[Illustration: Title page]

CHRONICLES of STRATHEARN

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

BY

W. B. MACDOUGALL

COVER DESIGNED BY

A. L. RANKIN

CRIEFF

PUBLISHED BY DAVID PHILIPS

1896

[Transcriber's note: the errata below has been applied to this etext. ]

ERRATA

The arched stone (Forteviot) does not appear, p. 77 having, throughinadvertence, been printed off without allowing space for it. 

In note at the foot of p. 89, "scallop-shel" should be scallop-shell. "

In note at the foot of page 90, "1896" should be "1890. "

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION By Rev. JOHN HUNTER, M. A. , Crieff. 

CELTIC SAINTS AND ANCIENT CHURCHES OF STRATHEARN By Rev. JAMES RANKIN, D. D. , Muthill. 

NEAR THE PICTISH CAPITAL By Rev. P. THOMSON, B. D. , Dunning. 

THE HISTORIC PRESBYTERY OF AUCHTERARDER By Rev. G. D. MACNAUGHTAN, B. D. , Ardoch. 

MEMORIES OF GASK By Rev. JAMES MARTIN, Gask. 

AT THE HEAD OF STRATHEARN By Rev. JOHN MACPHERSON, Comrie. 

ON THE BANKS OF THE DEVON By Rev. E. B. SPEIRS, B. D. , Glendevon. 

BY THE WELL OF ST. FILLAN By Rev. THOMAS ARMSTRONG, Dundurn. 

THE PLAIN OF THE BARDS By Rev. A. GORDON, M. A. , Monzievaird. 

BETWEEN STRATHALLAN AND STRATHEARN By Rev. J. MACGIBBON, B. D. , Blackford. 

THE ABBEY OF INCHAFFRAY By Rev. JAMES BROWN, M. A. , Maderty. 

A SOUTHERN OUTPOST ON THE EDGE OF THE HIGHLANDS By Rev. HUGH M. JAMIESON, Monzie. 

THE CASTLE, BARONY, AND SHERIFFDOM OF AUCHTERARDER By A. G. REID, F. S. A. , Scot. , Auchterarder. 

AT THE GATE OF THE HIGHLANDS By Rev. JOHN HUNTER, M. A. , Crieff. 

ILLUSTRATIONS

INCHAFFRAY

GATEWAY, FOULIS CHURCH

[Transcriber's note: The illustration captions below were those in thesource book. The captions above match the actual illustrations. ]

AULD HOUSE OF GASK

CHURCH GATE AT FOULIS

PREFACE

This book has been written in connection with a Bazaar held in Crieffin the month of August, 1896, for the better endowment of the Parishesof ARDOCH, CRIEFF WEST, GLENDEVON, and MONZIE. The Editorial Committeeventure to hope that the contents will be of some interest to thedwellers in Strathearn, especially those within the bounds of thePresbytery of Auchterarder. The warm thanks of the promoters of theBazaar are due to the ladies and gentlemen who composed the variousCommittees. To them, as representing many hearty sympathisers andwilling workers, the "CHRONICLES OF STRATHEARN" is respectfullydedicated. 

In name of the Editorial Committee, JOHN HUNTER, M. A. , CRIEFF. HUGH M. JAMIESON, MONZIE. 

INTRODUCTION

THE OPENING UP OF STRATHEARN

By Rev. JOHN HUNTER, M. A. , Crieff

Quite recently it was said to me by a man who had been holiday-making inSwitzerland, that he greatly missed the Alps in every home landscape. The remark was made on the Knock of Crieff, one beautiful afternoon inthe late autumn, when the sun was setting and the after-glow lay like apurple semi-transparent mist all along Glenartney from Ben Ledi toComrie. I felt rich enough in the enjoyment of the surpassing lovelinessof our own Strath to say "Laich in"--(I would not hurt any person'sfeelings for the world)--"Plague take your Alps, with their sky-scrapingridges and peaks and winding sheets of snow, --we don't want them here;they would simply spoil a scene like that before us. " I don't know, andmay never know, the meaning my companion read into my silence. Havingshortly before made the frank confession that I had never seen the Alps, he may have intended to excite envious feelings within me, and imaginedhe had succeeded. But I can deny the fact with a good conscience, anduntil some benevolent person shall give me the opportunity of making acomparison between home and foreign landscapes, I shall continue toassert--happy in my ignorance, it may be, but still happy--that there isno fairer prospect upon earth than the Strath of Earn from the Knock ofCrieff. "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. "

Let me adventure to describe it. Right opposite to the south-west isTurleum--rising to the height of 1300 feet--the highest hill in Scotlandwooded to the top, as our local boast was--shorn of its beauty somewhatin recent years, but, although bare, still picturesque enough with itscomb of sturdy fir-trees, survivors from the destructive gale ofNovember, 1893. To the right of it, and running due west, is the passinto the misty hill country by Comrie and St Fillans--the glen of BonnieKilmeny and Dunira. Midway between us and the mouth of the pass is aminiature Turleum--Tomachastel to wit, the site of the old Castle of theEarn, famous in the days when the Celtic Earls of Strathearn were a powerin the land. Lovers of the old ways were these proud and wilyEarls--fiercely impatient of the incoming Saxon customs which foundfavour at the Court of Malcolm Canmore and his sons--genuinely pious men, too, in some instances--(did not Earl Gilbert found or endow Inchaffray, so that masses might be said for his soul?)--of a keen courage as withEarl Malise, who at the Battle of the Standard dared his mail-cladfellows--the barons of King David--to show themselves a single foot inadvance of his naked breast. Right worthy and most noble men they werein their noblest--they were not all so--cherishers of the national spiritin the dreary times that followed upon the death of Alexander III. AtKinghorn, like the one who gave a fair daughter of the house and land intocher to the son of Sir Andrew Moray, patriot and friend of Wallace, inwhom the Morays of Abercairny find their origin. Such were the men; andover there on Tomachastel was their home--a place famous then, and verynoticeable still, with its gleaming memorial obelisk to "oor Davie" ofFerntower, the hardy soldier who overcame the fierce Tippoo Sahib atSeringapatam. Beyond lie the Aberuchill Hills, with the flat pyramidalface of Ben Voirlich filling up a gap, and sending its roots, on oneside, down into "lone Glenartney's hazel shade, " and, on the other, intoLoch Earn--sixteen miles away. Further off, and only to be seen on raredays, when the sun's rays are dancing to be dry after rain, are sturdy, broad-shouldered Benmore, and slender, graceful Binnein, the twinguardians of the enchanted region beyond, where Beauty lies in the lap ofTerror, and the Atlantic surf sings lullaby. There are the Monzievairdhills to the right, rising in Benchonzie to the height of 3048 feet, andto something under this figure in the Cairngorm or Blue Craig, upon whichyou see the stone-heap of Cainnechin--memorial, as it is said, of abattle fought within what are now the policies of Ochtertyre, and as theresult of which Malcolm II. Came to the throne of Scotia, having defeatedand slain his rival Kenneth Duff or Don--Kenneth, the swarthy--"at aplace where two valleys meet. " Many battles have been fought out in theStrath, for it must always have been a rich prize; but this one has aspecial historical interest, inasmuch as it connects us with one of thegreat tragedies in our annals, in which the genius of Shakespeare foundmaterial for one of his masterly delineations of the strange workings ofhuman passion. It is said that Fraoch, wife of Macbeth Maormor of Moray, had a good claim to the throne as the grand-daughter of this KennethDuff, and, prompted by ambition and revenge, instigated her husband tothe murder of his Sovereign and guest--the gracious Duncan, grandson ofMalcolm II. , at Bothgowan, near Elgin. Loch Turret lies in the gorgethat separates Benchonrie from the Blue Craig. It is likely enough thatthe descendants of the wild fowl that Robert Burns scared on the occasionof his visit to Ochtertyre still nest and pair in the solitude. 

To the left of Turleum is a wider expanse, that carries the eye to theMoor of Orchill, which overlooks the plain of Ardoch--the Lindum of theRomans--traditional scene of the battle of Mons Grampus. Some miles awayStirling finds shelter under its rock, --not visible to us, however, wherewe stand, and only audible across the intervening twenty-two miles whenbirthday and other honours are paid to Royalty. 

The Ochil range--memorial of fierce volcanic action when the lower oldred sandstone was being deposited in the inland lake which stretched fromeast to west across the Lowlands of Scotland, and away southward withouta break to the southern uplands, close to the border of England;--thisOchil range, which means high ground, as Glenogle means high glen, boundsour view to the south-east. It has no towering peaks, but Bencleuch andits neighbour, King Seat, command magnificent panoramic views to northand south from an elevation of 2000 feet. The gap before us isGleneagles, --Glen-eccles--Kirk glen--one of the passes into the Lowlandsof Fife and Kinross, by which, it may be, Agricola found his way intoStrathearn after the conquest of Fife. In the very heart of the Ochilsits name changes from Gleneagles to Glendevon. Here again we are uponclassic ground--in the vale of the clear winding Devon, which more thanany other stream recalls Yarrow with its hills green to the top and itspastoral melancholy. And let me note the fact that here, too, is thetiniest and daintiest parish church in Scotland--the outpost of thePresbytery of Auchterarder in this direction. 

Between us and the gap, but much nearer the gap, is a bit of risingground, running eastward almost parallel with the Ochils, with a downwardslope from west to east, upon which may be seen, if the atmosphere isclear, smoking chimneys and a faint ruddy hue, as if with the memory oftiles now discarded for the prosaic if more permanent roofing slate. That is the "lang toon" of Auchterarder, climbing up the slope somewhatafter the fashion of the Canongate and High Street of Edinburgh, not soconspicuously or hurriedly, however, as if aware that there was no CastleRock from which to view the fertile Strath below. An ancient place, truly, pedigreed, but by no means penniless, the Presbytery seat, famousin ecclesiastical annals for its creed, crotchets, and conflicts;resonant, too, in profane history for its fifty drawbridges--the gift ofthe imagination and pawky Scotch humour of George Buchanan, Latinist, publicist, and tutor to that high and mighty Prince, the British Solomon, James I. Of England and VI. Of Scotland. The drawbridges are no more, for the "lang toon" is a burgh now, with a douce Provost of its own, andBailies, and such like novel things and persons. But this we cannot tellfrom our present standpoint, and we might easily persuade ourselves thisafternoon that Auchterarder has suffered no sea change, were it not thatevery now and again the columns of our local newspaper foam under therage of its municipal contendings. 

In the far east, the Strath seems to be shut off by the MoncrieffeHill--wooded still, as in the days when it was first named. But the Earnslips between this seeming obstacle and the spurs of the Ochils, makingsuch haste as it can through carse-like land to join the lordly Tay hardby Abernethy--the ancient capital of the Southern Picts--the centre ofmissionary enterprise, when darkness was thick upon the land after Ninianhad died at Whithorn, on the Solway, and before Columba had set foot uponIona. The valley at our feet, the limits of which I have attempted tomark off, is Strathearn--a right noble expanse of fertile soil, richlywooded, abundantly watered, dotted over with villages and guardian ParishChurches, like that of Muthill; bright with Castles that have left theirnames in history, and with mansion-houses of hardly less fame, that gleamfrom among their ancestral trees--a Strath that may be fitlycharacterised as the Scottish Esdraelon, in which many things havehappened, and many men have been well worthy of being held in remembrance. 

I had intended in this paper to give an account of some early inroadsinto Strathearn, but the exigencies of space have determined for me thatI can deal with only one--the earliest of all--the Roman invasion. Ishould have liked to have told the story of the invasion by Egfrid ofNorthumbria, which ended so disastrously for him at Nechtansmere--mostlikely Dunnichen, in Forfarshire, in the year 685 A. D. , and of which itmay well be that we have a solitary trace in the name Abercairny--plainlyidentical with Abercornig--Abercorn in the Lothians--where the Anglesfounded a monastery under Abbot Trumuini, who, being engaged inStrathearn advocating the adoption of the Roman in opposition to theprevalent Columban cult, had to beat a hasty retreat beyond the Forthwhen disaster came to Egfrid. The larger subject would have includedalso the invasion by Siward, Earl of Northumberland, in support of theclaims of Prince Malcolm, afterwards Malcolm Canmore, in opposition toMacbeth, the usurper, as he is commonly, perhaps unfairly, called. Thefirst stage of the inroad ended with an encounter at Tula Amon--at thejunction of the Tay and the Almond, near Perth. The result was notdecisive, for it would seem that for a little while Macbeth keptpossession of the country north of the Forth, being especially strong inFife, where he had powerful family connections and friends in the Culdeebrotherhood at Lochleven, while Malcolm reigned in the Lothians. And alittle later, in connection with the complications into which Malcolm wasforced through his fortunate marriage with Margaret, sister of theAtheling, we have traces--somewhat indistinct, truly, but stillhistorical--of an inroad by the grim conqueror of England--William, andof a meeting between him and Malcolm at Forteviot. All this might haveproved instructive in detailed exposition, but I must content myself withthis condensed reference. My subject is, therefore, the earliesthistorical inroad into Strathearn--the Roman inroad, which I have called, in the heading of this paper, the Opening Up of Strathearn. 

Everybody knows that Julius Caesar set foot in Britain and conducted acampaign against the native tribes in 55-54 B. C. He made no permanentimpression. But successive expeditions were sent out, and the tide ofconquest flowed further and further east and west and north till itreached the Solway. The details of the conflict do not concern us here. But it would be unpardonable to omit mentioning Boadicea, Queen of theIceni, in the East, and of Caractacus, leader of the Silures, in theWest, both of whom offered strenuous opposition to the Roman advance. The powerful tribe of the Brigantes, who possessed the country betweenthe Humber and the Solway, made a stout defence in the North, but by theyear 70 A. D. The Roman province was coterminous with the present southernboundary of Scotland. It was now that the Romans heard the name of a newtribe--the Caledonian Britons, who, according to report, lived upon fishand milk, clearly indicating a less advanced stage of civilisation thanthat of the tribes they had encountered hitherto. The unexploredterritory in which they dwelt was vaguely called Thule. Tacitus, thehistorian, and son-in-law of Julius Agricola--the discoverer ofStrathearn--imagined it to be an island formed by the meeting of theFirths of Forth and Clyde. But the time was now come when more accurateinformation was to be obtained concerning Caledonia and its inhabitants. Some external characteristics had been noted. The Caledonians weredescribed as Caerulei, from the green colour with which they stainedtheir bodies. It was also said that they fought with chariots like theBritons of the interior, whom Caesar heard of 125 years before. 

Julius Agricola was the man who first brought the Caledonians within theken of distinct history. He came to Britain in 78 A. D. His firstcampaign was on the Welsh border, his second in the territory of someoutlying Brigantian tribes along the northern shores of the Solway. These were the Selgovae, who occupied what is now the county of Dumfries, and the Novantes further to the west in the modern counties ofKirkcudbright and Wigton. To the north of these lay the great nation ofthe Damnonii--of the same stock as those who occupied Devonshire in thesouth of England. They held extensive territories in the centre ofScotland, including the counties of Ayr, Lanark, Renfrew, south of theFirths of Forth and Clyde, and, north of these estuaries, the counties ofDumbarton and Stirling and the districts of Menteith, Stratherne, andForthreve, or the western half of the peninsula of Fife. They were the"novae gentes, " or new nations, whose territories Agricola ravaged as faras the "Tavaus, " or Tay, in his third campaign. They were somewhatcivilised, having towns, of which we know the names of six--three lyingsouth of and three north of the Firths. The chief of the southern townswas Coria--Carstairs, near Lanark, on the Clyde. North of the Forththere were Alauna, where the Allan joins the Forth; Lindum--that isArdoch, at our own doors; and Victoria, in Fife, situated on a smalllake. The lake has disappeared, but the name Lochore remains, and isotherwise famous than as a town of the Damnonii. The natural divisionline between the Selgovae, Novantes, and Damnonii was the hilly countrywhich separates the waters that flow north from those that find their wayinto the Solway--the Ituna Aestuarium, as its name then was. Crossingthis mountain barrier, Agricola struck into the valley of the Clyde, passed with his legions through Lanarkshire and Stirlingshire, then bythe fords of the Forth and the Vale of the Allan into Strathearn, thenceonward to the Tay. There was an alternative route. A fleet accompaniedhis movements. He might have crossed the Firth of Forth--the BodotriaAestuarium--and penetrated through Fife to the Tay. But Tacitus usuallymentions the crossing of estuaries, and he omits it in this case. Besides, he states that the natives on the north shore of the Forth werenew to him in the fifth campaign. 

