Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

——MONKTONHALLMONTEITH, LAKE OFton and Prestwick, with respective accommodation for 160and 320 children, had (1883) an average attendance of88 and 159, and grants of £64, lis. and £120, 9s.Valuation (1860) £6985, 3s. 3d., (1S84) £14,267, 8s. 4d.,plus £2157 for railway. Pop. (1801) 986, (1831) 1S18,(1861) 1973, (1871) 1744, (1881) 2121.— Orrf. Sur., shs.14, 22, 1863-65.Monktonhall, a hamlet in Inveresk parish, Edinbui't;hshire,near the left hank of the river Esk, 1 mile SSWof Musselburgh.Monkwood, a modern mansion in Maybole parish,Ayrshire, on the left bank of the Doon, 4J miles NNEof Maybole town.Monquhitter, a parish of N Aberdeenshire, containingthe villages of Cuminestown and Garmond, 6 milesE by N and 7 ENE of Turriff, under which the formerhas a post office. It is bounded N by King- Edward, Eby New Deer and Methlick, S by Fyvie, and W byTurriff, from which last it was disjoined in 1649. Itslength, from NNW to SSE, varies between 25 and 9gmiles ; its utmost width is 5J miles ; and its area is17,455| acres, of which 22J are water. Entering fromKing-Edward, the Burn of llonqnhitter or Idoch Waterflows 5A miles south-westward till it passes off intoTurriff on its way to the Deveron ; whilst Asleed orLittle Water runs 7| miles southward along the easternboundary on its way to the Ythan. Along Idoch Waterthe surface declines to 158 feet above sea-level ; andthence it rises northward to 577 feet at the Hill ofCotburn, eastward to 586 at Waggle Hill, from which itagain sinks south-south-eastward to 180 feet alongAsleed Water. Much of Monquhitter is hilly, bleak,and barren of aspect, and even the rest presents amonotonous appearance, though culture and reclamationhave done their best to render it pleasing and productive.Moors, bogs, and morasses were formerly veryextensive, but have been greatly curtailed, and, withthe excejition of the deeper and firmer bogs, are fastapproaching exhaustion as a source of fuel. Eedsandstone abounds, and has been largely quarried, butdoes not form a good building material. The soils ofthe arable lands are a reddish loam and a deep blackmould, both incumbent on boulder clay. But a smallproportion of the parish is under wood, which doesnot thrive in any part of Buchan. Lendrum, in theSW corner, is the traditionary scene of a three-days'battle between Donald of the Isles and the 'Thane' orMormaer of Buchan in the latter Iialf of the 11th century,when the Comyns are said to have won the victory.Down to at least 1793 it was firmly believed that corngrowing on the bloody butts ' of Lendrum ' could neverbe reaped without strife and bloodshed among thereapers. At Finlay's Mire some Covenanters were cutoff by the Ogilvies. Tillymaud and Northburn, with arental of £1013, were vested in trustees by the lateMessrs Chalmers for charitable purposes in Monquhitterand the city of Aberdeen. Auohry House (1767) is thechief mansion; and 4 proprietors hold each an annualvalue of £1000 and upwards, 6 of between £500 and£1000, 8 of between £100 and £500, and 3 of from £45to £70. Giving off a portion to Millbres q\ioad sacraparish, Monquhitter is in the presbytery of Turriffand the synod of Aberdeen ; the living is worth£315 (21 chaklers). Previous to the Anti-patronageAct coming into operation, the Earl of Fife was patronof the church and parish ; and Monquhitter was thelast parish in which the right of presentation wasexercised, on 29 Dec. 1S74. The parish church, a plainedifice of 1868, stands on a slope to the N of Cuminestown,and contains 1050 sittings. A Free church(358 sittings) stands in a hollow to the S of Cuminestown,near whose centre is St Luke's Episcopal church(1844 ; 130 sittings). Three public schools—Garmondfemale, Greeness, and Monquhitter—and Ealquhindachyproprietary school, with respective accommodation for66, 120, 2"06, and 68 children, had (1883) an averageattendance of 62, 82, 192, and 27, and grants of £54, \s.,£75, 4s. 8d., £181, 15s., and £18, 9s. 6d. Valuation(1860) £6185, (1884) £12,903, 