Perthshire

PERTHSHIRE, inland county, Scotland, bounded north by the shires of Inverness and Aberdeen; east by Angus; south east by the Firth of Tay and the counties of Fife and Kinross; south by the shires of Clackmannan and Stirling ; south-west by the counties of Stirling and Dumbarton ; west by Argyllshire and north-west by Inverness-shire. It is the fourth largest county in Scotland, having an area of 1,595,802 ac. (excluding water). By far the greater part is mountainous belonging to the highland area of Dalradian schists and metamorphosed rocks, with granite masses and numerous volcanic dikes. Including the hills on the confines of Inverness-shire and Argyllshire, there are at least 5o mountains exceeding 3,00o ft. in height. Of these the most fa miliar are Ben Lawers (3,984 ft.) near Loch Tay, Ben More (3,843) east of Crianlarich, Ben Lui (3,708) on the Argyllshire border, Schiehallion (3,547) south of Loch Rannoch, Ben Van noch (3,125) west of Loch Lyon, and Ben Chonzie (3,048) near the head of Glen Almond. Of the immense number of hills of lesser altitude there may be mentioned four made famous through the Lady of the Lake—Ben Ledi (2,875) and Uam Var (2,179) near Callander, and Ben Venue (2,393) and Ben A'an (1,750), guardians of the Trossachs. The rocks of most of the remainder of the county are of Old Red Sandstone age, this formation being cut off from the Dalradian schists by the great fault which crosses the county north of Aberfoyle and Crieff. The Ochils divide Perthshire from the shires of Clackmannan, Kinross and Fife.

The chief river is the Tay, which rises on the Argyllshire fron tier and discharges into the North sea off Buddon Ness, after a course of 117 m., being thus the longest river in Scotland. Its head-waters are the Fillan and Dochart, and among its affluents are, on the right, the Bran, Almond and Earn and, on the left, the Lyon, Tummel, rising in Argyllshire and receiving the Garry on its left, and Isla. The Earn flows out of Loch Earn and en ters the Firth of Tay 61 m. below Perth. The Forth, the principal natural boundary of the shire on the south, properly belongs to Stirlingshire, in which it rises, but its leading left-hand affluents are Perthshire rivers, namely, the Teith, the Goodie, issuing from the lake of Menteith, and the Allan, rising in the Ochils near Sheriffmuir.

All the lakes are narrow, scarcely one exceeding a mile in width. Loch Ericht, belonging partly to Inverness-shire, is 144 m. long.

Loch Tay (141 m. long), situated about the centre, is the largest lake in the county. In the south are the series of lakes which the Lady of the Lake has rendered famous—Loch Vennachar m. long), Loch Achray (r+ m. long), Loch Katrine (about 8 m. long) ; to the west of Aberfoyle is Loch Ard (3 m. long) and to the east Lake Menteith m. long). Nearly all the glens possess striking natural features, among them, from south to north, being Glens Artney, Almond, Dochart, Ogle, Lochay, Lyon, Garry, Shee, Bruar and Tilt ; while the Trossachs, Killiecrankie, Birnam and Leny are the loveliest passes in the Highlands. The low-lying country is represented mainly by Strathmore, Strath Gartney, Strathallan, noted for its annual "gathering" or games, Strathearn, Strath Bran, Strath Tay and Strath Fillan, but more particularly by the fertile alluvial belts of the Carse of Gowrie, a raised marine platform on the northern shore of the Firth of Tay and the Carse of Stirling.

Agriculture and Industries.

The arable land is chiefly in the drier regions of the east and south-east, the soil for the most part being fertile. Light soils prevail in the lower undulating districts ; clay and alluvial land occur in the Carse of Gowrie, the Carse of Stirling and the lower reach of Strathearn below and above Bridge of Earn. The best heavy carse land is very rich and productive, but requires to be thoroughly worked, limed and manured, being well adapted for wheat. The number of hold ings is slightly in excess of 4,000 and of these over one-third are under 5o ac. each. Perthshire, with Argyllshire, carries the heaviest flocks of sheep in Scotland. Blackfaced is the principal breed in the Grampians, but there is also a large number of Cheviots and South Downs. In Breadalbane and Menteith there are remains of the ancient Caledonian forest, but little of the county is under wood, though considerable afforestation was carried out during the 19th century by large landowners. The lochs and rivers abound with salmon and trout, while hardly any of the streams have suf fered pollution from industries or manufactures. The deer forests, of which the four largest cover some 90,00o ac., are frequented by red deer and roe deer, and on the extensive moors and in the woods are found grouse, pheasants, partridge, capercailzie, woodcock, ptarmigan and hares.