county in Scotland, bounded on the N.E., E., and S., by the county of Fife, and on the N. and W. by Perthshire, extends from E. to W. about 13 miles, and about 12 from N. to S. It comprehends an area of 77 square miles, or 49,531 English acres, and is, therefore, one of the smallest counties of Scotland.

Kinross-shire is the highest level ground in the peninsula formed by the Forth and the Tay, which was formerly called Ross, or the Promontory, and included the counties of Fife, Kinross, and Clackmannan. From this county the waters flow in every direction. The greater part of the soil is dry, though there are still considerable tracts insufficiently drained, and small portions here and there not drained at all. The subsoil consists chiefly of gravel, though there is also a considerable proportion of till. In regard to drainage and general agricultural improvement, no district has made greater advances within the last twenty years than Kinross-shire. Large tracts of moss and muir have been brought under cultivation; and the rental, which, in 1814, was only L14,541, 10s., now amounts to L46,354, 7s. 2d. sterling. There are several lakes in the county, the chief of which is Lochleven, in the immediate vicinity of Kinross. This lake was originally about 15 miles in circumference, and covered an area of 4312 acres; but by an extensive drainage, effected by lowering the bed of the River Leven, and completed in the year 1832, land to the extent of 1202 acres was recovered from the lake, and is now under cultivation. The lake abounds in trout, pike, perch, and eels. There is a long-established fishery (present rental, 200 guineas), the trout being a distinct species, of very delicate flavour, and highly prized in the London and other English markets, where they bring from 1s. to 2s. 6d. per lb., according to the season of the year. There are several islands in the lake, all of which have been enlarged by the drainage. On one of these, about 4 acres in extent, stands the castle of Lochleven, celebrated as the prison of Mary Queen of Scots; and another, called St Serf's Island, extending to about 60 acres, contains the ruins of an ancient monastery, the seat of a very early Culdee settlement, which occupied much the same position in the east of Scotland as Icolmkill occupied in the west. Several streams flow into the lake, of which the principal are the Gairney, the South Quiech and the North Quiech; and the River Leven, the only stream of any note in the district, issues from its eastern extremity, and after passing through a considerable part of the county of Fife, enters the Firth of Forth at the town of Leven. The prevailing rocks are whinstone, sandstone, and limestone. Coal exists, and is wrought extensively, on the estate of Blair-Adam, on the southern boundary of the county; and it is believed that it exists also to the E. of Lochleven, on the estate of Sir G. Graham Montgomery, Bart., who is about to adopt the usual means with the view of discovering it.

Kinross-shire is divided into a number of small estates, there being very few large proprietors in it. Only about ten landowners hold of the crown; the others hold of these freeholders, the lands having been fenced out to them for the most part about the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth centuries; hence, over a considerable part of the county, each individual farm is a separate property, cultivated, in the majority of cases, by its owner. In 1811 the number of freeholders was only 15. The valued rent is L20,250, 4s. 3d. Scots, and the real rent, as already stated, L46,354, 7s. 2d. sterling. When the land is let to tenants, the leases vary from 14 to 19 years, except in the neighbourhood of the towns and villages, where they vary from 1 to 5 years; and the rents are all paid in money, although, in a considerable number of instances, a part of the rent varies with the variations of the flars. The size of the farms is from 100 to 500 acres. A fair proportion of them is in grass, for which both the soil and climate are favourable; and inclosures, either of stone-walls, or hedges, or wire-fences, are universal. The principal crops are oats, barley, and wheat; wheat, both spring and autumn, having of late years been extensively sown, and found highly remunerative. Along the banks of the Gairney, there are extensive meadows, some of which are of Timothy grass, and let at from L6 to L8 an acre. Cleish Hills, Benarty, the Bishop Hill, and that part of the Ochils which belongs to the county, are pastured chiefly by sheep. Cultivated grass-lands are pastured partly by cattle and partly by sheep, a certain number of the latter being now kept by every farmer, and, in most cases, a part of the turnip crop being consumed by them on the field. The soil is peculiarly adapted to this mode of farming. The district is now well wooded, 1000 acres at least having been planted within the last 25 or 30 years; but the most extensive plantations are on the estate of Blair-Adam, which is not merely finely wooded, but has at least one-third added to its rental yearly from the sale of wood: a revenue which will be permanent, as young trees are regularly planted on the removal of the old.

