Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

CASTLE-KILCHURN
railway, and to the southern extremity of the lake,
3 miles E by S of Stranraer, and has a station on the
railway, a post office, and a public school. The lake
is cut so deeply by a peninsula, as sometimes to be
reckoned rather two lakes than one, called Black and
White Lochs, which extend parallel to each other, from
NNW to SSE, Black Loch having an utmost length and
breadth of 1| mile and 2| furlongs, White Loch of 7J
and 3J furlongs. Each contains an islet ; and on the
south-south-eastward peninsula between the two stands
the ruined mansion, included now in the beautiful
policies of Lochinch, a seat of the Earl of Stair. Built
by John, fifth Earl of Cassillis in 1607, it passed
about 1677, with the surrounding property, to Sir
John Dalrymple, afterwards Viscount Stair. It was a
stately square edifice, but, being accidentally destroyed
by fire in 1716, it was never restored. The ' dressed
grounds' were laid out by Field-Marshal Stair in the
Dutch style of landscape gardening, and, after some
forty years of neglect, have more than recovered their
former beauty since 1841. See pp. 99-103 of Vm,
M'llwraith's Wigtownshire (2d ed. 1875).
Castle-Kilchurn. See Kilchurn.
Castle-Lachlan, an estate, with a mansion, in Strachur
and Stralachlan parish, Argyllshire. The mansion,
built about 1790, near the old ruinous tower of the
chiefs of the Maclachlans, stands on the eastern shore of
Loch Fyne, 10J miles SSW of Inverary by water ; its
owner, Rt. Maclachlan, Esq. of that ilk (b. 1794 ; sue.
1817), holds 12,000 acres in the shire, valued at
£2006.
Castle-Law, a hill in Gifford parish, Haddingtonshire,
2f miles SSW of Gifford village. A northern spur of
the Lammermuirs, it rises to an altitude of 921 feet
above sea-level, and is crowned with an ancient circular
camp, measuring 370 by 337 feet within the ramparts.
Castle-Law, a conical hill (1026 feet) in Forgandenny
parish, SE Perthshire, 2 miles SSE of Forgandenny
village. On it are vestiges of a Scandinavian fort, 500
feet in diameter ; and it commands an extensive view.
Castle-Law, a summit of the Pentlands, in Glencross
parish, Edinburghshire, 3J miles NNW of Penicuik.
It has an altitude of 1595 feet above sea-level, and it
shows distinct vestiges of an ancient camp.
Castle-Law, a rising ground in Linton parish, NW
Peeblesshire, adjacent to West Water, 5 furlongs SSW
of Linton village. A cairn stood on it till about 1827,
and yielded a stone coffin, which seemed to have con-
tained the body of some very distinguished person.
Castle-Law, a hill (873 feet) on Venchen farm,
Yetholm parish, NE Roxburghshire, If mile N of Kirk
Yetholm. An ancient Caledonian camp on it has two
ramparts and two fosses, and measures 200 yards in
diameter.
Castle-Leod, a seat of the Countess of Cromartie (by
marriage Duchess of Sutherland), in Fodderty parish,
Ross-shire, 1 mile N of Strathpeffer. Built by Sir Rode-
rick Mackenzie (d. 1625), it was a principal seat of his
descendants, the Earls of Cromartie ; is a bartizaned and
turreted five-storied edifice, with walls, in many parts,
from 7 to 8 feet thick ; contains a hall or dining-room,
32 feet by 21, exclusive of recesses ; and presents a vener-
able and imposing appearance, with its ancient trees,
among them a Spanish chestnut, girthing 11\ feet at 1
foot from the ground. See Tarbat House.
Castle-Loch, a lake in Lochmaben parish, Dumfries-
shire, immediately SSE of Lochmaben town. In shape
resembling a[stone arrow-head, with apex pointing north-
north-westward, it has an extreme length and breadth
of f mile and 5J furlongs, and, as seen from the NE
with the Torthorwald hills on the sky-line, presents a
picturesque appearance. Both the site of the original
castle of the Bruces, and the scanty remains of the sub-
sequent castle so famous in history, are near its shores,
but will be noticed under Lochmaben. Its waters con-
tain ten kinds of fish, including loch trout, pike, perch,
roach, bream, chub, and vendace. The last of these, a
shy, small Teleostean, of the Salmonidae family, peculiar
to this lake and to Mill Loch, has drawn great attention
250
CASTLEPEAIRN
both from naturalists and from epicures ; and is preserved
and caught in sweep-nets once a year — on the third
Tuesday of July— by the Vendace Club.— Ord. Sur., sh.
