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

KIN
157
KIN
with an apex to the south, and it extends in length,
northwards, about 5 miles. Acres 6,408. Houses
204. Assessed property, in 181.5, ,£5,490. Popu-
lation, in 1801, 937; in 1831, 1,006. The coast is
bold and rocky, containing only two small creeks
for boats, at the fishing-hamlets of Gaphill and Ca-
TERline : which see. The tide reaches the foot of
the rocks, which rise abruptly from 20 to 60 yards in
perpendicular height. The rock is for the most part
of what is called the ' pease-porridge ' or ' plum-
pudding' kind; and is thought to have the appear-
ance of lava. The soundings all along the coast, at
100 yards or less from the shore, are from 8 to 13
or 14 fathoms. There are no rocks which cannot
be seen at low water.- — The strata of the rocks dip
to the south-west from 30 to 40 degrees The bold
shore leaving only a small space of the rocky bot-
tom uncovered at low water, but a small quantity
of kelp is made. At Craig-David, a fishing-hamlet
near Bervie, David II. is said to have landed in a
storm. The soil of this parish, particularly along
the shore, is a fine rich loam with clay well-culti-
vated, and yielding abundant crops. The actual
rental has been valued at £3,406. Numerous black
cattle are reared, with some sheep, horses, &c.
There are no quarries in the parish, except the coast
rocks. These make a strong, durable, straight wall,
but are rather too hard for hewing; they have been
used for millstones, being in great repute for such a
purpose. There are three old castles on the coast,
possessing traces of strong fortification ; and two
ancient religious houses, chapels, or cells. One of
the castellated ruins is named Kinneff-castle, and
the old parish with which the abrogated parish of
Caterline was incorporated probably took its name
from this source Kinneff is in the synod of Angus
and Mearns, and presbytery of Fordoun. Patron,
the Crown. Stipend £232 3s. 6d. ; glebe £28.
Schoolmaster's salary £34 4s. 4Ad. ; fees £12.
There is a private school in the parish. The cele-
brated Dr. John Arbuthnot, intimate friend of
Pope and Swift," and physician to Queen Anne, lived
here for some time. His father, the minister of Ar-
buthnot, was, at the Revolution, turned out of his
living by his chief and patron, Lord Arbuthnot,
who was then a very keen partizan ; on which, he
retired to his own property of Kingorny, where he
lived for some time, having his son, the Doctor, a
young man, along with him. Mrs. Granger, the
spirited wife of a minister of Kinneff, with her ser-
vant-girl, succeeded in conveying the regalia of Scot-
land out of Dunnottar-castle while besieged, and hid
them under the pulpit in the church of Kinneff: —
see Dunnottar.
KINNEL (The), a considerable rivulet of An-
nandale, Dumfries-shire. It rises between Auld-
man-hill and Harestane's-craig, in the extreme north-
west of the parish of Kirkpatrick-Juxta, within three
furlongs of the source of one of the highest head-
waters of the Daer, or more properly, the Clyde:
see that article. For 5i miles it runs south-east-
ward, along a fine pastoral valley between the lofty
Queensberry range of hills on the west side, and a
less imposing hilly range on the east side ; and re-
ceives various tributary rills, the chief of which are
Earshag-burn on the left bank, and Lochan-burn on
the right bank, each 3 miles in length of course.
The stream now runs 2.J- miles southward, dividing
Kirkpatrick-Juxta on the west from Johnstone on
the east; and receives from the west the tribute of
the Duff Kinnel, after the latter has flowed 4 miles
from its source, chiefly along the boundary of John-
stone. The Kinnel, from the point of touching
Johnstone, had become wooded in its banks; and,
running 2| miles southward through the body of
that parish, it sweeps past the splendid mansion and
demesne of Raehills, occasionally ploughs its way
along a very deep and finely-featured sylvan dell,
and altogether wears an aspect of mingled pictur-
esqueness and romance. Receiving on its right bank
a beautiful little tributary of 3 miles length of course,
it forms, for 2J miles, the boundary-line between
Kirkmichael on the west and Johnstone on the east.
Running a mile into the parish of Lochmaben, it is
joined from the west by the limpid but careering Ae
[which see]; and thence south-eastward, 2 miles in
a straight line, but at least 4 along its channel, it
flows in serpentine foldings to the Annan at Broom-
hill. In the lower part of its course, it has, in gen-
eral, a level basin, yet so various and pleasing in
aspect, as to be a fine foil to the mirthful trotting
of the stream along its pebbly path. The Kinnel's
entire length of course is about 19 miles.
KINNELL, a parish in the maritime district of
Forfarshire ; bounded on the north by Farnell ; on
the east by Craig; on the south-east and south by
Inverkeillor; and on the west by Guthrie and a de-
tached part of Kirkden. It measures, in extreme
length, from east to west 4 miles; and in extreme
breadth from north to south 2J miles. Lunan water
runs along its southern boundary for If mile, and a
tributary of that stream runs along the eastern-
south-eastern boundaries for 3 miles. The Pow
rises in the western extremity, and runs 2 miles
north-eastward to the point of its exit; and at that
point a tributary joins it, after having, for 2 miles,
traced the northern boundary. The Lunan afford
some good trouting; and at the place where it is
overlooked by the parish-church it forms a deep
pool, whence the name of the parish, signifying ' the
Head of the pool,' is supposed to have been derived.
The surface of the parish is, in general, flat, enclosed,
and under good cultivation. On the east and north
it is sheltered and beautified by plantations. Four
or five hundred acres of moor in the north-east cor-
ner, which formerly were waste, are now covered
with wood. Tradition assigns to the parish the
battle-field of an action between the Lindsays and
the Ogilvies in the reign of James II., and adds that
the spurred boot of a man slain in the pursuit was
taken off, and hung up in an ash adjoining to the
church, and belonging to the family of Airly. A
spur, covered with rust, measuring 8 inches in length
and 4£ in breadth, and having a rowel as large as a
crown-piece, remained on the wall at the date of the
Old Statistical Account. The parish is intersected
northward by the turnpike from Arbroath to Bre-
chin, and has a profusion of other roads. Popula-
tion, in 1801, 783; in 1831, 786. Houses 159.
Assessed property, in 1815, £8,492 Kinnell is in
the presbytery of Arbroath, and synod of Angus and
Mearns. Patron, the Crown. Stipend £229 ]0s.
lOd. ; glebe £14, besides 3 acres of cultivated moor.
Schoolmaster's salary £31, with £15 fees. There
is a small non-parochial school for females.
KINNELLAR. See Kinellar.
KINNESSWOOD, a sequestered village in Kin-
ross-shire, in the parish of Portmoak, 5 miles east of
Kinross, containing about 320 inhabitants. It is
noted as having been the birth-place, in 1746, of the
youthful poet, Michael Bruce.
KINNETHMONT. See Kennethmont.
KINNETTLES, a parish on the frontier-line of
the Strathmore and the Sidlaw districts of Forfar-
shire ; bounded on the east by Forfar ; on the south
by Inverarity; and on the west and north by Glam-
mis. It is nearly a parallelogram, stretching north
and south, 2.V .miles long, and If mile broad ; but has
at the north-west corner a triangular projection 1
mile, or ^ of a milo deep. The drain of Forfur