Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland

TAT, THE
Firth of Earn at Invergowrie, and entirely peninsulating
the Carse, or cutting it into a series of islands. Great
modern changes have taken place likewise on all the
vale or strath of the Tay S of the confluence of the
Tummel. Dr Macculloch, from close and various obser-
vations on cuts of corresponding rocks on the opposite
sides of the stream, and on the harmonising altitude of
series of alluvial terraces in the screens of the valley,
calculates that the ancient level of the river, from
Logierait downward, was about 100 feet above the pre-
sent bed; and he adds: 'And thus, while it is easy to
see how far the Tay has sunk, it would not be very
difficult to compute the quantity of land or earth that
has been removed and carried forwards towards the sea.
When we look at this enormous waste we need not be
surprised at the formation of the Carse of Gowrie, nor
at the deposits which are still augmenting it; shoaling
the sea about Dundee, and laying the foundations of
new meadows. For this operation is still going on, and
must go on as long as the Tay shall continue to flow;
though diminishing in rapidity as the declivity and
consequent velocity of the river itself diminish. If it is
curious to speculate on the period when Perth, had it
then existed, must have been a seaport, and when the
narrow Tay, far above and below it, was a wide arm of
the ocean, it is not less so to consider what the aspect
of Strathtay itself was when the present place of Dun-
keld was buried deep beneath the earth. Nor is it
difficult even to see what it must have been. By laying
our eye on any of the terraces, it is easy to bring the
opposed one in the same plane, and thus to exclude all
the valley beneath, reducing it once more to what it
was when the river was flowing above. These specula-
tions, thus pursued, may interest the artist as well as
the geologist and the geographer; since, not only
here but in every deep valley of the Highlands, he
would, in making such trials, be at a loss to recognise
in the original shallow and rude glen the spacious and
rich valley which is now the seat of beauty and cultiva-
tion. Contemplating in this mauner not only the
Highland mountains and valleys, but those of the world
at large, we are lost in the magnitude of the changes
which have carried the rains of the Himalayas to the
mouths of the Ganges — which from the sediments of
the Nile have formed the land of Egypt — and which
have created out of the lofty ridges of America the
plains that now form so large a portion of its continent.'
The Tay, inclusive of its principal tributaries, is by
much the most scenic of the British rivers. Its estu-
ary and the lowest 3 or 4 miles of its stream, are a
continued expanse of loveliness, softly screened with
heights or swells of the gentlest beauty. Its vale,
from the romantic Hill of Kinnoull, a little below Perth,
to the Pass of Birnam, 2 miles below Dunkeld, is
everywhere lively, frequently brilliant, and occasionally
gorgeous. Its scenery hence to the mouth of the Tum-
mel, as seen from a vantage ground in the vicinity of
Dunkeld, is pronounced by Dr Macculloch singularly
rich and grand, with all its features, for about 6 miles,
so minutely detailed before the eye that every part of
its various ornament is most advantageously seen.
' On each hand, ' says he, ' rises a long screen of varied
hills, covered with woods in every picturesque form;
the whole vista terminating in the remoter mountains,
which, equally rich and various, are softened by the
blue haze of the distance, as they close in above the
Pass of Killiecrankie. This general view, varied in
many ways by changes of level and of position, forms
the basis of the landscape for some miles; but so great
are the changes in the middle-grounds, and so various
the foregrounds, that although the same leading char-
acter is observed the separate scenes are always strongly
distinguished. Many distinct pictures can thus be
obtained, and each of them perfectly adapted for paint-
ing; so that Strathtay is here an object to charm every
spectator — him who desires to see everything preserved
in his portfolio, and him who seekB for nothing in
Nature but beauty, come under what form it may.
Though the western and upper branch of Strathtay
1560
TEALING
(from the junction of the Tummel upward to Kenmore)
is not, perhaps, equal in splendour to the lower and
southern one, it still maintains the same character of
richness throughout; while, instead of the flat extended
meadows which mark the latter, it displays a consider-
able undulation of ground. Thus the vale of the Tay,
from Dunkeld even to Kenmore, a space of 25 miles, is
a continued scene of beauty; a majestic river winding
through a highly wooded and cultivated country, with
a lofty and somewhat parallel mountain boundary,
which is itself cultivated as far as cultivation is admis-
sible, and is everywhere covered with continuous woods
or trees as high as wood can well grow. It contains, of
course, much picturesque scenery; presenting not only
landscapes of a partial nature, comprising reaches of the
river, or transient views in the valley produced by the
sinuosities of the road, but displaying the whole to
its farthest visible extremity, under aspects which are
varied by the casual variations of level or position, or
by the accidental compositions of the fore or middle
grounds. Where Ben Lawers is seen towering above
all in the remotest distance, these views are peculiarly
magnificent; nor is anything ever wanting which the
artist could require to give fulness and interest to the
nearer parts of the landscape, where, after all, the chief
interest must always lie. I believe that Strathtay is,
in point of splendour and richness, the first of the Scot-
tish valleys. —Ord. Sur., shs. 53, 54, 55, 46, 47, 48, 49,
1865-77. See The Tay, by J. Geddie (1891).
Tealing, a Forfarshire parish, whose church stands 6J
miles N of Dundee, under which there is a post office.
It is bounded N and NE by Inverarity, E and SE by
Murroes, S by Mains and Strathmartine, W by Auch-
terhouse, and NW by Glamis. Its utmost length, from
N to S, is 4§ miles; its utmost breadth, from E to W,
is 4 miles ; and its area is 7036| acres, of which 4 are
water. A small detached portion situated at Pitpointie,
3 furlongs W of the main body, and comprising 195
acres, was transferred by the Boundary Commissionera
in 1891 to the parish of Auchterhouse. Fithie Burn
traces much of the southern boundary ; and several
rivulets, rising on the north-western border, run
mainly south-eastward through the interior. Sinking
in the SE to 350 feet above sea-level, the surface ■
thence rises north-westward and northward towards
the watershed of the Sidlaw Hills, attaining 510 feet
near the parish church, 900 at Balluderon or Craigowl
Hill, and 1104 at a nameless height 2J miles N of the
church. Trap occurs, but the principal rocks are Devo-
nian, mostly grey slaty sandstone. ' In the lower lying
portion of the parish there is a good deal of strong rich
land, that yields well when skilfully managed and when
the seasons suit. It is a clayey loam with a subsoil of
clay and gravel, in some parts rather retentive. In
part of the hollows there is also very poor soil, thin,
hard, and unproductive, with very stiff subsoil. There
are several instances in this parish where the land on
the one side of the road is worth 25s. or 30s. an acre,
and not worth more than 15s. or 20s. on the other. On
the higher lying parts there is also a good deal of variety
of soil, but in general it is a moderately fertile loam,
resting on a clayey or gravelly subsoil which in some
parts is not so open as could be wished ' (Trans. Might,
and Ag. Soc, 1881). About 500 acres are pastoral or
waste, as much or rather more under wood, and the rest
of the land is in tillage. A subterranean building, a
subterranean cave or passage, several stone coffins, and
some small Roman antiquities have been found at various
periods. The Rev. John Glass (1695-1773), the founder
of the Glassites or Scottish Sandemanians, was minister
of Tealing from 1719 till his deposition in 1728. Teal-
ing is in the presbytery of Dundee and the synod of
Angus and Mearns; the living is worth £223. The
parish church was built in 1806, and contains 700 sit-
tings. There is also a Free church; and a public school,
with accommodation for 138 children, has an average
attendance of about 90, and a grant of over £95. Valu-
tion (1885) £7605, 16s., (1893) £5681, 6s. Pop. (1881)
757, (1891) 630.— Ord. Svr., shs. 48, 49, 57, 1865-68.