Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

RICKARTON
(1765-1850), who in 1831 was created a baronet as Sir
James Gibson-Craig of Ricearton. He was a Liberal
in politics, as likewise was his son, the Rt. Hon. Sir
William Gibson-Craig, M.P. (1797-1878), whose son,
Sir James Henry, third Bart. (b. 1841), is present pro-
prietor. — Ord. Sur., sh. 32, 1857. See John Small's
Castles and Mansions of the Lothians (Edinb. 1883).
Rickarton, a quoad sacra parish in Fetteresso parish,
Kincardineshire, 5 miles NW by W of Stonehaven,
under which it has a post office. Constituted in 1872,
it is in the presbytery of Fordoun and the synod of
Angus and Mearns ; the minister's stipend is £166.
The church sprang from a bequest of £3278 by the
late Rev. George Thomson, minister of Fetteresso; and
was built, in 1870-71, at a cost of £1400. In 1892-93
it was repaired, and a memorial window inserted to the
founder. Rickarton House is a good modern mansion
on the N bank of Cowie Water, 3 miles NW of Stone-
haven; and the estate, long held by the Hepburns,
belongs now to Alex. Baird, Esq. of Urie. Pop. of
q.s. parish (1881) 473, (1891) 400, of whom 19 were in
Glenbervie parish.— Ord Sur., shs. 67, 66, 1871.
Riddell. See Lillieslbaf.
Riddon, Loch, a sea-loch on the mutual border of Kil-
modan and Inverchaolain parishes, Argyllshire. Open-
ing from the most northerly part of the Kyles of Bute,
and penetrating 3| miles northward to the mouth of
Glendarttel, it has a maximum breadth of 6J furlongs
and in scenery is not unlike the most picturesque reaches
of the Kyles themselves. It contains, in its mouth, a
group of islets including Elian Dheirrig; and has on
its left side the steamboat pier of Ormidale, and at its
head roads which lead through fine reaches of Highland
scenery towards Holy Loch, Strachur, and Otter Ferry.
— Ord. Sur., sh. 29, 1873.
Rieeawr, Loch. See Ricawr, Loch.
Rigg. See Gretna.
Riggend, a village in New Monkland parish, Lanark-
shire, 3£ miles N of Airdrie.
Rigside. See Dot/glas.
Ringans, St. See St Ninians.
Ringford. See Tongland.
Rinnes. See Ben Rinnes.
Rinns. See Rhinns.
Ristol or Isle Ristol, an island of Lochbroom parish,
Ross and Cromarty, lying off the entrance of Loch
Broom, 14J miles NW of Ullapool. Separated from
the mainland by a channel only 1 furlong broad, and
dry at low water, it has an utmost length and breadth
of 8J and 8 furlongs, and rises to a height of 234 feet.
—Ord. Sur., sh. 101, 1882.
Rives. See Rhives.
Roadmeetings, a village in Carluke parish, Lanark-
shire, 1J mile E by S of the town. Pop., with Yield-
shields (1881) 432, (1891) 341.
Roag, Loch, an intricate sea-loch of Uig parish, on
the W side of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Ross and Cromarty.
Opening from the Atlantic, it has a width of 7| miles
at the entrance; penetrates the land south-eastward to
the extent of about 10 miles; is sectioned lengthwise, by
a series of islands, into two main channels, called Loch
Roag proper and Loch Bernera or West Loch Roag;
measures 6 miles in mean breadth, over a length of 6£
miles from its entrance, but is bisected, over all that
length, by Bernera island and some adjacent islets;
forks, in its upper part, into two separate, widely
detached, narrow reaches, Loch Ceann Thulabhig and
Little Loch Roag; contains, all round from entrance to
head, as many as 38 islands and islets; and is rendered
so intricate by islands, islets, headlands, bays, and wind-
ing passages as to demand no ordinary degree of atten-
tion and skill for its navigation, while the entrance of
Loch Roag proper is so obscure that it might escape
the observation of a boat's crew passing within a hundred
yards' distance. All the land of the islands, and of the
immediate coasts, is either low and tame, or terminates
in such cliffs of gneiss as have little elevation, much
ruggedness, and no beauty. Several salmon streamlets
run to the heads and sides of the lochs, and three of
1380
ROBERTON
them have a run of respectively 6, 7, and 8 milea. —
Ord. Sur., shs. 105, 104, 1858.
