lots 



FIFESHIRE. 



FINISTERE. 



101 



pariah contain* the Tillage* of Milton and Thornton, each of which 

 LM a chapel of ease. Beside* the paruh church there are chapel* of 

 Ux Free Church and the United Presbyterian*. Coal i* extensively 

 wrought, and there are Mreral paper mill*, woollen, linen and flax 

 mill* ; al*o several bleach-field*. The Leren and Orr rivern, which 

 traverse the pariah, supply water for the various manufacture*. 

 Markinch wa* a aeat of the Culdee*. Mouant, St., a burgh of barony 

 in the pariah of Abercrombie (formerly called St. Monans), on the 

 north shore of the Frith of Forth : population of the village 1241, 

 who are chiefly employed in fishing and nan-curing. One or two 

 coasting vessels belong to the harbour, which ha* a long pier and 20 

 feet depth of water at high tide*. The burgh ha* a handsome church 

 erected not many year* ago, the former one, said to have been built 

 by David II., baring become ruinous. There is also a prison. The 

 pot occupied by St. Monan'a cell is (till pointed out Petlycur, a 

 village situated on the coast a short distance 8. from Kinghoni, pos- 

 eajaje* a harbour and a small shipping trade. Strathmiylo, population 

 of the paruh 2509, about 10 mile* W. by S. from Cupar, is a large 

 village, the inhabitant* of which are chiefly occupied in linen-weaving. 

 Suit Wemyu, a village with a population of 802, and tt'ttt Wtmyu, a 

 burgh of barony, population 1013, are situated about a mile apart, on 

 the shore of the Frith of Forth, about 3 miles N.E. from Pysart. 



Htitory, Antiquitiei, ttc. In ancient time* Fife wag one of the most 

 cultivated and improved, and at the same time the moat warlike of 

 the Scottish counties. It was frequently styled the 'Kingdom of 

 Fife.' Falkland and Dunfermlino were royal resiliences. But the 

 county does not appear to have been the scene of any events of 

 national importance except those which occurred during the earlier 

 part of the Scottish Reformation, and which are more properly 

 referred to in treating of the different localities in which they occurred. 

 The county contain* a great number of ancient edifices now either 

 fallen or falling into decay. Some of these ruins are striking monu- 

 ments of the taste and opulence of the feudal and monkish builders. 

 [ST. AXDRKWS ; DUKFIRIU.INE.] Near Newbui-Rh, in the middle of 

 a large and fertile field, rising gently from the Tay, stand the ruins 

 of the abbey of Lindores, founded by David, earl of Huntington, in 

 1178, in commemoration of his taking Ptolemais, in the Holy Land. 

 It was one of the most richly endowed monasteries in Scotland. 

 Stately fruit-tree* rise from the floor* of its halls and lofty allies, 

 interspersed with ivy, hazel, and wild flowers of various and brilliant 

 hues, which cling to the mouldering fragment* of the walls. The 

 whole produce* a very picturesque effect. In the same neighbourhood 

 are the remain* of two very curious ancient crosses. One, called the 

 Cross of Mug.lrum or Magridin, consist* of a pediment or plinth, 

 with an upright abaft adorned with singular sculpture* of animals 

 and scroll*. Many similar crosses, found in this and the adjoining 

 counties, are traditionally assigned to the age of King Arthur. The 

 other is the famous cross of Macduff, on the Ochil Hills, overlooking 

 the beautiful valley of Strathearn. It now consists only of one large 

 block of freestone, forming the base of a sculptured shaft, which, in 

 1559, was destroyed by the Reformers on their way from Perth to 

 the abbey of Lindores. It forms the subject of a well-known poem 

 by Sir Walter Scott. Besides that of Lindores there ore remains of 

 the abbeys of Inchcolm and Balmorino, the priory of Pittenweem, 

 and other ecclesiastical buildings. The large palace of Falkland 

 deserves notice as one of the seats of the Macduffs, thanes of Fife. 

