FRIOCKHEIM, a quoad sacra parish (for a time), in
the parishes of Kirkden and Inverkeillor, county of
Forfar; containing 1443 inhabitants, of whom about
900 are in the village of Friockheim, 3| miles (E. by N.)
from Letham, and 6^ (N. W. by N.) from Arbroath. This
district is nearly five miles in extent, comprising about
1694 acres in tillage or pasture, 308 under plantation,
and 395 in uncultivated waste; and is skirted on the
whole of its northern boundary by the Lunan water, one
of the finest trouting-streams in Forfarshire. The village,
which stands on the north-eastern limits of the
district, has grown up within the last twenty or fiveand-
twenty years under the auspices of John Andson,
Esq., owing chiefly to the feuing of small lots of ground,
and the rapid increase of the linen manufacture in the
neighbourhood. Upwards of 400 persons are now employed
in flax-spinning, and the manufacture of sheetings,
Osnaburghs, dowlas, and sail-cloth, which are exported
principally to the American markets. The houses
are neatly built, and there is a spinning-mill and yarnwashing
mill. The turnpike-road from Arbroath to
Forfar runs nearly through the centre of the district:
the Arbroath and Forfar railway passes within three
minutes' walk south of the village, having a station here;
and the Aberdeen railway also affords a frequent and
expeditious communication. Ecclesiastically the place
is within the limits of the presbytery of Arbroath, synod
of Angus and Mearns: the stipend of the minister is
£70, derived from seat-rents and collections, with a
manse; and the patronage is vested in the male communicants,
heads of families. Friockbeim church, erected
in 183.T, and since enlarged, is a neat edifice containing
600 sittings. There is a parochial school, in which the
usual branches of education are taught, and which is
capable of accommodating 140 scholars; and a parochial
library has been instituted by the Kirk Session.