Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

KILTARLITY AND CONVINTH
N of the plain, is clayey or stiffly argillaceous, incum-
bent on retentive strata ; and in the upland tracts, is
mostly sandy, gravelly, or stony. Of the entire area,
10,901 acres are arable, 2050 are pasture, and 170 are
under wood. Antiquities are remains of two Koman
and of two Caledonian forts, the ruins of Kilsyth and
Colzium Castles, a seat of ancient feudal courts still
called the Court Hill, and a retreat of the Covenanters
in 1669, known as the Covenanters' Cave. Among dis-
tinguished natives have been Sir William Livingstone,
vice-chamberlain of Scotland (d. 1627) ; the Rev. John
Livingstone (1603-72), one of the founders of the Pres-
byterian Church in Ireland ; Sir Archibald Edmonstone
(1795-1871), author of A Journey to the Oases of Upper
Egypt; and the Rev. Dr R. Rennie, minister of the
parish from 1789 till 1S20, author of several essays on
peat moss. Colzium House is the chief mansion ; and
6 proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and
upwards, 14 of between £100 and £500, 35 of from £50
to £100, and 55 of from £20 to £50. In the presbytery
of Glasgow and synod of Glasgow and Ayr, this parish
since 1880 has been divided ecclesiastically into Kilsyth
proper and the quoad sacra parish of Banton, the former
a living worth £464. Four public schools — Academy,
Banton, Chapel Green, Kilsyth — and a Roman Catholic
school, with respective accommodation for 600, 173, S8,
201, and 172 children, had (1881) an average attendance
of 497, 157, 53, 149, and 169, and grants of £432,
lis. 6d., £165, 0s. 6d., £41, 7s. 6d., £110, 2s., and
£126, 13s. 6d. Landward valuation (1860) £14,050,
(1SS3) £16,049, 6s. 9d. Pop. (1801) 1762, (1831) 4297,
(1861) 6112, (1871) 6313, (1881) 6840, of whom 793
were in Banton quoad sacra parish. — Ord. Sur., sh. 31,
1S67.
Kiltarlity * and Convinth, a united parish of N Inver-
ness-shire, whose church stands near the left bank of
Belladrum Burn, 4J miles S by W of Beauly under
which there is a post office of Kiltarlity. Bounded NW
and N by Kilmorack, E by Kirkhill and Inverness, and
S by TJrquhart-Glenmoriston, it has an utmost length
from NE to SW of 30J miles, t a varying width of 3§
furlongs and 10J miles, and an area of 124J square
miles or 79, 579 J acres, of which 1347| are water.
The river Glass, formed by the confluence of the
Affric and Amhuinn Deabhaidh, 2 j miles SW of Glen-
affric Hotel, flows 12 miles north-eastward — chiefly
along the boundary with, but for 4J miles through,
Kilmorack parish — till, near Erchless Castle, it unites
with the Farrar to form the river Beauly, which
itself winds 12 miles east-north-eastward, mainly along
the northern boundary, till at Lovat Bridge it passes
off from Kiltarlity. Of a number of streams that
flow to these two rivers, the chief is Belladrum Burn,
running 7 J miles northward, till it falls into the Beauly
just below Beaufort Castle ; and of fully a score of lakes
the largest are Loch a' Bhruthaich (9 x 3i full. ; 942
feet), Loch Neaty (5 x If furl. ; 822 feet)", Loch nan
Eun (5x2 furl. ; 1700 feet), and Loch na Beinne Baine
(7| x 3 furl. ; 1650 feet). Almost everywhere hilly or
mountainous, the surface declines in the extreme NE
to 18 feet above sea-level, and rises thence to Tor Mor
(487 feet), Meall Mor (1316), Creag Ard Mhor (933),
the *eastern shoulder (2032) of Cam nam Pollan, *Carn
nam Bad (1499), Clach-bheinn (1887), Cam a' Choire
Chruaidh (2830), and *Carn a' Choire Chairbh (2827),
where asterisks mark those summits that culminate on
the confines of the parish. Such is a bare outline of
the general features of Kiltarlity, whose special beauties,
antiquities, and mansions are noticed under Aigas,
Beauly, Dhruim, Glass, Glenconvinth, Steath-
* ' We have a slight trace of the Columban church in the east-
ern districts of the northern Picts in the Irish Annals, which
record in 616 the death of Tolorggain or Talarican, who gives his
name to the great district of Cilltalargyn, or Kiltarlity ' (Skene's
Celtic Scotland, ii. 153, 1877).
t Near Invercannich, however, a strip of Kilmorack, J mile wide
at the narrowest, cuts this parish in two. It may also be noted
that every earlier description of Kiltarlity has erred in assigning
to it Glenaffric, with Lochs Affric and Beneveian, which really
belong to Kilmorack.
