Kildalton, a parish in Islay district, Argyllshire. It comprises the south-eastern part of Islay island; is bounded on the NW by Killarrow and Kilmeny; includes Texa, Cavrach, and Inersay islets, the Ardelister islands, and the islets off Ardmore Point; and contains the village of Port Ellen, with a post and telegraph office under Greenock. Its utmost length, from NNE to SSW, is 18 miles; its utmost breadth is 8 miles; and its area is 48, 380¼ acres, of which 662½ are foreshore and 559¼ water. The coasts and the interior have alike been described in our article on Islay. The extent of land under cultivation bears but a small proportion to what is waste and reclaimable. A great many acres in the NE are under brushwood, and a good many acres are under flourishing plantations. A principal modern building is a handsome light monumental tower, 80 feet high, erected to the memory of Mrs Campbell of Islay; and the chief antiquities are remains of two Scandinavian forts, of the last Islay stronghold of the Macdonalds, and of four pre-Reformation chapels. Kildalton, the principal residence, 5 miles NE of Port Ellen, is the seat of John Ramsay, Esq., M.P. (b. 1814), who holds 54,250 acres in the shire, valued at £8226 per annum. Divided ecclesiastically into Kildalton proper and Oa, this parish is in the presbytery of Islay and Jura and synod of Argyll; the living is worth £231. The parish church, near Ardmore Point, was built in 1777, and contains 450 sittings. There is a Free church of Kildalton and Oa; and five public schools-Ardbeg, Glenegidale, Kintour, Oa, and Port Ellen-with respective accommodation for 92, 66, 40, 70, and 250 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 49, 19, 17, 22, and 145, and grants of £40, 14s., £33, 18s. 6d., £30, 2s. 6d., £30, 16s., and £88, 13s. Valuation (1860) £5783, (1883) £10,033, 17s. 9d. Pop. (1801) 1990, (1841) 3315, (1861) 2950, (1871) 2283, (1881) 2271, of whom 2127 were Gaelic-speaking, and 2024 were in Kildalton ecclesiastical parish.
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