BALMERINO, a parish, in the district of Cupar,
county of Fife, 5 miles (W.) from Newport; containing,
with the villages of Balmerino, Kirkton, and Galdry,
993 inhabitants, of whom 62 are in the village of Balmerino.
This place, the name of which, of Celtic origin,
signifies " the town of the sea", or " sailor's town", most
probably derived the appellation from its position on
the estuary of the river Tay. It appears to have been
distinguished at a very ancient period for the mild temperature
of its climate, and early in the thirteenth century
was selected by Queen Ermengard, widow of
'V\^illiam the Lion, and mother of Alexander II., as a
place of occasional resort, for the benefit of her health:
and subsequently by Magdalene, queen of James V., for
the same purpose. A monastery for Cistercian monks
was founded here by Alexander II. in 1230, at the
solicitation of Ermengard, in gratitude for the benefit
she received while resident here; which monastery he
dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to St. Edward the
Confessor, and in which he placed monks from the
abbey of Melrose. This estabhshraent was endowed by
Queen Ermengard with lands in the countv, purchased
from Adam de Stawell, to which Alexander added the
church and lands of Lochmure in Angus, and those of
Petgornoc and Drumdol in the county of Fife. It continued
to increase in wealth, by the liberality of subsequent
benefactors, till the Dissolution, when its revenues
amounted to £704. 2. IO5. in money, exclusively of a
considerable income in grain and other agricultural produce.
The abbey was demolished in 155S, by the
lords of the congregation, on their route from St. Andrew's:
the site, with the lands appertaining to it, was
subsequently granted to Sir James Elphinstone, of
Barnton; and after the P.eformation, the estates were
constituted a lordship in favour of Sir James, who was
raised to the Scottish peerage in 1604 by the title of
Lord Balmerino, which became extinct in 1745 by the
attainder and execution of his descendant, the then lord.
The parish is bounded on the north by the Firth of
Tay, along the shore of which it extends from Birkhill
to Wormit bay; and comprises an area of 3400 acres,
of which nearly 2700 are arable and in profitable cultivation,
500 in woods and plantations, and the remainder
pasture and waste. Its surface is greatly varied, and
traversed by two nearly parallel ridges, extending from
east to west, and inclosing a lovely valley, in which the
village is situated. The highest points of these ridges
are, the Scurr hill on the north, which has an elevation
of 400 feet; and the Coultry hill on the south, which
rises to the height of 500 feet above the sea. There is
also a considerable portion of high table land on the
southern ridge, on which the village of Galdry stands.
The scenery abounds with romantic features, and is
every where enriched with woods and thriving plantations:
a little to the east of the church, and nearly in
the centre of the valley, is a small elevation, on the
brow of which is Naughton House, and on the summit
are the ruins of an ancient castle; beneath is a picturesque
dell, from which a mass of rock rises abruptly
to the height nearly of 100 feet. The shores of the
Tay are bold and rocky, having in some parts precipitous
and lofty cliffs; and on that portion of the shore
which rises more gradually are the picturesque ruins of
the abbey, overlooking the river. The Tay affords
excellent facilities for bathing, being strongly impregnated
with saline particles. There are no other rivers
in the parish, but the lands are well watered by numerous
jprings, many of which appear from their names
to have been formerly of great notoriety, and from
which issue various small streams that attain sufficient
power to turn several mills.
The SOIL is generally light; in some parts, a rich
black loam; and in others, gravelly; but, under good
management, is rendered fertile and productive. The
crops are grain of all kinds, potatoes, and turnips: the
system of agriculture is improved; the farm-buildings
are substantial and commodious, and on all the farms
are threshing-machines, some of which are driven by
water. The annual value of real property in the parish
is £4962. The substrata are chiefly sandstone and
whinstone, of the former of which there are two varieties,
one extremely compact, and well adapted for building
purposes; the other more friable, and abounding
with nodules of quartz, and other substances. The
whinstone is of different qualities, comprising amygdaloid,
trap tuffa, felspar, and clay-stone porphyry; that
which is of coarser grain contains amethyst, calcareous
spar, chalcedony, and agates. The Scurr hill abounds
with mineral varieties; the most beautiful agates occur
there, and boulders of primitive rock are found along
the shore of the parish, and on the highest ridges.
Naughton House was erected towards the commencement
of the present century, and has since been enlarged
and improved. Birkhill is an elegant and spacious
mansion, on the bank of the river, and embosomed in
rich and beautiful plantations.
A salmon-fishery was formerly carried on in the Tay,
to a large extent, and proved a source of great gain;
but since the prohibition of the use of stake-nets, in
1816, it has materially declined. The quantity previously
taken in the firth was, on an average, about
30,000 in the season; at present, the number of fish
scarcely amounts to one-tenth part. Since this alteration,
several who were once employed in the fishery are
now engaged in weaving at their own houses, for the
manufacturers of Dundee; the principal articles woven
are dowlas and Osnaburghs, and about 1.50 persons are
thus engaged, of whom a large portion are women.
Great quantities of grain were formerly shipped from
the harbour of this place, which was the chief port on
the south side of the Tay for that article; but at present
only small quantities of wheat are sent by the
farmers here, to the bakers of Dundee, by a passage-boat
which is kept up by subscription of the parishioners.
Considerable quantities of potatoes are sent to the
London market; and many vessels with coal land their
cargoes here. The village of Balmerino is pleasantly
situated on the western declivity of the Scurr hill, already
mentioned.
For ecclesiastical purposes the parish is in the presbytery
of Cupar and synod of Fife; the minister's stipend
is £"239. 9., with a manse, and the glebe is valued
at £18 per annum. Balmerino church, a neat and substantial
edifice of stone, erected in 1811, is nearly in the
centre of the parish. The parochial school affords instruction
to about 130 scholars; the master's salary is
£34. 4. 4., with £28 fees, and a house and garden. The
ruins of Balmerino Abbey consist chiefly of a small
portion of the walls, with some clustered columns, and
part of the corbels from which sprang the arches that
supported the roof, and which are in the decorated
English style; and of one cell, still in tolerable preservation.
There are also remains of the ancient castle
of Naughton, said to have been built soon after the
Conquest, by Robert de Lundon; they comprise only
some fragments of the side walls, which derive their
chief importance from their situation, on the summit of
a lofty crag rising almost perpendicularly from a deep
and richly-wooded dell. An establishment of Culdees
is said to have existed here, in connexion with that at
St. Andrew's; and in a field in the parisli, still called
the Battle Law, an engagement is reported to have taken
place between the Scots and the Danes, the latter of
whom were driven to their ships: stone coflins, broken
armour, and bones have been discovered near the spot.
Some years since, two pieces of gold were found in a
field on the farm of Peashills, which appear to have
formed ornaments of some kind, and were of the value
of £14.