Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

GIFFORDGATE
Craig (1682-1744) and John Witherspoon, D.D. (1722-
94), the president of Princetown College, New Jersey.
Though the village thus is hardly two centuries old, it
derived its name from the Gifibrds, who under William
the Lyon (1165-1214) added Yestred or Yester to their
Lothian possessions, and after whom the parish itself is
often, though not legally, called Gifford. Their male
line failed with one Sir Hugh in 1409, but his daughter
wedded an ancestor of the Marquis of Tweeddale, the
present superior of Gifford. Pop. (1861) 458, (1871)
455, (1881) 382, (1891) 305.— Ord. Sur., sh. 33, 1863.
GifFordgate. See Haddington.
Giffordtown. See Gifferton.
Gifford Water, a burn of Haddingtonshire, rising, as
Hopes Water, among the Lammermuirs, at an altitude
of 1500 feet, in the southern extremity of Garvald and
Bara parish, close to the Berwickshire border. Thence
it winds 11J miles northward and north-westward
through or along the borders of Garvald, Yester, Bol-
ton, and Haddington parishes, till it falls into the
Tyne, at a point If mile SSW of the town of Hadding-
ton, and 190 feet above sea-level. A first-rate trout-
stream of much gentle beauty, it traverses the wooded
grounds of Yester House, Eaglescarnie, Coalstoun, and
Lennoxlove, and bears in its lower reaches the name of
Coalstoun Water.— Ord. Sur., sh. 33, 1863.
Gigalum. See Gigulum.
Gigha, an island and a parish of Argyllshire. The
island lies If mile W of the nearest point of Kintyre,
and by ferry from Ardminish is 2J miles NW of Monie-
more, near Tayinloan. It has a post office, and com-
municates by boat from its northern extremity with the
steamers on the passage between Tarbert and Port Ellen
or Port Askaig in Islay. It measures 6 miles in length
from NNE to SS W ; varies in width between 1| furlong
and lg mile; and, with the neighbouring island of Cara,
has an area of 3913J acres, of which 266J are foreshore.
Its coast is so jagged as to measure 25 miles in extent;
and, bold and rocky on the W side, has there two
caverns, the Great and the Pigeons' Caves, the latter
of which is coated with calcareous spar, and much fre-
quented by wild pigeons. At the south-western ex-
tremity it is pierced by a natural tunnel 133 feet long,
with two vertical apertures, and so invaded by surging
billows in a storm as to emit dense vapour and loud
noises. Much, too, of the E coast, although not high,
is bold and rocky enough ; and here are various sandy
bays, very suitable for sea-bathing, whilst those of Ard-
minish, Druimyeon, and East Tarbert afford good anchor-
age. The harbour, on the N side of the islet of Gigulum,
is much frequented by coasting vessels, and is considered
safe in all sorts of weather. The interior westward
attains 225 feet beyond the church, 260 at Meall
a Chlamaidh, and 153 at Cnoc Loisgte. The rocks
are mica slate, felspar slate, chlorite slate, and horn-
blende slate, with veins of quartz and a few transverse
dykes of basalt. The soil, except on the hills, is a
rich loam, with a mixture here and there of sand,
clay, or moss. About three-fifths of the land are in
tillage, but barely 7 acres are under wood. Springs
of good water are plentiful, and two of them afford
water-power to a corn-mill. Some ten boats are
employed during three or four months of the year in
cod and ling fishing on banks 2 or 3 miles distant.
Dunchifie or Keefe's Hill, towards the middle of the
island, appears to have been anciently crowned with a
strong fortification; and a hill, now used as a steamer
signal-post, at the northern end of the island, is crowned
by a cafrn, called 'Watch Cairn,' and seems to have
formerly served as a beacon station for giving alarm
in ease of invasion. Aehamore House, 7 furlongs
SSW of the church, is the Scottish seat of the pro-
prietor, William James Yorke Scarlett, Esq. The
parish comprises also the brownie-haunted island of
Cara, 1 mile to the S of Gigha, and 185 feet high at
the Mull of Cara, with the uninhabited islet of Gigu-
lum in the sound between them, and bears the name
of Gigha and Cara. It is in the presbytery of Kintyre
and synod of Argyll; the living is worth £272. The
646
GILLEAN
church, which stands at the head of Ardminish Bay, Ivas
built about 1780, and contains 260 sittings. An ancient
chapel, \ mile SSW, is now represented by ruined walls
and a burying-ground. A public school, with accommo-
dation for 75 children, has an average attendance of
about 70, and a grant of over £80. Pop. (1801) 556,
(1831) 534, (1861) 467, (1881) 382, (1891) 401, of whom
3 belonged to Cara.— Ord. Sur. sh. 20, 1876. See
Captain Thomas P. White's Archaeological Sketches in
Kintyre and Gigha (2 vols., Edinh., 1873-75).
