Dailly - Dewartown

D

Dailly

DAILLY, a parish, in the district of Carrick, county of Ayr, 6 miles (S. by W.) from Maybole; containing 2272 inhabitants, of whom 591 are in the village. The parish is about seven miles in length, from east to west, and varies from four to six miles in breadth. The surface is chiefly one extended valley, bounded on both sides by hills of moderate elevation, and enlivened by natural woods and thriving plantations; and the prospect from the hills, including the winding course of the Girvan for nearly seven miles, in a direction parallel with the boundary of the parish, together with the fine demesnes along its banks, is extremely picturesque. The soil near the river is light, but very productive. On the south side of the valley it is incumbent on a bed of gravel, and is peculiarly favourable for pasture; on the north side it is intermixed with clay. The whole number of acres is estimated at 17,000, of which about 9000 are arable, 2500 woods and plantations, and the remainder pasture and moorland, of which not more than about 300 appear capable of being brought into cultivation. The crops are, wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips; the system of agriculture is greatly improved, and much of the moorland has been reclaimed. Great attention is paid to live stock; the cattle are of the Ayrshire breed, with a few of the Galloway, and some crosses between the Ayrshire and Teeswater breeds. The sheep are of three varieties, the black-faced, the Cheviot, and a cross between these two breeds. Embanking has been practised with great success: to prevent the inundation to which the lands were subject from the river Girvan, and to shorten its course, a new channel of about 210 yards in length was some time since formed, and on both sides of it a double embankment was raised. The woods consist of oak, ash, plane, elm, and birch, and the plantations are principally Scotch, larch, and spruce firs; they are well managed, and in a very thriving state. The rateable annual value of the parish is £10,695.

The substrata are chiefly coal, limestone, and freestone. The coal occurs in a large tract of elliptic form, about six miles in length, and 600 yards in breadth, forming part of the great coalfield extending from Edinburgh into the county of Ayr. It is of excellent quality; the quantity annually raised averages about 20,000 tons, and a great portion of it is shipped for the coast of Ireland. The limestone, which is also of good quality, is extensively quarried at Craighead, on the Bargany estate, and at Blair hill, on the lands of Kilkerran; the quantity annually produced is 100,000 bolls. The freestone is found in numerous places, but the most valuable occurs on the bases of the hills south of the coal basin, on the estate of Kilkerran, and the whitest and most compact lies near the centre of that tract. The materials for the building of the mansions of Kilkerran and Dalquharran, in this parish, and of Blairquhan, in the parish of Straiton, were raised from the freestone quarries here. Kilkerran and Dalquharran are handsome houses, pleasantly situated in demesnes richly embellished with plantations; the grounds of Bargany and Killochen are also fine. The village has been greatly enlarged and improved within the last few years; the new parts of it are regularly built, and the houses of neat appearance. It has a post-office under that of Maybole. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Ayr and synod of Glasgow and Ayr. The stipend of the incumbent is £348; the manse, built in 1801, is a comfortable residence, and the glebe comprises seven acres of land, valued at £15. 10. per annum. The church, which is in the village, is a substantial edifice erected in 1766, and adapted for 600 persons. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship. The parochial school, which is also a grammar school, is well conducted; the master has a salary of £30, with a house and garden, and the fees average £25. A parochial library has been established, and is supported by subscription; it has nearly 200 volumes, chiefly on religious subjects. At Machry-Kill was formerly a small church or chapel dedicated to St. Macarius, from which circumstance that place took its name; and at the extremity of a wild and romantic dell near Kilkerran, abounding with picturesque features, was a chapel dedicated to the Virgin, from which the place still retains the appellation of the Lady-Glen. At the western extremity of the ridge of hills that intersects the parish, are the remains of an ancient encampment of oval form, about 100 yards in length, and sixty-five in breadth at the centre; it is surrounded by a double intrenchment, of which the inner rampart is the more entire. It commands a most extensive view, and is supposed to have been connected with the history of Robert Bruce.

Dairsie

DAIRSIE, a parish, in the district of Cupar, county of Fife, 2 miles (E. N. E.) from Cupar; containing, with the village of Osnaburgh, or Dairsie-Muir, 669 inhabitants. This place is of some antiquity, and appears to have belonged to the see of St. Andrew's till the year 1520, when it was granted, by charter of Archbishop Foreman, to the family of Learmonth of Clatto, in whose possession it remained till the year 1616. It then became the property of Archbishop Spottiswood, from whose descendant, Sir John Spottiswood, it was conveyed to Sir George Morrison, Knt.; and it was subsequently purchased by Thomas, Earl of Kincardine. The estate was sold by the earl, in 1772, to General Scott, of Balcomy, whose daughter conveyed it by marriage to the Duke of Portland, by whom it was afterwards disposed of; and it is now divided among several proprietors. Dairsie Castle, the residence of Archbishop Spottiswood, and in which it is said he wrote his History of the Church of Scotland, though now a ruin, is in good preservation; it is situated on an eminence near the banks of the river Eden, and has an air of venerable antiquity. It was selected as a place of security and retirement, during the minority of David II., by the regents of Scotland.

The parish, which is bounded on the south and south-east by the Eden, is of irregular form, nearly three miles in length, and of almost equal breadth, comprising 2300 acres, of which, except about fifty acres in woodland and plantations, the whole is arable. The surface rises gently to a considerable elevation, and, towards the centre, into two conspicuous hills called respectively Foodie and Craigfoodie, of which the latter is 500 feet above the sea. Both these hills are cultivated to their summit; and Foodie, which is the less elevated, is crowned with plantations. The river, over which is a handsome bridge of three arches, erected by Archbishop Spottiswood, abounds with salmon and trout; and the Middlefoodie burn, a fine troutstream, also intersects the parish, and flows into the Eden. The soil is mostly fertile, and in many parts of great depth; the system of agriculture is excellent; the crops are, wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips, with the various grasses, and the crops generally are favourable. The substrata are chiefly whinstone and freestone; the former is quarried on the hill of Foodie, and the latter is found in abundance on the lands near the river. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4752.

The principal mansion-houses are, Craigfoodie, Pitormie, and New-Mill, all modern buildings. Woodend Cottage, a small but handsome residence, surrounded with wood, was occupied for some time by Lord William Russell, who was inhumanly murdered in London by his valet Courvoisier. The manufacture of dowlas is carried on under the direction of Mr. Inglis, in whose establishment about thirty-five persons are engaged; and there are two mills for the spinning of flax, one belonging to Mr. Annan, in which 5200 spindles, and one to Mr. Michael Smith, in which 31,250 spindles, are employed. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Cupar and synod of Fife. The minister's stipend is £250. 19., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £11 per annum; patron, Captain Mc Donald. The church, situated near the remains of the old castle, was erected by Archbishop Spottiswood, about the year 1621, and was originally an elegant structure in the later English style, of which it was one of the most beautiful specimens in the country. It underwent much mutilation, however, in the time of the Covenanters, who, in their zeal for the demolition of idolatrous monuments, in 1645 destroyed most of its richest details. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship. The parochial school is attended by about sixty children; the master has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and the fees average £25 per annum.

Dalarossie

DALAROSSIE, Inverness.—See Moy.

Dalavich

DALAVICH, Argyll.—See Kilchrenan.

Dalbeattie

DALBEATTIE, a village, in the parish of Urr, stewartry of Kirkcudbright, 3½ miles (S. E.) from Castle-Douglas; containing 1430 inhabitants. This place is of modern erection, and is built on the estates of the Copland and Maxwell families. It is seated on both sides of the Dalbeattie burn, and is admirably situated for trade, the river Urr being navigable so far from the Solway Frith for small vessels, and the burn, which is a considerable stream, being well adapted for driving machinery. The manufacture of paper is carried on. A large portion of the population is Irish, for whose labour, in the present state of the district, there is not a sufficient demand, and hence much poverty exists among them. A post-office is established under CastleDouglas. There is a place of worship in connexion with the Free Church; and a Roman Catholic chapel was built here about thirty years since.

Dalcross

DALCROSS, Nairn and Inverness.—See Croy.

Dalgarvan

DALGARVAN, a village, in the parish of Kilwinning, district of Cunninghame, county of Ayr, 1½ mile (N. by W.) from Kilwinning; containing 107 inhabitants. It is situated on the road from Irvine to Dalry, and on the west side of the Garnock river, which runs here in a direction nearly from north to south.

Dalgety

DALGETY, a parish, in the district of Dunfermline, county of Fife, 2 miles (W. S. W.) from Aberdour; containing, with the villages of St. David and Fordel-Square, and part of the villages of Crossgates and Hillend, 1265 inhabitants. This place, which is on the Frith of Forth, appears to have been indebted for its growth and importance to its situation in the heart of a district abounding in mineral wealth, and to the facilities it possessed of exporting the produce, from its proximity to the sea. The abundance and superior quality of the coal in the parish seem to have attracted attention at a very early period, and the mines are supposed to have been worked for nearly three centuries: none, however, are at present in operation. The parish is about five miles in length, and in some parts not more than one mile in breadth. The surface slopes gently from the Frith towards the more inland parts, where it attains an elevation of nearly 440 feet above the sea; and the higher grounds command an extensive and interesting view over the opposite shores of the Frith. The scenery is enlivened by the loch of Otterston, about three-quarters of a mile in length, and a quarter of a mile in breadth, the shores of which, enriched with plantations and with natural wood, and having a pleasing alternation of hill and valley, form a very picturesque and varied landscape. A rivulet descending from the higher grounds flows through a deep wooded dell, and, meeting with the stream of water from the drainage of the collieries at Fordel, is precipitated in its course from a rock, forming a strikingly romantic fall of nearly fifty feet.

The soil, especially in the southern part of the parish, is a deep black loam, mixed with clay; in the higher grounds, lighter; and in some of the lower, wet and swampy, with moss and heath. From the abundance of lime, however, the lands are in general fertile, and the system of agriculture is in a very advanced condition; draining has been carried on successfully, and the wet lands in the northern part have been greatly improved. The chief crops are, oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips; but there is little more than 1000 acres under cultivation, and about 240 in wood and plantations. The rateable annual value of the parish is £10,573. The substratum mainly consists of secondary rock; and sandstone, whinstone, bituminous shale, limestone, and coal are abundant. The sandstone is found in various parts, but of better quality in the southern portion of the parish; the limestone lies under the strata of coal, about fifty fathoms below the surface, and the coal, of which the beds are very extensive, are in many places intersected with dykes of sandstone, interspersed with limestone and quartz. The principal coal-works are on the estate of Fordel, and were in operation at a very early period, though not carried on to any great extent till within the last forty years. The quantity of coal raised annually at these works was about 70,000 tons, a great part of which, from its superior quality, was exported to the continent and to America; it was conveyed from the pits to the coast by a railroad of iron, in waggons containing from two to three tons each. The number of persons employed, including women and children, was about 550, for whose accommodation 130 houses had been built on the estate, with neat gardens; and there were many others regularly engaged in shipping the coal at the port of St. David. The great north road runs through a remote part of the parish.

Donibristle is a splendid domain along the shore: Fordel House is a handsome residence in extensive grounds embellished with plantations, and comprehending much interesting scenery; Cockairney is an ancient mansion, situated near the eastern extremity of the lake of Otterston, and on the northern bank is the old house of Otterston. St. Colme House, a modern edifice, is pleasantly situated opposite to the island of Inchcolm, in the Frith of Forth. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Dunfermline and synod of Fife. The stipend of the incumbent is £227; the manse is the finest in Scotland, and the glebe is valued at £20 per annum. The church, a very handsome edifice in the later English style, was erected in 1830, on a site about a mile to the north of the ancient church, which was close to the sea; it is adapted for 500 persons. The parochial school is well managed; the master has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and the fees on the average amount to £18. On the lands of the Earl of Moray are the remains of the ancient church, which was, previously to the Reformation, an appendage of the monastery on the island of Inchcolm. Within the area is the tomb of Chancellor Seaton, who was created Earl of Dunfermline in 1605; and in front of one of the remaining galleries, are the arms of the earls of Dunfermline.

Dalginross

DALGINROSS, a village, in the parish of Comrie, county of Perth, 6½ miles (W.) from Crieff; containing 317 inhabitants. This place is situated in the eastern part of the parish, and on the road from Crieff to Lochearnhead: the Earn water and Ruchill rivulet pass in its immediate vicinity. The village adjoins that of Comrie, and partakes of its trade, which is chiefly cotton-weaving. On the contiguous plain of Dalginross is a large Roman camp, of which Mr. Pennant has given a plan and description in his Tour.

Dalhousie

DALHOUSIE, a village, in the parish of Cockpen, county of Edinburgh, 1 mile (W.) from Cockpen; containing 99 inhabitants. It is a small and straggling place, situated south of the road between Cockpen and Lasswade. The neighbourhood is distinguished as the seat, for many generations, of the noble family of Ramsay, whose baronial mansion, Dalhousie Castle, stands on the banks of the South Esk, which flows at a few yards distance from the walls. It is of great antiquity, but has lost much of its former venerable aspect, having undergone many alterations from time to time, and been much modernised by the late Earl of Dalhousie. This illustrious nobleman and gallant officer, who rendered important services to his country through a brilliant military career in various parts of the globe, died at the castle in March 1838, in his sixty-eighth year, and was succeeded by his only surviving son, James Andrew, the tenth and present earl.

Dalintober

DALINTOBER, a village, in the parish of Campbelltown, district of Cantyre, county of Argyll, 1 mile (N. W.) from Campbelltown; containing 1762 inhabitants. This place forms a pleasant suburb to the burgh of Campbelltown, and is beautifully situated on the opposite shore of the loch of Kilkerran, now Campbelltown bay, at its north-western extremity. From the freedom its proprietors possess of granting long leases for building, from which the superior of Campbelltown is restricted, it has rapidly increased to an extent rivalling that of the burgh. It consists of one spacious street extending along the water-side, and has a substantial little pier.—See Campbelltown.