Besides Kinross, the county town, and Milnathort, this county contains a number of villages. At both these towns several annual fairs are held, and a weekly grain market is held on Wednesday in each. For nearly 20 years, the chief manufactures have been tartan shawls and plaids, and similar woollen fabrics—a branch of trade which has proved uncertain and fluctuating; and in consequence, linen and cotton fabrics are now to some extent taking its place. A large spinning-mill in Kinross employs a considerable number of hands, and so also do the dyeing companies con- Kinross-shire.

In all the parishes in the county, except Cleish, there is a legal assessment for the poor. In Cleish, the buritors still assess themselves voluntarily to supplement what sum may be required, in addition to the church-door collections, for support of the poor.

Kinross-shire sends a member to Parliament along with the county of Clackmannan. Both counties are under the jurisdiction of one sheriff; and there is a resident sheriff-substitute for each, the one at Kinross, and the other at Alloa. Prior to the year 1807, Clackmannan was under the jurisdiction of the sheriff of Stirlingshire, and Kinross under that of the sheriff of Fife; but in the year just referred to, this arrangement was altered by Act of Parliament, and the counties of Kinross and Clackmannan were erected into a separate sheriffdom, the first sheriff of which was the late Lord Moncrieff.

By the Sheriff Court Act (1856), the counties of Linlithgow, Clackmannan, and Kinross, are to be united into one sheriffdom, as soon as a vacancy shall take place either in the sheriffship of Linlithgow or of Clackmannan and Kinross.

The following table gives the population, &c., since 1811:

| Years | Inhabited Houses | Males | Females | Total | |-------|------------------|-------|---------|-------| | 1811 | 1364 | 3466 | 3779 | 7245 | | 1821 | 1419 | 3660 | 4102 | 7762 | | 1831 | 1524 | 4519 | 4553 | 9072 | | 1841 | 1812 | 4195 | 4568 | 8763 | | 1851 | 1662 | 4305 | 4619 | 8924 |

The census for 1851 shows that 716 males, and 285 females, were farmers, agricultural labourers, or farm-servants; 511 males, and 244 females, were employed in the woollen cloth manufacture; 148 males, and 108 females, in the manufacture of linen; and 161 males, and 130 females, in that of cotton. In 1851, there were 4 Established churches, with 2992 sittings; 4 United Presbyterian churches, with 1762 sittings; and 6 Free churches, with 1371 sittings. There were 23 day-schools—of whom 14, with 1033 scholars, were public, and 9, with 389 scholars, private schools; Sabbath-schools, 14, with 956 scholars.

Kinross-shire comprehends the parishes of Kinross, Orwell, Cleish, Portmoak; Tullibole (now united to Fossoway), with part of Arnagask, and part of Forgandenny. All these parishes (except Forgandenny), together with the parishes of Ballingry, Fossoway, and Muckart, are now in the presbytery of Kinross, and connected with the synod of Fife.

Originally the county of Kinross consisted of the two parishes of Kinross and Orwell, with the exception of certain lands which continued in connection with the shire of Fife and Perth till the year 1685. Sir Robert Sibbald states, that the disjunction of these two parishes from Fife, and their formation into a separate county, took place in the year 1426. But this is evidently a mistake; for the Registrum Magni sigilli Regum Scotorum shows, beyond all question, that Kinross must have existed as a separate county long prior to 1426. We find there charters of David II. and Robert II. (from 1366 to 1407) giving grants of lands, described as lying "infra vice comitatus de Kynros;" and the whole of the lands in question lie within the parishes of Kinross and Orwell. In 1685, there is an Act of parliament "in favour of Sir William Bruce of Kinross, Baronet, for enlarging the shire of Kinross;" a part of the preamble of which is this—"Considering the smallness and extent of the sheriffdom of Kinross, and jurisdiction thereof, to support and maintain the state and rank of a distinct shire, as it is," &c., &c. The act proceeds to add to the county of Kinross the parishes of Portmoak, Cleish, and Tullibole, in the shires of Fife and Perth, and those parts of the parishes of Kinross and Orwell which had previously lain in those shires. At a later date, a part of the parish of Arnagask, and a part of the parish of Forgandenny, were added to the county of Kinross.

The table of the Agricultural Statistics of Scotland for 1856 gives the number of occupiers in this county at 304, and the total acreage under a rotation of crops, 33,783, as follows (omitting fractions):—Wheat, 1770; barley, 2474; oats, 7659; rye, 4; bere, 13; beans, 116; peas, 85; vetches or tares, 247; turnips, 4346; potatoes, 1053; mangold, 2; carrots, 7; cabbage, 11; flax, 15; turnip seed, 44; bare or summer fallow, 168; grass and hay under rotation, 15,813. The number of horses in 1856 were 1569; cattle, 8288; sheep, 25,810; swine, 869.