Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

LINTON, EAST
are in a state of rich cultivation, and all the eminences,
excepting the top of Linton Hill, are wholly arable.
The rocks are partly eruptive, partly carboniferous.
Rock crystal occurs in seams among the erupted rocks,
sandstone has been quarried at Frogden, and coal is
known to exist in thin seams. The soil of the plain at
the SW corner is partly a strong retentive clay, and
partly a deep loam incumbent on sand or gravel; else-
where it is variously or mixedly clay, loam, sand, and
gravel. Linton Tower, the baronial fortalice of the
noble family of Somerville, stood on an eminence near
the parish church, and seems to have been a place of
considerable strength. It figured prominently in the
"Wars of the Succession, and was first severely damaged,
next utterly demolished, by the English in the time of
Henry VIII. Another ancient fortalice, at Graden, had
a similar history to that of Linton Tower. The parish,
both from its lying immediately on the Border, and
from its forming part of the so-called ' dry marches, '
which offered no natural hindrance to the movements
of a hostile force, was peculiarly exposed to the turmoils
and conflicts of Border warfare. A spot called ' the
Tryst,' on Frogden Farm, once marked by several stand-
ing stones, was a place of rendezvous for parties about to
make a foray into England; and a narrow pass between
two heights, in the vicinity of the parish church,
has been thought to bear marks of having been fortified,
and may have been regarded as a suitable fastness for
checking invasion or repelling pursuit. Remains ol
circular camps are on several eminences, and sepulchral
tumuli are in various places. The poet, Thomas Pringle
(1789-1834), was born at Blakelaw Farm; and Mr Daw-
son, a leading agricultural improver, tenanted Frogden
Farm. Clifton Park, noticed separately, is the only
mansion; and its owner is R. H. Elliot, Esq. Linton
is in the presbytery of Kelso and synod of Merse and
Teviotdale; the living is worth £321. The pretty little
antique church crowns the top of a small round hill,
and contains 160 sittings. The public school, with
accommodation for 84 children, has an average attend-
ance of about 55, and a grant of nearly £52. Pop.
(1801) 403, (1831) 462, (1861) 608, (1871) 570, (1881)
543, (1891) 468.— Ord. Sur., sh. 26, 1864.
Linton, East, a small police burgh in Prestonkirk
parish, Haddingtonshire. It stands 80 feet above sea-
level, If mile NNE of conical Traprain Law (700 feet),
mostly on the left bank of the river Tyne, and has a
station on the North British railway, 5f miles WSW
of Dunbar, and 23J E by N of Edinburgh, whilst by
road it is 5§ miles ENE of Haddington, and 6i SSE of
North Berwick. It took the name of ' Linton ' from a
large, deep linn here in the river Tyne; it gave that
name to the parish from the earliest record down to the
Reformation; and it bears the prefix East to distinguish
it from West Linton in Peeblesshire. A prosperous place,
conducting a considerable amount of rural trade, it con-
sists mainly of East Linton proper, immediately on the
railway, and partly of the extra-burghal suburb of
Preston, 3 furlongs lower down the river, and it has a
post office (Prestonkirk), with money order, savings
bank, and telegraph departments, a branch of the
National Bank, a gas company, a grain mill, a saw mill,
curling and bowling clubs, horticultural and ornitho-
logical societies, Freemasons', Good Templars', and
Foresters' lodges; Young Men's Christian Association;
cattle fan's on the second Mondays of March, May, and
June, and on the Thursday before Falkirk October Tryst
— the last of the most importance. A public hall, 60
feet long, 36£ broad, and 31 high, was erected in 1874-
75 at a cost of £1000, and serves for volunteer drill,
lectures, concerts, etc. A coffee-house, with reading-
room and library, was built in 1880-81, at a cost of
£1000, by Lady Baird of Newbyth ; and in 1882 a
public school, with accommodation for 364 children,
was built at a cost of £3000. The parish church in
Preston suburb, was built in 1770, and enlarged in
1824. In 1892 a panelled and carved screen was
erected across the gable of the church behind the pulpit,
and the wall between the vestry beyond and the church
1088
LINVALE
was removed. The Free church, improved and enlarged
in 1879-80 at a cost of £1200, is a handsome Romanesque
building, with tower and spire, adorned in 1888 with an
illuminated clock; and there is a U.P. church. The
railway viaduct over the Tyne here is the finest on the
North British, that of Dunglass only excepted. John
Pettie, R.A. (1839-93) was brought up here, and here
too were born the painters Colin Hunter and Charles
Martin Hardie, as well as Robert Brown (1757-1831),
writer on agriculture. It is governed by a provost, 2
bailies, and 6 commissioners. Pop. (1891) 1111, of whom
S65 were within the police burgh. — Ord.Sur.,sk. 33, 1863.
