New Account: Duthil

Presbytery of Abernethy, Synod of Moray
Rapporteur: The Rev. William Grant, Minister.
Drawn up by Mr W. Dunbar, Parochial Schoolmaster of Duthil

[Biographical Notes for the Minister adapted from the Fasti ecclesiae Scoticanae
WILLIAM GRANT (1786-1862) born at Dalrachny in Duthil, son of James Grant, farmer, and Ann Stewart; educated at King's College, Aberdeen (MA 1806); licensed by Presbytery of Abernethy 26th April 1810; ordained to Kirkmichael 30th July 1817; presented (to Duthil) by the curator of Lewis Alexander Grant, Earl of Seafield, November 1819; translated and admitted 28th March 1820. He was buried at Aberlour.
He was an accomplished scholar, took a deep interest in education, and assisted to endow schools in his parish.
He married, 17th August 1824, Mary (who died 1868, aged 76), daughter of James Garioch, surgeon, Old Meldrum, and had issue —

James, Army surgeon;
George, died 4th July 1836;
Mary Ann (married 1st November 1849, Provost Alexander Mann, Nairn);
Elizabeth (married 23rd March 1848, Captain Stewart, Inverness);
Jane Elizabeth (married 23rd March 1848, John Stewart, lieut., 21st Foot).]

I: Topography and Natural History

Name

[123]The ancient name of the parish was Gleann a cheathernick – the Heroes' Glen – probably derived from the extensive power possessed by its ancient proprietors, and from the many brave feats performed by them in the defence of their widely scattered domains from the encroachments of neighbouring chieftains, as well as from their success in arresting the predatory incursions [124] of the Lochaber reivers to Moray land. Its modern name is evidently derived from the Gaelic Tuathil north, in opposition to Deishal, south, the name of a considerable stripe of land in the southern district of the parish.

Extent and Boundaries

The parish may be about 16 miles long by 13 miles broad. It is bounded on the north and northeast by the parishes of Ardclach and Cawdor; north-west, by the united parishes of Moy and Delarossie; south-west, by Alvie; east, by Inverallan; and on the south, by the Spey, which divides it from the united parishes of Abernethy and Kincardine. Its figure is nearly that of an oblong square.

Topographical Appearance, &c.

The appearance of the parish is hilly. Along the whole of the north side, there runs a continued range of hill, commencing at the north-eastern extremity, and running westward in a direct line, till it terminates in the Monadh-lia, an extensive range common to the districts of Badenoch, Strathdearn, and Stratherrick. The only interruption to the continuity of this range is the narrow pass or ravine of Slocmuic, through which the great highland road between Inverness and Perth passes.

The only natural production peculiar to this range, as well as to many smaller hills projecting from it, is heather, with a sprinkling of small verdant patches at considerable distance from one another, which relieves the eye in some measure from the sombre monotony of the general landscape. Parallel to this range there is another in the south side of the parish, much lower than the range already mentioned, but equally barren in natural productions. This range commences eastward in Craig Ghartin, and expands in breadth till it terminates in Craigelachie, the slogan hill of the Grants, which divides Strathspey from Badenoch, and the county of Moray from Inverness, in that direction. Between these two parallel ranges, is the narrow valley of the Dulnan, bisected by the stream from which the valley derives its name. Between the southern range and the Spey, is a narrow stripe of land, extending the whole length of the parish.

Soil

The soil is of two kinds. That on the banks of the Dulnan and Spey is chiefly alluvial, with a deep clay subsoil. In the more elevated situations, its general characteristic is thin and gravelly, with a considerable intermixture of stones. In favourable seasons, the haugh grounds yield heavy crops of oats; and since the year 1827 till 1834, (both included), the higher grounds have, under the joint influence of favourable seasons, and an [125] improved system of husbandry, yielded excellent crops of oats, bear, barley, turnips, and potatoes.

