Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 5

PENIELHEU6H
wooded ascents, by swells and eminences on either side,
dissevered by ravines, and moulded into many curves of
beauty. In front of the house is an artificial lake, and
westward is another large piece of water well-stocked with
fish. These ponds are notable as the scene of the boyish
boatings which kindled the enthusiasm of John Clerk of
Eldin (1736-1812), the brother of Sir James, for nautical
studies, and remotely led to the production of his Essay
on Naval Tactics. The ofBces, 280 feet distant, form a
large square, with a rustic portico and an elegant spire
and clock ; and, behind them, serving as a pigeon-
house, is an excellent model of the quondam celebrated
Roman Temple on theCarron, called by Buchanan 'Tern-
plum Termini,' but popularly denominated Arthur's
Oven. On the opposite side of the river, at the end of
an avenue on the top of the bank, and J mile from
the house, stands an obelisk, raised by Sir James Clerk
to the memory of his own and his father's friend and
frequent visitor, Allan Ramsay (1686-1758). On a coni-
cal eminence directly in front of the house, and 3 fur-
longs distant stands the round Flag Tower (1750), which
is seen at a great distance. On another eminence close
on the Esk, and midway between the house and the
town, stands another tower, formerly called Terregles,
the original seat of the ancient proprietor of the parish ;
and onward from it to the termination of the grounds
at the village is a profusion of pleasant and striking
scenes. About a furlong above the garden, on the
margin of the Esk, is Hurlycove, a subterranean passage
147 feet long, 7 high, and 6 broad, with a dark cell in
the middle in which are seats for 6 or 8 persons, the
whole cut out of the solid rock in 1742. Directly
opposite this is another artificial sheet of water, stored
with perch and trout. John Clerk (1611-74), the son
of a Montrose merchant, having made a fortune in
Paris, in 1646 purchased the lands and barony of Peni-
cuik from Dr Alexander Pennicuik ; and John, his son,
was created a baronet in 1679. His sixth descendant.
Sir George Douglas Clerk, present and eighth Bart.
(b. 1852 ; sue. 1870), holds 13,196 acres in Edinburgh
and Peebles shires, valued at £11,415 per annum.
(See J. Small's Castles and Mansions of the Zothians,
Edinb. 1883.) Other mansions, noticed separately,
are Newhall and Logan House ; and six lesser pro-
prietors hold each an annual value of £500 and
upwards, eleven of between £100 and £500. Peni-
cuik is in the presbytery of Dalkeith and the synod
of Lothian and Tweeddale ; the living is worth £200.
In 1883 the following were the six schools under
the school-board, with accommodation, average attend-
ance, and grant: — Howgate public (100, 66, £62, 5s.),
Kirkhill public (256, 247, £211, 19s. ), Nine Mile Burn
public (100, 36, £26, lis.), Penicuik public (463, 346,
£310, 7s.), Penicuik female (126, 66, £49, 4s.), and
Valleyfield infant and industrial (192, 156, £118, 14s.).
The Wellington Reformatory Farm School (1857), 2
mUes from the town, had an average of 109 inmates in
1882, when its total receipts were £1889. Valuation
(1871) £19,143, Os. 6d., (1884) £27,464, 13s. 5d., of
which £2499 was for railways and water-works. Pop.
(1801) 1705, (1831) 2255, (1861), 3492, (1871) 3765,
(1881) 5309.— Ord. Sur., shs. 32, 24, 1857-64.
Penielheugh. See Crailing.
Penkill Bum. See Minnigaff.
Penkill Castle, a mansion in Dailly parish, Ayrshire,
3 miles E by N of Girvan.
Penkiln. See Kirkmadrine.
Pennan, a fishing village in Aberdour parish, Aber-
deenshire, on a small bay adjacent to the boundary with
Banffshire, 4 miles ENE of Gardenstown. It nestles
snugly at the foot of steep acclivities flanking the shore,
and owns 37 fishing boats. Pennan Head is a slight
projection, 1 mile ENE of the village, and, rising
rapidly inland to a height of 562 feet, commands an
imposing view of the seaboard westward to the Bin of
Cullen, and eastward to Kinnairds Head. The fourth
and last Lord Eraser, who was hiding after the '15,
lost his life through a fall from the cliff here, 12 Oct.
1720.— Ore?. Sur., sh. 97, 1876.
