B l a c k n e s s
CASTLE*
C o L R O S S . ,
From Martinmas, iyyi, to ditto, 1772,
i;'; : s. a
65321 bolls of lime-lhells, 1
2271 chalders of lime, 5 ' ^ ^ ^
52000 carts o f lime-ftone, » 1250 3
4630 h J
Oppofite to Lime-Hlns, on a rock projefting into the Fori
is Blacknefs caftle, once a place of great importance in prefervinj
a communication between Edinburgh and Sterling ; now a ihelrel
to a few invalids. This fortrefs is a large pile, defended bn
towers, both fquare and round, Irvine * fays,, that in his tinJ
it was a ftate prifon : he adds, that it was of old one of the ütl
man forts, and that it ftood on the beginning of the wall. Bill
Mr. Gordon feems, -with more truth,, to place its commeneenioiï
at Garin, or Garibden, weft of this place. Blacknefs was once til
port of Linlithgow, had a town near it,, and a cuftofn-houfej
both which were loft by the new commerce of fait and. coals till
rofe at Burrowftonefs.
After a ride of four miles enter a portion of
P E R T H S H I R E ,
which juft touches on the Firth, at Culrofs. ; a fmall town, rel
markable for a magnificent houfe with thirteen windows in iron®
built about the year 1590, by Edward Lord Kinlofs, better knowif
in England by the name of Lord Bruce, (lain, in the noted duel
between him and Sir Edward Sackville.
* Nomenclatura, p. 25.
* 3 Some]
|Some poor remains of the Ciftercian abby are ftill to be feen
fhere, founded by Malcolm, Earl of Fife, in 1217. The church
»as jointly dedicated to the virgin, and St. Serf, confefior. The
levenue, at the difiolution, was feven hundred and fixty-eight
lunds Scots, befides the rents paid in kind. The number of
Bonks, exclufive of the abbot, were nine.
■ Continue my ride, in fight of vaft plantations; and, in a fhort
Ifcace enter the little ihire of
C l a c k m a n n a n ,
J*hich, with that of Kinrefs, alternately cleft a member, their
mutual reprefentative. The fmall town of Clackmannan is plea-
kntly feated on a hill, long the feat of the chief of the Bruces,
■oping on every fide; and on the fummit is the caftle, command-
' ing a noble view. The large fquare tower is called after the
lame of Robert Bruce-, whofe great fword and cafque is ftill
■referved here. The hill is prettily wooded, and, with the tower,
■rms a pifturefque objeft. On the weftern fide, crofs the little
river Devan, and, after a mile’s ride, reach the town of Alloa,
’ remarkable for its coal trade* Scotland exports annually, above
a hundred and eighteen thoufand tuns of coal, out of which, I
■as informed, Alloa alone fends forty thoufand. The town and
ftarilh is very populous, containing five thoufand fouls. I found
l»e the moft polite reception from Mr. Erfkine, reprefentative
I* the family of Mar, who lives in the caftle, now modernized,
I® one fide of the town. The gardens, planted in the gld ftyle,
!re very extenfive. In the houfe are fome good portraits, par-
F f 2 ticularly
T ower o f C l a ck »
M A N N A R .
A l l o a .