Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

CAIRNACAY
CAIRNGALL
entire length of course, from the sources of the Castle-
fern and the Dahvhat to the mouth of the Cluden, is
about 23 miles. Its scenery, in most parts, is finely
picturesque ; and its waters, in their lower reaches, con-
tain great store of excellent trout, some sea-trout and
herlings, a few pike, and a tolerable quantity of a peculiar
variety of salmon. — Ord. Sur., sh. 9, 1863.
Cairnacay, a hill-range (1605 feet) in Inveraven parish,
Banffshire, deflecting south-westward from Ben Rinnes,
and separating the lower or Ballindalloch section of In-
veraven from the upper or Glenlivet section.
Cairnaig or Carnach, a rivulet of Creich and Dornoch
parishes, SE Sutherland. Rising at 800 feet above sea-
level, it flows 11 J miles, southward and eastward, through
Lochs Cracail Mor, Cracail Beag, and Btjie, and falls
into the river Fleet at Torroboll, 1J mile above which
a salmon-ladder, 378 yards long, enables salmon to
ascend to Loch Buie, in spite of a fall more than 60 feet
high.— Ord. Sur., shs. 102, 103, 1881-78.
Cairnaire, a large and very ancient cairn in Inverness
parish, Inverness-shire, on the coast, a considerable way
within flood-mark, at some distance from the mouth of
the river Ness. It stands close to the fair way into In-
verness harbour ; and is surmounted by a beacon to warn
vessels against collision with it.
Cairnaqueen, an ancient tumulus in Crathie parish,
Aberdeenshire, about 1J mile \V of Crathie church. It
stands on the ground where the ancient clans of Deeside
used to gather for battle, and it furnished them with
their slogan or war-cry. It is now planted with thriv-
ing trees, and it commands a very fine view of Lochnagar.
Cairnavain, an ancient stone tumulus on the N bor-
der of Orwell parish, Kinross-shire. It crowns a spur
of the Ochil Hills, and was once so large that it furnished
many hundred cart-loads of stones for the building of
dykes about the year 1810, when it was found to contain
a rude stone coffin, with an urn full of bones, and with
a small bone ornament, and when it was earnestly but
vainly investigated for discovery of a supposed treasure,
indicated in an old-world rhyme : —
' In the Dryburn Well, beneath a stane,
You'll find the key of Cairnavain,
That will mak' a' Scotland rich ane by ane.'
Cairnban, a place on the Crinan Canal, in Argyllshire,
2J miles WNW of Lochgilphead. Nine locks are here
on the canal ; and occasion so much detention that
travellers by the passage-boats usually get out and walk.
An inn here serves as a good station for anglers.
Cairnbanno, a hamlet, with a public school, in New
Deer parish, Aberdeenshire. The school was a Madras
one : passed to jointly the parochial boards of New Deer,
Monquhitter, and Millbrex ; and, with accommodation
for 164 children, had (lS79)an average attendance of 97,
and a grant of £71, 6s.
Cairnbeddie, a hamlet in St Martin's parish, Perth-
shire, 6J miles NNE of Perth. A circular mound is
here, about 230 feet in diameter, surrounded by a moat
30 feet wide ; bore originally the name of Caerbed or
Caerbeth, signifying ' the Castle of Macbeth, ' and cor-
rupted into Cairnbeddie ; is traditionally said to have
been the site of a residence of Macbeth, prior to his
removing to Dunsinnan ; and, opened in 1822, was found
to inhume many sword-handles and small horse-shoes.
Cairnbran, a large cairn in Loth parish, Sutherland,
fabled to have been the place where Ossian's dog Bran
died and was buried.
Cairnbroe or Carnbroe. See Bothwell.
Cairnbulg, a headland, a fishing village, and an estate
in Rathen parish, Aberdeenshire. The headland is
situated 24 miles ESE of Fraserburgh, and 64 K¥ of
Rattray Head. The village stands immediately SE of
the headland, in the western vicinity of Inverallochy
village ; is included in Inverallochy quoad sacra parish ;
and carries on a herring fishery in connection with
Fraserburgh. The estate belonged anciently to the
Comyns ; was confiscated to the Crown, with their other
estates, in 1308 ; went by gift of Robert Bruce, in 1316,
to the Earl of Ross ; passed in 1375, to Sir Alexander
Fraser, ancestor of the Lords Saltoun ; and belongs now
to a branch of the family of Gordon. Its ancient mansion,
a strong baronial castle on Philorth Water, f mile from
the sea, seems to have been a structure of imposing
magnitude ; and is now represented mainly by a square
tower, which stood at the W angle ; has prodigiously
thick walls ; and figures conspicuously amid the flat
surrounding country.
