Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

KILFINAN
Kilfinan, a village and a parish in Cowal district,
Argyllshire, The village, standing j mile inland from
Killinan Bay, on the E side of Loch Fyne, and 5| miles
NffW of Tighnabruaich, has a post office under Greenock;
and enjoys ample communication with the Clyde by
means of the Loch Fyne and other steamers.
The parish, containing also the village of Tighna-
bruaich, is bounded N by Stralachlan, NE by Kil-
modan, E by Loch Riddon and the Kyles of Bute, S by
the convergence of the Kyles of Bute and Kilbrannan
Sound, and W and NW by Loch Fyne. Its utmost
length, from N by W to S by E, is 14§ miles ; its
utmost breadth, from E to W, is 5J miles ; and its
area is 33,763 acres, of which 12S8 are foreshore and
174 water. The coast, with a total extent of 28J
miles, terminates at the southern extremity in Ard-
lamont Point, and elsewhere is diversified by a number
of smaller headlands and bays, including, particularly on
its W side, Kilfinan, Auchalick, and Kilbride Bays. In
some parts it is steep and rocky, in others sloping or
gradually declivitous, and in others low and arable.
The interior, for the most part, is very rugged, with
numerous hills running N and S, but it is interspersed
with arable vales and hollows, and the hills are not
remarkable for either height or contour. The principal
summits, from S to N, are Cnocan a' Chorra (414 feet),
Cnoc na Carraige (680), Creag Mhor (869), Beinn Capuill
(1419), Beinn Bhreae (1488), Cruach Kilfinan (106S),
Barr Ganuisg (507), Meall Rearnhar (947), and Cruach
nan Gearran (1230) ; and most of these command splendid
views of the Kyles of Bute, the lower reaches of Loch
Fj'ne, and the lower parts of Knapdale across to the
Hebrides. The northern division of the parish is called
Otter, from a singular sand-bank noticed separately.
The southern is known as Kerriff or Kerry, signifying
' a quarter ' or ' fourth-part ' ; and, as it is by far the
larger division, and contains the parish church, it often
gives name to the entire parish. Loch na Melldalloch
(4 x 1J furl.) and Loch Asgog (4x2 furl.) lie re-
spectively 3 and 6 miles S by E of Kilfinan village,
and both are well stored with trout. Mica slate is the
prevailing rock, but trap occurs in two or three places,
and limestone abounds in the N. The soil on low level
tracts near the sea is mostly of fine light sharp character,
on pretty extensive tracts further inland is mossy, and
elsewhere is very various» Barely one-twelfth of the
entire area is in tillage, a very great extent is disposed in
pasture, and a considerable aggregate is clothed with
natural wood. Antiquities are remains of cairns, Cale-
donian stone circles, several dunes, and Lamont Castle.
At Karnes is a gunpowder factory. The mansions are
Ardlamont, Ardmarnoek, Ballimore, and Otter ; and 5
proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and up-
wards, 3 of between £100 and £500, 10 of from £50 to
£100, and 28 of from £20 to £50. Kilfinan is in the
presbytery of Dunoon and synod of Argyll ; the living
is worth £312. The parish church, at the village, was
almost wholly rebuilt in 1759, and, with the excep-
tion of the outside walls, was entirely renovated and re-
arranged in 1882. It contains 200 sittings, and is a
very neat and comfortable church. A quoad sacra
church is at Tighnabruaich, a mission church is at Kil-
bride, and there are also Free churches of Kilfinan and
Tighnabruaich. Five public schools — Ardlamont, Kil-
finan, Millhouse, Otter, and Tighnabruaich — with respec-
tive accommodation for 23, 80, 136, 37, and 156 children,
had (1881) an average attendance of 12, 27, 93, 12, and
107, and grants of £26, 4s., £38, 13s., £54, 2s. 8d.,
£25, lis., and £89, 7s. Valuation (1860) £5150, (1883)
£15,129, lis. 4d. Pop. (1801) 1432, (1831) 2004, (1861)
1891, (1871) 2228, (1881) 2153, of whom 1377 were
Gaelic-speaking. — Ord. Sur., sh. 29, 1873.
