ELGINSHIRE, MO'RAYSIIIRE, or MURRAYSITIRE, a 'maritime co. in the n.e. of Scot land, on the Moray firth. It contains 531 sq.m., and is 30 in. long and 20 m. broad. About a third part was formerly cut off on the s. by a detached part of Inverness-shire; hut by an act of parliament, passed in 1870, this part was annexed to Inverness-shire, and a part of the intervening portion of Inverness-shire, of about the same extent, rental, and population, was annexed to Elginshire. In the s. are the high and rugged Monadhliadh mountains of Inverness-shire, dividing the basins of the Spey and Find horn, and forking in the n. to include the basin of the Lossie. In the s., gneiss predom inates, with a little granite; and in the n., sandstone with fish and reptilian remains, and small patches of oolitic and Wealden strata. West of the Findhorn mouth are the sand-dunes of Culbin, 3 sq.m. in extent, some of them rising 118 feet. Great masses of peat and trunks of trees are often cast ashore near the mouth of the Find horn. The climate is mild and dry, and the co. has been called the Devonshire of Scotland, the mountains of Aberdeenshire and Banffshire protecting it from the cold moist winds of the German ocean. The soil is open, sandy, and gravelly, and very fertile in the n., with some deep learns and clays, In 1878, nearly a third of the co. 104,274 acres—was under crop, the chief crops being oats, barley, and turnips. Pop. 71. 43,612, chiefly agriculturists. The chief exports are grain, cattle, salmon, and timber. There are some manufactures of woolens and malt liquors. E. unites with Nairnshire in sending one member to parliament. It contains 14 entire parishes, and 8 parts of parishes. In 1871, 84.87 per cent of children, from 5 to 13 years, were receiv ing education. The total valuation of. E., including the burghs' of Elgin and Forres, was, for 1877-78, £223,279; this includes railways. The ancient province of Moray :included the counties of Elgin and Nairn, and parts of those of Inverness and Banff.
Scandinavians early. settled in it. About 1160, Malcolm IV. subdued it. The chief .antiquities are Elgin cathedral, Spynie castle, Duffus castle, Pluscarden abbey, Kinloss abbey, and the Norman parish church of Birnie. Burghead, on the coast, is supposed by many to have been a Roman station, but its ramparts and ditches, now almost destroyed, were probably of more recent origin. It was the last stronghold of the Norsemen in this part of Scotland. E. was overrun in the civil wars of Montrose, 1645, etc.
ELI, the high-priest of Israel in the latter part of the period during which the ark of the covenant remained at Shiloh. That he was of the family of Ithamar, the youngest son of Aaron, is shown by comparing several passages of Scripture. He was probably the first high-priest in that branch of Aaron's family. His sons having died before him, the office passed to his grandson, Ahitub, and continued in his family until Solomon removed Abiathar and made Zadoc, a descendant of Eleazar, high-priest. Eli was also judge over Israel for a period of 40 years, beginning, probably, soon after the death of Samson, and extending to his own death. If his languid reproofs of the wickedness of his sons were fair specimens of his general administration, he must have been a very inefficient magistrate. The divine judgment came at length on his house for the iniquity which he knew was practiced but did not strive to arrest. His sons made them selves vile, and he restrained them not, The sentence against them, pronounced first by a prophet and afterwards by the child Samuel, was executed in a battle with the Philistines, during which the ark of God was taken and the dissolute priests were slain. When Eli, then 98 years old, heard the news, he fell backward from his seat and died,