Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

——MOREDUM*Scliel (1979), *AucIiopecairn (2422), and *'VVinJygateHill (2034), where asterisks mark those summits thatculminate on the confines of the parish. Indeed,excepting two small tracts in the extreme NW and N,all Morebattle consists of hills and narrow vallej's, andruns up along the whole boundary with England to thehighest summits of the Cheviots. Its heights command,in many instances, very grand and map-likeviews of Teviotdale, Merse, and Northumberland,fringed on the E by the German Ocean ; and generallyhave a graceful outline and a deep verdure, unlike theusual stern features of a mountainous district. Only afair proportion of wood is wanted to complete thatblending of grandeur into beauty which is due to thedistrict's natural form and clothing. The predominantrocks are eruptive ; and the soil of the arable lands ismostly light, well suited to the turnip husbandry. Thehigher grounds are chiefly disposed iu pasture. CorbetTower, near the Kale's left bank, 1 mile SSE of thevillage of Jlorebattle, was burned by the English in1522 and 1545. Rebuilt in 1575, it gradually fell intodecay, till early in this century it was renovated by SirCharles Ker of Gatesliaw, though never inhabited.Whittou Tower, IJ mile SSW of the village, wassacked by the Earl of Surrey in 152.3, and burned byHertford in 1545, and is now in a ruinous condition.Other towers and peel-houses of the parish which figurein Border records have disappeared ; but on many of theheights are encampments. The church of Merebotleor Morebattle ('village on the mere or lake')belonged to Glasgow cathedral as early as the 12tlicentury, but was the subject of pertinacious controversyregarding the right to its temporalities ; and eventually,in 1228, was declared to be a prebend of Glasgow, whosearchdeacon should receive thirty merks a year for amansion, but should claim nothing of the rectory.There were two pre-Reformation chapels in the parishthe one at Clifton on Bowmont Water, and the other atWhitton, now called Nether-Whitton. Mow or Mollincluded the highest grounds or southern and southeasternparts of the united parish. Its village stood onBowmont Water near Mowhaugh, 5^ miles S of Yetholm ;and its church stood a little lower down the river.The church belonged to the monks of Kelso. Those ofMelrose also held lands in the parish ; and their refusalto pay the tithes gave rise to a dispute, which wasfinally settled in 1309. The principal residences areLochside, Otterburn, and Gateshaw ; and 7 proprietorshold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 2 ofbetween £100 and £500, and 4 of from £20 to £50.Morebattle is in the presbytery of Kelso and the synod ofMerse and Teviotdale ; the living is worth £343. Theparish church, at the village, was built in 1757, andcontains 300 sittings. In the village are also a Freeand a U.P. church, the latter representing the oldestSecession congregation in the South of Scotland. Theirfirst minister, Mr Hunter, was ordained iu 1739, andwas the earliest Secession licentiate ; but he died a fewmonths after his ordination. The original meeting-housestood at Gateshaw Brae or Corbet, and the present one wasbuilt in 1866. A great religious meeting, conducted bya body of Secession ministers from a distance, was heldin 1839, on Gateshaw Brae, to celebrate the centenaryof Mr Hunter's ordination. Two public schools. Morebattleand Mowhaugh, with respective accommodationfor 125 and 28 children, had (1883) an average attendanceof 104 and 19, and grants of £94, lis. and £34,2s. 6d. Valuation (1864) £13,013, 18s. lid., (1884)£13,962, 8s. 2d. Pop. (1801) 785, (1831) 1055, (1861)1031, (1871) 986, (1881) 1003.— Ord. Sur.,sh. 18, 1863.Moredun, a mansion in Liberton parish, Edinburghshire,3^ miles SSE of Edinburgh. Its late owner,David Anderson, Esq. (1813-81), held 194 acres in theshire, valued at £861 per annum.