Cairnburgbeg and Cairnburgmore, two of the five
principal isles of the Treshinish group in the Argyll-
shire Hebrides, 3 miles W of the mouth of Loch-Tua in
Mull, 5 NNW of Staffa, and 5J SE of Coll. Their
coasts, in general, are cliffs from 40 to 45 feet high ;
and their surfaces rise in hemispherical outline to an
altitude of about 300 feet above sea-level, and look, at
some distance, almost like models of two ancient shields.
A fortalice of the Macleans was on Cairnburgmore ; is
supposed to have been erected on the site of a Scandi-
navian work of the 13th century; became, at the time
of the Reformation, the receptacle of books and records
from Iona ; sustained a siege by a detachment of Crom-
well's army, with the result of destruction to the Iona
documents ; was the scene of repeated conflicts in the
rebellion of 1715 ; and is now in a state of ruin. A
barrack was built on Cairnburgbeg in the 17th century,
and, as to its walls, is still tolerably entire.
Cairnchunaig, a mountain on the mutual border of
Kincardine and Rosskeen parishes, Ross-shire. It has
an altitude of about 3000 feet above sea-level ; and
precious stones have been found on it similar to those
on the Cairngorm Mountains.
Cairncubie, copious springs in Dunfermline parish,
Fife, on the town-moor, about 1J mile NE of Dunferm-
line town. They supply Dunfermline with water, and
were first connected with the town by pipes about 1797.
Cairndow, a hamlet in Lochgoilhead parish, Argyll-
shire, on the E side of Loch F'yne, near its head, 9J
miles NE of Inverary. It has a good inn, enjoys regular
steamboat communication with Inverary, and is the
centre of a mission of the Church of Scotland ; at it
"Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy passed the night of
Aug. 29, 1804.
Cairness, an estate, with a mansion and a hamlet, in
Lonmay parish, NE Aberdeenshire. The mansion, on
the brow of a gentle acclivity, 1\ miles NE of Lonmay
station, was built in 1791-99, after designs by Jas. Play-
fair, at a cost of £25,000 ; is a handsome edifice in the
Grecian style, with tetrastyle Ionic portico ; and has fine
pleasure-grounds : its owner, Jas W. Gordon, Esq. (b.
1S24, sue. 1841), holds 4100 acres in the shire, valued
at £3476 per annum. The hamlet has a post office under
Aberdeen.
Cairney. See Cairnie.
Caimeyhill, a village on the S border of Carnock
parish, Fife, 1 mile E by N of Torryburn, and 3 miles
WSW of Dunfermline. It has a post office under Dun-
fermline, a U. P. church (1752 ; 400 sittings), a seminary
for young ladies, a public school, and a public library ;
most of its inhabitants are employed in the linen manu-
factory.
Cairnfield, an estate, with a mansion, in Rathven
parish, NW Banffshire, 1J mile SE of Portgordon. Its
owner, Jn. Gordon, Esq., holds 3175 acres in the shire,
valued at £1363 per annum.
Cairngall, an estate, with a mansion, and with exten-
sive granite quarries, in Longside parish, Aberdeenshire,
in the eastern vicinity of Longside village, and near the
Peterhead branch of the Formartine and Buchan rail-
way, 5 miles "W of Peterhead. The estate, so late as
1804, was little better than waste moorland ; but, prior
to 1841, was reclaimed and improved into a condition
of high productiveness and order. The quarries are
situated in a hill which rises about 60 feet above the
circumjacent ground ; they are worked to some distance
right into the hill, and then worked downward ; and
they have furnished some of the largest and finest blocks
for public works and public buildings in the kingdom.
They began to be worked, to any considerable extent, in
1808, when they were selected to furnish the blocks for
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