Topographical, statistical, and historical gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 2

MAY
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MAY
It has a wl'11 of fine water and a small lake, and
affords excellent sheep-pasture. There are upon it
the ruins of a priory, which formerly belonged to the
abbey of Pittenweem ; and of a chapel, which was
dedicated to St. Adrian, who was killed by the
Banes in 870, and buried here. The saint's shrine
was formerly much resorted to in cases of barren-
ness. William Lamberton, Bishop of St. Andrews,
purchased it from the monks, and bestowed it upon
the canons-regular of the priory. After the Refor-
mation, the island came to the Balfours of Mont-
quhandie, and subsequently to Allan Lamond, who
sold it to Cunningham of Barns. Alexander Cun-
ningham of Barns obtained a charter from Charles I.,
of the island, with liberty to build a lighthouse, for
which a tax was imposed on all ships passing up the
frith. He. erected a tower 40 feet high, on the top
of which a fire of coals was constantly kept burning.
This proved of much service to the navigation of the
frith, although vessels would often run within half-
a-mile of the island before the light was discernible.
The architect of this tower is said to have been
drowned on his return from the island, in a storm
supposed to have been raised by some old women,
who were in consequence burned as witches. With
the estate of Barns, the island was purchased by
Scott of Scotstarvet, upwards of 120 years ago, and
came to the late General Scott of Balcomie, by whose
daughter, the Duchess of Portland, it was sold for
.£60,000 to the Commissioners for Northern lights.
In 1815-16, they rebuilt the tower, and fitted it up
with oil lamps and reflectors. The beacon was lit
up on the new plan on February 1st, 1816. It is
situated in N. lat. 56° 12', and W. long. 2° 36'.
From the lighthouse, Fifeness bears, by compass, N.
by E. ■§ E., 5 miles ; and the Staple-rocks lying off
Dunbar S. by W. i W., 10 miles ; the Bass S. W.
.j W., 7 miles; and the Bell-rock N. E., 15 miles.
The light resembles a star of the first magnitude,
and may be seen from all points of the compass, at
the distance of about 7 leagues. It is elevated 240
feet above the medium level of the sea. The ex-
pense of the light, in 1S39, was £572 13s. 3d. A
rent of £21 is received by Government for the pas-
ture and birds on the island. The Isle of May is
occasionally visited by parties of pleasure in the sum-
mer months. At one time about 15 fishermen and
their families resided on the isle ; but now the only
inhabitants are the two light-keepers and their fa-
milies.
MAY (The), a small but beautiful river of the
south-east division of Perthshire, rising among the
Ochil hills, and terminating in Strathearne. Having
issued from the side of John-hill close on the point
where the four parishes of Auchterarder, Dunning,
Glendevon, and Fossaway meet, it runs 6 miles
north-eastward ; 2| miles of this distance through
Dunning ; 2 between Dunning on the left, and For-
gandenny on the right; and 1^ partly in Forgandenny
and partly between it and the most southerly section
of Forteviot. It now runs 2i miles northward, most
of the distance through Forgandenny, and a brief
way on the boundary with the main body of Forte-
viot ; and it then finally enters Forteviot, and, after
a course through it of lj mile westward and 1J
northward, falls into the Earn a few yards below
Forteviot bridge, and about a mile above Dupplin
castle. Its entire length of course is between 1 1
and 12 miles. Its tributaries are numerous ; but, its
course being for most of the way among the Ochils,
they are all small. After entering Forteviot, its
path, its banks, and its motions afford a continued
series of thrilling subjects for the pencil and the
muse. The thick green woods which surround the
house of Invermay come down upon its margin, and
II.
fling their shadows over its rapids and its cataracts ;
and they still exhibit many specimens of the birches
which, more than a century ago, became the topic
of Mallet's popular ballad of 'the Birks of Inver-
may,' set even then to an air which had long before
borne the same name. Among several falls of the
stream, two are noted for their attractions ; the linn
of Muckersey, where the river leaps over a perpen-
dicular rock of 30 feet in height ; and the Humble-
bumble, where, among rugged rocks, and weep-
ing trees, and tufts of shrubbery, and many an ele-
ment of romance, the stream tumultuates in a cata-
ract of such wild and unwonted sounds as to have
suggested its uncouth Humble-bumble designation.
Among the woods of Invermay, particularly on the
brink of the frolicking current, grow some rare plants,
rendering the locality an inviting one to a botanist.
On the banks of the river, near its most romantic
scenery, anciently stood the Pietish city of For-
teviot, the seat of the court of Pietish kings, and an
object of warlike contention at the period imme-
diately preceding the fall of the Pietish power. The
river mixes its name also with the private history of
one of the Scottish kings.
MAYBOLE, a populous and important parish,
occupying the north-west corner of the district of
Carrick, Ayrshire. It is bounded on the west and
north-west by the frith of Clyde ; on the north-east
by Ayr; on the east by Dalrymple and Kirkmichael;
and on the south and south-west by Kirkoswald. Its
greatest length, in a straight line, is 9 miles, but by
the nearest practicable road is 12; its greatest
breadth, in a straight line, is 5 miles, but by the
nearest practicable road is 7 ; and its area is 33J
square miles. The eastern and south-eastern dis-
tricts are an undulating plain, very diversified in
surface, never subsiding long into a level, nor ever
rising into decided upland- The other districts are
a sea of heights, partly arable, and partly pastoral,
so pleasingly and rapidly diversified in superficial
outline as to want nothing but a free interspersion
of wood to be delightful rambling-ground to a lover
of fine scenery. Along the middle of the hill dis-
trict, parallel with the frith, and li mile distant
from it, stretches a range of summits nearly 2 miles
long, attaining an extreme altitude of 924 feet above
sea-level, and bearing the name of Brown Carrick
hill. This range, though heathy in itself, and rising
like a screen to intercept a view of the gorgeous frith
and its frame- work from the interior, commands one
of the most gay, magnificent, and extensive pros-
pects in Scotland. On the south-east and south
stretches the rugged and surgy surface of Carrick,
expanding away in alternations of green height and
brown bold upland till it becomes lost among the
blue and hazy peaks of the southern Highlands of
Scotland; on the south-west and west are the broad
and brilliant waters of the frith of Clyde, with many
a sail like a sea-bird skimming the surface, and the
rock of Ailsa riding like an ark on the wave, and
with the sublime frame-work of the bold and ser-
rated mountains of Arran veiled in misty exhala-
tions, or festooned and curtained with clouds of
every form and hue ; on the north, immediately under
his eye, extends the huge sylvan furrow of the
Doon, with the monument of Burns glittering like
a gem on its edge ;. and away thence stretches the
luxuriant and vast plain of Kyle and Cunningham
pressed inward in along sweeping segment by the
frith, gaily spotted and chequered with towns which
look like cities in the distance, with a profusion of
mansions and demesnes, and with all the adornings
of a rich and well-cultivated country, and gliding
dimly away in the perspective into the gentle heights
ol Renfrewshire, overlooked in the far horizon by
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