BEAULIEU

beaulieu, a village in the french department of alpes-maritimes. pop. (1906) 1460. it is about 4 m. by rail e. of nice (1-1/4 m. from villefranche), and on the main line between marseilles and mentone; it is also connected with nice and mentone by an electric tramway. of late years it has become a much frequented winter resort, and many handsome villas (among them that built by the 3rd marquess of salisbury) have been constructed in the neighbourhood. the harbour has been extended and adapted for the reception of yachts. (w. a. b. c.) beauly (pronounced _bewley_; a corruption of _beaulieu_), a town of inverness-shire, scotland, on the beauly, 10 m. w. of inverness by the highland railway. pop. (1901) 855. its chief interest is the beautiful remains of the priory of st john, founded in 1230 by john bisset of the aird, for cistercian monks. at the reformation the buildings (except the church, now a ruin) passed into the possession of lord lovat. on the right bank of the river is the site of lovat castle, which once belonged to the bissets, but was presented by james vi. to hugh fraser and afterwards demolished. to the south-east is the church of kirkhill containing the vault of the lovats. three miles south of beauly is beaufort castle, the chief seat of the lovats, a fine modern mansion in the scottish baronial style. it occupies the site of a fortress erected in the time of alexander ii., which was besieged in 1303 by edward i. this was replaced by several castles in succession, of which one--castle dounie--was taken by cromwell and burned by the duke of cumberland in 1746, the conflagration being witnessed from a neighbouring hill by simon, lord lovat, before his capture on loch morar. the land around beauly is fertile and the town drives a brisk trade in coal, timber, lime, grain and fish.