Topographical dictionary of Scotland > Volume 2

MUCK
MUI R
affording good pasturage, and the scenery has been
greatly improved by plantations of recent formation,
which are in a thriving condition. The Devon rises to
the west of the Ochil range, and, after pursuing a very
devious line, falls into the Forth near the town of Alloa.
In part of its course, the stream runs in a channel
formed by nature in the solid rock ; and in its progress
it makes numerous picturesque falls, descending abruptly
from a height of thirty feet into a circular cavity, from
which, by the violence of its fall, the water rebounds,
and then flows into a succession of similar cauldrons,
from the last of which it is precipitated more than forty
feet into the plain beneath. There are four bridges over
the Devon within the limits of the parish. The most
remarkable, called the " Rumbling bridge," consists of
two arches, the one immediately above the other : the
lower arch, which formed the ancient bridge, has an
elevation of more than eighty feet above the level of the
stream, is very narrow, and being undefended by any
parapet, must have been a very dangerous passage pre-
viously to the erection of the upper arch, which is a
commodious approach to the parish from the south.
Another of these bridges is distinguished by the appella-
tion of the "Vicar's bridge," from the circumstance of
the vicar of the adjoining parish of Dollar having been
killed here in revenge of his having abjured the Roman
Catholic religion.
The soil varies greatly in quality in different places ;
near the river it is light and sandy, in other parts more
rich and fertile, and in the higher grounds gravelly,
with portions of moss. The lands have been much
benefited by draining, and the system of husbandry is
materially improved ; considerable progress has been
made in inclosing the lands ; the fences are chiefly of
stone, with some inclosures of hedges, and both are
generally well kept up. Attention is also paid to the
improvement of the breed of cattle, which are princi-
pally of the short-horned kind ; and the South-Down
and Leicestershire breeds of sheep have been introduced
with success. The substrata are mostly whinstone, of
which the hills are composed, ironstone, limestone, free-
stone, and sandstone, with some coal in the western
portion of the parish. The ironstone is of rich quality,
but is not wrought, though obtained in abundance on
the opposite banks of the river ; the limestone is worked
by the proprietors of the lands for their own use, and
lime is also procured in the immediate neighbourhood,
and at a moderate cost. One seam of the coal is worked,
which affords an abundant supply of fuel, and consider-
able quantities are sent to Strathearn. Boulders of
whinstone, and occasionally of sandstone, occur. The
ironstone and limestone abound with fossils and shells ;
some fine specimens of rock-crystal are also found in
the whinstone. The rateable annual value of Muckart is
£4000. The nearest market town is Alloa, which is
also the post-town ; but a post has been likewise esta-
blished to Dollar. Facility of communication is afforded
by excellent roads, six miles of which are turnpike-
roads, and particularly by the construction of the new
lines from Stirling to Milnathort, and from Dunferm-
line to Crieff, which have contributed greatly to the im-
provement of the parish. Muckart is in the presbytery
of Auchterarder and synod of Perth and Stirling, and
patronage of the Crown : the minister's stipend is
£158. 6. 8., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £20
Vol. II.— 289
per annum. The church, repaired in 1789, being in a
very dilapidated state, and far from adequate to the
wants of the parishioners, a new one was built in 183S.
There are places of worship for the United Secession
and Free Church. The parochial school affords a useful
education to the children of the parish ; the master has
a salary of £25. 6. 8., about £17 fees, and a house and
garden, with £9 per annum, the interest of a bequest.
A library for the united use of this parish and those of
Glendovan and Fossoway has been established in the
village. There are some slight remains of Castleton,
the old episcopal residence built by Archbishop Lam-
berton, which appears to have been a spacious edifice
communicating by a subterraneous passage with the
river : part of one of the turrets only is remaining.
Stone coffins have been found in various parts of the
parish.
MUGDRUM, an isle, in the parish of Abernethy,
county of Perth. It lies in the river Tay, a short dis-
tance from, and nearly opposite to, the town of Newburgh,
and is about a mile in length, and 200 yards in breadth.
The island is surrounded by a high embankment, the
level surface being considerably lower than that of the
tide at high water ; and the channel on the southern
shore has been greatly deepened by a dredging-machine,
which, in its operation, took up at the rate of 4000 tons
of gravel daily. The new house and woods of Mugdrum
are prominent on the south shore of the Tay, the old
house and bank overhanging the river. Mugdrum was
formerly much infested with rats, which were extermi-
nated by a breed of wild cats ; and some of these latter
animals are still on it, resisting all attempts to be do-
mesticated.
MUIRAVONSIDE, a parish, in the county of Stir-
ling, 3 miles (W.) from Linlithgow; containing, with
the villages of Burnbridge, Maddiston, Rumford, and
part of Linlithgow-Bridge, 2249 inhabitants. The com-
pound term Muir-avon-side is derived from the original
moorish appearance of part of the parish, and its situa-
tion on the bank of the river Avon, which runs along
its boundary on the south-east and north-east for nine
miles, separating it in one part from the county of Lin-
lithgow. In ancient times the parish formed part of
that of Falkirk, and was chiefly the property of the
Livingstone family, who in 1540 obtained by marriage
the old castle of Haining, a manorial residence. Sir
James Livingstone, second son of the first earl of Lin-
lithgow, was created Lord of Almond, the appellation,
probably, of the district adjacent to the castle, and
which is supposed to have been that portion of Falkirk
now forming this parish : the silver communion cups
of Muiravonside are still named " the cups of the church
of Almond." The priory called Manuel or Emma-
nuel, situated on the west bank of the Avon, was founded
about the year 1156, for Cistercian nuns, by King Mal-
colm IV., by whom, and several of his successors, it
was richly endowed ; and the prioress, Christiana, in
1292, as well as her successor, Alice, in 1296, swore
fealty to Edward I. at Linlithgow. The ruins, together
with other estates, came into the possession of the
crown by the forfeiture of the Earl of Callendar and
Linlithgow in 1715.
The parish is about seven miles long, and in average
breadth measures two miles, comprising "000 or 8000
acres, the whole of which are arable, with the exception
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