DUNNOTTAR, a parish, in the county of Kincardine;
containing, with the village of Crawton, and a portion
of the town of Stonehaven, 1S73 inhabitants. This
place, the name of which is said to refer to the situation
of its ancient castle on a peninsular promontory, appears
to have been distinguished as the scene of some important
events connected with the history of the country.
The castle is by some writers supposed to have been
originally founded by the Picts, to whom the great tower,
which is evidently the most ancient part of the structure,
is traditionally attributed; but the earliest authentic
notice of it occurs during the contest between Bruce and
Baliol, when Wallace, who had assumed the regency,
wrested it from the English, by whom it was garrisoned.
Some records in the possession of the Marischal family
assign the erection of the castle to Sir William Keith, an
ancestor of that family, who in the fourteenth century
obtained permission to construct a fortress on the site,
on condition of building a church in a more convenient
situation, in lieu of the ancient parish church, which stood
within the precincts of the present ruins. The fortress
was one of the strongest in the country, and remained
for many ages in possession of the family of Keith, the
first of whom, says tradition, was a soldier who, in the
reign of Malcolm H , having killed in battle the Danish
general Comus, was rewarded with a grant of lands in
Lothian, and invested with the title of Great Marischal
of Scotland. During the parliamentary war, the regalia
of Scotland, consisting of the crown, the sword, and
sceptre, and now kept in Edinburgh Castle, were for
security deposited in the castle here, by order of the
privy council; and a garrison was appointed for the defence
of the place. George Ogilvv, of Barras in this
parish, having been appointed lieutenant-governor in the
absence of the earl-marischal, who was then with the
king's forces in England, gallantly defended the fortress
for si.\ months against Cromwell's troops under General
Lambert, until, severely pressed by famine, and a consequent
mutiny in the garrison, he was reduced to the
necessity of capitulating. The regalia had been previously
conveyed in safety through the besieging army
to Kinneff by a stratagem of his lady in conjunction with
Mrs. Grainger, the wife of the minister of that parish,
who had them carefully concealed under the pulpit of
the church until the Restoration. Ogilvy and his lady
suffered a long imprisonment for refusing to tell what
became of these highly prized relics; but on the return
of Charles IL, he was created a baronet, and a new charter
of his lands was conferred upon him for his important
services. John Keith, also, second son of the earlmarischal,
obtained the earldom of Kintore, and the
post of knight-marischal with £400 a year, as if he had
been in truth the preserver of the regalia; whilst Mrs.
Grainger, the real instrument of the preservation, received
nothing for her share in the transaction, but the promise
of a reward which was never given. George, the last earlmarischal,
having joined in the rebellion of 1715, the title
and estates of the family were forfeited to the crown; and
the castle, which had been previously purchased by government,
was dismantled, and has since been a ruin.
The PARISH is situated on the road from Aberdeen to
Edinburgh, and bounded on the north by the parish of
Fetteresso, from which it is separated by the Carron
rivulet; on the east by the German Ocean, on the south
by the parish of Kinneff, and on the west by that of
Glenbervie. Its surface is boldly diversified with hills,
of which Carmount, at the extremity of an extensive
heath of that name, has an elevation of more than 800
feet; and with successive ridges for nearly three miles
towards the north-west. The coast is abruptly precipitous,
consisting of a range of cliffs in detached masses,
rising from 1.50 to 300 feet in height. In these cliffs
are numerous caverns worn by the action of the waves,
one of which, called the Long Gallery, under a lofty promontory,
extends more than 150 yards in length, and
affords a channel through which a boat may pass from
the bay at its entrance to another at its outlet. To the
south of this cavern is Fowlsheugh, the highest of the
rocks on this part of the coast, and the haunt of aquatic
birds of every description, that build their nests and hatch
their young in these almost inaccessible heights. Of late
years, the birds have greatly diminished in number.
The area of the parish is 8156 acres, of which 4860
are arable, 690 woodland and plantations, and 2606
natural pasture and uncultivated waste. Its soil is
various, consisting in different parts of clay, loam, sand,
and gravel, and being frequently found in all these
varieties on the same farm. The system of agriculture
has been much improved, and the rotation plan of husbandry
is in use; much unprofitable land has been
brought into cultivation; the farm-buildings are in
general substantial and commodious, and great attention
is paid to live stock. There are few sheep reared; the
cattle are usually of the black kind, and are mostly sold
when two years old. The annual value of real property
in the parish is £8*68. The woods are of oak, ash, and
beech, of which there are many fine specimens on the
lands of Auquhirie; the plantations, the most extensive
of which are on the estate of General Forbes, are of
pine, larch, and Scotch and spruce firs, intermixed with
various kinds of hardwood, and all the trees, with the
exception of the Scotch fir, thrive well. The moorlands
abound with every kind of game; there are partridges
in great numbers, some few pheasants, and snipes, wild
duck, and teal are plentiful. The rocks on the coast
are for the greater part of the pudding-stone formation,
with portions of trap and porphyritic granite, and occasionally
of columnar basalt; sandstone is extensively
quarried, and a species of flag, formerly in use for roofing,
is also wrought. Dunnottar House, the scat of
General Forbes, is a spacious mansion surrounded with
rich and flourishing plantations; the gardens attached to
the house W'ere formed at an expense of £10,000. Barras,
the ancient seat of the Ogilvys, is now a farm-house.
The weaving of linen is carried on to a small extent, and
many of the inhabitants are engaged in the fisheries and
other branches of trade in the town of Stonehaven:
Crawton, in the south-eastern portion of the parish, is
chiefly inhabited by persons employed in the whitefishery,
which is extensively carried on off this part of
the coast. Facility of communication with the neighbouring
markets is afforded by good roads in every direction;
along the sea-coast is the high road to Edinburgh,
and the Strathmore turnpike-road passes through the
interior of the parish. Ready intercourse is also afforded
by the Aberdeen railway. Ecclesiastically the parish is
within the bounds of the presbytery of Fourdoun, synod
of Angus and Mearns: the minister's stipend is £'233,
with a manse, and a glebe valued at £8 per annum;
patron, the Crown. Dunnottar church, erected on the
site of the former building in 1782, is a neat and commodious
structure pleasingly situated. The parochial
school is in Stonehaven, and is well attended; the master
has a salary of £34, with a house and garden, and the
fees average £46. The remains of Dunnottar Castle are
very extensive, occupying an area of five acres on the
summit of au abrupt and precipitous cliff, boldly projecting
from the mainland, with which it is connected by
an isthmus nearly covered by the sea at high water: the
great tower is still almost entire; and the various ranges
of building, which, though roofless, are in tolerable preservation,
convey an impressive idea of former grandeur
and importance. In the churchyard is a gravestone to
the memory of some Covenanters who were confined in
the castle; and here Sir Walter Scott, then on a visit to
the minister of the parish, is said to have had his first
interview with the individual whom, in his Antiiiuary, he
describes under the appellation of " Old Mortality ".