Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland .. - National Library of Scotland

;LONGFORMACUSBenvie in Forfarshire, SE by the Firth of Tay, andW by Inchture and Abernyte. Its utmost length,from NW to SE, is 7g miles ; its breadth variesbetween 7J furlongs and 4J miles; and its area is11,247J acres, of which 2687 are foreshore and 32water. The streams are all small, and the largest,rising in the north-western extremity, runs 2i miles tothe SW boundary, flows 3| miles along that boundary,and thence goes 2 miles eastward to the Firth at BurnsidePark. The foreshore, 3J miles long and IJ milebroad, bears the name of Dogbank. A triangular tractof seaboard, about If mile broad at the westernboundary, and converging to a point in the vicinity ofKingoodie village, 1 mile from the eastern boundary,is carse land, almost as Hat as a bowling-green. Abold and rocky promontory projects at Kingoodieand a gently sloping bank or low ridge goes thencenorth-westward, bears on its summit Longforgan village,and ends somewhat abruptly at the Snabs ofDrimmie (177 feet). A dingle lies immediately behind,and extends quite across the parish ; a gentle ascentflanks the NW side of the dingle ; and in the northwesterncorner of the parish, Ballo Hill, a summit ofthe Sidlaws, attains a maximum altitude of 1029 feetabove sea-level. Sandstone of excellent quality isquarried at Kingoodie, and on a farm in the uplands ;coal was long believed to exist, but eluded extensiveand frequent search ; and shell marl was dug and soldto a vast amount after the epoch of agricultural improvement.The soil on the carse land is rich argillaceousalluvium ; on the bank or ridge flanking the carse land,is mostly a deep black loam ; and elsewhere is mainlyof a light dry character, well suited to the turnip husbandry; but on two or three farms is wet and spongy,on a cold retentive bottom. Rather more than one-sixthof the entire land area is under wood ; about 180 acresare meadow or hill pasture ; and all the rest of the landis regularlj- or occasionally in tillage. Chief antiquitiesare a large tumulus on what was anciently Forgan Moor,traces of a fortification on Dron Hill, a ruined chapeland a cemetery in a dell among the high grounds ofDron, vestiges of a cemetery on the grounds of Jlonorgan,and many ancient coins, chiefly Scottish and English,found in various parts. Castle-Huntly, themost prominent edifice, has been separately noticed, asalso are the mansions of Mtlnefield and Loohton.A fourth mansion was Dkimmie House, now representedby Eossie Priory, within the eastern border of Inchture.Six proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 andupwards, 3 of between £100 and £500, 2 of from £50 to£100, and 5 of from £20 to £50. Longforgan is in thepresbytery of Dundee and the synod of Angus andMearns ; the living is worth £375. The parish church,at Longforgan village, was built in 1795, and containsnearly 1000 sittings. The clock on its steeple wasreconstructed in 1878 by an ingenious self-taught carpenter.There is also a Free church ; and two publicschools, Longforgan and Mylnefield, with respectiveaccommodation for 180 and 230 children, had (1882) anaverage attendance of 111 and 156, and grants of £114,14s. 6d. and £143, 13s. Valuation (1866) £13,998. Is.,(1884) £15,282, 2s. lOd. Pop. (ISOl) 1569, (1831) 1638,(1861) 1823, (1871) 1753, (1881) 1854.— Orrf. Sur., sh.48, 1868.Longformacus, a small village and a parish inLammermuir district, N Berwickshire. The vUlagestands, 690 feet above sea-level, on both sides of Dye"Water, 7 miles "VVISTW of its station and post-town,Duns. It has a post office, and is a resort of anglers, forwhom there is good accommodation.The parish, consisting of a main body and a detachedsection, comprises the ancient parishes of Longformacusand Ellem, united in 1712. The main body is boundedN by Cranshaws and by Whittingham and Innerwickin Haddingtonshire, E by Abbey St Bathans, Duns, andLangton, SE by Polwarth, S by Greenlaw and Cranshaws(detached), SW by Lauder, and NW by Garvaldin Haddingtonshire. Its outline is remarkably irregvdar,being closely contracted