Parish of Inveravon

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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1791-99: Inveraven
1834-45: Inveraven

Inveraven (Gael. inbhir-abhuinn, ` confluence of the River'), a hamlet in S Banffshire and a parish partly also in Elginshire. The hamlet stands on the right bank of the Spey and of the confluent Aven, 2 miles NE of Ballindalloch station, and has live-stock and grain fairs on the third Saturday of January, February, March, April, October, and December, the Tuesday in May before Whitsunday, the second Tuesday of July o. s., and the Tuesday in November before Martinmas, the three last being also hiring markets.

The parish, containing also Ballindalloch station and post office, 12 miles NE of Grantown and 12 SW of Craigellachie, is bounded N by Knockando, E by Aberlour, Mortlach, and Cabrach, SE by Glenbucket and Strathdon in Aberdeenshire, SW by Kirkmichael, and W by Cromdale. Its utmost length, from N by W to S by E, is 163/8 miles; its utmost width, from E to W, is 8 miles; and its area is 49, 259 acres, of which 1569 belong to the Elginshire section and 286 are water. In the SE or Glenlivet portion of the parish, Livet Water is formed by the confluence of Suie and Kymah Burns, both rising at an altitude of 2300 feet above sea-level, and running-the former 33/8 miles southward, the latter 51/8 miles north-by-westward. From the point of their union (1100 feet) the Livet flows 8¾ miles west-north-westward and north-north-westward, till it falls into the Aven at Drumin (700 feet), 5 miles S of Ballindalloch station. The pellucid Aven, entering from Kirkmichael, runs 67/8 miles northward to its confluence with the Spey at a point ½ mile NE of Ballindalloch station; and the Spey itself, here a noble salmon river, 200 feet broad, winds 73/8 miles north-eastward along all the Knockando boundary, descending during this course from 480 to 358 feet. The surface is everywhere hilly or grandly mountainous, chief elevations to the E of the Aven and the Livet, as one ascends these streams, being the * Hill of Phones (961 feet), * Cairn Guish (1607), the * western shoulder (2500) of Ben Rinnes, Cairnacay (1605), * Corryhabbie Hill (2563), and Carn an t Suidhe (2401); to the W of them, * Creag an Tarmachain (2121), Carn Liath (1795), * Carn Daimh (1866), the isolated Bochel (1500), and * Carn Mor (2636), where asterisks mark those summits that culminate on or close to the confines of the parish. The division from the Spey to Cairnacay is Inveraven proper; that from Cairnacay to the Bochel is known as Morange; and that above the Bochel is the Braes of Glenlivet. Inveraven proper rejoices in the beautiful grounds of Ballindalloch Castle, and almost everywhere is adorned with either natural wood or plantations. Morange includes a considerable extent of strath, but both it and the Braes are utterly bare of wood. A fair extent of arable land lies along the banks of the streams, and is adorned or overlooked by picturesque features of scenery; but nearly all the rest of the parish is either moor or mountain, bleak and barren of aspect. Gneiss is the predominant rock. Red granite, suitable for building purposes, forms a vein in the N side of Ben Rinnes; limestone, embedded in the gneiss, occurs in Morange; and small portions of asbestos have been found on Ben Rinnes, rock crystals in boulders of the Aven. The soil of the arable lands is loamy, gravelly, or moorish; but, on the whole, may be pronounced good. Antiquities, other than those noticed under Ballindali.och and Castle-Drumin, are remains of a hunting-seat of the Earls of Huntly at Blairfindy, a very large cairn near Buitterlach, and vestiges or the sites of Caledonian stone circles and tumuli, and of several preReformation chapels. The Battle of Glenlivet is the chief event in the history of the parish, natives of which have been Gen. James Grant of Ballindalloch (1719-1806), the captor of St Lucia, and Sir James M`Grigor, Bart., M.D., F.R.S. (1771-1858), long chief of the army medical department. The Duke of Richmond and Gordon and Sir George Macpherson-Grant of Ballindalloch are by far the largest proprietors, 1 other holding an annual value of more, and 3 of less, than £50. Giving off the quoad sacra parish of Glenlivet, Inveraven is in the presbytery of Aberlour and synod of Moray; the living is worth £361. The parish church, at the hamlet, was built in 1806, and contains 550 sittings; a Free church stands on the right bank of the Aven, 3 miles SSE of Ballindalloch station. Other places of worship are noticed under Glenlivet; and, besides the five schools there, Inveraven public, Morinish public, and Ballindalloch schools, with respective accommodation for 164, 60, and 74 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 91, 45, and 31, and grants of £82, 2s. 6d., £52, 6s. 6d., and £35, 4s. Valuation (1860) £8539, (1881) £9677, of which £938 was for the Elginshire section. Pop. (1801) 2107, (1831) 2648, (1861) 2639, (1871) 2608, (1881) 2568, of whom 194 were in Elginshire and 952 in the ecclesiastical parish.—Ord. Sur., shs. 85, 75, 1876.

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

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