Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

EATHVEN
and the four fishing villages of Portknockie, Fin-
dochty, Portessie, and Port Gordon, all of which
are noticed separately. The parish is bounded NW by
the Moray Firth, NE by Cullen Bay, E by Cullen, SE
by Deskford, S by Keith, and W by Bellie. Its utmost
length, from ENE to WSW, is 8J miles; its breadth
diminishes eastward from 5| to 3 miles ; and its area is
86$ square miles or 23,551 acres, of which 40 J are
water and 345 foreshore. The coast-line, 9| miles in
extent, is little indented by bay or headland, but rises
steeply from the sea to 87 feet near Port Gordon, 75 at
Buckie Newtown, 116 at the Law Hillock, and 177 near
Portknockie. Three caverns of unknown extent bear
the name of Farskane's, Janet Corstair's, and Cross
Caves. The Burn of Tynet runs 5J miles north-by-
westward along most of the western boundary, and the
Burn of Deskford 2| miles north-north-westward
along all the eastern, whilst several rapid rivulets drain
the interior to the Moray Firth. That part of the
parish between the shore and the road from Cullen to
Fochabers attains a maximum altitude of only 271 feet
at a point 7 furlongs SSE of Findochty ; but the rest of
the surface is very hilly, from E to W attaining 802
feet at the Little Bin, 1050 at the wooded, cairn-
crowned Bin Hill or Cullen, 900 at the Hill of Maud,
893 at Addie Hill, 948 at the hill of Stonyslacks, and
987 at Millstone Hill. A very pure quartzy rock is
found in the Bin ; metamorphic rocks, including gneiss,
mica slate, clay slate, and other schists, prevail along
the coast; greywacke alternates in some parts with the
mica slate and the clay slate; Old Red sandstone occurs
in the NE, and goes into conjunction with greywacke;
limestone has been worked at Nether Buckie; and a
beautiful whitish sand, said to be almost equal to the
finest found in Holland, is plentiful near Litchieston.
Medicinal springs, formerly held in high repute, are in
three places; and springs of pure water are numerous,
copious, and perennial. The soil, in one corner a
light and extremely rich loam incumbent on clay, in
another corner a thin yet fertile loam on a soft red
subsoil, elsewhere alternates between a light sand and
a stiffish clay ; and almost everywhere, except in the
sandy places, is profusely strewn and intermixed with
small boulders. Less than one-third of the entire area
is in tillage; rather more than 4000. acres are under
wood; about 400 are meadow and grass land; and the
rest of the parish is either pastoral or waste. Antiqui-
ties are a number of cairns on the heights of Comedown ;
many tumuli on the field of the Battle of the Bauds;*
a portion of Findochty Castle on Mains of Findochty
farm; the ruins of Green and Tronaeh Castles near Port-
knockie; and remains of a pre-Reformation chapel near
Farskane. Two wings still standing of the old mansion
of Rannas are occupied by a farmer. The Rev. Alexan-
der Geddes, LL.D. (1737-1802), an eccentric Roman
Catholic divine, was born of crofter parents at Pathhead,
which was also the birthplace of Alexander Paterson
(1766-1831), Roman Catholic Bishop of Edinburgh. The
parish is traversed by a branch of the Highland railway
from Keith to Buckie, and by one of the Great North
of Scotland railway from Elgin to Portsoy. At Inch-
gower, 1J mile from Buckie, is a large distillery. Man-
sions, noticed separately, are Letterfourie, Cairn-
field, and Tannachy. Including all Buckie and Sea-
field quoad sacra parishes and most of Enzie, this parish
is in the presbytery of Fordyce and the synod of Aber-
deen; the stipend is £272 with manse. The parish
church, | mile SSE of Portessie, was built in 1794, and
contains 1000 sittings. At Preshome, 3 miles SSE of
Port-Gordon, is St Gregory's Roman Catholic church
(1789; 450 sittings); and other places of worship are
noticedunderBuoKiE,ENziE,and Portknockie. Besides
the three schools at Buckie, five public schools — Arradoul
female, Findochty, Portknockie, Rathven, and Shiel-
* The ' Battle of the Bauds ' is said to have been fought in 962
between the Norwegians and Indulph, King of Alban, who, after
gaining a complete victory, himself was slain at 'Inverculen; '
but Dr Skene is inclined to believe that Indulph retired to the
monastery of Kilrymont or St Andrews.
