether about four square miles; the other, called Creuchies, situated to the north-east, and separated by the parish of Rattray, contains about two square miles. The total number of acres in the parish is estimated at about 16,000 or 17,000, of which about 10,000 are, or have been, cultivated, 5000 are waste and pasture, and the remainder wood and plantations, comprising alder, birch, hazel, mountain-ash, larch to a considerable extent, and Scotch fir, though none of the trees attain to very great size, from the nature of the soil. The parish comprehends the two divisions called highland and lowland, separated from each other by a branch of the Grampian range; the former is hilly, and is the northern boundary of the vale of Strathmore, but the surface of the latter, which belongs to that vale, is tolerably equal, and replete with that beautiful and richly-diversified scenery for which the whole sweep of country is so highly celebrated. The Ardle and Blackwater streams, partly skirting the northern division, unite near the bridge of Cally, and form the principal river, the Ericht, which, in the vicinity of Craighall, passes through some of the most wildly romantic portions of the district, the beauties of which supplied the author of Waverley with some of the principal features in the description of Tully-Veolan. The parish is partly bounded on the south by the Lunan; and the Lornty, after flowing for some distance, falls into the Ericht about half a mile above the town. These streams abound with trout; pike, perch, and eels are plentiful in all the lochs, six in number, and the loch of Stormont is also frequented, in summer, by swarms of sea-gulls, which build among the reeds and rushes, and supply large quantities of eggs.

The southern and most cultivated division, stretching southward from the hill of Blair, for four miles, to the middle of the valley of Strathmore, exhibits great diversity of soil, comprising stiff clay, moss, rich loam near the town, and alluvial earth, the last, on the bank of the river, being the most fertile. In this division, is the muir of Blair, a tract comprehending about 1000 acres, chiefly covered with thick plantations of Scotch fir, beyond which, to the south, the soil, though thin and light, is mostly under cultivation. All kinds of grain and green crops are raised, and a considerable revenue is derived from pastures and the thinning of woods; the sheep kept here are not bred in the parish, but are purchased in autumn, and fattened with turnips eaten off the ground in winter, for sale in the following spring. Much improvement has taken place in the stock of cattle, by crossing the native cows with the shorthorned bulls, and large quantities are annually fed for the Glasgow and Falkirk markets. The husbandry is of a superior kind, all the modern usages having been introduced, and draining and inclosing have been practised to a great extent. The rateable annual value of the parish is £9291. The rocks consist chiefly of greywacke, greenstone, and sandstone; the last, which is a coarse red conglomerate, is extensively quarried in the vicinity of the town, and there are several other quarries in different parts, including one of clay-slates, not now in operation. The parish is in the presbytery of Meigle and synod of Angus and Mearns, and in the alternate patronage of William McPherson, Esq., of Blairgowrie, and James Blair Oliphant, Esq., of Gask and Ardblair. The minister's stipend is £222. 18., with a manse, rebuilt in 1838, with the offices, at a cost of upwards of £500, and the glebe comprises 9¼ acres, valued at £20 per annum. The church, built in 1824, on the site of the old edifice, on an eminence close to the town, contains 1000 sittings, a few of which are free. A chapel, accommodating 600 persons, in connexion with the Established Church, and situated in Brown's-street, was purchased for the sum of £400, of the Burgher congregation who had before used it, and was opened in 1837. The money for the purchase, with the exception of £100 granted by the Church-extension Committee, was raised by subscription, and the minister's salary, amounting to above £140, is derived from seat-rents and collections. There are also a Roman Catholic chapel, and places of worship for members of the Free Church and Independents; and a handsome edifice has been just erected in the early English style, consisting of a nave and chancel, for the use of a congregation in connexion with the Episcopal church; it is named St. Catharine's, and was founded at the expense of the pastor, the Rev. John Marshall, who has ornamented the chancel with an elegant window of stained glass. Attached to it, is a library containing many works of science and general literature, for the use of all denominations. The parochial school affords instruction in the usual branches; the master has a salary of £34. 4., and £60 fees. The late Mr. George Barty, tobacconist at Perth, and a native of this place, who died in 1838, bequeathed £1400 for the education of poor children belonging to this parish, and those of Rattray, Bendochy, and Kinloch, in the parochial school of Blairgowrie. The antiquities comprise several ancient cairns, and the ruins of the castle of Glasclune, formerly the property of the Blairs, and of that of Drumlochy, the seat of the Herons; the buildings are near each other, and between the possessors a feud once raged, ending in the ruin of the latter. A chalybeate spring, called the "Heugh well," situated in a cliff, is found of great benefit in cutaneous and dyspeptic complaints.

Blairingone

BLAIRINGONE, lately a quoad sacra parish, chiefly in the parish of Fossoway and Tulliebole, county of Perth; containing 574 inhabitants, of whom 210 are in New, and 79 in Old, Blairingone, 10 miles (W.) from Kinross. This parish, of which the name implies "the Field of Spears," included portions of the parishes of Muckart, Dollar, and Clackmannan, and was seated on the river Devon, and the road between Alloa and Kinross. Coal is abundant, and several mines are at present in operation; ironstone, of which the produce is of very superior quality, is also wrought; and some veins of an ore supposed to contain a considerable proportion of sulphur have lately been discovered. In the parish are several handsome residences, among which are, Devonshaw, a modern building in the Elizabethan style, beautifully situated on the south bank of the Devon; and Arndean. The village is in the south-western part of the parish, and is chiefly inhabited by the work-people of the collieries. The ecclesiastical affairs were under the presbytery of Auchterarder and synod of Perth and Stirling; the minister was appointed by the heads of families: the church is a neat plain building, erected in 1836, by subscription, aided by a grant from the General Assembly's Church-extension Committee. There is a congregation of members of the Free Church, who assemble in a building of handsome design, erected in 1843 as a school for all denominations. On the banks of the Devon is a remarkable spring issuing from among strata of ironstone, and used medicinally.

Blairmore

BLAIRMORE, a hamlet, in the parish of Kenmore, county of Perth; containing 21 inhabitants.

Blantyre

BLANTYRE, a parish, in the Middle ward of the county of Lanark; including the villages of Auchinraith, Auchintiber, Barnhill, Blantyre, Blantyre-Works, Hunthill, and Stonefield; and containing 3047 inhabitants, of whom 1464 are in the village of Blantyre-Works, and 264 in that of Blantyre, or Kirkton, 3 miles (N. W.) from Hamilton, and 8¼ (S. S. E.) from Glasgow. The lands formerly belonged to the Dunbars, of Enteckin, in which family they remained till the Reformation, when they were purchased by Walter Stewart, son of Lord Minto, treasurer of Scotland, upon whom, on the suppression of monastic establishments, the ancient priory of this place was bestowed by James VI., who also created him Lord Blantyre. The priory is said to have been founded by Alexander II., as a cell to the abbey of Jedburgh, or, according to Spottiswoode, of Holyrood House; and Walter, who was prior at that time, was one of the commissioners appointed to negotiate for the ransom of David Bruce, the Scottish king, who had been made prisoner by the English, in the battle of Durham, in 1346. The remains of the priory, which are very inconsiderable, are situated on the summit of a high rock on the bank of the river Clyde, opposite to the ruins of Bothwell Castle; and little more than one of the vaults, which is still entire, with two gables, and a portion of the outer walls, is remaining. The buildings were of red granite; and the ruins form, in combination with the castle, an interesting feature in the scenery.

The parish extends for six miles in length, from north to south, and varies greatly in breadth, not averaging more than one mile in the whole; it comprises 4170 acres, of which, excepting 200 acres of moss land and plantations, all is arable. The principal rivers are, the Clyde, which enters the parish at a short distance below Bothwell bridge, and forms a boundary between this place and the parish of Bothwell for about three miles, flowing majestically between lofty banks richly clothed with wood; and the Calder, which enters the parish near Rottenburn, and, after forming several picturesque falls, in its course along the western boundary, flows into the Clyde near Daldowie. The tributary streams are, the Redburn, which has its source in the lands of Park farm, and joins the Clyde near Bothwell bridge; and two other rivulets, one rising in the lands of Shott, and one at Newmain, which also fall into the river Clyde. Salmon are taken in abundance near the mill-dam of Blantyre. The scenery is, in many parts, exceedingly beautiful; the parish is generally well wooded, and diversified with gently undulating eminences and fertile dales. The soil is various, being in some parts a fine rich loam, in others a strong clay, and in others sand, with some portions of moss; the system of agriculture is improved, and good crops of various kinds of grain are raised. Great improvement has been made in draining the lands, and a considerable tract called Blantyre moor, formerly a common, has been subdivided, and brought into cultivation; the farm houses and buildings are of superior order. The rateable annual value of the parish is £8280. Peat for fuel is cut on Edge Moss, and coal, of which the veins are but very thin, is worked at Calderside and Rottenburn; limestone of a quality well adapted for building, and for agricultural purposes, is wrought in the southern part of the parish. Ironstone, also, is abundant, and at Black-Craig, on the borders of the parish, not less than seventeen different seams are seen, superincumbent on each other; the ironstone is worked in the parish of Kilbride, where are the openings of the mines, but the strata lie principally in this parish.

The principal village is situated on an eminence over-looking the river Clyde, and in the midst of a beautiful country, embellished with timber of venerable and stately growth. It appears to have attained its present importance and extent, from the introduction of the cotton manufacture by Messrs. Dale and Monteith, who, in 1785, erected a mill for the spinning of cotton-yarn, and, in the year 1791, another for the making of mule twist. In 1813, Messrs. Monteith and Company erected a weaving factory, in which the number of looms has, since that time, increased from 450 to nearly 600; and around these works, giving profitable employment to a large number of the population, the present village has been erected. In the two spinning-mills, which are both worked by water power, are 30,000 spindles, affording occupation to about 500 persons; and in the weaving establishment, the works of which are driven partly by water power, and partly by steam, are 600 power-looms, in the management of which more than 300 persons are regularly employed. In connexion with these works, is an establishment for dyeing cotton-yarn with the Turkey red. The total number of persons employed in all the departments, is nearly 1000, of whom more than 500 are females; the houses in the village are comfortable and neatly built, and it is watched and cleansed by persons paid by the company, who have also built a public washing-house, and appropriated a large bleach green, on the banks of the Clyde, for the use of the inhabitants, who are supplied with hard and soft water, for domestic use, by force-pumps at the factory. A library has been for some years established, which contains an extensive collection of useful volumes.

The parish is in the presbytery of Hamilton and synod of Glasgow and Ayr; the minister's stipend is about £184, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £16 per annum. The parish church, which is not in good repair, was erected in 1793, and will only hold about 300 persons. There is a chapel at the Blantyre Mills, erected by the company for the accommodation of the work-people employed there, and containing sittings for 400 persons; the minister's stipend is paid, one-half by the proprietors of the works, and the other half from the seat-rents. A place of worship has been erected for members of the Free Church. The parochial school affords a liberal education; the salary of the master is £26, with £19 fees. There is also a school for the children of the workpeople at the mills, to which purpose the chapel is applied, during the week; the master is appointed by the company, who give him a house and garden rent free, and a salary of £20. Ancient urns have been, at various times, discovered in several parts of the parish; some of these were inclosed in a kind of kistvaen, covered by heaps of loose stones, and contained ashes, with remnants of half-burnt bones scattered round them. Within the last few years, a stone coffin was discovered, containing an urn of baked earth, in which was a skull with the teeth nearly entire and in good preservation; and fragments of six larger, and more richly ornamented, urns were found in another part of the same field, which is now called "Archers Croft." Stone coffins have also been found at Lawhill and Greenhall, and other places situated within the limits of the parish. At Calderside, is a large hill called the Camp-Know, of conical form, 600 feet in circumference at the base, and surrounded by a moat; and near it is a kind of subterraneous cavern of flags. At Park farm is a fine spring, which has long been in high repute for the cure of scorbutic affections and diseases of the eye; it is strongly impregnated with sulphur, combined with muriate and sulphate of lime, and was formerly much resorted to by numerous invalids from Glasgow and its neighbourhood. There are also various mineral springs on the banks of the river Calder. The late John Miller, Esq., professor of law in the university of Glasgow, resided for some years at Milheugh, in the parish, and was buried in the churchyard

Blebo-Craigs

BLEBO-CRAIGS, a village, in the parish of Kemback, district of St. Andrew's, county of Fife, ½ a mile (S. E.) from Kemback; containing 234 inhabitants. It lies a short distance to the north of the road from Ceres to St. Andrew's. On the estate of Blebo, a vein of leadore was discovered in 1722, and was worked for some time, but relinquished in consequence of the expense. In the vicinity are extensive mills. Blebo House is an elegant mansion, surrounded by fine plantations.

