Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 3

FORT GEORGE
Baliol's army encamped before the battle of Dutplin
(1332).
The parish, comprising the ancient parishes of Fort-
evict and Muckersie, consists of three separate portions
— the main body, containing the village ; the Kirkton
Hill section, immediately W of Craigend village, and 2
miles ENE of the main body ; and the Struie section,
1 J mile SE of the southern extremity of the main body.
The said main body is bounded N by Tibbermore and
Aberdalgie, E and SE by Forgandenny, SW by Dunning,
and W by Dunning and Findo Gask. Its utmost length,
from NNW to SSE, is 4| miles ; and its utmost breadth,
from E to W, is 2f miles. The Struie section (2^ x 1§
miles) is bounded E by Arngask, SE and SW by Orwell,
and on all other sides by Forgandenny ; and the Kirkton
Hill section (Ig x If mile) is bounded N and NE by
Perth, E by Dunbarny, S by Dunbarny and Forgan-
denny, and W by Aberdalgie. The area of the whole is
7952J acres, of which 2893§ belong to the detached
sections, and 167J are water. In the main body, the
Eakn winds 3| miles east-north-eastward, viz., 5 fur-
longs along the Findo Gask and Dunning border, next
1^ mile across the interior, then If mile along the
Aberdalgie border ; and its beautiful aiHuent, Mat
Water, after tracing J mile of the Forgandenny border,
runs 3 miles westward and north-by- westward through
the interior. Dupplin Lake (3 J x 2^ furl. ) lies, at an
altitude of 410 feet, towards the north-western corner.
Along the Earn the surface declines to close upon 30
feet above sea-level, thence rising to 431 feet near Upper
Cairnie and 504 near Invermay home farm. The Struie
section is drained by Slateford Burn to May Water,
which itself traces 44 furlongs of the north-western
border ; its surface, a portion of the Ochils, rises north-
ward from 500 feet to 1194 on Dochrie Hill at its
southern extremity. Lastly, the north-eastern section
attains 596 feet in Kirkton Hill, and is washed on the
S by the winding Earn. The rocks are chiefly eruptive
and Devonian ; and the soil along the Earn is of high
fertDity ; whilst the southern and north-western por-
tions of the main body are finely wooded. Invermay,
the chief mansion, is noticed separately ; and 4 pro-
prietors hold each an annual value of £500 and up-
wards, 5 of between £100 and £500, 2 of from £50 to
£100, and 2 of from £20 to £50. Forteviot is in the
presbytery of Perth and synod of Perth and Stirling ;
the living is worth £339. The church, at the village,
erected in 1778, contains 250 sittings ; and the old
church of Muckersie, on the May's left bank, 1 mile
ESE of Invermay, was long the burying-place of the
Belshes family. A public school, with accommodation
for 98 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 61,
and a grant of £62, 4s. 6d. Valuation (1843) £6301,
(1882) £8261, 13s. 6d. Pop. (1801) 786, (1831) 624,
(1861) 595, (1871) 567, (1881) 61S.—0rd. Sur., shs. 48,
40, 1868-67.
Fort George. See Geoege, Fokt.
Forth, a mining village and a quoad saara parish in
Carnwath parish, E Lanarkshire. The village, standing
800 feet above sea-level, is 1 mile SSW of Wilsontown,
3 miles W of Auchengray station, and 7f NNE of
Lanark, under which it has a post office. At it are an
Established church, a Free church, a branch bank of
the British Linen Co., an hotel, and a public school,
which, with accommodation for 250 children, had (1881)
an average attendance of 141, and a grant of £116, 12s.
The quoad sacra parish, in the presbytery of Lanark
and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, was constituted in
1881. Pop. of village (1871) 784, (1881) 757 ; of parish
(18S1) 2072.— Ord Sur., sh. 23, 1865.
