Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 5

MILLNAIN
MillBam, a village in FotUlerty parish, SE Ross-shire,
8 miles W by N of Dingwall.
Mill-of-Conveth. See Laukencekirk.
Millport, a watering-place on the island of Big CuM-
BEAE, Buteshire. It stretches round a pleasantly shel-
tered crescent-shajied bay at the S end of the island, and
partly overlooks the Little Cumbrae, partly commands
the opening through Fairlie Roads to the Bay of Ayr,
on the E side of the Firth of Clyde. By water it is
2J miles NW of the nearest point of the Ayrshire coast,
5i SSW of Largs, 13 SE of Rothesay, and 24 SSW of
Greenock. Built in a crescent following the curve of
the bay, and ascending the low heights, the town con-
sists chiefly of neat two-storied whitewashed houses,
among which are numerous excellent shops, and some
ornamental public buildings. Were the environs only
a little less bare of trees, Millport would be one of the
prettiest spots on the Clyde. As it is, it commands a
lovely panorama over the Clyde and the adjacent shores
of Buteshire, Ayrshire, and Argyllshire ; while its
sheltered bay and beach help to make it one of the
favourite West Coast watering-places.
In the middle of the curve, fronting the shore, is
the Garrison, the beautiful marine pavilion of the Earl
of Glasgow, who owns two-thirds of the entire island,
the remainder belonging to the Marquis of Bute. The
parish church, a handsome building surmounted by a
low square tower, is situated on the rising ground behind
the town. Built in 1837, it has upwards of 750 sit-
tings. There are Free, U. P., and Baptist churches, and
a Scottish Episcopal church, St Andrew's (1848). But
the finest and most conspicuous edifice in Millport is the
Episcopal Cathedral and College, founded and endowed
by the Earl of Glasgow. The cathedral, dedicated to
the Holy Spirit, was built in 1849-51 from plans by
Butterfield ; and in 1876 it was declared the Cathedral
of Argyll and the Isles. In the Gothic style of the
13th century, it consists of a nave and chancel, divided
by an open stone screen, and has an organ, gootl stained
glass, 150 sittings, a graceful spire, three bells, etc.
Immediately adjoining, and built of the same light-
coloured freestone of the island, are a chapter-house and
college. The whole range of buildings is situated in
beautifully laid-out grounds. According to The Scottish
Church and University Almanac for 1884, 'The chief
objects for which this church and college are founded
are : to place at the bishop's disposal a certain number
of clergy who shall minister in places where a resident
pastor cannot be supported ; to afford a retreat to a
small number of aged and infirm clergymen ; to afford
education and maintenance to two or three students of
divinity ; and to assist in their studies a certain number
of young men before and during their university course,
and to such as desire to read in the college in prepara-
tion for holy orders.'
Millport has a post office, with money order, savings'
bank, and telegraph departments, a branch of the
Union Bank, 5 insurance agencies, a public hall (1S72),
a town-hall (1879), a public library, a reading-room, a
gas company, a harbour company, 5 hotels, including
3 temperance hotels, public and Episcopalian schools,
an academy, and various other institutions. The har-
bour is a creek under Greenock, and is of small
capacity. The stone pier, built chiefly at the expense
of the Marquis of Bute, stands in 6 feet water at ebb,
and 14 feet water at flood, tide. It has' been largely
superseded by an iron pier, built in 1871-72 by the
Earl of Glasgow, on piles driven 5 or 6 feet into the
ground. This pier is 275 feet long by 18 broad, and
has a T-shaped head SO feet by 25. Close by is good
anchorage, fully protected by two small rocky islets
known as the Allans. Steamer communication is main-
tained regularly with Wemyss Bay and Largs all the
year round, and with other places on the Clyde less
regularly, and chiefly in summer. The prosperity of
the town depends chiefly on the summer visitors,
several thousand of whom visit it annually during
the season. Some of the inhabitants carry on fishing
and a few minor industries. Millport, ranking as a
MILNGAVIE
police burgh since 1864, is governed by a senior and 2
junior magistrates and 6 police commissioners. SherifT
small debt courts are held in the town in March and Sep-
tember. The municipal constituency numbered 720 in
1884, when the annual value of real property was£14,616,
whilst the revenue including assessments, amounts to
£659. Pop. (1839) 932, (1861) 1104, (1871) 1523, (1881)
1749, of whom 758 were males. Houses (1881) occupied
344, vacant 67, building 5.— Ord Sur., sh. 21, 1870.
