Gazetteer of Scotland

GRA
fay lill pel fins that my be confernid, that \
A. 3. from the fiari/h of C. in the county
of _D. and E. F. of the parijh of G. in
the county of H. and both conies before
me, and declayred themfelefs both to be
jingle perfons, and noxu mayried by the
form of the kirk of Scotland, and agre-
ible to the church of England, and git-en
ondre my hand this 6th day of March
.1802." Eheu/J Graitney-haFl has been
lately fitted op as a commodious ftage
inn by the Earl of Hopeton, the pro-
prietor. In the neighbourhood of the
village is Springkell, the elegant refi-
dence of Sir William Maxwell. At
Graitney Mains, are the remains of
an oval druidical temple, enclofmg a-
bout half an acre of ground. The pa-
ri fh contained in 1794, 1 810 inhabit-
ants.
Grampian Mountains; that
chain of hills' which extends acrofs the
ifland, from the diftrict of Covval in
Argyllshire on the Atlantic, to Aber-
deen on the German ocean, and there
forming another ridge in a north weft-
erly direction, extends through Aber-
deenfhire to Moray, and the borders
■of Invernefs. They are named fo from
the Gaelic words Grant and Bhein,
which are i'aid to fignify huge or ugly
mountains, or from the Mons Grampi-
us of Tacitus, where Galgacus waited
the approach of Agricola, and where
the Caledonians are faid to hate - re-
ceived their almoft total overthrow.
The fouthern front of the firft ridge
has, in many places, a gradual and
pleafant dope, into a campaign coun-
try of great extent and fertility ; and,
notwithstanding the forbidding afpeet,
at firft fight, of the mountains them-
felves, with their covering of heath
and rugged rocks, they are interfered
in a thoufand directions by the wind-
ing valleys, watered by rivers and
brooks of the moft limpid water, clad
with the richeft paftures, Sheltered by
thriving woods that fringe the lakes,
and run on each fide of the ftreams,
and are acceffible in moft places by
excellent roads. Thefe valleys, which
exhibit fuch a variety of natural beau-
ty, alfo form a contraft with the rug-
gednefs of the furrounding mountains,
and prefent to the eye the moft ro-
mantic fcenery. The rivers inthe deep
defiles ftruggle to find a paffage ; and
often the oppofite hills approach fo
sear, that the waters rufii with incre-
GRA
dible force and deafening noife, in pro-
portion to the height of the fall, and:
the width of the opening. Thefe are'
commonly called Paffes, owing to the
difficulty of theii paffage,before bridges
were erected ; and Ave may mention
as examples, the Pafs of Leney, of A-
bsrfoil, and the famous paffes of Gil-
licrankie, and the Spital of Glenfhee.
Beyond thefe, plains of various extent
appear filled with villages and culti-
vated fields : in the interftices are
numerous expanfes of water, connect-
ed with rivulets, ftored with a variety
of fifii, and covered with wood down
to the water edge. The craggy tops
are covered with flocks of iheep ; ancl
numerous herds of black cattle are
feen browfing on the paftures in the
valleys. On the banks of the lakes or
rivers is generally the feat of fome
nobleman or gentleman. The N. fide
of the Grampians is more rugged in
its appearance, and the huge maffes arc
feen piled on one another in the moft
awful magnificence, The height of the
Grampian mountains varies from 1400
feet to 3500 feet above the level of
the fea, and feveral of them are ele~
vated ftill higher. The Cairngorm
in Morayfhire, the Bin-na-bazrd in A-
berdeenihire, the lofty mountains in
Angus and Perthfhires, and the moun-
tain of Benlomond in Dumbartonshire,
are elevated confiderably above that
height. Along the S. bafe of the Gram-
pians lies the vale of Strathmore, or
" great vale," a term which is often
given to the ftrath from Dumbarton
to Aberdeen ; but in a reftricted fenfe,
it is generally applied to that fertile
diftrict of Perth, Angus, and Mearns,
which extends from- Meth-ven-caftle
to the village of Laurence-kirk ; (vide
Strathmore.) The minerals of
which thefe mountains are compofed,
are too various for enumeration : many
of the hills are evidently volcanic, and
compofed of bafaltes and lava: pre-
cious ftones abound in the Aberdeen-
fhire mountains, and the Cairngorm
topazes are well kno\vn.
GRANGE ; a parifii in Banfffinre,
extending about 6 miles in length from
N. to S. and 5 in breadth. It extends
N. from the banks of the river Ifla,
in 3 long but low ridges, terminating
in the mountains called the Knock-hill,
the Lurg-hill, and the hill of Altmore,
which divide it from the fertile dif=