Eaglesfield - Edenton

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Eaglesfield

EAGLESFIELD, a village, in the parish of Middlebie, county of Dumfries; containing 456 inhabitants. This is the principal of three flourishing villages in the parish, erected within the last twenty years, and the inhabitants of which are to a considerable extent engaged in weaving.

Eaglesham

EAGLESHAM, a parish, in the county of Renfrew, 9 miles (S.) from Glasgow; containing 2428 inhabitants, of whom 1801 are in the village. This place, which is of considerable antiquity, is supposed to have derived its name, of Celtic origin, from the erection of its ancient church. It formed part of the district of Mearns, and, together with other lands, was granted by David I., King of Scotland, to Walter, son of Alan, the first of the Stuarts, from whom Robert de Montgomerie, of Oswestry, in England, procured the manor of Eaglesham about the middle of the twelfth century. After the accession of the Stuarts to the Scottish throne, it was held by Robert's descendant, John de Montgomerie, who also obtained the baronies of Eglinton and Ardrossan, by marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Hugh Eglinton by Egidia, sister of Robert II.; and this John de Montgomerie, with the ransom of Harry Percy, surnamed Hotspur, whom he had taken prisoner at the battle of Otterburn in 1388, erected here the castle of Polnoon, of which there are still some vestiges remaining. The Parish, which was almost exclusively the property of the Montgomerie family, is situated in the south-east angle of the county, and is about six miles from north to south, and five and a half from east to west. It is bounded on the north by the river Earn, which separates it from the parish of Mearns; on the south by the parish of Loudon; on the east by the river White Cart, which divides it from the parishes of East Kilbride and Carmunnock; and on the west by the parish of Fenwick. The surface is generally elevated, and is intersected from east to west by a ridge of hills, of which the highest vary from 1000 to 1200 feet above the level of the sea, and which, with the exception of a hill in Lochwinnoch, are the highest in the county. The sources of the river Cart and its numerous tributaries are within the parish: this river, which flows in a northern course to Cathcart and Langside, then takes a western direction toward Paisley, whence it deviates towards the north, and receives the waters of the Black Cart at Inchinnan Bridge previously to its influx into the Clyde. The surface is also diversified with lakes, and with reservoirs for the supply of different mills, which latter cover nearly 240 acres of ground, and are frequented by various species of aquatic fowl.

The whole number of acres is estimated at 15,500, of which about 6100 are arable, nearly 4000 meadow and pasture, about 60 woodland and plantations, and the remainder moorland pasture and moss. The soil along the banks of the Cart, and towards the west, though light, is fertile; but many of the inhabitants rely more on the pasturage of sheep and the rearing of cattle than on the cultivation of the lands. The principal crops are, oats, barley, and potatoes; the system of agriculture has been improved; much progress has been made in draining, and considerable quantities of waste have been reclaimed. Many of the farm-houses and offices have been rebuilt on a more commodious plan, and the more recent improvements in husbandry have been adopted; the dairy-farms are in general well managed, and the produce finds a ready sale in the market of Glasgow. The cows are chiefly of the Ayrshire breed, of which about 1000 are pastured on the farms, and 4000 sheep are maintained on the moorland pastures; few horses are reared, the greater number being purchased in the spring for agricultural purposes, and sold again in the autumn. The rateable annual value of the parish is £11,800. The moors abound with grouse and other species of game, and afford a fine field of sport to the members of the Clydesdale Coursing Club, the hares being numerous and swift, and requiring greater energy and perseverance in the chase than those in the more lowland countries. Trout and various other kinds of fish abound in the lakes, and a peculiar species found in the Clyde and the Avon was originally introduced by Lady Anne Hamilton from this vicinity. The plantations are chiefly the common Scotch fir, which thrives admirably, and larch, for which the soil is better adapted than for many other sorts; hard-woods of different kinds are found in the lower grounds and more sheltered situations. The rocks in the higher lands are generally of the trap species, intermixed in some places with porphyritic claystone, and abounding in others with jasper, chalcedony, blue quartz, calcareous spar, and felspar containing beautiful crystals.

Alexander, the eighth earl of Eglinton, obtained for the inhabitants a charter for a weekly market and an annual fair, in 1672; the market has been discontinued, as well as the fair, which was mostly for cattle, and was on the 24th of April, O. S.; but there is still a fair on the last Thursday in August, when horse-races take place. The village, which was laid out on a new plan by the tenth earl, is about one-third of a mile in length, and consists of two ranges of houses, between which is a spacious green, varying from 100 to 250 yards in breadth, disposed in lawns, interspersed with trees, and divided in the centre by a streamlet of clear water. In the rear of each of the houses is a rood of garden; the inhabitants have also seventy acres of ground rent free, which are laid out in meadows and plantations. The manufacture of silk was formerly considerable, employing sixty-three looms in the village; but that branch of trade has been superseded by the weaving of cotton goods, for which materials are provided by the manufacturers of Glasgow and Paisley, and afford employment to nearly 400 persons, resident in the village. At the higher extremity of the rivulet that flows through the green is an extentive cotton-mill, the property of Messrs. Mc Lean and Brodie, of Glasgow, in which are 15,312 spindles, set in motion by a water-wheel of castiron forty-five feet in diameter, and equivalent to the power of fifty horses; it gives occupation to 200 persons, of whom more than one-half are females. There is also a mill at Mill-hall, employing 620 spindles and nearly seventy persons, of whom about one-third are females; this establishment is chiefly engaged in spinning shuttle-cord for power-looms, and wicks for candles, and the machinery is impelled by a water-wheel of 24-horse power. The parish likewise contains a corn-mill in which about 3000 bolls of grain are ground annually. There is a post-office, with a good delivery; and facility of intercourse with Glasgow, Paisley, Hamilton, and other towns is maintained by excellent roads, of which seven miles of turnpike pass through the parish. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Glasgow and synod of Glasgow and Ayr; the minister's stipend is £278. 14., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £25 per annum; patron, Allan Gilmour, Esq. The church, erected in 1788, is a neat structure of octagonal form, containing 550 sittings, most of which are free. There are places of worship for members of the United Secession and a Reformed Presbyterian Congregation. The parochial school is attended by about 120 scholars; the master has a salary of £30, with a house and garden, and the fees average £50 per annum. There is another school, in which sixty children are taught. Robert Pollok, author of the Course of Time, was a native of the parish.

Eagleshay

EAGLESHAY, an isle, in the parish of Rousay and Eaglesay, county of Orkney; containing 190 inhabitants. It lies on the east side of the island of Rousay, from which it is separated by Howa Sound, and is about two miles and a half long and one broad, and entirely composed of sandstone and sandstone flag; in some parts the strata are very much elevated. The soil is good, but is indifferently cultivated. This island, from its beauty, has been chosen as a place of residence by several distinguished persons: the families of Douglas and Monteith, its former proprietors, resided here, and even the bishops preferred it for their habitation. St. Magnus was murdered on the isle, and the church, dedicated to him as the tutelar saint of the Orkneys, is said to have been erected on the very spot where the deed was perpetrated by his ambitious relative. In the month of October, the spongia palmata and oculata are cast on the shore in great abundance; and a considerable quantity of kelp is produced annually.

Eagleshay

EAGLESHAY, an isle, in the parish of Northmavine, county of Shetland. It is one of the smallest of the Shetland group, and is situated in St. Magnus' bay, a short distance westward of Islesburgh, on the Mainland; there is some good pasturage; and rabbits are very numerous.

Ealan Na Coomb

EALAN NA COOMB, an isle, in the parish of Tongue, county of Sutherland. This isle, also called Ealan na Naoimph, or Island of Saints, lies off the northern coast of Sutherland, and a little eastward of the mouth of the Kyle of Tongue; it is of very small extent, and of nearly circular form. Here were formerly a chapel and burial-place, of which the remains are still visible.

Ealan Na Roan

EALAN NA ROAN. an isle, in the parish of Tongue, county of Sutherland. This place, of which the name signifies the "Island of Seals," is situated at the entrance to the Kyle of Tongue; it is about two miles in circumference, and is formed of a mixture of sand and a reddish kind of pebble, which appear as if baked together. It contains a large quantity of peat-moss, and has plenty of fresh water. Some years since, part of the land near the middle of the island sank without any visible cause, occasioning a vast chasm.

