Parish of Eassie and Nevay

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: Eassie and Nevay
1834-45: Eassie and Nevay

Eassie and Nevay, a united parish on the W border of Forfarshire, containing, towards its NE corner, Eassie station on the Scottish Midland section of the Caledonian, 5½ miles ENE of the post-town Meigle, and 2¾ W by N of Glamis, by road; whilst by rail it is 2 ¼ miles SW of Glamis station, 4 ¼ NE of Alyth Junction, and 24¾ NE of Perth. United before the middle of the 17th century, the ancient parishes of Eassie and Nevay were nearly equal to each other in extent-Eassie on the N, Nevay on the S. The whole is bounded N by Airlie, E and SE by Glamis, S and SW by Newtyle, and W by Meigle in Perthshire. Its greatest length, from NNE to SSW, is 4 7/8 miles; its breadth varies between 1 ¼ and 2 3/8 miles; and its area is 5061½ acres, of which 8 are water. Dean Water creeps 2¾ miles west-by-southward along all the northern border, with scarcely perceptible current, yet sometimes in winter, bursting its strong embankments, floods all the neighbouring fields. Eassie Burn rises in the N of Auchterhouse parish, and, running 6 ¼ miles north-by-westward through Denoon Glen in Glamis parish, and across the north-eastern extremity of Eassie past Eassie station, falls into Dean Water at a point 2¾ iles WNW of Glamis village. The level northern and north-western portion is part of Strathmore, and sinks along Dean Water to 160 feet above the sea; southwards the surface rises to the Sidlaws, attaining 371 feet near Murleywell, 621 at Ingliston Hill, and 947 on the south-eastern border, whilst Kinpurney Hill (1134 feet) culminates just within Newtyle. The rocks of the uplands are partly eruptive, partly Devonian; that of the Strathmore division is Old Red sandstone; and here the soil is mainly a soft sandy loam of high fertility,- as there it is partly moorish, partly a thin black mould. Nearly half of the entire area is in tillage; about 240 acres are under wood; and the rest is either pastoral or waste. A circular mound, with traces of an ancient deep, wide moat, is occupied by Castle-Nairne farmhouse; and a large sculptured stone, similar to the famous sculptured stones of Meigle and Aberlemno, is near the old church of Eassie. All Nevay belongs to the Earl of Wharncliffe, the rest of the parish being divided among 4 proprietors. This parish is in the presbytery of Meigle and synod of Angus and Mearns; the living is worth £259. Two churches, the one in Eassie, the other in Nevay, were formerly in use. alternately and both of them still stand as ruins, with burial grounds at each, beyond the station. The present church, 2 miles SW of Eassie station, was built in 1833, and contains 400 sittings. A public school, with accommodation for 127 children, had (1880) an average attendance of 65, and a grant of £55, 3s. 11d. Valuation (1882) £6974, 11s., plus £2026 for railway. Pop. (1801) 638, (1831) 654, (1861) 748, (1871) 586, (1881) 561.—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

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