II90 



STATISTICS OF AGRICULTURE. 



Tart IV. 



7850. ANGUS or FORFARSHIRE. 532,243 acres, one haW, or more, of clayey and alluvial lowlands, 

 and the remainder mountain pasture, moor, and bog. The climate cold, moist, and variable. It is both 

 an agricultural and manufacturing couirty, and in respect to antiquities, facilities of furtner improvement- 

 natural productions, &c. of great interest. The botanic famity of Don are of this county, A most valu- 

 able report has been furnished by the Rev. James Headrick, and is the last of the Scotch reiwrts whitth 

 has been published. {Headrick's General View, 1813,) 



1. Geographical State and Circumstances. 



The Grampiuu Tnountauis abound in granite, which contains 

 topazescr rock cijstals. Quartz, mica, porcelain stone, lead, 

 limestonejslata^ jasper,. porphyry, breccia, and shell marl occur 

 fai various places. The Loch of Forfar abounds with shell 

 marl, which is taken out by scoops, and thrawn into boats, by 

 which it is conveyed to the shorci The scoop, consists of a 

 large iron scrauer, somewhat similar to^the Dutch hoe, which 

 has a long wootlen handle fastened into it, and a baR, of strong 

 feather fastened by whipcord around its rim.. The bag is per- 

 forated by small holes, to allow the water to drain ofT, and has 

 a thonix at its bottom, by which it can be turned over, and its 

 contents discharged into the boat. After the boat is firmly 

 fastened by anchors, extended from each end, one man forcibly 

 presses down the scoop to the bottom, by means of a long pole 

 at the stern of the boat, while another man, by means of a 

 windlass, or wheel and axle, fixed in the opposite end of the 

 boat,, drags the scoop along the side of the boat, by a rope at- 

 tached to it, and then raises it up to the boat's side, where the 

 contents of the bag are emptied into the boat. When the boat 

 has received her load,, the marl is thrown out upon a wooden 

 platform at the side oiE the loch, to drain. 



Saiidstonejlagi are very abundant in the neighbourhood of 

 Arbroath, and are quarried and. exported in great quantities. 



Principal quarry, Gaimylie ; the fla^ rise from tluree to six 

 inches of any pcwtable dimensions. They are called siate-stone 

 flags, but are m f<ict sandstone in plates,,coated with scales of 

 mica or tick, of a greyish blue colour ; and this mica occasions 

 their easy separation from each other. With very thin plates, 

 called slatestones, houses are covered ; they are laid in " plaster 

 lime" or moss (Sphagnum pahistre)^ but they seldom make a 

 roof that is water tight, and slate is now considered cheaper. 

 A most valuable property of the flagstone is, that when laid as 

 pavement on wet soil, they never show this on their upper sur- 

 face; so that they are eitcellent for paving kitchens ,.pa.ssages, 

 paths in hot-houses, &c. Coal searching for, at the time the 

 report was printing, but with no great hopes of success, the 

 district being considerably out of the boundary of the known coal 

 fields of Scotland. No minerals worked : various chalybeate 

 prings. No rivers, but a number of streams that are of mode- 

 rate size. Considerable sea, and some salmon, fisheries. The 

 herring fishery has been tried in the open sea, and consideraWe 

 quantities taken in June, July, and August. Those earliest 

 taken were plump and fat, which shows that all former theo- 

 >ies concerning this most nutritive and abundant of all fishes 

 are erroneous, and how mueh it imports the interests of Bri- 

 tain, that the herring fishery shouM be conducted according 

 to tiie Dutch method, in the deep sea, and, as in the Isle of 

 Man, from May to September. Garvies or sprats, and spir- 

 lings or smelts, abound in the Frith of Tay. The sprats 

 resemble herrings, though of smaller size, and different flavour. 

 They are taken jn great quantities at Kincardine, and other 

 places near the junction of the Forth with its estuary, by nets 

 or wicker traps, sunk in the ebb of the tide. The smelts are 

 maller than the sprats, and when fresh, emit a smell resem- 

 bling that of green rushes ; but when fried, make delicious 

 food. They are caught during spring, along the Forth, ofiMi 

 as ftr up as the Bridge of Stirling, by nets in the form of bas- 

 kets, fastened to the end of long poles. 



