712 



MORAYSHIRE. 



Moray- 

 hire. 



Mineralj. 



The folly of establishing a parochial assessment for 

 the relief of the poor is strongly proved by the expense 

 with which they are maintained in this county, com- 

 pared with the cost in the 61 parishes where a com- 

 pulsory mode exists. In the latter, a pauper costs 

 not less than L.2, whilst in Moray and Nairn the 

 expense is only nine shillings each. In these two 

 counties, consisting only of 24 parishes, there are not 

 fewer than 33 friendly societies, one of which, the 

 Guildry in EU>in, divides nearly L. 100 annually 

 among the widows and families of deceased guild- 

 brethren. 



The York Building Company established, nearly 

 a century ago, an iron foundry on Sir James Grant's 

 estate, which is now wholly given up, in conse- 

 quence of the expence of wood for charcoal. In the 

 higher parts of the county, a sufficient quantity of iron 

 ore abounds. Lime and marl are plentiful in many 

 parts ; and the marl on the estate of Lord Cawdor, ex- 

 tending between the bottom of the mountains and 

 Hoarmoor heath, where Macbeth is supposed to have 

 met the weird sisterhood, is of the purest kind, and 

 very abundant. Quarries of freestone are very large, 

 and' capable of supplying the demands of the architect 

 for pillars, &c. A very durable slate is also raised in 

 this county, of a blue or grey colour. 



Rocks, &c. I ts rocks are secondary, consisting chiefly of sand- 

 stone and basalt; but those in the higher parts of 

 the country are probably primitive, if we draw our 

 conclusions from the fragments of granite and mica. 

 ceous schistus, which present themselves. The sur- 

 face of the county near Lossiemouth is formed of bowl- 

 der stones of granite, granitic porphyry, quartz, lime- 

 stone, and arenaceous breccia. Great banks, left as 

 alluvium by the retiring of the sea, are to be found 

 near this town. There are strata also of red-colour- 

 ed argillaceous sandstone, which, at Buckie, are near- 

 ly vertical ; but no other variety of rock presents it- 

 self. 



. There are many druidical cairns, on which sacrifice 

 was offered by the druids, about five feet high and thir- 

 ty feet in circumference, surrounded with stones fixed 

 in the ground, for preventing them from falling. There 

 are also several mounts or motes, which were the seat 

 on which the druids determined questions in law and 

 property ; and in Gaelic they are called tomavoed, or 

 courl-hill, and in the south, laws, as North Berwick 

 Law, &c. There are also strong holds called duns and 

 sand-hillocks, where, by means of a large fire, they 

 summoned their warriors to repel the invading enemy. 

 The Romans soon relinquished this province (the inha- 

 bitants of which they called Vacomagi, and its firth, 

 Vararis,) which could neither gratify their avarice nor 

 ambition ; and on this account the only remains of their 

 power are of a military nature. Baths, roads, and in- 

 scriptions-, which belong to a tranquil age, are not to be 

 found here. Fortified chains of communications, whose 

 origin may be traced to a later period, extend from 

 Burgh to the East Sea by Duffus, &c. to Garran in the 

 M earns. One of the most magnificent obelisks in Scot- 

 land, being 20 feet high and 4 broad, is situated near- 

 ly half a mile to the north-east of Forres. On its east- 

 ern side there are 6 divisions, whereon are represented 

 horses with their riders, and infantry with bows and 

 arrows, swords, and targets. In the fourth division 

 several men armed with spears guard a number of hu- 

 man heads under a canopy ; and in the 6th there is the 

 appearance of horses seized, riders beheaded, and heads 



thrown under an arched cover. It is supposed to have Moray- 

 been erected either as a memorial of the assassination of ihire - 

 King Duff, or of a battle [fought by King Malcolm ' "y^^ 

 II. of Scotland against the Danes in 1008. The ruins 

 of the royal forts at Elgin and Forres still exist. The 

 religious houses in this province are numerous. The 

 cathedral at the east end of Elgin is the noblest speci. 

 men of Gothic architecture in the county. The mag- 

 nificence of the building, the elegance of the sculpture, 

 and the uniformity of the design, afford a lasting mo- 

 nument of the labour and ingenuity of the middle ages. 

 Its length is 264 feet, and the height of the centre 

 tower and spire is 108. The model resembles that of 

 the cathedral at Litchfield, but on a larger scale, and with 

 more ornament. The priory of Pluscardine preserves 

 the plan of the building entire, and the whole occupies 

 nearly 12 acres. 



The Norwegians conquered Moray about the year History. 

 927, under Sigind, Earl of Orkney. Before this period 

 the Picts occupied the Burgh, a Roman station on the 

 Moray Firth, where they established themselves in 

 great numbers, as appears by the ruins of the housei 

 extending nearly two miles on the sea-shore to the 

 east. Other colonies of the same descent mingled with 

 the British, and being driven northward by the Belgae, 

 Iberians, and Saxons, peopled the province of Moray. 

 Their killing King Malcolm I. at Ulrin, the castle of 

 Forres, and King Duffus, A. D. 966, affords a clear 

 proof of their turbulent character. In the reign of 

 Malcolm IV. about 1160, they rebelled, and on his 

 attacking them submitted ; but all the insurgents were 

 transplanted into the other counties of Scotland, from 

 Caithness to Galloway. Malcolm III. and his succes- 

 sors encouraged emigrants of rank from England and 

 the continent, who acquired afterwards a considerable 

 property, and from them many of the nobility and of 

 the ancient families in this province are probably de- 

 scended. At Forres and Mortelich battles were fought Buttlet. 

 betwixt the Scots and Danes, in the year 1008 and 

 1010. At Speymouth, in the years 1078 and 1110, 

 wars took place betwixt the king and the inhabitants 

 of Morayshire. King Malcolm contended with the 

 same people on the muir of Urquhart in the year 1 160. 

 The Frazers and M'Donalds opposed each other at 

 Ceanlochlochie, in A.D. 1544. A contest took place be- 

 tween the king and the Earls of Huntly and Angus, 

 in 1594; the Covenanters attacked Montrose in 1645; 

 and in 1690 the king's troops opposed the Highlan- 

 ders. 



The diocese of Moray comprehended the counties Ecclesiasti- 

 of Moray, and a great part of Banff and Inverness, cal hlsiory. 

 which had fifty-six pastoral charges. There was an 

 abbey at Kinloss, and the abbot had a seat in parlia- 

 ment. Three priories were founded at Urquhart, Plus- 

 cardine, and Kinguissie, and likewise several convents. 

 An hospital was also erected near Elgin for entertaining 

 strangers, and for the support of poor infirm people. 

 The monks are said to have possessed excellent libraries. 

 The furniture of Kinloss Abbey consisted of fifty fea- 

 ther beds, two silk beds, and twenty-eight arras co- 

 verings. Great hospitality marked the conduct of its 

 inmates, with whom King Edward I. resided nearly a 

 month and a half. The king and his attendants are 

 reported to have drank, during this short period, the 

 beer of more than twenty chalders of malt. Though 

 this statement appears to be exaggerated, yet it affords 

 a decisive proof of the good cheer in which our an- 

 cestors of the 14th century indulged. 



