Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

EILCOY
KILDONAN
Pop. (1801) 2005, (1841) 2605, (1861) 2431, (1871) 201S,
(1881) 2053, of whom 1471 were in the ecclesiastical
parish. — Ord. Stir., sh. 41, 1857.
Kilcoy, a hamlet in Killearnan parish, SE Ross-shire,
8 miles WNW of Inverness. It has a cattle fair on the
Monday in May after Amulree. The lands of Kilcoy,
lying around the hamlet and along the Beauly Firth,
were acquired in 1618 by Alexander Mackenzie, fourth
son of the eleventh Baron of Kintail, and now belong
to his eighth descendant, Sir Evan Mackenzie, second
Bart, since 1836 (b. 1816 ; sue. 1S45), who holds 24,65S
acres in the shire, valued at £7258 per annum. Kilcoy
Castle, now a ruin, was the birthplace of the distin-
guished Lieutenant-General Alex. Mackenzie Fraser of
Inveralloehy, who died in 1809. A cairn, to the N of
the ruined mansion, is encompassed with circles of
standing stones, and is one of the largest cairns in the
Nof Scotland.— Ord. Sur., sh. 83, 1881.
Kilcreggan, a coast village in Roseneath parish, Dum-
bartonshire, at the SE side of the entrance to Loch
Long, directly opposite Gourock, 2J miles E of Strone,
and 3 J NW of Greenock. Named after an ancient chapel
now extinct, and dating from 1840, it extends nearly
1 mile along the beach, and mainly consists of villas
and pretty cottages, commanding charming views along
the Firth of Clyde. It may well compete in amenities,
in the delights of retirement, and in advantages of com-
munication and supplies, with the other watering-places
on the Clyde ; is a place of call for the steamers plying
from Greenock to Kilmun, Lochgoilhead, and Arrochar ;
and has a post office, with money order, savings' bank,
insurance, and telegraph departments, a steamboat pier,
a recent water supply, a chapel of ease (1872), Roseneath
Free church (built soon after the Disruption), a U.P.
church (c. 1S66), and a public school. The police burgh
of Cove and Kilcreggan curves, from the W end of
Kilcreggan proper, north-westward and northward, up
to a point on Loch Long, 24; miles NE of Strone Point ;
and was constituted by adoption of part of the General
Police and Improvement Act of 1862. Its municipal con-
stituency numbered 238 in 18S3, when the annual value
of real property amounted to £12,000, whilst its revenue,
including assessments, was £900 in 1882. Pop. (1871)
878, (1881) 816.— Ord. Sur., shs. 30, 29, 1S66-73.
Kildalloig, a mansion in Campbeltown parish, Argyll-
shire, on the S horn of Campbeltown Bay, opposite
Devar island, and 3J miles ESE of the town. Its owner,
Sir Norman Montgomery Abercromby Campbell, ninth
Bart, since 1623 (b. 1846 ; sue. 1875), holds 1340 acres
in the shire, valued at £380 per annum. — Ord. Sur., sh.
12, 1S72.
Kildalton, a parish in Islay district, Argyllshire. It
comprises the south-eastern part of Islay island ; is
bounded on the NW by Killarrow and Kilmeny ; in-
cludes Texa, Cavrach, and Inersay islets, the Ardelister
islands, and the islets off Ardmore Point ; and contains
the village of Port Ellen, with a post and telegraph office
under Greenock. Its utmost length, from NNE to SSW,
is 18 miles ; its utmost breadth is 8 miles ; and its
area is 48, 380 J acres, of which 662J are foreshore and
559J water. The coasts and the interior have alike
been described in our article on Islay. The extent of
land under cultivation bears but a small proportion to
what is waste and reclaimable. A great many acres in
the NE are under brushwood, and a good many acres
are under nourishing plantations. A principal modern
building is a handsome light monumental tower, 80 feet
high, erected to the memory of Mrs Campbell of Islay ;
and the chief antiquities are remains of two Scandi-
navian forts, of the last Islay stronghold of the Mac-
donalds, and of four pre-Reformation chapels. Kildalton,
the principal residence, 5 miles NE of Port Ellen, is the
seat of John Ramsay, Esq., M.P. (b. 1814), who holds
54,250 acres in the shire, valued at £S226 per annum.
