Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

—;LINTON, EASTand charming. The low grounds, excepting somelargish patches of moss and about 75 acres underwood, are in a state of rich cultivation, and all theeminences, excepting the top of Linton Hill, are whollyarable. The rocks are partly eruptive, partly carboniferous.Rock crystal occurs in seams among the eruptedrocks, sandstone has been quarried at Frogden, and coalis known to exist in thin seams. The soil of the plainat the SW corner is partly a strong retentive clay, andpartly a deep loam incumbent on sand or gravel ; elsewhereit is variously or mixedly clay, loam, sand, andgravel. Linton Tower, the baronial fortalice of thenoble family of Somerville, stood on an eminence nearthe parish church, and seems to have been a place ofconsiderable strength. It figured prominently in theWars of the Succession, and was first severely damaged,next utterly demolished, by the English in the time ofHenry VIII. Another ancient fortalice, at Gi'aden, hada similar history to that of Linton Tower. The parish,both from its lying immediately on the Border, andfrom its forming part of the so-called 'dry marches,'which offered no natural hindrance to the movementsof a hostile force, was peculiarly exposed to the turmoilsand conflicts of Border warfare. A spot called the'Tryst,' on Frogden Farm, once marked by several standingstones, was a place of rendezvous for parties about tomake a foray into England ; and a narrow pass betweentwo heights, in the vicinity of the parish church,has been thought to bear marks of having beenfortified, and may have been regarded as a suitablefastness for checking invasion or repelling pursuit.Remains of circular camps are on several eminences,and sepulchral tumuli are in various places. Thepoet, Thomas Pringle (1789-1834), was born at BlakelawFarm ; and Mr Dawson, a leading agriculturalimprover, tenanted Frogden Farm. Clifton Park,noticed separately, is the only mansion ; and its owner,R. H. Elliot, Esq., hokls nearly half the parish, 3other proprietors holding each an annual value of more,and 1 of less, than £500. Linton is in the presbytery ofKelso and the synod of Merse and Teviotdale ; the livingis worth £374. The pretty little antique church crownsthe top of a small round hill, and contains 160 sittings.The public school, with accommodation for 106 children,had (1882) an average attendance of 62, and a grant of£53, 19s. Valuation (1864) £7717, 12s. 3d., (1884)£8262, 15s. Pop. (ISOl) 403, (1831) 462, (1861) 608,(1871) 570, (1881) 543.—OrA Sur., sh. 26, 1864.Linton, East, a small police burgh in Prestonkirkparish, Haddingtonshire. It stands 80 feet above sealevel,1| mile NNE of conical Traprain Law (700 feet),mostly on the left bank of the river Tyne, and has astation on the North British railway, 5J miles WSWof Dunbar, and 23J E by N of Edinburgh, whilst byroad it is 5| miles ENE of Haddington, and 6i SSE ofNorth Berwick. It took the name of Linton from alarge, deep linn here in the river Tyne ; it gave thatname to the parish from the earliest record down to theReformation ; and it bears the prefix East to distinguishit from West Linton in Peeblesshire. A prosperous place,conducting a considerable amount of rural trade, it consistsmainly of East Linton proper, immediately on therailway, and partly of the extraburghal suburb ofPreston, 3 furlongs lower down the river, and it has apost ofiBce (Prestonkirk), with money order, savings'bank, and telegraph departments, a branch of theNational Bank, 3 inns, a gas company, curling, bowling,football, cricket, and golf clubs; horticultural, athletic,and ornithological societies ; Good Templars' amiForesters' lodges ; a weekly Monday market, and cattlefairs on the second Mondays of March, May, and June,and on the Thursday before Falkirk October Tryst—thelast of the most importance. A public hall, 60 feetlong, 36^ broad, and 31 high, was erected in 1874-75 ata cost of £1000, and serves for volunteer drill, lectures,concerts, etc. A coffee-house, with reading-room andlibrary, was built in 1880-81, at a cost of £1000, byLady Baird