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BARR
(1841) 950, (1861) 910, (1871) 672, (1881) 600.— Ord.
Sur., sh. 8, 1863.
Barr, a stream of Killean parish, Eintyre, Argyllshire.
It rises on the NE side of Cruach Mhie-an-t-Saoir (1195
feet), and rnns 8£ miles S by W and SW to the
Atlantic, which it enters 1§ mile S by E of Glencardoch
Point. It contains salmon and trout, and is preserved.
Barr, a hill in St Mungo parish, Dumfriesshire,
situated at the side of the river Milk.
Barr, an estate, with a mansion, in Lochwinnoch
parish, Renfrewshire. The mansion stands in the south-
western vicinity of Lochwinnoch village ; and was re-
built, in the latter part of last century, on the site of a'
previous mansion. An oblong, four-story, roofless
tower, stands on an emiuence near the mansion ; has
both slits for arrows and ports for guns ; and appears,
from the style of its architecture, to have been built in
the 15th century. A lake lay adjacent, but has been
drained.
Barra. See Bouetie.
Barra or Barray, an island and an insular parish of
the Outer Hebrides, Inverness-shire. The island, measur-
ing at the nearest, lies 4§ miles SSW of South Uist, 13
NNE of Barra Head in Bernera, 36 W of Rum, and 58
W by N of Arasaig. It has a post and telegraph office
under Lochmaddy, in North Uist, 63 miles to the NNE ;
a ferry-boat, with the mails, plies twice a week from
Polachar Inn, South Uist ; and a weekly steamer calls
at Bayherivagh and Castle. The island's length from N
to S is about 8 miles, and its greatest breadth is 5 ; but
its outline is exceedingly irregular, broken by headlands
and inlets. The western coast includes two or three
sandy bays, but elsewhere presents to the Atlantic a
series of high rocky cliffs, torn with fissures and pierced
with caves. The eastern coast also is both sandy and
rocky, but includes several bays, which serve as good
harbours. The surface comprises some low rich meadow
laud, and fertile vales and hollows, but mainly consists of
highish hills, clothed to the top with good pasture.
Springs of excellent fresh water are plentiful ; and there
are four freshwater lakes, none much exceeding h mile
iu length, and all stocked with small black trout and
eels. The prevailing rock is coarse granite. Barra
House, a commanding modern mansion, stands at
Eoligary, in a sheltered situation, and is surrounded by
highly improved lands. Kismull Castle, the ancient
residence of the M'Neills of Barra, crowns a rocky islet,
in the middle of a beautiful bay, at the southern end of
the island, and is a structure some 60 feet high, with a
square corner tower overtopping the rest of the wall.
Numerous standing stones and Scandinavian ' duns,' or
watch towers, with several ruined pre-Reformation
chapels, are on the island ; but one stone Celtic monu-
ment found its way in 1880 to the Edinburgh Anti-
quarian Museum. This, 6 feet high, is sculptured with
a cross, crozier-bearing figures of the four Evangelists, a
lion, and two strange stork-like figures, who are pecking
out the eyes of a human head. Pop. (1S41) 1977, (1S61)
1591, (1871) 1753, (1881) 18S7.
