Print

MHG2593 - Township - 'Craskie' or 'Ballindumbuy', Glen Moriston

Summary

No summary available.

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

A depopulated township, 14 buildings, corn-drying kiln and several enclosures; called 'Craskie' on Roy's MS Map of Scotland 1745-1763. Visited by OS 2nd June 1964.

The core of the township was Scheduled by Historic Scotland in 2007.

What may have been the northern part of its boundary is visible as a low linear earthwork on vertical aerial photography (see MHG65887). The other boundaries are likely to have been watercourses, but there have been significant changes to their courses so the original boundaries are difficult to discern, apart from the southern boundary which is likely to have been the River Moriston. <1> <2> <3>

NOTE: the OS and subsequently the NRHE and the 2007 Scheduling description name this township 'Craskie'. On the Roy Military Survey maps, 'Craskie' is shown to lie on the west side of a burn, which in comparison with modern OS maps, might be presumed to be the Allt nan Muic, however, the currently indicated location of 'Craskie' is on the east side of the Allt na Muic. Roy does show a township on the east side of the burn labelled 'Ballindumbuy'. However, there is clearly something amiss here as the closest settlement to the east of 'Craskie' should actually be Balnacarn (see MHG23079), but this is shown by Roy even further to the east and labelled 'Balnagarn'. The modern farmstead/settlement of Balintombuie (the presumed modern spelling of Roy's 'Ballindumbuy' and see MHG23080) lies to the east of Balnacarn and is shown at this location on the OS 1st Edition map. Roy also shows another settlement labelled 'Balintom' to the southeast of 'Balnagarn' (Balnacarn), which would actually be the correct postioning if 'Balintom' should actually be 'Balintombuie'. This confusing situation is not helped by Roy's depiction of the larger watercourses that flow from the north and where he places the various settlements in relation to them. Both Roy and the OS 1st Edition (and modern OS) show three. On Roy, the westernmost joins the central one to the north of the various settlements by way of a bend which takes its course eastwards. This is not how they are depicted on later mapping where all three follow their own separate courses southwards. Further, the (former) presence of an eastwards running watercourse is not supported in modern contour rendering. It may have been possible to compare the Roy settlement locations with their modern positions relative to bends in the River Moriston to the south and likewise by other features and settlements including those on the south side of the River. However, it is clear there have been some changes in its course over the years and Roy unhelpfully does not name some of the settlements south of the river. To take a slightly wider area, in a line running from west to east, Roy places settlements in the order 'Tomcraskie', 'Craskie', 'Ballendumbuy', 'Balnagarn' and 'Ballintom'. The OS 1st Edition and modern order would be 'Tomchrasky', 'Craskie', 'Balnacarn' and Balintombuie', with 'Ballintom' unlocated, presuming it existed and wasn't actually supposed to be 'Balintombuie'. The actual location of Balintombuie should not really be in doubt as its name refers to 'Tom Bhuide', a small hill which is located just to the south-southeast of the current farmstead. What is apparent is that Roy has incorrectly depicted the courses of the various burns and the settlements beside them and has transposed the names of at least two settlements and possibly created another where one may not have existed. [IS-L 15/05/2026].

Sources/Archives (3)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 2697 1285 (619m by 669m)
Map sheet	NH21SE
Civil Parish	URQUHART AND GLENMORISTON
Geographical Area	INVERNESS

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Investigations/Events (0)

External Links (2)