Dingwall

DINGWALL, a royal burgh, sea-port, and a parish, the capital of the county of Ross, 20 miles (S. W.) from Cromarty, and 174 (N. N. W.) from Edinburgh; containing 2100 inhabitants, of whom 1739 are in the burgh. This place, of which the name is of Scandinavian origin, is supposed to have been originally a Danish settlement, and subsequently the seat of one of the numerous royal fortresses erected along the coast, to repel the frequent incursions of that warlike people. It is of considerable antiquity, and, from the discovery of foundations of houses and pavements beyond the limits of the present town, is supposed to have been anciently of greater extent and importance. It was erected into a royal burgh by Alexander II., who, in 1226, bestowed upon the inhabitants a charter investing them with all the privileges and immunities enjoyed by the burgesses of Inverness. The castle became the principal seat of the powerful earls of Ross, who were proprietors of the greater portion of the lands in the surrounding district, of which several estates are still held under charters granted to the owners by the earls, and dated from Dingwall. The castle and the lands remained in the possession of the earls of Ross till 1476, when, on the attainder of the last earl, the proprietor of the estate of Tulloch was appointed hereditary constable of the castle, and the earldom was vested in the crown. The only remains of the castle are a small shapeless fragment of the walls, from which may be obtained a tolerable idea of the massive solidity of the structure; the fosse by which it was surrounded may still be traced, and part of its site is now occupied by a castellated building recently erected by the proprietor of the land.

Burgh Seal.

The town is situated at the entrance of a picturesque glen opening into the Frith of Cromarty, and consists of one principal street, about half a mile in length from east to west, from which several smaller streets diverge at right angles. The houses in the main street are shaded by rows of tall poplar-trees in front, and those of the older class are generally well built and two stories in height. From its vicinity to the mineral springs of Strathpeffer the town has been much extended within the last few years, and many handsome modern houses have been built. The streets are paved, and lighted with gas, and the inhabitants are supplied with water conveyed into the town from springs in the vicinity. The public subscription library has been for some years discontinued. There are no manufactures carried on; the principal trade arises from the town being the general mart for the rich and populous district of which it is the centre, for which it has numerous shops, amply stored with wares of all kinds. The trade of the port consists chiefly in the exportation of grain, timber, bark, and agricultural produce; and in the importation of merchandise for the supply of the district, and of coal, lime, and other commodities. There are several vessels belonging to the port, which were built here, and are employed in the coasting trade. The harbour, close to the town, was constructed in 1817, at a cost of £4365, and is under the superintendence of commissioners appointed by act of parliament in 1824.

Under the charter of Alexander II., confirmed by James IV., and ratified by James VI., the government of the burgh is vested in a provost, two bailies, a dean of guild, treasurer, and ten councillors, chosen under the regulations of the burgh Reform act. There are no incorporated guilds; persons dealing in merchandise within the burgh must become burgesses, the fee for which varies from £5 to £15. 15., but neither the sons nor apprentices of burgesses pay any fee, and craftsmen may exercise their trades without becoming burgesses. The jurisdiction of the magistrates, which extends over the whole of the royalty, is chiefly confined, in civil causes, to actions of small amount, and in criminal cases to petty offences; and in both, their functions are gradually falling into the hands of the sheriff, whose substitute, residing here, holds the usual courts. The burgh is associated with those of Cromarty, Dornoch, Kirkwall, Tain, and Wick, in returning a member to the imperial parliament; the number of voters is 100. The town-house, nearly in the centre of the town, is an ancient structure with a spire; the county buildings are elegant, and the prison extensive. The market, on Friday, is well supplied with grain and provisions; and fairs, chiefly for cattle and agricultural produce, are held on the third Wednesdays in January and February, the first Wednesdays in June, September, and November, the first Tuesday in July, and the Tuesday before Christmas-day. There are regular posts to Poolewe, Stornoway, Ullapool, Lochcarron, Lochalsh, Kintail, Glenelg, and the Isle of Skye; and a branch of the Caledonian bank has been established in the town. Facility of communication is afforded by good roads in all directions, kept in excellent repair; and by steamboats to Edinburgh weekly, and every alternate week to London, which call at Invergordon, in the Frith of Cromarty.

The parish, which is situated at the western extremity of the Frith, is about three miles in length, and of nearly equal breadth; and is bounded on the north by the heights of Ben-Wyvis, on the south by the river Conan, and on the south and south-east by the sea. It comprises about 5600 acres, of which 2380 are arable, 1380 woodland and plantations, and the remainder meadow, pasture, and waste. The surface is beautifully diversified with hills and valleys, and with wood and water. To the north, the hill of Tulloch, a continuation of the ridge of Strathpeffer, rises to a height of 800 feet, crowned on its summit with timber of stately growth, and enriched on the acclivities with lands in the highest state of cultivation, and the tastefully embellished pleasure-grounds of Tulloch Castle. The Conan, which flows by a winding course into the Frith, adds much to the beauty of the scenery, and abounds with salmon and trout of various kinds, and also with pike and eels. The Frith at flood-tide forms a magnificent expanse, but at ebb-tide recedes for nearly three miles from the shore, leaving a flat strand of slime.

The soil is generally of a clayey nature; in the lower lands near the town is a deep black vegetable mould, of great fertility, and in dry seasons producing luxuriant crops. Throughout the parish, the soil of the lands under cultivation is fertile, and well adapted to the growth of wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips, which are the principal crops. The system of husbandry is in the most improved state; the lands are inclosed with hedges, in which are rows of timber, and the farm-houses and offices substantial and well arranged. Few live stock are reared, but considerable numbers of sheep and cattle are pastured; the sheep are chiefly of the Cheviot breed, and the cattle of the Highland breed, with some cows of the Ayrshire on the dairy-farms. The woods abound with game of all kinds, which, from the sheltered situation of the place, resort in great variety; the principal are, partridges, grouse, black game, and pheasants, which last, though but of recent introduction, have rapidly increased in number. The plantations are, fir, larch, beech, elm, oak, ash, sycamore, and various other trees, all in a very thriving state, and under careful management. The chief substrata are sandstone and conglomerate, of which also the rocks are composed. There are three sandstone quarries, extensively wrought; one is of a grey colour, and of hard quality, and the others of light blue, of softer kind, but well adapted for building, and susceptible of a fine polish. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4576.

The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Dingwall and synod of Ross. The minister's stipend is £244, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £30 per annum; patron, the Crown. The church is a neat, plain structure, in good repair, and contains 800 sittings; service is performed both in the English and in the Gaelic language, and a catechist is employed who is paid £15 per annum. There is an episcopal chapel. The parochial school is well attended; the master has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and the fees average £40. The poor have the interest of some legacies, of which £700 was a bequest by one of the Tulloch family, and £100 by the late Bailie Mackenzie. Near the church is an obelisk rising from a base of six feet square to the height of fifty-seven feet, erected by George, the first earl of Cromarty, and secretary of state for Scotland to Queen Anne, to point out the family sepulchre. Towards the north extremity of the parish are the remains of a Druidical circle; and at the east end of the town are those of the cross supposed to have been in the centre of the ancient town. This place gave the title of baron to Sir Richard Preston, who was created Lord Dingwall by James VI., with whom he was a great favourite; he married the only daughter of the Earl of Ormond, and left a daughter who conveyed the title to another family, by whom it was forfeited by attainder in 1716.

Dinwoodie

DINWOODIE, an ancient chapelry, in the parish of Applegarth, county of Dumfries, 5 miles (N. by W.) from Lockerbie. It is situated on the road from Lockerbie to Moffat, and a little east of the river Annan, which bounds the parish on the west. On Dinwoodie Green is an inn, which has long served as a stage to the mail between London and Glasgow. Dinwoodie hill, in the neighbourhood of the village, is 736 feet high.

Dirleton

DIRLETON, a parish, in the county of Haddington; including the villages of Fenton and Gulane, and containing 1497 inhabitants, of whom 353 are in the village of Dirleton, 2½ miles (W. S. W.) from North Berwick. This place, anciently called Golyn, a Gaelic term signifying a small lake, derived that appellation from a sheet of water near the village of Gulane, which has long been drained. The ancient manors of Golyn and Dirleton, which latter gives to the parish its present name, belonged, together with the lands of Fenton, in the early part of the twelfth century, to the family of Vaux or De Vallibus, and in 1340, passed, by marriage with the daughter and heiress of William De Vallibus, to Sir John Halyburton, whose grandson, Sir Walter, lord high treasurer of Scotland, was created Lord Halyburton in 1448. On the decease of the sixth lord Halyburton, the lands were conveyed by his daughter and heiress Janet, in marriage, to William, second lord Ruthven, by whose descendant, John, Earl of Gowrie, they were forfeited to the crown in 1600. They were afterwards granted to Sir Thomas Erskine, who killed the Earl of Gowrie while making an attempt on the life of James VI.; and Sir Thomas was created Lord Dirleton in 1603, Viscount Fenton in 1606, and Earl of Kellie in 1619. The lands, in 1663, were purchased by Sir John Nisbet, afterwards lord of session and king's advocate, from whose descendant they passed by marriage to the present proprietor. Sir John Nisbet was born here in 1610, and died in 1688; he published a work entitled Doubts and Questions in the Law, especially of Scotland, which was highly esteemed, and of which Lord Chancellor Hardwicke was accustomed to say that "Dirleton's doubts were better than most people's certainties." The ancient castle of Dirleton, erected by the family of Vaux, in the twelfth century, was a fortress of great strength, and opposed the most formidable resistance to Edward I., on his invasion of Scotland in 1298. The English forces by whom it was besieged were, during the long period of its defence, reduced to the greatest extremities; it was at length surrendered to Anthony Beck, Bishop of Durham. It remained in the hands of the English till the year 1306, and subsequently, on the invasion of Scotland by Cromwell in 1650, was besieged and taken by General Lambert, by whose orders it was dismantled and almost entirely demolished.

The parish is about five miles and a half in length, and four in breadth, and is bounded on the north by the Frith of Forth, and on the south by the small river Peffer, which divides it from the parish of Athelstaneford. It comprises 7500 Scottish acres, of which 5300 are arable and in a state of good cultivation, 300 woodland and plantations, and the remainder pasture and heath. The surface is generally flat, being varied only by two nearly parallel ridges of moderate elevation, which divide it into three almost equal portions; the scenery is greatly enlivened by the Frith, and its several islands, of which those of Fetheray, Eyebrochy or Ibris, and the Lamb form part of the parish. The isle of Fetheray is situated directly opposite to the village, about a mile from the shore, with which it is connected by a narrow isthmus rising on the west into an elevation, called, from its appearance, the Castle of Tarbet. The coast towards the east is level sand, and towards the west rocky, having crags of considerable height. The rivers are the Millburn and the Peffer, which latter divides into two shallow and inconsiderable streams, one forming the boundary of the parish, and, after a course of nearly eight miles, falling into the sea at Aberlady, and the other flowing in an easterly direction into the sea near Tynningham.

