Gazetteer of Scotland

HOL
of Gibraltar, againft the united force3
of Spain and France. Population in
1 79 1, about 700.
HODDAM ; a parifh in the diftricT:
of Annandale, Dumfriesfhire. Its ex-
tent in length is about 5 miles, and in
breadth about i\ ; it is compofed of
the united parifhes of Hoddam, Line,
and Ecclesfechan, in which laft lies the
village of the fame name, noted for its
well attended fairs. The furface con-
fifts partly of high, and partly of low
ground, and of extenfive holms or
meadows on the banks of the Annan,
the Milk, and the Mein, which water
the diftricT: : except a few acres of
marfhy ground, the whole is arable,
and in a rapid ftate of improvement,
to which the great roads paffing
through the parifh, from Edinburgh
and Glafgow to the S. have greatly
contributed. The vale in which Hod-
dam lies, is one of the moft delightful
fpots in Annandale. The banks of the
Annan are covered with a large wood
of oak, afli, and birch trees, which
renders the general appearance of the
country exceedingly beautiful. On
the hill of Burnfwark, are veftiges of
Roman military works on the fides
and fumrnit, which command a moft
exteniive view of Annandale and the
Englifh border. Population in 1791,
1198.
Hollodale ; a river which takes
its rife in the parifh of Kildonan, in
the county of Caithnefs ; and taking a
northerly direction, falls into the Pent-
land Frith j or 6 miles S. E. of Strathy-
head. It forms the boundary for fe-
Veral miles, betwixt the counties of
Sutherland and Caithnefs.
Holm is a name applied to numer-
ous iflands of the Orkneys, Shetland,
or Hebrides ; generally implying an
ifland of no great extent, furrounded
withperpendicularrocksofvaft height.
The term is for the moft part joined
to fome other word, and is generally
the final fyllable ; as Lambhohi, Sheep-
holm, Granfeyholm, &c.
HOLME ; a parifh on the S. E. coaft
of Pomona, in Orkney ; extending 9
miles in length, and 2 in breadth, a-
long the found to which it gives its
name. The foil is a light thin loam,
tolerably fertile, and producing more
barley and oats than is fufficient for
the confumpt of the inhabitants- The
fheep-farrning is barbarous in the
HOU
higheft degree : " inftead of (hearing
the fleece," fays Mr. Alifon in his fta-
tiftical report, " it is pulled off the
very fkin ; and, to undergo this cruel
operation, they are hunted with dogs."
Population in 1793} 702.
Holme Sound; a beautiful frith
in the Orkneys, lying oppofite to the
parifh of Holme, leading from the
German ocean to Stromnefs. It af-
fords tolerable anchorage, further fhel-
tered by the Lambholme, a fmall cir-
cular ifland in the middle, 3 miles in
circumference. On the N. W. coaft
there is a fmall pier, where veffels of
50 tons may unload their cargoes.
HOLOM1N ; a fmall ifland of the
Hebrides, near the ifle of Mull.
HOLYWOOD; a parifh in the
diftricT: of Nithfdale, in the county of
Dumfries. It occupies the middle of
a long and fpacious valley, extending
about 10 miles in length, and on an
average x\ in breadth ; it is bounded
on the E. by the river Nit by and on
the S. by the Cluden, which alfo in-
terfects it in feveral places : the fur-
face is in general level, with a few
rifing grounds at the northern extre-
mity : the foil is moftly arable, and
fertile ; and the few eminences, which
are not under culture, produce excel-
lent pafture. There are the remains
of a druidical temple, about 80 yards
in diameter, which appears in former
times to have been furrounded with a
wood of oak, fome of the roots of
which ftill remain : there are alfo in
the church-yard, veftiges of the old
abbey of Holywood, faid to have been
eftablifhed for the monks of the order
of Premonjlre, foon after the inftitu-
tion of that order in the diocefe of
Leon, in France, about the year it 20;
which was fo named, becaufe, as the
monks fay, the place of the abbey was
" divina rcvelatione premonjlratwn"
John de Holywood, commonly called
Johannes de Sacro Bofco, is faid to have
been born in this parifh. Population
in 1793, 736.
Houna ; a Cape on the coaft of
Caithnefs, 2 miles W. from Dungijbay-
bead ; longitude o° 25' E. of Edin-
burgh, and latitude 5 8° 33' N.
HOUNAM; a parifh in Roxburgh-
fhire, of an oval form, about 9! miles
in length, and 6 in breadth. It bor-
ders on the S. with England, where
the top of the Hounam Fell, a part of
Ee