Blue-Row

BLUE-ROW, a hamlet, in the parish of New Kilpatrick, county of Dumbarton; containing 53 inhabitants.

Bluevale

BLUEVALE, a village, in the ecclesiastical district of Camlachie, Barony parish, county of Lanark. It is a suburb of the city of Glasgow, and one of the divisions recently separated from Barony parish; and consists chiefly of small cottages, irregularly built, and occupied by hand-loom weavers and day-labourers. There are five schools connected with this place and the other divisions of Camlachie, Keppoch Hill, and Ladywell, which are attended by about 300 children.

Boarhills

BOARHILLS, a village, in the parish and district of St. Andrew's county of Fife, 4 miles (S. E.) from St. Andrew's; containing 155 inhabitants. It is situated on the eastern coast, and southern point of St. Andrew's bay; a little northward of it, is Mount Budda rock.

Boddam

BODDAM, a village, in the parish of Peterhead, district of Buchan, county of Aberdeen, 3 miles (S.) from Peterhead; containing 526 inhabitants. This place anciently belonged to a branch of the Keith family, who had a strong baronial castle, situated on a rock overhanging the sea, and of which there are still considerable remains. The village, which is on the eastern coast, near the headland of Buchanness, is inhabited chiefly by persons employed in the fisheries, which are carried on to a great extent, there being two small harbours, separated only by a beach of pebbles, of which the shore here mainly consists. In the haddock-fishery, commencing in March, and continuing till July, twenty-two boats, of four men and a boy each, are engaged, and, during the season, each boat takes generally about 30,000 fish, which are cured, and dried upon the rocks, and sell at from £3 to £4 per thousand. The herring-fishery begins in July, and continues till September, and employs twenty-three larger boats, with crews of six men each; and the quantity of fish taken during the season, averages, when sold, about £100 for each boat. There are twelve boats employed during the winter months, in the cod and white fishery; the fish are, cod, ling, skate, and turbot, and from 1200 to 1800 are taken by each boat, and produce from £30 to £40. The fish cured here obtain a decided preference in the markets, and especially the haddocks, which from being dried on the rocks, are perfectly free from sand. The village has been greatly extended and improved; and a harbour of greater capacity is now being constructed, which will have a greater depth of water than that of Peterhead, and of which the approach will be rendered safe by the lighthouse on Buchanness.

Boghead

BOGHEAD, a village, in the parish of Lesmahago, Upper ward of the county of Lanark; containing 198 inhabitants. It is in the northern part of the parish, and on the road between Lesmahago and Strathaven.

Boharm

BOHARM, a parish, partly in the county of Elgin, but chiefly in that of Banff, 6 miles (W.) from Keith; containing 1261 inhabitants. The original word Bucharin, or Bocharin, from which Boharm has been formed, is said to signify "the bow or bend about the hill." It was correctly applied to this locality, on account of the cultivated part consisting chiefly of a valley, stretching in a circular form around the north, east, and south sides of the mountain of Benagen, which rises abruptly from the Spey river, the boundary line of the district on the west. A church formerly stood on the estate of Arndilly, called the church of Artendol, and it appears that, about the year 1215, one of the family of Freskyn de Moravia, who had large estates here, granted to the cathedral of Moray, "the church of Artendol, with all its pertinents, excepting the corn-tithes of the two Davochs, which lay next to his castle of Bucharin." It is therefore conjectured that the old parish was named Artendol, and that, upon the ruin of the church there, the chapel of the castle of Bucharin was used in its stead, as the parochial church, in consequence of which the parish was called Bucharin. The parish was augmented in 1788, to the extent of about one-third, by the annexation of part of the suppressed parish of Dundurcus, lying on the east of the river; the whole measures about twelve miles in extreme length, and four at its greatest breadth, comprising 4739 acres under tillage, besides a large extent of wood, mountain-pasture, and waste. The lofty eminence of Benagen, situated about the middle of the parish, and attaining an elevation of 1500 feet above the sea, occupies so large a portion of the surface, as to render the valley at its base comparatively narrow. At its summit level, the valley is about 400 feet above the sea, and from this height gradually descends towards each extremity, when it abruptly falls into the valley of the Spey. The sides of the vale are cultivated for a considerable distance upwards, as well as the bed; and the southern and eastern sides of the mountain, nearly half way up, have been brought under tillage.

The Fiddich, a stream of some magnitude, flowing between beautifully-wooded banks, forms a confluence with the Spey near the bridge of Craigellachie, from which point to the distance of a mile above the village of Fochabers, the latter river separates this parish from Rothes. Both these streams are subject to violent floodings, and often, by the sudden and irresistible impulse of their waters, destroy the bridges, crops, tenements, and almost every thing in their way. A very ancient bridge, chiefly of wood, formerly crossed the Spey, near the influx of the Orchil, and was supposed to have been constructed by the Romans under Severus; but no remains of it have been visible for many years, and the passage was afterwards accomplished by a ferry-boat. An establishment called the hospital of St. Nicholas stood near it, on the Boharm side of the river, founded in the beginning of the 13th century, by Muriel de Pollock, heiress of Rothes, and dedicated to God, the Virgin, and St. Nicholas, for the reception of poor passengers. Andrew, Bishop of Moray, granted to the hospital the church of Rothes, with its pertinents, and Alexander II., in 1232, endowed it with a chaplaincy. It is supposed that the bridge was kept in repair by this house, and that, about the time of the Reformation, the structure either fell to decay, or was destroyed by a flood, and, having lost its means of support, was not renewed; the ruins of the hospital were removed, and a new bridge built, a few years since, at a cost of £3500, on the suspension principle, with a span of 235 feet. The burn of Orchil, formed by a collection of the waters of the lower part of the district where a valley from Keith eastward opens into the circular valley, runs rapidly through a rocky and romantic channel, into the Spey, at Boat of Bridge; and the rivulet Aldernie conveys the waters of the upper district to the Fiddich. These streams abound with trout, which, as well as grilse and salmon, are also found in the Spey.

The soil in some parts is gravelly, and in others sandy, but is more frequently clayey, and very retentive of moisture; all sorts of grain are raised, though the wheat is in small quantity, and most kinds of grasses and green crops. Much attention is paid to turnips, the growth of which has lately increased, and large applications of bone-manure have been made, with great success; lint also is cultivated, but oats are the staple article, and are of excellent quality, the other grain being comparatively inferior. Lime is extensively used for agricultural purposes, and draining and the improvement of waste land have been carried on with spirit; but good inclosures and farm-buildings are still much needed, though, in several parts, the latter have been greatly improved. The black-cattle, which are small in size, are chiefly the Highland and Aberdeenshire, and the sheep are the Leicesters and Lintons, the former kept on the lower, and the latter on the higher, grounds; there are some sheep, also, of the large English breed, valued for the wool. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3764. Gneiss is the prevailing rock in the southern portion of the district; talc-slate is found in the principal valley, and up to the summit of the hills, traversed by veins of quartz, and by a strip of primitive limestone, originating in the great limestone formation of Banffshire. This last is wrought for agricultural use, and also for building, being well adapted for the latter purpose, on account of a siliceous mixture. The rocks in the valley of the Spey are gneiss and quartz, in some places overlaid by a large deposit of red clay and gravel, spreading itself extensively in several directions; boulders of granite and hornblende are numerous, and supply an excellent material for buildings. Mica-slate is also found.

The woods and plantations form a prominent feature in the scenery, and comprise almost every description of trees grown in the country. In the south-west corner of the parish, on the bank of the Spey, is the mansionhouse of Arndilly, occupying an eminence once the site of the church, the remains of which were removed to make way for the present residence, and the ancient glebe now forms part of the lawn before the mansion. It is situated in a recess of Benagen, nearly surrounded by wood, with the river in front, and commanding fine views. The only other mansion is Auchlunkart, a spacious residence in the midst of plantations, and enlivened by a pleasing brook; it has a colonnade and portico in the Grecian style, and a conservatory, attached to the southern portion, communicating with the drawing-room. The parish is in the presbytery of Aberlour and synod of Moray, and in the patronage of the Crown and the Earl of Fife; the minister's stipend is returned at £244. 16. 7., with a manse, built in 1811, and a glebe valued at £22. 10. per annum. The church stands nearly in the centre of the parish, and was erected, in the year 1793, upon the boundary line of the old parish and the annexed portion of Dundurcus; it accommodates 700 persons. The parochial, or grammar, school affords instruction in the usual branches; the master has a salary of £34. 4. 5., with a house, £17 fees, and a portion of the Dick bequest. The parish also contains a parochial library, and a savings' bank, instituted in 1821. The castle of Bucharin, now Galval, supposed to have been built by the Freskyns, is the chief antiquity, consisting of a fine ruin, situated on an eminence between the brooks Aldernie and Fiddich: silver spoons were found under it, some years since; and lately, from beneath a stone in the floor of the oratory, a silver ring was taken up, on which was a small shield, with two martial figures. James Ferguson, the celebrated astronomer, received the rudiments of his education here; he died in the year 1766.

Boindie

BOINDIE, a parish, in the county of Banff, 3 miles (W.) from Banff; containing, with the village of Whitehills, 1501 inhabitants. This place, from which Banff was disjoined about the year 1635, was anciently called Inverboindie, signifying "the mouth of the Boindie," in consequence of the situation of the old church, now in ruins, near the spot where the small stream of the Boindie falls into the sea. The word Boindie is supposed to be a diminutive of Boyn, the name of a larger stream bounding the parish on the west. The parish is bounded by the Moray Frith, and is nearly of triangular form, the northern line measuring between two and three miles, the south-eastern about five miles and a half, and the western boundary between four and five miles. It comprises 5000 Scottish acres, of which 3600 are cultivated, 600 plantations, and the remainder uncultivated, waste, and pasture. The surface is level, with the exception of the fine cultivated valley of the Boindie, and is but little elevated above the sea; the coast, on the north, is in general rocky, with a portion of sandy beach, and at the eastern extremity is the Knockhead, a headland running out into a reef of rocks, visible at half-tide, called the Salt-Stones. Here the coast turns southerly, forming one side of a bay; and the shore between this point and the part where the Boindie empties itself into the sea, measures something less than a mile, and consists of a beach of sand and gravel. The harbours are, one situated at the fishing village of Whitehills, of small extent, with about ten feet depth of water at spring tides, used for two or three vessels employed in the herring-fishery, and the importation of salt, coal, &c.; and another a little to the east, affording also accommodation for the prosecution of the herring and salmon fishings, and for the exportation of tiles.

