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

FOW
589
FOW
large quantities, and sold for food and bait at Aber-
deen. Pearls are found in the bed of fke river,
and have been pretty successfully searched for 3 or
4 miles up the river. At the mouth of the Ythan,
but on a small stream which rises in the western
part of the parish, and flows eastwardly past the
kirk and manse, stands the village of Newburgh, in
a pleasant and commodious situation. Near New-
burgh are the ruins of an old chapel called the Red
chapel of Buchan. About half-a-mile from the
village are the ruins of the old castle of Knockhall,
one of the seats of the family of Udny. Some re-
mains of another castle belonging to a family of the
name of Fiddes, now extinct, are still to be seen, and
there are several tumuli or cairns The parish is in the
presbytery of Ellen and synod of Aberdeen. Patron,
the Crown. Stipend £192 14s. 7d. ; glebe £11 5s.
Unappropriated teinds £56 5s. — Schoolmaster's
salary £28, with £33 19s. 4d. fees and other emolu-
ments. There are three private schools in the parish.
FOWL A, or Foula, one of the Shetland isles, in
N. lat. 60° 8'; about 2 miles in length, and 1£
niile in breadth. It is nearly 18 miles to the west
of the Shetland group, and 35 from Orkney, and is
supposed to be the Ultima Thule of the ancients, not
only from the analogy of the name, but also from
more undoubted testimony ; for Tacitus, speaking of
the Koman general, Agricola's victories, and the dis-
tance to which he penetrated northward, thus ex-
presses himself: " Invenit domuitque insulas quas
vocant Orcades, despectaque Thule." Now Fowla,
which is high ground, is easily seen in a clear day
from the northern parts of the Orkneys. It is very
bold and steep towards the west ; its cliffs, accord-
ing to Edmonstone, literally losing themselves in the
clouds, or appearing to pierce the belt of clouds which
frequently hangs around them. The only landing-
place, called Ham, is on the east side, and is much
resorted to as a fishing-station. The east side, which
is much lower than the west, is composed of granite,
micaceous schist, and quartz ; the south, west, and
north sides are composed of sandstone and sandstone-
fiag. The account which Pontoppidan has given of
the fowlers in Norway, is realized, according to Mr.
Jamieson, and even exceeded by the inhabitants of
this secluded island. It is not many years since it
was a common observation, that few of them died a
natural death, being either drowned or dashed to
pieces among the terrible precipices on the west side ;
but they are now more cautious, and comparatively
few are thus destroyed. This is the principal breed-
ing-place of the skua-gull, or Larus cataractes, called
the bonxie by the Shetlanders. It affords excellent
pasturage for sheep, and in 1837, had 202 inhabitants,
who, although the island cannot supply them with
provisions, are so attached to the place, that they
"■ are seldom known to leave it, choosing rather to sub-
mit to many inconveniences than emigrate. This is-
land is in the parish of Walls, and is visited only once
a-year by the parish-minister.
FOWLIS EASTER, a parish in the extreme east
of Perthshire, annexed to Lundie, in Forfarshire.
See Lun-die.
FOWLIS WESTER, a parish near the centre of
Perthshire, consisting of two very slenderly united
divisions. The southern division is nearly a rec-
tangle, stretching east and west on the south side of
Almond water, and connected, near its north-east
angle, with the northern division, over a distance of
only half-a-mile. It is 5J- miles of average length
from east to west, and 3| miles of average breadth
from north to south ; and is bounded on the north by
Monzie ; on the east by Methven ; on the south by
Maderty ; and on the west by Crieff and Monzie.
The northern division suddenly swells out from its
narrow breadth of half-a-mile at the connecting line
with the southern division, to an average breadth of
1| mile, and stretches away 5J miles to the north.
It is bounded on the north by Little Dunkeld ; on
the east by Little Dunkeld and a detached part of
Monzie ; and on the west by the main body of Mon-
zie and by Dell. — The river Almond, coming down
from the north-west, and bending eastward at the
point of its touching the parish, forms, for 3 miles,
the northern boundary of the southern division, and,
in the lower part of its course, runs along the line of
connection between the two divisions. This stream
here abounds in a small kind of trout ; and a few yards
above the bridge of Buchandy, forms a curious and
attractive cascade. Running beneath a wall of rock
6 feet high, it tumbles over a rocky breast-work 7
feet in height, into a very deep and tumultuously
boiling pool ; and, in dry weather, when its volume
is diminished, it sheds its waters round a rocky pro-
jection, from which a basket was often, at one period,
suspended by a chain, and received numerous salmon-
trout in their attempt to overleap the cascade. Break-
ing away from the pool, it runs in a profound rocky
canal, amid rocky fragments and clusters of stones,
overhung by trees and copsewood, and canopied with
mimic clouds of many-coloured spray, and passes
below the single arch of Buchandy bridge, 15 feet in
span, and rising on a level with the adjacent ground,
— the surface of the water 32 feet below the summit
of the arch The Pow, or Powaffray water, a mossy
and sluggish stream, rises on the western limit of the
southern division of the parish, and, over a course of
7 A miles, uniformly traces its western and its southern
boundary, except for a brief way before leaving it,
during which it runs slightly into the interior. This
stream, having formerly covered with its waters much
of the ground in its vicinity, flows in an artificial chan-
nel, cut for it by authority of an act of the Scottish
parliament, — remarkable for being the last act passed
before the Union Braan water, celebrated for its
scenery and cascades, comes down from the west,
and forms the northern boundary with Little Dun-
keld. Meltown burn, coming down from the north-
east, and falling into the Almond, traces the boun-
dary with the detached part of Monzie. Shellegan
burn, a beautiful limpid stream, flowing parallel with
the former, forms the boundary with the main body
of Monzie. The ravines and romantic dells through
which these streams flow are graced with numerous
tiny cascades and little cataracts, which please by
the frequency of their recurrence and the variety of
their aspect The northern division of the parish
consists of ragged spurs of the Grampians, divides
Logiealmond from Strathbraan, and is nearly all wild
or pastoral. Its surface rises gradually, for a brief way,
from Braan water on the north, and consists of moun-
tainous elevations till very near the Almond, when it
descends with a rapid declivity and terminates in a
stripe of arable land. The southern division is re-
markably varied, and, in general, exceedingly unequal
in surface. On the banks of the Almond it sends
down hills dotted and freckled with trees and copse-
wood. On the north-east is the estate of Keiller,
undulating and hilly, but beautified with the trees of
an ancient lawn, and containing much fertile soil,
well-cultivated and enclosed. Along the banks of
the Pow, over the whole extent of the southern
boundary, is an opulent and finely sheltered and cul-
tivated valley. All the rest of the southern division
consists of dells and hilly ranges, remarkably various
in form. The hills are so distinctively featured and
naturally classified, as to be arranged under the differ-
ent names of the braes of Fowlis, the braes of Durn,
the braes of Gorthy, and the braes of Keiller ; and they
have all a southern exposure, and are so chequered