The parish includes also the inhabited islands of
Watersa, Sandera, Pabba, Mingala, Bernera, Helesa,
Fladda, and Fuda, and upwards of twelve uninhabited
islets. Comparatively compact, its islands and islets
are separated from one another only by narrow sounds
or straits ; and it extends south-south-westward in the
same direction as the main body of the Outer Hebrides,
and looks on the map as if forming a tail to that great
lizard-shaped group. Its greatest length, from the
northern extremity of Fuda, a little N of "Barra island to
Barra Head, in Bernera, is 24 miles ; its greatest breadth
across Barra to adjacent islets is 8 miles ; and its area
is estimated at 22,073 acres. The property all belonged
to the M'Neills, from time immemorial till December
1840 ; and was then sold to Colonel Gordon of Cluny for
£38,050. About 3922 acres of the entire area are arable
land, 1541 machir or sandy ground, 470| moss or
meadow, and 16,139i hill pasture. Fishing banks ex-
tend from the mouth of Loch Boisdale to Barra Head,
and give a great yield of cod and ling. So many as
BARRHEAD
about 80 boats, manned by 400 hands, belonging to the
parish, are usually employed in the fishery. Limpets,
mussels, cockles, whelks, clams, razor-fish, lobsters,
and crabs also abound on the coasts, and are taken in
great quantity. Cockles, in particular, have been taken
off the sands at low water, to the amount of from 100 to
200 horse-loads every day of the spring tides in the
months of May, June, July, and August ; and have, in
times of scarcity, formed no mean part of the subsistence
of the inhabitants. Some of the straits or narrow
sounds among the islands have capacity, depth, and
shelter to serve as harbours of refuge for ships of any
burden ; and two of them, Ottirvore in the far N and
Flodda a little more to the S, are much frequented
by ships to and from the Baltic. Barra Head, in the
extreme S, directs ships outward on the fair way to
America ; and is surmounted by a lighthouse, built in
1833 for £13,0S7 of a beautiful granite found close at
hand. The lighthouse rises to an altitude of 680 feet
above the level of high water ; shows an intermittent
light eclipsed during half a minute, bursting brightly
into view, continuing in sight during 2| minutes, and
visible at the distance of 33 nautical miles ; and, not-
withstanding its great elevation, is overarched by sea
spray during high westerly winds. Frequent com-
munication is maintained by boats or small vessels
with the Clyde. A cattle fair is held on the Friday
before the third Wednesday of July, and on the Friday
in September before South Uist. This parish is in
the presbytery of Uist and synod of Glenelg ; its
minister's income is £20S. The manse was built in
1S16, and the parish church near it, in the centre of
Barra island, was built about 1S34, and contains 250
sittings. There is also a Roman Catholic church, St
Barr's (1858 ; 500 sittings), whose Easter communicants
numbered 1015 in 18S0 ; and two public schools, Craig-
ston and Minglay, with respective accommodation for
15 and 37 children, had (1879) an average attendance of
38 and 29, and grants of £6, 14s. and £32, 6s. 6d.
Valuation (18S1)£20S0, Is. 2d., of which £190S, Is. 2d.
belonged to Mrs Gordon of Cluny. Pop. (1801) 1925,
(1821) 2303, (1831) 2097, (1841) 2363, (1861) 1853, (1S71)
1997, (1881) 2145.
Barraehuie. See Boeachuie.
Barras, a suburban village in Lochmaben parish, Dum-
friesshire, on the Dumfries and Lockerby railway, ad-
jacent to the N end of Lochmaben town. It contains
Lochmaben station and U. P. church.
Barras, a decayed old mansion in Dunnottar parish,
Kincardineshire, 3J miles SSW of Stonehaven. It was
the seat of the Ogilvies, whose ancestor governed and
defended Dunnottar Castle in the time of Cromwell, but
it is now an ordinary farm-house.
Barray. See Baeea and Bueray.
Barrel of Butter. See Oephie.
Barrhead (Gael, barr, 'point or upper part,' with its
English rendering, head, suffixed), a large but straggling
manufacturing village, chiefly in the N of Neilston parish,
but stretching also into that of Abbey. Standing on
Levern Water to the W of Ferneze Hill (585 feet), it is
S-J miles SSE of Paisley by road, and has a station on a
joint section of the Caledonian and Glasgow & South-
Western r-ailways, 8| miles SW of Glasgow, and 14f
NNE of Kilmarnock. It was founded about 1773, and
its growth has been rapid, its one main street, about
half a mile long, being now connected with the populous
suburbs of Grahamston, Arthurlie, Newton, etc. , whilst
its present industries comprise the printing of shawls
and calicoes, cotton-spinning, dyeing, bleaching, iron
and brass founding, and machine-making. Barrhead
has a post office under Glasgow, with money order, sav-
ings' bank, and telegraph departments, branches of the
Bank of Scotland and the Union Bank, 13 insurance
agencies, an hotel, a public hall, a mechanic's institute
with a good library, a gas company, an agricultural
society, and a Saturday paper, the Renfrewshire In-
dependent (1856). Justice of Peace courts sit on the first
Monday of every month ; and a fair is held on the last
Friday a.nd Saturday of June. In the presbytery of
131
(1841) 950, (1861) 910, (1871) 672, (1881) 600.— Ord.
