Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

KILMAHOG
Cardross station. It belongs to the same proprietor as
Cumbernauld House, James Burns, Esq., in 1859
having bought the estate, which had been held by the
Napiers from the close of the 13th till the early part of
the 19th century. Near the modern mansion, over-
looking the Glen of Kilrnahew, stands their ruined
castle, with this legend over its doorway — 'The blessing
of God be herein. '—Ord. Sur. , sh. 30, 1866.
Kilmahog, a village in Callander parish, Perthshire,
on the northern head-stream of the river Teith, J mile
SE of the Pass of Leny and 1 W by N of Callander
town. It once had a chapel, dedicated to St Chug ;
and it retains the chapel's cemetery.
Kilmalcolm, a village and a parish in the Lower
Ward of Renfrewshire. The village stands, 350 feet
above sea-level, near the E border of the parish ; and
has a station on the Greenock and Ayrshire branch of
the Glasgow and South-Western railway, 4 miles SE of
Port Glasgow, 7£ ESE of Greenock, and 15 WNWof
Glasgow. It took its name from the dedication of
its ancient church to St Columba ; and till lately it
mainly consisted of old thatched houses, presenting a
singularly antique and sequestered aspect. Its sheltered
situation and the salubrity of its climate have led to a
great extension during the last decade ; and now it has a
post office under Paisley, with money order, savings' bank,
and telegraph departments, a branch of the Royal Bank,
5 insurance agencies, a good hotel, a large hydropathic
establishment (1S80), gasworks, and water-works, formed
in 1878 at a cost of nearly £5000, with a reservoir hold-
ing 1,500,000 gallons, and fed from Blacketty Burn.
The parish church is a handsome edifice of 1S33, with
a tower and 700 sittings ; it adjoins the aisle of a
previous church, containing the tomb of the Earls of
Glencairn. A Free church was opened in 1881, and a
U.P. church in 1861. Pop. (1871) 395, (1881) 1170.
The parish is bounded N by Port Glasgow and the
Firth of Clyde, E by Erskine and Houston, SE by Kil-
barchan, S by Lochwinnoch, SW by Largs in Ayrshire,
and W by Innerkip and Greenock. Its utmost length,
from NE to SW, is 6J miles ; its breadth, from E to W,
varies between 2 and 7 J miles ; and its area is 20,405J
acres, of which 263J are foreshore and 477J water. The
coast-line, 2J miles in extent, is fringed by the low plat-
form of the Firth's ancient sea-margin, and backed by
pleasant braes 300 to 648 feet high. Gryfe Water, issuing
from Gryfe Reservoir on the Greenock border, flows south-
eastward right across the parish ; and by it, Green Water,
and its other affluents, the interior has been so channelled
as to offer a charming variety of gentle hill and vale, with
loftier moss and moorland to the W and S. Sinking
along the Gryfe in the extreme E to ISO feet above sea-
level, the surface thence rises to 570 feet at Craiglun-
seheoch, 853 at Hardridge Hill, and 1446 at Creuch
Hill. The predominant rocks are eruptive ; and the
soil on the low grounds is mostly light and gravelly,
on the higher is moorish or mossj\ Nearly four-ninths
of the entire area are in tillage ; plantations cover some
125 acres ; and the rest of the land is either pastoral
or waste. Mansions, noticed separately, are Duchall,
Finlaystone, Carruth, and Broadfield ; and 10 proprietors
hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 34 of
between £100 and £500, 65 of from £50 to £100, and
40 of from £20 to £50. Kilmalcolm is in the presbytery
of Greeuock and synod of Glasgow and Ayr ; the living
is worth £465. Kilmalcolm public and West Syde
public schools, with respective accommodation for 350
and 80 children, had (1SS2) an average attendance of
202 and 33, and grants of £173 and £35, 7s. Valuation
(1860) £11,331, (1883) £35,246. Pop. (1801) 1100,
(1S31) 1613, (1861) 1455, (1871) 1716, (1881) 2708.
—Ord. Sur., sh. 30, 1866.
Kilmallie, a Lochaber parish of Inverness and Argyll
shires, the largest parish in Scotland. It contains
the burgh of Fort William, and the hamlets of North
Ballachulish and Onich in its Inverness-shire, of
Ardgoue, Banavie, Blaich, Clovulin, Corpach,
Duisky, and Garvan in its Argyllshire, section.