It was, therefore, in the year 80 A. D. , during his third campaign, thatAgricola entered Strathearn by way of Alauna. He did not effect apermanent conquest. His operations rather resembled a reconnaisance inforce. But he meant serious business. He planted forts in commandingsituations, choosing so wisely, from a strategic point of view, that notone of them was ever taken or surrendered. They were placed so as tocommand the principal passes into the Highlands. They form a ring-fenceround the territory hastily overrun by Agricola in this third campaign. Beginning in the west with Bochastle, at the Pass of Leny, nearCallander, we come successively to Dalginross, at Comrie; Fendoch, at themouth of the Sma' Glen; the camp at the junction of the Almond and theTay; and, Ardargie, in the parish of Forgandenny, on the River May, commanding an extensive prospect of the Ochils, and along the course ofthe road from the Tay to the great camp at Ardoch. Here was evidentlythe base of operations, with accommodation, if need arose, for the entireRoman army in Scotland. 

Having thus viewed the land and pegged out his claim by means of forts, Agricola returned to winter quarters. In the following summer--thesummer of 81 A. D. , he made no forward movement. But he was meditating agreat enterprise--no less an enterprise than to penetrate beyond the Tayand break the power of the Caledonians in their remote fastnesses. Itbehoved him to be cautious, so he constructed the chain of forts whichafterwards became the Wall of Antonine--from Borrowstonness, on theForth, to Old Kilpatrick, on the Clyde. Meantime he was laying his planswith admirable foresight. He entrusted the forts in Strathearn to thecourage of their slender garrisons, and the issue proved that he could doso safely. But there was unexplored territory westward and eastward. Nobody knew what dangers might be lurking there, ready to assail him inrear the moment he left the security of his fortified place. So we findhim in the summer of 82 A. D. , in Argyll and Kintyre, with a small force, not fighting so much, as simply exploring, at one point feasting hisRoman eyes, greedy for conquest, upon the coast of Ireland, seen dimly inthe distance, and perhaps scheming in his heart and head to add it alsoat a fitting time to the Roman domains. 

Returning from the west country, Agricola entered upon the campaign ofthree years' duration, which issued in the Battle of Mons Grampus, thecrowning glory of his arms in Scotland, and the immediate occasion of hisrecall. He chose the alternative route this time. From his chain offorts he could see the broad expanse of the Firth of Forth, the coast ofFife, the central Lomonds, and the distant hill-country, whoseacquaintance he had already made. That distant point was the goal of hisendeavour, and the shortest way to it was across the Firth of Forth, through the western division of Fife, and on by one of the Ochilpasses--Glendevon, or some other further east into Strathearn. There wasno time to lose. For, while he was engaged in the subjugation of Fife, the fleet, after exploring the harbours, had doubled the East Neuk, passed safely through St Andrews Bay, and entered the Firth of Tay. Itsunexpected appearance caused the greatest consternation among theCaledonians. The immediate result was to greatly increase the peril inwhich the devoted garrisons in Strathearn stood. So great was theirdanger, and so well was it known, that there were those with Agricola whoadvised a retreat to the chain of forts between the Firths. But Agricolawas not to be shaken in his resolve, which was to finally break the powerof the tribes who dwelt to the north and east of the Grampians, and who, so long as they remained free and unchastised, were a standing menace tothe Strath of the Earn and to the garrisons who held it at the hazard oftheir lives. He formed a camp to winter in at a place called GrassyWalls, on the east side of the Tay, near to Perth. But there was stilltime, before the winter set in, for a little exploration and a brush withthe enemy to revive the courage of his soldiers, which had begun to droopa little. Advancing northward on the left bank of the river, Agricolareached the Isla, and not caring to cross it so late in the year, in theface of the enemy who were massed upon the Hill and Muir of Blair beyond, he diverged to the right, following the course of the Isla until he cameto the place where Coupar Angus stands now. Here he paused. He hadmarched from Perth in three divisions to prevent surprise, and in thisneighbourhood there are three positions marked by Roman remains thatcorrespond with these divisions. The main force was stationed at CouparAngus; the Ninth Legion at Lintrose, two miles south-east; a third smallbody at a place two miles south-west, overlooking the Tay, and guardingthe passage. These details are important, as helping to determine thetrue site of the Battle of Mons Grampus. It may be taken for grantedthat the Roman General made good use of his opportunity to survey theground upon which the decisive battle was fought. Before retiring towinter quarters at Grassy Walls, the Roman soldiers had a chance giventhem of testing the strength and valour of the Caledonians. The NinthLegion was stationed at Lintrose, and here the enemy delivered theirattack under cover of night. They had penetrated into the camp ere theywere discovered, and it might have gone hard with the Legion if help hadnot been at hand. But the alarm quickly spread to where Agricola wasstationed with the main body. On his arrival the Caledonians took toflight. With the first touch of winter the march southward was begun, and when the summer came the legionaries and the auxiliaries clamouredimpatiently to be led northward to the final encounter. 

The theory maintained in this paper regarding the last campaign ofAgricola, and the site of the Battle of Mons Grampus was first broachedin the Statistical Account of the parish of Bendochy, published in 1797. It has been since adopted by Skene in his classical work on CelticScotland, to which I desire in this place to acknowledge my greatindebtedness. Other sites have been fixed upon, but there are none thatcan fairly be put in comparison with the neck of land at the junction ofthe Isla with the Tay. What may be called the traditional view of thesite of the battle locates it at Ardoch, in the vicinity of the greatcamp. No doubt, good authorities can be quoted in favour of thecorrectness of the traditional view. But there are several reasons whichrender it highly improbable that the great battle was fought at Ardoch. The very name Mons Grampus implies the existence of some conspicuouseminence in the near neighbourhood. There is no such eminence nearArdoch. Further, we know that Agricola's scheme of operation embracedjoint action on the part of the fleet and land forces. There could havebeen no such co-operation if the movement of the legions had been west ofthe Tay. And it is a fatal objection to the Ardoch site that there arenot three stations corresponding to those which we have seen the threedivisions of Agricola's force occupied on the night of the surprise. General Roy, indeed, has tried to turn the edge of this objection byplacing the Ninth Legion at Dalginross, the main body under Agricola atArdoch, and the other division at Strageath, overlooking and guarding theEarn. But it has been retorted upon him that Agricola could have made noworse disposition of his forces, from a strategic point of view, than tohave stationed his weakest division at Comrie, nine miles distant fromthe main body, in the very heart of the enemy's country, close to thehills, from which they could rush down upon any favourable opportunity, and to which they could retreat in the event of a repulse. 

Besides, help came from the main body in the course of a fewhours--between night and morning. It would be a difficult task even nowfor a body of men to cover the ground between Ardoch and Comrie in thedead of night; and we must remember that in the time of Agricola thecountry was a pathless wild, rough with woods in the higher parts, andcovered with treacherous morasses in the valleys. The Damnonii--withinwhose territories Ardoch, Comrie, and Strageath lay--were more highlycivilised than the Caledonians beyond the Tay and the Grampian range. They had towns, as we have seen; they probably engaged to some extent inagriculture; their food did not altogether consist of fish, milk, and theproduce of the chase. But their towns were few and far between, and themeans of communication very imperfect. The native tribes were notroad-makers, and the Romans had not been long enough in possession, norhad leisure been granted them to form the solid and straight lines ofcommunication upon which, everywhere, their power was based. We haveRoman roads in Strathearn, and I daresay a careful student of thedistrict could walk every foot of the way from Ardoch to Perth alongthese roads--street-roads, they are called locally, as I discovered onenight to my surprise on making inquiries as to the shortest route betweenthe manses of Gask and Trinity-Gask. But these roads were not inexistence when the Battle of Mons Grampus was fought. Much roughpioneering work had to be gone through ere it was possible to lay themdown. Meantime, the respective positions of the Romans and Caledonianshad changed somewhat. The tide of conquest did not remain at thehigh-water mark of Agricola's advance. The Roman garrisons werewithdrawn from Strathearn and from Ardoch. The Wall of Hadrian, betweenthe Solway and the Tyne, was substituted for the frontier chain of fortsbetween the Forth and Clyde, and, in consequence, the native tribes keptpressing ever southward. Hadrian's Wall checked their progress, buttheir presence in ever-increasing numbers was a danger to the province. They had now come to be known as the Caledonii and the Meatae--the men ofthe hills and the men of the plains. At length the spirit of Romerevived in the Emperor Severus, who determined to revisit the scene ofAgricola's early conquests. He came to Britain in 208 A. D. , fully onehundred and twenty years after the Battle of Mons Grampus had been foughtand won. He moved slowly, but did his work effectively. It was a costlyprocess both in treasure and human life; but, from the point of view ofpermanent conquest, it was well done. Roads were formed, bridges built, and the habits of civilisation introduced into the wilds of Strathearn, and far away in the North. For, marching by way of Forfar, Kincardine, and Aberdeen, Severus reached the Moray Firth, and got from theCaledonians a cession of land to the north of the Tay. It has beenconjectured that he returned south by way of Fortingall and Fendoch andArdoch, where are Roman remains of a peculiar kind, of which no moresatisfactory explanation can be given than that they mark the sites ofhis stations. Severus was borne on a litter in his northward march, frail and aged. He accomplished his purpose, but the undertaking wasgreater than his strength had warranted. He died at York in 211 A. D. 

But to return to Agricola--to whom the honour belongs of opening upStrathearn. He had gone into winter quarters near Perth, after hisautumn expedition to the Isla. All hesitation had vanished from theminds of his soldiers. They were impatient to try conclusions with thebarbarian Caledonians; and so soon as the season permitted, the camp wasbroken up. They retraced their steps to the Isla, and found the enemyoccupying the old position on the lower slopes of the Hill ofBlair--battle-hill; probably so called in memory of the big fight nowimpending. It was a well-chosen position, showing no little militaryskill on the part of Galgacus, the Caledonian chief. From the foot ofthe hill a plain extended southward to the junction of the rivers. TheIsla bounded the plain on the east, while a series of morasses, moors, and small lochs stretched to the west, in the direction of the Grampianrange. Upon their defeat, the Caledonians made their escape this way. The Roman army boldly crossed the Isla this time, and began to throw upentrenchments. Traces of a rampart are to be seen extending fromMeikleour on the Tay across country to the Isla. In connection with thisa fort was constructed and a triangular bit of ground enclosed, capableof containing the whole force. The local name of the rampart is CleavenDykes, and all the while the Caledonians were gathering from allparts--from the distant Highlands and from the siege of the Strathearnforts. The Buzzard Dykes, on the lower slopes of the Hill of Blair, marks their position. At length they thought themselves strong enough tobegin the attack. A defensive policy would have been wiser. But theconcentrated power of a trained army--the very regularity of its motionsalways draws the attack of a less highly disciplined force. Probably theCaledonians deceived themselves into thinking that fear was the cause ofthe inaction of their opponents. It was not so. Agricola had come sofar in order to fight, and his soldiers were impatient to be led againstthe enemy. They had gained confidence from the experience of the yearbefore--they were hungry as wolves for the honour of victory. They knewthat upon their valour depended the lives of their fellow-soldiers, whohad been fighting for well nigh four years against tremendous odds awaywest in Strathearn. And when the Caledonians came on, Agricola promptlyadvanced to meet them, having 8000 auxiliaries in his first line, protected on the wings by 3000 cavalry. The legionaries were stationedbehind these--veteran Roman soldiers, upon whose steadiness he could relyif there should come repulse and panic. The rampart at Meikleour was inthe rear of the reserve force--to serve as a last defence if the worsthappened. Agricola himself went to the front with the colours. Asusual, the battle began with a discharge of missiles from a distance. The darts and stones flew thick, and all the while the Caledonians wereedging away to right and left in the hope of surrounding the Romans. Agricola strained his thin line almost to breaking point, but hisopponents had the advantage of numbers, and still pressed him. Thedanger of a gaping centre grew imminent. The crisis of the conflictcame. Three Batavian and two Tungrian cohorts charged sword in hand. The issue was not long in doubt. The small shields and long swords ofthe Caledonians were ill-fitted to encounter the straight home-thrust ofthe finely-tempered blade, 19 inches in length, with which the Romansoldiers were armed. They wavered, and then the end came quickly. Thewhole line of the auxiliaries charged uphill and carried everythingbefore them, and although the war chariots, armed with scythe-blades, were brought into action, they did more harm than good. The ground wasrough, and unsuitable for the effective use of these murderous weapons ofwarfare. Their own men, now in hopeless confusion, were the chiefsufferers from them. And although the Caledonian reserve succeeded ingetting behind the Roman first line, they were promptly checked by acavalry attack. It was never necessary to bring the Roman reserves oflegionary soldiers into action. The fight was over, and the Caledonianssought safety in headlong flight among the morasses which stretchedwestward in the direction of the Grampian range. 

Agricola did not push his advantage further. He was content with thevictory he had gained, He could now hope that there would be peace inStrathearn, bringing with it the opportunity of extending the boundary ofthe Roman province to the Tay. His eager Roman spirit was planning otherenterprises. He had seen the coast of Ireland from Kintyre, anddoubtless courted the distinction of annexing it to the Empire. Onecan't help thinking what a pity it was that the opportunity of doing sowas not given him. Had the distressful country got the benefit of thefirm and civilising Roman rule, a happier history might have been hers. From his winter quarters behind the Firths of Forth and Clyde, Agricolasent his fleet to explore the distant northern parts. His sailorsvisited and took possession of the Orkney Islands--sighted a distantpeak, which became the "Ultima Thule" of history; noted the peculiarfeature of the West Coast of Scotland--the sea-lochs now so well known tothe tourists of every land; circumnavigated the island till they reachedthe Trutulensian harbour--Dover, as we call it now; and then returned totheir station in the Firth of Forth. It was not permitted to Agricola toturn the information thus acquired to practical use. His brilliantsuccess in Scotland had excited the jealousy of the Emperor Domitian, andhe was recalled under the pretence of appointing him to a higher command. The traces of him in Strathearn and elsewhere were speedily obliterated. The Roman province shrank to the wall of Hadrian between Tyne andSol-way; civilisation was beaten back, and kept back for four generations. 

CELTIC SAINTS AND

ANCIENT CHURCHES OF STRATHEARN

 S. FILLAN, DUNDURN S. RONAN, STROWAN S. BEAN, KINKELL AND FOULIS S. SERF, DUNNING AND MONZIEVAIRD S. KESSOG, COMRIE AND AUCHTERARDER S. PATRICK, STROGEATH S. FERGUS, MUTHILL S. CATTAN, ABERUTHVEN S. BRIDE, ABERNETHY

CELTIC SAINTS AND ANCIENT CHURCHES OF STRATHEARN

By Rev. JAMES RANKIN, D. D. , Muthill

The vale or strath of the Earn may best and simplest be said to extendfrom the head of Loch Earn along the course of the River Earn to itsjunction with the Tay, two and a quarter miles above Newburgh. Thedistance from top to bottom as the crow flies is about thirty-six miles, and the direction is very nearly due west and east. The valley may besub-divided into four portions. The uppermost is Loch Earn itself, whichis six and a half miles long and 306 feet above sea-level, so that thedescent of the river in its thirty miles of course is not much. Thesurface of Loch Earn, James' Square in Crieff, and the Manse of Muthill, across the valley, are as nearly as possible on the same level. The Earnmay be sectioned as follows:--From Loch Earn to the Bridge of Comrie;thence to the Bridge of Crieff; thence to the Bridge of Kinkell; thenceto Bridge of Earn; thence to junction of Earn with Tay. For our presentpurpose we may stop near Forteviot, at the Earn boundary of thePresbytery of Auchterarder. 

Before we can rightly appreciate the more or most ancient Christianhistory of the Strath, we require to lay aside, and partly reverse, certain modern associations as to lines of travel. We think ofStrathearn as running westward from Auchterarder, which lies on both theturnpike and railway route from Stirling to Perth. But in the days ofour early Christianity it was mainly the sea on each coast that joinednorth and south of Scotland; whereas the more frequented routes wereacross country from west to east, because the west was then the seat ofgovernment and source of culture. Our early Christianity came fromIreland, and the route was by the Firth of Clyde, where Kintyre, Arran, Cumbrae, Bute, Kilmun, Dumbarton, Luss, and Balquhidder were all alreadyprovided with places of worship. The Vale of Leven and Loch Lomond werethe natural approaches from the west to the upper end of Loch Earn andStrathearn. Another route connecting Perthshire with Iona was by LochEtive, Dalmally, Tyndrum, and Glendochart. But the Leven and Loch Lomondroute, judging by the saints to whom the oldest churches were dedicated, was the actual one usually traversed in reaching the valley of the Earn. 