Sur., sh. 8, 1863.
Barr, a stream of Killean parish, Eintyre, Argyllshire.
It rises on the NE side of Cruach Mhie-an-t-Saoir (1195
feet), and rnns 8£ miles S by W and SW to the
Atlantic, which it enters 1§ mile S by E of Glencardoch
Point. It contains salmon and trout, and is preserved.
Barr, a hill in St Mungo parish, Dumfriesshire,
situated at the side of the river Milk.
Barr, an estate, with a mansion, in Lochwinnoch
parish, Renfrewshire. The mansion stands in the south-
western vicinity of Lochwinnoch village ; and was re-
built, in the latter part of last century, on the site of a'
previous mansion. An oblong, four-story, roofless
tower, stands on an emiuence near the mansion ; has
both slits for arrows and ports for guns ; and appears,
from the style of its architecture, to have been built in
the 15th century. A lake lay adjacent, but has been
drained.
Barra. See Bouetie.
Barra or Barray, an island and an insular parish of
the Outer Hebrides, Inverness-shire. The island, measur-
ing at the nearest, lies 4§ miles SSW of South Uist, 13
NNE of Barra Head in Bernera, 36 W of Rum, and 58
W by N of Arasaig. It has a post and telegraph office
under Lochmaddy, in North Uist, 63 miles to the NNE ;
a ferry-boat, with the mails, plies twice a week from
Polachar Inn, South Uist ; and a weekly steamer calls
at Bayherivagh and Castle. The island's length from N
to S is about 8 miles, and its greatest breadth is 5 ; but
its outline is exceedingly irregular, broken by headlands
and inlets. The western coast includes two or three
sandy bays, but elsewhere presents to the Atlantic a
series of high rocky cliffs, torn with fissures and pierced
with caves. The eastern coast also is both sandy and
rocky, but includes several bays, which serve as good
harbours. The surface comprises some low rich meadow
laud, and fertile vales and hollows, but mainly consists of
highish hills, clothed to the top with good pasture.
Springs of excellent fresh water are plentiful ; and there
are four freshwater lakes, none much exceeding h mile
iu length, and all stocked with small black trout and
eels. The prevailing rock is coarse granite. Barra
House, a commanding modern mansion, stands at
Eoligary, in a sheltered situation, and is surrounded by
highly improved lands. Kismull Castle, the ancient
residence of the M'Neills of Barra, crowns a rocky islet,
in the middle of a beautiful bay, at the southern end of
the island, and is a structure some 60 feet high, with a
square corner tower overtopping the rest of the wall.
Numerous standing stones and Scandinavian ' duns,' or
watch towers, with several ruined pre-Reformation
chapels, are on the island ; but one stone Celtic monu-
ment found its way in 1880 to the Edinburgh Anti-
quarian Museum. This, 6 feet high, is sculptured with
a cross, crozier-bearing figures of the four Evangelists, a
lion, and two strange stork-like figures, who are pecking
out the eyes of a human head. Pop. (1S41) 1977, (1S61)
1591, (1871) 1753, (1881) 18S7.
