330 Notices of the Great Storm 



granite, and gneiss of unknown depth, the piers of the bridge 

 had been laid on platforms of wood, let down about 5 feet be- 

 low the bed, and this expedient had been sufficient for bear- 

 ing the vertical pressure, and up to the time of this flood there 

 was no settling or flaw in the masonry. It became apparent, 

 however, before dark on the 3d, that there was not sufficient 

 water-way for this unusual flood ; and a damming back of the 

 water took place at the bridge, which caused a sudden fall of 

 about 4 feet perpendicular into the openings of the arches. 

 The height of this fall had, no doubt, increased with the rise 

 of the river through the night, but could not be seen for the 

 darkness. The effect was, that the rolled materials of the 

 bottom were swept away, and the piers were at last under- 

 mined. The upper half of the north pier fell up the river 

 about 3 a. m. of the 4th, letting down parts of the conterminous 

 arches. The bridge remained in this state about an hour and 

 a half, when the south pier fell wholly up the river, letting 

 down the two south arches ; and about ten minutes afterwards, 

 the centre arch and remaining portion of the two north arches 

 fell, apparently, from the spreading of the piers by the lateral 

 pressure of the arches. The materials of this great mass of 

 masonry have, in a great measure, disappeared in the bed of 

 the river, being, no doubt, buried in the deep pit, scooped out 

 under it before it fell. 



The ordinary depth of the river at the shallows near the 

 bridge, is from 2 to 3 feet, and the fall, in its course, about 

 20 feet in a mile. 



This great storm and flood extended, it seems, nearly simul- 

 taneously, and in equal violence, over a space of about 5000 

 square miles ; — being that part of Scotland cut off to the 

 north-eastward, by two lines, from the head of Lochrannoch, 

 one towards Inverness, and another towards Stonehaven*. 

 All the rivers within that space were flooded, proportionably, 

 with the Dee. The damage suffered, in consequence, in the 

 destruction of bridges and roads, and lands, buildings, and 

 crops, along the courses of the streams, has been very great, 

 and has been estimated at half a million sterling. Happily 

 few lives were lost. 



* The storm extended much farther, but without the great rain. 



