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

FLOAT.
6G3
FOCHABERS,
broadest parts. About 2,120 acres are under culti-
vation, 134 in natural pasture, and 264 under wood.
Tlie only village is the small one of Glcnduckie.
There are three principal landowners, — all non-
resident. There are 3 small quarries, and 5 or 6
salmon fishing stations. The yearly value of raw
agricultural produce was estimated in 1837 at
£7,743. Assessed property in 1866, £3,666 16s. 3d.
Population in 1831, 2S6; in 1861, 313. Houses, 69.
The barony of Ballanbreich, comprising the
western part of Flisk, or as it is usually pronounced
Bambrcich, originally formed part of the great lord-
ship of Abernethy. This extensive barony remained
for nearly 500 years in the family of Rothes, and
was purchased from them by Sir Lawrence Dundas,
grandfather of the first Earl of Zetland. The castle
of Bambreich is a large and very fine ruin, pictur-
esquely situated on a steep bank overhanging the
Tay, surrounded by a number of fine trees, and
forms a noble object in the landscape as seen from
the frith. It appears originally to have been a par-
allelogram, 180 feet in length by 70 in breadth, with
a court-yard in the centre. Three of the sides of
the court-yard were formed by the buildings of the
castle, which were four stories high; while the
fourth side was formed by a high wall or curtain,
connecting the north and south sides of the castle
togethe". The whole of the doors to the different
parts of the building opened into the court-yard;
and the principal entrance to the whole seems to
have been on the north. When inhabited, it was
surrounded by a ditch or moat, the traces of which,
though pretty distinct some years ago, are now
nearly effaced. This once magnificent castle has
suffered sad ravages from time, but greater still from
the depredations of man; as it long formed a con-
venient quarry for those who had buildings to erect,
either in its own neighbourhood, or on the opposite
banks of the Tay. There is sufficient remaining of
its original height, however, to show what its ex-
tent and grandeur once were. The oldest portion
appears to be that which forms the western side of
tie parallelogram ; and the southern side, although
much dilapidated, to be the most recent. From the
beauty of the ashlar work of the walls remaining,
i: is not likely that any portion is as ancient as the
time when the barony was acquired by Sir Andrew
ce Lesly; yet the oldest portion cannot be much
more recent. The Earls of Eothes, the descend-
ants of Sir Andrew de Lesly, long resided here; and
•hey take from the barony the title of Baron Ballan-
oreich. Contiguous to the east side of the ruins,
md within the remaining plantation, is Chapel-hill,
where anciently stood a place of worship.
Flisk is in the presbytery of Cupar and synod of
Fife. Patron, the Earl of Zetland. Stipend, £151
lis.; grass glebe, £1 13s. 4d. Schoolmaster's sal-
ary, £52 10s., with £10 fees. The parish church
was built in 1790, and contains 153 sittings. There
is a Free church for Flisk and Creich ; whose re-
ceipts in 1865 were £96 14s. 3d. The church of
Flisk was anciently a parsonage, the patronage of
which was laic, and pertained to the earldom of
Rothes. John Waddell, parson of Flisk, was one
of the early judges of the Court of session. His
name first appears as a judge in the sederunt of
court, 8th May, 1534. Little else is known of this
clergyman, except that he was, in 1527, rector of
the university of St. Andrews, and as such one of
the judges who condemned Patrick Hamilton to
death. James Balfour, his successor in the parson-
age of Flisk, was also a judge of the Court of ses-
sion, under the title of Lord Pittendreich.
FLOAT (Bay of), or Pom -Float, a small bay in
the parish of Stonykirk, 6 miles south-east' by
south of Portpatrick, Wigtonshire. It takes its
name from a tradition that some of the vessels o(
the Spanish armada or " flota " were wrecked on it.
FLOAT-MOSS, a large extent of low marsh and
wet holm on the banks of the Clyde, in the parishes
of Carstairs, Carnwath, and Pettinain, Lanarkshire.
It is frequently overflooded, so as to resemble at
times a large lake, with flat banks and dreary
scenery. The Caledonian railway goes across it,
on works which were formed at great expense, and
has here timber viaducts for allowing free scope to
the river in its freshets. A float or large boat,
which cost £500, was formerly a succedaneum for
a bridge here, and gave rise to the name of Float-
Moss.
FLODDA. See Fladda.
FLOORS CASTLE. See Fleurs Castle.
FLOORS HILLS, a range of eminences, of inter-
esting character, hut of no great height or extent,
in the parish of Avondale, Lanarkshire.
FLOSH. See Cummertrees.
FLOTA, a parish comprehending the inhabited
islands of Flota, Pharay, and the uninhabited islands
of Flota-Calf, Switha, and Little, Rysay, in the south
of Orkney. It is united to Walls, which see. It
lies wholly between Scalpa Flow on the north and
the Pentland frith on the south. The island of Flota
lies at nearly equal distances from the nearest part
of South Ronaldshay on the east and the nearest
part of Hoy island on the west. Its length south-
south-westward is about 3 miles, and its greatest
breadth is about 3 miles. It is mostly encom-
passed with high rocks. Its heaths afford ex-
cellent sheep-pasture, and abound with moor-fowl.
Tts general surface is low; but in several places
there are cliffs upon the shore of considerable height.
It is entirely composed of sandstone and sandstone-
flag. It was the. residence of the historiographer ap-
pointed by the crown of Norway to collect informa-
tion with regard to the north of Scotland; whose nar-
rations formed a work called ' Codex Flotticensis ; '
to which Torfanis is indebted for much of his history
of the northern parts of Scotland. There is an ex-
cellent harbour in the island, called Panhope, from
a salt-pan which was formerly worked here. The
parish of Flota has a church for itself, with about
180 sittings, which is served by an ordained mis-
sionary under the auspices of the society for Pro-
pagating Christian Knowledge. Population of Flota
parish in 1841, 460; in 1861, 465. Houses, 90.
Population of Flota island in 1S41, 405; in 1861,
420. Houses, S2.
FLOTA-CALF, a pastoral island about 2 miles
in circumference, adjacent to the north-eastern ex-
tremity of the island of Flota, in Orkney.
FLOWERDALE. See Gairloch.
FOCHABERS, a small post-town and burgh of
barony, in the parish of Bellie, Morayshire. It
stands on the right bank of the Spey, 9 miles north-
west of Keith, 9 south-east by east of Elgin, 12
south-west of Cullen, and 52 east of Inverness. Its
site is an elevated gravel terrace, in a deep rural
valley a few hundred yards from the Spey. It
formerly stood in the immediate vicinity of Gordon
castle; but, like the burgh of Cullen, it was removed
to a more respectful distance from the mansion of
its superior. It now occupies a site about a mile
south of its former locality, in the line of the North
road from Edinburgh to Inverness. It has a square
in the centre, and streets entering it in a cruciform
manner, at right angles. Exteriorly, its form is that
of a parallelogram, the sides of which consist of
thatched cottages. There are other streets, or cross
lanes, of good nouses; and altogether Fochabers is
not only a pretty little town, but a thriving and a