Earlsferry

EARLSFERRY, a burgh of regality, in the parish of Kilconquhar, district of St. Andrew's, county of Fife, ½ a mile (W.) from Elie, and 2 miles (S.) from Colinsburgh; containing 496 inhabitants. This place, which is of great antiquity, and originally an inconsiderable fishing-village, derived its name, and, according to some, its erection into a royal burgh, from Macduff, Thane or Earl of Fife, who, fleeing from the usurper Macbeth, took shelter in a small recess in Kincraig hill, a precipitous rock rising abruptly from the south-western coast of the parish. After remaining for some time in concealment, he was conveyed across the Frith of Forth, to Dunbar, by the fishermen of the village; and in return for the kindness he had experienced, he is said to have obtained from Malcolm III. a charter of incorporation for the inhabitants, erecting the village into a royal burgh, to which, in memory of his escape, he gave the appellation of Earl's Ferry. Among the privileges conferred was that of sanctuary to all who should sail from this place across the Frith; it was ordained that their persons should be inviolable while here, and that, after their embarkation, no boat should be allowed to go in pursuit of them till they were half way across. The place, after it became a burgh, appears to have carried on a large trade; two weekly markets and two annual fairs were held, and the provost and bailies levied dues and customs. But the want of a convenient harbour prevented its attaining much consideration as a port; its trade, which had for many years been declining, was, from the construction of a harbour and the erection of a pier at Elie, in its immediate neighbourhood, at length wholly transferred to that place; and both its fairs and markets have been consequently discontinued. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the coal-works in the vicinity of the town, and in weaving for the manufacturers of Dundee, Kirkcaldy, and other places; the articles woven are, sheetings, dowlas, and checks, which are wrought in hand-looms by the people at their own dwellings. There are about seventy seamen engaged in the harbour and at the ferry; and during the months of July and August, a few of them are employed in the herring-fishery on the north-east coast. Many of the weavers who have been brought up as seamen occupy themselves in summer in the whale-fisheries on the coast of Greenland, from which pursuit they return to their looms in the winter. The original charter of Malcolm, which was bestowed in the eleventh century, was destroyed by fire; and a new charter, confirming all the privileges it had conferred, was in 1589 granted by James VI., by which the government is vested in three bailies, a treasurer, and a council of sixteen burgesses, assisted by a town-clerk and other officers. The bailies and treasurer are elected annually by the council for the time being, and on their appointment nominate the council for the following year; they are invested with the power to hold courts for the determination of civil and criminal causes; but since 1820, only five civil and one criminal case have been decided. Prior to the Union in 1707, the burgh, on its own petition, had been relieved from sending a member to the Scottish parliament; and it was consequently, on that event, not included in those towns which jointly return a member to the English house of commons. Nor, since the passing of the act of the 2nd and 3rd of William IV., has the burgh possessed any privileges of this kind, having merely shared with the rest of Fife in the election of a county representative. The prison is in a state of dilapidation; it was latterly seldom used, and only for the temporary confinement of individuals found guilty of misdemeanours; and on the recent passing of the Prisons' act, it was abolished as a gaol.

Earlstoun

EARLSTOUN, a parish, in the county of Berwick; including the villages of Fans, Mellerstain, and Redpath, and containing 1756 inhabitants, of whom 927 are in the village of Earlstoun, 4 miles (N. by E.) from Melrose. The name of this parish, anciently Ersildun or Ersildon, which appears to have been gradually changed into Earlstoun, is traced by some antiquaries to the Cambo-British word Arcwl-dun, signifying "the prospect hill," from a commanding eminence on the south of the village and church. It is, however, perhaps more correctly derived from the name Earl, with the common termination of don, ton, or town, on account of its having belonged to the earls of March, who were seated here from the 12th century till 1453, when they incurred a forfeiture. David I. occasionally resided in this part, and James IV., in the year 1506, granted the barony to Mungo Home, whose family had previously established their residence at Cowdenknows, on the Leader, about three-quarters of a mile below the village of Earlstoun. This village, on the 1st of February, 1590–1, was made a burgh of barony by James VI., in favour of John Home, of Cowdenknows, the great grandson of Mungo; and the grant was confirmed in 1592. In 1636, Sir James Home, the lineal descendant of this family, succeeded to the earldom of Home, Earl James having died without issue. The parish lies in the south-western extremity of the county, and is about six miles in length, from east to west, and about four and a half in breadth, and is bounded on the north by the parishes of Gordon and Legerwood, on the south by Mertoun, on the east by Smailholm and Nenthorn, and on the west by Melrose, in Roxburghshire. The surface in the vicinity of most of the streams is tolerably even, but in the western quarter it is more hilly, though there is no remarkable eminence, except in one place, about a mile south of the village, where the ground attains an elevation of 1000 feet above the level of the sea. There are two considerable rivers, the Eden on the east, and the Leader on the west, both of which rise in Lammermoor, and flow into the Tweed, and are celebrated for their fine trout. The scenery of the latter is in some parts extremely beautiful; and its windings between the hills of Carolside, and through the classic grounds of Cowdenknows, have been the inspiring theme of Scottish song.

The soil is of different varieties; that of the arable land is generally dry, and in some parts a rich fertile loam. In the eastern quarter is a considerable extent of marshy ground; barren heath is met with in many places, and in the northern district is a moss consisting of several hundreds of acres. About 5600 acres are cultivated or occasionally in tillage, and 2118 are waste or in pasture; the wood covers 915 acres, and on the Mellerstain estate, where timber is regularly cut for sale, a large extent of waste has been planted with Scotch fir. Grain of all kinds is raised, but the quantity, especially of wheat, has been small, the soil being chiefly suited to turnips, large crops of which are produced. The five years' rotation system? is usually followed, consisting of two years' grass; oats; turnips; and, lastly, oats or barley, with grass seeds. The sheep mostly bred are the Leicesters, and the cattle are the short-horned, to the rearing of which much attention is paid. Many improvements have been effected in the culture of the lands; and although great losses have been sustained in some cases by the reclaiming of waste, yet considerable progress has been made in this respect, and the extensive tract of moss before named, having been redeemed at an expense of from £1200 to £1400, now affords tolerable pasture for cattle. On the estate of Cowdenknows much benefit has been derived from laying out plantations, which greatly ornament the vicinity of the Leader as well as the village of Earlstoun. The rateable annual value of the parish is £8533.

At Mellerstain, the seat of the ancient family of Baillie, is a large and elegant mansion, built by the grandfather of the present owner, George Baillie, Esq.; it is embosomed in a forest of noble trees, which cover and adorn a wide extent of country. Cowdenknows, now the property of James Gilfillan, Esq., stands on the Leader, amid scenery which has for hundreds of years been celebrated for its beauty; and Carolside, belonging to Alexander Mitchel, Esq., is also seated on the banks of the river, in a delightfully secluded vale surrounded by hills, and is remarkable for the variety of the attractions in its vicinity. The village of Earlstoun is situated on the Leader, near the new line of road from Jedburgh to Edinburgh; and the road from Kelso passes through it. There are two manufactures carried on in the parish; one is that of ginghams, merinos, shawls, muslins, shirtings, and furniture stripes; and the other of plaidings, blankets, flannels, and other woollens. In the former, which is wholly pursued by hand-loom weavers, about eighty persons are employed; in the latter the number of hands is about forty. Two fairs of considerable importance are held yearly at Earlstoun, principally for horses and cattle, one on the 29th of June, and the other on the third Thursday in October. The ecclesiastical affairs are subject to the presbytery of Lauder and synod of Merse and Teviotdale; patron, the Crown. The stipend of the minister is £218, and there is a manse, erected in 1814, and repaired in 1824, to which is attached a glebe valued at £37 per annum. The church, built in 1736, and enlarged and thoroughly repaired in 1832, is situated in the village, nearly at one extremity of the parish; it formerly accommodated only 450 persons, but on account of its recent enlargement it is now capable of holding nearly 200 more. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship, and there are also meeting-houses for Antiburghers and the Relief body. In the parochial school, the classics, French, mathematics, and all the usual branches of education are taught; the salary of the master is £28, with £32 from fees, and the interest of £550 bequeathed partly by the Rev. Robert Young, and partly by the late Dr. James Wilson, who was educated in the school, and long resident in India. A school at Mellerstain is partly supported by the Baillie family; and at Fans and Redpath are other schools. At Cowdenknows is an ancient tower in a state of good preservation, bearing on its walls the date 1573; but the chief relic of antiquity is part of a tower standing at the west end of the village, called Rhymer's Tower, the ancient residence of Sir Thomas Learmont, or Thomas of Ercildoune, commonly called Thomas the Rhymer, the earliest, and in some respects the most remarkable, poet of Scotland. His predictions respecting many families of importance, and with regard to the ruin of his own family, and the union of the British dominions under one monarch, are all particularly noticed by Sir Walter Scott in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. He lived about the end of the 13th century, and held a considerable portion of the lands of the parish. On the summit of Blackhill is a vitrified fort, and in various parts of the parish are circular encampments of the primitive inhabitants. Near the western extremity of the village there existed some years ago an ancient thorn-tree, to which the older people attached the magic power of sustaining the fortunes of the place, so long as it remained untouched.

