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CULROSS.
171
mer were for ever extinguished. The field of
battle is a vast tract of table land, covered with
heath, over which are scattered a few wretched
cottages ; it is situated about five miles east of
the town of Inverness. A road, not the post
one, traverses it longitudinally. To the south,
on the further side of the river Nairn, is a
range of hills ; towards the north is the Moray
Firth. The whole plain is as desolate and
blasted in appearance as if it suffered under a
curse. The spot of ground where the heat of
the battle took place, is marked by a number
of green trenches, or mounds, under which the
slain were buried, and which are situated ex-
actly five miles from Inverness. There are
some graves on the way-side, nearer the town.
Prince Charles lodged, the night before the
battle, in Culloden House, the seat of the bro-
ther of Duncan Forbes, Lord President of the
Court of Session, so celebrated for his activity
in thwarting the measures of the house of
Stewart. At this house, which is situated on
the side of the moor, is shown the Prince's
walking-cane, which he left behind him on
going away. The house has been renewed
since 1 745, in a very elegant style, and con-
tains some good pictures. Bullets and other
relics are occasionally picked up, (or said to
be so,) on Culloden Moor, and sold to the
curious who visit the scene.
CULROSS, ('pronounced Cooross,) a pa-
rish of about four miles square, situated on the
north shore of the Firth of Forth, in what na-
turally seems to be the shire of Fife, but
which in reality is the county of Perth, of
which there is a patch here inserted between
Clackmannan and Fifeshire. It is bounded
on the west by Tulliallan, on the north-west
by Clackmannan, on the north by Saline, and
on the east by Torryburn. The land rises with
a quick ascent from the sea to the top of a
range of low hills, down the back of which it
declines to a valley. This valley, through
which flows the small stream called the Blu-
ther, is the chief and best part of the parish.
The grounds are now well cultivated and en-
closed. In the northern part there is a quan-
tity of wood. The district abounds in free-
stone, ironstone, and fine clay for potters, but
its chief subterraneous product is coal, of which
it has no fewer than twenty-seven strata, one
of which is nine feet in thickness. Coal was
dug here at a very early period, and, on that
account, it appears to have been in former times
the principal place for the manufactory of sea
salt. About the epoch of James the Sixth's
accession to the throne of England, the coal
works were in a very flourishing condition.
They were then wrought a considerable way
under the sea, or, at least, where the sea over-
flowed at full tide, and the coals were carried
out to be shipped by an embanked or walled-in
moat within the sea mark. There is a tradi-
tion, that James, on revisiting his native coun-
try, made an excursion into Fife, and resolving
to take the diversion of hunting in the neighbour-
hood of Dunfermline, invited the company then
attending him to dine along with him at " a col-
lier s house," meaning the Abbey of Culross,
then belonging to Sir George Bruce. Being
conducted, by his own desire, to see the works
below ground, he was led insensibly to the moat
above mentioned, it being then high water ;
upon which, having ascended from the pit, and
seeing himself, without any previous intima-
tion, surrounded by the sea, he was seized with
an immediate apprehension of some plot against
his liberty or life, and hastily called out treason,
treason ! But Sir George assured him there was
none, and that he had nothing to fear. Pointing
to an elegant pinnace that was made fast to the
moat, he desired to know whether his majesty
would feel it most agreeable to be carried
ashore in it, or to return by the subterraneous
route. The king preferred the shortest way
back, and was consequently borne ashore in the
vessel, all the time expressing his admiration
of what he had seen. After this the royal
guest was sumptuously entertained at the Ab-
bey. Some of the glasses are still preserved in
the family of his host, and the room in which
he was feasted still receives the name of the
King's Room. It is recorded that this curious
pit was totally destroyed in March 1 625, o m
the night of James's death, by a violent storm,
which, washing away the rampart around the
moat, deluged the works with water so irrepara-
bly, that till this day they remain in a choked
condition. Some of the stones of the rampart
were afterwards sold for the purpose of repair-
ing the old stone pier of Leith. The moat
was nearly opposite the house of Castlehill.
Whether from the above, or other causes, the
coal of Culross is now little wrought.
