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PRESBYTERY OF KINCARDINE O'NEIL, SYNOD OF ABERDEEN.
THE REV. GEORGE SMITH, MINISTER.
I.—Topography and Natural History.
Name.—The name of the parish is derived from a
Gaelic word signifying bush, and seems to express what was
formerly the general appearance of the district in which it is situated.
Extent, &c.—The parish is of great extent, being
on the south side along the top of the Grampians, and on the west side
from the top of the Grampians to the river Dee, about ten miles long-On
the north side, it is about eight miles long, and on the east it is
about six miles. This parish forms the south-east point of
Aberdeenshire; and is bounded on the east by the parish of Strachan,
which is in the county of Kincardine, and along the Grampians; on the
south, by a part of the same parish, and by Loch-lee, in the county of
Forfar; on the west, by a mountain rang of the parish of Aboyne, which
extends down to the river Dee; and on the north, partly by the said
river, and by a section of Aboyne, which stretches to the south of the
Dee.
Topographical Appearances.—The appearance of the
parish is hilly and mountainous. If viewed from the highest ground on
its western side, it would be seen to consist of three distinct valleys,
running eastwards towards the Dee, and separated from each other by two
ranges of hills. That on the south is the largest, and forms the valley
of the Feugh. Its western extremity, called the "Forest of Birse," is
narrow, and the appearance of it is bleak and wild; but at the distance
of about five miles from its commencement, the valley expands suddenly
to a considerable breadth, improving in appearance and in soil, and
forming the chief part of the property of Finzean. This improvement in
its natural features is maintained throughout the valley to its
termination at the confluence of the Feugh with the Dee, near the
village of Banchory, in Kincardineshire. The total length of the Feugh
which divides this valley is about fifteen miles, and its termination
forms one of the loveliest and most romantic scenes on Dee-side. The
second valley, called "Glen-chatt," is much smaller than the first, and
the course of the stream which intersects it is shorter. Like the
former, it is narrow at first, but afterwards expands considerably,
forming the properties of Ballogie and Midstrath. The third district is
not properly a valley by itself, but forms rather one side of the vale
perambulated by the Dee at this part of its course. There is, however, a
small stream of water running through it, and dividing it into two
parts. Hence it has still something of the appearance of a valley,
although the ground on the north side of it separating it from the Dee
is not much elevated. In the centre of this third district, the church
and manse are situated. Their position on the north-west side of the
parish renders the great bulk of the inhabitants at a very inconvenient
distance from church. The scenery in the parish is not sufficiently bold
to be romantic, but may be called wild. Some of the mountains in the
parish rise to a considerable altitude, Mount Geanach, one of the
Grampian range, being between two and three thousand feet above the sea.
Climate.—The temperature of the atmosphere is
extremely variable. The climate cannot be called a humid one, yet it is
very unsteady. Sudden alternations of heat and cold, wet and dry weather
are constantly experienced. Severe thunder storms some times
happen; but no case of injury to life or property from the electric
fluid has occurred for many years.Springs.—Abundance
of common springs of water are found in all parts of the parish. A few
chalybeates exist in it, though none of them are of much eminence. One
of them, resembling in some measure, when analyzed, the Moffat waters,
was discovered a few years ago, near the suspension-bridge of Aboyne
over the Dee, and was frequented for some time by the neighbouring
invalids with apparent benefit; but its celebrity seems now on the wane.
Geology.-—The chief mineral productions found in
the parish are, blue heathen stone, as it is commonly called, granite,
and limestone. A fine variety of red porphyry is also to be seen on the
borders of the parish, in the bed of the river Dee, near the bridge of
Potarch. The granite is found in large blocks, near the surface of the
soil, throughout the whole extent of the parish; and, as these serve all
the purposes of building, quarries have not been opened. Traces of such,
however, are seen in various places as the superincumbent strata are
washed away by the mountain torrents. The limestone also abounds, and is
usually found within a few feet of the surface, lying under a deposit of
gravel and small stones. It is used by the farmers in the district for
agricultural purposes; but, from the great admixture of sand which it
contains, the difficulty of burning it, and the distance from coal, none
of the quarries will bear the expense of being worked for the general
market.