The climate, in the upper part of the parish, is humid and bleak, but in the opposite part dry and salubrious. The soil most prevalent is a light earth, on a retentive subsoil, the exceptions being certain tracts in the centre of the parish, chiefly clay and loam of rich quality, and some land in the eastern portion consisting of a deep, black, sandy mould on a porous subsoil, which produces heavy and early crops. This parish was one of the first in the north of Scotland in which the system of alternate crops, and turnip husbandry, were practised, having been introduced here about the year 1754, by the last Earl of Findlater, at that time Lord Deskford, who also formed the older plantations in the place. Oats and barley are the principal kinds of grain, and among the green crops, the cultivation of turnips receives much attention. The range of pasture is limited, but 1000 head of oxen are annually grazed, comprising the polled Buchan and Banffshire horned breeds, with some crosses with the Teeswater stock, many of which are fed for the London market. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4168. The rocks comprise greywacke, primitive limestone, slate, and hornblende; and to the east of Whitehills, is a diluvial clay, in extensive beds, containing specimens of belemnites, cornua ammonis, &c., and supplying material for a brick and tile work. The wood, consisting, for the most part, of Scotch fir, with sprinklings of larch, beech, and other trees, is generally in a thriving condition; and there are some portions of hard-wood near the ancient castle of Boyn, which, being favoured by shelter and a superior soil, are in an exceedingly flourishing state. This mansion, the family seat of the Ogilvies till the transfer of the estates to the ancestor of the present owner, at the beginning of the last century, is beautifully situated at the western extremity of the parish, on the Boyn water, and is now ruinous. The surrounding scenery, among which are visible the remains of a more ancient mansion, is highly picturesque; and attached to the castle is an orchard, abounding in black and white wild cherries. The bleaching and preparation of threads and stockings for market, were formerly carried on to some extent, but the only work connected with manufactures now existing is a wool-carding mill, on the burn of Boyn, attached to which are works for the weaving and dyeing of cloth. There are also a saw-mill, a lint-mill, a flour and barley mill, and several meal-mills. The turnpike-road from Banff to Portsoy and Inverness runs through the parish, from east to west, and a branch shoots off to Keith and Huntly, besides which there are several good county roads, and numerous bridges over the streams, for facility of communication. A cattle-fair has been recently instituted at Ordens, and is held eight times yearly.

The parish is in the presbytery of Fordyce and synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of the Earl of Seafield; the minister's stipend is £204. 19. 3., with an excellent manse, just built, and a glebe valued at £12 per annum. The church, accommodating 600 persons, was erected in 1773: the ruin of the old edifice still remains, with its burial-ground, and stands on a site near the sea, where a battle with the Danes is supposed to have taken place, in the reign of Malcolm II., to whose personal friend, St. Bovenden, or Brandon, a monk, the edifice was dedicated. The members of the Free Church and the Wesleyans have places of worship. The parochial school affords instruction in Greek, Latin, and mathematics, in addition to the usual branches; the master has a salary of £25. 12. 4., and £22. 12. fees, and also shares in the Dick bequest. The Rev. James Stewart, a native of the parish, left, in 1809, a sum now amounting to £390, the produce to be equally divided for the support of six poor persons, and for the education of six boys, who are natives. There are several remains of Druidical circles, cairns, and military works; and various relics of antiquity have, at different times, been found, the most interesting of which are, a short Roman sword, deposited in the armoury at Duff House, and a seal, composed of fine clay-slate, marked with the arms of Bishop James Kennedy, who founded the university of St. Andrew's. Thomas Ruddiman, the well-known author of a Latin grammar, was a native of the parish.

Bole

BOLE, a hamlet, in the parish of Rescobie, county of Forfar; containing 17 inhabitants.

Boleskine and Abertarff

BOLESKINE and ABERTARFF, a parish, in the county of Inverness; containing the village and post-town of Fort-Augustus, 131 miles (N. W.) from Edinburgh; and comprising 1876 inhabitants. The name of Boleskine has usually been traced to the Gaelic term Bail-os-cionn, which signifies "the town hanging above the loch" (Loch Ness). Another derivation, however, has been assigned to it, by which it is identified with the compound term Boile-eas-ceann; ceann signifying "height" or "summit," eas a "cataract," and boile "fury," which, taken together, would mean "the summit of the furious cascade," viz., the fall of Foyers. The whole of the parish, previously to the fifteenth century, was the property of the Lovat family; and before that period, it is supposed to have been possessed by the Cummins, a very powerful and warlike clan; the place of Fort-Augustus being still called, in the common language of the district, Kilichuiman, or "the burial-place of the Cummins." Strath-herric, a district of Boleskine, was anciently possessed by the clan Grant, the time and cause of whose departure are uncertain. Before the year 1545, the parish is said to have been occupied by the tribes of Mc Gruer, Mc Imesheir, and McTavish, retainers of the Lovat family, and the principal of whom, having accompanied Lord Lovat, in his expedition to settle the heir of the Clanronald family in his father's estate, were, in their return from the Hebrides, intercepted at the east end of Lochlochy, by the clan Mc Donald, and almost extirpated. The numerous offspring descended from the Frasers killed in that engagement, in process of time, spread throughout the parish; and Foyers is now the seat of the representative of this ancient and powerful clan. The parish is twenty-one miles long, and about ten broad, and its surface is considerably diversified throughout. The district of Strath-herric consists of flat lands, with a few undulations, near which is a great extent of hilly ground, and in the eastern quarter is a range of high hills called Monadhliath: tracts of low land are to be seen in other parts, suited to the growth of oats, barley, and potatoes. There are about twelve lakes, exclusive of Loch Ness, which is twenty-four miles long, and about one mile and a half broad, and bounds the parish, on the north, for fourteen miles: this lake, in the middle, is from 106 to 130 fathoms deep, and near the sides from 65 to 75, and, from its great depth, never freezes: the ground around rises to a considerable height, and is ornamented with a variety of trees. In Abertarff, are two streams that fall into Loch Ness, named Oich and Tarff, which latter gives name to the district of Abertarff; and there are two celebrated cascades in the parish, formed by the same river, within less than half a mile of each other, and known by the name of the fall of Foyers, the grandeur and magnificence of which, increased by the sublimity of the surrounding scenery, can be adequately conceived by those only who have beheld the spectacle.

The soil exhibits all the varieties of gravel, clay, till, loam, and peat-moss, and is generally of a poor or middling character; the parish is mainly devoted to the rearing of sheep, of which about 30,000 are kept, all of the Cheviot breed, and the wool is sold chiefly to wool-staplers in the north of England. The greater part of the district is without inclosures, but good farm-buildings have been erected on the principal lands, where, also, good fences are seen: the rocks consist of blue and red granite, which exists in large quantities, and limestone is also plentiful, but not much wrought. The rateable annual value of the parish is £5887. There is a salmon-fishery, which lets for £30 a year. Annual fairs are held at Fort-Augustus, in the beginning of June and end of September, chiefly for the sale of cattle, but at which, also, some traffic is carried on by pedlers and others; and occasional trysts take place in spring and autumn, for black cattle. The only turnpike-road is the old military road, which runs for about twenty-two miles, on the south side of the parish, and is kept in good order. There are also three district roads, in indifferent repair; and the Caledonian canal, which passes through the parish, opens a communication, by means of steam-packets and other vessels, to many places. The ecclesiastical affairs are directed by the presbytery of Abertarff and synod of Glenelg; the patronage belongs to Professor Scott, of Aberdeen, and the minister's stipend is £238. 2. 2. There is an excellent manse, with offices, and the glebe comprises upwards of fifty-two acres, of which thirty-five are in good cultivation, and the remainder indifferent pasture: till about seventy years since, there were two glebes in the united parishes, one near Fort-Augustus, and the other on the banks of Loch Ness, both eligible and desirable tracts of land, which were exchanged for the present glebe. The church, conveniently situated for the bulk of the population, was built in 1777, and seats 428 persons. There is a missionary in connexion with the Established Church, who regularly officiates at Fort-Augustus; and in the same district is a Roman Catholic chapel. In the parochial school, Latin, Gaelic, and the ordinary branches of education are taught, and the master has a salary of £30, with about £13. 10. fees.—See Fort-Augustus.

Bolton

BOLTON, a parish, in the county of Haddington, 2 miles (S. by W.) from Haddington; containing 341 inhabitants. This manor, in 1568, belonged to Hepburn of Bolton, who, as the associate of the Earl of Bothwell, was executed for the murder of the Earl of Darnley; and on its consequent forfeiture, it was granted to William Maitland, better known as Secretary Lethington. The parish, which is about six miles in length, and one mile and a quarter in average breadth, is bounded on the east and north-east by the Gifford or Bolton water, and comprises 2451 Scottish acres, of which 295 are woodland, 55 meadow and pasture, and the remainder arable. The surface, though pleasingly undulated, possesses little other variety, seldom rising to any considerable elevation; the scenery is, however, enriched with woods, in which are some remarkably fine trees. The chief stream is the Bolton water, which is the boundary between this parish and that of Haddington, for nearly three miles; it rises in the Lammermoor hills, and, receiving various tributary streams in its descent, flows with a rapid current through the parish, and falls into the Tyne near Haddington. It adds greatly to the scenery of the parish, having banks crowned with thriving plantations, and abounds with trout of excellent quality. The Birns water, a small stream rising also in the Lammermoor hills, after forming a boundary between this parish and that of Humbie, falls into the Tyne at Salton; there are also various springs of good water, affording an abundant supply for domestic use.

The soil is generally a fertile clay, with the exception of a small portion of inferior quality. The principal crops are, wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and turnips; the lands are well drained and inclosed, and all the modern improvements in husbandry, and in agricultural implements, have been adopted. Considerable attention is paid to the breed of live stock, and many sheep and cattle are fed on the green crops throughout the winter season. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3072. The woods consist of the various kinds of forest trees, of which many are of ancient and stately growth; and on the grounds of Eaglescarnie, are some remarkably fine chesnut-trees. The principal substrata are, sandstone of coarse texture, and greenstone of very compact quality, but no quarries have been opened; limestone is supposed to exist, but none has hitherto been worked. The only mansion-house is Eaglescarnie, pleasantly situated near the bank of the Bolton water, which flows through the demesne; the lands are embellished with thriving and extensive plantations. The ancient manor-house of Bolton has long since disappeared; and the only remaining memorial of it is the site on which it stood, still called the Orchard Park. The parish is in the presbytery of Haddington and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale; the minister's stipend is £153. 15. 5., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £18 per annum; patron, Lord Blantyre. The church, erected in 1809, is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower, and is well adapted for a congregation of 350 persons. The parochial school affords instruction to about 80 scholars; the master has a salary of £34. 4. 4., with £40 fees, and a house and garden. There are some remains of a Roman camp, of quadrilateral form, occupying an area of more than five acres.

Bon-Accord

BON-ACCORD, late a quoad sacra parish, in the parish of Old Aberdeen, district and county of Aberdeen; containing 5170 inhabitants. This district, which comprises about 28 acres, and is wholly situated within the town of Old Aberdeen, was separated in 1834. The church was built in 1823, by a congregation of Scottish Baptists, from whom it was purchased in 1828, as a chapel of ease to the parish church, at an expense of £1250; it is a neat structure, containing 840 sittings, and the minister's stipend is £150, derived from the seat-rents. There are places of worship for members of the Free Church and Baptists; also several Sabbath schools, and a library of 500 volumes connected with the Established Church.

Bonar

BONAR, a village, in the parish of Criech, county of Sutherland, 12 miles (W.) from Dornoch; containing 247 inhabitants. It is prettily seated on the northern shore of Dornoch Frith, at the junction of the Assynt, Reay, Caithness, and Ross-shire roads, and has latterly rapidly increased from a small hamlet to a good-sized village, owing to the erection of a bridge, by which it has become the chief entrance into the county from the opposite shore, and it is likely to be the nucleus of a future town of considerable extent and importance. The bridge, called Bonar Bridge, is of one iron and two stone arches, and was built, in 1812, by the landowners of the county, at a cost of about £14,000. Some trade is carried on with this village and neighbourhood, by means of small vessels, for which there is a sufficient depth of water; and markets for the sale of cattle, are held in July, August, and September.

Bo'ness

BO'NESS.—See Borrowstounness.

Bongate

BONGATE, a village, in the parish and district of Jedburgh, county of Roxburgh; containing 241 inhabitants.