The soil on the southern side of the parish is partly wet and marshy, and on the northern side light and sandy; the remainder is generally a good loam, resting on a tilly substratum, and by a highly improved course of agriculture rendered extremely fertile. The crops are, wheat, barley, oats, beans, peas, potatoes, and turnips; bone-dust and rape manures have been extensively introduced; tile-draining is practised to a great extent, and much unprofitable land has been reclaimed. Great attention is paid to the improvement of live stock; the sheep, of which about 2000 are annually pastured, are chiefly of the Cheviot, Leicestershire, and black-faced breeds. About 500 head of cattle and 120 milch cows are grazed. The plantations are mostly on the sandy soils, and are well managed; the thinnings supply abundant materials for palings and other purposes. The substrata are, sandstone, whinstone, and limestone; the sandstone is quarried at Gulane, and the whinstone at Burnside; the limestone has not been worked. Basalt is found near the coast, and on the farm of West Fenton it assumes the columnar formation, appearing in pentagonal columns, of which more than thirty were some years since discovered. The rateable annual value of the parish is £13,885. Archerfield is a handsome mansion-house, in a park, commanding an extensive view of the Frith. The village of Dirleton is beautifully situated on an eminence, about a mile and a half from the sea, and consists of neatly-built cottages, with gardens attached to them, richly ornamented with flowers and shrubs. From its elevated site it commands interesting prospects over the surrounding country, embracing, towards the east, the Bass rock, the island of May, and North Berwick Law; and with the ivy-clad ruins of its ancient castle, seated on a lofty rock at its eastern extremity, it forms itself a conspicuous object in the landscape. In the village are, a parochial library consisting of 160 volumes purchased by collections at the church; a subscription library; and a library of 180 volumes for the use of the school. It has a post-office under Haddington, with which town and other places in the vicinity it has facilities of intercourse by good roads.

The parish is in the presbytery of Haddington and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, and patronage of Mrs. Ferguson. The minister's stipend is £293. 18., with a manse, and a glebe of twelve acres. The church is a substantial and handsome edifice, erected in 1612, and repaired within the last few years; it is well situated for the accommodation of the parishioners, and adapted for a congregation of 600 persons. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship. The parochial school, in the village of Dirleton, affords instruction to about eighty children; the master has a salary of £34, with £33. 16. fees, and a house and garden. There were anciently several chapels in the parish, all subordinate to the church of Golyn. One of these, dedicated to St. Nicholas, was situated on the isle of Fetheray, and there are still some portions of it remaining; and on the lands of Archerfield was formerly a convent of nuns of the Cistercian order, a cell to the monastery founded by David I. at Berwick-upon-Tweed. The remains of the old church of Golyn are still in good preservation. Numerous coffins have been found near the villages of Dirleton and Fenton, formed of a peculiar kind of stone, and containing bones imbedded in dark coloured earth. Near West Fenton, a stone hammer of very great antiquity has been dug up; and not far from this, the foundations of several houses have been discovered by the plough, supposed to have been destroyed by an encroachment of the sea, which formerly reached the spot, though now some miles distant. There are also remains of the old mansion of Saltcoats, belonging to the ancient family of Levington, whose ancestor received a grant of these lands as a recompense for having killed a destructive boar that infested the neighbourhood.

Dollar

DOLLAR, a town and parish, in the county of Clackmannan; containing 1562 inhabitants, of whom 1131 are in the town, 7 miles (N. E.) from Alloa. This place, of which the name, in the Gaelic language, is descriptive either of a vale at the base of a hill, or of a secluded plain, belonged in the 15th century to the Campbell family, of whose baronial residence, Castle-Campbell, there are still considerable remains. By whom or at what period this ancient fortress, which is of formidable strength, was first erected, is not distinctly known; the style of the buildings indicates different dates, and evidently shows that the original structure received various subsequent additions. The later portions are in a state of ruin; but the keep, the oldest part, is in rather good preservation. This tower, of which the walls are of vast thickness, is of quadrilateral form, and the spiral staircase forming an ascent to the roof is still tolerably entire. To the south of the keep are extensive vaults, continued far beyond the walls of the castle, which, from the rugged and precipitous acclivities of the height whereon it is built, is almost inaccessible. In the year 1556, Archibald, the fourth earl of Argyll, resided in the castle, where he was frequently visited by the reformer, John Knox, who administered the sacrament of the Lord's Supper here previously to his departure for Geneva. The castle was burnt in 1644, by the Marquess of Montrose, after his victories at Auldearne and Alford, on his route to the south, on which occasion his troops burnt every house in the parishes of Dollar and Muckart belonging to the vassals of the Earl of Argyll. The lands are at present divided among various proprietors, of whom the principal are the Globe Insurance Company.

The parish is bounded on the north by the Ochil range, and is about three miles in length, from north to south, and about a mile and a half in breadth, comprising nearly 4500 acres, of which 1740 are arable, 250 woodland and plantations, 2500 hill pasture, and the remainder moss and waste. The surface, sloping gradually from the base of the hills towards the south, forms a gently inclined plane to the river Devon, by which the parish is intersected from east to west, and beyond which the ground rises gradually to a ridge of table land of considerable breadth. The principal of the Ochils are, King's Seat, Dollar Hill, and the Wisp, none of which, however, exceed 1900 feet in elevation. At the western extremity of the range is Damiett, commanding an interesting view of the surrounding country, including Stirling, Alloa, Linlithgow, and Falkirk, and reaching to the centre of Lanarkshire, with the range of mountains from Perth on the east, to Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond on the west. The river Devon flows through the vale of Dollar, in a beautifully winding stream, between banks richly wooded, and, after a course in which it forms many picturesque cascades, falls into the Forth at Cambus; it abounds with trout and par, and in the numerous burns that flow into it from the Ochils trout are also found. The bridge over the river connecting this parish with that of Fossaway, was built by Thomas Forrest, vicar of Dollar, who suffered martyrdom in 1538, and hence it is called Vicar's Bridge.

The soil, though various, is generally fertile; the crops are, oats, wheat, barley, turnips, and potatoes. The system of agriculture is advancing, and the lands have been greatly improved by draining; the farmbuildings are substantial and commodious, and most of the fences are kept in good order. The hills afford excellent pasture for sheep, of which considerable numbers are reared. The plantations, which are interspersed throughout the parish, are, oak, ash, elm, beech, plane, and the various kinds of fir; birch and alder appear to be indigenous, and recently American oak, chesnut, and walnut, with various other trees, have been introduced, and appear to thrive. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4313. The rocks are chiefly of porphyry and whinstone, and in the hills are found some veins of copper and lead; the principal substrata are, sandstone of various colours, ironstone, limestone, and coal. Some unsuccessful attempts to work the copper were made a few years since. There is a quarry in operation, producing excellent stone for building; and the coal has been extensively wrought at Dollar, near the Ochils, and at Sheardale, on the table land to the south of the Devon. In both these coalfields are found splint and main coal, in seams of three and five feet in thickness, at depths respectively of nine and eleven fathoms from the surface. The works at Dollar have been for the few last years discontinued; but those at Sheardale are in full operation, producing annually about 6000 tons for the supply of the neighbourhood.

The village or town, which has greatly increased since the establishment of the Dollar Institution, is pleasantly situated on the sloping plain in the centre of the parish, and contains several handsome houses, the residences of families connected with that establishment, in addition to those inhabited by persons employed in the works in the neighbourhood. There is a bleachfield here, belonging to Mr. Haig. In 1787, it comprised only about four acres; but the concern has been much extended, and at present not less than thirty acres are appropriated to the bleaching of linen goods, in which more than sixty persons are employed, of whom nearly one-half are women. The woollen manufacture, for which a mill has been erected, is carried on to a small extent; and a manufactory of bricks and tiles has been established, in which about twenty persons are engaged. A branch office under the post-office at Alloa has been established here; fairs, chiefly for cattle, are held annually, in May and October; and facility of communication is afforded by the turnpike-road from Kinross to Stirling, which passes through the parish. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Stirling and synod of Perth and Stirling. The minister's stipend is £158. 10., of which a small part is paid from the exchequer, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £18 per annum; patrons, the Globe Insurance Company. The church, built in 1775, being insufficient for the increased population, and also in a dilapidated condition, a new church was erected in 1842, at a cost exceeding £2500, defrayed by heritors and feuars; it is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower, after a design by Mr. Tite, of London, and contains 600 sittings. There is a place of worship for members of the United Original Secession. The parochial schoolmaster has a salary of £25. 17., with a house and garden, and the fees average about £12 annually.

The Dollar Institution was founded in 1825, from the proceeds of a legacy by Mr. John Macnab, a merchant of London, who, in 1802, bequeathed £90,000 three per cents, for the erection and endowment of a school, or some other charitable institution, for the benefit of the poor of his native parish. The trustees, who are the minister and elders of the parish, appropriated the funds to the establishment of a general seminary of instruction in all the various branches of learning, and have appointed six masters, to each of whom they give a minimum salary of £140 per annum, with a large house and garden, and the privilege of taking boarders. The branches taught, each by a separate master, are, the English language, writing and arithmetic, the Latin, Greek, and Oriental languages, the modern languages, mathematics, drawing, and geography. The number of scholars is about 300; and the school fees, averaging £120 per annum, are paid to the treasurer of the funds, which produce £2000 per annum. The buildings of the institution were erected after a design by Mr. Playfair, of Edinburgh, at an expense of about £10,000, and form a spacious structure in the Grecian style, 186 feet in length, and 63 feet in breadth. In the centre of the principal front is a stately portico of six columns, supporting a cornice and pediment; and the upper portion of the walls is crowned with a handsome parapet. The building contains a hall and library forty-five feet square, lighted by a cupola forty-five feet in height, supported on fluted columns; a museum, spacious class-rooms for the different masters, and other apartments. Around the institution is a spacious lawn, and in the rear is a park of seven acres, which has been formed into gardens and nurseries, for the instruction of the pupils in horticulture and botany. Connected with the institution is also an extensive infant school. The poor of Dollar have the interest of other charitable bequests, in the aggregate amounting to £319.

Dolphingston

DOLPHINGSTON, a village, in the parish of Prestonpans, county of Haddington, 1 mile (S. by W.) from Prestonpans; containing 63 inhabitants. This place is on the road from Musselburgh to Tranent, from which latter village it is distant, westward, about two miles. Here are the ruins of an ancient building supposed to have been a residence of monks, and there are also some ruins of a family seat of the earls of Hyndford.

Dolphinton

DOLPHINTON, a parish, in the Upper ward of the county of Lanark, 6 miles (S. W.) from Biggar; containing 305 inhabitants. This place, anciently Dolphinstown, derived its name from Dolfine, elder brother of Cospatrick, first earl of Dunbar, and who, in the reign of Alexander I., acquired possession of the manor, which, after passing through numerous families, of whom several were eminently distinguished, was divided among various proprietors. The parish is about three miles in length, from east to west, and two miles and a half in breadth, and the surface, which has a gentle acclivity, is tolerably level, with the exception of the hills of Dolphinton and Keir, the former 1550, and the latter 900, feet above the level of the sea. The principal stream is the Medwin, which, near Garveld House, divides into two channels, the one flowing eastward into the Tweed, and the other westward into the river Clyde. There is also a small rivulet which, after receiving several tributary rills, falls into the Lyne. The scenery is generally pleasing, but the want of wood renders it less picturesque; great numbers of young plantations, however, have latterly been formed, which will soon contribute much to its embellishment.

The soil is generally a dry friable loam, intermixed with sand; in some parts, a kind of clay with portions of moss. The whole number of acres in the parish is estimated at 3668, of which 2221 are arable, 444 in woods and plantations, and the remainder, of which probably 300 acres might be rendered arable, are rough pasture and waste. The chief crops are oats and turnips, and barley, wheat, and potatoes are also grown; the system of agriculture is improved, and considerable progress has been made in draining, and much land heretofore totally unproductive has been converted into excellent meadow producing luxuriant crops of hay. Attention is paid to the management of the dairy; 200 milch-cows, chiefly of the Ayrshire breed, are kept on the several farms, and about 100 head of young cattle are annually reared. About 1000 sheep, also, are annually fed, the greater number of which are of the black-faced, and a few of the Cheviot breed. The rateable annual value of the parish is £1988. The substrata are, whinstone, sandstone, and freestone. Some indications of lead-ore induced an attempt in search of that mineral, but it was not attended with success; fireclay is obtained, and in the southern extremity of the parish is found a kind of stone well adapted for ovens. Dolphinton House and Newholm are handsome mansions of modern erection. The road from Edinburgh to Biggar intersects the parish.

