STRACHUR-AND-STRACHLACHLAN, a parish, in the district
of Cowal, county of Argyll, 8 miles
(S. S. E.) from Inverary; containing, in 1H41, 1550
inhabitants, of whom 464 were in Strachur. Tlic former
of these places was originally called Kilmaglasx, or " the
burial-ground of Maglass", a local saint. Strachlachlan
was anciently denominated Kilmorrie, or " St. Mary's";
its present appellation means " the strath of Lachlan",
in reference to a portion of land, or a strath, that
belonged to Lachlan, the principal heritor of the district.
Previously to the year 1650, Strachur was included in
the parish of Lochgoilhead, and Strachlachlan in that
of Inverchaolain. The parish stretches from northeast
to south-west for nineteen miles, varying in breadth
from three to six miles, and comprising between 35,000
and 40,000 acres. Of this area, from 1000 to 1500
acres are under cultivation, 1800 occupied by wood,
chiefly natural, and the remainder in pasture and waste.
The surface to a great extent consists of hills; in many
places, especially in Strachur, affording a soft nutritious
pasture for sheep and black-cattle, but for the most part
exhibiting an irregular and uninteresting appearance.
The height of some of them is 2000, and of others 3000
feet; and in some parts, where thickly wooded, they
form a retreat for various animals and birds of prey:
an eagle not long since carried off a child of three years
of age, which it killed and devoured. The cultivated
land lies chiefly in two straths, one in each of the two
districts composing the parish; the arable portion of
Strachur is the more extensive. The lands in tillage
give a pleasing variety to the scenery; and wooded
tracts, consisting of oak, larch, beech, ash, birch, fir,
elm, and other kinds, ornament the slopes of the hills,
which are often green to the top. Loch Fine, which
bounds the parish on the north and west, also contributes
to improve the general scenery. The loch abounds with
herrings, and many kinds of white-fish; it varies in
depth from thirty to eighty fathoms. At some distance
inland, and stretching in a south-eastern direction, is
Loch Eck, six miles long and half a mile broad, but
three miles only of which belong to this place. The
fresh-water herring, a fish but little esteemed, is found
on the western coast of Scotland only in this lake and
Loch Lomond; and a few salmon and salmon-trout, of
good quality, are also taken: these have access to the
lake by the river Eachaig, which forms a communication
between it and the Clyde at Kilmun. The river
Cur, rising in the mountains near Lochgoilhead, flows
in an irregular course, with great rapidity, for a few
miles; but on reaching the Strachur plains, it runs more smoothly.
The SOIL is in most parts thin, and exhibits the several
varieties of loam, sand, and clay; the crops are
valued, with the pasture, at nearly £8000 per annum,
and consist of different kinds of grain, with hay, potatoes,
and turnips. The felling of the woods produces
£200; and the returns of about forty boats belonging
to the parish, employed in the Loch Fine fisheries, are
e.stiniated at upwards of £1000; making the total value
of produce more than £9000 per annum. The vale of
Strachur, containing several hundred acres of good land,
and nearly level, is under tolerable cultivation; but the
farms throughout are unequal in extent, and the great
humidity of the climate is a bar to very successful husbandry.
Some of the tenants who pay from £100 to £300
a year rent have excellent farm-buildings, and tenants
of the middle class have mostly good accommodation;
but the tenements of the crofters and cottars are very
indifferent. Strachur House is an elegant modern
structure, surrounded l)y a park: other houses are
those of Glenshellis, Ballimore, Glcnbrantir, and Strachurmorc,
all of them neat aud convenient stone dwellings.
Limestone is found, and a quarry is in operation
in each of the two districts. The road from Kilmun
to Inverary passes through the parish, and communication
is now opened with tlie towns on the Clyde hy
means of the government road to Ardentinny. There
is a small bay at Strachur, affording good anchorage,
and a secure retreat to vessels when the wind blows
from the north-east and south-east: vessels occasionally
enter to take in cargoes of wool and potatoes. A
fair is held at Strachur in May, and another in October,
for the sale of black-cattle. Coal imported from Glasgow
and from Ayrshire is much in use, the peat here
being difficult of access; and the saleable produce of
the parish is conveyed to the above city and to
Greenock. The annual value of real property in the
parish is £4356. It is ecclesiastically in the presbytery
of Dunoon, synod of Argyll, and in the alternate
patronage of Callendar of Ardkinloss, and Mc Lachlan
of Mc Lachlan. The minister's stipend is about £150,
part of which is paid by the exchequer: there is also
a manse, with a glebe of very inferior land, about fifteen
acres in extent, and of the annual value of £7. The
church of Strachur was erected in 17^9, and accommodates
400 persons with sittings; that of Strachlachlan,
six miles distant from the former, was built in 1792,
and contains sittings for 200 persons: the services at
each are on alternate Sabbaths. The members of the
Free Church have a place of worship. Besides the
parochial school at Strachur, there are two side or
branch schools iu the same district, endowed with part
of the salary of the parochial teacher; the salary is
£26. 10. per annum, with a house and garden, and fees.
There are three schools also in Strachlachlan, of the
same kind; but the two side-schools here are supported
by subscription, and the parochial teacher receives only
£10 per annum, and the fees, and finds his own house
and croft. A circulating library at Strachur is superintended
by the Kirk Session.