ANDREW'S-ST-LHANBRYDE, a parish, in the
county of Elgin, 3 miles (E.) from Elgin; containing
11*6 inhabitants, of whom 174 are in the village of
Lhanbryde. The parish of St-Andrew's was anciently
called the barony of Kill-ma-Lemnock. Lhanbryde,
signifying in Gaelic " the church of St. Bridget," was
united to it in 1*82, in addition to two other chapels
that had been joined before the Reformation. The whole
is three miles broad, from east to west, and about four
long, from south to north; exclusively of the Teindland,
which is detached one mile distant on the south, and
although generally considered as belonging to this parish,
pertains to that of Elgin. St. Andrew's Lhanbryde
contains about 5000 acres, of which four-fifths are
under cultivation, and 650 acres are woodland. It is
intersected by the great north road and the river Lossie.
The isolated tract just named was originally the moor
where the cattle were collected for drawing part of the
teinds of both parishes, before they were converted into
money; from which circumstance it derives its name.
The surface has in general the appearance of a plain,
iQ which a series of low hills rise, apparently connected
together, and all covered with corn, grass, or wood. In
the spring season, the district is subject to a succession
of storms, some of which are of the most violent,
piercing, and blighting nature, equally injurious to
vegetation and to animal life. There are three lakes
on the confines of the parish: the largest of them,
called Spynie, consisting of shallow water covering a
deep rich mould, offered a temptation to reclaim it by
drainage, which, a few years since, was prosecuted at an
expense of nearly £10,000; but the operation has not
yet fully succeeded. These lakes abound with trout,
eels, and pike, and are visited by a great variety of wild
ducks, and sometimes by wild geese and swans. The
river Lossie, which, entering the parish at the northwest
corner, divides it there from the town of Elgin, is
subject to great floodings, and the grounds on its banks
frequently suffer injury. Salmon, pike, trout, &c., are
found in it, though not in any considerable quantity.
The SOIL in general is sandy, yet fertile where the
land is low and damp; for, in this part of the county,
the farmer has mostly to complain of drought, by which
he loses much every summer. All kinds of grain are
produced, in a larger quantity than is necessary for
domestic use; as well as the ordinary green crops and
grasses: most of the farms are of considerable size, and
occupied by gentlemen of skill, and with adequate
capital. The whole extent of the parish is incumbent
upon a bed of limestone belonging to the calciferous
sandstone of the old red formation. About a mile
eastward of the manse, a small section made by the
burn of Lhanbryde exposes a bed of the inferior oolite
kind; and two miles north-west of the manse there
appear, at Linksfield, Pitgaveny, &c., insulated patches
of the Purbeck beds of the wealden, or fresh-water
deposit, rarely met with in Scotland. Limestone is
burnt for agricultural and building purposes, and the
wealden clays and marls are applied to fertilizing the
light sandy soil in the neighbourhood. Pitgaveny House
is a handsome residence, with grounds tastefully laid
out. There is a manufacture of malt in the parish;
and a cast-iron foundry, and a manufactory of woollen
stuffs, are carried on, the latter of which employs about
forty-five hands. A fair is held at Lhanbryde on the
fourth Tuesday in October, for cattle, farming implements,
and similar commodities. The annual value of
real property in the parish is £4104.
For ecclesiastical purposes the parish is in the presbytery
of Elgin and synod of Moray; the patronage is
vested in the Crown and the Earl of Moray alternately,
and the minister's stipend is £"206. \9., with a manse.
The church is a commodious building, and will hold
between 400 and 500 persons. There is a parochial
school, the master of which has a salary of £34. 14.,
with a house and garden, and about £1'2 fees, teaching
the classics, mathematics, French, and Gaelic, together
with the ordinary branches of education. About half
a mile south of the manse is a small square fort of
great antiquity, called the Tower of Coxton, which
appears to have been of considerable strength. The
neighbourhood affords numerous interesting specimens
of fossils: many of the distinguishing fossils of the inferior
oolite have been found in the bed exposed by the
Lhanbryde burn; at Linksfield a great variety also occurs,
and of the greatest number and interest, in a dark-
coloured shale bed containing slabs of highly crystallized
limestone.