Lossiemouth
LOSSIEMOUTH, a police burgh of Elginshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 3904. It embraces the villages of Lossiemouth, Branderburgh and Stotfield, at the mouth of the Lossie, 5! 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 1700; 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 oi 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, 2\ 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 Daronet 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 14.70. 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.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
