Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

GAZETTEER OF SCOTLAND.
ICO
I-COLM-KILL. See Ioka.
ILANMORE, an islet of the Hebrides, about a
mile in circuit, and lying half-a-mile north of Coll.
ILANROAN, and ILANTERACH, two of the
Hebrides, lying on the south and east of Oransay.
ILAY. See Islay.
ILLERAY, one of the Hebrides, about 4 miles
long, and ]£ broad, lying to the westward of North
Uist, and insulated only at high water. The soil is
partly sandy and partly black loam, yielding toler-
able crops of barley, and pasture for cattle.
ILK, a word of frequent occurrence in the sur-
names of Scottish families. The following explana-
tion of the word is given by the old Earl of Cromarty,
in his 'Account of Gowrie's Conspiracy.' "The
word Ilk, in our Scots language, denotes that either
the person has given his name to the land, or has
taken his name from the land : and this practice was
one of King Malcolm Canmore's wise inventions ;
who, rinding that oneness in name was a cause of the
clubs and cabals called clans, in place of these old
patronymics, the king did encourage all on whom
he conferred any title of honour, as of earl, lord, or
baron, to take their denominations from the lands
erected into the lordship, or barony, so to divide,
and break the clans, by loosing the ligament of these
patronymic names ; and so, Divide et impera was
his project." Whatever, for political reasons as stat-
ed by his lordship, may have been the wise encour-
agement given by Malcolm Canmore to landed pro-
prietors, to induce them to take their surnames from
their estates, the doing so seems, however, originally
to have arisen naturally, and of itself, from the ne-
cessity of distinguishing one person from another.
IMERSAY, an islet on the south-west coast of
Islay.
INCH, an adjunct of frequent occurrence in Scot-
tish topography. It signifies ' an island,' and is de-
rived from the British Ynys, or the Gaelic Inis. It
is said that the word occurs, with the same signifi-
cation, in some of the aboriginal languages of North
America. In Scotland, but more frequently in Ire-
land, the word is also used to denote level ground
near a river.
INCH, a parish in Inverness-shire, united to that
of Kingussie : which see.
INCH, a parish in the western division of Wig-
tonshire; bounded on the north by Ayrshire; on the
east by New Luce and Old Luce; on the south by
Old Luce and Stoneykirk ; on the south-west by
Portpatrick ; and on the west by Leswalt, Stranraer,
and Lochryan. It approximates to the oblong form,
II.
INC
but has marked irregularities of outline; and mea-
sures in extreme length, from north to south, 10^
miles ; in extreme breadth 7^ ; and in average breadth
4| or 4£. The southern division — comprising more
than one-third of the whole area — has a surface so
gently undulating, that, when viewed from the neigh-
bouring hills, it appears to be entirely level. All of
it forms part— and that the larger one — of an isthmus
between Lochryan and Luce bay, and is believed to
have been anciently covered by the sea; and it is
bored at intervals into curious hollows, called by the
peasantry " pots," which vary in measurement from
1,000 feet in circumference and 100 feet in depth, to
comparatively small dimensions, and are supposed to
have been scooped out by an eddying motion of the
retiring billows. North-eastward and northward
of the plain, the parish rises into ranges of beautiful
hills. The southern face of these is partly arable
land and partly green pasture ; their tops, and inte-
terior sides inland and toward the north, are rugged,
heathy, and incapable of culture ; and a declivity,
which they make toward the whole of the eastern
boundary, again becomes partly verdant and partly
subject to the plough. The soil, on the west side
of the plain, is a good loam ; in the rest of the plain,
and other arable parts, is light and sandy ; and, on
the hills, is to a great extent mossy. The cultivated
acres of the parish as compared with the uncultivated,
are nearly in the proportion of two to three. About
700 acres are under wood. Toward the end of the
last century the face of the country underwent an
entire and renovating change, under the enterprising
and skilful agricultural improvements and incentives
of the Earl of Stair. Main water comes down from
Carrick on the north, traces the eastern boundary for
5 miles, is joined by Luce water from the east at
Waterfoot, or opposite New Luce, and thence de-
putes to the new stream, with the aid of its own tri-
bute, to trace the eastern boundary-line, over a far-
ther distance of li mile. The stream is rapid in its
course, and trots along a rocky path, but yields an
abundant supply of salmon. The Piltanton comes
down from the north-west, within the Rinus of Gallo-
way, and, in a placid, and even sluggish course — during
part of which it abounds in tiny sinuosities — traces
the south-western and southern boundary, over a dis-
tance of 7 miles. No fewer than twelve lakes spread
out their little expanses of water in the parish, — most
of them in its level, or southern division. They abound
in pike, perch, carp, tench, roach, and white and red
trout ; are frequented by wild ducks, teals, widgeons,
coots, and cormorants; and during the winter-months,
A