Bible Encyclopedias
Lossiemouth

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

Search for…

Enter query below:

or

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Prev Entry
Los Islands

Next Entry
Lossnitz

Resource Toolbox

Print Article

a police burgh of Elginshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 3904. It embraces the villages of Lossiemouth, Branderburgh and Stotfield, at the mouth of the Lossie, 51 m. N.N.E. of Elgin, of which it is the port, by a branch line of the Great North of Scotland railway. The industries are boatbuilding and fishing. Lossiemouth. or the Old Town, dates from 170o; Branderburgh, farther north, grew with the harbour and began about 1830; Stotfield is purely modern and contiguous to the splendid golf-course. The cliffs at Covesea, 2 m. W., contain caves of curious shape. Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstown used one as a stable in the rebellion of 1745; weapons of prehistoric man were found in another, and the roof of a third is carved with ornaments and emblems of early Celtic art.

Kinneddar Castle in the parish of Drainie - in which Lossiemouth is situated - was a seat of the bishops of Moray, and Old Duffus Castle, 22 m. S.W., was built in the reign of David II. The estate of Gordonstown, close by, was founded by Sir Robert Gordon (1580-1656), historian of the Sutherland family, and grandfather of the baronet who, because of his inventions and scientific attainments, was known locally as "Sir Robert the Warlock" (1647-1704). Nearly midway between Lossiemouth and Elgin stand the massive ruins of the palace of Spynie, formerly a fortified residence of the bishops of Moray. "Davie's Tower," 60 ft. high with walls 9 ft. thick, was built by Bishop David Stewart about 1470. The adjacent loch is a favourite breeding-place for the sea-birds, which resort to the coast of Elginshire in enormous numbers. A mile S.E. of the lake lies Pitgaveny, one of the reputed scenes of the murder of King Duncan by Macbeth.