Gighay, a small pastoral island of Barra parish, Outer
Hebrides, Inverness-shire, 2 miles SW of Eriskay, and
3 NE of the nearest point of Barra island.
Gight, a ruined castle in Eyvie parish, N Aberdeen-
shire, on the left bank of the Ythan, 3£ miles ENE
of Woodhead or Eyvie village, and 9 SE of Turriff.
Crowning the brink of a rocky eminence, with the Braes
of Gight on one side and the Braes of Haddo or For-
martine on the other, it commands a circle of exquisite
scenery, dates from remote times, and continued to be
inhabited till the latter part of the 18th century. It
figures commonly in history as the House of Gight, was
plundered by the Covenanters in 1644, and now is re-
markable only for the great strength of its remaining
walls. The estate, having belonged for many gener-
ations to the Maitlands, became about 1479 the property
of William Gordon, third son of the second Earl of
Huntly. It remained in possession of his lineal descend-
ants till 1785, when the last heiress, Catherine Gordon
of Gight, married Hon. John Byron; so that it would
have passed to their son, Lord Byron the poet, had it
not been sold in 1787 to the third Earl of Aberdeen. —
Ord. Sur., sh. 87, 1876.
Gighty, a burn of Forfarshire, rising near Rossie Re-
formatory, and running 5J miles south-westward along
the borders of Craig, Maryton, Lunan, Kinneil, and In-
verkeilor parishes, till it falls into Lunan Water at a
point If mile E of Friockheim. It drives several mills.
—Ord. Sur. sh. 57, 1868.
Gigulum, an uninhabited islet of Gigha parish, Argyll-
shire, in the sound between Gigha island and Cara. It
measures 2J furlongs by 1.
Gilbertfield, a decayed mansion in Cambuslang parish,
Lanarkshire, at the N base of Dechmont Hill, 1 mile
SE of the town. Built in 1607, it was for some time
the residence of Allan Ramsay's friend and brother-
poet, Lieutenant William Hamilton of Gilbertfield
(1670-1751).
Gil Burn, a rivulet in Borrowstounness parish, Lin-
lithgowshire, rising near the centre of the parish, and
running along a beautiful raviue to the Firth of Forth.
Its glen, according to tradition, is haunted by the
wraith of Ailie or Alice, Lady Lilburne, who threw her-
self down from the walls of Kinneil House, and who was
either the mistress of a Duke of Hamilton or the wife
of the Cromwellian colonel for some time resident at
Kinneil.
Gilcomston. See Aberdeen.
Gildermorry, a place in Alness parish, Ross-shire.
It is the site of a pre-Reformation chapel; and near it
are two huge stones of very extraordinary appearance,
Clach-nam-han ('stone of the women'), which are said
to mark the spot where several women were smothered
by a snowstorm on their way to the chapel.
GilfiUan, a place near the middle of Sorbie parish,
Wigtownshire. It was the site of an ancient church.
Gill, a reach of the river Cree on the mutual boun-
dary of Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire, com-
mencing about a mile NNW of Minnigaff church. It
traverses a narrow gorge, richly fringed with wood, and
romantically picturesque.
Gill or Port Gill, a small bay on the mutual border
of Stonykirk and Kirkmaiden parishes, Wigtownshire,
8i miles SE by S of Portpatrick.
Gillander, a cave in the E of Golspie parish, Suther-
land. It occurs on the face of a white sandstone rock.
Gillean, an island in Lochalsh parish, Ross-shire. A
lighthouse was erected on the south-east point of the
island in 1857. See Kyle-Akin.