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PRESBYTERY OF GARIOCH, SYNOD
OF ABERDEEN.
THE REV. JAMES BISSET, MINISTER.
I-—Topography and Natural
History.
Name.—The etymology of the
term "Bourtie" cannot be traced ; but, as in some old charters, it is
found written Bourtiach, we may reasonably presume that the first part of
the appellative is significant of some distinctive quality ; in like
manner as the name of the district (Garioch or Geiriach) signifies shining
or splendid field.
Extent and
Boundaries.—Bourtie extends from west to east 5 miles; in average breadth
nearly 2; and contains probably 9 square miles. In figure it resembles an
irregular triangle, of which the western boundary, resting on Chapel of
Garioch, forms the base, and the eastern point, where it touches Udny, the
apex. On the north, it is bounded by Daviot, Meldrum, and Tarves; and on
the south, by Udny and Keith-hall. Near the centre of the parish, and
distant a mile from each other, rise two hills of consi-derable elevation,
being probably 600 feet above the level of the sea. That on the north is
named the Hill of Barra, the other the Hill of Lawhillside. These run in
an easterly direction, and converging terminate in the Hill of Kingoody,
by the foot of the eastern acclivity of which the parish is bounded.
Meteorolgy.—From the height
at which the manse is situated, the thermometer and barometer stand
comparatively low. The greatest depressions which I have marked in the
latter were, 1st, on the 20th September 1830, when, in a few hours from
ten a.m. with a violent south-east dry wind, it fell fully two inches, and
stood rather below 28 inches; and, 2dly, on 1st April 1836, when, at ten
p.m., in a tempestuous night of snow and rain, the wind very strong from
south by east, it was as low as 27.7 inches. It need hardly be remarked,
that, though the barometer, from its rise or fall, may lead us to expect a
coming change of weather, it does by no means per se indicate what that
change will be, and that for any purpose of practical value in common life
the season of the year, the direction of the wind, the appearances of the
clouds, &c. must be taken in connection, and the judgment deduced from a
consideration of the whole. In making this judgment, considerable
assistance may be occasionally derived from observing the habits of the
common rook, which abounds in this neighbourhood. The signs which these
afford have been pointed out with singular beauty in the Georgics of
Virgil. Some allowance being made for the difference of climate, perhaps
his interpretation of them still holds true, so indelibly have the
instincts of animals been impressed by the great Fountain of Life.
The rocks in the parish are
chiefly of the trap formation, and the summit of the Hill of Barra has
been held, by some naturalists, to be the crater of an extinct volcano.
II.—Civil History.
The session register of
Bourtie commences with the transference of a minister from a neighbouring
parish in 1709. He was the first Presbyterian minister settled since
Episcopacy was abolished; for the now ascendant church, with a moderation
and regard to the peace of the country which do it honour, seems to have
permitted many of the Episcopal clergy to continue for life in the
unmolested discharge of their sacred function.
Antiquities.—The parish is
by no means destitute of ancient remains. Three of the circles, which
continue to be named Druidical, existed at the date of the last report.
Two of these remain —one in a state of considerable preservation, on the
lands of Thornton. Two barrows, or rather cairns, have been opened within
the last ten years. In each there was found a stone-coffin enclosing two
urns of hard-baked carved pottery. The urns were full of rich loam, mixed
with charcoal. The largest of these cairns raised on an eminence called
the Hawklaw, originally covered nearly half an acre, and was surrounded
with a circle of small stones set on end.
