LONGFORGAN, a parish, in the county of Perth;
containing 1660 inhabitants, of whom 458 are in the
village of Longforgan, 2 miles (E. N. E.) from Inchture,
and 55 (W.) from Dundee. The name of this place, in a
charter of Robert Bruce's in 1315, granting the lands
and barony to Sir Andrew Gray, is written Lonforgund.
It appears to have obtained its prefix to distinguish it
from other places called Forgan in the neighbourhood.
The parish forms the eastern extremity of the Carse of
Gowrie, and is about nine miles in length, and of very
irregular figure, varying from a mile and a half to four
miles in breadth. It is bounded on the south by the
river Tay, which washes its shores for nearly five miles;
and comprises 8992 acres, whereof 7200 are arable,
1003 woodland and plantations, and 189 hill-pasture
and waste. The surface is greatly diversified, rising in
some parts into hills of considerable elevation, of which
those of Ballo and Lochton, parts of the Sidlaw range,
are the principal, the former being nearly 1000, and the
latter nearly 1200, feet above the level of the sea. From
the banks of the Tay the land rises gradually to the
Snabs of Drimmie, from which is obtained a rich prospect
of the luxuriant plains of the Carse of Gowrie. The
lower lands form a broad, level, and fertile tract in the
highest state of cultivation; and the scenery is embellished
with extensive and thriving plantations, and with
gentlemen's seats, round some of which is timber of
ancient and stately growth. Numerous streamlets issue
from copious springs of excellent water, affording an
ample supply; and some of them are sufficiently powerful
to turn mills.
The SOIL in the lower grounds is chiefly clay with a
rich black loam; but, in some parts of them, clay intermixed
with gravel of a reddish colour, which by good
management is rendered very fertile. In the upper districts
of the parish, the soil, though inferior in quality
to that of the carse land, is dry, and well adapted for
turnips, with the exception of some small portions which,
resting on a more compact clay, are moist and less productive.
The crops are wheat, barley, oats, peas, beans,
potatoes, and turnips. The system of agriculture
attained a highly-advanced state under the auspices of the
Carse of Gowrie Agricultural Society, which held its
meetings for the promotion of improvements in husbandry
in the village of Longforgan, but which has now
merged into the Perthshire Agricultural Association.
Tlie lands are inclosed partly with stone dykes, and
partly with hedges. Much benefit has been effected by
draining, and embankments have been raised to a considerable
extent for reclaiming land on the shores of
the parish. The farm-buildings are substantial and
commodious; and on most of the farms are threshingmills,
one of which is driven by steam. The cattle are
chiefly a cross of the short-horned breed, but not many
are reared, and very few sheep, as the lands are not well
adapted, except in the upper parts, for the pasture of
live stock: some horses are bred, but the greater number
are brought from other places. In this parish the woods
consist of oak, ash, elm, Spanish chesnut, beech, lime,
and plane-trees, of which fine specimens are found on
the lands of Castle-Huntly, Drimmie, Mylnefield, and
Longforgan. There are quarries of freestone at Kingoodie,
and in the higher district of the parish. The
former, the property of Mr. Henderson, are near the
Tay, and have been wrought from a remote period; the
stone is of a bluish hue, very compact and durable, and
susceptible of the finest polish. Great quantities of it
are raised, and sent to Aberdeen, Perth, Dundee, London,
and other places, about sixty persons being continually
employed; and the lessees of the quarries have constructed
docks, and provided other facilities for shipping
the produce, in which three boats are always engaged.
The stone of the other quarry, which is the property of
Lord Kinnaird, is of similar quality to that of Kingoodie,
though of a whiter colour. This quarry, however, from
which the stone for the erection of Rossie Priory was
raised, is not wrought to any very great extent, its situation
precluding the facility for shipping off the produce.
The salmon-fishery in the Tay, which was formerly very
considerable, and afforded an abundant supply for the
inhabitants, and also for distant markets, has since the
prohibition of the use of the stake-net been discontinued.
The annual value of real property in the parish is £13,.'S88.
Drimmie House, the seat of the Kinnaird family, was
destroyed by fire at the commencement of the last century;
and Rossie Priory, the present residence of Lord
Kinnaird, was erected in its stead, at some distance from
the site of the old mansion, and within the parish of
Inchture, under which head it is described. Castlelliintly,
the seat of George Paterson, Esq., to whose
ancestor it was sold in 1777, is an ancient and stately
mansion, built of stone from the quarries of Kingoodie
by the second Lord Gray of Fowlis. Its walls are ten
feet in thickness, and exhibit no marks of decay, though
the building has stood for nearly five centuries. The
round tower, which is nearly 120 feet high, commands
a most extensive and rich view, comprising the entire
Carse lands interspersed with handsome residences, the
river Tay for nearly the whole of its course till it falls
into the German Ocean, the opposite coast of Fife with
the Lomonds, part of the vale of Strathcarn, the Ochils,
and the lofty range of Sidlaw. Considerable additions
have been made to the castle; but uniformity of character
has been preserved, and the whole forms one of the
most magnificent seats in the country. Mylnejield, the
seat of Mr. Henderson, is a handsome mansion sheltered
with stately timber; and Lochton is also a handsome
house, pleasantly situated.
The village of Longforgan is neatly built and well
inhabited: about 150 of its people are employed in the
manufacture of coarse-linen for export, and a considerable
number of women and children are engaged in spinning
and winding the yarn. The nearest market-town
is Dundee, with which, and with other towns, a facility
of intercourse is maintained by good roads; that from
Aberdeen passes through the parish, and from this principal
road branch off two others, one leading to the quarries
at Kingoodie, and the other to Cupar. The Dundee and
Perth railway also affords great facilities of communication;
it intersects the parish, and is carried, by stupendous
works, over the immense freestone-quarries of Kingoodie.
There is a small harbour at Kingoodie, where
lime from Sunderland, and coal from Dundee, are landed.
Fairs are held in Longforgan on the first Wednesday in
the months of June and October (O. S.) and the last
Monday in the month of April, for the sale of cattle,
agricultural produce, and other merchandise. Ecclesiastically
the parish is in the presbytery of Dundee, synod
of Angus and Mearns, and in the patronage of the Crown;
the minister's stipend is £268. 3. 4., with a manse, and
a glebe valued at £13 per annum. Longforgan church
is a spacious and substantial edifice, well situated for
the convenience of the parishioners, and adapted for a
congregation of 1000 persons. The members of the Free
Church have a place of worship in tlie eastern angle of
the parish. The parochial schoolmaster has a salary of
£34, with £16 fees, and a house and garden; he receives
also £6. 6. from Mr. Paterson, and £2. 10. from Lord
Kinnaird, for the gratuitous instruction of poor children
on their respective estates: an excellent schoolroom has
been lately erected. A small library has been established,
which consists chiefly of religious works; and a savings'
bank was opened in 1824, but it has not been much encouraged.
At Dron are the ruins of a chapel that belonged
to the abbey of Cupar-Angus founded by Malcolm
IV., in 1164, for monks of the Cistercian order;
the remains consist chiefly of the east and west gables
of the building, the latter containing a large window of
elegant design, and are situated in a deep dell, on a
rocky eminence, at the base of which is a small rivulet
of beautifully limpid water. A silver coin of the reign
of Robert II. or Robert III. was found on a farm here
in the year 1826; the legend, Hobertiis, Dei Gratia Scotorinn
Rex, is still legible, but every other part is completely
obliterated.