Dalkeith

DALKEITH, a market-town, burgh of barony, and parish, in the county of Edinburgh; containing, with the villages of Lugton and Whitehill, 5830 inhabitants, of whom 4831 are in the town, 6 miles (S. E. by S.) from Edinburgh. This place, at a very remote period, was the property of the ancient family of Graham, whose baronial castle, together with the lands, in the reign of David II., passed, by marriage with the daughter and heiress of the last lord, to Sir William Douglas, ancestor of the earls of Morton. In the reign of James II., the castle was besieged by the Earl of Douglas, in consequence of the firm attachment of its proprietor to the cause of that monarch, against whom the Douglas family had rebelled. It was, however, vigorously and successfully defended, and, after the disastrous battle of Pinkie, in 1547, became the asylum of many of the Scots who fled to it for refuge, till, from want of provisions, the garrison was compelled to surrender to the English. The castle was afterwards the chief residence of the regent Morton, on whose attainder, for the murder of Lord Darnley, it was, together with the barony, forfeited to the crown. Upon his execution, however, the lands were in part restored to his family, though the castle was still held by the crown, and, under the designation of the Palace of Dalkeith, was reserved for the residence of Prince Henry, son of James VI. During the visit of Charles I. to Scotland, in 1633, the palace was the chief residence of that monarch; and in 1638, it was occupied by the Marquess of Hamilton, who had been appointed by the king commissioner to treat with the Covenanters, and who, for greater security, removed into it the ancient regalia of Scotland, which were subsequently deposited in the castle of Edinburgh. In 1642, the castle and barony were purchased by the family of Scott, who are the present proprietors; and in the time of the parliamentary war, the former became the residence of General Monk, Cromwell's governor of Scotland, by whom the grounds are said to have been considerably improved.

The town is beautifully situated between the rivers North and South Esk, and is handsome and well built, consisting of several regular streets, of which the Highstreet is spacious, and increases in breadth, from its entrance on the west, till it terminates on the east at the principal lodge of the palace. The streets are paved, and lighted with gas; and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water. A public subscription library was established in 1698, and has now a collection of nearly 2500 volumes; there is also a circulating library, containing 3000 volumes. A scientific association was instituted in 1835, for the delivery of lectures on scientific subjects, and was for some time supported with spirit; but, from the difficulty of procuring a regular succession of lecturers, it has been almost discontinued. In the High-street are numerous substantial houses and handsome shops stored with every kind of merchandise; and in other parts of the town are several iron-foundries, tanneries, a brewery, soap and candle manufactories, extensive brick and tile works, and other establishments, with some hotels and inns of a very superior description. There are also several branch banks, and offices for the agents of different insurance companies.

The market for grain, which is amply supplied, is on Thursday, and is numerously attended by dealers from distant places. From Martinmas to Whitsuntide, a very large market for oatmeal is held weekly, on Monday, which is one of the most frequented in the kingdom; and a customary market, abundantly supplied with butchers' meat, poultry, and vegetables and provisions of all kinds, is held every Saturday. Fairs, chiefly for horses and black-cattle, are held on the first Thursday in May and the third Tuesday in October. Facility of communication is maintained by good roads in various directions, and by the Edinburgh and Dalkeith railway, which has its terminus near the west entrance of the town. This railway, constructed under acts of parliament passed in 1826 and 1829, by a company with a capital of £150,000, was completed to the South Esk river, near Newbattle, a distance of eight miles and a quarter, and opened to the public in 1831. The line from Sheriff Hall to the town, carried, by a stately bridge and massive embankment, over the North Esk, was constructed at the expense of the Duke of Buccleuch, and opened in 1838. A branch to the duke's collieries at Cowden, after passing through part of the town, is continued across the valley of the South Esk by a noble viaduct of timber, supported on piers of stone, and consisting of six arches, of which four are each 120 feet in span. There are branches diverging from the main line to Leith and Fisherrow, including which the railway is about fifteen miles in length; and it is intended to introduce locomotiveengines, and continue the line to Hawick. The station at Dalkeith is a neat building in the cottage style. The town is partly governed by a baron-bailie, appointed by the Duke of Buccleuch; but he exercises civil jurisdiction only in actions not exceeding £2, and jurisdiction in criminal cases only for petty offences punishable by a small fine or a night's imprisonment, referring all more important causes to the sheriff of the county. There are six incorporated trades, the hammermen, bakers, weavers, shoemakers, dyers, and butchers; but they possess no exclusive privileges, and are scarcely to be regarded as any thing more than so many friendly societies. The paving, lighting, and watching of the town, with the regulation of the markets and police, are under the direction of a board of trustees, who are invested with power to levy taxes for these purposes. The court-house, containing also a small prison, is an ancient building without any pretension to style, situated in the High-street.

From the beauty of the surrounding scenery, and the numerous attractions of its palace and other objects of interest, the town is a favourite place of residence, and the resort of visiters from Edinburgh. The palace, which was the residence of George IV. during his visit to Scotland in 1822, and had also the honour of a visit from her present Majesty, attended by Prince Albert, in 1842, is situated at the eastern extremity of the town. Though not remarkable for the style of its architecture, it is a spacious and magnificent structure. It was erected on the site of the ancient castle, on the precipitous and richly-wooded banks of the North Esk, about the close of the 17th century, by Anne, Duchess of Buccleuch and Monmouth, who, after the execution of her husband, the Duke of Monmouth, resided here in all the pomp and splendour, and with all the appendages, of royalty. The interior comprises numerous state apartments: the grand staircase, the throne-room, the conservatory, the picture-gallery, containing an extensive collection of paintings by the most eminent masters of the various schools, and the whole of the internal arrangements are costly and superb. The demesne attached to the palace comprises more than 1000 acres, and abounds with variety and beauty of scenery. The rivers North and South Esk, of which the banks are precipitous and richly-wooded, flow in graceful windings through the demesne, and unite their streams, over which are many picturesque bridges, within its limits. The pleasure-grounds are tastefully laid out in lawns, shrubberies, and plantations; and the park, which is well stocked with deer, is finely ornamented with venerable timber.

The parish is about three miles in length, and nearly two in breadth, comprising an area of which about onehalf is arable, and the remainder woodland and pasture. The soil is rich, and the lands are divided into farms of moderate extent, in the highest state of cultivation; the chief crops are, wheat, barley, oats, beans, potatoes, and turnips, and much of the surface is garden ground, producing abundance of fruit for the Edinburgh market. The substratum is generally coal, which is found at a very considerable depth, and of which extensive mines are in operation at Cowden, about a mile to the southeast of the town. The rateable annual value of the parish is £16,713. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Dalkeith and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale; patron, the Duke of Buccleuch. The minister's stipend is £316, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £40 per annum. The old parish church, on the north side of the High-street, is an ancient structure in the early English style, with a square embattled tower, and is partly dilapidated; the interior is but indifferently arranged, containing 1130 sittings, of which sixty-five are free. The churchyard is extensive. A new church was erected by the Duke of Buccleuch in 1840; it is a handsome cruciform structure in the later English style, and is beautifully situated in the north-west of the town, overlooking the vale of the North Esk. There are places of worship for members of the United Secession, Independents, the Relief Church, Wesleyans, and members of the Free Church. The parochial or grammar school, which has long maintained a high degree of reputation, is conducted by a rector and two assistants; the rector's salary is £34, with a house and garden, and the fees average about £75. The course of studies includes the classics, the French and Italian languages, the mathematics, and the usual branches of a liberal education; and many eminent literary characters have received the rudiments of their education in the establishment. The town confers the title of earl upon the Duke of Buccleuch.

Dallas

DALLAS, a parish, in the county of Elgin; including the hamlet of Edinville, and containing 1179 inhabitants, of whom 187 are in the village of Dallas, 8 miles (S. E.) from Forres. This place takes its name from the two Gaelic words dale, a vale or plain, and uis, contracted from uisge, water. It was formerly the seat of the sub-dean, and comprehended the parish of Altyre; but that district was disjoined and annexed to the parish of Rafford, in 1657, and Easter-Kelles, a part of the parish of Elgin, was joined to Dallas, an arrangement which was ratified by act of parliament in 1661. The barony of Dallas was at an early period in the possession of the Cummings of Altyre, whose castle of Dallas, or Torcastle, was built by Sir Thomas Cumming in the year 1400; and the Cummings, with the Earl of Fife, are still the principal heritors. The parish, approximating in form to an oval, measures about fifteen miles in length, and nine in breadth, and consists mainly of valleys and rising grounds. The chief valley is watered by the Lossie, which rises here, in Loch Trevie, and, after contributing to form much beautiful scenery, and taking its course through the parishes of Birnie, Elgin, and Drainie, falls into the Moray Frith at the port of Lossiemouth. The summits of the hills skirting this valley on each side are covered with heath, but their slopes are highly cultivated, yielding heavy and luxuriant crops, down to the banks of the stream, which in many places are ornamented with alder-trees, supplying bark frequently used by the people for preparing a black dye. Besides the Lossie, there are numerous burns greatly enlivening the scenery, which in general is highly interesting; and all of these, rising among the hills, run into the Lossie. That called the burn of Glen Latterach, or Angry burn, forms a beautiful cascade, surrounded by nearly perpendicular rocks 100 feet in height; and on the burn of Auchness is another picturesque fall, though less striking than the former. All the lochs are well stocked with excellent trout; the chief are those of Dallas, Noir, Rheninver, and Trevie. The soil along the banks of the Lossie is a fertile alluvial earth, resting on gravel; but at the base of the mountains the land has a tilly subsoil, and partakes of the character of the mosses, which, higher up, towards the south, are spread out in extensive tracts. Most of the inhabitants are employed in the cultivation of the land. The rateable annual value of the parish is £2913.

The rocks comprise granite, felspar, mica, freestone, and grey slate, and there are quarries of the two last, but not in operation. Of the plantations, the most conspicuous are those on the hills of Melundy and Wangie, and that on the estate of Craigmill; the first has lately been replanted with silver-fir, spruce, larch, and birch, and part of the second with fir and larch, the other part being covered with natural oak. Craigmill, adjoining Melundy, has a thriving plantation of fir and larch. The village, pleasantly situated on the northern bank of the Lossie, about a quarter of a mile from the church, was feued forty-five years since, by Sir Alexander Penrose Cumming. The woollen manufacture is carried on in the parish, employing ten or twelve hands. There are county roads to Elgin and Forres, in good condition; and a new road called the Knockando road, extending from Forres to the Spey, is of great advantage to the more hilly parts of the district. The parish is in the presbytery of Forres and synod of Moray, and in the patronage of Sir William Gordon Gordon Cumming, of Altyre and Gordonstown, Bart. The minister's stipend is £158. 6. 8., of which about a third is received from the exchequer, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £11 per annum. The church, situated in about the centre of the parish, will accommodate 400 persons, but, never having been properly finished, is found inconvenient and uncomfortable. The parochial school affords instruction in the usual branches; the master has a salary of £34, with a house, and £12 fees, and also participates in the Dick bequest. The chief relic of antiquity is the ruin of the castle, situated on a plain about a mile from the church, on the north bank of the Lossie; and in the churchyard is a stone cross, twelve feet high, at the foot of which lies an effigy of St. Michael, the patron saint of the parish, in ruins.

Dalmellington

DALMELLINGTON, a parish, in the district of Kyle, county of Ayr, 14 miles (S. E. by S.) from Ayr; containing 1199 inhabitants. This place derived its name, signifying in the Gaelic language "the town of the valley of the mill," from the particular local features which distinguished it at the time. The parish is about ten miles in length, and three in average breadth, and is bounded on the south and south-west by the lake and river of Doon, which separate it from the parish of Straiton, in Carrick. It comprises 20,000 acres, of which 1304 are arable, 17,800 pasture and waste, whereof 1200 might be brought into profitable cultivation, 750 woods and plantations, and about 300 undivided common. The surface is extremely varied. The upper portion of it is intersected by three ridges of moderate elevation, two of which are nearly parallel, and the third crossing them obliquely. The lower part of the parish is one continued ridge of heights, of which the principal are Benwhat, Benbraniachan, and Benbeoch, which last terminates the ridge, to the east, in a splendid range of basaltic columns nearly 300 feet in height, and about 600 feet in breadth. Between this ridge and the river Doon is a level plain, about three miles in length, and one mile broad, and on which the village is situated.

Several deep and precipitous defiles are formed by the approach of the ridges towards each other; and on the Dumfries road they approximate so closely as, in some parts, to leave only a sufficient passage for the road and a small burn which flows by it. On the side of the Loch Doon range of heights, where the river issues from the lake, the precipitous rocks approach within thirty feet of each other for nearly a mile, rising perpendicularly to the height of 300 feet above the bed of the river, and presenting a magnificent combination of features. This pass, called the Glen or Craigs of Ness, forms the entrance to the vale of Doon, which afterwards expands into rich and luxuriant meadows. The river issues from the lake through two tunnels excavated in the solid rock, and, pursuing a north-westerly course along the boundary of the parish, intersects a level plain, in part of which, near the village, its waters expand into a wide lake. This lake is called Bogton, and is frequented by aquatic fowl of various kinds; and near the south-east of the parish is Loch Muck, in the form of a crescent, covering about thirty acres in the middle of a heathy moor, of great depth, and abounding with black trout.

The soil on the banks of the river is a deep rich loam; along the bases of the hills in the lower part of the parish, a moist clayey loam, resting on sandstone; and behind the ridge, moss. In the higher part the soil is light and dry, interspersed with peat resting on greywacke rock, with some portions of heath. The principal crop of grain is oats, and the green crops are chiefly potatoes; the system of agriculture is advancing; draining has been practised to a small extent, and spade husbandry has been adopted with success upon the mossy lands, on a limited scale. About 8000 sheep, mostly of the black-faced breed, are pastured in the course of the year, with a small number of the Cheviot and Leicestershire breeds; 300 Ayrshire cows, and about 500 head of young cattle, partly of the Galloway breed, are also annually pastured. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3679. The plantations are principally larch and Scotch fir, which appear to be well adapted to the soil, and are in a thriving condition, with ash, and birch, some oak, and other hardwoods. The substrata are chiefly sandstone and greywacke, with coal, ironstone, and limestone; the coal has been worked in several places, in some of which, especially in the lower parts of the parish, it has been found at little more than two fathoms from the surface. Pits have been opened, and are now in operation, at Camlarg, about a mile from the village, and at the extremity of the parish, about five miles distant.

The village, which was a burgh of barony, is pleasantly situated in the vale, sheltered in the rear by hills of various elevation. There are, a library supported by subscription, which has a collection of 800 volumes, and a reading-room, which has also a library of more than 600 volumes, bequeathed to it some years since by a shopkeeper of the village. A penny-post has been established here; and there are some inns for the reception of the numerous visiters whom the interesting scenery of the neighbourhood attracts to the spot, and of the shooting and fishing parties who resort hither during the season. The woollen manufacture is carried on to a tolerable extent. Two mills, employing a moderate number of hands, are in operation, in spinning woollen-yarn, which is here manufactured into plaiding, tartans, carpets, blankets, and packing-cloths. Several of the inhabitants are also employed in weaving cotton-cloth; and there was formerly an extensive bleachfield, which, since the substitution of cottons, and the increased importation of Irish linens, has been discontinued, and in lieu of which a thread-mill has been substituted on the premises. Fairs are held on Easter Eve, the first Friday after Whitsunday, and Hallow E'en (O. S.), chiefly for wool and for hiring servants.