Bonhill

BONHILL, a parish, in the county of Dumbarton, 3 miles (N.) from Dumbarton; containing, with the villages of Alexandria, Dalvait, Damhead, and Mill of Haldane, 6682 inhabitants, of whom 2041 are in the village of Bonhill. The name of this parish was originally written Buchnall, afterwards Bulhill, and, at length, Bunnul; it is supposed to be a corruption of the Gaelic word Bogh n' uill, which signifies "the foot of the rivulet." The whole lands formerly belonged to the family of Lennox, but, in the 15th century, the Darnley family, by marriage, obtained one-half of the estate, with the titles, and the other half was afterwards divided between the families of Napier and Gleneagles; Darleith was the property of the Darleiths, who are said to have been hereditary followers of the earls of Lennox. The Castle of Belloch, or Balloch, here, was the early seat of the Lennox family, whose charters are often dated hence in the 13th and 14th centuries; the site is still marked by the fosse, but no remains of the building are visible. The Lindsays, a family of note, also anciently resided in the parish; their ancestors were knights in the reign of David II., and they acquired the estate by grant from their relation, the Earl of Lennox, by whom, also, they were appointed foresters of the earldom. The male line failing soon after the Restoration, the estate passed to Sir James Smollett, provost, and representative of Dumbarton in parliament, and afterwards a commissioner of the union.

The parish is 4½ miles in length, and 4 in breadth, and comprises 5752 acres, whereof 3056 are arable, 538 plantation, and the remainder uncultivated moor. The river Leven, which is remarkable for the softness and clearness of its water, issues from Loch Lomond, at Balloch, flows through the parish, and falls into the Frith of Clyde at Dumbarton Castle, after a course of about nine miles. The tide runs up it for about three miles, and it is navigable throughout its whole extent; it produces excellent salmon and a variety of other fish. The soil in the vale of the Leven is alluvial, and where any excavations have been made, has under it, at different depths, and of different thicknesses, successive beds of fine sand, coarse gravel, and shell marl. The soil of the high grounds, on the east side of the vale to the extent of three-fourths, and on the west side of it to the extent of one-half, is incumbent on red sandstone, soft and porous, except at a great depth; the soil of the other half of the west side lies upon a blueish sandstone, susceptible of a fine polish, but brittle, and with indurated nodules of a purplish clay here and there imbedded in it. The woods are famed for the number of woodcocks which visit them in winter, and the river and lake for the great variety of aquatic birds. The lands are all cultivated according to the most improved methods, and furrow-draining, and the subsoil plough, have been adopted with great advantage to the ground; the horses are of the Clydesdale breed, and the Ayrshire cows are used for the dairy. The rateable annual value of the parish is £16,776. The mansions are, the House of Darleith, the ancient seat of Bonhill, the modern castles of Balloch and Tillichewen, and the houses of Broomly, Woodbank, Cameron, Belretiro, and Arden.

Bleachfields and print-works form the chief employment of the place, and since their establishment the population has rapidly increased. The parish long ago acquired celebrity for its bleaching processes, from the introduction of workmen from Holland and the establishment of bleachfields on the Dutch method: the first print-field on the Leven, however, was not begun till about the year 1768, and even then, the printing was almost entirely confined to handkerchiefs, and done by block-printing, but copperplate presses were soon erected, and afterwards presses to be driven by water. During the present century, the number of the works has much increased, and both departments are now simultaneously carried on in the same establishments. The works in operation are those of Dalmonach, Bonhill, Ferryfield, Levenfield, Levenbank, and Alexandria; Dallichip, Kirkland, and Milburn, for bleaching, dyeing, and printing; and Milburn works for producing pyroligneous acid, tar, pyroxilic spirit, kreosote, &c., at which works, also, a fine Prussian blue is manufactured. At these various places, steam-engines and water-wheels are in operation, and the total number of persons employed is about 4000. A fair is held at Bonhill on the first Thursday in February, and another at Balloch on the September 15th, both for horses. The ecclesiastical affairs are subject to the presbytery of Dumbarton and synod of Glasgow and Ayr; the minister's stipend is about £200, with a manse, and a glebe of the annual value of £30. The patronage is in the Campbell family, of Stonefield. The church, a plain structure, with a tower, was opened in 1836, and contains 1200 sittings: another church, on the General Assembly's Extension scheme, was opened in 1840; and the Relief Congregation and Independents have places of worship. In the churchyard of the parochial church, is an ancient and gigantic ash-tree, which, in the agricultural survey of the shire, published in 1811, is said to measure, round its trunk, eighteen feet where smallest; it has long been the wonder and admiration of numerous beholders, but is now going rapidly to decay. Until lately there was another ash in the parish, of still larger dimensions, in the trunk of which a room was formed, nine feet in diameter. A place of worship has been erected for the Free Church. Two parochial schools are supported, the master of each of which has a salary of £21. 7., with about £15 fees, and a house and garden; and there is a mechanics' institution in the parish. Near the border of the parish, is a monument to Dr. Smollett.

Bonjedward

BONJEDWARD, a village, in the parish and district of Jedburgh, county of Roxburgh; containing 107 inhabitants. This was formerly one of the seats of the Douglas family, who had a stronghold in the village, which was demolished in the course of the last century. The village is pleasantly situated, and the lands are fertile, and in good cultivation; there are some cornmills here, and the inhabitants are chiefly employed in agriculture.

Bonkle

BONKLE, a village, in the parish of Cambusnethan, Middle ward of the county of Lanark; containing 110 inhabitants. It is a small romantic village, situated on the northern boundary of the parish, and on the road from Steuart-Town to Shotts. The United Associate Synod have a place of worship here.

Bonnington

BONNINGTON, a village, in the parish of Ratho, county of Edinburgh, 1¾ mile (S. W.) from Ratho; containing 132 inhabitants. It is situated east of the Amond water, and a short distance north of the road between Edinburgh and East Calder. Ratho House, a modern mansion, is in the vicinity; and in the village is a small school.

Bonnington

BONNINGTON, a hamlet, in the parish of Arbirlot, county of Forfar; containing 67 inhabitants.

Bonnybridge

BONNYBRIDGE, a village, in the parish of Falkirk, county of Stirling, 4 miles (W. S. W.) from Falkirk; containing 184 inhabitants. This village is pleasantly situated on the turnpike-road to Glasgow, and on the eastern bank of the river Bonny, which separates the western portion of the parish from the parishes of Denny and Dunipace. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in agriculture, and in the various works in the adjacent neighbourhood. At Bonnymuir, in the immediate vicinity, is a distillery, in which about twelve persons are regularly engaged, and which, on an average, pays government duties amounting to £150 weekly; and at Bonnyside, is a saw-mill, driven by water, in which fourteen persons are employed. A school has been established here, of which the master has a salary of £4, arising from a bequest of £100 by Mr. Scott; and he has also a house and garden rentfree. In the neighbourhood of Bonnybridge is a small burying-place.

Bonnyrigg

BONNYRIGG, a village, in the parish of Cockpen, county of Edinburgh, 3 miles (N. W.) from Cockpen; containing 650 inhabitants. It is a considerable village, situated on the road between Laswade and Cockpen, in the northern part of the parish; and in the vicinity, are extensive coal-works. A school has been established here.

Booshala Isle

BOOSHALA ISLE, in the parish of Kilninian, county of Argyll. It is one of the Hebrides, and lies south of Staffa, from which island it is separated by a stormy channel about 90 feet wide; it is of an irregular pyramidal form, entirely composed of basaltic pillars, inclining in every direction.

Bora Holm Isle

BORA HOLM ISLE, in the parish of Rendal, county of Orkney. It is situated opposite to the entrance of a harbour called the Mill-Burn, in the isle of Gairsay, and is uninhabited.

Boreland

BORELAND, a village, in the parish of Dysart, district of Kirkcaldy, county of Fife, ½ a mile (N. by E.) from Dysart; containing 193 inhabitants. This place, which is situated about half a mile to the south-east of the village of Gallaton, was built about the middle of the last century, and is chiefly inhabited by persons employed in the collieries in the neighbourhood, which were formerly carried on to a much greater extent than at present. Since the limitation of those works, within the last twenty years, the population of this village has diminished from more than 300 to its present number. A school has been endowed, the master of which has a schoolroom and dwelling-house rentfree, a supply of coal, and a salary.

Boreray

BORERAY, an island, in the quoad sacra parish of Trumisgarry, island of North Uist, county of Inverness; containing 181 inhabitants. It lies a little south of North Uist, and west of Bernera, in the Sound of Harris; and is about three miles in circumference, and rather fertile, having a fresh-water lake. A considerable quantity of kelp is made, and is the chief employment of the population.

Borgue

BORGUE, a parish, in the stewartry of Kirkcudbright, 5 miles (S. W. by W.) from Kirkcudbright; containing, with the villages of Chapelton and Kirk-Andrews, 1060 inhabitants, of whom 47 are in the village of Borgue. This place, of which the name is descriptive of the eminence whereon the church is built, comprehends the ancient parishes of Kirk-Andrews and Sandwick, which, after the dilapidation of their churches, now in ruins, were united with it in 1670. The parish is situated on the river Dee, and bounded by the Solway Frith; it is about ten miles in length, and seven miles in extreme breadth, and comprises 12,864 acres, of which about 8000 are arable, about 250 woodland and plantations, and the remainder rough pasture. The surface of the parish is undulated, and diversified with hills of moderate elevation. The coast is indented with numerous bays, and is bold and rocky, and in some parts precipitously steep, rising in cliffs of irregular and fantastic form, towards the heads called Borness and Muncraig, which command an extensive view, embracing a wide expanse of sea, with a beautiful variety of vale and mountain scenery, including the course of the river Dee, the town of Kirkcudbright, the rich foliage of St. Mary's Island, the range of the Cumberland mountains, the Isle of Man, and the coast of Wigton. The more level parts, inclosed by numerous gentle hills, formed several small lakes, which have been drained, though enough are still remaining to afford an abundant supply of water; and scattered over the surface, are not less than thirty mounds, called drums, from 200 to 300 yards in length, the grounds around which are wet and marshy.

The soil is what is called free mould of various quality, well adapted for oats and barley, but not of sufficient depth for wheat; the chief crops are, oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips, with the various grasses; the system of agriculture is improved. A considerable quantity of waste land has been rendered profitable by effective draining. The fences, mostly of stone, are kept in good repair, and the farm-buildings and offices are generally substantial and commodious; bone-dust is used for manure, and the soil has been benefited by the judicious use of lime, by which much of the moss has been converted into good pasture land. The cattle are principally of the Galloway breed, and the sheep of the Leicester and Cheviot breeds. The rateable annual value of the parish is £9554. The rocks are mainly of the transition formation, and the principal substrata, greywacke, slate, and clay-slate; there are some quarries of stone, from which materials are raised for the fences and for common building purposes. The plantations are comparatively of modern growth, and are well managed, and in a thriving state. Earlston is a handsome mansion in the parish, recently erected, and beautifully situated in a richly-wooded demesne, commanding a fine view of Wigton bay and the Cumberland mountains.

The village population is agricultural and pastoral; and from the proximity of a convenient harbour, one of the farmers has built two vessels, for the exportation of grain. Salmon is found in great abundance in the river Dee, and also in the bays with which the south-western coast of the parish is indented. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Kirkcudbright and synod of Galloway; the minister's stipend is about £265, with a manse, and the glebe, including those of Kirk-Andrews and Sandwick, is valued at £40 per annum; patron, the Crown. The church, conveniently situated nearly in the centre of the parish, is an elegant cruciform structure in the early English style, with a lofty square embattled tower, erected in 1814, and containing 500 sittings; from its elevated site, it forms a conspicuous object, and is seen at a great distance. There is a place of worship for members of the Free Church. The Borgue Academy, which is an extension of the parochial school, under the endowment of Mr. Rainy, of the island of Dominica, who bequeathed £3000 for the promotion of education in his native parish, is under the management of a head master, who has a salary of £34. 4. 4. in addition to the fees, and an assistant, whose salary is paid from the endowment. The usual number of scholars is 120, of whom 20 are taught gratuitously, their fees being paid from the same bequest. The poor are partly supported by collections at the church; and the deficiency is supplied from Mr. Rainy's endowment, and the proceeds of small charitable bequests. There are some slight remains of ancient castles, several British forts, and various other relics of antiquity, in the parish.

