ALVAH, a parish, in the county of Banff, 3 miles
(W. S. W.) from Banff; containing 1407 inhabitants.
The origin of the name of this place, which in different
records is variously spelled, is altogether involved in
obscurity; but authentic sources of information still
remain, throwing light on the apportionment of its
lands, in early times, to several distinguished families.
In 1314, a charter was granted by Marjory, relict of
John, Earl of Atholl and Lord Strath-Alveth, conveying
the patronage of the kirk, with considerable property
here, to the abbot of Cupar. This parish, from which
that of Forglen was disjoined prior to the middle of the
seventeenth century, is situated near the north-eastern
extremity of the county, separated from the Moray
Firth by only a small intervening portion of the parish
of Banff, and bounded on the east by the shire of Aberdeen,
where the line of division is very nearly formed
by the course of the river Doveron. It comprises 1 1,133
acres, of which 6955 are cultivated, 3428 waste and
pasture, and 750 wood. The parish exhibits throughout
an uneven and rugged surface, occasionally marked
by lofty elevations, among which the Hills of Alvah and
Maunderlea are the most conspicuous, the former rising
578, and the latter 733, feet above the sea. The scenery
in the western and south-western portions is wild and
dreary, taking its character chiefly from the numerous
eminences connected with the Hill of Maunderlea, which
stretches in a northern direction from the parish of
Marnoch. In the other parts it possesses great picturesque
beauty, being ornamented by the silvery meanderings
of the Doveron, and by the lofty and majestic
Hill of Alvah, which, rising from the midst of rich and
well cultivated lands surrounding its base, displays a
profusion of sj^lvan beauty on its sloping sides, and
from its tabular summit commands diversified views in
several directions. The Doveron, being in one place
impeded by a rocky barrier stretching from east to west,
takes a curve for about a mile, when, meeting with an
outlet through a chasm, whose precipitous sides are
united by a massive arch erected in 1772 by the late
Earl of Fife, it resumes its former direction, and passes
through some very bold and romantic scenery. The
sides of the rocky chasm, after expanding themselves,
form a lofty acclivity on each side of the intermediate
basin, and, rising like the walls of a majestic amphitheatre
about 100 feet above the stream, exhibit a grotesque
and imposing assemblage of shrubs, trees, and
mosses.
The SOIL in the eastern part of the parish, through
which the river takes its course, consists of an alluvial
loam of considerable depth, incumbent upon blue clay
containing admixtures of clay-slate. In the remaining
portion of the lower grounds, the earth rests upon a
coarse diluvial clay, mixed in some places with ferruginous
sand, shingles, and occasionally boulders. On
the higher grounds, the soil has a subsoil frequently of a
very sandy nature, much interspersed with shingles, and
pieces of greywacke slate and other rocks. The average
value of the produce is £19,800 per annum, of which
upwards of £10,000 are derived from oats, and the
remainder from turnips, potatoes, hay, and pasture, and
a small quantity of bear and barley. The cattle are of
the Aberdeenshire breed, or approximating very closely
to it; but within the last few years, the Teeswater, or
short-horned, have been introduced upon several of the
best farms, where they thrive well, and are often used
for a cross with the native cow. Within the present
century, considerably more than 2000 acres of waste
have been improved, a large portion of which was
covered with furze and heath; and fenny or boggy
grounds have also been reclaimed to a great extent, by
draining. Lime is employed as a stimulant for the
land, and bone-dust manure has been recently applied
in soils adapted to it, with great advantage. The rocks
consist principally of clay-slate and greywacke. Of
these the latter is succumbent, and interlined with thin
veins of quartz: the line of bearing, with a trifling
variation, is from north-east to south-west, dipping to
the north-west. The angle of elevation of the clay-slate
varies, increasing from the low grounds, where the rock
is almost horizontal, till it arrives at nearly a perpendicular
towards the top of the Hill of Alvah. The plantations,
including about 300 acres formed in the course of
the present century, for the most part consist of Scotch
fir and larch, among which are trees of beech, ash, oak,
elm, plane, &c. The annual value of real property in
the parish is £4870.
The chief mansion is the House of Montblairy, built
in 1791, and since repaired and considerably enlarged:
it is situated on the west side of the Doveron, on a
sloping bank, in the midst of thriving and beautiful
plantations; and contains a fine gallery of portraits of
illustrious persons. Dunlugas, about half a mile distant,
on the opposite bank of the river, was erected in 1793,
and is a spacious structure, ornamented with a lawn in
front, stretching to the margin of the river, and embellished
with several lofty trees; the background, with its
thriving plantations of sable firs, furnishing a striking
contrast to the surrounding scenery. In the parish of
Alvah are six meal-mills, a malt-mill, a lint-mill, and
thirty-one threshing-mills, the last of which have all been
erected during the last thirty or forty years. A distillery,
built about twenty years since, on the estate of Montblairy,
at an expense of £4000, was in full operation, and
capable of producing 40,000 gallons of spirits annually;
but the speculation having become unprofitable, it was
given up a few years ago. Ecclesiastically the parish is
in the presbytery of TurriBF, synod of Aberdeen, and in
the patronage of Sir Robert Abercromby, Bart.; the
stipend of the minister is about £180, and there is a
manse, built in 1*64, and repaired in 1S15, with a glebe
containing between six and seven acres, valued at about
£25 per annum. The church is a plain edifice, erected
in 1792. There is a parochial school, the master of
which gives instruction in Latin, occasionally in Greek
and French, and in all the ordinary branches of education
i he has a salary of £30, in addition to the fees,
with a house, and a portion of the Dick bequest.
The antiquities are few and unimportant, consisting
chiefly of several cairns and Druidical circles, not of
sufficient consideration to merit notice. The ruins of
the ancient castle, which stood near Montblairy, and is
supposed to have been built by one of the Stewarts,
Earls of Buchan, are no longer visible; and those of the
old chapel near the same spot, have been removed of late
years. On the estate of Sandlaw, and in several other
places, large trees have been found, at a great depth
below the surface; and memorials of the ancient cultivation
of the soil may be traced over about 1000 acres of
land, at present the poorest in the district. Alvah is
celebrated for its fine springs, the principal of which,
called Comes-well, and mentioned by that name in a
charter more than 500 years ago, discharges twenty-seven
gallons per minute of water almost as clear as that produced
by distillaflon. There are also several chalybeates,
the most famed of which are, the Red Gill well at Brownside
Hill, and a spring on the hill-head of Montblairy.
Dr. George Chapman, author of a treatise on education,
was born here in 1723; and Major-Gen. Andrew Hay,
who fell at Bayonne, in the fifty- second year of his age,
on the 14th of April, 1814, and to whose memory a monument
was erected in St. Paul's Cathedral at the public
expense, was at one time resident proprietor of the estate
of Montblairy, in the parish.