Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 5

LONGFORMACUS
Benvie in Forfarshire, SE by the Firth of Tay, and
W by Inchture and Abernyte. Its utmost length,
from NW to SE, is 7g miles ; its breadth varies
between 7J furlongs and 4J miles; and its area is
11,247J acres, of which 2687 are foreshore and 32
■water. The streams are all small, and the largest,
rising in the north-western extremity, runs 2i miles to
the SW boundary, flows 3| miles along that boundary,
and thence goes 2 miles eastward to the Firth at Burn-
side Park. The foreshore, 3J miles long and IJ mile
broad, bears the name of Dogbank. A triangular tract
of seaboard, about If mile broad at the western
boundary, and converging to a point in the vicinity of
Kingoodie village, 1 mile from the eastern boundary,
is carse land, almost as Hat as a bowling-green. A
bold and rocky promontory projects at Kingoodie ;
and a gently sloping bank or low ridge goes thence
north-westward, bears on its summit Longforgan vil-
lage, and ends somewhat abruptly at the Snabs of
Drimmie (177 feet). A dingle lies immediately behind,
and extends quite across the parish ; a gentle ascent
flanks the NW side of the dingle ; and in the north-
western corner of the parish, Ballo Hill, a summit of
the Sidlaws, attains a maximum altitude of 1029 feet
above sea-level. Sandstone of excellent quality is
quarried at Kingoodie, and on a farm in the uplands ;
coal was long believed to exist, but eluded extensive
and frequent search ; and shell marl was dug and sold
to a vast amount after the epoch of agricultural improve-
ment. The soil on the carse land is rich argillaceous
alluvium ; on the bank or ridge flanking the carse land,
is mostly a deep black loam ; and elsewhere is mainly
of a light dry character, well suited to the turnip hus-
bandry ; but on two or three farms is wet and spongy,
on a cold retentive bottom. Rather more than one-sixth
of the entire land area is under wood ; about 180 acres
are meadow or hill pasture ; and all the rest of the land
is regularlj- or occasionally in tillage. Chief antiquities
are a large tumulus on what was anciently Forgan Moor,
traces of a fortification on Dron Hill, a ruined chapel
and a cemetery in a dell among the high grounds of
Dron, vestiges of a cemetery on the grounds of Jlonor-
gan, and many ancient coins, chiefly Scottish and Eng-
lish, found in various parts. Castle-Huntly, the
most prominent edifice, has been separately noticed, as
also are the mansions of Mtlnefield and Loohton.
A fourth mansion was Dkimmie House, now represented
by Eossie Priory, within the eastern border of Inchture.
Six proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and
upwards, 3 of between £100 and £500, 2 of from £50 to
£100, and 5 of from £20 to £50. Longforgan is in the
presbytery of Dundee and the synod of Angus and
Mearns ; the living is worth £375. The parish church,
at Longforgan village, was built in 1795, and contains
nearly 1000 sittings. The clock on its steeple was
reconstructed in 1878 by an ingenious self-taught car-
penter. There is also a Free church ; and two public
schools, Longforgan and Mylnefield, with respective
accommodation for 180 and 230 children, had (1882) an
average attendance of 111 and 156, and grants of £114,
14s. 6d. and £143, 13s. Valuation (1866) £13,998. Is.,
(1884) £15,282, 2s. lOd. Pop. (ISOl) 1569, (1831) 1638,
(1861) 1823, (1871) 1753, (1881) 1854.— Orrf. Sur., sh.
48, 1868.
Longformacus, a small village and a parish in
Lammermuir district, N Berwickshire. The vUlage
stands, 690 feet above sea-level, on both sides of Dye
"Water, 7 miles "VVISTW of its station and post-town,
Duns. It has a post office, and is a resort of anglers, for
whom there is good accommodation.
