Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

MONIMAIL
Monimail (Gael, monadh-maol, ' bare hill '), a village
and a parish of Fife. The village is 9 furlongs NE of
Collessie station, on the Ladybank and Perth section of
the North British railway, 5| miles W by S of Cupar,
and 4 N by W of the post-town, Ladybank.
The parish, containing also the post offices of Letham
(under Collessie) and Bow of Fife (under Springfield), is
bounded N by Dunbog, Creich, and Moonzie, E and SE
by Cupar, S by Cults, SW and W by Collessie, and NW
by Abdie. Its utmost length, from E to W, is 4J miles;
its utmost breadth, from N to S, is 3f miles ; and its area
is 6554 acres. Streams there are none of any size, but
the drainage is carried eastward to the Eden. The
southern portion of the parish is tolerably level, nowhere
sinking below 140 or exceeding 287 feet above the sea;
but the northern is hillier, attaining 649 feet near Gowdie
and 600 at Mount Hill. In the N the soil is mainly
composed of clayey loam and decomposed trap, while in
the S it is a light, thin alluvium, resting upon gravel.
The parish is fairly well-wooded, containing, among
others, the Connoquhie and Springfield woods. The
Mount was the site of the house of the famous satirical
poet, Sir David Lindsay (1490-1555), whom the late
David Laing, however, considered to have most likely
been born at Garmylton or Garleton near Haddington.
The house stood on the S side of the hill, and its place
is still marked by some old trees. 'Sir David's Walk,'
where, it is said, he was wont to pace up and down
while composing his satires, is still pointed out on the
top of the hill, which is crowned by the Hopetoun
Monument, a Doric column 92 feet high, with a capital
of 15 feet, erected to the memory of John, fourth Earl
of Hopetoun (1766-1823), the Peninsular hero. A spiral
staircase leads to its summit, which commands a fine
view of the valley of the Eden and of the Firths of Forth
and of Tay. The following well-known Scotsmen have
been connected with Monimail, all but the first being
natives: — Sir Robert Sibbald (1641-1712), physician,
naturalist, and antiquary, who resided at Upper Ran-
keillour; General Robert Melville, LL.D. (1723-1809),
an eminent military antiquary; David Molyson (1789-
1834), a minor poet; and the two brothers, both
'literary peasants,' Alexander Bethune (1804-43) and
John (1802-39). An ancient castle is said to have stood
at Balgarvie, but no vestige of it now remains. With
reference to it, Sir Robert Sibbald writes: ' It is said that
there was here a strong castle, which was taken and
levelled by Sir John Pettsworth, as he was marching
with the English forces to the siege of the castle of Cupar
in the reign of King Robert I.' The lands of Monimail
anciently belonged to the Archbishop of St Andrews,
who had a castle here, which stood to the N of Melville
House. It was originally built by Bishop William
Lamberton, who died in June 1328, and appears to have
been enlarged and improved by Cardinal Beaton, as a
head with a cardinal's cap was carved on different parts
of the walls. Archbishop Hamilton resided at the
castle of Monimail during a severe illness, when he was
attended and cured by the famous Italian physician,
Cardan. Fernie Castle is noticed separately, as also are
the mansions of Balgarvie, Melville, and Rankeillour.
Monimail is in the presbytery of Cupar and the synod
of File; the minister's stipend is £347. The parish
church is a handsome edifice of 1796, with a tower.
There is a Free church at the Bow of Fife ; and two
public schools, Easter Fernie and Letham, with respec-
tive accommodation for 54 and 103 children, have an
average attendance of about 15 and 80, and grants of
over £10 and £73. Valuation (1884) £11,564, 4s. 10d.,
(1893) £8895, 12s. 4d. Pop. (1801) 1066, (1831) 1230,
(1861) 1054, (1871) 918, (1881) 834, (1891) 769.— Ord.
Sur., shs. 48, 40, 1868-67.