The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Biggar and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale. The stipend of the incumbent is £158, of which above two-thirds are received from the exchequer; the manse was put into thorough repair and enlarged in 1828, and the glebe comprises about twelve acres, valued at £27. 10. per annum; patron, Lord Douglas. The church is a tolerably substantial edifice, but inadequate to the wants of the population; it appears to have been built about two centuries since. The parochial school is well conducted; the master has a salary of £26, with a house and garden, and the fees average about £15. He receives, also, the rent of four acres of land bequeathed by William Brown, in 1658, and now producing £8 per annum; the interest of 1000 merks by the same benefactor, for the gratuitous instruction of poor children; and 100 merks for instructing twenty children, bequeathed by Mr. Bowie, in 1759. Mr. Bowie also bequeathed 100 merks for the education of any youth of promising genius, or, in failure of such, to be appropriated to the apprenticing of children; fifty merks, either to the poor, or for the purchase of school books for children; and fifty merks to the minister for managing the property, which consists of lands at Stonypath, purchased by the testator for 8000 merks, and given in trust to the minister and Kirk Session for the above purposes. On the summit of Keir hill are some remains of an ancient camp in good preservation; there are also similar remains at other places in the parish. Within less than a mile south-west of the manse, is a tumulus of stones, about four feet in height, surrounded by a circle of upright stones inclosing an area of twenty paces in diameter. Near this spot was found an ornament of fine gold, resembling part of a horse's bit, with about forty gold beads; stone coffins are frequently found in various parts of the parish, of rude and ancient construction, and numerous sepulchral remains.

Dore Holm

DORE HOLM, an isle, in the parish of Northmavine, county of Shetland. It is situated in the bay of St. Magnus, south of the mainland of the parish, and derives its name from a remarkable arch which passes through its centre, of lofty and capacious dimensions, and admitting boatmen to fish in the waters beneath, being lighted by an opening at the top. The islet is one of the smallest of the Shetland group.

Dores

DORES, a parish, in the county of Inverness, 7½ miles (S. S. W.) from Inverness; containing 1745 inhabitants, of whom 80 are in the village. The ancient name was Durris, a word derived from the Gaelic term tur-ri-ish, signifying rising ground near water. The parish is situated nearly at the northern extremity, and on the eastern shore, of Loch Ness, by which an elevated portion of the lands is washed; and is between twenty and twenty-five miles in length, and upwards of four miles in breadth, comprising about 24,000 acres, of which 4000 are arable, the same number wood and plantation, and the remainder moorland pasture. A small part of the parish, containing twenty inhabitants, is locally in the parish of Boleskine. The surface is mountainous, with the exception of a narrow valley which runs throughout the district, and on the high grounds are several lochs; the village is of small extent, and situated near the church, and from it a prospect is obtained, comprehending the whole of Loch Ness, stretching for twenty-four miles. The Soil in the elevated parts is very superior, and, in seasons free from frost and rain, produces excellent crops; but the low grounds are so hot in summer, that the corn and grass are much injured, and in dry weather would be parched up were it not for the copious dews falling in the night. The chief mansions are those of Aldourie, Eregie, and Gortleg. There is a salmon-fishery in Loch Ness and the river Ness, and fine trout, pike, and char are found in the other lochs; the parish also once contained a whisky distillery, in which about twelve hands were employed. The post-road from Inverness to Fort Augustus intersects the parish; and Loch Ness, on the line of the great Caledonian canal, affords every facility for the importation of coal and lime, and the exportation of timber and wool. The produce is usually sent for sale to Inverness; but salmon, sheep, and fat cattle, are conveyed to the London market. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3165. Dores is in the presbytery of Inverness and synod of Moray, and in the patronage of the Earl Cawdor; the minister's stipend is £142, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £8 per annum. The church is a neat edifice, built in 1827, and there is a preaching-station in the south-western part of the parish. The parochial school affords instruction in the ordinary branches; the master has a salary of £30, with a house and garden, and £10 fees. There is also an Assembly's school, and a school is supported by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge. The relics of antiquity comprise the remains of a vitrified fort called Castel-dun-Richuan, or the Castle of the King of the Ocean; and a little to the east of this, is an eminence called DrumAshi, or Ashi's Hill, where, according to tradition, Fingal fought with and killed Ashi, the son of the Norwegian king. The distinguished statesman, Sir James Mackintosh, author of Vindiciæ Gallicæ, and recorder of Bombay, was born here in 1765.

Dornie and Bundaloch

DORNIE and BUNDALOCH, a village, in the parish of Kintail, county of Ross and Cromarty, 7 miles (N. N. W.) from Sheilhouse; containing 510 inhabitants. This is a fishing village on the banks of a branch of Loch Duich, from which the sea is entered by Loch Alsh. There is a small bay, and Dornie and Bundaloch immediately adjoin each other, and form one village, in which are some houses of respectable appearance; the scenery around is very romantic, and above the village are seen the mountains of Skye. In the vicinity are the ruins of Ellandonan Castle, the ancient seat of the Mackenzies of Seaforth, occupying a rocky islet surrounded by the sea at flood-tide. This castle is said to have been built by Alexander II., to overawe the Danes and Norwegians; and in the reign of James V., the Macdonalds of Sleat in vain attempted to besiege it. Directly opposite, on the coast of Letterfairn, are the remains of the ancient circular castle of Gruagach. On the landward part of the islet is a fresh-water spring.

Dornoch

DORNOCH, a royal burgh, the county town, and a parish, in the county of Sutherland, 201 miles (N. N. W.) from Edinburgh; containing 2714 inhabitants, of whom 451 are in the burgh. This place is supposed to have derived its name, Dor-Neich, signifying in the Celtic language a horse's hoof, from the slaughter of a Danish general, who made a descent upon this part of the coast in 1259, and was encountered by William, Thane of Sutherland, who, having lost his sword in the battle, seized the leg of a horse lying on the ground, with which he killed his adversary, and put his followers to flight. It is of considerable antiquity, and in 1150 was an episcopal city, the residence of the bishops of Caithness, within whose province the county of Sutherland was included, and of whom Andrew is supposed to have erected the cathedral. His successor, Gilbert Murray, who was consecrated in 1222, greatly enlarged and beautified the church, in which, upon his decease in 1245, at Caithness, where the bishops had also a residence, a statue was erected to his memory, under the designation of St. Gilbert. After the death of John, Earl of Sutherland, and his countess, who in 1567 were both poisoned at Helmsdale, at the instigation of the Earl of Caithness, Mc Kay of Far, taking advantage of the minority of the young earl, then only fifteen years of age, invaded the county of Sutherland, set fire to the town of Dornoch, and laid waste the barony of Skibo. The young earl, who then resided in the castle of Skibo, was, through the persuasion of the bishop, given up to the Earl of Caithness, by whom he was carried off, and subsequently married to his daughter. In 1570, the town and castle were besieged by the Laird of Duffus and his adherents; but being obstinately defended, they set fire to the cathedral, which, with the exception only of the tower, was completely destroyed. In 1614, the Earl of Sutherland commenced rebuilding the cathedral, which for many years served for a place of worship; but subsequently falling into decay, it was restored by the late Duchess-Countess of Sutherland, during the years 1835, 6, 7, 8, and 9, at a great expense, and with a minute regard to the original design; and it at present forms one of the most interesting religious edifices in the kingdom. The lower portion of the structure contains the tombs of the ancient earls, and those of the late Duke and Duchess of Sutherland.

Burgh Seal.

The town is situated on the western shore of Dornoch Frith, at the south-eastern extremity of the parish, and consists of several spacious well-formed streets; the houses are of very inferior order, little better than humble cottages, and though the county town, the place has only the appearance of an insignificant hamlet. There is a respectable inn for the accommodation of travellers, at which the mail stops daily in its passage to and from the north; a post-office has been established, and there are also a bank, a savings' bank, and a friendly society. The market has been long declining, and is now but little frequented; fairs are held on the first Wednesdays in February, July, November, and December, for cattle, and on the third Wednesday in March, and on the 20th of July (O. S.), if on Wednesday, or if not, on the first Wednesday after. The town was erected into a royal burgh in 1628, by charter of Charles I., under which the government is vested in a provost, four bailies, a dean of guild, a treasurer, and eight councillors; it is also the residence of the sheriff-substitute and his officers. There are no incorporated trading companies, nor have the burgesses any exclusive privileges; the jurisdiction of the magistrates, though equal in extent to that of royal burghs, is little more than nominal, and few, if any, causes either civil or criminal are brought for their decision. The tower of the ancient episcopal castle is appropriated as a courthouse; and a new county prison has been very recently erected, possessing every requisite for the complete classification and the employment of prisoners. The burgh is associated with those of Cromarty, Dingwall, Kirkwall, Tain, and Wick, in returning a member to the imperial parliament; the number of qualified voters is twenty-two.

The parish is bounded on the east and south by Dornoch Frith, and on the north-east by Loch Fleet, and is about fifteen miles in length, and nine in breadth. The surface towards the sea is generally flat, and in other parts diversified with hills of no very considerable height. The principal rivers are, the Carnaig, which rises to the south of Torboll, and flows through a strath into Loch Fleet, near the sands of Torboll; and the Evelix, whose source is near the head of the valley through which it flows, between richly-wooded banks, into Dornoch Frith near the Muckle ferry. The coast, with the exception of a few small rocks at Embo, to the north of the town, is flat and sandy. At the south extremity is the Muckle ferry, connecting the parish with the county of Ross; and at the northern extremity is the Little ferry, forming an excellent harbour in Loch Fleet, across which an earthen mound nearly 1000 feet in length has been constructed by the parliamentary commissioners, at a cost of £12,000, affording communication between the parishes of Golspie and Dornoch. The rivers contain trout, which are also found in several small lakes among the hills. The soil, though generally light, varies from a sandy moss to clay alternated with sand; the crops are, oats, barley, wheat, potatoes, and turnips. The system of agriculture has been greatly improved within the last few years; extensive tracts of waste have been reclaimed and rendered profitable, and more than 6000 acres are now arable and in good cultivation. The farm-buildings are mostly substantial and comfortable; and attached to several of the farms are threshing-mills, of which some are driven by water. The cattle pastured are of the Highland black breed, and the sheep chiefly of the Cheviot, lately introduced. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3336.

There are many thousand acres of woodland on the Sutherland estate, consisting of Scotch fir, larch, birch, alder, and various hard-wood trees, all in a thriving state. Coal has been found at Clashmore, and freestone of good quality for building occurs in various places; near the town is a large quarry, and at Embo and in other parts of the parish are quarries on a less extensive scale. Skibo Castle, a modern structure, erected on the site of the ancient castle of that name, is a handsome family residence. The chief villages are, the fishing village of Embo, situated on the coast between the town of Dornoch and the Little ferry, and the pleasant village of Clashmore, in which is a commodious inn, about three miles to the north of the Muckle ferry, and the same distance from Dornoch. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Dornoch and synod of Sutherland and Caithness. The minister's stipend is £266. 13., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £10 per annum; patron, the Duke of Sutherland. The church, formerly the cathedral, is a venerable structure containing 1100 sittings. A place of worship has recently been erected for the members of the Free Church. The parochial school is held in a portion of the episcopal palace; the master has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and the fees average £6. There are some remains of the ancient castle of Skelbo, on an eminence rising from the sea near the Little ferry; and the cross erected in commemoration of the exploit from which the burgh is supposed to have taken its name, and to which the common seal has an allusion, is, though much defaced, still remaining.