The parish is in the presbytery of Ayr and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and in the patronage of the Crown. The minister's stipend is £158, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £20 per annum. The church, situated in the village, was built in 1766, and is adapted for nearly 450 persons. The parochial school is well conducted; the master has a salary of £34, with £10 fees, and a house and garden. There was formerly a castle near the village, the site of which only is remaining, the materials having been removed for the erection of a house in the village, from that circumstance called the Castle House. It appears to have been but of small dimensions; it is traditionally styled Dame Helen's Castle, and between it and the village is a mound, once the place for dispensing justice. There was another castle, apparently of larger dimensions, and of greater strength, situated on the projecting side of a deep glen, and called Laght Alpine; nothing, however, but the site is remaining. A Roman road passed through the whole length of the parish, but has been destroyed to furnish materials for making dykes; it has been traced through the parish of Dalrymple to its termination at a ford on the river Ayr. Several cairns, also, have been removed for a similar purpose, one of which, on the summit of a hill above the village, was 115 yards in circumference.

Dalmeny

DALMENY, a parish, in the county of Linlithgow; including the village of Craigie, and containing 1393 inhabitants, of whom 118 are in the village of Dalmeny, 1¼ mile (S. E.) from Queensferry. This place, in ancient records styled Dumanie, is supposed to have derived that name, of Celtic origin, signifying black heath, from the appearance of the greater portion of its surface at that period. The barony, including the lands and castle of Barnbougle, once belonged to the family of Mowbray, who came over from Normandy with William the Conqueror, and of whom Philip de Mowbray was lord of Dalmeny in the reign of Alexander II. It remained in the possession of his descendants till the year 1615, when it was sold by Sir Robert Mowbray to Sir Thomas Hamilton, afterwards Earl of Haddington, whose grandson, in 1662, disposed of it to Sir Archibald Primrose, Bart., of Carrington, afterwards justice-general of Scotland, and ancestor of the Earl of Rosebery, the present proprietor.

The parish is bounded on the north by the Frith of Forth, along which it extends for about four miles, from a rivulet separating it from the parish of Cramond, on the east, to Abercorn on the west. It is about two miles and a half in breadth, and includes the ancient parish of Auldcathie, which was annexed to it in 1618, and is the property of the Earl of Hopetoun; the whole comprising an area of 5850 acres, of which 650 are in Auldcathie. The number of acres under tillage is about 4000; 1000 are meadow and pasture, and 850 woodland and plantations. The surface is finely undulated, rising in some parts into hills of considerable height, of which the principal are, Dundas hill, the Mons, and Craigie hill, having an average elevation of 380 feet above the sea. The view from the summit of Mons hill is almost unrivalled for beauty and extent, commanding a range over sixteen counties, and comprising a rich variety of picturesque and romantic features. The shore is indented with numerous small bays and inlets; and though in some parts the beach is rendered unsafe, from the quantities of moss carried down by the river, yet it is pleasingly alternated with tracts of white sand, in which a great variety of shells is imbedded. The Linmill burn flows into the Frith near the western extremity of the parish, and in its course, falling from a precipitous rock of whinstone, nearly seventy-five feet high, near Springfield, forms a pleasing cascade. The soil of the higher grounds is chiefly clay, improving gradually towards the lower lands into a rich loam, producing abundant crops, in some places almost without manure. The system of agriculture is in a very advanced state, and the lands have been well drained; the crops are, oats, barley, and wheat, with turnips and potatoes; the pastures are rich, and a considerable number of sheep and cattle are fed on turnips. The plantations consist of oak, ash, elm, beech, plane, and fir, of which there are many trees of ancient growth. The substrata are, limestone, freestone, and whinstone; and along the acclivity of Dundas hill is a range of columnar basalt, seventy feet in height, at the base of which was formerly a loch, now drained, and consisting of a deep bed of moss lying on shell marl, in which oak-trees have been found imbedded, in a very perfect state. The freestone is of the finest quality, and has been extensively wrought near Queensferry; ironstone is also found, and there are some indications of coal, but no attempts have been made to work it.

Dalmeny House, the seat of the Earl of Rosebery, is a noble mansion built by the present earl, and surrounded by an extensive and richly-wooded park, in which are the remains of the ancient castle of Barnbougle, overhanging the Frith. The grounds gradually rise from the shore in beautiful undulations, commanding diversified prospects over the Frith and the adjacent country, and combining much variety of scenery. Her Majesty visited this seat during her stay at Edinburgh in Sept. 1842. Craigie Hall stands near the south-eastern extremity of the parish, in the vale of the Almond, and sheltered by rising grounds clothed with stately timber. The river Almond winds through the demesne, and, flowing by the mansion, forms a picturesque cascade falling perpendicularly from its rocky bed, shortly after which the stream runs beneath a rustic bridge of one arch, forty-eight feet in span, erected in the year 1757. Near the cascade is a grotto, in which are a bath, supplied and emptied by sluices from the river, and a saloon. Dundas, an elegant modern mansion built in connexion with an ancient baronial castle, is situated on the steep acclivity of a craggy hill, in a picturesque demesne of 1600 acres. The castle is supposed to have been originally erected in the eleventh century, and several additions were made to it in the early part of the fifteenth century, when its proprietor obtained a license from Robert, Duke of Albany, to convert it into a fortress, which license was confirmed by James I., in 1424. The walls, which are of great thickness, were raised to the height of seventy-five feet; the various rooms are all vaulted, and a circular staircase leads to the roof, which is flat, and defended by a battlement. In the grounds, in front of the castle, is a fountain of singular design, formerly occupying the centre of a quadrangular area inclosed with massive stone walls, twelve feet in height. Within these walls were flights of steps, leading to a banquet-room at each of the angles; and the whole is said to have been constructed in 1623, by Sir Walter Dundas, who appropriated to that purpose the funds he had set aside for the purchase of the barony of Barnbougle, in which he was anticipated by the Earl of Haddington. The village of Dalmeny is pleasantly situated on the road leading to Dundas, and consists of a few cottages built round a green, with the church and manse.

The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Linlithgow and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale. The minister's stipend is £264, with a manse, and a glebe of five and a half acres; patrons, the Earl of Rosebery and the Earl of Hopetoun, alternately. The church is an ancient structure in the Saxon style, of which it is a very elegant specimen. The interior is eighty-four feet long, and twenty-five feet wide, with a semicircular chancel, divided from the nave by a deeply-recessed and richly-moulded arch with zigzag ornaments; and the capitals of the columns that support the vaulted roof, are also embellished with sculpture. It was repaired in 1816, and contains 350 sittings. At the entrance is a large stone coffin, formed of one entire stone, and inscribed on the sides and on the lid with hieroglyphic characters. The church of Auldcathie is in ruins. There is a place of worship for members of the United Associate Synod. The parochial schoolmaster has a salary of £34, and the interest of £300 bequeathed by Lady Semple, in 1723, and vested in the Earl of Rosebery and the minister. The poor have the rent of lands held by the Earl of Rosebery, producing about £30 a year. James Davidson, Esq., bequeathed £200 to the poor not on the parish list; and such of them as live in that part of the town of Queensferry within this parish, participate in the proceeds of Mr. Meek's bequest of £5000 to the parishes of Dalmeny and Queensferry. About a mile to the west of Barnbougle Castle, on the summit of an eminence, is an ancient cairn called Earl Cairney, appearing to have been originally 500 feet in circumference at the base, and now twenty-four feet in height. At Springfield were recently discovered a skeleton of large size, and a trench filled with human bones; and near Queensferry, on the lands of Dundas, a brass vessel, in which was a pagan idol, was found in 1738, but was destroyed by the workmen. Several silver medals of Marcus Antoninus, having on the reverse a figure of Victory; the carved handle of a copper vessel; and part of an earthen urn, were found near Dundas Castle. The parish gives the title of Baron to the Earl of Rosebery.—See Queensferry.

Dalmuir and Dalmuir-Shore

DALMUIR and DALMUIR-SHORE, villages, in the parish of Old Kilpatrick, county of Dumbarton, the one 2 miles (E. S. E.) and the other 2½ miles (S. E. by S.) from Old Kilpatrick; containing respectively 526 and 187 inhabitants. These places are in the vicinity of the Forth and Clyde canal and the road from Glasgow to Dumbarton, and on the south flows the Clyde. They each partake in the manufactures of the parish, and there is a quay for domestic traffic, of very ancient date. Among the works are a paper-mill, a bleachfield, and a soda-factory: the last, established by the grandfather of the present Earl of Zetland, stands on the margin of the river, its furnaces and chimneys contrasting remarkably with the surrounding scenery, which is very pleasing. The principal stream of the district, supplied by two lakes, falls here into the Clyde.

Dalrossie.

DALROSSIE.—See Moy and Dalrossie.

Dalry

DALRY, a manufacturing town and parish, in the district of Cunninghame, county of Ayr, 5 miles (S. W.) from Beith, and 7 (N. N. E.) from Saltcoats; containing 4791 inhabitants. This place derives its name, in the Gaelic language signifying the "king's valley," from its situation in the vale of Garnock, which formed part of the royal demesnes. Previously to the year 1608 the town was an inconsiderable village, consisting only of five or six decent houses, and a few straggling cottages, and containing scarcely one hundred inhabitants. It owes its origin and increase to the erection of the parish church at this place, towards the commencement of the seventeenth century, when the two ancient churches, becoming dilapidated, were abandoned. The town is beautifully situated on a gentle eminence rising from the right bank of the river Garnock, and between the rivers Rye and Caaf, which flow into the Garnock above and below the town; it consists principally of five streets, three of which terminate in an open area nearly in the centre. The houses are regularly and well built, and many of them are of handsome appearance; the streets are lighted with gas by subscription of the inhabitants, for which purpose a company was formed, and works erected, in 1834. There are two good bridges of stone across the Garnock, of two and three arches respectively; and bridges of one arch each have been erected over the rivers Rye and Caaf.

The weaving of silk for the manufacturers of Glasgow and Paisley is the principal occupation of the inhabitants, in which 500 persons are constantly engaged; and as they are employed chiefly in the superior description of articles, they have not been subjected to the depression occasioned by the introduction of power-looms, which are not adapted to the finer kinds of work. A great number of females, also, are employed in sewing and embroidering muslins, for the Glasgow and Paisley markets, which are celebrated for Ayrshire needlework; and a mill originally erected for spinning cotton has been enlarged, and converted to the spinning of woollenyarn for the making of carpets. There is likewise a manufactory for wooden plates, bowls, ladles, and other articles of the kind, the machinery of which is driven by a steam-engine of two-horse power. The town contains numerous handsome shops, amply supplied with every requisite for the supply of the inhabitants and of the neighbourhood. A public library is supported by subscription, and has more than 1000 volumes; a church library, also supported by subscription, in connexion with the parochial school, contains 600 volumes; and there is also a library belonging to the congregation of the United Secession. The Ardrossan Farmers' Society hold their annual exhibitions occasionally in the town, and the Ayrshire Agricultural Association meet alternately here and at Kilmarnock. Six fairs are annually held, but one only is of any importance, which takes place on the last day of July, and was formerly one of the most extensive horse-fairs in the west of Scotland; it is chiefly for horses and cattle, but comparatively little business is transacted.

The parish is ten miles in length, and from three to eight in breadth, and comprises 19,046 acres, of which 12,287 are arable, 6089 pasture and waste, and 670 woodland and plantations. The surface is pleasingly varied. A rich and fertile valley, through which the river Garnock pursues its winding course, intersects the parish nearly in the centre. The grounds on the western side of this valley rise, by a gradual ascent, towards the north-west boundary, and terminate in a ridge of hills, of which the highest has an elevation of 1200 feet above the sea. The lands on the eastern side are interspersed with hills of various height, of which Baidland and Caerwinning are the chief, the former having an elevation of 946, and the latter of 634 feet. The river Garnock rises in the parish of Kilbirnie, flows for seven miles through this parish, and, after receiving in its course numerous tributary streams, of which the Rye and the Caaf are the principal, falls into the sea at Irvine. The Rye has its source in the parish of Largs, and runs through a deep and richly-wooded dell into this parish. The Caaf rises on the confines of Kilbride and Largs, and, forcing its way through a basaltic rock, in which it has worn for itself a passage, enters a deep and rocky glen, where, its course being obstructed by huge blocks of stone, it forms a romantic cascade. The fall is from a height of twenty-four feet, in one unbroken column twenty feet in breadth, between two large masses of rock. There are also numerous springs of excellent water in the parish, and some possessing mineral properties, one of which, at Loans Bridge, is a strong chalybeate, and one at Maulside powerfully efficacious in scorbutic affections. The vale of the Garnock is thought to have been anciently an extensive lake, reaching from this place to Johnstone, in the county of Renfrew, and of which the lochs of Kilbirnie and Castle-Semple formed a part; and the supposition is in some degree rendered probable from the number of trees that have been found imbedded in the soil of the valley.

The soil is generally a thin cold retentive clay, with a portion of rich loam along the banks of the Garnock; in some parts, of more adhesive clay, with a large extent of moss; and in the uplands, of a light and dry quality. The progress of the plough is impeded by vast numbers of boulders, of which, though great quantities have been removed at various times, many still remain; some of the mosses are of great depth, and in all of them oak, birch, and hazel trees are found prostrate. The crops are, wheat, oats, barley, beans, potatoes, and flax: the system of agriculture is in an advanced state, and much waste land has been brought into cultivation. The dairy-farms are extensive and well-managed; about 1400 milch-cows are kept, mostly of the Cunninghame breed, and the average quantity of cheese, to the making of which particular attention is paid, exceeds 35,000 stones annually. The sheep are generally of the blackfaced Linton breed, with a few of a breed between the Cheviot and Leicestershire. The rateable annual value of the parish is £16,314. The plantations, especially those on the lands of Blair, which have been chiefly formed on steep rocky banks, within the last forty years, are in a very thriving condition, and consist of oak, ash, beech, chesnuts, and willow, and of silver and spruce firs, and larch. Those around the house of Blair contain several fine specimens of luxuriant growth, among which are a Spanish chesnut and some plane trees; and in the grounds are various kinds of evergreens, including Portugal laurels and rhododendrons of unusual size. The plantations on the lands of Maulside are also remarkably fine.

