Gazetteer of Scotland

PER
fmall iflands, at the E. end of the Pent-
land Frith, on the largeft of which is a
light-houfe. Vide Pentland Frith.
PERT ; a parifh in Forfarfhire, u-
rhed to Logie. Vide Logie and
Pert.
PERTHSHIRE is one of the largeft
counties of Scotland; extending 77
miles in a ftraight line, from Blair-
gowrie on the E., to the top of Men-
ial on the W., and 68 miles betwixt
the Frith of Forth-, at Culrofs, on the S.,
and the boundary of the foreft of A-
thol on the N., at the fource of the
Tilt. The fquare miles are 5000,
which amount to 3,200,000 Scots, or
4,068,640 Englifh acres. Itjs bounded
on the E. by the county of Forfar ;
an the S. E. by the Frith of Tay, and
the counties of Kinrofs and Fife ; on
the S. by the Forth, and the counties
of Clackmannan and Stirling ; on the
S. W. by Dumbartonshire ; on the
W. by the county of Argyll ; on the
~N. W. by the county of Invernefs ;
and oh the N. by a part of the fame
county, and that of Aberdeen. It
comprehends the diftricts of Athol,
Braidalbin, Monteath, Stratherne, Stor-
nwnt, Balquhiddtr, Gowrie, Rannoch,
and Perth Proper; all which divifions,
previous to the jiirifdiction act of
1748, were ftewartries, and under the
hereditary jurifdiction of the great
proprietors. Little attention is now
paid to thofe divifions, and the coun-
try is divided more naturally into
Highland and Lowland, the Grampian
mountains forming the line of divi-
fion : fome of the Ochils and Sidlazvs,
indeed, which lie S. of the Grampian
ridge, are of great elevation, and might
be ranked as Highland ; but, as the
manners and language of the inhabit-
ants are different from thofe which
inhabit the valleys N. of the Gram-
pians, they are more properly ranked
in the low country divifion : 18 pa-
rimes belong to the Highlands, while
58 are included in the Lowlands. In
fo great an extent of furface, the ap-
pearance of the country muft be great-
ly diverfified; and, perhaps, no diftrict
in the world exhibits fcenes of more
rugged and ftriking magnificence, con-
trafted with mote pleafant fcenes of
fertile and well cultivated fields in
the immediate vicinity. The foil of
Perthfhire alfo confifts of all the va-
rieties known in Scotland ; the carfe
PER
and loamy being prevalent on the
banks of the rivers, and fandy and til—
ly foil being prevalent on the fides
of the hills. In many places are ex*
tenfive mofles, particularly in Mon»
teath, in which is fituated the mofs of
Kincardine. Like all Highland coun-
tries, Perthfhire abounds with lakes
and rivers, which occupy extenfive
valleys* lying between lofty moun-
tains. The two greateft rivers are the
Tay and Forth, which collect many
ftreams in their courfe to the German
ocean. The Toy, after rifing on the
borders of Argyllfhire, and forming
Loch Tay, directs its courfe to the S.
E., receiving the waters of the Lyon,
the Garry, the Bran, the I/la, the Al-
mond, and the Erne. The Forth, af-
ter rifing in Dunibartonfhire, receives,
in its courfe through Perthfhire, the
waters of the Teath, the Allan, and
the Dovan. Befides thefe, the Enrich
and the Blane, rifing in Monteath, di-
rect their courfe W. towards Loch
Lomond. The principal lakes are,
Loch Tay, Loch Rannoch, Loch Erne,
Loch Dochart, Loch Catherine, part of
Loch Ericht, <Scc. Some of the high-
eft mountains in Scotland rear their
cloud-capt fummits in this county.
Ben/atvers, the third mountain in Bri-
tain, rifes from the fide of Loch Tay
to the height of 4015 feet above the
fea level ; Benmore, at the head of
Glendochart, is 3903 feet above that
level; Shichallton, in Rannoch, is 3564;
Bcnledi, in Monteath, is 3009 feet a-
bove the fame level ; befides thefe,
Bengloe, Benchonzie, Benvoirlich, Tur-
leum, &c. are of very confiderable e-
levation. The climate of Perthfhire
muft partake of the variety of the foil
and furface. The valleys are in gene-
ral warm and early; but are fubject
to the weeping climate, which is the
conftant curfe of mountainous coun-
tries. No part of the flat ground is
fo cold as the countries N. of this
county, nor fo warm as the fhires to
the S. ; but, being an inland diftrict,
it enjoys a more equable temperature
than on the coaft. The mildnefs of
the climate may be inferred from a
variety of circumftances, of which the
following are a few: in fome of the
valleys of the Grampians barley has
been reaped in good order nine week*
after it was fown : in the year 1743,
Sir Patrick Murray of Ouchtertyte