Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

NANT, LOCH
others. She declared that the body was ' so numerous,
that they were told off into squads and covines, as they
were termed, to each of which were appointed two
officers. One of these was called the Maiden of the
Covine, and was usually, like Tarn o' Shanter's Nannie,
a girl of personal attractions, whom Satan placed beside
himself and treated with particular attention, which
greatly provoked the spite of the old hags, who felt
themselves insulted by the preference. When assembled
they dug up graves ' to possess themselves of the dead
bodies for the purpose of making charms and salves from
the bones. They also metamorphosed themselves into
different forms — crows, cats, and hares seeming to have
been those most common — and rode on straws, bean-
stalks, and rushes, though seemingly more for their own
pleasure than on business. Satan, according to poor
Isobel's tale, proved but a hard master, scourging and
beating them sometimes without mercy, but this not-
withstanding they were always ready to obey his behests,
and do all kind of harm to their neighbours, stealing
their crops, shooting at them with elf -arrows, and forc-
ing their mischievous way into all houses not fenced
against them by vigil and prayer. See Alexander Mae-
donald's 'Agriculture of the Counties of Elgin and
Nairn ' in Trans. Highl. and Ag. Soc. 1884.
Nant, Loch, a lake in Lorn district, Argyllshire, on
the mutual border of Kilchrenan and Muckairn parishes,
4 miles NW of Port Sonnachan on Loch Awe. Lying
605 feet above sea-level, it has an utmost length and
breadth of 7\ and 2§ furlongs, and sends off a rivulet
5J miles northward to Loch Etive. This stream, run-
ning nearly parallel to the river Awe, along a narrow
thickly - wooded glen with precipitous sides, makes
several waterfalls, passes Taynuilt village, and during
the lower part of its course takes down the road from
Port Sonnachan to Oban. Like the lake it affords good
trout-fishing, and contains both sea-trout and salmon.
— Ord. Sur., sh. 45, 1876.
Na-Nuagh, Loch, a sea-loch on the mutual border of
Arasaig and Moidart districts, Inverness-shire. Open-
ing opposite Eigg island, it penetrates the land 6J miles
east-north-eastward; has a maximum breadth of 3|
miles; and sends off, at an acute angle, from its SE
side, a bay, Loch Aylort. See Borrodale.
Naughton, a mansion in Balmerino parish, Fife, 4J
furlongs S of the Firth of Tay, and i\ miles SW of
Newport. Built towards the close of the 18th century,
but much altered and improved since, it is the seat of
Miss Morison-Duncan. Naughton Castle, to the N of
the mansion, is said to have been built by a natural
son of "William the Lyon, and is now reduced to a few
fragments of the lower parts of the side walls. Dolhanha,
a Culdee establishment in connection with that of St
Andrews, is stated by Sibbald to have stood near the
Castle's site. The estate belonged so early as the time
of Alexander III. to the Hays, ancestors of the noble
family of Errol; went by marriage in 1494 to the Crich-
tons; and passed by sale in 1737 to the Morisons.— Ord.
Sur., sh.. 48, 1868.
Naunt, Loch. See Nant, Loch.
Navar. See Lethnot.
Nave or Noamh, an islet of Kilchoman parish, Islay
island, Argyllshire, to the W of the mouth of Loch
Gruinnard, 10 miles N by W of Bowmore. Its name
signifies 'Holy,' and alludes to an ancient church and
a large burying-ground. The church is still represented
by some ruins, and the burying-ground contains some
clay-slate grave-stones, with curious sculptures.
Naver, a lake and a river of Farr parish, Sutherland.
