Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

EOBGILL TOWER
regularly or occasionally in tillage; about 500 are under
wood; and the rest of the parish, not covered with moss,
is principally cattle pasture or sheep-walk. The antiqui-
ties include a reach of the Catkail and six or seven
camps, some Caledonian and some Roman, but all
locally known as Picts' works. Mansions, all noticed
separately, are Borthwickbrae, Borthwiok-Shiels,
Chisholm, Harden, and Hoscote. Roberton is in the
presbytery of Selkirk and the synod of Merse and
Teviotdale; the living is worth £325. The old parish
church, 8 furlongs from the left bank of Borthwick
AVater, and 5 miles W of Hawick, was probably built
in 1659 (the date upon it), to supersede the older kirk
of Hassendean. The new parish church, nearer the
public road, was built in 1863 at a cost of £2000, and is
a good Gothic edifice, containing 328 sittings. Two
public schools, Howpasley and Roberton, with respective
accommodation for 33 and 110 children, have an aver-
age attendance of about 15 and 40, and grants of nearly
£30 and £55. Pop. (1801) 618, (1841) 757, (1861) 640,
(1871) 593, (1881) 567, (1891) 455.— Ord. Sur., shs. 17,
16, 1864.
Eobgill Tower, an old baronial mansion in Dornock
parish, Dumfriesshire, near the right bank of Kirtle
Water, 2J miles SE of Kirtlebridge station. It belonged
formerly to Gen. Sir .ffimilius Irving, Bart. (1751-1828),
and is now the property of Robert Paterson, Esq. —
Ord. Sur., sh. 10, 1864.
Rob Roy's Cave. See Craigroyston.
Robroyston, an estate, with a modern mansion, in
Cadder parish, Lanarkshire, 4 miles NE of Glasgow. A
cottage on it, standing till 1826, is said to have been
the place where Sir William Wallace was betrayed to
the English; and a neighbouring lake, which figures in
the story of the patriot's betrayal, has been nearly all
drained, and is now represented by a gloomy expanse,
partially engirt with pine trees. — Ord. Sur., sh. 31,
1867.
Rochsoles, an estate, with a mansion, in New Monk-
land parish, Lanarkshire, 2 miles NNW of Airdrie. Its
owner is Lieut. -Col. Montagu Gilbert Gerard, C.B. (b.
1843; sue. 1880).— On*. Sur., sh. 31, 1867.
Rockcliff, a hamlet in Colvend parish, Kirkcudbright-
shire, 7 miles SE of Dalbeattie.
Rockfield, a fishing village on the E coast of Tarbat
parish, NE Ross and Cromarty, 1§ mile SSE of Port-
mahomack. It has a small pier and 15 boats.
Rockhall, a mansion in Mouswald parish, Dumfries-
shire, 6 miles E of Dumfries. Its owner is Sir Alexander
Davidson Grierson of Lag, eighth Bart, since 1685 (b.
1858; sue. 1879).— Ord. Sur., sh. 10, 1864. See Duns-
core.
Rodono, a commodious hotel in Ettrick parish, Sel-
kirkshire, on the W shore of St Mary's Loch, f mile
from its head, and 14 miles SSW of Innerleithen. It
was built as a gentleman's seat in 1866, and its archi-
tecture and grounds contribute highly to the scenery
of the lake. The name is a revival of Rodonna, an
ancient barony comprising the vale of Megget Water,
and granted by Alexander II. in 1236 to the monks of
. Melrose.— Ord. Sur., sh. 16, 1864.
Roe, Meikle. See Meikle Roe.