Earn, Bridge Of

EARN, BRIDGE OF, a village, in the parish of Dunbarny, county of Perth, 3 miles (S. by E.) from Perth; containing 369 inhabitants. This place, which takes its name from its situation near a bridge across the river Earn, consists of two portions. The one was commenced about 1769, by Mr. John Gilloch, who had obtained from Sir William Moncrieffe a ninety-nine years' lease of a tract of land between the old bridge of Earn and Seale's bridge; and the other was erected in 1832, and forms a street of regularly-disposed houses, intended chiefly for the accommodation of persons visiting the celebrated mineral wells of Pitkeithly, at a short distance from this spot, and within the confines of the parish. These waters belong to the saline class, as distinguished from the acidulous, chalybeate, and sulphureous, and contain carbonate of lime, sulphate of soda, chloride of calcium, and chloride of sodium, the two last being the principal ingredients; there are also portions of carbonic acid and nitrogen. They have long been in repute for their efficacy in hepatic, scrofulous, and many other complaints, and are visited by numerous invalids, and used both internally and externally, and both warm and cold. There is an inn near the wells, fitted up for the accommodation of strangers, and formerly the mansion-house occupied by the proprietor of Pitkeithly; but the chief inn is the Moncrieffe Arms, at the village. Apartments of every kind may also be obtained at the several lodginghouses; and a regular post-office is established here for the surrounding district. One of the most picturesque and interesting objects in the pleasing scenery of the vicinity is the new and elegant bridge, of three elliptical arches, erected over the river in 1821 by the city of Perth, at a cost of £16,000, in place of the old bridge, built about 500 years since, and of which two of the five arches still remain, overgrown with ivy. Two mail-coaches between Edinburgh and Perth pass through the village, besides many other conveyances to different parts. The parish church and manse, also, are situated here.

Easdale

EASDALE, an island of the Hebrides, annexed to the parish of Kilbrandon, in the district of Lorn, county of Argyll, and containing 531 inhabitants. This island is situated a little to the west of that of Seil, belonging to the same parish, from which it is separated by a narrow channel called Easdale Sound; it is washed by the Atlantic on the south, and the Sound of Mull on the west and north-west, and is less than a square mile in extent. The village is built on both sides of the sound, and is chiefly inhabited by persons employed in the slate-quarries, whose tenements are one story high, with good slate roofs, and of neat and comfortable appearance. Though slate of the same kind is obtained in the islands of Seil and Luing, Easdale is the chief seat of the operations for raising the fine blue durable material for which it has been so long and justly celebrated; the whole island consists of it, and there is one quarry 120 feet below the level of the sea. The quarries, which are in extensive operation, have been wrought for nearly two centuries; and the four now open in the islands employ about 200 men, and produce from four to five millions of slates annually: much of the labour formerly done by horses, carts, &c., is now effected by the aid of steam-engines and by railroads. The steamers running between Glasgow and the northern ports pass along the Sound of Easdale, and a post communicates daily with Oban. There is a school supported by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge.

Eassie and Nevay

EASSIE and NEVAY, a parish, in the county of Forfar, about 3 miles (E.) from Meigle; containing 732 inhabitants. These two districts, formerly separate parishes, are together about four miles in length, and three in average breadth, comprising an area of 5000 acres, of which, with the exception of a small proportion of pasture and woodland, the whole is arable. The surface is varied; in Eassie it is partly level, but the greater portion is included in the Sidlaw hills, of which the northern declivity occupies nearly one-half of the parish. The river Dean is the northern boundary of the district of Eassie, along which it winds with a scareely perceptible current, though, from the great depth of its channel, and the numerous and sudden changes in its course, it frequently overflows its banks, and inundates the adjacent lands. The soil in the lower grounds is a fine black mould, but towards the hills becomes less fertile, and near the summits affords only tolerable pasturage; in Nevay it is partly marshy, with moss, and in Eassie is a tract of strong rich clay, well adapted for grain. The arable lands are in the highest state of cultivation, producing oats and barley, of which, from the great attention paid to them, considerable quantities are sent to various parts of the country for seed. Much care has been bestowed on the improvement of live stock; the cattle are principally the Angus and the shorthorned; numerous flocks of sheep, chiefly of a mixed breed between the Highland and the Leicestershire, are fed on the pastures, and in autumn many are fed on turnips, and fattened for the market. The farms average about 200 acres in extent, and the farm-buildings are generally substantially built, on the most improved plan, and well arranged; the plantations, which are mostly of recent growth, consist mainly of larch and Scotch fir, and are in a thriving state. The rateable annual value of the parish is £4019.

There are several small scattered hamlets, but no regular village; the population is chiefly agricultural, and a small number are employed in the manufacture of coarse linen, chiefly for domestic use. Freestone of good quality is found in the parish, and is quarried to a considerable extent. The river Dean abounds with trout, and is much frequented by anglers. The high road from Aberdeen to Edinburgh passes through the parish; and the Newtyle and Glammis railway, joining the Dundee and Cupar-Angus line, affords facility of communication with Dundee, the principal market of this part of the country, and conveyance for supplies of coal, lime, and manure. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Meigle and synod of Angus and Mearns. The minister's stipend is £161, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £15 per annum; patron, Lord Wharncliffe. The church is a handsome structure, erected in 1833 on a site convenient for both districts. The parochial school is well conducted; the master has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and the fees average about £18 per annum. There is a parochial library containing a good collection of works, chiefly on religious subjects. The poor are partly supported by the proceeds of a fund of £120: a bequest of £100 by Miss Ogilvie, of West Hall, for such as are not on the parish list, has been entirely expended. About a mile from the old church of Eassie is a large circular mound, on which stands the farm-house of Castle-Nairn; part of the broad moat that surrounded it is still remaining. It is supposed to have been an intrenchment occupied by the army of Edward of England during his invasion of the country. There is also a large stone obelisk in the parish, curiously sculptured with hieroglyphic characters.

East Coaltown.

EAST COALTOWN.—See Coaltown, East.—And all places having a similar distinguishing prefix, will be found under the proper name.

Eastbarns

EASTBARNS, a village, in the parish of Dunbar, county of Haddington, 3 miles (S. E.by E.) from Dunbar; containing 125 inhabitants. It is situated near the coast of the German Sea, in the eastern extremity of the parish, and is distant from Westbarns, a more populous village, about five miles. There was a Burgher meeting-house here till the year 1820, when the congregation removed to the town of Dunbar; and one of the parochial schools is still fixed at this place.

Easthouses

EASTHOUSES, a village, in the parish of Newbattle, county of Edinburgh, 1 mile (E.) from Newbattle; containing 420 inhabitants. This is a considerable colliery village, the population of which is chiefly employed in the neighbouring mines of the Marquess of Lothian, which are very extensive. The parochial school is situated in the village.