The substrata of the parish are, sandstone, limestone, and coal, and the hills are mostly claystone-porphyry, greenstone, and basalt; jasper is found in the porphyry, hornstone in the bed of the Caaf, and agate in that of the Rye. In the hill of Baidland, a vein of cannel coal has been discovered of the thickness of six feet, exceedingly inflammable, and, when burnt, emitting a strong sulphureous smell. There are several coal-pits at present open; valuable clay is also dug. Limestone is extensively quarried, not only for the supply of the parish, but for that of the adjoining districts; and there are three lime-kilns, at which great quantities of lime are burnt, and sold at a very moderate price. Ironstone, also, recently discovered, is wrought to a large extent. Blair House is a spacious mansion, situated in a richly-embellished demesne; a handsome residence has been recently erected at Swinridgemuir, and there is also a good house on the lands of Pitcon. Facility of intercourse with the neighbouring towns is afforded by excellent roads; and turnpike-roads to Paisley, Irvine, Kilmarnock, and Glasgow, and the railway from Glasgow to Ayr, pass through the parish.

Dalry is in the presbytery of Irvine and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and patronage of W. Blair, Esq. The minister's stipend is £231. 10., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £24 per annum. The church, erected in 1771, and thoroughly repaired in 1821, is a neat plain edifice adapted for 870 persons, but greatly inadequate to the population. There are places of worship for the Free Church and United Secession. The parochial school affords a good course of education; the master has a salary of £32, with £65 fees, and a house and garden. There are considerable remains of an ancient fortification on the summit of Caerwinning hill, consisting of three concentric circular ramparts of stone, inclosing an area of about two acres in extent, and surrounded by a fosse which may still be traced. The walls, about ten feet in thickness, have been nearly destroyed by the removal of the stones, at different periods, for fences and other uses. The Scottish forces are said to have been encamped here previously to the battle of Largs. There were formerly some remains, also, of a square fort on a precipitous rock called Aitnach Craig, on the bank of the Rye; but it has been totally destroyed. An artificial mound near the town, named Courthill, of conical form, and grown over with grass, was once the place for dispensing justice; and various tumuli have been discovered, in some of which were human bones. Four urns containing human bones have been found on the lands of Linn, near the site of an ancient chapel; an urn, also, containing calcined bones and ashes, has been discovered near Blair House.

Dalry

DALRY, a parish, in the stewartry of Kirkcud-Bright, 15 miles (N. N. W.) from Castle-Douglas; containing 1215 inhabitants, of whom 574 are in the village of St. John's Clachan. This parish, of which the name, signifying the "Royal Dale," is derived from a level and fertile plain called the Holm, is about fifteen miles in length, and seven miles in breadth, comprising 33,000 acres. The surface is diversified with hills, of which some are green to their summit, and others are covered with barren heath; the proportion of arable land is very small, nearly four-fifths of the area being pasture. The river Ken, which rises in the northern extremity of the parish, forms the western boundary between it and Kells, and, after a beautifully-winding course, flows through Loch Ken into the river Dee. The smaller streams are, the Blackwater, the Earlston, and the Stronriggan, which run through the parish into the Ken; they all abound with trout, and in the Ken are found also pike and salmon. The chief lakes are, Lochinvar, Boston, Knocksting, and Knockman, of which Lochinvar, about fifty acres in extent, is the most important; the others are all of very small dimensions, and undistinguished by any features requiring notice. In Lochinvar are the remains of the ancient castle of the Gordons, knights of Lochinvar, and afterwards viscounts Kenmure; and near it is a cairn, raised as a trophy on a spot where the first knight killed a wild boar that infested this part of the country. The scenery along the banks of the Ken is enriched with ancient woods of considerable extent, of which the largest is that of Earlston, formerly a hunting-seat of the Earl of Bothwell, and in which are some plantations of stately fir.

The soil on the Holm lands is tolerably fertile, yielding favourable crops of barley, oats, turnips, potatoes, and rye; and the hills and higher lands afford excellent pasture. The system of agriculture is improved; and the surface has been drained, and inclosed with stone dykes of sufficient height to afford shelter to the cattle. Great numbers of sheep and black-cattle are reared in the pastures. In the village is a post-office under that of Castle-Douglas; and facility of communication is maintained by good roads, of which those from Kirkcudbright to Ayr and Glasgow, and from NewtonStewart to Dumfries and Edinburgh, intersect the parish. The rateable annual value of Dalry is £5768. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Kirkcudbright and synod of Galloway. The minister's stipend is £217. 12., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £20 per annum; patron, William Forbes, Esq., of Callendar. The church, erected in 1832, is a neat structure containing 700 sittings: in the churchyard is an aisle of the old church, quite detached from the present building, and which is the burying-place of the Gordon family. There is a place of worship for members of the United Secession. Two parochial schools, of which the masters have salaries of £25 each, with a house and garden, in addition to the fees, are supported by the heritors, and attended by more than forty children. A grammar school was founded by Dr. Robert Johnson, of London, who endowed it with £1000 for the gratuitous instruction of the children of the parish; it is under the management of two masters, who have salaries of £15 each, and is attended by nearly 120 children. The building, erected in 1658, comprises a good dwelling-house and schoolroom, with eight acres of land attached to it. There are several remains of ancient buildings on the farms of Benbreck and Manquhill, supposed to have been the ancient residence of the Galloway family; and in various parts of the parish, are numerous intrenchments for the security of cattle during the times of the border warfare.—See Clachan, St. John's.

Dalrymple

DALRYMPLE, a parish, in the district of Kyle, county of Ayr, 5 miles (N. E.) from Maybole; containing 909 inhabitants. This place derives its name, in the Celtic language signifying "the dale of the crooked water," from the situation of its village on a bend of the river Doon. The barony, which in ancient times was held by a family who took their name from the lands, was, in the reign of David II., divided into two portions, and held by two families named Dalrymple, descended from one common ancestor. In 1371, on the resignation of one of the portionists, John Kennedy of Dunure obtained from Robert II. a charter granting him that half of the barony, and in 1377 another charter, conferring upon him the other half; and the whole continued in the possession of his descendants till 1684, after which the barony passed into the hands of various proprietors. The parish is seven miles in length, from east to west, and three miles in extreme breadth, from north to south, and is bounded on the south and west by the river Doon; it comprises 6700 acres, of which 4200 are arable, 1900 meadow and hill pasture, 500 woodland and plantations, and about 100 water. The surface, with the exception of that part in which the village is situated, is exceedingly uneven, being interspersed with rising grounds and small detached hills of various elevation. Woodland, the most southerly height, commands a fine view of the surrounding country, including the isles of Bute and Arran, the Mull of Cantyre, Ailsa Craig, and Ben-Lomond; and from the summit of Kirkmien, the highest of the elevations, the north coast of Ireland may be distinctly seen in fair weather. There are numerous springs in the parish, of which several possess mineral properties, though one only, on the lands of Barbieston, is a chalybeate of moderate strength.

Of the lakes, the only one of much importance is that of Martinham, which is about a mile and a half in length, and less than a quarter of a mile in breadth; its greatest depth is about twenty-six feet. On a beautifully-wooded island in this lake, are the ruins of an ancient building supposed to have been the mansionhouse of the Martinham estate; they are 100 feet long, and thirty in breadth, and the walls, which are the chief remains, are thickly overspread with luxuriant ivy. The other lakes are, Loch Snipe, Loch Kerse, and Loch Lindston; all abound with pike, perch, and eels, and are frequented by wild-duck, teal, widgeon, and other aquatic fowl. From the loch of Martinham, which extends into the parish of Coylton, a small burn flows into the river Doon. This river, celebrated by the poet Burns, falls, after a course of about thirty miles, into the Frith of Clyde; salmon are found in its stream, though in less number since the laying down of stakenets at its mouth, and some are taken which weigh from ten to twenty pounds. Sea and yellow trout, par, eels, and pike are also found in its waters.

The soil is principally clay, though alternated with sand, gravel, and loam; the clay is of various kinds, of a red, blue, and whitish hue; the loam is found chiefly near the river and around the lochs. There is very little mossy land. The crops are, oats and wheat, barley, bear, potatoes, turnips, beet, and a small quantity of flax for domestic use; the system of agriculture is in an advancing state, and all the more recent improvements have been introduced. There are several large dairy-farms, all of which are well managed; about 4000 stones of cheese are annually produced, of which a considerable part is sent to the markets, and the remainder sold for the supply of the immediate neighbourhood. The rateable annual value of the parish is £5615. The woods consist of oak, elm, ash, alder, birch, plane, and lime; and the plantations, of larch, and spruce and Scotch firs. In the old gardens at Skeldon are six stately oaks, supposed to be more than 300 years old, and some remarkably fine larches; and in the village are a sycamore and horse-chesnut tree of extraordinary dimensions. The substrata are, limestone, red sandstone, and conglomerate. The limestone occurs in masses of not more than a foot in thickness, and of great hardness; the sandstone is of good quality for building, but not extensively worked, and large boulders of trap and granite are scattered over the surface of several of the lands. Coal is found in the upper parts of the parish, and there are two mines, but not at present in operation. The seats are Skeldon and Hollybush, both handsome residences seated in richly-planted demesnes.

The village is beautifully situated, and is uniformly and neatly built on lands belonging to the Marquess of Ailsa. A subscription library, a musical society, a curling club, and a club in honour of the poet Burns, have been established here, and are well attended. Several of the inhabitants are occupied in the various trades requisite for the wants of the neighbourhood; and a woollen manufactory, employing about thirty persons, has been erected on the bank of the Doon. The parish is in the presbytery of Ayr and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and patronage of the Crown. The minister's stipend is £229. 17., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £12. 10. per annum. The church, situated near the village, was rebuilt on the foundation of the ancient edifice, in 1764, but in a very insufficient manner. The parochial school affords education to about sixty scholars; the master has a salary of £30, with £25 fees, and £8 in lieu of a house and garden. There are some remains of the ancient castles of Kerse, Skeldon, Barbieston, and others; that of Barbieston was converted into a dwelling-house about fifty years since. Part of a Roman road, supposed to be that from Solway Frith to the Frith of Clyde, may be traced through this parish into that of Ayr. A tripod of Roman bronze was found in Lindston loch, near the line of this road, about half a century since; and a flagon of earthenware of Roman workmanship was found at Perclewan, on the same line of road, in 1833. On the road from Ayr to Maybole are three ancient circular forts, situated on an elevated ridge, and all surrounded with trenches, in which human bones and the horns of deer have been discovered. A stone coffin, containing a skeleton of large stature, was dug up in cutting through a hillock of gravel to form a new approach to Skeldon House; and in the meadows of Barbieston, not far from the same spot, were several cairns, on the removal of which, human bones, heads of pikes, and spears were found. In a grave in the churchyard, several silver coins of James I. were found a few years since; and silver coins of Edward I. and III. were discovered by the plough, in a field near the village, in 1835. The poet Burns, alternately with his brother, attended the parochial school of Dalrymple.

Dalserf

DALSERF, a parish, in the Middle ward of the county of Lanark; including the villages of Millheugh, Larkhall, and Rosebank, and containing 3205 inhabitants, of whom 112 are in the village of Dalserf, 7 miles (S. E. by E.) from Hamilton. This place is supposed to derive its name from the Gaelic words Dal, signifying "a holm" or "flat field," and Sarf, "a serpent," making together the term "the field of serpents." The parish was anciently called Machanshire, but assumed the name of Dalserf, as is generally thought, about the time of the Reformation, through the removal of the church from its former site, at Chapelburn, to the locality of the village of Dalserf. It was originally an appendage and chapelry of Cadzow, now Hamilton, parish, and was during a long period the property of the crown. The celebrated family of the Comyns had for some time possession of it; but it reverted to the crown in the reign of Baliol, and in 1312 Robert Bruce made a grant of it to Sir Walter, son of Gilbert, ancestor of the Hamilton family, who have retained the principal estates in the parish to the present time. In the 14th century the district was made a barony, called the barony of Machane or Machanshire. The Hamiltons prominently appear in Scottish history; they warmly espoused the cause of Mary, Queen of Scots, and several of them were engaged in her wars, and afterwards suffered severely for the part they had taken in them.

The parish is six and a half miles in extreme length, and varies in breadth from two miles to four and a half, containing 7219 acres; it is bounded on the east and north-east by the river Clyde, and on the west and south-west by the Avon and Cander. The surface in the centre of the parish is tolerably level; but on the east towards the Clyde, and on the west towards the Avon, the fall is considerable, and in many places somewhat abrupt. The slope towards the north is continuous, and far more gradual than those on the eastern and western sides. The view on the north and north-west is terminated by the Campsie hills and the mountains of Dumbarton and Argyllshire; the view on the south is bounded by Tinto, of which, with its circumjacent scenery, a very fine prospect may be had from the high lands in this parish. Large quantities of pheasants and woodcocks, and some black-cocks, are seen here; and at the close of autumn, many flocks of plovers from the moorlands visit the wheat-fields. The chief rivers are the Clyde and Avon; the Cander, which is the next in size, falls into the Avon, and gives the name of the district of Cander to that part of the parish inclosed by it, where there are some superior farms. Numerous burns rise in the parish, and breaking forth from the high ridge on the western side of the river Clyde, dash in many places with great impetuosity over the abrupt sandstone rocks, forming several beautiful cascades. After this they run on till they fall into the Clyde. The ravines formed by these waterfalls, which are swollen in some parts of the year and frequently dry in others, are clothed with foliage, and stretching across the country obliquely to the two great rivers, diversify the scenery, and add considerably to the striking views on the Clyde. The river Avon, also, has clusters of verdant knolls and many clumps of rich plantation on its precipitous sides. The chief streams contain salmon, trout, salmon-fry, and par, which, however, bear at present no proportion to their former numbers, owing to the machinery erected on the banks, from which the residuum of chemical and dyeing operations runs into the waters; the drainage of lime manure from contiguous lands; and the passage of steam-vessels.

The soil varies considerably throughout the parish. The low ground in the neighbourhood of the rivers is mostly rich alluvial deposit, consisting chiefly of sand and mud of great depth, resting upon a subsoil of sand and gravel. In the higher lands near the Glasgow and Carlisle road, and by the village of Dalserf, which stands about 120 feet above the level of the sea, the soil is a strong heavy clay, lying upon a compact tenacious subsoil of till. In some places are strips of sandy earth; and in others, especially near the Avon, the grounds are chiefly loam. The southern part contains a few acres of moss; but, with this exception, the whole parish is cultivated. The chief crops are wheat and oats, the soil in general not being considered suited to green crops, though in some parts very good potatoes, turnips, carrots, and beet-root are produced. The farmers pay great attention to dairy-farming; the cows are chiefly of the Ayrshire breed, and about 500 are kept. Much competition exists in the improvement of every description of live stock, for which premiums have been awarded to some of the farmers by the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. The cultivation of orchards also forms an important part of the rural occupations, the parish being situated in about the centre of the great range of fruit plantations in Clydesdale. A few acres of fruit-trees are cultivated on the banks of the Avon; but the chief plantations are near the Clyde, among the acclivities overlooking the river, which are too abrupt and rugged to admit the approach of the plough. Apples, pears, and plums of every kind grow luxuriantly, the plum range, however, only extending a distance of three or four miles along the river. The rateable annual value of the parish is £7704. The rocks consist of sandstone and freestone, of the latter of which several excellent quarries are wrought. Large quantities of coal, also, are obtained in every direction, the district forming a part of the great coal basin stretching from near Glasgow in the north, for a distance of about thirty miles, to the water of Douglas in the south. The produce of the collieries, some years ago, was about 16,000 tons annually; but it is now much more considerable.

