KINTYRE AND KNAPDALE PARISHES - GROOME'S GAZETEER - (1896 Edition)

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GROOME'S "ORDNANCE GAZETEER OF SCOTLAND" was issued in Six Volumes, handsomely bound in
cloth, with gilt tops, each volume costing ten shillings each and also issued in twenty-four parts, each priced at two
shillings each containing, on average, seventy-two pages of letterpress text and three engravings or maps.

KINTYRE, the southern-most district of Argyllshire, consisting chiefly of a peninsula, but including the islands of
Gigha, Cara and Sanda, with several islets. The peninsula is prevented only by the narrow isthmus of TARBERT
from being an island.

From Knapdale, it is separated by that isthmus and by East Loch Tarbert and West Loch Tarbert : it flanks the W
side of Loch Fyne downward from East Loch Tarbert and the W side of The Firth of Clyde all downward from the
mouth of Loch Fyne and it terminates, at the southern extremity, in a bold broad promontory called The Mull of
Kintyre. It probably took its name (Gael, ceann-tir, 'head-land'; Cym. Pentir) either from that promontory or from its
own position as a long projection southward from the Scottish mainland; it measures 42½ miles in extreme length
from N by E to S by W, whilst its width varies between 4½ and 11½ miles.

A chain of hill and mountain, culminating in Beinn-an-Tuirc (1491 feet), runs along its middle, with varied declivity
on either side, to belts of low sea-board and it presents, from end to end, a considerable variety and large amount of
pleasing landscape containing a greater proportion of cultivated laud than almost any other district of equal extent in
The Highlands.

Visited by Agricola in the summer of 82 A.D., Kintyre became the cradle of the Dalriadan kingdom and competed in a
measure with Iona as a centre of missionary establishments.

From the time of Magnus Barefoot till the 17th century, it ranked as part of the Hebrides and figures in history till then
as if it had been an island, always forming part of the dominions of The Lords of The Isles.

In the 15th century, it was an object and a scene of great contest between the Macdonalds and the Campbells and, in
1476, it was resigned to The Crown.

The Mull of Kintyre, which was known to Ptolemy as the Epidium Promontorium, to the Romans as the
Promontorium Caledonia, is the nearest point of Great Britain to Ireland, projecting to within 13 miles of Tor Point
in the County of Antrim.

It presents a strong front to the waves of The Atlantic and in time of a storm exhibits a wild and sublime appearance,
being overhung by Beinn na Lice (1105 feet), which commands a magnificent view.

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A lighthouse, built in 1787, on a point of the promontory called 'The Merchants' Rocks', rises to a height of 297 feet
above the level of the sea at high water; and shows a fixed light, visible at the distance of 24 nautical miles. In foggy
weather a double-note siren is sounded every four minutes, the first a high note, the second a low one.
The Valuation of The District of Kintyre in 1893 was £71,090.

The Presbytery of Kintyre, in The Synod of Argyll, comprehends the quoad civilia parishes of Campbeltown, Gigha,
Kilbride, Kilcalmonell, Killean, Kilmorie, Saddell and Southend, with the quoad sacra parishes of Brodick and
Skipness and its court meets at Campbeltown on the last Wednesday of March, April, September and November.

Population (1871) 19,201; (1881) 19,421; (1891) 19,684 of whom 2,910 were communicants of The Church of
Scotland in 1893.

The Free Church also has a Presbytery of Kintyre with two churches in Campbeltown, one each at at Carradale,
Kilberry, Kilbride, Kilcalmonell, Killean, Kilmorie, Lenimore, Lochranza, Shiskan and Whiting Bay and preaching
stations at Lamlash and Southend, which 14 churches had 3839 members and adherents in 1893.

KINTYRE PARISHES - KILCALMONELL

Kilcalmonell, a coast parish in Kintyre, Argyllshire, containing the village of CLACHAN and the greater part of the
small seaport town of TARBERT, each with a post, money order and telegraph office.

Until 1891, Kilcalmonell was united with the old parish of Kilberry in Knapdale, comprising 21,915 acres and
separated from it by West Loch Tarbert and the parish of South Knapdale.

Kilberry was then transferred by The Boundary Commissioners to South Knapdale parish and the remaining Kintyre
portion restricted to the name Kilcalmonell.

It is bounded N by West Loch Tarbert and by South Knapdale, E by Loch Fyne and by SADDELL and SKIPNESS.
S by KILLEAN and KILCHENZIE and W by The Atlantic Ocean.

Its greatest length, from NE to SW, is 14 miles; its breadth varies between 2¼ and 5 miles and its area, excluding
foreshore and water, is now 27,751½ acres.

The coast comprises a largish aggregate of sandy shore and includes several small fishing hamlets and harbours, from
which boats go out to the herring fishery.

Of twelve or thirteen fresh-water lochs dotted over the parish, the largest are Lochs Ciaran (8¾ x 3½ furlongs; 353
feet) and Loch Garasdale (4¼ x 3½ furlongs; 404 feet) and both are well stocked with trout.

The surface is hilly but nowhere mountainous, chief elevations from N to S being Cruach an t-Sorchain (1125 feet),
Cnoc a' Bhaileshios (1383 feet), Cruach nam Fiadh (882 feet), Creag Loisgte (650 feet) and Cruach McGougain (813
feet).

Limestone occurs and sea-weed is plentiful. A few of the larger farms are very well cultivated and potatoes form the
staple article of farm produce; but cattle and sheep grazing is much more important than husbandry.

Cairns are numerous; remains exist of the chain of forts that formerly defended the communication between Kintyre
and Knapdale and other antiquities.

Dunskeig, a hill at the S side of the mouth of West Loch Tarbert, rising very steeply from the seaboard to 300 feet,
commands an extensive view and is crowned with the remains of two very ancient forts, one of them vitrified.

Giving off a portion to the quoad sacra parish of Tarbert, this parish is in The Presbytery of Kintyre and Synod of
Argyll, the living is worth £188.

The two churches, Kilcalmonell (1760) and Kilberry (1821), are served by the minister and an assistant.

There is a Free Church at Tarbert and two public schools, at Clachan and at Whitehouse, with respective
accommodation for 95 and 57 children, had (1892) an average attendance of 51 and 27 and grants of £61. 5s. and £44.
5s.
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Population (1881) 2304; (1891) 1901, of whom 1005 were Gaelic-speaking and 890 were in the ecclesiastical parish.

Ordnance Survey Sheets 20, 28, 29, 1873 - 1883.

TARBERT

Tarbert, sometimes designated East Tarbert, a village and small sea-port in the parishes of Kilcalmonell and South
Knapdale, Argyllshire. 35 miles NNE of Campbeltown and 13½ miles S of Lochgilphead.

It stands at the E end of the isthmus between East Loch Tarbert and West Loch Tarbert, separating the peninsula of
Kintyre from the district of Knapdale.

That isthmus is only 1¼ miles across and was anciently protected by three castles, one in the centre, one at the head of
The West Loch and one on the S tide of The East Loch.

The ruin of the last of these castles still exists, in grouping with the village and is the subject of curious popular
traditions.

The village probably arose under protection of the castle and, at all events, it is a place of much antiquity. It is so
situated around the head of The East Loch, with command over its natural harbour, as to have possessed from the
earliest time as much commerce as the surrounding district could give it.

The east Loch, projecting westward from Loch Fyne, is of small size, only 7 furlongs long and nowhere more than ½
mile broad. It is a land-locked natural harbour, but is entered by so narrow and circling a passage, between low ridges
of naked rocks that a steamer, in sailing through, it appears to a stranger to be irretrievably rushing upon the crag.

