Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

———————mjLU SOUND OFon the rugged shores of Mull, to which Scott alludes inhis Lord of the Isles. The chief are those of Aros,DuAKT, and MoY. Other antiquities consist of barrows,cairns, camps, small forts, grave-stones, and sculpturedstones ; for an account of whjch see a paper in theProceedings of the Scot. Soc. of Antiq., 1883-4. A leadingevent in the past history of Mull was the fierce seabattlebetween Angus of the Isles and the Earl ofCrawford and Huntly, which was fought in the15th century, and has given name to Bloody Bay, alittle N of Tobermory.The presbytery of Mull includes the quoad civiliaparishes of Ardnamurchan, Coll, Kilfinichen, Eilninian,Morvern, Torosay, and Tyree, and the qzioad sacraparishes of Acharacle, Hylipol, Zona, Kinlochspelvie,Salen, Strontian, Tobermorj', and Ulva. Pop. (1871)15,233, (1881)13,933, of whom 1225 were communicantsof the Church of Scotland in 1878.—The Free Churchalso has a presbytery of Mull, whose nine churches had1775 members and adherents in 1883.Mull, Sound of, the boomerang-shaped belt of seaseparating the island of Mull from the Scottish mainland,is identical in the N with the lower part of LochSunart, and in the S with the upper part of the Firthof Lorn. Sometimes it is regarded as stretching between,but excluding these. In this more limited sense,the sound stretches from the headlands of Bloody Bayon the NW, to Duart Point on the SE of Mull, adistance of 19 miles. Along its length it is flankedonly by Morven on the mainland side ; varies from 11furlongs to 3J miles in breadth ;and has only 5 or 6inconsiderable inlets, of which Loch Aline in Morven,and the Bays of Salen and Tobermory in Mull, are thechief. In the larger signification the name is extendedto include the channel stretching beyond Duart Pointto the headlands of Loch Buy and the northern pointof Seil island—in all, a total length of 36 miles. Thishas occasionally a breadth of 8 to 10 miles, andembraces Kerrera and the smaller islands ; and isHanked on the S by Mid and Nether Lorn. TheSound of Mull is deep, but navigation is difficult fromthe meeting of the tides and the fierce gusts whichsweep down from the high hills on either side. Thescenery is very beautiful and varied ; and along itsshores rise the picturesque and often striking ruins ofold Highland towers and keeps, such as Duart,Aetoknish, and Akos. The opening and much of thescene of Sir Walter Scott's Lord of the Isles is laid onthe Sound of Mull. He refers to the difficulty of navigationin the passage :* With eve the ebbinjj currents boiledMore fierce from strait and lake,And midwaj^ through the channel metConflicting; tides that foam and fret.And high their ming^led billows jet.As spears that, in the battle set,Spring upward as they break.'Mulroy. See Kilmonivaig.Munadhliath. See Monadhliath.Munches, a handsome modern mansion of granite,with finely-wooded grounds, in Buittle parish, Kirkcudbrightshire,near the right bank of Urr Water, 2 milesS of Dalbeattie. Its owner, Wellwood Herries Maxwell,Esq. (b. 1817 ; sue. 1858), from 1868 to 1874 was LiberalM.P. for the Stewartry, in which he holds 4597 acres,valued at £5149 per annum. Ord. Sur., sh. 5, 1857.Muncraig Hill. See Bokgue.Munlochy, a village in Knockbain parish, Eoss-shire,4 mile W of the head of Munlochy Bay, 5g miles WSWof Fortrose, and 6| N by W of Inverness, with whichit communicates daily by the mail gig. It has a postoffice under Inverness, with money order, savings' bank,and telegraph departments, a public school, a readingroomand library, yearly games of the Black Isle AthleticAssociation, a jetty, and a considerable export trade inwood — props, staves, and sleepers. Munlochy Bay, aninlet of the Moray Firth, extends 2| miles westward;has a maximum width of J mile ; and is an excellentfishing