Gazetteer of Scotland

BAN
35
BAN
fine recent bath-house, Established, Free,
United Presbyterian, and Episcopalian
churches ; Congregational, Wesleyan,
United Brethren, and Roman Catholic
chapels ; a burgh public school and a
number of other public schools ; publishes
a weekly newspaper ; and carries on
woollen manufacture, iron-founding, and
other industries. The ancient castle
figured much in history, and is now repre-
sented by a plain modern structure. The
Established church is conspicuous, and
contains 1500 sittings. The United Pres-
byterian church was erected in 1880, and
superseded an old one. The Episcopalian
church is small but elegant. The commerce
of the port in 1879 comprised 459 British
vessels, of 34,379 tons, and 34 foreign
vessels, of '2788 tons, inward; and 441
British vessels, of 33,196 tons, and 26
foreign vessels, of 2029 tons, outward.
Real property of the parliamentary burgh
in 1880-81, £12,192. Pop. of the royal burgh,
4185 ; of the parliamentary burgh, 7871.
The parish is about 6tj miles long south-
westward, but not more than about 2
miles broad. Acres, 6073. Real property
of landward part in 1SS0-S1, £6351. Pop. ,
quoad civilia, 5200 ; quoad sacra, 4810.
The northern section rises nowhere higher
than about 250 feet above sea-level, yet is
picturesquely diversified ; and the southern
section contains considerably higher ground,
yet presents a very tame appearance. A
prominent feature is the Earl of Fife's
seat of Duff House, and a chief antiquity
is Inchdrewer Castle. There are, for the
burgh, the landward districts, and the
quoad sacra parish of Ord, 13 schools,
with accommodation for 1698 scholars.
BANFFSHIRE, seaboard county in north-
east of Scotland. It includes St. Fergus
parish and Straloch estate, surrounded by
distant parts of Aberdeenshire, but consists
chiefly of continuous country, extending
from Moray Firth south-south-westward to
Cairngorm Mountains. This main body
measures 32 miles along the coast and 50
miles inward, but is averagely not more
than about 12 miles broad, and the entire
county has an area of 686 square miles.
The southern section, to the extent of not
more than one-half of the entire length,
but with an average breadth of only about
8 miles, is wildly mountainous, partly
alpine, with intersections of glen and vale ;
and the northern section is a diversity of
pastoral hills, many-shaped eminences,
and rich tracts of small plain and long
valley. The principal rivers are the Spey,
on reaches of the western boundary ; the
Deveron, mostly near or on the eastern
boundary ; the Aven and the Fiddich, run-
ning to the Spey ; the Isla, running to the
Deveron ; and the Boyne, entering the sea
between Banff and Portsoy. Serpentine
and marble are near Portsoy ; good slate
is near Banff and Keith ; and limestone
abounds throughout extensive tracts. The
arable land forms a comparatively small
portion of the entire area ; and its soil for
the most part is either a stiff deep clay,
a deep black loam, or a mixture of moss
or gravel. The fisheries are extensive,
but the manufactures are of small value.
The towns with each more than 3000
inhabitants are Banff, Macduff, Buckie,
and Keith ; the towns with each more
than 1000 inhabitants are Cullen, Portsoy,
Aberchirder, Dufftown, and Portnockie;
the villages with each more than 600
inhabitants are Port Gordon, Porteasy,
Whitehills, Gardenstown, Findochty, and
Newmills ; and the villages with each
more than 300 inhabitants are Charles-
town, Tomintoul, Fetterangus, and For-
dyce. Real property in 1880-81, £239,298.
Pop. in 1871, 62,023 ; in 1881, 62,751.
BANGOUR, estate in Uphall parish,
Linlithgowshire.
BANK, place in Old Deer parish, Aber-
deenshire. It has a public school with
about 114 scholars.
BANKEND, village in Caerlaverock par-
ish, Dumfriesshire. It has a post office
under Dumfries.
BANKEND, hamlet in Kirkgunzeon
parish, Kirkcudbrightshire.
BANKFOOT, village, 3 miles west-north-
west of Stanley Junction, Perthshire. It
is modern, was the birth-place of the poet
Nicol, and has a post office, with money
order and telegraph departments, under
Perth, a United Presbyterian church, and
a public school with about 40 scholars.
Pop. 627.
BANKFOOT, hamlet in Coylton parish,
Ayrshire.
BANKHEAD, suburb of Wick, Caithness.
BANKHEAD, village and colliery in
Dreghorn and Kilmarnock parishes, Ayr-
shire.
BANKHEAD, village in Newhills parish,
Aberdeenshire.
BANKHEAD, hamlet in Monikie parish,
Forfarshire. It has a x^ublic school with
about 65 scholars.
BANKHEAD, seat in Rutherglen parish,
Lanarkshire.
BANKHEAD, railway station, 2 miles
east-north-east of Carstairs Junction,
Lanarkshire.
BANKS, hamlet in Mouswald parish,
Dumfriesshire.
BANKTON, quondam seat near Tranent,
Haddingtonshire. It was the residence of
Colonel Gardiner, who fell adjacent to it
in the battle of Prestonpans, and it was
destroyed by fire about 1854.
BANKTON - PARK, village in Kettle
parish, Fife.
BANNACHRA, ruined old fortalice in
Glenfruin, Dumbartonshire.
BANNAVIE. See Banavie.
BANNISKIRK, quondam old chapel in
Halkirk parish, Caithness.
BANNOCK, rivulet, running 9 miles east-
north-eastward to the Forth, at 2i miles
below Stirling.
BANNOCKBURN, town, quoad sacra