— Oi-d. Sur., sh. 32,1857.Moredun Hill. See Moncreiffe.More, Loch. See Eddrachillis.Morgay. See Mhorgay.Morham, a parish of central Haddingtonshire, whose78MOEMONDchurch stands 4 miles ESE of Haddington.Bounded Wand NW by Haddington, NE by Prestonkirk, and SE byWhittingham and Garvald, the parish has an utmostlength from ENE to WSWof 3i miles, an utmost breadthof 1| mile, and an area of 2087^ acres. The surface,drained to the Tyne by Bearford Burn, is part of a gentlyundulating plain, with northward declension, which sinkslittlebelow200, and little exceeds 400, feet above sea-level.A pretty little glen forms the minister's pasture glebe ;but elsewhere the scenery is tame and bare. Trap rockabounds, and sandstone has been quarried ; whilst coalof inferior quality was formerly worked. The soil ingeneral inclines to clay. Morham Castle, which stoodnear the parish church, has wholly disappeared. TheEarl of AVemyss divides the parish with four lesser proprietors.Morham is iu the presbytery of Haddingtonand the synod of Lothian and Tweeddale ; the living isworth £234. The parish church, built in 1724, contains100 sittings ; and the public school, with accommodationfor 54 children, had (1883) an average attendanceof 27, and a grant of £31, 4s. Valuation (1860)£3482, (1884) £2837, 5s. Pop. (1801) 254, (1831) 262,(1861) 281, (1871) 204, (1881) 209.— Orrf. Sur., sh. 33,1863.Morie, Loch. See Mary's Loch.Worir. See Morar.Morishill, an estate, with a mansion, in Beith parish,Ayrshire, close to Beith station. Its owner, JohnShedden-Dobie, Esq. (b. 1820; sue. 1883), holds 272acres in the shire, valued at £578 per annum. Ord.Sur., sh. 22, 1865.Morison's Haven, a harbour in Prestonpans parish,Haddingtonshire, adjacent to the boundary with Edinburghshire,IJ mile WSW of Prestonpans town.Formed in 1526 by the monks of Newbattle forexporting coal from their lands of Prestongrange, itwas called originally Newhaven, afterwards Acheson'sHaven, eventually Morison's Haven ; and it serves nowas the port for Prestonpans, and for extensive neighbouringworks and collieries of the Prestongrange Coaland Iron Company, employing upwards of 400 men.About 1873 it acquired new importance by the formationof a village for the neighbouring work-people, theerection of a large brick and tile work, and the constructionof branch lines of railway. Its tidal harbour,reckoned to be one of the best in the Firth of Forth,afforded a very limited reach for the loading of vessels ;but in 1875-77 it was greatly improved and extended,after engineering plans by J. Buchanan, at a cost of£10,000.— Ord. Sur., sh. 32, 1357.Moriston, a beautiful river of NW Inverness-shire,issuing from Loch Clunie (606 feet above sea-level),and flowing 19j miles east-north-eastward, till, after atotal descent of 556 feet, it falls into Loch Ness at In-VERMORiSTO>f, 7 mUes NNE of Fort Augustus. Itreceives, within 3| miles of its exit from Loch Clunie,the tribute of the Loyne and the Doe ; riots wildlyalong picturesque Glen Moristox, now from side toside, now on reaches of deep, rocky, ledgy channel,here in gorge or narrow ravine, there in tiny lacustrineexpansions studded with romantic rocks or woodedislets ; is so impetuous as to have repeatedly sweptaway bridges from its path ; and makes, iu its lastreach, a foaming cataract, margined with wood, andoverhung by green or wooded hills. Its waters containabundance of trout, and have been made accessible tosalmon.— Ord. Sur., shs. 72, 73, 1880-78.Morlich, Loch. See Duthil.Mormond, a station in Strichen parish, NE Aberdeenshire,on the Formartine and Buchan branch of theGreat North of Scotland railway, 2^ miles ENE ofStrichen and 7f S by W of Fraserburgh. MormondHouse, in Rathen parish, on Cortes estate, 5 miles S ofFraserburgh, and 9 furlongs WNW of Lonmay station,was erected early in the present century by John Gordon,Esq. of Cairnbulg, and is a commodious mansion,with an elegant portico, an artificial lake (2i x J furl.),and finely-wooded grounds. Its owner, William EraserCordiner, Esq., holds 1585 acres in the shire, valued at69