Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

EOLFEACKS
the heavy, rounded Monadh-Leadh chain, Mullach a'
Ghlinne (1734), Cam Leao (2889), Corryarrick (2922),
Gael Cham (2S33), Maell na h'Aisre (2825), and Cam
Fraoich (2511). Gneiss surrounds all the head of Looh
Ness, but on the E is interrupted by granite, occasionally
syenitic or porpliyritic, which reaches northward into
Stratherrick, a valley that seems to be an old lake-basin,
drained by the chasm at the Falls of Foyers, these being
situated in the red conglomerate; and granite and lime-
stone have both been extensively quarried. Sheep-farm-
ing is the chief source of wealth, from thirty to forty
thousand sheep being pastured here ; and what little
arable land there is, in Glenmore and Stratherrick, varies
greatly in kind and quality, ranging from clay to gravel,
and from peat moss to argillaceous loam. Much natural
wood, the vestige seemingly of one vast forest, remains;
and the shores of Loch Ness and the course of the Moris-
ton are finely wooded. Up to the 15th century the whole
of the united parish belonged to the Frasers of Lovat;
but now, besides Lord Lovat, there are J. C. Cuning-
hame of Foyers and Gen. Hastings Fraser of Ardochy,
who hold respectively 22,506 and 3000 acres in the shire,
of an annual value of £2446 and £338, 10s. Their seats
of Cullachy (Lord Lovat), Foyers, and Ardochy, are
1J mile S, 1 mile S by E, and 14 miles NE of Fort
Augustus; and other mansions, Abercalder (Wm. Sop-
per) and Corriegarth (Lord Lovat), are 5J miles SSW
and 10 NE. Boleskine is in the presbytery of Aber-
tarff and synod of Argyll; its minister's income is
£241. The parish church (1717; 428 sittings) stands
in Stratherrick, near Loch Garth, 12J miles NE of Fort
Augustus by General Wade's hilly military road; and
the Roman Catholic church of the Immaculate Concep-
tion (1859; 130 sittings) lies 1J mile nearer that village,
where are three more places of worship — Established,
Free, and Roman Catholic. Five schools — Boleskine,
Fort Augustus, Knockchoilum, and Fort Augustus and
Whitebridge R.C. — with respective accommodation for
97, 100, 40, 142, and 67 children, had in 1891 an average
attendance of 55, 67, 15, 27, and 12, and grants of £73,
7s. 6<L, £81, 4s. 6d., £16, 19s. 6d., £31, 8s., and £11,
4s. 6d. Valuation £10,661, Is. 2d., of which £5555,
9s. belong to Lord Lovat. Pop. mostly Gaelic-speaking,
(1871) 1578, (1881) 1447, (1891) 1429, of whom 499 were
in the registration district of Boleskine, and 930 in that
of Fort Augustus or Abertarff. Pop. of q. s. parish
(1891) 499, the remainder being included in Glengarry.
—Orel. Sur., shs. 63, 73, 1873-78.
Bolfracks, a former detached section (4| x 1^ miles)
of Fortingal parish, central Perthshire, on the S bank
of the Tay, between Aberfeldy and Taymouth Castle,
but transferred by the Boundary Commissioners in 1891
to the parish of Dull. Bolfracks House here belongs to
the Marquis of Breadalbane. A beautiful building-stone
is extensively quarried, and was used for the construction
of Taymouth Castle.
Bolshaii, an estate in Kinnell parish, Forfarshire. It
belonged anciently to Arbroath abbey; passed, before
the middle of the 15th century, to Sir John Ogilvy of
Lentrathcn ; was sold, in 1634, to the first Earl of
Southesk; went to the Crown in 1716, on the attainder
of the fifth Earl; was sold, in 1720, to the York Build-
ings' Company; and, on the bankruptcy of that company
in 1764, was purchased by Sir James Carnegie of Pittar-
row, through whom it came back to the Earls of South-
esk, whose titles were revived in 1855. A castellated
mansion, the special residence of the Ogilvy family, stood
on the estate, Dut was removed last century.
Eoltachan, a mountain tarn in Comrie parish, Perth-
shire, 1J mile N of St Fillans village. Lying 1483 feet
above sea-level, it measures 2 by 1 j furlongs; sends off
a bum running 3J miles south-eastward to the Earn;
and abounds with trout averaging two to the pound.
Bolton, a hamlet and a parish of central Haddington-
shire. The hamlet lies toward the N of the parish, on
the left bank of Coalstoun Water, 3 miles S by W of
Haddington, its post-town and railway station; and at
it are the parish church (1809; 300 sittings), the manse,
»nd the public school.
