An Account of the great Floods of August 1829, in the Province of Moray, and adjoining districts

Front matter

AN ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT FLOODS OF AUGUST 1829, IN THE PROVINCE OF MORAY, AND ADJOINING DISTRICTS. By Sir THOMAS DICK LAUDER, Bart. OF fountainhall, f. r. s. e. THE WATERS PREVAILED." GENESIS. ADAM BLACK, EDINBURGH, LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN & GREEN, LONDON ; AND FORSVTH & YOUNG, ELGIN. MDCCCXXX. NEILI. & CO. PRINTERS. TO HENRY COCKBURN, Esq. of Bonally, ADVOCATE. My Dear Cockburn, As you are answerable for the infliction of this volume on the public, you must not be surprised that I now claim for it the pro tection of your name, so universally known and respected ; and, at the same time, afford myself an opportunity of acknowledging the many obligations I owe to your long and steady friendship, and of manifesting my admiration of your private virtues, and the pleasure and pride with which I subscribe myself, My Dear Cockburn, Your warmly and sincerely attached THO\ DICK LAUDER.

Relugas, 17M June 1830- The unexampled flood which occasioned this publication, was so prolific of circumstances bordering upon the marvellous, that, I might have really felt some difficulty in reporting many of them, had they not, in every instance, been well vouched. In returning my best thanks to the individuals composing the following list, who liberally contributed to my information, in the order in which their names are arranged, I feel glad of the opportunity of shewing that I have not written without highly respectable authority. Startling as many of the facts may appear, therefore, the reader may be assured PRELIMINARY NOTICE. of their unquestionable accuracy. The ex tent of ground carried off or destroyed in particular places, the various items of mis cellaneous damage, and the sums of money at which the various losses are estimated, are stated from returns made after survey by able and responsible men, whose valua tions were exclusive of all such injuries as might affect mere taste, or any thing not usually measured by money.

The sums spe cified are rather under than above the truth. There are instances, indeed, in which I have good reason to believe they fall very much short of it. And it is quite natural that they should do so ; for no surveyor could expect to gain favour in the eyes of his employer, by exaggerating his misfortunes ; and no pro prietor would consider it his interest to pro mulgate an extravagant account of the dete rioration of his estate ; whilst, on the other hand, very potent reasons may exist for country gentlemen putting the best possible face on the state of their affairs. As the limited nature of this work has necessarily compelled me to pass over all the lesser, though more numerous items of destruction, nothing ap proaching to any just estimate of the grand total can possibly be formed.

Appendix

. No. I. Extract from Register kept at Inverness, by Mathew Adam, A. M., Rector of the Inverness Academy, 408 No. II. Journal kept by the Rev. William Rannie, Manse of Fochabers, for August 1829, .... CONTENTS. X No. III. Journal of the Weather, kept by Mr Menzies, at Gordon Castle, for August 1829, 409 No. IV. Weather Tables, kept by Mr Murdoch, Gardener to his Grace the Duke of Gordon, at Huntly Lodge ; with his Remarks appended thereto, . . . . 410 Mean Temperature and Rain for August, September, and October, from 1821 to 1829, both years inclusive, ....... 412 The month in which most Rain fell in each Year, and the Quantity for that month, from 1821 to 1829, both years inclusive, . . . . . ib, Mean Temperature for the Year, and for the Seven Growing Months (from March 20. to October 20.), from the Year 1821 to 1829, both inclusive; the Thermometer observed at Morning and Evening, 413 Remarks on the Years 1828 and 1829, relative to the Production of Corn and Green Crop, • . . 414 No. V. Meteorological Table for August 1829 ; by Mr George Innes, Astronomical Calculator, Aberdeen.

The Instruments made by Ramsden, . . . .416 No. VI. State of the Winds at Findhorn, on the 2d, 3d, and 4th of August. Communicated by Mr Thomas Davidson. CONTENTS. XI No. VII. Vases found in the Druidical Cairn recently opened at Clava, by Mrs Campbell, . . . . .418 No. VIII. Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell's Retreat before Edward III, 420 No. IX. Dr Fleming on the Shells found at Inchrory, . . 425 No. X. Abstract State of the Flood Fund, and its application, 427 No. XI. Copy of Circular by the Central Committee, LIST OF PLATES. MAr of the Rivers chiefly affected by the floods, . . . Page 1 Map of the River Findhorn, from Coulternose to Binsness, with the adjacent lands affected by the floods, 34 Plate 1. Interior of Cairn of Druidical Circle at Clava, . . 15 2. Clach-mhor-a-chruaidh-ghorston, — the big stone of the rough ground, ....... 16 3.