The oldest settlement is that of S. Fillan, at Dundurn. His day in theKalendar is June 22, and he died about 520 A. D. Dundurn=Dun d'Earn. Inthe martyrology of Donegal (for he was a pure Irish Celt) he is called ofRath Erann--_i. E. _, the fort on the Earn. Besides the old chapel andburial-ground, a memorial of the Saint is in Dunfillan, where are hischair and well. A fine eye for the picturesque the good man must havehad to select a hill of so striking aspect and commanding so charming alandscape as Dunfillan. A little later Dunfillan became a king's seat orfort. S. Fillan is called _an lobar_, leper, or perhaps stammerer, todistinguish him from S. Fillan the abbot, connected with Strathfillan andKillin, whose day is January 9, and who died about 703, nearly 200 yearsafter his namesake the leper. He of Dundurn was of the race of AEngus, King of Munster, and was trained under S. Ailbe of Emly. Dr. Marshall, in his "Historic Scenes in Perthshire, " in company with several otherwriters, mixes up the two S. Fillans. Bishop Forbes, in his "Kalendarsof Scottish Saints, " gives a clear account of each, mentioning thatAberdour, in Fife, is dedicated to him of Dundurn, as was also Cill orKil-Faelin, in Leinster. 

Tullichettle and Comrie may be taken together, the distance between thembeing only one mile; the former meaning "The Vale of Sleep, " now knownmainly by its little kirkyard, having once been the more important of thetwo. The proof of this is seen in an extract from the Register ofMinisters and Readers in the Miscellany of the Wodrow Society. In 1574, where our Presbytery has now sixteen parishes, there were only fourministers and sixteen readers, thus grouped:--Auchterarder--Stipend, £100, and kirk-lands--had readers at Auchterardour, Kinkell, Abirruthven, and Dunnyng. Strogeith--£60, and kirk-lands--had readers at Strogeith, Muthill, and Strowane. Foulis--£80, and kirklands--had readers atFoulis, Madertie, Trinite-Gask, and Findo-Gask. Tullichettil--£100, andkirk-lands--had readers at Tullichettil, Cumrie, Monivaird, Monzie, andCrieff. The system of readers was a beggarly makeshift for the Christianministry, and shows the sore straits to which the Reformed Church wasreduced after what was supposed to be the grand victory of 1560. ThenTullichettle was more than Comrie, as Strageath was more than Muthill. The dedication of Tullichettle does not appear in any record that I haveseen, but that of Comrie is evident from its fair, which bears the nameof S. Kessog. There is also a Tom-na-chessaig, just behind the old FreeChurch, now a public hall. The old name has a modern recognition in alocal Freemasons' Lodge of S. Kessack. What is known of the Saint isgiven further on under Auchterarder. 

Downwards on Earn the next ancient riverside church is Strowan, which, being a small parish, was united to Monzievaird before 1662. The site isone of remarkable beauty and quiet, almost ideal as a place of worshipand burial. Ronan or Rowan was a bishop and confessor under KingMaldwin, Feb. 7, 737, according to Adam King's Kalendar. He was ofKilmaronen or Kilmaronoc, in Lennox. Other dedications to him areKilroaronag, in Muckairn; Teampull Ronan of Ness, in Lewis; Port Ronan, in Iona. At his death in 737 A. D. , S. Ronan was abbot of Kingarth, inBute. Connected with the church of Strowan is a Ronan pool on the Earn, and a bell remains from the old days. An adjacent farm is called Carseof Trowan. 

The old church of Monzievaird on the east avenue to Ochtertyre, and nowthe private burial-place of the Murrays, is dedicated to S. Serf. Buthis legend may be reserved till we reach Dunning, at the end of ournarrative. 

The next in order of the old Celtic Churches on the Earn is that atStrogeit, or usually Strageath. This church and churchyard are close onthe Earn, at a very picturesque spot, where are two very old mills--oneon each side of the river--and a mill-dam between, and serving for both. The church is dedicated to S. Patrick, of Ireland, and was planted by anIrish missionary called S. Fergus. 

Patricius was bishop and confessor--his day of death and commemoration, March 17, 493. He was the son of Calphurnius, a Roman decurio ormagistrate at Dumbarton, his mother being Conkessa, sister or niece ofthe great S. Martin of Tours. He was born at Kilpatrick, on the Clyde, and called Succat=Succoth, the name of a neighbouring estate. Atsixteen, Patrick was carried off to Ireland by pirates, and sold to achief, Michul of Antrim, where he served six years, when he escaped toScotland. He then went to S. Germanus of Auxerre for forty (moreprobably four) years' study. After becoming monk with his uncle S. Martin, he visited Rome, and was sent to Ireland, where he laboured sixtyyears, consecrating 365 churches and bishops, and ordaining 300--some say3000--presbyters. Writings of S. Patrick are his "Confessions"--"Hymnbefore Tara, " called "Breastplate, " in eleven verses, and "Letter toCaroticus, Caradoc, or Ceretic Guledig, " from whom the kings of Alcluith, Patrick's birthland, were descended. (See Christian Classics--TheWritings of Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland. Religious Tract Society, London. ) S. Patrick's churches in Scotland are sixteen, of which threeare in Muthill--viz. , Strogeit, on the Earn; S. Patrick's, atBlairinroar; and S. Patrick's, at Struthill; each of the two latterhaving a S. Patrick's Well, anciently used in baptism. At Blairinroar, five miles west from Muthill, two or three cot-houses still bear the nameS. Patrick's, but I don't know that the site of the original chapel isidentifiable. At Struthill, two miles south of Muthill, both chapelwalls and ancient burial-ground remained till about 50 years ago, whenthey were shamefully turned--the one into dyke material, and theconsecrated soil and remains into top-dressing for corn land. The sacredwell was also run off into a drain, and the site marked by a moderncattle trough. The burial-ground at Strageath is still in use, but thecorner stones of the old church have been brutally abstracted for use inneighbouring buildings. These desecrations ill agree with what is trulystated by my predecessor in the New Statistical Account, that "theinhabitants of Muthill, until very lately (_i. E. _, about 1835), held S. Patrick's name in so high veneration that on his day (March 17) neitherthe clap of the mill was heard nor the plough seen to move in thefurrow. " Across the Earn from Strageath is a farm called Dalpatrick, anda ford known as Dalpatrick Ford. 

This well-deserved honour to the patron saint of Ireland is traceablehere to the presence of one of his disciples and countrymen, S. Fergus, whose work, however, must have been about 150 years after S. Patrick'sdeath. After his work of chapel building in Muthill, S. Fergus quittedhis hermitage at Strageath and went northward to Caithness and Buchan, onthe same gospel errand, where, after good work again, he moved southwardsto Glamis, the scene of his death and burial. The churches dedicated tohim are six--viz. , Wick, Halkirk, S. Fergus or Lungley, Inverugy, S. Fergus, at Banff; Dyce. Glamis has S. Fergus' cave and well. There wasa S. Fergus chapel in the church of Inchbrayock, at Montrose, and achapel and well at Usan, three miles south-east of Montrose. His headwas preserved at Scone in a silver casket, his arm in a silver casket atAberdeen, and his staff, baculus or bachul, at S. Fergus, in Buchan. In721, _Fergustus Epis. Scotiae Pictus_ signed at Rome canons as toirregular marriages. He belonged to the party that conformed to Rome asdistinguished from the strict adherents of the old Celtic ritual. 

About one mile below Strageath is the old Collegiate Church ofInnerpeffray, dedicated to S. Mary, mentioned in 1342, and madecollegiate in 1508 by the first Lord Drummond. But as this belongs to alater ecclesiastical system (1200-1560) it may be passed over for thepresent. 

About two miles lower than Innerpeffray is Kinkell Church, dedicated toS. Bean. Here we come on a group of three, the next being Aberythven, three miles east of Kinkell, dedicated to S. Cathan; and Auchterarder, one mile south of Aberuthven, dedicated to S. Makessock. These threechurches, along with Strageath and Madderty, have this in common at alater date--viz. , 1200 A. D. , that they were granted by Earl Gilbert ofStrathearn and his Countess Matildis, as endowment to the newly-foundedAbbey of Inchaffray. A few years later the Church of S. Bean of Foulisand the Church of the Holy Trinity of Gasc were added to the sameendowment. Although now desolate, and appearing as a pendicle to anadjacent farm-steading, the old Kirk of Kinkell occupies a beautiful sitein the valley, on a knoll, close by the river, and the kirkyard is stilloccasionally used. S. Bean, who was bishop and confessor, died about920, and his day in the Kalendar is 26th October. He was uncle of S. Cadroe, who was taught at Armagh, and whose mission in Scotland marks theorigin of the Culdees, strictly so-called, as is traced in Skene's CelticScotland, II. , 346, in connection with Kinkell and Abernethy. 

Particularly interesting is the Church of Aberuthven, now in the parishof Auchterarder. The eastern end of the building is evidently of extremeantiquity, with two narrow windows, between which would stand the altar, probably of stone. The dedication was to S. Cathan or Cattanus, bishop, May 17, 710. Cathan was uncle of S. Blain, of Bute, whom he ordained andconsecrated bishop. Cathan is most closely associated with Bute, hisoriginal chapel having been on the south side of Kilchattan Bay. Cattan, the Pict, planted a church in Gigha, then went to Colonsay, which hasanother S. Cattan's, and to Iona, and settled at Scarinche, in Lewis, where his remains were preserved, and where, after Bannockburn (1314), achurch was built and dedicated to S. Cattan, and affiliated toInchaffray. There was also a Clan Chattan. (See Hewison's Bute, I. , 136-8. )

Kessog, Kessogus, or Makessock, was born at Cashel, the capital ofMunster, of the line of the Kings of Ireland, and miracles are attributedto his early years. He is depicted with bow and arrow as patron of thewarriors of Leven and patron saint of Cumbrae. He lived as hermit in theisland of Inch-ta-vanach, in Loch Lomond, and was martyred at Luss, wherea cairn, Cam Machaisog, remained till 1796. (Anderson's Early ChristianTimes, I. , 212). His day is 10th March, and the date of martyrdom, 520. Coming between the times of S. Patrick and S. Columba, S. Kessog andseveral saintly contemporaries are the fruits of the fervour of theformer and the pioneers of the latter. The doctrines and rites of theseearlier missionaries are described in Hewison's Bute, I. , 118-131. S. Kessog's bell was preserved and honoured in Lennox in the 17th century. Besides Auchterarder, the Churches of Comrie, Callander, Luss, andCumbrae were dedicated to S. Kessog. Callander has a fair on the 21stMarch=10th March (old style), called Fel-ma-chessaig, and the site of theold kirk, on a conical hill, is called Tom-na-chessaig. Cumbrae has aKessog's Fair on the third Wednesday in March. Kessog Ferry, atInverness, is another memorial of the Saint; so is the Strathearn name ofM'Isaac, Makisaig, and Kessack. The old Kirk of S. Makessok lies in ahollow to the north of modern Auchterarder, whose church dates only fromabout 1660, and was enlarged in 1811. Makessock's Well still exists onthe farm of East Kirkton, beside the old glebe and manse, which are nowpart of that farm, having been "excambed" about 1800. 

There is a dedication to S. Mungo connected with Auchterarder, but as itseems not to have been a distinct building, we may consider it to havebeen only an altar, or side chapel, in the Church of S. Makessog. (Theevidence for the S. Mungo dedication is "Historians of Scotland, Vol. V. , p. Xc. "; also New Statistical Account, Perth, 290. ) Craigrossy paid duesto S. Mungo's altar in Glasgow. (Historians of Scotland, V. , 357, andOrig. Par. , I. , 2. ) The name Mungo has a marked currency in Strathearn. I have known six examples. 

Before passing to Dunning, allusion may be made to Gask and Trinity-Gask, both of which are bounded by the Earn, the latter especially to a greatextent. Gask was anciently known as Findo-Gask, the dedication being toS. Findoka, Fincana, or S. Fink, one of the nine daughters of S. Donevaldor Donaldus, who led a religious life in the Glen of Ogilvie, inForfarshire. S. Donevald's day is 12th July, and he died in 712. TheChurches of Bendochy and Innishail (in Glenorchy) were also dedicated toS. Fink; while Finhaven, Strathmartin, and Touch were dedicated to S. Donevaldus. Trinity-Gask is mentioned under this name in a charter ofInchaffray shortly after 1200. To the Holy Trinity was a favouritededication of the Culdees, who held firmly by the Apostles' Creed. TheCathedral of Brechin was dedicated by King Kenneth (971-995) to the HolyTrinity, and Culdee abbots continued in Brechin till 1219, although theSee was founded in 1150 by David I. , and re-dedicated to the Trinity. Thus the very name carries back the Church of Trinity-Gask to the timesof the Culdees, if not to the Celtic Church directly. 

The patron saint of Dunning is S. Servanus or Serf, who appears in theKalendar as bishop and confessor, his day being July 1. He is said to bethe son of Alma, daughter of a Pictish King; was ordained by Palladius, and dwelt at Culross in a monastery, where his most famous scholar wasKentigern, of Glasgow. Palladius died in 432, and Kentigern in 603, sothat the same man in an ordinary life-time could not be _ordained_ byPalladius and teach Kentigern. To escape this difficulty, the AberdeenBreviary makes two S. Serfs. The legend runs--"In a place called Dunnynethe inhabitants were harassed by a dreadful dragon, which devoured bothmen and cattle and kept the district in continual terror. S. Serf, armedwith a breastplate of faith, attacked the monster in his lair, and slewhim by a blow of his pastoral staff. " In proof of this legend, and inmemory of this event, the scene to this day is called the Dragon's Den. The oldest part of the Church of Dunning, which dates between 1200 and1219, would be the successor of the humbler Celtic building of theoriginal dedication. If there were two S. Serfs, he of Dunning is thelater, and is the same who is associated with Airthrey, Tillicoultry, Alva, Culross, and especially Pitmook, or Portmoak, and S. Serf's Isle, in Loch Leven. Other dedications are Monzievaird, Creich, Dysart, Redgorton. A S. Serf--probably the earlier, if there were two--wasassociated with Orkney. In the west of France, near St. Malo, is a townof St. Servan. The neatest of all the S. Serf legends, probably inventedto suit some prehistoric soiree at the foot of the Ochils, tells of arobber who had stolen and eaten a pet lamb of the Saint, and who, havingcleared himself by an oath taken over the Saint's staff, was immediatelycontradicted from within by a ba, ba, in response to the Saint's voiceand the false oath. In Glasgow on the Thursday of the Fair week is ahorse market known as Scairs, Skeers, or Sair's Thursday, Sair being oneof the forms of Serf. There is a S. Sares Fair in Aberdeenshire, atMonkedge or Keith Hall, which has been removed to Culsalmond. 

Although lying beyond our Presbytery limits, allusion may be made to thevery ancient religious house at Abernethy, one mile south of the Earn, and near its junction with the Tay. The dedication of Abernethy is to S. Brigid or Bride. About 590, when Abernethy was the seat of the Pictishrule, Columban monks were planted here under King Lartnaidh. In 717 theywere expelled by Nectan III. For non-conformity to Rome; but in 865 theold order was re-established by Abbot Kellach, of Iona. This continuedto 908, when the See was transferred to St. Andrews. Culdees appear atAbernethy in the reign of Edgar (1097-1107), and they still held the oldnunnery associated with S. Brigid in 1189-1198; and in 1272 the Culdeeswere changed into a priory of Augustinian monks. The famous Round Toweris assigned by Dr Petrie to 712-727, under Nectan III. ; by Dr Skene to865, the year of Kellach's visit; Dr Muir makes it later than Brechin, _i. E. _, 950; while Mr Anderson makes it one or two decades later still. For our purpose here the most important fact relative to Abernethy is theoriginal dedication to S. Brigid. She was Abbess of Kildare, and diedFeb. 11, 523 (Feb. 1 in Irish Kalendars). She received the veil from S. Mel, nephew of S. Patrick; wore a leathern belt over a white kirtle, andhad a veil over her shoulders. Her cell was under a large oak, Kildara =cell of the oak, and she founded communities of women; died at the age of70. Many miracles are ascribed to her, one of which reveals a veryancient ecclesiastical usage, parallel to the buns and ale associatedwith Scottish communions of three generations ago, as described in "TheHoly Fair. " From one barrel, S. Bride supplied beer to eighteenchurches, the beer lasting from noonday, Thursday, in Holy Week, tillafter Easter. 

