FORFARSHIRE, a county (maritime), in the east of
Scotland, bounded on the north by the counties of
Aberdeen and Kincardine; on the east, by the German
Ocean; on the south, by the Firth of Tay; and on the
west, by Perthshire. It lies between ,56° 27' and 57°
(N. Lat.) and 2° 28' and 3° 22' (W.Long.), and is about
38| miles in length, and 37^ in extreme breadth, comprising
an area of 840 square miles, or 537,600 acres;
38,255 houses, of which 36,184 are inhabited; and containing
a population of 170,520, of whom 79,375 are
males and 91,145 females. This district, which was
formerly called Angus, is said to have received that
name from Angus, brother of Kenneth II., to whom it
was granted by the king, after his victory over the Picts;
and it continued for many generations to be governed
by a succession of thanes, of whom Macbeth, the associate
of Macduff, Thane of Fife, in the murder of Duncan,
was the last. The county was subsequently governed
by earls, of whom (iilchrist, the first earl, flourished
in the reign of Malcolm III., and was succeeded
by his son, the second earl, who attended David I. at
the battle of the Standard, in 1138. The earldom was
conferred by Robert II. on the Douglas family; and at
present the shire gives the inferior title of Earl to the
Duke of Hamilton. Prior to the abolition of episcopacy,
the county was included in the diocese of Brechin; it is
now in the synod of Angus and Mearns, comprises
several presbyteries, and about fifty-five parishes. For
civil purposes it is divided into the districts of Forfar
and Dundee, in each of which towns is a resident sheriffsubstitute.
It contains the royal burghs of Forfar,
which is the county town, Dundee, Arbroath, Montrose,
and Brechin, and the market-towns of Kirriemuir and
Glammis, with several smaller towns and villages. Under
the act of the 2nd of William IV., the county returns
one member to the imperial parliament.
The SURFACE is boldly varied. Towards the north
it forms part of the Grampian range, here called the
Binchennin hills, of which Catlaw, the highest, has an
elevation of 2264 feet above the level of the sea: this
portion of the county, known as the Braes of Angus, is a
wild pastoral district. Nearly parallel with these heights
are the Sidlaw hills, apparently a continuation of the
Ochil range, and which are of less height than the
Binchennin, few of them attaining more than 1400 feet
above the sea. Between the two ridges is the beautiful and
fertile valley of Strathmore, popularly called the Howe
of Angus, extending nearly thirty-three miles in length,
and varying from six to eight miles in breadth, diversified
with gentle eminences, fruitful fields, pleasing villages,
and handsome seats surrounded with flourishing
plantations. The district between the Sidlaw hills and the
coast is a level tract of great fertility, from three to eight
miles in breadth, and in the highest state of cultivation.
The principal valleys are Glenisla, Glenprosen, Glenesk,
Lethnot, and Clova, all of which are watered by streams
descending from the mountains. The chief rivers are
the North and South Esk, which have their sources on
the northern confines of the county. Of these streams,
the former, issuing from Lochlee, receives the waters of
the Unich, which in its course forms numerous picturesque
cascades; the North Esk then flows through the
vale of Glenesk, between banks crowned with trees of
birch, into the county of Kincardine, and falls into the
sea about three miles to the north of Montrose. Its
tributaries are the Luther, the Cruick, the West Water,
the Tarf, and the Mark. The South Esk has its rise
near that of the North Esk, and running through the
centre of the county, receives the Noran, the Lemno,
the Carity, and the Prosen, and joins the sea at Montrose.
The river Isla rises to the west of the sources of
the Esks, and after being fed by the waters of the Meigle,
the Dean, the Carbet, and the burn of Glammis, flows
westward into the Tay at Kinclaven. The Dighty and
the Lunan are of inferior character: the former issues
from some small lakes in the parish of Lundie, and runs
into the river Tay to the east of Broughty- Ferry; whilst
the latter, having its source in the lakes of Rescobie and
Balgives, flows into the sea at Lunan bay. Most of the
rivers abound with trout and salmon, and the Lunan
with eels. There are also numerous lakes in the countj',
but few of them are more than a mile in circumference;
the principal are Lochlee, Loch Brandy, Loch Forfar,
Loch Rescobie, and Loch Balgives.
About three-fifths of the land are under cultivation;
20,000 acres are woodland and plantations, and the
remainder mountain pasture and waste. On the hills
the soil is heathy moor, but in the valleys rich and fertile.
The lands have been greatly benefited by draining, and
abundant crops of every kind are raised: wheat, which
formerly was little cultivated, is now grown in large
quantities, and of excellent quality; the various im-
provements in husbandry have been generally adopted,
and the system of agriculture is in a very advanced
state. Considerable attention is paid to live stock; the
Angusshire breed of cattle is well known: numbers of
sheep of various breeds are pastured on the Grampian
and the Sidlaw hills, and on the former is reared a small
breed of horses called Garrons. The plantations consist
of oak, beech, birch, and other trees, which have nearly
superseded the larch; and the improvement of the soil
has adapted it to the growth of timber of all kinds. In
this county the principal substrata are limestone, freestone,
and sandstone of good quality for flags. The
limestone is extensively wrought in several places, but
its use in farming has in some degree been diminished
by the introduction of bone-dust, of which great quantities
are prepared at Arbroath and Dundee, and shellmarl
is found in the lakes, some of which have been
drained in order to procure it. Lead-ore was formerly
obtained in the upper part of the parish of Lochlee, and
copper-ore has been found in the Sidlaw range. The
seats are Glaramis Castle, Cortachy and Airlie Castles,
Camperdown House, Lindertis, Isla Bank, Grey, Careston,
Balnamoon, Brechin Castle, Panmure House,
Kinnaird, Dun, Rossie, Ethie, Guthrie, Dunnichen, Isla,
Craigo, Langley Park, and various others. The principal
manufactures are, the spinning of flax; the weaving of
linen and the coarser fabrics, as huckaback, canvass,
dowlas, sheeting, and sacking, of which great quantities
are exported; the manufacture of fine coloured thread;
and the bleaching of linen, for which there are extensive
grounds on the banks of streams. There are large
tanneries, breweries, distilleries, and other works; and
ship-building is pursued at the ports of Dundee,
Arbroath, and Montrose. Valuable fisheries are carried
on along the coast, and salmon-fisheries in the Firth of
Tay. Facility of communication is afforded by good
roads in various directions, and by railways, of which
the Dundee and Newtyle railway was the first constructed
in the county; the Arbroath and Forfar railway
was opened in 1839, and the Dundee and Arbroath
railway, nearly one continued level along the coast, in
1840. More recently have been opened the Dundee and
Perth line, the Forfar and Perth line, and the Aberdeen
line, of each of which there is a part within the county
of Forfar. The annual value of real property in the
county is £502,841, of which £312,201 are returned for
lands, £180,496 for houses, £5408 for railway communication,
£2389 for fisheries, £1385 for quarries, and
the remainder for other kinds of real property. There
are some remains of the cathedral of Brechin, and near
them a round tower supposed to be of Pictish origin;
the county contains the ruins of numerous ancient
castles, of the abbey of Arbroath and similar religious
establishments, tumuli, cairns, Druidical altars, and various
other remains of antiquity, which are described iu
the articles on the parishes.