Climate

'The cold season may be said to commence, in general, early in November, and to end in May; yet, notwithstanding the long continuance of the cold season, the climate is the reverse of unhealthy. The prevailing diseases are rheumatism and scrofula – the former proceeding in some measure from the people's inattention to add to their summer dress when the winter colds set in. The latter may be ascribed to the low innutritious food on which many of the poorer inhabitants were, of necessity, in years of scarcity obliged to subsist. In the summers of 1808, 1816, and 1817, many families subsisted for several successive weeks on the tops of nettles, mugwort, turnip thinnings, and milk, without any corn food; and such as subsisted on this miserable substitute for food, are labouring under the latter disease.

Fissures

About four miles north of the parish church, there is a rocky hill, projecting in front of the main range, called Craig na' 'iolar, the eagle's eyrie, or crag. In this hill there are several fissures. One of them, near the west end, is from the top to the bottom of the hill. Its appearance is as if it were cut with a sharp weapon.
The tradition repeating its formation is sufficiently wild. As the formation of this natural phenomenon could not be otherwise accounted far by the limited understanding of the inhabitants, they ascribe It to the prowess of the Fingalian hero, who, on a certain day, had left his residence in the lowlands of Moray, and had gone to the forests of Glenmore and Benavin, for the double purpose of enjoying the amusement of the chase, and of replenishing his larder. Having that day, by some fatality, neglected to propitiate the favour of Cailleach a ghlinne mhor (and ill natured spirit in the unamiable shape of an old withered beldame) who lorded with potent sway over man and beast that came within the boundaries of her sylvan domains, though tantalized with the sight of more game on that day than he had ever seen on any former visit, he had the mortification to catch none. Returning homeward in the evening, weary in body, and his mind chafed with disappointment, he was cutting figures in the air with his sword, till at last, in a fit of frenzy, he struck the end of the hill with his sword, by which he made the fissure alluded to. Hence the fissure is called "beum a chlaidheamh" - the sword's cleft.

Hydrography

If we except three or four small lakes of a few furlongs in circumference, there is little in this department deserving of notice. Loch Bhruach, situated on the summit of the northern range of hills, abounds with very fine trout, resembling in colour the mossy bottom of the loch in which they live. In two of the other lochs, there are some pike; and in one of these, viz, the loch of Tullochgriban, some water snakes have been recently seen.

The Dulnan is the only river properly belonging to the parish. Its source is in the Badenoch hills. It flows from west to east till [126] it falls into the Spey at Belentomb of Inverallan. Though in general but a small stream, it frequently happens that, when swollen with heavy rains, or the melting of the snow on the adjacent hills, it does considerable damage to the corn and grass fields near its banks.

It is evident, that the whole surface of this country, at some remote period, had been covered with a dense forest. In cutting peats, or in digging for the roots of fir trees in the deep mosses, it is no unusual thing to meet with two or three roots piled one above another as if, phoenix-like, the one grew out of the ashes of its predecessors. It is equally evident, from the many remains of wolf-traps that are to be met with in the different passes throughout the hills, that wolves had been at one time numerous. So daring were they, when impelled by hunger, that there are instances on record, of their having left their natives haunts, to levy blackmail from among the live-stock of the inhabitants.

A short time previous to their extirpation from this district, a woman that resided on the farm of Lochanhully (about a mile to the westward of the church), and had been returning from a neighbour's house with a gridiron or girdle in her hand, was met by a huge animal of this kind in a narrow lane near her own house. To return would have been inevitable destruction, and to proceed, her ferocious enemy signified, by his growling accents, that she dare not. They thus, for a few moments, stood gazing at one another, when the animal sprung upon its prey; but, as he was in the act of seizing her, she, by a well-directed stroke of the edge of the gridiron, cleft his head in two, and laid him lifeless at her feet. In commemoration of this feat, the lane is called Clais a Mhadidh—the cur's hollow.

About the beginning of the last century, the forest of Duthil or Dulnanside was destroyed by fire. The few wolves that escaped the dreadful conflagration, found a miserable shelter among a small clump of trees that by some means escaped the general conflagration. In this last covert they were not long permitted to remain unmolested. The people rose en masse and destroyed them, with the exception of an overgrown animal that escaped the general carnage, by fleeing across the hills to the eastern part of the parish of Moy. It had not been long in that district, when the inhabitants had a fearful warning of its being among them, by its killing a woman and her infant child.

