KINCARDINESHIRE, or the Mearns, a county in Scotland, situated between 56. 43. and 57. 5. north latitude, and between 1. 47. and 2. 30. west longitude from Greenw ich. It is bounded on the east by the German Ocean; on the north by Aberdeenshire, from which it is divided along the greater part of the boundary by the river Dee; and on the west and south by Forfarshire, from which it is divided by the river North Esk. The boundary along the shore of the German Ocean extends to thirty-two miles, being the greatest length of the county; and the greatest breadth from east to wmst is twenty-four miles; the superficial contents being 360 square miles, or about 243,444 English acres.

The cultivated parts of the county form three principal divisions; the Howe of the Mearns, the Coast-side, and Dee-side. The Howe of the Mearns, a continuation of the great valley of Strathmore, is divided from the Dee-side district by the Grampian Mountains, which stretch, from west to east, through the whole breadth of the county, gradually declining in elevation, until they disappear in the level ground near the sea, between Stonehaven and Aberdeen. The greater part of this district is in a state of high cultivation, and the face of the country is diversified and ornamented by thriving plantations. The ground in many places is composed of a bright-red clay, which gives the surface, when newly ploughed, a very peculiar appearance. The great road from Perth to Aberdeen through Strathmore traverses this district. The Coast-side district, from the river North Esk to Stonehaven, contains, with some intermixture of inferior ground, the most productive land in the county. The road from Montrose to Aberdeen runs through this division. Notwithstanding the vicinity of the ocean, some thriving plantations are to he seen; and, almost close to the shore, there are trees of considerable magnitude, especially at Brotherton, where a finely-terraced old garden,"although within reach of the sea spray, is remarked as being one of the best and most productive in this part of the country. From Bervie to Stonehaven, a distance of ten miles, the shore is high and bold, presenting to the ocean, along the whole line, a perpendicular face of rock, from 100 to 250 feet in height. The most conspicuous of this range of rocks is Fowlsheugh, well known as the rendezvous, during summer, of innumerable flocks of sea-fowl of various kinds. In the face of the rock are various caverns, and natural arches and galleries, of great extent and magnificence. From Stonehaven northw ard to the river Dee the shore is also bold and rocky; but the face of the country is generally of a very inferior character to that of the same district south of Stonehaven, just described. The appearance of a great part of this tract is as uninviting as can well be imagined. In the neighbourhood of Stonehaven, however, and in some other places, part of the ground is in a state of high productiveness; and, even in the most barren and forbidding parts, great improvements have recently been made, and the progress of cultivation is such as to promise at no distant period a total change on the face of this part of the country. The Dec-side district, forming the third division of the cultivated part of the county, is situated on both sides of the Dee, and extends along the south bank of that river, from the sea westward, for about thirteen miles, and afterwards along both banks for nine or ten miles further, embracing also the valley of the Feugh. Some of the land in this district is fertile, and produces good crops; but a great part of the ground is still in little better than a state of nature, although to a considerable extent capable of, and in many places in progress towards, cultivation. In this district, trees have been planted to a greater extent than in any other part of the county, and the climate is peculiarly favourable to the growth of timber. The plantations greatly embellish the face of the country; and at many points, especially in the neighbourhood of the rising valley of Banchory, the prospect along the Dee is rich and beautiful. Plantations of firs extend in some places to the summits of the adjoining hills.

These three divisions, comprehending the more level and cultivated parts of the county, extend to about two thirds of the whole surface. The other third consists of the eastern range of the Grampian Mountains, by which the Dee-side district is divided from the Howe of the Mearns. This elevated region is exceedingly sterile and rugged; but in some of the glens through which the mountain-streams flow, there are spots of great natural beauty. On one of these spots, in a romantic situation, stands the shooting lodge of Glendye. The most prominent of the Grampian Mountains in this county are, Mount-Battock, which rises to nearly 3500 feet above the [7:12:721]level of the sea; Clochnaben, remarkable for a protuberance of solid rock on its top, nearly a hundred feet in perpendicular height, and forming a well-known landmark to vessels at sea;^[1. “The four great landmarks at the sea, Are Mount-Mar, Lochnagar, Clochnaben, and Benochie.” ] Kerloak, which rises nearly 1900 feet above the sea, commanding a view as far south as the Lammermuir Hills; and the hill of Fare, the scene of the battle of Carrichie, in 1562, between the Earls of Murray and Huntly, when the latter was slain.