Rogart, a parish of SE Sutherland, containing a vil-
lage of its own name with a post, money order, savings
bank, and telegraph office, and also a station on the
Tain and Helmsdale section of the Highland railway,
74 miles W by N of Golspie, 10 E by N of Lairg, and
19 NE of Bonar-Bridge. It is bounded N by Farr,
NE and E by Clyne, SE by Golspie, S by Dornoch, SW
by Creich, and W by Lairg. Its utmost length, from
N to S, is 15f miles; and its utmost width, from E to
W, is 9§ miles. An exchange of territory between this
parish and Dornoch was effected by the Boundary Com-
missioners in 1891, when there was added to Rogart the
Kinnauld detached portion of Dornoch parish, and
Dornoch received an area which embraces nearly the
whole of that part of Rogart which lies to the south-
west of the watershed between Strath Fleet on the
north and Strath Carnach (including Strath Tollie) on
ROMACH, LOCH
the south. The river Brora, formed in the NW comer
of the parish, at 783 feet above sea-level, by head-streams
that rise at altitudes of from 1500 to 1600 feet, runs 144
miles south-by-westward, south-eastward, and east-
north-eastward — for the last 1| mile along the Clyne
boundary — until it passes away into Clyne. The river
Fleet, entering from Lairg 9J furlongs below its source,
flows 10 miles east-south-eastward, till it quits the
parish at its SE corner; and is followed pretty closely
by the railway, which, f mile above the station, crosses
the river by a stone arch viaduct of 55 feet span. Of
thirty-three lochs and lochlets the largest are Loch
Buie (ljxjmile; 527 feet) at the meeting-point with
Creich and Dornoch parishes; Loch Cracail Mor (6 x 1J
furl. ; 620 feet) at the meeting-point with Creich and
Lairg parishes ; Loch Craggie or Creagach (1 mile x
24 furl. ; 525 feet) on the Lairg boundary ; Loch
Beannaichte (7 x 24 furl. ; 970 feet) and Glas-Loch Mor
(54 x 2f furl. ; 1190 feet) in the northern interior; Loch
Bad an Aon-Tighe (6 x If furl.; 620 feet) and Loch
Beannach (44 x 3 furl. ; 785 feet) on the Clyne boundary;
and Loch an t-Salachaidh (5 x 1J furl. ; 552 feet) on
the Golspie boundary. The surface is everywhere hilly,
but hardly mountainous, and sinks in the SE along the
Fleet to 17, in the E along the Brora to 290, feet above
sea-level. Chief elevations are Meall Mor (900 feet),
Creagan Glas (1028), and An Stocbheinn (1104), to the
S of the Fleet; Cnoc Ard an Tionail (876) and Cnoc na
Sguaibe (1056), between the Fleet and the Brora; Cnoe
Liath-bhaid (937), Meallan Liath Mor (1516), and Meall
an Fhuarain (1645), to the N of the Fleet. In both
Strathfleet and Strathbrora there are several good
patches of haugh-land, some being of medium loam;
tut peat-earth covers fully nine-tenths of the entire
area, and there are many broad swamps of deep moss.
Gneiss, veined with quartz and containing a large pro-
portion of mica, is the predominant rock; and granite
is fairly plentiful, partly in, situ, but chiefly in surface
or embedded boulders. Not more than 1200 acres are
regularly or occasionally in tillage ; and the rest of the
parish, mosses and waste ground excepted, is chiefly
disposed in sheep pasture. Though some of them are
too small, the greater number of the crofter holdings
in Rogart are superior to many in other parts of the
county, and very much better than the majority of
crofts in the Western Isles. Some remains of an ancient
stone circle are at Corrie; and vestiges of tumuli, Scan-
dinavian buildings, and ancient camps, with memorials
of ancient battles, are in many places; and eleven silver
brooches were discovered during the construction of the
railway. In April 1650 the Marquis of Montrose's force,
on their way to the battlefield of Invercharron, passed
unmolested through Strathfleet, and halted for a night
at Rhin. (See Kincardine.) Lady Matheson of the
Lews holds 3 per cent, of the entire rental, and the
Duke of Sutherland holds nearly all the remainder.
Rogart is in the presbytery of Dornoch and the synod of
Sutherland and Caithness ; the living is worth £178.
The parish church, nearly 2 miles NNE of the station,
was built in 1777, and commands an extensive and
beautiful view. A new and handsome manse was built
in 1884 nearer the church than the old manse. The
Free church stands If mile NNW of the station. Three
public schools, Blarich, Rhilochan, and Rogart, with
respective accommodation for 81, 43, and 109 children,
have an average attendance of about 50, 25, and 50,
and grants amounting to nearly £70, £35, and £95.
There are an Educational Association, Culdrain Literary
Institute, and a circulating library and reading room.
A woollen manufactory at the village gives employment
to a few of the inhabitants. Pop. (1801) 2022, (1831)
1805, (1861) 1439, (1871) 1341, (1881) 1227, (1891) 1268,
of whom 955 were Gaelic-speaking. — Ord. Sur., shs. 103,
102, 108, 109, 1878-81.
Romach, Loch, a lake on the mutual border of Rafford
and Edinkillie parishes, Elginshire, 3 miles S by E of
Rafford church. Lying 515 feet above sea-level, it
extends f mile eastward, is only 100 yards wide, has
verv precipitous banks, contains small trout, and sends
J l 1381