Monkland, an ancient barony in the Middle Ward of
Lanarkshire. It long constituted one district or parish ;
but in 1640 it was divided into the two parishes of Old
or West Monkland and New or East Monkland. The
name of Monkland was obtained from the district having
been the property in early times of the monks of New-
battle. In the early part of the reign of Malcolm IV.
1172
MONKLAND
(1153-65), that monarch granted to these monks a large
tract of territory, which extended from the boundaries
of Lothian on the E to the Clyde on the W, and which
constituted a hundred pounds lands of the ancient
extent, the monks having ample jurisdiction over all of
it. Excepting the lands and manor-place of Lochwood,
which belonged to the Bishops of Glasgow, the monks
of Newbattle possessed every acre of territory in what
are now Old and New Monkland, a considerable part of
which they held in their own hands for cultivation,
letting out the remainder in lease. From documents
still extant it appears that they obtained permission
from the landed proprietors of the west of Scotland, as
well as those in the Lothians, for free passage for them-
selves, their servants, cattle, and goods, from their
monastery of Newbattle to their domains in Clydesdale;
and from King Alexander II. they obtained similar
grants of free passage by the usual ways, with permis-
sion to depasture their cattle for one night, on every
part of the route, excepting upon the meadows and
growing corn. The rectorial revenues of Monkland were
joined to those of Cadder in forming a rich prebend,
which was held as the appropriate benefice of the sub-
dean of Glasgow ; and, although the period of this
arrangement is not known, it continued till the Refor-
mation. Previous to this era a chapel was erected at
Kipps, on the borders of the present district of New
Monkland, which was the property of the Newbattle
monks; and the abbots are said to have held annual
courts at it, when they levied their rents and feu-duties,
and transacted the other business pertaining to their
barony of Monkland. This chapel was destroyed at the
stormy period of the Reformation, and its site can
scarcely now be pointed out. About the same time the
monastery of Newbattle was overthrown, and all the
fair domains which had so long remained in the posses-
sion of the monks were wrested from them.
In 1587 the barony of Monkland was granted in fee
to Mark Ker, the commendator of the abbey, who four
years later was created Lord Newbattle; but afterwards
the barony was divided, and parcelled out into various
hands. A portion called Medrocs fell to the share of
Lord Boyd; but a still larger share of the barony was
acquired by the wily and hoarding Sir Thomas Hamilton
of Binning, King's advocate under James VI. He ob-
tained a charter for it from that monarch in 1602, and
at the same time a grant of the patronage of the churches
of Cadder and Monkland. Sir Thomas subsequently
sold the barony to Sir James Cleland, whose son and
heir, Ludovick, disposed of it to James, Marquis of
Hamilton. In 1639 the Marquis secured his purchase
by a charter from the King, granting him the lands and
barony of Monkland, with the right of patronage of the
churches of Cadder and Monkland, to be held of the
King in fee for the yearly payment of a trifling sum in
the name of bleach-ferm. In the reign of Charles II.,
the College of Glasgow purchased from the Duchess of
Hamilton the patronage and tithes of the sub-deanery
of Glasgow, as well as of the churches of Cadder and
Monkland ; and for this a charter was also obtained from
the King, which was ratified by act of parliament in
1672. Subsequently to this period the heritors of the
parishes of New and Old Monkland purchased the right
of presentation to both these parishes from the College,
under authority of the act 1690 respecting the purchase
of church-patronage.
Monkland is famous for its abundance of coal, iron,
and other valuable minerals. Its coal has long been
worked, and continues to be worked increasingly; but
iron-mining, its staple industry, is of later date. The
increase in mining since the iron began to be worked
has been almost magical, changing the face of the whole
district, chequering it everywhere with towns and
villages, rendering it all a teeming scene of population
and industry, drawing through it a network of com-
munications in road and railway and canal, and giving
it, through its iron furnaces and coal-pits, a conspicuous
or almost distinctive character for streams of flame and
clouds of smoke. Its population rose from 8619 in 1801