of Newbyth ; and in 1881 a public school,with accommodation for 464 children, was built at a/£28LINVALEcost of £3000. The parish church, in Eeston subui-b,.was built in 1770, and, as enlarged in 1824, contains800 sittings. The Free church, improved and enlargedin 1879-80 at a cost of £1200, is a handsome Romanesquebuilding, with tower and spire ; and the U.P. churchis seated for 400 worshippers. The railway viaduct overthe Tyne here is tlie finest on the North British, that ofDunglass only excepted. Robert Brown (1757-1831),an agricultural wi'iter, was a native. The municipalconstituency numbered 229 in 1884, when the annualvalue of real property within the burgh amounted to£2951 ; its revenue, including assessments, being £235.Pop. (1831) 715, (1861) 835, (1871) 1037, (1881) 1042,.of whom 923 were within the police burgh.-^OrcJ. Sur.,sh. 33, 1863.Linton, West. See Linton, Peeblesshire.Lintrathen (Gael, limu-tre-auin, 'falls in the river'),a hamlet and a parish in the Grampian district of WForfarshire. The hamlet, Bridgend of Lintrathen, lies715 feet above sea-level, on Melgam Water, 5| milesNNE of Alyth station, and 7J W of Kirriemuir, underwhich it has a post office.The parish is bounded NE by Kirriemuir (detached),E by Kingoldrum, SE by Airlie, and SW and W by Glenisla.Its utmost length, from NNW to SSE, is lOJ milesits utmost breadth is 5 J miles and its area is 22,872f;acres, of which 24Sf are water. The river Isla, running7 miles south-eastward along the Glenisla boundary,here makes two beautiful falls, the Reekie Linn andthe Slugs of AoHKANNiE, and for 4 miles is overhungby steep, rocky, wooded banks, which rise in places tomore than 100 feet. Back or Melgam Water, rising inthe northern extremity of the parish at an altitude of1970 feet above sea-level, winds 13j miles south-southeastwardthrough the interior, then 2 miles eastward,south-by-eastward, and west-south-westward, along theKingoldrum and Airlie boundaries, till, after a totaldescent of 1600 feet, it falls into the Isla opposite AirlieCastle. The circular Locli of Lintrathen (5J x 5J furl.),I mile W of the village, is a picturesque sheet of water,and since 1875 has furnished the Dundee reservoirswith some 4,000,000 gallons per diem. In the extremeS the surface declines to less than 400 feet above sealevel,and chief elevations to the W of Melgam Water,as one goes up the glen, are the wooded Knock ofFormal (1158 feet), Craiglea Hill (1272), *Hare Cairn(1692), and * Cairn Daunie (2066); to the E, StroneHill (1074), Craig of Auldallan (1371), Creigh Hill(1630), *Cat Law (2196), Milldewan Hill (1677), and*High Tree (2001)—where asterisks mark those summitsthat culminate on the confines of the parish. Therocks to the N of the Loch of Lintrathen are metamorphosedSilurian, but the southern district falls withinthe Old Red Sandstone area of Strathmore. Less thanone-seventh of the entire area is arable, and even of thisthe soil is mostly moorish, whilst so late is the climatethat oats were actually reaped on 30 Dec. 1881. Plantationscover some 1200 acres. The property is dividedamong four. Since 1879 giving off a portion to Kilryquoad sacra parish, Lintrathen is in the presbytery ofMeigle and the synod of Angus and Mearns ; the livingis worth £191. The parish church, built in 1802, contains450 sittings. Three public schools—Backwater,Braes of CouU, and Lintrathen—with respective accommodationfor 26, 63, and 148 children, had (1882) anaverage attendance of 15, 35, and 62, and grants of£29, 18s. 6d., £50, lis. 6d., and £70, 6s. Valuation(1857) £4475, (1884) £13,610, 9s. Pop. (1801) 919,(1831) 998, (1861) 898, (1871) 756, (1881) 641, ofwhom 587 were in the ecclesiastical parish. Ord. Sur.,sh. 56, 1870.Lintrose, an estate, with a mansion, in Kettins parish,SW Forlarshire, 2 miles S by E of Coupar-Angus. Itsowner, Mungo Murray, Esq. (b. 1802 ; sue. 1828), holds881 acres in the shire, valued at £1464 per annum. Acave, about 50 feetlong, andfrom 3 to8feethigh, was discoveredon the estate in ISiO. — Ord. Sur., sh. 48, 1868.Linvale, a village in Lesmahagow parish, Lanarkshire,1| mile W of Lanark.