Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

'and,MORTONMorton, gave them their title, and was allowed bythem, in their solicitude about other strengths, to go toruin. Yet the castle has smart competition for thehonour thus assigned it, especially with the lands o^.Mortoune, in the ancient parish of East Calder, Edin -burghshire. (See Dalmaiioy.) A little way N of thecastle, on the other side of the glen, are remains of DeerCamp, a strong fortification with intrenchments, whichseems to have been a Roman fort or castellum ; and 300yards S of the castle, on a rising ground, is the vestigeof a small station or camp called Watchman Knowe. Invarious parts, principally in the vicinity of the castle,there formerly existed, or were found, memorials of theancient Britons and of the feudal times. Close toGateleybridge quarry, 2 miles ENE of Thornhill, is theUpper Nithsdale Combination Poorliouse, built in 1854-55 at a cost of £5218, and having accommodation for126 inmates. The Duke of Buccieuch is almost soleproprietor. Morton is in the presbytery of Penpoutand the synod of Dumfries ; the living is worth £420.The places of worship are noticed under Thornhill.Four schools—Morton public, Morton infants' public,Carronbridge, and Gateley Bridge—with respective accommodationfor 203, 159, 101, and 62 children, had(1883) an average attendance of 121, 92, 110, and 31,and grants of £89, 19s., £72, 13s., £96, 23., and£21, 3s. Valuation (1860) £5542, (1884) £8782, 13s.Pop. (1801) 1255, (1831) 2140, (1861) 2253, (1871) 2099,(1881) 2ns.— Ord. Sur., shs. 9, 15, 1863-64. See DrC. T. Ramage's Drumlmirig Castle and Morton (Dumf.1876).Morton. See Half Moeton".shire, valued at £6759 and £12,703 per annum. Ord.Morton House, a mansion in Liberton parish, Edinburghshire,4 J miles S of Edinburgh. Here, on 10 Aug.Morton Hall, a mansion in Liberton parish, Edinburghshire,3i miles S of Edinburgh. Built in 1769and improved about 1835, it is a fine edifice, withbeautifully wooded grounds. The estate, which wasbought by his ancestor in 1641, is now the property ofLieut. -Col. Henry Trotter (b. 1844; sue. 1874), whoholds 2490 acres in Edinburghshire and 6780 in Berwick-Sur., sh. 32, 1857. See Chaeterh.all, and JohnSmall's Castles and Ilansions of the Lothians (Edinb.1883).died the historian, John Hill Burton, LL.D. (1809-81).Mortoune. See C.\lder, E.ast.Morven, a mountain in Latheron parish, S Caithness,culminating, 7f miles NNW of the Ord of Caithness, atan altitude of 2313 feet above sea-level. It serves as alandmark throughout most of the Moray Firth, andcommands extensive and magnificent views. Ord. Sur.,sh. 109, 1878.Morven, a round-topped felspathic mountain (2862feet) on the mutual border of Glenmuick and Logie-Coldstone parishes, SW Aberdeenshire, 5J miles N ofBallater. The Queen ascended it, with the PrincessAlice, on 14 Sept. 1859; and 'the view,' she writes,'from it is more magnificent than can he described solarge and yet so;near everything seemed, and such seasof mountains with blue lights, and the colour so wouderfollybeautiful.'— OrA Sur., sh. 75, 1876.Morven, an indefinite region in the Highlands, figuring,or supposed to figure, in Ossian's poems. Thename, which in Gaelic orthography is Mor-Bheinn,signifies simply the 'Great Mountain,' and, as occurringin Ossian, it seems to designate either the Highlandsgenerally or such portions of them as most abound infastnesses or alpine heights.Morvem or Morven, a parish of jSTAV Argyllshire, containinga post office of its own name under Oban,with money order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments.It forms a peninsula, extending south-westwardbetween Lochs Suinart and Linnhe to the Sound of Jilull,and connected with the district of Ardgour bv anisthmus of 6 miles. With a roughly triangular outline,it is bounded NW by Loch Suinart, N by Loch Suinart,Ardnamurchan, and Kilmallie, SE by Loch Linnhe, andSW by the Sound of Mull, which divides it from the——MORVEENisland of Mull. Its utmost