Linton, West. See Linton, Peeblesshire.
Lintrathen (Gael, linne-tre-auin, 'falls in the river'),
a hamlet and a parish in the Grampian district of W
Forfarshire. The hamlet, Bridgend of Lintrathen, lies
715 feet above sea-level, on Melgam Water, 5| miles
NNE of Alyth station, and 7J W of Kirriemuir, under
which it has a post office.
The parish is bounded NE by Cortachy and Clova,
E by Kingoldrum, SE by Airlie, and SW and W by
Glenisla. Its utmost length, from NNW to SSE, is 10J
miles; its utmost breadth is 5 J miles; and its area is
22, 872§ acres, of which 248§ are water. Lying between
the Grampian range and the valley of Strathmore, the
district in which the valley is situated is termed the
Braes of Angus. The river Isla, running 7 miles
south-eastward along the Glenisla boundary, here makes
two beautiful falls, the Reekie Linn and the Slugs of
Acheannie, and for 4 miles is overhung by steep,
rocky, wooded banks, which rises in places to more than
100 feet. Back or Melgam Water, rising in the northern
extremity of the parish at an altitude of 1970 feet above
sea-level, winds 13} miles south-south-eastward through
the interior, then 2 miles eastward, south by eastward,
and west-south-westward, along the Kingoldrum and
Airlie boundaries, till after a total descent of 1600 feet, it
falls into the Isla opposite Airlie Castle. The circular Loch
of Lintrathen (5 J x 5 J furl. ), J mile W of the the village,
is a picturesque sheet of water. Since 1893 Dundee has
been wholly supplied with water from this loch, at the rate
of 9, 000, 000 gallons per day. During the water commis-
sioners' operations the area of the water of the loch was
increased and the fishing improved. In the extreme S the
surface declines to less than 400 feet above sea-level, and
chief elevations to the W of Melgam Water, as one goes up
the glen, are the wooded Knock of Formal (1158 feet),
Craiglea Hill (1272), *Hare Cairn (1692), and *Cairn
Daunie (2066); to the E, Strone Hill (1074), Craig of
Auldallan (1371), Creich Hill (1630), *Cat Law (2196),
Milldewan Hill (1677), and *High Tree (2001)— where
asterisks mark those summits that culminate on the
confines of the parish. The rocks to the N of the Loch
of Lintrathen are metamorphosed Silurian, but the
southern district falls within the Old Red Sandstone
area of Strathmore. Less than one-seventh of the entire
area is arable, and even of this the soil is mostly moorish,
whilst so late is the season that oats have actually been
reaped on 30 Dec. Plantations cover some 1200 acres.
Since 1879 giving off a portion to Kilry quoad sacra
parish, Lintrathen is in the presbytery of Meigle and
the synod of Angus and ■ Mearns ; the living is worth
£172. The parish church was built in 1802. Three
public schools — Backwater, Braes of Coull, and Lintra-
then — with respective accommodation for 30, 63, and
101 children, have an average attendance of about 10,
30, and 45, and grants amounting to over £23, £42, and
£53. Valuation (1884) £13,610, 9s., (1893) £11,515, 5s.
Pop. (1801) 919, (1831) 998, (1861) 898, (1871) 756,
(1881) 641, (1891) 558, of whom 267 were females, and
508 were in the ecclesiastical parish. — Ord. Sur„ sh.
56, 1870.
Lintrose, an estate with a mansion, in Cargill parish,
SW Forfarshire, 2 miles S by E of Coupar- Angus. Its
owner is Miss Anne Murray. A cave, about 50 feet
long, and from 3 to 8 feet high, was discovered on the
estate in 1840.— Ord. Sur., sh. 48, 1868.
Lin vale, a village in Lesmahagow parish, Lanarkshire,.
1J mile W of Lanark.