Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

APP
47
ARA
sionally frequent the hays, creeks, and harhours, of
this district. The rivers, though small, are very
rapid, and abound with trout ; the stream of Firdon,
and the river of Applecross, contain salmon ; there are
salmon-fishings at Torriden and Balgie ; and fishing
is much pursued on the coasts of this parish. Kelp,
prior to the American war, was extensively manu-
factured here, and sold at £3 10s. the ton ; the price
afterwards fluctuated between £5 5s. and £4 15s.,
and there were about 50 tons annually brought to
market. This manufacture, however, no longer
exists. In the district of Kishorn there is a copper-
mine, which Williams, in his 'Mineral Kingdom,'
considered as equally rich with any in Great Britain.
On the south side of the bay of Applecross, close by
the shore, there is a lime-stone quarry of an excellent
quality. There are some natural woods of fir, birch,
and hazel, in different parts of the parish. The
ordinary fuel is peat. There are three proprietors :
viz. Mackenzie of Applecross, the principal heritor;
Mackenzie of Seaforth, and Sir F. Mackenzie of
Gairloch, Bart. " Every man," says the Statistical
reporter in 1 792, " is the architect of his own house ;
and though there be a few nominal shoemakers,
scarcely a boy of fifteen but makes his own brogues.
There are several boat-wrights and weavers; the
former are generally maintained by their employers,
and paid by the piece ; the latter make their demand
in money, but are paid in meal, at the conversion of
half-a-merk Scotch the peck. There are three
smiths — when no private stipulation takes place — for
the farm-work ; they are paid in meal, by an imme-
morial assessment on the different farms. Anciently
they had the head of every cow that was slaughtered
in the parish, — a privilege they still claim, but it is
rarely complied with." We should suppose this
claim is never even advanced now ; but it is a curious
relic of days less-acquainted with the marvellous pro-
perties of a circulating medium than our own. The
wages of domestic servants, for the year, at the last
mentioned period, were from £2 to £3 sterling, for
men ; and from 10s. to £1 sterling for women ; the
Statistical reporter of 1836 states, that they are
usually £8 for ploughmen, and from £2 10s. to £3
for female servants. The population of the parish,
in 1801, was 1,896; in 1831, 2,892. Houses 5*2.
Assessed property £3,050 The parish is in the
presbytery of Loch Carron, and synod of Glenelg. It
is divided into three districts, each of which is
separated from the others by a ridge of hills. In the
districts of Lochs and Tirdon, the minister officiates
once a quarter; and the minister of Shieldag offi-
ciates in the district of Kishorn once a month. The
parish-church stands in the district of Applecross ; it
was built in 1817; sittings 600. Stipend £158 6s. 5d.,
with a manse, and a small glebe. The patronage is in
the Crown. A government-church was erected at
Shieldag in 1827 : the parochial school is fixed at
Applecross. The schoolmaster's salary is £25, with
£4 10s. fees. There are also schools at Shieldag,
Torriden, Kishorn, and Badanvougie, each attended
by about 50 scholars. " There are trunks of trees
found at a considerable depth under ground, where
there is no vestige of any kind of wood remaining ;
many of them have visibly suffered by fire, which the
traditional history of the country reports to have been
occasioned by the Danes burning the forests. Close by
the parish-church, are the remains of an old religious
house, where the standard and soles of crucifixes are
still to be seen. It was richly endowed with landed
property, which tradition relates to have been con-
veyed, by the last popish missionary in the place —
known by the designation of the Red Priest of Apple,
cross — to his daughter." [Statistical Report, 1792.]
APPLEGARTH, or Applegirth, a parish in
the stewartry of Annandale, Dumfriesshire. The An-
nan divides it, on the west, from the parishes of Loch-
maben and Johnston ; on the north it is bounded by
Wamphray ; on the north-east and east by Hutton ;
and on the south by Dryfesdale parish. Its greatest
length, from south to north, is about 6 miles ; its
greatest breadth, from west to east, in the southern
part of the parish, is about 5 miles. The distance
of the kirk-town from Dumfries is about 11, and
from Annan about 12 miles. The great turnpike
road from Carlisle to Glasgow and Edinburgh passes
through the parish, from south to north. Dr. Singer
estimates the superficial area of this parish at 17i
square miles, or 11,500 acres ; of which about 400 are
under wood, and 7,400 are cultivated. The soil in
this parisfi, in general, is good, especially upon the
banks of the Annan and the Dryfe. The highest ele-
vation in the parish is Dinwoodie hill, 736 teet above
sea-level. The manse of Applegarth, in the south-
west extremity of the parish, on the east bank of the
Annan, is 180 feet above sea-level. [Statistical re-
port, 1834. ] There are six heritors in the parish.
The valued rent is 6,725 merks ; the real rent was
estimated, at the end of last century, at between
£2,800 and £3,000 sterling. Population, in 1801,
795 ; in 1831, 999. Houses 151. Assessed property
£8,595. — This parish is in the synod of Dumfries,
and presbytery of Lochmaben. Stipend £250 5s.,
with a manse, and a glebe valued at £10 10s. Un-
appropriated teinds £244. The manse is an old
house, built upwards of 60 years ago. The church
was built in 1761. It is generally supposed that
there have been two old parishes successively annex-
ed to Applegarth, viz. Sibbaldbie and Dinwoodie, or
Dinwiddie. It is not certain, however, whether
Dinwoodie was ever a distinct parish or not ; it rather
appears to have been a chapelry to Applegarth.
Sibbaldbie was a distinct parish, and was annexed in
1609. There are still some remains of its church.
Sir William Jardine, Bart., and Johnstone of Annan-
dale, are the patrons. There are two parochial
schools, attended by abou 1 100 children. Chalmers,
in his Caledonia, informs us that on the 7th July,
1300, Edward I., who was then at Applegarth, on
his way to the siege of Caerlaverock, made an obla-
tion at the altars of St. Nicholas and Thomas h
Becket, in Applegarth church. There are no au-
thentic traces of this church now visible. There is
a noble ash-tree in the church-yard of Applegarth,
upwards of 14 feet in circumference near the root.
ARASAIG, or Arisaig, a district in the parish
of Ardnamurchan, on the western coast of Inverness-
shire, and the name especially of a promontory in the
district, lying between the two inlets of the sea,
Lochnanuagh on the south, and Lochnagaul on the
north, immediately opposite the southern extremity
of the isle of Eig, from which it is distant 6i miles.
There is an excellent and beautiful road from the
village of Arasaig, on the northern shore of Lochna-
gaul, to Fort William, passing the head of Loch
Aylort, and Loch Shiel, and running along the nor-
thern shore of Loch Eil, a total distance of 40 miles.
There is a ferry from Arasaig to Skye, which how-
ever is now little used, that of Kyle Rhea being
generally preferred. There is a Roman Catholic
chapel at the village of Arasaig.
ARAY (The), or Ary, in Gaelic Aoreidh, a
small but beautiful stream flowing into Loch Fyne,
between the town of Inverary and the neighbour
ing hill of Dunyqueaich. It rises near Loch Awe,
and flows south. Its course is about 9 miles in
length, over a rocky bed, and frequently under
rugged cliffs, or between banks finely wooded with
oak and birch. The road from Inverary to Oban
skirts its course, throughout its whole length; and