Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

BAL
96
BAL
this, but I have never heard or seen it since I was
nine years of age : —
Bri£ of BalgouDie black's your wa' !
Wi' a wife's ae son, and a raear's ae foal,
Doun ye shall fa'."
BALGRAY, a hamlet, 3 miles north-west of
Glasgow, in the parish of Govan. There is here
an excellent free-stone quarry, about 600 yards from
the Forth and Clyde canal, at which there is a wharf
for shipping the stones.
BALLACHULISH, or Ballahulish, or Bal-
chollish,* a quoad sacra parish, divided from the
parish of Kilmalie by authority of the General As-
sembly in May, 1833. It consists of two distinct
districts, separated from each other by the Linnhe
loch, with a church in each district in which wor-
ship is performed alternately once a fortnight. The
district connected with the church at North Balla-
chulish, which lies in Inverness-shire, is 17 miles in
length by 7 in breadth ; that connected with the
church at Ardgour, in Argyleshire, is 14 miles by 6.
The two churches are about 4 miles apart, and were
built in 1829, at an expense of £1,470 each, under
the provisions of the act 5° Geo. IV. c. 90. The
church at Ballachulish has 300 sittings ; that of
Ardgour, 210. Stipend £120, with a manse and
glebe. Population of the Ardgour district in De-
cember 1835, 549 ; of the Ballachulish district, 706.
Total, 1,255, of whom 935 belonged to the Estab-
lished church. This parish is in the presbytery of
A bertarff, and synod of Glenelg. Patron, the Crown.
— There is a large and valuable slate-quarry here, on
the great clay-slate formation which extends from
Easdale on the south to this point northwards.
" The prospect from the inn is, on all hands,
sublime. Beyond the ferry, the hills, covered
with woods and pastures, rise gradually to a con-
siderable height, and decline to the south-west,
where the lochs of Leven and Linnhe unite ; in
that direction, the eye, gliding over a vast ex-
panse of water, is arrested by immense groups of
mountains of different forms and heights in Morven,
which compose an admirable landscape. About 4
miles eastward are the stupendous mountains of
Glenco. Such variety of grand and interesting
scenery is not perhaps to be found in any other part
of Scotland."— [Play fair, Vol. II. p. 15.]— Balla-
chulish ferry is 5 miles from Corran ferry ; 16
miles from King's House ; 14 from Fort- William ;
31 from Tyndrum by the Glenco road; 45 from
Fort- Augustus ; and 61 from Inverary by the mili-
tary road.
BALLINDALLOCH. See articles, Aven and
Inveraven.
BALLANTRAE, a large parish forming the
south-east corner of Ayrshire. It is bounded on the
north and north-east by the parish of Colmonell; on
the east and south-east by the parish of New Luce
in Wigtonshire ; on the south by that of Inch in
Wigtonshire ; on the south-west by Loch Ryan ;
and on the west by the Irish sea. The extent of
sea-coast is about 12 miles. The shore, excepting
for about 2 miles opposite to the village of Ballan-
trae, is in general high and rocky, having a tremen-
dous surf or swell beating against it when the wind
blows from the west or north-west. Opposite to
this coast the sea appears land-locked : for a most
spacious bay of nearly 25 or 30 leagues diameter is
formed by part of the coast of Galloway, part of the
two counties of Down and Antrim in Ireland, the
east coast of Argyleshire, part of Dumbartonshire,
and the whole stretch of coast along the shire of
+ By Webster, written Baltychelish ; by Playfair, Bailiche-
lish; by many. BaUuchuliafi ; by others, BaUlhuluh; and by
Wacculloeh, BdUtliutisli.
Ayr for about 80 miles. All this vast extent of
coast is easily discernible by the naked eye in a clear
day, together with the islands of Sana, Arran, Bute,
and the two small islands of Cumbrae. The land
rises with a gradual slope from the shore to the tops
of the mountains forming part of that extensive range
of hills which stretches across the south of Scotland,
almost from the Irish sea to the frith of Forth be-
yond Edinburgh. The highest hill is that of Beine-
rard, about 6 miles south-east of Ballantrae, which,
according to Thomson's atlas, has an elevation of
1,430 feet. The surface is much diversified with
heights and hollows, intersected by little streams of
water descending from the hills. All beyond the
mountains towards the east is soft mossy ground
covered with heath and ling. The principal river is
the Abdstinchar: see that article. There is an-
other stream called the App, which flows in a south-
west direction through Glenapp into Loch Ryan.
Mr. Aiton estimated the superficial area of this parish
at 49,000 Scots acres; in the Statistical report of
1838 it is estimated at between 24,000 and 25,000,
of which about 7,000 are arable. The valued rental
is £3,551 Is. 6d. Scots; the real rental, in 1790,
about £2,000, but, in 1838, nearly £7,500. The
want of roads, complained of in the Statistical report
of 1791, has now been remedied; there is a good
turnpike-road from Stranraer to the village of Ballan-
trae, a distance of 17 miles, and also from Ballantrae
to Girvan, a distance of 12^ miles; besides numerous
branch-roads. The village of Ballantrae consists
of about 84 houses, with a population of 456. It
now enjoys regular steam-communication with Glas-
gow at least three times a- week. Population of the
parish, in 1801, 837; in 1831, 1,506. Houses 263.
Assessed property, in 1815, £4,6S4 The parish
of Ballantrae is in the presbytery of Stranraer, and
synod of Galloway. Both the parish oi Ballantrae,
and the neighbouring parish of Colmonell, were
originally connected with the presbytery of Ayr, and
synod of Glasgow and Ayr; but were disjoined in
1699, on account of their great distance from the
seat of presbytery, and annexed to the presbytery of
Stranraer and synod of Galloway. Patroness, tb;e
Duchess De Coigny. Stipend £258 Is. 3d., with a
manse, and a glebe of the value of £15 10s. Church
built in 1819; sittings 600. Parochial schoolmas-
ter's salary £34 4s., with £16 school fees, and £16
other emoluments. Average number of pupils 40.
There are three private schools in this parish, which
were attended, in 1834, by about 80 pupils. There
is a chapel and a school in Glenapp. — Chambers says :
" The inhabitants of this part of the country were,
till within the last twenty or thirty years, almost as
wild and rude as the remote Highlanders of Ross-
shire, though no doubt a great deal wealthier. And
what the natural circumstances of the district gave
rise to, was greatly influenced, at one period, by the
lawless state into which much of the population was
thrown by smuggling. It is not yet more than forty
years, since the immense bands of people, who, in
this district, attend funerals, would fall out on the
road to the parish town, where the church-yard is
situated, and without regard to the sober character
of their duty, set down the corpse and fight out their
quarrel, with fists, sticks, and such other rustic
weapons as they happened to be possessed of, till, in
the end, one party had to quit the field discomfited,
leaving the other to finish the business of the fune-
ral. Brandy, from the French luggers that were
perpetually hovering on the coast, was the grand
inspiration in these polymachia, which, it is needless
to say, are totally unknown in our own discreeter
times. Another fact may be mentioned, as evincing
the state of barbarity from which Ballantrae has re.