KINROSS, a post-town and parish, in the county of
Kinross, of which it is the capital, 15 miles (S.) from
Perth, and 25 (N. N. W.) from Edinburgh; containing
2822 inhabitants, of whom 2062 are in the town, and
760 in the rural districts of the parish. This place,
which derives its name, of Gaelic origin, from its situation
at the head of a promontory extending into Loch
Leven, is of very great antiquity. It was selected as a
stronghold by the Pictish kings, of whom Congal, son
of Dongart, founded a castle on an island in the lake,
whicli subsequently became the occasional residence of
several of the kings of Scotland. In 1257, Alexander
III., after his return from Wark Castle, whither he had
gone to have an interview with his father-in-law, Henry
III. of England, resided at the Castle of Lochleven,
where he was surprised, and, together with his queen,
forcibly conveyed to Stirling. In the year 1301, and
also in 1335, the castle was besieged by the English;
but on both occasions the assailants were compelled to
raise the siege, and to retire with considerable loss. In
142y, Archibald, Earl of Douglas, was confined here by
James I., for some expression of disloyalty towards his
sovereign; and in 1477, Patrick Graham, Archbishop of
St. Andrew's, after having been for some time under restraint
in a cell at Inchcolm, in pursuance of a sentence
of deijrivation pronounced by Pope Sextus and a college
of cardinals, was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle till his death.
But this ancient fortress derives its chief celebrity
from the imprisonment in it of the unfortunate Mary,
Queen of Scots, who was placed within its dreary walls
in 1567. A captive in tlio hands of the confederate
nobles, she was sent from Edinburgh to I lie Castle of
Lochleven, then belonging to William Douglas, one who
had taken an active part against her; and in her journey
thither she was treated with studied indignity, exposed
to the gaze of the mob, miserably clad and mounted, and
under the escort of men of the rudest bearing. The
queen was now completely a prisoner, and her confinement
was accompanied with circumstances of the greatest
rigour; she was put under the charge of Lindsay and
Ruthven, tsvo noblemen familiar with blood, and of
coarse and fierce manners. The lady of the castle, Margaret
Erskine, daughter of Lord Erskine, had been mistress
to the queen's father, James V., and was mother
to the Ear! of Murray. She had been afterwards married
to Sir Robert Douglas; and their son, William, was,
as already stated, proprietor of the Castle of Lochleven
at this period. It was here that Mary made her celebrated
resignation of the government in favour of her
son, the infant James, and of the Earl of Murray. Feeling
assured that her refusal to sign the necessary papers
would endanger her life; listening to the insinuation of
Robert Melvil, that any deed executed in captivity, and
under fear of life, was invalid; and terrified by the stern
demeanour of Lord Lindsay, she submitted to what she
had at first passionately resisted. Without reading their
contents, she, with a trembling hand, affixed her name
to three instruments prepared by the confederates. By
the first of these she w as made to resign the government
of the realm in favour of her son, and to give orders for
his immediate coronation. By the second, the queen, in
consequence of James' tender infancy, constituted Murray
regent of the kingdom; and by the third she appointed
the Earls of Lennox, Argyll, Atholl, and Morton, with
others, regents until the return of Murray from France,
with power to continue in that high office if he refused it.
From the galling restraint thus imposed upon her in the
castle, however, Mary at length, on the evening of the
2nd of May, 1568, found means to escape. George
Douglas, younger brother of the proprietor of Lochleven,
had enthusiastically devoted himself to her interest;
and though dismissed from the castle on that account,
he had contrived to secure the services of a page who
waited on his mother. Lady Douglas, and by his assistance
effectually achieved his purpose of releasing the
queen. On the evening in question, the page, in placing
a plate before the castellan, dropped his napkin over
the keys of the castle, and carried them off unperceived:
he hastened to Mary, and hurrying down to the outer
gate, they threw themselves into a boat, first turning the
locks they had found it necessary to open, and casting
the keys into the lake, where, after the lapse of nearly
two centuries and a half, they were discovered in the
year I8O6. Some friends of the rescued queen were
lying in wait in the immediate vicinity, and with their
aid she fled in the direction of Lanarkshire. In 1569,
the Earl of Northumberland, who had incurred the displeasure
of Elizabeth of England by the interest which
he took in the fate of Mary, was imprisoned for three
years in the castle, whence he was removed to England,
and publicly executed for treason.