Bridge of Holm, 17 4. Offices at Firhall, 25 5. Mouth of Nairn Harbour, 32 6. Salmon-fishing port at Nairn, ..... 33 7. Bridge of Corrybrugh, over the Findhorn, ... 36 8. Valley of the Findhorn below Freeburn, and above the Streens, supposed an old lake bed, .... 39 9. Easter Tchirfogrein, 46 10. Knockandhu, 48 11. Dulsie Bridge, ,50 5 12. Brig of Rannoch, 57 13. Ruins of Bridge on the Divie, 64 14. Thomas-a-Rhymer's hill from the west, ... 66 15. Thomas-a-Rhymer's bill from the east, ... ib. 16. New cut of the Dorback, immediately after the river was let through, 70 17- New cut of the Dorback, 24 hours after the river was let through, 71 18. Landslip at Tillyglens, 73 91. Ruined Mills of Dunphail on the Dorback, . . 77 20. Ruined Mills of Dunphail on the Dorback, . . ib. LIST OF PLATES. XV111 Plate 21.

Large stone in the Divie below its junction with the Dorback, 8y 22. House of Dunphail, . . ■ ' • . • ■ ■ K* 23. The Gallery on the Divie, 90 24. Opening of the ravine below the mill on the Divie, at Relugas, 91 25. Sketch of the pleasure-grounds at Relugas, . . ib. . | 26. View of Relugas before the flood, 99 27. View of Relugas after the flood, .... ib. 28. Houses of Stripeside during the flood, . . .115 29. Funns and his family in the middle of the flood, . 118 30. Houses of the three old women at the Burn of Moy, during the flood, 1 26 31. Cottage of old Cumin's family during the flood, . . 131 32. Waterside, after the flood, 141 33. James Nicol's house, after the flood, .... ib. 34. Houses at Broom of Moy, after the flood, ... ib. 35. Houses of Stripeside from the south, with Findhorn in the distance, after the flood, 142 36.

Tannachy House, and the country below Forres flooded, 157 37. Bridge of the Findhorn, and fishermen's houses ruined, 158 38. Lake-bed of Kellas, 165 39. Ess of Lossie, jgg 40. Ronnell Bell of Birnie, 166 41. Loch-na-mhoon, or the Peat, Loch, from which the island was drifted and stranded on the shore, . . . 1 86 42. Foundations of the old iron-mill on the Nethey, . . 200 43. Bridge of Nethey, after the flood, • ... 204 44. Bridges of Carr, g0„ 45. Tom Meldrum's house, after the flood, . . 235 46. Bridge of Campdale, after the flood, . . %3(i 47. John Grant, the shoemaker's house at Bridge of Nevie after the flood, ... -,„ 240 48. Old Bridge of Livat, after the flood, ... 242 49. John Cly, miller of Tomore, .... g45 LIST OF PLATES. XV Plate 50. John Cly's house, Mill of Tomore, .... 246 51.

Oak-tree at Ballindalloch, stranded at Dandaleith, . 271 52. Widow Riach's house, during the flood, south side, . 276 53. Bridge of Garbity, after the flood, . . . .284 54. Bridge of Spey at Fochabers, after the flood, . . 295 55. Salmon-fishing house, destroyed by Bdrn of Tinet, . 318 56. Mass of rock brought down by the Burn of Craig, . 320 * 57- Bridge of Alva, 325 58. Brig o' Balgownie, 348 59. Linn of Dee 356 60. Store-house at Marr Lodge ruined by the flood, . 360 61. Kennel and out-house at Marr Lodge, ruined by the flood, ib. 62. Fall and Bridge of Cuach, ruined by the flood, . . 362 \ 63. Fragment of old saw-mill brought down by Cuach, 363 64. Bridge of Ballater, ruined by the flood, . . .379 Appendix Plate, The Author's distance from the press must be an apology for the following ERRATA.