As soon as the laird of Mackintosh heard of this melancholy event, he [127] summoned his vassals to attend on a certain day on the banks of the Findhorn, for the purpose of destroying this formidable enemy. Their intentions were, however, anticipated by a daring fellow, that lived in the eastern extremity of the parish, who, as he was on his way to join the rest of his clansmen, was met by the very animal in question, in an exceedingly narrow path in the face of a rock called Creig achrochdan, and overhanging the river. As it was impossible for either party to recede, they boldly advanced, each bent upon his opponent's destruction; when the man, by a well-directed stroke of his club, brought his foe to the ground. With his dirk he cut off the animal's head, and carried it as a trophy of his victory to the place of meeting. On his arrival, the laird reproached him for his tardiness; when the man with affected contempt replied, that he believed he came sufficiently soon for all that was to do. As the laird was about to reproach him in somewhat more bitter terms, he drew the wolf's bleeding head from under his plaid, and threw it at his chieftain's feet. Thus perished the last of the native inhabitants of the forest of Glenchearnich.

The other animals are such as are peculiar to the neighbouring districts, viz. deer, roe, hares, rabbits, foxes, badgers, otters, wild-cats, and weasels. The principal of our reptile tribe are the snake and lizards. The black snail is peculiar to a certain district of the parish. Toads are entire strangers.
Since the above was written, rats have become very numerous.

Salmon, river-trout, and eels are the only fish in the Dulnan. The former come up to spawn in the months of October and November; and such as escape the poacher's leister return to the sea, by the end of the last-mentioned month.

Insects

In the beginning of July 1815, during several days of intense heat, all the birch in the parish was completely stripped of its foliage, by a large blackish-coloured species of caterpillar. During these few days, the thermometer was seldom under 90° in the shade.

Birds

The feathered game consists of grouse, partridges, plovers, snipe, lapwings, wild-ducks, and some ptarmigan. Of late years, black game has been very abundant, but, as a natural consequence, as the latter multiplied, the former have become less plentiful.

Forests

In the upper part of the northern district of the parish, there is an extensive forest of natural Scotch fir. For the manufacturing of the timber, there are two saw-mills of two saws each, [128] driven by the waters of the Dulnan, About thirty years ago, an extensive tract of barren moor had been planted by the late Sir James Grant along the northern banks of the Spey, which is in a very thriving state. The district is well supplied with natural birch; scattered partly in clumps through the forest, and partly detached, by which the landscape is greatly enlivened, and the eye relieved from dwelling continually upon a scenery composed, without this latter addition, of lugubrious heath-covered hills, and cypress-coloured forests. To the fir, birch, and alder, the climate appears very congenial.

II. Civil History

Tradition ascribes the possession not only of this parish, but of almost all the lands adjoining the Spey between Inverlochy and Fochabers to the Cummings, whose principal residence was in this parish. Be this as it may, it is evident they were in possession of the greater part of the said district, many years before 1280; as appears by a charter granted in that year by Gilbert, the third lord of that name, or, as he is called in the charter, tertius Dominus de Glencherny, Knight, with consent of Matilda, his spouse, [to] Gilbert, his oldest son, of the lands of Gerbothy, with pertinents for homage and service. This charter is granted on the feast of the Purification of the Holy Virgin at Glencherny; the reddenda being “unum per albarum Cyrothicarum, fortasse Cherothicarum”. These lands of Gerbothvy are situated near the banks of the Fiddich, parish of Boharm. By another charter of Gilbert de Glencherny, he gives to Duncan of Ferindrawth in libero maritagio with Margery his daughter, and their heirs, the eastern half of the Davoch of Conynges, "per suas rectas divisas in tenemente de Abernethyn." Among other witnesses to this deed are found the names of Archibald and Henry, Bishops of Moray and Aberdeen. Though the deed bears no date, yet, as Archibald was Bishop of Moray from 1253to 1298, and Henry, of Aberdeen, from 1281 to 1298, between the first and last year of Henry the charter must have been granted.

From various other charters still extant, it appears that, from the last-mentioned period, the overgrown power of the Lords of Glenchernich was fast declining, as they disposed of davoch after davoch of their property, for homage which in many cases was but reluctantly paid them, and for services which were but imperfectly performed.

