Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

AEDROSSAN
ficent as would have rendered them almost the finest in
Britain ; but, far exceeding the estimates, they were
brought to a standstill in 1815, over £100,000 having
already been expended, and Telford and Eennie requir-
ing £300,000 more. They were not resumed till 1833,
when the thirteenth earl came of age, and then were
completed on a greatly reduced though still considerable
scale, the total cost being upwards of £200,000, and the
harbour comprising two tidal basins of 6 and 18 acres,
and a wet-dock of 4 acres, with 19 feet at high water
over the lock -sill. The whole is well supplied with steam-
cranes and other appliances for loading and discharging ;
whilst a lighthouse with white flashing light stands at
the N¥ point of the outer breakwater, and a beacon tower
on sheltering Horse Island, a low and grassy islet of some
12 acres, lying | mile to the WW. At first a sub-port
of Irvine, Ardrossan was constituted a head port in 1858,
and at the close of 1880 had on its register 108 sailing
vessels of 12,553 and 11 steamers of 3547 tons, against
an aggregate tonnage of 10,326 in 1S60, 11,396 in'lS64,
12,173 in 1869, and 12,943 in 1874. The following table
gives the tonnage of vessels that entered and cleared from
and to foreign and colonial ports and coastwise, in cargoes
and also — for the three last years — in ballast : —
Entered.
Cleared.
1864
1869
1874
1S79
18S0
British.
Foreign.
Total.
British.
Foreign.
Total.
76,038
66,224
273,135
396,905
349,167
934
2804
20,921
13,30S
11,126
76,972
69,028
294,056
410,213
360,293
268,385
245,798
276,107
3S9.872
354,901
26,238
19,341
20,583
14,515
10,822
294,623
265,139
296,690
404.3S7
365,723
Of the total, 3117 vessels of 360,293 tons, that entered
in 1880, 1062 of 210,917 tons were steamers, 2155 of
175,132 tons were in ballast, and 3055 of 339,011 tons
were coasters ; whilst the total, 3070 of 365,723 tons, of
those that cleared, included 1067 steamers of 212,098
tons, 449 vessels in ballast of 43,937 tons, and 2913
coasters of 307,991 tons. The principal foreign trade is
with France, the United States, Spain, and Portugal; and
imports are timber, grain, limestone, iron ore (S66S tons in
1878, 1407 in 1879), and pyrites (14,643 tons in 1879) ;
exports being coal (221,567 tons coastwise, 66,230 to
foreign countries, in 1879) and pig-iron. In 1879 the
total value of foreign and colonial imports was £53,671
(£115,900 in 1S76), of exports £95,543, and of customs
£66. A floating dock and a patent slip can each accom-
modate ships of 500, and a graving-dock ships of 1500,
tons ; and here during 1875-80, 22 sailing vessels of
1392 tons were built. Fishing employs 15S boats of
767 tons ; and there are 6 timber yards, a large iron
foundry, 3 iron-works, besides 3 sail-making, 2 nail-
making, and 3 block and pump establishments. A grain
market is held every Thursday, and a fair on the second
Tuesday of June. Pop. (1837) 920, (1851) 2071, (1861)
3192, (1871) 3845, (1881) 4009.
The parish contains also the western portion of Salt-
coats. Bounded N by Dairy, E by Kilwinning, SE by
Stovenston, SW by the Firth of Clyde, and W by West
Kilbride, it has an extreme length from N to S of 4f
miles, a varying breadth of 1J and 2§ miles, and an area
of 7145J acres, of which 435| are foreshore and 41^
water. Montfode and Stanley Burns descend to the
shore to W and E of the town, and Caaf "Water with
its affluent the Munnock Burn traces most of the
northern boundary ; Knockdewart Loch (If x J fur-
long), in the NW, is the only lake of the interior,
Ashmore Loch ( J x J mile) lying just within Stevenston.
The surface has a general northward rise, attaining 208
feet near the ruins of Montfode or Montfort Castle
(If mile NW of the town), 237 near Sorbie, 464 on
Knockrivock Mount, 351 on Moss Mulloch, 500 near
Drumcastle Mill, 356 near Low Dykehead, 536 near
Coalhill, and 794 on the cairn-crowned KnockdewartHills.
