Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 3

FOERES
worshippers. It stands on the site of the old church of
St Lawrence. There are a Free church (783 sittings), a
Gothic United Presbyterian church (1871), with several
stained-glass windows, superseding a building of date
1812, St John's Episcopal church (1840), Italian in
style, a Gothic Independent church (1866), an Evan-
gelical Union church, and a Baptist chapel (1860).
To the SE of the town is the wooded ridge of the
Cluny Hill, which belongs to the burgh, and is laid out
for the recreation of the inhabitants. The ridge is
covered with fine plantations, and walks wind along in
all directions amid the trees. There are three distinct
hills, and on the summit of the highest is an octagonal
tower, erected by public subscription in 1806 to com-
memorate Lord Nelson and his victories. It is 24 feet
in diameter, and 70 high. On panels on the outside
are inscribed ' In memory of Admiral Lord Nelson,'
'Nile, 1 August 1798,' 'Copenhagen, 2 April 1801,'
and 'Trafalgar, 21 August 1805.' There are a number
of floors, and the room on the first contains a marble
bust of Lord Nelson. The top is reached by a spiral
stair, and the view therefrom is magnificent. The
eye ranges over a wide expanse of country, beginning
with the richly wooded plains of Kinloss, Forres, and
Dyke and Moy, and passing over the Moray Firth to
the distant blue hills of Ross and Sutherland. On the
southern slope of the hill is the Cluny Hill Hydro-
pathic Establishment, admirably situated on dry soil,
■Nvith a sheltered and sunny exposure, and commanding
an extensive and fine view.
Forres has a head post office, with money order, sav-
ings' bank, insurance, and telegraph departments, offices
of the British Linen, National, Caledonian, and Eoyal
Banks, a National Security Savings' bank, agencies of
19 insurance companies, 9 hotels and inns, a branch of
the Bible Society, a number of religious and charitable
societies, a property investment company, 3 masonic
lodges, a cricket club, etc. There are also a woollen
manufactory, a chemical work, a bone-mill, two flour-
mills, a saw-mill, and a brewery. The Liberal Forres,
Elgin, and Nairn Gazette (1837) is published on Wed-
nesday ; the Independent Moray and Nairn Express
(1880) on Tuesday and Friday. A weekly market is held
on Tuesday, and fairs for cattle and other live stock are
held on the Tuesday before the third AVednesday of
January, February, March, and April, on the Tuesday
before the second Wednesday of Jlay, on the second
Tuesday of June, on the first Tuesday of August, on the
fourth Tuesday of September and October, and on the
Tuesday before the third Wednesday of November. A
lamb fair is held on the first Tuesday of July, and a fair
for fat stock on the Tuesday in December before the
London Christmas market. Hiring fairs are held on
the Saturday before 26 May, on the first Tuesday of
August, and on the Satiu'day before 22 November.
Justice of Peace courts sit on the first Monday of
each mouth, and the sheriff holds a small debt circuit
court on the second
Monday of Febru-
ary, AprU, June,
August, October,
and December.
The town is gov-
erned by a provost,
3 bailies, a dean of
guild, a treasurer,
and 11 councillors,
who, under the
LindsayAct,adopt-
ed in 1865, are also
commissioners of
police. The town
possesses extensive
lands, the bound-
ary of which, ex-
tending over about
15 miles, was officially perambulated in 1840. The arms
of the to^vn are Saint Lawrence (the patron saint)
in a long habit, holding a gridiron : round his heacl
Seal of Forres.
FORTEVIOT
is a nimbus, at his right side is a crescent, and at the
loft a star of six points ; in his right liand is a book.
The motto is Jcliova tii, miki Beus, quid deest ? Forres
unites with Inverness, Nairn, and Fortrose in return-
ing a member to parliament, its parliamentary and
municipal constituency numbering 407 in 1882. Cor-
poration revenue (1832) £620, (1854) £707, (1879)
£2235, (1881) £1715. Burgh valuation (1867) £7796,
(1875) £11,116, (1882) £14,498. Pop. of parliamentary
and police burgh (1851) 3468, (1861) 4112, (1871) 3959,
(1881) 4030, of whom 2257 were females, and 3110 were
in the royal burgh. — Ord. Sur., sh. 84, 1876.
