Parish of Lintrathen

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.

This edition is copyright © The Editors of the Gazetteer for Scotland, 2002-2022.

It has taken much time and money to make the six-volumes of Groome's text freely accessible. Please help us continue and develop by making a donation. If only one out of every ten people who view this page gave £5 or $10, the project would be self-sustaining. Sadly less than one in thirty-thousand contribute, so please give what you can.

Use the tabs on the right of this page to see other parts of this entry Arrow

Links to the Historical Statistical Accounts of Scotland are also available:
(Click on the link to the right, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Browse scanned pages")

1791-99: Lintrathen
1834-45: Lintrathen

Lintrathen (Gael. linne-tre-auin, ` falls in the river'), a hamlet and a parish in the Grampian district of W Forfarshire. The hamlet, Bridgend of Lintrathen, lies 715 feet above sea-level, on Melgam Water, 5 7/8 miles NNE of Alyth station, and 7¼ W of Kirriemuir, under which it has a post office.

The parish is bounded NE by Kirriemuir (detached), E by Kingoldrum, SE by Airlie, and SW and W by Glenisla. Its utmost length, from NNW to SSE. is 10¼ miles; its utmost breadth is 51/4 miles; and its area is 22,872 2/3 acres, of which 2482/3 are water. The river Isla, running 7 miles south-eastward along the Glenisla boundary, here makes two beautiful falls, the Reekie Linn and the Slugs of Achrannie, and for 4 miles is overhung by steep, rocky, wooded banks, which rise in places to more than 100 feet. Back or Melgam Water, rising in the northern extremity of the parish at an altitude of 1970 feet above sea-level, winds 13¾ miles south-south-eastward through the interior, then 2 miles eastward, south-by-eastward, and west-south-westward, along the Kingoldrum and Airlie boundaries, till, after a total descent of 1600 feet, it falls into the Isla opposite Airlie Castle. The circular Loch of Lintrathen (5½ x 51/4 furl.), 1/4 mile W of the village, is a picturesque sheet of water, and since 1875 has furnished the Dundee reservoirs with some 4, 000, 000 gallons per diem. In the extreme S the surface declines to less than 400 feet above sea-level, and chief elevations to the W of Melgam Water, as one goes up the glen, are the wooded Knock of Formal (1158 feet), Craiglea Hill (1272), * Hare Cairn (1692), and * Cairn Daunie (2066); to the E, Strone Hill (1074), Craig of Auldallan (1371), Creigh Hill (1630), * Cat Law (2196), Milldewan Hill (1677), and *High Tree (2001) where asterisks mark those summits that culminate on the confines of the parish. The rocks to the N of the Loch of Lintrathen are metamorphosed Silurian, but the southern district falls within the Old Red Sandstone area of Strathmore. Less than one-seventh of the entire area is arable, and even of this the soil is mostly moorish, whilst so late is the climate that oats were actually reaped on 30 Dec. 1881. Plantations cover some 1200 acres. The property is divided among four. Since 1879 giving off a portion to Kilry quoad sacra parish, Lintrathen is in the presbytery of Meigle and the synod of Angus and Mearns; the living is worth £191. The parish church, built in 1802, contains 450 sittings. Three public schools Backwater, Braes of Coull, and Lintrathen with respective accommodation for 26, 63, and 148 children, had (1882) an average attendance of 15, 35, and 62, and grants of £29, 18s. 6d., £50, 11s. 6d., and £70, 6s. Valuation (1857) £4475, (1884) £13, 610, 9s. Pop. (1801) 919, (1831) 998, (1861) 898, (1871) 756, (1881) 641, of whom 587 were in the ecclesiastical parish.—Ord. Sur., sh. 56, 1870.

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

If you have found this information useful please consider making
a donation to help maintain and improve this resource. More info...

By using our site you agree to accept cookies, which help us serve you better