length, from E to W, is 20miles ; its iitmost breadth is 15 miles ; and its area is141| square miles or 90,737 acres. It comprises alsothe small islands of Oronsay and Carna, in Loch Suinartand its extent of coast-line, even exclusive of these, islittle short of 100 miles. A chain of lakes, partlymarine and partlj' fresh-water, commencing with LochTeacuis on the NW, and terminating with Loch Alinein the S, nearly isolates most of the district lying alongthe Sound of Mull from the upper and much the largerdistrict, the Braes of Morvern. Streams and torrentsare everywhere numerous ; and here and there are finecascades and other interesting features of water scenery.The general surface, however, is bleak, tame, heathyupland. Its highest summits are Glashven (1516 feet)in the SE, Beneaddan (1873) in the N, BeinnMheadoin (2423) in the E, and Fuar Bheinn (2800) onthe Ardnamurchan boundary. Several others of itsmountains, also, have a considerable altitude ; but allare destitute of what writers on landscape call character,and, when seen in connection with the bold ranges ofAppin and Mull, look very uninteresting. Yet thereare portions of the parish which present very strikingfeatures. Much of its seaboard along the Sound ofMull is highly picturesque ; and the valley of Unimore,occupied by the chain of lakes from Loch Teacuis toLoch Aline, overhung on one side by a range of highprecipitous rocks, on the other by Beneaddan, is one ofthe most brilliant pieces of scenery in the Highlands,blending together nearly all styles of landscape from thegently beautiful to the terribly sublime. Professor\Vilson pronounced this valley no less than an abyss'of poetry, ' exclaiming also,' Morvern .and morn, and sprinfr and solitude.In front is not the scene magnificent ?Beauty nowliere owes to oceanA lovelier haunt tlian this ! Locli Unimore !A name in its wild sweetness to our earFitl3' denoting a dream-world of peace !Less than one-twentieth of the entire area is in tillagelittle more than one-thirtieth is under wood ; therest is either pastoral or waste. Much of the arableland lies along the Sound of Mull, either on rapiddeclivities, or at a considerable elevation above the sea.The soil in general is a poor, light, open earth, inplaces intermixed with gravel and small stones. Thewoods extend chiefly along the side of Loch Suinart,round the shores of Loch Aline, and in tlie SW districtadjacent to the junction of Loch Linnhe with the Soundof Mull. A predominant rock is gneiss, originallycovered by a deposit of secondary rocks, consisting oflimestone and sandstone, with coal occasionally interspersed—adeposit overwhelmed by trap, which in itsturn has been much abraded and worn away. Thesituation of the coal is, on certain occasions, veryremarkable ; and occurring as it does on the summitsof primary mountains of great elevation, it is quite fittedto startle a geologist nearly as much as a coal surveyor.Sandstone of excellent building quality has beenquarried at Loch Aline and Artornish. Lead ore wasformerly mined at Lurg in Glendubh, a glen which runsparallel to Loch Suinart ; and copper ore was mined atTernate, on the estate of Artoruish. Three interestingold castles are noticed under Artornish, LochAline, and Killusdine. There are, on the seacoasts,remains of several small forts, which wereprobably erected in the times of the Danish invasions.Of several tumuli, one, Carn-na-Caillich, or the old'wife's cairn,' is a lofty pile of loose stones, 243 feetin circumference. On elevated spots, in various partsof the parish, but especially along the coast of theSound of Mull, are Druidical circles of various diameters,but in no instance exceeding 24 feet. Dunfhinn,Fingal's fort or hill, situated on the farm of Fiunarg,and now part of the glebe, is a curious roundrock of considerable height, very steep, yet partlycovered on the sides with greensward, and washed atthe base by a frolicsome stream which moves betweenhigh banks, and leaps along in little cataracts. The73;;