KINROSS-SHIRE, a county in Scotland, bounded on the north-east, east, and south by the county of Fife, and on the north and west by Perthshire, is about twelve miles in length from east to west, and ten miles in breadth from south to north; but,according to the latest survey,contains only seventy-eight square miles, or 49,920 English acres, being one of the smallest counties in Scotland. Kinross, the county town, situated nearly in the centre, is in north latitude 56. 15. and west longitude from Greenwich 3. 10.

Kinross-shire is the highest level ground in the peninsula formed by the Forth and the Tay, which was formerly called Ross, or the promontory, and included the counties of Fife, Kinross, and Clackmannan. From this county the waters flow in every direction. The greater part of the soil is dry, resting on gravel; but part of it is damp, resting on till, with considerable fields of moss and muir. The whole has been very much improved of late. The productive land may extend to 30,000 acres, or about three fifths of the whole. The only lake it contains worth noticing is Lochleven, which is in the vicinity of Kinross. This lake was originally about fifteen miles in circumference, and covered an area of 3308 acres; but, by a recent drainage, ground to the extent of about 900 acres has been laid dry, and is in the course of being improved. It abounds in trout of excellent quality, pikes, perches, and eels. There are several islands in it, all of which have been enlarged by the drainage. On one of these, about four acres in extent, stands the Castle of Lochleven, in which Queen Mary was confined; and another, called St Serf’s Island, extending to about sixty acres, contains the ruins of a monastery. Several rivulets flow into this lake, of which the principal are the Gairny, the South Queich, and the North Queich; and the river Leven, the only stream of any note in the district, issues from its eastern extremity, and, after passing through a considerable part of the county of Fife, enters the Frith of Forth at the town of Leven. The prevailing rocks are whinstone, sandstone, and limestone. Coal has been found on the estate of Blair-Adam; it is wrought at Kelty, in the parish of Cleish, on the southern boundary of the county.

Kinross-shire is divided into a number of small estates. Only about ten proprietors hold of the crown; the others hold of these freeholders, the lands having been feued out to them, for the most part, about the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century, for payment of a feu-duty. Hence, over the greater part of the county, every single farm is a separate property, possessed for the most part by its owner. The valued rent is L.20,250. 4s. 3d. Scots, and the real rent, according to the Agricultural Survey, published in 1814, was L.14,541. 10s. sterling; but it is now much increased, and cannot be taken at less than nearly double that sum. In 1811, the number of freeholders was only fifteen. When the land is let out to tenants, the leases are from fourteen to twenty-one years, except in the neighbourhood of the villages, where they are for a shorter period; and the rent is paid in money, the amount being in some instances regulated by the fiars. The size of the farms is from 100 to 300 acres. A fair proportion of them is in grass, for which both the soil and climate are favourable; and much of the land is enclosed either with stone-walls or hedges. The principal corn crops are oats and barley; wheat, though partially cultivated, does not enter into the regular course of cropping. Potatoes, turnips, and clovers, with rye-grass, are raised in every part of the county. On the banks of the Leven and the Gairny there were formerly meadows of considerable extent; but these have been drained and cultivated, and now form very productive land. The pastures of the Cultivated land are occupied by cattle. Sheep are kept in numbers only on the Cleish Hills, and on that part of the Ochills which belongs to this county. Not much of the district is under wood. The most considerable plantations are on Blair-Adam, the estate of Lord Chief Commissioner Adam, and they are for the most part in a very flourishing state.

Besides Kinross the county town, and Milnathort, this county contains several villages. In 1831, Kinross contained a population of about 2400, and Milnathort about 1600. At both these places several annual fairs are held; and a weekly market for the sale of grain is held in the latter. Little manufactures are to be found here; the weavers are employed by the manufacturers of Glasgow. Assessments are resorted to for the poor of the villages, but those of the country parishes are relieved by voluntary contributions.

Kinross-shire sends a member to parliament along with the county of Clackmannan. Both counties are under the jurisdiction of one sheriff, who has a substitute for each. There are only four entire parishes, viz. Cleish, Orwell, Kinross, and Portmoak, with portions of other three; the first three belong to the presbytery of Dunfermline, and the fourth to that of Kirkcaldy, both under the jurisdiction of the synod of Fife. The population in 1811, 1821, and 1831 is given in the annexed abstract. By the returns for the first of these years, there were about ninety-three inhabitants to the square mile.
[table]

See Beauties of Scotland, vol. iv.; General Report of Scotland, vol. i.; Playfair’s Geographical and Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. i.; Dr Graham’s General Vieιυ of the Agriculture of Kinross and Clackmannan ; and, for its antiquities, Sibbald’s History of Fife and Kinross.
[7:12:731]