 James V. greatly enlarged it, and made it a royal residence. The 

 south front is yet entire and partly inhabited. In the parish of 

 Honimail stand* an old tower, known as Bethune's or Beaton's Tower. 

 It formed part of the palace of the archbishops of St. Andrews, and 

 in 1560 was the residence of Cardinal Beaton. The castle of Rosy the, 

 near Invcrkei thing, stands on a rock surrounded by the sea. It con- 

 sists of a large square tower in the midat of the ruins of an extensive 

 pile of buildings. Sculptures and inscriptions remain on some of the 

 interior walls. The castle of Loch Orr stands in the middle of the 

 loch, in the parish of Balingry. It was built in the time of Malcolm 

 Camnore, and consists of a tower and other buildings surrounded by 

 a strong wall The ruins formed a beautiful object in the lake before 

 it was drained. Seafield Tower is an old ruin on a rock by the shore, 

 in the parish of Kinghorn. The castle of Ravenscraig stands also on 

 precipitous crag projecting into the sea in the parish of Dysart It 

 was inhabited in the time of Oliver Cromwell HacduTs Castle at 

 East Wemys* stands on a high cliff overlooking the sea. Two square 

 towers and a portion of the surrounding wall still remain. Craig 

 Hall, in the parish of Ceres, is an extensive ruin on the bank of a 

 beautiful glen filled with luxuriant trees. In the same parish is Tarvct 

 Tower, an old fabric of hewn stone, 24 feet square and 50 feet high. 

 It stall'!* on elevated ground, and is seen at a great distance. It 

 appears to have been a place of refuge and defence. Balgonie Castle, 

 in the parish of Markinch, is a fabric of great antiquity and strength. 

 It stand* on the right bank of the river Leven, about 40 feet above 

 the water. The ruins of the tower of Balweario, in the parish o: 

 Abbotaball, aru interesting, as having been the residence 

 famou* Sir Michael Scott The wall* are nearly seven feet thick. 

 Numerous other remains of the feudal time* will be found describee 

 hi the ' New Statistical Account of Scotland.' 



In this county are also found a remarkable number and variety o 

 the vestiges of the Caledonian and 1'ictish inhabitant-, and of their 



toman and Danish invaders, ancient military forts and mounds of 

 encampment, stone circles, cairns, tumuli, barrows, stone coffins, 

 Celtic sepulchral urns, spear and arrow heads of flint, swords and 

 battle-axes of bras* and bell-metal, Roman and other coins, weapons, 

 Ac. A cairn opened a few year* ago in the pariah of Scoonie, con- 

 tained, beside* a Urge quantity of loose human bones, 20 stone 

 coffins, formed with rough slabs cemented with clay. They held some 

 mouldering skeletons and small urns filled with calcined bones. In 

 the parish of Leuchars an urn, containing about 100 perfectly 

 ireserved silver coin* of the Roman emperors, was turned up by the 

 ilougb. Part of the church hi this parish wa* built about the year 

 1100, and exhibit* the most interesting specimen in Scotland of 

 Norman architecture. 



In 1852 the county possessed four savings banks, at St Andrews, 

 Cupar, Duufermline, and Kirkcaldy ; the total amount due to 

 depositors on 20th November 1852 was 69,5211. it. 4cJ. 

 FIQEAC. [Lor.] 

 FIGUEIRA. [BEIRA.] 

 FIOUERAS. [CATALUNA.] 

 FINALE. [ALBENGA; MODK.NA.] 

 FINCHLEY. [MIDDLESEX.] 



FINISTERE, or FINISTERRE, the most western departm 

 France, comprehending a part of the former duchy of Bretagne, lies 

 between 47" 44' and 48 47' N. lat., 3" 22' and 4 50' W. long. ; un.l is 

 washed on the northern, western, and southern sides by the Atlantic 

 Ocean ; on the east it touches the departments of Cotes-du-Nord and 

 Morbihan. The greatest length from north to south is 78 miles ; 

 from east to west 63 miles ; but the average width does not exceed 

 44 miles. The area of the department is 2593'8 square inili-*; 

 the population in 1851 was 617,710, which gives 238-14 to the square 

 mile, being 63-43 below the average per square mile for the whole of 

 France. The department is named from its comprising within it the 

 extreme point (Finis terras) of France towards the west This point 

 i* the Cape St.-Matthieu, on which there is a small chapel called 

 Notre-Dame fin de terre. 



