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NORTH BRITISH RAILWAYNORTH BRITISH RAILWAYalmsst unprecedented violence of tlie gale, and SirThomas Bouch strongly held the opinion that underthis force some part of the train had left the rails, whichhe considered would amply account for the disaster.He had for some time not been well, and under theshock and distress of mind caused by the casualty hishealth more rapidly gave way, and he died at Moffaton the 30th of October 1880. In his death the professionhas to lament one who, though perhaps carryinghis works nearer to the margin of safety thanmany others would have done, displayed boldness,originality, and resource in a high degree, and bore adistinguished part in the later development of therailway system.'One unfortunate effect of the disaster was to paralysethe operations that had been favourably going on towardsthe larger project of crossing the estuary of theForth. The public had, for the moment, lost faith inlarge iron bridges ; the Board of Trade made largerdemands of security, and the Forth Bridge Company,rather than persevere in so bold a scheme in the face ofa temporarily unfavourable phase of public opinion,resolved to abandon the undertaking, or at least towait till a more convenient season for its further prosecution.'Within two years of the fall of the Tay Bridge theNorth British Railway Company obtained an actauthorising the construction of a new viaduct, differingin many points of detail from the original structure.Starting from nearly the same points N and S, thenew bridge stands about 50 yards W of the old. In thenumber and arrangement of spans it is identical, and inthe method of sinking the foundations and bringing upthe structure above high-water mark the process is thesame. It differs (1st) in being a double instead of asingle line, by which the lateral stability and carryingcapacity are increased ;(2d) in the upper structure beingin solid plates of malleable iron, instead of groups of castiron columns ; and (3d) in being less in elevation abovehigh water o.s.t. The reduction in the height causedan obligation to be imposed on the company to tow allvessels proceeding to Perth or elsewhere above bridge.The engineer of this bridge is Mr Barlow, and itsestimated cost £800,000.Although under the Act of 1878 the Forth Bridgewas formally begun as already stated, no steps weretaken to carry on the work, and the destruction of theTay Bridge caused the scheme as designed by SirThomas Bouch to be abandoned, and a new design tobe prepared. This was done by Mr Fowler, who madeseveral very important alterations, although, as before,the two spans of 1600 feet crossing the fairways of theriver, remain necessary features of the design. As inthe case of the Tay Bridge, the structure provides adouble line, and in the wider spans these are built independentlyand separated by a distance of 100 feet, withlateral bracings connecting them, so that additionalstability is thus secured. The bridge is approached bya long viaduct of 30 spans on the lattice girder principle,and in the two main spans the suspension principle hasbeen abandoned, those spans being instead constructedin a semi-circular form below on the cantilever principle.In this case also a reduction in height was authorised bythe Act, and from the careful tests taken, and thedetermination of the board to make a structure immovableby any hurricane within experience, the bridgepossesses high elements of stability. Athough thisstructure has been noticed under the North BritishRailway, it does not belong to that company, beingindependently promoted under a guarantee for trafficand dividend to which the Great Northern, Midland,North-Eastern, and North British Railways are parties.The North British is charged with the duty of workingthe bridge and its connecting lines at 50 per cent, of thegross traffic, while the various companies, besides aguarantee for the dividend, are bound to direct a statedamount of traffic to the bridge.Another work of engineering importance is the bridgeover the Esk at Montrose. This bridge as designed by122Bouch failed, owing to the bad foundation furnished bythe' back-sands,' and considerable expense was incurredin erecting a new lattice girder bridge, which was.opened in 1882. A fine iron bridge, designed by Bouch,crosses the Dryden burn on the Edinbui-gh and Eosslynline, and the bridge crossing the Tweed below Melrose,carrying the railway to Earlston, is an imposing stonestructure,and as it carries a single line only it appearsvery slender owing to its great height, and havingshown some indications of yielding at one end, thepiers have been strongly re-inforced there.The character of the traffic borne by the North Britishrailway is much diversified. As a passenger line it ranksfirst in Scotland, a