Cumming's Camp.—The most remarkable, however,
of our ancient remains is the fortification on the Hill of Barra, [The
small western isle Barra is thus described; "This island, which is low and
flat on the west side, and steep and irregular on the east," &c. These
features correspond exactly with those possessed by the estate of Barra,
so that I should be inclined to question the accuracy of Chalmers's
derivation of Barra. It is, according to him, from two Celtic words Bar
and ra, rae or Bath, signifying the fortified ground.] known by the name
of the Cumming's Camp. This, and the circumstances connected with it, have
afforded a fertile theme of discussion to antiquarians, and I shall
therefore, perhaps, be excused if I dwell on it at some length. The fort
occupying the flat summit of the hill contains fully three acres of
ground, and is surrounded with three nearly parallel walls of
circumvallation, composed of earth and stone. Apart from its name, the
camp would be considered merely one of those hill-forts, which, by no
means rare in Scotland, are pretty numerous in the adjacent country. Thus
we have, with such differences merely as arise from the nature of the
accessible materials, the forts on Benachie and the Keirhill in Skene, and
the Barmekyn in Echt. These all lie in the vicinity of the Roman Iter,
from their camp ad Devanham (Norman dikes in Peterculter), to that ad
Ituriam (Glenmailen in Forgue), towards the Castra alata on the Moray
Frith. Is it not probable, then, that, as these forts flank on either
side, the line of the Roman progress northwards, they were erected by the
then inhabitants of the country (the Faixali), as places of refuge for
themselves and their families, from which, sallying forth, they might
engage in a Guerilla warfare with their haughty invaders? The tradition
which gives the building of this camp to the Cummings is evidently
fabulous, —for to it their age affords nil vel simile aut secundum. That
it was even occupied by them previous to their battle with Bruce, the
accounts of that battle, whether by Hector Boece or by Barbour, seem to
render very doubtful. They were the invading and more powerful party, and
came to seek not a secure retreat but, as they believed, an easy victory
over the Bruce, already depressed with reverses and wasted by most
valetudinary health. Barbour's account of the battle, which is the most
authentic, is here subjoined. It was fought on 22d May 1308. "The King
having crossed the Grampians received the allegiance of some barons, but,
in a short time, fell sick at Inverury; he was unable to take any
sustenance, and his strength entirely failed him. Having been placed in a
litter, he was carried to the Slenach or Sliach, in the parish of
Drumblade, a fortification of some strength. After Martinmas, when the
ground was covered with snow, the Earl of Buchan raised an army, and along
with his brother, Sir John the Mowbray, and Sir David Brechin, nephew to
the Bruce, marched against the monarch.
The conflict lasted three days, but, being
confined to discharges of arrows, little harm was done. The forces of
Bruce were at last obliged to quit their defences by famine, and having
placed the royal litter in the centre of their army, they proceeded to
Strath-bogie without any molestation from Buchan, who seems to have feared
to attack them. Shortly after, they removed the King to Inverury. Meantime
Buchan, Mowbray, and Sir David Brechin, assembled another army, and
encamped at Old Meldrum. The next morning, Sir David Brechin, with a small
party, rode towards Inverury, and so suddenly entered the west end of the
burgh, that he drove the King's troops before him, and killed several. The
Bruce lay at the east end of the town, and on receiving tidings of the
onslaught by his nephew, instantly called for his horse, that he might do
battle with the enemy. It was in vain that his friends remonstrated with
him. "The insolence of these men," he replied, "has made me hale and fair
; no medicines could so speedily have cured me as they have, and so may
God be my help, for either I shall have them, or they shall have me." At
the head of his troops, in number about 700, Bruce marched towards Old
Meldrum, and was met by Buchan. Astonished at the sudden apparition of the
King, the soldiers of dimming hesitated, and were confused: Bruce pressed
furiously upon them ; and in a few minutes they were put to flight, and
utterly discomfited.
