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

CRAILING.
312
CRAMOND.
rich, and well-cultivated, consisting generally of a
light loam ; and with the interspersion of 300 acres
of plantation, the shadowing on the west of three
isolated and considerable hills, and the brilliant
movements and opulent dress of the intersecting
Teviot, it presents to the lover of landscape pictures
delightfully attractive. On the central one of the
three hills, that called Piniel-heugh, which has an
elevation of about 500 feet, and consists chiefly of
whinstone, there rises to the height of 150 feet a
flue cylindrical column, which commands a view of
nearly all the richly picturesque valley of the
Teviot, overlooks some of the most golden scenes
on the Tweed, and lifts the eye upward among the
grand acclivities and varied outlines of the Cheviots,
away north-eastward over all Berwickshire to the
German ocean. This column is ascended by a spiral
staircase, and was built by the sixth Marquis of
Lothian, in commemoration of the battle of Water-
loo. It is strongly constructed of whinstone quar-
ried on the spot, and bears this inscription: "To
the Duke of Wellington and the British Army,
William Ker, VI. Marquis of Lothian, and his ten-
antry, dedicate this monument, 30th June, 1815."
On the summit of Piniel-heugh are also vestiges of
two encampments which are conjectured to have
belonged to the Romans. Through the west of the
parish formerly passed a Roman road or causeway,
the course of which can still be traced. The great
road through Teviotdale traverses the southern sec-
tion of Crailing, at about mid-distance between the
Teviot and the boundary of the parish, passing all
the way along under a delightful shading of beech,
ash, and elm. The northern section — all the- pro-
perty of the Marquis of Lothian — is presided over
by the mansion of Mount-Teviot, a recent erection in
the form of three parallelograms, romantically sit-
uated on the banks of the Teviot, at the base of
Piniel-heugh. The southern section formerly con-
stituted the estate of Crailing, long the property of
the noble family of Cranstoun ; but it is now chiefly
the property of Paton of Crailing, whose mansion
stands on a gentle eminence, overlooking the mean-
derings and the sylvan-sloping banks of the Oxnam.
The real rental of the parish in 1835 was upwards
of £7,000 ; and the total yearly value of its raw pro-
duce was estimated in that year at £20,110. As-
sessed property in 1863^, £7,994 17s. Crailing
is the lowest, warmest, and most fertile portion of
Teviotdale, and is remarkably salubrious. Half-a-
century ago, an inhabitant attained the age of 106
years, and left behind him several healthy survivors
upwards of 80. The village of Crailing was at one
time considerable, but has latterly been falling into
decay. It is situated on the Oxnam, at the po'nt
where it is crossed by the Carlisle and Berwick
road ; and here an elegant bridge was erected in
the summer of 1833. Population of the village 74.
Population of the parish in 1831, 733; in 1861, 673.
Houses, 131.
This parish is in the presbytery of Jedburgh, and
synod of Merse and Teviotdale. Patrons, the Crown
and the Marquis of Lothian. Stipend, £251 10s.
lid.; glebe, £32 10s. Unappropriated teinds, £1,068
15s. Id. Schoolmaster's salary, £50, with £22 of
other emoluments. Crailing is called, in the re-
cords of presbytery, the united parishes of Crailing,
Nisbet, and Spital. Crailing and Nisbet were dis-
tinct parishes, the former on the south, and the lat-
ter on the north of the Teviot ; and Spital is said to
have been an hospital belonging to the abbey of
Ancrum. A few tombs overgrown with shrubs and
weeds still mark the siteof Nisbet church, and point
out the present place of sepulture for the inhabitants
on the northern side of the Teviot. Even Crailing-
proper, or the southern part of the modem parish,
formed, in the reign of David 1., two distinct pa-
rishes, each having its manor, church, and village.
The church is situated on an eminence near the
confluence of the Oxnam and the Teviot. It was
built about the middle of last century, and contains
300 sittings. There is a Free church : attendance,
150; yearly sum raised in 1865, £170 16s. lOd. Crail-
ing was the birth-place of the famous Samuel
Rutherford, and the scene of the ministry of the
church-historian Calderwood.
CRAMOND, a parish on the south coast of the
frith of Forth, partly in Linlithgowshire, but chiefly
in Edinburghshire. It contains the post-office vil-
lage of Ci-amond, the port of Granton, and the vil-
lages of Wardie and Davidson's Mains. It is
bounded by the frith of Forth, and by the parishes
of Dalmeny, Kirkliston, Corstorphine, and St. Cuth-
berts. Its length eastward is 6 miles ; and its
greatest breadth is 2 miles. Almond Water runs
across it, dividing its Linlithgowshire portion from
its Edinburghshire portion. The sides of this river
are beautifully ornamented, from about Craig-hall
to where it falls into the Forth. The surface of the
parish toward the north and east is flat, interspersed
with gentle eminences. The neighbourhood of
Edinburgh affords a ready market for the produce,
and furnishes plenty of excellent manure for the
farms. The southern and western districts are
more hilly and broken. Corstorphine-hill is partly
in this parish. To it also are annexed the two
small islands of Cramond and Inchmickery ; the
former of which, forming part of the estate of Barn-
ton, is accessible on foot at low-water. It contains
about 19 acres, and affords pasturage for a few
sheep. The road from Edinburgh to Queensferry
passes through the parish, crossing the Almond at
Cramond bridge, 4J miles west of Edinburgh, and
li mile above the mouth of the river. The old
bridge of Cramond is a little below this point. It
consists of 3 arches, each about 40 feet ; the breadth
within the walls being only 14 feet. The oyster-
beds on the coast of this parish, and around the
islands of Cramond and Inchmickery, have been
almost destroyed from over-fishing; and the Al-
mond, which onee abounded with salmon and trout,
is now almost deserted by these fish. The princi-
pal manufacture carried on is the forging of iron
and working of steel by the Cramond Iron company.
Ironstone is found along the coast, and there are
numerous seams of coal ; but, though pits have
been frequently sunk, they have been given up on
account of the badness of the coal. There is a mi-
neral spring on the lands of Marchfield, called the
well of Spa, containing a sufficient quantity of sul-
phate of magnesia to render it highly purgative.
The principal landowners are Ramsay of Barnton,
the Duke of Buccleuch, and seven others. The real
rental is about £17,950. The mansions and villas are
both numerous and beautiful. The principal are
Barnton House, Cramond House, Caroline Park, Muir
House, New Saughton, Braehead, Lauriston Castle,
and Craigcrook, — the last long known to the literary
and the legal worlds as the residence of the late
Lord Jeffrey. Cramond has given birth to several
men who have become eminent by their talents ortheir
virtues. Of these may be mentioned, John, second
Lord Balmerinoch, noted for his spirited opposition
to Charles I., and for being the best friend of the
Covenanters, having spent the greatest part of his
fortune in support of that cause; — Sir Thomas
Hope of Granton, a celebrated lawyer at the Scot-
tish bar ; — Sir George Mackenzie, first Earl of Cro-
marty, well-known as an able writer, and a great
persecutor ; — Dr. Cleghorn, professor of anatomy in