Strathblane, a village and a parish of SW Stirlingshire. The village, standing on the river Blane, 265 feet above sea-level, by road is 4¼ miles N by E of Milngavie and 11¼ N by W of Glasgow, under which it has a post office ; whilst its station on the Blane Valley section of the North British is 13 miles S of Bucklyvie, 4¼ W by N of Lennoxtown, and 15¾ N by W of Glasgow. The parish, containing also the larger village of Blanefield, with print-works and another station, is bounded E by Campsie, SE by Baldernock, S by the Stirlingshire portion of New Kilpatrick, SW by its Dumbartonshire portion, and W and N by Killearn. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 4¾ miles ; its utmost breadth, from E to W, is 43/8 miles ; and its area is 92172/3 acres, of which 149¼ are water. The Blane, rising on the western side of Earl's Seat, in the NE corner of the parish, at an altitude of 1650 feet above sea-level, runs first, as Ballagan Burn, 21/8 miles south-by-eastward, and next 5¾ miles north-westward, for the last ¾ mile along the north-western border. It thus has a total course here of 77/8 miles, though the distance from its source to the point where it quits the parish is but 27/8 miles as the crow flies. Allander Water flows 2¼ miles south-south-eastward along all the Dumbartonshire border ; and the largest of nine sheets of water in the southern half of the parish, Loch Ardinning and Craigallion Loch, have each a maximum length and breadth of 3¾ and 12/3 furlongs. The Loch Katrine aqueduct of the Glasgow Waterworks traverses the parish for a distance of 4½ miles. Along the Blane, in the NW, the surface declines to 100 feet above sea-level ; and thence it rises to 634 feet at the western boundary near Auchengillan, 600 near Carbeth, 566 near Loch Ardinning, 1624 at the Strathblane Hills, 1664 at Dumbreck on the Campsie boundary, 1401 at Dumgoyn, and 1894 at Earl's Seat, which culminates just on the meeting-point of Strathblane, Killearn, and Campsie parishes. The Blane's valley, which gives the parish the name of Strathblane, forms a cut or depression across the Lennox Hills, dividing the Campsie Fells on the E from the Kilpatrick Hills on the W. Commencing with a width of less than 1 mile, and expanding to one of nearly 2 miles, it exhibits, from standpoints at its head, a very beautiful view. On the NE side it is screened at one point by a basaltic colonnade, 240 yards long and 30 feet high. The hills on this side are bold, lofty, and picturesque ; those on the SW side are softly outlined, partially wooded, and comparatively low ; and the low grounds display an exquisite assemblage of mansions, lakes, woods, and luxuriant corn fields. The prevailing rock of the hills is trap, and that of the low grounds Old Red Sandstone. The soil is sandy in the upper part of the valley, and clayey in the lower. About 3680 acres are in tillage ; 2000 acres are under wood ; and the rest is mostly hillpasture. Mugdock Castle is noticed separately, as also are the mansions of Ballagan, Carbeth-Guthrie, Craigend Castle, and Duntreath Castle. Five proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, and 10 of between £100 and £500. Strathblane is in the presbytery of Dumbarton and the synod of Glasgow and Ayr ; the living is worth £280. The parish church is a Gothic edifice of 1803, containing 450 sittings. There is also a Free church ; and a public school, with accommodation for 200 children, had (1884) an average attendance of 139, and a grant of £122, 7s. 6d. Valuation (1860) £6095, (1885) £9488, 6s. 7d. Pop. (1801) 784, (1831) 1033, (1861) 1388, (1871) 1235, (1881) 1343.—Ord. Sur., sh. 30, 1866.
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