Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

——;MONZIEVAIRD AND STROWANMOONZIEsoutli-eastward and southward—for the last 2 milesalong the Crieff boundary, till, after a descent of 1900feet, it falls into the Earn at a point ^ mile W of thetown of Crieif ; and the Lednook, over the last 3fmiles of its course, runs south-south-eastward along theComrie boundary to the Earn at Comrie village. Thelargest sheets of water are Lochan Uaine (IxJ furl. ;1523 feet) and Loch Turret (1 mile x 2f furl. ; 1127feet) towards the head of Glenturret ; Ochtertyre Lake(4i X li furl.); and St Serf's Water (IJ x J furl.).Aloug the Earn the surface declines to close on 100feet above sea-level ; and thence it rises southwardto wooded *Torlum (1291 feet), northward to Tomachaistel(434), Drumachargan (512), Creag Each (988),Creag Chaisean (1809), Carn Chois (2571), *AuchnafreeHill (2565), and *Ben Chonzir (3048), where asterisksmark those summits that culminate on the confines ofthe parish.Of the three detached sections, all lying in Glen-AETNET, the largest, containing Auchnashelloch andFindhuglen farms, 6J miles SW of Comrie, is boundedNW and N by Comrie, E by Muthill, SE by Dunblane,S by Kilmadock, and SW by Callander. Its utmostlength, from NE to SW, is 3| miles ; its utmost breadthis 3| miles ; and its area is 4570^ acres. The Water ofRiTCHiLL flows 2 miles north-eastward along all thenorth-western boundary, and Findhu Glen descends toit for 2| miles in a north-westerly direction. In theextreme N the surface declines to 600 feet above sealevel,thence rising southward to 'Uamh Bheag (2179feet). The nest largest section (1352 acres), containingMeiggars farm, 3 miles S of Comrie, is bounded E byMuthill, and on all other sides by Comrie. The Waterof Euchill flows 5 furlongs along the north-westernboundary ; and the surface rises from 400 to 1250 feet.The smallest section (64§ acres), 2J miles S by W ofComrie, is bounded or traversed for J mile by the Waterof Ruchill.The line of junction between the clay slate and theOld Red sandstone passes north-eastward from Glenartneyto Glenturret; and both slate and sandstonehave been quarried. The soil of the low grounds islight, gravelly, and fertile ; that of the hills is much ofit moorish. Barely 3500 acres are in tillage ; about2400 are under wood ; and the rest of the parish ispastoral or waste. Much of the woodland is naturalforest ;and, as an old song tells, the oak is a favouritetree :'By Auchert^Te there grows the aik.'were massacred by a body of Drummonds and Campbells,the former having taken refuge in the heather-thatchedchurch of Monzievaird, while the latter, who were atfeud with them, set fire to the church, and preventedtheir escape from the flames. The mausoleum of theMurrays of Ochtertyre now stands on the site of thechurch, and is a Gothic building of 1809, with stainedglasswindows. On the estate of Ochtertyre are vestigesof two Roman posts of observation, commanding viewsof the camps at Dalginross and on the Moor of Orchil.Many sepulchral cairns near the Earn have beenremoved as material for stone fences ; but a very largeone, called Cairn Chainichin, the monumental * heap ofKenneth,' still exists, and is supposed to have beenraised to the memory of Kenneth, King of Alban, whowas slain at Moeghavard ' ' in 1004. Vestiges of a pre-Reformation chapel exist to the S of Lawers House ; andan ancient cross, bearing the sacred initials I. N. E. I.,stands a little to the SW of Strowan, on a spot wheremarkets used to be held. Among distinguished nativesmay be mentioned the two Colonels Campbell of Lawers,who figured in the 16th and 17tli centuries ; ColonelAlex. Dow (d. 1779), author of a History of HindostanSir Patrick Murray (1771-1837), judge and statesman ;and Sir George Murray (1772-1846), quarter-mastergeneralto the British army throughout the PeninsularWar, and afterwards statesman and cabinet minister.Mansions, noticed separately, are Clathiok, Lawees,OoHTEETYEE, and Steowan. Giving off portions toComrie and West Church (Crieff), this parish is