Eastwood, or Pollock

EASTWOOD, or POLLOCK, a parish, in the Upper ward of the county of Renfrew, 2½ miles (S. W.) from Glasgow; containing, with the incorporated town of Pollockshaws, the village of Thornliebank, and part of the late quoad sacra district of Levern, 7970 inhabitants. This place derives the former of its names from the relative situation of an extensive wood which was a part of it, but which has long been converted into arable land; and the latter name from the circumstance of the chief lands being designated Pollock. The parish is about four miles in length, from north to south, and three miles in breadth, forming an irregular area of 5000 acres in extent, and is bounded on the west by the parish of Paisley, of which a considerable portion is circumscribed by the lands of Eastwood. The surface is pleasingly undulated, intersected with tracts of level ground, and rising towards the south into a range of hills, of which the highest has an elevation of 300 feet above the level of the sea. The scenery is diversified, and in many parts embellished with flourishing plantations, and watered by winding streams, which give to it an interesting and picturesque appearance. The river White Cart, rising in the moors of Eaglesham, flows for several miles through the parish in its course to the Clyde, receiving at Pollockshaws the waters of the Auldhouse burn, which issues from a lake in the adjoining parish of Mearns; and the Brock burn, which also rises in Mearns, winds through Eastwood, and falls into the Levern, which skirts the western extremity of the parish, and joins the Cart near Cruickston Castle. The Soil in the hilly parts towards the south is thin and light, but on the banks of the river and rivulets extremely rich and fertile; about one-half of the lands is arable and in profitable cultivation, and the remainder, with the exception of about 250 acres of natural wood and 100 of plantation, is good pasture land. The rotation system of husbandry is prevalent; the crops are, oats, barley, and wheat, with potatoes and turnips; some attention is paid to the rearing of cattle, which are generally of the Ayrshire breed, but the management of live stock forms only a secondary object with the farmer, and consequently few fine specimens are produced. Considerable progress has been made in reclaiming the waste, of which large portions have been brought into a state of cultivation, and great improvements have been effected in draining and fencing; the farm-houses and offices are substantial and commodious, and mostly roofed with slate. The plantations are, oak, elm, ash, sycamore, beech, larch, and Scotch, spruce, and silver firs. The rateable annual value of the parish is £21,061.

The substrata are sandstone and limestone, with occasional belts of ironstone. There are some valuable quarries of stone of excellent quality for building and for various other purposes; the stone of one of the quarries is peculiarly adapted for pavements, hearths, and staircases, and, as it may be cut to any required size, is also employed for cisterns. Another of these quarries produces a very superior kind which is in great demand for the finer parts of masonry, and is much admired for the uses of the sculptor and the statuary. Limestone is still worked at Arden, and was formerly wrought at Darnley and Cowglen; but it is of very inferior quality, unfit for burning into lime, and consequently applied chiefly to road-making, and for roughcasting the walls of houses, for which purpose it is well adapted from the hardness it acquires from exposure to the air. Coal abounds in the parish, and is wrought at Cowglen; there are several seams, varying in thickness, but none exceed three feet. Five of these have been worked with success; they are of good quality, and yield an ample supply of fuel; the pits vary from ten to forty fathoms in depth, and the annual produce is estimated at nearly £4000. Pollock, the seat of Sir John Maxwell, Bart., is a handsome modern mansion pleasantly situated. A considerable number of the inhabitants are employed in cotton-spinning, weaving, bleaching, and calico-printing, for which large factories have been established in the town of Pollockshaws, the village of Thornliebank, and Auldhouse. In the bleachfields of the last, more than 200 persons are employed; the particulars of the two first will be found in the notices of those places under their respective heads. The parish is in the presbytery of Paisley and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, and in the gift of Sir John Maxwell; the minister's stipend is £150, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £35 per annum. The old church was taken down, and a new edifice erected in 1781 near the western extremity of Pollockshaws; it is a neat building, and in good repair, but affords accommodation only to 760 persons. A second church connected with the Establishment has been recently erected in Pollockshaws; and there are places of worship for members of the Free Church, the United Associate Synod, and the Synod of Original Seceders: the Roman Catholics, of whom there are many in the parish, attend the chapel at Glasgow. The parochial school affords instruction to about 100 scholars; the master has a salary of £34, with £36 fees, and a house and garden. There are no monuments of antiquity: the only memorials of olden times are some documents in the possession of the Maxwell family, consisting chiefly of a royal precept issued in the reign of James V., letters from the Queen Regent, Mary, Queen of Scots, previously to the battle of Langside, and James VI.; and the original copy of the Solemn League and Covenant, with the various subscriptions, beautifully written. Among the distinguished literary men connected with Eastwood have been, Wodrow, author of some writings on the antiquities of Scotland, of some lives of the most learned men who have flourished in the country, and of a history of the Church; the Rev. Mr. Crawford, author of an unpublished history of the Church from the first introduction of Christianity into Scotland till the year 1680; and Walter Stewart, of Pardovan, author of the Collections, who died here while on a visit to the Maxwells, and was interred in the aisle of the church appropriated as a place of sepulture for the members of that family, and in which a marble monument was erected to his memory. Wodrow and Mr. Crawford were both ministers of the parish.

Eccles

ECCLES, a parish, in the county of Berwick, 6 miles (W. by N.) from Coldstream; containing, with the villages of Leitholm and Birgham, 1946 inhabitants. The name of this parish is derived from the classical word signifying a church, supposed to be applied on account of the number of churches or chapels at one time situated here. It is remarkable as containing the ancient village of Birgham, celebrated for the meeting, in 1188, between Hugh, Bishop of Durham, and William the Lion, at the instance of Henry II. of England, for the purpose of laying a tax upon the Scots towards the support of the war in the Holy Land. At that place, also, was convened, in 1290, an august assembly, for the settlement of the marriage of Prince Edward, son of Edward I., with Margaret of Scotland, a union afterwards prevented by the death of the young princess, in one of the Orkneys. The parish was anciently the seat of Bernardine or Cistercian nuns, for whom a convent was founded by Cospatrick, Earl of Dunbar; but the building has entirely disappeared, with the exception of two vaults, now converted into cellars for the mansion-house of one of the landed proprietors. There is much obscurity in ancient documents respecting the date of this religious house, Hoveden and the Melrose Chronicle representing it as founded a second time by the earl, in 1154, and Cowpar fixing the event in 1155, while the Scoto-Chronicon annexed to Fordun asserts it to have been established by his countess. In 1296, during the interregnum in Scotland, Ada de Fraser, the prioress, obtained a letter of restitution, in consequence of the fealty sworn to Edward I. by the Scots; and in 1333, Edward III., after taking Berwick, also received the homage of the convent. It was visited in 1523, on the 13th of November, by the Duke of Albany when retreating from Wark Castle; he stayed till midnight, and then marched to Lauder. In 1545, the abbey and town, with the tower of Mersington, were destroyed by the Earl of Hertford on his memorable inroad into Merse and Teviotdale, when he ravaged and burned the whole country without opposition. In 1569, Marieta Hamilton, then prioress of the establishment, granted the village and lands of Eccles, by charter, to Sir Alexander Hamilton, of Innerwick; and the charter was confirmed by Queen Mary at Edinburgh, on the 11th of May, in the same year. In the 17th century the village was erected into a burgh of barony in favour of George Home, Earl of Dunbar.

The parish is nearly seven miles long, and five and a half broad, and contains 11,000 acres. With the exception of the slight elevations of Cotchet Ridge, Hardacres, Eccles, Brae-Dunstan, and Bartlehill, the surface is level throughout; and consists of arable land, well cultivated and fenced, and studded with numerous plantations. The climate, however, is somewhat damp, and to a slight extent unhealthy, arising from the prevalence of a rainy atmosphere. The scenery is much enlivened by the course of the Tweed, which runs on the southern boundary of the parish, and separates it from Northumberland; its banks rise about fifty feet above the water, and harbour large numbers of foxes, weasels, and rabbits. The soil near the river is in general light; in the middle and northern parts of the parish clay and loam predominate, and in the south-east quarter is a portion of moor. Nearly the whole is arable, producing excellent crops of all kinds of grain, and turnips and potatoes: the rotation here followed is the four or the five years' shift, which is considered well suited to the district. Sheep are kept on most of the larger farms, and consist mainly of the Cheviot and Leicestershire breeds, the former of which, on account of their being more hardy, are preferred for the clayey lands. Rapid advances have been made in agricultural improvement, and the rateable annual value of the parish now amounts to as large a sum as £19,441. The prevailing rock is the red sandstone, which exists in a great variety of forms and admixtures. At Birgham Haugh, magnesian limestone, with red hornstone and crystals of calcareous spar, is found; and on the southern bank of the river, in addition to the above, are considerable quantities of claystone porphyry. Near Kennetside head, the large proportion of siliceous material gives the sandstone almost the appearance of a quartz rock; and in the marly sandstone on the banks of the small river Leet are thin beds of gypsum. Among the mansions in the parish are Purves Hall, Kames, Antonshill, Belchester, Stoneridge, and Eccles House, and in the plantations of the last-mentioned are several fine old trees, chiefly elm and ash. There are four villages, Eccles, Leitholm, Birgham, and Hassington; Leitholm is the largest, and has a bye-post to Coldstream. The London and Edinburgh road, by Greenlaw, traverses the parish from south-east to north-west; and that by Kelso, and the road from Kelso to Berwick, also cross it.

