Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

BOWER
ter, well suited for turnip culture. About three-fourths
of the entire area have been under the plough at one
time or another; the rest is moor, bog, or woodland,
plantations covering some 250 acres, chiefly around the
south-eastern base of the Eildons. A military road may
be traced, running north-westward from Beaulieu in
Lilliesleaf to Cauldshiels above Abbotsford, and flanked
by three circular camps; midway along it, and 1^ mile
W by S of the village, stood Holydean Castle, built, it
would seem, by Dame Isabel Ker in 1530, and demolished
by the third Duke of Roxburghe about 1760. Only a
vault remains to mark its site, and a chapel hard by,
overhanging the deep dell called Ringan's Dean, has
likewise disappeared; but its stone dyke, enclosing the
' great deer park ' of 500 acres, still forms a tolerable
fence. The son of an Antiburgher ' portioner, ' Thomas
Aird of Bowden (1802-76) wrote the weird Devil's Dream
and other poems. The mansions of Linthill, Carers
Carre, and Kippilaw are all three situated in the SE,
the first two near Ale Water; and 2 proprietors hold each
an annual value of £500 or upwards, 12 of between £100
and £500, 4 of from £50 to £100, and 13 of from £20 to
£50. Bowden is in the presbytery of Selkirk and synod
of Merse and Teviotdale; its minister's income is £2S0.
Two public schools, at Bowden and Midlem villages,
with respective accommodation for 125 and 58 children,
had (1S91) an average attendance of 75 and 35, and
grants of £77, Is. 6d. and £41, Is. Valuation £9127,
17s. 7d. Pop. (1801) 829, (1831) 1010, (1871) 842, (1881)
769, (1891) 694.— Ord. Sur., sh. 25, 1865.
Bower, an estate, with a modern mansion, on the
northern border of Spott parish, Haddingtonshire, If
mile SSW of Dunbar. It is the seat of Jas. Warren
Hastings Anderson, Esq. (b. 1836; sue. 1869), owner of
1364 acres in the shire, valued at £3793 per annum.
Bower, an ancient hunting-tower in Lamington parish,
Lanarkshire, on a knoll, within a beautiful bay -like nook
of land of about 30 acres, on the right bank of the Clyde,
nearly opposite Roberton village. It appears to have
been built with some regard to strength of both position
and masonry; it is said to have been a frequent or
favourite retreat of James V. ; and it is now represented
by only small remains.
Bower, a hamlet and an inland parish of NE Caith-
ness. The hamlet lies towards the middle of the parish,
just off the Castletown road from Thurso to Wick, 9f
miles ESE of the former, and 11 J NW of the latter. It
has a fair on the third Tuesday of November; and at it
are a post office under Wick, the manse, and the 17th
century parish church (441 sittings), while a Free church
stands 1J mile SSW, and Thura Inn f mile E by N.
The Wick branch of the Sutherland and Caithness rail-
way traverses the SW corner of the parish for 2f miles;
and on it is Bower station, 4 miles SW of the hamlet,
and 2f E by S of Georgemas Junction.
The parish is bounded N by Olrig and Dunnet, NE by
Canisbay, E by Wick, S by Wick and Watten, SW by Hal-
kirk, and W by Thurso. Irregular in outline, it has an
extreme length from E to W of 9J miles, a width from N
to S of from 2J to 3J miles, and an area of 19,677 acres.
The Burn of Lyth traces the eastern boundary, and re-
ceives some lesser streams from the interior; others flow
into or issue from Loch Scarmclate or Stemster, a trian-
gular sheet of water near the station, 7 furlongs long by
4J wide, and 89 feet above sea-level. Tame and mono-
tonous, the surface has an elevation of 47 feet at Bilster
in the SE, thence rising to 104 feet near Barrock House,
128 near Alterwall, 272 on Brabster Moss, 143 near the
hamlet, 249 near the Free church, 235 at Stone Lud, 100
near Corsback, and over 400 at Stemster in the NW,
the highest point in the parish. The formation is Old
Red sandstone, and solid lumps of lead have been dis-
covered on the Barrock property; the soil is variously
loam and stiflish clay. During the last half century
immense improvements have been carried out on the
Barrock, Stemster, and Stanstill estates, the late Sir
John Sinclair (1794-1873) having drained the Loch of
Alterwall in the NE, and, by straightening and deepen-
ing a burn, converted 3000 acres of hitherto worthless
182
BOWMONT
land into capital pasture (Trans. Higlil. and Ag. Soc,
1875, pp. 207, 218). Antiquities are seven Picts' houses,
two forts, and ; Stone Lud, ' a standing-stone Si feet high.
