BOTHKENNAR, a parish, in the county of Stirling,
3 miles (N. by E.) from Falkirk; containing, with
part of the village of Carronshore, about 1000 inhabitants:
according to the census of 1841, the population
was only 848, but since that time a coal-work on the
property of the Earl of Zetland has been brought into
operation, at which a great number of men are employed.
Bothkennar is bounded on the east by the
Firth of Forth, and on the south by the river Carron;
forming part of the tract called the Carse of Falkirk. It
is about one mile and a half in length, and of nearly
the same breadth, comprising about 1560 acres, the
whole under tillage. The surface is entirely level; and
the soil, under which, at various depths, are found
layers of marine shells, is a very rich alluvial loam,
highly cultivated according to the most improved methods
of husbandry, and producing all kinds of crops,
but wheat and beans in the largest proportions, with
hay of a superior quality, which is sent for sale to the
Edinburgh market. There are numerous orchards,
some of which are supposed to have been planted by
the monks of Cambuskenneth; they yield various kinds
of fruit, but especially very fine pears, of which the
trees bearing an indigenous species called the " golden
nap" are particularly celebrated for their luxuriance
and beauty, and sometimes produce each, yearly, fruit
to the amount in value of £10. The whole of the lands,
with very few exceptions, have been improved by tiledraining,
the benefit of which has been so extensive as
to pay the farmer in two years for the outlay. Great
attention is given to the rearing of horses of a superior
kind for the uses of husbandry. The annual value of real
property in the parish is £4299. Coal of excellent
quality is abundant, and has for a number of years been
wrought by the Carron Company, who pay £1000 per
annum to the proprietors for this privilege: within the
last few years, as already observed, a new coal-work
has been brought into operation. Ecclesiastically the
parish is in the presbytery of Stirling, synod of Perth
and Stirling, and in the patronage of John Dallas, R.N.;
the minister's stipend is £201. 12. 10., with a manse,
built in 1816 at a cost of £1600, and a glebe valued at
£12 per annum. The church was built in 1/89; it has
since undergone considerable repairs, and is a plain
comfortable edifice, suited to the accommodation of the
parishioners. The parochial school affords instruction
in English grammar, arithmetic, writing, geography, mathematics,
Latin, and Greek; the master has a salary of
£34. 4. 4., with £25 fees.