The TOWN, though the chief town of Kinross-shire,
and the place where the sessions are held, and the business
of the comity transacted, is not distinguished by
any features of iin|)ortance. It is not even a royal burgh;
and the market which was held here has been gradually
discontinued, and is now entirely transferred to Milnathort,
in the adjoining parish of Orwell. The streets
are lighted with gas; works for that purpose having
been erected on a site nearly equidistant from Kinross
and Milnathort, by a company of shareholders established
for the accommodation of both places. A public library
is supported by subscription, under the direction of a
committee; and there is a reading and news room established
in an appropriate building in a central part of the
town; also a library maintained by the tradesmen and
artisans, and three juvenile libraries in connexion with
Sabbath schools. The manufacture of cutlery, formerly
carried on here to a very considerable extent, has been
altogether discontinued. The chief manufactures at present
are those of ginghams, checks, and pullicates, for
the houses of Glasgow; and also, and of still more recent
introduction, tartan shawls, plaids, and other articles
of similar character, by some companies settled in
the town. There is likewise a manufactory for damasks.
The post-office has a daily delivery; and a branch of the
British Linen Company has been established. Facility
of intercourse with the neighbouring places is afforded
by excellent roads, of which the great north road passes
through the town; and there are not less than thirteen
bridges of stone over the various streams that intersect
the parish. Fairs are held on the last Wednesday in
March, the 1st of June, the last Wednesday in July,
and the 18th of October, all O. S.; they are for cattle,
agricultural produce, and various articles of merchandise.
The government is vested in a president, treasurer, and
clerk, assisted by a committee of eight or ten persons;
they are annually chosen by the inhabitants, at a general
meeting held for that purpose, and the police and all
other regulations are conducted by them, th^ expenses
being defrayed by subscription. The county-hall is a
handsome edifice, erected in 18'26, at a cost of £2000, of
which £750 were granted by government, and the remainder
raised by voluntary contribution, and assessment
of the heritors of the county. It contains a spacious
hall for the courts, and the apartments requisite for conducting
the public business. Attached to it is the gaol,
comprising three wards for debtors, two cells for criminals,
and a guard-room.
The PARISH is about four miles in length from east to
west, is bounded on the east by Loch Leven, and comprises
706*2 acres, of which 6608 are arable, 2*1 woodland
and plantations, and the remainder rough pasture
and waste. Its surface, though generally elevated, is
flat, in no part rising into hills. The chief river is the
Leven, which issues from the lake of that name, and has
been rendered more copious and powerful in its stream
by a contraction of the expanse of the lake. There are
numerous springs of excellent water; and the scenery,
in many parts romantic, is enriched by thriving plantations.
Loch Leven, the principal object of attraction, as
well from its natural beauty as from the historical events
with which it is associated, was, previously to the contraction
of its surface by draining, fifteen miles in circumference,
and in its present state may be estimated at
about twelve miles. It is studded with islands, the chief
of which are, the island of St. Serf in the parish of Portmoak,
and the Castle island in this parish, the latter so
called from the erection of the ancient castle. The Castle
isle, situated near the north-western extremity of the
lake, is five acres in extent. Lochleven Castle, which is
defended by an outer rampart of stone, inclosing a spacious
quadrangular area, consists chiefly of a lofty square
tower at the north-west angle of the inclosure, and a
round tower of smaller dimensions at the south-east.
The building is without a roof, and at present is a mere
ruin; some portions of what is supposed to have been
the chapel are still remaining, and under the square tower
is a dungeon. The whole area within the rampart is
about 600 feet in circumference. The island is planted
with trees, some of which are of great age; and the surface
affords good pasturage. Loch Leven abounds with
trout and various kinds of fish, but not in such variety
as before its contraction; the season commences in
January, and ends in September, and the fish chiefly
taken are trout, pike, perch, and eels, two boats and four
men being employed. The fishery is let at a rent of
£204; and the produce is sent to the markets of Edinburgh,
Glasgow, and Manchester, at which last place it
is in great demand.