On its S side near the head is a steamboat quay and both here and all over the inner space of the loch may be seen in
the fishing season a very numerous fleet of herring-boats.

The steamers from Glasgow to Ardrishaig and Inveraray call daily at the port and a coach runs daily to Campbeltown
and back.

The village is inhabited principally by fishermen and is the resort, during the herring fishing season, of several
hundreds of fishermen from other parts.

It is however a favourite seaside resort in summer and a number of neat cottages have been erected.

The quoad sacra church was erected in 1886 and The Free Church in 1894.

It has a post office, with money order, savings bank and telegraph depart ments, four inns, a branch of The Union
Bank, a public school, a Good Templar hall and fairs for horses, etc. on the Wednesday of March and the Tuesdays of
June and November before Lochgilphead and on the last Thursday of July.

Population of the village (1861) 1,254; (1871) 1,434; (1881) 1,629; (1891) 2,204 of whom 877 were females and 573
were in South Knapdale parish; of the quoad sacra parish (1871) 1,866; (1881) 2,017; (1391) 2,204 of whom 1,399 were
in Kilcalmonell and 805 in South Knapdale.

Ordnance Survey Sheet 29, 1873.

STONEFIELD, a modern mansion in South Knapdale parish, on the W shore of Loch Fyne. 2 miles N of Tarbert.
Its owner is Colin George Pelham Campbell Esq. (b. 1872; succeeded 1887)

Ordnance Survey Sheet 29, 1873

TARBERT, EAST and WEST LOCHS, two sea-lochs approaching each each other's heads to within 1¼ miles of
each other and separating the peninsula of Kintyre from the district of Knapdale, The East Loch already noted.

The West Loch extends 10 miles nearly due NNE and measures ¾ mile in mean breadth. Over all its extent it has the
aspect of a fresh-water lake and is picturesque and lovely.
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Three islets lie in it, soft and moderately high hills recede from its margins; woods and enclosures fling their images
upon its waters and a profusion of cottages, farmhouses, villas and mansions, with the village of WHITEHOUSE,
with a post office, on the SE shore of West Loch Tarbert, 6 miles SSW of Tarbert, it sit upon its banks. At its head,
at the village of West Tarbert, is a quay for the accommodation of the Islay packet steamer.

CLACHAN (Gael. 'a stone'), a village in Kilcalmonell parish, Argyllshire, near the NW coast of Kintyre, 7½ miles
NNE of Tayinloan. At it are a post office, under Greenock, Kilcalmonell Parish and Free Churches and a public
school; whilst just to the E is Ballinakill House.

KINTYRE PARISHES - GIGHA

GIGHA, an island and a parish of Argyllshire. The island lies 1¾ miles W of the nearest point of Kintyre and by ferry
from Ardminish is 2¾ miles NW of Moniemore, near Tayinloan.

It has a post office and communicates by boat from its northern extremity with the steamers on the passage between
Tarbert and Port Ellen or Port Askaig in Islay.

It measures 6 miles in length from NNE to SSW; varies in width between 1½ furlongs and 1¾ miles and, with the
neighbouring island of CARA, has an area of 3,913 acres, of which 266 acres are foreshore.

Its coast is so jagged as to measure 25 miles in extent and, bold and rocky on the W side, has there two caverns, The
Great and The Pigeons' Caves, the latter of which is coated with calcareous spar and much frequented by wild pigeons.

At the south-western extremity, it is pierced by a natural tunnel 133 feet long, with two vertical apertures and so
invaded by surging billows in a storm as to emit dense vapour and loud noises.

Much too of the E coast, although not high, is bold and rocky enough and here are various sandy bays, very suitable
for sea-bathing, whilst those of Ardminish, Druimyeon and East Tarbert afford good anchorage.

The harbour, on the N side of the islet of GIGULUM, is much frcquonted by coasting vessels and is considered safe
in all sorts of weather.

The interior westward attains 225 feet beyond the church, 260 feet at Meall a Chlamaidh and 153 feet at Cnoc Loisgte.

The rocks are mica slate, felspar slate, chlorite slat, and horn-blende slate, with veins of quartz and a few transverse
dykes of basalt.

The soil, except on the hills, is a rich loam, with a mixture here and there of sand, clay, or moss.

About three-fifths of the land are in tillage, but barely 7 acres are under wood. Springs of good water are plentiful and
two of them afford water-power to a corn-mill.

Some ten boats are employed during three or four months of the year in cod and ling fishing on banks 2 or 3 miles
distant.

Dunchifie or Keefe's Hill, towards the middle of the island, appears to have been anciently crowned with a strong
fortification and a hill, now used as a steamer signal-post, at the northorn end of the island, is crowned by a cairn,
called 'Watch Cairn' and seems to have formerly served as a beacon station for giving alarm in case of invasion.

Achamore House, 7 furlongs SSW of the church, is the Scottish seat of the proprietor, William James Yorkc Scarlett,
Esq..

The parish comprises also the brownie-haunted island of Cara, 1 mile to the S of Gigha and 185 feet high at The Mull
of Cara, with the uninhabited islet of Gigulum in the sound between them and bears the name of Gigha and Cara.

It is in The Presbytery of Kintyre and Synod of Argyll; the living is worth £272. The church, which stands at the head
of Ardminish Bay, was built about 1780 and contains 260 sittings. An ancient chapel, ½ mile SSW, is now
represented by ruined walls and a burying-ground.

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A public school, with accommodation for 75 children, had (1891) an averago attendance of 60 and a grant of £71. 1s.
6d.

Population (1801) 556; (1831) 534; (1861) 467; (1881) 382; (1891) 401 of whom 3 belonged to Cara.

Ordnance Survey Sheet 20, 1876.

CARA, an island in Gigha and Cara parish, Argyllshire. It lies 1 mile S of the southern extremity of Gigha island and
3½ miles W of the nearest part of Kintyre; measures 1 mile in length and 3 miles in circuit; has a landing-place on the
NE and a rocky shore in all the rest of its coast; is mostly low and level, but rises at the S end into a mural rock called
The Mull of Cara, 185 feet high and is there pierced with two caverns, the one 40 feet long, 5 feet high and 5 feet
wide, the other 37 feet long, 9 feet high and 9 feet wide. An ancient monastery is supposed to have been on the
island, or to hare given name to it and the remains of an old chapel, with a pointed-arched door, are still on it.

GIGULUM, an uninhabited islot of Gigha parish, Argyllshire, in the sound between Gigha island and Cara. It
measures 2½ furlongs by 1 furlong.

KINTYRE PARISHES - KILLEAN AND KILCHENZIE

KILLEAN and KILCHENZIE, a united parish on the W coast of the Kintyre peninsula, Argyllshire, containing the
hamlets or villages of Kilchenzie, 4 miles NW of Campbeltown, with a post office; Glenbarr, 8 miles N by W of
Kilchenzie, with a post, money order, savings bank and telegraph office; Killean, 5½ miles N by E of Glenbarr and
Tayinloan, 7 furlongs N by E of Killean, with a post, money order, savings bank and telegraph office and an inn.

Fairs were formerly held on the Friday before the last Wednesday of May and the Wednesday after the last Thursday of
July, but have long since been discontinued.

Bounded N by Kilcalmonell, E by Saddell and Campbeltown, S by Campbeltown and W by the Atlantic Ocean, the
parish has an utmost length from N to S of 13 miles, a varying breadth of 2¼ miles to 6¼ miles and an area of 42,742
acres, of which 441 are foreshore and 192 acres water.

The coast-line, extending 18¼ miles south-by-westward from opposite Druimyeon Bay in Gigha island to a point 1¼
miles W by S of Kilchenzie hamlet, projects low Rhunahaorine Point and bolder Glenacardoch Point (102 feet) and is
slightly indented by Beallochantuy Bay and several lesser encurvatures.