Millseat, a hamlet in King Edward parish, Aberdeen-
shire, 6 miles NE of Turriff. It has a Congregational
chapel built in 1831, and containing 210 sittings.
Milltimber, a station in Peterculter parish, Aberdeen-
shire, on the Deeside railway, 6^ miles WSW of Aber-
deen.
MilltowiL See Milton.
Milnathort, a little market town in Orwell parish,
Kinross-shire, lying 400 feet above sea-level, near the
left bank of North Queich AVater, and within 1 mile of
the NW corner of Loch Leven. Its station on the North
British railway is Ig- mile N by E of Kinross station, and
13| miles WSW of Ladyhank Junction. It stands amid
a fine tract of country, screened by the Lomond Hills on
the E, and by the Ochils on the N and W ; and com-
prises fine well-built streets, which are lighted with gas
from the Kinross and Milnathort gas-works (1835).
There are a post office, with money order, savings' bank,
and telegraph departments, a branch of the Clydesdale
Bank, 3 hotels, a town-hall, 2 schools, a library (1797),
etc. A handsome bridge across the Queich was built
about 1850, in place of a crazy, shabby, old structure.
Orwell parish church, on a neighbouring eminence, was
built in 1729, and completely renovated a few years ago,
being now all that can be desired as regards accommo-
dation and comfort. It has two large and very hand-
some stained-glass windows. There are also a Free
church and a IJ.P. church, the latter of which, erected
in 1869 at a cost of £3000, is a fine Gothic building
with 700 sittings and a spire 125 feet high. The poet
Walter Chalmers Smith, D.D., LL.D., was Free Church
minister from 1853 till 1858. Wednesday is market-
day ; and four old cattle fairs have been superseded by
weekly and monthly live-stock sales, which are largely
attended, as the only sale of the kind in the county.
Cotton-weaving was long carried on, but went into de-
cline ; but the manufacture of tartan shawls and plaids,
introduced in 1838, has always continued to prosper,
and was extended about 1867 by the erection of a large
factory. Pop. (1801) 959, (1831) 1772, (1861) 1476,
(1871) 1312, (1881) 1269, of whom 733 were females.
Houses (1881) 344 inhabited, 25 vacant, 2 building. —
Orel. Sur., sh. 40, 1867.
Milneam. See Milleakxe.
Milnefield. See Mylnefield.
Milne-Graden, a modern mansion, with extensive
grounds, in Coldstream parish, Berwickshire, on the
'left bank of the river Tweed, 3i miles NNE of Cold-
stream town. Anciently held by the Gradens, and after-
wards by the Kers, the estate now belongs to David
Milne-Home, Esq., LL.D. (b. 1805 ; sue. 1845), who
holds 843 acres in the shire, valued at £1716 per
annum. — Ord. Sur., sh. 26, 1864. See Paxton.
Milngavle (popularly ilillguy), a small town in the
Stirlingshire section of New Kirkpatrick parish. It
stands, 190 feet above sea-level, on Allander Water, at
the terminus of the Glasgow and Milngavie branch (1863)
of the North British railway, by road being 5J miles
ENE of Duntocher, 4i N by W of Maryhill, and 7 (9^
by rail) NNW of Glasgow. It presents an irregular
and somewhat straggling, yet cheerful and prosperous
aspect ; consists chiefly of plain, two-story houses, many
of them whitewashed ; contains more respectable shops
than are found in most towns of its size ; carries on ex-
tensive and vigorous industry in a print-work, a paper-
mill, two bleach-fields, etc. ; and has a post office under
Glasgow, with money order, savings' bank, and telegrapli
departments, an hotel, gas-works, a mechanics' institu-
tion, a public library, etc. A. B. Stirling (1811-81),
the self-taught uaturaUst, was a native. An Established
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