OS1/10/44/177
| List of names as written | Various modes of spelling | Authorities for spelling | Situation | Description remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAMPHY LINNS | Pamphy Linns | The Revd. Dr [Reverend Doctor] Simpson, John Dryfe James Blackwood |
006 | Of this place Dr [Doctor] Simpson says:- "There is in the midst of an Extensive moor about 2 miles to the west of Sanquhar, a romantic spot called 'Pamphy Linns' which is supposed to have been occasionally frequented in the troublous times of our witnessing ancestors. It is a very striking scene; and so little indication is there of the Existence of such a fairy nook, that no per- -son in passing through the heathy tracks in its close vicinity could Ever imagine that any thing remarkable was to be met with. And yet there is hidden below the general level of the mossy plain a spot of real Enchantment; for some of the finest points of Scottish Scenery, as a celebrated writer remarks, escape the eye of the passing traveller. Two gurgling streamlets that issue in crystal purity from the hills in the back ground, meet together, and immediately above the point of their junction, they have worn their troubled channel to a great depth, and by the erosion of their waters have formed spacious cavities in the sandy rocks that rear themselves to a great height on each bank. The semicircular bend of one of these cavities is, at its base, perhaps 50 or 60 feet, and the sweep of the arch, from the lowest part behind, along the roof of the cave to its opening above the stream is in proportion; and to the eye of a spectator crouching under the Extreme part of the rocky recess, the rounded mouth of the cave, where it meets the sky has the appearance of a majestic rainbow. On the other part of the linn, where the torrent rushes down a craggy declivity of great height, the rocks are so fearfully Excavated as to shoot far over- -head in a horizontal position, threatening an instant fall and apparently upheld by nothing but the hand of Omnipotence. These gloomy Excavations have been formed in ages long gone by, and in one place the rivulet seems to have been almost wholly arched over, forming an immense Cauldron of dark and deep waters, boi- -ling and Eddying in the profound beneath. The super- -incumbent mass has in some places tumbled down and is lying in scattered fragments like the broken arches and colonnades of some magnificent temple. A place like this, Even among the splendid scenery of the mountains could not pass without admiration, but when it is met with in the heart of an uninteresting Moor, it is like an oasis in the desert." Pamphy compounded of two British words - pem, great & fau, cave. Dr S -. [Doctor Simpson] |
Continued entries/extra info
[Page:] 177Parish of Sanquhar. -- Sheet 6.13. Trace No. [Number] 6
[PAMPHY LINNS - Situation:]
On Barr Burn
About 2¼ miles
S.W.W. [South West West] from the
Burgh of Sanquhar.
[Page is signed:]
C. A. [Civilian Assistant] Thomas Matheson
Transcribers who have contributed to this page.
George Howat
Location information for this page.
Linked mapsheets.