[The disjecta membra of the
various popular legends on this subject may be somehow thus incorporated:
"On a time lang syne, whan the English wished to tak awa our liberties,
the fause Comyn cam up frae Buchan wi' a' his falluwers and a fouth o'
English forbye, to win the Crown to the English Tirran Edward. In ae nicht,
they biggit a' that Camp o' the Hill heed, for the country was mensely
agen them. But they thocht themsels that they had the ba' fairly at their
fit noo, for Bruce was lyin at death's door at Inraurie: and frae the time
that he took ill, his folk, thinkin' a' was o'er wi' them, had turn't few
in number. But fan the nicht's mirkest, it's nearest the crawin' o' the
cock. Fan he heard o' their bein' at's very door as 'twar, up he sprang
fra his bed, like a fey man, and cryin' for's sword said 'Is'e mak' a
speen or spuil a horn. These loons are physick to me.' So out he gaed
amang's folk, and fan they were dwindled awa' till a hanfu' amaist, and
sair he seem't dishertent, but only said, 'Fot we wint o' folk, we man
men' wi' can:' so he order't them a' to be ready by 12 at nicht, wi' a'
the nowt and horse they could gather. A' well aff they set but nae by the
stracht road, but o'er the tap o' Lawel Side, which they cam 'till jist
afor' the sky; and for as bare as it is noo, it wis than as I'm tauld a
braw forest coveret wi' bonny trees. Bruce noo tied lichts to the horns o'
the nowt, and reed cloth and white napkins to the horse necks, and dreve
them here and there through the wood, ordering folk to mak a' the din they
could. The heart o' the Comyns lap to their mou, for they thocht the haill
o' Scotlan' was risen agen' them. Jist at this time whan a stir began amo'
them, Sir William Wallace, as wus agree't on wi' the Bruce, up's wi' a
stane like a House-side, and wi' the strenth o' 10 Galiahs, bungs' 't frae
the tap o' Benachie; and that they micht ken fa the compliment cam' frae,
he first prented the initials o' his name ( W. W.) i' the side o't. Fung
it gaed thro' the air and lichtin' i' the middle o' the camp kill't not a
few, and gart the yird stot to the very cloods. The hurly wus noo compleet,
and oot they ran oot o'er ither's heeds like as mony sheep oot o' a tauld.
In this confeesion, the Bruce and his folk cam upo' them, and tho' they
foght hard, they war' sae sair defait that they could never haud up their
heeds ahint it. The King's spirits waur noo high, as ye may believe; but
he wus doom't to get a sair heart brak afor' nicht. His bosom Comarade,
the brave Englishman, Sir Thomas de Longueville, wus mortally wounded i'
the battle, but he continuet to feght while it lasted. He raid aff the
field 'till he cam' to the Dykes o' Fala, but there fell frae his horse.
Callin' to the King, ' Noo, Robin,' he said till him, ' my een will soon
be clos't, and I've ae request to mak. Ye maun jist lay my banes whar-ever
this arra fa's.' So drawin's bow, he sent the arra wi' a' his micht
through the air, and it fell i' the Kirk yard o' Bourtie here, twa mile
awa. The king's love o Sir Robert wus great, and he caus't mak' that image
o' him, whilk ye see lyin' yonder, and placet it on's grave. That ither
image, as I've hard say, is Sir Thomas Ladye, wha fan the news o's death
reach't England, gaed oo't o' ae dwawn intill ani-ther, and wi' her last
breath beggit to be laid aside him."]
[This derives some
vraisemblance from two rather rude images of a knight in ar-mour and his
dame, which occupied a niche in the old church of Bourtie. They lie now in
the church-yard, neglected like the stranded remains of Polydorus. It is
hardly necessary to remark, that no such knight as Sir Thomas de
Longueville is known historically to have been amongst the followers of
either party.] The
Earl of Buchan and Sir John Mowbray fled to England, where they died soon
after; and Sir David Brechin soon after embraced the cause of his royal
uncle. The Bruce wasted the district of Buchan with fire and sword, and
such was the desolation he left behind him, that the herschip of Buchan
was mourned for more than fifty years."—(Barb. Bruce.) Boece says, "Qua
victoria ad Hene-raurie (Inverury) parta:" it is accordingly by some
historians called the battle of Inverury, by others the battle of Old
Meldrum. From Barbour's account, however, and from other circumstances
there is no reasonable doubt, that the scene of the conflict was a level
field lying immediately under the Hill of Barra, called at this day, "the
Bruce Field," which, though now levelled by the inexorable plough,
contained, until very lately, a number of small elliptical entrenchments.
Scilicet et tempus veniet, quum finibus illis
Agricola, incurvo terram molitus aratro
Exaesa inveniet seabra rubigine pila.
The only witness of this kind found in the
entrenchments was an English bill-hook, now in possession of the tenant of
North Mains of Barra.