The only streams deserving the name of rivers are, the Dee, which, as before mentioned, flows through the northern part of Kincardineshire for nine or ten miles, and forms the boundary for thirteen miles between this county and Aberdeenshire; and the North Esk, which divides Kincardineshire from Forfarshire on the south and west. The other streams are the Cowie, the Carron, and the Bervie, which fall into the German Ocean; the Luther, which joins the river North Esk; the Dye, the Avon, the Feugh, the Canny, and the Shiach, whose waters run into the Dee. These streams, although of inconsiderable magnitude, abound with trout and par; and their banks, with the adjoining braes and overhanging trees, are, in many places, highly picturesque and beautiful. There are no lakes of magnitude in this county. The Loch of Leys is the largest, being about two miles in circumference, and well stored with pike. In this lake are the ruins of an ancient edifice, built upon an artificial island, supported by piles of oak.

The wild animals found in this county are, the fox, the badger, the otter, the wild cat, the polecat, the weasel, and the hedgehog. Roe-deer are frequently found in the woods, and hares and rabbits are incredibly numerous. The muirs abound with grouse, and black game is not uncommon. Wild geese, and occasionally swans, are seen about the beginning of winter. Woodcock, snipe, wild duck, partridge, plover, curlew, heron, teal, and landrail, are common. Pheasants have been introduced, and their numbers are increasing. The sparrow-hawk and the falcon are frequently met with. There are but few reptiles. Adders are occasionally seen in the hilly districts. Seals breed in the caverns along the coast.

No coal has yet been discovered; but limestone is found in several places; at Tilly whilly, in the Dee-side district; near Fettercairn, in the Howe of the Mearns; and at Mathers, on the Coast-side; from which last place limeshells are sold in considerable quantity, both for building and for manure. Native iron has also been found in a field at Balnakettle; and indications of iron ore are met with in various parts of the county. Granite, basalt, whinstone, sandstone, and plum-pudding stone, are the prevailing kinds, of rock. Blocks of granite are scattered over the surface in the neighbourhood of the Grampians, both of a whitish colour like the granite of Aberdeen, and of a reddish colour like that of Peterhead. Part of the granite exported from Aberdeen is taken from the hill of Nigg in this county. At Stonehaven and at Laurieston, in the Coast-side district, quarries of sandstone afford excellent and durable materials for building. At Whistleberry, in the parish of Kinneff, millstones of valuable quality are manufactured from the pudding-rock found on the sea-coast. Jasper, quartz, and porphyry, are likewise found in many places; and specimens of asbestos have been found at Balnakettle. Zeolite is also found; and some of the caverns upon the shores near Stonehaven abound with stalactites. Pebbles of great variety and beauty of colour are found in many parts of the county, particularly in the parishes of Arbuthnot and St Cyrus. Scotch topazes, or cairngorums, are sometimes found in the mountain-streams of the Grampians. In the neighbourhood of Cowie, pipe-clay is dug, and sold for household purposes.

The towns and villages in Kincardineshire are more numerous than important. Stonehaven, the county town, is situated in a fine bay at the confluence of the waters of the Cowie and Canon, nearly midway between Aberdeen and Montrose, and contains upwards of 3000 inhabitants. The harbour, lately improved at an expense of L.8000, is more accessible than almost any harbour on the eastern coast. The sheriff and other county courts have been held at Stonehaven since 1660, when they were transferred by act of parliament from Kincardine, then the county town, by reason, as the act states, that in that town, “there was neither ane tolbuith, nor any house for parties to lodge into for their entertainment.” Inverbervie is the only royal burgh within the county, and contains about 900 inhabitants. Johnshaven, four miles south of Inverbervie, contains a population of upwards of 1000. Laurencekirk, celebrated for its elegant manufacture of snuff-boxes, contains nearly 1400 inhabitants. Luther-muir, a manufacturing village, which has sprung up∙within these few years in the parish of Marykirk, has acquired a population of about 700 souls. The village of Banchory, beautifully situated on the north bank of the Dee, is rapidly increasing in size. The other villages in the inland part of the county are Drumlithie, Auchinblae, Fettercairn, Marykirk, and St Cyrus. Along the coast there are thirteen or fourteen fishing villages, inhabited by about 1500 individuals, solely supported by catching and curing fish. Of these villages, Findon is celebrated for its haddocks, prepared in a manner peculiar to this district.

The climate of Kincardineshire is different in the different districts of the county. In the mountainous parts, the weather, in winter and spring, is excessively severe. The climate in the low country has of late years been meliorated by the increase of wood and the draining of bogs and mosses, and is not inferior to the climate of other parts of Scotland in nearly the same latitude.

