tomary, on some occasions at least, to burn the bodies of Antiquitie the dead. Upon several of the hills which form the border of this county are the remains, particularly to the south, of places of defence, but in a very decayed state. The most remarkable of them is upon the top of the highest hill in the neighbourhood, called Drumglen. On the low ground near this hill, to the northward, some urns were found in 1791; four of them were discovered under a great stone, and others under a cairn or heap of small stones. They contained human bones, with pieces of charcoal and ashes. They were tolerably well glazed, but appeared to have been formed of coarse materials. . Kinross, which is the central and principal town, and Kinross, capital of the county, is situated in 56° 15′ north latitude, and 3° 10' west longitude from London, and is from fifteen to eighteen miles distant from the sea-port towns of Alloa, Kincardine, Culross, North Queensferry, Inverkeithing, Burntisland, Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy, Dysart, and Leven, on the south-west, south, south-east, and east; and from the ports of Perth and Newburgh on the north. Here is the seat of the sheriff, justice of peace, and baron-bailie courts. This town, it would appear, formerly consisted of forty-seven steadings or tofts, as they are commonly called. That it did so is evident from an agreement mutually entered into in 1708, for the division of a common called the moors of Kinross; to which common each of the tofts had an equal right. The inhabitants then derived their subsistence chiefly from the produce of the town acres, grazing their cattle on the several commons belonging to the place, and from the fish of Lochleven. Between sixty and seventy new houses have been added to the town within the last forty years; Villages. they are inhabited by about 150 families. The rents of the houses are from forty shillings to seven pounds each. There are annually four fairs in the town, which are well frequented, especially for cattle and horses. The general appearance of the town is rather mean; but it is delightfully situated on an extensive plain on the western margin of the beautiful lake of Lochleven already mentioned. The house of Mr Graham of Kinross, in the vicinity, is a large and elegant structure. It stands on a promontory that advances into the lake near the castle of Lochleven, It was built in 1685 by the celebrated architect, Sir William Bruce, then proprietor, and was one of the earliest mansions built in Scotland in the modern taste. Its great hall is fifty-two feet and a half long, and twenty-four feet wide. The contiguity of the lake adds greatly to the beauty of the pleasure grounds, which, before they were drained and ornamented by Sir William Bruce, consisted merely of what is called flow moss, that is, a soft bog, which it is dangerous to traverse. Villages. The other villages are trifling, excepting that of Milna-thort, vulgarly pronounced Mills of Forth, from a rivulet, upon which are several mills, and also a distillery. Many of the houses in this village are built of a whitecoloured freestone, which gives it a cheerful appearance. It stands at the distance of fourteen miles from Perth, and sixteen from the North Queensferry. It is remarkable, though a small village, for having no less than three places of worship besides the parish church. They belong to the antiburghers, burghers, and Cameronians. The principal manufacture in this county is that of coarse linens, commonly called Silesias, woven from twenty-seven to thirty inches in breadth, some coarse. fabrics, provincially called tweels, barns, and straikens. A great deal of linen is woven for private use, as the people in general are very industrious, and make all their Villages. cloth for shirts, bed-linens, &c. of yarn spun in their own houses, and mostly of lint raised in the county. From the Statistical Account of the parishes, it appears that about 400 looms are employed in the weaving manufacture. Every three looms usually require the attendance of a person to wind yarn and warp the webs, &c. for them, so that the whole employed in this branch amounts to about 530 persons. In the parish of Portmoak is a parchment manufacture, which is carried on by two persons. This branch of business has been established in Kinrossshire above 150 years. Great quantities of this manufacture are sent to Edinburgh and Glasgow. The continued encouragement the manufacturers have received from the public is the best evidence that they are skilful in their business. The distillation of whisky is carried on to a great extent by Mr Stein of Hattonburn. Of the persons who have attained to public reputation, Eminent connected with this district, we have already mentioned persons, Sir William Bruce of Kinross, undoubtedly one of the most eminent of the Scottish architects. In the reign of James the First, Andrew Winton was prior of Lochleven. He wrote what is called the Lochleven Chronicle, or, “A History of the World from its Creation to the Captivity of James the First, in Scottish meter." There is a copy of it in the Advocates Library, to which later historians frequently appeal. John Douglas, of the family of Pittendreich, in this county, was the first protestant archbishop of St Andrews. He was appointed in 1571. Michael Bruce, also, ought not to pass unnoticed. He was the son of a weaver on the banks of Lochleven, and died at the age of twenty-one. He had received a liberal education at the university of St Andrews, and begun to display uncommon poetical talents. The following de. Villages scription, by him, of the ruins of Lochleven Castle, has been frequently quoted by tourists : No more its arches echo to the noise Of joy and festive mirth; no more the glance Lash'd by the wintry tempests, cold and bleak, While from above, the owl, musician dire! Equal in age, and sharers of its fate, A row of moss-green trees around it stand: A shrivelled leaf distinguishes the year. The population of the county of Kinross stands thus: |