Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 6

WEIR
WEMYSS
£51, 16s. Valuation (1866) £5615, Os. 3d., (1885)
£6287, 17s. 9d. Pop. (1801) 1337, (1831) 1209, (1861)
692, (1871) 520, (1881) 474, of whom 397 were in
the ecclesiastical parish. — Ord. Sur., shs. 55, 47, 46,
1S69-72.
Weir or Viera, a triangular island of Rousay parish,
Orkney, separated from the SE side of Rousay island
hy Weir Sound, which is 4A furlongs to 1 mile broad,
and approaching at its western apex to within 1^ mile
of Pomona. Its length, from ENE to WSW, is 2J
miles ; its utmost breadth is 7J furlongs ; and its surface
is low, its soil very fertile. There are on it the ruins of
a church and vestiges of a fortification. Pop. (1831) 93,
(1851) 62, (1871) 78, (1881) 80.
Weir, Bridge of, a village in Kilbarchan and Houston
parishes, Renfrewshire, on the river Gryfe, 3J miles
NW of Johnstone and 7 W by N of Paisley. Owing its
existence to the establishment of two large cotton mills
in its vicinity in 1792 and 1793, it has a post office
under Johnstone, with money order, savings' bank, and
telegraph departments, a railway station, a branch of
the Clydesdale Bank, a good hotel, a water-supply of
1881, a bowling-green, a public school, an Established
chapel of ease (1879), and a Free church (1826, formerlv
Original Burgher). Pop. (1861) 1443, (1871) 1315",
(1881) 1267, of whom 715 were in Kilbarchan.— Ord.
Sur. , sh. 30, 1866.
Weisdale. See Tingwall.
Wellbank, a post office under Dundee, in Monifieth
parish, Forfarshire, 6 miles N of Broughty Ferry.
Wellfield, a mansion on the northern outskirt of
Duns, Berwickshire.
Wellfield, a mansion in Strathmiglo parish, Fife, 1J
mile W by S of the town.
Wellhall, a mansion in Hamilton parish, Lanark-
shire, 1J mile W of the town. Purchased by him in
1S74, it was the death-place of the miners' advocate,
Alex. Macdonald, M.P. (1823-81).— Ore*. Sur., sh. 23,
1865.
Wells House, a mansion in the N of Hobkirk parish,
Roxburghshire, near the left bank of Rule Water, 3
miles ESE of Denholm. See Stobs Castle.
Wellwood, an estate of 17,566 acres in Muirkirk
parish, Ayrshire, on the river Ayr, 2J miles WSW of
Muirkirk town. It was purchased in 1863 for £135,000
by James Baird, Esq. of Knoydart and Cambusdoon
(1S03-76) ; and his nephew and successor, John Baird,
Esq. (b. 1852), has built on it a good mansion. — Ord.
Sur., sh. 15, 1864. See A. H. "Millar's Castles and
Mansions of Ayrshire (Edinb. 1885).
Wemyss, a parish on the S coast of Fife, is bounded
NW by Markinch, N by Markinch and Scoonie, E by
a detached section of Markinch, SE by the Firth of
Forth, and SW by Dysart. Its greatest length, from
NE to SW, is 6| miles ; its greatest breadth is 2J miles ;
and its total area is 4891f acres, of which 154A are
foreshore, and 4| water. The coast-line of about 6 miles
is bold and very rocky, though not bounded by any very
lofty cliffs. On the coast, between the villages of West
Wemyss and Buckhaven, there are eight or ten rock
caves, some of them of large extent, and all above high-
water mark. One of the largest, the Glass Cave, was
used as one of the earliest glass-works in this country,
while the Court Cave, to the E of East Wemyss, derives
its name from an encounter said to have occurred in it
between James V. and some Gipsies. In several of the
caves there are a number of curious inscriptions, which
have been fully described in a pamphlet by the late Sir
James Y. Simpson. The name of the parish is derived
from the Gaelic uaimh, ' a cave.' Between the villages
of East and West Wemyss, close to the shore, there
is a narrow stretch of links, which is used as a golfing
ground.
