BEXHOLME, a parish, in the county of Kincardine,
three miles (S. W.) from Bervie, and on the road
from Aberdeen to Dundee; containing, with the village
of Johnshaven, 1648 inhabitants. The name is derived
from ben, a hill, and holme, a piece of low level ground;
terms which are descriptive of the peculiar features of
the district. Very little is known concerning the early
history of the locality. It appears that the ancient
Tower of Benholme, a strong building still in a good
state of preservation, was formerly the residence of the
earls-marischal, memorials of whom remain in inscriptions
upon two monuments transferred from the buryingaisle
of the old church, and now forming part of the
wall of the present edifice. The parish is nearly square
in form, and contains about 5400 acres, of which upwards
of 4000 are under cultivation, and 325 in wood. It is
bounded on the south-east by the German Ocean, and
the surface is considerably varied, though there is no
elevation deserving the name of a hill, except that of
Gourdon, which rises to a height of 400 feet at the
boundary between Benholme and Bervie. The shore is
about three miles in length, and along it is a plain
extending the whole distance, and varying in breadth
from 100 yards to a quarter of a mile. Beyond is an
acclivity of equal extent, the surface of which is furrowed
in many places with lofty ridges; and from this the
ground gently rises till it reaches the high lands of
Garvock, on the western boundary of the parish. The
coast, which in general is rough and cragged, has
neither cliffs nor headlands, and is altogether barren
and uninteresting in its aspect; it is indented with the
small bay of Johnshaven, and that of the Haughs of
Nether Benholme. There are three small streams in the
parish, two of which meet a little below the church, at
the corner of the manse garden, and after running about
a quarter of a mile, fall into the German Ocean. These
rivulets, during heavy rains, frequently swell to a considerable
size, and, augmented by the waters from the
drainage of the lands, overflow the banks of the deep
and narrow hollows through which they flosv, and commit
great havoc upon the neighbouring grounds.
There is every variety of soil, from fine soft loam to
wet heavy clay, the latter of which predominates. In
some places the earth is light and sandy, and consists
to a very considerable extent of a deep alluvial deposit,
intermixed with boulders of different sizes, some of
quartz, some of granite, others of greywacke, and a few
of trap, and which are scattered in great quantities over
the fields. Most of the plantations are of recent growth,
except those about Benholme and Brotherton: they consist
chiefly of fir, ash, beech, and oak; but the trees
invariably pine and become stunted in growth when
within the range of the sea-breeze, those only exhibiting
a tolerably healthy appearance which are further removed
and under some protecting cover. The state of
husbandry is excellent: the lands are well drained, and
many of the farms are provided with threshing-machines,
more than half of which are driven by water; the farmbuildings
are generally good, and much spirit and enterprise
have been shewn within the last twenty or thirty
years in recovering desolate wastes. The annual value
of real property in the parish is £5501. The prevailing
rock is the old red sandstone and conglomerate, the
strata of which are intersected from east to west with
dykes of trap; these rocks are diversified by almost
every variety of quality and intermixture, and in the
trap formation agates have been found in different parts
of the parish. There is a considerable quarry of sandstone
on the farm of Forth, upon the Brotherton estate,
on the western boundary of the parish. The seats are,
the mansion-house of Benholme, the entrance to which,
in the direction of Benholme Tower, is by a passage
formed over the moat on the west of that ancient structure;
and Brotherton House, a very ancient edifice, with
a terraced garden. The linen manufacture employs
about 230 hands; and there is a fishery, the produce of
which, consisting of cod, haddocks, and turbot, with a
few small fish, is cured, and sent to Laurencekirk, Fordoun,
8cc., and sometimes to Montrose. Herrings are
also taken; and salmon are caught with tolerable success
by means of bag-nets, the shore being too rocky to allow
of the use of stake-nets.
Ecclesiastically the parish is within the bounds of the
presbytery of Fordoun, synod of Angus and Mearns.
The patronage belongs to the family of Scott of Brotherton,
and Lord Cranstoun, proprietor of Benholme, the
former for two turns, and the latter for one: the stipend
of the minister is £232. 4., with a manse, built in 1826,
and a glebe of six acres, valued at £12. 10. per annum.
Benholme church, built in 1832, is a neat edifice in good
repair, accommodating 768 persons: the old church,
which was taken down in 1832, was furnished with a
font for holy water, an incense altar, and a niche in the
wall, supposed to have been a receptacle for sacred
relics; and there are several curious inscriptions on the
stones yet preserved, one of which points to this edifice
as the burying-place of the Keith family. Here are
places of worship belonging to the Free Church and
United Presbyterian Synod. The parochial school affords
instruction in Latin and the usual branches of education,
under a master who has a salary of £34. 4. 4., with £22
fees. A parish library consisting of 500 volumes, and
a juvenile library with 400, are extensively used by the
inhabitants. There are also two friendly societies, one
of which has a stock of £600; and a clothing and fuel
society has been established.