Manufactures, Mills, &c.-The principal branches of manufacture carried on in the parish are spinning and weaving. The women fpin with both hands.-Befides the flax raised in the parish, confiderable quantities of foreign flax are spun; and the yarn is either wove in the parish and neighbourhood, or fent to Dundee. Confiderable quantities of household cloth are wove here, and about 50,000 yards of yard-wides, part of which is bleached in the neighbouring parish of Rattray; but a greater proportion is fold in the village of BlairGowrie, and fent green to London. There are 7 meal mills, 2 lint mills, and I fulling mill in the parish. The rate of multure paid at the meal mills, is, in general, about a twelfth part of what is ground. Cattle. A good number of horfes are reared in the parish. They are of very different fizes and value. A confiderable proportion of them are very good draught horses, but a still greater proportion are small and ill kept. The former kind are worth from 15 1. to 25 1. each; the latter, from 81. to 121. Many black cattle are also reared in the parish. Those in the northern diftrict are very fmall, but they are confiderably larger in the other. Great numbers are fold out of the parish, when 3 or 4 years old, particularly of the stets. The stock of sheep is much diminished. They are mostly of the white-faced kind, of a very small fize, and are fold at from 6s. to 9 s. a-piece. Their wool fells at about 14 s. per ftone. From 8 to 10 fleeces go to a ftone. Too little attention is paid to this valuable animal in this parifh. Prices of Provifions and Labour.—A boll of oat meal, weighing 8 ftones, fells, at an average, at from 14s. 8 d. to 16 s.; a boll of wheat at 20 s.; barley at 15 s.; oats at 13 s.; and peafe at 13 s. 4 d. Beef, mutton, and pork, are fold at from 3 d. to 4 d. per lib. Dutch weight. Little good veal is fold in the parish. A hen fells at from 10 d. to 1 s.; a chicken at 4 d.; eggs at 3 d. per dozen; butter from 8 d. to 9 d. per lib.; and cheese according to its quality and age. A daylabourer receives, during three months in the year, 6 d. per day, and 8 d. during the other months, with his maintenance, Mafons and wrights, when they furnish their own provifions, receive 1 s. 8 d. A good plough-man receives from 81. to 101.; a maid-fervant 3 1. with the crop of 2 lippies of lint feed fown in her master's ground, or an equivalent for it, if he be not a farmer. Ecclefiaftical State, Schools, &c.-The ftipend, as fixed by a decreet of the Court of Teinds, in 1791, is 5 chalders of grain, two thirds meal and one third, bear, with 45 I. Sterling of money, and 51. for communion elements. The glebe contains 9 acres, of which 4 are good foil; the other 5, lately obtained in lieu of grafs ground, are of an inferior quality, and at a confiderable distance from the manfe. The right of patronage is vefted in Colonel Allan Macpherson of Blair Gowrie, and Colonel William Lindsay of Spynie, in confequence of his marriage with one of the co-heireffes of Ardblair. The church ftands on high ground, about 200 yards north from the village of Blair-Gowrie, having a deep den, planted with different kinds of trees, immediately behind it. It was built in 1767, and is a plain substantial edifice, at present in good repair, but cold in winter. It would be much improved with being ceiled, and having porches at the doors, which are in the ends of it. The manfe and a fet of offices were built in 1771; but the offices were fo ill executed, that, after the prefent incumbent was fettled, it was found more expedient to rebuild than repair the greater part of them, which was accordingly done. Both manfe and offices offices are now in good order, as are alfo the school and school-house. There is one established school in the parish, in which reading English, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, and fome branches of mathematics are taught. From 30 to 50 fcholars attend, according to the season of the year. The present teacher, who has long taught fuccessfully, lately obtained a small augmentation of salary; but even with this addition, it is only 200 merks. The school fees are, per quarter, I s. for reading English; I s. 6 d. for writing, arithmetic, and Latin. The whole emoluments, exclufive of a free house, do not exceed 22 1. a year, a reward by no means adequate to the abilities and application of fo important an office. There is one