Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 5

MONBODDO HOUSE
the S by peaked Sgurr na Lapaich (3773 feet) ; con-
tains good trout and pike ; and at its E end has Monar
shooting-lodge.— Oj-cZ. Sur., sh. 82, 1882.
Monboddo House, an old mansion, amid pleasant
plantations, in Fordoun parish, Kincardineshire, IJ mile
E by S of Auchinblae, and 2J miles NNW of Fordoun
station. It was the birthplace of the judge, James
Burnett, Lord Monboddo (1714-99), who anticipated
Darwin in an evolution theory — of monkeys whose tails
wore off with constant sitting. His descendant, James
Cumioe Burnett, Esq., holds 3000 acres in the shire,
valued at £2540 per annum. — Ord. Sur., sh. 66, 1871.
Moncreiffe House, a mansion in Dunbarny parish,
Perthshire, at the southern base of Moncreiffe Hill, on
the left side of the river Earn, 1 mile NNE of Bridge-of-
Earn, and SJ miles SSE of Perth. It is a fine old edifice,
built in 1679 from designs by the celebrated architect. Sir
William Bruce of Kinross ; and its grounds are beauti-
fully wooded, the older trees appearing to have been
mostly planted about the time of the erection of the
house. There is a grand beech avenue, more than 600
yards long, with a small stone-circle in the middle ; and
one horse-chestnut, girthing 20J feet at 1 foot from the
ground, is supposed to be the largest of its kind in
Scotland, if not indeed in Britain. A roofless chapel
(30 X 18 feet), with a N aisle and a small E belfry, stands
300 yards SE of the mansion, thickly embosomed in
wood ; and since 1357 or earlier has .served as the
burying-place of the Moncreiffe family. Moncreiffe or
Moredun Hill, at the meeting-point of Dunbarny,
Khynd, and East Perth parishes, 3 miles SSE of Perth
city, occupies much of the peninsula between the Earn
and the Tay, and forms the connecting link between the
Ochils and the Sidlaws, except as isolated from them
by those two rivers. It chiefly consists of greenstone,
displaying on the S side a steep, high precipice of
columnar formation ; and attains an altitude of 725 feet
above sea-level. Its slopes are clothed with many-
tinted trees, planted mostly during the last hundred
years ; and its summit and E shoulder command one of
the noblest prospects in Britain — pronounced by Pen-
nant 'the glory of Scotland.' The high-road from
Edinburgh to Perth passes at a height of 182 feet over
its W shoulder, which is pierced by the conjoint tunnel
(990 yards long) of the Caledonian and North British
railway systems. The Roman legionaries, when they
gained the top, cried out ' Behold the Tiber, behold the
Field of Mars ! ' and Queen Victoria, driving from
Dupplin Castle to Perth on her first progress to the
Highlands (6 Sept. 1842), made a halt to gaze on the
sunset-illumined scene. Not far from the flagstaff on
the summit is a Pictish hill-fort, whose circular fosse,
16 yards in diameter, is still traceable. From 1248 and
earlier the lands of Moncreiffe have been held by the
Moncreiffe family ; but in 1663 Sir John Moncreitt' —
represented by Lord Moncreiff of Tullieeole — was
forced to sell the estate to his cousin, Thomas Mon-
creiffe, who in 1685 was created a baronet. Sir Robert
Drummond Moncreiffe, present and eighth Bart. (b.
1856 ; sue. 1879), owns 4673 acres in Perthshire, valued
at £6758 per annum.— Ocd. Sur., sh. 48, 1868. See
chap. X. of Thomas Hunter's Woods and Estates of
Perthshire (Perth, 1883).
Moncur Castle, a mined fortalice in Inchture parish,
Perthshire, embosomed in wood, within the grounds of
Rossie Priory, 5 furlongs NNE of Inchture village. It
is said to have been destroyed by fire about the begin-
ning of last century.
Mondynes (anc. Monachedin), a farm in Fordoun
parish, Kincardineshire, IJ mile SSW of Drumlithie
station. A monolith here, 6 or 8 feet high, and called
the Court-stane or King-stone, perhaps commemorates
the murder of Duncan II. in 1094.
Moneam. See Cairnmonearn,
Moness Bum, a stream of detached portions of Dull
and Fortingall parishes, Perthshire, rising at an altitude
of 1970 feet, and running 5^ miles north-by-eastward,
till, after a total descent of nearly 1600 feet, it fclls
into the Tay at a point 3 furlongs N by W of Aberfeldy.
