Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 4

KINLOSS
KINMOUNT
sive of foreshore and water, is 6286 '455 acres, but the
land area is only 5184 acres, of which 3000 acres are
in tillage, 1800 are in divided common, 250 are under
wood, and the rest are waste. The surface is every-
where very low. Along the coast is a range of sandhills,
and behind this, extending on an average for J mile
inland, is a half grassy, half moory belt. The little
drainage there is passes directly to Findhorn Bay or
by the small Kinloss Burn, which passes from E to W
almost through the centre of the parish, with a course
of 4J miles. The land is mostly alluvial, and has
been, as the name indicates, elevated at a period
which, though geologically recent, must have been pre-
historic. Over the whole of the arable part the soil
is a rich fertile loam, with patches of clay, poor loam,
sand, and moss. The underlying rock is sandstone.
The principal residences are Grangehall and Seapark,
both of which are noticed separately. The only object
of antiquarian interest is Kinloss Abbey. It was
founded by David I. in 1150, or, according to the
Chronica cle Mailros, in 1151, and the papal sanction
for the new abbey was in 1174 granted by Pope Alex-
ander III. to Beinerius, the second abbot. The monks
belonged to the Cistercian order, and were brought
from Melrose. According to Ferrerius, the foundation
was due, like that of Holyrood, to a miraculous answer
to King David's prayers. While he was hunting in his
forests near Forres he lost his way, and, in answer to
his prayer for aid, a white dove miraculously appeared,
and, flying before him, guided him to an open space
where two shepherds were watching their flocks. He
was immediately afterwards warned in a dream that he
ought to erect a chapel to the Blessed Virgin, and with
his sword he at once marked out on the grass the out-
line of the building that was to be erected, and that
there might be no delay he spent the summer at the
castle of Duffus, in order himself to superintend and
press on the erection of the building. The original
grant conveyed to the abbey the lands of ' Kynloss
and Inverlochty,' and King Malcolm afterwards added
other lands in the neighbourhood. Subsequently,
several of the Kings, as well as private benefactors,
enriched it extensively. "William the Lyon conferred
on the monks the barony of Strathisla in Banffshire,
the lands of Burgie, the lands of Invererne, and tofts
in the burghs of Inverness, Nairn, Forres, Elgin, and
Aberdeen. Robert Bruce granted all the fishings on
the river Findhorn, and this grant was confirmed by
James I. and James IV. Several of the abbots who
were mitred and had a seat in parliament were distin-
guished men, the most so being Robert Reid, who ruled
from 1526 till his appointment as Bishop of Orkney in
1541. The abbots had a regality jurisdiction over their
possessions. In 1587 the lands belonging to it were
annexed to the Crown, and on 2 Feb. 1601 a charter
was granted to Edward Bruce (who on the dissolution
of the religious houses had been appointed commen-
dator of Kinloss) erecting the lands into a temporal
lordship and barony, and in 1604 Bruce became Lord
Bruce of Kinloss, a title which still remains among
those of the Earl of Elgin, though the estates have long
quitted the family, the first Earl having in 1643 sold
them to Alexander Brodie of Lethen. Of the buildings
which, from the importance of the place, must have
been very extensive, and included all the apartments
suitable to a large monastery, but few fragments now
remain. These are a cloister wall on the W, two fine
Saxon arches on the S, and a two-story building with
groined roof, traditionally called the 'prior's chambers,'
on the E. To the S are the E gable and a portion of
the wall of a dwelling-house traditionally the residence
of the abbot. The chapter-house is said to have sur-
vived till the latter part of the 18th century. It seems
to have been supported by six pillars, and these are
mentioned by Pennant, who visited the building in
1769. His account in his Tour in Scotland (Chester,
1771) also mentions the orchard. 'Near the abbey is
an orchard of apple and pear trees, at least coeval with