The soil of the parish is a light loam, approaching
in many places to gravel. It chiefly consists of decomposed granite,
sand, and a proportion of clay,—the latter in defective quantity. For
this reason, the soil is loose and friable, ill adapted for raising
wheat or heavy crops of oats, but better calculated for barley and
turnip husbandry. The plants that seem peculiarly attached to the
soil are broom, furze, juniper, and birch, and fir trees. Wherever the
ground is protected from the pasturage of sheep and cattle, these
quickly begin to appear. Among the hills the monotony of the heath is
relieved by the blaeberry, the crowberry, and the cranberry plants;
which last is found in great quantities, and affords a considerable
source of employment and profit to the children of the cottagers and
small farmers in the neighbourhood, who collect the berries, and take
them to the Aberdeen market.
Zoology.—The rarer species of animals found in
the parish are, the fox, badger, hedgehog, wild-cat, polecat, weasel,
otter, common and white hare, rabbit; and in the woods the roe and red
deer. To the feathered tribes, the extent of plantation, and the varied
surface of hill and dale, afford inviting shelter; accordingly we have a
large proportion of them. Among these, may be numbered, the grouse,
ptarmigan, blackcock, snipe, partridge, various species of ducks, the
heron, wood-pigeon, magpie, raven, crow, jackdaw, kestrel, hawk-owl, and
others.
Among the songsters of the field we have the
goldfinch, chaffinch, redbreast, linnet, yellow-hammer, thrush,
blackbird, titmouse, and many others. Besides these, a great number of
aquatic and other migratory birds frequent, in summer, the fields and
rivers, such as the oyster-catcher, corncrake, lapwing, swallow,
wagtail, cuckoo, plover, woodcock, and of late years the curlew. Of the
insect tribe many varieties are to be found. In the gar-dens, a green
insect proves often fatal to the blossom of the apple trees, and another
to the carrots and onions. For these no effectual remedy has yet been
found. The fly which has so often desolated turnip fields in the south,
and the insect, if insect it be, which has of late years been so
destructive to potato cultivation, have neither of them appeared in this
quarter to any serious extent.
The breed of cattle in use cannot be distinctly
classed, but may be called the Aberdeenshire polled and horned. The
animals, in general, are small in size, and defective in many of the
points of beauty and value. The breed of sheep in common use is the
black-faced horned.
II. —Civil
History.
The
ancient history of the parish is involved in much obscurity, like that
of many others. The multitude of tumuli, however, scattered in all
directions on the mountain sides, would indicate that it was the scene,
in former days, of battle and of blood. One immense cairn exists in the
woods of Finzean, though now much beneath its original size; and on the
adjacent hill are to be seen a great number of smaller cairns or tumuli;
while a little farther eastward a long granite stone, such as was used
in ancient times to mark the grave of some eminent person, was dug up a
good many years ago, and now stands on the top of the hill of
Corsedarder. These appearances taken in connection would lead us to the
belief of some serious battle having taken place, and that a chief had
been killed on the spot alluded to. But whether that chief was, as has
been said, an ancient king or prince of Scotland, named Dardanus, cannot
now be ascertained. It is far from unlikely that many of
the tumuli every where visible, mark the resting-place of individuals
slain in some highland foray for cattle into the lowlands; for which the
upper districts were at one time so famous. On such occasions, the hills
and mountains of this parish, lying as they do betwixt the north and the
south country, must often have been the scene where the fugitives and
the pursuers encountered each other, and disputed the prize; and these
tumuli would indicate that the encounters did not always pass over
without blood. This idea derives some probability of truth, from the
circumstance, that there is a mountain pass leading through this parish,
across the Grampians, to the south country, known to this day by the
name of the "Cattrin road," or perhaps "raid,"—a clear proof that this
district was at one time well known to, and frequented by, the "Cattrin,"
in their excursions from the higher and more northern districts to and
from the south.
In Spalding's history of the "Troubles of Scotland"
occasional allusion is made to the inhabitants of this parish and
district. They seem to have followed the fortunes of the Gordon or the
Huntly family, and, being opposed to the Covenanters, suffered frequent
spoliation of their cattle and property from the soldiers of the latter.