Haddocks, whitings, &c. cured by smoke, a practice first 

 ggsted by Headrick, the reporter, in an essay jpublished by 

 the Highland Society of Scotland. Dempster, orDunnichen, 

 in this county, first suggested the idea of conveying salmon to 

 London packed in ice. Reporter remembers when servants 

 in the neighbourhood of Stirling used to stiptilate that they 

 thould not have salmon oftener than thrice a week ; now they 

 seldom have them once a year. 



Eveiy river it laid to have Us particular breed of salmon., They 

 have recourse to fresh water, to escape the attacks of seak, 

 ptters, and jforpojses, and to get rid of the sea-louse, a small 

 black ^inaat, whose attacks seem to inflje-t upon them excru- 

 ciating twtur^. A few gulps of river water seem either to 

 kill the sea-louse, or to deaden the pa^ jg. inflicts, Salmon 

 never remain longer in fVesh water than is necessary to effect 

 the purjx'ses which brought them there ; but sometimes they 

 are siurprised in the rivers by long droughts, and cannot get 

 over mill-dams, and other obstructions which lie between 

 them and the sea. ^Vhen this happens, they sopn get lean 

 and mangy, and die, theit bodies covered with white worms. 

 But in fresh water, they take various kinds of bait, and eagerly 

 catch at flies, and hence become a source of amusement to the 

 angler. During autumn, the salmon always rim up the rivers 

 %o deposit their spawn. 



The iparvninc of salmon seems to be a very slow and laborious 

 process ; and tney get very lean, and even become unwhole- 

 some food, (vhile they are engaged in it. _ The scene of this 

 operation is generally where a stream begins to issue from a 

 stagnant pocf, oyer a sandy bottom. They begin by digging 

 hole in the bottom, by pushing the sand and gravel before 

 them with their snouts, in the direction of the current, until 

 they raise it into the form of a bank, which checks the rapidity 

 of the current, whjle it allows the water to |)ercolate slowly. 

 The male seems to exert himself most in this work ; and be- 

 fore its commencement, his snout becomes longer and harder 

 than usual, while, before it is finished, it is often worn entirely 

 ;iway. While depositing their spawn, the male and female rub 

 their bellies upon each other ; the latter throwing out her roes 

 or eggs, while the male emits among them a milky juice, 

 which seems to effect their impregnation. After one stratum 

 of e^gs is deposited in the ^ificialnollow described, they cover 

 them with light sand, to prevent them from being washed 

 away by the watgr; and thus they form alternate layers of 

 egps and sand, until the hoUow be nearly filled up. The eggs 

 l)emg dropped into a hollow place, are warmed into life by the 

 un's rays, in early spring. The fry, being then very small, 

 asily escape from their covering of loose sand, and soon ac- 

 quire the size of small trouts, and are called calmon fry, or 

 molt ; which seems to be a contraction of samltit. The fijit 



flood new wasRes them intc the sea r and they are generaHif 

 swept from otit rivers befbre the mWdle of May. 



Salmon trout, or grilses, which ascend the rivers towards the- 

 close of the fish/ng- season, are b-y some considered a dlstihca 

 species of fish; but some Caithness fishers assured the re<^ 

 porter, that they proved by experiment, that grilse* are only 

 salmon of one year's growth. iJUp. p. it)3.) 



The sea trout resembles the salmon, and frequenb all t2ie 

 streams where it abounds. 



Fresh water eels, contrarj- to the practice of salmon, breedit* 

 the sea, and thrive and fatten in the fresh-water lakes and 

 ponds. During summer, myriads of their young fry are seen 

 constantly ascending the firesh-water streams, where they keep 

 near the sides, that they may avoid the current. In places- 

 where they meet with interruption, such as behind a mill- 

 wheel, they often accumulate m lan;e masses, and frequently 

 make their way up the crevices ofthe building, or over the 

 dry land, until they reacih the stream above, in which they 

 CTjntrnue their course. The larger et-ls are caught in this- 

 county, while they are descending the streams during autumn, 

 probably to deposit their spawn in- the sea. 



The observations of tile reporter on various other species of 

 fish, and on salmon and other fisheries, are, like every thing 

 which flows fronrhis pen, new and interesting. 