Borland-Park

BORLAND-PARK, a village, in the parish of Auchterarder, county of Perth, ½ a mile (N. W.) from Auchterarder; containing 141 inhabitants. This village was built by government, for the accommodation of the disbanded military, after the conclusion of the war, in 1763; but was soon deserted by the soldiers for whose residence it was originally designed, and is now inhabited chiefly by weavers, employed by the manufacturers of Glasgow.

Borrowstoun

BORROWSTOUN, a village, in the parish of Borrowstounness, county of Linlithgow, ¾ of a mile (S.) from Borrowstounness; containing 60 inhabitants.

Borrowstounness

BORROWSTOUNNESS, a sea-port town, burgh of barony, and parish, in the county of Linlithgow, 3 miles (N.) from Linlithgow; containing, with the villages of Borrowstoun and Newton, 2347 inhabitants, of whom 1790 are in the town. This place, near which stood Kinneil, the head of the barony of that name, granted by Robert Bruce to the ancestor of the dukes of Hamilton, in acknowledgment of his military services on the field of Bannockburn, appears to have originated in the erection of some buildings on a point of land boldly projecting into the Frith of Forth, about three-quarters of a mile to the north of the small village of Burwards-town, or Borrowstoun, from which circumstance it derived its name, Borrowstounness, or, by contraction, Bo'ness. In 1600, there was only one solitary house on the site of the present town, while the ancient town of Kinneil, which had grown up near the baronial castle of Kinneil, contained more than 500 inhabitants; but the advantageous situation of the ness, and the abundance of coal in the immediate vicinity, soon attracted shipping to its port; and the prosperous state of trade about the commencement of the 17th century, induced many rich merchants and ship-owners to settle in the town, which, from that time, rapidly advanced. In 1634, the increase of its population, and the distance of the parish church of Kinneil, situated near the baronial mansion, induced the inhabitants to erect a church for themselves, in which the minister of Kinneil continued to officiate alternately, for their accommodation, till the year 1649, when, on their petition to parliament, the town of Borrowstounness, with its environs, was separated from the parish of Kinneil, and erected into an independent parish. In 1669, the Duke of Hamilton obtained from the Scottish parliament, an act declaring the church of this town the parish church of the whole barony of Kinneil and Borrowstounness, since which time the two have been consolidated into one parish. The place continued to increase in prosperity, and, from the superiority of its situation for trade, to withdraw the population from Kinneil, which, in 1691, contained only a few families, and ultimately wholly disappeared; and the town upon the ness was erected into a burgh of barony, under the Duke of Hamilton, in 1748.

The town is situated in the north-eastern extremity of the parish, on the south shore of the Frith of Forth, and consists principally of narrow streets, of houses of ancient and irregular appearance. It was formerly one of the most thriving towns on the eastern coast, and, prior to 1780, ranked as the third sea-port in Scotland; and though the opening of the Forth and Clyde canal, and the establishment of the port of Grangemouth, have contributed much to diminish its commerce, it is still far from being inconsiderable. The female population were once employed in tambour-work to a very large extent, and many females are yet engaged in that pursuit; a pottery was established in 1784, and has, since that time, been greatly increased; there is an extensive foundry, and some chemical-works are also carried on, upon a large scale. A distillery is in full operation, paying weekly to government more than £300, for duties; there are several large malting establishments; and at the east end of the town, and on the links, are a rope-walk and extensive wood-yards, connected with which is a saw-mill worked by steam, of which the engine is also employed in the preparation of bone-dust, for manure. The chief trade of the port is in grain, for which the merchants have extensive granaries, capable of warehousing 15,000 quarters; a considerable trade is also carried on in the exportation of salt, coal, iron-stone, and earthenware; the imports are timber, iron, flax, grain, bark, and madder. The number of vessels registered as belonging to the port, in a recent year, was 101, of the aggregate burthen of 6521 tons; and the amount of duties paid at the custom-house was £4824.

The harbour, which has been greatly improved, under the superintendence of fifteen trustees, chosen from the merchants and ship-owners, is one of the safest and most accessible on this part of the coast, and is formed by two piers, extending 568 feet into the Frith; it is 240 feet wide, and, at spring tides, has an average depth of from 16 to 18 feet. Between the piers, a broad wall has been constructed, cutting off, towards the land, a basin, which is easily filled with water by the tide, and at low water emptied by sluices, by which means the harbour is cleansed and deepened; and on the west side of the basin, is a patent-slip, to which vessels are admitted for repair. The jurisdiction of the port once extended from Dumbrissle point and the water of Cramond to the port of Alloa, including both shores of the Frith; but in 1810, Grangemouth, formerly a creek, was constituted a distinct port. The custom-house department consists of a comptroller, a collector, a tidewaiter, and eight other officers, including those of the creeks. There were once eight ships belonging to the place, employed in the whale-fishery, but that trade has for some years been decreasing, and at present only one vessel is engaged in it; there are two boiling-houses for extracting the oil, one of which has been recently much improved. The steamers of Stirling touch here, on their passage to and from Newhaven. A branch from the town to the Forth and Clyde canal was commenced by a subscription of £10,000, raised under an act of parliament, in 1782, and an aqueduct across the Avon constructed for that purpose; but the work was abandoned after an outlay of £7500, before it was half completed, and has not since been resumed. A market is held weekly on Monday, and a fair annually on the 16th of November; a pleasure-fair is also held, in July. The burgh is governed by a baron-bailie, appointed by the Duke of Hamilton, as superior: a building erected by one of the dukes, for a court-house and prison, is situated at the head of the harbour, but is now occupied chiefly as a granary.

The parish is bounded on the north by the Frith of Forth, and on the south and west by the river Avon; it is of triangular form, about four miles in length, from east to west, and two miles in breadth, comprising about 3000 acres, of which 270 are woodland and plantations, and the remainder arable, in the highest state of cultivation, of which 430 acres are esteemed to be the richest carse land in the country. The surface, with the exception of the carse, is considerably varied, rising towards the south-eastern extremity of the parish, to a height of 520 feet above the level of the sea; from this eminence, which is called the Hill of Irongath, the ground slopes gradually to the south and west, and is embellished with stately timber and strips of plantations, to the very margin of the Avon. This river, from its numerous windings near the parish, forms an interesting feature in the scenery, in many points of view; and the Dean and Gil burns, flowing through romantic dells near Kinneil House, add greatly to its beauty. The soil is mostly fertile, and the chief crops are, wheat, barley, oats, beans, and the usual green crops; the system of agriculture is good; draining has been practised to a considerable extent, and all the more recent improvements in husbandry have been generally adopted. The rateable annual value of the parish is £8369. The substratum is of the coal formation, with very little variety; the coal occurs in seams of great thickness, is of excellent quality, and has been wrought from a remote period, to a very great extent, though, within the last half century, the works have been discontinued. Ironstone is likewise found, and was formerly wrought; there are some quarries of good freestone, and also of whinstone and limestone, but the last is of inferior quality, and more used for building than for agricultural purposes. Kinneil House, one of the seats of the Duke of Hamilton, is an ancient mansion, beautifully situated on the brow of a steep bank commanding a fine view of the Frith, and has undergone various changes made in it at different times. The ancient castle was, some time since, modernised by a new front, and the battlements replaced by a balustrade; the original windows were enlarged; and a range of building, projecting at right angles from the northern extremity, was added, to which a corresponding wing, on the south, was probably contemplated, the whole to form three sides of a quadrangle. The approach is by a stately avenue of venerable trees; and the ample and richly-varied demesne by which it is surrounded, abounds with beautifully picturesque scenery. The numerous apartments of this once princely mansion are now unoccupied; and among the tenants who have resided in it, since it was deserted by its noble proprietor, have been the celebrated Dugald Stewart, and James Watt, the improver of the steam-engine.

The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Linlithgow and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale; patron, the Duke of Hamilton; the minister's stipend is £272. 7. 7., partly arising from lands bequeathed for that purpose, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £21 per annum. The church, nearly rebuilt in 1775, and enlarged in 1820, is a neat plain structure, containing 950 sittings; there are still some remains of the ancient church of Kinneil, near Kinneil House. A place of worship has been erected for members of the United Secession. The parochial school is attended by about fifty children; the master has a salary of £34. 4. 4., with a house and garden, and the fees average about £40 per annum. A parochial library, in which is a collection of about 1250 volumes, is supported by subscription. There are, in various parts of the parish, traces of the wall of Antoninus, which is supposed to have passed by Kinneil. Near the farm of Upper Kinneil, was a cairn called the Laughing Hill, in which were found four stone coffins containing black mould, and four urns, in an inverted position, containing human bones; and a similar coffin and urn were found, in the side of an eminence called Bell's Know, immediately above the town of Borrowstounness. Below Kinneil House, upon the coast, and near the lands called the Snab, was the castle of Lyon, of which some remains of the garden wall, and a path leading from it to the shore, called the Castle-Loan, are the only memorials.

Borthwick

BORTHWICK, a parish, in the county of Edinburgh, 3 miles (E. by N.) from Temple; containing, with the villages of Clayhouse, Dewartown, Middleton, North Middleton, Newlandrig, and part of Stobbsmills, 1617 inhabitants. This place, anciently called Locherwart, assumed the appellation of Borthwick about the time of the Reformation, from the family of that name. The most remote possessors of the extensive estates in this district of whom we have any account, were the family of Lyne, who occupied the domain till the reign of Alexander II., when it passed to the Hays, who, in the time of James I., disposed of the lands to Sir William de Borthwick, founder of the magnificent castle afterwards so celebrated in Scottish history. This personage was created Lord Borthwick in 1433; and the castle thus became the seat of a barony, and, by a special license obtained from the king, was fortified in a very complete manner, and supplied with every thing necessary for its safety and defence. The descendants of this baron were illustrious for the general character of integrity and honour which they sustained, and for the part they took in the public transactions of their times. William, the third lord, was slain, with James IV., at the fatal battle of Flodden; John, the fifth lord, was a zealous supporter of Queen Mary, who occasionally visited his castle, and made it an asylum, before the commencement of her long series of troubles; and John, the eighth lord, in the time of the civil wars, strenuously supported the cause of the Royalists, and, being besieged in his castle, by Cromwell, after the execution of the king, was obliged at length to surrender. In 1449, the ecclesiastical revenues of the parish were appropriated to the collegiate church of Crichton. But, in April, 1596, James I. of England, dissolved from that establishment several prebendaries, with two boys or clerks to assist in the performance of divine service here, assigning to them proper salaries; and these prebends, with the vicarage of Borthwick, manse, and glebe, were then, by royal charter, erected into a distinct charge, called the parsonage of Borthwick. This arrangement was ratified by parliament, in 1606, and confirmed by the Archbishop of St. Andrew's, as patron of the prebends.

The parish is about six miles long, and four miles broad, and contains about 21,000 acres, of which 19,100 are in tillage or pasture, 700 in plantations, and 1200 are uncultivated. The surface is agreeably undulated, but from some points the aspect is uninviting, considerable tracts of barren moor being spread about, and lofty eminences frequently meeting the eye, covered with a poor thin earth, and destitute of pasture. There are, however, some very picturesque and beautiful valleys, watered by winding streams, and numerous farms in a high state of cultivation, hidden, to a great extent, from casual view by the protuberances of the higher grounds. From the summit of Cowbrae Hill, at the upper boundary of the parish, an extensive prospect may be obtained of the surrounding country, richly repaying the labour of ascending the eminence. The plantations which have been recently formed have largely contributed, among other advantages, to improve the appearance of the district; and in the proper seasons, the great profusion of plants and flowers, especially of wild roses, for which this place is famed, makes it alike inviting to the admirer of garden scenery and the lover of botanical research. Two burns traverse the higher part of the parish, called the North and South Middleton, which, after their junction at the end of the neck of land on which the castle is situated, take the name of the Gore, and at length, winding through the whole extent of the valley, fall into the South Esk at Shank Point. The soil is various, being in some parts a fine light mould, and in others loamy, and approaching to heavy clayey earth; in the vicinity of the rivers, it consists of a soft alluvial bed, subject to occasional inundations. All kinds of grain are raised, with the usual green crops, and the lands are plentifully manured with farm-yard dung, lime, and bone-dust. The cattle bred here are the short-horned, and the sheep the black-faced and Cheviots, although a cross between the Leicester and Cheviot, on some of the large estates, has been preferred. A long and barren moor at the base of the Lammermoors, with other ground of the same description, has, to a good extent, been cultivated; and the river localities, with several lowswamps, have been cleared of their wild wood, and intersected with proper drains. The rateable annual value of the parish is £6837. The rocks consist chiefly of greywacke, limestone, and sandstone; of the first kind are the Lammermoor hills, on the southern boundary of the parish, and the substance of Cowbrae Hill is the same. On the abrupt borders of Currie Wood, a coarse-grained reddish sandstone is found, in layers, interlined with some lighter-coloured varieties of the same rock. The sandstone hitherto discovered in the parish contains a strong admixture of calcareous matter, which greatly deteriorates its value as a building material; but the district contains very superior limestone and coal, which are wrought extensively, and sent to Edinburgh and some of the southern towns of Scotland. Lime-burning is regularly carried on, and large quantities are used for agricultural purposes.