Loch Naver, lying 247 feet above sea-level, and com-
mencing near Altnahareow inn, 21 miles N by W of
Lairg station on the Sutherland section of the High-
land railway, and 17 S by W of Tongue, extends 6J
miles east-north-eastward, and has a maximum breadth
of 4J furlongs. Its depth in some parts is 30 fathoms,
and Benclibrick rises from its southern shore to a
height of 3154 feet. It receives at its head the River
of Mtoale, is fed by sixteen other streams and rivulets,
and contains near its SE shore a tiny islet, on which is
1226
NEIDPATH CASTLE
a circular Pictish tower, built of large stones without
any cement. Its waters are stocked with salmon, grilse,
sea-trout, and trout, but, whilst the trout-fishing is
poor, 52 salmon have been killed by a single rod in
seven weeks. The salmon run about 10 lbs. and trout
are often got up to 3 lbs. , while salmo-ferox add their
attractions. Parts of the shore are pebbly, others
rocky and sandy. The surrounding scenery is of great
beauty. The immediate banks are well tufted with
natural wood, and the surface behind rises generally
into abrupt rocks or low hills, but soars on the S into
alpine Benclibrick, the second highest mountain in
Sutherland, whilst the backgrounds to the E and W are
formed by the grand summits of Kildonan and what
until 1891 was the Reay country, but is now included in
Farr parish.
The river Naver (the Nabarus of Ptolemy) issues from
the foot of Loch Naver, and winds 18g miles north-by-
eastward through broad green meadows or between steep
birch-clad slopes, till it falls into Torrisdale Bay, 9 fur-
longs W of Bettyhill of Farr. It is joined, \ mile above
its mouth, by the Abhainn a' Mhail Aird, running 7£
miles north-by-eastward from Loch Corr, and higher
up, by forty -six lesser streams and rivulets. The
Naver as a salmon river is the earliest and by far the
best of all the rivers in the N of Sutherland. Its vale,
Strathnaver, the finest strath perhaps in the county,
contains a considerable extent of fertile haughland, a
mixture of sand, gravel, and moss, which for many years
prior to 1820 was cultivated by upwards of 300 families.
But since the famous Sutherland ' evictions ' Strath-
naver has been wholly pastoral. — Ord. Sur., shs. 108,
109, 115, 114, 1878-80.
Navity, a mansion in Ross and Cromarty parish, 2J
miles S of the town.
Neartay, a small island in the Sound of Harris, Outer
Hebrides, Inverness-shire, 2^ miles N of North Uist,
and 3 E of Bernera.
Neaty, Loch. See Kiltarlitt.
Needle's Eye. See Gamrie.
Neidpath Castle, an old baronial fortalice in Peebles
parish, Peeblesshire, on the Tweed's N bank, 1 mile to
the W of Peebles town. It is the strongest and most
massive of the numerous feudal strengths still extant in
Peeblesshire; and, though ruinous and partly fallen, it
still exhibits an imposing quadrangular pile. Its walls
are 11 feet thick, and consist of greywacke stones held
together by a cement as hard almost as themselves.
The castle stands on a rock at the lower end of a wide
simicircular bend of the murmuring Tweed. The con-
cave bank, or that on the side of the castle, is very
steep, and of great height; the convex bank commences
with a little plain half encircled by the river, and rises
in a bold and beautiful headland, which seems to stand
sentinel over the bend. Amidst this scene, the castle
commands, on the NW side, an important pass; and
on the E it overlooks the opening vale of the Tweed
and the bridge and town of Peebles. Pennicuik in his
Description of Tweeddale sings of it —
' The noble Nidpath Peebles overlooks,
With its fair bridge, and Tweed's meandering brooks.
Upon a rock it proud and stately stands,
And to the fields about gives forth commands.'
The woods which embowered the castle were felled by
'Old Q..' the last Duke of Queensberry, either meanly
to impoverish the estate before it should fall to the heir
of entail, or to fling what he could in the lap of his
natural daughter. Wordsworth, who came hither with
his sister Dorothy on 18 Sept. 1803, has thus denounced
this act of vandalism :
' Degenerate Douglas I thou unworthy Lord,
Whom mere despite of heart could so far please,
And love of havoc (for with such disease
Fame taxes him), that he could send forth word
To level with the dust a noble horde,
A brotherhood of venerable trees,
Leaving an ancient dome and towers like these,
Beggar'd and outraged I Many hearts deplorod
The fate of those old trees ; and oft with pain