2. Property. 



Much divided, largest estate 12^*0/- a year: property, at an 

 average, changes its proprietor every forty years. During the- 

 dark night o superstition, a man could take nstep respecting 

 his property, or his domestk; concerns, without having half a 

 dozen or a score of priests to advise him r and he was obliged 

 to compound for the safety of his soul, and the security ofhia. 

 property, by ample donations to the church. When a man 

 died without granting the,se donations, it was presumed to be- 

 his intention to do so j- and what weis originaWv an alms, or 

 favour, was claimed as a right. In our days, a nian can hardly 

 venture upon any step-of impertanse without having a posse 

 of lawyers at his elbow ;, and, after all, often finds himself as. 

 fer from his purpose as if be had not employed them. 



3. Buildings. 



Sixty gentlemen's seats ennmerated ; not many with hand- 

 some buildings. Farm-houses and cottages most wretched,, 

 and slowsr o5 impi-oveme.it than in most other counties. 



4. Occupation. 



Farms of all sizes, but chiefly small. On the Grampian*, 

 estimated by the number of sheep they will maintain. 



5. Implements. 



Old Scotch plough still used in a few remote places, and 

 found an instrument well adapted for breaking up waste land 

 that is encumbered with the roots of shrubs,-or with stones. 

 At no remote period, it was usual to yoke four or six horses, 

 abreast in this plough. The dri-ver walked backwards before 

 the horses, ana struck them in the free to make them come 

 forward. At present this plough is commonly drawn by four 

 sometimes by six horses, which are yoked in pairs, and the 

 driver walks beside them. But, except for the purposes al- 

 ready specified, the plough which was first invented by the Iat 

 Small, near Dalkeith, and from him named Small's plough,, 

 is universally used. 



A threshing-machine, of a very peculiar construction, adaptei 

 to very high falls of water, erected at Howmuir, by Stirhng, 

 an ingenious man; but is not yet perfected, and if it were,. 

 could never become general. 



A pick or lever with a tread, used in the same manner as a 

 fork or spade, for loosening hard ecurth or gravel : in fact it may 

 be called a one-pronged fork. 



6. Tdlage. 



Fallowing general. Seed-wheat washed with a ley of sofl 

 soap, to remove the smut. Potatoes introduced to the gardens 

 in 1745, but not to the fields for many years afterwards. The 

 l.tte Dr. Walker, Professor of Natural History in the Univer- 

 sity of Edinburgh, was in the habh, especially during years of 

 scarcity, of uskig yams in place of bread in his own family. 

 He cut them into thin slices, and either boiled them over the 

 fire, or dressed them in the fiying-pnn with as much butter as 

 prevented the pan from burning. When dressed in this way, 

 their taste was very pleasant ; and they were used in ail cases 

 where bread is commonly used. 



7. Gardens and Orchards. 



A great prejudice in favour of covering wall trees with 

 nets, to preserve the blossoms from the frost j woollen nets pr*. 

 ferred. 



8. Woods and Plantations. 



Pew woods, but many plantations. In the mosses the trunks 

 of large trees found. 



9. Rural Economy. 



Farm-servants live chiefly on oatmeal, and potatoes and 

 milk. Their breakfasf is porridge, which is made by stirring 

 meal among bpiling water, (jr milk, in a pot over theVire, with 

 a little salt ; and when it cools it is eaten with milk. Or they 

 use brose, which is made by pouring warm water uj)on meal, in 

 a wooden dish, with a little salt, taking care to stir it well. Thi 

 too is eaten with milk, or with beer which is furnished in 

 place of milk, when the latter is scarce. Sometimes, when 

 they are in a hurry, they mix the liquid with the meal in a 

 cold state. Their usual dinner is oat-cake, with sometimes 

 butter or skim-milk cheese, and milk. Their supper ia 

 the same with breakfast, except that sometimes they use 

 sowens or potatoes, in the place of porridge or brose. Butcher's 

 meat Is only used on particular ocpasions ; and fish by those 

 who are near the rivers and the sea-coast. 



Much ridicule has been thrown on the Scotch, on account 

 of their immoderate use of oatmeal. This has been repre- 

 sented as inflaming their blood, and producing their favourite 

 disease called the Scotch, fiddle, and other cutaneous eruptions. 

 But oatmeal is as much used hi some districts of England as 

 in any part of Scotland ; and cutaneous eruptioi>* are much 