The same authority records that several of the ministers of Birse
stoutly resisted signing the Covenant, and refused to yield until high
ecclesiastical censures were passed upon them. In modern times the chief
occurrences connected with the parish are, 1st, the building of
the bridge of Potarch over the Dee, in 1813, establishing a
communication between the parish and the Deeside turnpike road to
Aberdeen; 2dly, the building of a suspension bridge over the same river
at the west end of the parish, by the Earl of Aboyne, first in 1828,
and, on its being carried off by the great flood in August 1829,
rebuilding it in 1830; and 3dly, the building
of a bridge over the river Feugh, in 1835, on the line of the great
north and south road across the Grampians. Eminent Men.—The most
eminent men connected with the parish by birth are stated in the last
Statistical Account to have been Dr Gilbert Ramsay, who was Rector of
Christ's Church, Barbadoes, and who left at his death L.500 to the poor
of his native parish, L.500 to endow a free school in it, and a sum of
money to erect a bridge over the Feugh at the east end of it. Dr
Alexander Garden, formerly in Charleston, South Carolina, and whose
father was minister of this parish for upwards of fifty years; Dr Rose
of Birsebeg, both of whom were American refugees during the
revolutionary war. George Rose, Esq. formerly of the Treasury, was
grandson of Donald Rose, Esq. of Wester Clune. Captain David Ochterlouny,
who fell at Quebec with General Wolfe, was one of the Ochterlounies of
Tillyfrusky. And another branch of the same family was the late Sir
David Ochterlouny, who died in the East Indies a few years ago. To these
may be added Bishop Skinner, grandfather of the present Bishop Skinner
of Aberdeen, who was a native of Balfour, and who distinguished himself
by various publications, and some celebrated Scottish ballads.
Land-owners.—The proprietors of the parish are,
1. Archibald Farquharson, Esq. of Finzean. The family of whom the
present proprietor is representative, came originally from Braemar, but
they have held property in this parish for several centuries. The second
heritor is the Marquis of Huntly. The third heritor is Lewis Farquharson
Innes, Esq. of Ballogie. The family to which be belongs were formerly
Farquharsons of Inverey, in Crathie and Braemar; but upon their
succession to the property of Ballogie, by the extinction of the family
of Innes of Balnacraig and Ballogie, they have added the name of Innes
to the former family one. The fourth heritor of the parish is John Mair
Gerard, Esq. of Midstrath. The oldest son of this family, and the
proprietor then in possession, fell at Waterloo.
[Since the present,
Statistical Account was compiled, some years ago, two small properties,
called Balfour and Kinminity, have, in consequence of the bankruptcy of
the Marquis of Huntly, been sold. They have been purchased by Francis J.
Cochran, Esq., Advocate in Aberdeen.
The estate of Ballogie has also, by the death of
Lewis Innes, Esq. in 1840, come into the possession of his four sisters,
the Misses Farquharson, residing at Ballogie, and Mrs Lynch, who resides
in London.
The estate of Finzean, consisting of nearly the half
of the parish, has, by the death of Archibald Farquharson, Esq. come
into the possession of his uncle, John Farquharson, Esq., presently
residing in London. Perhaps few things can more strikingly illustrate
the mutability of human affairs than the fact, that, since the period
that the present Statistical Account was begun to be written, about
three years ago, more than two thirds of the property of it, most
unexpectedly, have come into possession of
other parties than those who then held it, and that only one estate out
of the four into which the parish was then divided, is now enjoyed by
the same proprietor it then was. (1842).]
Parochial Registers.—The date of the earliest
register is 1699, from which year, for a period of eight years, during
the ministry of Mr John Howe, it is kept with great exactness. From
1707, the year of Mr Howe's death, to 1726, the registers are either
lost or have never been kept. From 1726 to 1744, they are kept
regularly. From 1744 to 1765, they are again lost. From the year 1765,
they are kept regularly up to the present day. In Mr Howe's Register,
many interesting circumstances, connected with the state of the church
and country, are incidentally noticed. Amongst others, the following may
be noticed : A letter appears on the record, from the above-mentioned Dr
Gilbert Ramsay, to the kirk-session, intimating his intention to found
and endow an hospital for the support of a certain number of aged
persons, and requesting the session to state to him the probable
expense. The session, however, from motives of delicacy, declined to do
so, and this first intention appears afterwards to have been abandoned
for the endowment of a school. About the same time, an entry is made in
the register, of a collection made for the harbour of Eyemouth, and
again, a second collection for the same purpose. Nor does a spirit of
enlarged charity and sympathy, for suffering brethren, seem then to have
been wanting in the Church of Scotland, for another entry appears of a
collection made for the poor Christians, prisoners at Algiers. Not the
least singular of the practices of these past days of our fathers, is
the strictness of church discipline then prevailing, and the zeal which
they manifested for the keeping of the Sabbath day, as evinced by the
following entry in the register: "Said day, * * * was dilated to the
session for boiling beesbykes on the Sabbath day."