Gilbert, the last of the Lords of Glenchernich, better known by his soubriquet of Gibbon Mòr, had the mortification, on succeeding to the property, of [129] finding his paternal acres in the possession of others, with the exception of Glenchernich and Belindalloch. With these his power seemed also to vanish. For the purpose of propping his falling greatness, and of checking the growing power of the Grants, (between whom and the Cummings there had been a hostile rivalship for many generations) he had recourse to a no less singular than ludicrous expedient. At Gibbon's door, there stood a large stone cistern for keeping water for the fowls. When any applied for permission to join Gibbon's standard, if the applicant's appearance indicated, that he would be an acquisition to the clan, he was seized by the heels, and with ludicrous solemnity, plunged three times head foremost into this dirty font. After this immersion, he was not only entitled to bear the name of Cumming, but enjoyed all the privileges peculiar to the clan. Hence their descendants are called "Cuiminich clach na'n cearc," – the Cummings of the hen trough.

Independent of this ludicrous expedient, to which the proud chieftain resorted, he had the mortification to see his own power fast declining, and his rival's increasing in an inverse ratio, when his only daughter and heiress caused a cessation of hostilities, by giving her hand to the rival chieftain, Sir John Grant of Freuchy, naturally hoping that, at no distant period, her good-natured father would withhold from her neither his blessing nor his acres.

By this act of Gibbon's daughter, the feuds between the rival clans subsided so completely, that Gibbon Mòr, in the year 1364, ceded his lordship of Glenchernich, not to his son-in-law, Sir John, but to his grandson, Sir Duncan Grant of Freuchy. This transfer had been subsequently confirmed by a charter from King David, dated the same year – and, by an instrument of sasine proceeding on a precept from King James' chancery, for infefting John Grant de Freuchy (son of Sir Duncan) in the lands of Glenchernich and Belindalloch, with the mills, &c.. The dispensing clause makes "locum de Mulquuharde, principale messuagium dic tarum terrarum," and accordingly the infeftment was taken there the 8th April 1499. Since that period, the parish has been the undisputed property of the chief of the Grants.

Considering the isolated situation of the parish, and the deadly feuds and bloody broils in which the inhabitants were too frequently engaged in days of yore, it will excite no surprise that its annals record but few, if any, men who became eminent in the arts and sciences peculiar to social and peaceful life. But if we might recur to those days of misrule, when “might overcame right”, [130] we could mention many, from the recital of whose reckless deeds in the shedding of human blood, we should recoil with horror.

From among many, we shall select John Macandrew of Delnahartnich, who, on account of his diminutive size, obtained the cognomen of Ian beag Macandra, little John Macandrew. At the period in question, the laird or tacksman of Achaluachrach, previous to his union with a young maiden of his own country, made a predatory incursion into the lowlands, from whence he carried away all the best cattle belonging to Rose of Kilravock, in Nairnshire. He reached in safety with his booty as far as the Crò-clach, in the braes of Strathdearn, where he rested for the night. While the hungry cattle fed with eagerness upon the rich pasture of this celebrated glen, the freebooters fared no less sumptuously, on a plentiful supply of broiled steaks, from the buttocks of one of the fattest of the beeves. So secure did the reivers consider themselves from pursuit, that they did not use the precaution of setting a proper watch, but entrusted this important post to a boy who followed them from home; who no sooner had his post assigned him, than, overcome by fatigue, he threw himself down on the heath and fell fast asleep.

Though Kilravock was far advanced in life, and lame besides, he no sooner missed his cattle, than he collected the most efficient of his retainers, and issued the crois taridh, and followed the tract of his cattle; so that by the time he came in sight of the beasts, he found himself at the head of a numerous and resolute band; among whom our hero held an advanced post. Though Kilravock's party outnumbered the reivers, so assured were they of encountering a formidable resistance, that they used every necessary precaution. Being, by the concurring favourable circumstances of the darkness of the night, and somnolency of the faithless sentinel, enabled to surround the bothy, in which the reivers were feasting, a shower of arrows from the pursuers was the first intimation they had of danger. The bothy was so closely besieged as to admit of no egress; those within laboured under the disadvantage of shooting at random, whereas the pursuers were so favoured by the light within the bothy, that their arrows did fearful execution. John Macandrew's eye was in search of the chief, whom he soon recognized amid his followers, by the superiority of his dress; an arrow from John's bow, pinned him to the beam against which he leaned; which feat was no sooner observed by Mackintosh of Kyleachy, than he exclaimed: “Dia as buaidh leat Iam Mhic Anndra, tha thamh an Dalnahaitnich” – [131] God and victory be with you John Macandrew that dwell in Dalnahaitnich.