by the two sections of Cran-LONGHOPEshaws, and making a great projection towards Greenlaw ;and its utmost length, from E to W, is lOg miles ; whilstits breadth varies between f mile and 7} miles. Thedetached or Blackek.stone section, lying 1^ mile E ofthe nearest point of the main body, is surrounded byAbbey St Bathans, Cockburnspath, Bunkle, and Dims,and has an utmost length and breadth of 2J miles and1 mile. The area of the whole is 19,604J acres, of which1149J belong to the detached section, and 72J are water.Dye Water, rising on the western confines of theparish at an altitude of 1600 feet above sea-level, winds13| miles eastward through the interior and along thesouthern boundary, till, after a total descent of 1000feet, it falls into the Whitadder, j mile WSW of EllemInn. The Whitadder itself curves 4J miles eastwardthrough the interior and along the boundaries withCranshaws and Abbey St Bathans, and lower downtraces the western and southern boundary of the Blackerstonesection for 2J miles. Along the Whitadder thesurface of the main body declines in the extreme E to510 feet above sea-level, thence rising to 1032 feet atBrown Law, 880 near Otterburn, 1309 at DirrikgtonGreat Law, 1191 at Dirrington Little Law, 1194 atWrink Law, 1299 at Black Hill, 1531 at Meikle Law,1625 at Hunt Law, and 1626 at Willies Law. The rocksare mainly Silurian, and various unsuccessful attemptshave been made at copper-mining. The soil is fairlygood for a hill district ; but less than one-ninth ofthe entire area is in tillage, wood covering some 330acres, and the rest being pastoral moorland. The chiefantiquity, a cairn called the Mutiny Stones, is noticedunder Btreoleugh. An ancient British camp, knownlocally as Eunklie— a corruption of Wrink Law—liesli mile above Longformacus, where the flanks of thehill drop abruptly down on Dye Water. On one sideit is protected by precipitous slopes, on the other bywalls and mounds. In recent times Runklie has beenthe site of a farm and a mill, the traces of which can beeasily seen within the limits of the more ancient remains[Procs. BerwicJcshire Naturalists' Club, 1882). At themanse is a tall picturesque gable-end of a dwelling, supposedto be a mansion built for defence in the old Bordertimes. In olden times the barony of Longformacusbelonged successively to the Earls of Moray, the Earlsof Dunbar, and the St Clairs of Roslin. LongformacusHouse stands a little way E of the village, on theopposite bank of the Dye, amidst large and well-woodedgrounds. Its owner. Captain A. M. Brown, holds 2600acres in the parish, valued at £1620 per annum. Theonly other resident landowner is Andrew Smith, Esq.of A\Tiitchester, w'hose turreted mansion, standing on ahill between Ellemford and Longformacus, forms from allparts a most prominent feature in the landscape. Fourother proprietors hold each an annual value of more,and 3 of less, than £500. Longformacus is in thepresbytery of Duns and the synod of Merse and Teviotdale; the living averages nearly £300. The parishchurch, built about 1730, contains 200 sittings. Thereis also a Free church ; and a public school, with accommodationfor 66 children, had (1882) an average attendanceof 42, and a grant of £53, Is. Valuation (1865)£6634, 9s., (1884) £7085, 6s. Pop. (1801) 406, (1831)425, (1861) 448, (1871) 452, (1881) 385.— Orrf. Sur.,shs. 33, 34, 25, 1863-65.Longhaven, a modern mansion in Cruden parish,Aberdeenshire, 6 miles S by W of Peterhead. Thereis a post office of Longhaven under Ellon.Longhope, a hamlet and a sea-loch or long bay inWalls and Flotta parish. Hoy Island, Orkney. Thehamlet, lying on the sea-loch, 18 miles SW of Kh-kwall,has a post office under Stromness, with money order,savings' bank, and telegraph departments. The sealoch,opening from the soutli-western extremity of ScapaFlow, opposite Flotta Island, is sheltered across theentrance, at the distance of about 1 mOe, by Flotta andSwitha. Penetrating the southern district of HoyIsland, so as to cut that island into a large main bodyand a small peninsula, it extends 3J miles west-southwestwardto within 3 furlom^t of the Pentland Fiith,555