Divided ecclesiastically into Kildalton proper and Oa,
this parish is in the presbytery of Islay and Jura and
synod of Argyll ; the living is worth £231. The parish
church, near Ardmore Point, was built in 1777, and
contains 450 sittings. There is a Free church of Kil-
60
dalton and Oa ; and five public schools — Ardbeg, Glen-
egidale, Kintour, Oa, and Port Ellen — with respective
accommodation for 92, 66, 40, 70, and 250 children,
had (1881) an average attendance of 49, 19, 17, 22, and
145, and grants of £40, 14s., £33, 18s. 6d., £30, 2s. 6d.,
£30, 16s., and £88, 13s. Valuation (1S60) £5783, (1883)
£10,033, 17s. 9d. Pop. (1801) 1990, (1841) 3315, (1861)
2950, (1871) 2283, (1881) 2271, of whom 2127 were Gaelic-
speaking, and 2024 were in Kildalton ecclesiastical parish.
Kildary, a hamlet in Kilmuir-Easter parish, Ross-
shire, on the right bank of the Balnagown, with a
station on the Highland railway, 5J miles NE of Inver-
gordon. It has fairs for live stock on the Tuesday
before the third Thursday of July, and on the Tuesday
of each of the other eleven months before Beauly. Near
it is Kildary House. The Balnagown here is crossed by
an elegant railway viaduct of 50 feet in span, with a 14-
feet archway at the N end. — Ord. Sur,, sh. 94, 1878.
Kildonan (Gael. ' church of St Donnan '), a parish of
E Sutherland, containing the coast village of Helms-
dale, with a station on the Sutherland and Caithness
railway, 46 miles SSW of Georgemas Junction, 82|
NNE of Dingwall, and 101 J NNE of Inverness. Con-
taining also the stations and post offices of Kildonan
and Kinbrace, 9A miles WNW and 16f NW of Helms-
dale, it is bounded W by Farr, N by Farr and Reay,
NE by Halkirk and Latheron in Caithness, SE by the
German Ocean, S by Loth, and SW by Clyne. Its
utmost length, from NW to SE, is 25| miles ; its width
varies between 4J and 14J miles ; and its area is 210
square miles or 138,406§ acres, of which 169 are foreshore
and 3922§ water. The coast, 4§ miles in extent, is an
almost unbroken line of rock or rough gravel, preci-
pitous only towards the NE, where it rises rapidly to
652 feet at the Ord of Caithness. On or near to the
western border, at an altitude of 392 feet, is a chain of
three lakes — Loch nan Cuinne (3 miles x f mile), Loch
a' Chlair (1 J x 1 mile), and Loch Baddanloch (li mile x 7
furl.), out of which the Allt Ach' na h-Uai' flows 4 J
miles east-south-eastward, through Loch-na-moine (7x3
furl. ; 377 feet), till it falls iuto the river Helmsdale at
a point 1J mile SSW of Kinbrace station, and 330 feet
above sea-level. The Helmsdale itself is formed by the
confluence of two head-streams, of which the Allt
Airidh-dhamh runs 6j miles south-south-eastward out
of Loch Leum a' Chlamhain (If x A mile; 770 feet),
and through Loch Araich-lin (6J x 2A, furl. ; 451 feet),
whilst the other flows 2| miles south-by-westward out
of Loch an Ruathair (li, x | mile ; 415 feet). From
the confluence of these two streams, at a point 3 fur-
longs N by W of Kinbrace station and 362 feet above
sea-level, the Helmsdale or Hie (Ptolemy's Ila) flows
20| miles south-eastward along the Strath of Kildonan,
till it falls into the sea at Helmsdale village. 'The
Helmsdale,' writes Mr Archibald Young, 'and the
numerous lochs connected with its basin, afford perhaps
the best trout angling in Scotland. The spring salmon
fishing is excellent. In 1878, up to 1 May, five rods
killed 250 fish. Among the lochs, Loch Leum a'
Chlamhain, Baddanloch, and Loch an Ruathair afford
the best angling. In these three lochs the writer and
two friends in live days killed with the fly 600 front,
weighing over 400 lbs. The best day's sport was got in
Loch Leum a' Chlamhain, at the foot of Ben Griarn
Mhor, whose summit commands one of the finest views
in Sutherland ; the eye, on a clear day, sweeping over
the counties of Caithness and Sutherland, the Pentland
Firth, and the Orkney Islands' (pp. 32-34, Angler's
and Skctclicr's Guide to Sutherland, 1880). The surface
mainly consists of pastoral or moorish uplands, chief
elevations to the NE of the Helmsdale and the Baddan-
loch chain of lakes, as one goes up the strath, being
Creag an Oir-airidh (1324 feet), *Creag Scalabsdale
(1S19), Beinn Dubhain (1365), Auchintoul Hill (1135),
the *Knockfin Heights (1442), *Ben Gkiam Bheag
(1903), and Ben Griam Mhor (1936); to the SW,
Eldrable Hill (133S), *Beinn na Meilich (1940), *Beinn
na h-Urrachd (2046), Creag nam Fiadh (1273), and the
"northern shoulder (2250) of Ben an Akmttinn, where
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