Upon hearing this ill-timed compliment, which he knew would subject him to considerable danger, if any of the freebooters should escape, he indignantly replied: “Mile Molachd air do theang Ian chaim Choilachi” – a thousand curses on your tongue, gleyed John of Kyleachy. The result of this dreadful fray was the destruction of the miserable reivers, for whose slaughtered bodies the hut in which they fell, formed a funeral pile. None returned to tell the tale, but the faithless sentinel, who had been witness of this onslaught; but who, by the darkness of the night, was enabled to remove to a distance from danger.

Not long after this bloody scene, John, as he anticipated at the time, had substantial cause to curse Kyleachy for his ill-timed compliment. A party of strangers had been seen skulking through the woods and hills near John's house. Their dress betrayed their country, and their skulking, with equal certainty, indicated their business. John, notwithstanding his vigilance, was overtaken one day by these men as he was looking after his cattle, They asked him if he knew John Macandrew - he answered in the affirmative. Bring offered a sixpence, if he would conduct them to his house, John readily pocketed the bribe and led the way. On his arrival, he told his wife that the strangers wanted his master, and wished to know if he was at home. His wife with great presence of mind, entered into his views in carrying on the deception (he being taken on account of diminutive size for the herd) told the men that her husband was not present within, but that she expected him to return soon, and requested them to rest until his return, with which request they readily complied.

In order to enable her husband to mature whatever plans he might devise for extricating himself from the present danger; she, with feigned hospitality, laid a plentiful supply of bannocks and milk before the strangers. While the men were partaking of his wife's viands, John was amusing himself at the fireside in bending a bow, which seemed to be far enough beyond the strength of his diminutive body when a smart slap on the side of the head from his wife's brawny arm caused John to start from his apparent unconcern; she desired him at the same time to look after his cattle and tell if he saw his master returning; John with apparent reluctance, sneaked towards the door and climbed up to the top of a close topped fir tree that stood at a short distance from his door (where he had roosted by night, ever since the slaughter at Crò-clach) and where he had a bow and a plentiful stock of arrows. No sooner did he safely ensconce himself in his eyrie, than he cried out that his master was coming. This being heard by the party within, they hastened out one after another; but no sooner did each appear outside the door than he fell by an arrow from John's bow. Thus fell Achaluachrach's avengers, as if by some invisible agent. A few small green hillocks, with a plentiful crop of nettles the natural products of the grave, pointed out where the mortal remains of those misguided men had been deposited; but the devastating flood of 1829, so graphically described by Sir TD lauder, in his Accounts of the Floods in Morayshire, has completely obliterated these.

This tragic scene has been celebrated by a truly pathetic ballad composed by Auchluachrach's bride, in which all the most prominent incidents connected with the bloody fray, as well as her own blasted connubial anticipations, have been delineated, not only with fidelity but with a pathos which will ensure its place among the poetical productions of the country as long as the forcibly poetical language in which it was written will have any admirers.

Connected with the parish by burial, is the celebrated Jacobite bard, Ian Manndach or Lòm. After the total defeat at Culloden of the unfortunate party, whose feats he bad so often panegyrized, John fled across the river Nairn, towards the hills to the south of the field of battle, where he skulked, till hunger compelled [132] him to seek a place of retreat more suitable to his miserable condition. On the second or third evening after the defeat of his party, he arrived, faint, weary, and broken-hearted at the little farm-house of Lochanhully, on the banks of the Dulnan, where he experienced as much kind hospitality from the humane landlord, as his limited circumstances would admit of. As soon as his immediate wants were relieved, John laid his weary limbs on that bed, from which he was destined never to rise again.

