AUCHTERHOUSE, a parish, in the county of Forfar,
T miles (N. W. by N.) from Dundee; containing,
with the villages of Droiiley and Kirkton, "69 inhabitants.
This parish, the name of which is of uncertain
derivation, is nearly of triangular form, and in its
northern portion includes part of the range of the Sidlaw
hills, separating it from Strathmore. Along its
southern boundary runs the Dighty water, which falls
into the Tay near the influx of the latter into the German
Ocean. It has an undulated surface, and comprises
an area of about 5450 acres, of which 356" are
in cultivation, 1406 in wood, and the remainder hill
pasture. The ground rises from south to north, and
the acclivities are under cultivation to the spot where
the church stands, 800 feet above the level of the sea;
but more northward the land rises considerably, reaching
at the White-Sheets of Sidlaw, the highest part of
the parish, to about 1400 feet above the high-water
mark at Dundee, and being there only fit for pasture and
forest- planting. The burn of Dronley, and that of Auchterhouse,
turn several mills in their separate courses
from the west and north-west, before their junction at
the village of Dronley; after which, the united streams
take the name of Dighty, for the rest of their passage
to the ocean. The climate, in the higher district, is
cold and bracing: in the lower division it has been
much improved within these few years by extensive
draining, and is pure and salubrious.
The soil of the uncultivated portions, with slight exceptions,
consists of a thin moorish earth, lying on a
retentive tilly subsoil with a substratum of sandstone.
The land under tillage is mostly a black mould, in some
places sandy, resting on till or marl, and with skilful
management yielding good average crops of oats and
barley, with the usual green crops, and sometimes
wheat, though this last has been nearly discontinued,
not having in general succeeded. The dairy is much
attended to. Subsoil-ploughing and furrow-draining
are extensively practised, with great advantage; and by
the kindly feeling and steady co-operation of landlords
and tenants, among many other improvements, nearly
500 acres of moor, moss, and bog have been reclaimed
within the present century, and now produce fair crops.
The annual value of real property in the parish is £5316.
The soil throughout the parish is underlaid with sandstone
very near the surface, and the Sidlaw hill consists
of the same rock, occasionally intersected with trap
dykes, and aifording good materials for many useful
purposes: a quarry is in operation on the estate of
Scotstown, giving employment to five or six hands.
Plantations comprising larch, spruce, and Scotch fir,
elm, ash, plane, and beech, have been formed on the
hills, and on the moors of Dronley and Adamstown,
by the Earl of Camperdown, to the extent of nearly
300 acres; the spruce and Scotch fir, however, alone
being likely to succeed. The late Earl of Airlie planted
above SOO acres of the hill of Sidlaw. The Hou.se of
Auchterhouse, with its orchards in front, is the best relic
of an old baronial residence now existing in this part of
the country: it is the property of the Earl of Airlie.
Facility of communication is offered by the Dundee and
Newtyle turnpike-road, running through the parish from
the south to the north-west; and by the railway between
the same places. Dundee is the nearest markettown
to Auchterhouse.
Ecclesiastically the parish is ii the presbytery of
Dundee, synod of Angus and Mearns, and in the patronage
of the Earl of Airlie; the minister's stipend is
about £"200, with a manse, and a glebe of seven acres,
valued at £15 per annum. Auchterhouse church was
rebuilt in 1*75, and consists of portions both old and
modern: it has on the west a steeple, and on the east a
very ancient burying-place containing the remains of
some members of the Erskine, Lyon, and Ogilvy families.
The parochial school affords instruction in the
usual branches; the master has a salary of £34. 4. 4.,
with £20. 12. 4. fees. Near the mansion of Auchterhouse
are the ruins of a square building called Wallace
Tower, supposed to have taken its name from a visit
paid here to Sir John Ramsay, the proprietor, by the
Scottish patriot. Sir William Wallace, after landing at
Montrose with his French auxiliaries. Not far from
this spot, and in other parts of the parish, are some of
those caverns styled " Weems", in which various relics
have been found, indicating their former use as abodes
of men. On the south of the hill of Sidlaw is a Druidical
altar in good preservation.