Barr Water, running 8½ miles south-westward, is the chief of thirteen streams that flow to The Atlantic and the
largest of ten small lochs are Loch nan Canach (3¾ x 2 furlongs; 475 feet) in the S and Loch an Fhraoich (4 x 1
furlongs; 709 feet) in the N.

A narrow strip of low alluvial land lies all along the coast and from it the surface rises rapidly eastward, chief elevations
from N to S being Narachan Hill (935 feet), Cnoc na Craoibhe (1103 feet ), Cnoc Odhar Auchaluskin (796 feet),
Cruach Mhic-an-t-Saoir (1195 feet), Cruach Muasdale (655 feet), Benin Bhreac * (1398 feet), Meall Buidhe * (1228
feet), Cnoc Buidhe (1023 feet) and Ranachan Hill * (706 feet), where asterisks * mark those summits that culminate on
the eastern confines of the parish.

The rocks are eruptive, metamorphic, or Devonian and have been supposed to include carboniferous strata, containing
coal. The soil of the lower tracts consists mainly of disintegrations and comminutions of the local rocks and on the
higher grounds is mostly moorish.

Little more than a tenth of the entire area has ever been brought under tillage, nearly all the remainder being either
pastoral or waste.

Antiquities, other than those noticed under DUNDONALD and GIANT'S FORT, are a number of barrows, hill
forts and standing stones.

DUNDONALD, an ancient castle in the centre of Killean and Kilchenzie parish, Kintyre, Argyllshire. From the
Macdonalds, Lords of the Isles, it passed to the ancestors of The Duke of Argyll and is now represented by rude
remains.

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GIANT'S FORT (Gael. Ihin-na-foghniliar), one of two conjoint ancient circular enclosures in the southern division of
Killean and Kilchenzie parish, Kintyre, Argyllshire. The other is called Fun Fhinn or Fingal's Fort. They have few
characters definable by antiquaries; but they attract the attention of travellers and are vulgarly regarded as ancient
residences of Fingal and his giants.

Killean House, 1 mile S of Tayinloan, was, with exception of a handsome new wing, entirely destroyed by fire in
1875, but has been since restored; its owner is James Macalister Hall, Esq. of Tangy.

Other mansions are GLENBARR Abbey, Glencreggan House and LARGIE CASTLE.

GLENBARR ABBEY, a mansion in Killean parish, W Kintyre, Argyllshire, on the left bank of Barr Water, 5
furlongs above its mouth and 6½ miles S by W of Tay-inloan. It is the seat of Major C. B. Macalister. Across the
stream is Glenbarr village, having a post office, with money order, savings bank and telegraph departments and a
public school.

Ordnance Survey Sheet 20, 1876.

LARGIE CASTLE, a mansion in Killean and Kilchenzie parish, Kintyre, Argyllshire. 5 furlongs NE of Tayinloan.
Its owner is John Ronald Moreton-Macdonald (b. 1873; suc. 1879). There is an Episcopal Chapel attached to the
Castle.

Ordnance Survey Sheet 20, 1876.

MUASDALE, a village, with an inn and a post office, in Killean and Kilchenzie parish, Kintyre, Argyllshire, 4 miles
S by W of Tayinloan.

BEALLOCHANTUY, a hamlet and a small bay of Killean parish, Argyllshire, on the W side of Kintyre, 10 mile
NNW of Campbeltown.

This parish is in The Presbytery of Kintyre and Synod of Argyll; the living is worth £208. The parish church, on the
coast, 3 miles S by W of Tayinloan, was built in 1787. Near it is a handsome Free Church (1851), with a tower and at
Beallochantuy, 2¾ miles S by W of Glenbarr, is an Established Mission Church which was repaired in 1891.

Five Public Schools - Beallochantuy, Glenbarr, Kilchenzie, Killean and Rhunahaorine, with respective
accommodation for 60, 76, 65, 72 and 78 children, had (1892) average attendances of 18, 35, 42, 31 and 46 and
grants of £35, 8s., £57, 19s. 6d., £79, 10s., £50, 14s. and £69. 12s. 6d.

Population (1881) 1,368; (1891) 1,293, of whom 825 were Gaelic-speaking.

Ordnance Survey Sheets 20, 12, 1876 - 1872.

MACHRIHANISH BAY, a bay on the W coast of Kintyre, Argyllshire. It is flanked on the N by Glenacardoch
Point, 5 miles SSE of Cara island, on the S by Earadale Point, 6¾ miles N of The Mull of Kintyre and the distance
between these points is 13½ miles.

It nowhere however penetrates the land to an extent of more than 2¼ miles from the entrance line and that at the
mouth of Machrihanish Water, 4¾ miles W of Campbeltown, so that it lies all open to the W and has an unindented
and unsheltered coast.

There is a post office here, with money order, savings bank and telegraph departments; also an Episcopal Mission
Station. Machrihanish golf-links are now almost world-famous.

'The long crescent of Machrihanish', to quote from The Life of Norman Madcod (1870), 'girdled by sands wind-tossed
into fantastic hillocks, receives the full weight of The Atlantic. Woe to the luckless vessel caught within those
relentless jaws', etc.

Ordnance Survey Sheets 20, 12, 1876 - 1872.

SOUTHEND, a village and a parish at the southern extremity of the peninsula of Kintyre, Argyllshire. The village
stands 9½ miles S by W of Campbeltown under which it has a post office, with money order, savings bank and
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telegraph departments.

The parish, comprising the ancient parishes of Kilcolmkill and Kilblane, includes the island of SANDA and the
adjacent islets and has been called Southend since The Reformation.

It is bounded N by the parish of Campbeltown and on all other sides by the sea. Its from length from E to W is 10¾
miles, its breadth, from N to S, varies between 2¾ and 6¼ miles and its area is 31,160 acres, of which 277½ acres
are foreshore and 81½ acres are water.

The coast, 20½ miles in extent, is slightly indented by three or four little baylets capable of affording anchorage to
vessels and terminates on the SW in the bold broad promontory of The Mull of Kintyre.
It is chiefly sandy in the E, but high, bold and very rocky in the W, its high bold parts abound with caves and presents
a striking appearance as seen from the sea. The interior exhibits a picturesque variety of heights and hollows, pastoral
hills and arable vales, low grounds and healthy eminences.

Chief elevations, from E to W, are Kerran Hill (775 feet), Tod Hill (610 feet), Cnoc Mor (399 feet), Cnoc Odhar *
(907 feet), Beinn na Lice (1405 feet) and Cnoc Moy * (1102 feet), where asterisks * mark those summits that culminate
on the northern border. The last of these, Cnoc Moy, commands a magnificent panoramic view.

Two brooks, Conieglen Water and the Breackerie Water, which drain the surface southward to the sea, are subject to
sudden inundating freshets and sometimes cut out for themselves leaches of new channel.

Mica slate trap, Old Red Sandstone and limestone are the principal rocks and the trap has been quarried for masonry
and the limestone worked for manure. The soil on the eastern seaboard is a light loam mixed with sand or gravel, that
on the slopes of the hills is mostly a light gravel on till. The proportion of arable land to pasture is nearly as 1 to 15.

Antiquities, other than that noticed under DUNAVERTY CASTLE, are Scandanavian forts, some ancient standing
stones and ruins or vestiges of three pre-Reformation chapels, one of which is said to have been founded by St
Columba.

Mansions, noticed separately, are CARSKEY and KEIL and The Duke of Argyll owns nearly five-sixths of the entire
rental.

