Moniack Burn (
Scottish Gaelic: ''Mon-ìothag'', meaning "Burn of the Corn Moss") is a small river in the
Highland council area of Scotland. The streams flows from the hills of
the Aird, its source near the hamlet of Foxhole, passing the villages of Clunes, Easter, and
Kirkhill before draining into the
Beauly Firth.
In the past, Moniack was the name given both to the burn and its surrounding area. According to a late-14th century transumpt of charters detailing the
bishopric of Moray
The Diocese of Moray was one of the most important of the medieval dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. Its territory was in central northern Scotland.
History
It was founded in the early years of the 12th century by David I ...
, Moniack (or ''Munythoc''), was one of the nine
davochs of Dunballoch, a former parish in modern-day Kirkhill.
In the Wardlaw Manuscript, written by the Rev. James Fraser in 1666, Moniack is referred to as the "Burn of Jack"—believed to be a corruption of its original Gaelic name. In 1637, the river suffered severe flooding, destroying several houses and drowning livestock in the village of Easter.
The river is also known as "Newton Burn" at its mouth, near the village of Kirkhill.
Moniack Gorge
As the river approaches South Clunes, it drops into a steep, wooded ravine known as Moniack Gorge. This is a highly biodiverse area of woodland, with
ash,
hazel
The hazel (''Corylus'') is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K. (1999). ...
, and
birch trees all growing in abundance. Although its soils vary in general the gorge is highly alkaline, supporting a wide variety of
vascular plants and flowers.
Thanks to its damp and shaded conditions, Moniack Gorge also supports a large number of mosses and lichens. This includes the rare and endangered
green shield-moss
''Buxbaumia viridis'', also known as the green shield-moss, is a rare bryophyte found sporadically throughout the northern hemisphere. The gametophyte of this moss is not macroscopically visible; the large, distinct sporophyte of ''B. viridis'' ...
, found at only four sites in northeastern Scotland.
A small family of
wild goats
The wild goat (''Capra aegagrus'') is a wild goat species, inhabiting forests, shrublands and rocky areas ranging from Turkey and the Caucasus in the west to Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan in the east. It has been listed as near threatene ...
also lives in Moniack Gorge.
Reelig Glen
The lower part of Moniack Gorge is known as Reelig Glen (or the "Faery Glen" amongst locals). This is an ancient
coniferous forest, with many trees over 50m high and a century old.
The name Reelig is believed to derive from the Scottish Gaelic "ruighe lice", meaning "stone slope"—possibly a reference to the gorge's inland cliffs.
Reelig is most famous for its grove of
Douglas fir
The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...
s, one of which was declared the tallest tree in Britain in 2000. The tree was subsequently named "Dùghall Mòr" (Scottish Gaelic for "Big Douglas"), at a height of 64 m (200 ft). However, in 2014 the tree's record was taken by one of its neighbours measuring 2.4 m (8 ft) higher. This is also the tallest conifer in Europe as a whole.
For over 500 years, Reelig Estate has belonged to the Fraser family.
James Baillie Fraser, a Scottish travel writer and watercolourist, is responsible for much of the way Reelig looks today, planting many of its trees before his death in 1856.
The Reelig Estate was sold in 1949 to
Forestry and Land Scotland, and is now a very popular area for families and dogwalkers.
References
{{reflist
Rivers of Scotland