larger proportion of its revenue beingderived from this source than is the case with its greatrival line the Caledonian. It is the sole means of railwaycommunication over a very large district, and in thedenser parts of the country it maintains a lively competitionwith the other lines. In mineral ti-afl5c it hasconnection with docks or harbours at Leith (by twolines), Bo'ness, Burntisland, Charleston, Glasgow (bythe Stobcross docks), Silloth, etc. It has considerablefish traffic from Dunbar, Eyemouth (to which a railwayis about to be made), Granton, Anstruther, etc. Itstourist district embraces the Scott country, and suchinteresting historical places as Lochleven, Dunfermline,Falkland, St Andrews, and Linlithgow. Its importanceas a part of the shortest and swiftest route fromEdinburgh to London, and as the best line from Edinburghto Glasgow, has already been adverted to, andover both those lines it conducts an important part ofthe postal service. The history of the North British'has been one of many vicissitudes. In Mr RichardHodgson it possessed a man of great energy and foresight,and his endeavours to realise a gigantic and wellcompactedsystem plunged the company into seriousfinancial difficulties, which formed the subject of aspecial investigation in 1867. It is one of the featuresof the later history of the company, that most of MrHodgson's ideas have since been carried out. By greatboldness he secured the access to Carlisle from Hawick,which, had it fallen into the hands of the Caledonian,would have made the now picturesque and favourite'Waverley Route ' a cul de sac. On Mr Hodgson'sdownfall the company secured a man of no less abilityand courage in Mr Stirling of Eippendavie, who, forfifteen years, ruled the destinies of the railway. It wasunder his direction that the company pushed into thegreat Lanarkshire coalfield by the ' Coatbridge undertaking,'which made the Edinburgh and Bathgaterailwaya through line, and by special lines runningto Hamilton, etc. The Glasgow connection wasstrengthened by the construction of the Stobcrossdocks and connecting lines, while northward the constructionof the Forth and Tay Bridges, the acquirementof one-half of the Dundee and Arbroath, the newrailway to Montrose, and the purchase of the Bervieline indicate a policy pointing to a direct route toAberdeen and the north, entirely independent of those'running powers ' from Larbert to Perth, and fromArbroath to Aberdeen, already held as the fruits ofkeen parliamentary strife. At the beginning of 1879-the company seemed to be approaching an end of itsdifficulties, but the fall of tlie Tay Bridge, and theconsequent loss of traffic and money, caused the fortunesof the company again to droop. A revival speedilyfollowed, however, and in the spring of 1883 the'ordinary' stock obtained a dividend of 5 per cent., arate which had not been paid since 1848, and which wasin1884 increased to 5h per cent. During thirteen ofthe intervening years no dividend was paid on thatstock, although as a rule all the 'preference ' dividendshave been fully paid. In 1848, it may be stated, theentire capital receiving dividend was £1,080,000, whilein 1884 the capital was over thirty-two millions, the'ordinary ' capital above referred to as then receiving5J per cent, being over four millions and a half Apart of the recent policy of the company has been tO'encourage the formation of local line.s and after their
NORTH BUTEexecution and working have been tested, to absorb theminto the system under terms more or less favourable.Under various heads throughout this work (BorderCounties Railway, Berwickshike Railway, etc.,etc. ) will be found particulars of a number of railwayswhich have been in this way amalgamated with theNorth British.North Bute. See Bute, Nokth.Northesk. See Musselburgh.Ncrthfield, an estate, with an elegant mansion, inAnnan parish, Dumfriesshire, on the left bank of theriver Annan, 1 mile N of the town.North Isles, the northern one of the three presbyteriesof Orkney, comprehending the quoad civilia parishes ofShapinshay, Rousay and Egilshay, Stronsay, Cross andBurness, Lady, and Westray and Papa, with the quoadsacra parishes of Eday and North Ronaldshay. Pop.