Southend is in The Presbytery of Kintyre and The Synod of Argyll; the living is worth £193. The parish church was
built in 1774 and contains 600 sittings. There is a Free Church preaching station; the U.P. Church, originally The
'Relief' Church, was built in 1798.

Two public schools, at Glenbreakerie and Southend, with respective accommodation for 45 and 150 children, had
(1893) an average attendance of 32 and 63 and grants of £53. 15s and £98. 8s.

Population (1801) 1,825; (1831) 2,120; (18610 1,214; (1881) 955; (1891) 844 of whom 116 were Gaelic speaking.

Ordnance Survey Sheet 12, 1872.

CARSKEY, an estate, with a modern mansion, in the parish and 4 miles WSW of the hamlet of Southend, Kintyre,
Argyllshire. Carskey Bay here, 4 miles ENE of The Mull of Kintyre, affords occasional anchorage to vessels.

KEIL, an estate, with a modern mansion, in Southend parish, Argyllshire. The mansion stands near the extremity of
Kintyre, opposite Sanda island, 10½ miles SSW of Campbeltown and the estate extends a considerable distance along
the coast. A ruined church, near the mansion, is traditionally alleged to occupy a spot visited by St Columba on his
way from Ireland to Iona and an ancient stone cross, supposed to have been erected to the memory of the saint, also
stood here but is now represented by only the pedestal. Several large caves are on the coast and one of them is alleged
by the native peasantry to extend 6 miles inland to Killellan Hill.

Ordnance Survey Sheet 12, 1872.

DUNAVERTY CASTLE, a quandam castle in Southend parish, Argyllshire, on a small bay of its own name, 5
miles E by N of The Mull of Kintyre and 10½ miles SSW of Campbeltown. Crowning a steep pyramidal peninsula (95
feet), with a cliff descending sheer to the sea and deffended on the land side by a double or triple rampart and a fosse,

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it appears, both from its site and its structure, to have been a place of uncommon strength and commanded the
approach to Scotland at the narrowest part of sea between Scotland and Ireland.

An early strong hold of The Lords of the Isles, said to have given shelter to Robert Bruce at the ebb of his fortunes, it
was captured and garrisoned by James IV in 1493 and in the following year recaptured by Sir John of Isla who hanged
the governor from the wall, in sight of The King and the fleet.

In 1647 it capitulated to General David Leslie, who put every mother's son of its garrison to the sword, instigated
thereto by Mr John Nave, his excellency's chaplain, who 'never ceased to tempt him to that bloodshed, yea and
threatened him with the curses that befell Saul for sparing the Amalekites'. The castle has been so completely
demolished that scarcely a vestige of it now exists.

SANDA, a small island, belonging to the parish of Southend, Argyllshire. It lies at the W side of the entrance of The
Firth of Clyde, 1¾ miles SSE of the nearest part of the peninsula of Kintyre, 6¾ miles ESE of The Mull of Kintyre
and 10 miles S by E of Campbeltown.

It has an utmost length and breadth of 1¼ and ¾ mile and a circumference of 4 miles; consists of sandstone rock and
has a tumulated surface, with an extreme altitude of 405 feet above sea level.

Moderately high cliffs form part of its shores and one of these is pierced with a very large natural arch and forms a very
picturesque object. The island is covered with good grass and is all disposed in sheep-walk, in the tenancy of one
farmer.

Two islets, called Sheep Isle and Glunimore, lie off its NE side and are also clothed in good grass. A small, good,
natural harbour lies between it and these islets and is a place of shelter and rendezvous for the smaller sort of vessels
which navigate the Clyde. This harbour was a common station of the Scandinavian fleets during the contests for the
possession of Kintyre and The Hebrides.

The island, in this connection, was then called Avona Porticosa, a name which it still retains, in the abbreviated form
of Avon, among The Highlanders; but it figures, under its more proper name of Sanda, in the more ancient record of
Adamnan's Life of Columba.

There are remains on it of an ancient chapel which was dedicated to Columba and of a circumjacent cemetery which
appears to have long posscsscd some superstitious celebrity.

A dangerous rock, above a mile in circumference and bearing the name of Paterson's Rock, lies 1 mile E by N of
Sanda and, being always covered by the flood tide, has endangered many a vessel.

A lighthouse, erected on Sanda in 1850 at a cost of £11,931 and, altered in 1881, shows an occulting light in a SW
direction, from NW ½ W round to SE by E ½ E, visible at the distance of 18 nautical miles. There is also a fog syren.

Population (1811) 11; (1861) 30; (1871) 67; (1881) 14; (1891) 36.

Ordnance Survey Sheet 12, 1872.

KINTYRE PARISHES - CAMPBELTOWN

CAMPBELTOWN, a town and a parish of Kintyre, Argyllshire. A royal and parliamentary burgh, a seat of con-
siderable manufacture, a seaport and the centre of a fishery district, the town is situated at the head of a bay, called
Campbeltown Loch, on the E side of Kintyre, 11 miles by land NE of The Mull of Kintyre and 35 SSW of Tarbert,
whilst by water it is 39 miles W by S of Ayr and 83 SW of Glasgow.

To quote from the Memoir of Norman Macleod, DJ). (1876), 'Campbeltown lies at the head of a loch which, ¾ mile in
breadth, curves westward for 2¾ miles into the long promontory of Kintyre, not far from its southern termination.

'The loch forms a splendid harbour. The island of Davarr (300 feet), thrown out like a sentinel from tho hills and
connected with the shore on the SW side by a natural mole of gravel, protects it from every wind; while, from its
position near the stormy Mull of Kintyre, whose precipices breast the full swing of The Atlantic, it affords a secure
haven to ships which have rounded that dreaded headland.

8
'The external aspect of the town is very much like that of any other Scotch seaport, a central cluster of streets, with
one or two plain churches lifting their square shoulders above the other houses, a quay, a lean steeple, the chimneys
of some distilleries, thinner rows of whitewashed houses stretching round the "Lochend" and breaking up into
detached villas buried in woods and shrubberies.

'The bay of Campbeltown is however both picturesque and lively. Cultured fields clothe the slopes of the hills, whose
tops are purple with heather and beyond which ranges of higher mountains lift their rough heads.

'There are fine glimpses too of coast scenery, especially to the S, where the headlands of Kilkerran fall steeply into the
sea. But the bay forms the true scene of interest, as it is the rendezvous of hundreds of fishing-smacks and wherries.

'There is continual movement on its waters, the flapping and filling of the brown sails, the shouts of the men and the
"whirr" of the chain-cable as an anchor is dropped, keep the port constantly astir.
Larger vessels are also perpetually coming and going, stormed-stayed merchant ships, smaller craft engaged in coast
traffic, graceful yachts and Revenue cruisers'.

A plain, 5 miles in length and 3 in breadth, extends from the head of the bay westward to tho shore of The Atlantic
and from both sides of the bay and of the plain, the surface rises into groups of hills.

Those hills to the N are bare and, not exceeding 710 feet above sea-level, do little more than diversify the landscape;
but those to the S have a considerable aggrogate of wood and go boldly aloft, with diversity of contour, to a
culminating altitude of 1104 feet in Beinn Ghuilean, 1¾ miles SSE of Campbeltown.

The site of the town was the original scat of the Dalriadan monarchy, then bearing the name of Dalruadhain. It was
long the centre of a numerous population but, after the removal of the seat of the Dalnadan kingdom to the shores of
Lorn, it became comparatively deserted.

St Ciaran, one of the 'Twelve Apostles of Ireland', landing in the 6th century at Dalruadhain, spent much time in a
cave about 4 miles distant, still known as Covc-a-Chiaran and founded a great number of small churches throughout
Kintyre, vestiges of somo of which yet exist. He came to be regarded as the apostle and the patron saint of all Kintyre
and was viewed as specially the founder and patron of the mother church at Dalruadhain, insomuch that the place
changed its name to Chille-a-Chiaran, or, in modernised form, Kilkcrran.