As it soon appeared evident to the landlord, that the hand of death was pressing fast and heavy on his guest's eyelids, he tenderly asked the latter, if he had any directions to give respecting his funeral. “Give yourself no unnecessary concern regarding my funeral,” was the dying man's caustic reply, “I will be there myself and will see about it.” A few hours thereafter, John's muse became silent for ever, and his bones found a resting-place in Cnochdan nan Gael, a small spot in the west side of the parish churchyard, set apart as a burying-place for strangers.

Land-Owners

The Right Honourable the Earl of Seafield is the sole proprietor of the parish, whose family seat is Castle Grant, in the parish of Cromdale; though the family burying-place has been in this parish at least since the year 1585. A splendid mausoleum was built last season for the family, from a design by Mr Playfair of Edinburgh.

Parochial Registers

Previous to the induction of the present minister in 1820, the registers of baptisms and marriages very irregularly kept. The earliest entry of baptisms (and there is but one), is in 1779, and of marriages in 1796. Since 1820, all the records have been very regularly kept.

Antiquities

On a plain piece of barren moorland, near the Inn of Aviemore, there is a Druidical temple, which was till lately in a state of great preservation, when one of the small tenants in the neighbourhood, removed some of the stones to build a house for himself.

At Dunmullie, there can be traced the vestiges of a moat fenced by a ditch, on which, according to tradition, there stood the residence of one of the ancient Lords of Glenchernich, previous to their removal to Kinchurdy, their last residence in this parish.

In the face of the hill above Dunmullie, there is a large stone, in form not unlike a chair, and which is still called Bigla's Chair, as it is said that from this chair Bigla (once proprietor of Glen-chernich), mounted her horse on her way to Duthil to hear mass.

[133].Half-way between Dunmullie and Duthil, there is another stone, hollowed in the centre, where tbe same lady is reported to have deposited her keys, when going on the same religious errand.

III Population

The population in

The yearly average of births for the last seven years is 30
Marriages 9

Number of insane, 3; fatuous, 2; blind, 6; deaf and dumb, 2.
Of the insane, one is blind, and another dumb, but not deaf.
Of the fatuous, one is blind.

Language, &c

Until of late years, the Gaelic might be said to be the only language spoken or understood; but, by the settlement of a few strangers from the Lowlands among the people, the long possession which the language enjoyed has been disturbed. Those whose business brought them into immediate and frequent contact with those strangers, were from necessity obliged to attempt to speak a kind of imperfect English. Another circumstance which contributed much to the advancement of the English, is the introduction of the intellectual or explanatory system into the parochial schools.

Among the popular customs prevalent here, may be noticed penny-weddings and funeral festivities, in both of which there is much to be lamented, deprecated, and amended.

Smuggling has been so completely suppressed, that it may be said to be a tale of years long bygone.

IV: Industry

If the present state of husbandry be contrasted with that of thirty years ago, the change will appear to have been great. At the former period, farm produce consisted of bear or big on dunged land; rye; black oats; bracked oats; and a few patches of white oats. The quantity raised was but seldom equal to the Consumption; but the deficiency was generally supplied by the humane proprietor, the late Sir James Grant of Grant, whose paternal regard for his people was unremitting, At the period alluded to, there were scarcely any turnips sown, if we except a few ridges raised by the clergyman; and so unacquainted was he with the use of them, that he generally sold them to the poor in the neighbourhood, who used them as food. The present clergyman may be said to be the first who used compost of farm-yard dung, and moss earth, and [134] lime, and introduced a regular rotation of cropping. From the year 1827 to 1834 inclusive, the crops were so abundant, that a very considerable quantity of grain was exported; and of such quality as to secure the highest market price. Since the above-mentioned year the crops have been so much injured by early frosts and mildew, (especially the crops of 1836 and 1837,) that the little meal the grain yields is of a bad quality, and along the banks of the Dulnan, so great was the damage, that the tenants could not depend on any of their own growth for seed.