Dornock

DORNOCK, a parish, in the county of Dumfries; including the village of Lowthertown, and containing 847 inhabitants, of whom 203 are in the village, 2 miles (E. by S.) from Annan. The name of this place is usually derived from the Celtic words tor or dor, signifying an oak or wood, and nock, a knowe or hill, and is said to have been applied in consequence of the forests of oak once growing here. According to a prevailing tradition, a battle was fought upon a moor in the neighbourhood, between a party of English under Sir Marmaduke Langdale and Lord Crosby, and a body of Scots under Sir William Brown, of Coalston, in which the English were defeated, and both their commanders slain. The supposed graves of the two leaders are still shown in the churchyard, and a spring near the spot where the battle was fought bears the name of the Sword well. At Stapleton is a strong square tower, with battlements on the top, built by a person of the name of Irvine, it is supposed as a place of safety against the depredations of the English borderers. The parish reaches from east to west about two miles and a half, and from the Solway Frith, on the south, to the river Kirtle, on the north, measures five miles, comprising about 5000 acres. It contains some beautiful scenery, and is much frequented for its sea air and bathing, its extent along the coast being about three miles. The small river Kirtle and the Solway comprebend the chief of its waters; in the former eels and pike are found, and in the latter, salmon in considerable quantity, though not in such abundance as formerly.

The whole of the land is under tillage, with the exception of such portions as are necessary to support farm-stock; the mosses, which alone are uncultivated, amount to about 300 acres, and 150 acres are plantation. Oats and barley are the only grain sown, and potatoes and turnips, with large quantities of hay, are the chief green crops, and all are of very good quality; the soil is in general productive, and is of a loamy nature, with a hard tilly bottom. The cattle are of the Galloway breed, and about 200 cows are kept for the dairy; a considerable number of swine are annually fattened, and are salted, made into hams, and sent to England. The best system of husbandry is adopted; the manure used is farm-yard dung and lime; draining has been carried on to a good extent, and improvements are still in progress. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3503. Robgill Tower, an old border fortress, modernised, and now the residence of the Smail family, is beautifully seated on the banks of the Kirtle. The village of Dornock is pleasantly situated upon a gentle eminence about a mile from the coast, and commands a fine view of the Frith; a third of the inhabitants are engaged in hand-loom weaving and the manufacture of checks and ginghams. The great turnpike-road from Carlisle to Portpatrick runs through the centre of the parish from east to west; a mail passes daily, and a coach to Edinburgh travels three times a week through the village. The ecclesiastical affairs are directed by the presbytery of Annan and synod of Dumfries; patron, the Duke of Buccleuch. There is a manse, built in 1845, with a glebe valued at £25 per annum, and the stipend is £208. The church, built in 1797, is a plain unadorned structure, containing 300 sittings: in the churchyard are some ancient and very curious tombstones. There is a parochial school, in which all the usual branches of education, and sometimes Greek and Latin, and also mathematics, are taught; the master has a salary of £34, with about £20 fees, and the allowance of a house and garden, with an acre of land. The remains of a Druidical temple exist in the eastern part of the parish, on the farm of Eastriggs; at the distance of about 200 yards west of it, is a large cairn; and at the same distance eastward is another, of smaller dimensions. Old British coins and pieces of armour are sometimes found.

Douglas

DOUGLAS, a market-town and parish, in the Upper ward of the county of Lanark; including the village of Uddington, and containing 2467 inhabitants, of whom 1313 are in the town of Douglas, 5 miles (S. S. E.) from Crawfordjohn, and 40½ (S. W. by S.) from Edinburgh. This place derives its name from the ancient and renowned family of Douglas, to whose ancestor Theobald, by birth a Fleming, Arnold, abbot of Kelso, gave a large tract of land about the middle of the twelfth century. William, son of Theobald, appears as a witness to various charters granted towards the close of that century; and in 1289 his descendant, William Douglas, was one of the Scottish barons who signed an address to Edward I. of England, on behalf of their countrymen. During the protracted warfare between England and Scotland in the reign of that monarch, Douglas Castle, which was strongly fortified, and commanded the entrance to the western counties, was an object of continual dispute between the contending parties. It frequently fell into the hands of the English, from whom it was as frequently retaken by its original proprietors. On one occasion it was taken from Sir John De Walton, who held it for the English, by Sir James Douglas, who, having assembled a strong retinue of his friends, entered the town on Palm-Sunday, while part of the garrison were at church, and attacking them as they came out, put them to the sword, and, immediately advancing to the castle, made himself master of the place. The castle, exposed to continual assaults, was of very precarious tenure, and, from the difficulty of maintaining possession, was distinguished by the appellation of the Castle of Danger. It was often destroyed, and more than once by fire; but it was always restored, and continued in the possession of the earls of Douglas till 1455, when it was forfeited, together with the estates, and granted to the Earl of Angus, in whose family it remained till the death of the Duke of Douglas in 1760. The issue of the famous Douglas cause now vested the estate in the duke's nephew; and in 1790 the title, which had become extinct, was revived by the elevation of Mr. Douglas to the peerage, by the title of Baron Douglas, of Douglas.

The Parish is situated near the south-western extremity of the county, and is about twelve miles in length, and from four to seven miles in breadth, comprising 35,318 acres, of which about 5000 are arable, 28,000 pasture, 2000 wood, and 400 waste land and moss. The Douglas river intersects the parish, flowing through a valley which increases in breadth as it approaches the river Clyde, into which the Douglas discharges itself, after receiving in its course numerous tributary streams. The ground on both sides of the valley rises to a considerable elevation, forming in some parts a succession of hills which terminate towards the west in the Cairntable mountain, whose summit is 1650 feet above the level of the sea, and at the base of which the Douglas has its source. The heights on each side of the river are embellished with ornamental plantations; and in various parts of the parish are extensive woods of ancient and luxuriant growth, especially near Douglas Castle, in the grounds of which are some ash and plane trees of large dimensions. The soil is generally fertile in the vale; in other parts lighter and gravelly, and in some a stiff clay; and the moors, though partly marshy, afford fine sheep-walks, and in many places consist of rich black loam. The principal crops are, oats, barley, and bear, with occasionally wheat, the cultivation of which has been recently introduced with success, but on a very small scale; turnips and potatoes, for which the soil is favourable, are raised in large quantities. The pastures are very extensive and rich, and great numbers of sheep are reared, to the improvement of which much attention is paid; the average number exceeds 25,000, chiefly of the black-faced breed, which has been brought to great perfection. The parish contains numerous dairyfarms, producing cheese and butter of superior quality; the cows, of which the number kept is about 500, are the Ayrshire, and about the same number of black-cattle are fed. There are quarries of freestone of excellent quality, for building; it is of a fine white colour, and is much admired. Limestone is also prevalent, and is quarried for manure and other purposes; coal is very abundant, and numerous mines have been opened, affording supplies of fuel to the places situated to the south and east, and giving employment to a great number of the population. Ironstone is found in several parts of the parish, though not worked; and in others its prevalence may be inferred from the property of many of the springs, which are strongly impregnated with that mineral. Great advances have been made in draining and inclosing the lands, and the rateable annual value of the parish is now £11,013.

Douglas Castle, the seat of Lord Douglas, is beautifully situated in grounds that were very much improved by the late proprietor. The castle, which was partly rebuilt, after being destroyed by an accidental fire, has not, though a splendid seat in its present state, been completed according to the original plan designed by Mr. Adam; one wing only has been finished, and from the dimensions of this, which contains more than fifty apartments, some of them magnificent, the whole would have formed one of the most extensive residences in the kingdom. The scene of Castle-Dangerous, the last novel of Sir Walter Scott, was laid here. The other gentlemen's seats in the parish are, Carmacoup, Spring Hill, and Crossburn House, an elegant villa, of which the grounds are tastefully disposed. The town or village is of very great antiquity, and was formerly of some importance. As the head of the barony, it had a charter of incorporation giving to its magistrates many privileges, among which was the power of jurisdiction in capital offences; and to the east of the town is an eminence called Gallow Hill, formerly the place for the execution of criminals. The streets are narrow, and most of the houses are of ancient date, and apparently built for defence against the frequent incursions of an enemy; the walls are massive, and the windows few and rather small, presenting a forbidding and gloomy appearance. A subscription library has been founded, which at present contains more than 1000 volumes, and is rapidly increasing. A cotton-factory was established here in 1792, by a company from Glasgow, which after a few years declined; but many of the inhabitants are still employed in weaving cotton for the manufacturers of that city, with handlooms in their own dwellings. The market is held on Friday, and there are seven fairs, which are well attended. The road from Edinburgh to Ayr, and that from Glasgow to London, pass through the parish, affording facility of intercourse with the principal towns in the neighbourhood; but as a place of trade, the town is at present little more than a village for the residence of persons employed in weaving, and in other mechanical occupations.

The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Lanark and synod of Glasgow and Ayr. The stipend of the incumbent is £250; the manse is a handsome residence, built in 1828, and pleasantly situated in grounds well laid out, and the glebe comprises some valuable land. Of the ancient church, which appears to have been a very stately and elegant structure, little more remains than the sepulchral chapel of the Douglas family, with a small spire; it contains many monuments, which, though much mutilated and defaced by Cromwell's soldiers during the usurpation, still display features of exquisite sculpture. Among them is the monument of Sir James Douglas, the firm adherent and friend of Robert Bruce, who fell in combat in Spain, and whose remains were conveyed by his companions in arms for interment in the church of his native place. It is of dark-coloured stone, and bears the recumbent figure of a knight armed cap-à-pie, with the legs crossed, in reference to his having been on a crusade to the Holy Land. There is also a monument to Archibald Douglas, Duke of Touraine, which appears to have been of elaborate workmanship; and in a niche is a table monument to James Douglas, Duke of Touraine, with two recumbent figures, and ornamented with ten figures in basso-relievo beneath. The present church, a comparatively modern building, is not sufficiently spacious for the accommodation of the parishioners: underneath it is a vault in which are deposited the remains of numerous members of the Douglas family, for which the ancient sepulchral chapel afforded no room. The parochial school is well attended; the master has the maximum salary, with an excellent dwelling-house and garden, and the fees amount to about £60. Near the base of Cairntable mountain, are the remains of a fortified post, probably occupied by the Douglases during their repeated attempts to surprise the English garrisons that so frequently held possession of Douglas Castle; and within a mile of the castle are the remains of a stronghold called Tothorl Castle, supposed to have been thrown up by Sir Richard de Thirlwall, who was lieutenant-governor of Douglas under Sir Robert de Clifford. Within the castle-grounds is a mound designated Boncastle, near which has been found an urn, with a great number of human bones, a ring of pure gold of great weight, the head of a spear, and various other relics of antiquity. There are also several cairns in the parish. Among the most distinguished natives of this place, for literary attainments, was Dr. John Black, author of the Life of Tasso and other works.

Douglas, Castle.

DOUGLAS, CASTLE.—See Castle-Douglas.

Douglaston

DOUGLASTON, a manufacturing village, in the parish of Kinnettles, county of Forfar, 3 miles (S. W.) from Forfar; containing 81 inhabitants. This place derives its name from the late Robert Douglas, Esq., by whom it was erected in 1792, for the accommodation of the persons employed in his extensive works. A spinning-mill, of stone, roofed with blue slate from the quarries of the parish, and four stories in height, was completed here towards the close of the last century; and the introduction of the spinning of yarn, which furnished employment to a considerable number of hands, was followed up by the erection of looms for weaving the yarn into various fabrics, of which the principal were Osnaburgs, Hessians, and brown and bleached sheetings. The machinery is of the most improved kind, and is propelled partly by a steam-engine of seven-horse power, and partly by water-power equal to that of five horses. The village is pleasantly situated on the banks of the Kerbit rivulet, over which is a very handsome stone bridge of three arches, erected in the year 1770. A branch post between Forfar and Glammis delivers letters here; and the turnpike-road from Dundee to Forfar, and also the Strathmore road, pass through the village.