Kilfinichen and Kilvickeon, a parish in the Mull
district of Argyllshire. Comprising the south-western
parts of Mull island, the inhabited islands of Iona,
Earraid, and Inchkenneth, and several neighbouring
uninhabited islets, it contains the villages of Bonessan
and Iona, each with a post office under Oban, and enjoys
communication by means of the steamers sailing from
KILFINICHEN AND KILVICKEON
Oban round Mull. It comprehends several of the
numerous parishes into which Mull was anciently
divided, anil formed only a part of the one parish into
which all that district was thrown at the Deformation,
but was curtailed by the separate erection of Kilninian
and Kilmore parish in 1688, and of Torosay parish
about 172S, when it took the name of Kilfinichen and
Kilvickeon, from two churches which stood on the cen-
tral and the southern parts of the coast of its Mull main-
land section. It is naturally divided, in that section, into
the north-eastern district of Brolass, the central district
of Ardmeanach, and the south-western district of Ross ;
and, in consequence of the last of these districts being
the most prominent of the three, the entire parish is
often called Ross. It is bounded N by Kilninian and
Kilmore, E by Torosay, and on all other sides by the
Atlantic Ocean. Its utmost length, from NE to SW,
is 23 miles ; its utmost breadth, exclusive of the islands,
is 18 miles; and its area is 62,730 acres, of which
24855 are foreshore and 302J water. The islands
and all the prominent places and objects are noticed in
separate articles ; and the coasts, the surface, and the
general features of the Mull mainland section are noticed
in the article Mull. Loch-na-Keal, containing Inch-
kenneth island, forms nearly all the boundary with
Kilninian and Kilmore ; a line of mountain watershed
forms the boundary with Torosay ; a reach of hills, of
no great height, forms the inner boundary of Brolass
district ; and Loch Scridain forms most of the boundary
between Ardmeanach and Ross districts. Benmore
(3185 feet), the monarch mountain of Mull, lifts its
summit on the boundary with Torosay ; Gribon pro-
montory, with lofty cliffs and receding trap terraces
that rise to an altitude of 1621 feet, forms much of the
coast and seaboard of Ardmeanach ; the Ross of Mull
projects 7 miles further W than the most westerly point
of Gribon, and terminates within 1 mile of Iona ; Ard-
tun headland, of grand basaltic character, projects from
the Ross at the mouth of Loch Scridain ; Inniemore
headland, also grandly basaltic, and forming part of a
magnificent reach of cliffs, is on the S coast of Ross
district, 16 miles E of Iona ; two most imposing and
picturesque natural archways, called the Carsaig Arches,
are on the same coast further E ; and Loch Bur, over-
hung at the head by the grand isolated mountain of
Ben Buy (2352 feet), is on the sea-boundary with
Torosay. Three lakes are in Ross — the largest of them
not more than 1$ mile in length and \ mile in breadth.
Six rivulets are in Brolass and Ardmeanach, and,
although brief in course, acquire such volume and
velocity in times of rain as sometimes to be impassable.
Numerous other torrents run either to these rivulets or
to the ocean ; and hundreds of streamlets rush or leap
down the rocks of Burg, Gribon, Inniemore, and Carsaig.
Much of the land is barren mountain ; the greater part
is hilly, and fit at best for grazing ; a comparatively
small proportion is flat, and part of even that is moss
or heath. The soil, throughout the arable tracts, is
chiefly light and dry ; and generally produce sufficient
meal and potatoes for local consumption, sometime even
for exportatiou. Cattle grazing, sheep farming, and
fishing are the chief employments. Antiquities are stand-
ing stones, Scandinavian round towers, a small ruined
church on Inchkenneth, the sketches on the walls of
Unns Cave at the Ross of Mull, and the famous ruins and
monuments of Iona. Mansions are Inchkenneth House,
Inniemore Lodge, Pennycross, Pennyghael, Tavool,
and Tiroran ; and the Duke of Argyll is chief pro-
prietor, 3 others holding each an annual value of more,
and 4 of less, than £100. Divided ecclesiastically be-
tween Kilfinichen and Iona, this parish is in the pres-
bytery of Mull and synod of Argyll ; the living is worth
£252. Kilvickeon parish church stands at Bonessan
in Ross — Kilfinichen parish church on the Loch Scridain
coast of Ardmeanach, 10 miles ENE of Bonessan ; both
were built in 1804, and they contain respectively 350
and 300 sittings. Two other Established places of wor-
ship are within the parish ; and they and the two
churches are served, in certain rotation, partly by the
S63