Reviewing these primitive local churches and churchmen, we see that thegeneral Christianisation of our Strath began about 500 A. D. , and hascontinued and grown ever since. The three earliest dates above, givenare S. Fillan, +520; S. Kessog, +520; and S. Brigid, +523. The threelatest are S. Cattan, +710; S. Rowan, +737; and S. Bean, +920; all thesebeing dates of death. This Celtic form of church began earlier inScotland, and especially in Ireland, but in this district we see it inconsiderable strength from 500 onwards, and we know that it continued invigour till about the year 1200, when it was superseded by a betterorganised and more developed form of Christianity, with directrecognition of Rome as the seat of authority. 

The difference between the Roman and the Celtic or Culdee Churchconsisted in such matters as these:--The Celtic Church, whileacknowledging many of the saints common to Christendom--especially thoseof the East--had in addition a very extensive local calendar, deeplyvenerated, which outnumbered the Roman element. It had alsopeculiarities in a frontal instead of a coronal tonsure for monks; in ashorter Lenten fast, which made up the forty days by including Sundays, and began on Monday instead of Wednesday; in a different time for Easter, dependent on a more ancient method of reckoning; in the absence ofspecial or obligatory Easter communion; in the regular celebration of theHoly Supper with what were by Romanists called "barbarous rites. "

The most marked features of the Celtic Church were its government andorders, where monasteries took the place of dioceses, where abbots wereabove bishops, where bishops were without dioceses, where ordination wasconferred occasionally, if not habitually, by one single bishop insteadof three, where bishops were too numerous to be diocesan, and where(latterly at least) abbots were frequently married, making church landshereditary in their families. 

A further characteristic of the Celtic Church was the rudeness andsmallness of its buildings, which were of three styles--wattle and daub, timber beams, and unhewn stones. No examples of the two former survive, but the third and more solid style is still visible in TeampullBennachad, in Lewis; Tempull Ronan, in North Rona; and the Beehive Cells, in Eilan na Naoimh (Nun's Island. ) These old Strathearn churches wouldseldom be larger than 12 feet wide by 20 long, built of undressed landstones (like a field dyke), and thatched with heather, bracken, or sedge. The great storehouse of reliable material with minimum of controversyrelative to the early Christianity of Scotland is Warren's Liturgy andRitual of the Celtic Church. (Clarendon Press, 1881. )

The view given by Mr Hewison in "Bute in the Olden Time" (Vol. I. , p. 119) of the doctrine and ritual of the Celtic Church in Ireland in thedays of S. Patrick may safely be accepted as generally applicable to theCeltic Church in Scotland from 500 to 1000 A. D. :--

"We are dependent upon the 'Tripartite Life of S. Patrick' for definiteinformation regarding the teaching and modes of worship in the Church inhis day. It is clear the early teachers faithfully maintained the HolyScriptures as the rule of faith, and used the version of the Bibleprepared by S. Jerome. There are substantial reasons for believing thatthey also possessed a vernacular version, if not of all, of some of thebooks of the Bible, the Greek portions of which were studied by the morefamous evangelists, like S. Brendan. A liturgy was also used, and, fromsurviving fragments, it appears to have been related to the 'Ephesine, 'rather than to the 'Petrine' family of liturgies--that is to say, it wasdifferent from the Roman, and if not identical with the Gallican liturgy, was similar to it. Of the co-equality of the Trinity they had no doubt. In the 'Tripartite Life, ' Baptism and Eucharist are mentioned assacraments, but penance, marriage, holy orders, and extreme unction arenot referred to as sacraments; while confirmation, if not accepted as ofdivine institution, was esteemed to have an imperative importance. Thereis only a slight trace of the honours paid to the Virgin Mary in the samework. According to the editor, 'The Blessed Virgin Mary is nevermentioned either by Patrick, or Secundinus, Muirchu, or Tirechán. 'Communion was partaken of in both kinds, the wine being mixed with waterin the chalice, and sucked through a fistula. Prayers and fasting onbehalf of the dead were indulged in, and much virtue was attached tosevere fastings and ascetic mortifications of body and soul. Every daywas consecrated to unremitting labours in the Gospel. Sunday was, indeed, a day of worship, divided into eight watches, like the other daysof the week, and was fully observed in the saying of mass, the chantingof the 150 psalms, and preaching to the people. The clergy--deacons, presbyters, and bishops--were married. A notable feature of consecrationof bishops was the practice of consecration by a single bishop, sometimesat a leap, without the candidate having received orders as a deacon orpriest. Priests and virgins had a 'roving commission' to 'sing and say'over the land. It is interesting to find that the catacombs in Rome havepreserved the monuments of 'virgines peregrinae, ' like those of theCeltic Church. The size, importance, and influence of a completeecclesiastical establishment (_muintir_), such as that presided over byS. Patrick, may be inferred from the functions of the 24 persons who werein office along with him--viz. , bishop, priest, judge, bishop-champion(polemic), psalmist, chamberlain, bell-ringer, cook, brewer, two waiters, charioteer, fire-wood man, cow-herd, three smiths, three artizans, andthree embroideresses. "

II. --RELATION OF AUCHTERARDER PRESBYTERY TO THE DIOCESE OF DUNBLANE. 

Of the thirteen dioceses in Scotland, that of Dunblane was thesmallest. In its Parochiale, or list of parishes, were 43 entries; but3 of these were not parishes at all, but prebends, representingrespectively the Abbots of Cambuskenneth, Arbroath, and Inchaffray. Ofthe churches and parishes proper that constituted the diocese, no fewerthan 18 are now included in the Presbytery of Auchterarder; while 12constitute the Presbytery of Dunblane, and 6 are in the Presbytery ofPerth. Thus quite one half of the old diocese finds its corporaterepresentative in Auchterarder, while the other half is subdividedbetween Perth and Dunblane. 

Dunblane was formed into a bishopric by David I. Out of the old PictishBishopric of Abernethy, which in the division was allotted as a parishto Dunblane. The date of erection was previous to 1150--some say 1140. Dunblane was already a Columban, and (notwithstanding Dr. Skene'sargument to the contrary[1]) also a Culdee settlement. The churchdates back to the seventh century, and was an offshoot of the Church ofKingarth, in Bute, for its founder was St. Blane. He was of the raceof the Irish Picts, and nephew of that Bishop Cathan who foundedKingarth; he was himself bishop of that church, and his mother was adaughter of King Aidan of Dalriada. Dunblane and its church were burntunder Kenneth MacAlpin (844-860) by the Britons of Strathclyde, and in912 were ravaged by Danish pirates, headed by Rognwald. 

"At Dunblane, " says Goodall, [2] "the Culdees continued near a hundredyears longer than at Dunkeld. Cormac Malpol, their prior, withMichael, parson of Mothil, and Macbeath, his chaplain, are witnesses toa confirmation by William, bishop of Dunblane (1210 ----), of a gift ofthe Church of Kincardine to the monks of Cambuskenneth, to be seen intheir chartulary, fol. 80; and Malpol, the prior, and Michael andMalcolm, Culdees, are witnesses to a charter by Simon, bishop ofDunblane (1170 ----), one of William's predecessors. [3]

"At last, in the year 1240, the election of the bishop of that See wasdevolved upon canons-regular, by a mandate of Pope Gregory IX. , whichwas obtained in this manner: Clement, bishop of Dunblane, went to Rome, and represented to that Pope, how of old time his bishopric had beenvacant upwards of a hundred years, during which period almost all therevenues were seized by the seculars; and although in process of timethere had been several bishops instituted, yet, by their simplicity ornegligence, the former dilapidations were not recovered, but, on thecontrary, the remainder was almost quite alienated; so that, for nearten years, a proper person could not be found to accept of the charge;that the case having been laid before the Pope, he had committed thetrust of supplying that vacancy to the bishops of St. Andrews, Dunkeld, and Brechin, who made choice of this Clement; but he found his churchso desolate that he had not where to lay his head in his cathedral:there was no college there, only a rural chaplain performed divineservice in the church that had its roof uncovered; and the revenues ofthe See were so small that they could hardly afford him maintenance forone half of the year. 

"To remedy these evils, the Pope appointed William and Geoffry, thebishops of Glasgow and Dunkeld, to visit the Church of Dunblane; and ifthey should find these things to be as represented, he authorised themto cause the fourth part of the tithes of all the parish churcheswithin that diocy to be assigned to the bishop thereof; who, afterreserving out of these tithes so much as should be proper for his ownsustenance, was, by the advice of these two bishops and other expertpersons, to assign the rest to a dean and canons, whom the Popeenjoined to be settled there, if these matters could be brought aboutwithout great offence; or, if otherwise, he ordered that the fourth ofthe tithes of all such churches of the diocy as were in the hands ofseculars should be assigned to the bishop, and that the bishop's seatshould be translated to St. John's monastery of canons-regular (_i. E. _, Inchaffray) within that diocy, and appointed that these canons shouldhave the election of the bishop when a vacancy should happenthereafter. "

As the bishop's seat was not transferred from Dunblane to Inchaffray, we may infer that the _former_ part of the alternative was carriedout--viz. , that dean and canons were found for Dunblane, and the bishopalso provided for out of the fourth of the tithes of all churches inthe diocese. The decay of clerics at Dunblane in Bishop Clement's time(1233-1258) may as well have applied to _Keledei_ declining there, anddoes not imply that they never were there, but existed only at Muthill(13 miles to the north), and that the Culdees of Muthill, being in thediocese of Dunblane, were called Culdees of Dunblane. "We find, " saysSkene, [4] "the _Keledei_ with their prior at Muthill from 1178 to1214, [5] when they disappear from the records, and Muthill becomes theseat of the dean of Dunblane, who had already taken precedence of theprior of the _Keledei_. It is probable that, under the growingimportance of Dunblane as a cathedral establishment, the possessions ofthe _Keledei_ had fallen into secular hands. " This would be the moreeasy, as the monastery of the Culdees was a distinct institution abouta mile south of the church and village of Muthill. 

The foundation of the present cathedral is attributed to BishopClement, originally a monk, who received the tonsure from St. Dominichimself. The cathedral which he has left has since his day beenextended both to east and westward; and what he built he joined on tothe more ancient square and perpendicular tower. The cathedralconsists of an aisled, eight-bayed nave (130 by 58 feet, and 50 feethigh), an aisleless choir (80 by 30 feet), with a chapter-house, sacristy, or lady chapel, to the north. The nave is almost entirelypure first-pointed. In the clerestory the windows are of two lights, with a foiled circle set over them, plainly treated outside, butelaborated by a range of shafted arches running continuously in frontof the windows within, so much apart from them as to leave a narrowpassage round the building in the thickness of the wall. The eastwindow is a peculiar triplicate, with the centre light much taller andwider than the others. The west front has over the doorway and itsblind arch on either side three very long and narrow two-light windowsof equal height, with a cinquefoil in the head of the central windowand a quatrefoil in the head of the side windows; whilst above is avesica, set within a bevelled fringe of bay-leaves, arrangedzigzag-wise, with their points in contact--the last the subject of awell-known rhapsody by Ruskin. The root of the cathedral history inthis case lies in the tower. It stands awkwardly a little out of linein the south aisle of the nave, an evident remnant of an older church, exactly like the similar tower in Muthill, of the eleventh century, retained in a church built c. 1430. A tower, almost exactly similar, but more ornate, probably twenty or thirty years later in date, existsat Dunning, in the same diocese, and also a Celtic Church settlementassociated with St. Serf. The old Culdee Church of Markinch has atower of the same peculiar style, originally with a square, upright, saddle-backed roof, and crow-stepped gables. Some vestiges remain ofthe bishop's palace, overlooking the Allan on the south-west of thecathedral; and the triangular space in front of the south side of thecathedral, and forming the end of the High Street, has some old houseswhich are believed to have been canons' manses. 

The chapter consisted of--Dean (Muthill), praecentor, chancellor, treasurer, archdeacon; _Prebendaries_--Abbot of Cambuskenneth in 1298, Abbot of Arbroath for Abernethy from 1240; Crieff _primo_ (probablyparish of), Crieff _secundo_ (probably St. Thomas at Milnab), Logie, Fordishall, Kinkell, Kippen, Monzie, Comrie. Eighteen finely carvedoak stalls of the dignitaries and canons belonging to the sixteenthcentury still survive. Other carved work was destroyed in 1559 by thePrior of St. Andrews and the Earl of Argyll. The line of bishops endedwith three of the neighbouring family of Chisholm of Cromlix. BishopJames Chisholm was eldest son of Edmund Chisholm, and was a goodadministrator. Bishop William Chisholm, his half-brother, was anecclesiastic of the worst possible type for fornication, churchrobbery, and persecution of so-called heretics. Bishop WilliamChisholm, nephew of the robber-bishop, became, after the Reformation, aCarthusian monk at Lyons. He is supposed to have taken with him thewrits of the See, which have been lost. Marshall[6] gives an accountof this branch of Chisholms. The same writer says[7]: "Among thesepulchral monuments in the cathedral is that of Malise, eighth Earl ofStrathearn, and his countess. It is in the vestry of the choir, and isa flat block of gritstone, having on it full-sized figures of the Earland Countess. When discovered in the choir, the block was above acoffin of lead with date 1271. In the centre of the choir is the dustof Lady Margaret Drummond, mistress (but probably privately married) ofJames IV. , and her sisters the Ladies Euphemia and Sybilla, daughtersof Lord Drummond, who were poisoned (apparently to clear the way forthe King's marriage to the Princess Mary of England in 1503). Theirremains were deposited here by permission of their uncle, Sir WilliamDrummond, then Dean of Dunblane. Three blue slabs covered and markedtheir resting-place. The recumbent figure attired in pontificalvestments and mitre, and which is in a niche of the wall under a windowof the choir, on the right of the pulpit, is supposed to representBishop Finlay Dermock, and to be his sepulchral monument. The otherrecumbent figure under one of the windows of the nave represents BishopMichael Ochiltree, who greatly added to the rich adornments of thecathedral. "

BISHOPS OF DUNBLANE. 

Laurence, attests a charter of Malcolm IV. , 1160. 

Simon, 1170. 

Jonathan, archdeacon, buried at Inchaffray. Great endowment of the Seeby Gilbert, earl of Stratherne, c. 1195-1210. 

William de Bosco, chancellor, 1210. 

Abraham, 1220 to c. 1223. 

Osbert, abbot of Cambuskenneth, +1231. 

Clement, a Dominican friar, consecrated by Bishop William of St. Andrews at the Stow Church of Wedale; founded cathedral; madeexaggerated wail of poverty to the Pope, who in 1238 appointed acommission of inquiry, 1233-1258. 

Robert de Prebenda, dean, ambassador in 1277 to Edward I. : in 1265 wasConservator of Council at Perth, 1258-1283. 

William, one of the arbiters between John Baliol and Bruce, 1290 to c. 1292. 

Nicholas de Balmyle, monk of Arbroath, parson of Calder, lordchancellor, 1307-1320. 

Maurice, abbot of Inchaffray, Bruce's chaplain at Bannockburn withcrosier of St. Fillan; a brave patriot priest, with the old piety thatreverenced relics, yet was true and fervent, 1320-1347. 

William, 1347-1361. 

Walter de Cambuslang or Conentre, 1362-1370. 

Andrew, seals Act for succession of crown at Scone, 1st April, 1373. 

Dougal, c. 1380-1399. 

Finlay Dermoch, built bridge over Allan Water, tomb in cathedral onnorth side of nave, 1400-1419. 

William Stephen, divinity-reader in 1411 at St. Andrews, Conservator ofCouncil at Perth, 1420, 1420-1429. 

Michael Ochiltree, dean in 1425, built Knaik Bridge at Ardoch, Bishop'sBridge at Culdees, rebuilt Culdee Church at Muthill; crowned James II. In 1437 at Holyrood, 1429-1447. 

Robert Lauder, sent on several embassies, founder of several prebends, 1448-1458. 

Thomas, 1459. 

John Hepburn, a lord of session, 1467 to c. 1479. 

James Chisholm, son of Edward Chisholm of Cromlix, chaplain to JamesIII. , 1534; a careful administrator and good bishop, 1489-1527. 

William Chisholm, half-brother of the preceding, who resigned in hisfavour; a shameless wretch, who wasted the See by fraudulent tacks tohis three bastards and his nephew, and who burned men for heresy, 1527-1564. 