[In the year 1395, the
parish was the scene of a feudal conflict, which is thus re-corded by
Wyntoun, (Book ix. cap. xvi. vol. ii. p. 371-373):
"A thousand and thre hundyr yere,
Nynty and fyve or thare-by nere,
Robert the Keth, a mychty man
By Lynage, and apperand than
For to be a Lord of mycht
Of mony Landis of rycht Richt,
In Fermartine, at Fivy,
Assegit his Aunt, a gud Lady
That tyme the Lud of Craufurdis wyf,
(That led in all her tyme gud lif.)
Schir James de Lyndesay, than her Lord,
Merit agane hym in discord:
For his Masonry's first gert he
Fra thare werke removit be,
And quha, that Wattyr broucht fra the Burn,
He gairt thaim oft wytht his Ost spurn;
Thus he demanyt that Lady
Wythin the Castil of Fivy.
Than Schir James de Lyndesay,
Quhen he relatioune he hard say
That then his Wyf, that gud Lady,
Thare wes assegit sa straitly,
He gadryt of his Frendis then,
Thre, or nere foure, hundyr men,
And owre the Mouth than als fast
As he til Fivy could haif past.
This Robert of Keith of purpos set
In the Ganyauch with James met,
And, nere the Kirk than of Bourty,
Of Rotertis men were slane fifty
And wele ma; swa Robert gwyte
Wes in that Bagane discumfyte;
Fra thine he past noucht till Fivy,
For till assege that gud Lady." ]
III.—Population.
The decrease from the middle of last century
to the beginning of this, was owing to the increased size of farms. The
births for the last seven years stand thus: [The reporter, as well as some
of his brethren in this neighbourhood, enrols in a pocket register,
immediately when he baptizes it, the name of every child; and though he
exacts the fee to the session-clerk, the people regard it as a kindness
rather than any hardship. Might not the church recommend the general
adoption of some such plan, and thus save the country the heavy expense of
the registration apparatus with which it is threatened.]
Land-owners.—The
landholders are, Mr Ramsay of Barra (a minor); Mr Leith Lumsden of
Leithfield; Mr Duguid of Bourtie and Collyhill; Mr Mackenzie (of Glack)
Thornton; and Mr Ross of Arnage (part of Bourtie.) None of these are
resident. IV.—
Industry. The valued
rent is L.2501 Scots. The real rent is about one-fifth part greater, or
L.3000 Sterling.
Agriculture.—The parish contains about 5000 imperial acres. Of these
nearly 3600 are in cultivation, giving an average rent of 16s. per acre;
in plantations, chiefly Scotch fir and larch, 360; 1000 uncultivated and
waste, and a few acres of moss. The most general rotation of cropping
pursued here (as indeed through Aberdeenshire), is what is called the
seven-shift; i. e. after grass, two successive grain crops; third year,
turnips or potatoes; fourth year, grain crop sown down with grass seeds;
fifth, sixth, and seventh years, grass crops. From trials made by some
distinguished agriculturists, the reporter is inclined to state his belief
with some confidence, that, through the greater part of this county, which
holds chiefly by a light loam, a six-shift, i. e. one grain crop after
grass, instead of two, would be more beneficial to the soil, and, as a
consequence, more beneficial eventually to the cultivator. Leases are
generally for nineteen years : it might be desirable that their endurance
should embrace at least three complete rotations. Within the last ten
years, between 300 and 400 acres of waste land have been improved. To this
good work, Mr Duguid of Bourtie has greatly contributed, both by his
example, and by judicious aid granted to his tenants. Of the 1000 acres
remaining waste, nearly two-thirds might with advantage be brought into
cultivation; and not only so, but what is already in tillage might be
rendered very greatly more productive. According to what we even at
present see, it is perhaps not extravagant to affirm, that every acre in
Aberdeenshire, under whatever crop, might, on an average, be brought to
produce one-fourth more. It is not want of skill nor enterprise that
prevents this; nor want of capital; nor want of proper encouragement by
proprietors; one and all of these may partially operate as retarding
causes. There exists one barrier to our onward progress, of such
supereminent magnitude that it stands alone, and before it, the others
"hide their diminished heads." This is want of confidence in the stability
of our external agricultural defences. Could it be whispered into the ears
of those men whose motto is, "We are the people, and for the people," how
many ten thousand pounds their motions for demolishing the corn-laws