Among the chief mansions is the House of Arniston, an extensive and majestic structure, of baronial appearance, ornamented by numerous ancient trees of unusual size, with rich plantations, and finely laid-out grounds, watered by the beautiful stream of the South Esk; most of the old wood is supposed to have been planted by the first baron of Arniston, Sir James Dundas, who was knighted by James V., about the year 1530. Middleton House, situated in the higher part of the parish, is in a similar style, but of smaller dimensions; it stands in the midst of thick woods and verdant fields, surrounded by grounds which attract considerable admiration. Currie House was formed about thirty years ago, by enlarging and improving a house upon the property; in the vicinity, is Currie Wood, the prospects from which embrace a tract comprising almost every object the union of which may be conceived necessary to constitute a landscape of finished and perfect beauty. Vorgie House is a narrow long building, with little pretension to architectural taste, but the adjacent grounds are rich, consisting of romantic glens, ornamented with many very superior and majestic trees. Harrieston House, in its external appearance, is somewhat similar to that of Vorgie; it was originally of exceedingly plain appearance, but some additions were judiciously made to it a few years ago, and the lands around it have been greatly improved. The ecclesiastical affairs are subject to the presbytery of Dalkeith and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale; the Dundas family are patrons, and the stipend of the minister is £198. 12. 3., with a manse, and a glebe of about 14 acres. The church, which was built in 1780, on the destruction of the ancient edifice by fire, contains about 450 sittings. There is a parochial school, in which the usual branches of education are taught, and the master of which has the maximum salary, with £40 from fees, and the legal accommodation of house and garden; another school is endowed with a bequest of £3. 17. per annum, the teacher deriving the rest of his income from the scholars. The ancient castle, the chief relic of antiquity in the parish, consists of a single tower, having an embattled wall of hewn stone, thirteen feet in thickness near the base, but contracting gradually to about six feet towards the top; the proportions of the building, without the walls, are seventy-four feet by sixty-eight, and about 110 feet from the area to the highest part of the roof. It has a sunk apartment, above which are two large halls, one over the other, the lower of which is ample, elegant, and finely formed, and has a roof ornamented with numerous antique devices. There are also two flights of bed-rooms, and various other internal and external appendages, constituting the castle one of the most striking buildings of the class in Scotland; it is beautifully situated, and has been famous in history for the visits and residence of the unfortunate Queen Mary, while Bothwell was lord of the neighbouring castle of Crichton. The eminent historian, Dr. Robertson, was born in the manse, where he received the earliest part of his education.

Boston

BOSTON, a quoad sacra parish, in the parish of Dunse, county of Berwick; containing 1223 inhabitants. This parish forms part of the town of Dunse, and derives its name from Thomas Boston, a theological writer, who was born here in 1676. It was separated from Dunse in 1839, on the erection of a church, and is under the presbytery of Dunse and synod of Merse and Teviotdale; the minister is elected by the managers and male communicants. The children of Boston are eligible to the parochial school of Dunse, possessing the same right as previously to the separation of the parishes.

Boswell's, St.

BOSWELL'S, ST., a parish, situated in the district of Melrose, county of Roxburgh, 4 miles (S. E.) from Melrose; containing, with the village of Lessudden, 747 inhabitants. This place derives its name from its church, which is supposed to have been first founded by St. Boswell, abbot of Melrose, whose disciple, St. Cuthbert, flourished in the ninth century; and traces of the ancient village of St. Boswell's are still occasionally discovered by the plough. Few historical events are recorded: the principal one is the burning of the village, by the English of the border, in 1544, when many of the inhabitants were killed, and the lands laid waste; the village, at that time, is said to have contained many fortified houses. The parish is situated on the river Tweed, which forms its eastern and northern boundary, for two miles; and is about three miles in length, and one and a half in breadth, comprising an area of four and a half square miles. The surface is uneven, rising in the upper portion in ridgy undulations, with intervening valleys, but towards the river being more level; the lower grounds are watered by numerous springs, and by a rivulet called St. Boswell's burn, which, in its course towards the Tweed, is augmented by several tributary rills. The scenery is generally of pleasing character; and adjoining the village of Lessudden, is an elevated ridge, from which is obtained a fine view of the old abbey of Dryburgh, shaded by venerable woods, and nearly surrounded by the windings of the Tweed; and of the remains of Lessudden Place, an ancient fortress, the property of the Scotts of Raeburn, forming an exceedingly interesting feature in the landscape.

The lands, with the exception of about 30 acres on the steep banks of the river, nearly 180 acres of woodland, and about 40 acres of common, called St. Boswell's Green, are all arable, and about 2300 are under cultivation. The soil, for the greater part, is a stiff clay; in the neighbourhood of Lessudden, a black loam; and in other parts alluvial. The system of agriculture is good, and considerable improvements have been made in draining the lands, and in plantations; the soil is well adapted to the growth of forest timber of every kind, and on the lands of Ellieston are some of the most flourishing larch-trees in the kingdom. Lime is to be obtained only from a great distance, and bone-dust has been substituted, which has been found to succeed well for turnips; some progress has been made in embankments against the inundations of the Tweed, and two have been completed to a considerable extent, on the farms of Fens and St. Boswell's. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3800. There are quarries of red sandstone, which is of good quality for building, and, in some places, appears resting on a seam of whitish-coloured stone of great hardness, strongly impregnated with pyrites of iron; coal is supposed to exist, but no attempts to procure it have been attended with success. To the north of the Green, a very handsome hunting establishment has been erected by the Duke of Buccleuch. A fair is held on the Green, on the 18th of July, or the following Monday, if the 18th happen on a Sunday; it is frequented by a great concourse of people from all parts, for the purchase and sale of Scotch and Irish linens, hardware, books, toys, and other articles; and it is a very extensive market also for sheep and lambs, and for cattle and horses, the sales which annually take place averaging from £8000 to £10,000. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the controul of the presbytery of Selkirk and synod of Merse and Teviotdale; patron, the Duke of Buccleuch. The stipend of the incumbent is £211. 11. 7.; the manse, built in 1791, was substantially repaired in 1811, and the glebe comprises seven acres of excellent land. The church, situated at the eastern extremity of the parish, was built near the site of a more ancient structure which had fallen into decay, and probably about the year 1652; it was enlarged and thoroughly repaired in 1837, and affords accommodation to 430 persons. A place of worship has been erected in connexion with the Free Church. The parochial school affords education to a considerable number of scholars; the master has a tolerable salary, with a house and garden rent free, and the fees.

Bothkennar

BOTHKENNAR, a parish, in the county of Stirling, 3 miles (N. by E.) from Falkirk; containing, with part of the village of Carronshore, 1000 inhabitants. The peculiar features of this place appear to be described with tolerable accuracy in the Celtic term by which it is denominated, and which signifies "the small arable fen" or "marsh;" the parish, originally marshy, having been subjected, throughout its whole extent, which is very small, to the operations of the plough. It is bounded on the east by the Frith of Forth, and on the south by the river Carron, forming a part of the tract called the Carse of Falkirk, and is about one and a half mile in length, and of nearly the same breadth, comprising 1240 Scotch acres, the whole under tillage. The surface is entirely level; and the soil, under which, at various depths, are found layers of marine shells, is a very rich alluvial loam, highly cultivated, according to the most improved methods of husbandry, and produces all kinds of crops, but wheat and beans in the largest proportions, with hay of a superior quality, which is sent for sale to the Edinburgh market. The parish contains numerous orchards, some of which are supposed to have been planted by the monks of Cambuskenneth; they yield various kinds of fruit, but especially very fine pears, of which the trees bearing an indigenous species called the "golden nap," are particularly celebrated for their luxuriance, beauty, and fruit, and sometimes produce each, yearly, fruit to the amount in value of £10. The whole of the lands, with very few exceptions, have been improved by tile-draining, the benefit of which has been so extensive as to pay the farmer in two years for the outlay; great attention is given to the rearing of horses of a superior kind, for the uses of husbandry. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4299. Coal, of excellent quality, is abundant, and is wrought by the Carron Company, who pay £1000 per annum to the proprietors for this privilege. The parish is in the presbytery of Stirling and synod of Perth and Stirling, and in the patronage of Mr. Lewis; the minister's stipend is £201. 12. 10., with a manse, built in 1816 at a cost of £1600, and a glebe valued at £12 per annum. The church was built in 1789, and is a plain comfortable edifice, suited to the accommodation of the parishioners. The parochial school affords instruction in English grammar, arithmetic, writing, geography, mathematics, Latin, and Greek; the master has a salary of £34. 4. 4., with £25 fees.

Bothwell

BOTHWELL, a parish, in the Middle ward of the county of Lanark; including the villages of Bellshill, Chapelhall, Holytown, Newarthill, and Uddingston; and containing 11,175 inhabitants, of whom 570 are in the village of Bothwell, 8 miles (S. E.) from Glasgow. The name is supposed, by some, to be derived from Both, an eminence, and wall, a castle, terms applied to the parish from the elevated situation of Bothwell Castle above the river Clyde; others derive it from two Celtic words, both, signifying a dwelling, and ael, or hyl, a river, as descriptive of the castle in its contiguity to the river. This extensive barony, in the reign of Alexander I., was held by Walter Olifard, justiciary of Lothian, who died in 1242; it afterwards came into the possession of the family of Moray, consisting, at that date, of a tower and fortalice, with their appurtenances, and of lands in various districts, constituting a lordship. In the time of Edward I. of England, it became a place of great importance, and it appears that that monarch resided in the castle from the 17th to the 20th September, 1301; in this reign, also, it was the residence of Aylmer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, who fled hither from Loudon Hill, where he had been defeated by Wallace, in 1307, and who, in 1309, was made governor of the castles of Selkirk and Bothwell. At the time of the battle of Bannockburn, Sir Walter Fitzgilbert, ancestor of the Hamilton family, was governor; and after the death of Bruce, when Edward III. invaded Scotland, in 1336, the king was at the castle from the 18th November till the 13th December, in the course of which time fifteen writs were issued thence, in his name. It came, at length, to the Earl of Bothwell, from whom it descended to Archibald the Grim, Earl of Douglas; and, after passing through many other hands, it reverted to the ancient family of Douglas in 1715. The collegiate church of Bothwell was founded on the 10th October, 1398, in the reign of Robert II., by the first earl of Douglas, for a provost and eight prebendaries, and was richly endowed. Most of the superiorities, with part of the property, and all the tithes, now belong to the Duke of Hamilton. Bothwell-Bridge, in the southern part of the parish, is celebrated in history for the battle fought there, in 1679, between the Covenanters and the Duke of Monmouth; and at a little distance, is Bothwell-Haugh, formerly the property of James Hamilton, who shot the regent Murray, for confiscating a part of his estate, and the barbarous treatment of his wife, on account of his having espoused the cause of Mary, Queen of Scots.