Page 57, line 3, for nor read or Clj 7>for Edward the Second's read Edward the Third's 64, 12, for Edward II. read Edward III. 175, 2 from the bottom, for Bilbshall, read Bilbohall, 232, 7 from bottom of text, for DeUnatk, read Dellnalit, 239, 9, from the bottom, after the words 80 acres of arable, insert belonging to his Grace. 279, 10, after and the furniture that hid insert not 337, i>l title, for dalachash. read strath don. 353, in title, for to crathie. read braemar. 363, line 2 from the bottom, for (Plate LVIII.) read (Plate LXIH.) . / SKETCH of the RlVEKScilir.ri.V AFFECTED BY THE FLOODS of, hi,/ us/ 1829. By .J Johnson /■'.si/' KB. This Sketch has iu> pretensions to geographical accuracy and only <i /"' of il/i- I'A/i-fs partiai/arly nun/ion,;/ in ///,■ Work are noted. Il/'i Irani the* " is presumed-, I//.// ///>■ focal positions "/ i/ir otjicrs nmv be easily guessed in ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT FLOODS IN THE PROVINCE OF MORAY IN AUGUST 1829.

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER. The heat in the province of Moray, during the months of May, June, and July 1829, was unusu ally great ; and, in the earlier part of that period, the drought was so excessive as to kill many of the re cently planted shrubs and trees. As the season ad vanced, the fluctuations of the barometer became very remarkable. But the usual alternations of weather did not always follow these oscillations : it often happened that the results were precisely the reverse of its prognostications, and observers of the instru ment began to lose all confidence in it. That these apparent derangements arose from certain electrical changes in the atmosphere, there can be little doubt. A The aurora borealis appeared with uncommon bril liancy about the beginning of July, and was frequently seen afterwards, being generally accompanied by windy and unsteady weather, the continued drought having been already interrupted during the previous month by sudden falls of rain, partaking of the character of waterspouts.

A very remarkable instance of one of these occur red on Sunday the 12th of July, at Kean-loch luichart, a little Highland hamlet, at the head of the lake of that name, in the parish of Contin, in Ross shire. The innkeeper of Auchanault, having taken shelter under an arch, suddenly beheld a moving mountain of soil, stones, and trees, coming slowly but steadily down the deep worn course of the little stream. He fled in terror. It reached the bridge, where its progress was for a moment arrested ; when bursting the feeble barrier that opposed it, on it rushed in dreadful devastation over the plain that bordered the lake below. It was church time. The children left at home were amusing themselves out of doors, and were miraculously preserved by escaping to a hillock ere the ruin reached the spot.

An insignifi cant rivulet, running to the west of the village, was so suddenly swollen, that the people coming from church found great difficulty in passing it. But, as they were on their way towards the larger stream, 300 yards to the eastward, they were alarmed by the fall of the bridge at some distance above the village* In an instant they found themselves between two impassable torrents, and they had barely time to save their lives by crowding to an elevated spot, where they remained till the waters subsided. The whole fury of the flood rushed directly against their devoted houses, and these, and every thing they contained, were at once annihilated, as well as their crops, together with the very soil they grew on ; and, after the debacle had passed away, the course of the burn ran through the ruined hearths of this so recently happy a community.

This waterspout did not extend be yond two miles on each side of the village, a circumstance that led these simple people to consider their calamity as a visitation of Providence for their landlord's vote in Parliament in favour of Catholic eman cipation. The deluge of rain that produced the flood of the 3d and 4th of August, fell chiefly on the Monadh leadh mountains, rising between the south-eastern part of Loch Ness, and Kingussie in Badenoch, and on that part of the Grampian range forming the somewhat independent group of the Cairngorums. The westerly winds, which prevailed for some time previously, seem to have produced a gradual accumu lation of vapour, somewhere north of our island ; and the column being suddenly impelled by a strong north-easterly blast, it was driven towards the south west, its right flank almost sweeping the Caithness a and Sutherland coasts, until, rushing up and across the Moray Firth, it was attracted by the lofty mountains I have mentioned, and discharged in torrents perfectly unexampled.