The elegant mansions of many of the proprietors, erected in the finest situations on their estates, and generally surrounded by trees, add much to the beauty and cheerfulness of the country. The principal country-seats are Inglismaldie, one of the seats of the Earl of Kintore; Arbuthnot House, the seat of Viscount Arbuthnot; Fasque, Mr Gladstoun; Durris, Mr Mactier; Fetteresso Castle, Mr Duff; Crathes, Sir Robert Burnett; Fettercairn House, Sir John Stuart Forbes; Drumtochty Castle, Mr Gam-mell; Ury, Captain Barclay; Netherley, Mr Silver; Dunnottar House, General Forbes. The farm-houses throughout the county have, during the last fifty years, been greatly improved; and many of them are not only commodious, but handsome. The steadings of offices have also of late been much improved. The mode of living, both of the landlords and tenants, corresponds with their enlarged and improved accommodation. It may be doubted, however, whether the custom, now adopted in many places, of lodging the farming servants in bothies, out of the family, has a tendency to add either to their comfort or good conduct.

In 1807, this county was divided amongst eighty proprietors. The number of separate estates is now eighty-three. Some of the larger estates have long been in the same families; but within the last fifty years one half of the land has changed hands, some of it two or three times. Of the present proprietors, twenty-seven are resident in the coun[7:12:722]ty; the others are absentees, or only resident occasionally. Of the estates, two or three are above L.5000 of yearly rent; nine or ten above L.8000, and under L.5000; about twenty from L.1000 to L.3000; twenty-three from L.500 to L.1000; and the rest under L.500. The valued rent is L.74,921. Is. 4d. Scots. The real rent, according to the property-tax returns in 1815, was L.94,861 sterling. Those returns, however, must have been considerably under the truth; and the real rent of the county cannot at present, according to a moderate calculation, be less than L. 120,000.

The farms in the cultivated districts are in general under 200 acres in extent. Many do not extend to more than thirty or forty acres, and others are still smaller. In the hilly districts the pasture farms are necessarily of much greater extent. A considerable proportion in number of the tenants pay less than L.50 a year of rent each; but the number of small tenants will no doubt be lessened, through the operation of the act for reforming the parliamentary representation.

During the present century, agriculture in this county has made great progress. The example of improvement on a great scale was set by the late Robert Barclay Allardice of Ury, who, as stated by Sir John Sinclair, in his Statistical Analysis, “is entitled to have his name transmitted to posterity as the first, the most extensive, and the most systematical improver of land in the north of Scotland.” The improvements begun in the latter part of-the last century have been continued with much spirit down to the present time; and the greater part of the arable land of the county is now managed according to the most approved systems of modern husbandry, producing wheat, barley, bear, oats, peas, beans, clover, and turnips. Mangel-wurzel and ruta-baga are also cultivated. Improvements by draining, trenching, planting, and enclosing, are at present in progress on different estates to a considerable extent, especially the estate of Kingcausie, and on the extensive estate of Durris since the latter became the property of the present proprietor, Mr Mactier. Great facility has been given to agricultural improvements, by making new roads. There are now in this small county about eighty miles of turnpike road, which, with the other roads of communication, afford easy access to every part of the county. Lime, since the county was opened up by good roads, has been used as a manure to a great extent, upwards of 20,000 bolls being yearly imported at Stonehaven alone for that purpose. Both the improvement of land and the breed of stock have been encouraged by premiums given by agricultural associations. On almost every farm, the rearing and feeding of cattle is united with the raising of corn; and in some parts of the county the tenants depend more on cattle than on corn for the payment of their rents. The kinds of stock reared are the same as in the adjoining counties of Aberdeen and Forfar. The pure short-horn breed has been introduced by Captain Barclay of Ury, whose superior stock, both of cattle and sheep, is well known. In the mountainous district the pasturage of sheep is extensive, almost uniformly of the black-faced species. Pigs have of late years been fed in almost every part of the county, with advantage to the farmers. Butter and cheese, especially the former, are made to a greater extent than the home supply requires. On some farms cheese is made equal in quality to the best Stilton. The cheese made at Canterland is well known, and highly prized.

