Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

HELLMUIR LOCH
Malig, Glenan, Easterton, and Woodend. It is in-
cluded in the presbytery of Dumbarton and the synod
of Glasgow and Ayr. The municipal constituency num-
bered 1580 in 1883, when the valuation of the burgh
amounted to £57,595. Pop. (1851) 2841, (1861) 4163,
(1871) 5975, (1881) 7693, of whom 4411 were females,
and 235 were Gaelic-speaking. Houses (1881) in-
habited 1581, vacant 211, building 39.— Ord. Sur.,
sh. 30, 1866.
Hellmuir Loch. See Kirkhope.
Hell's Glen, a rugged, solitary glen in Lochgoil-
head parish, Argyllshire. Deep and narrow, it com-
mences at a 'col' (719 feet), 3J miles E by N of
Inveraray ferry on Loch Fyne, and thence descends 2|
miles south-eastward to a point (194 feet) 2| miles
NNW of Lochgoilhead village. — Ord. Sur., sh. 37,
1876.
Helmsdale, a coast village in Kildonan parish, East
Sutherland, with a station on the Sutherland and Caith-
ness railway (1871-74), 46 miles SSW of Georgemas
Junction, 82f NNE of Dingwall, and 101J NNE of
Inverness. It stands at the mouth of the river Helms-
dale, which here is crossed by a handsome two-arch
bridge of 1811, and by which it is divided into Helms-
dale and East Helmsdale on the left, and "West Helms-
dale, Marrel, and Gartymore on the right bank. A
ruined castle, on the right bank, 1-i furlong below the
bridge, was built as a hunting-seat by the seventh Coun-
tess of Sutherland in 1488, and is noted as the scene, in
July 1567, of the murder of the eleventh Earl of Suther-
land and his countess. The earl's aunt, Isobel, poisoned
them both at supper, and would also have poisoned their
son ; but the cup that she mixed for him was drunk by
her own son, who was next heir to the earldom. He died
within two days, as within five did the earl and countess
at Dunrobin Castle ; and the wretched mother com-
mitted suicide at Edinburgh on the da} r appointed for
her execution. The instigator of this foul tragedy was
George, fourth Earl of Caithness. The village, dating
from 1818, is neat and regular, and has a post-office,
with money order, savings' bank, and telegraph depart-
ments, a branch bank of the British Linen Co., an inn,
a good natural harbour with a pier and breastwork of
1818, 29 boats and 50 fisher men and boys, Kildonan
parish church (1841), a Free church, and two public
schools. Helmsdale is head of the fishery district ex-
tending from Embo to Dunbeath, in which in 18S2 the
number of boats was 215, of fishermen 772, of fish-curers
30, and of coopers 56, whilst the value of boats was
£7459, of nets £13,140, and of lines £1135. The fol-
lowing is the number — of barrels of herrings cured or
salted in this district (1867) 45,302, (1874) 12,196,
(1879) 22,656, (1881) 20,485 ; of cod, ling, and hake
taken (1867) 21,363, (1873) 45,048, (1874) 15,667, (1878)
18,282, (1881) 6281. Pop. (1841) 526, (1861) 1234, (1871)
1511, (1881) 1334, of whom 675 were in Helmsdale and
East Helmsdale.— Ord Sur., sh. 103, 1878.
Helmsdale River. See Kildoxax.
Helvels or Halivails. See Duirinish.
Hempriggs, an old mansion in Wick parish, Caith-
ness, near the coast, 2 miles S by W of Wick town. It
belongs to the same proprietor as Ackergill Tower.
Hempriggs village is | mile nearer the town ; and J
mile to the W lies Hempriggs Loch (6J x 6 furl. ; 156
feet) ; whilst Hempriggs Stacks, in the sea near the
beach, are lofty insulated rocks, — the chief one per-
forated with a natural arch, and all of them
thronged by myriads of sea-fowl. — Ord. Sur., sh. 116,
1878.