In general the soil is fertile and productive; the crops
are oats, barley, wheat, potatoes, and turnips. The system
of agriculture is improved; the lands have been well
drained and inclosed; the farm houses and offices are
substantial and commodious; and on most of the farms
threshing-machines have been erected, one of which is
impelled by steam. Considerable attention is paid to
the rearing of live stock, and much improvement has
been made under the auspices of the various agricultural
societies established in the vicinity, several of which hold
their cattle-shows in the town. There arc about 3.50
cows, and a nearly equal number of calves, with 650 head
of young cattle; the number of sheep is 400, and of
horses 300. The annual value of real property in the
parish is £11,102. The plantations are larch, Scotch
and spruce firs, intermixed in some parts with diflferent
kinds of forest-trees; they are judiciously managed, and
in a thriving condition. In this parish the substrata are,
sandstone, which is found in two varieties, the old red
formation and the carboniferous; whinstone; and limestone.
The whinstone, which is very compact, is quarried
for the roads, being well adapted for that purpose.
Coal is supposed to exist, and it has been in contemplation
to explore it; but an abundant supply of that
mineral is procured from works not more than five miles
distant, and at a very moderate cost. There are three
extensive mills in the parish, all of them formerly for
grain; but two have been converted into mills for spinning
and carding, connected with the manufactories of
tartan plaids. Kinross House, the seat of Sir Graham
Montgomery, Bart., a spacious mansion erected by Sir
William Bruce, architect to Charles II., was originally
intended as a residence for James, Duke of York; it is
finely situated, and was once surrounded by some very
ancient and stately timber.
Ecclesiastically the parish is in the presbytery of Dunfermline,
synod of Fife, and in the patronage of Sir Graham
Montgomery: the minister's stipend is £184. 16. 8.,
with a manse, and a glebe valued at £35 per annum.
The present church, a handsome edifice in the later style
of English architecture, was erected in 1S32, at an expense
of £1537, towards which the Rev. Geo. D. C.
Buchanan contributed about £300: it is situated on an
eminence nearly in the centre of the parish. The tower
of the old church is still standing, by itself, in the town.
There are places of worship for members of the Free
Church and the United Presbyterian Church. The parochial
school affords a liberal education, and is well
attended; the master has a salary of £34, with £55 fees,
and a house and garden. A savings' bank, established
in 1S37, contributes to diminish the number of applicants
for parochial relief; and there are four friendly societies,
and a ladies' society for the distribution of oatmeal to
necessitous females. The sum of £8. 6. 8. is annually
given to twelve poor persons, in lieu of the foundation
of an almshouse which was projected by Sir William
Bruce; and the poor have also the interest of a bequest
of £100 by George Graham, Esq., of Kinross. About a
mile from the town is a small cairn; and there were formerly
others, in one of which, when removed, was found
a coffin, rudely formed of upright stones with a slab
resting on them, and inclosing several human bones, and
some ashes apparently of burnt wood. On the lands of
Coldon have been discovered about 400 silver coins,
chiefly of Edward I. and Edward II. of England, and a
few of the reigns of Alexander III. and John Baliol. At
West Green, in 1829, there was found, deeply embedded
in the earth, an ancient seal of pure gold, of singular
workmanship; it has the arms of Scotland on the dexter
side of the shield, impaled with those of England on the
sinister, and is supposed to have been the private signet
of James IV. On the lands of Lathro several graves
have been discovered by the plough, containing some
human bodies and a skull: near the spot is an eminence
called the Gallows Know, which renders it probable that
these may have been the skeletons of malefactors, executed
here prior to the abolition of heritable jurisdictions.
Dr. John Thomson, professor of general pathology
in the university of Edinburgh, was a native of this
parish.