The Ecclesiastical affairs are governed by the presbytery of Dunse and synod of Merse and Teviotdale; patron, the Crown. The stipend of the minister is £246, and there is a manse, with a glebe of twenty acres of good land. The first church was dedicated to St. Cuthbert, but the next, built about the year 1250, was in honour of St. Andrew; the present church was erected in 1774, at an expense of £1000. It is after the model of St. Cuthbert's chapel-of-ease at Edinburgh, and is an elegant building seventy-eight feet long and thirty-four feet broad, and ornamented with a handsome spire; it is situated about a mile from the western boundary of the parish, and contains 1000 sittings. The Relief Congregation have a place of worship, and there is a parochial school, in which the classics, mathematics, and all the usual branches of education are taught; the salary of the master is £34, with the fees, and a house. A friendly society for the relief of the sick and superannuated has also been established. The chief relic of antiquity is a monument of white sandstone, in the form of a cross, without any inscription, situated at Crosshall, about a mile to the north of the village of Eccles. The pedestal is a solid block of stone, two and a half feet high, three feet square on its upper surface, and raised a little above the ground; the column is ten feet high, one and a half foot broad on the west and east sides, and one foot on the north and south, at the bottom. On its north face is sculptured a Calvary cross, surmounted by a shield; at the summit of the west side is a cross, with an escutcheon below having chevrons in the dexter and sinister chiefs and the base, and a St. John's cross. The south side has an escutcheon like that on the west, and beneath an ancient double-handed sword; the east has a cross, and, below, the naked figure of a man and a greyhound. Many conjectures have been made respecting its origin and design; the most probable is that it was erected after the second crusade, in 1114, in honour of the father of Sir John de Soules, lieutenant or viceroy to John Baliol. On Hardacres hill, about a mile to the west of the monument, are traces of intrenchments. Eccles was the birthplace of Henry Home, Lord Kames, in 1696; and it was here that he entertained Dr. Franklin and his son in 1759, and composed many of his philosophical works.

Ecclescraig

ECCLESCRAIG, Kincardine.—See St. Cyrus.

Ecclesfechan

ECCLESFECHAN, a village, in the parish of Hoddam, county of Dumfries, 6 miles (N.) from Annan; containing 768 inhabitants. It is very centrally situated, in the south-eastern part of the parish, on the road between Carlisle and Glasgow, and is an important and thriving market-village, containing many respectable shops in various branches of trade. A large part of the population is engaged in the manufacture of gingham, which is the chief product of the place. It has a noted cattle fair or market, to which its prosperity has been principally owing, and also a flourishing porkmarket; the former is held monthly, but the great sales are in June and October, and the latter is held during the winter. In the vicinity are five cross-roads, and there are carriers to almost every part within fifty miles, and facilities of communication in nearly every direction. A post-office has for some time been established. The parochial church stands about a mile south of the village; and the members of the Free Church have a place of worship.

Ecclesmachan

ECCLESMACHAN, a parish, in the county of Linlithgow; containing, with the villages of ThreeMile-town and Waterston, 303 inhabitants, of whom 97 are in the village of Ecclesmachan, 1 mile (N.) from Uphall. This place derives its name from the dedication of its ancient church to St. Machan, who flourished in the ninth century. The parish, which is separated into two detached portions by the intervention of a part of the parish of Linlithgow, comprises an area of 2458 acres; about 2300 are arable and pasture, 130 woodland and plantations, and the remainder roads and waste. The surface rises into two ridges, of which that in the western portion of the parish attains an elevation of 600 feet, and is intersected by several shallow ravines; the eastern ridge, of less height, is precipitously steep, rising on the south into an abrupt eminence called Tar or Tor Hill. The lower grounds are watered by several small streams that flow into the river Almond; and the prevailing scenery is softened by the thriving plantations that have been formed on the lands of Blackeraig. The soil is generally fertile; the lands, which are divided into farms of moderate extent, are under good cultivation, and the best system of husbandry has been adopted. The crops are, wheat, barley, oats, beans, and turnips; the grounds are well inclosed with hedges of thorn and ditches, and draining has been practised to some extent, but there is still great room for improvement. The rearing of live stock is confined chiefly to the Ayrshire breed of cattle, with a cross of the short-horned; oxen of the Angus or Highland breed, and black-faced sheep, are fattened on the pastures. Coal is plentiful, and was formerly wrought in several parts; sandstone is found on most of the lands; and in the vicinity of the rocks, which are principally of trap, are found large beds of indurated clay, interspersed occasionally with seams of ironstone. The rateable annual value of the parish is £2718.

The village consists of a few houses near the church, and facility of communication is afforded by roads kept in excellent repair by statute labour, and by the road from Edinburgh to Falkirk, and the Glasgow middle road, of which the former passes through the northern extremity of the parish, and the latter close by its southern border. The ecclesiatical affairs are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Linlithgow and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale; patron, the Earl of Hopetoun. The minister's stipend is £256. 12., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £15 per annum. The church, which was nearly rebuilt in the beginning of the last century, and thoroughly repaired in 1822, is a plain structure containing 153 sittings. The parochial school is attended by about fifty children: the master has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and the fees average about £20 per annum. A school was erected on the border of the parish by the late Robert Warden, Esq.; the master is solely dependent on the fees, having only the house rent free, which in summer is used as a preaching-station on the Sabbath evenings. On the Tar hill is a spring called the Bullion Well, the water of which is slightly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen. William Hamilton, a poet of eminence in the early part of the 18th century, was either born, or resided in the parish.

Echt

ECHT, a parish, in the district of Kincardine O'Neil, county of Aberdeen, 12 miles (W.) from Aberdeen; containing 1078 inhabitants. This parish is nearly a square in figure, each side measuring about four and a half miles, and comprises between 15,000 and 16,000 acres, of which 7000 are in tillage, 2000 in plantations, and the remainder uncultivated. It consists chiefly of a valley lying between two hills of unequal height, of which the more elevated, called the Hill of Fare, is situated about one mile south-west from the church, though but partly in the parish. The base of this hill is nearly eighteen miles in circumference, and its height 1794 feet above the level of the sea; it has some thriving plantations of fir, abundance of the usual kinds of game, and several chalybeate springs, said to be beneficial in scorbutic and nephritic complaints. On the outskirts of the parish are other rising grounds, cultivated to the summit; and in the north-western portion is a hill of conical form, called the Barmekin, about two-thirds of the height of the Hill of Fare, entirely shrouded in wood, and contributing, by its sylvan beauties, to enhance the effect of the varied and pleasing scenery of the locality. The lower grounds are mossy; the soil in some places is light and sandy, but that of the best lands is in general a light loam, on a clayey subsoil; the climate is mild, and the crops, comprising bear, potatoes, hay, turnips, and oats, are early and of good quality. The system of farming has been greatly improved within the present century; some of the estates exhibit the skill and perseverance of the most successful husbandry; lime manure is extensively used, and bone-dust has recently been applied with much advantage. Among the large tracts of waste land which have been reclaimed, that on the estate of Echt, amounting to 1860 acres, is the chief. Inclosures and drains have been formed on all the principal farms; there are many substantial and convenient houses and offices, and above forty mills have been erected for threshing grain. The few sheep kept are the Cheviot and black-faced, and the cattle are mostly the Aberdeenshire. Granite is occasionally quarried. The rateable annual value of the parish is £5690.

