Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

CLACHANEASY
Clachaneasy (Gael, clachan Iosa, ' Jesus hamlet '), a
hamlet in Penninghaine parish, E Wigtownshire, 8 miles
N hy W of Newton-Stewart.
Clachan-Heughs, a rocky headland in Kirkcolm parish,
"Wigtownshire, on the W side of Loch Ryan, 1 J mile N by
E of Kirkcolm village.
Clachan-Inair, a place, with a sequestered and pic-
turesquely-situated burying-ground, in the mouth of
Glenmoriston, Inverness-shire.
Clachan of Glendaruel. See Glendaruel.
Clachantiompan, an ancient memorial stone in Fod-
derty parish, Ross-shire, midway between Castle-Leod
and Strathpeffer Spa. It is supposed to mark the place
where one of the Monroes fell in a conflict with the Mac-
kenzies of Seaforth.
Clachbhein, a hill 912 feet high in the N of Jura
island, Argyllshire.
Clachmore, a hamlet in the parish and 4 miles W by
S of the town of Dornoch, SE Sutherland. It has a
post office, an inn, and a cattle fair on the Monday
after the first Wednesday of May. Coal has been found
in its vicinity.
Clachmore, a loch in the NW of Assynt parish, SW
Sutherland, 7 miles NW of Lochinver. It has an
utmost length and breadth of 3 and 2 furlongs, contains
trout, running up to 3 lbs. , and sends off a stream 3 fur-
longs WSW to the sea.
Clachnaben, a mountain in Strachan parish, Kincar-
dineshire, flanking the SE bank of the Aan, and cul-
minating 3 miles ENE of the summit of Mount Battock,
and 9 SW of Banchory. One of the eastern Grampians,
it rises to an altitude of 1944 feet above sea-level ; com-
mands a view of the E of Scotland from Peterhead to
the Lammermuirs ; and is crowned by a mass of bare
granite, 100 feet high, from which it is sometimes called
the White Stone Hill. According to an old-world
couplet —
' There are two landmarks out at sea,
Clochnabin and Eennachie. 1
Clachnaharry, a straggling fishing village in Inverness
parish, Inverness-shire, on Beauly Firth, at the mouth
of the Caledonian Canal, with a station on the Highland
railway, If mile NW of Inverness. It takes its name,
signifying ' the watchman's stone, ' from neighbouring
rocks where sentinels stood, in bygone times, to warn
the townsmen of Inverness of the approach of any body
of marauders ; at it are a post office under Inverness,
and a public school, which, with accommodation for 150
children, had (1880) an average attendance of 78, and a
grant of £57, 4s. A pillar on the highest point of the
adjacent rocks was erected by the late Major Duff of
Muirtoun, to commemorate a battle said to have been
fought in the vicinity in 1378, between the Monroes of
Foulis and the Clan Chattan, and is visible over a great
extent of surrounding country.
Clachnamban, two huge stones, the one incumbent on
the other, in Alness parish, Ross-shire, on a dismal moor
not far from Kildermory. They are purely natural ob-
jects, but they look, at first sight, like a work of art ;
and they are associated, in local tradition, with a wild
old legend.
Clach-na-Ossian, a large stone on the banks of Al-
mond Water, near the upper end of Glenalmond Pass,
in Crieff parish, Perthshire, a little to the W of Dun-
more Hill, and 5 miles S of Amulree. It is 8 feet high,
and from 4 to 5 feet broad ; and, about 1728 being re-
moved from its original site at the forming of Wade's
military road, it was found to cover a cavity 2 feet
long, 14 foot wide, and 2 feet deep, fenced with four
stone slabs, and containing some bones and ashes. ' I
have learned,' says Newte, who was here in 1791, 'that
when Ossian's Stone was removed, and the coffin con-
taining his supposed remains discovered, the people of
the country for several miles around, to the number of
three or four score of men, venerating the memory of
the bard, rose with one consent, and carried away the
bones, with bagpipes playing and other funereal rites,
and deposited them with much solemnity within a circle
262
CLACKMANNAN
of large stones, on the lofty summit of a rock, sequestered,
and of difficult access, where they might never more bo
disturbed by mortal feet or hands, in the wild recesses of
western Glenalmond.' Maeculloch, ever at war with
' old poetic feeling, ' discredits the story of Ossian's burial
here, which Dr Donald Smith upheld most learnedly,
and of which Wordsworth sings —
' Does then the Bard sleep here indeed?