(1871) 9312, (1881) 9373, of whom 860 were communicantsof the Church of Scotland in 1878.Northmaven, a parish of Shetland, comprehendingthe northernmost part of Mainland, mth a number ofneighbouring islets,and containing HoUswick village,on the W side of Ura Firth, 17 miles NNW of Voe,and 36 NNW of Lerwick, under which it has a postoffice. In shape resembling an isosceles triangle withnorth-north-eastward apex, it is connected at its southerncorner with the rest of Mainland by an isthmus only100 yards wide ;and even this is nearly all submergedby spring tides. Its utmost length, from N by E to Sby W, is 17 miles ; its utmost breadth is 11 miles ; andits land area is 761- square miles, or 49,037 acres. Theprincipal islets are Nibon, Uyea, and Lamba ; andmost of them afl'ord good pasture, but all are uninhabited.The Mainland district, except at the isthmusconnecting it with Delting parish, is completely surroundedby the sea. Deeply indented by Ura Firth,Ronas Voe, Burra Voe, Colla Firth, Gluss Voe, andother bays or voes, it has nearly everywhere a bold androck-bound coast, so engirdled by skerries, toweringislets, and fantastically-outlined rocks as at all times,but especially in a storm, to present grandly picturesqueand romantic scenery. Portions of the W coast, inparticular, consist of stupendous crags, rising rapidly toa height of 300 and 500 feet above sea-level, and seemingto have been rather rent by storm and billow thantorn by volcano or upheaved by earthquake. Islets orother objects of still more remarkable appearance bearthe names of Drongs, Scraada, Doreholm, Ossa-Skerry,and Maiden-Skerry. Fethaland Point in the extremeN, and Esha Ness in the extreme SW, are the principalheadlands ; and the former terminates a small peninsula,enclosed by a stone fence. Numerous fresh-waterlakes of no great size are scattered over the moors, whosegeneral surface is hilly, broken, and rough, attaining389 feet at the Skiurds, 567 near White Grunafirth,and 1475 at precipitous RoNAS Hill— the highest summitin Shetland. The rocks, from Ronas Voe to UraFirth, are chiefly Old Red sandstone and limestone, ofcoarse description ; elsewhere they include granite,syenite, gneiss, syenitic greenstone, diallage, and porphyry.Chromate of iron occurs in places, but not ofthe best quality ; and agates and garnets are found.The soil in some spots along the coast is light andsandy, in others is loamy or clayey ; and over most ofthe interior is moss immediately incumbent on solidrock. Almost everywhere it is very thin. The arablelands are chiefly scattered pendicles around the bays orelsewhere near the shore, and probably not more thanone-tenth of the entire area is under cultivation. Thecrofters, indeed, pay more attention to fishing than toagriculture. The chief antiquities are a chain of rudewatch-towers, remains of Picts' houses, and ruins of twopre-Reformation churches at OUaberry and North Roe.Four proprietors hold each an annual value of more, and2 of less, than £100. Northmaven is in the presbyteryof Olnafirth and the synod of Shetland ; the living isworth £233. The parish church, at Hillswick, wasbuilt in 1733, and, as reseated in 1825, contains 600sittings. Other places of worship are an EstablishedNOVAEchapel of ease and a U.P. church at OUaberry, a Congregationalchapel at Snllam (1828 ; 160 sittings), and aWesleyan chapel at North Roe (1828 ; 208 sittings).Five public schools—North Roe, OUaberry, SuUam,Tangwick, and Urafirth, with respective accommodationfor 80, 72, 45, 60, and 60 children, had (1883) anaverage attendance of 48, 42, 19, 41, and 37, and grantsof £51, 16s., £48, 9s., £28, 8s., £34, 16s., and £47,12s. 6d. Valuation (1860) £1715, (1884) £2352, 12s. 9d.Pop. (1801) 2045, (1831) 2386, (1861) 2585, (1871) 2602,(1881) 2269.North Medwin. See Medwin.Northmuir, a village in Kirriemuir parish, Forfarshire,1 mile N by W of the town. Pop. (1861) 319,(1871) 337, (1881) 315.North of Scotland Railway, Great. See GeeatNorth of Scotland Railway.North Queensferry. See Queensfeery.North-Water-Bridge, a hamlet near the mouth ofNorth Esk river, at the boundary between Forfar andKincardine shires, with a station on the Bervie branchof the North British railway, 3J miles N of Montrose,and with a post ofBce under Laurencekirk.North-West Castle. See Steanraek.North Yell. See Yell, Noeth.Norton, an estate, with a modern mansion, in Rathoparish, Edinburghshire, 1 mile N by W of Ratho village.Noss, an island of Bressay parish, Shetland, 1 furlongE of Bressay island, from which it is separated by anarrow and dangerous sound. Triangular in shape, ithas an utmost length and breadth of Ig mile, and isreckoned one of the most fertile and pleasant islands inShetland. A promontory on its E side is called NossHead. But the most interesting object connected withit, and one of the greatest curiosities in Shetland, is aholm or islet on its SE side, called the Holm of Noss.This islet, only 500 feet long, 170 broad, and 160 high,is perfectly mural, rising sheer up to its greatest altitudeon all sides from the sea, and possessing a level andrichly-swarded surface. The opposite rock on Nossisland is also mural, and of the same height as theHolm ;and is separated from it by a channel 240 feetwide. In former years a wooden trough or cradlesuspended to ropes and made to acquire a slidingmotion, with sufficient capacity to convey a man andone sheep at a time, served to keep the Holm in commandas