2s. lOd. Pop. (1801) 1710,(1S31) 2004, (1861) 2580, (1871) 2949, (1881) 2794, ofwhom 2474 were in the ecclesiastical parish. Ord. Sur.,shs. 86, 87, 1876.Monreith, an elegant modem mansion in Mochrumparish, SE Wigtown'shire, 1 J mile ESE of Port- William.White Loch (45xl§ furl.) lies within the large andfinely wooded park ; and a 16th century cross, 7 feethigh, has been placed in front of the house. Held by ayounger branch of the Maxwells of Caerlaverock since1481, Monreith is now the property of Sir HerbertEustace Maxwell, seventh Bart, since 1681 (b. 1845 ; sue.1877), who has sat as Conservative member for Wigtownshiresince 1880, and who owns 16,877 acres in thecounty, valued at £15,290 per annum. The small villageof Monreith is in Glasserton parish, at the head of littleMonreith Bay, 2J miles SSE of Port-William and 5^W of Whithorn.—Ord Sur., shs. 4, 2, 1857-56.Mons. See Dalmeny.Montagu's Walk. See Kinnoull.Montblalry, an estate, with a mansion, in Alvahparish, Baulishire. The mansion, on the left bank ofthe Deveron, 4J miles NNW of Turriff, was built in1791 and enlarged in 1825. A handsome three-storyedifice, it contains some interesting portraits, and haswell-wooded grounds sloping down to the Deveron. Theestate, which belonged in remote times to the Earls ofBuchan and Mar, was sold by Major-General AndrewHay (1762-1814) to the uncle of the late proprietor,Alexander Morisou, Esq. (1802-79), who held 4154 acresin Banff and Aberdeen shires, valued at £3002 perannum.Ord. Sur., sh. 86, 1876.Montcoffer, a seat of the Earl of Fife in the detachedsection of King-Edward parish, Aberdeenshire, on theright bank of the Deveron, 3 miles S of Banff. A fineold residence, it stands on the southern declivity ofwooded Montcofler Hill (346 feet).— Ord. Sur., sh. 96,1876. See Duff House.Monteith, a district of SW Perthshire. ExceptingBalquhidder parish, which anciently belonged to thestewartry of Strathearn, the district of Monteith comprisesall the lands W of the Ochils in Perthshire, whosewaters discharge themselves into the Forth. The valeof the Teith, whence the name is derived, occupies thecentral and larger part, but is flanked on the one side bythe Perthshire section of the upper vale of the Forth,and on the other side by the lower part of the vale ofAllan Water. The entire district measures about 28 milesin leugth from E to W, and 15 in extreme breadth ; andincludes the wdiole of the parishes of Callander, Aberfoyle.Port of Monteith, Kilmadock, Kincardine, andLecropt, with part of the parishes of Kippen, Dunblane,and Logic. Large tracts of it are eminently rich in thefinest elements of landscape. Previous to the abolitionof hereditary jurisdictions, Monteith \Yas a separate orindependent stewartry. Forming with Strathearn theancient province of Fortrenn, Monteith was the seat ofan old Celtic earldom, whose first earl, Gilchrist, appearsin the reign of Malcolm IV. (1153-65), and which, aboutthe middle of the 13th century, passed by marriage toWalter Comyn, second son of the great Earl of Buchan.He was one of the regents of the kingdom at the timeof his death in 1258, when the earldom was obtained byhis brother-in-law, Walter Stewart, third son of thethird High Steward of Scotland. Walter's great-greatgranddaughter,Margaret, conveyed the earldom bymarriage to Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany and Regentof Scotland, whose son and successor, Murdoch, wasbeheaded at Stirling in 1425. Two years later theearldom of Monteith was granted to Malise Graham,formerly Earl of Strathearn. His seventh descendant,William, for nearly two years was styled Earl of Strathearnand Monteith ; but, on being deprived of those titles,in 1633 was created Earl of Airth and Monteith—a titledormant since 1694, but claimed by the Barclay- Allardicefamily. See Dr Wm. Eraser's Eed Boole of Monteith (2vols., Edinb. 1880).Monteith, Lake of, a placid sheet of water in themiddle of Port of Monteith parish, SW Perthshire.Lying 55 feet above sea-level, it has an utmost length49