From its situation, this parish was long exposed to scenes of turbulence and blood. When the carses were a morass, the narrow space between them and the Lennox hills afforded the chief, if not the only line of communication between the northern and southern parts of the island, nearly cut asunder by the Friths of Clyde and Forth. Nor is it till you reach this parish, that there are any fords at which men or horses can pass the Forth; and even now, there are no bridges lower down than that of Stirling. Our neighbourhood to the Roman wall, and the Roman road, which ran for seven or eight miles through the parish, might be thought favourable to civilization, and so they would had the province Vespasiana been retained. But this province existed only a few years. In the year 209, Severus lost 50,000 men in attempting to recover it; and on his failure, it is believed that the woods between the wall and Forth were cut down by the Roman; thus desolating the country, to prevent it from sheltering the natives in their incursions against them. if this district was in a turbulent state during the time of the Romans, it was not likely to be much improved during the long and dark period which succeeded their departure. When Scotland, with a portion of the north of England, was divided into four kingdoms, the Northumbrians and Cumbrians on the south, the Picts and Scots on the north,-this parish, with a great part of Stirlingshire, was, as in the days of the Roman; a battle-field on which these nations contended,-a sort of border debateable ground, which sometimes belonged to one nation and sometimes to another. Even after Scotland was united, and Stirling became a fortified town and a royal residence, little was added to the peace or improvement of the neighbourhood. Contests about succession to the crown introduced the English, who, like the Roman; wished to bring the country under their subjection, and in prosecution of this object, shed much of their own blood as well as that of the natives. The Roman road appears to have been employed by different armies in marching through this parish; and it was opposite to Kildean, the point at which that road first reaches the Forth, that the battle of Stirling, or more correctly of Corntown, was fought in 1297. The Scots were commanded by Wallace, and the English by Lord Surrey and Cressingham. Part of the English army had crossed the bridge, which was of wood, and so narrow as to admit of only two men abreast, when they were at-tacked and routed by the Scots. It has be en questioned whether the bridge was broken down by accident or design, or, indeed, if it was broken down at all. The water at the ford is not above two feet deep at low water, and Wallace's dexterity was displayed in attacking, when only a part of them had crossed the river. Cressingham was slain, Lord Surrey, who was on the south bank, fled with the remainder of the army, but was speedily pursued, over-taken, and severely defeated at Torwood. About seventeen years after, Edward himself, with a great army, advanced towards Stirling by the same road. The English are said to have encamped at the Roman station at West Plean, the night before the battle; and on the 24th of June 1314, was gained one of the most complete victories ever obtained by the Scots over their oppressors. All the facts, and varied controversies, about the battle of Bannockburn are so well known, as to render any detail unnecessary. These were contests between rival nations; but on the 11th of June 1448, was fought the battle of Sauchie, between James III. and his rebellious subjects. A stone is still pointed out, not far from the modern house of Sauchie, in which it is said that the standard was fixed; and a large cairn of stones in the neighbourhood was probably raised over the bodies of the slain. The field is little more than a mile from the Bored Stone, and about two miles and a .half from St Ninians. The King fled from the battle, was thrown from his horse at Milton; and the house into which he was carried, and where he was slain, is still shown. In the minority of James VI., some of the bloody scenes transacted in Stirling extended also to this parish. In 1511, the Earl of Lennox, the King's grandfather, held a Parliament in Stirling, a party from Edinburgh marched during the night, and attacked them unexpectedly next morning. In the scuffle, the Regent received his deadly wound at Newhouse, between St Ninians and Stirling. The spot was marked by a heap of stones and rubbish, which was removed in 1758, when the road was improved. In the days or Cromwell and Charles II., though no battle was fought in this parish, it was 'harassed by the contending armies marching through it, or encamping in its neighbourhood. A century has nearly elapsed since it was exposed to the last of these turbulent scenes. In September 1745, the Pretender marched through the parish with his army, he and several of his nobles remaining one night at Bannockburn House, to which they had been invited by Sir Hugh Paterson, the then proprietor. On his return from the south, Bannockburn House was his head~ quarters during the month of January 1746, whilst his followers were lodged in the surrounding villages. A mark in one of the rooms, produced by a bullet that was fired at the Prince, is still shown. On the morning of the 17th of that month, his army assembled on Plean Moor, and thence marched to the battle-field, west of Falkirk, where they obtained a victory over the King's troops. On the approach of the Duke of Cumberland, they retreated to the north, having, 1st February, blown up the Church of St Ninians, which had been used as a powder magazine. Besides the destruction of the church, several persons were killed, and others severely wounded. The steeple remained entire; and, as the new church was built at some distance from it, strangers seldom fail to inquire what can have caused so unnatural a disjunction.