William Chisholm, nephew of the robber bishop, appointed by Papal briefof 2nd June, 1561, and nominated by Queen Mary in 1564; was in exileBishop of Vaison in France, became a Carthusian of Grenoble, and diedat Rome, 1564-1593. 

PAROCHIALE DUNBLANENSE

Dunblane, St. Blain. Chapelry of Kilbride at Kilbride Castle. 

Aberfoyle in Menteith. Dependent on _Inchmahome_. Has five lakes. 

Abernethy, St. Brigid. _Arbroath_. Prebend, 1240. In See of Dunkeldin 1446. For four vicars. Probable date of round tower, 854. Atfirst had Dron, Dunbulg, and Erole as chapels. 

Auchterarder, St. Mungo. _Inchaffray_. Old church in a valley, onemile westward. Mackessock in charter of Innerpeffray. 

Aberuthven, St. Cathan. _Inchaffray_, 1200. Later to Arbroath. Nowjoined to Auchterarder. Very ancient church survives. 

Tullibardine. A collegiate church. Now in parish of Blackford. 

Bondington or Boddington. _Arbroath_. In 1369 the lands of Boddingtonbelonged to Peter de Innerpeffry. Bonnyton, near Montrose. (Jervise, 93. )

Blackford, St. Patrick. Original church was Strogeith, now in Muthill. 

Dundurn, or St. Fillans. St. Fillan the Leper. Church here since c. 550. Associated with a fortress on Dunfillan. Now in Comrie. 

Comrie, St. Kessog, R. [8] _Paisley Abbey_. Prebend. Chapel atTullikettle. Had St. Kessog's Fair, third Wednesday of March. 

Dron. Once chapel under Abernethy. Now includes Pottie, at the mouthof Glenfarg (see deanery of Gowrie, St Andrews), and Ecclesia Macgirdle("Exmagirdle") at Glenearn. 

Dunning, St. Serf, c. 1200. 

Dupplin. Family chapel of castle. In 1618 joined to Aberdalgie. 

Foulis, St. Methven and St. Bean (Foulis-Wester. ) _Inchaffray_. Chapelof St. Methven at Buchanty Bridge. Also chapel at Gorthy, 1266. Renewed in 1454 by agreement between Abbot of Inchaffray and Tristam ofGorthy. 

Fordishall or Ferdshaw. Prebend. Again under Dunkeld. 

Gask, Holy Trinity (Trinity-Gask). _Inchaffray_. 

Innerpeffray, St Mary. Mentioned 1342. Collegiate, 1508, by firstLord Drummond. In Monzie, _quoad sacra_ to Muthill. Had Lady Fair on25th March. 

Kilmadoc, St. Madocus or Aidus (Doune. ) _Inchmahome_ Priory. 

Kincardine, St. Latan or Lolan. Mentioned c. 1190 (Kincardine inMenteith). _Cambuskenneth_. Old parish of Lany in Kincardine, andchapelry of Balquhapple. 

Kinkell, St. Bean. Prebend. _Inchaffray_. Now in Trinity-Gask. Minister of Kinkell hanged at Crieff, 1682. 

Logie, St. Woloc (Logie, Stirling). Prebend. 

Kippen, St. Davius or Movean. In Menteith. Prebend. 

Lecroft or Leckraw, St Moroc or Maworrock (Lecropt, Bridge of Allan). _Cambuskenneth_. 

Monzie in Stratherne. Prebend. St. Laurence Fair, 22d August. Included Logiealmond. Chapel at Tomenbowie, and Stuck Chapel withburial-grounds. 

Monedie. Included Logiealmond, detached from Monzie. 

Monyvaird, St. Serf, with Strowan (St. Rowan or Ronan). United before1662. 

Madertie, St. Ethernan (Maderty). An old abthane. Has Abbey of_Inchaffray_. 

Capeth Moothill (Muthill). The Dean. Chapels and wells of St Patrickat Struthill and at Blairinroar; also, Dalpatrick across the Earn, fromSt. Patrick's of Strageath; Easter and Wester Feddal and Bennie (now inArdoch), belonged to _Lindores Abbey_ from 1198. 

Port [of Monteith]. Included old parish of Lany or Leny. 

St. Madocus or Aidus (St. Madoes, Perth), R. Also Samadoss. 

Tullicultrie, St. Serf. _Cambuskenneth_. Colvilles of Tillicoultry, 1483-1634. 

Crieff, St. Michael, R. Prebend. Religious house--St. Thomas atMilnab (= Abbot's Mill), belonging to Inchaffray. Besides Crieff_primo_ and Crieff _secundo_ in Strathearn, there was also a Crieff_tertio_ in Perthshire, probably the outlying portion of the parish inGlenalmond round Corrymuckloch. 

Logie-Airthray, St. Serf (Airthrey, Bridge of Allan). _Nuns of NorthBerwick_. 

Strogeyt or Strageith, St Patrick. Once church of Blackford, now inparish of Muthill. _Inchaffray_. Planted by St. Fergus c. 700. 

Callender, St. Kessaig. Chapel of Kilmahog or St. Chug. 

Fyndogask, St. Findoca (Gask). _Inchaffray_. 

Tuelliallan (Tulliallan), R. Seat of the Blackaders, who gave anarchbishop to Glasgow. 

Glendovan (Glendevon), R. Old church in Gleneagles (= Glen Eglise). _Cambuskenneth_. 

Fossowy (Fossoway). _Cupar Angus_, c. 1310. Included Tullibole, _Culross Abbey_. United in 1614. 

Buffuder, St. Angus (Balquhidder). Has Strathyre and Glenogle. 

Prebendary, 1298, Abbot of Cambuskenneth _ex officio_. 

Prebendary, 1240, for parish of Abernethy, Abbot of Arbroath _exofficio_. 

Preceptor or Provost of Dunblane, Abbot of Inchaffray _ex officio_. 

[1] II. 403. 

[2] Preliminary Dissertation in Keith's "Bishops, " iv. 

[3] See Crawford's "Officers of State, " vi. 

[4] II. 404. 

[5] Reeves' "British Culdees, " Evidences, S. , 141. 

[6] "Hist. Scenes in Perthshire, " 346. 

[7] Ibid. , 343. 

[8] R=Rectory. 

NEAR THE PICTISH CAPITAL

By Rev. P. THOMSON, B. D. , Dunning

The title is retained as it was given. But it would be more correct tosay, "Near a Pictish Capital, " for, as is well known, of such capitalsthere were more than one. Nobody, however, who keeps in mind the originand range of the present volume will need to be told that "The PictishCapital" here meant is Forteviot--or, as it is often otherwise spelt inlegends, and chronicles, and charters--_Fertebeith, Ferteuioth, Fertenyoth, Ferthevioth, Fetherthauethn, Fethirthant, Fothuirtabaicht, Fortewyot, Fetherteviot_. 

When Forteviot attained the dignity of being a royal abode cannot bedefinitely ascertained. Dr Stuart gives it as his opinion that the royalresidence is to be identified with the "Dun Fothir" mentioned in theIrish annals, which is recorded to have been twice besieged--in 681 and694 A. D. ; and it has been suggested by the same authority that probablythe name means "the dun of the district, or of the men, or of the King ofFortren, " which term latterly meant the kingdom of the Southern Picts. 

Whatever probability there may be in the above suggestion, when we referto the Legend of S. Andrew, we find what appears to be corroborativeevidence that Forteviot was the residence of Pictish kings from a veryearly period. According to this legend, it was to Forteviot, in the hopeof seeing the King there, that S. Regulus and certain of his followersmade their way with the relics of the most holy Apostle Andrew, aftertheir landing at Muckros or Kylrimont (now Saint Andrews). It sohappened that the King (Hungus, or Ungus, or Angus, who died A. D. 761)was not at home, having gone on an expedition into Argyle (Argathelia). But they found his three sons[1] residing at Forteviot, and these princesgave the tenth part of the town[2] to God and S. Andrew, the holy menblessing the place and the royal family who abode there. They then wentin further search of the King himself, and having met him at Kindrochet, in Braemar, and subsequently at Monichi (Monikie), they returned incompany with him to Forteviot, where he built a church ("basilica"[3]) toGod and S. Andrew. 

But these are not the only references that we have. According to one ofthe Pictish chronicles, it was at Fothuir-tabaicht that Drust (FiliusFerat), the last King of the Picts, was killed. [4] It was here--"inpalacio suo de Fothuir-tabaicht"--where Kenneth MacAlpin, the first ofthe Scotic dynasty (formed by the union of the lines of the Picts and theDalriadic Scots), died in 860. It was here, in Fothuir-tabaicht, whereDonald I. , Kenneth's brother and successor, established with his councilthe mode of succession to the throne, confirming "the rights and laws ofthe kingdom of Aodh, son of Eocha. "

According to Skene, Forteviot continued to be a royal residence until thereign of Donald II. , the son of Constantine, when the capital wastransferred to Scone. But it would appear that the ancient "palace" atForteviot was subsequently restored by Malcolm Canmore, and that hissuccessors at least occasionally came to live in it. Malcolm the Maiden(1153-1165) is found to have granted at Fetherteviot a charter conveyingcertain lands--the names of Ada, the King's mother, and of William, hisbrother, appearing as witnesses. And even so late as 1306, during theEnglish invasion, there is mention of a letter, dated from Forteviot byEdward, Prince of Wales. 

The traditional site of the "palace, " which would, no doubt, correspondalso with the site of the early church dedicated to S. Andrew, as beforementioned, is still pointed out a little to the west of the village, andis known as the Halyhill or Holyhill. Whether this first church wasbuilt of stone is not known. But that there was a stone church atForteviot at an early date is made comparatively certain by thediscovery, in 1830 or thereby, of a large semi-circular and arched stonelying in the bed of the River May, and directly under the Halyhill. Howlong this most interesting arch had been hid away no one can tell; but itwas a fortunate "spate" that washed it bare and exposed it to the lightof day. It is now in the Antiquarian Museum in Edinburgh, where thewriter recently made an inspection of it. An excellent engraving of itis contained in J. Romilly Allen's _Christian Symbolism in Great Britainand Ireland_, and with the kind permission of that gentleman it is herereproduced. [5]

The arch is 4 feet in span and 21 inches high. Carved in relief in thecentre of the stone is a cross, on one side of which is an animal--veryprobably intended for the Agnus Dei; while, on the same side, a littlebelow the Agnus Dei, there are three figures with helmets on their headsand swords in their right hands. On the other side of the cross there isa robed figure in a sitting posture, with a sword across his knees, andwith one foot resting on the back of a horned animal. 

It has been erroneously supposed by some that this arch must have formedpart of the principal doorway of the "palace, " but from the fact of itsbearing such symbols as the Cross and the Agnus Dei, there is no doubtthat it belonged to an early church. [6] Bearing in mind the legend ofthe founding of a church to S. Andrew in the time of Hungus, perhaps thesuggestion of Dr Joseph Anderson has great probability--viz. , that thefour figures are "not contemporary, but early representations of KingHungus and his three sons. "[7]

All lovers of antiquarian lore will be interested in knowing that, a fewyears ago, there was brought to light at Forteviot, and through thekindness of the parish minister, Dr Anderson, exhibited to the Society ofAntiquaries a fine specimen of a bronze bell of Celtic type (the fifth ofthe kind known in Scotland), whose date is believed to belong to aboutthe middle of the 10th century. 

NEAR THE PICTISH CAPITAL would be found, as a matter of course, the royalhunting-grounds. Very probably these were on both sides of theEarn--stretching westward into the neighbouring parish of Dunning, thenorthmost part of which is still called Dalreoch or Dailrigh, a wordwhich, in Gaelic, means the King's haugh or field. 

To DUNNING, or rather to some of the objects in it, that are of thegreatest archaeological or antiquarian interest, the remainder of thischapter will be devoted. 

In many ways that we can readily conceive, traces of the proximity ofDunning to a royal residence must have existed from an early period. Theexistence of hill forts, as at Rossie-Law, and the discovery, from timeto time, of arms and stone coffins, indicate that the parish must havebeen often the theatre of strife and bloodshed. Duncrub, [8] or, as it iscalled in a Pictish chronicle, "Dorsum Crup, " is said to have been thescene of a battle, which is thus referred to by Robertson in his _EarlyKings_--"The reign of Duff, the eldest son of Malcolm the First, andrepresentative of the senior branch of the Royal family, appears to havebeen passed in a continued struggle against the pretensions raised by thenow rival line of Aodh in the person of Indulf's son Colin, and, thoughat first successful, defeating Colin at the Battle of Duncrub (A. D. 965), in which the Mormaor[9] of Atholl and the Abbot of Dunkeld, partizansapparently of the defeated prince, were numbered amongst the slain, hewas subsequently less fortunate, and was driven by his rival from thethrone, losing his life on a later occasion at Forres ... Where his bodyis said to have been hidden under the bridge of Kinloss, tradition addingthat the sun refused to shine until the dishonoured remains of themurdered monarch received the burial of a king. "[10] Part of the groundwhich is believed to have been the site of the Battle of Duncrub nowforms the village tennis-ground and the village bowling-green, and yearlyare witnessed on it fightings still--though of a very different kind. The traditional spot where the Abbot (by name Doncha) was slain is markedby the "Standing-Stone, " on "the acres, " a little to the east of thetennis-ground, while a similar "standing-stone, " on the farm of "TheKnowes, " is said to mark the place where the Mormaor met his doom. 

The spelling of the name Dunning, at various times, and in variousrecords and charters, is rather interesting--_Donyng, Dunnyne, Dunyne, Dinnin, Dunin_, or (as _e. G. _, in the inscription on the Communion cupspresently in use, of date 1702) _Duning_. The word is generally thoughtto be derived from the Gaelic term dún (already referred to), which meansa hill, or a hill with a fort. [11]

On first appearing on the page of tolerably trustworthy history, Dunningformed part of the Stewartry or Earldom of Strathearn, which dates backto a remote period. Among the ancient Earls of Strathearn there weresome very notable figures. Particularly so was Malise, the Earl ofStrathearn, who figured prominently in the Battle of the Standard. But, more particularly notable still, was his grandson, Gilbert, who held theEarldom in the reign of David I. Like his King--proverbially known asthe "sair sanct for the crown"--Gilbert was most lordly in gifts to theChurch, which was then fast rising into power. Dr Wilson[12] quotes anold writer to the effect that, at this time, the Earldom of Strathearnincluded "the haill lands lying betwixt the Cross of MacDuff, atNewburgh, and the west end of Balquhidder, in length, and the Ochil Hillsand the hills called Montes Grampii, or the Grampians, in breadth. " Eventhough we make some reduction as to all this, and regard as somewhatlegendary what Fordun tells us--viz. , that Gilbert divided all his hugeterritory into three equal parts, giving two to the Church, and keepingonly one to himself, still there cannot be a doubt but that he was one ofthe most liberal and extensive church-endowers on record. It was by himthat the Bishopric of Dunblane was founded; it was by him that the Abbeyof Canons-regular, at Inchaffray, was richly endowed through hisattaching to it the tithes of many of the neighbouring parishes. Thefoundation charter of the Abbey, dated 1200 A. D. , in the thirty-fifthyear of the reign of William, records the giving and making over to theAbbey of the Church of S. Kattan, at Aberuthven; the Church of S. Ethirnin, at Madderty; the Church of S. Patrick, at Strageath; the Churchof S. Mockhessoc, at Auchterarder; and the Church of S. Bean, at Kynkell. It will be seen that Dunning is not in this list. But it appears alongwith some other parishes in a second charter granted by the same Gilbertin 1217, which charter confirmed the grant of previously gifted parishes, and adds "the Church of S. Serf at Monzievaird, S. Bean at Foulis, S. Bridget at Kilbryde, the Holy Trinity at Gask, Tullichettel at Comrie, and S. Serf at Dunnyne. "

It is highly probable that between 1200 and 1219--say, about 1210--theChurch of S. Serf at Dunning was built. And that we have a considerableportion of the original building still remaining is rendered almostcertain from what is known of the style of architecture of the periodreferred to--viz. , the Norman in transition--the Norman entering on aFirst Pointed. The grey Tower, with its quaintly-mullioned windows andsaddle-back roof; the wall adjoining the Tower on the north, andcontaining a fine Norman doorway and an interesting line of corbels; thehandsome arch rising from massive pillars, and showing beautifullyscolloped mouldings, all afford corroborative proof of the date aboveassigned. [13]

