CARMYLIE, a parish, in the county of Forfar, 6
miles (W. by N.) from Arbroath; containing, with the
hamlet of Graystone, 1107 inhabitants. The name is
supposed to be derived from a Celtic word, signifying
" the top of a high rocky place ", which description answers
to a castle formerly standing here. At Carbuddo,
not far from the parish, are the remains of a camp, indicating
the occupation of the ground in ancient times
by the Romans, who are said to have reduced the forts
of Carmylie and Carnegie in the year 139. At one period
the lands belonged to the abbey of Aberbrothock,
whence the monks came to perform divine service at a
chapel here, more ancient than the abbey, dedicated to
the Virgin Mary, and called in old writings " Our Lady's
chapel of Carmylie"; its site is occupied by the present
church. The parish is about six miles long, and its
mean breadth three miles. It is bounded by portions
of eight parishes, and includes part of the range of the
Sidlaw hills, exhibiting a series of acclivities, which are
cultivated throughout, and rise 200 feet above the lowest
ground in the parish. These hills are nearly all of
equal height, and are about 580 feet above the sea, commanding
on one side a beautiful and extensive prospect
of the Grampian mountains, and on the other, of the
German Ocean, the coast of Fife, and, sometimes, the
Lammermoor hills. The only stream of any note is the
Elot, or Elliot, which rises in a moss called Diltymoss,
and after a course of about eight miles falls into the sea
at Arbilot.
The soil most prevalent is a dark rich-looking mould,
which receives its hue, partly from a mixture of moss,
and partly from moisture; a light dry soil is found on
some of the higher slopes, and in the valleys near the
streams is a rich fertile mould, with alluvial deposits.
There are about 200 acres of moss, many hundred acres
of moor, and 355 acres of plantation, consisting of
Scotch and spruce fir, larch, and the ordinary kinds of
hard-wood. The crops are wheat, barley, oats, turnips,
potatoes, hay, and peas. Great improvements have
been effected within the last half century, by the conversion
of pasture into arable land, by draining marshes
and mosses, and reclaiming wastes; also by inclosures,
the erection of good farm-buildings, and the introduction
of the best system of cultivation. The annual
value of real property in the parish is £8928. The
subsoil in many parts is a stiff retentive clay, requiring
frequent and deep draining. The rock most common,
especially in the higher lands, is the red or grey sandstone,
covered with the whinstone called scurdy. At
Conansythe a large quantity of steatite has been found,
of red hue, variegated with white veins. There are
several good quarries in the parish, regularly worked,
the stone and slate of which are suited for pavement,
and for columns, balusters, aud various other ornaments
in buildings: the produce is sent to the large
towns in Scotland, and to London; the slate is of every
size, colour, and texture, and many pieces of it, beautifully
variegated with spots, when polished resemble a
fine marble. The parish contains two convenient and
elegant mansions, built of the native sandstone. That
ofGuynd is situated on the north bank of the Elot river,
and ornamented with several beautiful plantations; the
other, Conansythe, stands on high ground, and commands
an interestino; view of the vales of the Lunan
and the Brothock. The population has greatly increased
within the present century, an increase arising from the
manufacture of coarse linen, such as sheetings, dowlas,
Osnaburghs, &c., and from the large number of hands
employed in the quarries above referred to: these
quarries, however, are not so much wrought as they
were, owing to the great quantity of useless stone that
lies above the valuahle kind. A yearly cattle-market is
held about the end of the month of April, or the beginning
of May.
Ecclesiastically the parish is within the bounds of the
presbytery of Arbroath, synod of Angus and Mearns.
The minister's stipend is £158. 6. 8. or upwards, of
which a portion is received from the exchequer; there
is a good manse, built in 1820, and the glebe is valued
at £30 per annum: the patronage is in the Crown.
Carmylie church, which is conveniently situated, is a
.substantial building of ancient date, accommodating
500 persons. A congregation has been formed here in
connexion with the Free Church. There is a parochial
school, in which Latin and all the branches of an ordinary
education are taught; the master has the maximum
salary, with about £18 fees, and a house and garden.
A library was instituted in 1828, and is under the
direction of the Kirk Session, and a committee appointed
by the subscribers. At the Den of Guynd are
the remains of a fort called Dunhead, supposed to be of
Caledonian origin, and afterwards to have been occupied
by the Danes; it is of triangular form, and appears to
have been encompassed by a ditch and wall. Urns and
human bones have been found in the neighbourhood,
the bones supposed to be the remains of Danes who fell in
the battle of Barrie, when the Danes were defeated by
Malcolm II. There are several chalybeate springs, the
strongest of which is one in the den of Guynd.