Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 5

MONIFIETH
Brouglity Ferry, and 5J ENE of Dundee, under wliicli
there is a post office, with money order, savings' bank,
and telegraph departments. It is a thriving place, with
a good many very fine villas, a large jute mill, two
machine works, an inn, a cemetery, etc. The parish
church, rebuilt in 1813, is a plain but conspicuous build-
ing, with 1100 sittings ; and the gi'aveyard around it
contains some beautifully sculptured antique tomb-
stones, more tasteful than are usually found in a country
cemetery. One of two Free churches, standing 2^
miles NW of the village, was erected soon after the
Disruption, and is a plain structure ; the other, in the
village, was founded with much ceremony in Novem-
ber 1871, owed much of its origin to the munificence
of the eleventh Earl of Dalhousie, and is a neat edifice
in the Gothic style, with 400 sittings. In the month
of Feb. 1882 the congregation connected with the parish
church commenced the erection of a Sunday school
hall, built and fitted after the best models now in use
in America. This building was finished and opened on
Saturday, 23 Dec. 18S2, and has since been used, not
only for Sunday school instruction, but also for lectures,
public meetings, and purposes of general utility. It is
seated, when used as a lecture-room, for 600 persons,
and has two class-rooms, one of which is used as a
library ; a keeper's house is also attached. This build-
ing is the first, or one of the first, of the kind which has
been built in Scotland, and several other halls on the
same plan have since been built, or are in the course of
building. The idea of the hall was suggested by the
Eev. Dr Young, minister of the parish, who had been
for upwards of twenty years Convener of the General
Assembly's Committee on Sabbath Schools, at a congre-
gational meeting held on the occasion of the twenty -first
anniversary of his ministry, and the idea was realised
by the cordial and generous contributions of the congre-
gation. The total cost was £2100. Pop. of the vUlage
(1861) 558, (1871) 919, (1881) 1564.
The parish, containing also the villages of Drum-
sturdy and Barxhill, with four-fifths of the town of
Broughtv Ferrt, is bounded N and NE by Monikie,
E by Monikie and Barry, SE and S by the Firth of Tay,
and W by Dundee and Murroes. Its greatest length,
from N by E to S by W, is 4 J miles ; its breadth increases
southward from 9 furlongs to 3 J miles ; and its area is
6767b- acres, of which 780 are foreshore and IS/-^ water.
DiCHTY Water, coming in from the W, winds 2f miles
east-by-southward to the Firth at Milton ; Murroes
Burn runs If mile south-by-westward along the western
boundary to the Dichty ; and Buddon Burn first runs 2-|
miles east-south-eastward across the northern interior
and along the Murroes and Monikie boundaries, and then,
after a divergence into Monikie, flows 3 furlongs along
all the Barry boundary to the Firth of Tay. The coast,
3| miles in extent, consists chiefly of low sandy ground,
■with considerable extent of light downs or links, and
long has suffered gradual encroachment by the sea. An
almost level plain extends behind the links in the sec-
tion E of the Dichty ; and an elongated swell or low
ridge, bold on the S but gently sloping on the N,
extends behind the links in the section W of the Dichty.