The parish is, in extreme length, about 8½ miles, and varies in breadth from 2 to 4 miles, containing 13,600 acres; it is bounded on the north and west by the North Calder, and on the south, by the South Calder and the river Clyde. It is comprehended by the elevated ground running along the north-eastern bank of the Clyde from Lanark to near Glasgow, which range, however, recedes from the river in traversing this district, and leaves an intermediate plain, till it again inclines to the stream in the neighbourhood of Bothwell-Bridge. Near this it forms a piece of table-land of about one mile in extent, running to the westward, at the head of which are situated the church and village, about 120 feet above the level of the sea, and commanding a beautiful view, to the east, of the vale of Clyde. From the eastern boundary of the parish, the land falls rapidly to a distance of nearly four miles, after which a flat succeeds, of about equal length, declining southward towards the Calder and Clyde, and the western extremity of this tract sinks gradually into the extensive plain on which Glasgow is situated. The Clyde, the chief river, enters the parish at Bothwell-Haugh, and forms a majestic stream, the banks of which are famed for their diversified and picturesque scenery; it is 120 yards broad at Blantyre-Works, but at Bothwell-Bridge contracts itself to a span of 71 yards. The North and South Calder, after running separately for about 15 miles, form each a confluence with the Clyde; they flow between banks of sandstone rock, beautifully abrupt in many parts, and affording well-wooded and romantic scenery. Of these rivers, the Clyde, once so celebrated for the abundance of its salmon, has now greatly fallen off in this respect, very few fish comparatively visiting it, owing to many causes, one of the most considerable of which is said to be the impediment presented to their progress by the dam thrown over the river between Blantyre Mill and Bothwell.

The prevailing soil is clay, resting upon a tilly subsoil, and is frequently, and in various proportions, mixed with loam and sand; in some places it consists of fine light mould, and in the vicinity of the rivers is a fertile alluvial deposit. The whole land is productive, with small exceptions of moss and moor; two-fifths are in pasture, and grain of all kinds, and of good quality, is raised; potatoes, turnips, peas, &c., are also cultivated in considerable quantities, with some flax, though this last is not grown so largely as formerly. Very great attention is given to dairy-farming, there being no less than 1000 cows kept, most of which are native varieties of the Ayrshire breed; the horses are in general likewise of a good stock. The rateable annual value of the parish is £35,207. The predominating rock is the red sandstone, which lies over the whole coal-bed in this district, at a distance of twenty or thirty fathoms above the coal; it is bright in colour, and, though sometimes soft and friable, generally well adapted to buildings. There are several quarries of good freestone near the Clyde, of a red colour; and in the upper parts of the parish, white freestone is found. Coal abounds in every direction, and four large seams, from which it is chiefly procured, extend throughout the parish, in which the Ell-coal, Pyotshaw, main, and splint coal succeed each other, the last being best suited for the smelting of iron; the average amount of coal obtained, in value, is estimated at £80,000 annually, and of iron-stone and other minerals, £20,000.

The chief mansion is Bothwell Castle, a simple, yet commodious residence, built of the same red sandstone as the old castle, and consisting of an extensive front and two wings; the apartments are ornamented with several excellent portraits. The grounds are elegantly laid out, and the neighbouring scenery, comprising the waters of the Clyde and its picturesque banks, is ennobled by the ancient and venerable ruin of the old castle. The mansion of Woodhall, on the bank of the North Calder, is a spacious building in the style of the age of Louis XIV.; valuable pictures adorn some of the apartments, and the entrance-hall contains several French cuirasses and helmets of brass, brought from the field of Waterloo. The mansions of Cairnbroe and St. Enoch's Hall, both on the North Calder; Cleland, Carfin, Jerviston, and Douglas Park, are all superior residences, standing in the midst of interesting scenery; and Bothwell Park, a handsome commanding mansion, has a fine view of the fertile haughs of Hamilton, and of the vale of Clyde. The principal manufactures of the parish are those of pig-iron and steel, the former of which is produced at the Monkland Company's works at Chapelhall, to a great extent; about 100 tons of steel are manufactured annually, 30 tons of which are made into files, and upwards of 700 persons are employed at the works. Other similar works are carried on in the parish, of less importance. Post-offices are established at Bothwell, Bellshill, and Holytown, and the Glasgow and Edinburgh coaches, and the Hamilton, Lanark, and Strathaven coaches, pass through the parish; the Glasgow and Carlisle mail traverses the same road, and the Wishaw and Coltness railroad intersects the parish, and affords great facilities.

The ecclesiastical affairs are subject to the presbytery of Hamilton and synod of Glasgow and Ayr; the stipend of the minister is £282. 14. 8., with a good manse, and a glebe valued at £36 per annum; patron, the Duke of Hamilton. The church, which is a superior building, in the pointed style of architecture, opened in 1833, extends 72 feet by 45, and contains 1200 sittings; the cost of the building was £4200, and it has a good bell, provided by the parish, at an expense of £150, and a clock which cost £133, raised by voluntary subscription. A church has been erected at Holytown, late a quoad sacra parish; and there is a Relief meetinghouse at Bellshill; also a meeting-house at Newarthill, belonging to the United Secession. The members of the Free Church have likewise a place of worship. Three parochial schools are supported, situated respectively at Bothwell, Holytown, and Newarthill, the master of the first of which has a house, and a salary of £34. 4. 4., with £70 fees; the others have £8. 11. each: the classics, mathematics, and all the usual branches of education are taught. The chief relic of antiquity in the parish is the magnificent ruin of the ancient castle, situated near the modern castle, on the summit of a verdant slope, in the midst of beautiful woods and pleasure grounds. The old church, which was originally the choir of the collegiate church (the most famous of the five collegiate churches in Lanarkshire), is a very fine specimen of ancient architecture; it was built about 1398, and disused as a church in 1828. Bothwell bridge is of great antiquity, though the age is not precisely known; it originally consisted of four arches, each spanning 45 feet, and measuring 15 feet in breadth, but it has been considerably enlarged, within these few years, by which an additional width of road is obtained. There is another bridge, supposed to be of Roman construction, across the South Calder, consisting of one arch of semicircular form, high and narrow, without parapets; it is supposed to have been on the line of the great Roman Watling-street, which ran through this part of the country, on the north-east bank of the Clyde. Chalybeate springs are very numerous in the district, and many of them are strongly sulphuretted. The celebrated Joanna Baillie was born in the manse, during the incumbency of her father, the Rev. James Baillie.

Botriphnie

BOTRIPHNIE, a parish, in the county of Banff, 5½ miles (S. W.) from Keith; containing 714 inhabitants. This parish is situated in the narrowest part of the county, comprehending its whole breadth, bounded by Aberdeenshire on the south, and on the north by Moray, and measures about four and a half miles from north to south, and three from east to west. It consists principally of a beautiful vale, lying between two ridges of hills, respectively on the north and south, and comprises 9386 acres, of which 4360 are in tillage, 3540 waste and pasture, 430 of these being considered capable of profitable cultivation, and 1486 acres are under natural wood and plantations. The strath is watered by the small river Isla, which, taking its rise at a loch in the western portion, runs between banks beautifully ornamented with alder and birch trees. The soil is a rich black loam in some places, and in others, a strong clay, incumbent on a bed of limestone, replete with numerous springs of fine water. A large extent of land, consisting of alluvial soil, has been added, in later times, to the cultivated ground, by the straightening of the course of the river, and now produces, in good seasons, heavy crops of grain; extensive tracts, also, of moor or rough pasture have been brought under tillage, chiefly by the use of the lime so plentiful in the locality. The rateable annual value of the parish is £2620. The only mansion is Botriphnie House, a shooting-seat. A public road from the upper districts passes through to Keith and Banff, and has two branches near the centre of the parish, one leading to Huntly, and the other to Fochabers and Elgin. A fair, called, from a tutelary saint, Fumach fair, is held on the 15th of February, for general commodities and for horses, few, however, of the latter being brought for sale. The parish is in the presbytery of Strathbogie and synod of Moray, and in the patronage of the Earl of Fife; the minister's stipend is £178. 15. 5., with a manse, and a glebe of six acres, valued at £10 per annum. The church was built in 1820, and has lately been repaired and renovated. The parochial school affords instruction in the usual branches; the master has a salary of £30, with a house, £7 fees, and a part of the Dick bequest.

Bourtie

BOURTIE, a parish, in the district of Garioch, county of Aberdeen, 1½ mile (S. W.) from Old Meldrum; containing 469 inhabitants. This parish in figure resembles an irregular triangle. It measures five miles in length, from east to west, and about two in average breadth, and comprises 5000 acres, of which nearly 3600 are under cultivation, 360 in plantations, consisting chiefly of Scotch fir and larch, 1000 uncultivated and waste, and a few acres covered with moss, supplying peat, principally used as fuel. The surface is distinguished by two bold elevations, about 600 feet in height, rising nearly in the middle of the parish, a mile from each other, the one on the north being called the Hill of Barra, and the other the Hill of Lawhill-side; they run towards the east, to the extremity of the district, and, uniting there, terminate in the Hill of Kingoody. The soil, in some parts, is a strong clay, but more frequently a light loam, and the usual crops are, oats, turnips, potatoes, and various grasses; the rotation of crops practised here is, as in most other parts of the county, what is called the seven-shift, which is considered the most suitable to the nature of the land. Between 300 and 400 acres of waste have been brought under cultivation within the last few years, and nearly two-thirds of the remaining portion are considered capable of the same improvement; the rocks are of the trap formation, and some suppose that the summit of the Hill of Barra is the crater of an ancient volcano. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3150. There are two gentlemen's seats, Bourtie House and Barra, of which the latter is a venerable castle, forming three sides of a quadrangle, with turrets at two of the angles. The road from Aberdeen to Banff passes through a corner of the district. The parish is in the presbytery of Garioch and synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of the Crown; the minister's stipend is £230, with a manse, and a glebe, valued at £10 per annum. The church, situated in about the centre of the parish, is a plain structure, containing 300 sittings, built in 1807. The parochial school affords instruction in the ordinary branches of education; the master has a salary of £30, with a house, and £8 fees. Several cairns and Druidical circles are to be seen; but the chief relic of antiquity is a fortification on the Hill of Barra, called "Cummings' Camp," from having been either constructed or used by the Cummings, who were proprietors of the greater part of Buchan, at the time of the celebrated engagement which took place near Inverury, when they were routed by King Robert Bruce.

Bowden

BOWDEN, a parish, situated in the district of Melrose, county of Roxburgh, 3 miles (S. by E.) from Melrose; containing, with the village of Midlem; 857 inhabitants, of whom 253 are in the village of Bowden. This parish, which, in ancient records, is called Bothenden, Botheldene, and Boulden, was, early in the 12th century, granted to the abbey of Selkirk, by a charter of David I., in which it is designated by the first of these names; and in subsequent charters, confirming that grant, by Malcolm IV., in 1159, and by Walter, Bishop of Glasgow, in 1232, it is mentioned by the latter appellations, probably corruptions of the former. The monks had a grange at Holydean, in this parish, which, in the 16th century, was given by royal charter to Sir Walter Ker, of Cessford, ancestor of the dukes of Roxburghe, as a reward for his services during the border warfare. A strong fortress was erected by the proprietor, on the lands of Holydean, which was occasionally the residence of the family; but, at present, very little is remaining, the greater portion having been removed, during the minority of John, the third duke, by his grace's agent, to furnish materials for the erection of a large farm-house and offices. The court-yard, comprising an area of nearly an acre, was inclosed with walls of stone, four feet in thickness, and sixteen feet high, pierced at intervals for the discharge of arrows and musketry, and having an arched gateway defended with a strong portcullis. Within the inclosure, were two strong towers, the one three, and the other five, stories high, containing many spacious apartments, and every requisite for a baronial residence. Part of the wall on the south side is remaining, but greatly dilapidated; and near it, is the ancient well of the castle, which affords a supply of excellent water to the family living at the farm-house. About 500 acres of the farm of Holydean are inclosed with a wall of loose stones, which has stood for more than three centuries, and is still in good condition; this inclosure is, in an old lease, called the "Great Deer Park of Haliedean."