The chief mansions are, Dalserf, Millburn, and Broomhill, all of which are respectable structures, standing in the midst of beautiful scenery. The villages are considerable, and together contain about two-thirds of the population of the parish. Some of the inhabitants are engaged in the manufacture of cotton, the weaving of which is superintended by agents employed by Glasgow firms; and many females are occupied in the manufacture of lace, for the houses at Hamilton. Among the roads that intersect the parish are, one from Glasgow to Carlisle, another from Glasgow to Lanark, and a third from Edinburgh to Ayr, which crosses the river Clyde at Garion Bridge. The ecclesiastical affairs are subject to the presbytery of Hamilton and synod of Glasgow and Ayr. There is an old manse, with a glebe worth £37. 10. per annum; the stipend is £264. 12., and the Duke of Hamilton is patron. The church, which is beautifully though somewhat inconveniently situated on the bank of the Clyde, was built in 1655, and repaired in 1721; it contains 550 sittings. There are two parochial schools, one of which is in the village of Dalserf, and the other at Larkhall; the classics, mathematics, French, with all the usual branches of education, are taught, and the master of the Dalserf school has a salary of £34, with a house and garden. A good subscription library has been established at Larkhall, and another at Dalserf with 120 volumes. The chief relics of antiquity are two tumuli, in one of which, situated at Dalpatrick, some workmen a few years ago found a stone coffin, about two feet and a half long, and a foot and a half wide, in which was deposited an urn containing a human jaw with the teeth, and other bones. Another urn was also found, of very superior materials and construction, near which was a lamp of baked clay. The remains of mounds with fortifications, and cairns, may still be faintly traced; and some years ago an earthen pot was dug up at Millheugh, containing coins of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I. There are several chalybeate springs in the parish, and one or two impregnated with sulphur.

Dalsholm

DALSHOLM, a village, in the parish of New Kilpatrick, county of Dumbarton; containing 111 inhabitants.

Dalswinton

DALSWINTON, a village, in the parish of Kirkmahoe, county of Dumfries, 4½ miles (N. N. W.) from Dumfries; containing 94 inhabitants. It is situated in the western part of the parish, and though a small, is an improving village, of recent origin. Here stood the ancient castle of Dalswinton, long the chief seat of the family of Cumming, and on the site of which an elegant and commodious mansion was erected by the late Patrick Miller, Esq., to whose taste and judgment the neighbourhood is indebted for its rapid improvement. Mr. Miller, about the year 1780, introduced the culture of the Swedish turnip. It was first sown by him on his estate at Dalswinton, and propagated from his original plants through the Lothians and elsewhere; and to his example is owing the successful cultivation of this valuable esculent throughout the empire. The first application of the steam-engine to the purposes of navigation, was made by Mr. Miller in 1788, on a piece of water in his own grounds here. A vessel twenty-five feet long and seven broad, with two wheels, and propelled by a small engine constructed by Mr. Symington, was employed for the purpose; and the success of the experiment led to the well-known exhibition, under the same auspices, of a full-sized vessel, on the Forth and Clyde canal, in the following year. The fine estate of Dalswinton is now in the possession of Captain Miller, son of this gentleman, and formerly the representative of the county in parliament.

Dalton

DALTON, a parish, in the county of Dumfries; containing 638 inhabitants, of whom 54 are in the village, 6 miles (W. by S.) from Ecclesfechan. The name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon term Dal-ton, or Dal-dun, signifying "the fort in the dale," and appears to have been applied on account of a fort in the immediate neighbourhood of the village of Dalton, at which village baronial courts were held in ancient times. The parish is seven miles long, from north to south, and three broad, and contains 6753 acres. It is bounded on the north-east by the river Annan, in which great quantities of salmon, grilse, sea-trout, and whiting are taken, though they are far from being so numerous as formerly, in consequence of stake-nets having been placed at the mouth of the river, in the Solway Frith. The surface presents considerable variety of features. The soil to a great extent is alluvial, consisting chiefly of gravel and sand, spread over the lowlands, and formed into ranges and groups of little hills. In the higher lands the soil is mainly composed of the waste and debris of the transition rocks, but is tolerably fertile, and the transported soil on the banks of the river is exceedingly productive. The whole is cultivated, with the exception of 600 acres, which are waste or pasture, and 517 acres underwood; all kinds of crops are raised, and the improved system of husbandry is adopted, though greatly varied by different farmers in the rotation of crops. The cattle are the black Galloway, and the few sheep reared consist of Cheviots and Leicesters. The produce of the soil is usually sent to Annan, seven miles distant, where is a weekly market. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4031.

Among the mansions is that of Rammerscales, which occupies a romantic site upon a hilly range, surrounded with overhanging wood, and commanding the whole vale of Annan. The chief house, however, Dormont, built in 1823, an elegant structure, is situated on the bank of the Annan, and ornamented with beautiful grounds and plantations; and another seat, also on the river, and like the preceding, of modern erection, is entitled to notice. The principal village is Dalton, the communication of which with the nearest market-towns is convenient, not only by the parish roads, but by the great turnpike-road from Carlisle to Portpatrick, which passes through the south end of the parish. The ecclesiastical affairs are subject to the presbytery of Lochmaben and synod of Dumfries; patron, David Sandeman, Esq. The stipend is £171. 12., and there is a manse, with a glebe of ten acres, valued at £10 per annum. The church, situated in the village, was built in 1704, and will accommodate 300 persons. There is a parochial school, at which French, the classics, and practical mathematics, with the usual branches of education, are taught; the master has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and about £20 fees. The only relics of antiquity are, the ruins of a castle at Holmains, formerly the residence of the Carruthers, and a camp of circular form on the Almagill hills, now named Range Castle. The latter stands upon a transition rock of greywacke, and is a beautiful specimen of this class of military works; its diameter is 102 yards, and the fosse which encompasses it is nine feet deep, and twenty-seven broad. The late Sir Andrew Halliday, physician to the Duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV., was a native of the parish.

Dalvait

DALVAIT, a village, in the parish of Bonhill, county of Dumbarton; containing 71 inhabitants.

Dalziel

DALZIEL, a parish, in the Middle ward of the county of Lanark, 2½ miles (E. N. E.) from Hamilton; containing, with the villages of Motherwell and Windmill-Hill, 1457 inhabitants. The parish of Dalziel is by some writers supposed to have derived that appellation, signifying "the white meadow," from the peculiar appearance of the lands before they were brought into cultivation. It is said to have given name to the family upon whom the barony of Dalziel was bestowed by Kenneth II., in recompeuse of some exploit performed by them in the service of that monarch. In 1365, Sir Robert Dalziel obtained a grant of the barony of Selkirk from David Bruce, whose firm adherent he had been in his troubles, and to whom he manifested the truest loyalty during the king's captivity in England; but the whole estates were subsequently forfeited in that reign, and conferred upon the Sandiland family. By marriage, however, with one of the coheiresses, the barony of Dalziel returned into the possession of the family, then represented by the grandson of the original proprietor, Sir Robert Dalziel. This personage was created Lord Dalziel by Charles I., and subsequently bought the whole of the estate; but, having afterwards purchased the lands of Carnwath from James, Earl of Buchan, and been created, in 1639, Earl of Carnwath, he sold this estate to James Hamilton, Esq., whose descendant is the present proprietor.

The parish is bounded on the north and west by the river Calder, and on the south-west by the river Clyde; it is about four miles in length, and three in breadth, comprising 2283 Scottish acres, of which about onetenth is pasture, 410 acres woodland and plantations, and the remainder arable. The surface rises gradually from the Clyde and the Calder towards the centre, where it forms a flat ridge, averaging 200 feet in elevation above the sea; and it is diversified with several glens of romantic appearance, of which one, called Dalziel glen, is about two miles in length. The river Clyde is subject to great inundations, to prevent which an embankment has been constructed; the Calder, which is here about sixty feet in breadth, takes its rise in the neighbouring parish of Shotts, and falls into the Clyde near the extremity of this parish. The Dalziel burn has its source in the parish of Cambusnethan, and, flowing through the glen of Dalziel, falls into the Clyde. The Soil is generally a stiff clay, but on the banks of the rivers a rich loam; the crops are, oats, wheat, beans, and peas. There are several large dairy-farms; the cows are chiefly of the Ayrshire breed, and a few horses and sheep are reared. On the banks of the Clyde are several orchards, the principal of which produces on an average about £600 per annum; an improved method of pruning has been introduced with success, and great attention is paid to the cultivation of the trees. The plantations consist of fir, larch, oak, ash, elm, lime, and plane; a fine avenue nearly a mile in length extends along the banks of the Clyde, and near the mansion-house of Dalziel is a venerable oak, measuring twenty-one feet in girth at a distance of nearly five feet from the ground. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4983.

The substratum of the lands is principally clay-slate, interspersed with freestone of various quality, among which is found a seam of flagstone. A quarry of hardgrained freestone has been opened near Windmill-Hill, which is wrought into mantel-pieces, and is susceptible of a high polish; and near the village of Craigneuk is a valuable quary of flagstone, of a reddish colour, and varying from one-quarter of an inch to five inches in thickness. Coal abounds in the parish, which is situated nearly in the centre of the coal district of the Clyde; the only mine in operation is near Coursington. Dalziel House, erected in 1649, by an ancestor of the present proprietor, is beautifully situated on the north side of the Dalziel burn, and in the most picturesque part of the romantic glen to which that stream gives name. The building has all the character of an ancient baronial residence, and attached to it is a tower about fifty feet high, the walls of which are eight feet thick; the several apartments are commodious, and in the dining-room are numerous family portraits, among which are those of Sir John Hamilton, of Orbiston, and Lord Westhall, one of the senators of the College of Justice. There is a small foundry for the manufacture of spades, in which about fifteen persons are employed. Means of communication with the neighbouring market-towns are afforded by good roads, among which is one from Glasgow to Lanark; and the Wishaw and Coltness railway passes for nearly three miles through the parish, and greatly facilitates the conveyance of the produce.

The parish is in the presbytery of Hamilton, and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and in the patronage of J. G. C. Hamilton, Esq. The minister's stipend is £155. 11., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £50 per annum. The church, dedicated to St. Patrick, was in the twelfth century granted, together with its revenues, to the abbey of Paisley, and subsequently to the dean and chapter of Glasgow, in whose possession it continued to the Reformation. The ancient building, which was of the same date as the cathedral of Glasgow, was taken down about ten years after the erection of the present church, which was built in 1789, and is a neat cruciform structure. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship. The parochial school affords a good education; the master has a salary of £34, with £18 fees, and a house and garden. The western branch of the Roman Watling-street entered this parish at Meadowhead, and passed through it in a direction from east to west. Till within the last twenty years a considerable portion of it remained, in a high state of preservation; but it has been obliterated by the construction of the modern road from Glasgow to Lanark, and no trace of it can be at present discerned. Near the north-west boundary of the parish is a very ancient bridge over the river Calder, still called the Roman bridge; it consists of a single arch of great height, is about twelve feet in breadth, and without parapets. This bridge is supposed to have formed a continuation of the Roman road into the parish of Bothwell. Close to it was a Roman camp, which has for many years been destroyed; and nearly in the centre of the parish, on the steep bank of the river Clyde, are the remains of another, of which portions of the ancient fosses may still be traced. On the site of this camp, about a century since, the proprietor erected a summer-house, round which he formed terrace-walks and plantations, and from the summit of which a fine panoramic view of the surrounding country is obtained, combining many of the most interesting features of Scottish scenery. Near the site of Nisbet House, is one of the stones at which the ancient barons dispensed justice to their vassals; it is of heptagonal form, and one of the faces is ornamented with the representation of a sword. There were formerly two others in the parish, near the site of the Roman road; they have both been removed.

Damhead

DAMHEAD, or Jametson, Dumbarton.—See Jametson.

Damhead

DAMHEAD, a village, in the parish of Arngask, counties of Fife, Kinross, and Perth, 5 miles (S. W.) from Abernethy; containing 138 inhabitants, of whom 56 are in the Fifeshire, 24 in the Kinross-shire, and 58 in the Perthshire, portion. This village is situated in the central part of the parish, and in the vale through which the great north road passes, leading from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, by way of Perth. A sub-post-office was established here in 1838, in connexion with the post-offices of Kinross and Bridge-of-Earn.

Daneshalt

DANESHALT, county Fife.—See Dunshelt.

Dargie

DARGIE, a hamlet, in the parish of Life, county of Perth, 3 miles (W.) from Dundee; containing 32 inhabitants. It is in that portion of the parish which formed the ancient parish of Invergowrie, now united, with Benvie, to Liff; and is about a mile west-by-south of Invergowrie church.

Darlingshaugh

DARLINGSHAUGH, a village, in the late quoad sacra parish of Ladhope, parish of Melrose, county of Roxburgh, 4 miles (W.) from Melrose; containing 1116 inhabitants. This village is beautifully situated on the Gala water, and, though within the parish of Melrose, may be regarded as an appendage to Galashiels, in the manufactures of which a considerable number of the population is employed. A comfortable school-house has been built by the heritors.

Darnick

DARNICK, a village, in the parish and district of Melrose, county of Roxburgh, 1 mile from Melrose; containing 280 inhabitants. It is pleasantly seated in the vale of Melrose, and the population is chiefly employed in agriculture. A school-house has been built by the heritors for the instruction of the poorer children.

Darvel

DARVEL, a village, in the parish of Loudoun, district of Cunninghame, county of Ayr, 1½ mile (E.) from Newmilns; containing 1362 inhabitants. This is a considerable place, and it would seem that several lands here formerly belonged to the Knights Templars, as many of them still bear the name of Temple, and do not hold of any superior, not even of the crown. A large part of the population is engaged in hand-loom weaving, the children assisting in the minor branches of the manufacture. The Reformed Presbyterians have a place of worship; and there is a school partly supported by the Marchioness of Hastings, and of which the master is allowed a dwelling-house and garden. Near the village is a place called Glen Chapel, but there remains no vestige of a religious edifice; and in the vicinity are the ruins of an ancient castle.

David, St.