Forrestfield, a North British station, at the N border
of Shotts parish, Lanarkshire, near the meeting-point
\rith Linlithgow and Stirling shires, 6J miles ENE of
Airdrie, and 8 W by S of Bathgate.
Forrestmill. See Foeestmill.
Forrig. See Fokgue.
Forsa, a rivulet of Torosay parish, MuU island, Argyll-
shire. Rising on the skirt of BentaUoch, it runs 6 J miles
north-north-westward along a glen called from it Glen-
forsa, and falls into the Sound of Mull at Pennygown,
where its width is 22 yards. It contains both salmon
and sea-trout, and is open to anglers from the Salen
Hotel. Glenforsa has an average width of J mile, and
is flanked by grassy or heathy hills, that rise with an
acclivity of 30 degrees.
Forse, an estate, with a mansion. In Latheron parish,
Caithness, 2i miles W of Lybster. Its owner, George
Sutherland, iEsq. (h. 1827 ; sue. 1846), holds 8000 acres
in the county, valued at £2482 per annum. Forse
fishing hamlet, 2 miles WSW of Lybster, has an inn ;
and on the cliffs here is the site of an old castle.
Forsinard, a station, an inn, and a post office in Reay
parish, E Sutherland, on the Sutherland and Caith-
ness railway, 20J miles SW of Halkirk, 24i NNW of
Helmsdale, and 35i WSW of Wick.
Forss, a stream and an estate of NW Caithness. Forss
Water, issuing from Loch Shurrery (321 feet), winds 12J
miles northward, through or along the borders of Reay,
Halkirk, and Thurso parishes, till it falls into the North
Sea at Crosskirk Bay. It is subject to great freshets, doing
much injury to the lands near its banks ; and is well
frequented by sea-trout and grUse. Forss House, near
the right bank of the stream, 5J miles W of Thurso
town, is the seat of Charles Wemyss Sinclair, Esq. (b.
1862; sue. 1376), who owns 12,700 acres in the county
valued at £5610 per annum. There is a post office of
Forss under Thurso. — Ord. Sur., sh. 115, 1878.
Fort Augustus. See Augustus Fokt.
Fort Charlotte. See Lerwick.
Forter, an ancient castle of the OgOvies in Glenisla
parish, Forfarshire, on the right bank of the Isla, 4
miles NNW of Kirkton of Glenisla. Commanding the
glen, together with passes leading to Glenshee and Brae-
mar, it was plundered and destroyed by the Earl (later
Marquis) of Argyll in July 1640 — the month of the
burning of the ' bonnie house of Airlie.' It appears to
have been a place of considerable size and strength ;
and is now represented by walls partly almost entire,
and partly ruinous. — Ord. Sur., sh. 56, 1870.
Forteviot, a village and a parish of SE Perthshire.
The village stands, 60 feet above sea-level, on the right
bank of May Water, i mile above its influx to the Earn,
and has a station on the Scottish Central section of the
Caledonian, 7 miles SW of Perth, under which there is
a post office of Forteviot. On a small eminence now
called the Halyhill, at the W end of the village, over-
hanging May Water, stood Fortevieth, the ancient
capital of Fortrenn. According to the legend of the
foundation of St Andrews, Angus mac Fergus, King of
the Picts (731-61), here built a church, his three sons
having already dedicated a tenth of the city to God and
St Andrew ; and in his palace here Kenneth mac Alpin
died in 860. Wynton records a cmious story that
Malcolm Ceannmor was an illegitimate son of King
Duncan by the miller of Forteviot's daughter : anyhow,
Forteviot was a favourite residence with Malcolm ; and
on the ' Miller's Acre,' near the Halyhill, Edward
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