The rocks are chiefly of the Carboniferous formation, in-
cluding coal and ironstone, neither of them worked,
68
ARDVARE
and excellent limestone and sandstone. Trap rocks,
too, at the town, eruptive through the carboniferous
strata, were largely quarried for the breakwater. The
soil is generally light and sandy between the shore and
the foot of the hills, and a stiffish clay on the uplands,
but almost everywhere has been long and highly culti-
vated. Much the largest proprietor is the Earl of Eglin"-
ton, owner in the shire of 23,631 acres of an annual
value of £49,551 (£9520J for minerals, £45254 for
harbour works) ; but 4 other landowners hold within
Ardrossan a yearly value of £500 and upwards, 25 of
between £100 and £500, 46 of from £50 to £100, and
114 of from £20 to £50. In the presbytery of Irvine
and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, the civil parish is
divided between two quoad sacra parishes — New Parish,
consisting of the town, and Ardrossan parish, including
all the rest, together with a bit of West Kilbride.
Ardrossan parish has its church at Saltcoats, a living
worth £403 per annum, and a population (1871) of
3420. Valuation of civil parish (1843) £11,775, (I860)
£23,077, (1880) £39,904, 12s., including £2420 for rail-
ways. Pop. (1801) 1S46, (1821) 3200, (1841) 4947, (1861)
6776, (1871) 7221, (1881) 7687.— Orel. Sur., sh. 22, 1865.
Ardrosser. See Ardersier.
Ardscalpsie, a headland in the W of the Isle of Bute,
flanking the N side of Scalpsie Bay, 2 miles ESE of the
S end of Inchmarnock.
Ardshiel, an estate, with a mansion, in the N of Appin,
Argyllshire. The mansion stands to the W of Kentallen
Bay, below the junction of Lochs Linnhe and Leven,
and belongs to a descendant of the Stewarts of Appin.
Its owner led 300 Appin Highlanders in the rebellion of
1745, sharing prominently in the action of Culloden,
and in the perils which followed. A cave in the side of a
deep ravine, overhung by Benavere, was his hiding-
place for about three months. The cave adjoins a rush-
ing waterfall, which screens it so perfectly, as by a
curtain, that no stranger coming near it would suspect
its existence. Sir Walter Scott, in boyhood, was a
frequent visitor at Ardshiel, and he afterwards drew,
from recollections of its scenery, some portions of the
imagery which enriches his works.
Ardstinchar. See Ballantrae.
Ardtalnaig, a hamlet in Kenmore parish, Perthshire,
on the SE shore of Loch Tay, 9-| miles NE of Killin.
A public school at it, with accommodation for 86
children, had (1S79) an average attendance of 30, and a
grant of £41, 12s.
Ardtella, a small headland and a small bay in Kildalton
parish, Argyllshire, near the middle of the E side of Islay.
Ardtoe, a small bay on the N side of Ardnamurchan
proper, in Argyllshire. It has a small pier, and it
affords safe harbourage to small coasting vessels.
Ardtornish. See Artornish.
Ardtun, a grand basaltic headland in the SW of
Mull, Argyllshire, projecting from the N side of the
Ross of Mull, at the mouth of Loch Scriden. It is
cut by a wild ravine, called the Goblins' Dell ; it rises
to a height of about 130 feet ; it shows basaltic scarcely
inferior to those of Staffa ; and it includes a thin stratum
of coal beneath its basalt, and three leaf beds aggregately
about 6 feet thick, and probably belonging to the
middle portion of the geognostic Tertiary period. Dr
Johnson, when on his way from Inch Kenneth to Iona,
greatly admired its columnar formation ; and Dr Mae-
culloch, the present Duke of Argyll, and the late Pro-
fessor Edward Forbes, made interesting investigations
into its geological peculiarities.
Ardullie, a seat of Sir Charles Munro of Foulis,
Bart., in the E of Ross-shire, 3 miles from Evanton.
Arduthie, an estate in the SE of Fetteresso parish,
Kincardineshire. It was purchased, about the year
1759 for £1500, and long prior to the year 1842 it
yielded an annual rental of £1000. The New Town of
Stonehaven was built upon it, and was long called the
Links of Arduthie.
Ardvare, a sea-loch, with a small harbour in the IS W
of Assynt parish, Sutherland, immediately S of Kyle-
Sku, and 9 miles by land NNE of Loch Inver.