The Macdonalds, Lords of The Isles, sprung from a powerful chief of Kintyre, adopted Kilkerran, being 1087
fishermen and boys, 38 curers, 830 coopers, gutters and others and the total value of boats, nets and lines being
estimated at £19,321.

Shipbuilding is a recent development, 3 vessels of 2,729 tons having been launched here in 1893 (against one of 770
tons in 1892).

The whisky distilleries however are still the distinctive features of the place, there now being 23, a decrease of 2 since
the New Statistical Account was written. The quantity of proof spirits annually produced is somewhat under 2,000,000
gallons, the duty on which is about £967,000 and which, bearing a high repute, are exported to The Lowlands,
England, Ireland and foreign countries.

There are besides, a small woollen factory, a net factory, a rope-walk, the neighbouring Drumlemble colliery, etc..

The burgh is governed by a provost, a senior and a junior bailie, a dean of guild, a treasurer and twelve councillors.

A sheriff court is held every Friday and a justice of peace court on the first Monday of every month. The town council
are police commissioners. The town, as to its police force, is united to the county and is the superintendent's station
for the district of Kintyre.

The corporation revenue, inclusive of income from the harbour, was £1,544 in 1852; £1,870 in 1862; £3,334 in 1870;
£11,377 in 1860 and £12,302 in 1891.

Campbeltown unites with Ayr, Irvine, Inveraray and Oban in sending a member to parliament, its parliamentary
constituency numbering 918 in 1891.

The annual value of real property, £14,182 in 1863, was £33,618 in 1891.
9
Population of parliamentary burgh (1891) 8,235.

The parish of Campbeltown contains also the villages of Dalintober and Drumlemble. Comprising the four ancient
parishes of Kilkivan, Kilmichael, Kilkerran and Kilchousland, it was consolidated, under the name of Kinlochkerran
or Lochhead, soon after The Reformation.

It is bounded N by Killean and Saddell, E by The Firth of Clyde, S by Southend and W by The Atlantic Ocean.

Its length from N to S varies between 5½ and 11¾ miles, its breadth between 4½ and 10½ miles and its land area is
44,220 acres. The extent of western coast is about 8 miles, the eastern coastline being about 4 miles long.

Campbeltown Loch on the E and Machrihanish Bay on the W lie opposite each other and render the plain between
them much the narrowest part of the parish.
The shore on the E is chiefly rocky toward the N, a sandy beach on both sides of Campbeltown Loch and boldly
precipitous toward the S; but on the W, except to the S, is entirely sandy.

The plain of 5 miles in breadth, already noticed as extending from the bend of Campbeltown Loch to Machrihanish
Bay, bears the name of Laggan of Kintyre and presents some appearance of being alluvial, or rather diluvial and pro-
bably, at a comparatively recent geological period, lay under the sea.

From it the surface rises northward to a hill near Aucha Lochy (710 feet), Ballivulline Hill (600 feet), Ranachan Hill
(706 feet), Skeroblin Cruach (640 feet), Easach Hill (1064 feet) and Sgreadan Hill (1298 feet); southward to Beinn
Ghuilean (1154 feet), Ballimenach Hill (379 feet), Achinhoan Hill (980 feet), Arinarach Hill (1031 feet), Tirfirgus Hill
(853 feet), Skerry Fell Fad (781 feet), The Slate (1263 feet) and, on the Southend border, Cnoc Moy (1462 feet).

Of these Beinn Ghuilean, 1¾ miles SSE of the town, commands a magnificent view of the Ayrshire coast, The Firth
of Clyde, Kintyre, the NE of Ireland and the Islay and Jura group of The Hebrides.

Sheets of water are Black Loch (1 x ½ furlong), The Reservoir (3 x 1 furlongs), Aucha Lochy (2½ x 1½ furlongs) and
three or four others; streams are Machrihanish Water, flowing westward and Glenlussa Water, flowing eastward.

The rocks are variously eruptive, metamorphic, Silurian, Devonian and carboniferous; and include quartz, porphyry,
sandstone, limestone, coal and ironstone.

Drumlemble Colliery, 3¾ miles W by S of the town, has an annual output of around 100,000 tons, the seam, though
limited in area, being thick and highly productive.

Porphyry on Davarr islet of not fewer than ten or twelve different kinds, very beautiful, easily wrought and capable of
a fine polish, has hitherto been neglected and a kind of porphyry, much used for local building, is quarried on the
estate of Kilkivan. Calc-spar and a kind of quartz, inclining to amethyst, are found in various places.

Salt, from sea-water, was formerly manufactured, on a considerable scale, at a place on Machribanish Bay, still called
The Salt Pans.

The soils are of various character, according to the elevation or contour of the land and to the character of the
subjacent rocks and range from very good on alluvial tracts to very poor on the hill summits.

About two-thirds of the entire area are under tillage; a considerable aggregate is under wood and the remainder is
either pasture or heath.

Vestiges of a battery, commonly called Th Trench, raised for defence against the Irish allies of The Marquis of
Montrose under Colkitto, are on a point of land at the entrance of Campbeltown Loch.

Elizabeth, first Duchess of Argyll (d. 1735), the mother of the great Duke John and of Duke Archibald, lived for
more than 20 years at Limecraigs and was interred at the S comer of the now ruinous Lowland Kirk.

In the town was born the celebrated Norman Macleod, D.D. (1812 - 1872), his father being parish minister from 1808
to 1825 and a well-known D.P. minister of Campbeltown was Thos. Finlayson, D.D. (1809 - 1872).

Mansions are Limecraigs, Kildalloig, Drumore, Kilchrist Castle, Lossett Parkand Askomil.
10
The Duke of Argyll is chief proprietor, but 8 other landowners hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 30 of
between £100 and £500, 46 of from £60 to £100 and 100 of from £20 to £50.

Campbeltown is in The Presbytery of Kintyre and Synod of Argyll. The charge is collegiate and the two ministers
officiate in both churches, at alternately the forenoon and the afternoon services, the income of the first minister
being £248, of the second £253.

Under the landward school-board are the four public schools of Auchencorvie, Drumlemble, Kilmichael and
Peninver, which, with respective accommodation for 60, 128, 72 and 52 children, had (1891) an average attendance
of 49, 109, 39 and 38 and grants of £77. 2s., £106. 2s. 6d., £55., 7s. and £61. 3s.

The parish has a poor house for itself, with accommodation for 121 inmates.

Valuation £29,866. 2s. 7d.

Population (1801) 7,008; (1841) 9,634; (1861) 8,149; (1871) 8,580; (1881) 9,749; (1891) 10,260.

Ordnance Survey Sheet 12, 1872.

DAVAAR or Devar, a small island in the mouth of Campbeltown Loch, Campbeltown parish, Argyllshire. Rising
300 feet above sea-level, it has an utmost length and breadth of 5 and 4½ furlongs and serves as a natural breakwater
to Campbeltown harbour, protecting it from wind and wave. To the S side of the loch's mouth it is joined by a sand-
bar ½ mile long, bare at low water and its north-eastern point is crowned with a lighthouse that shows a bright white
light every half minute, visible at the distance of 17 nautical miles.

SADDELL and SKIPNESS, a parish on the E side of Kintyre peninsula, Argyllshire, formed from the parishes of
Killean and Kilcalmoncll in 1753.

It contains tho villago of CARRADALE, 13 miles N by E of Campbeltown and 22 S by E of Tarbert, with a post
office, having money order, savings bank and telegraph departments and a hotel; other villages being Saddell, 4 miles
S by W, and SKIPNESS, 15½ miles N by E of Carradale.