172
BONALLY TOWEE
The parish is bounded NV, N, and NE by Hadding-
ton, E by Yester, SW by Humbie, and W by Salton. With
a very irregular outline, it has an extreme length from
N by E to S by W of 5 miles, a width from E to W of
from i to 2f miles, and an area of 3106J acres. Coal-
stoun Water, a trout-stream of much gentle beauty, traces
the north-eastern and the northern boundary; Birns
Water, the south-western; and between these two rivu-
lets the surface has a general southward rise, from about
200 feet above sea-level to 426 on the Gilford and Salton
road, and 700 beyond Ewingston in the extreme SE.
The rocks include coarse sandstone, and perhaps lime-
stone too, but nowhere lie exposed, except for a short
stretch of the Coalstoun's channel; the soil is in one part
poor, consisting of tenacious yellow clay resting on tilly
subsoil, but elsewhere is mostly a fertile clay or strong
argillaceous loam. Nearly 400 acres are planted, and
55 or so are permanent pasture, the rest being all under
the plough. The ' Chesters ' is a greatly defaced square
camp, 7 furlongs S by E of the hamlet; and at the
hamlet itself stood a mansion with a park (The Orchards),
which is said to have belonged to John Hepburn of
Bolton, executed (3 Jan. 1568) as a leading associate
in Darnley's murder. From the St Hilaries and the
Viponts the manor of Bolton came to George, fourth
Lord Halyburton (c. 1450), to Patrick Hepburn, first
Earl of Bothwell (d. 1507), and to William Maitland,
the famous Secretary Lethington (d. 1573), whose nephew
was in 1624 created Earl of Lauderdale and Baron Thirle-
stane and Boltoun, a title still borne by the present
(thirteenth) Earl. The fourth, however, sold the barony
itself to Sir Thomas Livingston (Viscount of Teviot in
1696); and he, in turn, transferred it in 1702 to Walter
Stuart, Master of Blantyre, whose collateral descendant,
the twelfth Lord Blantyre, is one of the present 8 pro-
prietors — 3 holding each an annual value of £500 and
upwards, 4 of between £100 and £500, and 1 of from
£50 to £100. Eaglescarnie, the only mansion, stands
on the Coalstoun, 1| mile ESE of the hamlet. Bolton
is in the presbytery of Haddington and synod of Lothian
and Tweeddale; the minister's income is £158. In the
extreme W is a Free church for Bolton and Salton, 1J
mile NNW of the latter village, 2 SW-of the former.
The school, with accommodation for 68 children, had
(1891) an average attendance of 41, and a grant of £51,
Is. Valuation (1892) £3088. Pop. (1871) 364, (1881)
337, (1891) 271.— Ord. Sur., sh. 33, 1863.
Bombie, a ruined castle in Kirkcudbright parish, Kirk-
cudbrightshire, 3 miles E of Kirkcudbright town. It
belonged from 1227 and earlier to the Maclellans, an-
cestors of the Barons Kirkcudbright (1633-1832). A
glen, a hill (400 feet), and a small hamlet of its own
name are in its vicinity.
Bona, an ancient parish of NE Inverness-shire, now
united to Inverness parish. The central part of it is at
Bona Ferry, on Loch Dochfour, 6 miles SW of Inverness.
A school-house, used for religious service, the ruins of
the ancient church, and remains of a ' Roman station, '
formerly identified with the Banatia Urbs of the false
Richard of Cirencester, are in the vicinity of the ferry;
and a rude medioeval fortress, called Castle Spiritual,
and probably designed to command the passage of the
Ness, stood near the site of the 'Roman station,' and
was partly removed in operations for improving the
Caledonian Canal. During the progress of these opera-
tions, at 'and near the fortress there were found some
coins of Queen Elizabeth, a number of well-preserved
human bones, a complete human skeleton, and a stone-
encased nest of live toads.
Bonally Tower, a mansion in Colinton parish, Edin-
burghshire, 5 miles SW of Edinburgh, and 1J S of
Colinton station. Standing at the base of the Pentland
Hills, and engirt by exquisite grounds, through which
two head-streams of the Braid Burn descend from Cape-
law Hill and from the neighbouring Clubbiedean and
Torduff reservoirs, it comprises a peel tower, added
in 1888 to an older house, and was the seat of the judge
Lord Cockburn (1779-1854) from 1811 till his death
here, aud later of Wm. Ballantyne Hodgson, LIi.D. (1815-