FORRES, a parish and burgh (royal), in the county of Elgin, 12 njiles (W. by S.)
from Elgin; containing 3711 inhabitants, of whom '2844 are in the burgh. This place,
the name of which, in the Gaelic language, is descriptive of its situation on the
river and bay of Findhorn, has by some historians been identified with the J'aris of
Ptolemy, and is celebrated for its ancient castle, in which Duffus, King of Scotland,
was treacherously murdered by the governor, in 966.
A battle is said to have occurred here about the commencement
of the eleventh century, between a party of
Danish invaders and Malcolm H.: it terminated in a
treaty, in commemoration of which an obelisk was raised,
called Sweno's Stone, elaborately sculptured with devices,
and which is still remaining in a very perfect state. Not
long afterwards, the forces of Duncan, King of Scotland,
were encamped on a moor in the vicinity of the town;
and on his way to join that monarch, Macbeth, accompanied
by Banquo, was met on an adjoining waste by
the weird sisters, as described by Shakespeare in his tragedy
of Macbeth.
The TOWN is situated on a moderately elevated ridge,
and comprises one long street called the High-street,
from which several smaller streets diverge on both sides:
it is intersected throughout its whole length by the road
from Elgin to Nairn, forming the High-street. The
streets are well paved, and lighted with gas; and the
inhabitants are amply supplied with water. A public
library is supported by subscription, and has a good
collection of volumes: there is also a newsroom, well
furnished with journals and periodical publications; and
a newspaper called " The Forres Gazette" is published on
the first Wednesday in every month. A masonic lodge
has been some time established, for which an elegant
building has been erected from a design by Mr. Simpson
of Aberdeen, containing a handsome ball-room, a supperroom,
and apartments for the meetings of the brethren.
A horticultural society under the patronage of the Earl
of Moray holds annual meetings in June and September,
when exhibitions of flowers, fruits, and vegetables attract
numbers of visiters from all parts. The environs abound
with pleasingly-diversified scenery; and on the highest
of the richly-wooded Cloven hills, near the eastern extremity
of the town, a lofty octagonal tower of three
stages, crowned with an embattled parapet, was erected
in 1806, by public subscription, to the memory of Lord
Nelson. No manufactures are carried on here, nor any
trade except such as is necessary for the supply of the
inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood: there are
numerous handsome shops, amply supplied with merchandise
of every kind. In the immediate vicinity are a
brewery and a distillery; and in a powerful saw-mill for
timber, great quantities of hexagonal blocks for woodpavement
have been prepared for the Loudon market, and
shipped from the port of Findhorn, about five miles distant
from the town. The market, which is amply supplied with
grain, is on Tuesday; and markets for butchers' meat and
fish are held daily. Fairs for cattle and horses occur on
the first Wednesdays in January and July, on the third
AVednesdays in February, April, May, and November,
on the fourth Wednesdays in August and September;
and for hiring servants, on the Saturday before the 22nd
of November. Facility of communication is afforded by
the high road from Elgin to Nairn; by a turnpike-road
to the sea-port village of Findhorn, at the mouth of
Findhorn bay, where the London and Leith steamers
regularly call; by good district roads in various directions;
and by an elegant chain-bridge over the river
Findhorn, constructed at an expense of £7000, in 1831,
to replace the former bridge of stone, which had been destroyed
by flood in 1829.
The more ancient records of the corporation are lost;
but there is evidence of the inhabitants having obtained
the privileges of a royal burgh by charter of William
the Lion or Alexander IL, which was renewed by James
IV. The government is vested in a council of seventeen,
including a provost, three bailies, a dean of guild, and a
treasurer; who are all chosen under the provisions of
the Municipal Reform act. There are no incorporated
trades; and the necessity for becoming a member of the
guildry, in order to qualify as a burgess, and for which
the entrance fee rose successively from £2. 10. to £13. 10.,
is no longer enforced. The magistrates exercise jurisdiction
in civil causes to any amount, and in criminal
matters for petty offences and breaches of the peace.
The town hall, erected in 1839, on the site of the ancient
tolbooth, in the centre of the High-street, is a handsome
structure in the later English style, with a square tower,
above which rises an octagonal turret surmounted with
a dome. It contains a spacious hall for holding the
courts, with apartments for the sheriff and justices, a
council-chamber, a record-room, offices for the townclerk,
and accommodations for the post-office. The old
gaol, attached to the tolbooth, was removed on the erection
of the present town hall; and a small prison, containing
two or three cells for the temporary confinement
of criminals, has been built. Forres is associated with
the burghs of Fortrose, Inverness, and Nairn, in returning
a member to the imperial parliament: the number of
qualified voters in Forres is 160.
