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

DIV
319
DOL
might be aptly enough apostrophized in the words of
an anonymous poet : —
" The grandeur of the olden time
Mantled thy towers with pride sublime.
Enlivening all who near'd them ;
From Hippnrris and Sherris sack,
Palmer, or pilgrim, torn'd not back,
Before thy cellars cheer'd them.
Since thine unbroken early day.
How many a race hath passed away,
In charnel-vanlt to moulder ! —
Yet Nature round thee breathes an air
Serenely bright and softly fair,
To shame the awed beholder.
The past is but a gorgeous dream.
And time elides by us like a stream,
While musing on thy story j
And sorrow prompts a deep alas!
That like a pageant thou should pass
To wreck all human glory !"
— This parish is in the presbytery of Haddington, and
synod of Lothian and Tweeddale. Patroness, Mrs.
Ferguson. Stipend ,£293 18s. Id. ; glebe 10 acres.
Unappropriated teinds £335 2s. 4d. Schoolmaster's
salary .£34 4s. 4d., with £33 fees. There are 2
private schools.
DIVIE (The), a small river in the county of
Moray. Its principal branch rises on the borders of
Strathspey. After a rapid course, it falls into the
Findhorn river. " The scenery of the Divie," says
Mr. Anderson, ". from the spot where it leaps into
its glen, in a wild waterfall, to its j unction with the
Findhorn, is exquisitely beautiful."
DOCHART (Loch), a lake in Perthshire, in the
parish of Killin. It is about 3 miles in length from
east to west, and contains a floating islet, 51 feet
long, and 29 broad. It appears to have been gradually
formed — hke others of the same kind — by the natu-
ral intertexture of the roots and stems of some wa-
ter-plants. It moves before the wind, and may be
pushed about with poles. Cattle going unsuspect-
ingly to feed upon it are liable to be carried on a
voyage round the lake. On another, but stationary
island, stand the ruins of a castle, the ancient resi-
dence of the Campbells of Loch Awe. It is embowered
with wood, and has a very romantic appearance.
The river Fillan runs into the west end of the loch.
The river Dochart issues from the east end of the
loch, and running east about 8 miles through Glen-
Dochart, joins the Lochy at Killin, when both fall
into Loch Tay.
DOLLAR, a parish in the shire of Clackmannan;
bounded on the north by the parish of Glendevon ;
on the east by Muckhart and Fossa way parishes ; on
the west by the parish of Tillicoultry ; and on the
south by the parish of Clackmannan. Its length
from north to south is about 3 miles, and its greatest
breadth about 1± mile. Its general aspect is that of
a beautiful plain or valley, having the Ochils for its
northern boundary, and a gently rising ground con-
fining it on the south. The river Devon runs through
it in a meandering course from east to west. The
central part of the parish, in which the town is situ-
ated, forms a somewhat large and slightly sloping
plain, with a southern exposure, and beautifully in-
terspersed with hamlets, farm-houses, and enclosures.
The soil of that portion of the parish which extends
from the hills to near the Devon is light and gravelly ;
on the banks of the river the land is more moist and
clayey. The Ochils afford excellent pasture for
sheep, and the mutton and wool produced here are
of a superior quality. The parish abounds in excel-
lent coal, which is worked in several places and ex-
ported in large quantities to considerable distances
in Perthshire. Iron also abounds, and veins of cop-
per and lead were formerly wrought in the Ochil
hills a little way above the town of Dollar. The
ores are said to have been exported to some extent
to Holland. Silver has likewise been found in a
glen to the west of Castle-Campbell, and pebbles of
some value are occasionally picked up on the top of
a hill called the White Wisp. A large bleachfield
on the banks of the Devon has existed since 1787.
Fairs are held at Dollar on the 2d Monday of May,
the 3d Thursday of June, the 2d Monday of August,
and the 3d Monday of October. The greater part
of the parish formerly belonged to the Argyle family,
but in 1 605 the whole property was feued out with
the exception of Castle-Campbell and two neighbour-
ing farms. Two ancient sepulchral tumuli are situat-
ed at a short distance from the town of Dollar. One
of them, on being opened about fifty years ago, was
found to contain two urns filled with human bones.
The most interesting remain of antiquity, however,
is Castle-Campbell : which see The town of
Dollar is pleasantly situated on a rising ground in the
eastern part of the parish, and is 12 miles north-east
from Stirling, and about the same distance north-
west from Dunfermline, and south-west from Kin-
ross. The road from Stirling to the latter town
passes through it. Population of the parish in 1801,
693; in 1831, 1,447. Assessed property £1,629..
The population is not increasing. By a census taken
in 1836 it had fallen to 1,367, of which 1,036 belong-
ed to the Establishment and 274 to other denomina-
tions. — The parish of Dollar is in the presbytery of
Stirling, and synod of Perth and Stirling. Patron,
Tait of Harvieston. Stipend, .£158 10s. 7d. ; glebe
£18. Church built in 1775; sittings 340 An
Original Seceder congregation was estabUshed here
in 1827. Church built in 1829 at a cost of about
±"400; sittings 264. Stipend, £80, without manse
or glebe The parochial schoolmaster has a salary
of £'25 17s. 9id., with £12 school-fees, and £6 14s.
of other emoluments. Average attendance 35. — The
principal educational institution in the parish, how-
ever, is the Dollar academy, which was estabUshed
in 1819, by a fund amounting, it is said, to nearly
£80,000, left by Captain John M'Nabb of Mile-end,
Stepney, in the county of Middlesex. The academy
is an elegant building. It is conducted by seven
teachers and three assistants, and the branches
taught are English, writing, arithmetic, Latin, Greek,
modern languages, mathematics, drawing, and sewing.
The number of scholars attending the academy in
1834 was 212. The management of the academy is
vested in the minister and kirk-session of Dollar.*
* The parish of Dollar is distinguished as having been the
scene of the labours of one ot the early Scottish martyrs.
T'homas Forrest, who suffered death on the Castle-hill in Edin-
burgh, in 1533, was vicar of Dollar. The following account of
this interesting person is given by Dr. M'Cree: "The other
person who suffered at that time was Thomas Forrest, com-
monly called the vicar of Dollar. I shall add some particulars
concerning this excellent man, which are not to be found in the
common histories. He was of the house of Forret, or Forest,
in Fife, and his father had been master-stabler to James IV.
After acquiring the rudiments of grammar in Scotland, he was
sent abroad by the kindness of a noble woman, and prosecuted
his education at Cologne. Returning to his native country,
he was admitted a canon regular of St. Colme's Inch. It hap-
pened that a dispute arose between the abbot and the canons,
respecting the allowance due to them, and the latter got the
book of foundation to examine into their rights. With the
view of inducing them to part with it, the abbot gave them .:.
volume of Augustine's works which was in the monastery.
' Oh happy aud blessed was that book to me,' did Forrest ofleu
say, ' by which I came to the knowledge of the truth !' Haviug
applied himself to the reading of the scriptures, he was the
means of converting a number of the young canous ; * but the
old bottles,' he used to say, ' would not receive the new wine.*
The abbot frequently advised him to keep bis mind to himself,
else he would incur puuishment. * I thank you, my lord,' was
his answer, * ye are a friend to my body, but not to my soul.'
He was afterwards admitted to the vicarage of Dollar, in which
situation he rendered himself obnoxious to his brethren, by his
diligence in instructing his parish, aud his benevolence iu tree-
ing them from oppressive exactions. When the agents of the
pope came iuto his bounds to sell indulgences, he said, ' Parish-
ioners, I am bound to speak the truth to you. There is no