GARGUNNOCK, a parish, in the county of Stirling,
6 miles (W.) from Stirling; containing 803 inhabitants,
of whom 319 are in the village. This place,
anciently called Gargownno, is supposed to have derived
its name from the Celtic words Caer-guineach, signifying
" a pointed or conical fortress "'; a building answering
to this description, called the Peel of Gargunnock, being
situated near the north-eastern extremity of the locality.
The parish is skirted on the south by the Lennox hills,
which form its boundary in that direction, and on the
north by the river Forth. It is six miles in length, and
four in breadth, comprising 9668 acres, of which 5332
are under cultivation, 3762 in natural pasture, and 574
wood and plantations. The hills rise 1400 feet above
the level of the sea, commanding from their summits one
of the most extensive, varied, and beautiful views in the
country; and from these higher grounds the whole of
the lands slope northwards, terminating in the plain
reaching to the Forth. The river is here about sixty
feet broad and twelve deep, and contains large quantities
of pike, eels, perch, trout, and salmon: the two
last, however, from the casting of moss into the stream,
are not so numerous as formerly. In addition to the
Forth with its picturesque meanderings, and besides the
many springs in the parish, which afford a constant
supply of excellent water, there are several burns running
in various directions, of which those of Leckie,
Gargunnock, and Boquhan abound in fine trout, and the
vicinity of the last is enriched by a glen of its own name,
so beautifully wild and romantic as to produce a very
striking effect on the mind of the spectator. Cascades
are to be seen in different places, enlivening the mountain
ravines; and besides almost every description of
wild animals and birds usually found in the country, the
district is remarkable for its roc-deer, which breed in the
glens in great numbers.
The lands may be portioned into three distinct kinds,
moor, dry-field, and carse, the soils of which vary considerably.
The first of these tracts, on which sheep and
black-cattle are pastured in summer, is a wet gravel
and clay; the dry-field for the most part sandy and
clayey, with a little loam; and the last-named district a
deep rich clayey earth, resting on a subsoil principally
of blue clay. Below this blue clay, about ten feet from
the surface, is a layer of sea- shells, which is indeed
found throughout the whole strath of Monteith, extending
twenty miles in length and between three and four
in breadth, and is considered a certain indication of this
part of the country having originally formed a portion of
the bed of the ocean. Afterwards, this extensive tract
was overgrown with wood, called, in the time of the
Romans, the Caledonian forest, and cut down by that
people in the beginning of the third century. On the
dry-field portion, oats, barley, hay, and green crops constitute
the chief produce; while wheat, beans, oats, barley,
and hay are grown on the carse land. The sheep
are in general the black-faced, and Ayrshire cattle
and Clydesdale horses are reared; many swine, also,
are bred, some of which are small, but others very
large. Great attention is paid to husbandry, and a
rotation of crops is regularly followed: draining has
been extensively practised, particularly the improved
method by wedge- drains, to the great advantage of the
soil; and good farm-houses and offices, with excellent
fences, have been raised. Roads have been also constructed
in different directions; and these various improvements,
with numerous others, have increased the
price of land within the last forty or fifty years to double
its former amount: the annual value of real property
in the parish is now £6856. The rocks in the hills
consist of whinstone; and those in the dry-land portion,
of red and white sandstone, of each of which there
are quarries. Limestone is found in great abundance
under the white sandstone; veins of spar exist near the
hills, and it is confidently asserted that coal might be
obtained on the estate of Gargunnock. Peat is plentiful
on parts of the Lennox range, and is sometimes cut;
but the principal fuel in use is coal brought from Bannockburn,
nine miles distant. The natural wood comprises
oak, ash, birch, and willow; the plantations consist
principally of Scotch and silver fir, elm, larch, and
plane.
The oldest mansion is that of Gargunnock; the next
in date is the seat of Boquhan, built about the beginning
of the present century, and the barony of which
name was formerly possessed by the Grahams. Leckie
is a still more modern structure, in imitation of the old
English baronial residence; it is surrounded by beautiful
grounds, and commands a fine view of the strath of
Monteith. Meiklewood was erected recently by Colonel
Graham, to whom the parish is indebted for a handsome
suspension-bridge built over the Forth, at his own cost,
about seventeen years since, near the line of the Dumbarton
road, and also for a new road, two miles long, running
from the bridge to the great road from Stirling to Callander;
by which, excellent means of communication
have been opened through a highly interesting tract of
country. The village, which is in the barony of Gargunnock,
stands on a declivity near the church, and
commands a richly-diversified prospect of the surrounding
district. Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery
of Stirling, synod of Perth and Stirling, and in
the patronage of Sir Francis Walker Drummond, Bart.
The minister's stipend is £150, of which about a sixth
part is received from the exchequer; with a manse, and
a glebe of seven acres, valued at £15. 10. per annum.
Gargunnock church was built in 1774, and is a plain
building with three galleries, the whole containing 500
sittings. The members of the Free Church have a place
of worship. The parochial schoolmaster receives a
salary of £^5. 13., and £11 fees, with a small glebe.
There is a subscription library; and the parish has two
charitable bequests, one of £260, and the other of £365.
A farmers' club was instituted in 1796 by General Campbell
of Boquhan, and in 1S07 he enriched it by a bequest
of £500, since which time £100 have been left for the
same object by Laird Kay: eleven parishes are entitled
to the benefit of it, namely, Gargunnock, Stirling,
St. Ninian's, Kippen, Fintry, Balfron, Killearn, Drymen,
Port of Monteith, Kincardine, and Kilmadock. At the
burn of Boquhan are two chalybeate springs, which are
considered of great efficacy, though not much frequented.
Keir-hill, the top of which measures about 140 yards in
circumference, was a fortified station in the thirteenth
century; and the Peel of Gargunnock, situated on an
eminence near the Forth, and surrounded by a rampart
and ditch, once gave protection to the English till they
were dislodged by Sir William Wallace, who occupied
Keir-hill, just mentioned.