Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

—'UERTOUNwooded park, in Penningliame parish, Wigtownshire, 3miles WSW of Newton-Stewart. Its owner, CampbellBoyd, Esq. (b. 1S42 ; sue. 1882), holds 1524 acres in theshire, valued at £814 per annum. His uncle, MarkBoyd, Esq. (1805-79), was author of two amusingautobiographicalworks. An ancient military road traversesthe estate ; and a Roman ' ' spear-head, 9 inches long,was exhumed on it in 1813. Ord. Sur., sh. 4, 1857.Mertoun, a Tweedside parish in the e.xtreme SW ofBerwickshire, containing Clintmains hamlet, li mile Eby N of St Boswells, under which it has a post office.It is bounded N b}' Earlston, and on all other sides byRoxburghshire, viz., NE by Smailholm, E by Makerstoun,S by Maxwell, SW by St Boswells, and W byMelrose. Its utmost length, from E to W, is 4f miles ;its breadth varies between lOJ furlongs and 4J miles ;and its area is 6536i acres, of which 16]f are water.The Tweed—from the influx of Leader Water to DalcoveFerry—meanders 10| miles south-south-eastwardand eastward along all the boundary with Melrose, StBoswells, and Maxton, though the point where it firsttouches and that where it quits the parish are only 5Jmiles distant as the crow flies. This part of its courseis very winding, the river making several large sweeps,especially at Old Melrose, at Dryburgh, and betweenMertoun Mill and the new Suspension Bridge (erectedby Lord Polwarth in 1880). The Mertoun bank, whichis generally high, steep, and well wooded, furnishes somefine bits of clitf sceneiy. Along the Tweed the surfacedeclines to 190 feet above sea-level, and rises thence to425 feet near Dalcove Mains, 542 near Clinthill, 588near Bejiersyde House, 747 near Gladswood, and 871near Brotherstone. Bemersyde Loch, situated in the NWpart of Mertoun, is almost dry in summer, but in winterit affords fair wild-fowl shooting. The soil is mainly aMethil, a seaport village in Wemyss parish, Fife, onthe Firth of Forth, 1 mile SW of Leven, and IJ NEof Buekhaven. Constituted a burgh of barony in 1662by the Bishop of St Andrews, it has long possessedcommercial importance, in consequence of its harbourbeing one of the best on the S coast of Fife. The Epier was gi-eatly injured by a storm in 1803, with theeffect of choking the entrance to the harbour, but wasrestored in 1838 at a cost of more than £6100 ; and anewwet dock, principally for facilitating the shipping of«oals, was constructed in 1875. An Established church,built in 1837-38 at a cost of £1030, and containing upwardsof 800 sittings, in 1875 was raised to quoad sacrastatus. Pop. of village (1836) 508, (1861)522, (1871)€48, (1881) 754; of q. s. parish (1881) 2342, of whom501 were in Markinch.— Or^?. Sur., sh. 40, 1867.METHVENMetMl Hill, a village in AVemyss parish, Fife, 1 mileWNW of Methil. Pop. (1871) 480, (1881) 466.Methlick, a village and a parish of Aberdeenshire.The village stands, 87 feet above sea-level, on the rightbank of the river Ythan, 5 miles W by N of Arnagestation, 6| E by S of Fyvie, and 84 NW of Ellon. Ithas a post and telegraph office under Aberdeen, branchesof the North of Scotland and the Aberdeen To\vn andCounty Banks, a Temperance Institute, with readingand recreation rooms, and fairs on the Thursday after11 May and the Wednesday after 18 Nov.The parish is bounded N and NE by New Deer, E andS by Tarves, and W by Fyvie and Monquhitter. Itsutmost length, from N to S, is 7J miles ; its utmostbreadth, from E to W, is 4f miles ; and its area is14,912J acres, of which 704 are water, and 881Jbelong to a small triangular detached portion surroundedby Ellon and Tarves. In the main body ofthe parish the Ythan flows 2-| miles east-north-eastwardalong the Fyvie boundary, 3J miles south-eastwardthrough the interior, and l| mile south-eastwardalong the Tarves boundary ; 1 4 furlong lowerdown it continues 2 miles south-eastward along all thesouth-western border of the detached portion, whoseeastern boundary is traced by Ebrie Burn. At theEbrie's and Ythan's confluence the surface declines to 38feet above sea-level, and thence it rises gently to 409near Cairn in the south-western division of the main body,and