Barrock House (Sir John Rose George Sinolair, eighth
Bart, since 1631) lies 4£ miles E by N of the hamlet,
Stemster House (Alex. Henderson, Esq.) 2 J miles NW
of the station; and their owners respectively hold 6900
and 4039 acres in the shire, of an annual value of £2355
and £1918. Bower is in the presbytery of Caithness and
synod of Caithness and Sutherland; its minister's income
is £188. There are five public schools — at the hamlet,
Barrock, Gillock, Stanstill in the SE, and Stemster.
With accommodation forl25, 98, 29, 70, and 118 children,
these had (1891) an average attendance of 55, 93, 27, 26,
and 50, and grants of £69, Is., £101, 15s., £46, 9s. 3d.,
£40, 18s. 6d., and £63, 12s. Valuation £9115. Pop.
(1801) 1572, (1811) 1478, (1831) 1615, (1861) 1746, (1871)
1700, (1881) 160S, (1891)1506.— CW. Stir., sh. 116, 1878.
Bowerhope, a hill and a farm in Ettrick parish, Sel-
kirkshire, on the SE side of St Mary's Loch. The hill is
called Bowerhope Law, and has an altitude of 1570 feet
above sea-level. Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, contem-
plating it in winter, says —
' But winter's deadly hues shall fade
On moorland bald and mountain shaw,
And soon the rainbow's lovely shade
Sleep on the breast of Bowerhope Law.'
Bowershall, a village in Dunfermline parish, Fife, 2J
miles N by E of Dunfermline town.
Bowhill, a beautiful modern hunting seat in Selkirk
parish, Selkirkshire, near the right bank of Yarrow
Water, opposite Philiphaugh, and 4 miles W by S of
Selkirk town. It is a summer seat of the Duke of
Buccleuch, owner of 60, 428 acres in the shire, valued at
£19,828 per annum. The pleasant grounds of 'sweet
Bowhill, ' extending 2 miles along the Yarrow, are finely
wooded, possess much beauty, and are open to visitors;
within their circuit, higher up the stream, stand the
ruins of Newakk. Castle. The principal entrance to
them is a bridge over the Yarrow known as the General's
Bridge.
Bowholrn, a village in the parish and near the village
of Canonbie, SE Dumfriesshire.
Bowhouse, a village in Calderhead registration district,
Lanarkshire.
Bowhouse, a station in Muiravonside parish, Stirling-
shire, on the Slamannan railway, 3 miles ENE of Avon-
bridge.
Bowland, an estate in Stow parish, SE Edinburghshire,
with a station on the Waverley line of the North British,
3| miles NW of Galashiels. The mansion, near the
right bank of Gala Water, is mainly a castellated edifice,
sixty years old or so, but includes part of a previous
ancient mansion ; it is the seat of William Ramsay, Esq. ,
owner of 2150 acres in the shire, valued at £1224 per
annum.
Bowling or Bowling Bay, a village in Old Kilpatrick
parish, Dumbartonshire. Including a narrow strip of
level ground along the Clyde, overhung by the pictur-
esque acclivities of the Kilpatrick Hills, it stands at the
western end of the Forth and Clyde Canal, on the road
from Glasgow to Helensburgh, and on the Glasgow,
Dumbarton, and Helensburgh railway, 3J miles ESE of
Dumbarton. At it are the terminal iook of the canal,
two landing-stages, a large embanked pool for berthing
steamers in winter, a shipbuilding yard, a railway sta-
tion, a distillery, two inns, a post ollice under Glasgow
with money order, savings bank, and telegraph depart-
ments, and the Buchanan Institute, with billiard room,
reading room, etc. The Industry, the oldest steamboat
in existence, lies fast decaying in one of the harbours.
Pop. (1891) 803.
Bowman, a large tabular rock near Rayne church, in
Rayne parish, Aberdeenshire. It is thought to have
been used, in old times, for archery, or practising with
the bow.
Eowmont, a Border stream of NE Roxburghshire.
At Cocklawfoot, in the SE of Morebattle parish, it ii