A number of islands and rocky islets lie off the coast The most 

 important of these are the isles of Bas and Ouessant Sat has been 

 already noticed under its proper head. [BAS.] Oaeuant, ku.i 

 the Romans by the name of L'jcantit, and called by the English 1'iliant, 

 is 13 miles from the mainland, from which it is separated by the 

 Passage du Four. It is about 18 miles in circuit, and fertile ; but the 

 coasts are rocky, precipitous, and very difficult of access. Horses and 

 sheep are reared. The population, which is of unmixed Celtic descent, 

 amounts to about 2300, many of whom are pilots and fishermen. 

 They speak the purest Breton, which is a dialect of Celtic. Besides 

 the village of St-Michel, there are on the island several hamlets, a 

 strong castle, some druidical structures, and a lighthouse of the first 

 class. The French and English fleets, under Count d'Orvillers and 

 Admiral Keppel, respectively fought a bloody and undecided buttle 

 off Ouessant in 1778. The group of the Balance* and the isle of 

 Htniyutt lie between Ouessant and Cape St-Matthieu, at the entrance 

 to Brest Harbour. Sein, a low, barren, and rocky island, nearly 

 2 miles W. from Cape Raz, is inhabited by fishermen. The (Henant is a 

 group of nine islets on the south coast, opposite Capo Trevignor. 



The department presents to the sea a bold barrier of granite rocks, 

 at the foot of which there are here and there extensive sauds and 

 beaches. The coast line measures above 360 miles, reckoning all its 

 windings : it is indented by a great number of bays and inlets, cor- 

 responding to an equal number of valleys or depressions in the land, 

 out of which flow as many rivers or brooks. The largest of these 

 inlets are those on the west coast, forming the harbour and roods of 

 Brest ; the Bay of Douarnenez, famous for its pilchard fishery ; the 

 Bay of Audicrne, south of Raz Point ; Benodet Bay, south of Quiinper ; 

 and farther east the Bay of Forot On the northern coast there are 

 many small bays and inlets : the largest is the roadstead of Morlaix, 

 which is admirably sheltered, but is difficult of access in consr. . 

 of islets, rocks, and ledges with which the approaches are incom- 

 moded. The coast is dangerous to mariners, and exposed to great 

 storms from the south-west. Lighthouses are built on all the prin- 

 cipal headlands. The interior of the department is hilly ; two offshoots 

 of the Armoric range [CdTES-DU-Noan] cover a great part of the 

 surface, namely, the Aird Mountains in the north, and the Montagues 

 Noircs in the south ; but they nowhere exceed 900 feet in height 



The rivers are very numerous, but their course is short The most 

 important are the AvJ.ru, which flows from Cotes-du-Nord westward, 

 past Ch&teauneuf and Chateaulin ; from this last town to its entrance 

 into Brest Roads it is a tide river and navigable ; its principal feeder* 

 are the Elcze, the Doufine, on the right bank, and the Hii-ru on the 

 left : the Elorn, which also enters the Brest Roads, and forms the 

 harbour of Landemeau ; the Mel, which passe* Quiinper, where it 

 receives the Benodet, and becomes navigable to its mouth in the Bay 

 of Benodet ; and the SUt, which enters the south-eastern angle of 

 this department from that of Morbihan, receives the Isok, or Issole, 

 at Qiiimperlr, whence, to its entrance into the Bay of Biscay, it sepa- 

 rates Morbihan from Finistcre. The Ell<5 below Quimperld is some- 

 time* called the river of Quimperlc. The scenery along these 

 is exceedingly beautiful, and in moat of them there is good truut- 



