Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

BEALACH-NAM-BO
is overhung to the S by Ben Attow (3383 feet), to the
NE by Scuir-na-Cairan (3771).
Bealach-nam-Bo (Gael. ' pass of the cattle '), a birch-
clad mountain-pass across the northern shoulder of Ben
Venue, in Aberfoyle parish, Perthshire. It appears to
have been formed by an earthquake stroke partially dis-
severing the mountain ; it resembles a terrace, overhang-
ing the S side of Loch Katrine, at an altitude of about
800 feet above the lake ; and, in the days of Highland
caterans, when the pass of the Trossachs could be
ascended only by a ladder, it was the route by which
stolen cattle were brought in from the Lowlands. Be-
tween the pass and the lake is a vast corrie, a deep
amphitheatre, at least 1800 feet wide, closed all round
by steep rocks, towering on two sides to a height of not
less than 500 feet. This was imagined by the High-
landers in olden times to be tenanted by ' urisks,'
fabulous creatures similar to the Grecian satyrs ; and it
bears the name of Coir-nan-Uriskin, or the Goblin's
Cave.
Beal-an-Duine, a spot near the entrance of the Trossachs
defile, on the southern border of Callander parish, Perth-
shire. It is pointed out as the veritable death-place of
Fitz-James' ' gallant grey ; ' and was the real scene of
a skirmish between a party of Cromwell's soldiers and
a band of marauders, receiving its name, which signifies
' the pass of the man, ' from the death of one of the
soldiers who fell in that skirmish.
Beallochantuy, a hamlet and a small bay of Killean
parish, Argyllshire, on the W side of Kintyre, 10 miles
NNW of Campbeltown.
Beannach, a lake on the mutual border of Rogart
and Clyne parishes, SE Sutherland, 6| miles N by E of
Rogart station. With extreme length and breadth of
i§ and 3 furlongs, it abounds in trout, averaging f lb.
Beanoch, a lake in Assynt parish, SW Sutherland, 4J
miles NE of Lochinver. It is 2 miles long, and from 1
to 3 furlongs wide, and teems with trout running 3 to
the lb.
Beansbum, a village in the parish, and 1 mile N of
the town, of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.
Beanston, a former seat of the Earls of Wemyss (now
a farm-house) in Prestonkirk parish, Haddingtonshire,
2J miles ENE of Haddington.
Bearsden, a railway station near the meeting-point of
Lanark, Dumbarton, and Stirling shires, on the Glasgow
and Milngavie railway, 3J miles N of Maryhill.
Beath (Gael. ' birch-tree '), an inland parish of SW
Fife, intersected by the West Fife Mineral railway, and
touched by two sections of the North British system —
the Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee (1 mile) in the south-
eastern, and the Kinross-shire (9 furlongs) in the north-
eastern corner, with Cowdenbeath station on the former,
5J miles ENE of Dunfermline, and, on the latter, Kelty
station, 5 miles SSE of Kinross. It contains the mining
villages of Hill of Beath, £ mile NW of Crossgates
station ; Cowdenbeath, 3 furlongs N by W of Cowden-
beath station, with a post office, having money order,
savings' bank, and telegraph departments ; Kelty, 7 fur-
longs W of Kelty station ; Oakfield, i mile SSE of Kelty ;
and Lassodie, in the W, with a post office under Dun-
fermline, from which it is 4J miles NNE.
