Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

COWSHAVEN
on the right bank of the Esk, 1J mile S of Mussel-
burgh.
Cowshaven. See Aberdotjr.
Cowthally, a ruined castle in Carnwath parish, Lanark-
shire, on the edge of a moss li mile NW of Carnwath
village. From the reign of David I. (1124-53) to 1603
it was the seat of the powerful family of Somerville,
which, ennobled in 1430 under the title of Baron Somer-
ville, became extinct in 1870 on the death of the nine-
teenth Lord. Burned by the English in 1320, but
afterwards rebuilt, it was surrounded by moat and ram-
part, and accessible only by a drawbridge. James V.
and VI. were both entertained here with great magni-
ficence, the latter punningly remarking that the castle
rather should be called Cow-daily, because a cow and
ten sheep were killed there every day. See Drum and
the eleventh Lord Somerville's curious Memorie of the
Somervilles (2 vols., 1815).
Coxton, an old castellated mansion in St Andrews-
Lhanbride parish, Elginshire, 2 miles ESE of Elgin. A
tall square structure, with turrets at the angles, it bears
date 1644, but is fully a century older; and it was the
residence of the Inneses of Invermarkie, but belongs
now to the Earl of Fife. See vol. i. of Billings' Baronial
Antiquities (1845).
Coyle or Coila (popularly Kill), a stream of Kyle dis-
trict, Ayrshire. It rises in the S of Ochiltree parish
close to the boundary with Coylton, and winds 14i
miles north-westward to the river Ayr, at a point 3 f
miles E of the town of Ayr. It makes a cascade, 25
feet wide and 15 feet in fall, under the ridge on which
stands Sundrum House ; its yellow trout are good, but
not over plentiful ; and at Millmunnoch, on its bank,
Burns makes the ' Poor and Honest Sodger ' return to
his ain dear maid.
Coylton, a village and a parish in Kyle district, Ayr-
shire. The village stands 2 miles W by N of Drongan
station and 6 ESE of Ayr, under which it has a post
office, and consists of two parts, Coylton proper and
New Coylton. It is traditionally said to have got its
name from the 'Auld King Coil' of Coilsfield, but
figures in old records as Quiltoim and Cuiltoun.
The parish, containing also the villages of Craighall,
Woodside, Rankinston, and Joppa, is bounded N by
Tarbolton, E by Stair and Ochiltree, S by Dalmellington,
SW by Dalrymple, W by Ayr, and NW by St Quivox.
Its greatest length, from NNW to SSE, is 8J miles ; its
breadth varies between 7 furlongs and 3| miles ; and its
area is ll,752f acres, of which 160| are water. From a
little below Stair church to just above Mainholm, the
river Ayr winds 7f miles west-south-westward along all
the northern and north-western border ; to it flows the
Water of Coyle, latterly through the NE interior, but
chiefly along the boundary with Ochiltree and Stair.
Lochs Martnaham (1 J x J mile) and Snipe (1 J x f furl. )
lie on the Dalrjmiple border ; and on the Ayr border is
Loch Fergus (3x1 furl.). Where the Ayr quits the
parish the surface sinks to less than 50 feet above sea-
level, thence rising to 139 feet near Craighall, 356 at
Kaithhill, 253 near Joppa, 799 at Craigs of Coyle, 1241
at Ewe Hill, 1122 at Brown Rig, and 1426 at Benwhat,
which last, however, culminates just beyond the southern
border. Coal, ironstone, trap rock, sandstone, lime-
stone, and potter's clay are worked, the recent great
increase in the population being due to mining develop-
ment ; plumbago was mined, from 1808 till 1815, on
the farm of Laigh Dalmore ; fire-clay abounds in the
neighbourhood of a limestone quarry ; and Water-of-
Ayr stone, used for hones, was raised for some years on
Knockshoggle farm. The soil of the holms or flat
grounds along the streams is light and loamy, on a
sandy or gravelly bottom ; elsewhere it is mostly a poor
cohesive clay on a stiff, cold, tilly subsoil, with patches
of moss or peat. About 70 per cent, of the entire land
area is in tillage, 23 in pasture, and 7 under wood.
Antiquities are a large stone, by tradition associated
with the name of ' Auld King Coil ;' the castellated por-
tion of Sundrum House ; fragments of the old parish
church ; and the sites of two pre-Reformation chapels.