The parish is bounded NE by the lower waters of Loch Fyne, E by Kilbrannan Sound, SW by Campbeltown, W by
Killean and Kilcalmonell and NW by Kilcalmonell.

Its utmost length, from NNE to SSW, is 24¼ miles; its breadth varies between 1¾ and 5 miles, whilst tapering
northward and southward to a point and its area is 74½ square miles or 47,663 acres, of which 300 acres are water,
480 acres are foreshore and 10 acres tidal water.

The coast, extending 6¼ miles south-south-eastward and southward along Loch Fyne to Skipncss Point and thence
24¼ miles south-south-wcstward along Kilbrannan Sound, is indented by only one good-sized inlet, Carradale Bay,
which projects but one considerable headland, Carradale Point (133 feet high) and mostly rises steeply from the sea to
a height of over 100 feet.

Of seventeen streams that run to Kilbrannan Sound, much the largest is Carradale Water, others being Skipness,
Claonaig and Saddell Waters; whilst of fifteen small fresh-water lochs the chief are Loch Romain (4 x 1 furlong; 612
feet) and Loch Tana (2¼ x 1 furlong; 605 feet).

The surface is hilly everywhere, in places mountainous, the principal summits from N to S being Cruach Doire Leithe
(1230 feet), Coire nan Capull (1095 feet), Fuar Larach (886 feet), Creag Mhor (741 feet), Cnoc an Samhlaidh (866
feet), Deucharan Hill (1081 feet), Cnoc nan Gabhar (753 feet ), Beinn Bhrcac (1398 feet), Meall Donn (1138 feet),
BEN AN TUIRC (1491 feet), Cnocmalavilach (855 feet) and Bord Mor (1338 feet).

BEN AN TUIRC (Gael. 'Mountain of The Wild Boar'), a mountain on the mutual border of Saddell and Killean
parishes, 10 miles N by E of Campbeltown.

Of these, Ben an Tuirc commands a magnificent view of seven Scottish and two Irish counties, from Corsill Point in
Wigtownshire to Ben More in Mull and Ben Lomond in Stirlingshire.

The hills are neither steep, barren, nor rocky, but generally covered with an intermixture of grass and heath and,
11
rising regularly and with easy ascent from the shore, they have flat summits, or stretch away into small tablelands.

The glens, all running from NW to SE, usually open, at their lower ends, upon beautiful little bays and they enjoy so
great a degree of heat and such happy visitations of fertilising showers, as are highly favourable to agriculture.

A stranger traversing the parish lengthwise along the road is presented with a great variety of land and sea views and
alternately moves along a delightful bank overlooking the sea and Buteshire and suddenly descends into pleasant woods
and valleys.

Mica slate, intersected with quartzite and basaltic veins, is the predominant rock and granite occurs in large boulders.
The soil in the bottom of the glens is a fine alluvium; that of the higher arable lands is light and sandy.

At Saddell village, near the right bank of Saddell Water, stand the tree-embowered ruins of Saddell Abbey. Its
cruciform minster measured 130 by 24 feet, or 78 across the transept and the cloister-garth to the S was 58 feet square;
but little remains save portions of the choir wall and the N transept. In the churchyard are some most interesting
sculptured effigies and hard by is a holy well.

The abbey of 'Saghadul' or Saddell was founded for Cistercian monks by Kaguall or Reginald, the second son of
Somerled, who himself is styled King of The Isles and Argyll and who died in 1207. It made peace with Haco of
Norway in 1263 and in 1507 was, with all its possessions, annexed by James IV to The Bishopric of Argyll.

Saddell Castle, 3 furlongs SSE, at the head of Saddell Bay, is a large square battlemented tower. Hither Ragnall's
great-grandson, Angus Og, is said to have welcomed Robert Bruce in 1300, after the defeats of Methven and Dalry.

Other antiquities, besides those noticed under Carradale and Skipness, are several cairns, tumuli and hill-forts.

Opposite Saddell Castle stands Saddell or Glensaddell House, the seat of John Neil Maclcod, Esq. of Kintarbert.

Other mansions, noticed separately, are Carradale House, Cour, Skipncss Castle and Torrisdale Castle.

The parish is in The Presbytery of Kintyre and The Synod of Argyll, this parish, since 1871, has been ecclesiastically
divided into Saddell and Skipness, the former a living worth £155. Saddell Parish Church, at Carradale village, was
built about 1771 and contains over 800 sittings. There is a Free Church of Carradale and Skipness and four public
schools, Carradale, Saddell, Skipness and Sperasaig, with respective accommodation for 158, 54, 54 and 30 children,
had (1893) an average attendance of 123, 37, 23 and 16 and grants of £138. 16s. 6d, £51. 16s. 6d, £43. 15s. 6d and
£25. 10s. 6d.

Population (1801) 1,767; (1831) 2,152; (1801) 1,227; (1871) 1,153; (1881) 1,103; (1891) 1,150 of whom 698 were
Gaelic-spcaking and 761 were in Saddell ecclesiastical parish.

Ordnance Survey Sheets 20, 21, 29, 12, 1870 - 1876.

CARRADALE, a village, a rivulet and a bay on the E side of Kintyre, Argyllshire. The village, in Saddell parish,
stands on the bay, at the mouth of the rivulet, 13 miles N by E of Campbeltown; at it are a post office, with money
order, savings bank and telegraph departments, an iron steam-boat pier (1871), a hotel, Saddell Parish Church, a
Free Church (Carradale and Skipness) and a public school.

Carradale Water, formed by the Drochaid and Narachan Burns, runs about 7 miles south-south-eastward to the bay;
has a considerable volume and is an excellent angling-stream, frequented by salmon. The bay is flanked, on the NE
side, by a rocky headland, the Aird of Carradale (133 feet); is 1 mile broad and 5 furlongs long and opens, with
south-south-eastward exposure, into the southern part of Kilbrannan Sound.

Remains of an old fort, which must once have been a place of some importance, mounting 210 feet by 72, are on the
Aird of Carradale and ruins of an oval vitrified fort, 450 feet in circumference, crown a small peninsula, on the W side
of the bay. Carradale House, at its head, is a seat of Col. D. C. R. C. Buchanan C.B. of Drumpellier (b. 1825; suc.
1810), who owns 18,000 acres in the shire, valued at £2575.

GROGPORT, a coastal village in Saddell parish, E Kintyre, Argyllshire, 5 miles N of Carradale.

12
CLAONAIG, a burn in Saddell and Skipness parish, N Kintyre, Argyllshire, which, formed by the Larachmor and
lesser head-streams, winds 2½ miles south-eastward, past Skipness church, to Kilbrannan Sound, 2¾ miles WSW of
Skipness Point. It abounds in trout and sea-trout.

SKIPNESS (Norse 'ship point'), a village and a quoad sacra parish on the E side of the Kintyre peninsula, Argyllshire.

The village lying on a small bay of its own name, at the northern entrance to Kilbrannan Sound, 4½ miles to the
NNW of Loch Ranza in Arran, 12 miles by road S by E of Tarbert. It has a post office, with money order, savings
bank and telegraph departments; and 1¾ mile to the NE is a quay, erected at a cost of £3,000.

The old castle of Skipness stands 5½ furlongs E by N of the village and 3 furlongs WNW of low Skipness Point,
which divides Kilbrannan Sound frorn the entrance to Loch Fyne. An imposing structure, of high antiquity, but in
good preservation, it forms a square, with an inner court. The outer wall is 7 feet thick, 33 feet high and 450 feet in
circumference. The western side is flanked by a small central tower; whilst of two projecting towers, one at the SE
and one at the NE corner, the former was known as Tur an t'sagairt ('the priest's tower') and the latter was evidently
the keep of the castle. A portcullis defended the entrance.
Modern Skipness Castle is the seat of Robert Chellas Graham, Esq. (b. 1848), who is Lord of The Barony of Skipness,
having purchased this property in 1867.