Henderland, a farm in the Megget section of Lyne
and Megget parish, S Peeblesshire, on the left bank of
Megget Water, 5 furlongs W of St Mary's Loch, and 18
miles WSW of Selkirk. A spot here, called the Chapel
Knowe, which some years ago was enclosed and planted,
contains a grave-slab, sculptured with a sword and other
emblems, and bearing inscription ' Here lyis Perys of
Cokburne and hys wyfe Mariory.' This was the famous
Border freebooter, Piers Cockburn of Henderland, whose
ruined stronghold stands hard by, and whose execution
266
HERIOT
at Edinburgh by James V. in 1529 forms the theme of
that exquisite ballad The Border Widow's Lament —
' I sew'd his sheet, making; my mane ;
I watch'd the corpse, myself alane ;
I watch'd his body night and day ;
No living creature came that way.
'I took his body on my back,
And whiles I gaed, and whiles I sat ;
I digg"d a grave, and laid him in,
And happ'd him wi' the sod sae green,
1 Nae living man I'll love again,
Since now my lovely knight is slain ;
Wi' ae lock o' his yellow hair
I'll chain my heart for evermair.'
Hendersyde Park, a mansion in Ednam parish, Rox-
burghshire, 1 mile NE of Kelso. It is the seat of Sir
George Richard Waldie-Griffith, second Bart, since
1858 (b. 1820; sue. 1878).
Henlawshiel. See Kirkton, Roxburghshire.
Henwood, an ancient forest in Oxnam parish, Rox-
burghshire, around Oxnam Water, 5 miles SE of Jed-
burgh. It abounds in natural fastnesses ; presented for
ages such depths and intricacies of wooded ravine as
rendered it almost impervious ; was often used, in the
times of the Border raids and feuds, as a place of rendez-
vous or of refuge ; and gave occasion for the war-cry ' A
Henwoody ! ' to raise and lead a Border onset.
Herbertshire. See Denny and Dunipace.
Herdmandston, an estate, with a mansion, in Salton
parish, Haddingtonshire, on the right bank of the Tyne, 4
miles SW of Haddington. Modernised and enlarged,
the house is partly of high antiquity, and down to the
close of last century showed vestiges of battlements,
turrets, and a fosse. It was long the residence of the
Hon. Adam Gillies (1787-1842), a Senator of the Col-
lege of Justice. In the park, close by, are remains of a
chapel, erected by John de St Clair in the 13th century,
and still used as the family burying vault. Henry St
Clair, the founder of the line, obtained a charter of
the estate from Richard de Morville in 1162. His
descendant, Charles St Clair, in 1782 established his
claim to the barony of Sinclair, created in 1489 and
dormant since 1762 ; and his grandson, Charles William
St Clair, fourteenth Baron Sinclair (b. 1831 ; sue. 1880),
holds 4346 acres, valued at £5747 per annum, viz., 545
acres in Haddingtonshire (£1149), 1550 in Berwickshire
(£3355), and 2251 in Roxburghshire (£1243).— Ord.
Sur., sh. 33, 1863. See Nisbet House, and John
Small's Castles and Mansions of the Lothians (Edinb.
1883).
Herdsman. See Bdachaille.
Heriot, a parish of SE Edinburghshire, containing,
towards its NE corner, Heriot station on the Waverley
section of the North British railway, 19J miles (16 by
road) SE of Edinburgh, with a post and telegraph
office. It is bounded NW by Temple and Borthwick,
NE by Crichton, Fala, and detached sections of Borth-
wick and Stow, SE by the main body of Stow, SW by
Innerleithen in Peeblesshire, and W by Temple. Its
greatest length, from NE to SW, is 7f miles ; its
greatest breadth is 4£ miles ; and its area is 15,038£
acres. Formed by the confluence of Blackhope, Hope,
and Dewar Burns, which all three have their source near
the Peeblesshire border, Heriot Water winds 4| miles
east-north-eastward through the interior, till it unites
with Gala Water, itself rising on the northern verge
of the parish. At the point of their confluence the sur-
face declines to 770 feet above sea-level, and thence it
rises westward and south-westward to the Moorfoot
Hills, attaining 1394 feet near Roughsware, 1508 at
*Torfichen Hill, 1550atDod Law, 1435 at Dun Law,
1684 at *Mauldslie Hill, and 2136 at *Blackhope Scar,
where asterisks mark those summits that culminate just
on the confines of the parish. All the interior, except-
ing strips of vale along the course of the streams, is hilly
upland ; but the hills, except on the boundaries, are
not ranges but congeries, which, having to a large ex-
tent been laid down in permanent pasture, no longer