MONIFIETH
It traverses, in the lower part of its course, a deep,
narro\n, wooded ravine ; and makes there two romantic
waterfalls, which are celebrated in Burns's Birks o'
Aberfeldy; whilst Pennant characterised them as 'an
epitome of everything that can be admired in waterfalls. '
The upper cascade occurs IJ mile above Aberfeldy, and
consists of a sheer leap of 50 feet ; the second, a short
way lower down, consists of a series of leaps to the
aggregate of at least 100 feet ; and the third, at the
influx of a tributary, is more picturesque than either
of the others, and consists of brilliant rushing cateracts.
A rustic bridge crosses the ravine ; traces of a Roman
redoubt are in its mouth ; and Moness House adjoins
it in the vicinity of Aberfeldy. — Ord. Sur., sh. 55, 1869.
Moneydie, a parish of Perthshire, whose church
stands on the right bank of Shochie Burn, 2 miles W of
Luncarty station and 6 NNW of the post-town, Perth.
It is bounded NW by Auchtergaven, NE by Auchter-
gaven and Redgorton, SE and S by Redgorton, SW by
Methven, and W by Monzie (detached). Its utmost
length, from WNW to ESE, is 4^ miles ; its utmost
breadth is 3 miles ; and its area is 4464 acres, of which
25 lie detached, and 25J are water. Shochie Bum
winds 5f mUes east-south-eastward and north-eastward,
partly along the Monzie and Redgorton boundaries, but
mainly through the interior, and passes off from the
parish at a point | mile from the Tay ; whilst Ordie
Burn, its afBuent, runs 2§ miles south-eastward along or
close to the north-eastern border. Sinking in the
extreme E to close upon 170 feet above sea-level, the
surface thence rises gently to 236 feet near Coldrochie,
237 near Tophead, 452 near MUlhole, and 482 near
Ardgaith. A very fine grey freestone has been quarried.
The soil of the low flat lands is partly a light loam,
partly of gravelly character resting on dry, hard, deep
gravel ; of the lower slopes is a rich loam, incumbent
on strong deep clay ; and of the highest grounds is a
cold wet till, naturally moorish, but now mostly
drained and cultivated. A small portion of the entire
area is pastoral ; 400 acres or so are under wood ; and
the rest of the land is in tillage. Alexander Myln, who
died in 1542, and wrote the lives of the Bishops of Dun-
keld, was priest of Moneydie. The Duke of Athole and
the Earl of Mansfield are chief proprietors, 3 others hold-
ing each an annual value of between £100 and £500.
Moneydie is in the presbytery of Perth and the synod
of Perth and Stirling ; the living is worth £278. The
parish church, built in 1813, is a handsome edifice,
containing 460 sittings. The public school, with accom-
modation for 61 children, had (1883) an average attend-
ance of 52, and a grant of £73, 2s. Valuation (1860)
£4330, 16s., (1884) £4471, Os. 6d. Pop. (1841) 315,
(1861) 252, (1871) 244, (1881) 2Z3.— Ord. Sur., sh. 48,
1868.
Moneypool Bum. See Kirkmaereck.
Moniabrugh. See Kilsyth.
Moniaive, a viUage in Glencairn parish, W Dumfries-
shire. A burgh of barony under charter of Charles I.,
it stands, 350 feet above sea-level, between confluent
Dalwhat and Craigdarroch Waters, 7J miles WSW of
Thornhill and 16 J NW of Dumfries. AVith pretty sur-
roundings and a good many neat houses, it has a post
office under Thornhill, with money order, savings' bank,
and telegraph departments, a branch of the Union Bank,
2 hotels, gas-works, a library, a market-cross (1638), a
bowling green, Free and U.P. churches, 2 public schools,
and fairs on 25 June o. s. (if a Tuesday, if not, on the
Tuesday after), on the Friday in August before Lockerbie
(lambs), and on the Saturday in September before
Lockerbie (lambs, cattle, hiring, etc.). Pop. (1841)
667, (1861) 817, (1871) 767, (1881) 699, of whom 389
were females. Houses (1881) 184 inhabited, 17 vacant,
3 building.— Ore?. Sur., sh. 9, 1863.
Monich. See Monaoh.
Monifieth (Gael, moimdhfeidh, ' hill of the deer '), a
village and a coast parish of S Forfarshire. The village,
built along a southward brae, within 300 yards of the
Firth of Tay, has a station on the Dundee and Arbroath
Joint line, 11 miles WSW of Arbroath, 2J ENE ot