Kinlochspelve

   KINLOCHSPELVE, lately a quoad sacra district, in the parish of Torosay, district of Mull, county of Argyll; containing 453 inhabitants. This district is in the eastern part of the island of Mull, and comprises between thirty and forty thousand acres, of which not more than the one-fortieth part is under tillage; between forty and fifty acres are under plantation; a considerable extent is natural wood, and the rest mostly sheep-walks. Two arms of the sea, called Loch Buy and Loch Spelve, may be said to divide the district into two nearly equal parts, and, with very moderate exceptions, the whole surface of the land is mountainous. In the northern division the mountains attain an elevation of about two thousand feet, and in the southern part they are twelve hundred feet in height: the prevailing rocks are trap and mica-slate, but there is also sandstone. During the spring months, cod and salmon, particularly the former, are taken in considerable quantity; and Loch Buy abounds in fish of various kinds: the produce of the season is partly forwarded to Glasgow, and much of it to Oban. The sheep and black-cattle reared here are sent to the great markets of the south, principally the Dumbarton and Falkirk trysts. The mansion of Lochbuy, the residence of the Maclaine family, is a splendid structure at the head of the loch, with two wings, and a handsome porch; the central portion has three stories. It stands in a level plain of several hundred acres, from which the mountains rise to an immense height all around, except in front, where the sea approaches. The ecclesiastical affairs are under the presbytery of Mull and synod of Argyll, and the patronage is vested in the Crown: the stipend of the minister is £120, with a manse and glebe. The church is a neat plain building, beautifully situated at the end of the romantic fresh-water lake named Loch Uisge, and in a narrow vale with an aspect to the south; it was erected in 1828, and is seated for 360 persons. There is a parochial school, of which the master has a salary of £15., with about £8 fees.