The parish includes also the inhabited islands of
Watersa, Sandera, Pabba, Mingala, Bernera, Helesa,
Fladda, and Fuda, and upwards of twelve uninhabited
islets. Comparatively compact, its islands and islets
are separated from one another only by narrow sounds
or straits ; and it extends south-south-westward in the
same direction as the main body of the Outer Hebrides,
and looks on the map as if forming a tail to that great
lizard-shaped group. Its greatest length, from the
northern extremity of Fuda, a little N of "Barra island to
Barra Head, in Bernera, is 24 miles ; its greatest breadth
across Barra to adjacent islets is 8 miles ; and its area
is estimated at 22,073 acres. The property all belonged
to the M'Neills, from time immemorial till December
1840 ; and was then sold to Colonel Gordon of Cluny for
£38,050. About 3922 acres of the entire area are arable
land, 1541 machir or sandy ground, 470| moss or
meadow, and 16,139i hill pasture. Fishing banks ex-
tend from the mouth of Loch Boisdale to Barra Head,
and give a great yield of cod and ling. So many as
BARRHEAD
about 80 boats, manned by 400 hands, belonging to the
parish, are usually employed in the fishery. Limpets,
mussels, cockles, whelks, clams, razor-fish, lobsters,
and crabs also abound on the coasts, and are taken in
great quantity. Cockles, in particular, have been taken
off the sands at low water, to the amount of from 100 to
200 horse-loads every day of the spring tides in the
months of May, June, July, and August ; and have, in
times of scarcity, formed no mean part of the subsistence
of the inhabitants. Some of the straits or narrow
sounds among the islands have capacity, depth, and
shelter to serve as harbours of refuge for ships of any
burden ; and two of them, Ottirvore in the far N and
Flodda a little more to the S, are much frequented
by ships to and from the Baltic. Barra Head, in the
extreme S, directs ships outward on the fair way to
America ; and is surmounted by a lighthouse, built in
1833 for £13,0S7 of a beautiful granite found close at
hand. The lighthouse rises to an altitude of 680 feet
above the level of high water ; shows an intermittent
light eclipsed during half a minute, bursting brightly
into view, continuing in sight during 2| minutes, and
visible at the distance of 33 nautical miles ; and, not-
withstanding its great elevation, is overarched by sea
spray during high westerly winds. Frequent com-
munication is maintained by boats or small vessels
with the Clyde. A cattle fair is held on the Friday
before the third Wednesday of July, and on the Friday
in September before South Uist. This parish is in
the presbytery of Uist and synod of Glenelg ; its
minister's income is £20S. The manse was built in
1S16, and the parish church near it, in the centre of
Barra island, was built about 1S34, and contains 250
sittings. There is also a Roman Catholic church, St
Barr's (1858 ; 500 sittings), whose Easter communicants
numbered 1015 in 18S0 ; and two public schools, Craig-
ston and Minglay, with respective accommodation for
15 and 37 children, had (1879) an average attendance of
38 and 29, and grants of £6, 14s. and £32, 6s. 6d.
Valuation (18S1)£20S0, Is. 2d., of which £190S, Is. 2d.
belonged to Mrs Gordon of Cluny. Pop. (1801) 1925,
(1821) 2303, (1831) 2097, (1841) 2363, (1861) 1853, (1S71)
1997, (1881) 2145.
Barraehuie. See Boeachuie.
Barras, a suburban village in Lochmaben parish, Dum-
friesshire, on the Dumfries and Lockerby railway, ad-
jacent to the N end of Lochmaben town. It contains
Lochmaben station and U. P. church.
Barras, a decayed old mansion in Dunnottar parish,
Kincardineshire, 3J miles SSW of Stonehaven. It was
the seat of the Ogilvies, whose ancestor governed and
defended Dunnottar Castle in the time of Cromwell, but
it is now an ordinary farm-house.
Barray. See Baeea and Bueray.
Barrel of Butter. See Oephie.
Barrhead (Gael, barr, 'point or upper part,' with its
English rendering, head, suffixed), a large but straggling
manufacturing village, chiefly in the N of Neilston parish,
but stretching also into that of Abbey. Standing on
Levern Water to the W of Ferneze Hill (585 feet), it is
S-J miles SSE of Paisley by road, and has a station on a
joint section of the Caledonian and Glasgow & South-
Western r-ailways, 8| miles SW of Glasgow, and 14f
NNE of Kilmarnock. It was founded about 1773, and
its growth has been rapid, its one main street, about
half a mile long, being now connected with the populous
suburbs of Grahamston, Arthurlie, Newton, etc. , whilst
its present industries comprise the printing of shawls
and calicoes, cotton-spinning, dyeing, bleaching, iron
and brass founding, and machine-making. Barrhead
has a post office under Glasgow, with money order, sav-
ings' bank, and telegraph departments, branches of the
Bank of Scotland and the Union Bank, 13 insurance
agencies, an hotel, a public hall, a mechanic's institute
with a good library, a gas company, an agricultural
society, and a Saturday paper, the Renfrewshire In-
dependent (1856). Justice of Peace courts sit on the first
Monday of every month ; and a fair is held on the last
Friday a.nd Saturday of June. In the presbytery of
131
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