Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

BRODIE
terrace, amid a splendid park, on the N side of the bay ;
belongs to the Duke of Hamilton, the proprietor of most
of Arran ; is chiefly a modern structure, in the old
Baronial style, with steep crow-stepped gables, battle-
mented roofs, flanking turrets, and a lofty central tower ;
and, together with its park, figures picturesquely and
proudly on the seaboard. A fortalice on its site existed
in the times of the Norse invaders and of the Lords of
the Isles ; a reconstruction or an extension of that for-
talice was an object of contention in the wars of Bruce
and Baliol ; and some portion of the mediaeval structure
is retained in the walls of the present edifice. The quoad
sacra parish is in the presbytery of Eintyre and synod
of Argyll. Stipend, £120. Pop. of q. s. parish (1871)
1104, (1881) 996; of registration district (1S71) 928,
(1881) 837.
Brodie, an estate, with a mansion and a station, in
Dyke and Moy parish, W Elginshire. Brodie Castle, in
the southern vicinity of the station, and near the Nairn-
shire boundary, is an irregular castellated edifice, partly
old and partly modern ; a predecessor, Brodie House,
was burned by Lord Lewis Gordon in 1645. For more
than 500 years the Brodies have held the estate, the
present representative, Hugh Fife Ashley Brodie, Esq.
(b. 1840 ; sue. 1873), owning 4728 acres" in the shire,
valued at £2172 per annum. The station is on the
Highland railway, 3J miles W by S of Forres.
Brodie's Cairn, a tumulus on Towie farm, in Aberdour
parish, N Aberdeenshire. It is said to cover one quarter
of a farmer who murdered his mother ; and three other
cairns, of the same name, formerly w"ere near it.
Brodiesord. See Foedyce.
Brogaig, a village in the W of Skye, Inverness-shire.
Its post-town is Kilmuir under Portree.
Brogar-Bridge, a bridge over the water-isthmus be-
tween the two parts of Loch Stenness, in the SW of the
mainland of Orkney. It is situated 9^ miles W of Kirk
wall ; and it takes across the road thence to Sandwick.
Broich, an estate and a burn in Kippen parish, Stir-
lingshire and Perthshire. The mansion on the estate
adjoins the burn, and has adjacent to it one of the finest
yew-trees in Scotland. The burn issues from Loch Leg-
gan on Kippen Moor ; has been employed in floating
away patches of moss ; and runs along a beautiful glen
or vale to the Forth.
Broich, an estate, with a mansion, in Crieff parish,
Perthshire, f mile S of the town. The mansion,
enlarged by a wing in 1881, is the seat of Alex.
MacLaurin Monteath, Esq. (b. 1834 ; sue. 1880). An
ancient Caledonian standing stone is on the estate ; and
two larch-trees, overshadowing a circle of 12 yards in dia-
meter, were on it in 1860, when their site, being trenched
and levelled, was found to inhume two ancient stone
cists, one of them containing human remains and an urn.
Brolum, a sea-inlet, about 2$ miles long, on the SE
coast of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Ross-shire, about 8 miles
ENE of Loch Seaforth.
Bronach, a burn in Laggan parish, Inverness-shire.
It is a mere runnel in dry weather, but it becomes a volu-
minous and destructive torrent after a few hours of heavy
rain.
Brony, a rivulet in the E of Aberdeenshire. It rises
on the confines of Bourtie and Udny parishes, and runs
about 7 miles north-eastward to the river Ythan on the
W border of Ellon parish.
Broom, a village near the W border of Aberdeenshire.
Its post-town is Rhynie under Aberdeen.
Broom, a small village in the Moy district of Dyke
and Moy parish, Elginshire.
Broom, a farm in Cummertrees parish, Dumfriesshire.
A field at it, called Brace's Acres, is said to have been
the scene of a severe repulse of Robert Bruce by the Eng-
lish, through the treachery of a blacksmith. A quan-
tity of human bones and several swords were found not
long ago in a neighbouring moss.
Broom, a lake on the mutual border of Moulin,
Logierait, and Dowally parishes, Perthshire, 4J miles E
of Pitlochry. Lying 1000 feet above sea-ievel, it has
an extreme length and breadth of 5i and 2 furlongs;
192
BROOMHILL
and it is famed for its trout, as good and large as those
of Loch Leven.
