Elgin. choir and the chapter-house are tolerably entire; but the wall of the nave and traverse are mostly fallen."

In this part of the country the reformation from popery did not spread so rapidly, or with such violence, as in the south; and accordingly it does not appear that the ancient ecclesiastical buildings were here destroyed by popular violence. The following act of the privy council of Scotland explains the manner in which the ruin of this cathedral was begun "Edinburgh, 14th February 1567-8. Seeing provision must be made for entertaining the men of war (soldiers), whose service cannot be spared until the rebellious and disobedient subjects be reduced; therefore appoint that the lead be taken from the cathedral churches in Aberdeen and Elgin, and sold for sustentation of the said men of war: And command and charge the Earl of Huntly, sheriff of Aberdeen, and his deputes; Alexander Dunbar of Cumnock, Knight, sheriff of Elgin and Forres, and his deputes; William bishop of Aberdeen, Patrick bishop of Moray, &c.; that they defend and assist Alexander Clerk and William Birnie, and their servants, in taking down and selling the said lead, &c. Signed R. M."- (Keith's Hist.).

The lead was accordingly taken off these churches, and shipped at Aberdeen for Holland; but soon after the ship had left the river it sunk; which was owing, as many thought, to the superstition of the Roman catholic captain. Be this as it may, the cathedral of Moray being uncovered, was suffered to decay as a piece of Romish vanity, too expensive to be kept in repair. Some painted rooms in the tower and choir remained so entire about the year 1640, that Roman catholics repaired to them to say their prayers. The great tower in the middle of the church being uncovered, the wooden work gradually decayed; and the foundation failing, the tower fell anne

1711. On an Easter Sunday, in the morning, several chil- Forres dren were playing, and idle people walking, in the area of the church, and immediately as they removed to breakfast the tower fell down, and no one was hurt.

The royal borough of Forres is neatly built, on a rising Forres ground, near the bay of Findhorn; the mouth of which, three miles distant, is its sea-port, with a small village dependent on the town. It is uncertain when Forres was erected into a royal borough; but ancient records speak of it as a town of considerable note so early as the thirteenth century. It is governed by a provost, two bailies, and - a dean of guild, annually elected. The river of Findhorn, which has valuable salmon fishings, is navigable to within two miles of the town; and at a small expence a canal might be made to enable vessels to unload at the foot of the eminence on which the borough is placed,

The village of Gairmouth stands at the mouth of the ri, Gairmouth, ver Spey, which here forms a good harbour. The hou ses are mostly built of clay, but the streets are regularly laid out; and, upon the whole, the town has a neat appearance. It is a borough of barony, of which the Duke of Gordon is superior, containing nearly 700 inhabitants. The immense quantities of wood which are annually floated down the Spey from the forests of Strathspey and Badenoch, render Gairmouth a place of some consequence. The English merchants who have rented the forests, having here established their great sales, of course a number of vessels have been built at this place, from thirty to five hundred tons burden, entirely of home-grown. wood. Two saw-mills have been erected for manufacturing the timber; and about thirty ship-carpenters are constantly employed. Besides those built by the company, several vessels have been built by private persons. The salmon fishery here is also the means of increasing the VOL. IV. I i

Villages. trade; several sloops being constantly employed carrying salmon to London during the fishing season.

Lossiemouth

Lossiemouth, in the parish of Draynie, is a small village belonging to the town of Elgin, from which it is distant six or seven miles. It stands at the mouth of the Lossie. Only some small fishing boats belong to it; but its harbour has been made convenient to receive vessels of eighty tons burden, a considerable number of which enter it annually. The other villages are of no importance. Antiquitics. Besides the cathedral of Elgin, already mentioned, several curious remains of antiquity are here found.

Pluscar

mong these the priory of Pluscardine is distinguished. dine priory. This priory was founded by King Alexander the Second

in the year 1230. It was dedicated to the honour of St Andrew, and named Valles St Andrea. It was peopled with monks of Valles Caulium, a reform of the Cistertians, following the rule of St Bennet. They derived their appellation from the first priory of that congregation, which was founded by Virard, in the diocese of Langres in France, between Dijon and Autun in Burgundy, in the year 1193. By their constitutions they were obliged to live an austere and solitary life. None but the prior and procurator were allowed to go without the precincts of the monastery for any reason whatever. They were brought into Scotland by William Malvoisin, bishop of St Andrews, in the year 1230, and were settled at Pluscardine, Beaulieu, and Ardchattan. These monks for some time strictly observed the constitutions of their order; but at length relaxing in their discipline, and by degrees becoming vicious, the monastery was reformed, and from an independent house was degraded to a cell of the abbey of Dunfermline.

This priory stands on the north side of the river Lossie, about six miles south-west from the town of Elgin, near