The quoad sacra parish, forming the northern portion of the civil parish of SADDELL and SKIPNESS and
constituted in 1871, is in The Presbytery of Kintyre and The Synod of Argyll; the minister's stipend is £165. The
church, on the left bank of Claonaig Water, 2¼ miles WSW of Skipness village, was built in 1750 at a cost of £300
and was improved in the interior in 1892.

Population (1871) 500; (1881) 470; (1891) 395 of whom 298 were Gaelic-speaking.

Ordnance Survey Sheet 21, 1870.

KNAPDALE, a district of Argyllshire. It is bounded on the N by Loch Crinan, The Crinan Canal and Loch Gilp,
which separate it from Lorn and Argyll proper; on the E by Loch Fyne, which separates it from Cowal; on the S by
the Tarbert isthmus and the West and East Lochs of Tarbert, which separate it from Kintyre; on the W by the Islay
Sea and The Sound of Jura, which separate it from Islay and Jura.

Its greatest length, from N to S, is 27 miles and its greatest breadth is 9 miles. It is prevented only by the narrow
Tarbert isthmus from being a continuation northward of the peninsula of Kintyre and it is so deeply indented on the W
by Lochs Caolisport and Loch Swin as to be itself, in a great measure, cut into three peninsulas, the largest between
West Loch Tarbert and Loch Caolisport; the smallest between Loch Swin and The Sound of Jura.

It now is not a political division of the county, but is placed partly in the political division of Argyll proper and partly in
that of Islay.

It formerly was all one parish, but now is divided into the two parishes of North Knapdale and South Knapdale.

It anciently was called Kilvick-Charmaig, signifying 'the church or burying-ground of the son of Carmaig' and the
Carmaig to whom that name alludes is said to have been an Irish missionary, who first preached Christianity to the
natives.

Its present name is compounded of two Celtic words signifying 'a rounded hill' and 'a plain', indicates a country mainly
composed of rounded hills and intersecting dales and is perfectly descriptive of the district's surface.

The two clans Macmillan and Macneil seem to have anciently possessed all Knapdale, but they now are very sparsely
found within its limits.

NORTH KNAPDALE, a parish in Knapdale territorial district and Islay political district, Argyllshire. Formed out
of the large old parish of Knapdale in 1734, it includes tho port of CRINAN and the small village of Bellanoch.

It is bounded N by the Crinan Canal, E by South Knapdale, S and W by The Sound of Jura. Its utmost length, from
N to S, is 12 miles; its utmost breadth is 6 miles and its land area is 26,293 acres.

Bellanoch is a small village in the N of the parish with a population in 1891 of 223. It is situated on the southern bank
13
of the Crinan Canal, 6 miles SW of Ardrishaig, in a glen which here forms a fine triangular sheet of water and
terminates at Crinan, about a mile farther west. It has a post office and a public school. A number of small islands,
including the inhabited ones of Danna and Ulva, lie off the W coast.

Loch Swin, from foot to head, penetrates the interior and peninsulates the north-western district at three different
points.

The coast, along the W and within Loch Swin, is fully 50 miles in extent; its shores aro much diversified by rocky
bluffs and abrupt projections, which rise in many places boldly to heights of 300 feet; but it includes some reaches of
gentle slope or moderate acclivity.

The interior mainly consists of hill and dale, being much diversified in both its upland and its lowland portions and
possessing a large aggregate of wood and water. It abounds, especially rouud the shores of Loch Swin, in picturesque
close scenes and commands from many vantage-grounds extensive and magnificent views.

The loftiest height is Cruach-Lussach (2004 feet); other conspicuous eminences are Dunardary, Duntaynish, Ervary
and Arichonan.

The principal heights, culminating in Cruach-Lussach, form a chain or continuous watershed, extending from NE to
SW and the subordinate heights lie variously arranged on the two sides of this chain, declining shore-wards into gentle
declivities; whilst a tract between the western ones and Loch Swin, with a breadth of nearly 1 mile, is a slightly
inclined plain.

Several considerable burns, one of them making a beautiful cascade near Inverlussa Church, rise in the interior and
run to the sea; some twenty-one fresh-water lochs, the largest not more than 3 miles in circumference, lie dispersed
through the interior, principally in the N and excellent springs, some of them strongly impregnated with lime, are
abundant.

The soil of the arable lands is sandy, gravelly, mossy, or loamy and, at the SW extremity, is rich, friable and very
productive.

About one-eighth of the entire area is in tillage; woods and plantations cover more than 2000 acres and the rest of the
land is either pastoral or waste.

Antiquities, other than CASTLE SWIN, are a mound near Crinan on which The Lords of The Isles are said to have
held courts of justice, remains of three old forts or watch-towers, the ruin of the chapel of St Carmaig, an ancient
cross 9 feet high and the ruins of the religious house of Drimnacraig.

CASTLE SWIN, a ruined fortalice in North Knapdale parish, Argyllshire, crowning a rock on the eastern shore of
Loch Swin, 2 miles from its mouth. Traditionally said to have been built in the early part of the 11th century by
Sweno, Prince of Denmark, it includes portions whose date must bo very much later; it measures 105 feet in length
and 35 feet in height and its walls are 7 feet thick. It figured long and prominently in the wars which desolated the
Western Mainland and The Hebrides; it afterwards was occupied as a royal fort, in the hereditary keeping of The Earls
of Argyll and it was besieged, captured and burned by Montrose's lieutenant, Macdonald of Colkitto.

Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell (d. 1791), who figured in The American War and was afterwards Governor of
Jamaica, was a native.

In 1796 Thomas Campbell was tutor at the old house of Downie and the hill of Arichonan, which he is said to have
frequented in his leisure hours, still bears the name of 'Poet's Hill'. Malcolm of Poltalloch is the chief proprietor.

North Knapdale is in The Presbytery of Inveraray and Synod of Argyll; the living is worth £334, exclusive of manse.
The parish church, at Kilmichael Inverlussa, built in 1820 and since altered, contains 200 sittings and Tayvallich
Chapel of Ease, on the other side of Loch Swin, 3 miles distant by sea but 10 miles distant by land, was built in 1827
and contains 700 sittings. There is also a Free Church and three public schools, Ashfield, Bellanoch and Tayvallich,
with respective accommodation for 39, 73 and 100 children, had (1892) an average attendance of 7, 53 and 37 and
grants of £21. 1s. 6d., £77. 2s. 6d. and £61. 19s.

Population (1801) 2,401; (1831) 2,583; (1861) 1,327; (1871) 1,059; (1881) 927; (1891) 867 of whom 770 were Gaelic-
speaking.
14
ARDRISHAIG, a seaport village in Soulh Knapdale parish and a quoad sacra parish, partly also in Glassary parish,
Argyllshire. The village stands on the W side of Loch Gilp, at the entrance of The Crinan Canal, 2 miles SSW of
Lochgilphead.

The entrepôt of the canal, the port of Lochgilphead and the centre of an extensive herring fishery, it mainly consists of
plain-looking cottages with a few neat villas, pleasantly situated on a green hill-side and it has a post office, with money
order, savings bank, insurance and telegraph departments, several hotels, a very commodious harbour, with a pier and
a slip, an Established church (1860), a Free Church, a Board school to accommodate 238 children and an Episcopal
school.