Broom, a river and a sea-loch of NW Ross-shire. The
river, rising among the Dim Mountains, issues in two
head-streams from two lakes 6 miles asunder, Lochs
Bhraoin and Droma. Uniting its head-streams at
a point 3J miles NE and 4£ WNW of those lakes,
it thence runs 4J miles N by W to the head of Loch
Broom proper in the vicinity of Lochbroom church,
and has throughout a rapid current. The sea-loch
(Ptolemy's Volsas Bay), opening from the Minch,
with a width of 12J miles, goes 7 miles south-eastward
with very little diminution of its width ; and is sprinkled,
over these 7 miles, with Summer isles, Priest island,
Gruinard island, Horse island, Du island, and a number
of islets and skerries. It ramifies into Loch Broom proper
in the N, Little Loch Broom in the middle, and Gruin-
ard Bay in the S. Loch Broom proper commences with a
width of 4 miles, goes 5 miles south-eastward with a
maximum width of 4f , and a mean width of about 4
miles ; suddenly contracts to a width of about 1 mile,
and goes 9J miles south-eastward and south-south-east-
ward, with a mean width of about J mile, to Loch-
broom church. Nearly all the loch, in both the larger
and the proper sense, presents a picture of singular love-
liness. Rocky promontories and sweeps of wood diversify
its shores ; abrupt lofty mountains, with strong features,
striking flexures, and bold amassments, form its cincture ;
and Benmore of Coigach, one of the most remarkable
mountains in the Highlands, for both contour and
colour, occupies the middle portion of the N flank.
Little Loch Broom goes 9i miles south-eastward, with a
mean breadth of about 1 mile, and is separated from
Big Loch Broom by a peninsula from 2 to 4 miles wide,
commencing in Cailleach Head, and comprising the
mountains Ben Goleach (2074 feet) and Ben-nam-Ban
(1893).— Ord. Sur., sh. 92, 1881.
Broomfield, a station in Montrose parish, Forfarshire,
on the Montrose and Bervie railway, 1 J mile N of Mont-
rose town.
Broomhall, the seat of the Earl of Elgin, in Dunferm-
line parish, Fife. It stands on an elevated lawn, over-
looking Limekilns village, ^ mile N of the Firth of
Forth, and 2J miles S by W of Dunfermline town. An
elegant mansion, it contains the bed in which Charles I.
was born, and the sword and helmet of King Robert
Bruce, that sword with which Burns was knighted by
Mrs Brace of Clackmannan. The estate, called formerly
West Gellet, does not seem to have come into the posses-
sion of the Braces till the early part of the 17th century;
its present holder Victor Alex. Brace, ninth Earl of Elgin
(ere. 1633) and thirteenth Earl of Kincardine (ere. 1647),
was born in 1849 ; succeeded his father, the eminent diplo-
matist, in 1S63 ; and owns in the shire 2663 acres, valued
at £12,080 per annum, including £3710 for minerals.
Broomhall, a village on the E border of Perthshire, near
the boundary with Forfarshire. Its post-town is Long-
forgan, under Dundee.
Broomhill. See Lochmaben.
Broomhill, an estate, with a mansion, in the W of
Dalserf parish, Lanarkshire, 1 mile SSW of Larkhall.
It came into possession of John Hamilton, son of James,
first Lord Hamilton, in 1473, and with his descendants
it has since continued, its present owner being Wm, Hy.
M'Neill Hamilton of Raploch (b. 1827 ; sue. 1862). The
original residence was a bartisaned fortalice, 4 stories
high, and only 1 room wide ; bore the name of Auld
Machan Castle ; and was burned about 1570 by Sit
William Drury, governor of Berwick, but afterwards re-
paired. An old Romish chapel stood near it, in a field still
called Chapel-Rome ; was menaced with destruction by a
mob in 1563 ; was saved from their fury by the Lady
Hamilton of the period assuring them that she intended
to convert it into a barn ; and stood till 1724, when it
fell to the ground under its own weight. Excellent
sandstone for building is quarried on the estate.
Broomhill, a property of about S acres, with a large
mansion, at the mutual boundary of Stirlingshire and
Dumbartonshire, 1£ mile ENE of the meeting-point with