Imperial gazeteer of Scotland, or, Dictionary of Scottish topography > Volume 1

ALLAN.
34
ALLOA.
Chalmers, that the Alauna of Ptolemy, and of Rich-
ard, was situated on the Allan, ahout a mile ahove
its confluence with the Forth. See Steathallan.
ALLAN BANK. See Edbon.
ALLAN (Bkidge of), a heautiful small town and
charming watering place, in the parishes of Logie and
Lecropt, on the northern border of Stirlingshire. - It
stands on the river Allan, on the road from Stirling
to Crieff, and has a station on the Scottish Central
Railway, 3 miles north of Stirling, and 2 miles south
of Dunblane. It is a favourite summer retreat of
invalids, both on account of the salubrity of its
climate, the beauty of the country around it, and
the near proximity of the mineral wells of Airthrey;
and, for a number of years prior to 1866, it had an-
nually about 40,000 visitors. It commences at
Coneyhill villa, not far from Lord Abercromby's
Lodge; descends westward, over a slope, to the
quarter of Sunnylaw ; and consists partly of streets
or rows of well-built bouses, with many handsome
shops, but chiefly of neat or elegant separate villas.
It has a head post-office, an office of the Union
Bank, a public reading-room, a well-kept bowling-
green, three large hotels, three smaller hotels, and
four places of worship. Two of the hotels keep
each a public library and a table d'hote ; and one
of them has pleasure-grounds with jets d'eau. The
Established church is a handsome Gothic edifice of
1859, with 350 sittings. The Free church is an
edifice of 1853, in the middle pointed style ; has a
spire 108 feet high ; and contains 800 sittings. The
United Presbyterian church is a neat structure of
1846. with a public clock, and contains 400 sittings.
The Episcopalian church was built in 1857 ; is in the
early decorated style ; consists of nave and chan-
cel, with a belfry; and contains 250 sittings. Om-
nibuses run several times a-day, during summer,
to Stirling. Airthrey Castle, Westerton House,
Kippenross, and Keir, are in the vicinity ; and very
numerous spots of antiquarian interest, and places
of picturesque and romantic scenery, are within
easy access. Pop. in 1861, 1,803. Houses, 686.
ALLAN (Poet of), a landing-place in the parish
of Sorbie, Wigtonshire.
ALLANDER, a small river of Dumbartonshire
and Stirlingshire. It rises among the Kilpatrick
hills about 3 miles north of West Kilpatrick, and
runs ahout 10 or 11 miles, partly eastward, but
chiefly south-south-eastward, to the Kelvin, at a
point about 2J miles above Garscube. It is fed in
summer by a reservoir among the hills; and it
brings down thence supplies of water in droughty
weather for the mills on the Kelvin; and always
drives extensive machinery at places on its own
course within the parish of East Kilpatrick.
ALLANTON, a village in the parish of Edrom,
Berwickshire, situated at the point of confluence of
the Blackadder and Whiteadder, on the road from
Ladykirk to Chirnside, 1£ mile south of Chirnside.
A"new bridge was erected a few years ago over the
Whiteadder here, and has supplied an important
want. There is a Free church in the village, whose
yearly receipts in 1865 amounted to £241 Is. lid.
There is a mineral well in the vicinity. Population
of the village, 258.
ALLANTON, an estate in the parish of Cambus-
nethan, Lanarkshire. The lands of Allanton
anciently belonged to the abbey of Arbroath, and
have for centuries been in the possession of the
Darnley Stewarts. The mansion is an elegant pile;
and the estate is rich in useful ores.
ALLANTON BURN. See Keih.
ALLARDYCE. See Arbuthbot.
ALLEN (The), a small stream in Roxburghshire.
It rises on the north-western boundary of the parish
of Melrose, near Allenshaws: flows southward,
skirting the western base of Colmslie hill, and pass-
ing the ruins of Hillslap, Colmslie, and Langshaw ;
and falls into the Tweed, about a quarter of a mile
above the bridge near Lord Somerville's hunting-
seat called the Pavilion, after traversing a romantic
ravine called the Fairy dean, or the Nameless dean.
The vale of the Allen is the prototype of the ima-
ginary Glendearg in ' The Monastery ;' although, as
Sir Walter himself informs us, the resemblance of
the real and fanciful scene " is far from being mi-
nute, nor did the author aim at identifying them."
ALLERMUIR, one of the Pentland hills, in the
parishes of Colinton and Lasswade, Edinburghshire.
It is one of the most conspicuous summits of the
range, and has an altitude of 1,625 feet above the
level of the sea.
ALLNESS. See Ainess.
ALLOA, a parish, containing a town of the same
name, also the villages of Cambus, Collyland, Tulli-
body, and Holton Square, and comprising the two
ancient parishes of Alloa and Tullibody, in Clack-
mannanshire. It is bounded on the north and west
by the river Devon; on the south by the river
Forth ; and on the east by the parishes of Tilli-
coultry and Clackmannan. Its average length from
east to west is about 4 miles ; hut its extent of bank
along the winding Forth, here slowly beginning to
expand into frith, is about 5J miles ; and its breadth
from north to south is about 2 miles. " The low
grounds lying on the banks of the Forth," says the
excellent description of the parish in the New Sta-
tistical Account, " are of a fine fertile carse soil.
The subsoil of part of it is a strong clay, fit for
making bricks and tiles. The banks that arise
from the carse, are mostly composed of gravel, with
a fine loam near the surface. On the higher
grounds, towards the north, the soil is thin, on a
cold till bottom ; but by draining of late years, it
has been greatly improved. This parish contains
no mountains or high hills ; but its finely diversified
surface, its little hills and fertile valleys, form a
richly varied landscape. From any of the emi-
nences near the town, sceneiy is presented to the
eye, almost unrivalled for picturesque beauty, if not
for magnificence. To the eastward, embosomed in
trees, is seen the ancient Tower of Alloa, from the
summit of which, although situated on flat ground,
part of nine counties can be discerned. About a
furlong north-east of the Tower, on a gentle ele-
vation, is the new and elegant mansion of the Earl
of Mar and Kellie. Beyond Alloa Wood, Clack-
mannan Tower crowns the summit of the next ris-
ing ground ; while on either side of the expanding
firth, innumerable beauties arrest the attention in
the rich vale below. On turning to the. north and
west, a panorama of no ordinary splendour meets
the eye, — on one side, the lofty Ochils, bounding
the view, and covered with verdure to their sum-
mits, — on the other, the numerous windings of the
river, Stirling with its finely elevated castle, and
beyond, in the blue distance, the gigantic Benledi
and Benlomond, with others of our Scottish alps."
The highest ground in the parish is Gartmom hill
in the north-east, which has an altitude of 390 feet
above the level of the Forth. Alloa Park mansion,
the seat of the Earl of Mar and Kellie, is an elegant
Grecian structure, surmounting a gentle eminence,
and looking to the south, about a furlong east of the
ancient town. The mansion of Tullibody, a seat of
Lord Abercromby, is an old house near the Forth.
In front of it are two pleasant low islands ; behind
it, on the north, is a wooded bank ; and on either
side, almost at equal distances from the house, are
two prominences, jutting out into the carse, which