The vessels passing through The Crinan Canal occasion considerable business, several steamers daily in summer arriving
and departing from and to Greenock; large quantities of sheep and cattle are shipped and during the fishing season
about 170 fishing boats are in service.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert landed here on August 18, 1847, on their way from Inveraray to Ardverikie.

Population of village (1871) 1,177; (1881) 1,224; (1891) 1,258.

The quoad sacra parish, constituted in 1875, is 7 miles loung and 1 mile broad and is in The Presbytery of Inveraray and
The Synod of Argyll; its minister's income is £195.

CRINAN, a village, a sea-loch and a canal, in Argyllshire. The village, called sometimes Port Crinan, stands in
Kilmartin parish, on the northern side of the sea-loch, not far from the W end of the canal, 5¼ miles WNW of
Lochgilphead, under which it has a post-office and at it are an excellent inn, a wharf and slip and a lighthouse.

The steamers, in the line of communication between Glasgow and Oban, call at it and here Queen Victoria and Prince
Albert spent the night of August 18, 1843 on board The Royal Yacht.

The sea-loch, extending 4½ miles north-westward, opens into the upper part of The Sound of Jura, adjacent to the
mouth of Loch Craignish and leads the way, round Craignish Point, to the passage between Scarba and Luing islands,
to The Firth of Lorn.

Its head its narrow and tame; but most of its north-eastern side is rich in interesting features and its mouth, 3 miles
wide, between Craignish and Ardmore Points, with a group of islets in its own waters and with the northern extremity
of Jura in front, is strikingly picturesque.

The canal goes from the middle of the W side of Loch Gilp, 9 miles west-north-westward, to Loch Crinan, in the
vicinity of Crinan village and enables vessels of 200 tons burden, from the upper Firth of Clyde to The Firth of Lorn,
to avoid the difficult and circuitous passage of 70 miles round The Mull of Kintyre.

Projected by Sir John Rennie in 1793, at an estimated cost of £63,678, it was opened in 1801 at an actual cost of
£141,810 and even then other loans had to be obtained, which by 1814 had burdened The Company with a debt of
£67,810.

It is cut chiefly through chlorite schist, traversed by trap dykes and showing indications of great geognostic disturbance
and has eight locks between Loch Gilp and the summit-level (59 feet) and seven between that and Loch Crinan,
thirteen of these locks being each 96 feet long and 24 wide and the other two 108 feet long and 27 feet wide.

The average depth of water is only 10 feet, the canal being fed by reservoirs on the hill above, whose bursting
(February 2, 1859) washed away part of the banks and choked the channel for upwards of a mile with debris. The
repairs took a sum of £16,000, which was disbursed by The Government.

The canal is used chiefly by small coasting and fishing vessels, by 'puffers' (goods steamboats) plying between the
Clyde and Inverness and by an elegant, roomy and well-appointed steamboat conveying passengers between the large
passenger steamers at Ardrishaig and Port Crinan.

Since 1818 the canal has been managed by The Commissioners of The Caledonian Canal. Its revenues arising from the
tolls have, on the average, been barely sufficient to cover the current expenses of maintenance and repair.

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SOUTH KNAPDALE, a parish in Knapdale territorial district and in Argyll political district, Argyllshire. It contains
the post-town and harbour of ARDRISHAIG, the post-office hamlet of ACHAHOISH and part of the post-town of
TARBERT and it enjoys from these places regular steamboat communication.

Formed out of the large old parish of Knapdale in 1734, it is bounded N by North Knapdale and The Crinan Canal,
NE by Loch Gilp, E by Loch Fyne, S by Kilcalmonoll and West Loch Tarbert and W by The Sound of Jura.

Its area was considerably enlarged by The Boundary Commissioners in 1891, when the Kilberry district of the parish of
Kilcalmonell, comprising no less than 21,915 acres, was transferred to it.

Its utmost length, from N to S, is 21 miles; its utmost breadth 7 miles and its land area 74,475 acres. Several islets lie
off the W coast and, though uninhabited, afford good pasturage.

The west coast presents a bold front to the billows of The Atlantic and towards the southern extremity of the Kilberry
district is indented by small Loch Stornoway, between which bay and Loch Tarbert it terminates in the headland of
ARDPATRICK (285 feet).

ARDPATRICK, a hamlet and a headland at the N side of the mouth of West Loch Tarbert and at the SW extremity of
Knapdale, Argyllshire. The hamlet is 10 miles SW of Tarbert, under which it has a post office, with money order and
savings bank departments. The headland is said to have been the landing-place of St Patrick, on his way from Ireland to
Iona.

ACHAHOISH, a hamlct in Knapdale, Argyllshire, at the head of Loch Killisport, 10½ miles SW of Lochgilphead.
It has a post office under Ardrishuig.

The E coast, with an extent of 12 miles, presents a slightly undulated shoreline and a pleasantly-diversified, hilly
seaboard. The W coast is distinguished chiefly by the ascent from it of Loch Caolisport up the boundary with North
Knapdale; has several fine bays, which afford safe anchorage and presents shores and seaboard, partly bold and partly
gradual.

The interior, for the most part, is rough upland. A range, called Sliabach-Goail, extends right across it; contains the
highest ground, with mountain elevation above sea-level and commands one of the most extensive, varied and grandly
picturesque views in Great Britain, from Islay to the Perthshire Grampians and from Mull and Ben Cruachan to the
north of Ireland, with everywhere a crowded intervening space of lofty heights and belts of sea. Other hills, less lofty
and interesting, extend parallel to this principal range and are separated from one another by deep, well-sheltered
vales.

Burns and torrents are numerous and the larger ones are subject to such winter floods as render them in many parts
impassable. Five or six fresh-water lochs lie in hollows; but, with one or two exceptions, they can be seen only from
the summits of the highest hills and they add very little to the beauty or interest of the landscape.

The extent of arable land bears but a small proportion to that of waste and pasture lands and is very much intersected
by hills and marshes. The soil, on some of the low grounds, is loamy; on most of the other arable grounds, it is of a
mossy nature, incumbent upon sand. Wood, both natural and planted, covers a considerable area. A lead mine was
for some time worked on Inverneill estate.

Antiquities are remains of three and the sites of four, pre-Reformation chapels.

Mansions, noticed separately, are Ardpatrick, Auchindarroch, Barmore, Dunmore, Erins, Inverneill, Kilberry,
Ormsary and Stonefield.

KILBERRY CASTLE, a mansion in South Knapdale parish, Argyllshire, near the E shore of The Sound of Jura, 16
miles WSW of Tarbert. Founded 1197, burned by an English pirate 1513, rebuilt 1844 and enlarged 1871, it is the
seat of Jn. Campbell, Esq. (b. 1844: suc. 1861).

Giving off the whole of Ardrishaig quoad sacra parish and portions of those of Tarbert and Lochgilphead, South
Knapdale is in The Presbytery of Inveraray and Synod of Argyll; the living is worth £214. There are three parish
churches, one at Achahoish, near the manse; one at Inveneill, 6 miles distant (both built in 1775) and one at Kilberry
(1821). Free Churches are in Ardrishaig, Kilberry, Lochgilphead and Tarbert and five public schools, Achahoish,
Dunmore, Inverneill, Kilberry and Ormsary, with respective accommodation for 27, 49, 34, 03 and 00 children,
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had (1892) an average attendance of 15, 18, 11, 20 and 11 and grants of £34. 9s., £32. 13s., £8. 12s., £33. 19s. 6d.
and £20. 13s. 6d.

Population (1801) 1,710; (1831) 2,137; (1801) 2,519; (1871) 2,095; (1881) 2,530; (1891) 3,017 of whom 1,590 were
Gaelic-speaking and 298 were in South Knapdale ecclesiastical parish.

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