Eminent Men -Sir John Graham, styled by Wallace his right hand, was certainly a person of note, though few authentic facts have been transmitted concerning him.

Colonel John Erskine of Carnock was Commissioner from Stirling in the Parliament of 1707, and voted in favour of the Union. He was also Lieutenant-Governor of Stirling Castle, and planted the trees at the east of the King's Park.

Henry the historian was born at Muirton, in the carses.

Miss Hamilton resided at Crook, when she wrote the Cottagers of Glenburnie.

Mr Haney, the painter, is a native of the village of St Ninians.

Heritors.-The heritors are a numerous body. The stipend is localled upon 125; but several of the heritors hold more than one number, and some of them are so small as to render them ridiculous. Once and again, there is one-tenth of a lippie of meal, and one-tenth or a lippie of barley, of old stipend, with two-twelfths of a lippie of meal, and two-twelfths of a lippie of barley of augmentation, with one penny Sterling money, stipend. Three noble-men have estates in the parish ; but none of them reside or have houses in it. The Duke of Montrose, who has still a good estate in the moorlands, is superior of an extensive tract. Lord Abererombie has a small, but very valuable estate in the Carses. The Earl of Dunmore's landed property in this parish is of great extent; and Iris residence, Dunmore Park, is in our immediate vicinity. The greatest landed proprietors, are, Mr Murray of Touchadam and Polmaise, and Mr Ramsay of Sauchie, in this parish, and of Barriton in Mid-Lothian, and Lord Dunmore. Next to them are Touch, the Hospital of Stirling, C.&rnock, Craigforth, Plean, Airchintowie, Throsk, East and West Greenyards.

Parochial Registers.-The oldest parochial register is that of births and baptisms, commencing at 1643, and continued downwards with a blank betwixt 1711 and 1717. Proclamation of banns, at 1688, has two blanks, viz. from 1719 to 1725, and from 1754 to 1774.

The session records, down to 1838, are contained in ten volumes folio. The first volume now in existence commences November 1653; but there is part of a minute, dated 1608, and two extracts from a former volume, 1631 and 1639, are entered anew under 1699, in which John Drummond of Carnock and Skeock grants right to certain seats to John Rollo of Bannockburn. James Edmonstone was minister. The record 1653 commences with, " This day the session being frequentlie, i. e. fully convened," but often immediately after the date, it is " compeared" such and such persons. No sederunt is marked till 1660, nor any mention made of prayers, though probably offered up, either at the open mg or close, till after the Revolution. But though modern forms were not observed, much business was transacted. From 1653 to 1750, with few exceptions, there were from twenty-four to thirty meetings of session in the year. The minister and elders exercised most extensive powers, both in passing acts, and in punishing delinquents. Besides licentious persons₄ drunkards, Sabbath-breakers, and slanderers, they took cognizance of those guilty of theft, prevarication or perjury, of scolding and railing. Severe enactments are made against those that " haunt public-houses, that do not keep the kirk, and the examinations,"-but idle persons, such as vagrants, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars, and also " those that resett them," are objects of their highest displeasure. Nor was it merely by admonition and censure, that they sought to repress these evils. In 1665, we find the following entry, "because this kirk is troubled with sturdy beggars every Sabbath, appoint James Wilson, constable, to wait at the style next Sabbath to put them away, and, if refracterie, to put them in the stocks or steeple." Delinquents in general were subjected to fines ; and, to keep good order at marriages, it was enacted, that, should any thing of a contrary nature take place, the money previously lodged with the session-clerk should immediately be forfeited to the poor. At times they threaten to give them over to the civil magistrate, but not unfrequently they appear to have set them in the "jugs," or banished them the parish by their own authority.