The parish is situated on the river Ale, by which it is bounded on the south, and is about five miles in length, and four in breadth, comprising above 6000 acres, of which 3460 are arable, 2531 meadow and pasture, 260 woodland and plantations, and 30 garden and orchards. The surface is broken by a series of parallel ridges, extending from east to west, and declining in height towards the south, between which are fertile valleys of various breadth, watered by rivulets flowing eastward into the Tweed; and towards the south-west, are some smaller streams, which fall into the river Ale. One of the Eildon hills, and part of another, rising in three conical summits, to the height of 900 feet above the general level, and about 1360 above that of the sea, are within the limits of the parish, and form conspicuous objects in the landscape. The scenery is pleasingly enriched with plantations of modern growth, and the several demesnes of the chief proprietors contain many trees of lofty and venerable appearance; in the ancient park of the Duke of Roxburghe, is some fine timber; at Holydean, is a wood of about forty acres, chiefly birchtrees, of great age, and around the churchyard are some of the largest sycamores and ash-trees in this part of the country. The soil, towards the north and west, is a stiff clay of considerable depth; in the southern part, especially on the ridges, lighter and more friable; and in the valleys, a rich deep loam. The substratum is generally whinstone; and in some parts are considerable tracts of moss, below which shell marl is found, resting on a layer of fine blue clay. The system of agriculture is highly improved, and the crops are favourable; lime, marl, guano, and bone-dust are the manures. Considerable improvements have been made in draining and inclosing the lands, and in the breed of sheep and cattle, of which great numbers are fed; the sheep are mostly of the Leicester and the Cheviot kind, and occasionally a cross between them, which is on the increase; the cattle are chiefly of the short-horned breed. Numbers of small highland cattle are pastured here during the winter, and fattened in the summer, and sold to the butchers. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4963. Among the seats is Kippilaw, a handsome mansion, pleasantly situated in a demesne embellished with timber of luxuriant growth; Cavers and Linthill are also substantial residences. The village contains little remarkable, except an ancient cross in the centre, of which the date is unknown: the remains of one or two small towers or peels, of which there were several within the last twenty-five years, containing, in the lower part, a place for cattle, and in the upper, apartments for the family, to which access was afforded by a stone staircase on the outside, were lately removed.

The parish is in the presbytery of Selkirk and synod of Merse and Teviotdale, and patronage of the Duke of Roxburghe; the minister's stipend is £211. 11. 7., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £15 per annum. The church, situated near the eastern extremity of the parish, is an ancient structure, of which the original foundation is unknown; it affords accommodation for nearly 400 persons, and is in a state of good repair; the oldest date that appears on any part of the building, is 1666. Under the east end is the funereal vault of the Ker family, containing twenty-one coffins, ranged along the sides of the building, among which are those of five dukes of Roxburghe, predecessors of the present duke. There are places of worship for members of the Free Church and the Associate Synod of Original Seceders. Two parochial schools were until lately supported, one in the village of Bowden, and the other in that of Midlem, but the latter has been discontinued; the master of the former has a salary of £30 per annum, with a house and garden rent-free, and the fees produce £12. The remains of a military road, with stations, or camps, of a circular form, at intervals of more than two miles, uniformly occupying eminences in view of each other, may be traced in various places, extending across the centre of the parish, in a direction from south-east to north-west. Where not obliterated by the plough, the road may be traced, in the form of a ditch about twenty feet in width, and, in some places, in the form of two parallel ditches, with an interval between them of fifty feet in width. Warlike instruments of different kinds have been discovered by the plough, in the immediate neighbourhood of the road, and also in the adjacent mosses. On the summit of a precipice at Holydean, nearly 150 yards from the principal farm-house, and overhanging a deep dell called Ringans-Dean, was an ancient chapel and burying-place; the foundations of the building may yet be traced, and grave-stones, handles of coffins, and human bones have been frequently found near the site. It has been conjectured that from this ecclesiastical establishment the place derived the name of Holydean. Trees of various kinds, and of very large dimensions, have been discovered in the mosses, while digging for peat and marl; they are chiefly oak, ash, and fir, and have been found generally at a considerable depth below the surface.

Bower

BOWER, a parish, in the county of Caithness, 7 miles (W.) from Keiss; containing 1689 inhabitants. This place is said to derive its name from a Danish word signifying "a valley," and the application of the term to this locality seems to be by no means inappropriate. The parish is about twelve miles long, and four broad, and the surface is in general low and flat, being diversified only by a ridge of green hills, of small elevation, running from north to south, through the whole: on an eminence in this ridge, near Bower-Tower, is a large perpendicular stone called Stone Lude or Lutt, supposed to mark the sepulchre of some Danish or Norwegian chief who fell here. The soil of the arable land consists mostly of strong clay and loam, and the subsoil is clay; in some hollows and valleys, a fine rich marl is obtained in great abundance, and extensively and very beneficially used as manure. The parish is altogether agricultural and pastoral, and the recent prevalence of sheep-farming has diminished the importance of the former branch, and given to the latter a decided predominance; grain and live stock are frequently sent to the south, being shipped at Wick, by steamers or trading vessels. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4300. The rocks are of the primitive class; a vein of copper was discovered some time ago, but was never worked. Barrack House and Stempster House, both modern edifices, Stanstill, and Tister, are the principal residences. The population is scattered among the rural districts; many, in consequence of the necessary expulsion of agricultural labourers, by the extensive introduction of sheep-farming, have been driven to the moors, or to seek a livelihood in foreign lands. Four annual fairs are held here, namely, Campster fair, on the Tuesday after St. Patrick's-day, Lyth fair, on the second Tuesday of October, St. Maud's, on the second Tuesday in November (all O. S.), and Stanstill, held in November; also a cattle-market every Wednesday, from June till October, inclusive. The post-road, which is in good condition, passes through the south-west part of the parish, for several miles, and there are also some good county roads, one of which joins the post-road above Halkirk, on the hill of Sordal. The ecclesiastical affairs are subject to the presbytery of Caithness and synod of Caithness and Sutherland; patron, Sir James Colquhoun, Bart.; the stipend of the minister is £191. 4. 6., with a manse and glebe. The church is ancient, and the number of its sittings is computed at 441: a parochial school is supported, at which the usual branches are taught, and the master has a salary of £35. 16., with £14 fees. Here are several Druidical circles or temples, as well as numerous tumuli; the most striking is the cairn of Heather Cow, which is surrounded by six or seven circles of large stones, and situated on an eminence commanding an extensive prospect.

Bowling-Bay

BOWLING-BAY, a village, in the parish of Old Kilpatrick, county of Dumbarton, 5 miles (E. by S.) from Dumbarton; containing 182 inhabitants. It is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Clyde, and on the road which passes, close by the river, from Glasgow to Dumbarton; the locality is very beautiful, and immediately opposite, on the south side of the Clyde, is Erskine House, the fine seat of Lord Blantyre. At this place, the Forth and Clyde canal terminates.

Bowmore

BOWMORE, a village and small sea-port, in the parish of Kilarrow, district of Islay, county of Argyll, 10½ miles (S. S. W.) from Port-Askaig. This place is situated on the eastern shore of Loch Indal. The village was first commenced in 1768, and consists of several well-formed and regular streets, intersecting each other at right angles, of which the principal, a spacious street, leads from the quay, by a gradual ascent, to the church; and another, crossing this at right angles, terminates at the parochial school. The houses are generally neatly built, though in some of the smaller streets are many of inferior appearance. Since its commencement, the village has rapidly increased in extent and population, and it is now the seat of the presbytery of Islay and Jura; a neat building, containing a spacious assembly-room, has been erected, to which is attached a room for the temporary confinement of petty offenders. The environs are pleasant, and derive much interest from the grounds of Islay House. A very extensive distillery of whisky is carried on here; and there are several vessels belonging to the port, employed in the coasting trade, which is considerable. The harbour is commodious, and accessible to the quay, for vessels drawing eight or nine feet water, at ordinary tides; the quay, which was constructed by Mr. Campbell, is substantial, and well adapted to the purpose. A post-office, with a daily delivery, has been established; and facility of communication is afforded by a good road to Port-Askaig, on the Sound of Jura.

Bowriefauld

BOWRIEFAULD, a village, in the parish of Dunnichen, county of Forfar, 2 miles (W. by S.) from Letham; containing 109 inhabitants.

Boyndie

BOYNDIE, county Banff.—See Boindie.

Bracadale

BRACADALE, a parish, in the Isle of Skye, county of Inverness, 12 miles (S. E.) from Dunvegan; containing 1824 inhabitants. This parish is washed on the south and south-west by the sea; it is about twenty miles in length, and eight in extreme breadth, and comprises 73,189 acres, of which 4878 are arable, and the remainder pasture and hill-grazing. The coast extends for about sixty miles, and is very irregular, being indented by numerous arms of the sea, and, though occasionally flat, is in most parts bold and rocky, and the beach very rough and stony. At the southern extremity, is the headland of Rhuandunan, and towards the west, Tallisker-head, at the southern entrance of Loch Bracadale, which, and Loch Eynort, are the principal harbours, both affording convenient and secure anchorage to vessels of any burthen. The chief islands are, Soay, on the south-east; and Vuiay and Taarner, situated at the mouth of Loch Bracadale, opposite Tallisker-head, to the north. The surface in the interior is generally hilly, and the most conspicuous eminences are part of the range of Coullin, highly picturesque in appearance, and stretching along the boundary between this district and Strath. A few detached fields are seen adjacent to the coast, but the low grounds and valleys are chiefly in that district called Minginish, where the vale of Tallisker is particularly celebrated for its beautiful scenery. The parish is for the most part pastoral, and about 4500 sheep, and 450 black-cattle, are annually exported; the soil near the bays is sandy or clayey, but in some of the lower grounds remarkably fertile: the small portions under tillage are always let in connexion with pasture. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3921. The inhabitants generally are exceedingly poor, and upon the lowest scale with respect to clothing and food; the road from Inverness to Dunvegan passes through the district, and there is a post-office at Struan. At the village of Carbost is a celebrated distillery. A fair for the sale of black-cattle and sheep is held at Sligechan, on the third Tuesday in September. The parish is in the presbytery of Skye and synod of Glenelg, and in the patronage of the family of Macleod, of Macleod; the minister's stipend is £158. 6. 8., of which half is received from the exchequer, with a manse, and a glebe of 30 acres, valued at £15 per annum. The church, built in 1831, is conveniently situated near the public road, and contains between 500 and 600 sittings.

There is a place of worship for members of the Free Church; also an episcopal chapel. A missionary is supported by the Royal bounty, and the parochial school affords instruction in Gaelic, English, writing, and arithmetic; the master has a salary of £28.

Braco

BRACO, a village, in that part of the parish of Muthill which constituted the district of Ardoch, county of Perth; containing 370 inhabitants. This village, which is rapidly increasing in extent, owes its origin to the erection of a chapel of ease for this district of the parish; the houses are neatly built, and it has already attained sufficient importance to be the resort of the neighbouring farmers, for the purchase of cattle, for which two large fairs are held annually. A library is supported by subscription.—See Ardoch.

Braehead

BRAEHEAD, a village, in the parish of Carnwath, Upper ward of the county of Lanark, 3½ miles (N.) from Carnwath; containing 312 inhabitants. This village, which is pleasantly situated on the road to Wilsontown, is inhabited chiefly by persons engaged in agricultural pursuits, and partly by others employed in weaving at their own dwellings, for the Glasgow and Paisley manufacturers. There is a place of worship for members of the New Light Burghers.

Braemar

BRAEMAR, Aberdeen.—See Crathie.

Bragrum

BRAGRUM, a hamlet, in the parish of Methven, county of Perth; containing 44 inhabitants.

Braidwood

BRAIDWOOD, a village, in the parish of Carluke, Upper ward of the county of Lanark, 4 miles (N. W.) from Lanark; containing 234 inhabitants. It is on the great Roman Watling-street, and was formerly a possession of the earls and marquesses of Douglas; in the vicinity, lime and iron stone are found, and, on the Braidwood estate, a vein of fine encrinal marble.