The parish, consisting of a main body and a detached
section, comprises the ancient parishes of Longformacus
and Ellem, united in 1712. The main body is bounded
N by Cranshaws and by Whittingham and Innerwick
in Haddingtonshire, E by Abbey St Bathans, Duns, and
Langton, SE by Polwarth, S by Greenlaw and Cran-
shaws (detached), SW by Lauder, and NW by Garvald
in Haddingtonshire. Its outline is remarkably irregvdar,
being closely contracted by the two sections of Cran-
LONGHOPE
shaws, and making a great projection towards Greenlaw ;
and its utmost length, from E to W, is lOg miles ; whilst
its breadth varies between f mile and 7} miles. The
detached or Blackek.stone section, lying 1^ mile E of
the nearest point of the main body, is surrounded by
Abbey St Bathans, Cockburnspath, Bunkle, and Dims,
and has an utmost length and breadth of 2J miles and
1 mile. The area of the whole is 19,604J acres, of which
1149J belong to the detached section, and 72J are water.
Dye Water, rising on the western confines of the
parish at an altitude of 1600 feet above sea-level, winds
13| miles eastward through the interior and along the
southern boundary, till, after a total descent of 1000
feet, it falls into the Whitadder, j mile WSW of Ellem
Inn. The Whitadder itself curves 4J miles eastward
through the interior and along the boundaries with
Cranshaws and Abbey St Bathans, and lower down
traces the western and southern boundary of the Blacker-
stone section for 2J miles. Along the Whitadder the
surface of the main body declines in the extreme E to
510 feet above sea-level, thence rising to 1032 feet at
Brown Law, 880 near Otterburn, 1309 at Dirrikgton
Great Law, 1191 at Dirrington Little Law, 1194 at
Wrink Law, 1299 at Black Hill, 1531 at Meikle Law,
1625 at Hunt Law, and 1626 at Willies Law. The rocks
are mainly Silurian, and various unsuccessful attempts
have been made at copper-mining. The soil is fairly
good for a hill district ; but less than one-ninth of
the entire area is in tillage, wood covering some 330
acres, and the rest being pastoral moorland. The chief
antiquity, a cairn called the Mutiny Stones, is noticed
under Btreoleugh. An ancient British camp, known
locally as Eunklie — a corruption of Wrink Law — lies
li mile above Longformacus, where the flanks of the
hill drop abruptly down on Dye Water. On one side
it is protected by precipitous slopes, on the other by
walls and mounds. In recent times Runklie has been
the site of a farm and a mill, the traces of which can be
easily seen within the limits of the more ancient remains
[Procs. BerwicJcshire Naturalists' Club, 1882). At the
manse is a tall picturesque gable-end of a dwelling, sup-
posed to be a mansion built for defence in the old Border
times. In olden times the barony of Longformacus
belonged successively to the Earls of Moray, the Earls
of Dunbar, and the St Clairs of Roslin. Longformacus
House stands a little way E of the village, on the
opposite bank of the Dye, amidst large and well-wooded
grounds. Its owner. Captain A. M. Brown, holds 2600
acres in the parish, valued at £1620 per annum. The
only other resident landowner is Andrew Smith, Esq.
of A\Tiitchester, w'hose turreted mansion, standing on a
hill between Ellemford and Longformacus, forms from all
parts a most prominent feature in the landscape. Four
other proprietors hold each an annual value of more,
and 3 of less, than £500. Longformacus is in the
presbytery of Duns and the synod of Merse and Teviot-
dale ; the living averages nearly £300. The parish
church, built about 1730, contains 200 sittings. There
is also a Free church ; and a public school, with accom-
modation for 66 children, had (1882) an average attend-
ance of 42, and a grant of £53, Is. Valuation (1865)
£6634, 9s., (1884) £7085, 6s. Pop. (1801) 406, (1831)
425, (1861) 448, (1871) 452, (1881) 385.— Orrf. Sur.,
shs. 33, 34, 25, 1863-65.
Longhaven, a modern mansion in Cruden parish,
Aberdeenshire, 6 miles S by W of Peterhead. There
is a post office of Longhaven under Ellon.
Longhope, a hamlet and a sea-loch or long bay in
Walls and Flotta parish. Hoy Island, Orkney. The
hamlet, lying on the sea-loch, 18 miles SW of Kh-kwall,
has a post office under Stromness, with money order,
savings' bank, and telegraph departments. The sea-
loch, opening from the soutli-western extremity of Scapa
Flow, opposite Flotta Island, is sheltered across the
entrance, at the distance of about 1 mOe, by Flotta and
Switha. Penetrating the southern district of Hoy
Island, so as to cut that island into a large main body
and a small peninsula, it extends 3J miles west-south-
westward to within 3 furlom^t of the Pentland Fiith,
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