292
CRAIG
A field on Bargleuch has yielded four stone coffins ; and
silver coins of Elizabeth, James VI., and Charles I.
have been dug up on Bargunnoch farm. Mansions are
Sundrum, Gadgirth, Rankinston, Martnaham Muir, and
Oakbank ; and the property is divided among 14 land-
owners, 6 holding each an annual value of £500 and
upwards, 3 of between £100 and £500, 1 of from £50 to
£100, and 4 of from £20 to £50. Coylton is in the
presbytery of Ayr and synod of Glasgow and Ayr ; the
riving is worth £331. The church, built in 1836, is a
good Gothic edifice, with a tower upwards of 60 feet
high, and contains 744 sittings. Two public schools,
Coylton and Littlemill, with respective accommodation
for 293 and 220 children, had (1880) an average attend-
ance of 191 and 134, and grants of £162, 12s. 6d. and
£96, 19s. Valuation (1860) £10,481, (1882) £20,454,
8s. 9d., including £911 for railway. Pop. (1S01) 848,
(1831) 13S0, (1861) 1604, (1871) 1440, (1881) 3100.—
Orel. Sur., sh. 14, 1S63.
Crag or Craiglich, an eminence (1563 feet) on the
mutual border of Coull and Lumphanan parishes, Aber-
deenshire, 7 J miles SSW of Alford.
Craggie or Creagach, a loch on the mutual border of
Lairg and Rogart parishes, SE Sutherland, 3J miles
ENE of Lairg village. Lying 525 feet above sea-level,
it measures 1 mile by 2J furlongs, and, with a stiffish
breeze, affords as good trouting as any in Sutherland. —
Orel. Sur., sh. 102, 1881.
Craggie or Creagach, a loch in Tongue parish, Suther-
land, receiving the superfluence of Loch Loyal, and
sending off its own to Loch Slaim, through two short
reaches of the river Borgie, each 1 furlong long. Ly-
ing 369 feet above sea-level, it is If- mile long from S to
NNE ; varies in breadth between 1J and 3i furlongs ;
and contains magnificent trout and salmo-ferox, with
occasional salmon and grilse. One of its trout scaled
8 lbs.— Orel. Sur., sh. 114, 1880.
Craibstone. See Aberdeen, p. 17.
Craichie. See Dtjnnichen.
Craig, an estate, with a mansion, in Colmonell parish,
S Ayrshire, on the Stinchar, 2 miles ENE of Colmonell
village.
Craig, an estate, with a mansion, in Kilmaurs parish,
Ayrshire, between Carmel Water and the river Irvine,
4 miles W by S of Kilmarnock. Its owner, Allan Pol-
lok-Morris, Esq. (b. 1836; sue. 1862), holds 165 acres
in the shire, valued at £846 per annum.
Craig. See Neilston.
Craig, a hamlet and a coast parish of Forfarshire.
The hamlet, Kirkton of Craig, stands on the brow of a
gentle acclivity, 1J mile SSW of Montrose, and com-
mands a splendid view over Montrose Basin and town
away to the Grampians.
The parish, containing also the fishing villages of
Ferryden and Usan or Ulysses' Haven, comprises the
ancient parishes of Inchbrayock or Craig and St Skeoch
or Dunninald, united in 1618. It is bounded N by
Montrose Basin and the mouth of the South Esk, SE
by the German Ocean, S by the Dysart section of
Maryton and by Lunan, SW by Kinnell, W by Far-
nell, and NW by Maryton proper. Its utmost length
is 5§ miles from ENE to WSW, viz., from the Ness
to tiny Nicholls Loch upon Ross Muir ; its width
varies between 1 J and 2J miles ; and its area is 4S65f
acres, of which 345-J are foreshore, and 137J water.
The northern border slopes gently down to Montrose
Basin ; and Rossie island there, lying at the head of
the South Esk's effluence to the sea, and separated
from the mainland only by a narrow channel, belongs
to Craig, but will be separately noticed. The E coast
is rocky, and toward the S precipitous, at Boddin
Point rising rapidly to 200 feet above sea-level. On
the Ness, or most easterly point of the coast, where the
South Esk falls into the sea, is a lighthouse, whose light,
fixed white till 1881, is now double intermittent or
occulting, visible at a distance of 17 nautical miles. The
interior, with gradual southward and south-westward
ascent, forms, for the most part, an undulating table-
land ; and, attaining 234 feet near Balkeillie, 426 near