Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

KILMILIEU
KILMONIVAIG
W end of the parish, Kilmory near Lochgilphead, Kil-
levin on Loch Fyne, and Kilneuair on Loch Awe. Kir-
nan, 1J mile NNE of the village, was the home of the
forefathers of Camphell, the poet, and is mournfully
celehrated in his ' Lines on visiting a Scene in Argyll-
shire.' The mansions are Kilmory House, Castleton,
Ederline House, Lochgair House, and Minard Castle ;
and 6 proprietors hold each an annual value of £500
and upwards, 8 of between £100 and £500, 7 of from
£50 to £100, and 29 of from £20 to £50. Giving off
portions to Lochgilphead and Cumlodden §uo«rf sacra
parishes, Kilniichael-Glassary is in the presbytery of In-
veraray and synod of Argyll ; the living is worth £375.
The parish church, with 1300 sittings, was built in
1S27, and, much injured by lightning in 1S30, was
afterwards repaired and improved. In 1S73 it was
taken down and rebuilt by the heritors on a scale
better suited to the population, being now seated for
300. There are also a chapel of ease at Lochgair
and a Free church at Minard ; and four public schools
— Ford, Glassary, Lochgair, and Minard — with respective
accommodation for 60, 100, 60, and 9S children, had
(1SS1) an average attendance of 36, 81, 37, and 66, and
grants of £46, 8s., £S3, 14s. 6d., £39, 13s., and £50,
10s. Valuation (I860) £14,449, (1SS3) £19,709. Pop.
(1801) 3293, (1831) 4054, (1861) 4473, (1871) 4393, (1881)
4348, of whom 2991 were Gaelic-speaking, and 14S6
belonged to Kilmichael-Glassary ecclesiastical parish. —
Orel. Sw., shs. 37, 29, 36, 1873-S3.
Kilmilieu. See Inveraray.
Kilminster, a hamlet in Wick parish, Caithness, 5
miles NW of Wick town. To the SW lie the Loch of
Kilminster (2J x 2 furl. ; 45 feet above sea-level) and
Kilminster Moss, which measures about 2 miles square,
and is many feet deep. — Ord. Sur., sh. 116, 187S.
Kilmodan, a parish in Cowal district, Argyllshire,
containing the Clachan of Gleudaruel, which, standing
on the left bank of the Rue], 17 miles NNE of Rothesay
and 6 E of Otter Ferry, has a post office under Greenock,
an inn, and the parish church. It is bounded NE by
Strachur, E by Kilniun and Inverchaolain, S by Inver-
chaolain and Loch Riddon, SW and W by Kilfinan, and
NW by Stralachlan. Its utmost length, from NNE to
SSW, is 13J miles ; its utmost width, from E to W, is
4| miles; and its area is 25,83S| acres, of which
307f- are foreshore and 123 water. The Ruel, formed
by two head-streams at an altitude of 90 feet above
sea-level, winds 10h miles south-by-westward down
a beautiful narrow glen till it falls into the head of
salt-water Loch Riddon ; just above its mouth it is
joined by Tamhnich Burn, which, after tracing 3 miles
of the eastern boundary, flows If mile west-south-west-
ward through the interior. The surface is mostly
occupied by heathy hills, chief elevations from S to N
being Cnoc nan Darach (1184 feet), Cruach nam Mull
(1069), Cruach nam Gearran (1230), Cruach Chuil-
ceachan (142S), *An Socach (1345), *Creag Tharsuinn
(2111), and Cruach an Lochain (165S), where asterisks
mark those summits that culminate on the eastern and
north-western borders. Mica slate is the predominant
rock, though limestone also abounds ; and the soil along
the bottom of Glendaruel is a deep and fertile alluvium.
Bather more than one-sixteenth of the entire area is in
tillage ; 1130 acres are under wood ; and the rest is most
of it moorland pasture. Colin Maclaurin (1698-1746), the
eminent mathematician, was a son of the parish minister.
Antiquities are Caledonian cairns and traces of Scandi-
navian fortalices. Glendaruel House, Dunans, and
Ormidale, all noticed separately, are the chief residences ;
and the property is mostly divided among six. Kil-
modan is in the presbytery of Dunoon and synod of
Argyll ; the living is worth £237. The parish church
is a sufficiently commodious edifice. A Free church
stands 7 furlongs NNE ; and two public schools, Kil-
modan and Stronafian, with respective accommodation
for 40 and 60 children, had (1881) an average attend-
ance of 16 and 24, and grants of £29, 13s. and £32, lis.
Valuation (1860) £3604, (1SS3) £4788, 10s. Pop. (1801)
502, (1831) 64S, (1861) 433, (1871) 35S, (1881) 323, of
whom 229 were Gaelic-speaking. — Ord. Sur., shs. 29,
37, 1S73-76.