charity school occasionally taught in the head of the parish. In the winter feafon, there are two or three private schools kept up by the tenants, in corners remote from the parochial school.. Poor. There are no begging poor belonging to the parish. For many years past, the average number on the poor's roll has been 14. The heritors and kirk-feffion meet twice a year to settle the roll. From 29. to 5 s. are given to each monthly, according to their respective circumstances. They alfo receive occafional donations, especially in winter. Occafional charities are likewise given to individuals, and families not on the roll, which is attended with good effects, and often prevents them from coming on it. The fund for the fupport of the poor arifes from the intereft of a small stock, from the collections at the church doors, from the dues of the mort-cloths, and from the rent of the feats in the galleries of the church, amounting in all to about 351. Sterling. The fum expended has not varied very much for thefe 16 years paft, except in 1783, when it was much greater, than in any other year of the period mentioned. The members of the kirk-feffion are very careful careful in guarding, on the one hand, againft impofition, and, on the other; that no neceffitous perfon be neglected *. Though there are no.begging poor belonging to the parifh, yet the parishioners are much oppreffed with beggars and vagrants from other diftricts, many of whom are very worthleis. Village and Markets, &c.-The village of Blair-Gowrie is pleasantly fituated on the north fide of Strathmore, almost close upon the river Ericht. It was made a borough of barony, by a charter from Charles I. in 1634. The whole of it belongs, in property or fuperiority, to Colonel Allan McPherfun, who is proprietor of about a fourth part of the parish. The fituation of the village is very healthy, and it is well fupplied with water. There are 3 fairs held in it annually, and fome attempts have been made to have a weekly market in it, but with little fuccefs. The village is well fupplied with butcher meat and other articles. It has increased very much within thefe few years. As it is fituated on a military road, any of the inhabitants may retail ale and spirits, on payings. annually. There are no lefs than 19 dram-shops in it, which must be attended with bad confequences to the mosals of the people. Bleach field, Cloth, Stamp office, &c.-There is a bleach-field in the parish of Rattray, about a mile from Blair-Gowrie. The cloth is whitened as it is fent from different quarters. AVOL. XVII. bout In 1782, the harvest was late, and the crop was much injured. In 1783, the meal was fearce and high priced. The kinkfe flion employed the poor's flock in purchafing meal at a diftance, which was fold at prime coft. A fmall proportion of the barley meal, voted by Parliament for the relief of the Highlands, was fent to this parish. Many of the heritors provided good feed corn for their tenants, where it was neceffary. bout 50,000 may be the average number of yards annually woye in the parish. The cloth fells at about 8 d. per yard. Confiderable quantities of household cloth, and fome Heffian ftuffs are also wove in the district.-There was formerly a ftamp-office for ftamping cloth in the village. This was discontinued for fome years, but was again established in 1785. The following abftract was taken from the books, containing the number of yards ftamped for the laft 8 years; and refers not only to the cloth wove in the parish of Blair-Gowrie, but alfo to what comes from the neighbouring parishes, as well as to what is whitened at the bleach-field. State of Property, Inclosures, &c.—There are 22 heritors, and a great many feuers in the village of Blair-Gowrie. Only one of the greater heritors refides in the parish. Many of them are poffeffed of confiderable eftates in other parishes. Moft of the fmaller proprietors refide upon, and farm part of their own property. The real rent cannot, therefore, be eafily afcertained. Good ground, in farms, gives from 15 s. to 21 s. and fome of it 30s. per acre. The land around the village lets at from 30 s. to 43 s. The number of acres in the parifh is not known, as part of it has not been measured. Some progrefs has been made in inclofing, within thefe 6 years, but ftill at least three fourths of the parish lie open, and very few farms have been fubdivided. The inglofures are either ftone |