The rest of the land has mostly a southward exposure,
attaining 320 feet near Balraossie, 431 at Laws Hill, 357
near Mattocks, and 500 at the north-eastern boundary —
eminences that command an extensive and charming
view. The sedimentary rock, yielding what is known
as ' Arbroath pavement, ' has been quarried in the N ;
and eruptive rocks occur in the S. The soil on
the seaboard is partly light and sandy, partly a
rich black loam, and generally very fertile ; of the
central tracts is mostly an excellent black loam, highly
cultivated, and bearing heavy crops ; but towards the
N is tUly and moorish. About 545 acres are under
wood ; 910 are pasture (chiefly links) ; and the rest of
the land is in tillage. Antiquities other than those
noticed under Broughty Ferry and Laws, are Cairn
Greg, the Gallow Hill of Ethiebeaton, a stone circle
known as 'St Bride's Ring,' and sites or vestiges of
Uve pre-Eeformation places of worship, at Monifieth
MONIKIE
village, Chapel-Dockie, Eglisraonichty, Kingcunie, and
Broughty Ferry. David Doig, LL.D. (1719-1800), a
writer in the Encyclopmdia Britannica and rector of
Stirling grammar school, was a native. Estates, noticed
separately, are Grange, Laws, and Lixlathen ; and
10 proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and
upwards, 35 of between £100 and £500, 46 of from £50
to £100, and 137 of from £20 to £50. Giving otf the
whole of Broughty Ferry quoad sacra parish and part
of that of St Stephen, Monifieth is in the presljytery of
Dundee and the synod of Angus and Mearns ; the living
is worth £382. Two public schools. Mattocks and
Monifieth, with respective accommodation for 100 and
507 children, had (1883) an average attendance of 52
and 218, and grants of £45, 17s. and £202, 8s. Valua-
tion (1857)£18,332, (1884) £52,423, lis., yZits £6100 for
railways. Pop. (1801) 1407, (1831) 2635, (1861) 5052,
(1871) 7252, (1881) 9521, of whom 3608 were in the
ecclesiastical parish of Monifieth, 5559 in that of
Broughty Ferry, and 354 in St Stephen's. — Ord. Sar.,
sh. 49, 1865.
Monigaff. See Minnigaff.
Monikie, a hamlet and a parish of S Forfarshire. The
hamlet stands near a station of its own name on the
Dundee and Forfar Direct section of the Caledonian,
111 miles NE of Dundee.
The parish, containing also the villages of Craigton'
(with a post oflSce under Carnoustie), Guildy, and New-
BiGGiNG (with a post ofBce under Dundee), is bounded
N by the Kirkbuddo section of Guthrie, NE by Car-
myllie, E by Paubride, SE by Barry, SW by Monifieth,
W by Murroes, and NW by Inverarity. Its utmost
length, from NNW to SSE, is 61 miles ; its utmost
breadth is 5 miles ; and its area is 9027J acres, of which
106 are water. By Buddon, Pitairlie, Monikie, and
other burns the drainage is can'ied south-south-east-
ward or east-south-eastward to the Firth of Tay or the
German Ocean ; and the surface has a general north-
north-westerly ascent, attaining 118 feet at Mains, 204
near Templehall, 500 at Cambustane, 800 at the Inver-
arity boundary, and 693 at Gallow Hill. Two ranges
of hills, which cross the parish from E to W, divide it
into three districts of three different characters. The
southern, containing in the extreme S a small tract of
sandy downs, approaches within 3 furlongs of the Firth
of Tay, and rising thence to the first range, called
Downie or Cur Hills, presents a warm and pleasant
appearance. The middle district, which forms a valley
between the two ranges, at an elevation of about 300
feet above sea-level, produces inferior crops in every-
thing but oats, and during great part of the year has a
cold and damp climate. The northern district is chiefly
swampy and moorish, and, though partially reclaimed,
continues to be better for pasture than tillage. A fine
trap rock, admirably suited both for building and for
road metal, forms the greater part of the Downie Hills,
at whose western extremity is an excellent sandstone,
well suited for masonry ; whilst the rock yielding what
is known as 'Arbroath pavement,' abounds in the N ;
and all three have been quarried. Beautiful specimens
of agate, jasper, and spar are found in the trap of the
Downie Hdls. The soil of the southern district is rich,
sharp, and productive ; of the middle district is chiefly
a thin black loam, incumbent on cold wet till ; and of
the northern district is either reclaimed or unreclaimed
moss. Denfind, a deep and winding ravine, bisecting
the Downie Hills, is traversed by Pitairlie Burn, and
spanned by a massive one-arched bridge. To the N
are reservoirs of the Dundee waterworks, forming
artificial lakes of considerable extent and beauty.
Rather more than half of the entire area is in regular
cultivation, and some 500 acres are under wood. Cam-
bustane, with the 'Live and Let Live Testimonial,'
and Affleck Castle are noticed separately ; other
antiquities being vestiges of Hynd Castle and the Hair
Cairn on the western border, only survivor of several
cairns which appear to have been raised there as monu-
ments of some ancient battle. The property is divided
among five. Monikie is in the presbytery of Dundee
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