RATTEAY
burn — with respective accommodation for 71, 356, 383,
372, and 81 children, have an average attendance of
about 55, 270, 280, 235, and 55, and grants amount-
ing to nearly £50, £220, £245, £230, and £55. Valu-
ation (1884) £28,646, (1893) £36,597, including £3939
for railway. Pop. (1801) 3901, (1831) 6484, (1861)
8240, (1871) 10,199, (1881) 11,180, (1891) 12,925, of
whom 3415 were in the ecclesiastical parish of Rathven.
—Oral. Sur., shs. 95, 96, 85, 86, 1876. See the Rev. Dr
J. F. S. Gordon's Book of the Chronicles of Keith, Rath-
ven, etc. (Glasg. 1880).
Ratter, a hamlet in Dunnet parish, Caithness, near
the coast, 7 miles NE of Castletown.
Eattray, a town and a parish in Strathmore district,
E Perthshire. The town stands on the left side of the
river Ericht, opposite Blairgowrie, of which it is
virtually a suburb, and with which it is connected by
a four-arch bridge, repaired and widened in 1871. It
comprises the villages of Old Rattray and New Rattray,
the latter (of modern date) lying close to the river, the
former J mile to the NE. A police burgh since 1862,
by the Burgh Police Act of 1892 it is governed by a
provost, 2 bailies, and 6 commissioners. A new sewage
scheme was begun in 1S94. Flax and tow spinning is
the staple industry ; and there are two post offices
under Blairgowrie (Old and New Rattray), three inns,
a curling club, the parish church (1820), a Free church,
a LLP. church, and a Wesleyan Methodist chapel.
Pop. (1871) 2161, (1881) 2533, (1891) 2225, of whom
1290 were females. Houses (1891) inhabited 490, vacant
50, building 4.
The parish is bounded N by Blairgowrie and Alyth,
E and SE by Bendochy, and SW, W, and NW by
Blairgowrie. Its utmost length, from N by W to S by
E, is 5J miles; its breadth increases south-ward from
if furlong to 2| miles; and its area is now 4609 acres,
of which 75& are water. The Bleaton Hallet detached
portion of the parish, comprising 848 acres, and lying
3J miles NNW of the nearest point of the main body,
was transferred by the Boundary Commissioners in 1891
to the parish of Kirkmichael. The Ericht, which is
formed by the confluence of the Black Water and the
Ardle on the western border of the north-east corner of
Blairgowrie parish, winds 7J miles south-by-eastward
and eastward along all the western, south-western, and
southern boundary of the parish. Over most of this
course the Ericht is a romantic stream, overhung with
copsewood, chiefly small oaks; and above Craighall its
banks are sheer precipices of rock, upwards of 200 feet
high, crowned with plantation, and parapeted with wall,
to keep cattle and strangers from falling over. In the
extreme S the surface declines to 190 feet above sea-
level, and thence it rises gradually northward until, at
the boundary with the Creuchies portion of Bendochy,
it attains a maximum altitude of 909 feet above sea-
level. Thus the parish for 1J mile from the southern
boundary, is flat, or very gently ascending; and, over
the rest of the area, consists of the lowest and slowly
graduated heights which, several miles beyond the
northern boundary, attain a Grampian elevation. The
fine southern exposure, combined with the bield afforded
by the vast mountain-rampart in the comparatively
near distance, renders the situation pleasant and the
climate very healthy. The lands in the S have a dry
and pretty fertile soil, and are all arable; those in the
N are disposed chiefly in pasture. The rocks are vari-
ously igneous, Devonian, and Silurian. On an oblong
mound called the Castle Hill, 1J milo E by S of Old
Rattray, are vestiges of the ancient castle of Rattray,
a very large building, the original residence of the
Rattray or De Rattrieft' family. On the farm of Stand-
ingstanes, which hence received its name, are remains
of a stone circle. Mansions, noticed separately, are
Ceaiohall and Glenericht. A third, Parkhill, j
mile N of Old Rattray, is the seat of Charles Hill-
Whitson, Esq. (b. 1840; sue. 1881). Rattray is in the
presbytery of Dunkeld and the synod of Perth and
Stirling; the living is worth £241. Two public schools
— Craig Mill and Rattray — with respective aecommo-
1365