Topographical dictionary of Scotland > Volume 2

MUIR
MUIR
of a very small proportion of moss, waste, and planta-
tions. There are some naked and dreary tracts, with a
marshy soil, in the western portion ; but the general
variety of the surface, and the rising grounds, which
are of moderate elevation, commanding extensive pros-
pects of the Forth, the towers of Clackmannan, Stirling,
and Linlithgow, the glens that ornament the course of
the Devon, the Grampian hills, and numerous planta-
tions, confer on the scenery a character of interest and
cheerfulness. The principal inconvenience felt in the
interior is the deficiency of streams, owing to the pecu-
liar distribution of its land, which consists of an irre-
gular and broken ridge lying between the Avon and the
alluvial plains of the Forth. Springs are seldom seen
throughout the range of clayey soil which covers two-
thirds of the parish ; the only streams are the Holloch,
Manuel, and Sandyford ; and though in the mosses
there are some powerful springs, the infusion of iron is
so strong as to form a crust of red ochre around their
outlets. The soil, besides the extensive clayey portion,
comprehends sand, peat, and marl, in which last was
found an interesting specimen of the ancient elk, with a
horn, now forming part of the collection in the College
museum of Glasgow. There is also a considerable ex-
tent of gravelly earth ; and the surface is singularly
marked in parts with numerous picturesque mounds and
hillocks, which, with the breaks, fissures, and perpetual
variations of the sandstone rock along the course of the
Avon, and its beautiful scenery of overhanging wood,
constitute some of the most prominent and striking
features in the locality.
All the ordinary kinds of grain and green crops are
raised. The ground is manured with dung pi-ocured
from Edinburgh, and with lime obtained in large quan-
tities from Linlithgow. In the eastern part of the
parish, where the farms are large, the houses and offices
good, and the lands well cultivated, furrow-draining has
been extensively carried on, and secure fences raised ;
but most of these improvements are still wanting in the
western part, where the farms are comparatively small.
The live stock are excellent in the superior district ; but
in the western their quality is inferior, the want of pro-
per fences, and other causes, contributing to injure the
breed. The appearance of the whole parish, especially
that of the eastern district, has undergone an entire
change within the last fifty years ; the thicket which at
the close of the 18th century almost overspread it, has
been cleared ; and ground formerly covered with broom
and heath now displays in perfection the results of
agricultural labour and skill. The rock and coal forma-
tions in this neighbourhood are remarkably intersected
with trap dykes. Along the course of the Avon is
sandstone, and several quarries are wrought of fine blue
whinstone ; there are also two quarries of superior free-
stone, the one producing a material differing in some
respects from that of the other, but both wrought in
large quantities. Coal has been raised in many different
places ; but the only pits now in operation are those of
Stanrig, Blaekbraes, and Craigend. Iron, also, is pro-
cured by the Carron Company near the village ; and large
quantities ,are supposed to exist in other parts. The
rateable annual value of the parish is £6/35. Maudis-
ton is the principal village, situated on a declivity in the
midst of picturesque scenery. Part of the village of
Linlitha;ow-Bridge, built by Alexander, Earl of Linlith-
290
gow, about the year 1650, is likewise in this parish ; its
customs were given in 1677, by Charles II., to Earl
George, and many of the landholders in Muiravonside
inherit estates granted in perpetual feus by the last earl
in order to raise money to carry on the rebellion of
1715. The Edinburgh and Stirling turnpike-road
passes through the district, as do also the railroad by
Slamannan to Glasgow, another between Glasgow and
Edinburgh, which crosses the vale of the Avon by a
viaduct of more than twenty substantial arches, and the
Union canal, which has a bridge of twelve arches in the
midst of a profusion of beautifully sylvan and verdant
scenery. The produce is usually disposed of at Falkirk.
The parish is in the presbytery of Linlithgow and synod
of Lothian and Tweeddale, and in the patronage of the
Crown : the minister's stipend is £225, with a manse,
and a glebe valued at £9 per annum.* The church is a
plain structure, built about the year 1812, and accommo-
dates 500 persons. There is a place of worship for the
United Secession. The parochial school affords instruc-
tion in Latin, writing, arithmetic, grammar, and geogra-
phy ; the master has a salary of £34. 4., with a dwell-
ing, three and a half acres of land, and £24 fees : the
land, which is valued at £6 per annum, is an ancient
bequest of the Callendar family. There is a parochial
library containing 120 volumes. The chief antiquities
consist of the ruins of Manuel Priory and Almond Castle,
the latter of which was deserted as a place of residence
about the year 1750. A line of fortified eminences ex-
tends from Hazlelawto Sight hill, but nothing is known
of their origin ; and stone coffins have been frequently
discovered in various places.
MUIRDRUM, a village, in the parish of Panbride,
county of Forfar, 6 miles (W. S. W.) from Arbroath;
containing 112 inhabitants. This is a small village, on
the great line of road between Dundee and Arbroath.
It has a post-office, which, from its central situation, is
a great convenience to the neighbourhood around : the
mail-coach runs daily both to the north and south, and
several public coaches once passed regularly at different
periods of the day.
MUIRHEAD, a hamlet, in the parish of Kettle,
district of Cupar, county of Fife; containing 106 in-
habitants.
MUIRHEAD, a hamlet, in the parish of Liff, Ben-
vie, and Inveb.gowb.ie, county of Forfar ; containing
81 inhabitants.
MUIRHEAD, a village, in the parish of Cadder,
forming part of the late quoad sacra parish of Chrys-
ton, Lower ward of the county of Lanark ; and con-
taining 49 inhabitants. This village is pleasantly seated
in the south-eastern part of the parish, on the great
road from Perth to Glasgow, and a short distance south-
south-west from the village of Chryston. It retains
about three acres of the ancient common lands ; and the
inhabitants of both villages have the right of common-
age, and the privilege of cutting turf, which, however, is
confined to the surface, which they have the power to
cut as long as heath and rushes grow upon it. The in-
habitants are chiefly employed in the works at Garnkirk.
MUIRHOUSES, a village, in the parish of Carri-
den, county of Linlithgow ; containing 139 inhabit-
ants. This is a small village, situated a short distance
westward of Carriden, and eastward of the high road
from Linlithgow to Borrowstounness.