DAVID, ST., a village and sea-port, in the parish of Dalgety, district of Dunfermline, county of Fife, 1 mile (E. N. E.) from North Queensferry; containing 155 inhabitants. This little sea-port, which is situated on the Frith of Forth, owes its origin to the Fordel collieries, in the parish, belonging to Admiral Sir P. H. Durham, G.C.B., by whom great improvements have been made in it, for the more expeditious and convenient shipping of the coal. The harbour, which, from what remains of the original works, seems to have been badly constructed, has been improved by the proprietor at an expense of £2000, and now affords safe anchorage to ships of 500 tons' burthen, which may load and deliver their cargoes on the beach. There are also extensive salt-works: the salt water, at flood-tides, is forced by a steam-engine into a capacious reservoir, whence, after depositing its residuum of sand, it is conveyed in a purified state into large pans, producing annually about 30,000 bushels of salt.

David, St.

DAVID, ST., a hamlet, in the parish of Maderty, county of Perth; containing 65 inhabitants.

Davidson's-Mains

DAVIDSON'S-MAINS, a village, in the parish of Cramond, county of Edinburgh, 2½ miles (N. N. W.) from Edinburgh; containing 470 inhabitants. This place, also called Muttonhole, is situated on the road from Edinburgh to Cramond, and in its vicinity is Muirhouse, the seat of Dr. Davidson, who allows the teacher of a school a salary of ten guineas per annum.

Daviot

DAVIOT, a parish, in the district of Garioch, county of Aberdeen, 4 miles (N. W.) from Old Meldrum; containing 643 inhabitants. This parish is supposed to derive its name from the Gaelic term dabhoch, which signifies a piece of land sufficient for the pasture of a certain number of cows. Its length is about three miles, and the average breadth two; but it was augmented ecclesiastically by act of assembly at the close of the 17th century, by the annexation of parts of the parishes of Fyvie and Chapel of Garioch, and, including this addition, it covers about eight and a half square miles. The civil parish comprises 5250 acres, of which the whole is in tillage, with the exception of a few acres in wood, and a little moss. The surface is agreeably diversified by a ridge of gentle undulations, passing through the centre, from north to south, and accompanied on each side by a ridge of inferior elevation, also slightly undulated. The soil exhibits several varieties; that on the higher grounds is thin and gravelly, and on the descent a rich loamy earth rests on a clayey subsoil, while the lower parts are to a considerable extent covered with a shallow peaty soil, incumbent on a blueish clay. Every sort of grain, with the exception of wheat, is raised, of good quality, but the soil is best adapted to oats, and several kinds are largely cultivated, especially those denominated Scotch barley and the early Angus; and green crops of all descriptions grow luxuriantly. Very few sheep are reared, but much attention is paid to cattle, in consequence of the facilities afforded by steam navigation for sending them to the London market; the breed was formerly the Aberdeenshire, but a great improvement has been made within these few years, by crossing these with the short-horned. The seven years' rotation is generally practised, and modern usages of husbandry have been introduced; much waste land has been drained and cultivated, and there is now very little remaining. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3250.

The substrata comprise whinstone and inferior granite, and ironstone exists in considerable quantities, but the distance from coal-mines renders the working of it impracticable. The plantations consist chiefly of Scotch fir and larch, which, however, rarely attain to a great size, manifesting symptoms of decay at about the age of forty years. Beech, elm, and ash are in some parts interspersed with the fir; and trees of this description appear to be better suited to the soil, and grow in some places in a very thriving manner, especially around the mansion of Glack, besides which residence there is a handsome mansion in the parish on the estate of Fingask, built in 1834. The inhabitants are engaged in husbandry, with the exception of a very small number who work at a manufactory for carding and spinning wool, which was some time since established here by an enterprising individual to whom the board for the encouragement of manufactures granted a premium for his exertions. There is considerable facility of communication: a road runs past the church from north to south, and in the latter direction forms two branches, the one leading to Old Meldrum, and the other to Inverury five miles distant. A turnpike-road, also, traversing the east and north sides of the parish, was formed in 1835, to connect the east and west branches of the great north road from Aberdeen to Inverness, and runs from Old Meldrum to Sheelagreen, in the parish of Culsamond; and another road was finished in 1839, on which a daily coach travels between Aberdeen and Huntly. The parish is in the presbytery of Garioch and synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of the Crown; the minister's stipend is £159, of which about a sixth is received from the exchequer, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £12 per annum. The parish was formerly in the diocese of Aberdeen, and is said to have been given by Malcolm Canmore to the bishop; the present church was built in 1798, and accommodates 400 persons. The parochial school affords instruction in the classics, mathematics, and book-keeping, in addition to the elementary branches; the master has a salary of £30, with a house, and £20 fees; he also shares in the Dick bequest. The principal relic of antiquity is a Druidical temple in fine preservation, on the lands of Mounie, near the church. A battle-axe was dug up in 1833, supposed to have been used at the battle of Harlaw, fought in 1411, in the adjoining parish of Garioch; and some years since, a silver coin of the reign of Elizabeth, a little larger than a shilling, was found in a garden, on the site of the old manse.

Daviot and Dunlichty

DAVIOT and DUNLICHTY, a parish, chiefly in the county of Inverness, but partly in that of Nairn, 5 miles (S. E.) from Inverness, containing 1681 inhabitants. These two ancient parishes were united about the year 1618: the former received its appellation, as is supposed, from David, Earl of Crawford, who built a fort here; and the latter, which is by far the larger, derives its name from the term dun-le-cutti, or "the hill of the Catti," which bisects the territory formerly held by the Catti, whose descendants now possess nearly the whole lands. At Tordarroch, in the parish of Dunlichty, the Earl of Moray caused 200 men of the clan Chattan to be hanged in a barn in one day, about the year 1532, for various acts of spoliation committed in his territory. They had been captured by stratagem, the earl having assembled them under pretence of holding a feudal court; and to each, while being led to the gallows, pardon was offered, upon condition of their betraying Hector Mackintosh, under whose command they had acted. The greater part of the moor where the celebrated and decisive battle of Culloden was fought on the 16th of April, 1746, is situated in this parish, as well as the spot on which the prince stood during the engagement; and the prince afterwards, with a few friends, crossed the river Nairn above the mains of Daviot, and, passing by Tordarroch, advanced to Gorthleck, in Stratherrick.

The parish, the boundary line of which is very irregular, stretches along each side of the river Nairn, from north-east to south-west, for about twenty-five miles, and varies in breadth from one and a half to four or five miles; it comprises about 4000 acres under cultivation, 1500 natural pasture, 830 of natural wood, and above 2270 of plantations. The surface is altogether wild and dreary, and consists principally of the valley of Strathnairn, extending from Wester Aberchalder on the south-west, to the bridge of Daviot on the Highland road, where it contracts itself almost to a point, and terminates in a steep narrow glen. The hills on the south-eastern boundary are a continued chain, forming the northern range of the Munadh-Leagh mountains, and attain an elevation of from 1000 to 2000 feet above the level of the sea. The boundary on the west and north-west consists of an abrupt ridge 1500 feet high, containing a series of lakes, some of them celebrated for their delicious trout; and on the north and north-eastern limit is a sandstone ridge called Drimmashie or Drummossie moor, at the eastern end of which the battle of Culloden was fought. The scenery is generally uninteresting, though occasionally romantic; the mountains are either bare rock, or covered with coarse grass, and the lower grounds are to a considerable extent mossy tracts, shaded by sombre woods and plantations. The stream of the Nairn, however, introduces some variety, and, in its course to the town of Nairn, where it falls into the Moray Frith, after a course of thirty-six miles from its source at Cairn-Gregor, in the south-west part of Dunlichty, renders the aspect of the district in many places agreeable and interesting.

The soil exhibits several varieties, being in some parts light and sandy, in others wet and spongy, with a clayey bottom; and frequently black mossy earth is seen, with different admixtures and modifications. The crops which succeed best are oats and barley; but since the recent improvements in husbandry by the leading proprietors, comprising draining, liming, inclosing, and the rotation system of cropping, wheat of good quality has been grown, and the agricultural character of the parish has attained a respectable footing. Many earthen embankments, also, have been raised along the river, as a security against floods, which have sometimes done much damage to the lands. The rocks consist chiefly of gneiss, in the hills bounding the valley; and large blocks of white granite, conglomerate, red and grey granite, and limestone are found, though the last has not been wrought. A bed of marl, which has been successfully used as manure, was lately discovered on the south bank of Loch Bunachton, about seven feet below the surface, and having a depth of from five to six feet. The old plantations are of common Scotch fir, with a few larches, and cover 1020 acres; there are others formed of Scotch fir, larch, ash, oak, and beech. The rateable annual value of the parish is £5288. The seats are, Daviot, a commodious modern structure; the house of Farr, which has lately received some elegant additions; and Aberarder, also a modern mansion. The road from Edinburgh to Inverness passes through the parish, and with the latter town the inhabitants carry on their chief traffic. The parish is in the presbytery of Inverness and synod of Moray, and in the patronage of the Crown and Earl Cawdor, alternately; the minister's stipend is £187, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £10 per annum. There are two churches, about seven miles distant from each other, in which public worship is usually performed alternately. The church at Daviot is about four miles from the eastern, and that at Dunlichty twelve miles from the western, boundary; the former, with seats for 500 persons, was built in 1826, at a cost of nearly £1000; and the latter, containing seats for 300 persons, was built in 1759, and repaired in 1826. There are also an episcopal chapel, and a place of worship for members of the Free Church. A parochial school is situated in each of the districts, and affords instruction in the ordinary branches; the salary of each master is £25, with £11 and £9 fees, respectively. The poor receive the interest of £400, left by William Macgillivray in 1833. Near the mansion of Daviot, is the ruin of a seat which appears to have been originally of great strength; and there are in several places remains of Druidical temples.

Dean

DEAN, formerly a quoad sacra parish, partly in the parish of Corstorphine, but chiefly in that of St. Cuthbert, city and county of Edinburgh; containing 2262 inhabitants, of whom 108 are in Corstorphine, and 2154 in St. Cuthbert's. This place, now somewhat decayed, is situated on the north bank of the Water of Leith, and forms a western suburb of the city of Edinburgh, from which it is distant about three-quarters of a mile. The village is on the Edinburgh and Queensferry road, on both sides of which it once stood. In its vicinity is Dean bridge, a superb and stupendous structure, thrown over the ravine of the Water of Leith, and having four arches, each ninety feet in span, and of corresponding height from the stream; it was completed in 1831, and from it is presented one of the finest views in the neighbourhood of the city. Dean House here, is a venerable mansion surrounded with fine old trees, which failed not to attract the notice of Sir Walter Scott. The parish was under the presbytery of Edinburgh and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale. The church, erected in 1836, is in the later English style, and contains 1030 sittings, of which thirty are free; the stipend of the minister is £80, arising from seat-rents and collections. There is an episcopal chapel, and a place of worship has been erected for members of the Free Church.

Dean

DEAN, a village, in the parish of Wilton, district of Hawick, county of Roxburgh, 1 mile (W.) from Hawick; containing 129 inhabitants. It is seated in the southern part of the parish, and on a small stream, a tributary to the Teviot, which latter bounds the parish on the south-east.

Deanburnhaugh

DEANBURNHAUGH, a village, in the parish of Roberton, county of Roxburgh, 8 miles (W. by S.) from Hawick; containing 86 inhabitants. This place is of very recent origin; it is pleasantly situated on the road from Eskdalemuir to Hawick, and on the west side of the Borthwick water. The surrounding scenery is agreeably diversified.

Deanston

DEANSTON, formerly a quoad sacra parish, in the parish of Kilmadock, county of Perth; including the hamlet of Murdochston, and containing 1050 inhabitants, of whom 982 are in the village of Deanston, 1 mile (W.) from Doune. This place appears to have originated in the establishment of some cotton-works on the south bank of the Teith, for which that copious and powerful stream afforded ample advantages, and in the consequent erection of a spacious village for the residence of the men employed in the concern. The village, which consists of one wide street, running parallel to the river, is regularly built; the houses are two stories high, with attics, and are roofed with slate, and whitewashed, having a cleanly and cheerful aspect, and attached to each of them is a neat garden. The works were established about the year 1786, by Messrs. Buchanan, of Carston, brothers, the eldest of whom was the first agent of Sir Richard Arkwright in Glasgow for the sale of cotton-twist; and under his superintendence the works soon rose into importance for the spinning of yarn, equal to the finest which has since been produced at Manchester. In 1793, the works became the property of Mr. Flounders, of the county of York, and subsequently of James Finlay and Co., of Glasgow, under whom they were remodelled by Mr. Smith, a nephew of Mr. Buchanan; and in 1822, the company made arrangements with the neighbouring proprietors, and obtained an additional quantity of water-power. The works are at present driven by four water-wheels, of eighty-horse power each, and afford employment to 800 persons; the whole of the establishment is lighted with gas, and thoroughly ventilated. Attached is a schoolroom, erected by the company, who keep a master to instruct the children employed in the factory, who attend the school for three hours daily.

Dee, Bridge Of

DEE, BRIDGE OF, a village, in the parish of Balmaghie, stewartry of Kirkcudbright, 3 miles (S. W.) from Castle-Douglas; containing 243 inhabitants. It derives its name from a bridge over the river Dee, which bounds the parish on the east, and separates it from the parish of Kelton. The lands in the neighbourhood are the property of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge.

Deer, New

DEER, NEW, a parish, in the district of Deer, county of Aberdeen, 6 miles (E. S. E.) from Cuminestown; containing, with the village of Kirktown of New Deer, 3756 inhabitants. This parish originally formed a part of Old Deer, and was separated from it in the early part of the seventeenth century; it was at first termed Auchreddy, from the land on which the church is built, and this name is engraved on the communionplate, with the date 1694. The remains of castles and various tumuli, prove that it was once the scene of military operations. Edward, brother to Robert Bruce, is said to have encamped after the battle of Inverury on a large moor about a mile to the west of the village, and thence to have gone, in pursuit of the Cumyns, to Aikey-Brae, near Old Deer, on which spot a fair has long been kept in commemoration of a battle fought between them. The old castle of Fedderate, at present in ruins, is believed to have been the retreat of some followers of James II. who, being driven from Fyvie Castle, which they had taken after the battle of Killiecrankie, sought a refuge in this fortress, from which, however, they were expelled by King William's troops.

