Topographical dictionary of Scotland > Volume 2

U R Q U
U R Q U
the burns and rivulets, trout are to be obtained in great
plenty, and of good quality.
The soil of Urquhart is generally a rich loam, of little
depth, but of great fertility j that of Glenmorriston is of
inferior quality, light and sandy, but, under good manage-
ment, producing favourable crops. The crops are, wheat,
barley, oats, potatoes, and turnips, with the usual grasses.
The system of husbandry is in an improved state ; and
the lands have been rendered more fertile by a liberal use
of lime, which, from the scarcity of coal, is brought from
England at a cheaper rate than that at which it could be
produced here. Nearly all the wheat raised in the parish,
and a considerable quantity of the oats, are sent to the
market of Inverness ; and for some years past, a large
quantity of potatoes has been exported for the supply of
the London market. The cattle are mostly of the High-
land black-breed, and great attention is paid to their im-
provement ; the dairy-farms are well managed, and large
quantities of butter and cheese are taken to Inverness and
other places. Sheep of the native breed are kept on the
Lowland farms, and more than 20,000 are reared in the
Highland pastures ; no horses are reared in Urquhart ex-
cept what are necessary for the purpose of local husbandry,
nor in Glenmorriston are any bred for sale. The plan-
tations, which are very extensive, and in a thriving state,
consist of oak, ash, mountain-ash, beech, elm, alder,
poplar, sycamore, hazel, larch, pine, plane, firs, and wal-
nut ; and fruit-trees of every kind are to be seen in the
gardens of the chief houses. The principal substrata are,
old red sandstone and conglomerate, of which the rocks
are mainly composed ; porpbyritic granite, in which are
found crystals of felspar ; limestone ; and mica-slate.
The sandstone was quarried for the works of the Caledo-
nian canal, at Fort-Augustus, since which time the works
have been occasionally opened to supply materials for
paving the streets of Inverness. The mansion-houses
are, Balmaeaan, in the lower valley of Urquhart, the pro-
perty and occasional residence of the Earl of Seafield ; In-
vermorriston, the seat of James Grant, Esq., beautifully
situated on the shore of Loch Ness ; Lakefield, the resi-
dence of Patrick Grant, Esq. ; Corrymony, the seat of
Thomas Ogilvie, Esq. ; Polmailly ; Kilmore ; and a few
others. The rateable annual value of the parish is £6232.
The villages of East and West Lewistown, and Inver-
morriston, are described under their respective heads.
In the vale of Urquhart are several rural hamlets, of
which the principal, called Milntown, contains 150, and
the others collectively about 115, inhabitants: a few
persons are here employed in the handicraft trades re-
quisite for the accommodation of the neighbourhood,
and in the cultivation of crofts of land attached to their
several houses. At Drumnadrochit and Invermorriston
are two inns ; and facility of communication is main-
tained by good roads, formed under the superintendence
of parliamentary commissioners for the construction of
roads and bridges in the Highlands, and which are
kept in tolerable repair. The ecclesiastical affairs
of the parish, which originally formed part of the parish
of Abertarff, are under the controul of the presbytery of
AbertarfF and synod of Glenelg. The minister's stipend
is £249- 9- 6., with a manse, and a glebe valued at £6
per annum ; patron, the Earl of Seafield. The church,
erected in 1837, is situated in the lower part of the vale
of Urquhart ; it is a neat plain structure containing
1100 sittings. A chapel in connexion with the church,
5 S3
and containing 250 sittings, has been built at Meikly
in which the minister of the parish officiates every third
Sabbath. There is also a missionary station at Inver-
morriston, where a missionary officiates alternately with
another in the upper part of the glen ; he receives a
stipend of £60 from the Royal Bounty, and £20 from the
proprietors of the lands within the district. The paro-
chial school is subdivided into three, of which one is
within half a mile of the church, and is endowed with
half the salary of £34. 4. 4. ; the other two are at In-
vermorriston and Meikly, and the masters receive each
one-half of the remainder. The principal master has
the dwelling-house, and the fees of all collectively
average about £50 annually. There are also two schools
supported by the Society for Propagating Christian
Knowledge.
On a hill overlooking Loch Ness are the remains of a
vitrified fort called Dunscriben, which communicated
with other forts in the centre, and at the eastern extre-
mity of the valley through which the Caledonian canal
now passes. In Glen- Urquhart is the rocky eminence
of Craigmoni, encircled round the summit with rude
walls of stone, and which, according to tradition, was a
place of execution, and also a signal station. A Norwe-
gian prince named Moni is said to have landed in the
district of Crinan, and to have been attacked and routed
by the natives, from whose pursuit he retired to Craig-
moni, and established himself for some time in the ad-
jacent valley, called Dalmoni ; but being still followed
by the natives, he is reported to have perished at Corry-
mony, where his grave is still pointed out. On the east
of the bay of Urquhart are some remains of a small
establishment of Knights Templars, of whom some were
probably governors of the adjoining castle ; and there
are several cemeteries in the parish formerly belonging
to chapels, in one of which, called Kilmore, or " the
great burying-ground," the present parish church was
erected. There are also some cairns, and remains of
Druidical circles, but in a very imperfect state ; and the
burn of Aultsigh is memorable as the site of a sangui-
nary conflict in the beginning of the 17th century, be-
tween the clans of the Macdonells of Glengarry and the
Mackenzies of Ross-shire.
URQUHART and LOGIE WESTER, a parish,
partly in the county of Nairn, but chiefly in the county
of Ross and Cromarty, 2 miles (S. E.) from Dingw;;ll ;
containing, with the villages of Conanbridge and Newton,
and the hamlet of Culbokie, 2997 inhabitants, of whom
2537 are in the rural districts. This place, which is not
distinguished by any transaction of historical import-
ance, comprehends the ancient parish of Urquhart,
of which name the etymology has previously been given,
and the ancient parish of Logie Wester, the name of
which, in the Gaelic language signifying " a hollow," is
descriptive of its appearance. At what time these
parishes, of which the former occupies the eastern, and
the latter the western, district of the present parish, were
united, is not distinctly known ; but from some records
in which mention of them occurs as one parish, it would
appear to have been prior to the year 1490. The parish
is bounded on the north-west by the Frith of Cromarty
and the river Conan, which latter separates it from the
parish of Dingwall and part of the parish of Urray. It
is nearly ten miles in length, and three and a half miles
in breadth, comprising about 12,570 acres, of which