in the north-eastern to 485 at Skillmanae HOI and579 at Belnagoak. The tract along the Ythan is mostlyclothed with wood ; the south-eastern corner of the mainbody is occupied by the extensive and beautiful policiesof Haddo House ; other portions are low country finelydiversified with undulations ; but much of the northeasterndivision is reclaimed moor. Gneiss and syeniteare the predominant rocks, and limestone occurs inthe detached portion, and was formerly worked. Thesoil on the lands within IJ mile of either bank of thestiff, reddish clay, and, although difficult to work, isproductive and highly cultivated. Eed sandstoneabounds along the Tweed, and was formerly quarried.Mertoun is a well-wooded parish, especially in the S \''than is a yellow loam incumbent on gravel or rock ; butpart, which contains the Hexsides beech-wood and Mertounwoods. Dktburgh Abbey and Bemersy'DE have mould or moorband pan ; and over a considerable aggre-further back becomes poorer, being chiefly a light blackbeen noticed separately. Mertoun House, a seat of gate area is peat moss. About 2500 acres, formerly waste,Lord Polwarth, stands close to the Tweed's left hank, 2 have been brought into cultivation since the commencementof the present century ; and nearly as many acresmiles E of St Boswells. It was built in 1702 fromdesigns by the celebrated architect. Sir William Bruce. have been planted with Scotch fir and larch. A pre-(See Harden.) Gladswood, in the NW of the parish, Reformation chapel stood at a place still known as3 miles E of Melrose, is the seat of Miss Meiklam (sue. Chapelton ; and another at Andet, dedicated to St Ninian,1882), who holds 258 acres in the shire, valued at £426 has bequeathed the name of Chapel Park to a neighbouringfarmhouse. Dr George Cheyne (1671-1742), authorper annum. The Queen stopped here on 22d August1867 as she was driving from Melrose to Floors Castle. of a treatise on the Philosophical Prinaplcs of NaturalIn all, there are five landowners. Mertoun is in the Religion, and Dr Charles Maitland (1668-1748), the introducerof vaccine innoculation into Britain, were nativespresbytery of Earlston and the synod of Merse andTeviotdale ; the living is worth £377. Its church, of Methlick. Haddo House, noticed separately, is thebuilt in 1658 and restored in 1820, stands in a wood only mansion ; and the Earl of Aberdeen is sole proprietor.In 1875 a small portion was given off to the quoadnear Mertoun House, J mile SSE of Clintmains. It hasaccommodation for 200 people ; and a pair of ' jougs sacra parish of Barthol Chapel, Methlick is in the presbyteryof Ellon and the synod of Aberdeen ;hang beside the main entrance. The public school, builtthe living isin 1839, and enlarged in 1872, with accommodation for worth £342. The parish church at Methlick village was121 children, had (1883) an average attendance of 64, anda grant of £69, Is. Valuation (1860) £8768, 5s. 8d.,(1884)£10,200,Ss. 6d. Pop.(1801) 535,(1831) 664, (1861)729, (1871) 734, (1881) 682.—Ord Sur., sh. 25, 1865.Meshie Water. See Mashie.originally dedicated to St Devenick, and, as last rebuiltin 1866, is a handsome Gothic edifice, containing 894sittings. There is also a Free church ; and three publicschools—Cairnorrie, Inverebrie, and Methlick—withrespective accommodation for 129, 68, and 210 children,had (1883) an average attendance of 120, 66, and 157,and grants of £99, "7s., £53, 15s., and £144, Is. 6d.Valuation (1860) £5818, (1884) £10,759, 7s. 4d. Pop.(1801) 1215, (1831) 1439, (1861) 2157, (1871) 2084,(1881) 2162, of whom 2127 were in the ecclesiasticalparish.— Orrf. Sur., shs. 87, 86, 1876.Methven, a village and parish of Perthshire. Thevillage, standing 300 feet above sea-level, has a stationon the Almond Valley section (1858) of the Caledonian,IJ mile N by W of Methven Junction, this being 6Jmiles WNW of Perth and llj ENE of Crieff. A pleasant,neatly built place, it consists of houses held partly onfeus, partly on long leases from the lordship of Methven,and has a post office under Perth, with money order,savings' bank, and jrailway telegraph departments, alocal savings' bank (1815), a gas company, a subscription29