The parish, which is one of the largest in the county, is upwards of fourteen miles long, and eight and a half broad, and contains 29,020 acres. With the exception of Mormond hill, it is the highest ground in Buchan, its elevation being from 200 to 300 feet above the sea. On a fine day, the spire of Peterhead church, about eighteen miles to the east, may be seen from the hill of Culsh; and westward, Bennachie, nearly twenty-eight miles distant, the Foudland hills, the hills near Banff and Cullen, and Benrinnes, in the county of Banff, are distinctly visible. The surface is in general flat, and the elevation of the land renders the climate cold, the operations of husbandry being frequently delayed by the snow remaining on the ground. Three branch streams rise in the northern quarter of the parish, one of which flows eastward, passing Old Deer, and falling into the river Ugie; another, running in a westerly direction, forms a confluence with a stream which falls into the Doveran, and the third, flowing towards the south-west, joins the Ythan, near Gight. The soil is light, and rests partly upon a subsoil of moss on coarse clay, in other places on granite, but chiefly on a bed of from six inches to two feet thick, altogether rocky and impervious, and holding the water that falls upon the land till evaporated by the heat of the sun. Almost the whole of the parish is arable, and the chief grain cultivated is oats; potatoes and hay are grown in large quantities, as are also turnips. The number of acres under tillage is 18,183; 1957 are in pasture, 3587 heath, 4164 moss and moor, and 825 under wood. The system of cultivation differs in the several parts of the parish, a five years' rotation of crops being adopted in some places, and in others a seven years' course; the Buchan breed of cows is much esteemed, especially when crossed by the Teeswater. Considerable improvements have been made by several of the large farmers, chiefly in reclaiming extensive tracts of wet ground; and the farm-houses, though still in some parts indifferent, are on a much better footing than formerly. The rocks consist of coarse granite and inferior limestone, which latter the farmers excavate for themselves, and burn for the purposes of building or agriculture. The rateable annual value of the parish is £10,905.

The village, which is situated on the summit of a hill, contains upwards of 100 houses; and seven fairs are held in it, viz., one in Jan., one in April, a feeing market in May, markets in June, August, and October, and a feeing market in November, at all of which cattle, sheep, horses, and country produce are sold; but the grain is chiefly sent to Peterhead, Fraserburgh, and Banff. There is a good road to Ellon, thirteen miles distant, and the turnpike-road from Peterhead to Banff crosses the parish. The ecclesiastical affairs are subject to the presbytery of Deer and synod of Aberdeen; patron, the Crown. The stipend of the minister is £219, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £20 per annum. The old church was built in 1622, and an aisle was added to it in 1773. In 1838, however, another church was erected, at a cost of about £3000; it is a neat edifice in the later English style, and affords accommodation for 1600 persons. At Savock is a chapel of ease built in 1834, at a cost of £819, and which contains 700 sittings. The parish also contains three meeting-houses belonging to the United Secession, and one just erected in connexion with the Free Church. There are three parochial schools, situated respectively at Kirktown, Savock, and Whitehill, in which are taught the classics, mathematics, and all the usual branches of education; the salary of each master is £24, and the amount of their fees collectively is about £60: between £20 and £30 are also received by each from the Dick bequest. A bursary for a scholar of the name of Cruick-shank or Topp, at Marischal College, of the value of £9, is in the gift of the incumbent. The relics of antiquity in the parish consist of the remains of castles, Druidical temples, and tumuli; and urns of baked clay, containing human bones and ashes, have been found. About a mile from the village, in the northern quarter, formerly stood a circular heap called the Standing Stones of Culsh, and the place still retains the name, though the stones were taken away seventy years ago, to supply materials for building. A little farther, in the same direction, are the ruins of the castle of Fedderate, the best stones of which have also been removed for the purpose of building. It is supposed to have been a place of great strength, and was in various hands at the time of the Revolution in 1688.

Deer, Old

DEER, OLD, a parish, 10 miles (W.) from Peterhead, partly in the district of Deer, county of Aberdeen, including the villages of Stuartfield and Old Deer; and partly in the county of Banff, including the village of Fetterangus; the whole containing 4453 inhabitants. The name appears to be derived from a Gaelic word signifying the worship of God, perhaps applied on account of the first Christian church in the district of Buchan having been erected here. The remains of antiquity in the parish throw considerable light upon its primitive history: the vestiges of four or five Druidical temples are still visible, and numerous others were removed at no very remote period, in order to facilitate the extended operations of agriculture. On the north side of the hill of Parkhouse, also, there were until lately the remains of a small village, supposed to have been occupied by the Druids, but usually called the Picts' houses by the neighbouring peasantry. On the summit of Bruxie steep, and at Den of Howie, near Fetterangus, are some traces of fortifications and encampments, affording evident proof of military operations in ancient times; and in the vicinity of Aikey-Brae, are several tumuli reported to be the cemeteries of warriors who fell in a sanguinary conflict between Edward, brother of Robert Bruce, and Cumyn, Earl of Buchan. Deer is also remarkable as the site of a distinguished abbey, founded about the beginning of the thirteenth century, by the Earl of Buchan, and first held by a company of Cistercian monks from the abbey of Kinloss, in Moray. This abbey was suppressed at the time of the proscription of religious houses, and erected into a temporal lordship in favour of Robert, the earl-marischal's second son, created Lord Altrie; but that nobleman dying without issue, the title became extinct, and the estate was incorporated with that of the head of the family. A very considerable demesne was attached to the abbey, and its revenue amounted to £572. 8. 6. in money, and sixty-five chalders, seven bolls, one firlot, three pecks of meal, fourteen bolls of wheat, and fourteen chalders and ten bolls of bear.

The parish, or rather the main portion of it, in Aberdeenshire, measures in mean length about nine and a half miles, and about four and a half in breadth, and contains upwards of 25,000 acres, of which about three-fourths are under tillage or in pasture, 2000 acres are occupied by growing wood, and the remainder is peat-moss, moor, and waste. It is bounded via the west by the parish of New Deer. The surface is altogether undulated, being marked by a succession of hills and valleys of various extent and form, many of which are clothed with verdure, or ornamented with small clamps of wood, and the lower lands are intersected by numerous rivulets. Deer, wild geese and ducks, partridges, woodcocks, and snipes, and large quantities of rabbits, are found in different parts. The chief streams are two tributaries of the Ugie, which form a confluence in the parish of Longside, and fall into the sea about a mile north-west of Peterhead: the black trout with which they abound supply abundant sport to the lovers of angling. The soil differs to a considerable extent, being in some parts mixed with large portions of sand, and in others partaking of the nature of clay or gravel, and sometimes resting upon a subsoil of impervious ferruginous matter. The summits and sides of many of the hills are especially poor, the soil containing so little fertility as to be altogether unfit for agriculture. In some places there are small portions of good alluvial earth; but these form an exception to the general character of the land. The crops consist chiefly of oats and turnips. Large tracts are reserved for pasture, which are traversed by herds of cattle subject to due restraint from inclosures; but there are very few sheep kept, except on gentlemen's grounds, and the only flock of any consequence is on the Pitfour estate, where are between three and four hundred, of various breeds. The cattle are mostly the native black, rather above the middle size, with which, during the last few years, the Teeswater has been crossed; they are fattened upon turnips, raised partly by the use of bone-dust manure, and many of them are sent for sale to the London markets. Husbandry is well understood in the parish, and considerable improvements have been made in laying out land for pasture, draining, and inclosing. The rateable annual value of the parish is £13,165.

The prevailing rocks are granite and limestone, the latter of which is frequently found with veins and blocks of gneiss, and often so loaded with magnesian earth, as to render it more useful for building than for agricultural purposes. Near the lime-quarry on the lands of Annochie are blocks of pure white quartz, and in other parts of the parish varieties of siliceous stone occur; particles of granite, felspar, quartz, and mica are also found in gravel-pits. The large tracts of peat-moss formerly to be seen, are for the most part exhausted by the continual demand upon them for supplies of fuel, and very little is now to be found. The chief seat is the Mansion House of Pitfour, which possesses fine gardens and plantations, and the character of which may be conjectured from the statement of the fact, that the expenses incurred by the proprietor in the erection of the house, and in improving and ornamenting the contiguous grounds, have amounted to nearly £80,000. On the Kenmundy and Aden estates are also elegant and commodious mansions, with good gardens, and well laid out plantations: on the estate of Dens is a plantation of about eighty acres, consisting chiefly of Scotch fir and larch. Fair specimens may be seen in different places of ash, elm, silver-fir, larch, and pine; but beech and spruce-fir appear to be the kinds more particularly adapted to the soil and climate.

The inhabitants of the villages are to a considerable extent engaged in some branch of manufacture; in Stuartfield about thirty persons are employed in weaving linen-yarn for the Aberdeen houses, and at Millbrake and Aden some sorts of woollen-cloth are made. There are also two flax-mills in the parish, and to the larger of the two woollen-mills a dye-house and a fulling-mill are attached. Six fairs are held in the course of the year, of which Aikey fair, on the Wednesday after the 19th of July, and St. Dustan's, on the corresponding day of December, are chiefly for the sale of cattle, sheep, and horses. Another is held on the Thursday after the 25th of January, one on the Thursday after the 18th of March, one (lately established) on the Monday after the 17th of September, and one about the beginning of November: several others formerly held have been discontinued, and the four last mentioned are of inferior note. The turnpike-road from Fraserburgh to Aberdeen runs in a direction north and south, and that from Peterhead to Banff east and west, through the parish. The ecclesiastical affairs are subject to the presbytery of Deer and synod of Aberdeen; patron, the Crown. The minister's stipend is £219, and there is a manse, built in 1823, with a glebe worth between £40 and £50 per annum. The church, which was built in 1788, and thoroughly repaired a few years since, contains 1200 sittings. There is an episcopal chapel; and members of the Free Church, the Original Secession, the United Associate Synod, and Independents, have places of worship. Three parochial schools are supported: the master of the chief establishment, situated at Old Deer, in which, besides the usual instruction, Greek and mathematics are taught, has a salary of £31, with a house, and about £30 from fees; and the other masters have also a good income each, with fees. The principal remains of antiquity are the ruins of the abbey, at present surrounded by the high wall belonging to the fruit and kitchen garden of Pitfour; the larger part of the ruins has been taken, at different times, for the purpose of forming stone dykes and erecting dwelling-houses, but what now remains is carefully preserved by the proprietor of the estate. A church of cruciform design once stood on its north side; the length from east to west was 150 feet, and the breadth ninety feet, and the nave, thirty-eight and a half feet wide, was supported by a row of pillars, the bases of which may yet be seen, standing about seventeen feet distant from each other. The most interesting Druidical temple is that on the top of Parkhouse Hill, the chief stone of which, called the Altar Stone, is fourteen and a half feet long, and five and a half broad; the stones stand about fourteen feet asunder, and inclose a circle the diameter of which is forty-eight feet. There are several chalybeate springs in the parish.

Deerness

DEERNESS, lately a quoad sacra parish, in the parish of St. Andrew's, county of Orkney, 12 miles (S. E.) from Kirkwall; containing, with the island of Copinshay, 777 inhabitants. This place, of which the name is supposed to have originated in the number of deer frequenting it in ancient times, is a peninsula about four miles in length, and from one to three miles in breadth, connected with the Mainland by a narrow isthmus. It is bounded on the west and north-west by the harbour of Deer Sound, which separates it from the rest of the parish of St. Andrew's, and on the south and east by the North Sea. According to tradition, the whole of the peninsula was one wide forest; and roots and trunks of trees, and the antlers of deer, have from time to time been dug up at a considerable depth. The surface is varied with gentle elevations, and towards the north-east rises into a lofty promontory called the Mull head, about 200 feet above the level of the sea: the soil is not unfertile, and considerable improvement has taken place in the system of agriculture, and in the construction of implements of husbandry.

Deer Sound is more than four miles in length, and from one to two miles and a half in breadth; the bottom is clay mixed with sand, and the depth of water sufficient to render it accessible to vessels of considerable burthen, to which it affords safe anchorage and shelter from the winds. The situation of this place is peculiarly favourable for a fishing-station; and in addition to the various kinds of fish taken off the coast, the hering-fishery is carried on to a very considerable extent, affording during the season full employment to fifty boats, each having four men and a boy. Facility of communication with Kirkwall and other parts of the mainland, is afforded by one of the best roads in the county. Cattle and grain are sent to Leith, to which place there are regular packets, and a steamer in summer. The district was separated from the parish of St. Andrew's, for ecclesiastical purposes, in May, 1830; it is under the presbytery of Kirkwall and synod of Orkney, and in the patronage of the Crown. The church is a plain building, erected about the close of the last century, and affords sufficient accommodation for the inhabitants: the stipend of the minister is £120, with a manse, and about three acres of glebe land. A school is supported by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, who pay the master a salary of £12 per annum, to which £3 are added by the heritors. Near the summit of Mull head was formerly an ancient chapel of very difficult access, to which numerous pilgrims were accustomed to resort; there are also some tumuli and remains of Picts' houses in the district.

Delting

DELTING, a parish, in the county of Shetland, 25 miles (N. N. W.) from Lerwick; containing, with the islands of Little Roe and Muckle Roe, 2019 inhabitants. This parish, the name of which is said to be of Danish or Norwegian origin, is situated about the centre of the Mainland, and is separated on the west from the parish of Northmavine by a long narrow harbour called Sulom Voe, and from the island of Yell on the north by Yell Sound. It is so indented by fissures and intersected by narrow bays, no part of it being above two miles from the sea, that the estimate of its superficial extent cannot be given with any degree of accuracy. The surface, in its general appearance, is hilly, bleak, and dreary, ornamented occasionally with a few small lochs, and the quantity of land under tillage is not more than about 1000 acres, attached to which is pasture of nearly the same extent; the remainder of the parish is hilly ground abounding in peaty soil, which affords abundance of excellent fuel. The arable land has been lately much improved by draining, and a considerable number of Scotch ploughs has been introduced, as well as carts, which before had been very scarce here. The rateable annual value of the parish is £1777. The principal rocks are gneiss and syenite, with which also are found limestone and hornblende. There are four mansion-houses, named Busta, Mossbank, Ullhouse, and Garth. The inhabitants are mostly employed in fishing; and in the month of May, the whole of the fishermen meet at the stations in Northmavine and Papa-Stour, for commencing operations in the taking of ling and cod, upon which they chiefly depend: in a recent year 528 barrels of herrings and sixty tons of ling, cod, tusk, and saith were cured in Delting, and these were only a part of what had been taken. Piltocks and sillocks, called also coal-fish, are likewise caught to a considerable extent, and supply the inhabitants with a large proportion of their food, and frequently with a quantity of oil. The parish is in the presbytery of Burravoe and synod of Shetland, and in the patronage of the Earl of Zetland. The stipend is £151, of which about a third is received from the exchequer, with a manse, built in 1751, and thoroughly repaired and enlarged about the year 1820, at an expense of £500, and also a glebe valued at £10 per annum: the minister is likewise entitled to the vicarage tithe of certain quantities of butter and oil. There are two churches, that of the south district, which was erected in 1714, and is reckoned the principal, and the north district church, built in 1811; the number of sittings in each is about 560. The parochial schoolmaster receives a salary of £26, and about £3 fees; and there are two other schools, of which the masters are allowed, one £18, and the other £13, by the General Assembly. Near Yell Sound is a Pictish castle called Brough; at Burravoe are the remains of an ancient harbour, and at Busta a block of granite between ten and eleven feet in height, called the Standing Stone of Busta. There are also two caves, the one at Culsterness, containing two apartments, and supposed to have been originally used as a hiding-place, and the other in the vicinity of the loch of Trondavoe, said to have been used in times past as a depository for stolen sheep.