The surface of the parish in some places immediately
above the shore is considerably elevated, and rises in a
general slope towards the N and W, attaining 215 feet
at Bowhouse, 260 at Earl's Seat, 147 at Perceval, and
121 at Muiredge. The river Leven runs along its N
boundary for 1| mile. The rocks belong chiefly to the
Carbouiferous formation ; those in the NE and centre
are mainly dark red sandstone. The beach between
East and West Wemyss is covered with blue whinstone
ice-borne boulders ; in the SW and E a large quantity
of coal and some sandstone are found. The coal is
worked in about 13 mines. The soil is in some places
sandy and shallow, but in others of a strong, dark-
coloured, clayey character, and of great depth. Fishing
is an important industry along the coast, especially at
Buckhaven ; and the linen manufacture employs a good
number of hands, chiefly at East Wemyss, where there
is a factory. The coal and mineral trade formerly
centred in West Wemyss ; but a wet dock with a
draught of 32 feet at low water is at present being con-
structed at Methil by Mr R. G. Erskine Wemyss, at an
estimated cost of over £100,000, which will attract much
of the shipping, especially since most of the coal is now
raised in pits in the E of the parish. The chief land-
owner in the parish is Mr R. G. Erskine Wemyss of
Wemyss and Torrie, who is superior of all lands in the
parish.
The parish contains the towns of Buckhaven (2952)
and West Wemyss (1178), the villages of East AVemyss
(S95), Coaltown of Wemyss (422), Methil (819), Kirk-
land of Methil (331), and Methilhill (483). The prin-
cipal mansion is Wemyss Castle, the seat of R. G.
Erskine Wemyss, Esq., situated on a cliff about 35 feet
above the level of the sea, a little to the E of the village
of West Wemyss. It is a large and weather-beaten
building — part of it of considerable antiquity — and
forms a fine feature in the landscape as seen from the
sea. Mary Queen of Scots met Darnley for the first
time within its walls in 1565. Charles II. spent
a day in it in July 1650, and slept a night there in
July 1657. There is preserved in it a large silver
basin, which was given in 1290 by the King of
Norway to Sir Michael Wemyss of Wemyss, on occa-
sion of that knight and Sir Michael Scott of Balwearie
appearing at the Norwegian court as ambassadors
from Scotland to bring home the Princess Margaret.
More accounts than one are given of the origin of the
family of Wemyss ; but all agree as to their being
derived from the family of Macduff, Mormaer of Fife
in the reign of Malcolm Ceannmor. The family of
Wemyss, therefore, is one of the very few Lowland
families which, through the male line, can claim kindred
with Celtic blood. The lands now forming the parish
of Wemyss are said to have been part of the estate of
Macduff, Shakespeare's well-known thane of Fife, during
the reign of Malcolm Ceannmor ; and a little to the E of
East Wemyss, immediately above the Well Cave, there
is an extensive ruin, of red sandstone, known as Mac-
duff's Castle, which, according to tradition, was a
stronghold of the great thane. The present proprietor
of the AVemyss estate, Robert Gordon Erskine Wemyss,
Esq. (b. 1858 ; sue. 1864), is said to be the 27th in
direct descent from Hugo, the second son of Gilli-
michael, who was third in descent from Macduff. The
Fife estates of the family comprise 8925 acres, valued at
£17,806 per annum. Wemyss gives the title of Earl of
Wemyss to a scion of the noble family of Douglas. (See
Gosfoed. )
The Rev. George Gillespie, who figured in the eccle-
siastical affairs of the 17th century, was minister of
Wemyss for about 4 years. Besides Macduff's Castle
the antiquities in the parish include the ruins of an
ancient chapel within the grounds known as Chapel-
Garden, J mile W of West Wemyss.
A- branch railway from Thornton Junction of the
North British railway traverses the parish to Buck-
haven, with intermediate stations called West Wemyss
and Wemyss Castle. This branch line, 4J miles loug,
was opened in 1881, and cost about £20,000. A short
reach of the North British railway (about 6 furlongs),
between Dysart and Thornton, also falls within the
boundaries of the parish in the extreme W.
Wemyss parish is in the presbytery of Kirkcaldy and
synod of Fife ; the living is worth £480. The parish
church is at East Wemyss ; and there are quoad sacra
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