NEWTYLE, a parish, in the county of Forfar;
containing 1264 inhabitants, of whom a large part are
in the New Village, 1\ miles (S. by E.) from Meigle.
This place is conjectured to have taken its name from
the slate, or material for tiles, found in the hills of the
parish. It measures almost four miles in length from
east to west, and above two miles in breadth from north
to south, comprising upwards of 4000 acres, of which
2630 are arable, 1370 pasture, 189 wood, and the remainder
roads, &c. The Sidlaw hills stretch along the
south, chiefly from east to west, and, being covered with
verdure nearly to their summits, have a pleasing appearance,
and form fine sheep-walks. Between the hills of
Hatton and Newtyle, two of the most considerable elevations,
is the pass to the beautiful valley of Strathmore,
commonly called the Glack of Newtyle, which introduces
the spectator, advancing towards the north, to the rich
and picturesque scenery, suddenly expanding before him,
of the valley below. To the level of this valley the surface
gradually declines from the northern base of the
hilly part of the parish on the south. In the southern
division the soil is mostly a black earth, or clay, mixed
with sand or gravel, and incumbent on rock, mortar, or
clay; the soil in the north is nearly of the same character,
but richer in many places, and resting on a subsoil
of sand, gravel, clay, or marl. The grain chiefly
raised is oats and barley, and all the crops are cultivated
according to the most approved system of husbandry.
A large extent of barren and swampy ground has been
brought under tillage. The rearing and feeding of cattle
receive much attention; and several of the farmers purchase
sheep for eating off winter turnip, and sell them,
when fattened, in the following spring. On the farm of
Auchtertyre, tenanted by Hugh Watson, Esq., an enterprising
agriculturist, who introduced the use of bonemanure
into this district, a stock of South-down sheep
is regularly kept. The farms vary much in size, ranging
from small allotments of one or two acres to a rental
of £700: land under tillage lets at £1. 10. or £1. 15.
per acre on an average. In general the farm houses and
offices are substantial and convenient; several of a superior
description have been built. There are thirteen
threshing-mills, one of which is impelled by steam, and
the rest by water or horse power. Whinstone, which is
abundant, is used for the repair of roads; and several
quarries of freestone are in operation, supplying an excellent
material for building. There is also in the hills
an inferior kind of slate, but it is little wrought. The
plantations, of small extent, consist chiefly of larch and
Scotch fir, occasionally intermixed with different kinds
of hard-wood: a small copse of natural birch on the
northern declivity of the hill of Newtyle, has an interesting
and picturesque appearance, and contributes to
the improvement of the scenery in that locality. The
annual value of real property in the parish is £4521.
The parish contains the villages of Kirkton, Newbigging,
and several hamlets; besides Newtyle or the
New Village, separated from the village of Kirkton by the
Dundee turnpike-road,and containing nearly 500 persons.
Newtyle is built on a regular plan, upon a site of
about fifteen acres, let out in 1832 in lots for building,
under leases of ninety-nine years, by the late Lord
Wharncliffe, proprietor of nearly the whole parish. It
consists of streets of good width, crossing each other at
right angles; each house has a kitchen-garden at the
back, and the inhabitants are supplied with water from
two excellent wells. Newbigging is the next in size to
the New Village, and contains about 230 persons. Many
of the inhabitants of the parish, young and old, are employed
in different branches of manufacture, consisting
chiefly of sacking and Hessian sheetings; coarse linens
called Osnaburghs are also produced, with some shirting
and common sheeting. Nearly as many women as
men are engaged in the weaving, having applied themselves
to it since the spinning-wheel was supplanted by
machinery. There are two meal-mills, and two saw-mills
driven by water. Peat is obtained from a moss in the
southern part of the parish, now in progress of draining;
but coal is chiefly burned, being readily brought from
Dundee, with which place the general traffic is carried
on. The public road from Dundee to Meigle passes
through the parish, between Kirkton and the village of
Newtyle; and county and statute-labour roads cross
each other in different parts. The railway from Dundee
to Newtyle was commenced at each end of the line in
1826, and opened in 1S32; it is about ten miles and a
half long, and was completed at an expense of about
£50,000. This line joins the Scottish Midland Junction
railway near Newtyle, and an act for its improvement
was passed in 184*.
Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery of
Meigle, synod of Angus and Mearns, and in the patronage
of Lord Wharncliffe: the minister's stipend is £164,
with a manse, and a glebe of about six acres. The church
is a plain edifice, erected in 176", with its spire, contrary
to custom, on the cast side: it will now accommodate
from 500 to 600 persons, some new sittings having been
added of late years. There is a place of worship for
members of the United Presbyterian Church. Newtyle
parochial school, for which new premises have been built
iu a superior style, adapted for about 1*0 scholars, affords
instruction in the usual branches; the master has a
salary of £34. 4., with a house and garden, and the fees.
A parochial library was established in 1822, and there is
a branch of the Dundee National-Security Savings'
Bank. Grahame's Knowe and King's Well, in the northwestern
part of the parish, are traditionally said to mark
the track of Macbeth nortiiward from his fortress on
Dunsinnan liill, when fleeing before the Thane of Fife.
Not far from the hamlet of Auchtertyre, adjoining a
well called the Crew Well, are the remains of a camp of
square form, occupied by the army of Montrose for
some nights, while the marquess lodged at a castle in
the neighbourhood, after having burned the house of
Newton of Blairgowrie. Near this place, also, has been
discovered an artificial subterraneous cavern of considerable
extent and contrivance, supposed to be of Pictish
construction. The Castle of Hatton, now in ruins,
was built in 1575, by Laurence, Lord Oliphant, and
appears to have been originally a strong and spacious
structure; it is situated on the north-western declivity
of the hill of Hatton, in the pass called the Glack, and
commands a beautiful view of the subjacent strath. On
the hill of Kilpurnie, the most northern of the Sidlaw
hills ranging from the south, and the highest ground in
the parish, stands an observatory, built in the last century
by the proprietor, with a keeper's residence adjoining;
the latter, however, has entirely disappeared, and
the walls alone of the former remain. This eminence
and turret are valuable as a landmark for mariners; and
the summit of the hill is supposed to have been formerly
used for beacon-fires, commanding, as it does, an extensive
range of observation in every direction. It embraces
views of the vale of Strathmore, the Grampian mountains,
the river Tay with its estuary, the Bell-rock lighthouse
in the German Ocean, and the picturesque towers
of St. Andrew's.