KILTEARN
glass, Beaufort Castle, Belladrum, Erchless-
Castle, Eskadale, and Guisachan. Devonian rocks
predominate in the lower tracts ; gneiss and granite in
the uplands. Serpentine and granular limestone occur
in small quantities on the south-eastern border ; and
specimens of asbestos and rock crystal are often found,
upon the hills. The soil of the arable lands is mostly
thin, light, extremely hard, and of a reddish colour.
Strathglass and the NE corner of the parish are beauti-
fully wooded. Among the antiquities are numerous
Caledonian stone circles and some vitrified forts ; and
there are three considerable caves at Cugie, Easter Main,
and Corriedow, of which the last, in a glen on the SE
border, is said to have afforded refuge for some days to
Prince Charles Edward. Kiltarlity is in the presbytery
of Inverness and synod of Moray ; the living is worth
£332. The parish church, on a rising-ground amid a
clump of tall trees, was rebuilt in 1829, and contains
790 sittings. There are also Established mission chapels
of Erchless and Guisachan, Free churches of Kiltarlity
and Strathglass, and St Mary's Roman Catholic church
of Eskadale (1826 ; 600 sittings) ; whilst six schools—
Culburnie, Glenconvinth, Guisachan, Struy, Tomna-
cross, and Eskadale — with total accommodation for 726
children, had (1S81) an average attendance of 222, and
grants amounting to £240. Valuation (1860) £9391,
(1S82) £11,610. Pop. (1801) 2588, (1S41) 2881, (1861)
2839, (1871) 2537, (1881) 2134, of whom 1721 were
Gaelic-speaking. — Ord. Sur., shs. 83, 73, 72, 1878-81.
Kiltearn (Gael. cill-Tighearn, ' St Ternan's church '),
a parish of Ross-shire, containing Evanton village and
Foulis station, the latter being 2 miles SSW of Novar
and i\ NNE of Dingwall. Tapering north-westward,
and bounded NE by Alness, SE by the Cromarty Firth,.
SW by Dingwall, and W by Fodderty, it has an ut-
most length from NW to SE of 13J miles, a varying
width of 1 mile and 6 miles, and an area of 29,956-J
acres, of which 1097J are foreshore and S86J water.
Loch Glass (4 miles x 5 furl. ; 713 feet) lies on the
Alness border, and from its foot sends off the river
Glass or Aultgrakde, which, running 8 miles east-
south-eastward to the Cromarty Firth, chiefly along
the NE boundary, but latterly through the north-
eastern corner of the parish, is joined from Kiltearn
by the Allt nan Caoraeh ; whilst of seven lakes scat-
tered over the interior, the largest is Loch Bealach
nan Cuilean (7J x 1 furl. ; 1200 feet). Except for a
level strip along the Firth, the entire surface is hilly or
mountainous, wild, heathy, and uncultivated upland,
chief elevations north-westward being Cnoc Vabin (1000
feet), Cnoc nan Each (1508), huge, lumpish *Ben
Wyvis (3429), Queen's Cairn (2109), *Carn nan Ruadha
(2206), and *Clach nam Buaidh-fhearan (1875), where
asterisks mark those summits that culminate on the
western confines of the parish. Devonian rocks pre-
dominate along the coast ; metamorphic rocks, chiefly
gneiss, in the interior. Small portions of carboniferous
rocks, containing coal, near the shore, at one time
induced an expensive but fruitless attempt to sink a
coal mine ; and lead and iron ores occur in the interior,
but not in quantity to promise productive working. At
most, 3000 acres are regularly or occasionally in tillage;
but a fair proportion of the lower district is under wood.
A cairn and remains of five pre-Reformation chapels are
among the extant antiquities, a Caledonian stone circle
having been demolished not long before 1839. There
is a remarkable group of cup-and-ring marked stones on
the estate of Mountgerald, and a very remarkable and
interesting group of but circles with tumuli to the SW
of Cnoc Mhargaidh Dhuibh on the estate of Swordale.
This group of hut circles is in part surrounded by the
remains of an old enclosure. The Falls of Coneas near
the junction of the Aultgrande and Allt-nan-Caorach
are interesting and beautiful. The most interesting
natural phenomenon in the parish is the Black Rock of
Kiltearn, now visited by hundreds of people every year.
The most distinguished and venerated of the northern
Covenanters, the Rev. Thomas Hogg, was minister of
Kiltearn. There is a marble tablet in the parish church
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