Doune

DOUNE, a town, in the parish of Kilmadock, county of Perth, 8 miles (N. W.) from Stirling, and 44 (N. W. by W.) from Edinburgh; containing 1559 inhabitants. This place, which is situated on the banks of the river Teith, near its confluence with the Ardoch, owes its origin to a castle founded here, according to some, but disputed, accounts, by Murdoch, grandson of Robert II., and who in 1370 was created Earl of Monteith, and in 1398 Duke of Albany. Murdoch was taken prisoner by the English, at the battle of Homelden, in 1401, and detained in captivity till the year 1411, when he was exchanged for Percy, Earl of North-umberland, from which time he continued to live in retirement till the death of his father in 1420, when he succeeded to the regency, which, however, after a disastrous government of four years, he resigned. Subsequently a charge of high treason was preferred against him, his two sons, Walter and Alexander, and his father-in-law, Duncan, Earl of Lennox, who were all seized and carried prisoners to Stirling, where, after being brought to trial and found guilty, they were beheaded. Isabella, the wife of Murdoch, was taken from the castle of Doune, and conveyed to that of Tantallan, in Lothian, where, upon their decapitation, the heads of her father, husband, and children were sent to her in her prison, with a view to extort a revelation of the alleged treason; but she heroically replied, that "if the crime alleged against the parties were true, the king had done justly and according to law."

The castle of Doune was seized by James I., and annexed to the crown, of which it continued to form an appendage till the year 1502, when Margaret, daughter of Henry VII. of England, on her marriage to James IV., obtained it as part of her settlement. After the death of James IV., Margaret married, in 1528, Henry, Lord Methven, a descendant of Murdoch, Duke of Albany, and, with the consent of her husband, granted to James Stuart, a younger brother of Lord Methven, the constableship of the castle for life. This grant was confirmed to him and to his heirs for ever, by James V., and the office is still held by his descendant, the present Earl of Moray. Mary, Queen of Scots, and her husband, Lord Darnley, frequently made the castle their resort as a hunting-seat; and in 1745 it was garrisoned by Mc Gregor of Glengyle, nephew of Rob Roy, who held it for Prince Charles Edward. A party of royalist volunteers from the university of Edinburgh, among whom was Home, the author of Douglas, having in one of their excursions ventured as far as the Teith, were all captured by Glengyle, and confined in the castle, from which they ultimately effected their escape by climbing over the walls, as related by Mr. Home in his History of the Rebellion of 1745. The remains, situated on a peninsular eminence, at the confluence of the Teith and Ardoch, convey a tolerably adequate idea of the ancient magnificence of the castle; the walls, though roofless, are still entire, forty feet in height and ten feet in thickness, inclosing a quadrilateral area ninety-six feet in length, and of equal breadth. In the north-east angle is a massive tower eighty feet in height, and at the opposite angle is another tower, forty feet high. The great hall is sixty-three feet in length, and twenty-five feet wide; and the kitchen, and many of the family apartments, are spacious and in tolerable preservation. In the lower portions of the building are several cells and dungeons of frightful appearance; the whole of the ruins have a stately and imposing aspect, and, from their situation, form a strikingly romantic feature in the scenery.

The town, which has been much improved since the establishment of the cotton-works in the adjacent village of Deanston, consists principally of three streets diverging from the market cross, which is situated on the spot where the roads from Bridge of Teith and Callander meet. The houses are generally of neat appearance, and several of the more modern of handsome character. The manufacture of Highland pistols was formerly carried on here to a great extent, and thus the town was in high reputation; the pistols made varied in price from two to twenty-four guineas per pair, and were supplied to most of the nobility of Europe. The manufacture of Highland purses was also extensive, but these have totally disappeared, and the population is at present chiefly employed in agriculture or in the adjacent manufactory. A post-office is established here, which has a tolerable delivery; and there is a savings' bank in the town. Fairs are held on the second Wednesday in February, for the sale of grain and for general business; the second Wednesday in May, for milch cows and cattle; the last Wednesday in July, for horses and cattle, the hiring of shearers, and other business; the first Tuesday and Wednesday in November, for sheep and black-cattle; the last Wednesday in that month, for horses and cattle; and the last Wednesday in December, for fat cattle, grain, and general business. Facility of communication is afforded by parish and turnpike roads, as well as by the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway, to which there are regular conveyances. The members of the Free Church have two places of worship. Doune gives the title of Baron to the Earl of Moray.—See Kilmadock.

Doura

DOURA, a village, in the parish of Kilwinning, district of Cunninghame, county of Ayr, 3½ miles (N. E. by E.) from Irvine; containing 320 inhabitants. This place is situated on the road from Irvine to Dunlop, and between the Annock water on the south-east and the Lugton river on the west; the population is chiefly employed in the coal-mines in the vicinity. A branch of the Glasgow and Ayr railway, proceeding from the collieries here, supplies Ardrossan and various other places with coal, which is very abundant in the parish. Large school premises, with a play-ground, and a house for the master, have lately been erected, at the expense of the Earl of Eglinton.

Dovecotland

DOVECOTLAND, a village, in the East parish of the city and county of Perth; containing 502 inhabitants.—See Perth.

Dovehill

DOVEHILL, a village, in the Abbey parish of the town of Paisley; forming part of the late quoad sacra parish of Levern, Upper ward of the county of Renfrew, and containing 131 inhabitants.

Dowally

DOWALLY, county of Perth.—See Dunkeld.

Downies

DOWNIES, a village, in the parish of Banchory-Devenick, county of Kincardine, 8 miles (S.) from Aberdeen; containing 122 inhabitants. It is a small fishing-village, on the eastern coast, and lying in the extreme south point of the parish. There is a very convenient cove here for fishing-boats, of which several belong to the place, each manned with four or five hands, employed in white-fishing, and sometimes visiting the Moray Frith in the herring season.

Drainie

DRAINIE, a parish, in the county of Elgin; including the villages of Lossiemouth and Stotfield, and containing 1515 inhabitants, of whom 16 are in the hamlet of Drainie, 4 miles (N.) from Elgin. This parish consists of the ancient parishes of Kinnedar, a parsonage, and Ogston, a mensal church, of which latter, disjoined from St. Andrew's, and annexed to Kinnedar, in 1642, the Bishop of Moray received the great teinds: the name of Drainie, belonging to an estate on which a new church was built about the year 1666, was after that event applied to the whole parish. The parish is partly a peninsula, as its ancient name of Kinnedar implies, and is bounded on the north by the Moray Frith, on the east by the river Lossie, and on the south by the lake of Spynie, a piece of fresh water three miles in length and one in breadth, well stocked with eels and pike, and the resort of numerous aquatic birds. It is about four miles long and two broad, and comprises 4480 acres, of which 3385 are in tillage, 365 underwood, and the remainder uncultivated. The coast is bold and rocky; and at the distance of a mile from the shore, opposite to the Coulard and Causea hills, is a dangerous reef, the dread of mariners, the centre of which, however, being always above water, serves as a beacon for avoiding the lower branches, stretching along unseen to a considerable distance on each side. There is a harbour at the village of Lossiemouth, at the mouth of the river, and the numerous caves and fissures near the hamlet of Causea or Cove-sea, constitute a distinct and interesting feature. The whole of the rock in this latter direction is a continuous mass of freestone, the softer parts of which, by the action of the winds and waves, have been wrought into a great variety of arches and pillars; a little to the west is a cave, once the cell of a hermit, and used by Sir Robert Gordon in the rebellion of 1745, for concealing his horses, when the followers of Prince Charles were ravaging this district, and farther in the same direction are many other caverns, but the coast is too rugged and dangerous to allow them to be explored.

All the low lands in the parish were formerly covered by the sea, which, when it receded, left a beach of stones rising from eight to twenty feet in height above the level of the lands under tillage, and which is beneficial as a protection from the storms on the north. The interior is flat, and the soil of great diversity of quality, good and bad alternating with each other in rapid succession throughout. The low-drained grounds consist of a rich loam or clayey marl, and produce fine crops; the higher lands have a lighter soil, resting upon a gravelly bed or on white sand, and the central portion is of the worst description, having been denuded of its surface for the purposes of fuel. The usual white and green crops are raised, in some parts of superior quality, and the six-shift course is followed; but husbandry is in a comparatively low state, very little land having undergone the process of draining, and some of the modern improvements being only partially in operation. The rateable annual value of the parish is £5208. The freestone from the Causea quarries supplies abundance of stone, which has been extensively used for ornamental work in the mansions of this and several adjacent counties; and in the fluor-spar rocks of the Coulard hill, lead has been discovered of superior quality, near which there is a bed of limestone. A vein of lead was found and worked about the close of the last century, but the operation was discontinued, the return being found inadequate to the expense. The plantations, of very limited extent, consist of fir irregularly scattered about the waste tract in the middle of the parish, and one or two clumps in the south-east. The mansion of Gordonstown, situated on the estate of that name, the seat of the Cummings, is a large structure in the Dutch style, repaired and enlarged in 1730, and the residence for several centuries of the Gordons, of Gordonstown.

The parish is in the presbytery of Elgin and synod of Moray, and in the patronage of Sir William Gordon Gordon Cumming, of Altyre and Gordonstown, Bart.; the minister's stipend is £242, with a manse, and a glebe of six acres. The present church was built in 1823, nearly in the centre of the parish, but somewhat inconveniently for the villages, where the bulk of the population, which is rapidly increasing, is situated. The parochial school, in the western portion of the parish, affords instruction in the usual branches; the master has a salary of £36, with £6 fees, and also participates in the benefit of the Dick bequest. A charitable fund, raised by subscription in 1806, for the benefit of the families of twenty-one seamen who lost their lives in a storm, till lately afforded relief to the objects for whom the collection was made, by an annual distribution of the proceeds. There is a burial-ground containing a stone cross eight feet high, at the west-end of the parish, covered with grave-stones, and formerly the site of the ancient church of Ogston; here now stands the splendid mausoleum of the Gordon family, and about half a mile to the east is the ruin of a church built in 1666. A mile farther eastward is the burial-ground of Kinnedar, where stood the church of that name, the foundations of which are now scarcely discernible; and adjoining are the remains of the castle of Kinnedar, a very strong and extensive fortification, called also the episcopal palace, where Archibald, the tenth bishop of Moray, and other bishops, resided before the cathedral was fixed at Spynie. On the summit of the Causea hills is a range of artificial conical mounds of earth, styled the "warlike hills," at nearly equal distances, and from twenty to thirty feet in height, constructed for signal stations, and used at different periods by the possessors of the lands for communicating important information and various other purposes.

Dreghorn

DREGHORN, a parish, in the district of Cunninghame, county of Ayr, 2 miles (E. by S.) from Irvine; containing 1222 inhabitants. This place anciently formed part of the property of the De Morvilles, constables of Scotland, whose ancestor appears to have obtained large possessions here in the reign of Alexander I., and from whose family it passed, with the heiress of William de Morville, to Ronald, Lord of Galloway. Ronald's granddaughter, Helen, early in the thirteenth century, married Roger de Quincy, Earl of Winchester, who, in her right, became constable of Scotland, and proprietor of the De Morville estates; and the lands were subsequently conveyed, by marriage with his daughters, co-heiresses, to William de Ferrars and Alan de la Zouch, ancestors of the present Marquess Townshend and the lords Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in the county of Leicester. The estates, however, were soon after forfeited to the crown, from the adherence of those noblemen to the interests of John Baliol; and the barony of Dreghorn was granted by Robert Bruce to Sir Alan Stewart, who was killed in the battle of Hallidown Hill, and whose descendants, afterwards earls of Darnley and Lennox, retained possession of it till the year 1520. It then became the property of Hugh, first earl of Eglinton, and his descendant is the present proprietor. The parish is about eight miles in length, and varies from three-quarters of a mile to two miles in breadth; it is bounded on the west and north by the Annock water, on the east by the Gawreer burn, and on the south by the Irvine river. It comprises 4477 acres, of which 1500 are arable, 2750 meadow and pasture, and about 120 woodland and plantations. The surface is level towards the sea, and rises in gentle undulations inland; the scenery throughout is pleasingly picturesque, and the banks of the Annock abound with natural beauty, heightened by several handsome villas and seats embosomed in thriving plantations.