Between 1500 and 2000 acres have been planted in the last half century on the estate of Echt, and the proprietor has transplanted about 150 large trees to ornament the beautiful grounds of his elegant and commodious mansion: the house was built in the year 1820, and stands in a park of eighty acres, attached to which is a very extensive and productive garden. A branch post has been established: the parish is intersected by the high road from Aberdeen to Tarland, and a road from the former place to Alford runs along a small part of the northern extremity of Echt; a third road, to Kincardine O'Neil, strikes off from the Tarland road at the eastern boundary, and traverses a considerable portion of the parish in a south-western direction. Several fairs are held annually, chiefly for sheep, cattle, horses, and corn. The parish is in the presbytery of Kincardine O'Neil and synod of Aberdeen, and in the patronage of the Earl of Fife; the minister's stipend is £183, with a manse, and a glebe of about four and a half acres, valued at £10 per annum. The church, built in 1804, accommodates 400 persons; it is a neat structure, comfortably fitted up, and, being centrally situated, is convenient for the bulk of the population. The parochial school affords instruction in the usual branches; the master has a salary of £29, with a house, and £20 fees, and also participates in the benefit of the Dick bequest. The remains of a Danish camp are still visible on the hill of Barmekin, comprehending five intrenchments; the inner inclosure, which is almost circular, measures 300 feet in diameter, and covers about one acre of ground. In the vicinity are several cairns and tumuli, and in another part of the parish is a Pictish work in the form of a horse-shoe. On the 28th of October, 1562, the district was the scene of the battle of Corrichie, fought between the forces of the Earl of Huntly and those of the Earl of Murray; the former were defeated, and their commander slain, and his son, Sir John Gordon, soon afterwards beheaded at Aberdeen.

Eckford

ECKFORD, a parish, in the district of Kelso, county of Roxburgh; containing, with the villages of Caverton and Cessford, 1069 inhabitants, of whom 98 are in the village of Eckford, 5 miles (S. by W.) from Kelso, and 48 in that of Eckfordmoss, adjoining. This place appears to have derived its name from a ford across the river Teviot near the village, and from the number of oak-trees with which the immediate neighbourhood abounded. On account of its situation only a few miles from the border, it was frequently the scene of violence and devastation, and within the limits of the parish were several strongholds for defence against the incursions of the English, and as places of security for cattle and other property. The principal of these were, Ormiston, Eckford, and Moss Towers, of which the last was the most important, both for its strength and for its position in a marsh near the village, and also from its being the residence of Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. This castle was assaulted in 1523 by a party of English led by Thomas, Lord Dacre, who, on the same day, demolished Ormiston Tower and numerous other places in the vicinity; and in 1544 it was burnt, together with the tower and church of Eckford, by a body of the English under Sir Ralph Eure, who put to death nearly fifty of the inhabitants. In 1553, the village of Eckford, which had been a town of no little importance, was burnt by the Marquess of Dorset. The stronghold of Moss Tower appears to have been rebuilt after its previous destruction, but was again destroyed by the Earl of Sussex, who, in 1570, laid waste a large portion of the surrounding district. But the most famous fortress in the parish was Cessford Castle, which was more than a mere stronghold, and of which the remains are noticed in the ensuing page.

The parish, which is of triangular form, is about six miles in extreme length, and four and a half in extreme breadth, and comprises 9695 acres, of which 7728 are arable, 813 woodland and plantations, and the remainder rough pasture, common, and waste. The surface is generally undulated, rising towards the south into moderate elevations, of which the principal are Wooden hill and Caverton hill, commanding extensive and pleasingly-varied prospects, embracing on the west the fertile vale of Teviot, with the beautiful scenery along the banks of that river; and the vale of the river Kale, with its picturesque ranges of hills. The Teviot has its source among the hills that separate the counties of Roxburgh and Dumfries, and, after flowing through the parish, falls into the Tweed near Kelso. The Kale, which rises in the Cheviot hills, in the county of Northumberland, after an impetuous course of about eighteen miles, falls into the Teviot to the north of the church; its banks in various parts are richly wooded. There is a lake situated near the village, at the base of Wooden hill; it occupies the bed of an extensive marl-pit which was formerly wrought, and is in some places thirty feet in depth. In the slimy bottom of this lake, medicinal leeches of excellent quality used once to be found in considerable numbers, though no traces of such are now to be met with, probably from the quantity of water. The scenery throughout Eckford is of pleasing character, and is enriched with the flourishing plantations that prevail in most parts of the parish. The soil is various; in the lower grounds, and more especially on the banks of the Teviot, a light friable loam; on the higher grounds, partaking more of the nature of clay; but it is generally fertile, and by good management rendered highly productive. The crops are, oats, barley, wheat, potatoes, turnips, peas, and beans. The system of agriculture is in a very improved state, and the five-shift rotation of husbandry usually practised; the lands are well drained, and inclosed chiefly with hedges of thorn. Much waste has been reclaimed and brought into profitable cultivation. Attention is paid to the improvement of live stock; the sheep are mostly of the Leicestershire breed, and the cattle pastured in the parish of the short-horned breed. The rateable annual value of Eckford is £8837.

The woods comprise all the varieties of forest trees, and flourish greatly; the plantations are chiefly of Scotch, spruce, and silver firs, of which there is a tract of nearly 360 acres at Caverton-Edge, where formerly the Kelso races were held, and which, from one of the titles of its proprietor, the Duke of Roxburghe, is called Beaumont Forest. There are many specimens of ancient timber of stately growth in various parts of the parish. The principal substrata are whinstone and sandstone, of which also the hills are composed; they are both occasionally quarried for building and other purposes. A small seam of coal was discovered many years since at Caverton-Edge, but it was not wrought with sufficient spirit to render it productive of any benefit, and the works were soon after abandoned. The manufacture of agricultural implements is carried on at Kalemouth; and there are mills for grinding corn at Ormiston, Eckford, and Caverton. Marlefield House, the property of the Marquess of Tweeddale, is a spacious mansion pleasantly situated in a demesne richly planted, and tastefully laid out; in front of the house is an extensive lawn, and the grounds are in some parts embellished with avenues of lime-trees. The ancient mansion-house of Haughhead is on the south bank of the river Kale, near Eckford mill, and is still in a tolerable state of repair. At a short distance from it is an artificial mound of earth and stones intermixed, surrounded with clumps of old fir-trees; on the summit is a stone commemorating the result of a dispute between Hall, the original proprietor of Haughhead, and his neighbour, Ker, of Cessford, whom he defeated in an attempt to take possession of his estate. The villages have facility of intercourse with Kelso and other towns in the district by good roads, and by two bridges over the Teviot and Kale, both of one arch, and neatly built of stone. An elegant chain-bridge, also, was thrown across the Teviot, near its confluence with the Kale, by the late William Mein, Esq., of Ormiston; it is 180 feet in length, and sixteen feet in breadth, and forms an interesting feature in the landscape. The turnpike-road from Hawick to Kelso passes through the parish, in its western portion.

