Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

KINGUSSIE
it was founded towards the close of last century by
the Duke of Gordon as an intended seat of woollen
manufactures. That scheme fell through ; but since
the opening of the railway (1863) Eingussie has bid fair
to rise to no little importance as a centre of general
trade, and as a summer resort of families from the sea-
side in quest of change of air. It has a post office, with
money order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments,
branches of the British Linen Co. and Commercial
Banks, a National Security Savings' Bank, 4 insurance
agencies, a good hotel, recent drainage and water works,
daily coach communication with Fort William, a
neat court-house (1806), the parish church (1792 ;
650 sittings), a Free church, a farming society, a read-
ing club, and fairs on the third Wednesday of August
and the Tuesday of May, September, and November
after Beauly. Ruthven Barracks crowned a conical
mound, the site of a castle of the Comyns, Lords of
Badenoch, 1 J mile S by E of the village', on the opposite
side of the Spey, which here is crossed by a substantial
wooden bridge. The original Ruthven Castle in the
latter half of the 14th century was the principal strong-
hold of the ' Wolf of Badenoch ; ' its successor — reared
by George, sixth Earl of Huntly, not long before its
fruitless siege by the Earl of Argyll in 1594 — was cap-
tured by Leslie (1647), by Mackenzie of Pluscardine
(1649), and by Claverhouse (1689). The barracks were
built by Government in 1718, and burned in 1746 by
2500 fugitives from Culloden, who rallied here till a
message from Prince Charles Edward desired them to
disperse. The only other noticeable episode is that on
8 Oct. 1861, the Queen and Prince Consort drove through
Eingussie, 'a very straggling place with very few cot-
tages,' where 'there was a small, curious, chattering
crowd, of people, who, however, did not really make us
out, but evidently suspected who we were. ' Small debt
courts sit on the Tuesday before the Wednesday after 16
Jan., and the Tuesdays before the first Wednesdays in
May and September. Under the superiority of the
Baillies of Doehfour, Eingussie is a police burgh accord-
ing to the General Police and Improvement Act (Scot-
land)' of 1862, its municipal constituency numbering
110 in 1883, when the annual value of real property
amounted to £2328. Pop. (1841) 460, (1861) 646,
(1871) 676, (1881) 645. Houses (1881) 102 inhabited,
12 vacant, 2 building.
The parish, containing also the stations of Newton-
more and Dalwhinnie, 3 miles WSW and 13 SSW of
Eingussie, is bounded NW by Moy-Dalarossie, N by
Alvie, E by the Rothiemurchus portion of Alvie, SE and
S by Blair Athole in Perthshire, and W by Laggan. Its
utmost length, from N to S, is 19| miles ; its utmost
width, from E to W, is 15J miles ; and its area is 181$
square miles, or 116,182 acres, including a detached por-
tion, which, with an utmost length and breadth of 3|
miles and 9 furlongs, extends along the western shore of
the upper waters of Loch Ericht, and at its southern
extremity contains Lochericht Lodge. From a point 5
furlongs N by W of Glentruim House, and 810 feet
above sea-level, the Spet winds 14 miles north-eastward,
tracing 6| miles of the Alvie boundary, and, close to the
NE corner of the parish, flowing through Loch Inch
(7£ x 4f furl. ; 721 feet). It here is from 80 to 100 feet
broad, and here is joined by the Truim, running 13
miles north-north-eastward along the Laggan boundary ;
the Calder, running 4J miles east-by-southward ; the
Tromie, running 10J miles north-by-eastward out
of Loch an t-Seilich (9 x 3$ furl. ; 1400 feet) ; and
the Feshie, running 8§ miles north-by-westward along
the Rothiemurchus boundary. Chief elevations to the
N of the Spey are Creag Bheag (1593 feet), Creag Dubh
(2581), Carn an Fhreieeadain (2861), A Chailleach
(3045), and *Carn Mairg - (3087), belonging to the
Monadhliath Mountains ; to the S, Creag Far-Leitire
(1145), Beinn Bhuidhe (1193), Creag Bheag (1610),
Cruaidhleac (2099), *Carn Dearg Mor (2813), Mullaeh
Mor (2521), Stac Meall na Cuaich (3000), *Carn na
Cairn (3087), and *Creagan Mor (2522), belonging to
the Grampians, where asterisks mark those summits
402
KINKELL
that culminate on the boundaries. Such is a bare
outline of the general features of this great Highland
parish, fuller details being given under Badenoch,
Gaick Forest, Glentromie, Glentruim, Loch Gynas,
Invereshie, and other articles already indicated.
