Much of the information on this site has been taken from various sources such as:-
The Lossie by Dr Robert Douglas
The Parish of Dallas, also by Dr Robert Douglas
A Survey of the Province of Moray printed for Isaac Forsyth, Bookseller, Elgin in 1798
Documents Relating to the Province of Moray, published in 1895 by David Douglas, Edinburgh.
The Statistical Account of Elginshire published in 1842 by William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh
The Moray Floods by Sir Thomas Dick Lauder
Place Names of Elginshire by D Matheson
Notes written by Albert Strachan, reporter on the Elgin Courant weekly newspaper
There have been a great many changes over the years in names and their spelling. For example, Kellas has been known or written as Kelleys, Killess or Killas. Dallas has been Doleys, Dolais, Doles, Dollace and Dollas. For ease of reading, the current names have been used throughout and, where known, other words have been changed to their modern equivalent. These notes are therefore designed only to be a broad aid to anyone wishing to know more of Dallas and its history.
In taking information from the above published documents there are inevitably differences in detail, dates, etc. Assumptions have been made in a number of cases and, undoubtedly, these will not all be accurate.
Parish of Dallas
It should be appreciated that the Parish of Dallas is entirely different from the Estate of Dallas. The Parish also contains the estates of Kellas and Craigmill.
The Parish has not always been its current shape and size. According to the Statistical Account of Scotland 1791 to 1799 the parish was 12 miles from east to west and 9 miles from north to south. The bounds given for the parish were the Parishes of Rothes, Birnie, Elgin, Rafford, Edinkillie and Cromdale. However, we know that the bounds have changed over the centuries. In the Ordinance Survey map of 1924 the parish of Cromdale had been replaced by Knockando.
The above Statistical Account also stated that the hills were covered with heather and the soil was black and mossy except for some fields along the banks of the Lossie. These fields were very subject to flooding from the river, with sand and gravel spoiling the crops and grass in the summer.
Estates of the Parish of Dallas
As outlined above the Parish of Dallas is made up of the estates of Craigmill, Dallas and Kellas. The main properties of these are Dallas Lodge and Kellas House:-
Dallas Lodge 2004
Dallas Lodge is a modern name and is not found in older records. Its earlier name was ‘Rhininver House’.
Views Around the Parish
Waterfalls
The two main waterfalls in the parish are those at Torwinnie and Auchness. Whilst salmon and seatrout can navigate the falls at Torwinnie on their way to their spawning grounds, those at Auchness are totally impassable.
Torwinnie Falls 2004
Auchness Falls 2004
In addition to the above, there are a number of smaller falls in the parish.
