Gazetteer of Scotland

FOR
183
FOR
FORDOUN, village and parish in Kin-
cardineshire. The village stands 2 miles
north-west of a railway station of its
own name, and 4£ north-north-east of
Laurencekirk, and has a head post office
with all departments, a hotel, Established
and Free churches, and 2 public schools
with about 172 scholars. The parish con-
tains also Auchinblae village, measures
about 9£ miles in length and 7 in greatest
breadth, and comprises 26,869 acres. Real
property in 1880-81, £23,221. Pop. 1992.
The surface includes part of the How of
Mearns, and ascends thence, in diversity
of hills with intersecting vales, to a water-
shed of the Lower Grampians. The chief
seats are Fordoun House, Phesdo, Mon-
boddo, and Drumtochty ; and the chief
antiquities are Kincardine Castle ruins,
part of a Roman camp, and remains of
two ancient Caledonian stone circles. For-
doun was the residence of the author of
the Scoto-Chronicon, and the birthplace of
the Protestant martyr George Wishart.
Public schools are at Auchinblae and
Tipperty.
FORDYCE, village and parish on coast
of Banffshire. The village stands on a
burn of its own name, 3 miles south-west
of Portsoy, and has a post office under
Banff, Established and Free churches, and
2 public schools with about 164 scholars.
Pop. 331. — The parish contains also the
town of Portsoy, and the villages of Sand-
end and Newmills ; and it measures about
6 miles along the coast and 8 miles inland,
and comprises 17,198 acres. Real property
in 1880-81, £18,977. Pop., quoad civilia,
4289 ; quoad sacra, 1976. The coast is some-
what bold, rocky, and cavernous, but in-
cludes the bays of Portsoy and Sandend.
The interior presents considerable variety
of hill and dale, and has summits about
700 and 1030 feet high. A chief seat is
Glassaugh, and chief antiquities are Find-
later Castle and remains of a Scandinavian
camp. Established, Free, United Presby-
terian, Episcopalian, and Roman Catholic
churches are at Portsoy. 10 schools for
889 scholars are in the parish, and 1 of
them and enlargements for 288 are new.
FOREBANK, part of Hilltown suburb
of Dundee.
FOREHOLM, small island in Sandsting
parish, Shetland.
FOREMAN, wooded lofty hill, with ex-
tensive view, adjacent to the Deveron, on
north-western verge of Aberdeenshire.
FORENESS, peninsula in Sandsting par-
ish, Shetland.
FORESTFIELD, railway station, 6 miles
east of Airdrie, Lanarkshire.
FORESTMILL, hamlet, 3J miles north-
east of Clackmannan, Clackmannanshire.
It has a public school with about 64
scholars.
FORFAR, town and parish in central
part of Forfarshire. The town stands 32J
miles north-east of Perth ; sprang from an
ancient royal castle, figuring in the time of
Malcolm Canmore, and demolished in 1307 ;
is near a lake about a mile long, with
quondam island, now a peninsula, be-
lieved to have been a retreat of Malcolm
Canmore's queen ; ranks now as the capital
of Forfarshire, and as a royal and par-
liamentary burgh ; unites with Arbroath,
Brechin, Montrose, and Bervie in sending
a member to Parliament ; consists of
irregularly-aligned streets, with many good
modern houses ; carries on some manufac-
ture and much general business ; publishes
a weekly newspaper ; and has a head post
office with all departments, a railway
station, 6 banking offices, 5 hotels, county
buildings founded in 1873, court-houses of
1871, a handsome town hall, a public hall
of 1871, a steepled parochial church, a
quoad sacra parochial church, 2 Free
churches (one of them an early English
edifice of 1880), United Presbyterian, Con-
gregational, and Baptist churches, a costly
elegant Episcopalian church of 1881, a
burgh academy, 4 public schools, a female
industrial school, a free library of 1871, an
infirmary, and waterworks projected in
1877 and estimated to cost £37,000. Pop.
of the burgh, 12,817. — The parish contains
also Carseburn and Lunanhead villages,
and measures 5 miles by 4J. Acres, 8353.
Real propertyin 1880-81 of burgh, £34,861 ;
of landward part, £15,793. Pop., quoad
civilia, 14,470; quoad sacra, 10,558. The
surface is part of Strathmore, and presents
a level appearance, but is diversified by num-
erous rising-grounds and two small hills.
The only mansion is Lower, and the chief
antiquities are ruins of Restennet Priory
and remains of two Roman camps. 8
schools for 2401 scholars are in the parish,
and portions of them for 967 are new.
FORFAR (ST. JAMES), quoad sacra par-
ish with church in Forfar. Pop. 3882.
FORFARSHIRE, or ANGUS, county,
bordered by German Ocean from North
Esk river to Firth of Tay. Its length is
38 miles ; its greatest breadth 36 miles ;
its coast-line 23 miles on the ocean, and
12J on the Tay ; its circuit about 150
miles ; its area 890 square miles. The
coast in parts between Montrose and
Arbroath is rocky, in other parts is
mostly low. The interior consists of four
parallel and very diverse districts : first, a
rich champaign, from 3 to 9 miles broad,
with pleasant diversity of surface on the
east ; next, the greater portion of the Sid-
law Hills, from 3 to 6 miles broad, with
intersecting glens and hollows ; next, the
central reach of Strathmore, here called
the How of Angus, from 4 to 6 miles
broad, diversified by gentle eminences ;
next, the Benchinnan Mountains, from 9
to 15 miles broad, rising tier behind tier,
with intervening glens and ravines, to
summits of the Grampians 3180 and 3250
feet high. The chief rivers are the North
Esk, the South Esk, and the Lunan,
running to the ocean ; the Dighty, running
to Firth of Tay ; and the Isla, rising on