a valuable piece of sheep pasture. Off the Ecoast a rock called the Noup of Noss towers up like astupendous tower, and attains, on one side, a precipitousand almost perpendicular height above sea-level of 592feet. Pop. (1841) 24, (1861) 14, (1871) 24, (1881) 3.Noss Head, a bold rocky promontory on the S side ofKeiss or Sinclairs Bay, 3| miles NNE of Wick, Caithness.A little W of it stand the ruins of Castle-GiRNiGOE and Sinclair, the ancient stronghold of theEarls of Caithness. From the cove or small bay ofMursligoe, frequented by seals, a dry passage leadsthrough a rock into a vast cave under Noss Head. Alighthouse, built in 1849 at a cost of £12,149, standson Noss Head, mth its lantern elevated 175 feet abovethe level of the sea. Its light is a revolving light,attaining its brightest state once in every half-minute,visible at a distance of 18 nautical miles, and red fromNE f N to WNW in a N direction, but of the naturalappearance from other quarters. The lighthouse is inN latitude 68° 28' 38", and in W longitude 3° 3' 5".—Ord. Sur., sh. 116, 1878.Nothland Castle. See Noltland.Noth, Tap o'. See Rhynie.Noup Bay. See Noop.Noup of Noss. See Noss.Novar, an estate, with a mansion, in Alness parish,Ross-shire, near the NW shore of the Cromarty Firth,and IJ mile N of Novar station on the Highland railway,this being 6^ miles NE of Dingwall. Backed bywooded heights, the mansion is a handsome edifice, witha large collection of valuable works of art, and withcharming grounds, which were much improved andadorned by Sir Hector Munro, K.C.B., whose victory of123
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AOaf^Q^^' C^S
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HO;^o
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Beauly Priory, Inverness-shire.^.^
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Colonel Gardiner's House, near Pres
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ORDNANCE JOHN BARTHOLOMEW EDINBURGH
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-} I ^^-v' IStKiUWidieORDNANCEJOHN
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;LIBERTONA short way E of it is Hun
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—LILLIESLEAFconsiderable diversit
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——;LINDSAY TOWERfurlongs from S
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'LIKLITHGOW;—Calder, Crofthead, F
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:;LINLITHGOWsidering how undecent i
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—LINLITHGOWentrance is on the S s
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LINLITHGOW BRIDGEOctober. Under an
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-^^'^^ -3/"''"""Vlr„rn,,l„Ul\f.
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—;LINLITHGOWSHIRECanal enters the
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;LINTONstation, Broomlee or West Li
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————;LINWOODLinwood, a vill
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LOCH-A-BHEALAICHLOCHARof its bounda
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———;LOCHCARRONof Jeantown or
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—;——;LOCHGOILHEADLOCH INDALCr
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LOCHINVERthe theme of Latly Heron's
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'LOCHMABEN\varcl the view is only s
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:every parish of Annandale, what wa
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———;LOCHNELLtownsliire 1856-6
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—LOCHWOOD TOWER'entire other lake
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;—LOGIELOGIE-EUCHANscliool, \vith
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• of);LOGIERAIT.:louce beiii body
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—'—LOMONDof wonder. Of the floa
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'—';LOMONDtooli: place of each ot
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;LONGFORMACUSBenvie in Forfarshire,
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—LONG SPROUSTONchurch, beside the
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——LOSSIEMOUTHLOTH£1?.00 previo
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———;LOUISBUEGHsecond son of S
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Sar., sh. 33, 1863. See John Small'
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;LUNAN WATERfrequently shallow on t
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—;'—';LUTHERMTTIRland Christian
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— —,ORDNANCE'AAM-RATAGAIN, a mo
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BIACHERMOBE CASTLE150 square miles.