The facts which have come to my knowledge amply bear out this hypothesis. At Kirkwall, in Orkney, there was a violent storm of wind and rain on Monday the 3d of August. A si milar deluge was experienced at Wick, and much da mage was done in the parishes of Watten, Halkirk, and Latham. A few miles above the bridge of Wick, a boy was whirled off by the torrent, on a rick of hay, and carried down with great velocity, and was ultimately rescued with much difficulty. In Suther land and Ross-shire, both lying to the westward of the line I have described, as well as in the country to the north of Loch Ness, little or no injury was sustained. But the river Foyers, deriving its source from the very mountains that first received the co lumn of drifted vapour, was so highly flooded as to destroy White-bridge, which it did in a very singular manner, the outside walls and parapets being left en tire, while the roadway, arch, and all within, totally disappeared.

The rivers Nairn, Findhorn and Lossie, were all more or less affected by the flood, exactly in propor tion as they were more or less connected with the mountains in question. That part of the Spey which is above the line I have marked, was hardly swollen at all; whilst below Kingussie, it and its tributaries were elevated to an unexampled height ; and the Deveron, the Don, the Dee, and the two Esks, were each of them operated upon in a similar ratio. Many imagined that the fall of rain was not so great as to account for so tremendous a flood ; but this was a mistake, arising from the undefined form the rain assumed. For although, at certain times, it fell in heavy drops, yet it was, for the most part, broken by the blast into extremely minute particles. But these came down so thick, that the very air itself seemed to be descending in one mass of water upon the earth.

Nothing could withstand it. The best finished windows were ineffectual against it, and every room exposed to the north-east was deluged. The lesser animals, the birds, and especially game of all kinds, were destroyed in great numbers by the rain alone ; and the mother partridge, with her pro geny and her mate, were found chilled to death amidst the drenching wet. But the question as to the quantity of rain is settled by the accurate obser vations of Mr Murdoch, gardener to His Grace the Duke of Gordon at Huntly Lodge, who informs me that 3| inches of rain fell between five o'clock of the morning of the 3d, and five o'clock of the morning of the 4th of August ; that is to say, that, taking the average of the years from 1821 to 1828 inclusive, about one-sixth part of our annual allotvance of rain fell within these twenty-four hours ; and if such was the fall at so great a distance from the mountains, the deluge that descended on them must have been so enormous, as to lead us rather to wonder that a flood, even yet more tremendous in its magnitude and consequences, did not result from it.

That of the 27th of August, which may be called an appendix flood, was also preceded by westerly wind ; but, when it changed into the north, it still kept its hold of the west, and consequently the va pour was dispersed over the country to the north of Inverness. It affected the Nairn more than the first flood did, but the other rivers to the south were less raised by it. Its chief influence was on the rivers to the north of the Monadh-leadh group. The Black water flooded the whole valley of the Garve, inundated the inn to the depth of four feet, and compelled the shooting party of Messrs Dilkes and Woomwald to fasten safety ropes for 200 yards to a hill in front, the intervening space being covered with six feet of water. The River Alness did great damage to the estate of Teaninich, and the Beauly flooded the whole of Strathglass.

The burn of Moniack worked terri ble ruin in the beautiful place of that name, carried away a bridge, and very much alarmed Mr Fraser's family, by paying a most unwelcome visit to the house, and even intruding itself into the chamber of a gentleman who was lying sick of the scarlet fever. The damage at Moniack was valued at above £ 500, and the burn was equally injurious to Mr Fraser of Auchnagairn. The River Ness was, in some degree, affected on this occasion. Loch Mickly, in Glen- Urquhart, was considerably raised ; and the Mona, that runs into it, presented a grand spectacle where it throws itself over a fall of 100 feet, as it then filled the whole chasm 60 feet wide. The Enrick, which comes from the lake, damaged several cottages, in jured a bleachfield and fulling-mill, destroyed a bridge, and it and the Devah, another stream of the same valley, committed great havoc among the crops.