The soil is for the greater part a deep rich loam, and in other places intermixed with gravel; the chief crops are barley and wheat, with potatoes and turnips. The system of agriculture is in an advanced state, and the rotation plan of husbandry generally adopted; much of the land has been improved by draining. Great attention is paid to the management of dairy-farms; butter and Dunlop cheese are sent to the adjacent markets, and all due regard is paid to the improvement of the breed of live-stock. The cows on the dairy-farms are the Ayrshire, and the sheep are mostly of the black-faced and Cheviot kinds, with a few of the South Down breed, recently introduced. Coal abounds in the neighbourhood, and is extensively worked, and freestone of excellent quality is found; limestone, also, is quarried in the north-east part of the parish. The rateable annual value of Dreghorn is £10,130. Annock Lodge is a handsome residence situated on the south bank of the Annock, in a tastefully-ornamented demesne, enriched with thriving plantations; and Pierceton, Righouse, Cunningham Head, and Warrickhill are also good houses. The village is on the road from Kilmarnock to Irvine, and is irregularly built upon a gentle acclivity commanding a view of the sea; most of the houses are of ancient appearance, and the general aspect, from the number of old trees with which the buildings are interspersed, is cheerful and extremely pleasing. The parish is in the presbytery of Irvine and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and in the patronage of Lady Montgomerie. The minister's stipend is £250, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £13 per annum. The church, situated in the village, is a substantial edifice erected within the last seventy years, and adapted for a congregation of 430 persons. The parochial school affords education to about 100 scholars; the master has a salary of £29.18., with £50 fees, and a house and garden. There is also a school which has a small endowment in addition to the fees.

Dron

DRON, a parish, in the county of Perth, 1½ mile (S.S.E.) from Bridge of Earn; containing 441 inhabitants. The name in the Gaelic tongue signifies a projection, a term descriptive of the locality in which the church and manse are placed. The parish lies a mile south of the river Earn, and, including a tongue of land in Dunbarny parish, penetrating it, measures in length, from east to west, between three and four miles; it extends about three miles in breadth, comprising 4100 acres, and of these 2600 are under cultivation, 400 in wood, and the remainder hill pasture. It consists principally of a tract sloping towards the north from the Ochil hills, which form the southern boundary of the beautiful vale of Strathearn; and exhibits a series of wellcultivated and inclosed fields, seen to great advantage by travellers passing along the high road. Some of the hills on the southern extremity of the parish are ornamented with extensive plantations of fir, birch, ash, and other trees, disposed in belts and clumps; and the remaining high grounds in this direction present in general a smooth and verdant surface. Several rivulets run from the hilly parts, and the Farg, which abounds with fine trout, after flowing, from its source in the Ochil range five or six miles distant, through a deep, narrow, and well-wooded glen of great beauty, forms a boundary line between this parish and that of Abernethy, and falls into the Earn at Culfargie. The Soil varies in quality according to its proximity to the hills. The lands verging towards the north are clayey and loamy, with some till, and produce rich crops of wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, turnips, clover, peas, and beans. On the higher grounds, however, the earth is more shallow and mixed with rock; the best crops in this division, consisting of barley, oats, turnips, and potatoes, are produced chiefly in the flats and hollows, the other parts being too much exposed to high winds for successful farming, and large tracts are wholly unfit for cultivation, and afford only indifferent pasture for sheep and cattle. The husbandry in general is of a superior character, and in progress of improvement, especially in regard to tile-draining, which is extensively practised, and is particularly adapted to the soil, it being for the most part retentive and clayey. The substratum is freestone, which is occasionally quarried; and the indications of the existence of coal are so great that many attempts to find it have been made since the year 1758, though without success. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4300.

The chief residence is Balmanno Castle, once the seat of the Murrays, baronets of Balmanno, and now the property of the nephew of the last baronet, who was killed at the age of twenty-two at Long Island, in the American war: the edifice, part of which is very ancient, is still in excellent preservation, and is considered a fine specimen of an old castle and mansionhouse. There is also a neat modern mansion called Glenearn. The high road from Edinburgh to Perth runs through the parish; farming produce is sent for sale to Perth, Newburgh, and Kinross, and large shipments of potatoes are made to London. Dron is in the presbytery of Perth and synod of Perth and Stirling, and in the patronage of the Crown; the minister's stipend is £180, with a manse and glebe valued at about £45 per annum, and £4 per annum in lieu of coal. The church was built about the year 1816, and is a plain neat edifice, beautifully situated on an eminence at the base of the Ochils, commanding extensive views of the picturesque scenery of part of Strathearn, the Carse of Gowrie, and the Ochil range. The parochial school affords instruction in the ordinary branches; the master receives a salary of £34, and his premises and the school-house have been lately rebuilt at a cost of £560. In the churchyard is the grave-stone of John Welwood, a celebrated minister in the time of Charles II., who died at Perth in 1679, and was buried here during the night. An old chapel with a burial-ground, formerly standing at the entrance of Glenfarg, has been pulled down to give place to the new Edinburgh road; and the ruin of another yet remains in the west end of the parish. On the southern declivity of a hill opposite the church, is a large mass of whinstone, about ten feet long and seven broad, and deviating from the perpendicular, called the rocking-stone of Dron.

Dronley

DRONLEY, a village, in the parish of Auchterhouse, county of Forfar, 2 miles (N. by E.) from Liff; containing 103 inhabitants. This is a neat and pleasing village, situated a little east of the road between Dundee and Meigle. A fine rivulet issuing from the lake of Lundie, and running along the southern border of the parish, is here joined by another small stream, and both uniting form the Dighty water, which empties itself into the Tay four miles east of Dundee.

Drumblade

DRUMBLADE, a parish, in the district of Strathbogie, county of Aberdeen, 5 miles (E.) from Huntly; containing 945 inhabitants. The ancient name of this parish, Drumblait, which is Gaelic, signifies "covered hills or braes." King Robert Bruce is said to have lain encamped here during a time of severe sickness, and to have kept in check Comyn, Earl of Buchan, one of the most powerful of the Scottish barons, who had pursued him hither, just before the battle of Barra, which was fought between them in the year 1307. The spot where the king intrenched himself was a height upon Sliach, still called "Robin's height." Some years ago, vestiges were visible of an encampment supposed to have been a part of the works of Bruce's station; and some tumuli, as well as immense masses of stone yet remaining in the vicinity, are said to have been connected with the same fortifications. A hill called "the battle hill" is thought to have been the scene of a conflict, at a later period, between the Cummings and the Gordons. The parish is about six miles in its greatest length, and between four and five miles in its greatest breadth, and contains above 7600 acres. The surface is diversified by small hills, mostly cultivated, and by gently sloping valleys, with an extensive plain on the north, called the Knightland Moss, so level that, from the want of a proper fall for the water, the draining of it was long incomplete, though the whole of the tract is now under the plough or in pasture. There are several streams, but the only one of consequence is the Bogie, which divides the parish on the west from the town of Huntly.

The soil presents numerous varieties, of which the prevailing is a deep rich loam, producing, if well cultivated, and favoured by the season, very fine crops. A large part, however, is stiff and heavy, with a cold crusty subsoil, which greatly impedes agricultural operations; and in some places the soil is light and sharp, resting upon loose sand or gravel. About 6000 acres are arable, 1100 unimproved, and 500 planted with larch and Scotch fir, and a little spruce and beech; all kinds of crops are raised, but of the grain, oats most prevail, wheat being little cultivated in the parish. The live stock are numerous, and form a principal object of attention; they are chiefly the Aberdeenshire mixed with the Highland breed, but crosses with the short-horned have of late become common. The best system of husbandry is practised, and the improvements by draining, reclaiming waste ground and planting, have been so considerable within the last thirty years, that the aspect of the parish has been almost entirely changed; the farm-houses and offices, and the inclosures, however, are still in a somewhat inferior condition. The substrata afford granite, whinstone, and limestone, the first of which is excellent. The parish contains the mansion-house of Lessendrum, partly an old and partly a modern building. Most of the inhabitants are engaged in agricultural pursuits, but a few are employed in a distillery, a bleachfield, and two potato-flour manufactories, and in a meal-mill, a lint-mill, and two wool-mills: at the distillery 40,000 gallons of superior malt spirits are annually produced, yielding to government about £10,000 a year in duty. The Aberdeen and Inverness great post-road, and the Huntly and Banff turnpike-road, run through the parish, the one two miles south, and the other a mile and a half north-west of the church. The rateable annual value of Drumblade is £5520. The ecclesiastical affairs are directed by the presbytery of Turriff and synod of Aberdeen; patron, the Earl of Kintore. The stipend is £159, of which £51 are paid by the exchequer, and there is a good manse, with a glebe of ten arable acres, valued at £16 per annum. The church, a plain edifice, was built in 1773, and improved in 1829, and contains 500 sittings. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship. The parochial schoolmaster receives £30 a year, and about £24 fees, with an allowance for a house, and a portion of the Dick bequest: Latin, mathematics, mensuration, and all the ordinary branches are taught. There is also a good parochial library. The Rev. George Abel, minister of the parish, left £100 in 1793, and his widow a similar sum several years afterwards, for the benefit of the poor. Dr. William Bisset, late Bishop of Raphoe, in Ireland, was proprietor of Lessendrum, and was interred here in 1834.

Drumeldrie-Muir

DRUMELDRIE-MUIR, a village, in the parish of Newburn, district of St. Andrew's, county of Fife, 1¼ mile (E.) from Largo; containing 82 inhabitants. The name of the parish was anciently Drumeldrie, changed to Newburn from the circumstance, it is said, of a small rivulet in the parish having altered its course. The village is situated about half a mile distant from the shore of Largo bay, and on the high road from Largo to Elie: a little to the north-east is the moor.

Drumglay

DRUMGLAY, a village, in the parish of Glammis, county of Forfar, 2 miles (W.) from Forfar; containing 66 inhabitants. It is situated in the extreme north-east point of the parish, a short distance from the Dean river and the loch of Forfar, the former on the south, and the latter eastward, of the village.

Drumlanrig

DRUMLANRIG, a village, in the parish of Durisdeer, county of Dumfries, 3½ miles (N. N. W.) from Thornhill. This place is distinguished for its magnificent palace of Drumlanrig, the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, and formerly that of the dukes of Queensberry. It is a large square pile, standing on a rising ground, and looking down with its almost innumerable windows on the plain beneath, the river Nith flowing at a short distance from its walls, which are covered with a profusion of hearts and stars, and the arms of Douglas, and crowned by twelve fine turrets. The palace was built in the 17th century, by the first duke of Queensberry, from the designs of Inigo Jones, and its erection occupied ten years: around it are oldfashioned gardens, which are kept in good order; and in its vicinity, a line of yew-trees, overspread by creeping plants, presents a peculiarly venerable appearance. Formerly, in one of the parks was preserved a herd of the original wild cattle of Scotland, animals of a milk-white, except their noses, ears, and the orbits of their eyes, these being of a dark brown colour. In the churchyard of Durisdeer is a curious monument to "James Lukup, master of the works of Drumlanrig," bearing the date 1685.

Drumlemble

DRUMLEMBLE, a village, in the parish of Camp-Belltown, district of Cantyre, county of Argyll; containing 462 inhabitants. It is seated in the immediate vicinity of a large colliery, in which its male population is for the most part engaged.

