Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

ARDMAIR
more diversified, and more richly scenic ; and is spanned
at the narrowest part by a one-arched bridge.
Ardmair, a hamlet in the W of Ross-shire, 3 miles
KW of its post-town Ullapool.
Ardmarnock, an estate, with a modern mansion (D.
N. Nicol, Esq. ), in Killinan parish, Argyllshire, on the
E side of Loch Fyne, 4£ miles NE of Taibert.
Ardmeanach, or Mullbuie, a broad-based, extensive,
ridgy hill, in the counties of Nairn, Koss, and Cromarty,
forming the backbone of the Black Isle, or peninsula
between the Beauly and Moray Firths and the Firth of
Cromarty. Its length, from SW to NE, is about lb'
miles, its culminating point is 838 feet above sea-level,
and its breadth is proportionate far more to its length
than to its height. It has a gently-featured outline,
and commands very pleasant prospects. Its surface,
for the most part, was long allowed to lie half waste,
chiefly in a state of commonage, yet was all pro-
nounced, by good judges, at an early period of the age
of agricultural improvement to be, every yard of it,
available for the plough, with generally as good soil as
the low grounds of the peninsula. Its prevailing rock
is the Devonian sandstone, and has been extensively
quarried.
Ardmellie, an estate, with a mansion, in Marnoch
parish, Banffshire. The mansion commands an exten-
sive view of the valley of the Deveron, and the grounds
have fine features both of natural beauty and of artificial
embellishment. Catstone or Ardmellie Hill (851 feet),
the highest ground in the parish, is steep and wooded.
Limestone abounds, and formerly was worked.
Ardmherigie. See Ardveeikie.
Ardmichael, a small rocky promontory, with a bury-
ing place, on the W side of South Uist island, Outer
Hebrides, Inverness-shire, about 12 miles SSW of the
south-western extremity of Benbecula.
Ardmiddle, a hill 557 feet high, and a mansion in
Turriff parish, N Aberdeenshire. The mansion is the
seat of John A. Milne, Esq. , owner of 1100 acres, valued
at £1070 per annum. Ardmiddle public school, with
accommodation for 100 children, had (1891) an average
attendance of 64, and a grant of £63, 4s.
Ardmile, a small rocky promontory on the W side of
South Uist island, Outer Hebrides, Inverness-shire, 4
miles S of Ardmichael.
Ardmillan, a mansion, which is now the property of
the trustees of the late Patrick Playiair, Esq., in Girvan
parish, Ayrshire, on the coast, 2| miles SSW of Girvan.
The estate connected with it is believed to be rich in
copper ore.
Ardminish, a bay about the middle of the E side of
Gigha island, Argyllshire. It has good anchorage in
depths of 6 or 7 fathoms, and is frequented by vessels
bringing coal, lime, and other imports, and taking
away the produce of the island. Ardminish Point,
flanking its N side, with the church and manse of
Gigha parish at its head, is identified by Skene with
Arddanesbi, the scene of a naval battle in 719.
Ardmore, a beautiful wooded promontory in Cardross
parish, Dumbartonshire, 2| miles SSE of Helensburgh.
It connects with the mainland by a narrow isthmus ;
projects about a mile into the Firth of Clyde ; expands
into a circular head 103 feet high and about 5 fur-
longs in diameter, popularly called the Hill of Ardmore ;
consists elsewhere of fiat alluvium ; and, at low water, is
flanked only by bare silt or foreshore. It forms a fine
feature in the magnificent lagoon-like scenery of the
Firth. Ardmore House stands upon it, amid pleasant
grounds, and is a good modern mansion.
Ardmore, a headland in Kildalton parish, Argyllshire,
on the E side of Islay island, 5 miles S by E of the S
end of the Sound of Islay.
Ardmore, a headland in the N of Mull, Argyllshire,
nearly opposite Ardnamurchan village.
Ardmore, a headland in the W of Skye, Inverness-
shire, in the Vaternish section of Duirinish parish. A
hostile party of the Macdonalds of Uist once landed
here, while many of the Macleods of Skye were assembled
in the adjacent church of Trumpan, and they suddenly
ARDNAMURCHAN
surrounded the church, set fire to it, and destroyed
nearly all who were in it ; but, before they got back to
their boats, a great number of them were slain by a body
of avengers pouring down upon them at the call of ' the
fiery cross.'