176
PENNINGHAHIE
Pennick, a small village in Auldearn parish, Nairn
shire, 4 miles E by S of Nairn. An old house stood
here till about 1835, the former residence of the Deans
of Moray.
Penninghame, a parish of NE Wigtownshire, contain-
ing the post-town and station of Newton-Stewart, 7
miles N by W of Wigtown and 49 J W by S of Dumfries.
It is bounded N by Colmonell in Ayrshire and Minni-
gaff in Kirkcudbrightshire, E by Minnigaff and Kirk-
mabreck in Kirkcudbrightshire, S by Wigtown, and W
by Kirkcowan. Its utmost length, from NW to SE, is
14f miles ; its breadth varies between 9 furlongs and
5 J mUes ; and its area is 54;^ square miles or 34,762
acres, of which 851 are foreshore and 262J water. "The
'crystal Cree' winds 18 miles south-south-eastward
along part of the northern and all the eastern boundary
to the head of Wigtown Bay ; and the Bladenoch,
issuing from Loch Maberry (IJ mile x 3 furl. ; 405
feet), at the meeting-point with Colmonell and Kirk-
cowan, winds 17 miles south-south-eastward along all
the western and J mile of the southern boundary till it
passes off into Wigtown parish. Bishop Burn, rising
near Merton Hall, runs 6| miles south-eastward — for
the last 4 along the Wigtown border — to the upper part
of Wigtown Baj' ; and seven burns or rills rise in the
interior and run to the Cree, ten to the Bladenoch. Of
twelve other lakes and lakelets the largest are Loch
Dornal (5 X 4| furl. ; 380 feet), on the Ayrshire
boundary ; Loch Ochiltree (7 x 4J furl. ; 390 feet), IJ
mile ESE of Loch Dornal ; and triangular Loch Eldrig
(2§ _x 1 furl. ; ISO feet), 3| miles W of Newton-Stewart.
Springs of pure water are numerous ; and one is chaly-
beate and medicinal. Cree JIoss, occupying the SE
corner, along the Cree to Wigtown Bay, is a flat tract
of nearly 2000 acres, which seems to have been suc-
cessively submarine, forest, and moss ; and has, to a
considerable extent, undergone reclamation into pro-
ductive corn land. The rest of the surface, in a general
view, is a long, broken swell, inclining to the rivers,
and, from S to N, attaining 401 feet at Barraer Fell,
322 at Eldrig Hill, 451 at Glenhapple Fell, 493 at Glas-
soch Fell, and 604 at a point | mile E by S of Loch
Ochiltree. It presents, for the most part, a tumulated
moorish aspect ; and,, though somewhat embellished in
portions of the southern district, is everywhere else
prevailingly bleak. Many beautiful and agreeable spots
lie among the moorlands, especially along the Cree ;
and much of the moorlands themselves is capable of
reclamation into arable land. Greywacke of several
varieties is the predominant rock, and in one place has
been quarried for building ; whilst granite, abounding
in boulders from a few pounds to many tons in weight,
is sometimes mixed with red or green syenite, and is
much used for both rubble and polished masonry. The
soil in Cree Moss is a heavy clayey loam ; on the higher
arable lands is dry, and suitable for various crops, par-
ticularly barley ; and in the northern district, ranges
from marsh to a quality similar to that on the higher
arable lands. Rather less than one-third of the entire
area is regularly or occasionally in tillage ; some 1450
acres are meadow, and 570 under wood ; and the rest
of the parish is either pastoral or waste. The old
military road ran from Newton-Stewart towards Glen-
luce ; and near Loch Ochiltree are traces of the Deil's
Dyke. Other antiquities are Castle-Stewart, 3 miles
NNW of Newton-Stewart ; ruins of the old parish
church at the decayed hamlet of Penninghame, 3 mUes
S of Newton-Stewart ; the site of Penninghame Hall, a
little further S ; ruins of St Ninian's chapel (1508), Ij
mile N of Castle-Stewart ; and the site of Kery or Keir
chapel, of earlier erection, 2J miles further N. The
bishops of Galloway resided at Penninghame Hall ; and
the Rev. Dr William M'Gill (1731-1807), a minister of
Ayr, whose Practical Essay on the Death of Jesus Christ
occasioned a strong sensation in the latter part of last
century, was born at Carsenestock. Penninghame
House, on the right bank of the Cree, 4 miles NNW of
Newton-Stewart, is a fine building, vfith very beautiful
grounds. Its owner, Edward James Stopford-Blair,