Drumlithie

DRUMLITHIE, a village, in the parish of Glenbervie, county of Kincardine, 6 miles (W. S. W.) from Stonehaven; containing 397 inhabitants. It lies in the southern part of the parish, a short distance west of the high road from Stonehaven to Laurencekirk, and about a mile east-north-east of the church; the inhabitants are principally weavers and shoemakers. There is a post daily, Wednesdays excepted; and two stage coaches pass through the village every day on their route between Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Here are an episcopal chapel, and a place of worship for members of the Free Church; and a small school.

Drummelzier

DRUMMELZIER, a parish, in the county of Peebles; containing 228 inhabitants, of whom 63 are in the village, 2 miles (E.) from Rachan-Mill. This parish, in ancient documents Drumellar and Drumeler, anciently formed part of the parish of Tweedsmuir, from which it was separated in 1643; and in 1742 it was augmented by the annexation of part of the parish of Dawick, of which the remainder was added to Stobo. It appears to have been from a very remote period the property of the family of Tweedie, of whom Sir James Tweedie, to whose memory there is an inscription, dated 1617, over the entrance of a cemetery attached to the church, was the last member. The parish is about fourteen miles in length, and from three to four in average breadth, and is bounded on the north for about eight miles by the river Tweed, which, also, in the upper portion divides it into two parts. It comprises 17,386 acres, of which 1030 are arable, 189 meadow and low pasture, 520 woodland and plantations, and 16,647 hilly moor, affording tolerable pasture for sheep and cattle. The surface is generally mountainous, but between the hills and the river are some fine tracts of level pasture; the hills are clothed with grass and heath, and the scenery is enlivened by some stately timber, and thriving plantations of modern growth. The soil is sharp, and the principal crops are oats and barley, with a few acres of wheat, peas, potatoes, and turnips; the system of agriculture is in an improved state; the lands are well drained, and inclosed chiefly with fences of stone. Considerable attention is paid to the management of the dairy-farms, and to the rearing and pasture of sheep and cattle; about 200 milch-cows are kept, and 7000 sheep, chiefly of the black-faced breed, are fed in the pastures. The rateable annual value of the parish is £2993.

The woods are oak, chesnut, sycamore, and larch, and on the older lands are many trees of luxuriant growth; the plantations are Scotch fir and larch, intermixed with various forest trees. The substrata are mostly whinstone with veins of quartz, white and very compact limestone, and slate; but no quarries have yet been opened. Dawick, a seat in the parish lately rebuilt, is a handsome mansion in the antique style of architecture, situated in a well-planted demesne, containing a fine collection of pine-trees from the Himalaya mountains and California. The village, which is irregularly built, is pleasant, and is chiefly inhabited by persons employed in agriculture. The river Tweed and its tributaries abound with trout, and salmon are also found in the former from September till March. The parish is ecclesiastically in the presbytery of Peebles and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, and in the patronage of the family of Trotter; the minister's stipend is £192, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £10 per annum. The church, situated nearly in the centre of the parish, and at an elevation of 800 feet above the sea, is an ancient structure in good repair, and adapted for a congregation of 200 persons. The parochial school affords instruction to about thirty children; the master has a salary of £32, with £10 fees, and a house and garden. At Kingledoors, in the upper part of the parish, was an ancient chapel dedicated to St. Cuthbert, the early evangelist of Tweeddale. There are remains of two castles: the one called Tinnes or Thanes Castle, of which there is no authentic record, was of quadrilateral form, with circular towers at the angles, and walls of six feet in thickness; and the other, called Drummelzier Place, is supposed to have been the baronial seat of the Tweedie family. On the summit of one of the mountains, are vestiges of a road thought to have been part of the Roman road communicating with the line from Falkirk to Carlisle. Near the junction of the Powsail rivulet with the Tweed, is a spot said to have been the grave of Merlin.

Drummetermont

DRUMMETERMONT, a village, in the parish of Dunnichen, county of Forfar; containing 117 inhabitants. It is situated in the north-eastern part of the parish, and nearly adjoins the village of Letham on the north side. The village is long and straggling, and is chiefly inhabited by farmers and small weavers.

Drummond

DRUMMOND, a village, in the parish of Kiltearn, county of Ross and Cromarty, 6 miles (N. N. E.) from Dingwall; containing 72 inhabitants. This place is seated in a level field near the Skiack rivulet, on the road from Dingwall to Novar Inn: the parochial church stands a short distance from it.

Drumoak

DRUMOAK, a parish, chiefly in the district and county of Aberdeen, but partly in the county of Kincardine, 11 miles (W. S. W.) from Aberdeen; containing 811 inhabitants. The original name of this place was Dalmaik, by which it is still generally called by the inhabitants, though the denomination of Drumoak has also been used for more than 300 years; the latter appellation is said to be derived from the Gaelic word drum, signifying the ridge of a hill, and the term Moloch, corrupted into Moak, the name of a celebrated saint to whose honour a monastery was erected in St. Servanus' isle, on the water of Leven. The name of Dalmaik is compounded of the Gaelic Dal, a haugh or valley, and St. Moloch, corrupted into Maik, and signifies the valley of St. Moloch, a description applicable to the district containing the ruins of the old church, near which is a well called St. Maik's Well. The parish consists of four estates, Drum, Leys, Park, and Culter, of which the first comprehends one-half of the whole lands, and is possessed by the Irvine family, the first of whom, William de Irvin, was armour-bearer to Robert Bruce, and was rewarded by him for his zeal and fidelity with a grant of the forest of Drum, conveyed by charter under the great seal in 1323. Leys, situated in Kincardineshire, has been held for more than 500 years by the ancestors of the present proprietor, Sir Thomas Burnet, Bart. The lands of Park formed part of the chase attached to the royal forest of Drum, one of the hunting-seats of the kings of Scotland, and having been reserved by Robert when he made the grant of the forest, were given by David Bruce to Walter Moigne, since which they have passed through different families. The lands of Culter belonged at an early period to the family of Drum.

The parish approaches in figure to a triangle, but the outline is very irregular; it measures six miles in length, and averages two in breadth, comprising 7190 acres, of which 1797 are in the county of Kincardine. Of the Aberdeenshire portion 3467 acres are under cultivation, 485 are waste or continual pasture, including 80 capable of improvement, and 1441 are under wood; of the Kincardineshire portion 798 acres are under cultivation, 793 waste or continual pasture, 300 of the number being capable of improvement, and 206 are under wood. The surface is agreeably varied by gentle undulations, rising from the boundaries on all sides but the east to the Drum hill in the centre, which is 500 feet above the level of the sea; in the eastern part the Ord hill attains an abrupt elevation of 430 feet, its ridge stretching to the boundary of the parish in that direction. The most extensive and beautiful prospect in the neighbourhood is obtained from the southern peak of Drum hill, comprehending a tract stretching almost from the German Ocean on the east along the valley of the river Dee, which forms the southern boundary of the parish, and closed on the south by the Grampian range, and on the west by lofty mountains often crowned with snow. The Dee has long been celebrated for its fine salmon; the fisheries were once much more profitable than at present in this locality, a diminution in the number of fish having arisen from the stake and bag nets so thickly planted along the coast, and at the river's mouth. The loch of Drum, a fine sheet of water of oblong form, covers nearly eighty-five acres, and is highly ornamental, its margin being beautifully fringed with alders, and three of its sides dressed with thriving plantations of larch, birch, and Scotch fir. Excellent pike, numerous eels, and a few perch are found in the loch, and common trout are taken, by angling, in the burns of Gormac and Culter, which separate this parish on the north from those of Echt and Peterculter; these fish also are all found in the pellucid stream of the Dee, with par, sea-trout, white trout, and flounders.

The soil is mostly of inferior quality, and on account of its general dryness, occasioned partly by a gravelly and porous subsoil, the farmers have much to contend with. The lands near the river are light and sandy, and incumbent on gravel, and when penetrated by the heat of the sun in scorching summers, are dried up; the parts, however, which have been the longest under cultivation and most manured, are rich and loamy, bearing good crops. In the other portions of the parish the land is either thin and moorish, resting on till or some retentive subsoil, or consists of beds of peat, in which are found many fragments of trees, and from which, though to a great extent exhausted, fuel is still partly obtained for the supply of the parish. All kinds of grain are raised, with turnips, potatoes, and hay. The number of sheep has been greatly reduced in consequence of the conversion of large tracts of pasture into arable ground; the black-cattle are the Aberdeenshire polled breed, variously mixed, and recently much improved, and many swine are reared both for domestic use and for the porkcurers at Aberdeen. The prevailing system of husbandry is the seven-shift course, and large quantities of bone-dust are applied as manure; a considerable portion of marshy land has been reclaimed, and embankments have been raised at a great cost on the estate of Park. The rateable annual value of Drumoak is £2532. The rocks in the parish are of little interest or value, and consist chiefly of gneiss and granite, boulders of which are abundant, and are used for the erection of fences and farm-steadings. The wood principally comprises larch and Scotch fir, intermixed with birch and other trees; and very fine specimens of old oak, ash, plane, and elm adorn the grounds belonging to the mansion of Drum, a spacious edifice in the Elizabethan style, built in 1619, with a venerable tower adjoining, supposed to have been erected in the twelfth century. The mansion of Park is also a handsome structure, built in 1822, in the Grecian style of architecture, and surrounded with extensive and well laid-out grounds. The turnpike-road from Braemar to Aberdeen passes through the whole length of the parish. Fairs for the sale of cattle are held at Park Inn on the first Monday in January, the first Monday in April, the Monday after the second Tuesday in May, the second Tuesday in July (O. S.), and the Tuesday before the 22nd of November; but they are of recent institution, and badly attended. The parish is in the presbytery and synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of Alexander Irvine, Esq.; the minister's stipend is £158, of which upwards of a third is received from the exchequer, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £22 per annum. The old church, removed in 1835, is supposed to have stood about 300 years, and was inconveniently situated on a strip of land stretching into the parish of Peterculter; the present structure, placed on nearly a central spot, is a neat and comfortable place of worship, raised at an expense of above £1000, and contains 630 sittings, all free. A parochial subscription library was instituted in 1827, and contains upwards of 300 volumes. The parochial school affords instruction in Latin and mathematics, in addition to the ordinary branches; the master has a salary of £30, with about £22 fees, and £10 in meal, for teaching twelve poor children, left by the family of Drum. James Gregory, the inventor of the reflecting-telescope, was a native of the parish.

Drumochy

DRUMOCHY, a village, in the parish of Largo, district of St. Andrew's, county of Fife, 2 miles (E. N. E.) from Leven; containing 156 inhabitants. This place is separated from Nether Largo by the mouth of the Keel rivulet, which forms the harbour, opening into Largo bay; the population are chiefly fishermen. The trade in salt, for which there were formerly many works here, has altogether disappeared.

Drumore

DRUMORE, a village, in the parish of Kirkmaiden, county of Wigton, ¾ of a mile (S. E.) from Kirkmaiden; containing 279 inhabitants. This village is seated on the eastern shore of the peninsula called the Rhinns of Galloway, and has a good harbour and quay, with safe anchorage for shipping. Four vessels, of between sixteen and thirty-seven tons' burthen, belong to the port, whence farm produce is shipped to various places; and in Luce bay some fishing is carried on. There is a daily post from Stranraer, distant south-south-east about twenty miles. Above the village are the ruins of Drumore Castle, which from its position and magnitude must have been of great strength and importance.

Drums

DRUMS, a hamlet, in the parish of Errol, county of Perth; containing 73 inhabitants.