Eckford

Eckford is in the presbytery of Jedburgh and synod of Merse and Teviotdale, and patronage of the Crown; the minister's stipend is £219, with a manse, and glebe valued at £12. 5. per annum. The church, which was dependant on the abbey of Jedburgh, is a substantial edifice finely situated on the south bank of the river Teviot, and is adapted for a congregation of 300 persons. There are two parochial schools, affording together instruction to about 120 scholars. Of that in the village of Eckford the master has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and fees averaging about £21 per annum; the master of the school at Caverton mill has a salary of £17, with a house and garden, and fees averaging £17, with the interest of a bequest of £40. There is also a school at Cessford, attended by about forty scholars; the master has a schoolroom rent free, in addition to the fees, which amount to £20. Some remains exist of Cessford Castle, the ancient manorial residence of Sir Robert Ker, ancestor of the Duke of Roxburghe's family, and warden of the Scottish middle marches. This fortress was of considerable importance, and in 1523 the Earl of Surrey in vain attempted to reduce it, but after a protracted siege obtained possession by capitulation; the remains show it to have been of great strength. The chief building is a quadrangular pile sixty-seven feet long, sixty feet broad, and sixty-five feet high, with walls nearly thirteen feet in thickness; it was once surrounded by an inner and outer wall, part of the latter of which is still remaining, and the interval between them is supposed to have been appropriated to the keeping of cattle and other valuable property placed there for security in times of danger. Some traces of the moat by which the whole was inclosed may also be perceived. A little to the north of the castle, and near Cessford burn, is a cavern of considerable size, called Hobbie Ker's Cave; and there are several other caverns of artificial construction in various parts of the parish. Stone coffins have been frequently met with; and in one, discovered on the farm of Eckford-Eastmains in 1831, were found a few human bones, and a small Roman jar filled with black dust. To the west of Caverton hill are the remains of a tumulus called the Black dyke, which has not yet been fully explored. On the farm of Moss Tower, a coin or medal of the Empress Faustina has been found in the peat-moss, of which the inscription was quite legible. At Caverton was an ancient chapel founded by Walter Ker, of Cessford; but there are no vestiges, though near it is a well, for many years called Priest's well, but now almost undistinguished. Marlefield House is said to have been the birthplace of Sir William Bennet, the intimate friend of Ramsay, whose pastoral of the Gentle Shepherd was first represented at a neighbouring seat, and of which the scenery is thought to have been descriptive of Marlefield. The poet Thomson also spent much of his time with Sir William Bennet at this place, and he is supposed to have composed the "Winter" of his Seasons within four miles of Marlefield, on a hill in the adjoining parish of Morebattle, to which he frequently resorted. Bennet lived during the greater period of his life in the parish; and in an aisle adjoining the church, which was the place of sepulture of the family, his remains were interred.

Eday

EDAY, in the county of Orkney.—See Stronsay and Eday.

Edderton

EDDERTON, a parish, in the Mainland district, county of Ross and Cromarty, 5 miles (S. W.) from Tain, containing 975 inhabitants. This place, which derives its name from its situation among hills that surround it on all sides except the north, was noted in the reign of William the Lion for its castle near the shore of the Frith of Dornoch, erected by that monarch to command the ferry between the counties of Ross and Sutherland. In 1227, Ferquhard, or Farquhar, Earl of Ross, having accompanied Alexander II. into England, challenged a renowned French champion whom he met at the court of Henry III. to single combat, and in gratitude for his victory founded here, on his return, the abbey of Fearns, which he amply endowed for Augustine monks. From the frequent annoyances to which the brethren were exposed in this situation, however, the founder, at the request of the abbot, removed the establishment, about the year 1246, to a more secluded spot about twelve miles distant, where it continued to flourish till the Reformation, when one-half of its revenues was granted to the bishopric of Ross, and the remainder to the Ross family of Balnagown. The parish, which is bounded on the north by Dornoch Frith and the Frith of Tain, is about ten miles in length, and nearly eight miles in extreme breadth, comprising an area of 41,760 acres, of which 1630 are arable, 710 woodlands and plantations, and the remainder meadow, pasture, and moor. The surface is partly level, consisting of three successive ledges of table-land, and in other portions diversified with numerous hills, of which the most conspicuous are, Cambuscurry to the east, having an elevation of 600 feet above the level of the sea, and the hill of Struie to the west, rising to the height of 1000 feet, both which are wholly within the parish. Cnoc-an-t-Sabhal, on the southern boundary, is about 1000 feet in height; and Muidhe-Bhlarie, on the southwest border, has an elevation of 1300 feet above the sea. There are four small rivers, which have their source in the parish, the Edderton burn, the Daan, the Easter Fearn, and the Grugaig: during the dry season they are very inconsiderable streams, but after rains they become swollen and impetuous in their course, and have sometimes been known to sweep away the bridges built over them.

The soil in the higher lands near the sea is gravelly, in the lower a deep alluvial loam alternated with sand, and in other places a mixture of clay, gravel, and moss; the arable lands are in good cultivation, and the system of husbandry has been improved under the encouragement given to his tenants by the principal landholder, Sir Charles Ross. The rateable annual value of the parish is £1794. The plantations, some of which are of early date, are, oak, birch, and Scotch fir, of which last there are about 100 acres on the lands of Balnagown in a very flourishing condition, and chiefly of ancient growth. In the deeper mosses are found the trunks and roots of fir, oak, hazel, and birch, some of which are of great dimensions. The substrata are principally old red sandstone, conglomerate, of which the rocks are mainly composed, and limestone; and in the hill of Struie are found gneiss, quartz, granite, and whinstone. The chief residences are, Ardmore House, beautifully situated; Balblair; and Upper Edderton. There is no village in the parish: at Ardmore, on the Frith of Tain, is a good harbour accessible to vessels of 100 tons, and during the summer several arrive with supplies of coal, lime, and other merchandise. At Balblair is a distillery, commenced about forty-five years since; it consumes 120 bushels of malt weekly, producing 240 gallons of whisky, in very high repute. Facility of communication with Tain, from the markets of which the inhabitants are supplied with provisions, is afforded by the turnpikeroad to Bonar-Bridge.

The ecclesiastical affairs of Edderton parish are under the superintendence of the presbytery of Tain and synod of Ross. The minister's stipend is £203. 14., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £16 per annum; patroness, the Hon. Mrs. Hay Mackenzie, of Cromarty. The former church, erected in 1743, and efficiently repaired in 1794, a neat plain structure, containing 350 sittings, being inconveniently situated, a new church was built in 1841 in a more centrical part of the parish. The members of the Free Church use the old edifice. The parochial school is not well attended; the master has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and the fees average about £5 per annum. A female school, supported by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge, was established in 1837, and a Gaelic school in 1840 by the Gaelic Society of Edinburgh. Behind the parochial school-house is an obelisk of rough whinstone, ten feet in height, on which is sculptured the figure of a fish, probably a salmon, with two concentric circles below it; and surrounding the pillar, at a distance of three yards from its base, is an intrenchment about two feet in height, inclosing an area within which a fight took place between some of the inhabitants and a party of Norwegian pirates, when Carius, the leader of the latter, was killed. The name of the place is from that event called Carry-Blair. In the churchyard is also a sculptured stone, on which is a warrior on horseback, with a large cross above, and on the other side various concentric circles and hieroglyphics. A complete chain of circular forts formerly surrounded the parish, but few at present are in any tolerable state of preservation: one of them, called Dune Alliscaig, about fourteen feet in height, and having a spiral staircase within the walls, was in the year 1818 demolished for the sake of the materials which it afforded.

Eddlestone

EDDLESTONE, a parish, in the county of Peebles; containing 742 inhabitants, of whom 139 are in the village, 4 miles (N.) from Peebles. This parish, undistinguished by any events of historical importance, is about ten miles in length, from north to south, and seven miles in breadth, and comprises 21,250 acres, of which 4370 are arable, 1050 woodland and plantations, and 15,830 permanent pasture, and meadow. The surface is diversified by hills covered with verdure to their summits; the highest, called Dundroich, or Druid's hill, has an elevation of 2100 feet above the level of the sea, and commands an extensive and finely-varied prospect embracing the Cheviot hills, part of the pleasing dales of Teviot, Annan, and Clyde, with portions of the counties of Perth and Fife, the river Forth, and the city of Edinburgh. The chief river is the South Esk, which issues from a lake of about two miles in circumference, at the base of Dundroich, and flows into the sea at Musselburgh; the lake abounds with pike, eels, and perch, and forms an interesting feature in the scenery, which is also enriched with extensive plantations of modern growth. The soil is various, and on some of the farms might be rendered much more fertile than it is, through the adoption of a more extensive system of draining the lands. The crops are, oats, barley, wheat, peas, potatoes, and turnips; the system of agriculture is in an improved state. The buildings are substantial and commodious; the lands are generally well inclosed, and the fences mostly kept in good repair. About 5500 sheep are annually reared on the hills, of which nearly one-half are of the Cheviot, and the rest of the black-faced breed; on the dairy-farms about 280 milch-cows are pastured, chiefly the Ayrshire and Teeswater, and 500 head of young cattle are annually reared. The woods and plantations are well managed, and usually in a thriving condition. The rateable annual value of the parish, as returned for the Income tax, is £6694.

