BRANAULT, hamlet in Ardnamurchan parish, Argyleshire.

BRANBURY, hill, with fine sandstone quarry, in dyne parish, Sutherland.

BRANDERBURGH. section of Lossiemouth town, Elginshire. Pop. 1888.

BRANDIR, pass of Awe, Argyleshire.

BRANDY, lake in Clova parish, Forfarshire.

BRANXHOLM, seat on the Teviot, 3 miles south-west of Hawick, Roxburghshire. It belongs to the Duke of Buccleuch ; is now a modern-looking mansion, with very strong old tower; was formerly a great fortress, and figures graphically as such in Sir "Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel.

BRANY, head-stream of the North Esk, in Lochlee parish, Forfarshire.

BRAXFIELD, seat near Lanark, Lanarkshire.

BRAXY, hill, 684 feet high, 5 miles south-west of Stonehaven, Kincardineshire.

BREACACHA, deserted, tolerably entire, very ancient castle, in Coll Island, Argyleshire.

BREADALBANE, district in north-west of Perthshire. It adjoins Inverness-shire and Argyleshire, measures about 33 miles by 31, is prevailingly rugged and mountainous, and consists largely of masses of the Grampians, and it gives the title of earl to a branch of the family of Campbell.

BREAKISH, place in Strath parish, Isle of Skye. It has a public school with about 52 scholars.

BREASCLETE, village, 16 miles west of Stornoway, Outer Hebrides. Pop. 352.

BRECHIN, town, mansion, and parish in north-east of Forfarshire. The town stands on the South Esk, at terminus of branch railway, 19J miles north-east of Forfar ; dates from the Culdee times, and became the seat of a diocese ; is a royal and parliamentary burgh, uniting with Forfar, Arbroath, Montrose, and Bervie in sending a member to Parliament ; comprises a main street about a mile long, and some lesser streets ; has a head post office with all departments, 5 banking offices, 3 hotels, a town hall of the latter part of last century, a public hall of 1838, a public library, 2 Established churches, 2 Free churches, 3 United Presbyterian churches, an Evangelical Union chapel, an Episcopalian church, a large public school of 1876, 5 other public schools, and a new water supply, obtained in 1874 at a cost of 15,000 ; publishes a weekly newspaper, and carries on extensive manufacture of sail-cloth and brown linen. Its cathedral was founded by David I., but never completed ; measured 166 feet by 61, was partly destroyed at the Reformation, and the nave of it is now the parish church. A steeple, 128 feet high, is at its north-west corner, and a round tower, similar to the round tower of Abernethy and the round towers of Ireland, is adjacent to its south-west corner. Real property of the burgh in 1880-81, 26,517. Pop. 9031. The mansion, Brechin Castle, is a seat of the Earl of Dalhousie ; stands on a rock overhanging the South Esk, in western vicinity of the town ; and occupies the site of an ancient baronial fortalice which stoutly resisted Edward I. of Eng-land. The parish contains also the villages of Little Brechin and Trinity Moor, and is about 7 miles Icmg and 6 miles broad. Acres, 14,313. Real property of landward part in 1880-81, 20,854. Pop., quoad civilia, 10,499 : quoad sacra, 8827. The surface is mostly level, but includes the eminence of Burghill, and is overlooked at short distance by the frontier Grampians. The seats, besides Brechin Castle, are Eskmount, Keithock, and Ardovie. There are 11 schools for 1944 scholars, and 3 of them and an enlargement for 980 are new.

BRECHIN (EAST), quoad sacra parish in Brechin parisk, Forfarshire. Pop. 1672.

BRECHIN (LITTLE), village in Brechin parish, Forfarshire.

BRECKEN, hill in St. Mungo parish, Dumfriesshire.

BRECKNESS, headland and mansion at north side of entrance of Hoy Sound, Orkney. The mansion was erected in 1633 by the last Bishop of Orkney.

BRECKRY, glen and rivulet in Southend parish, Argyleshire.

BRECON, voe or bay in north of Yell Island, Shetland.

BRECONBEDS, place in Annan parish, Dumfriesshire. It has a public school with about 110 scholars.

BREDA, seat, 2J miles west of Alford, Aberdeenshire.

BREDIELAND, estate in Abbey parish, Renfrewshire.

BREICH.

BRESSAY, island, sound, and parish in south of Shetland. The island lies between Noss and Mainland, opposite Lerwick, and has a post office under Lerwick. Its length is 6f miles, its breadth mostly between 2 and 3 miles. Its coast is rocky, partly high and partly cavernous ; and its interior is tumulated, includes a conical hill 724 feet high, and contains a conspicuous ancient standing stone, and some vestiges of Scandinavian buildings. Pop. 847. The sound divides the island from Mainland ; is a capacious, well-sheltered, natural harbour, and serves as the harbour of Lerwick, a rendezvous of whale-ships, and a great centre of herring-fishery. The parish contains also Noss, Papa, Hevera, Holm, East Burra, and West Burra islands, and the Quarff portion ot Mainland. Real property in 1880-81, 1880. Pop., quoad civilia, 1768 ; quoad sacra, 850. The churches are 3 Established, and 4 Dissenting. There are 6 schools for 337 scholars, and 5 of them for 270 are new.