prevent annually from being committed to the bosom of that "tellus
gratissima, quae nunquam reddit nisi cum foenore," we believe that, having
the end in view which they profess, they would cease from agitating this
question. Farmers will not lay out on waste ground the value of 100
bushels of grain, even with the prospect of reaping in time '200, for that
time embraces a period of some years, if the sword be ever suspended over
their heads. The capital thus withheld would incalculably increase the
productions of the earth for man and beast; for each acre of land brought
into cultivation does not increase grain and herbage only pro tanto, or
arithmetically, but adds to the productive powers of all the land around,
from the increased temperature which it induces, and the diminution of
mildews and early frosts. Nor is this all: the "bare boll," (as the farmer
significantly calls it), brought from abroad, is a very different thing
from an additional boll raised at home; because this last carries with it
the capacity of feeding more cattle, and thus brings a greater supply of
milk, butter, cheese, and well-fed butcher-meat within the reach of the
great body of the people. But this, says the modern school of economists,
is forcing things unnaturally. It is, every Briton may answer, adding to
the beauty, the fertility, the salubrity, and the riches of that land, "quae
me genuit atque aluit;" it is following the dictates of a sound mind, for
preventing under Providence those violent and sudden alternations of
ruinously low and ruinously high or famine prices, as to the desolating
effects of which the traditional annals of this and other parishes bear
appalling testimony.
V.—Parochial Economy.
Market-Town.—There is no market held within
the parish: the nearest market-town is Old Meldrum, which lies towards the
north, but much the greatest intercourse is with Inverury, though rather
more distant to the south-west.
Ecclesiastical State.—The church is near the
centre of the pa-rish : it was built in 1806, is in tolerable repair, and
contains about 300 sittings. There is no other place of worship. The
Dissenters are, Episcopalians, 2; Quakers, 2; Seceders, 14; total, 18.
[This, according to my recollection, is the precise number of Dissenters
given in the Report 1797, but the Episcopalians were then most numerous.]
All the others attend church with commendable punctuality the average
number of communicants is 210.
Education.—The parochial school is the only
one in the parish it is well attended, for the people are universally
alive to the benefits of a sound, cheap, and religious education. All come
to years can read and write, and there are scarcely any, even among the
peasantry, who have not made some progress in accounting. The work of
education is begun at the age of four or five, and children are sent to
school for the first time, from that period of life to six or seven,
according to their distance from school. About one-eleventh part of the
population are in attendance during winter.
Poor and Parochial Funds.—The average number
of paupers is seven ; the sum allotted to each varies from 1s. to 1s. 4d.
per week, and averages nearly L. 3 a-year. The annual collections amount
to about L. 20; we have besides L. 7 or L.8 of interest on stock created
chiefly by savings made in prosperous times. These sums are quite
sufficient for all our wants. There is a creditable spirit of independence
among the people. I am not aware that any one has ever directly applied
for parochial aid ; while, on the other hand, there are not a few cases in
which it has been declined when offered. "Not that I would refuse it,
Sir," have they said on such occasions, "if I were in want; but I ought
not to take it, until that comes: and I have yet something remaining, or
am yet able to do such and such work."
Miscellaneous Observations. The inhabitants
are a sober-minded, industrious, frugal, an temperate people, and readily
contribute according to their means, to advance any well-digested scheme
of benevolence, whether at home or abroad. Several are reckoned very
skilful farmers, and the agriculture is, on the whole, equally advanced
with that in the neighbourhood. There is neither inn nor alehouse in the
parish. Our greatest reproach is the quantity of land unimproved or
implanted, and the state of the roads. These have been of late somewhat
improved, but still they are worse than those in any other parish within
the district. May
1842. |