If Dunning Church was built about the time we have mentioned, it would, no doubt, be about the same time when the lands around it were erectedinto a parish. We have one or two very early references. In a charterof date 1247, Malise, Earl of Strathearn, granted 20 merks annually "deThanagio de Dunnyne et Pitcairn. " In 1283 we find that there was made tothe Church of S. Serf a grant of "20 merks from our fermé[14] at Dunin, to be paid half-yeirlie, at the Feast of Pentecost and the Feast of S. Martin; and 10 merks of silver from our holding of Pitcairn, to be paidin the same manner. " And in 1358 there is ratified a grant, previouslymade, of "42 merks yearly from the Thanage of Dunnyne"; also "the titheof all the rents, cane, corn, cheese, flesh, fish, fowl, and game, and ofall the food used in the Earl's Court, and 20 merks from our fermé atDunnyne. "

It may interest lovers of archaeological studies to know that when theChurch of S. Serf at Dunning--originated and endowed as abovedescribed--was being re-floored some thirty-five years ago, there was dugup, from among earth and bones in the nave, a good specimen of a Celticcross, which is now erected in a fitting place underneath the Tower. MrA. Hutchison, F. S. A. , Scot. , Dundee (a reliable authority), has examinedit, and has pronounced it "of the true Celtic type. " He adds the opinionthat "the fact that no mention is made in contemporary documents of anearlier church (_i. E. _, earlier than 1210) does not prove that such achurch did not exist.... It is a fair inference from the existence ofthis early cross that an earlier ecclesiastical settlement existed atDunning, and that the present church superseded a pre-Norman, or CelticChurch, in all probability on the same site. "

At the risk of its being regarded as an unpardonably wide digression, reference may here be made, not to another cross, but to a monumentalstone of another kind and of a much later date (although no date isinscribed upon it. ) It is what is known as the "Ebenezer" stone of theparish. Though at one time lying flat and covered with crop-bearingsoil, it now stands erect, and on what is believed to have been its firstsite. It is placed on a field on the farm of Easter Gatherleys, andabout three-quarters of a mile west of the farm-house. Its origin issaid to have been this:--The farmer of Gatherleys of the time--who wasalso "laird" of the place--had for long been in doubt and spiritualdarkness--to all appearance hopelessly perplexed. Sitting down, here, one day, he found comfort, peace, and light. Showing a most laudableexample, he not selfishly received the blessing, but most gratefullyacknowledged it, raising on the spot his "Ebenezer" of indebtedness toHim from whom our blessings flow. On the surface of the stone facing theeast are inscribed in English the words of Is. L. , 10; while on thatfacing the west we have the following:--

 EBENEZER ======== Hic EX TENEBRIS LUX LUXIT ERGO PATER, FILIUS, ET SPIRITUS SANCTUS MEUS DEUS, ET NOMEN HUJUS LOCI LUX[15]

Both as to size and shape the stone is similar to the quaint early 17thcentury "head-stones" in the older portion of the graveyard aroundDunning Church. 

Something must be written of the bells which have been connected, at onetime or another, with the Church of Dunning. One bell, no longer in theTower, came to sudden grief when discharging its duty on a certain happyoccasion. The Master of Rollo of the time, who was living atMasterfield, having been blessed with four daughters, but no son andheir, was met one evening by a messenger bringing the welcome news that ason had just been born to him. "Go, " he said, "and make the bell ringtill it crack. " The order was literally obeyed--a broken bell being theresult. Its fragments having been taken to Duncrub, were, many yearsafter, re-cast into a bell, now used in connection with the privatechapel there. The inscription on the cracked bell, for a copy of whichthe writer is indebted to the present Lord Rollo, was of a veryinteresting and suggestive nature. Round the top were the words--"SoliDeo Gloria. Joannes Oaderogge me fecit. Roterodami, 1681"; and on thebody of the bell, the following words placed thus:--

 "HAEC AD EVANGELIUM HOC AD CHRISTUM HIC AD CAELUM VOCAT PBCCATORES. "[16]

His Lordship adds--"The bell, I believe, was in a vessel that wascaptured in the American War, and it was brought here by my predecessor, Andrew, fifth Lord Rollo.... It was broken in April, 1773, and I had itre-cast by Mears in 1860, with the original inscription replaced. "

Of much interest, also, are the two bells still in the Tower of DunningChurch. The older and smaller bears the Dutch inscription:--"IC BENGHEGOTEN INE IAER ONS HEEREN MCCCCCXXVI. "[17] But in addition to this, the bell shows a two-fold representation that seems to give it a valuequite unique. What we have is--(1) a scallop-shell, [18] on which arethree figures--a central-seated figure, and two smaller figures kneelingalongside. The central figure seems to hold something, which may be abook, in the left hand close to the breast. The right hand is extended, and seems to hold a staff and a garland. The figure has a _nimbus_, anda curious triangular head-dress. (2) On the side opposite the shell andfigures is what appears to be a representation of the Virgin and Child, alongside of which is a figure of the Crucifixion. [19] This old bell isused to announce the half-hour as measured on the Steeple Clock, [20] asalso to tell the living that the mortal remains of some brother or sisterare about to be laid beneath the turf. 

The large bell--used to announce the services of the church, and, throughthe kindness of Lady Rollo, to ring at "matins" and at "even-song"--is ofvery full tone. It was a gift to the church by a highly-respectedheritor of the parish, and bears this inscription:--

"T. Mears of London fecit. 

"This Bell was presented to the Parish Church of Dunning by Mark HowardDrummond, Esq. Of Kelty, Major of the 72nd Regiment of AlbanyHighlanders, in token of his attachment to his native parish, and of hiszeal to promote religious, industrious, and early habits among theparishioners. --August 3d, 1825. "

Mention has already been made of the fact that the patron Saint ofDunning was S. SERF. The same Saint had churches dedicated to him atMonivaird (Monzievaird), at Creich, and at Dysart. But, inasmuch as heseems to have lived for some considerable time at Dunning, and also tohave died there, perhaps this is the most fitting place for a page or twoas to his history. 

That he was a real historic personage does not admit of doubt; but theexact time at which he acted his part on the world's stage is involved ingreat obscurity. The legends of him are very conflicting, so much so, that it has been supposed by some that there were two S. Serfs. It isthe legends, however, that are two-fold, and not the Saint. According tothe Aberdeen Breviary, and writers who follow its guidance, S. Servanus, or S. Serf, or S. Serb, or (in Aberdeenshire) S. Sair, belonged to the5th century, and was the disciple of S. Palladius; others putting him alittle further on, and making him out to have been the instructor of S. Kentigern at Culross. But most people who carefully read the pages ofSkene[21] will be satisfied that S. Servanus belongs to a later periodstill. It so happens that there is preserved in the Marsh M. S. , Dublin, and printed in Skene's _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_ (p. 412, ff. ), a Life of the Saint, which, notwithstanding some excessively wild andincredible-looking stories mixed up with it, is the only life of his thatis consistent with itself and with otherwise-ascertained contemporaryfacts. This life makes the Saint contemporary with Adamnan, Abbot ofIona, who belonged to the 7th century, and with Brude, son of Dargart, King of the Picts. According to Skene, [22] this Brude, son of Dargart, may be identified with Brude, son of Derile, who reigned from 697 to 706, and preceded that Nectan, son of Derile, who expelled the Columban monksfrom his kingdom. And confirmatory proof of this identification beingcorrect is furnished by Gray's _Scalacronica_, which has under this Brudethat we have been referring to--"En quel temps veint Servanus enFine. "[23] Moreover, in the Chartulary of S. Andrews there is referenceto an early charter of the Celtic period, by which "Brude, son ofDergard, gives the Isle of Lochlevine to the Omnipotent God, and to SaintServanus, and to the Keledei hermits dwelling there, who are serving, andshall serve God in that island. "

According, then, to the life in the Marsh Library M. S. --the life which, its many wild accounts notwithstanding, seems most free fromanachronisms--the Saint is the son of Obeth, King of Canaan, and Alpia, daughter of the King of Arabia. His father dying, he gives up his rightto the throne in favour of his twin brother Generatius, takes orders, andis appointed Bishop of the Cananeans. After twenty years as Bishop inthat region, admonished by an angel, he comes to Jerusalem, where he isPatriarch for seven years. He then goes to Constantinople, and thence toRome, where, for seven years, he reigns as Pope. Quitting Rome, andaccompanied by a band of pilgrims, he makes his way into regions remoteand crosses the Mare Icteum (Straits of Dover) dryshod, and, aftertravelling from place to place, arrives at the Forth. Adamnan, who, atthe time, was an abbot in Scotland, receives him with great honours onthe island of Inchkeith, and afterwards gave him, as his field of labour, Fife, and from the Mons Britannicus to the Mons Okhel (from the mount ofthe Britons to the Ochils. ) He is next found at Kinel, then at Culenros, where he met King Brude and founded a church; then at an island, in LochLeven, where he meets Adamnan and has the island presented to him. Afterconstructing churches throughout the whole region of Fife, and labouringfor years in the province assigned to him, and at many other places, hedied at Dunning, and was buried at Culross. The deeds ascribed to S. Serf are certainly astounding, and the stories associated with himextraordinarily "wild"; still, as the scenes of not a few of them arelaid at places in the Ochils district, and, accordingly, "Near thePictish Capital, " it may not be inappropriate if a few of them arerehearsed here. [24]

At Tuligbotuan (Tullybody) the Devil, having entered into a poor man, filled him with an insatiable appetite. He ate and ate, and still thewolf within craved for more. Though he consumed a cow and a calf, asheep and a lamb, all was of no avail. At length, when the family wereeaten "out of house and hall, " his relatives take him to S. Serf, whoclapped his thumb[25] into the man's mouth, which immediately satisfiedhim--the Devil flying out of him with a howl. 

At Alveth (Alvah) Servanus and his company lodged, on one occasion, atthe house of a very poor man, who had nothing to put before them but hisone pig. It was forthwith cut up and eaten, the bones, however, beingcarefully preserved from being broken. Next morning, to the greatdelight and surprise of the poor man, the pig came grunting to the door, restored to flesh, and life by the Saint. 

At Atheren (Airthrey) a robber, one night, broke into S. Serf's cell, and, finding a sheep roasted in his larder, comfortably sat down andentirely consumed it. Next day Servanus met the fellow and charged himwith the robbery. The man swore innocence, but it was of no use; he wasinstantly convicted, for the wether bleated in his bowels. 

At Dunning, S. Serf is said to have healed three blind, three lame, andthree deaf men. But his great feat here was killing the dragon. (Had noprinces or knights come to Forteviot as yet, that such work was left tothe priest?) The story, as given in the Marsh M. S. , is as follows:--"Atthat time the Saint was in his cell at Dunning (_in cella Dunenensi_), and news was brought to him that a dragon, great and terrible, and veryloathsome (_deterrimus_), was coming into his township (_civitatemsuam_), whose aspect no mortal could suffer. Saint Servanus, however, coming out to meet it, and taking his staff in his right hand, foughtwith the dragon in a certain valley, and killed it. From that day, moreover, that valley was called the Valley of the Dragon. "[26]

The circumstances connected with the Saint's death and burial aretouchingly described. The holy man, after many miracles, after diversworks, after founding many churches in Christ, when his peace had beengiven to his brethren in his cell at Dunning, gave up and commended hisspirit to the most High Creator on the first day of the Kalends of July. After his death his disciples and the people of nearly the whole provincecarried his body to Culenross (Culross), and there, with psalms and hymns(ymnis) and chantings (canticis), honourably buried him, where flourishhis merits, and the virtues of his merits unto this day--to the glory andhonour of the Omnipotent God, who in the Perfect Trinity liveth andreigneth through endless ages of ages. 

Only the limits of space forbid allusion to additional features ofconsiderable importance near the Pictish Capital, and connected with theparish of Dunning. Room, however, must be found for stating that, as isto be expected, Dunning, like other places in Strathearn, is not withoutinteresting traces of the "Rising" of 1715. In the Session records, under date 18th September, 1715, there is the following entry:--"Therewas no sermon this day, and for several Sabbaths following, on account ofthe commotions that were in the county by reason of Mar's unnaturalrebellion. " When Mar quitted the field of Sheriffmuir, he, on the 12thNovember, 1715, withdrew his army into Angus, and in order to hinder theprogress of the Royalist forces, he burned down all the villages on theline of march as far as Perth. The villagers of Dunning, actuated by thesame feelings as led the citizens of London to erect the "Monument" afterthe great fire of 1666, planted a thorn tree to commemorate thedestruction of their village. This ancient tree, standing in the squareopposite the east approach to the manse, is well protected, and is likelyto be spared to tell its memorable story to generations to come. 

[1] _Hwonam et Nechtan et Phinguineghert_. --(See Skene's _Chronicles ofthe Picts and Scots_, p. 185). 

[2] _Decimam partem de urbe Fortevieth_. --(See Skene's _Chronicles of thePicts and Scots_, p. 185). 

[3] This word, originally, was the name applied by the Romans to theirpublic halls, either of justice or of exchange. Inasmuch as the earlyChristian Churches generally followed the ground plan of these buildings, such churches long retained the same appellation. 

[4] Other chronicles give the place as Scone. --(See Skene's _Chroniclesof the Picts and Scots_, p. 174). 

[5] Both palace and church would be within the King's Rath or circularfortification. 

[6] "The custom of placing a cross over the doorway of a Christianbuilding may be traced back to the sixth century in Palestine, where theChi-Rho monogram occurs on the lintels of the doorways of the houses. The meaning of the symbolism is explained by the blood of the lamb, whichwas struck upon the lintels of the doors of the houses of the Israelitesin Egypt at the Passover (Gen. Xii. , 21-23), and our Lord's words--'I amthe door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, ' (John x. , 9). "--(J. Romilly Allen's _Christian Symbolism_, p. 238). 

A good example of such a cross is on the lintel of the doorway of a 7thcentury church at Fore, Co. West Meath; and another, equally good, is onthe doorway of one of the oldest churches in Ireland, on High Island, offthe coast of Connemara. In connection with the Round Towers at Antrimand at Brechin there are similar crosses. 

[7] See _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_ (Vol. Xxvi. , p. 438. ) Dr Wilson, in his _Dunning: its Parochial History_, states that the large figure with the sword "is said to be arepresentation of Alexander the First, who died in the year 1124" (p. 3. )

[8] Sir Herbert Maxwell, in his _Scottish Land-Names: their Origin andMeaning_, gives as the derivation of Duncrub, the old Gaelic dúncraeb=hill of the trees. 

[9] Otherwise spelt _Mormaer_. Except that the constituent elements areinverted, it is the same word as _Maormor_ (Gael. _maer, maor_, asteward, and _mor_, great), and was the ancient name for a royal stewardof high dignity, placed by a Scottish king over a province, and acting asa royal deputy. 

[10] Robertson's _Early Kings_ (Vol. I. , p. 77). 

[11] Sir Herbert Maxwell states that dún in its original and restrictedsense means "Enclosure or fortress, being closely related to A. S. Tûn, Eng. Town.... The diminutive, or noun plural, yields innumerable names, like _Dinnans_ and _Dinnance_, in Ayrshire and Galloway; _Duning_ and_Dinnings_ in Dumfriesshire; and _Downan_, near Ballantrae. " Ought notSir Herbert to have added _Dunnin_ or _Dunning_, in Perthshire?

[12] See _Dunning: its Parochial History_, p. 4. 

[13] The marks of a gable of a former nave with a very highly-pitchedroof are still distinctly seen on the Tower. 

[14] The word here used, occasionally spelt _ferm_, sometimes means notso much a piece of land turned to agricultural use and cultivated byowner or tenant, as _an account, a reckoning_: It is akin to _farm_ fromthe A. S. Fearm or feorm=food, a meal. A trustworthy authority says thatthe meaning of farm "arose from the original practice of letting lands, on condition that the tenant should supply his lord's household with somany nights' entertainment. " Hence "Reddet firmam trium noctium. " (Hewill supply three nights' entertainment). --_Doomsday Book_. 

[15] Here, out of darkness Light shone. Therefore the Father, Son, andHoly Ghost [shall be] my God, and the name of this place Light. 

[16] This [bell] calls sinners to the Gospel, it to Christ, He to Heaven. 

[17] I was born in the year of our Lord, 1526. 

[18] In heraldry a scallop-shell is the badge of a pilgrim. It is thesymbol of S. James the Greater, who is generally represented in pilgrim'sgarb. In this sense it is sometimes written _Escallop_. 

[19] The writer is indebted to Dr Joseph Anderson for kindly examiningtwo casts of these figures, carefully prepared by Mr James Henderson, F. S. A. , Scot. , Dunning. 

