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

KAT
74
KEI
gregor being; proscribed, Rob Roy assumed that of
Campbell, from respect to the Duke of Argyle who
had often protected him.
KATRINE. See Catherine.
KATTERLINE, or Catterline, a suppressed
parish in Kincardineshire, now united to Kinneff :
which see.
KEACLOCH, a magnificent mountain in Ross-
shire, separating Loch-Gruinard from Little Loch-
Broom. Macculloch says: "From this mountain
there descends a torrent of great size, with a length
of almost continuous cascades which I am afraid to
name, lest you should think that I am saying the
thing which is not. I will only call it two miles;
for fear that if I said it was more, you would not
believe me. This stream may indeed be considered
an epitome of cascade landscape : if I were to call it
a dictionary, it would be a more apt term. If it
does not contain every species of waterfall, it at
least possesses a type of every genus — to use the
language of naturalists ; and to describe it all, would
be to write a general history of cascades. The
forms of the rocks which accompany its course are
bold, broad, and various ; while the wild trees, the
fantastical fir, with the aspen, alder, birch, oak, and
ash, add variety to ornament ; sometimes closing
over to conceal it, at others springing solitary from
the crevices of the rocks, or, hanging over the deep
ravine, or else, broken by the winter storms, ex-
tending their aged trunks to form fearful bridges
across the fathomless abyss. So deep is its course
in some places, in the ravine which it has cut for
itself, that the water is invisible; and it is only by
a distant and sullen roaring that we can conjecture
its presence. Pursuing the channel, a glimpse of
light is sometimes seen amid the blackness of the
abyss, where some unusual obstruction impedes its
career ; till, struggling at length towards the light,
it is seen foaming and boiling among the huge frag-
ments below, whence once more emerging into day,
it resumes the more common characters of a cascade
or a broken torrent. • * * In continuing the
ascent, the river was soon found running along its
channel, shaded with birch and alder, the sweetest
of pastoral streams; and I almost forgot that I was
three thousand feet above the sea, so tranquil and
rural did every thing appear. But the change of
scene was sudden indeed, when, taking a new course
through a lateral valley, we found ourselves in the
region of snow, on a brilliant frozen plain. As this
snow could not have dissolved before the winter, it
is probably here permanent from year to year. The
summit of the mountain, extending to five or six
hundred perpendicular feet above this point, is a
rocky and narrow ridge, serrated into peaks, and of
a very marked and picturesque character. Though
formed of sandstone, as is the whole mountain from
the very base, it has the general aspect of granite;
resembling the summits of the Arran hills. Over-
topping all the neighbouring land, it commands a
wide extent of the interior country, displaying all
the details of Loch-Broom and Loch-Greinord, and
losing itself eastward, in a series of deep valleys,
ridges, and ravines, of bare white rock, characterized
by an aspect of desolation not easily exceeded. The
great but desert lake, Loch-Fannich, was also hence
visible; bright glittering among the rocky mountains
and moors of this terrible country, Seaward, it
commands the extensive group of the Summer islands ;
but all beyond is the boundless ocean. The effect
of the valley on the west side, which separates it
from Loch-Greinord, is more striking from its vacu-
ity than if it had displayed the utmost intricacy of
form. On each side it rises in one dead and flat
surface; its bottom invisible from above, and pro-
longed without apparent beginning or termination.
The sense of emptiness which was produced on
looking down into it, was absolutely painful : it
seemed like standing on the brink of eternity. I
proceeded for some distance along the giddy ridge,
in hopes of seeing its termination ; but all continued
vacant, desolate, silent, dazzling, and boundless.
Of the height of Kea Cloch I cannot speak with
precision, having forgotten to bring up the barome-
ter. But though it seems to have been completely
overlooked by mapmakers and travellers, it must be
among the highest mountains of the west coast, if
not of Scotland; while, as it rises immediately from
the sea by as steep an acclivity as is well possible,
and without competitors, its apparent altitude is
greater than that of any single mountain in Scot-
land, excepting perhaps Ben Nevis." — [' Highlands
and Western Isles,' vol. ii. pp. 312, 315—317.]
KEARN. See Forbes.
KEARN. See Auchindoir.
KEIG, or Keich, a small parish in the district
of Alford, county of Aberdeen; bounded on the
north by Leslie and Premney ; on the east by Oyne
and Monymusk; on the south by Tough and Al-
ford; and on the west by Tullynessle and Forbes.
It is skirted on the south and south-east by the river
Don ; on the west by a tributary to that river; and
on the east by an elevated range of hills. It is
nearly circular in form, and of 3 to 4 miles in dia-
meter, consisting chiefly of hilly ground, partly pas-
toral and heathy, but containing a large proportion
of arable and well- cultivated land, with a consider-
able extent of natural wood, and some thriving plan-
tations, surrounding Castle-Forbes, the seat of Lord
Forbes, which commands a beautiful view of the
valley of Alford, the windings of the Don for nearly
20 miles, and the neighbouring seats and plantations.
Population, in 1801, 379; in 1831, 592. Houses 126.
Assessed property, in 1815, £1,262. — This parish
is in the presbytery of Alford, and synod of Aber-
deen. Patron, the Crown. Stipend £158 13s. Cd. ;
glebe £12. Schoolmaster's salary £36; fees £8,
besides a share of the Dick bequest. There is a
private school in the parish.
KEILLESAY, one of the Hebrides, in the shire
of Inverness, and parish of Barra.
KEILLS, a fishing- village in the parish of North
Knapdale, Argylesbire, upon the eastern shore of
the sound of Jura. It is joined to the Argyle county
road from Crinan, that terminates near it, by a road
rather more than a mile in length. This is the
landing-place from the Island-roads through Jura
and Islay. The breadth of the ferry from Lagg, the
northern extremity of Jura road, to Keills, is about
6 miles.
KEIR, a parish in the centre of the district of
Nithsdale, Dumfries-shire. It forms a slender oblong
terminating in an angle, and stretches from north-
west to south-west. On the north it is bounded by
Penpont; on the north-east by Closeburn and Kirk-
mahoe ; on the south by Dunscore ; on the south-
west by Glencairn ; and on the north-west by Tyn-
ron. Its greatest length, from the boundary opposite
Penpont village on the north-west to the confluence
of the Nith and Allanton burn on the south-east, is
6£ miles ; its greatest breadth, from the Nith at its
own church on the north-east to an angle a mile dis-
tant from Glencairn church on the south-west, is
2£ miles. But, as it dwindles to a point at the
south-eastern extremity, and has not an average
breadth of quite 2 miles, its superficial area is only
about 11 square miles. Shinnel water, coming in from
Tynron, forms for lj mile the north- western boun-
dary. Scaur water, drinking up the Shinnel, and
flowing between picturesque banks, forms for 2£