Dunmore

   DUNMORE, a village, in the parish of Airth, county of Stirling, 8 miles (E. by S.) from Stirling; containing 153 inhabitants. It is situated on the south-west side of the Frith of Forth, and on the road from Airth to Stirling, and has a harbour, now a calling-place for the Stirling steamers. The village is small and of rather mean appearance, but the scenery around it is peculiarly beautiful, and the high grounds in the vicinity finely contrast with the almost level plain of the rest of the parish. Formerly an extensive coal-mine was in operation, but the works were relinquished about the year 1810, when more than thirty families removed from the neighbourhood. Dunmore Park is the handsome seat of the Earl of Dunmore, the head of a branch of the noble family of Murray, dukes of Atholl, Lord Charles Murray, second son of John, first marquess of Atholl, having been created, in 1686, Earl of Dunmore, Viscount Fincastle, and Lord Murray of Blair, Moulin, and Tillemot. The present mansion was erected about twenty years since; it is a large building in the Elizabethan style, and stands on an expansive lawn, surrounded by grounds tastefully laid out, and richly planted with timber of various kinds and growth. Here is an ancient tower, one of three in the parish. On the summit of Dunmore hill, which is of considerable height, are the remains of a strong fortification; and in digging a few years since, an anchor was found imbedded in the soil, at least half a mile from the present course of the river.