EARN

earn, the name of a loch and river in perthshire, scotland. the loch, lying almost due east and west, is 61/2 m. long and {4/5} m. in maximum breadth, 287 ft. deep, with a mean depth of 138 ft., covers an area of nearly 4 sq. m., has a drainage basin of over 541/2 sq. m., and stands 317 ft. above the sea. its waters are said never to freeze. it discharges by the river earn. the points of interest on its shores are lochearnhead (at the southern extremity of glen ogle), which has a station on the callander-oban railway, and the ruins of st blane's chapel; edinample castle, an old turreted mansion belonging to the marquess of breadalbane, situated in well-wooded grounds near the pretty falls of the ample; ardvorlich house, the original of darlinvarach in scott's _legend of montrose_, and the village of st fillans at the foot of the loch, once the terminus of the branch of the caledonian railway from perth. the river flows out of loch earn, pursues an eastward course with a gentle inclination towards the south, and reaches the firth of tay, 61/2 m. below perth, after a total run of 49 m. its chief tributaries on the right are the ruchil, machany, ruthven, may and farg, and on the left, the lednock and turret. it is navigable by vessels of 50 tons as far up as bridge of earn, and is a notable fishing stream, abounding with salmon and trout, perch and pike being also plentiful. on the lednock are the falls of the devil's cauldron and on the turret and its feeders several graceful cascades. the principal places of interest on the banks of the earn are dunira, the favourite seat of henry dundas, 1st viscount melville, who took the title of his barony from the estate and to whose memory an obelisk was raised on the adjoining hill of dunmore; the village of comrie; the town of crieff; the ruined castle of innerpeffray, founded in 1610 by the 1st lord maderty, close to which is the library founded in 1691 by the 3rd lord maderty, containing some rare black-letter books and the bible that belonged to the marquess of montrose; gascon hall, now in ruins, but with traditions reaching back to the days of wallace; dupplin castle, a fine tudor mansion, seat of the earl of kinnoull, who derives from it the title of his viscounty; aberdalgie, forgandenny and bridge of earn, a health resort situated amidst picturesque surroundings. strathearn, as the valley of the earn is called, extending from the loch to the firth of tay, is a beautiful and, on the whole, fertile tract, though liable at times to heavy floods. the earl of perth is hereditary steward of strathearn. earnest (probably a corruption of the obsolete _arles_ or _erles_, adapted from lat. equivalent _arrha_, due to a confusion with the adjective "earnest," serious, o. eng. _eornust_, cognate with ger. _ernst_), the payment of a sum of money by the buyer of goods to the seller on the conclusion of a bargain as a pledge for its due performance. it is almost similar to the _arrha_ of the roman law, which may be traced back in the history of legal institutions to a period when the validity of a contract depended not so much upon the real intention of the parties, as upon the due observance of a prescribed ceremony. but _earnest_ was never part payment, which _arrha_ might have been. apart from its survival as a custom, its chief importance in english law is its recognition by the statute of frauds as giving validity to contracts for the sale of goods of a value exceeding l10 (see sale of goods). it is in that statute clearly distinguished from part payment, consequently any sum, however small, would be sufficient as earnest, being given as a token that the contract is binding and should be expressly stated so by the giver. the giving of earnest, or _hand-money_, as it is sometimes called, has now fallen into very general disuse.