Parish of Boharm

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: Boharm
1834-45: Boharm

Boharm, a parish of Banff and Elgin shires, with the post office hamlet of Blackhillock towards its centre, and, ½ mile to the N, Mulben station on the Highland railway, it being 5 miles W of Keith and 13 miles SE of Elgin. Bounded N by Bellie, E by Keith and Botriphnie, S by Mortlach, SW by Aberlour, and W by Rothes, Boharm has an extreme length from N to S of 6¼ miles, or of 9 from the Burn of Forgie in the NE to the SE angle near Craigellachie Junction; a width from E to W of from 33/8 to 5 miles; and an area of 16,741 acres, 7835 of which are in Elginshire. The Spey, 100 yards and more across, traces 7 miles of the western, and the tributary Fiddich 2¼ of the southern and south-western border; while the chief stream of the interior is the Burn of Mulben, which flows 6¼ miles, NE and W by N, to the Spey at Boat of Bridge, its westward course, flanked by the Highland railway, parting the parish into two fairly equal halves. Strathspey here sinks from less than 300 to less than 200 feet above sea-level, but elsewhere the surface exceeds at all points 400 feet, the principal elevations in the southern half being bulky Ben Aigan (1544 feet), Knock More (1167), and Knockan (1219); in the northern, the Hill of Cairnty (606) and Thief's Hill (819). Gneiss rock prevails along thesouthern border, and mica and talc strata also occur, the former traversed by frequent veins of quartz and by one narrow vein of limestone that has been worked in several places for calcining and building purposes. Little more than a fourth of the surface is under the plough, plantations covering a larger area, and clothing the slopes of Ben Aigan up to 1000 feet, of Cairnty up to the summit. In the Boharm section of Strathspey Skene places Tuessis, a town of the Vacomagi mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2d century A.D.(Celt. Scot., i. 74). In the S, near the Fiddich, stood Gouldwell Castle, the 'Castellum de Bucharin' in 1200 of the Flemish Freskines, ancestors of the Morays of Abercairney and the Dukes of Athole. A massive structure, measuring within 119feet by 24, it has left but inconsiderable vestiges; the ancient church of Arndilly lay 1 mile to the NNE. Two fine modern mansions are Arndilly, on the Spey, 2¼ miles N of Craigellachie, and Auchlunkart House,1½ mile SW of Mulben station. They are the seats of Col. Jn. Grant-Kinloch of Logie, and Andrew Steuart, Esq., owners respectively of 5895 and 6812 acres, valued at £2864 and £4562 per annum. Comprising the former parish of Arndilly and part of that of Dundurens,Boharm is in the presbytery of Aberlour and synod of Moray; its minister's income is £315. The parish church (rebuilt 1793; 575 sittings) stands 1¼ mile WSW of Mulben, and there is also a Free church. Of 4 public schools-Blackhillock, Boharm, Forgie, and Maggyknockater-the second is now amalgamated with the first; but in 1879, with respective accommodation for 80,72,74, and 126 children, they had an average attendance of 45,44,24, and 75, and grants of £24,3s.,£37, £27,17s., and £68,15s. 6d. Valuation (1882), £4464. Pop. (1831) 1385, (1841) 1261, (1861) 1412, (1871) 1337, (1881) 1166.—Ord. Sur., sh. 85,1876.

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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