Roan. See Ellan-nan-Ron.
Robertland, an estate, with a mansion and the site
of an old castle, in Stewarton parish, Ayrshire, 2 miles
NE of the town.
Roberton, a village and an ancient parish in the
Upper Ward of Lanarkshire. The village, standing near
the left bank of the river Clyde, 3 miles SSE of Lam-
ington station on the Caledonian railway, has an Estab-
lished church, a U.P. church, rebuilt in 1873, a public
school, a subscription library, and a golf club. The
ancient parish, lying around the village, was united
to Wiston in 1772. The old church of Roberton, which
was suppressed in 1772, was rebuilt in 1891, and had
three memorial windows inserted in 1894. — Ord. Sur.,
sh. 23, 1865.
Roberton, a parish of Roxburghshire, containing the
hamlet of Deanburnhaugh, on the Dean Burn near its
junction with Borthwick Water, 7| miles WSW of
Hawick. This hamlet formerly contained above 100
inhabitants ; now its population is under 20. The
parish is bounded NE by Ashkirk and Wilton, SE by
Hawick and Teviothead, SW by Eskdalemuir in Dum-
friesshire, and NW by Ettrick and Kirkhope. Its
utmost length, from NE to SW, is 12f miles; its utmost
breadth is 5J miles; and its area is 46 J square miles
or 29,666J acres, of which 247 are water, and 11,628J
belonged to Selkirkshire until 1891, when the Boundary
Commissioners placed the parish wholly in Roxburgh-
shire. Borthwick Water, rising close to the Dum-
friesshire border at an altitude of 1400 feet, winds 14J
miles north-eastward and eastward, until it passes off
from the parish 1J mile above its influx to the Teviot;
and during this course it is fed by a score of burns.
Rankle Burn runs 2f miles north-eastward along
the Ettrick boundary ; and Ale Water, rising near
Henwoodie, at an altitude of 1100 feet, runs 8 miles
north-eastward, at one point traversing Alemttir Loch
(i x i mile), and, lower down, tracing for 2f miles
the Ashkirk boundary. Kingside Loch (2 J x If furl. )
on the Ettrick boundary has been drained ; but other
lakes, still existing, are Hellmuir Loch (3 J x 2 J furl.)
on the Kirkhope boundary, Crooked Loch (2x1 furl.)
at the meeting-point with Kirkhope and Ettrick, and
smaller Windylaw, Philhope, Broadlee, and Bog Lochs
in the interior. Where Borthwick Water quits the
parish, the surface declines to close on 500 feet above
the sea; the chief elevations to the NW of the stream,
as one goes up the glen, are *Borthaugh Hill (880 feet),
Highchesters Hill (848), Smasha Hill (1092), Hang-
ingshaw Hill (1044), Firestane Edge (1155), Mid Hill
(1207), "Coutlair Knowe (1371), Crib Law (1389), Long
Tae (1438), and *Craik Cross Hill (1482); to the SE,
Todshaw Hill (938), "High Seat (1140), *Calfshaw Head
(1320), *Pike Hill (1369), and "Stock Hill (1561), where
asterisks mark those summits that culminate on the
confines of the parish. Thus Roberton, though not far
distant from the centre of the southern Highlands, and
though walled in by one of the middle stretches of then-
watersheds, is not strictly mountainous, and possesses
both lowness of surface and softness of feature compared
with either Ettrick on its one side, or Liddesdale on its
other. The two vales which, to a certain extent,
traverse it lengthwise, are narrow along the bottom, or
are the merest glens ; but they have gently sloping
screens, and, except where beautified with wood, are in
a state of cultivation. The hills are as rich in all the
common kinds of game as the waters are in fish, so that
the district is an attractive one to the sportsman.
Though heath stretches out in patches, and almost
every farm has its particular moss, the lands of the
parish may, in general, be viewed as an assemblage of
green hills, pleasantly and richly pastoral. The rocks
are mainly Silurian, but include a seam of excellent
ironstone. The soil in the bottom of Borthwick vale
is of good quality; on the skirts and lower parts of the
hills is gravelly, shallow, and dry; and on their sum-
mits is wet and boggy. Barely 2000 acres are either