The system most generally practised is a five-shift course; 1st, green crops, viz. potatoes and turnips; 2d, barley, or oats laid down with clover and rye-grass seeds; 3d, a crop of hay: 4th, pasture; and last oats. The only objection to this system is that the soil has not sufficient time to rest. Bone dust has been of late years used by some of the tenants, with all the success which generally results from the, use of that stimulant. In the aggregate, a considerable quantity of waste ground has been brought into culture. The turf-built farm huts of former years are fast disappearing, and succeeded by stone and lime cottages, whose white-washed walls, and straw-thatched roofs, afford a pleasing contrast with their dingy predecessors.

The general duration of leases is nineteen years; and so indulgent is the proprietor, that no industrious tenant entertains any fear of being removed at the termination of his lease.

V: Parochial Economy

Market-Towns

The nearest market-towns are those of lnverness, Nairn, and Forres, all which may be said to be equidistant (twenty-six miles,) from the centre of the parish. In the village of Grantown, (distant about eight miles,) there are feeing-markets for servants, held in the months of November and May; also cattle-markets to suit the great southern markets.

Means of Communication

No Highland district is better accommodated with means of communication. The great Highland road between Perth and Inverness passes through the parish for fifteen miles. In the hamlet at Carr Bridge, a post-office was established in July 1836. From Carr Bridge, a road branches off to Grantown, on which a mail-gig runs daily. This road is joined at Carr Bridge, near the confluence of the Spey and Dulnan, by another road that passes through the-southern district of the parish. In the parish, there are two bridges over the Dulnan. The one at Sluggan, was built soon after 1745, on the line of road formed under the superintendence of General Wade. Since the desolating flood of 1839, it is scarcely passable. The other is at the [135] hamlet from which it derives its name, was built in 1791, and is in excellent repair.

Ecclesiastical State

Part of this parish was detached to form the quoad sacra parish of Rothiemurchus. The church, an excellent edifice, built in 1626, is situated within two and a-half miles of the eastern extremity of the parish. It is seated for the accommodation of between 800 and 900 persons; the seats are all free. The manse was built in 1704; rebuilt in 1763. In 1804, it got a thorough repair, and an additional wing of two apartments, besides attics. Notwithstanding various patchings it received subsequent to the last mentioned year, it was found necessary last summer to take it down. The new manse is not yet finished; but it bids fair to yield all necessary accommodation. The glebe does not exceed three acres, including manse, offices, and garden. The stipend is fifteen chalders, half meal, half barley, payable according to the fiars of the county, with £100 Scots for communion elements.

There are (properly speaking) no Dissenters in the parish. About twenty families profess to be of the Established Church, but absent themselves from all places of worship. Their leader, a self-constituted teacher, visits them periodically. One principal feature in his and their creed, is a deep-rooted and bitter enmity against the Establishment. The name of this sect has not as yet found a place in any nomenclature. The communicants may average about 160.

Education

There are four schools in the parish,—1st, the parochial; 2d, a school endowed by the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge; 3d, one partly so by the Education Society of Inverness; and 4th, a school of industry. The parochial school-master's salary is £25:13s:5d. In such years as the present, when the people are reduced to destitution by the failure of their crops, the school fees are merely nominal. The higher branches would be taught, but the poverty of the people preclude their aspiring beyond the ordinary branches of education for their children. The teacher has the legal accommodation of house and garden. So well is the parish supplied with schools, that all that are desirous, can have access to one or other of them. It is to be regretted that the people are by no means so alive to the benefits of education as might be wished.

Poor and Parochial Funds

The number of persons At present upon the roll is 29. There are no funds for their [136] relief, except what arise from the weekly collections, fines, &c. and £1:12s. being the interest of £40 produced by the sale of the wood of the old church, taken down in 1826. The funds are divided once a year; and the poor are divided into two classes. The average sum assigned to each individual, annually, for the last seven years was, to those on the first class, 5s. 3d., and to the second 3s. 3d.; and, small as the pittance assigned to each is, there is a strong disposition manifested to obtain it.

Fairs

There were several fairs held in the kirkyard of the parish at one period, but they have been, since the middle of the last century, partly discontinued and partly transferred to the village of Grantown, in the neighbouring parish of Inverallan.

Inns

There are two very respectable inns on the Highland road; one at Aviemore, and the other at the hamlet of Carr Bridge.

Fuel

The common fuel is peats. They are abundant and easily obtained.

February 1838.