NEW MONKLAND.
371
hills flanking the haughs have very long heen en-
closed, plentifully mamired, and judiciously culti-
vated ; and vie with the alluvial land in opulence of
soil and volume of produce. Beyond these banks
cultivation, cheered by good improvable soil, has
walked far up the ascents ; and at the line where it
ceases, begins a strife between deep verdure, and the
heath, and the naked rock, for ascendency ; the lus-
cious beauties of the valley melting gradually away
into the robustness and the majesty of the upland
scene The parish has many attractions to the zo-
ologist, and especially to the sportsman. The eagle,
the kite, the raven, and the falcon, build their nests
in the craggy precipices of Glenturret. A few ptar-
migans are met with on the summit of Benchonzie.
Grouse, dotterell, plover, and " several migratory
birds," says our authority, "whose names are not
very well known here," are found generally on the
hills. A species of hare, which is of a bluish colour
in summer, and white as snow in winter, is occa-
sionally met with in the uplands. The wild duck,
the teal, the widgeon, and other water-fowl fre-
quent the lakes ; and all the birds which usually
breed in a woody country, pour their melody upon
the low grounds. Partridges, hares, and rabbits
abound ; and foxes, badgers, wild-cats, martins, and
otters, are not infrequent On the state of Ochter-
tyre are vestiges of two Roman posts of observation,
commanding views of the camps respectively at
Dalginross and on the muir of Orchil. On a hill,
the Gaelic name of which means Castlehill, and
whose position is about 3 miles east of Dalginross,
are traces of a. fortification of uncertain origin.
Many sepulchral cairns existed near the Earn, but
have been removed as material for stone fences. A
very large one, called Cam Chainichin, ' the monu-
mental heap of Kenneth,' still exists some miles
north of the church of Monivaird, and is supposed to
have been raised to the memory of Kenneth IV.,
sirnamed the Grim, who, according to the register
of St. Andrews, was slain " atMoieghvardin 1001."
Near the western extremity of Monivaird are two
Druidical temples. The compact and large part of
the united parish is traversed by two roads along
Strathearn ; and the detached sections are cut by
the road between Comrie and Callander. Popula-
tion of Monivaird, in 1801, 641; in 1831, 531.
Houses 98. Assessed property, in 1815, £10,691.
Population of Strowan, in 1801, 392 ; in 1831, 395.
Houses 73 Monivaird and Strowan ure in the pres-
bytery of Auchterarder, and synod of Perth and
Stirling: Patron, the Crown and the Earl of Kin-
noul. "Stipend £261 7s. lOd. ; glebe £30. School-
master's salary £34 4s. 4Jd., with £15 fees, and
£7 other emoluments Colonel Dow, author of ' The
History of Hindostan,' was a native of Monivaird,
" The modern name Monivaird," says the Old Sta-
tistical Account, " is a corruption of the ancient,
which was Moivard, as appears by a grant made by
the Earl of Stratherne, in the beginning of the 13th
century, of the church of St. Servanus, or Serph of
Moivard, to the monastery of Inchaffery. The an-
cient name is still retained, in the speech of a few
inhabitants of the parish, who use a corrupted
dialect of the original language of Scotland. The
origin of the name cannot easily be traced. Its
etymology is Gaelic; being made up of two words,
Mot Vard, signifying 'the plain of Bards.' Strowan
is probably a corruption of St. Ronan, the tutelar
saint of Strowan parish."
MONKLAND (New), a parish in the Middle
ward of Lanarkshire, forming its northern boundary
from the counties of Dumbarton and Stirling. It is
nearly 10 miles in length, by about 7 in breadth at
the broadest part; and is bounded by the following
parishes, viz., on the north by Cumbernauld and
Kirkintilloch; on the south by Bothwell and Shotts;
on the east by Torphichen and Slamannan ; and on
the west by Cadder and Old Monkland. Much of
the parish is situated at an elevation of from 600 to
700 feet above the level of the sea, but the rise is
so gentle and continuous that there is nothing in the
district which deserves the name of a hill or moun-
tain. These elevated lands are situated in the centre
of the parish, and run from east to west over its
whole length, declining on each side to the waters of
Calder and Loggie, which are respectively its boun-
daries on the south and north. It is thus a beautiful
open country, agreeably diversified by vale and gentle
rising, with a soil exhibiting many features of vari-
ety. The district was, for a long period, particularly
during the war, famous for its culture of flax. In
some years, so much as 800 acres were under this
species of crop; but the welcome advent of peace,
and still more, the cheapness and universal introduc-
tion of cotton-cloth, has rendered flax-cultivation
here, as in every other part of the country, so un-
profitable that it has been almost entirely aban-
doned, with the exception of a few patches here
and there still grown for private family use. Exclu-
sive of minerals, and the town of Airdrie, the land-
ward rental of the parish is believed to be about
£13,000 per annum. The most important feature
connected with New Monkland, however, is the
mineral wealth with which it is abundantly blessed — a
blessing which has enriched the proprietors, increased
the population, and raised Airdrie within a few years
from the condition of an inconsiderable village to that
of a bustling and important town, with a share in the
election of a member of parliament. So far back as
the writing of the Old Statistical Account, it is stated
that " coal and ironstone are, or may be, found al-
most on every farm." And since then these minerals
have been worked most extensively, and are still in
the course of rapid increase. The quality of the
coal is only equalled by its abundance, which in
many places is found in seams from 9 to 10 feet in
thickness. The ironstone is found both in balls and
seams, and much of it is of the valuable kind called
Black-band, which is so abundantly mixed with coal
as to require little addition of fuel in the burning.
Almost all the extensive iron-works in this district
of country are to a certain extent supplied with iron-
stone from this parish, including those of Clyde,
Cadder, Chapel-hall, Gartsherrie, and Carron. Lime-
stone is worked in the parish, particularly in the nor-
thern division of it, but not to great extent. Several
mineral springs, too, exist, chiefly of the chalybeate
kind; but the Monkland-well, near Airdrie, is the
most famous, and at one time long enjoyed an exten-
sive reputation for its efficacy in the cure of scorbu-
tic, scrofulous, and other cutaneous diseases, as well
as for complaints in the stomach and eyes. At one
period this well formed a favourite resort even for
the wealthy and fashionable citizens of Glasgow and
its neighbourhood; but its character as a watering-
place has long departed from it, both from a falling
off— undeserved it may be — in the reputation of the
springs and from the lack of features of rural beauty
which have been borne down by the onward march of
a bustling and industrious mining and manufacturing
population The turnpike-road between Edinburgh
and Glasgow, by Bathgate and Airdrie, runs through
the southern end of the parish ; and the recently
formed road from Carlisle to Stirling intersects the
parish from north to south. The Ballochney rail-
way connects itself with the Kirkintilloch, and the
Garnkirk railway, and thus brings New Monkland
and its produce into easy and rapid communication
with both Edinburgh and Glasgow; and the same