Kingston-Port

   KINGSTON-PORT, a village, in the parish of Speymouth, county of Elgin, 4½ miles (N. by W.) from Fochabers; containing 396 inhabitants. This village is seated at the mouth of the Spey, and, with the exception of a few houses, has been built within the last forty years. The original dwellings were mostly of wood, and were erected for the accommodation of the workmen of Messrs. Dodsworth and Osbourne, timbermerchants and ship-builders, by whom the place was named Kingston-Port, after Kingston-upon-Hull, in the county of York. These gentlemen, having purchased the forest of Glenmore from the Duke of Gordon, about the year 1784, commenced building numerous vessels here, several of them of the burthen of 500, 600, and 700 tons; and various other builders, following their example, have since launched as many as 150 vessels at this place, of from thirty to 200 tons each. The trade in timber has latterly very much declined, the forest having been exhausted about thirty years ago; but the commerce of the port is still considerable. In a recent year 200 vessels sailed hence, of which onefourth were loaded with grain, chiefly wheat and oats, for the southern parts of Scotland and for England; and in the same year were imported forty cargoes of Scotch coal, and twenty of English coal from Sunderland. The harbour suffered very severely from the memorable flood on the 4th of August, 1829; and as the channel is shifted by the occasional heavy action of the sea, and the gravelly nature of the soil renders it impracticable to obtain a secure foundation for a pier, the improvement of the port is difficult. The village of Garmouth closely adjoins Kingston.