There are no extensive manufactures in Kincardineshire. At Stonehaven the woollen manufacture is carried on upon a small scale, and there are two flax-spinning mills. There are also mills for spinning flax at Bervie, Auchinblae, and Caldhame. There is an extensive whisky-distillery at Glenury; and porter and ale are brewed both at Stonehaven and Laurencekirk. Kelp is manufactured on the sea-coast. There is little direct foreign commerce, the inhabitants being supplied with articles of foreign produce through Aberdeen and Montrose. The principal articles of export are grain, potatoes, cattle, pork, butter, and eggs. Whisky and ale are also exported; and, in 1827, there was an exportation of herrings from Stonehaven, to the extent of 3500 barrels. Since that time the herring fishery has not been successfully, perhaps because not vigorously, prosecuted. The principal exportation of grain from the county is at the port of Montrose; but the exportation at the small port of Gourdon now amounts to about 20,000 quarters annually; and nearly that quantity was last year exported at Stonehaven. The principal articles of direct import are lime, coals, timber, slates, and salt. Two banking establishments have branches at the county town.

Kincardineshire contains eighteen entire parishes, and parts of three other parishes. The thirteen parishes in the south part of the county form the presbytery of Fordoun; the rest are attached to the presbyteries of Kincardine O’Neil and Aberdeen. The places of worship within the county are, nineteen parish churches, two chapels of ease connected with the establishment, four chapels of the Scotch Episcopal communion, three of the United Associate Synod, three of the Congregational Union, one of the Berean communion, one of the Wesleyan Methodists, and one Roman Catholic chapel; the last being connected with the Roman Catholic college at Blairs, where the chapel is situated. According to the returns made in consequence of the resolution of the House of Commons, 3d April 1835, the number of “examinable persons” belonging to the established churches was 19,539; and of those belonging to the other religious denominations 1975. The poor of this county are supported by voluntary contributions; no legal assessment for the support of the poor has yet been made.

The county of Kincardine, before the union, returned two members to parliament; it now returns one member. The number of voters forming the constituency, according to the corrected lists of 1835, is 910, of whom seventy-two are freeholders from the old roll, forty county proprietors not formerly enrolled, 581 agricultural tenants, 195 town and village proprietors and householders, ten parochial clergymen, and twelve parish schoolmasters. In conjunction with Forfarshire, this county furnishes a regiment of militia, and it raised by itself a regiment of local militia, containing 816 men. Along the coast there are three preventive or coastguard stations, with suitable accommodation for the officers and men, erected by government. Smuggling, formerly prevalent to a considerable extent, is at present unknown.

Amongst the remains of antiquity in Kincardineshire, the most conspicuous is Dunnottar Castle, formerly the principal seat of the earls marischal, now an extensive ruin. It is built on a high peninsular rock, projecting into the German Ocean, about a mile south from Stonehaven. The regalia of Scotland were deposited in this castle for safety in the time of the commonwealth. The ruins of the Castle of Fenella, with the remains of a vitrified wall, are still to be seen near Fettercairn. Part of the Kame of Mathers, an ancient place of strength, pitched like an eagle’s nest on the point of a projecting rock, in the parish of St Cyrus, still remains for the inspection of the lover of antiquity. Green Castle, Whistleberry Castle, the Castle of Morphie, the Castle of Kinneff, the Thane of Cowie’s Castle, and the Castle of Kincardine, are yet pointed out to visitors, or rather, in regard to some of them, the ground on which they stood, for the vestiges of these edifices are now nearly obliterated. Near the mansion-house of Fordoun are to [7:12:723]be seen the remains of a Roman camp. In the vicinity of Stonehaven, traces of a Roman encampment are also observable; and at Raedykes, about three miles inland, an ancient camp, whether Roman or Caledonian it is difficult to say, is distinctly marked by an extensive foss, and wall or embankment. Here was dug up some years ago a chariot wheel composed entirely of massive iron. On the hill of Garvock is pointed out the Sheriff’s Kettle, where the sheriff of the Mearns was boiled in a caldron by certain of the barons of the county, in the reign of James I. Druidical circles of rude stones are also to be seen at Auquhorthies, and on the hill of Garrol, upon the estate of Durris.

Amongst the celebrated writers connected with this county may be mentioned Dr Arbuthnot, Barclay, the author of the Apology, Bishop Burnett, Lord Monboddo, Dr Reid, and Dr Beattie.

The population of the county in 1811, 1821, and 1831, is shown in the following table. The total population in the last-mentioned year amounted to 31,431, of which number the towns and villages contained nearly one third. In 1831, the agricultural male servants were 2147 in number; other male servants 109, and female servants 2246. The population from 1801 to 1811 increased at the rate of four per cent.; from 1811 to 1821, at the rate of five per cent.; and from 1821 to 1831, at the rate of eight per cent.
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