Forth, a river and an estuary flowing through or
between Stirlingshire, Perthshire, Clackmannanshire,
Fife, and the Lothians. The river is formed by two
head-streams, Duchray Water and the Avondhu (' black
water'), rising 2| miles distant from one another, and
cfiecting a confluence at a point 1 mile W of the hamlet
of Aberfoyle. Duchray Water, rising, at an altitude of
3000 feet, on the N side of Ben Lomond (3192), If mile
E of the shore of the loch, winds 13f miles north-
50
FORTH
north-eastward, south-eastward, and east-north-eastward
through the interior or along the borders of Buchanan,
Drymen, and Aberfoyle parishes, for 6f mUes tracing
the boundary between Stirling and Perth shires. The
Avondhu, rising, on the western border of Aberfoyle
parish, at an altitude of 1900 feet, flows 9 miles east-
south-eastward, and expands, in its progress, into Loch
Chon (If X f mile ; 290 feet) and the famous Loch Akd
(2J mUes x | mile ; 103 feet). Both of the head-streams
traverse a grandly mountainous country, and abound in
imposing and romantic scenery. From their confluence,
80 feet above sea-level, the united stream winds east-
south-eastward to Stirling, through or along the borders
of the parishes of Aberfoyle, Drymen, Port of Monteith,
Kippen, Gargunnock, Kincardine, St Ninians, Lecroft,
and Logic, during greater part of this course forming
the boundary between Stirlingshire and Perthshire. At
Stirling the river, from the confluence of its head-streams,
has made a direct distance of about 18J miles, but mea-
sures 39 along the curves and meanderings of its bed.
It flows principally through low, flat, alluvial grounds,
but is overlooked everywhere, at near distances, by
picturesque hills, and exhibits great wealth of scenery,
embracing the softly beautiful as well as the brilliant
and the grand. Two important and beautiful tribu-
taries, the ' arrowy ' Teith and Allan Water, join the
Forth 3| and If miles above Stirling. From Stirling
to Alloa the river separates Stirlingshire from Perth-
shire and Clackmannanshire ; and while the direct line
measures only 5§ miles, the windings of the river,
popularly called the Links of Forth, are 12| mUes long.
The stream is flanked by broad carse lands, of such
value that, according to the old rhyme,
* A crook o* the Forth
Is worth an earldom o' the north.'
Below AUoa the river becomes less remarkable for its
sinuosity of movement, and, losing partly its fresh-
water character, begins to expand slowly into a fine
estuary, reaching the German Ocean at a distance of
51J miles from Alloa. The Firtli of Forth, as it is now
called, divides Clackmannanshire, part of Perthshire,
and Fife from Stirlingshire, Linlithgowshire, Edin-
burghshire, and Haddingtonshire ; and has a width of
J mile at AUoa, J mile at Kincardine ferry, and 3 miles
just above Borrowstounness. At Queensferry, in conse-
quence of a peninsula on the N side, the basin suddenly
contracts to a width of IJ mile ; but below Queensferry
it again expands to 5J mUes at Granton and Burntisland
ferry, and between Prestonpans and Leven to a maxi-
mum width of 17 miles. The Firth again contracts,
between Dirleton and Elie Ness, to 8J miles ; and enters
the ocean, between Fife Ness and the mouth of the
river Tyne, vrith a width of 17^ miles. The islands,
with the exception of Inchgarvie and two or three other
rocky islets in the vicinity of Queensferry, are in the
wider parts of the Firth, comprising Inchcolm, Cra-
MOND island, and Ixchkeith. The last, measuring
5 by IJ furlongs, is crowned with a lighthouse, and in
1881 was rendered defensible by the erection of three
batteries with heavy guns. Half a dozen small islands
(FiDRA, Ceaigleith, etc. ) lie ofi' the Haddingtonshire
coast ; while the entrance is flanked by the romantic
Bass Rock on the S and the Isle of May on the N.
The estuarj' in mid channel has a maximum depth of
37 fathoms ; opposite Queensferry the soundings are
in 9 fathoms ; on the expanse known as Leith Koads,
they vary from 3 to 16 fathoms ; opposite EHe Ness
they reach 28 fathoms ; and, in the vicinity of the Isle
of May, run from 14 to 15 fathoms. The tides are so
affected by conflicting currents, by islands and shallows,
and by the irregularities of the shores, as to vary much
both in respect of velocity and time. The flowing tide,
over the sands of Leith, runs IJ knot an hour, and
appears to flow for only four hours, while the ebbing
tide continues for eight hours. The tides on the N
shore, opposite these Roads, run from 3 to 3J knots aa
hour, and have an equal duration in flow and in ebb.
The flowing tide, from Kinghorn Ness to the promontory