DUTHIL, a parish, partly in the county of Elgin,
and partly in the county of Inverness; comprising the
district of Rothiemurchus, and containing in the whole
parish 1769 inhabitants: the church is distant 2 miles
(N. E.) from Carr-Bridge, and 7^ (W.) from the village
of Grantown. Duthil proper is situated on the north
side of the river Spey, in the county of Elgin, and
Rothiemurchus on the south of the river, in the county
of Inverness. They were united in 1630, but still had
distinct places of worship, and a glebe in each parish.
In 1S30 Rothiemurchus was erected into a parliamentary
parish, with a manse and glebe to the minister,
and a stipend of £120 per annum: it is more fully described
under its own head. In ancient times Duthil
was called Gleann-chearnach, that is, " the glen of heroes ".
Its present name was given to it after the year 1400,
when Matilda Gumming, called Bigla beg because she
was of small stature, the heiress of Gilbert Gumming of
Gleann-chearnach, and proprietrix of these lands, residing
in the castle of Dunmuilzie, on the banks of the
Spey, near the church, then situated on the Deiser, fixed
on another site for public worship, and built a new
church, which was at length thrown down in 1S26 in
order to erect the present building. The new site was
chosen, that she might have the pleasure of a longer
ride on Sunday to hear mass and attend worship; and
in order to distinguish it from the old place, which is
on the south side of the ridge of hills between the Spey
and the Dulnan, still called Deiser or Deasail, in Gaelic
signifying "southward or southerly", the new church,
being on the north side of the ridge and of the Dulraan,
was called ruaf/ioii, signifying "northward or northerly ".
Hence the modern name of the parish.
Duthil proper is wholly situated in the southern part
of the county of Elgin, on the north-eastern bank of the
Spey, and in a mountainous and thickly- wooded tract,
in ancient times an almost impenetrable forest; it was
the scene of many deadly feuds between rival chieftains
in past ages, and the residence of the powerful Cummings
or Cumyns. This family possessed the principal
part of the estates, and for many generations maintained
hostilities with the Grants; but the enmity between the
clans was ended by the marriage of the before-mentioned
Matilda, heiress of one of the Cumyns, to Sir John
Grant of Freuchy, the great rival, thereby fixing the
property in the family of Grant, with whom it has
remained to the present time. Duthil proper measures
about sixteen miles in length and thirteen in breadth,
and comprises a large proportion of uncultivated ground,
and of natural wood, consisting chiefly of fir; the part
under tillage being of small extent. The surface presents
a hilly, bleak, and dreary aspect, the scenery
taking its principal character from the extensive moors
and mountains, the latter covered with heather, and the
whole only occasionally interspersed with patches of
grass or corn land. A lofty range traverses the entire
northern side, and terminates in the Monadhlia, an imposing
chain of mountains common to the districts of
Badenoch, Strathdearn, and Stratherrick. Parallel with
this, but not of equal height, a ridge passes along the
southern portion, bleak and barren like the other. These
two ranges skirt the intermediate valley of the Dulnan
stream, which takes its rise in the Badenoch hills, and
flowing through the vale from west to east, loses itself
in the Spey at Belentomb of Inverallen, five miles below
the church of Duthil. Though generally small, it overflows
its banks when swollen after rain or snow, and
carries desolation among the neighbouring lands. Hence
its name, Dulnan, or Tiiilnean, in Gaelic signifying
" floods". The forest of Duthil or Dulnanside was destroyed
by fire at the beginning of the last century, an
event which was the occasion of the final extirpation of
the wolves, so long before the terror of the neighbourhood.
There is still, however, a large forest of natural
Scotch fir in the northern district, where two saw-mills,
of two saws each, have been erected for cutting the
timber felled in the locality, the mills being turned by the
waters of the Dulnan. The lochs are of small extent,
but some of them contain fine trout, especially Loch
Bhruach, situated on the northern hills; in others are
pike; and salmon and trout are taken in the rivers.
The SOIL near the Dulnan and the Spey is chiefly
alluvial, upon a deep clayey subsoil, producing in favourable
seasons heavy crops of oats. Some of the higher
grounds, also, though the soil is thin and gravelly, and
intermixed with stones, yield notwithstanding, through
the recent improvements in cultivation, and when aided
by genial seasons, an ample return in oats, bear, barley,
turnips, and potatoes. The system of husbandry has
been greatly improved within the last twenty or thirty
years: the five-shift course is usually followed; much
waste ground has been reclaimed, and the former huts
of the farmers, raised with turf, have been replaced by
well-built stone dwellings, neatly thatched with straw.
Birch, alder, and fir thrive well here, and the first, which
grows naturally to a considerable extent, greatly relieves
the generally uninteresting scenery: an extensive tract
of barren moor along the northern bank of the Spey was
planted by the late Sir James Grant upwards of half a
century since, and the trees are now in a flourishing
condition. The annual value of real property in Duthil
and Rothiemurchus is £'2674. The Highland road between
Perth and Inverness passes through the parish
for about fourteen miles; and from the hamlet of Carrbridgc,
where a post-office was established in 1836, a
road branches oflf to Grantown. Besides the bridge at
the hamlet, there is one at Sluggan, built shortly after
the year 1745, on the line of road formed under the
direction of General Wade; but it has been almost
impassable since the flood of 1829. The cattle of the
district are sold at neighbouring markets to the southcountry
dealers: the timber cut in the forest is sent
partly down the Spey, but chiefly by land-carriage to
Inverness. Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery
of Abemeth}', synod of Moray, and in the patronage
of the Earl of Seafield: the minister's stipend is about
£'200, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £5 per
annum. Duthil church is a commodious edifice, built in
1S26, and accommodating between SOO and 900 persons
with sittings: a handsome mausoleum of grey granite has
lately been erected over the burial-ground of the Grant
family. Earls of Seafield. Rothiemurchus church is thirteen
miles distant from the parish church. The parochial
school affords instruction in the usual branches; the
master has a salary of £25. 13., with about £12 or £15
fees, and £32 from the Dick bequest, besides a house,
and a quarter of an acre of ground for a garden. There
is a school endowed by the Society for Propagating
Christian Knowledge, and another is supported by the
education scheme of the General Assembly: there is
also a female school endowed by the above society and
the Rev. William Grant, minister of the parish.