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

DUNSYR'E.
487
DUNTOCHER.
found on the losing side, owing to their hereditary
enmity to the house of Bruce. Accordingly, upon
the issue of that contest, they were deprived hy
David II. and his successor of by far the greater
part of their extensive territories, which were con-
ferred upon Stewart, called the Knight of Lorn.
The house of Maedougal continued to survive the
loss of power, and affords a very rare, if not an
unique, instance of a family of such unlimited power,
and so distinguished during the middle ages, sur-
viving the decay of their grandeur, and flourishing
in a private station." — A charter of Eohert I. is still
extant, granting to Arthur Campbell, fourth son of
the brave Sir Colin Campbell of Lochow, " the con-
stabulary of Dunstaft'nage, and the maines thereof,
whilk Alexander Argyle had in bis hands." David
II. confirms a charter granted by his father to Wil-
liam de Yetere Tout (VYeapont) dated at Dunstaft"-
ynch in the 4th year of his reign. " I find," says
Pennant, " about the year 1455, this to have been a
residence of the Lords of the Isles; for here James,
last Earl of Douglas, after his defeat in Angus, fled
to Donald, the regulus of the time, and prevailed
on him to take arms, and carrj r on a plundering war
against his monarch .Tames the Second." He refers
to Hume of Godscroft as his authority ; but all that
Godscroft says is : " The Earl himself by flight got
him to Dunstaffage, where finding Donald Earl of
Eoss, and Lord of the Isles, he incited him to make
war against the King in his favours, and after he
had engaged him therein, he withdrew himselfe
again into England." This, however, does not
amount to a proof that Dunstaft'nage was then occu-
pied as a palace by these usurping reguli. Buchanan
merely says, that Earl James met with Donald, the
tyrant of the isles, and Earl of Eoss, at Dunstaft'-
nage; — " ad Stepbanodunum amvenit." From this
phraseology we can only infer that this was the ap-
pointed place of meeting : and it was most probably
selected as the most convenient place for both ; the
Earl of Douglas, having no maritime accommoda-
tion, coming to that point which Donald could
easily reach by sea. We cannot, indeed, suppose
that this had become " a residence of the Lords of
the Isles," without assuming it as a fact, that that
branch of the noble family of Argyle, to which this
fortress had been appropriated by Eobert I., bad
been expelled from it.
DUNSYEE, a parish, containing a village of its
own name, on the north-east verge of the upper
ward of Lanarkshire. It is bounded by the coun-
ties of Edinburgh and Peebles, and by the parishes
of Dolpliinton, Walston, and Camwath. Its post-
town is Dolpbinton. Its length southward is 6
miles ; and its breadth is 5. Its surface lies high,
most of it being more than 700 feet above the sea
level, and contains a steep and precipitous hill about
1,250 in height, from which the parish is understood
to have received its name. The climate is rather
damp and ungenial. Springs are abundant; and
the streamlet Sledwin rises in the north-east comer,
near the foot of the hill, called Craigengar. The
soil is generally of a sandy nature, or a mixture of
sand and clay, and is not very fertile. About 3,000
acres are in tillage, about 30 are under wood, and
about 8,000 are either pastoral or waste. Much of the
surface is wildly moorish ; and part of this contains
a dismal lake of about a mile in circumference. The
yearly value of raw produce was estimated in 1834
it £9,052. Assessed property in 1860, £3,449 0s.
0d. The road from Camwath to Edinburgh, tra-
verses the northern border; and a station on the
Edinburgh fork of the Caledonian railway is easily
accessible. The village of Dunsyre is a small rural
place, on the southern border of the parish, about 2^
miles north of Dolpbinton, and 0| east of Camwath.
Population of the village, about 50. Population of
the parish in 1831, 335; in 1861, 312. Houses, 52
This parish is in the presbytery of Biggar, and
synod of Lothian and Tweeddale. Patron, tho
Crown. Stipend, £156 15s. 9d.; glebe, £28. Hamil-
ton of Wishaw says — " The teinds of this parish
were anciently a part of the patrimonie of the ab-
bacie of Kelso ; but in respect its but a small parish,
they are wholly possessed by the incumbent." Sal-
ary of schoolmaster, under the recent act, £45.
The route by which the army of Agricola reached
the Roman camp at Cleghorn can be traced
through the parish ; and several cairns occur along
the line, in some of which urns have been found.
Dunsyre comprised a portion of the lands which
were exchanged by the ambitious Earl of Bothwell
with the Earl of Angus, for the lands and castle of
Hermitage in Liddesdale. It was sold, however,
by James, Marquis of Douglas, to Sir George Lock-
hart, the president of the Court of Session, in the
hands of whose successors almost the entire parish
still remains. In the troubled times of the persecu-
tion, Dunsyre often afforded a retreat to the Cove-
nanters; and the last sermon preached by the ami-
able Donald Cargill was upon Dunsyre common in
1669. William Veitch, one of the most celebrated
of the preachers of the Covenant, was at one time
tenant of Westhills in the parish, from which he
was compelled to flee, after the battle of Eullion
Green.
DUNTALCHAIG (Loch), a lake on the mutual
border of the parishes of Dores and Daviot, Inver-
ness-shire.
DUNTOCHEE, a small manufacturing and post
town in the parish of West Kilpatrick, Dumbarton-
shire. It stands on a small stream, about 1J mile
from the Clyde, and 9 miles north-west of Glasgow.
The stream descends from two lakes about 3 miles
to the north-west, and ploughs its way past the
town along a fine glen, opening a vista toward the
Clyde, and presenting a remarkably large amount
of water-power. A bridge over it at the town is
very ancient, and, though often repaired, is believed
by some antiquaries, and asserted by a current tra-
dition, to be a Eoman structure, perhaps the oldest
bridge in Scotland. On a contiguous hill stood a
Eoman fort, which has been nearly effaced, but not
without yielding memorials to modem research.
In 1775, were discovered under ground on the side
of the hill, several rows of pillars constructed of
curious reddish tiles, and forming a labyrinth of
passages of about 18 inches square, and floored over
with larger tiles of the same kind, the whole sur-
rounded by a stone wall, and conjectured to have
been a sudatorium or hot bath for the use of the gar-
rison. In a neighbouring field was found a Eoman
altar; and on various spots in the vicinity have been
found also Eoman querns, vases, and coins. The
modem town, both in itself and as the centre of a
small district, is a seat of much industry. It dates
its prosperity from Mr. William Dunn's establish-
ing four extensive factories for the spinning and
weaving of cotton, at successive periods from 1808
to 1831. One of these is in the town itself, and the
other three are at respectively Faifley, Miltonfield,
and Hardgate, all within a mile. The quantity of
cotton yarn spun annually is nearly a million of
pounds, and the quantity of cotton cloth manufac-
tured probably two millions of yards. This depart
ment of industry forms the main support of the in-
habitants; but there are also a manufactory of
agricultural implements in Duntocber, and lime-
works, coal-works, and quarries in the near vicinity.
The town has a savings' bank, a public library.