DEE
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DEN
DEER (The), a river in Aberdeenshire, which
takes its rise in the parish of New Deer, and, after
a course of about 16 miles, unites with the water of
Strichen, a tributary of the Ugie : which see.
DEER ISLAND, or Mcldonich, one of the
Hebrides, a little to the south of the island of Barra.
DEERNESS and St. ANDREWS, a parish in
the island of Pomona, and shire of Orkney and Shet-
land. The united parish had a population of 1 ,548
in 1821; and 1,550 in 1831. Houses 323. Assessed
property, in 1815, £268. It is in the presbytery of
Kirkwall, and synod of Orkney. Patron, the Earl
of Zetland. Stipend £208 6s. 8d. ; glebe £6. Un-
appropriated teinds £47 10s. 6d Schoolmaster's
salary £26. There were 3 private schools in 1834.
— The district of Deerness forms a peninsula, which,
from the Mullhead to the isthmus that divides it
from the district of St. Andrews, is in length up-
wards of 4 miles, and varies in breadth from 1 to 3,
as the large and beautifully winding harbour of Deer
sound enlarges or contracts. This harbour runs
nearly in the direction of north-east and south-west;
it is 4 miles long, and from 1 to 2i miles broad. Its
entrance is from the north ; and as it is surrounded with
land on every side, and has a bottom of clay mixed
with sand, and a sufficient depth of water, it consti-
tutes an excellent harbour. The population of Deer-
ness, in 1801, was 660; in 1831, 661. Houses, in
1831, 141. Assessed property £63. Around the
shores the soil is mostly sandy; higher up, it is loam
and clay; the middle of the parish is extremely boggy
and wet. Here are several tumuli, and near the end
of the isthmus which unites St. Andrews to Deer-
ness, are the remains of a very large Pict's house,
commonly called Dingy 's howe, or Duncan's height.
Deerness is very conveniently situated for a fishing
station. On the sand and shores are seen myriads of
plovers, curlews, sea-larks, sea-pies, and a large grey
bird with a hoarse cry, called by the inhabitants the
Horra goose. This district is connected with the
mainland only by a narrow and sandy isthmus. Here
very strong ropes, calculated for different purposes
in husbandry, are made of the shoots of the crow-
berry heath, or Empetrum nigrum. The ropes for
hanging the caseys, or baskets, over the horses' backs,
are made of the fibrous roots of the sea-reed, or
Arundo arenaria. Tethers and bridle-reins are made
of long meadow-grasses, such as Holcus lanatus,
which here receive the name of pounce, or puns.
• — There is a parliamentary church here. Stipend
£120; glebe £1.
DEER'S CASTLE. See Durisdeer.
DELNABO. See Kirkmichael, Banffshire.
DELORAINE, certain lands in the shire of Sel-
kirk, and parish of Etterick ; 1 7 miles south-west of
Selkirk. In 1706, Henry Scott, 2d son of the Duke
of Monmouth, and Countess of Buccleugh, was cre-
ated Earl of Deloraine. In 1807 this title became
extinct.
DELTING, a parish in Shetland, on the north
coast of the mainland; bounded on the north by Yell
sound ; on the east by Nesting and Lunnasting ; on
the south by Weesdale and Sandsting ; and on the
west by Sulemvoe and St. Magnus bay. It is so
intersected by arms of the sea, that no accurate idea
ran be given of its extent. In the report of the
parliamentary commissioners, it is stated to be 14
miles in length, by about 4 in average breadth; by
Edmonston it is said to be about 10 miles long and
8 miles broad. The surface is billy, bleak, and bar-
ren ; but the small part on the coast which is under
culture produces tolerable crops of oats and barley.
Fishing is the principal support of the inhabitants.
The chief harbours are St. Magnus bay, Altha firth,
Bustavoc, South Voetev, and Sulemvoe. Popula-
tion, in 1801, 1,449; in 1831, 2,070. By census in
1837,2,200. Houses, in 1831, 375. Assessed pro-
perty £929 This parish is in the presbytery of
Shetland, and synod of Orkney. Patron, the Earl
of Zetland. Stipend £151 Is. 6d. ; glebe £10.
There are two parish-churches. That of the south
district, or Olna frith kirk, was built in 1714; that
of the north district in 1811. Number of sittings in
both churches 1,130 Schoolmaster's salary £25
13s. 3|d. There are 2 private schools supported by
the General Assembly The two inhabited islands
of Muckle Roe and Little Roe belong to this par-
ish ; the former containing 210 persons, and separated
from the mainland by a very narrow sound dry at
low water ; the latter containing 12 persons, and
about a mile from the mainland. There are also
the three islets of Brother Isle, Fishholm, and Bigga.
DEMYAT. See Dunmyat.
DENHOLM, a village beautifully situated on the
right bank of the Teviot, in the parish of Cavers,
Roxburghshire. The body of it is a square, com-
pactly built on the four sides with neat houses, the
central space, including about 9 acres, being, with
the exception of the site of the parish school-house,
enclosed and laid out in pasture. From the angles,
roads or openings branch off, those on one side being
on the main road through the village, and those on
the other leading through brief streets or alleys, to
a suspension-bridge for the accommodation of foot-
passengers across the Teviot. The village has re-
cently, at considerable expense, been much improved,
as to the neatness of its appearance and the comfort
of its inhabitants, by James Douglas, Esq. of Ca-
vers. It is 5 miles from Hawick, and the same dis-
tance from Jedburgh, and stands on the great read
between Berwick and Carlisle. It is inhabited prin-
cipally by stocking-weavers. Here are an Indepen-
dent chapel, having nearly 300 sittings, and a well-
selected and well-plied public library. Denholm
was the birth-place of Dr. John Leyden. Popula-
tion 500. See Cavers.
DENINO. See Dunino.
DENNY, a parish in the shire of Stirling, formerly
a vicarage of the parish of Falkirk, from which it
was separated in 1618. Its greatest length is com-
puted at about 6 miles, its breadth at about 4 ; and
it is supposed to contain 6,016 acres. It is bounded
on the north by the Carron, which separates it from
the parishes of St. Ninian's and Dunipace ; on the
south by the parish of Kilsyth, by that of Cumber-
nauld in Dumbartonshire, and by Falkirk, — Bonny
water flowing between it and the two latter parishes ;
on the west by the parish of Kilsyth ; and on the
east by Dunipace and Falkirk. Besides the village
of Denny, it contains those of Haggs, Denny-Loan-
head, and Bankier. The north road from Edinburgh
to Glasgow — which passes through Falkirk — runs
along the southern part of the parish. The surface
of this parish, like that of most of the districts in
the eastern part of Stirlingshire, is gently undulating.
The most prominent feature is Larritch hill, or the
Hill of Oaks, near the north-western extremity. The
stone-fences, which nearly universally prevail here,
and the almost entire want of trees and hedgerows,
give the landscape an unusually bleak and uninter-
esting aspect. The northern and western parts,
which are more elevated than the southern, are prin-
cipally occupied as sheep-pastures. The soil in the
northern part belongs to the class known by the
name of dryneld, and is light, sandy, and not very
fertile. The cultivation, however, has, within the
last few years, been greatly improved, and by the
extensive application of draining and other improved
methods of agriculture, very fair crops are now raised.
Some of the land in the north-eastern part of the par-