Antiquities.—There are no antiquities in the
parish of much celebrity. In the district called the Forest, stands part
of an old castellated ruin, on which, however, no date can be seen. It
appears to have been built at a period when there were no settled
inhabitants in that glen. Tradition says it was erected by a Bishop
Gordon of Aberdeen, for a hunting seat. Another and more imperfect ruin
stands near Easter Clune, beside which had also existed formerly an
Episcopal place of worship, and a small burying-ground. No tradition
connected with this ruin exists in the neighbourhood. In the charters of
Finzean, it is denominated the fortalice of Easter Clune. In all
probability, it was merely the residence of one of the many landholders
who formerly held the property of the parish, and which the lawless
state of society then prevailing required to be capable of maintaining a
short defence against the sudden assaults of enemies. A few years ago,
four silver coins were dug out of a grave in the churchyard. They are
much worn, but had originally been nearly the size of modern half
crowns. They bear the inscription of "Robertus Scotorum Rex" on one
side, and on the other, "Villa Edinburgh," "Villa Perth."
Buildings.—The chief buildings in the parish are
the mansion-houses of Finzean and Ballogie. The former is an old house,
built in the form of three sides of a square; the latter is, to a great
extent, a modern building. Both are comfortable mansion-houses, but
claim no particular notice from their architecture. The woods and
plantations around each are extensive and thriving, and add much to the
beauty of the parish.
III.—Population.
Previous to Dr Webster's report, no accurate
statement of the population is on record. The population then given is
1126. In 1791, when a correct account of it was taken by the last
incumbent of the parish, it was 1253. From this number the population
gradually rose till 1827, when it was 1568. Since that period it has
been receding. By the census of 1831 it was 1487, and, in 1837, it was
still lower. The cause of the advance and subsequent decrease was the
same, viz. illicit distillation of whisky. While this infamous and
demoralizing practice prevailed, population increased through the
facilities by which families were maintained among the hills and valleys
on its profits. But no sooner was this system put down, than the effect
appeared on population. Fewer marriages than formerly now take place,
and a considerable number of families, formerly supported by illicit
distillation, have been obliged to remove to towns and other parishes :
a good many families, also, have emigrated to America. This is entirely
a rural parish, there being no village of any kind in it.
The population may be divided as follows: [The
population, as taken by census 1841, was 1313, exhibiting a decrease
from the census 1831, of 174. The cause of the decrease is that stated
above, along with the junction of small farms into larger.]
The number of marriages at present subsisting in the
parish, inclusive of widowers or widows, 259; of these, 245 have had
families, 14 have had no family; besides these, 11 have had no family in
their present marriage, although one of the parties had a family by a
former marriage. In the above, ten marriages have had only one child,
and eleven marriages have had only two children. The average number of
children in a family is about 4˝; proportion
of those marriages producing no family to those which have, 1 to 17.
Number of insane, two; partially insane, one; fatuous, one; blind,
partially, two; deaf and dumb, none.
Character of the People.—As regards the general
character of the people, they are more intelligent, and better informed
than they formerly were. Newspapers are widely and greedily read, and
some are anxious to improve their minds from other sources. The value of
education begins to be more deeply appreciated, and where the young have
the means of obtaining it, they manifest much readiness in apprehending
the instruction communicated to them. In point of morality, the people
are generally decent and well-behaved; the chief excesses whereof they
are guilty, arising from the abuse of ardent spirits, into which a good
many occasionally fall, from the facilities with which spirits are to be
had.
In respect to religion, a just and proper value is
put by the generality of the people on its ordinances, and much exertion
is made by those living in the distant corners of the parish to attend
church.
IV.—Industry.
