Gazetteer of Scotland

C R A
CR A
ftill very entire. That edifice; the
ruins of many others of the fame na-
ture in the neighbourhood, and the
remains of feveral encampments, fhew
this country to have been the fcene of
much bJoodfhed during the border
wars. Population in 1 79 1, i 64.
CRANSTON; a parifli in. the
county of Edinburgh, extending about
5 miles in length, and 3 in breadth.
The furface is unequal, but the gentle
dwellings of the hills, adorned with
fine feats and extenfive plantations, are
extremely beautiful. The foil is excel-
lent, and the whole parifli is arable.
The ftaple commodity is corn, of
which a confiderable quantity is ex-
ported. Freeftone, limeftone, and pit-
coal abound, in the parifli ; and the
abundance of the laft article induced
the proprietors to ereit works, on the
ingenious plan of the Earl of Dun-
donald, for the extraction of pitch,
tar, naphtha, and volatile fait, from
pit-coal. There are 3 neat villages in
the parifli, viz. Cranfton, Coulland,
and Prefton. Near Coufland are fome
ruins, faid to be of a nunnery. The
river Tyne, as yet a livulet, runs
through the parifli. The elegant ft ruc-
tures of Oxenford-caftlc and Prefton-
hall, the piclurefque banks of the ri-
vulet, and the luxuriant crops which
adorn the fields, prefent to the eye,
perhaps as rich a landfeape as the
molt fertile ipot of England could
produce. Population in 179,-5, 839-.
CRATHY & BRAEMARR. Thefe
extenfive united parilhes are fituated
in that diftrict of Aberdeenfhire call-
ed Man; in the very middle of the
Grampian mountains ;, they are fup-
pofed to be more elevated above the
level of the fea, and farther removed
in every direction from, the coaft, than
any other parochial diftrict in Scot-
land. The length of the inhabitated
part is about 30 miles, and the breadth
varies from 6 to 10; but, taking in the
mountains and wane diftrict, the whole
will cover an extent of 40 miles in
length, and 20 in breadth. They are
diftant upwards of 50 miles from the
county town. In the low grounds (the
foil is various, but when* properly cul-
tivated, and in a favourable feafon, it
produces good crops. By far the greater
part is covered with mountains, fome
of which are the higheft in Scotland,
with the exception of Bemvis and
Cairngorm. The higheft in this parifb
are called Loch-na-garaidh, Binn-na-
balrd, and Binn-na-muick-duidh. Near-
ly the whole of Crathy and Braemarr
has been originally covered with wood,
which belonged to- the king, and was
called the foreft of Marr. This fo-
reft, with thofe of the Duke of Athol,
and Mr. Farquharfon ofTnvercauld,,
in Perthfhire, and the Duke of Gordou
in B-adenoch and Glenaven, confti-
tuted the principal part of the great'
Caledonian foreft. In the deepeft
moffes, within, this immenfe range of
extenfive forefts, there are found large-
logs and roots of trees, which afford,
incontrovertible proof that they have
formerly been overrun with timber. Ira
Braemarr, a great part of the wood ftill
remains, on the eftates of the Earl of
Fife and Mr. Farquharfon of Inver-
cauld, which are well ftocked with
deer. Befides the natural wood, there
are extenfive plantations of fir and la-
rix, of t^ie former of which Mr. Far-
quharfon alone has planted upwards-
of 14 millions of trees. The Dee river
takes its rife in the foreft of Braemarr,.
and running through the whole ex-
tent of the diftrict, is augmented with
feveral tributary ftreams ; in particu-
lar, the Gealluidb, Luidh, Coich, and
Cluanaidh. The principal lakes are
Loch Callader and Loch Brotachan,
which contain trout, a few falmon,.
and fome eel. The great military
road from Blairgowrie to Fort-George
pafies through the whole extent; the
village of Caftletown of Braemarr is
fituated on that line of road. Near
this village are the ruins of an old
caftle, faid to have been a hunting-
feat of King Malcom Canmore. It is
fituated on a high bank, on the E. fide
of the water of Cluanaidh. At a fhort
diftance is the caftle of Braemarr, a feat
of a branch of the Farquharfons of
Invercauld ; it was once occupied as
a garrifon by King William, and was
burnt in the conteft which took place
between the royal forces and the Earl
of Marr. Near the line of the military
road is a large cairn, called cairn-na*
cuimhne, or cairn of remembrance ; a
name ftill ufed as a watchword in the
country. The mountains above men-
tioned abound with emeralds, topazes,
and amethyfts, fimilar to the precious,
ftones of the Cairngorm : granite of &
fine polifli alfo abounds, and there are