KEITH, a parish, partly in the county of Elgin,
but chiefly in that of Banff; containing, with the town
of Keith, and the villages of Fife-Keith and Newmills,
4456 inhabitants, of whom 276 are in the county of
Elgin, and 1804 are in the town, situated 10^ miles
(N. W.) from Huntly, and 49 (N. W.) from Aberdeen. This
place, the name of which is of uncertain derivation, is of
very remote antiquity; the old town was for many years
the principal seat of jurisdiction for the surrounding district,
and had precedence of Fordyce, Cullen, and Banff,
at that time the only other towns within the county.
The ancient courts of regality held their sittings in the
church, for the determination of all pleas, including
even those of the crown, and for the trial of capital
offences; the tower of the church was used for a prison,
and the hill on which the new town is built was the
place of execution for malefactors. In 1645, a skirmish
occurred here, between the forces under the Marquess
of Montrose and a party of the Covenanters led by
General Baillie; and in 1667 the peasantry, headed by
the Gordons of Auchinachy and Glengarrick, defeated
the banditti of Patrick Roy MacGregor, and took their
leader prisoner. The New Town of Keith is pleasantly
situated on the acclivity of a gentle eminence, to the
south-east of the Old Town, and consists of several spacious
and well-formed streets, parallel with each other,
and intersected at right angles by smaller streets and
lanes. The houses are well built, and attached to each
of them is a good garden. In the centre of the town is
an ample market-place, 700 feet in length and 150 feet
wide. Fife-Keith, on the north bank of the river Isla,
was commenced by the Earl of Plfe in 1816, and consists
of regular streets of good houses, and a handsome
square, crescent, and terrace. It is connected by two
bridges with Old Keith; and as Old Keith communicates
with New Keith by a street extending for 250 yards
along the great north road, the three places may be
considered as forming one town, about a mile in length.
A public library, containing a good collection of volumes
on history and general literature, is supported; and
there are also a library connected with a literary association,
and several congregational libraries.
The linen manufacture was formerly carried on here
to a very considerable extent, but since the introduction
of the cotton manufacture it has been discontinued.
There are mills for carding and spinning wool, and homegrown
flax; and also several corn and flour mills which
supply the country with flour for many miles round.
A distillery producing about 20,000 gallons of whisky
annually, and a tobacco and snuff manufactory, are in
active operation. There are also a tannery and a
bleaehficld, and many of the inhabitants are employed
in the extensive lime-works in the parish, from which
40,000 bolls of lime are sent every year. The numerous
handsome shops are amply stored with merchandise of
every description; and branches of the Aberdeen, the
Town and County, and the North of Scotland Banks,
have been established in the town. A spacious and
commodious inn and posting-house, at which the mail
and another coach stop daily, was erected by the Earl
of Seafield in 1S23. A weekly market, for grain and
provisions of all kinds, is held on Friday; and fairs,
chiefly for cattle, horses, and sheep, are holden on the
first Friday in January and March; the first Tuesday,
O. S., in April and June, and the Friday before Huntly
fair in July. Fairs, also, for the hiring of servants and
for general business, are held on the Wednesday after
the first Tuesday in September, and on the third Friday,
O. S., in November. The September fair, called
" Summer Eve fair", formerly continued for a fortnight,
and was the great mart for the exchange of commodities
between the north and south parts of Scotland; it was
resorted to by crowds who, for want of accommodation,
took up their lodgings in barns and outhouses, and it
is still numerously attended. The post-office has three
deliveries daily; and facility of communication is maintained
by the great north road and several other turapike-
roads which pass through the parish. Though not
a burgh of barony, yet, being within the barony of Keith
or Ogilvie, courts may be held here by the baron-bailie
of the Earl of Seafield. The sheriff's court for the recovery
of small debts, and a justice-of-peace court, are
also held in the town, the former six times in the year,
and the latter on the first Wednesday in every month.
A gaol has been erected within the last few years; but
there being no town-hall in the burgh, the courts are
held in the inn erected by the Earl of Seafield.
The PARISH, which is situated in the beautiful and
fertile valley of the Isla, is of the form of an irregular
square, about six miles in length and nearly of equal
breadth, comprising an area of thirty-six square miles,
one-half arable and one-half pasture and waste. Its
surface rises gradually from the banks of the river Isla,
towards the north-western and south-eastern confines
of the parish, where there are hills of moderate elevation.
The river Isla has its source in the adjoining
parish of Botriphnie, and flows through this parish in a
north-eastern direction, receiving several smaller streams
in both parishes; it then runs into the parish of Grange,
and eventually falls into the Doveron: the river abounds
with trout of good quality, and, half a mile below Keith,
forms a picturesque cascade. In general the soil is
clay, alternated with loam, in some parts of great fertility,
and in others poorer and of lighter quahty. The
chief crops are oats and barley, with potatoes and turnips;
flax is also raised on some lands, but little or no
wheat is sown. The system of husbandry is improved,
and a regular rotation duly observed; but the lands are
not inclosed, and much yet remains to be done in the
way of cultivation. The cattle are of the native breed,
with a cross of the Teeswater, and great numbers are
sent to London; the dairy-farms are well managed, and
the butter and cheese, which are much esteemed, find a
ready sale in the southern markets. The plantations
formed by the Earl of Fife on such parts of the land as
were incapable of cultivation are in a thriving state, and
others have been added by the Earl of Seafield and the
other proprietors. The principal substrata are limestone
and slate; both these are quarried, and there are
several lime-works in the parish, affording employment
to a considerable number of persons. In the lime- works
at Maisly a vein of antimony has been found, and fluor
spar has also been discovered in some places. The only
seat of a landed proprietor is Edintore, a handsome
mansion lately erected. The annual value of real property
in the parish is returned at £8001.
As to ECCLESi.\STiCAL affairs, the parish is in the
presbytery of Strathbogie and synod of Moray. The
minister's stipend is £22'2, with a manse, and a glebe
valued at £.50 per annum; patron, the Earl of Fife.
Keith church, wliich is situated in the centre of the parish,
is a very liandsome structure in the later English style
of architecture, with a square tower 120 feet high; it
was built in 1S16, and contains ISOO sittings. There
are a well-built Free church, jilaces of worship for members
of the United Presbyterian Church and Independents,
and an Episcopal, and a Roman Catholic chapel;
the last mentioned is an elegant and much-admired
edifice, containing a splendid picture, the gift of Charles
X. of France, representing the incredulity of Thomas.
Keith parochial school, for which a spacious building
was erected in IH.'W, capable of receiving '260 children,
is well attended and admirably taught. The master,
who keeps an assistant, has a salary of £34, with an
allowance of £10 for a house and garden: the fees
average £80, and he receives a portion of Dick's bequest,
with a fixtd payment of £10. l.'i. 4. from the lands of
Edendrach, which were bequeathed for the sujiport of the
school; and also the interest of £.500 three per cent.con-
8oIk, be(|ucathe(l by Dr. Simson, of Worcester. There are
likcwiHc schools at Ncwmills and in other parts in the
parish, to the ntiniher of seventeen. Chalybeate springs
occur in ccvernl places; but they arc not much used
medicinally. Al)out half a mile below the town are
the ruiuH of nn ancient castle, formerly the scat of the
Oliphant family. Ferguson, the eminent astronomer.
though not a native, was brought up from his infancy in
the parish.