The Morriston, and the other rivers on the north side of Loch Ness, were all equally mischievous. On the south side of Loch Ness, the River Farri gaig was never known to be so high. It inundated Mr Fraser of Lovat's property to a great extent. It broke through the bulwarks of the mill-stream of Torness, surrounded the house, and entered it by the door and windows, and the miller and his family were heard during the night crying for help, which no one could yield them, till next morning, when they were extricated with very considerable risk. At the sum mer grazing of Killin, the herdsmen's huts were so instantaneously surrounded, that the inmates were compelled to flee to the best shelter they could find on the cold face of the neighbouring hill, where they remained all night. But they were happy in com parison with one family, who, being too late in at tempting to get away, were compelled to sit, man, wife, and children, on two old doors, propped up un der the roof, in terror and darkness, till relieved next day.

But the most wonderful escape in this district, was that of a poor woman, who, in attempting to cross the Calderburn on two narrow planks, below the house of Croachy, was carried off, bridge and all, and hurried down the stream about half a mile. Luckily she was kept floating by the buoyancy of her garments, until she was fortunately rescued by an accidental passenger. All the facts I have been able to collect, and they have not been few, have conspired to convince me, that the flood of the 3d and 4th of August was con siderably greater, and more destructive, than any flood that ever affected the same rivers, so far as re corded, or traditional information, is capable of in structing us. I believe this remark will apply to all the rivers I am about to treat of; but as to the Find horn and the Spey, the fact is unquestionably esta blished.

As the rise was less on former occasions, so the reign of terror was comparatively short, whereas the late flood was fearfully enduring. And where is there even a legend that tells of any of these rivers having ever before worked ruin so universal, or pro duced misery so extensive ? Nor is this wonderful. Any given quantity of rain must now produce a much greater flood than it could have done before the country became so highly improved. Formerly the rain drops were either evaporated on the hill side, or were sucked up by an arid or a spongy soil, before so many of them could coalesce as to form a rill. But when we consider the number of open cuts made to dry hill pastures — the numerous bogs reclaimed by drainage — the ditches of enclosure recently construct ed — and the long lines of roads formed with side drains, back drains, and cross conduits, we shall find, that, of late years, the country has been covered with a perfect net-work of courses, to catch and to con centrate the rain-drops as they fall, and to hurry them off in accumulated tribute to the next stream.

The very contemplation of the task I have under taken is deeply distressing. Nor is it without its difficulties. The united line of the rivers I have to travel over, cannot be less in extent than from 500 to 600 miles. Along the whole of this the march of ruin has been traced. Were I to follow it with minute description, I should swell this work to an infinitely greater bulk than is usually permitted to such subjects. I must therefore pass slightly over many circumstances that are too deeply traced on the minds of those who were connected with them, to be ever forgotten ; whilst to others I must allow larger limits than they may at first sight appear to be entitled to, that the m eagerness of narration may not prove fatal to the interest. Having visited the greater part of the flooded districts in person, I shall write about them very much from my own observa tion, aided, as it has been, by the ample oral and written information I have obtained ; and, in some cases, f shall, perhaps, bring forward the witnesses to tell their own story, rather than unravel its threads to interweave them with my own, at the risk of mar ring the texture of both.

As I conceive the present to be a work of too po pular a nature to be loaded with geological details, I shall confine my remarks on this subject chiefly to the changes produced by rivers in their channels and courses. For the same reason, I must reserve to my self a licence to notice such scraps of an historical, or traditional nature, as chance may have thrown in my way. I shall begin with the river Nairn, and shall follow its course from the mountains to the sea, and so on with the Findhorn, and the other rivers in succes sion. When I come to any important tributary stream, I shall discuss it in the same order, before pursuing my way down that to which it unites it self. The eye-sketch of the rivers has no pretensions to geographical accuracy, and is on a scale too small to admit of the insertion of all the places noticed, but enough will be found to render the narration more intelligible.

It is the work of my friend Mr John son, late of the Royal Artillery, to whom also I am indebted for the sketch of the deluged country, at the mouth of the Findhorn, perhaps the most im portant scene of action. The etchings with which the work is illustrated, were reduced from my own sketches, by Mr Alexander, the Artist, who hasflundly added some interesting subjects from drawings made by himself at the time *. The view of Dun phail is from a sketch by Mrs Cumming Bruce. * These are — Randolph's Bridge ; Relugas after the flood ; Bridge of Findhorn • Houses of Stripeside during the flood ; View of do. from the south ; House of the three old women at the Burn of Moy ; Cottage of old Cumin's family • Houses of Broom of Moy after the Flood ■ Funns and his family in the middle of the flood ; Tannachy House and the flooded plain of Forres.