Culross, the capital of the above parish,
and a royal burgh, lies on the face of a descend-
ing brae to the Forth, at the distance of twen.
ty-two miles from Edinburgh, s r xteen from
171
mer were for ever extinguished. The field of
battle is a vast tract of table land, covered with
heath, over which are scattered a few wretched
cottages ; it is situated about five miles east of
the town of Inverness. A road, not the post
one, traverses it longitudinally. To the south,
on the further side of the river Nairn, is a
range of hills ; towards the north is the Moray
Firth. The whole plain is as desolate and
blasted in appearance as if it suffered under a
curse. The spot of ground where the heat of
the battle took place, is marked by a number
of green trenches, or mounds, under which the
slain were buried, and which are situated ex-
actly five miles from Inverness. There are
some graves on the way-side, nearer the town.
Prince Charles lodged, the night before the
battle, in Culloden House, the seat of the bro-
ther of Duncan Forbes, Lord President of the
Court of Session, so celebrated for his activity
in thwarting the measures of the house of
Stewart. At this house, which is situated on
the side of the moor, is shown the Prince's
walking-cane, which he left behind him on
going away. The house has been renewed
since 1 745, in a very elegant style, and con-
tains some good pictures. Bullets and other
relics are occasionally picked up, (or said to
be so,) on Culloden Moor, and sold to the
curious who visit the scene.
CULROSS, ('pronounced Cooross,) a pa-
rish of about four miles square, situated on the
north shore of the Firth of Forth, in what na-
turally seems to be the shire of Fife, but
which in reality is the county of Perth, of
which there is a patch here inserted between
Clackmannan and Fifeshire. It is bounded
on the west by Tulliallan, on the north-west
by Clackmannan, on the north by Saline, and
on the east by Torryburn. The land rises with
a quick ascent from the sea to the top of a
range of low hills, down the back of which it
declines to a valley. This valley, through
which flows the small stream called the Blu-
ther, is the chief and best part of the parish.
The grounds are now well cultivated and en-
closed. In the northern part there is a quan-
tity of wood. The district abounds in free-
stone, ironstone, and fine clay for potters, but
its chief subterraneous product is coal, of which
it has no fewer than twenty-seven strata, one
of which is nine feet in thickness. Coal was
dug here at a very early period, and, on that
account, it appears to have been in former times
the principal place for the manufactory of sea
salt. About the epoch of James the Sixth's
accession to the throne of England, the coal
works were in a very flourishing condition.
They were then wrought a considerable way
under the sea, or, at least, where the sea over-
flowed at full tide, and the coals were carried
out to be shipped by an embanked or walled-in
moat within the sea mark. There is a tradi-
tion, that James, on revisiting his native coun-
try, made an excursion into Fife, and resolving
to take the diversion of hunting in the neighbour-
hood of Dunfermline, invited the company then
attending him to dine along with him at " a col-
lier s house," meaning the Abbey of Culross,
then belonging to Sir George Bruce. Being
conducted, by his own desire, to see the works
below ground, he was led insensibly to the moat
above mentioned, it being then high water ;
upon which, having ascended from the pit, and
seeing himself, without any previous intima-
tion, surrounded by the sea, he was seized with
an immediate apprehension of some plot against
his liberty or life, and hastily called out treason,
treason ! But Sir George assured him there was
none, and that he had nothing to fear. Pointing
to an elegant pinnace that was made fast to the
moat, he desired to know whether his majesty
would feel it most agreeable to be carried
ashore in it, or to return by the subterraneous
route. The king preferred the shortest way
back, and was consequently borne ashore in the
vessel, all the time expressing his admiration
of what he had seen. After this the royal
guest was sumptuously entertained at the Ab-
bey. Some of the glasses are still preserved in
the family of his host, and the room in which
he was feasted still receives the name of the
King's Room. It is recorded that this curious
pit was totally destroyed in March 1 625, o m
the night of James's death, by a violent storm,
which, washing away the rampart around the
moat, deluged the works with water so irrepara-
bly, that till this day they remain in a choked
condition. Some of the stones of the rampart
were afterwards sold for the purpose of repair-
ing the old stone pier of Leith. The moat
was nearly opposite the house of Castlehill.
Whether from the above, or other causes, the
coal of Culross is now little wrought.
Culross, the capital of the above parish,
and a royal burgh, lies on the face of a descend-
ing brae to the Forth, at the distance of twen.
ty-two miles from Edinburgh, s r xteen from
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Gazetteers of Scotland, 1803-1901 > Gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1 > (199) Page 171 |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/97426750 |
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Description | Volume I: Abbey to Glenartney. |
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Attribution and copyright: |
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Description | By Robert Chambers and William Chambers. Glasgow: Blackie & Son, 1838. 2 volumes. |
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Shelfmark | NF.1461.g.7 |
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