[Gazetteer of Scotland Contents]
BALLACHULISH, or BALLAHULISH, or BALCHULLISH,1 a quoad sacra parish, divided from the parish of Kilmalie by authority of the General Assembly in May, 1833. It consists of two distinct districts, separated from each other by the Linnhe loch, with a church in each district in which worship is performed alternately once a fortnight. The district connected with the church at North Ballachulish, which lies in Inverness-shire, is 17 miles in length by 7 in breadth; that connected with the church at Ardgour, in Argyleshire, is 14 miles by 6. The two churches are about 4 miles apart, and were built in 1829, at an expense of £1,470 each, under the provisions of the act 5° Geo. IV. c. 90. The church at Ballachulish has 300 sittings; that of Ardgour, 210. Stipend £120, with a manse and glebe. Population of the Ardgour district in December 1835, 549; of the Ballachulish district, 706. Total, 1,255, of whom 935 belonged to the Established church. This parish is in the presbytery of Abertarff, and synod of Glenelg. Patron, the Crown. – There is a large and valuable slate-quarry here, on the great clay-slate formation which extends from Easdale on the south to this point northwards. “The prospect from the inn is, on all hands, sublime. Beyond the ferry, the hills, covered with woods and pastures, rise gradually to a considerable height, and decline to the south-west, where the lochs of Leven and Linnhe unite; in that direction, the eye, gliding over a vast expanse of water, is arrested by immense groups of mountains of different forms and heights in Morven, which compose an admirable landscape. About 4 miles eastward are the stupendous mountains of Glenco. Such variety of grand and interesting scenery is not perhaps to be found in any other part of Scotland.” – [Playfair, Vol. II. p. 15.] – Ballachulish ferry is 5 miles from Corran ferry; 16 miles from King’s House; 14 from Fort-William; 31 from Tyndrum by the Glenco road; 45 from Fort-Augustus; and 61 from Inverary by the military road.
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1 By Webster, written Ballychelish; by Playfair, Bailichelish; by many, Balluchulish; by others, Ballihulish; and by Macculloch, Bdlahulish.