If the session were zealous in repressing evil, they were at the same time active in promoting good. Much wisdom and tenderness was displayed in reconciling families and neighbours. The elders were 'exhorted to see that worship was maintained in every family; and great attention was paid to those who sought for baptism for their children, or for admission to the Lord's table. The education of the young was an object of peculiar care, and they seem to have exercised an unlimited authority, both over the teacher and his scholars. They appoint the parochial schoolmaster and allot him his salary,-they instruct him what he is to teach, and fix his hours of teaching,-when dissatisfied, call him before them, admonish, reprove, or dismiss him at their pleasure. They enact that no private teacher shall open a school without their permission; and that none shall be opened within two miles of the parochial school.

The topics enumerated, together with the management of the poor, in a populous and extensive parish, might be supposed to afford sufficient employment to any kirk-session. But, in addition to all these, the kirk-session of St Ninians took the chief management of the fabric of the church and the arrangement of its seats. They build an aisle from their own hinds, which is kept enthely under their own control, and part of their fines are laid out in repairing the church-yard dikes. Heritors make application to them for seat; which they erect, exchange, or alter very much at their pleasure. By their order, sums of money were collected for propagating the Gospel; for building churches, particularly in Ireland; for people who had lost their property, or who were to undergo dangerous operations; and, once for a man who had been taken captive by the Turks. Nay, once and again, we find them actively employed in building or repairing bridges. They assist in repairing the bridges over the Carron and at Chartreshall; and, in 1670, they not only urge the heritors, but the elders collect largely themselves to erect a stone bridge, instead of the wooden one, over the Bannock in the upper carses.

It is not to be supposed that the same activity prevailed under every incumbent. Mr George Bennet, who was also proprietor of East Livilands, was minister from 1655 to 1674. In his time the parochial machinery was in full operation; nor does the accession of Charles II, or the introduction of Episcopacy, appear greatly to have paralyzed it. In the early part of his ministry, grievous complaints are made against Cromwell's English soldiers, and numbers are summoned before the session, for harbouring or keeping company with them. At a later period, some parishioners are "convened for beating Argyle's men on the Sabbath day."

On the 12th of April 1676, " Mr William Fogo was formallie admitted to the exercise of the ministerial function in this kirk." The session frequently met; but the minutes are not so full as in the time of his predecessor. He was succeeded in 1684 by Mr James Fullarton, who, "on said day, was formallie admitted to the exorcise of the ministrie in this church." In 1687, " Mr Wright of Alloa preached and institute Mr Forsyth, formerly minister of Clackmannan, to the exercise of the ministry in the parish of St Ninians in the face of the congregation." Complaints are made of persons not coming to the communion, nor keeping their own kirk; both men and women are summoned before the Session for attending conventicles, and having their children irregularly baptized.

A sequestered spot is pointed out, where it is said the Covenanters assembled, and the station where the watchmen stood to give notice when the soldiers left the Castle of Stirling, coming to attack them.

Mr Forsyth appears to have been a keen Episcopalian, and soon after his admission, Mr Cooper, in 1688, was ordained "by the unite Presbyteries of Stirling and Dunblane in the Presbyterian meeting-house of Bannockburn." Mr Forsyth was alive after Mr Cooper left Bannockburn in 1692; but there are no records of his session after 1690. The Presbytery occasionally supplied the pulpit of the meeting-house, and the only notice of Mr Forsyth is a complaint against him "about the state of the kirk and the keys of the kirk-door." In June 1695, the united Presbyteries of Stirling and Dunblane did solemnly admit, and, debito modo, ordine Mr John Logan, formerly minister of the Gospel at Lecropt, to be minister of the Gospel at St Ninians." He was cordially received, and during his time, parochial superintendence reached its highest perfection. There were between forty and fifty elders. These were divided into committees, and the detail of their proceedings would fill volumes. Mr Logan died, 14th July 1727, the session marking with special care" that he had been minister here thirty-two years and thirty-nine days." Once and again, they tenderly allude to the loss they had sustained.

Under November 22, 1727, we have the following minute:

" The which day the heritors, to the number of one hundred and sixty, besides ten letters or thereby from heritors not residing in the parish; the whole elders to the number of forty-six, and about eight hundred and twelve heads of families, and none at all of either ranks opposing, mett and most cheerfully subscribed a call to the Rev. Mr Archibald Gibson, minister of the Gospel at Dunblane, to be their minister." Mr Gibson went to Edinburgh in 1732, and was succeeded by Mr Mackie of Forteviot in March 1734, in direct opposition to the wishes of the people; and during his incumbency about one half of the parishioners are said to have joined the Secession; On the retreat of Prince Charles, 1st February 1746, the church, which had been used as a powder magazine, was blown up and several persons killed. Some years elapsed before the new church was erected, during which public worship was conducted in the glebe in summer, and in the West Church of Stirling in winter. The Lord's Supper was once and again dispensed in the open air; and we find the congregation in the West Church in November 1750. They must have entered the new church in the end of that year, or early in 1751. The session, in Mr Logan's time, had enlarged the church by building an aisle, and they now requested the heritors to refund to them the poor's money which had been laid out. This they refused; and Mr Mackie, going to London, collected L.504, which was given mostly for the support of an assistant." This gave rise to a law-suit between the heritors and session, and in 1780 the heritors prevailed, and the Court of Session ordered that henceforward nothing should be paid to the assistant from this fund.

Mr Mackie went to the West Church, Edinburgh, 1758; and the session were successful in procuring the harmonious settlement or Mr John Gibson, who was ordained in May 1754. He was translated to Edinburgh in 1765, and it was not till after more than seven years' litigation that Mr Thomson from Gargunock was admitted his successor. Mr Finlay of Dollar, who pre sided, delivered the celebrated speech for which he had after-wards to apologize to the General Assembly. On Mr Thomson's admission, the great body of the people left the church and built a Relief house, in which there is still a numerous congregation.

The late Mr Sheriff succeeded Mr Thomson in 1788, and in October 1823 he resigned his charge, and became pastor to a Baptist congregation in Glasgow.

Antiquities.-The Roman road, of which hardly a trace now remains, was unquestionably our most remarkable antiquity. It entered this parish from the Torwood, and, running in a northwesterly direction, reached the Forth at Kildean, where was the wooden bridge and ford already mentioned. From Kildean the causeway ran westward through the lands or Craigforth, till near the present Drip bridge, where there is another ford of the same depth, two feet, as that at Kildean, and through which the Roman soldiers are supposed frequently to have marched. A branch struck off from the great road, probably before it reached St Ninians, ran to the west towards Cambusbaron through the farm of Bearside. The improvements on this farm caused part of it to be removed within these four or five years, and a few stones, the last remnants, are still to be seen ; but whether this road led to the ford of Few, or to the Roman station, or the Castle hill above Touch, is altogether uncertain.

There are five places in the parish denominated Roman camps, though it is evident from their site they can have been nothing more than stations. Two of these, with the one at Stirling, would command a complete view of the Forth, from the place where it becomes fordable, till it is covered by the steep and rugged ground behind Gargunnock. These three frontier stations could all communicate, by signal, with Plean, as Plean could with Torwood-and Torwood is in view of Camelon and the Roman wall. When the woods were destroyed, the passage of the Forth by any enemy) could, in a very short time, be communicated to the soldiers guard. mg the wall. It is more difficult to ascertain the use of the other camps, one of them being among the rugged rocks, to the west of Sauchie, and the other not far distant on the low grounds o Touchgorum.

The ruins of Sir John de Graham's Castle are near the western extremity of the parish, in a very sequestered spot, and which, in early times, must have been difficult of access. The appearance of the ditch, and the thickness of the wall, leads to the conclusion, that it was a place of considerable extent, and great strength. Wallace is said often to have retired to this castle, and Graham was slain when fighting along with him at the battle of Falkirk. Sir J. Graham was a younger brother of the family whence the Dukes of Montrose are descended. Dundaff, whence they take the title of Viscount, and the greatest part of the moorlands, at one time be-longed to them, and they were patrons of the Kirk o'Muir. It is reasonable, therefore, to conclude that it was in honor of some one of this family that the Earl's hill and the Earl's burn were named.

No part of the fabric of the Kirk o'Muir now remains. The burying ground is still used; and a small erection at the gate, said to be that in which the elders stood within collecting, was in truth built for a school, but is now in ruins. It was a place of worship in Popish times, and a field in the neighbourhood is still called the Priest's croft or field. In the Commissary's list of parishes, Kirkamuir is stated apart from St Ninians; and it is said to have been one of the first places in which the Lord's Supper was dispensed, according to our present mode, after the Reformation. It is nearly ten miles from the parish church, and five west of Buckieburn.