Ardmore, a harbour in Eddertoun parish, Ross-shire,
at the head of the Dornoch Firth, near Tain. It affords
accommodation to vessels of 150 tons' burden, and is
frequented in summer by smacks aud schooners, chiefly
with cargoes of coal and lime.
Ardmucknish, a beautiful bay in Ardchattan parish,
Argyllshire, at the mouth of Loch Etive, and extending
from the vicinity of Connel Ferry 2£ miles northward to
the neck of the peninsula of Lochnell. It has a finely
pebbled beach, is environed with picturesque scenery,
and commands noble views. The vestiges of the reputed
ancient capital of Dalriada are on its E side, and will
be noticed under Beregoniuji.
Ardnacallioch, a promontory and a bay at the E end
of Ulva island, in Argyllshire. The promontory exhi-
bits, to the S, a remarkably well-defined natural bust
of an old woman, and it takes thence its name, which
signifies ' the old wife's point. '
Ardnacross, a small bay and an estate in Campbeltown
parish, Argyllshire, 6 miles NNE of Campbeltown. The
bay affords anchorage to vessels.
Ardnadam. See Sandbank.
Ardnafuaran, a village in Arasaig district, Inverness-
shire. It is the same as Arasaig village, having merged
its own proper name in the name of the district. A
church dedicated to the Virgin Mary stood at it in the
Romish times, and has left some remains.
Ardnamurchan (Gael, ard-na-mor-chinn, 'height of
the great headland '), a hamlet and a promontory in
Argyllshire, and a parish partly also in Inverness-shire.
The hamlet lies on the southern coast of the promontory,
7 miles NNW of Tobermory, and has a post office, with
money order and savings bank departments, under
Ardgour. The promontory forms the extreme NW of
the mainland ot Argyllshire, as also the most westerly
point of the mainland of Scotland, lying 137 miles in a
straight line W of the mouth of the South Esk river in
Forfarshire ; was, from the time of Somerled till tlu>
reign of James VI. , the boundary between the two great
divisions of the Hebrides, Northern and Southern ; and
has a bluff, wild character, more notable in aspect and
more terrible to mariners than any other headland be-
tween Cape Wrath and the Mull of Kin tyre. The neigh-
bouring rugged shores have been the destruction of mul-
titudes of vessels, and the seaboard here, and onward on
either side for many miles, is all mountainous, bleak,
and wild. A dreary spot in a creek, at its uttermost
point, contains the graves of shipwrecked seamen. A
castle-like lighthouse was built here in 1849, at a cost of
£13,738 ; its fixed light, 180 feet above sea-level, is
visible at the distance of 18 nautical miles.
The parish contains also the post office villages or
hamlets of Kinlochmoidart, Arasaig, and Strontian, and
comprises the districts of Ardnamurchan proper, Sunart,
Moidart, Arasaig, and South Morar— the first and
second in Argyllshire, the three others in Inverness-shire.
It is bounded N by Loch Morar and the river Morar,
which separate it from North Morar in Glenelg ; NE by
the Ardgour, Locheil, and Locharchaig districts of Kil-
mallie ; E by Kingerloeh district of Loch Lismore ; S
by Loch Sunart, which separates it from Morvern ; W
and NW by the Atlantic. Its greatest length, measured
along the shortest practicable line of road, cannot be less
than 70 miles, its greatest breadth is about 40 miles,
and its area is estimated at 216,969 acres of land and
73,280 of water. 'Every consideration of convenience,"
say the Boundary Commissioners, 'points to the de-
sirability of dividing so great a parish into two ' — the
Argyllshire portion and the Inverness-shireportion. They
had not power to do so, however, but expressed approval
of it. Ardnamurchan proper is a peninsula, connecting
at the E end by an isthmus with the Sunart district;
measures about 16 miles in length, and about 7 in breadth;
and consists chiefly of a range of comparatively low hills,
65