station. Ord. Sur., shs. 83, 84, 1881-76.SEUBKOESMurdoch Isle. See Aed, Loch.Murdostoun Castle, a mansion in Shotts parish,Lanarkshire, near the right bank of South Calder Water,2 miles N of Newmains. Its owner, Robert King Stewart,Esq. (b. 1853 ; sue. 1866), holds 1760 acres in the shire,valued at £2833 per annum. Ord. Sur., sh. 31, 1867.Murie House, a mansion in Errol parish, Perthshire,li^ mile WSW of Errol village. The estate was sold inDecember 1872 for £78,500, and now belongs to JohnBrown Brown-Morison, Esq. of Finderlie and WestErrol (b. 1840; sue. 1866), who holds 1918 acres inPerthshire and 164 in Kinross-shire, valued at £3741and £426 per annum. Law Knoll, an artificial moundwithin the park, measures 120 feet in diameter at thebase, 30 in diameter at the top, and 20 in verticalheight ; stands at the head of an old avenue of loftyoaks ;and seems to have once been a seat of feudalcourts of justice. Ord. Sur., sh. 48, 1868.Murieston House, a mansion in Midcalder parish,Edinburghshire, on the left bank of Murieston Water, 2miles SSW of Midcalder village. An old castellatededifice, it had faUeu into decay, when it was partiallyrebuilt about 1836. Murieston Water, issuing fromCoBiNSHAW Reservoir, runs 7J miles north-north-eastwardthrough West and Mid Calder parishes ; and fallsinto Linnhouse Water in the vicinity of Midcalder village,near the Linnhouse's influx to the Almond. Ord.Sur., sh. 32, 1857.Murkle Bay, a creek (4 x 2J furl. ) on the S side ofDuNNET Bay, N Caithness, at the mutual border ofThurso and Olrig parishes, 4 miles ENE of Thursotown. It was formerly noted for its fisheries and itsmanufacture of kelp, and is capable of being rendered asafe retreat to vessels in distress, from tempests in thePentland Firth. Murkle estate, lying around the bay,belongs to Sir Robert C. Sinclair, Bart, of Stevenston.The traditional scene of a victory over the Danes, it issaid to have originally been called Morthill or 'the fieldof death.'— Orrf. Sur., sh. 116, 1878.Murlaggan, a village in Kilmonivaig parish, Inverness-shire,near the right bank of the Spean, 16 milesENE of Fort William.Murlingden, a mansion in Brechin parish, Forfarshire,IJ mile NiSrW of the town.Murray, Wigtownshire. See Port-Mueeay.Murrayfield, a mansion in St Mungo parish, Dumfriesshire,near the right bank of the Water of Milk, IJmile E by S of Lockerbie.Murrayshall, a mansion in a detached section ofKiNXOULL parish, Perthshire, 3 miles NE of Perth.Built by Sir Andrew Murray in 1664, and restored in1864, it is the seat of Henry Stewart Murray-Graham,Esq. (b. 1848 ; sue. 1881), who holds 1913 acres in theshire, valued at £2679 per annum. Murrayshall Hill(918 feet), a prominent summit of the Sidlaws, iscrowned by an obelisk erected in 1850 to the memory ofLord Lynedooh.— Ord. Sur., sh. 48, 1868.Murrayshall, an estate, with a mansion, in St Niniansparish, Stirlingshire, 2| miles SW of Stirling. Formingpart of the Polmaise property, it includes the westernportion of the battlefield of Bannockburn ; contains aninteresting series of superpositions of rock, from columnartrap near the surface down to bituminous shale at a depthof 157 feet ; and has a limestone quarry. Ord. Sur., sh.39, 1869.Murrajrthwaite, a mansion in Cummertrees parish,Dumfriessliire, 5j miles WSW of Ecclefechan. Itsowner, William Murray, Esq. (b. 1865 ; sue. 1872),holds 1356 acres in the shire, valued at £1625 perannum. Ord. Sur., sh. 10, 1864.Murrin. See Inchmuekin.Murroch Bum, a rivulet of Dumbarton parish, Dumbartonshire,rising on Knockshanoch, adjacent to DumbartonMuir, at an altitude of 870 feet above sea-level,and running 4J miles south-westward, along a glencontaining abundant supplies of limestone, till it fallsinto the river Leven, 9 furlongs N of Dumbarton town.—Ord. Sur., sh. 30, 1866.Murroes, a parish of S Forfarshire, containing two