10, 1864.
Castle-Lyon. See Borrowstotjnkess and Castle-
Huntly.
Castle-Maoil, a ruined, strong, square fortalice, on the
N coast of Strath parish, Isle of Skye, Inverness-shire,
contiguous to Kyle Akin village. It is said to have
been built by the wife of a Macdonald, the daughter
of a Norwegian king, for the purpose of exacting toll
from all vessels passing through Kyle Akin strait.
Castle-Mearnaig or Castle-Glensanda, a ruined for-
talice on the Kingerloeh coast of Lismore and Appin
parish, Argyllshire, crowning a conical rock, adjacent to
Glensanda Hill, opposite Castle-Coeffin. The rock on
which it stands is about 150 feet high, and 44 feet by 20
broad at the top. The castle occupies its entire summit ;
is an oblong building, 45 feet long, 20 wide, and 33
high ; and seems to be less ancient, as it is more entire,
than Castle-Coeffin.
Castle-Menzies, a mansion in Weem parish, Perth-
shire, in the valley of the Tay, on the southern slope of
Weem Hill (1638 feet), 1$ nrile WNW of Aberfeldy. A
large and splendid castellated edifice, it was built partly
in 1571, partly in 1S40, and has a spacious semicircular
park, containing some of the finest trees in Scotland.
Chief among them are the following, with height in feet
and girth at 1 foot from the ground : — 2 oaks (73, 15| ;
80, 14§), 4 beeches (95, 14i ; 85, 15J ; 80, 9i- ; 90, 144),
3 sycamores (104J, 25£ ; 90, 32^ ; 100, 18), 2 Spanish
chestnuts (60, 264. ; SO, 19 J), and an ash (83, 13^). See
Trans. Sighl. and Ag. Soc, 1879-81. Castle-Menzies is
a seat of Sir Rt. Menzies of that ilk, seventh Bart, since
1665 (b. 1817 ; sue. 1844), who owns 32,784 acres in the
shire, valued at £8554 per annum.
Castlemilk, an estate, with a mansion, in St Mungo
parish, Dumfriesshire, 3 miles SSE of Lockerbie. The
estate, which gave name to the parish in the 12th and
13th centuries, went from the Bruces by marriage, first
to the royalStewarts, next to the Maxwells of Nithsdale;
and, having passed by sale through many hands, is now
the property of Rt. Jardine, Esq. (b. 1826), M.P. for
Dumfries 186S-74, and for Dumfriesshire since 1880,
who owns 7714 acres in the shire, valued at £8598 per
annum. The mansion, on the left bank of Milk Water,
is a stately edifice, rebuilt in 1S66 on the site of a pre-
vious mansion of date 1796. The original castle was
built by one of the Bruces, and is said to have been
besieged by both the Protector Somerset and Oliver
Cromwell.
Castlemilk. See Carmttnxock.
Castle-na-Coir, a ruined feudal fortalice in Creich
parish, Sutherland, on a meadow above the mouth of
Cassley Water.
Castle-Newe, a mansion in Strathdon parish, W
Aberdeenshire, on the left bank of the Don, 10J miles
SW of Rhynie. Partly dating from 1604, it is chiefly a
handsome castellated edifice of 1831, with a central tower
So feet high. Its owner, Sir Chs. Jn. Forbes, fourth
Bart, since 1823 (b. 1S43 ; sue. 1877), holds 29,238
acres in the shire, valued at £5992 per annum.
Castle-O'er, Castle-Over, or Castle-Overbie, a Roman
camp in Eskdalemuir parish, NE Dumfriesshire. It
was an upper station, communicating by a causeway
with the camps of Middlebie and Netherbie; and was
long identified with a camp on a hill-top on Yetbyre
farm, near the confluence of the Black and White Esks.
That camp, however, is oval and apparently Saxon,
though interesting enough for its well-preserved condi-
tion. The true Castle-O'er is at the confluence of the
Rae Burn with the White Esk, about a mile above Esk-
dalemuir church ; and comprises, in its present state, an
area of 5£ acres, including an enclosed and fortified
space of 270 feet by 100, and distinctly retaining its
vallum and fosse, the latter 20 feet wide and 5 feet deep.
Castle-Park, a village in the parish and 1 mile from
the town of Auchterarder, Perthshire.
Castlephairn. See Castlefern.