DUNNICHEN, a parish, in the county of Forfar; including the
villages of Bowriefauld, Cotton of Lownie,
Craichie, Drummetermont, and Letham; and containing
1625 inhabitants, of whom 54 are in the village of
Dunnichen, 3| miles (E. S. E.) from Forfar. This place,
which is of considerable antiquity, derives its name,
signifying in the Gaelic language " the hill or fort of the
valley ", from a prominent hill overlooking the vale of
Lunan, and on which are still some remains of an ancient
fort of loose stones, though the greater part has been
removed to furnish materials for inclosing the lands. A
battle is supposed to have been fought here at some
remote period, which tradition refers to the time of
Arthur, King of the Britons; but no authentic account
of it has been recorded. Numerous graves, evidently of
vtarriors, have at various times been discovered by the
plough, filled with human bones, and some of them containing
urns of red clay rudely ornamented and holding
ashes. The parish comprises an area of more than 5000
acres. Its surface is gently undulated, rising in some
places into hills, the two highest of which are Dunnichen
hill, having an elevation of about SOO, and Duubarrow,
an elevation of 700, feet above the level of the sea.
Dunnichen hill, which is cultivated from its base to the
summit, and interspersed with thriving plantations,
forms a pleasing feature in the landscape, and commands
a richly-varied and extensive prospect over the whole
vale of Lunan to the east, and Forfar and Strathmore to
the west, the view terminating in the distance in the
Grampian range. The Vinney water, which has its
source in the parish of Forfar, collects various inconsiderable
tributaries in its course through this parish, and
falls into the Lunan in the parish of Kirkden. A loch
formerly covered an area of fifty acres, but it has been
partially drained, and converted into pasture land; on the
north side of it is a small chalybeate spring, strongly impregnated,
and near the base of Dunbarrow is a much
more copious spring, of similar quality but less power.
The SOIL in the higher grounds is a shallow friable
loam intermixed with sand, which becomes deeper and
richer towards the lower lands, where there is generally
a clayey loam. Of the whole number of acres about
4000 are cultivated or occasionally in tillage, upwards of
500 in wood, and the remainder, much of which might be
reclaimed and brought into cultivation, is rough pasture
and waste. The crops are, grain of all kinds, potatoes,
and turnips; the system of agriculture is in an advanced
state. Bone-dust has been introduced for manure on
turnip land, and shell-marl, by which the soil in many
parts has been much improved, is procured in abundance
from the lake of Restenneth, in the parish of Forfar.
Considerable attention is paid to the improvement of
live stock, and the dairy-farms are well managed; the
cattle are chiefly the Galloway, with a few of the Fife
and Teeswater breeds. No sheep are reared, but great
numbers are sent hither from the Grampians to be fed
on turnips during the winter, and many cattle of all
breeds, bought at the neighbouring fairs, are pastured
here. The plantations, being duly thinned, are in a
flourishing state. The substrata of the parish are chiefly
sandstone or freestone, with portions of greenstone occurring
occasionally, and in detached situations; the
sandstone frequently contains rounded pebbles of jasper,
quartz, and agate. In the trap rocks of Dunbarrow is
often found a siliceous incrustation, in which rock crystals
are embedded; and in and near the summit of Dunnichen
are several masses of granite and mica-slate.
The sandstone, which is generally of a greyish white, and
sometimes inclining to blue, is extensively quarried at
Dunnichen; it produces excellent millstones and other
blocks of very large dimensions, which may be easily cut,
and are susceptible of a high polish, but, if suffered to
remain long after being taken from the quarry, acquire
a degree of hardness that bids defiance to any tool. The
annual value of real property in the parish is £4600.
Dunnichen House is pleasantly situated on the southern
slope of the hill, near its base, and commands an
extensive and pleasingly-varied view; the demesne is
richly planted, and is rapidly improving under the
spirited management of its proprietor. The principal
manufacture carried on in the parish is the weaving of
coarse linen-cloth called Osnaburghs, and linens of finer
texture for sheeting and shirting. Fairs are held at
Letham twice in the year, for cattle, and the hiring of
farm-servants; and a fair is also held in the Kirkton on
the third Wednesday in March, O. S. The roads formerly
afforded very few facilities of communication with the
neighbouring places; but a new road from Dundee to
Brechin has been completed, greatly tending to increase
the intercourse with the larger towns. For ecclesiastical
purposes the parish is within the bounds of the
presbytery of Forfar, and synod of Angus and Mcarns;
patron, the Crown. The stipend of the incumbent is
£1.58, of which £38 are received from government: the
manse was built in 1815, in a very superficial manner;
the glebe land is valued at £11 per annum. Dunnichen
church, seated on an eminence in the small hamlet of
Kirkton, was erected in 1802, but from the dampness of
the situation, and the bad construction of the roof, which
was covered with flags of sandstone, it was found necessary
in 1817 to cover it with a new roof of slate: it
is a plain edifice adapted for a congregation of 456
persons. There are places of worship for members of
the Free Church, Congregationalists, and the United
Presbyterian Synod. The parochial school, situated in
the hamlet of Craichie, allords a liberal course of instruction;
the master has a salary of £34, with a house and
garden, and the fees average about £6 per annum. On
the area of the ancient fort was found, after the removal
of the stones of the building, a thick bed of ashes mixed
with numerous human bones, and in one part was discovered
a number of small golden balls, thought to have
been the current coin of the realm at the period of its erection.
The late George Dempster, Esq., for many years representative
of the county, was a native of this parish.