The PARISH, which is bounded on the north by the
bay of Findhorn, and on the west by the river of that
name, is about four miles in length, and from one to
three miles in breadth, comprising an area of 5200 acres,
whereof 3300 are arable, 1200 woodland and plantations,
and the remainder moorland pasture and waste. Towards
the north-west the surface is a perfect plain, only
a trifling height above the level of the sea: in the central
portion it is diversified with gentle acclivities, terminating
in conical hills of moderate height; while on
the south-east the land becomes more elevated. The
river Findhorn has its source in the mountains of Inverness,
and after a course of considerable length, enters
this parish, and flowing northward, falls into the bay of
Findhorn. Another stream is the burn of Forres; it
rises in the adjoining parish of Rafford, and running by
the town, near which it receives a small tributary, also
joins the bay. On the Findhorn is a lucrative salmonfishery
belonging to the Messrs. Forbes of Aberdeen,
valued at £500 per annum; it was greatly injured by
the flood in 1829, but has lately very much improved.
Along the margin of the bay and the banks of the river
the soil is a rich deep loam, with a slight admixture of
clay; in the central parts of the parish, a light sand
which, under good management, is richly fertile; and in
the higher grounds, a retentive clay, alternated with
sand and moss. The crops are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes,
and turnips; and considerable portions of the land
are cultivated as gardens, in which flowers and fruits of
every kind are raised with great success. The system of
husbandry is in a highly improved state, and some of
the waste ground has been made to yield luxuriant crops
of grain; the farm-houses are substantially built of stone,
roofed with slate, and generally well arranged, and on
most of the farms are threshing-mills, one of which is
driven by steam. The cattle are not confined to any
particular breed, nor are the sheep, and many of the farmers
change their live stock annually. Particular attention
is paid to the management of the dairy-farms, for
the produce of which there is a large demand. The annual
value of real property in the parish is £8481. The plantations
consist of oak, ash, elm, plane, and beech, interspersed
with larch and Scotch fir, and there are some
fine specimens of trees on the lands of various proprietors,
particularly a stately avenue of ash-trees on the road to
Forres from the west. In this parish the chief substrata
are sandstone and limestone, the latter of which is quarried
on the farm of Mundole, where kilns have been
erected for burning it iuto lime for the farmers' use.
Sanqnhar House is a handsome mansion situated on an
eminence, about a mile southward of the town, in a
richly-wooded demesne enlivened by the windings of the
burn of Forres. Invererne, a mile north of the town, is
also a handsome modern residence, surrounded by thriving
plantations. Forres House, a spacious mansion, is
at present in the occupation of a tenant. Drumduan is
an elegant villa to the east of Forres, commanding an extensive
view of the surrounding country.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposes the parish is within the
limits of the presbytery of Forres, of which this place is
the seat, and of the synod of Moray. The minister's
stipend is about £274, with a manse, and a glebe valued
at £25 per annum; patron, the Earl of jMoray. Forres
church, a plain structure, was built in 17*5, and repaired
in 1839; it is lighted with gas, and contains 1000 sittings.
There are places of worship for the Free Church,
the United Presbyterian Synod, and Independents, and
an episcopal chapel. The parochial and burgh schools,
which are consolidated under the patronage of the corporation,
and held in the buildings of Anderson's academy,
are conducted by three masters, to whom collectively
are paid salaries amounting to £120 per annum.
The academy, for which there is a handsome building in
the Grecian style of architecture in the High-street, was
founded in 1824, and endowed with property producing
£130 per annum, by the late Jonathan Anderson, Esq.,
of Glasgow, for the education of children of the parishes
of Forres, Rafford, and Kinloss. Four schools are held
in the building, namely, the three parochial schools above
referred to, and the charity school founded by Mr. Anderson.
Of the ancient castle of Forres, which was demolished
after the murder of Duffus, and subsequently
rebuilt, only some slight vestiges are remaining on a hill
to the west of the town. When it ceased to be a royal
residence, it became the possession of the Earls of Moray,
from whom the castle and the property attached passed
to the Dunbars, hereditary sheriffs of Moray, who resided
in a building intended to form part of a new structure,
which, with the lands belonging to it, was afterwards
owned by the Earl of Seafield, and is now the property
of General Sir Lewis Grant. James Dick, Esq., who
bequeathed £140,000, the proceeds of which are divided
among the parochial schoolmasters of the counties of
Elgin, Banff, and Aberdeen, was a native of the town of
Forres.