St Ninians parish contained other three chapels,-one at Skeok, a mile below Bannockburn, dedicated to the Virgin, of which there are no remains, and nothing is now known Another at St Ninian's Well,(whence Mr Nimmo says the parish derived its name',) has been repaired, and is used as a washing-house. A third is at Cambusbaron, of which there were some fragments in the memory of persons still alive; and to which a burying-ground appears to have been attached, as, in trenching the garden ground in the neighbourhood, a great variety of human bones were turned up.

The house of Sauchie, now in ruins, must have been intended as a place of defense. The loop-holes whence the archers shot their arrows, are still in perfect preservation. On the lands of Carnock there is a round tower called Bruce's Castle; and not far from this, at Plean Mill, a much finer square erection, the greatest: part of which, however, has been used for the buildings on the &rm. Except the name, there is no tradition when, by whom,, or for what purpose either of these were erected. The bored stone, a little to the south-west of St Ninians, and the standing stones in Randolph field, near Newhouse, are permanent memorials of the battle of Bannockburn. There are several cairns or tumuli in the parish; but it is much more difficult to ascertain the events which they were intended to commemorate. Two of these, to a certain extent, have not long since been examined. On the lands of Sauchie, and not far from the supposed field of battle, there was a large cairn of stones, more than thirty yards in diameter, and upwards of twenty feet in height. On removing the smaller stones, which had evidently been collected from the neighbouring fields, there were found two coffins, the one somewhat larger than the other. These were of freestone, of the same quality as Catscraig quarry,----little more than a mile distant, and which is still wrought. The other cairn was on the lands of Craigengelt, in the high grounds of the parish. The name signifies the rock of terror, or the bloody rocks; and both its name and appearance give ground to believe that it had been the scene of many tragical events.*

In almost every field the remains of rude fortifications, such as entrenchments and breastworks, are still traceable, as well as Druidical cairns. About 150 yards north of Craigengelt House, there is a mound of the same kind as that which has been removed, but only one-half its size. It is also flanked with stones at equal distances from each other. In the upper part of Craigengelt there are a number of artificial hills of great size. They are covered with fine grass, and are known by the name of the "sunny hills;" but as to their origin or use even tradition is silent.

Where the lands stretch towards the Earl's burn, there is a very solitary but lovely small valley, in which are three artificial hills, the raising of which must have cost great labour. The entrenchment is the smallest, and is called " Goodie's knowe." The middle one, "Heart's hill," is by far the finest formed, being nearly circular and 50 feet high, with a conical top. The third is the largest, of an oblong shape, with terraces on its sides. All of them are covered with the finest grass; and it is evident that the gravel and soil of which they are composed have been taken from the park wherein they stand. There is no tradition when or by whom these works were constructed; but one thing is certain,, that the antiquary would be amply repaid for his labour in visiting these interesting remains of times long gone by.

*About two years ago the tenant was engaged in levelling and improving a field on the eastern extremity of Craigengelt in which there was a large cairn or mound, known in the country by the name of the "Ghost's Knowe." It was quite circular, exactly 300 feet in circumference at the base, and which was flanked around by twelve very large stones, placed at equal distances, and it was 12 feet high, with a slight inclination to one side, and fiat on top. On removing the turf and soil, it was found that the interior consisted of large and small stories built together with great care, which led the proprietor to think that it must have been a place of Druidical sepulture. About 6 feet from the centre, there stood four upright stones, each about 3 feet in height, describing an oblong figure like a bed. Within this a coffin was found, the length of which was about 7 feet, at broad, and at deep. The under part or bottom of the coffin was whin-flag, as was also the upper part or lid. Within this were found the remains of a human body of the ordinary size. The hones, except a very small part of the skull, were of the consistence of soft chalk,-the body had been enveloped in something like a mixture of decayed vegetable matter and tar, which, when exposed to the atmosphere, emitted a strong odour. Strict orders were given to the labourers that if anything like a coffin should be found, they were not to open it until either the proprietor or tenant were present. But one of them, an old schoolmaster, who knew something of antiquities, went during the night, and carried off a variety of articles, the nature and number of which are not now likely ever to be ascertained. With reluctance, he gave up a stone axe of beautiful workmanship and a gold ring. The ring had had a jewel in it; but the jewel was out, and it was what is called "chased," and must have been worn on a very small finger. A labourer in the neighbourhood sold a variety of things of a rare description to a gentleman in whose possession, it is believed, they still are. The axe and the ring were the only things obtained by the proprietor, J. Dick, Esq. of Craigengelt, and they are still in his possession.