Parish of Muckhart

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: Muckart
1834-45: Muckart

Muckhart, a parish in the Ochil district of SE Perthshire, containing Pool village, 3 ½ miles NE of Dollar. In outline resembling a rude triangle with eastward apex, it is bounded NW and N by Glendevon, NE and SE by Fossoway, which is partly in Kinross-shire, and SW and W by Dollar in Clackmannanshire. Its utmost length, from E to W, is 3 7/8 miles; its utmost breadth is 3 ¼ miles; and its area is 4960 ¾ acres, of which 33 are water. Along or near to all the Fossoway boundary, the 'crystal Devon' winds 8 5/8 miles east-south-eastward and west-south-westward, though the point where it first touches and that where it quits the parish are only 4 ¼ miles distant as the crow flies. During this course it exhibits the finest of its famous scenery, described in our articles, Crook of Devon, Devil's Mill, Rumbling Bridge, and Caldron Linn. The surface sinks in the extreme SW to 95 feet above sea-level, thence rising northward to 654 feet at Law Hill, 1442 at Seamab Hill, and 1500 at Commonedge Hill. The hills have fine outlines, verdant slopes, and benty or heathy shoulders and summits; and Seamab, an eastward spur of the Ochils, terminates in a conical summit. The rocks of the hills, and throughout great part of the area, are mainly eruptive; but those near the Devon are carboniferous, and comprise workable strata of sandstone, limestone, ironstone, and coal. The soil in the upper districts is light and gravelly, more or less mossy; in portions of the middle districts is clayey; and in the lower grounds, particularly near Dollar, though sandy, produces very good oats and barley. Nearly two-thirds of the entire area are in tillage; about 290 acres are under wood; and the rest of the land is either pastoral or waste. A fragment remains of Castleton House, built in 1320 by William Lambert, Archbishop of St Andrews; and stone coffins have been found from time to time. The Rev. Adam Gib (1714-88), a leader of the Antiburghers, was a native; and Ebenezer Henderson, LL.D. (1809-79), author of Annals of Dunfermline, died at Astral Villa. Blairhill, on the Devon's right bank, 4 miles ENE of Dollar, is the seat of James Richard Haig, Esq., F.S.A. (b. 1831; suc. 1865), who holds 2597 acres in Perth and Kinross shires, valued at £3686 per annum. The rest of the property is mostly divided among four. Giving off a portion to Blairingone quoad sacra parish, Muckhart is in the presbytery of Kinross and the synod of Fife; the living is worth £202. The parish church is a commodious edifice of 1838. There is also a U.P. church; and a public school, with accommodation for 118 children, had (1883) an average attendance of 67, and a grant of £60, 3s. Valuation (1860) £5211, (1884) £5918, 15s. 4d. Pop. (1801) 538, (1841) 706, (1861) 615, (1871) 612, (1881) 601, of whom 593 were in the ecclesiastical parish.—Ord. Sur., shs. 39, 40, 1869-67.

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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