[20] Erected by public subscription, and inaugurated 3rd November, 1890. (For architectural correctness, its four dials are omitted in Mr Ross'sdrawing of the Tower). 

[21] See his _Celtic Scotland_, p. 31, ff. 

[22] See _Celtic Scotland_, p. 259. 

[23] See _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, p. 201. 

[24]In telling one or two of these stories, we have tried to combine withthe Marsh M. S. Version the somewhat fuller details of the AberdeenBreviary. 

[25] Baring Gould (_Lives of the Saints_. London, 1874), using probablya version of the legend reading _pulicem_, instead of _pollicem suum_, has _clapped a flea into the man's mouth_. 

[26] The Dragon is the name still given to that part of the parish inwhich is situated the Village of Newtown of Pitcairns. 

THE HISTORIC PRESBYTERY OF AUCHTERARDER

By Rev. G. D. MACNAUGHTAN, B. D. , Ardoch, _Clerk of Presbytery_

The district embraced within the bounds of the Presbytery ofAuchterarder belonged for the most part to the ancient Diocese ofDunblane. Within it lay the famous Abbey of Inchaffray, and theminister of Muthill was usually Dean of Dunblane. As originallyerected, the Presbytery was, indeed, the Presbytery of Dunblane, but in1593 the General Assembly ordained the Presbytery of Dunblane "to betransportit to Auchterardour, with liberty to the brethren of Dunblaneappealing to resort either to Auchterardour or Striviling as theyplease. " When at last it got into shape it consisted of the followingfifteen parishes, viz. :--Auchterarder, Blackford, Comrie, Crieff, Dunning, Fossoway, Foulis-Wester, Gask, Glendevon, Madderty, Monzie, Monzievaird, Muckhart, Muthill, and Trinity-Gask. Beginning on theshores of Loch Earn, it followed on both banks the river of that namefor more than twenty miles, stretching upwards on either side to thesurrounding hills. Northwards it reached even the banks of the Almond, while southwards it found its way into the uplands of Strathallan, and, breaking by the pass of Gleneagles into the Ochils, it went rightthrough them to the level ground beyond, following the windings of theDevon. As a background, rose the mighty peaks of the Grampians; in theforeground lay the gentler, greener, rounded heights of the Ochilrange. The seat of the Presbytery was Auchterarder, a long, stragglingvillage, built along the crest of a rising ground; a mile or twodistant from the south bank of the Earn, and at the same time not farfrom the top of Strathallan. Towards the close of the sixteenthcentury we have to think of the various parishes above named as beingduly supplied with Protestant pastors, who met regularly inAuchterardour for the "weekly exercise, " and to dispose of any churchbusiness that came before them. Most of these first members of thePresbytery seem to have been cadets of the leading families of thedistrict, and, amongst them, Drummond, Graeme, Murray or Moray werecommon names. The Presbytery of Auchterarder first begins to take aprominent part in public affairs during the religious troubles ofCharles I. The Jenny Geddes riot in St Giles has just taken place, andpetitions are pouring in from all quarters against the ill-fatedservice-book. The Privy Council is at its wits' end as between a kingresolved on innovations and a nation that will have none of them. Itsends up to London specimens of the petitions received--one from thenobility, one from the gentry, one from the burghs, and a fourth fromthe clergy. The clerical petition thus honoured was that from the"Presbytrie of Auchtererdoch. " The petition of this Presbytery wasprobably selected not on account of the zealous character of theopposition of its members, but on account of their known loyalty. Theimpression to be produced on the King's mind was that, if evenAuchterarder opposed his designs, his projects were hopeless. TheCovenant was sworn, but Auchterarder was not zealous for the Covenant. In the divisions of opinion, which led eventually to the rising ofMontrose, Auchterarder sympathised with the minority. A Warning andDeclaration with reference to these divisions was ordered by theGeneral Assembly to be read from every pulpit, and "the brethren ofAuchtererdoch" took it upon them to disobey. It was the firstillustration of that independence of judgment for which they have morethan once been famous. It was resolved to make an example of thisdisobedient Presbytery, and they were cited before the Assembly of1643. "The Presbytery of Auchtererdoch was under the rod, " writesBaillie, "to be made an example to all who would be turbulent. " "Afterlong examination of their business, " he continues, "at last they werelaureat. Some two or three of that Presbytery (when many of the gentrywho were not elders were permitted to sit among them and reason againstthe Warning and Declaration, and when Ardoch presented reasons in writeagainst these pieces, yet they were proven to have been forward for thepresent reading) were commended. Others who, notwithstanding of thePresbytery's conclusion of not reading, yet did read, were, for voicingthe continuation, gently rebuked. Others who at last caused read partsof them, and Mr James Rowe, who caused read them before himself camein, were sharply rebuked, and their names delete from among the membersof this Assembly. Ardoch, ane old reverend gentleman, for his formerknown zeal was spared, only, was urged upon oath to reveal the personsfrom whom he had the reasons contrary to the Warning. " This is acurious picture of the internal condition of the Presbytery, andexhibits in strong relief the friendly relations existing betwixt itsmembers and the gentry of the district. The James Rowe referred to wasminister of Muthill, and was married to Margaret Stirling, a daughterof the laird of Ardoch, the "old reverend gentleman" above named. 

When, after the Restoration, Episcopacy was re-established, Auchterarder once again formed part of the Diocese of Dunblane, and wasfor a time under the mild sway of the Episcopate of Leighton. TheEpiscopacy was almost nominal. There was no liturgy; the servicecontinued to be much what it had been before, though Leightonencouraged the brethren to make their preaching "plain and useful forall capacities, not entangled with useless questions and disputes, norcontinued to a wearisome length"; "to read larger portiones of theScriptures"; "to restore the Lord's Prayer to more frequent use, likewyse the Doxologie and the Creed. " The Presbytery continued tomeet as usual, and virtually elected its own Moderator. The chiefdifference was that at the Synod the Bishop as of right occupied thechair. At this period we have another interesting glimpse of theinternal condition of the Presbytery. It was complained to one Synodthat "some young men, ministers within the Presbytrie of Ochterarder, had behaved themselves somewhat irreverendlie and undeutifullie towardssome of the brethren who were older than themselves both for age andwork of the ministrie. The Bishop having taken the samyne toconsideration, desired the Moderator of the Presbytrie of Ochterarder, that at their first Presbyterial meeting, to admonish such brethren, that in time coming they should absteine from such unbeseemingmisbehaviour, otherwyse to shew them that he would advert to ithereafter. " The young lions of Auchterarder had evidently {107} begunto roar, catching something of the independent spirit of their seniors. 

In this district there was but little of the Covenanting feeling thatwas rampant in the West. An Abdiel, however, was found among thefaithless in the person of William Spence, minister of Glendevon. In1678 he laid a paper on the table of Presbytery in which he testifiedagainst the errors of the times. He was dealt with with great leniencyand patience, but in the end he proved incorrigible. After long delayhe was at last, in the beginning of 1681, deposed and excommunicated bythe Bishop and Synod. From that time onwards he became a politicalagent, and was mixed up in the plots which filled the closing years ofthe reign of Charles II. In 1684 he was arrested and questioned. Though made to undergo the torture of the boot, he refused to discloseanything. He was then handed over to the tender mercies of GeneralDalziel, the "Muscovy beast who would roast men, " and was kept fromsleeping for eight or nine days till his enemies themselves were weary. He had to be thumbscrewed, and told that they would screw every jointof his body, one after another, before his courage began to fail. "Yet{108} such was the firmness and fidelity of this poor man, " writesBishop Burnet, "that even in that extremity he capitulated, that no newquestions should be put to him, but those already agreed on; and thathe should not be obliged to be a witness against any person, and thathe himself should be pardoned. " After the Revolution he came back toGlendevon; in 1691 was translated to Fossoway, and, having outlived allhis troubles, died there in peace in 1715 at the age of eighty. Thepolicy, with which he had associated himself as a minority of one, hadtriumphed. 

The Revolution fell upon the Presbytery of Auchterarder like the verycrack of doom. All its members, with two exceptions, were ousted. These were the Rev. James Roy, minister of Trinity-Gask, and the Rev. Robert Sharp, M. A. , minister of Muckhart. Unfortunately, at thisinteresting period the Presbytery records are a blank. The last minutebefore the Revolution is that of September 7, 1687; the next is that ofNovember 9, 1703. When the curtain thus rises again at the beginningof the eighteenth century the _personnel_ of the Presbytery hascompletely changed. Elsewhere the transformation seems to have beenaccomplished with little difficulty; but it was different in theEpiscopal stronghold of Muthill. That parish, we find, has not yetsubmitted to the authority of the Presbytery, and is still vacant. Itwas not till August 3rd, 1704, that Mr William Haly was ordained asminister of Muthill. On the day of his ordination there was a riot, "several in the parish keeping the doors of the kirk and kirkyard withswords and staves"; and not until the following year (March 20, 1705)were the keys of the church of Muthill finally laid upon the table ofthe Presbytery. The new members of the Presbytery were very differentfrom the old. They were now strongly Presbyterian in feeling, andultra-evangelical in theology. In 1711, when threatened with the QueenAnne Act restoring Patronage, we find them instructing theircommissioners to the Assembly "to take all care that Patronages be notagain restored, " and in the following year "to give a testimony againstthe encroachments made on this church by the tolleration andpatronages. " They were earnest in prayer on behalf of the ProtestantSuccession of the House of Hanover. On account of the Jacobite risingof 1715 there was no meeting of Presbytery from August 30, 1715, tillFebruary 9, 1716. At this meeting reference is made to "the Popish andJacobite rebells who had infested the bounds, threatening ministers notto pray against them and their pretended king, by reason whereofministers were forced to flee; and spoiling the goods of the people, and robbing and burning their houses and corns; and now that they weredriven out of their bounds by the good providence of God accompanyingthe king's forces with success against them. "

The Presbytery of Auchterarder had now to deal with a matter, small initself, which, nevertheless, created considerable stir in the ChurchCourts, and ultimately led to secession. On December 11, 1716, MrWilliam Craig, student of divinity, appeared before them for license. The Presbytery being deeply impressed with "the errors of the times, "examined him strictly as to his soundness of faith. Furtherconsideration of the matter having been delayed for about a month, MrCraig was again (January 15, 1717) before the Presbytery; was asked bythem to sign the answers formerly given by him, and though he "seemedto scruple a little at something of the wording" of some of them, hefinally did so, and was licensed. His signature still stands at thatdate in the Presbytery's copy of the Confession of Faith. The mostfamous statement signed by him was to the following effect:--"Andfurther, I believe that it is not sound and orthodox to teach that wemust forsake sin in order to our coming to Christ and instating us incovenant with God"--language capable of bearing an Antinomian meaning, and soon to be known as the "Auchterarder Creed. " At next meeting ofPresbytery (February 12, 1717) Mr Craig came back, representing that hewas troubled with scruples anent the paper he had subscribed, that hehad done so hastily, and that he now wished to explain his explanation. The Presbytery, after hearing him, resolved to declare his license nulland void, and in the end he had to appeal to the Assembly. TheAssembly of 1717 was somewhat startled at the theological language ofAuchterarder, ordered the Presbytery to restore Mr Craig's license, declared the chief article of the new creed to be "unsound and mostdetestable, " and asked them to explain its meaning to a meeting of theCommission. The Presbytery was of course able to show that theirmeaning was both pious and orthodox, and that they had been only alittle over-zealous for the purity of the faith. In the oldAuchterarder fashion, they had been thinking for themselves, instead oftaking ready-made opinions from other people. One good result of thecommotion was that Presbyteries were henceforth prohibited from puttingqueries of their own, preliminary to license, but "those and no other"which had received the authority of the Church. Yet it had otherresults which were evil. The discussion over the "Auchterarder Creed"led to the re-publication of the "Marrow of Modern Divinity, " and the"Marrow Controversy" led directly to the secession of the Erskines. The _origo mali_ was in Auchterarder. 

The "Rising" of 1745 did not interfere so much with the business of thePresbytery as that of 1715 had done. During that eventful year itcontinued to hold its meetings as usual. The only reference is that onMay 1, 1746, a fortnight after Culloden, the Presbytery appoints thatif His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland shall come this way in hisreturn from the North, certain members should wait upon him tocongratulate him upon the victory obtained by him over the rebels. 

On December 14, 1756, the celebrated tragedy of _Douglas_, written byJohn Home, minister of Athelstaneford, in East Lothian, was acted inEdinburgh. This atrocious fact caused much searching of heart in allultra-evangelical circles. The awful news reached Auchterarder. Meeting in Glendevon Church on May 12, 1757, for the ordination of MrDavid M'Gibbon, the Presbytery came to the following resolution:--"ThePresbytery, taking into their serious consideration the general famethat a minister of this Church has composed the tragedy of _Douglas_, and has been at great pains to get it represented on the stage both atLondon and at Edinburgh, to the scandal of very many; and thePresbytery further considering how hurtful stage plays are to theinterest of religion, and to the morals of the people, and always wereheld to be so in every well-regulated government, heathen as well asChristian, therefore did and hereby do instruct their representativesin the ensuing General Assembly humbly to insist with the venerableAssembly that they would be pleased to make effectual enquiry, withoutloss of time, into the ground of the above flame; and if it shall befound to be indeed true {114} that ministers of the Gospel, members ofthis Church, have done and behaved as above alledged, that the GeneralAssembly would be pleased to enquire if such adequate censure has beeninflicted on these brethren as their crime deserves; and if it has not, that the venerable Assembly would order it to be done, and that theywould be further pleased to give some publick testimony of theirabhorrence of such practices, that the world may see the justresentment of this Church against so uncommon and unprecedented abehaviour in some of her undutiful sons, and that they would do this insuch a manner as shall appear to the venerable Assembly to be mosteffectual for preventing the like in any of their members of whateverdegree in time coming. " The zeal of Auchterarder was burning with aholy fire. 

In the course of the eighteenth century the best known members of thePresbytery were the dynasty of Moncrieffs at Blackford, and Dr. JohnKemp, of Trinity-Gask. Of the former, three generations succeeded eachother from 1697 to 1775, in which year Sir Henry Moncrieff leftBlackford to become minister of the West Kirk, Edinburgh. Of Dr. Kemp, who left Trinity-Gask {115} in 1776, to become minister of NewGreyfriars, Edinburgh, a full account will be found in Kay's _EdinburghPortraits_. He was three times married, his second and third wivesbeing Earls' daughters. 

The century was now drawing to a close. Since the Reformation therehad been no church extension within the bounds of the Presbytery. Atlast, however, there was to be an awakening from this long sleep. Thedistrict of Ardoch formed the southern portion of the parish ofMuthill. In the centre of it lay the famous Roman Camp, one of themost ancient historic spots in Scotland, whose earthen trenches hadbeen thrown up by the soldiers of Agricola. It was the traditionalsite of the Battle of Mons Grampius, where Galgacus and his Caledoniansfought for liberty, and, after all that has been written on thesubject, is as probably the real site as any other. There, in 1780, achapel of ease was built, and opened for worship on March 25, 1781. The bounds of the chapel also included a small portion of the parish ofBlackford, and a larger portion of that of Dunblane, the Presbyterythus extending its jurisdiction down the banks of the Allan to within afew miles of the cathedral city. The Chapel at Ardoch was thePresbytery's first-born child. In later years, in connection with theChurch Extension movement, promoted by Dr. Chalmers, the West Churchwas built in Crieff in 1838, and the Chapel of Blairingone, in theparish of Fossoway, in 1840. Thus equipped, the Presbytery ofAuchterarder was to meet the storm of 1843. 

