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

AUCIITEkARDER
95
AUCIITERGAVEN.
but confirmed the liberties of tbc burgh and the
burgesses, leaving them the same as they bad been in
the reign of Alexander III. The town, however, did
not thrive; and, in the 16th century, an act of parlia-
ment recorded that " Ochterairder was very puir,
and meikle infestit with gipsies and sorners," and
ordained that an annual lair for tbc encouragement of
trade be held there, in all time coming, on the 25th
day of November. This fair is still held in terms of
the statute; only, in accordance with the change of
style, it is now held on the 6th of December. It is
reckoned the greatest business day in the year, and
has, no doubt, contributed to the improvement of the
place. " Auchterarder," says the New Statistical
Account, "was one of the Scottish towns ironically
compared hy George Buchanan with the fine English
cities. Some English noblemen, boasting to King
James of the properties of the English towns, the
sarcastic Scot replied, that he knew a town in Scot-
land which had fifty draw-bridges, and which is
afterwards described as a ' country village between
Stirling and Perth, called Auchterardoch, where
there is a large strand which runs through the mid-
dle of the town, and almost at every door there is a
long stock or stone laid over the strand, whereupon
they pass to their opposite neighbours, and when a
flood comes they lift their wooden bridges in case
they should be taken away, and these they call
draw-bridges.' So goes the story." On the 28th of
January, 1716, when the royalist troops under the
Duke of Argyle were advancing npon Perth, the
Earl of Mar burned the whole of Auchterarder ex-
cept one house ; and on the 30th, when Argyle ar-
rived, he could find no accommodation, but spent
the night upon the snow, " without any other cover-
ing than the fine canopy of heaven." " Auchter-
arder," says Newte — who visited this place in 1782
— " seems to have lain under the curse of God ever
since it was burnt by the army in the year 1715.
The dark heath of the moors of Ochil and Tulli-
bardine, — a Gothic castle belonging to the Duke of
Athol, — the naked summits of the Grampians seen at
a distance, — and the frequent visitations of the pres-
bytery, who are eternally recommending fast-days,
and destroying the peace of society by prying into
little slips of life, together with the desolation of the
place, render Auchterarder a melancholy scene,
wherever you turn your eyes, except towards Perth
and the lower Stratheam, of which it has a partial
prospect." — When this superficial tourist penned
his coarse and unjust remarks on presbyterial visi-
tations, he probably knew no more of the matter
than he seems to have done of what he calls the
Antimonian heresies of the place.
The town, in its present state, consists principally
of one street upwards of a mile long. Its most strik-
ing feature is the fine tower of the Free church.
The town has offices of the Union Bank and the
Central Bank, a savings' bank, and four insurance
offices. A weekly market is held on Saturday; and
is the principal grain mart for a considerable sur-
rounding district. Fairs are held on the last Tues-
day of March, on the first Thursday of May, on the
Friday in August, in September, and in October, be-
fore Falkirk, and — as we have already noted — on the
6th day of December. The manufacture of Galas
has of late years found a seat here, and is on the in-
crease. Upwards of 15 manufacturers are engaged
in it, —one of whom employs 300 hands. There is
also a large woollen spinning-mill ; and there are
several dye-works. A good many looms are still
employed in weaving cotton fabrics for Glasgow
manufacturers. A number of mills of various kinds,
more or less connected with the town, or at least in-
timately affecting its prosperity, are dispersed along
the water of Ruthvcn — particularly a farina mill,
two flax mills, two saw mills, and four grain mills.
A short way from the town is a village called the
Boreland-Park, built for the accommodation of the
soldiers who were disbanded after tin war in 1763.
Most of the soldiers who were planted in it, left it
very soon afterwards — though the terms of their
settlement were very advantageous — cither from
dislike to the place, or more probably to their new
mode of life. Half a mile east of the vestiges of
Malcolm Canmore's castle, there are remains of an
old church, commonly called St. Mungo's, and sup-
posed to have been atone time the parish* church.
And south-east of the town, at the foot of the Ochils,
are some traces of ancient encampments, which
may possibly have been outposts of the great
Roman camp at Ardoch. Population of the town in
1831, 1,981; in 1861, 2,844. Houses, 380.
AUCHTEKDERRAN, a parish, containing the
village and post-office of Lochgelly, in the western
part of Filestore. It is bounded by Auchertool on
the south ; Abbotsball on the south-east ; Dy sart on
the east; Kinglassie and Portmoak on the north;
and Ballingray on the west. It has an irregular
outline, and is about 5 miles long from north to
south, and about 3 miles broad. It comprises part
of a valley, screened on the south, east, and west,
by rising grounds, which are of sufficient elevation
to exclude the view of the frith of Forth, although
they are cultivated to the top. The water of Orr
flows through the parish from west to east. It is a
slow running stream, rising in the north-west corner
of the county, flowing through Loch Fetty, and
falling into the Leven about 3 miles from its mouth.
On the southern border of the parish is a sheet ot
water measuring nearly 3 miles in circumference,
called Lochgelly, which discharges its waters, by
a small rivulet, into the Orr. There are good lime •
stone quarries; and coal is abundant, and is ex
tensively mined. About 500 acres in the parish are
under wood. Agriculture has undergone vast im-
provement, and is in excellent condition. There
are eleven heritors, with rentals of £50 and upwards.
The total land-rent in 1792, was £2,000, and in
1836, was about £7,000. Assessed property in 1865,
£15,728 2s. The Dunfermline branch of the Edin-
burgh and Northern railway goes southwestward
through the parish, and has a station in it at Loch-
gelly. Population in 1831, 1,590; in 1861, 3,457.
Houses, 667. The increase of population has been
occasioned by the opening of the Cardeuden colliery
and the Lochgelly iron-works.
This parish is in the presbytery of Kirkcaldy and
synod of Fife. Patron, Boswell of Balmuto. Sti-
pend, £237 lis. I0d.; glebe, £30. Unappropriated
teinds, £824 0s. lid. Schoolmaster's salary now is
£60, with £25 fees. The parochial church is situated
centrally in the east, and was built in 1789. There
is a Free church station at Lochgelly; the yearly
sum raised in connexion with which in 1853
was £34 8s. 9d. There is also at Lochgelly an
United Presbyterian church, with an attendance of
300. There are likewise a subscription school, a
savings' bank, and a total abstinence society.
AUCHTERGAVEN —vulgarly Ochteiigaex — a
parish, containing the post-office viUage of Bank-
foot, and most of the post-office village of Stanley,
and containing also the villages of Camiehill, Auch-
tergaven, and Waterloo, besides several hamlets, in
the Strathtay district of Perthshire. It lies mid-
way between Perth and Dunkeld, and is washed
for a short distance on the east by the Tay. It
measures 10 miles in length from east to west, and
about 3 in average breadth from north to south . Its
general surface measures nearly 20,000 acres; but a