The village is pleasantly situated, neatly built, and well inhabited; a post-office has been established, and has a daily delivery from Edinburgh and Peebles, with which, and other places, there is facility of communication by roads kept in excellent order. A fair used to be held in the village on the 25th of September; it was a considerable mart for cattle, and numerously attended, but has recently been wholly discontinued. The parish is in the presbytery of Peebles and synod of Lothian and Tweeddale, and patronage of Lord Elibank; the minister's stipend is £249, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £24 per annum. The church, rebuilt in 1829, is a neat and substantial edifice adapted for a congregation of 420 persons. The parochial school affords education to about a hundred and twenty children; the master's salary is £34, with £42 fees, and a good house; he has also the privilege of taking boarders. There are remains of three circular camps, evidently Danish: one of these, on the lands of Norshield, has been preserved nearly in its original state of perfection, and surrounded with a plantation; the others are almost obliterated. On the lands of Kingside, a vessel has been dug up containing a large number of gold and silver coins, the former in good preservation, but the latter much defaced; on some was legible the inscription Jacobus S. Scotorum Rex. Near the northern extremity of this farm was a tumulus, inclosed with three circular walls, and which was opened by the tenant, and found to contain a rudely-formed stone coffin, in which were human bones in a partly calcined state, and close to it a variety of brazen weapons, in form resembling axes; two of them were sent to the museum of the Antiquarian Society of Edinburgh. This farm was a hunting-seat belonging to James VI. The Rev. Patrick Robertson, the present incumbent, is the great-grandson of the Rev. James Robertson, who was ordained to the parish in 1697, and, after a ministration of fifty years, was succeeded by his son Alexander, who in 1772 was followed by his son Dr. Patrick Robertson, who held the living also for fifty years, and died in 1822.

Eddrachillis

EDDRACHILLIS, a parish, in the county of Sutherland, 15 miles (N. N. W.) from Assynt; including the islands of Handa and Scourie, and the late quoad sacra district of Keanlochbervie, and containing 1699 inhabitants. The Celtic name of this place, Eadarda-chaolas, signifies "between two kyles or arms of the sea," and is descriptive of the situation of the main part of the parish between the kyle of Scow, which separates Eddrachillis from Assynt on the south, and the kyle of Laxford. The parish was anciently part of the barony of Skelbo, and was granted by Hugo Freskyn de Moravia, ancestor of the Duke of Sutherland, in the twelfth century, to his brother, Bishop Gilbert Moray, by whom, in 1235, it was transferred to a third brother, Richard Moray, of Culbyn. About the year 1440, it came to the family of Kinnaird of Kinnaird, by an heiress, Egidia Moray; and in 1515. Andrew Kinnaird disposed of it to John Mackay of Eddrachillis, son of Mackay of Strathnaver, the superiority remaining with the earls of Sutherland. In 1829, it was restored to the Sutherland family by purchase. So early as 1550, another branch of the Mackays seized the territory of Scourie by displacing the Mc Leods, and located themselves here under the title of Mackays of Scourie; and from this family sprang Lieutenant-General Hugh Mackay, the famous commander-in-chief in the time of William and Mary, eminent for his skill and bravery, and who fell in 1692, shortly after the siege of Namur, where he commanded the British division of the grand army.

The parish was formerly included in Durness, but was separated in 1726; its extreme length from north to south is 'twenty-five miles, its mean breadth seven miles, and it contains about 112,000 acres. It is situated in the angle of the county formed by the Atlantic and Northern Seas, and in its general features, like other Highland districts, is exceedingly wild, rugged, and mountainous, in some parts highly romantic, and interesting to the tourist. Its outline is altogether irregular, being indented by numerous fissures and arms of the sea, and it is naturally formed into three parts, namely, the Scourie division, between Loch Glendhu and Loch Laxford; Ceathramh-garbh, between Loch Laxford and Loch Inchard; and Ashare. The derivation of the first of these three names is unknown; the second signifies "a rough section of country," and the third "arable land." The principal mountains are, BeinneLeothaid, Beinne-Stac, Beinne-Stroim, Arkle, and the south-west range of the Reay forest to the summit of Toinne-Beinne, Meal-Horn, Sabhal-mhoir, and MilleRinidh, with part of Beinne-Shith: several of these rise 3000 feet above the level of the sea. The Reay forest, or Diru-moir, which claims particular notice, has always been reckoned one of the principal forests in Scotland. Considerable tracts of it had been allotted for sheep at the commencement of the present century, but upon the expiration of the leases, the proprietor restored the whole to its ancient character of a deer forest, and the extent of land set apart for this purpose is estimated at 60,000 acres, of which half is in this parish, and half in Durness. Thousands of red-deer roam in this territory, under the management of regularly appointed foresters; almost every description of game visits the parish, and the black eagle occupies the highest rocks. The harbours are numerous and excellent, and are said to be so large as to be capable of affording safe anchorage to the whole naval and mercantile shipping of Great Britain; those most celebrated are, Lochs Laxford, Inchard, Badcall, Calva, Glendhu, and the Sound of Handa. Besides the island of Handa, there is a cluster of isles consisting of about twenty, lying between Eddrachillis and Assynt, which are uninhabited, but afford good pasturage for lambs and cattle. The most remarkable inland lakes are Loch Moir and Loch Stac, which are well stocked with different kinds of trout; the most considerable rivers are the Laxford and Inchard, which, with numerous minor streams, discharge themselves into the Atlantic Ocean. The different districts of the parish are well supplied with water, principally from perennial springs.

Though the principal occupation, besides fishing, is the rearing and pasturing of sheep, yet some part of the land is under tillage. The soil is generally a mixture of gravel and moss, considerably improved by the application of sea-weed for manure; the lands of Ashare are superior to the rest, and consist, like the island of Handa, of dark loam mixed with sand. The crops raised are, potatoes, bear, and oats, the ground for which is prepared by the common garden spade and the Highland implement called the cas-chrom. The sheep on the large farms are the pure Cheviots; those of the smaller tenants are a cross between the Cheviot and the native black-faced: the cattle are of an inferor kind. The rateable annual value of the parish is £3027. The rocks comprise gneiss, hornblende, veins of granite, and quartz; limestone, also, is met with on the sides of some of the lochs. The island of Handa is composed chiefly of the best sort of red sandstone, and its rocks lie horizontally, and are considered by geologists as possessing an almost equal interest, though of another kind, with the celebrated basaltic columns in the island of Staffa.

The people are principally located on the sea-coast, in townships or hamlets, each family possessing a certain portion of land; and their occupation consists partly of tilling the ground and partly of fishing, the latter comprehending the herring, salmon, white, and lobster fisheries. Those who have commodious boats go for herrings to the Caithness coast, but large quantities are taken at home in the lochs, especially in Loch Glendhu. The salmon-fishing is good, and of the swarms of almost every description of white-fish on these shores very considerable numbers are taken; all kinds of shell-fish are abundant, and lobsters are conveyed from this place in smacks, by a London company, to the market at Billingsgate. Whales, porpoises, and seals, likewise frequent the coast; but the first of these are never captured. The chief approach to the parish from the south is through a part of Assynt to the kyle of Scow, where is a ferry 380 yards broad; and there is a post-office at Scourie, which communicates twice a week with Golspie. A line of road thirty-two miles in extent runs through the parish; and three inns have been erected in it, solely at the expense of the Duke of Sutherland, by whose liberality and exertions the whole aspect of the district has been entirely changed. The ecclesiastical affairs are subject to the presbytery of Tongue and synod of Sutherland and Caithness; patron, the Crown. The stipend is £158, of which £103 are paid by the exchequer, with a glebe valued at £20 per annum, and there is a manse at Badcall, recently erected. The church is a plain edifice, built upwards of a century ago, and thoroughly repaired about seven years since; it is a commodious edifice in very excellent condition, and contains 275 sittings. There is also a good church at Keanlochbervie, to which a quoad sacra district was annexed by act of parliament in the 5th of George IV. The members of the Free Church have a place of worship. There is a parochial school at Scourie, of which the master has the maximum salary, a house, and allowance for a garden; a school was erected and endowed for the Keanlochbervie district in 1845, and another is supported at Ashare by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge.

Edenton

EDENTON, a village, in the parish of Collessie, district of Cupar, county of Fife; containing 45 inhabitants.