the last monks ; numbers lie prostrate ; their venerable
404
branches seem to have taken fresh roots, and were laden
with fruit, beyond what could be expected from their
antique look.' These have now disappeared. The
church, whose outline alone can be traced, was dedi-
cated to the Blessed Virgin, and had a nave, transepts,
and choir, with a lofty tower at the crossing. The tower
seems to have been erected between 1467 and 1482, and
fell in 1574. The Laird of Lethen in 1650 sold the
stones of much of the buildings to the Commonwealth
for the erection of the citadel at Inverness, and one of
his descendants carried off and used part of what remained
for the erection of farm offices. In 1650 the parish
had no separate existence, and in 1652 the minister of
Alves represented to the presbytery that ' the chapter-
house of the Abbey of Kinloss hath been since the
Reformation a place for preaching the Word, cele-
brating the sacraments and marriage ; and by a con-
descendence between Alexander Brodie of Lethen and
the English garrison at Inverness, the fabric of the
abbey is taken down for building their citadel, save the
place of worship ; and those who have the charge for to
transport the stone have it in command to take that
down also : therefore, ' the presbytery were to lay to
heart what might happen seeing that all parties con-
cerned had agreed that there was to be a separate
church and parish erected for Kinloss. Mr Brodie
declared that ' it was against his will that these stones
were taken away,' and finally agreed to give a glebe
and a site for a manse and a church, and, besides, to
pay for the erection of these buildings out of the money
he had received for the stones of the abbey. The
parish of Kinloss was soon thereafter constituted in
1657 by disjunctions from the parishes of Forres,
Rafford, and Alves, and this was ratified by parliament
in 1661. Edward I., during his progress through the
North in 1303, quartered himself and his soldiers on
the Monks on 13 Sept., and spent part of that month
as well as of October, and possibly also of November
there, as is shown by a number of deeds signed by him
at Kinloss.
The parish is in the presbytery of Forres and the synod
of Moray ; the living is worth £293. The parish church,
at the hamlet near the abbey, was erected in 1765, and
repaired in 1830. The Free church of Kinloss is at
Findhorn, which village is within the parish. Two
public schools, Kinloss and Findhorn female, with
accommodation respectively for 114 and 10S pupils, had
in 1881 attendances of 61 and 73, and grants of £52,
10s. 6d. and £62, 13s. There are also a sub-post office,
a public library, and a friendly society. The parish is
traversed by the Forres and Keith section of the High-
land railway, which passes through it on the S for 3f
miles, and has a station near the middle of its course.
A branch line from Kinloss station to Findhorn is not
at present worked. R. C. M. Ferguson, Esq. of Raith,
holds rather more than one-half of the entire rental ;
2 lesser proprietors hold each an annual value of £500
and upwards, 4 hold each between £500 and £100, i
hold each between £100 and £50, and there are others
of smaller amount. Valuation (1860) £6128, (1S83)
£7427, 10s. Pop. (1801) 917, (1831) 1121, (1861) 1315,
(1871) 1112, (1881) 1072, of whom 476 were males and
596 females.— OrcZ. Sur., shs. 95, 94, 1876-7S.
See also Shaw's History of the Province of Moray
(Edinb. 1775; 2d ed., Elgin, 1827; 3d ed., Glasgow,
1S82); Ferrerius' History of the Abbey of Kinloss
(Bannatyne Club, Edinb. 1839) ; Taylor's Edward I.
in the North of Scotland (Elgin, 1S58) ; and Dr John
Stuart's Records of the Monastery of Kinloss (Edinb.
1872, published for the Society of Antiquaries of Scot-
land).
Kixunount, the seat of the Marquess of Queensberry,
in Cummertrees parish, Dumfriesshire, \\ mile N by W
of Cummertrees station, and 4 miles WNW of Annan.
It is a beautiful edifice, built in the early part of the
present century at a cost of £40,000, and surrounded
by fine pleasure-grounds. In 1668 the Hon. William
Douglas of Kelhead, second son of the first Earl of
Queensberry, was created a baronet ; and his fifth