Agriculture.—The number of arable acres in the
parish, as nearly as can be ascertained, is about 3360 imperial acres;
but they bear a small proportion to the unimproved, of which there are
probably not less than upwards of 40,000 imperial acres. Of late years,
considerable additions have been made to the arable portion of the
parish, by squaring fields, and draining wet parts; but such is the
rugged and barren nature of the great bulk of the remainder, that any
large additions from it can never be made. The number of acres under
wood is as follows : on the estate of Finzean, 1800 imperial acres ; of
Aboyne, about 900 acres; Bal-logie, about 960; Midstrath, 50; in all,
3710. Of this large number, however, many acres are comparatively thin,
from the quantities of timber that have been sold and carried away for
many years. The great proportion of the plantations is of Scots fir,
many individual trees of which have come to great size, and produced a
fine quality of timber. The annual value of wood sold in the parish for
many years has been little short of L. 1000 Sterling, and often
considerably more ; and if the proprietors continue to plant in
proportion to what they cut down, nearly this sum may be realized for
many years to come.
The average rent of the land per imperial acre is as
follows:-on the property of Finzean, L. 1, 4s. 7d.; Aboyne, L. 1, 0s.
6d.; Ballogie, L. 1, 2s. 10d.; Midstrath, L.
1, 4s. 9d. Average, taking into view the size of the different
properties, about L. 1, 3s. In stating this as
the average of the parish, it may be mentioned, that, along with the
land rented, there is conveyed to the tenant right to the common
pasturage of the hills, for which no separate rent is charged ; on which
account, the average rent of an acre becomes somewhat higher than it
would otherwise be. Moreover, since the above average was taken some
years ago, rents on some of the properties have considerably fallen, and
may now be called about L. 1, 2s. the imperial
acre.
The size of the farms in the parish is comparatively
small, the generality being from 30 to 60 acres, and only two being
above 100 acres. The chief part of the labour on these farms is done by
the farmers and their families, for which reason the number of
farm-servants in the parish is not large.
Prices.—Fir wood can be bought at from 6d. to 8d.
per cubic foot. Hard-wood, which is scarce, is a good deal higher.
Lime, burned in the kilns at home, costs about 7d.
per bushel; that brought from Aberdeen 1s. 2d., including the expense of
carriage. Coals cost about 2s. per barrel, the distance from Aberdeen
doubling their expense.
The state of husbandry has been much improved within
the last twenty years. Previous to that time, regular rotation in
cropping was scarcely practised, while lime and manure were very
sparingly applied to the soil. Now the great proportion of the land is
farmed regularly, and the more enterprising of the farmers are beginning
to introduce some of the modern improvements in agriculture. The
rotation of cropping followed is what is called the seven-shift, one,
which, though it may be doubtful whether it be the most proper, is at
least better than the former practice of following none.
The general duration of the leases granted by the
proprietors is for nineteen years; but in most instances, where tenants
are active and industrious, these are renewed. Several farms in the
parish have been occupied by the present tenants and their forefathers
for centuries.
The chief difference in the present state of the
parish and that which existed at the date of the last Statistical
report, consists in the improved condition of
the farm-houses and buildings. At that period, not one slated farm-house
existed, and both dwelling-houses and other erections were built without
lime, the upper half of either gable generally consisting of turf. Now,
however, all the buildings connected with the farms have assumed a more
commodious and substantial form. At that period, not a thrashing-mill
existed ; now, there are upwards of thirty, and every year sees them
augmented.
Produce.—The following may be regarded as an
approximation to the truth in respect to the quantity and value of farm
produce raised in the parish : Number of arable acres 3360 imperial. Of
these there may be in oats 960 acres; in barley, 480 do.; in hay,
480 do.; in grass, 960 do.; in turnips and potatoes, 480 do. Oats, 960
acres at 24 bushels per acre, 23040 bushels; barley, 480 acres, 14040
bushels.
Manufactures.— The only manufacture which may be
said to exist in the parish, is that of coarse woollen stockings by
females. In this manufacture, a good part of the wool clipped from the
fleecy inhabitants is consumed. It is customary for those so employed to
purchase the annual stock of wool likely to be required by them during
the summer season, which, having been carded by the mills in the
neighbourhood, is then spun into worsted, and knitted into stockings
chiefly during winter. Though the profits in this manufacture be
extremely small, yet it affords occupation to a great many females who
would otherwise be idle, and furnishes a ready employment for fragments
of time. A very expert female will spin and knit a pair of stockings in
two days. For these she receives generally from 1s. to 1s. 3d. when
brought to market; of which sum, however, not more than one-half is the
remuneration for her labour, the other half being the price of wool,
carding, and spinning; One individual will manufacture about three
stones and a half of wool in a year, out of which she will produce from
120 to 130 pairs of stockings. Few of the females so employed are
entirely dependent on this work for their subsistence, the profits of it
being scarcely sufficient for this purpose. Many of them are partly
employed in out-door labour, where they can earn higher wages. In times,
however, when such is not to be had, or when the season does not admit
of it, or when age and infirmities have debarred them from it, the
stockings are the never-failing resource. And so much is this the
habitual employment of the females, especially of the elderly and
unmarried, that, if a person were to go into the dwelling of such and
find the "shank" absent from her hands, he might regard it as an
unfailing symptom of indisposition.