Or is it but a groundless creed ?
What matters it ? — I blame them not
Whose fancy in this lonely spot
Was moved, and in such way expressed
Their notion of its perfect rest.
A convent, even a hermit's cell,
Would break the silence of this dell :
It is not quiet, is not ease,
But something deeper far than these ;
The separation that is here
Is of the grave, and of austere
Yet happy feelings of the dead :
And, therefore, was it rightly said
That Ossian, last of all his race,
Lies buried in this lonely place.'
Clachshant or Clayshant, an ancient parish since
1650 included in Stoneykirk parish, SW Wigtownshire.
Clachshant, signifying ' the holy stone, ' was the original
name ; and Clayshant is a modern corruption. On Clay-
shant farm, close to the shore, are vestiges of the ancient
church, which belonged to Whithorn priory.
Clackmannan, a town and a parish of Clackmannan-
shire. The town stands | mile SSE of a station of its
own name on the Stirling and Dunfermline section of
the North British, and 2 miles E by S of Alloa, being
built on an eminence which rises gently out of the
carse plain to a height of 100 feet above the Forth. On
either side the ground has a gradual descent ; but to the
W, where the old Tower is placed, it is bold and rocky.
The view from there is singularly fine. To the W are
seen Alloa, Stirling, and St Ninians, and all the country
as far as Ben Lomond ; on the N the prospect is bounded
by the Ochils ; S and E are the fertile fields of Stirling-
shire, and the towns of Kincardine, Falkirk, and Lin-
lithgow ; whilst the foreground is filled by the Forth,
expanding into a broad sheet of water, like a large in-
land lake. In the town itself, with a wide main street,
but many poor houses, there is little to admire beyond
its ruined Tower and an old market cross, surmounted
by the arms of Bruce. The Tower, said commonly to
have been built by King Robert Bruce, dates rather
from the loth century. Oblong in plan, with a short
projecting wing, it is 79 feet high, its modern slated
roof being gained by a spiral stair ; and it retains the
cellars, kitchen, barrel-vaulted hall, upper chamber,
machicoulis, corbie-stepped gables, and bartizan, with a
17th century belfry (Procs. Alloa Soc, 1875). Adjoin-
ing the Tower stood the old mansion, the seat of the
lineal descendants of that Robert Bruce to whom King
David, his cousin, granted the castle and barony of Clack-
mannan in 1359. Here were preserved the sword and
helmet of the great King Robert ; and here with the
sword Mrs Bruce of Clackmannan (1701-96), the last
laird's widow, and a zealous Jacobite, knighted Robert
Burns, 26th August 1787. (See Bkoomhall and Ken-
net. ) In name at least Clackmannan remains the
county town, but it is quite eclipsed by Alloa, under
which it has a post office ; a fair is still held on 26 June.
The parish church (1815 ; 1250 sittings) has a lofty
tower, on which a town clock was placed in 1866. There
are also a Free and a U. P. church ; and a cemetery was
opened in 1857. Pop. (1841) 1077, (1S61) 1159, (1871)
1309, (1881) 1503.
The parish contains also the villages of Sauchie, Fish
Cross, Kennet, Westfield, and Forrestmill. It is bounded
N by Tillicoultry and Dollar, NE by Muckart in Perth-
shire, E by Fossoway in Perthshire and Saline in Fife,
SE by Culross and Tulliallan in Perthshire (detached),
SW by the Forth, and W by Alloa. Its utmost length
from NE to SW is 5£ miles ; its width varies between
14 and 5 miles ; and its area is 9S69§ acres, of which
86f are foreshore and 355 j water, whilst 1020 belong to
the outlying Saitchie section. The Forth, here from