ARDOCH, a quoad sacra parish (for a time), comprising
the hamlets of Balhaddie, Buttergask, Greenloaning,
and Rottearn, in the parish of Dunblane; the
thriving post-village of Braco, in the parish of Mithill;
and part of the parish of Blackford, in the county of
Perth; the whole containing 1584 inhabitants. The
parish was about seven miles in length by six in breadth,
and intersected by the high road from Crieff to Dunblane
and Stirling; two-thirds of the soil are in tillage or
pasture, and the remainder, with the exception of a
portion under plantation, is uncultivated. Great facilities
of communication are afforded by the Scottish Central
railway. At Rottearn is a small manufactory for converting
potatoes into flour. Fairs are held at Braco on
the first Wednesday in January, the last Tuesday in
April, and the first Tuesday in August, chiefly for cattle.
The district is in the presbytery of Auchterarder, synod
of Perth and Stirling; the minister is under the jurisdiction
of the ministers of Dunblane and Muthill, and
has a manse and garden. The church, or chapel of
ease, erected by subscription in 1*80, is a plain edifice,
and contains 555 sittings. The United Presbyterian
Synod and the Free Church have places of worship also
in the district: that for the latter body is a handsome
structure with a tower and spire, and contains sittings
for 700 persons. There is a school for the benefit of all
denominations, and a library is supported. Near the
village is the most entire Roman camp that remains in
Scotland. See Muthill.