in thepresbytery of Auchterarder and the synod of Perth andStirling ; the living is worth £265. The old church ofMonzievaird (Gael. monadh-a-Niaird, 'the bard's hill ')was dedicated to St Serf, and that of Strowan to StRonan or Rowan, whence the name Strowan itself.Both were in use on alternate Sundays till 1804, whenthe present church was built, containing 400 sittings.The public school, with accommodation for 134 children,had (1883) an average attendance of 68, and agrant of £81, 12s. Valuation (1865) £10,502, (1884)£11,613, Is. 2d. Pop. (1801) 1033, (1831) 926,(1861) 782, (1871) 744, (1881) 700, of whom 547 werein the ecclesiastical parish. Ord. Sur., shs. 47, 39,1869.Moodiesburn, a village in Cadder parish, Lanarkshire,6^ miles ENE of Glasgow, and 1^ mile NE of Garnkirkstation.Moonzie, a very small parish of N Fife, whose churchstands 3 mUes NW of the post-town, Cupar. It isIjounded W and NW by Creich, NE by Kilmany, SEThe remains of Castle Cluggy, comprising a tower 18 by Cupar, and SW by Monimail. Its utmost length,feet square within the walls, stand on a gentle risingground,which runs into the middle of Ochtertyre Lake, mile ; and its area is 1257| acres. Sinking to less thanfrom NNW to SSE, is 2 miles ; its utmost breadth is Ijand must anciently have been an island, or nearly so, 200 feet above sea-level along tlie boundaries, and risingaccessible only in one place by a drawbridge. Formerly to 453 feet near the church and 430 at Colluthie Hill,of much greater extent than now, the castle is traditionallysaid to have belonged to the Red Comyn, the A considerable loch or marsh on Lordscairnie farm wasthe surface presents a pleasing diversity of hill and dale.rival of Bruce, who here, about 1306, besieged Malise, drained about the beginning of the century ; andEarl of Strathearn. It is called an ancient ' fortalice 'Moonzie Burn, issuing from what was once its bed, runsin a charter of the year 1467 ; and it was inhabited for eastward to the river Eden's estuary. Trap tufa is thesome time about the middle of the 17th century bjf Sir ])redomiuant rock. A few acres on the top of CoUuthieWilliam Murray, first baronet of Ochtertyre. Towards Hill are under plantation ; about 36 acres on Lordscairniethe head of the lake is an artificial crannoge. An farm are reclaimed moss, under the plough ;and all theancient castle of the Earls of Strathearn stood on the rest of the parish has excellent soil, partly a strong clay,summit of Tomachaistel, a beautiful eminence 3 miles chiefly a black loam, and is in a state of high cultivation.An interesting antiquity is Lordscairnie or 'EarlW of Crieff, commanding very romantic prospects, andpossessing the greatest capabilities of military defence Beardie's Castle. This ' is said to have been built aboutin days before the invention of gunpowder. The foundationsof this castle were still visible in 1832, when Earl of Crawford, commonly called ' Earl Beardie from'the middle of the 15th century by Alexander, fourththey were removed to give place to a monument in his great beard, or the Tiger Earl ' ' from the fiercenessmemory of General Sir David Baird of Feen-Towek of his disposition. All that remains of it is the keep(1757-1829), the hero of Seringapatam. This monument or donjon, and a round tower which formed a defencestill is a conspicuous feature in the general landscape of for the wall that surrounded the courtyard. This ruinUpper Strathearn, thougli the damage caused by a is four stories high, and appears to have lost nothing ofthunderbolt in 1878 has not yet been restored. It is its original height, with the exception of the bartizans.an obelisk 82 feet high, an exact imitation of Cleopatra's It is 53 feet long and 42 broad without the walls. TheNeedle, and is formed of blocks of Aberdeen granite, walls are strongly built, and between five and six feeasome of them weighing 5 tons each. In 1511 eight thick. The ground-floor—as is common in such structures—appearsto have been wholly occupied by cellarsscore of the Murrays, with their wives and children,60