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——;——MALLENTliving is worth
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;MARYCULTERold churchyard is near t
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J—;MARYWELLBIAUCHLINE'leaving a l
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——MAUDwhole course of Ayr, is c
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;;'MAYBOLEinfluence — passed unpu
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——;—;MAYVILLEthe Isle of May
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MEIGLE HILLestates, noticed separat
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——aMELROSEmELBOSEcamps between
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:;MELBOSEthe Scottish border ; in 1
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——;——;:—MELBOSEMELEOSEThe
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— —;iiEivinsMemus, a place, wit
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);METHVENlibrary (1790), curling an
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— —;——;MIDSANNOXtacLed). It
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———;MILNHEADMINGARY CASTLE•
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——;MINNISHANTwhom 425 were in C
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—;MOFFATvthieh was opened in Apri
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•;MOFFATfreeholders, and heads of
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———'MONBODDO HOUSEMONIFIETHth
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MONIMAILand tlie synod of An^ns and
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—1;—;IMONKLAND, NEW1807, when a
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—'-;—MONKLAND WELLwhile little
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;;—;MONTEITH, PORT OFfrom E to W
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———MONTROSEthe Montrose and A
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;MONTROSEMONTROSEThe church became
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— a;MONTBOSEnecessary certificate
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MONTROSEwith a superintendent, whos
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——;MONZIEVAIRD AND STROWANMOONZ
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—MORAY. PROVINCE OF289,292 barrel
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'—MORAY, PROVINCE OF-at Forres, w
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''—MORAY, PROVINCE OF* The inscri
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;MOEAYLAWSof St Gernadius, St Moran
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—'—noBNurasiDE£1325 per annum.
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Page 174 and 175: MUSSELBUKGHon the links. Every year
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Page 180 and 181: NAIRN'other hand, Shaw, in his Hist
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Page 190 and 191: ——NETHANthe post-town, Lens'ick
Page 192 and 193: ;—;—:'NEW ABERDOUENEWBATTLE£75
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Page 198 and 199: ——NEWHOLMEthe Dee. The surface,
Page 200 and 201: ———NEWTONforty years between
Page 202 and 203: NEWTOWNpoint at the northern extrem
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Page 208 and 209: ,NORTH BRITISH RAILWAYthe city. The
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Page 218 and 219: ———OLDNEYThe coast, only Ig m
Page 220: ORD-OF-CAITHNESSacres are under woo
Page 224 and 225: — ——;——;ORKNEYor July tra
Page 226 and 227: ORKNEYseries of the lower division.
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Page 230 and 231: ORKNEYORKNEYpoortouse near Kirkwall
Page 232 and 233: —ORKNEYHis daughter Lad married M
Page 234 and 235: —;ORMISTONpassed to the Lindsays,
Page 236 and 237: ——OVERTOWNmiles ENE of Dumbarto
Page 238 and 239: ;PAISLEYsite the station is Old Sne
Page 240 and 241: ;PAISLEYsays that This hurgh has 'a
Page 242 and 243: ;—'—PAISLEYthe reference librar
Page 244 and 245: —PAISLEYand granted to him and hi
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Page 248 and 249: ———PANNANICH WELLS65, 1870.Pa
Page 250 and 251: ———PAVILIONPavilion, a mansio
Page 252 and 253: ;;:Seal of Peebles.PEEBLESAlthough
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..—PEEBLESSHIREFEEBLESSHIBEmining
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PEEBLESSHIItEFEEBLESSHIBEparishes o
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PEIECETONwestward to Aberlady Bay,
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;PENIELHEU6Hwooded ascents, by swel
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TheFEITSEIELeither record or any di
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theextremity'PERTNNW of Blairgowrie
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;PERTHcarved pilasters and surmount
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;PEETHdated 1400, and St John the B
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——PERTHmade a tead port, and as
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——:PERTHthen ty a flood ; and w
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';PERTH, DISTRICT OFPERTHSHIREdirec
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;PEKTHSHIBEBen Chonzie (3048) ; and
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FERTHSHIBEFEETHSHIREAllan, a specim
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,PERTHSHIREand on the NW point of t
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——PERTHSHIREtached portions as
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——;PERTHSHIREmentary constituen
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;PETERHEADPETERHEADas ' Peterhead G
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——PETERHEADan Act of parliament
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