V.—Parochial Economy.
Means of Communication.—There is no market-town,
village, post-office, turnpike-road, public carriage, or canal in the
parish. The principal roads are the Great North Road from Brechin to
Huntly and Inverness, across the Cairn o' Mount and Grampians. It
commences at Whitestone, and extends to Bridge of Potarch, a distance of
nearly five miles. The other chief road is the South Dee-side Road from
Aberdeen to Braemar. It commences at Whitestone, and extends to the
suspension-bridge of Aboyne, a distance of about nine miles.
Ecclesiastical State.— The church and manse are
situated in the north-west corner of the parish, being about two miles
distant from the west end, and seven miles from the east—nine or ten
miles from the south, and half a mile from the northern boundary. The
church was erected in 1779, and is a plain substantial building, capable
of containing between 500 and 600 persons. The sittings are given over
by the landlords to the farmers, who in turn supply their dependents.
The manse was built at separate times. The last addition was made in
1834, rendering it a large and commodious house. The glebe is of small
value, extending to four acres, besides the garden, and would probably
rent for L.6. The amount of stipend is L. 150, of which sum L.19 are
paid by the Exchequer, There is a small Roman Catholic place of worship
near Ballogie. To this is attached a glebe of about seven acres of land,
and a house for the residence of the priest. In addition to his duty in
this parish, the priest has a small chapel in the parish of Glenmuick,
where he conducts worship once in the month. In 1834 the number of Roman
Catholics in the parish was 59; of Episcopalians, 2. All the rest belong
to the Established Church. Average number of communicants, 700. The
amount of collections, exclusive of those for the ordinary poor, made at
church for charitable or religious purposes, is about L.12; but
occasionally a good deal more has been obtained.
Education.—The number of schools in the parish is
three, one parochial school, one supported by the Society for
Propagat-ing Christian Knowledge, in Edinburgh, and one by an endowment
from the fund of Dr Gilbert Ramsay, already mentioned.
Besides these, there are generally two or three small
schools on the teachers' own adventure.
The salary of the parochial teacher is L.30, with the
allowance from the Dick Bequest, common to the counties of Aberdeen
Banff, and Moray; that of the endowed school is L.20, with a house, and
six acres of land; that of the Society school is L. 17
with a house, and three acres of land. In the two latter the children
are taught gratis; in the former, the fees, owing to the poverty of the
parents, seldom exceed a few pounds.
Education is more valued by all classes than
formerly, and in nothing is this more clearly seen than in the
additional number of girls which is now to be found in all the schools.
None in the parish are wholly uneducated, or are entirely incapable of
reading, although the education of a good many has certainly been very
defective.
Library.—A parochial religious library was
established in 1829, and has met with tolerable success. The books are
given out gratis.
Savings Bank.—A savings bank was established in
1837, and promises to do well.
Poor.—The average number of individuals receiving
parochial aid is about 50, and the amount received by them is from 7s.
to 9s. per quarter. The funds by which they are supported amount to
about L.1300, and the Sabbath collections to L.28 per annum. The sum
distributed by the kirk-session is from L. 80 to L. 90 annually.
Fairs.—There are three fairs of some local
importance, all held at Bridge of Potarch—one in May, one in October,
and one in November.
Inns.—-The number of alehouses is four; besides
which, there is one licensed shop where whisky is sold. Of all these not
more than the half is required for public accommodation, and the
remaining half is merely a tax upon the industry of the neighbourhood.
Fuel-—The chief fuel in use is peat and turf from
the hills, together with dry wood from the plantations. The expense of
peat is about 1s. per cart-load for cutting, and 1s. 6d. for driving
home.
July 1842. |