Drumsturdy-Muir

DRUMSTURDY-MUIR, a village, in the parish of Monifieth, county of Forfar, 6½ miles (N. E.) from Dundee; containing 176 inhabitants. It is situated on both sides of the old road from Dundee to Arbroath, and is long and straggling. In its immediate vicinity is the Hill of Laws, on which are the remains of a fortification, the stones bearing the marks of vitrification or fusion. A considerable quantity of gold coins was found a few years since near this spot.

Drumvaich

DRUMVAICH, a hamlet, in the parish of Kilmadock with Doune, county of Perth; containing 49 inhabitants.

Dryburgh

DRYBURGH, a village, in the parish of Mertoun, county of Berwick, 1½ mile (W.) from Mertoun. It is beautifully situated on the river Tweed, which forms the southern boundary of the parish; and was formerly a market-town of some importance, but is now chiefly remarkable for the much admired remains of its ancient abbey. So early as the year 522, St. Modan, one of the first Christian missionaries in Britain, was abbot of Dryburgh; but from the circumstance of this original institution being unnoticed by historians subsequently to this period, it is supposed that the abbot and monks were shortly afterwards transferred to Melrose, and some centuries elapsed before the formation of a second establishment here. Hugh de Morville, constable of Scotland, about the middle of the twelfth century, with the consent of his wife, Beatrix de Bello Campo, founded a new abbey, to which David I. granted a charter of confirmation, and the establishment was afterwards enriched by numerous benefactions from illustrious personages. In 1544, the whole of the town was burnt down, except the church, by the English army under Sir George Bowes; and in the year following, the monastery was plundered and burnt by the Earl of Hertford. About the year 1556, David Erskine, a natural son of Lord Erskine, and one of the sub-preceptors to James VI., became abbot. That monarch, however, soon after dissolved the abbey, and bestowed it as a temporal lordship, under the title of Cardross, on John, Earl of Mar, lord high treasurer of Scotland, with the privilege annexed of assigning that title of peerage, which he conveyed to Henry, his third son, ancestor of the present Earl of Buchan, by a deed dated 13th of March, 1617, and confirmed by the king and parliament. In 1786, the abbey was purchased by the Earl of Buchan from the heirs of Colonel Tod, who had bought it from the family of Haliburton, of Newmains. The remains, though not extensive, are of very considerable interest; they are romantically overgrown with ivy, and consist chiefly of the chapter-house, north transept, and St. Modan's chapel: some parts of the ruins are of very early date, there being vestiges of the Saxon and Norman styles as well as of the early English. The environs are famed for their delightful scenery, and are ornamented with various pleasing objects, among which is a temple erected to the Muses, and surmounted by a bust of Thomson, the author of The Seasons. A colossal statue of Sir William Wallace crowns the brow of an adjoining hill; and near the ruins of the abbey is a remarkably light and elegant bridge for foot passengers and led horses, consisting of a platform of wood, elevated eighteen feet above the surface of the water, and fixed to pillars on each side of the river by chains. Sir Walter Scott was buried at Dryburgh.

Dryfesdale

DRYFESDALE, a parish, in the county of Dumfries, 14 miles (N. N. W.) from Annan; containing, with the town of Lockerbie, 2093 inhabitants. This parish, which derives its name from the Dryfe, a small rivulet running through the north-west part of it, contains several memorials of its ancient inhabitants, and of their domestic feuds or military operations. There are vestiges of eight camps, some square or Roman, others circular or British, the most remarkable of which are two, the one British and the other Roman, facing each other, and separated by a narrow morass; they are on two hills east of the village of Bengall, a term perhaps implying "the hill of the Gauls." Old pieces of armour and warlike weapons have frequently been found in them; and not many years ago the skeleton of a man was discovered in a cairn in the morass, with sandals which, as a great curiosity, were sent to the museum at Oxford. There is also a Roman work situated upon an eminence in the centre of the extensive holm of Dryfe and Annan, and which is called Gallaberry, or the station of the Gauls. The most perfect relic of this kind, however, is the British fort at Dryfesdale-gate, occupying two acres of ground, and the counterpart of which is a large Roman work, about half a mile due east, separated only by a moor, on which a bloody battle was fought between the army of Julius Agricola and the forces of Corbredus Galdus, the Scottish king. On the holm of Dryfe, half a mile below the former churchyard, there is still remaining an old thorntree pointing out the place of the celebrated fight on Dryfe-sands, between the Maxwells of Nithsdale and the Johnstons of Annandale, on the 7th December, 1593, when the former were defeated with great slaughter. The highland part of the parish, which is divided from the lowland by a range of green hills, was once a parish of itself, called Little Hutton, and the church and burying-ground were at Hall-dykes; but the time of annexation to Dryfesdale is uncertain. Besides this church there were two other places of public worship within the limits of the present parish, viz., the chapel of Beckton, supposed to have belonged to the Knights Templars, and the chapel at Quaas, about a quarter of a mile west from Lockerbie.

The parish is seven miles in its greatest length, from north to south, and varies in breadth from one to three and a half miles, comprising 11,000 acres. It is situated in the middle of the beautiful and extensive valley called the How of Annandale, and is bounded on the south and west by the river Annan, which separates it from the parish of Lochmaben. The surface in the southern and western parts is tolerably level, but towards the north there are lofty hills, most of which, once covered with pasture, are now productive of grain, potatoes, and other crops. The highest and most beautiful hill, and one from which the prospects are highly interesting and very extensive, is called sometimes Quhyte-Woolen, but usually White-Ween, from its having formerly been the place for the pasturage of very white sheep; it rises about 700 feet in height, and is now covered with waving corn. Beacon-fires are supposed to have been once lighted on it, to warn the inhabitants of the approach of the English borderers. The only river within the parish is the Dryfe, but the Annan, Corrie, and Milk all touch it on their passage to the Solway Frith, and are well stocked with various kinds of fish: in dry weather the Dryfe is a small rivulet, but in a rainy season it rolls along with great impetuosity, overflowing its banks, and spreading desolation among the lands. The whole of the parish is cultivated, with the exception of 600 acres, 250 of which are wood, and the others moss and moor; and all kinds of grain and green crops are grown, the value of which is very considerable. The chief rock is whinstone or greywacke, which is very abundant; some soft freestone and dark-coloured limestone are also found, and the latter of them wrought. The rateable annual value of the parish is returned at £7670. The ecclesiastical affairs are subject to the presbytery of Lochmaben and synod of Dumfries; patron, the Crown. The minister's stipend is £190, and there is a good manse, delightfully situated, with a glebe valued at £25 per annum. The church, built in 1796, and altered in 1837, stands on a small eminence on the west side of the main street of Lockerbie, a little north from the centre of the town; it is handsomely fitted up, and seats 900 people. There is an Antiburgher meeting-house at Lockerbie; also a parochial school, in which Latin, Greek, French, practical geometry, with the usual branches, are taught, and the master of which has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and £33 fees. The parish also contains a parochial subscription library. There are plain traces of the great Roman road from the borders of England to the vast encampments on the neighbouring hill of Burnswark, and thence crossing the parish at Lockerbie to Dryfesdale-gate, and to Gallaberry, where it divided, one branch leading through Annandale, by Moffat, to Tweeddale and Clydesdale, and the other crossing the Annan, and passing through Nithsdale to the west country.

Drymen

DRYMEN, a parish, in the county of Stirling; including part of the late quoad sacra district of Bucklyvie, and containing 1515 inhabitants, of whom 344 are in the village of Drymen, 55 miles (W. by N.) from Edinburgh. The name of this place was originally written Drumen, which is derived from the Celtic word Druim, signifying a knoll or rise in the ground, and is strikingly descriptive of the locality, the surface being marked in many places by such eminences. The parish is situated in the south-western extremity of the county, and is very irregular in its outline, but approaching to a triangular form, and measuring in extreme length fifteen miles, and ten in breadth. It comprises 32,200 acres of which about 7000 are cultivated, 556 under wood, and the remainder hill and moorland, the last traversed by large numbers of native sheep and black-cattle, and consisting principally of two tracts, one of which, stretching from the east to the north-west, divides the parish into two parts, and the other, situated in the southern portion of the parish, is part of Stockiemuir. The former of these tracts, near its western extremity, has a lofty ridge separating this parish from that of Buchanan, and distinguished by the elevated points of Benvraick, 1600 feet, and Guallan, about 1300 feet above the level of the sea; and a little to the north of it the river Duchray, a tributary of the Forth, forms the boundary of Drymen for several miles. The lands north of this extensive mountainous moor are contained within the general basin of the Forth, and the southern lands within that of the Clyde. Between the two moors is the picturesque vale of the Endrick, which comprehends most of the arable land in the parish, and is remarkable for its beautiful scenery, heightened by the winding course of the stream, which, after running for a short distance through the parish, forms about two miles of its boundary on the south, and then loses itself in Loch Lomond. On the north-eastern limit of the parish passes the Forth, winding slowly along, and exhibiting, in the colour of its water, the effect of the mossy land through which it flows, and which is a continuous tract called the Flanders Moss. This moss, commencing here, and extending to Stirling, a distance of sixteen miles, is supposed to have been the site of an extensive forest forming part of the horrida sylva Caledoniæ cut down by the Romans to facilitate the conquest of the natives, who had their strong places in it; and the remains of gigantic trees still bear the mark of the axe by which they were hewn down.

The prevailing soil is poor and shallow, with a cold impervious subsoil, but in some favoured spots, such as the vale of the Endrick, there is a fine hazel mould, inclining to loam; the land towards the north is light and sandy, and about the Forth a deep rich clay is found under the moss. The husbandry practised here is of a very mixed character, the old system being still retained in some parts, in opposition to the rotation of crops and many great improvements, which have been introduced into others. The sheep pastured on the moorlands are chiefly the black-faced, and the cattle are the native black; for the improvement of the former, Linton and Lammermoor rams are sometimes purchased, and on the farms in the southern and western parts some fine Leicesters may be seen, and many good specimens of Ayrshire cattle. The live stock have been much improved by the encouragement given by the Strath-Endrick Club, instituted in 1816, which meets here annually in August, and of which the Duke of Montrose is patron. The rateable annual value of the parish is £10,032. The natural wood, mostly coppice, covers about 180 acres, and among it may be noticed some lofty oaks and beeches. There is a very fine ash at the gate of the churchyard, which is upwards of 200 years old, and measures in girth sixteen feet seven inches, at the height of one foot from the ground; the vale of Endrick is well wooded, and the plantations consist of 376 acres, belonging principally to the duke. The mansions are those of Park, Finnich, and Endrick-Bank. The village is situated a little north of the Endrick; its inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture, but there is a manufactory at Gartness for weaving woollen goods, where, also, the preparation of the raw material and the dyeing are carried on. The turnpike-road from Glasgow and Dumbarton to Stirling passes through the parish, and to the first place the produce of the lands is generally sent. Drymen is ecclesiastically in the presbytery of Dumbarton and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and in the patronage of the Crown; the minister's stipend is £272, with a manse, and a glebe of seven acres, valued at £19 per annum. The church, built in 1771, and reseated in 1810, is a substantial edifice in good repair, and contains about 400 sittings. The United Associate Secession have a place of worship. The parochial school is about half a mile from the village; the master has a salary of £31, with £25 fees. A parish library, now containing 400 volumes, was instituted in 1829, and a savings' bank in the same year. The northern portion of the parish, called the barony of Drummond, gives name to the Drummond family, the founder of which was a Hungarian named Maurice, who came over with Margaret, queen of Malcolm Canmore, and obtained lands here, and one of whose descendants, Anabella, daughter of Sir John Drummond, was united in marriage to Robert, Earl of Carrick, who succeeded to the throne as Robert III. In this barony, on the farm of Garfarran, are the remains of a fort said to have been erected by the Romans. Napier, the inventor of logarithms, resided at Gartness for a considerable period, during which he prosecuted his mathematical speculations.