Carse of Forth

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Carse of Forth, a great tract of low, flat, alluvial land, along both banks of the river Forth, in the counties of Perth, Stirling, Clackmannan, and Linlithgow. It extends from the foot of the Grampians, in the neighbourhood of Gartmore, away through the opening between the Lennox and the Ochil Hills, on to the low country in the vicinity of Borrowstounness; measures about 34 miles in length, and 6 in breadth; is nearly all a perfect level, with very slight declination to the Forth, having an elevation of from 12 to 20 or 25 feet above high-water level; contains, at various depths, beds of marine shells, from a few inches to a foot thick, of the same species as those still existing in the Forth; has an alluvial soil of finely comminuted earth, without the smallest trace of pebble, except what may have been artificially imported; and, in an agricultural point of view, is the richest and most important district of Scotland.

Carse of Clackmannan, the part of the Carse of Forth lying on the left bank of the river Forth within Clackmannanshire. It has the same character as the part lying opposite to it within Stirlingshire, but is very much smaller.

Carse of Falkirk, the part of the Carse of Forth, lying along the right bank of the river Forth, from Airth in Stirlingshire to Borrowstounness in Linlithgowshire. It is all very nearly a dead level, and is the richest portion of the entire Carse, particularly within Bothkennar and Falkirk parishes.

Carse of Kinneil, the part of the Carse of Falkirk, within Borrowstounness, Linlithgowshire.

Carse of Stirling, the part of the Carse of Forth which extends along the right bank of the river Forth, from Craigforth to Airth, in Stirlingshire; and also, according to some authorities, the parts along the left bank of the river, from the Moss of Kincardine to the mouth of the Devon, within the counties of Perth, Stirling, and Clackmannan.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer