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

CRAIGMONY.
309
CRAIGNISI1.
the southern part, which leads from the town of
Nidreif to the church of Liberton, which Henry de
Edmonton holds of him. Craigmillar afterwards
became the property of John de (Japella, from whom
it was purchased by Sir Simon Preston in 1374.
\Villiam, a successor to Sir Simon, was a member
of the parliament which met at Edinburgh June 1,
1478. He had the title of Domine de Craig-Miller.
This castle continued in the possession of the Pres-
tons almost three hundred years ; during which
time that family held the highest offices in the
magistracy of Edinburgh. In 1477, the Earl of
Mar, younger brother to King James III., was
confined here a considerable time. It was also the
residence of King James V. during his minority,
when he left Edinburgh castle on account of the
plague ; and here the queen dowager, by the favour
of the Lord Erskine, his constant attendant and
guardian, had frequent interviews with the young
monarch, whilst the Duke of Albany, the governor,
was in France. A.D. 1554, this castle, with that
of Eoslin, and the town of Leith, were burned aud
plundered by the English. Probably most of the
firesent buildings were erected since that time ; at
east, their style of architecture does not seem much
older than that period. Queen Mary, after her re-
turn in 1561, made this castle her residence. Her
French retinue were lodged at a small village in
the neighbourhood, which, from that circumstance,
still retains the appellation of Petit France. In the
month of November, 1566, Queen Mary was residing
here when the celebrated ' Conference of Craigmil-
j lar ' was held, in which a divorce between her and
Darnley was projected by the ambitious and daring
Bothwell. About the time of the Restoration, this
castle came into possession of Sir John Gilmour,
lord-president of the court of session, who made
some additions to it, and whose descendants are still
in possession of it. Grose has preserved two views
of it, taken in 1788.
CRAIGMONY, a very prominent rocky hill,
about 2 miles west of the old castle in Glen Ur-
quhart, Inverness-shire, partly crowned with rude
stone walls, and traditionally said to have been
used in the olden time as a beacon hill and a gallows
hill.
CRAIG-NA-CAILLIACH. See Balqtjhiddee.
. CRAIGNEIL. See Colmonell.
CRAIGNETH AN -CASTLE, the archetype of
Sir Walter Scott's castle of Tullietudlem, a magni-
ficent ruin in the parish of Lesmahago, Lanarkshire.
It surmounts a steep promontory, encircled by the
Nethan on the east, and by a craggy turbulent
torrent on the west. Tradition relates that it was
built by one of the early forefathers of the present
family of Hamilton, but that the strength of the
fortifications having awakened the suspicions of
the Scottish King, the builder was apprehended, and,
according to the summary proceedings of ancient
times, immediately executed, upon suspicion of
meditated rebellion. The site is naturally very
strong, and before the invention of artillery, the
bulwarks must have been almost impregnable. A
high and solid wall of hewn stone, great part of
which is still standing, flanked with massy towers,
and perforated with loopholes pointing in all direc-
tions, surrounded the principal building, enclosing
within its ample compass a court -yard, inter-
sected with a deep moat faced on each side with
hewn stone, over which was thrown a drawbridge,
defended by two Parallel vaults, which are still ac-
cessible, though deepiy buried in the rubbish where-
with the moat is filled. The buildings are much
dilapidated, great part of the wall being entirely
swept away, having been used as a quarry for the
neighbouring farm-houses. The two towers which
remain are crowned with a thick coppice of rowan-
tree, bourtrce, hazel, ash, brier, and hawthorn; and
— what will tend to convey some idea of the extra-
ordinary massiness of the structures — several bushes
of sauch flourish in great luxuriance on the top of
the walls, and are cut every third or fourth year by
the coopers, as excellent hoops. A large vaulted
hall is still shown, called the Queen's room, wherein
it is said the ill-used Mary lodged a few nights, about
the period of the disastrous battle of Langside ; and in
a subterraneous vault, there is a circular well, beau-
tifully built of polished stone, which one tradition
reports to have descended to a level with the bed of
the Nethan, and communicating with that rivulet, to
have supplied the garrison with water during a siege ;
while, according to another, it formed the entrance
of a tier of lower vaults, in which those wretches
who incurred the displeasure of their feudal tyrant
were hopelessly confined. Be these accounts as
they may, the well is now almost choked up, several
of the large, stones of its mouth have been thrown
in, while every visitor to the castle takes the liberty
of throwing down the well a blazing bunch of broom,
or some other comhustible substance, that he may
see the depth and construction of this curious rem-
nant of antiquity. Over the entrance to the prin-
cipal building is seen a much effaced escutcheon, in
which it is still possible to trace the armorial sup-
porters of Hamilton ; and the arms of the Hays, and
of some other families which formerly had possession
of this castle, are yet to be seen on various places of
the waDs. The Nethan, after leaving the castle,
forces its way through a deep ravine, on one side
clothed with hanging wood, and on the other side
presenting wavy broom-clad slopes.
CRAIGNISH, a parish on the west coast of Ar-
gyleshire, bounded by Loch Craignish, the Atlantic
ocean, and the parishes of Melfort, Dalavich, and
ICilmartin. Its post-town is Lochgilphead, 15
miles to the south-south-east. The length of the
parish north-eastward is fully 11 miles; and the
average breadth is about 2 miles. Loch Craignish
is an arm of the sea, opening from the north end of
the Sound of Jura, and penetrating the land about 6
miles north-eastward, with a width which variably
diminishes from 3 miles at the mouth to less than 1
mile near the head. Part of the parish is peninsu-
lar, stretching between Loch Craignish and the sea,
and terminating in Craignish point. The total ex-
tent of coast is not less than 16 miles. Abreast of
it, chiefly in the south and within Loch Craignish,
are upwards of 20 islands, and numerous rocks and
islets, serried round with romantic cliffs, washed
with the spray and tinctured with the hues of the
vexed waters in their narrow channels, bearing aloft
picturesquely situated trees, and commanding, as
well as contributing to form, brilliant and diversified
expanses of scenery. In the channel to the west
the tide, pouring along from the Sound of Jura, and
obstructed by the peninsula of Craignish and its
neig'hboimng islands, dashes itself into impetuosity
and foaming violence, and, even in the calmest
weather, makes chase upon the life of any fisherman
or tourist who has been tardy to anticipate its ap-
proach. The surface is much diversified, partly
flat and partly rugged, partly a strath lying very
slightly above sea-level, and partly a congeries oi
moors and hills, with an extreme elevation of about
700 feet. There are twelve lakes and many rills.
The soil of the arable grounds is principally a loamy
mould, which promises abundance to the cultivator,
yet is cold, subject to destructive storms, and on the
whole unproductive. The real rental, exclusive of
some servitudes which are still exacted, is aboui