Kilmonivaig, a large Highland parish of SW Inver-
ness-shire, containing the hamlets of Spean Bridge or
TJnachan, 9j miles NE of Fort William, with a post
and telegraph office ; Bridge of Roy or Bunroy, 3 miles
E of Spean Bridge, with a post office under Fort Wil-
liam ; and Invergarry, 7A miles SW of Fort Augustus,
with a post and telegraph office. It is bounded N by
Glenshiel iu Ross-shire and by Urquhart-Glenmoriston,
NE by Boleskine-Abertarff, E by Laggan, SE by For-
tingall in Perthshire, S by Lismore-Appin in Argyll-
shire, and W by Kilmallie and Glenelg. Its utmost
length, from NW to SE, is 40J miles ; its utmost
breadth is 23 miles ; and its area is 432J square miles
or 276,673J acres, of which 441 are foreshore, 26J tidal
water, and 9531| water, it thus being larger than Mid-
lothian and ten other Scotch counties, or only 6745 acres
smaller than Kilmallie. The Qctoich, rising in the
extreme NW at an altitude of 2500 feet above sea-level,
runs 8 miles south-eastward and southward to the
middle of Loch Quoich (5J miles x f mile ; 555 feet),
which extends along the Kilmallie boundary, and out
of which the Garry flows 18g miles eastward, through
Loch Garry (4-J miles x \ mile ; 258 feet), to the middle
of Loch Oich. From Loch Oich (3^ miles x 1 to 2J
furl. ; 105 feet), whose foot falls just within Boleskine-
Abertarff, the Caledonian Canal goes If mile south-
south-westward to Loch Loohy (9| miles x 1 to 9J furl. ;
93 feet), and out of Loch Loehy the river Lochy winds
9f miles south-south-westward along the Kilmallie bor-
der, till it falls near Fort William into the head of salt-
water Loch Linnhe. The Spean, from a point \\ mile
below its efflux from Loch Laggan (819 feet), winds 19J
miles westward to the Lochy, 3 furlongs below the
latter's exit from Loch Lochy : and the Spean itself is
fed by the Gulbin, running 10J miles northward out of
Loch Ossian (3J miles x 3 furl. ; 1269 feet), and through
Loch Gulbin (7 x %\ furl. ; 1150 feet) ; by the Treig,
running 2| miles north-by-eastward out of Loch Treig
(5J miles x 1 to 5i furl. ; 784 feet) ; and by the Roy,
running 14J miles south-westward. The surface is
everywhere hilly or grandly mountainous, chief eleva-
tions to the W of the Caledonian Canal being Beinn
Tee (2956 feet), Sron a' Choire Ghairbh (3066), and
Gleouraeh (3395) ; to the E, *Carn Leac (2889), *Creag
Meaghaidh (3700), Beinn Eithinn (3611), Cnoc Dearg
(3433), Stob Choire an Easain Mhoir (3658), *Aonach
Beag (4080), and huge *Ben Nevis (4406), wdiere
asterisks mark those summits that culminate on the
confines of the parish. Such is a bare outline of
the general features of this vast parish, fuller details
as to whose scenery, mansions, antiquities, and his-
tory are furnished under Glenfintaig, Glengarry,
Glengloy, Glengulbin, Glenmoke - nan - Albin,
Glenroy, Glenspean, Invergarry, Inverlochy
Castle, and Lochaber. The rocks are mainly mica
slate and gneiss, but include some fine-grained red
granite and brown porphyry. Sheep-farming constitutes
the staple employment ; but 2 miles NE of Fort William
is the famous Ben Nevis Distillery. Three battles have
been fought within this parish — the ' Battle of the
Shirts,' on 3 July 1544, between the Clan Ranald and
the Frasers, when 300 of the latter were slain, along
with Lord Lovat and his eldest sou ; the Battle of
Inverlochy, on 2 Feb. 1645, in which Montrose's small
Royalist army surprised and routed Argyll's Covenanters ;
and the ' last considerable clan battle which was fought
in Scotland,' during Charles II. 's reign, when at Mulroy
the Mackintoshes were worsted by the Macdonalds of
Keppoch. John Macdonald or Ian Lom, a Gaelic
Jacobite poet of the latter half of the 17th century, was a
native ; and his songs had no little effect towards making
Kilmonivaig the 'cradle of the rebellion of '45.' Six
proprietors hold each an annual value of more than
£500, and 2 of less than £100. Giving off the greater
portion of Glengarry quoad sacra parish, Kilmonivaig
is in the presbytery of Abertarlf and synod of Argyll ;
the living is worth £400. The parish church, near
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