A good deal of the Speyside section, and of the little
lateral vales is arable ; but by far the greater part of
the surface is mountainous and heathy, either pastoral
or waste. The soil of the lower arable lands is alluvial;
that of the higher is mostly a light and sandy but fertile
loam. Several plantations, of greater or less extent, im-
part beauty and shelter to the natural landscape, and
mainly consist of larch and Scotch pine, interspersed
with mountain-ash and oak. The Eingussie estate be-
longed anciently to the Comyns, Lords of Badenoch,
and, having passed to the ducal family of Gordon, at the
death of the last Duke in 1836 was purchased by the late
James Evan Baillie, Esq. of Doehfour. Silver and lead
ores have been discovered near Eingussie village, but
never turned to any account. Antiquities are Caledonian
stone circles, and vestiges of what is thought to have
been a Roman camp ; whilst a priory is known to have
been founded by one of the Earls of Huntly in the latter
half of the 15th century at or near the site of Eingussie
village. James Macpherson (1738-96), the 'translator'
of Ossian, was born at Ruthven, where he was after-
wards for some time parish schoolmaster. Sir George
Macpherson-Grant of Ballindalloch is the largest pro-
prietor, 4 others holding each an annual value of £500
and upwards, 1 of between £100 and £500, 4 of from
£50 to £100, and 19 of from £20 to £50. Including
the greater part of Inch quoad sacra parish, Eingussie
is in the presbytery of Abernethy and synod of Moray ;
the living is worth £385. Three public schools — Dal-
whinnie, Eingussie, and Newtonmore — with respective
accommodation for 35, 220, and 134 children, had (1881)
an average attendance of 7, 138, and 82, and grants of
£20, 16s., £122, ISs., and £71, 12s. Valuation (1S61)
£9294, (1S82) £14,943, 6s. 3d. Pop. (1801) 1306, (1831)
2080, (1861) 2033, (1871) 2101, (1881) 1987, of whom
1371 were Gaelic-speaking, and 1590 were in Eingussie
ecclesiastical parish. — Ord. Swr., shs. 64, 74, 73, 63,
1873-77.
Kinharvie, a beautiful villa in Newabbey parish,
Eirkcudbrightshire, at the NW base of Criffel, 10
miles SSW of Dumfries.
Kininmonth. See Einninmonth.
Kinkell, a hamlet and an ancient parish in Strathearn
district, Perthshire. The hamlet lies on the right bank
of the Earn, 2 J miles NNW of Auchterarder, and has a
bridge over the Earn and a U. P. church. The ancient
parish is now incorporated with Trinity-Gask. Its
church was dedicated to St Bean or Beanus, who,
according to Dr Skene, dwelt here in the first half of
the 10th century {Celtic Scotland, ii. 324-327, 1877.—
Ord. Sur., sh. 47, 1869. _
Kinkell, a former parish in Garioch district, Aber-
deenshire. It took its name of Einkell (Gael. ' head
church') from the circumstance that six subordinate
churches anciently belonged to its parsonage. The Lords
Commissioners for the plantation of kirks in 1754 an-
nexed one-third of it to Eintore, and the remainder to
Eeithhall or Monkegy, ordaining that the latter
should thenceforth be called the united parish of
Eeithhall and Einkell. A cattle and horse fair is held
at Einkell on the Wednesday after the last Tuesday of
September o. s. The church, near the left bank of the
Don, 2 miles SSE of Inverurie, was unroofed in 1771 to
furnish materials for Eeithhall church, and now is an
utter ruin. Third Pointed in style, it seems to have
been rebuilt in 1528 by Alexander Galloway, rector of
Einkell, who was also architect of the first Bridge of
Dee at Aberdeen. It retains a sculptured tabernacle or
aumbry for the Blessed Sacrament, a bas-relief of a
crucifix and the celebration of Mass, and two-thirds of
an incised slab, representing a knight in armour — Sir
Gilbert de Greenlaw presumably, who fell at the battle
of Harlaw (1411). Its carved font, however, after
lying for many years exposed to wind and weather at