Toe population of Morayshire amounted, in 1755, to 13 982 ; in 1797, to 14,445; in 1801, to 26,705 ; and, in 1811, to 28,108.
The agliculture of Morayshire was not neglected during the dark ages, but ndlls were erected in the year 1200; carts were used, and breweries established, in 1225; and gardens formed in 1232 ; [cases wet e also granted for five and three lives, in the years 1378 and 1390. The culture of wheat in Scotland was increased by an 'act of Parliament about 500 years ago, which compelled every farmer who had four yoke of oxen to sow one bushel of wheat ; and, in 1565, James Ogilvie, of Findlater, produced on his farm 30 bolls of wheat ; and the bishop of Moray bud the same year, according to his rental, 10 bolls. This circumstance proves that the agriculture of Moray was in a higher state of im provement at this period than that of some of the coun ties in the north of England, where wheat was not in troduced until more than a century after. The convul sions occasioned by the Reformation prevented the in habitants of Moray from attending to their agriculture ; and it was in such a situation, after the struggle carri ed on for prelacy by four successive monarchs, as to be almost wholly abandoned during the seven unfavourable seasons which took place towards the latter part of the 17th century, and the beginning of the 18th. Thou sands of the inhabitants of this county perished at that time, in the high-ways and streets, in consequence of mere hunger. The magistracy of Elgin established a police for burying, every morning, the bodies of those miserable beings w Ito had fallen victims in the streets to the famine during the night. The bier on which the dead of the adjoining parish of Urquhart were carried to their graves still temains; and it is an ascertained fact, that their ordinary attire served both for the coffin and the shroud.
The surplus oats and barley of this county are sent to Dundee or Leith, and the wheat, amounting to 8 or 10,000 quarters, to London. Salmon are sold to the extent of 25,0001. and other articles produce 30,0001. The facilities of commerce will be increased, and the navigation rendered less dangerous, by forming a har bou• at Burgh-head. Woollen manufactories are esta blished in this district, and some of the workmen are from Yorkshire. Nearly 60,000 stones of wool are card ed in the counties of Moray and Nairn, and manufactur ed for plaiding and domestic purposes. A manufacture of cotton is also established in this county.
There are many druidical cairns, on which sacrifice was offered by the druids, about five feet high and thirty feet in circumference, surrounded with stones fixed in the ground, for preventing them from falling. There are also several mounts or motes, which were the seat on which the druids determined questions in law and property ; and in Gaelic they are called tonzavoed, or court-hill, and in the south, laws, as North Berwick Law, &c. There are also strong holds called duns and sand•hillocks, where, by means of a large fire, they sum moned their warriors to repel the invading enemy. The Romans soon relinquished this province (the inha truants of which they called Vacomagi, and its firth, Vararis,) which could neither gratify their avarice nor ambition; and on this account the only remains of their power are of a military nature. Baths, roads, and in scriptions, which belong to a tranquil age, are not to be found here. Fortified chains of communications, whose origin may be traced to a later period, extend from Burgh to the East Sea by Duffus, &c. to Garrao in the Meares. One of the most magnificent obelisks in Scot land, being 20 feet high and 4 Woad, is situated nearly half a mile to the north-east of Forres. On its eastern side there are 6 divisions, whereon are represented horses with their riders, and infantry with bows and arrows, swords, and targets. In the fourth division several men armed with spears guard a number of hu man heads under a canopy; and in the 6th there is the appearance of horses seized, riders beheaded, and heads thrown under an arched cover. It is supposed to have been erected either as a memorial of the assassination of King Duff, or of a battle fought by King Malcolm II. of Scotland against the Danes in 1008. The ruins of the royal forts at Elgin and Forres still exist. The religious houses in this province are numerous. The cathedral at the east end of Elgin is the noblest speci men of Gothic architecture in the county. The mag nificence of the building, the elegance of the sculpture, and the uniformity of the design, afford a lasting monu tnent of the labour and ingenuity of the middle ages. Its length is 264 feet, and the height of the centre tower and spire is 198. The model resembles that of the cathedral at Litchfield, but on a larger scale, and with more ornament. The priory of Pluscardine pre serves the plan of the building entire, and the whole oc cupies neatly 12 acres.