Bounded NW by Dunfermline and Cleish in Kinross-
shire, NE by Ballingry and Auchterderran, SE by Auch-
tertool, Aberdour, and Dunfermline, and SW by Dun-
fermline, Beath has a varying length from E by N to
W by S of 2§ and 4§ miles, an extreme breadth from
N by W to S by E of 3J miles, and an area of 6401J
acres, of which 56§ are water. Shallow Loch Fifty (1
by J mile) lies partly within the south-western border,
and Lochfitty Burn runs out of it through the interior
and along the Ballingry boundary on its way to the
eastward-flowing Ore, which, with another affluent,
Lochornie Burn, traces all the north-western and part
of the north-eastern border. The surface has a general
westward rise, from less than 300 feet above sea-level in
the furthest E to 412 near Hilton, 587 near Leuchars-
beath, 575 near Coeklaw, 710 near Thornton, and 705 at
the wide-looking Hill of Beath, in the SW corner of the
136
BEAULY
parish. The formation is mainly Limestone Carboniferous,
and, whilst the limestone has to some extent been worked,
five collieries were active here in 1879— Beath and Blair-
adam, Clarkstone, Cowdenbeath, Hill of Beath, and
Lassodie. The soil is for the most part cold and stiff ;
and, though there are highly-cultivated farms, as Hilton
(460 acres) and the Mains of Beath (300), their rental is
low, that of the former in 1875 being only £375. Eight
proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and up-
wards, 11 of between £100 and £500, 6 of from £50 to
£100, and 12 of from £20 to £50. The Queen, on her
first visit to Scotland, changed horses at Cowdenbeath,
6 Sept. 1842 ; but the most curious chapter in Beath's
history is quoted in the New Statistical from the old
register of 1640, whence it appears how the poor kirk,
which had been the first place of meeting that ever the
Protestant Lords of Scotland had for the Covenant and
Reformation, fell into decay, and how about that time
it was rebuilt by Mr Alexander Collville of Blair, who
was mightily stirred by beholding from his own window
the piping and dancing of the poor people on the Sab-
bath, their revelling and deboshing, drinking, excess,
and riot, — the younger men playing at football, falling
out, and wounding one another, and the older sort play-
ing at games and the works of their several callings.
Beath is in the presbytery of Dunfermline and synod of
Fife ; its minister's income is £245. The present parish
church, a handsome edifice (built 1835), stands 1 mile
WNW of Cowdenbeath, 2 SSE of Kelty ; and there are
3 Free churches (in Kinross presbytery) at Cowdenbeath,
Kelty, and Lassodie, besides a Baptist church at Cowden-
beath. Three public schools — Cowdenbeath, Kelty, and
Lassodie — with respective accommodation for 500, 300,
and 250 children, had (1879) an average attendance of 529,
243, and 186 children, and grants of £463, 15s., £212, 3s.
6d., and £114, 7s. 6d. Valuation (1865) £11,782, 2s.,
(1881) £21,492, 14s. 2d. Pop. (1801) 613, (1821) 729,
(1831) 921, (1841) 973, (1851) 1252, (1861) 2390, (1871)
3534, (1881) 5422.— Orel. Sur., sh. 40, 1867.
Beattock, a station in Kirkpatrick Juxta parish, Dum-
friesshire, on the Caledonian, 33j miles SSE of Carstairs
Junction, and 2 miles SSW of Moffat, with which it
communicates by omnibus, and with which, according
to a Bill now (1881) before Parliament, it is to be con-
nected by a branch line, 1| mile long (capital £16,000
in £10 shares). Situated in the vale of Evan Water,
which is also traversed by the Glasgow and Carlisle high-
road, it has in its vicinity Beattock Hill (851 feet), the
Beattock Bridge hotel (where a great sale of Cheviot
rams is held on the day before Moffat September tup
fair), Beattock House, and Craigielands village, with a
post office under Moffat.
Beaufort Castle, the seat of Simon Fraser, fifteenth
Lord Lovat (b. 1828 ; sue. 1875), in Kiltarlity parish,
Inverness-shire, on the right bank of the river Beauly,
adjacent to Kilmorack Falls, 13 miles WSW of Inverness,
and 4 SSW of Beauly. An ancient baronial fortalice
here appears on record so early as the reign of Alexander
I. (1107-24) ; was besieged by the English in 1303 ; be-
longed originally to the Bissets, but passed, towards the
close of the 13th centmy, to the Frasers, ancestors of
Lord Lovat ; suffered capture and damage from Oliver
Cromwell ; and was burned and razed to the ground by
the Duke of Cumberland's army after the battle of Cul-
loden. The present edifice, said to be the thirteenth on
the site, was erected at great cost in 1882. It is a large
and stately edifice in the old Scottish Baronial style of
architecture, commanding a wide prospect of the Aird
country and the Beauly Firth ; and is surrounded by
extensive grounds of great beauty. Lord Lovat owns
in the shire 161,574 acres, valued at £2S,148 per
annum.
Beauly (French Beaulicu, ' beautiful place '), a village
in Kilmorack parish, Inverness-shire, with a station on
the Highland railway, 10 miles W of Inverness. A
burgh of barony, a sub-port, and a great tourists' centre,
it stands on the left bank of the Beauly river, a little
above its mouth ; presents a well-built, clean, and
pleasant appearance ; and has a post office, with money