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, 5z 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 boat-building 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 of 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, 22 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 thebaronet 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," 6o ft. high with walls 9 ft. thick, was built by Bishop David Stewart about 1470 . 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 .