BARONESS CAROLINA

NAIRNE (1766-1845)  , Scottish song writer, was born in the " auld hoose " of Gask, Perthshire, on the r6th of August 1766 . She was descended from an old family which had settled in Perthshire in the 13th century, and could boast of kinship with the royal race of Scotland . Her father, Laurence Oliphant, was one of the foremost supporters of the Jacobite cause, and she was named Carolina in memory of Prince Charles Edward . In the schoolroom she was known as " pretty Miss Car," and afterwards her striking beauty and pleasing manners earned for her the name of the " Flower of Strathearn." In 18o6 she married W . M . Nairne, who became Baron Nairne (see below) in 1824 . Following the example set by Burns in the Scots Musical Museum, she undertook to bring out a collection of national airs set to appropriate words . To the collection she contributed a large number of original songs, adopting the signature " B . B."—" Mrs Bogan of Bogan." The music was edited by R . A . Smith, and the collection was published at Edinburgh under the name of the Scottish Minstrel (1821-1824) . After her husband's death in 183o Lady Nairne took up her residence at Enniskerry, Co .

Wicklow, but she spent much time abroad . She died at Gask on the 26th of October 1845 . Her songs may be classed under three heads: (1) those illustrative of the characters and manners of the old Scottish gentry, such as " The Laird o' Cockpen," " The Fife Laird," and " John Tod "; (2) Jacobite songs, composed for the most part to gratify her kinsman Robertson, the aged chief of Strowan, among the best known of which are perhaps " Wha '11 be King but Charlie ? " " Charlie is my darling," " The Hundred Pipers," " He's owre the Hills," and " Bonnie Charlie's noo awa "; and (3) songs not included under the above heads, ranging over a variety of subjects from " Caller Herrin' " to the " Land o' the pink crystals of orthoclase, has been employed as a building stone . On the denuded surface of the schists the Old Red Sandstone was deposited and formerly doubtless covered most of the county; outlying patches still remain near Drynachan Lodge and near Highland Boath in Mackie Burn . The Lower Old Red rocks are basal breccias followed by shales with calcareous nodules containing fossil fish . The Upper Old Red, which is found usually nearer the coast, is unconformable on the Lower series; it consists of red shales and clays and obliquely bedded sandstones . Glacial deposits are widely spread; they comprise a Lower Boulder Clay, a series of gravels and sands, followed by an Upper . Boulder Clay, above which comes a series of gravel deposits forming ridges on the moor-land between the Nairn and Findhorn rivers . A fine kame, resting on the plain of sand and gravel, lies between Meikle Kildrummie and Loch Flemington, south of the railway . Traces of the old marine terraces at toe ft., .50 ft. and 25 ft. are found near the coast, as well as considerable accumulations of blown sand . Climate and Industries.—The climate is healthy and equable .

The temperature for the

year averages 47° F., for January 38° F., and for July, 58° F . The mean annual rainfall is 25 in . The soil of the alluvial plain, or Laigh, is light and porous and careful cultivation has rendered it very fertile; and there is some rich land on the Findhorn . Although the most advanced methods of agriculture are in use, but a small proportion of the surface is capable of tillage, only one-fifth of the whole area being under crops . The hills are mostly covered with heath and pasture, suitable for sheep, and cattle are kept on the lower lying ground . The county accords many facilities for sport . A few distilleries, some sandstone and granite quarries and the sea and salmon fisheries of the Nairn practically represent The industries of the shire, apart from agriculture . The Highland Railway from Forres to Inverness crosses the north of the shire . Population and Government.—In 1891 the population numbered 9155 and in 1901 it was 9291, or 57 persons to the sq. m . Besides the county town of Nairn (pop . 5089), there are the parishes of Ardclach (pop . 772), and Auldearn (pop. of parish 1292, of village 313) .

Nairn and

Elgin shires combine to return one member to parliament, and the county town belongs to the Inverness district group of parliamentary burghs (Forres, Fortrose, Inverness and Nairn) . The shire forms a sheriffdom with Inverness and Elgin and a sheriff-substitute sits alternately at Nairn and Elgin . History.—The country was originally peopled by the Gaelic or northern Picts . Stone circles believed to have been raised Leal." For vivacity, genuine pathos and bright wit her songs are surpassed only by those of Burns . Lady Nairne's husband, William Murray Nairne (1757–183o) . He was descended from Sir Robert Nairne of Strathord (c . 162o-1683), a supporter of Charles II., who was created Baron Nairne in 1681 . After his death without issue the barony passed to his son-in-law, Lord William Murray (c . 1665–1726), the husband of his only daughter Margaret (1669–1747) and a younger son of John Murray, 1st marquess of Athole . William, who took the name of Nairne and became and Baron Nairne, joined the standard of the Jacobites in 1715; he was taken prisoner at the battle of Preston and was sentenced to death . He was, however, pardoned, but his title was forfeited . His son John (c .

1691–1770), who but for this

forfeiture would have been the 3rd Baron Nairne, was also taken prisoner at Preston, but he was soon set at liberty . In the rising of 1745 he was one of the Jacobite leaders, being present at the battles of Prestonpans, of Falkirk and of Culloden, and consequently he was attainted in 1946; but escaped to France . His son John (d . 1782) was the father of William Murray Nairne, who, being restored to the barony of Nairne in 1824, became the 5th baron . The male line became extinct when his son William, the 6th baron (1808–1837), died unmarried . The next heir was a cousin, Margaret, Baroness Keith of Stonehaven Marischal (1788–1867), wife of Auguste Charles Joseph, comte de Flahaut de la Billarderie, but she did not claim the title . In 1874, however, the right of her daughter, the wife of the 4th marquess of Lansdowne, was allowed by the House of Lords . For Lady Nairne's songs, see Lays from Strathearn, arranged with Symphonies and Accompaniments for the Pianoforte by Finlay Dun (1846) ; vol. i. of the Modern Scottish Minstrel (185g); Life and Songs of the Baroness Nairne, with a Memoir and Poems of Caroline Oliphant the Younger, edited by Charles Rogers (1869, new ed . 1886) . See also T . L . Kington-Oliphant, Jacobite Lairds of Cask (1870) .