Bounded W by Ardnamurchan and Glenelg, N and
KILMALLIE
E by Kilmonivaig, S by Lismore and Appin, and SW by
Morvern, it has an extreme length from N by E to 8
by W of 29J miles, a varying width of 2| and 30J
miles, and an area of 444 square miles or 284, 060 J
acres, of which 177,910J belong to Inverness-shire and
106,150 to Argyllshire, whilst 1782j- are foreshore and
8403J water. The northern boundary is partly defined
by the last lg mile of Gairowan river, flowing to Loch
Quoich ; by Loch Quoich itself (5 J miles x | mile ; 555
feet); and by the first 3 J miles of its effluent, the Garry,
on to the influx of the Kingie. The eastern, again, is
partly defined by the lower 6 miles of Loch Lochy
(9g miles x 1 to 9f furl. ; 93 feet), and by its effluent,
the river Lochy, winding 9 g miles south-south-westward
to the head of Loch Linnhe at Fort William ; whilst all
the southern boundary is traced by the Black Water or
river Leven, flowing 13J miles westward, through a
chain of four small lakes, to the head of salt-water Loch
Leven, and next by Loch Leven itself (llg miles xg
furl, to 1\ miles). To the Inverness-shire interior be-
longs fresh-water Loch Archaig (12 miles xf mile;
140 feet), sending off the Archaig river 1§ mile east-
south-eastward to Loch Lochy ; to the Argyllshire in-
terior belongs salt-water Loch Eil (6§ miles x 7J furl.),
communicating by the Narrows, 2 miles long and 1
furlong broad at the narrowest, with the head of Loch
Linnhe. Loch Linnhe itself, with a varying width of
5 furlongs and 1J mile, strikes 9§ miles south-westward
to Corran Narrows (H furl, wide); and thus far, often
called Lower Loch Eil, it divides the Inverness-shire
from the Argyllshire section of Kilmallie, the latter
still fringing its western shore for 7J miles below
Corran Ferry. The surface everywhere is grandly
mountainous, chief elevations to the N of Loch Archaig
being Meall Odhar (2971 feet), Scour Gairoch (3015),
and Sgor Mor (3290) ; between Lochs Archaig and Eil,
Beinn Bhan (2613), Meall Bhanabhie (1071), Druim
Fada (2420), Gulvein (3224), and *Sgor Choileani
(3164) ; to the S of Loch Eil, Stob Choire a' Chearcaill
(2527), Sgur na h-Eanchainne (2397), and *Sgur
Dhonmuil, where asterisks mark those summits that
culminate on the confines of the parish. To the E of
Loch Linnhe rise huge *Ben Nevis (4406), *Aonach
Beag (4060), Binnein Mor (3700), Am Bodach (3382),
Sgor a' Mhaim (3601), Stob Ban (3274), Mullach nan
Coirean (3077), and Beinn na Cucaig (2017), Such is a
bare outline of the general features of this vast Highland
parish, which is larger than Edinburghshire and eleven
others of the thirty-three Scottish counties. Fuller
details are furnished under Achnacarry, Ardgoue,
Caledonian Canal, Cona, Fassifern, Glennevis,
and other articles already alluded to. Gneiss and mica
slate are the predominant rocks ; but granite, syenite,
porphyry, quartz, hornblende, and limestone are also
common. Silurian rocks, too, occur. Fine-hued marble
and roofing-slates have been quarried, the latter round
North Ballachulish, where there are mountains of it;
and several veins of lead ore, with a comparatively large
proportion of zinc and silver, are known to exist. The
soil, along parts of the margins 'of the lochs and of the
bottoms of the glens, is mostly light, shallow, and sandy
or mossy ; and on the braes and mountains is mostly
moorish. Not 1 acre in 300 is cultivated or capable of cul-
tivation ; but woods and plantations must cover a very
large aggregate area, the old Loch Archaig native pine
forest being from 8 to 9 miles in length. Four landed
proprietors hold each an annual value of £2000 and
upwards, 1 feuar holding between £100 and £500, 8
from £50 to £100, and 23 from £20 to £50. Giving off
the quoad sacra parishes of Duncansburgh and Bal-
lachulish and Ardgoue, Kilmallie is in the presby-
tery of Abertarff and synod of Argyll ; the living is
worth £342. The parish church of Kilmallie was
built in 17S3, and contains 600 sittings. Its ancient
predecessor was dedicated to some Celtic saint, whose
name is not preserved in any calendar ; for the render-
ing of Kilmallie by ' church of Mary ' is wholly inad-
missible. There is a Free church at Corpach ; and other
places of worship are noticed under Fort William and
369