Denholm

DENHOLM, a village, in the parish of Cavers, Hawick district of the county of Roxburgh, 5 miles (W. by S.) from Jedburgh; containing 696 inhabitants. This place is beautifully situated in the northern part of the parish, on the road from Jedburgh to Hawick, and equi-distant from both towns. The population are employed in stocking-weaving, the work being given out to them by the manufacturers of Hawick. A sub-post-office has been established, and the village has recently been much improved. There are places of worship for members of the Free Church and Congregational Unionists; and one of the parochial schools is in the village, in which is also a subscription library, containing about 900 volumes. Dr. John Leyden, author of the Scenes of Infancy, and famous as an oriental scholar, was born at Denholm.

Denino

DENINO, county of Fife.—See Dunino.

Denny

DENNY, a manufacturing town and parish, in the county of Stirling, 7 miles (S. by E.) from Stirling, and 5 (W. N. W.) from Falkirk; containing, with the late quoad sacra parish of Haggs, and the villages of Fankerton and Loanhead, 4916 inhabitants, of whom 1881 are in the town. This place, of which the name, derived from the Gaelic Dun, is descriptive of its situation on an eminence, originally formed part of the parish of Falkirk, from which it was separated about the year 1618. A considerable portion of the parish appears to have belonged to an establishment of Knights Templars which probably existed here or in the immediate vicinity, and the land is still known by the appellation of Temple-Denny. The Town, which is situated on the south bank of the river Carron, and on the high road from Glasgow to Stirling, consists partly of a street extending from the church northward to the bridge over the Carron; and in a direction opposite to this, another spacious street has been more recently built, which, in compliment to the principal landed proprietor, is called Herbertshire-street. The houses are generally well built, and roofed with slate, and have a handsome appearance. A public library, containing nearly 1200 volumes on general literature, is supported by subscription, and there is also a theological library of 400 volumes; several efforts for the establishment of reading-rooms have been made, but without success. A club for the practice of archery was established in 1828, of which the members, who were elected by ballot, till lately held annual meetings in October, when prizes of medals and silver arrows, and other honorary distinctions, were awarded; there is still a curling club.

The woollen manufacture is carried on to a considerable extent, for the Glasgow houses; the principal articles are tartans, linsey-woolsey stuffs, and fancy shawls. The machinery of the mills is driven by the Carron, of which the softness and purity of the water render it peculiarly appropriate for cleaning and dyeing the various articles produced in the works, in which about 160,000 pounds of wool are annually consumed, affording occupation to 200 persons. A mill for the manufacture of different kinds of coarse paper and milled-boards at CarronGrove, employs about twenty persons; the materials are chiefly old tarred rope, of which about a ton is used daily; the mill is lighted with gas, and the excise duty amounts to £400 every six weeks. The manufacture of writing-paper is also extensively carried on, in the Herbertshire mills, by Messrs. Duncan and Sons, employing twenty men and fifty women, who reside principally in Denny and Fankerton; the machinery is driven by two water-wheels, of which one is twenty-four, and the other twenty-two feet in diameter. A mill for crushing dye-woods, on the bank of the Carron, and with which are connected works in Castle-Rankine glen, affords employment to more than twenty persons, in the production of dyeing materials and of pyroligneous acid and the several liquors requisite for the various colours; and on the lands of Knowhead, is an extensive forge for the making of spades. A large distillery is in operation, which produces about 50,000 gallons of whisky annually; and a brick and tile work has been recently established: many of the inhabitants of this place, also, are employed in the print-works in the adjoining parish of Dunipace. There are likewise numerous corn and meal mills on the river, for the better supply of which with water-power, a reservoir of sixty acres has been constructed on Earl's burn, about nine miles above Denny, at an expense of £2000. The town contains well-stored shops for the sale of different kinds of merchandise, and all the various handicraft trades requisite for the supply of the district are carried on in the town, which also derives a considerable degree of traffic from its situation on a great public thoroughfare. The post-office has a good delivery; not less than twenty public conveyances pass daily through Denny, and facility of communication is afforded by excellent roads and bridges, and by the great canal between Edinburgh and Glasgow, which runs within three miles to the south of the town. A baron-bailie presides over the town, with power to hold a court for the recovery of debts not exceeding £2; and fairs are held annually, for cows, on the Wednesday before the 12th of May and the Wednesday after the 11th of November; but there is no market.

The parish is bounded on the north by the river Carron, on the south by the river Bonny, and on the west by the hill of Darrach, and is nearly six miles in length and four in breadth, comprising a little less than 9000 acres, of which 2000 are permanent pasture, and the remainder chiefly arable. The surface, which declines gradually from the hill of Darrach towards the east, is divided nearly in the centre by an elevated ridge throughout its whole length, from which the ground slopes towards the north and south; the only other hill of any note is that of Myothill, on the lands of Temple-Denny. The scenery is richly diversified, commanding a view of Herbertshire House, the seat of the Dowager Lady Forbes of Callendar, and of the beautifully undulated and tastefully embellished grounds wherein it is situated, on the opposite bank of the Carron. There are numerous springs and several small rivulets, of which latter, Castle-Rankine burn, which has its source near the base of Darrach Hill, and falls into the Carron near Denny Bridge, is the largest.

The Carron, rising in the Muckle Bin, to the west of Darrach Hill, and flowing in an eastern course, forms a strikingly picturesque cascade called Auchinlilly-linspout, near the bridge on the road to Fintry; and a cottage commanding a fine view of the fall was built by Mr. Hill, but is now a ruin. The Bonny flows into the Carron about two miles to the east of the town.

The soil on the banks of the Carron and the Bonny is a fertile loam, in the central districts gravelly, and in the higher lands are considerable tracts of marshy ground; the crops are, oats, barley, wheat, beans, peas, potatoes, and turnips. The system of husbandry, though greatly improved, is still defective from the want of draining and inclosures; and the farm-buildings, with some exceptions, are of very inferior order. There are but few sheep reared on the lands, and these are chiefly of the Cheviot and Leicestershire breeds; the cattle are generally the Ayrshire, and the horses of the Clydesdale breed, to the improvement of which great attention is now paid. The rateable annual value of the parish is £6293. The natural woods are mostly oak and birch, which are carefully preserved; and the plantations are, ash, elm, birch, lime, oak, plane, and larch, and Scotch and spruce firs, all of which are properly managed and in a thriving state. The substrata are principally whinstone and freestone; and ironstone and coal are also found in abundance. The coal on the north of the ridge, though nearest to the manufactories, is only wrought occasionally, from the difficulty of drawing off the water; the mines on the south, at Banknock, are in full operation. The coal occurs in three seams, of which the upper is three feet six inches, the middle twenty-two inches, and the lowest five feet in thickness; and the produce, after supplying the wants of the locality, is sent by the canal to Greenock and Edinburgh. The parish contains Myothill House, beautifully situated near the base of Darrach Hill, in grounds embellished with plantations.

The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Stirling and synod of Perth and Stirling. The minister's stipend is £250, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £10 per annum; patron, the Crown. The church, erected in 1813, was internally beautified in 1838, and lighted with gas; it is a neat structure in the Grecian style, and contains 767 sittings. There are places of worship for members of the United Secession and Free Church. The parochial school is well conducted; the master has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and the fees average £24: a handsome building has recently been erected for the school. The only antiquities are some remains of a Roman station at Castle-Carie, near the southern confines of the parish. A rude stone coffin was discovered in digging the foundation for Headswood Cottage, at Woodgate, and found to contain the ashes of an adult supposed to have been killed near the spot, at the time of the wars with Edward I. of England. A circular hollow now under cultivation, in the south of the parish, near the river Bonny, is said to have been the site of a Caledonian encampment during the occupation of Castle-Carie by the Romans.

Denovan

DENOVAN, a village, in the parish of Dunipace, county of Stirling, 5 miles (W. N. W.) from Falkirk; containing 104 inhabitants. This village, which is chiefly inhabited by persons employed in calico-printing works, is situated on the north bank of the river Carron, amidst scenery of pleasingly picturesque character, the effect of which is heightened by the graceful tower of the parish church rising above the surrounding foliage, and the handsome residence of the proprietor. The works were established by Mr. Adam, in 1800, and afford employment to about 400 persons, of whom the greater number are resident in the town of Denny, on the opposite side of the Carron. In addition to these persons, engaged in the regular printing departments, are nearly 200 children, chiefly girls, of whom some are occupied in attendance on the printers, and others in sewing and fringing shawls.

Deskford

DESKFORD, a parish, in the county of Banff, 4 miles (S. by E.) from Cullen, on the road to Keith; containing 860 inhabitants. This parish derives its name, signifying a cold place to the southward, from the comparative temperature of its climate, and its situation with respect to Cullen. It is rather more than five miles in length, and about three miles in its average breadth, comprising a quadrilateral area of 8500 acres, of which 2800 are arable land in good cultivation, 5100 waste or partly in pasture, and 600 woodland. The surface is hilly, and between the high grounds is a beautiful valley watered by a stream called the burn of Deskford, which rises in the adjoining parish of Grange, and receives in its course many tributary streams, descending from the heights on both sides. The soil in the valley and lower lands is a rich black loam, and in an improved state of cultivation. The high land on the east side of the valley is called the Green Hill, and in several places is planted with larch and common fir; that on the west side is chiefly covered with heath, with the exception of a small portion brought into cultivation. Considerable improvement has been made in draining, and there is a quarry of excellent limestone, which is extensively worked both for building and for agricultural purposes. A large tract of moss supplies the inhabitants with peat and turf, which are also sent to Cullen and several villages on the coast. The substratum of the parish is mostly mica-slate, in which fragments of quartz are frequently found, and, beneath the surface of the higher grounds, gravel, or clay and gravel mixed. The principal manure is lime; but bone-manure is also used with considerable benefit, and in the upper part of the parish fish-manure is applied. The rateable annual value of the parish is £2154.

The scenery, especially in the valley, is pleasing and picturesque. The burn, in its progress through the parish, affords much variety; and the numerous streams that fall into it from the high grounds on both sides, issue from narrow glens, the sides of which are fringed with wood, and in their descent form cascades of singular beauty. Of these the most interesting is one called the Linn; the stream rushes with great impetuosity from a deep cleft in the rock, which it has worn into fanciful cavities, and, after repeated obstructions, precipitates itself from a height of thirty feet. A tract of hilly and moorish ground, called the Cotton Hill, comprising about 250 acres, has within the last few years been inclosed for plantation. The drains made for preparing the ground for the purpose, extend for nineteen miles, and the dykes for its inclosure nearly six miles. The woodlands of the parish now comprise 850 acres. There was formerly a bleachfield, and during the prevalence of the linen manufacture the female population were engaged in spinning; since the discontinuance of that trade the bleachfield has been converted into arable land, and there are now only two meal-mills, to one of which is attached a kiln, and a barley-mill. The most important improvement that has lately taken place is the construction of a line of turnpike-road through the parish, opening a communication between Keith and Cullen, and which, from the recent construction of a harbour at the latter town, affords a facility of forwarding the agricultural produce.

The parish is Ecclesiastically in the presbytery of Fordyce and synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of the Earl of Seafield; the minister's stipend is £193.12., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £8 per annum. The church, built before the Reformation, is in good repair, and capable of receiving a congregation of 357 persons. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship. The parochial school affords instruction to about forty boys; the master's salary is £34, with £12 fees, and about £30 from the bequest of Mr. Dick. There is the interest of a sum of money, amounting to £10. 12., distributed among the poor. On the borders of a farm called Liechestown, was found within the last twenty years, at the depth of six feet, in a mossy piece of ground, the head of a swine in brass, of the ordinary size, with a tongue of wood moveable by means of springs; it is now in the museum of the Banff Institution. Upon an adjoining farm, called Inalterie, supposed to signify the place of "the altar," are the remains of an ancient massive building, in one part of which is a deep circular hole of the size of a well, inclosed with a stone wall rising to a considerable height. The origin and purpose of the building are equally obscure. Close to it is a vault, on exploring which a staircase was found leading down to the interior; but the search was interrupted by continued heavy rains, and has not been resumed. It is supposed to be the remains of some baronial castle or ecclesiastical building. In the immediate vicinity was formerly an artificial mount of stones, called the Law Hillock, and thought to have been a place for administering justice, for which purpose it was well adapted; but it has been removed for the purpose of employing the materials in building. On the other side of the burn of Deskford, and within view of the former, is another mount, rising to an elevation of twenty feet, and sloping gradually on the sides; it is level on the summit, which is of elliptical form, and surrounded at the base by a ditch, part of which forms the bed of a stream called the Ha' burn. This mount is termed the Ha' Hillock, and is supposed to have been also an ancient tribunal. Adjoining the church are the ruins of a tower formerly belonging to a castle, the residence of the chief proprietor of the parish. It is said that there was originally a communication from this tower to the church, the walls of which are contiguous; and the latter is thought to have been originally the domestic chapel of the castle. The tower formed a very conspicuous object, rising considerably above the roof of the church; but, being in a very ruinous state, it was taken down some few years since, from an apprehension of danger. Close to the church is St. John's well, supplied by a spring that appears to issue from beneath the church, which was originally dedicated to that saint; and near it is a small fragment of a very stately tree dedicated to the same patron.

Devonside

DEVONSIDE, a village, in the parish of Tillicoultry, county of Clackmannan, ¾ of a mile (S.) from Tillicoultry; containing 170 inhabitants. This village, situated on the banks of the Devon, has sprung up within these few years: coal, which is abundant in the parish, is wrought in its vicinity, and brick and tile works have been erected. The place is suitably circumstanced for manufactures, the Devon supplying water for steam-engines and other purposes.

Dewartown

DEWARTOWN, a village, in the parish of Borthwick, county of Edinburgh, 1 mile (S.) from Ford; containing 193 inhabitants. It is one of the most considerable villages in the parish, and of pleasing appearance, and consists principally of small holdings on the estate of Vogrie, the property of the Dewar family. The dwellings are ranged on one side of the road, and in front is a plantation, with a small stream flowing near: the scenery in the neighbourhood is very picturesque.