FROM THE HILLS TO BELOW GEDDES. The River Nairn, running through a straight line of country, of somewhat more than 30 miles in ex tent, but of much longer course in its sinuosities, drains off the waters from a small part of the Mo nadh-leadh group. The scenery of its upper district is of a bold high-land character, its valley being of considerable width, chiefly cultivated and smiling, and bounded by birch-fringed hills, grandly massed, and everywhere exhibiting singularly picturesque outlines. The rain in this upper country began on Sunday evening the 2d, and continued, with little or no in termission, till Tuesday the 4th. The Nairn, and the other streams of the valley, rushed from the mountains, filled with gravel and stones, and com mitted great havoc on many farms, especially on that of Mains of Aberarder, where seven hands were able to reap, in one day, all that remained of a crop for which L. 150 of rent was payable.

The fulling-mill of Faillie was the sport of both floods. The first car ried a huge heavy mass of machinery down to Can tray, nine miles below, whence it was, with much la bour, brought back to its high-land home ; but it was hardly well established there, when the flood of the 27th bore it away on a second expedition, and landed it at Kilravock, after a voyage of eleven miles. Colonel Mackintosh of Farr suffered considerably from the Fernac, a large tributary of the Nairn. Some years ago he cut a straight channel for the river, for above a mile in length ; and it may be useful to those exposed to such devastations, to know that he succeeded in securing the banks of it, by felling alder trees, and applying them with the bole part towards the bank, and the branches protruding ob liquely in the direction of the stream, layer over layer, the whole being secured by placing very large stones above them.

Every rise of the water deposites sand along this work, till a sodded bank is naturally formed, so smooth and solid as perfectly to resist the current. No part of this yielded before the recent floods, and all the damage Colonel Macintosh received from them, was occasioned by a breach made by the river, at a point considerably above the en trance to the new cut. Two bridges were carried away on the Parliamen tary line of road ; one at Dunmaglass, and the other, of two arches, over the burn of Aultrouagh, that joins the Nairn from the right. The cause of failure of this last bridge, was want of size and accuracy of fit ting of the stones, where strength to resist the force of the torrent was most requisite. The road from Farr to Craggy leads along the base of some alluvial hills, about 100 feet high, very extensive, and very curious.

They lie above the primitive rocks, here showing themselves in red gra nitic masses, rising at intervals through the level plain where the river flows. These hills are evidently the remains of a vast alluvial plain, cut away through the course of ages by the Nairn and its tributaries. The plain itself was probably the result of the deposites of a great lake that covered this up per country of Strathnairn, until gradually drained off by the natural excavation of the ravine of Davoit. The burn of Craggy comes in from the right. The little inn of that name, standing very picturesquely, and apparently beyond all danger, on the top of a green alluvial bank, amidst irregularly dropped birches, and surrounded by birch-covered knolls, formed, with its bridge below it, a very beautiful scene. But the flood of the 27th carried away the bridge, cut the bank into a high perpendicular precipice, and was only prevented from undermining and bringing down the inn by the accidental fall of a tree, with a quantity of soil attached to its roots, which turned the force of the torrent, proving the be neficial effects of this description of guard when ap plied in the proper place. page 15 PLATE I PLATE r Tia.l FLg.2.

FROM THE HILLS TO BELOW GEDDES. The mill of Clava, on the right bank, was de stroyed by the first flood, and was rebuilt and repaired exactly in time to be again demolished by the flood of the 27th. The plain of Clava may be al most denominated the Scottish Stonhenge, being covered with Druidical circles of great magnitude. The largest of these, like several of the others, con sists of one external circle of stones, with a smaller concentric circle within it, enclosing, and in some de gree supporting, a great cairn. This was lately opened *, and a curious circular apartment was discovered, measuring 12 feet in diameter, the wall con verging to the pentre in a rude dome (Plate I.), about 12 feet high, the foundation being formed of fourteen large stones, surmounted by courses of uncemented masonry, each stone placed immediately over that below it, and not over the division between two, as is commonly the case in mason-work.