In the earlier years of the nineteenth century there were even toobservant eyes no signs of the coming blast. The Act of Queen Anne, restoring Patronage, though long protested against, had been sullenlyacquiesced in by the Church. Moderates and Evangelicals, thoughcontending together in the several Church Courts, kept themselvescarefully within the limits of the Church's constitution. But a newera was about to dawn. The struggle for political liberty which foundexpression in the great Reform Act of 1832, had its counterpart also inthe ecclesiastical world. Patronage was again felt to be anintolerable burden, and the rights of the Christian people to requirevindication. In these changed circumstances it became a difficult anddelicate matter to "redd the marches" between the Church and State. With level-headed common-sense upon both sides it might have been done. Unfortunately, in the struggle our most prominent nationalcharacteristics, instead of being combined, got opposed to one another. The proverbial "canniness" of the Scottish nation was all upon the oneside; the equally proverbial _perfervidum ingenium_ was all upon theother. Led by the latter feeling, the Church resolved to fall back onher own inherent rights and to get quit of Patronage by a side wind. In 1834 she passed the Veto Act, giving power to "the major part of themale heads of families, members of the vacant congregation, " in anyparish to get quit of an unpopular presentee. The Presbytery ofAuchterarder was doomed to be the cockpit in which this great fight wasto be fought out. In the autumn of 1834 the Rev. Robert Young waspresented to the parish of Auchterarder by the Earl of Kinnoull. Atthe moderation of his call on 2nd December the Rev. John Clark, Blackford, preached from Mark xii. , 10-11, a text somewhat interestingin the light of what afterwards took place--"And have ye not read thisscripture: The stone which the builders rejected is become the head ofthe corner: This was the Lord's doing, and is marvellous in our eyes?"Mr Young's call was signed by three persons, for the Earl of Kinnoullas Patron, and by two members of the congregation. He was vetoed by287 male heads of families, and the Presbytery had no option under theAct but to reject the call. This decision was confirmed on appeal tothe Assembly, and Mr Young and the Earl of Kinnoull had to seek redressin the Civil Courts. The "Auchterarder Case" now attracted theattention of the whole country. It raised the question of the legalityof the Veto Act. In November, 1837, it was heard before the wholeCourt of Session, and the Judges by a majority found that, Mr Younghaving been duly presented, the Presbytery was bound to take him upontrials. An appeal was ultimately taken to the House of Lords, and byit, in 1839, the decision of the Court of Session was re-affirmed. Bythe highest legal authority the Veto Act was found to be worthless. But the Church had gone too far to retrace her steps, and she nowraised the banner of Spiritual Independence. Other questions had cometo the front which heightened and intensified the feeling thatprevailed. By the equally illegal Chapel Act, also passed in 1834, chapel districts were formed into parishes _quoad sacra_, and theirministers found entitled to seats in the Church Courts. The ministerof Ardoch Chapel at once took his seat in the Presbytery, and wasfollowed in due time by the ministers of the West Church, Crieff, andthe Chapel at Blairingone. The Church had been led into an _impasse_from which there was no outlet but by secession. The secession came. In defence of their somewhat mysterious principles no fewer than 451ministers, on the 18th day of May, 1843, left the Church. All theworld wondered. It was said that in no country other than Scotlandcould such a spectacle have been seen. Yet one cannot help lookingback with sorrow upon the blundering that made it possible. Like theCharge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, it was "magnificent, but notwar. "

With the addition of the chapel ministers the membership ofAuchterarder Presbytery had risen to eighteen. The parish ofAuchterarder was still vacant. Of the remaining seventeen, eight werefound to have seceded. Of these, five were legal members ofPresbytery--viz. , James Carment, Comrie; Peter Brydie, Fossoway; JohnReid Omond, Monzie; John Ferguson, Monzievaird; and James Thomson, Muckhart. The three others were the chapel ministers--Samuel Grant, Ardoch; Finlay Macalister, West Church, Crieff; and Andrew Noble, Blairingone. The case of Mr Brydie, of Fossoway, was somewhatpeculiar. On October 13, 1843, he petitioned the Presbytery asking itto annul its judgment with regard to him, and submitted a medicalcertificate to the effect that at the time of his secession he was "ina state of lunacy. " The Presbytery, having consulted the Synod, reponed him, on the ground that at the time he separated himself fromthe Church he had been in a state of unsound mind. 

The Presbytery now once more consisted of fifteen parishes and threechapels. The vacancies in the parishes were easily supplied. It wasdifferent with the chapels. A new minister was, indeed, ordained atArdoch in December, 1844, but it was 1848 before the West Church, Crieff, and the Chapel of Blairingone were once more re-opened forworship in connection with the Church of Scotland. The decks had beencleared after the storm, the rigging re-fitted, and the sails spreadonce more to catch the favouring breeze. In a few years thePresbytery's organisation had become more efficient than ever. In 1854certain portions of the parishes of Monzie and Foulis were disjoinedfrom the Presbytery to form a part of the new parish of Logiealmond. In 1855, Ardoch was erected into a parish _quoad omnia_. In 1864, theWest Church, Crieff, became a parish _quoad sacra_. The Chapel ofBlairingone was also by and by to become a parish; yet, when it did so, it no longer formed a part of the Presbytery of Auchterarder. In 1856the General Assembly determined to create a new Presbytery of Kinross, and for this purpose to disjoin the two parishes of Muckhart andFossoway (the latter including Blairingone) from the Presbytery withwhich they had been associated for two hundred and fifty years. Auchterarder refused her consent, and protested, but in vain. She wasbereaved of her children. 

This change somewhat altered the centre of gravity of the Presbytery. Hitherto Auchterarder had been its natural centre, and its mostconvenient place of meeting. From this time onwards it beganoccasionally to meet at Crieff. In 1866 an Act of Assembly was passedordaining it to meet alternately in Auchterarder and Crieff. 

After the Secession of 1843 a subtle change began to creep over theopinions of the Presbytery. It was no longer the ultra-evangelicalbody which it had been for more than a century. It began to takebroader views of culture and of human life. Were another minister ofthe Church of Scotland now to write a new tragedy of _Douglas_ he wouldbe likely to receive its congratulations rather than its denunciations. Its theology became sweeter, and it is in no danger of framing a new"Auchterarder Creed" upon the lines of the last. When the new movementbegan for the improvement of public worship there was, indeed, enoughof the old leaven left to lead to a vigorous resistance. This strugglecentred round "The Crieff Organ Case" in 1866-67. Ultimately, however, the new views prevailed, and at the present moment (1896) the oncehated "kist of whistles" has found its way into no fewer than thirteenout of the sixteen parishes which at present compose the Presbytery. Since the days of that conflict, indeed, its spirit has broadened andbroadened. The old independent tone, for which it had been conspicuouseven in the seventeenth century, has become more and more marked. Inrecent years the Presbytery has never been willing tamely to follow thelead of Assembly leaders and Assembly Committees, but has insisted onexpressing a vigorous opinion of its own upon all the questions of theday. 

In the course of the present century several ministers, afterwards tobecome better known, have begun their respective careers within thebounds of the Presbytery. Dr. William Robertson, latterly minister ofNew Greyfriars, Edinburgh, was ordained as minister of Muckhart in1831. Dr. Robert Home Stevenson, minister of St. George's, Edinburgh, Moderator of the General Assembly of 1871, was ordained in 1840 asassistant and successor in the parish of Crieff. Dr. John Cunningham, minister of Crieff from 1845 to 1887, was Moderator of the GeneralAssembly of 1886, and was latterly Principal of St. Mary's College, St. Andrews. His successor in the Moderatorship of Assembly, Dr. GeorgeHutchison, Banchory-Ternan, was ordained as minister of Monzie in 1845. Dr. Paton J. Gloag, then of Galashiels, Moderator of the Assembly of1889, was ordained in 1848 as assistant and successor in the parish ofDunning. Dr. John Wilson, a genial man, much beloved by all hisbrethren, was minister of Dunning from 1861 to 1878, Clerk ofPresbytery from 1864, and author of "Index to the Acts of Assembly. "Dr. William Mair, minister of Ardoch from 1865 to 1868, is now ofEarlston, and author of the well-known "Digest of Church Laws. "

The loss of Muckhart and Fossoway, the addition of Ardoch and CrieffWest left the Presbytery still with its original number of fifteenparishes. There was yet another to be added. In the extreme west ofthe parish of Comrie, at the point where the River Earn leaves itsparent lake, was the district of Dundurn. Next to Ardoch, it wasprobably the oldest historic spot within the Presbytery. There, firstof all places within the bounds, had the Gospel in the course of thesixth century been preached by the saintly Fillan. It was stillhaunted by sacred memories. It had been the site of a pre-Reformationchapel. It had long been a preaching-place for the minister of Comrie. Latterly there had sprung up by the shores of the beautiful lake ahamlet which called itself St. Fillans. It became a favourite place ofsummer resort. In 1879 a new chapel was built, and in 1895 thedistrict of Dundurn was erected into a parish _quoad sacra_. 

At the present moment (1896) the Presbytery thus consists of sixteenparishes, all fully equipped; 94 elders and 5023 church members formits effective strength as a part of the Church militant. It has facedmany a serious crisis in the past; with a calm cheerfulness it facesthe future. 

MEMORIES OF GASK

By Rev. JAMES MARTIN, Gask

The parish of Gask is a comparatively small one both in population andin territorial extent. The earliest historical record we have of itgoes back to the time of the invasion of Britain by the Romans. Theroad which passes along the ridge of high ground was originally made bythe Romans, and was designed to form a line of communication betweenthe camp at Ardoch and the camp at Bertha, near the junction of theAlmond with the Tay. On the north side of it, in this parish, thereare still to be distinctly seen two small camps or stations, and on thesouth side of it there is a larger one. The Romans have left traces oftheir presence here in the works they constructed, which the lapse ofeighteen centuries has not entirely obliterated. 

Coming down the stream of time, we find that Wallace, that noble anddisinterested patriot, sought a hiding-place in time of danger amid itsdense woods. During a visit to Perth in 1296, a plot was laid by theEnglish to capture him, but, having received timely warning, he madehis escape with his small band of followers to Gascon Ha'. This isgenerally supposed to have occupied a different site from the ruin nearthe River Earn which now bears that name, and which is celebrated byLady Nairne in the song of "Bonnie Gascon Ha'. " The Gascon Ha' towhich Wallace repaired for safety from his treacherous and relentlessenemies is said to have stood a mile and a half to the north-east ofthat ruin in the midst of the Gask woods. Here they prepared to passthe night, and having obtained two sheep from a neighbouring fold, theykindled a fire and made ready their evening repast. Greatly exhaustedwith their long and fatiguing march, Wallace proposed that hisfollowers should rest while he would keep watch. During the course ofthe night he was startled by the "blowing of horns mingled withfrightful yells, proceeding apparently from a rising ground in theimmediate neighbourhood. " Scouts were sent out from time to time, butall failing to return, the patriot was at last left alone. He wanderedabout till morning, killing two of the English whom he encountered, oneof whom was Sir John Butler, and then hastened with all speed toTorwood, near Dunipace, where his uncle was parish priest. 

At an early period the lands now comprehended in this parish belongedto the Earl of Strathearn, the great landowner in this district at thattime. It is said that he possessed all the lands lying between theCross of Macduff, near Newburgh, and the west end of Balquhidder inlength, and between the Ochils and the Grampians in breadth. It wasout of his lands of Nether Gask that he granted liberty to quarrystones for building the Abbey of Inchaffray, along with two acres ofground on which to erect workshops. 

The lands of Gask have now been in the possession of the Oliphantfamily for nearly six hundred years. The name was originally writtenOlifard, then Olyfaunt, and now Oliphant. Sir William Olyfaunt was thefirst of that name on whom these lands were bestowed by King Robert theBruce. Sir William occupied a prominent position in the early historyof our country. He was Governor of Stirling Castle, and when summonedin the name of Edward I. To surrender it, made the noble reply, "I havenever sworn fealty to Edward, but I have sworn to keep the Castle, andmust wait the order of my constituent. " And when the Castle wasbesieged by Edward and his army he defended it for three months, andonly capitulated from the scarcity of provisions. He was a member ofthe Parliament held at Aberbrothock in 1320, and subscribed along withsome other Scottish Barons the famous letter to the Pope, which sonobly asserted the independence of Scotland. To that document wereaffixed the seals of Sir William Olyfaunt and Malise, Earl ofStrathearn. He died in 1329, and was buried in the Church ofAberdalgie, where a monument of black marble was erected to his memory. When the present Church of Aberdalgie was built in 1773 the site waschanged, and the monument to Sir William Olyfaunt was left in the openchurchyard. In 1780, Mr Oliphant of Gask erected a stone covering overit to protect it from injury by the weather. 

Sir William was succeeded by his son, Walter Olyfaunt, who married adaughter of King Robert the Bruce, and, "having resigned the lands ofGask into the hands of his brother-in-law, David II. , obtained, in1364, a new charter confirming them to the said Walter and his spouseElizabeth, our beloved sister, on a peculiar tenure for the reddendumof a chaplet of white roses at the feast of the nativity of St. Johnthe Baptist at the manor place of Gask. " This incident has beenhappily expressed in a poem by Miss Ethel Blair Oliphant, now MrsMaxtone Graham, who inherits much of the poetic genius of hergreat-grand-aunt, Lady Nairne. 

THE TRIBUTE OF GASK

 Now ken ye the gift Gask has brought to the King? 'Tis an off'ring sae royal, sae perfect, and fair, Than jewels o' siller more dainty and rare, A crown for a maid or a monarch to wear. The courtier's tribute is but a poor thing, For what can he offer and what can he bring, Than the crown of White Roses from Gask to the King?

 Now ken ye the service Gask does for the King? All for his sake, in the bloom of the year, In the gardens of Gask the white blossoms appear-- The Royal White Roses to Scotland sae dear. Then far o'er Stralhearn let the praise of them ring, Let them live once again in the song that we sing, The crown of White Roses from Gask to the King. 

 Now ken ye what Gask will yet do for the King? In the days that may come, when the roses are dead, When the pledge is forgotten, the vows left unsaid; What then shall lie found for an off'ring instead? Oh! then at his feet his heart he will fling. Truth, Honour, Devotion, as tribute will bring For the crown of White Roses from Gask to the King!

This charter, which has always been highly prized by the Gask family, had a rather singular history during the last century. In 1746 theDuke of Cumberland sent out Sir Joseph York from Perth to search theHouse of Gask, when he took away a box containing the charter, and itwas not till forty years after that it was traced to its hiding-place, restored to its rightful owners, and safely deposited in the Gaskcharter chest. The Oliphants obtained large estates in different partsof Scotland, and were raised to the Peerage by James II. , in 1450, bythe title of Lord Oliphant. The fifth Lord, styled in the Gask papers"ane base and unworthy man, " squandered away the large estates heinherited not only in Perthshire, but also in Forfarshire, Kincardine, Caithness, and Haddington. One of the younger branches of the Oliphantfamily purchased from his spendthrift cousin the lands of Gask, whichhave ever since continued in the same family. 

Laurence Oliphant was, in the year 1650, knighted by Charles II. , whenthat monarch was at Scone. He for a capricious reason disinherited hiseldest son, Patrick, and gave the lands of Gask to his second son andhis heirs. About fifty years thereafter the estate of Gask, from thefailure of heirs in the younger branch, came into the possession ofJames, the eldest son of the disinherited Patrick. 

While James Oliphant resided at Williamston, before he succeeded toGask, he devised and carried out a great practical improvement in thatlocality. He along with some others applied to the Scotch Parliamentin 1690 for an Act to compel all the adjoining proprietors tocontribute their share towards the expense of cutting a channelsufficiently deep and broad to carry off the water, which at that timemust have frequently flooded the fields, and thus reclaimed muchvaluable land. About forty years ago a considerable sum was expendedin still further deepening and broadening the Pow, and that streamnever overflows its banks now unless in very rainy seasons. As theestate of Gask is bounded by the Pow on the north side, it shared inthe benefits resulting from that improvement. Mr Oliphant succeeded toGask in 1705, and would doubtless display the same practical sagacityin carrying out improvements on the estate which then came into hispossession. He probably planted some of those noble trees which stillsurround the mansion-house, and which are undoubtedly of great age. 

At the Revolution in 1688, when James II. Was driven from the throneof Britain, the Oliphants still retained their steadfast allegiance anddevoted loyalty to the exiled monarch, and regarded his successors asusurpers. Cherishing these sentiments, we can well imagine they wouldhail every enterprise that had for its object the restoration of theirhereditary king. An opportunity soon occurred. In 1715, a "Rising"took place to accomplish this end. The laird of Gask, though stronglyfavouring the movement, yet with great prudence remained at home, andsaved his estate from forfeiture. But he sent his two elder sons tojoin the standard which the Earl of Mar had reared for the restorationof the Chevalier St. George, the only son of James II. They both tookpart in the battle which was fought at Sheriffmuir, on the 13thNovember, between the Jacobite forces, led by the Earl of Mar, and theGovernment forces under the command of the Duke of Argyle. It was anindecisive battle, both sides claiming the victory. The Jacobites, retreating through Strathearn, burned many of the villages, inflictinggreat hardships on the peaceful inhabitants by rendering them houselessduring the rigour of winter. The attempt to restore the Chevalier St. George soon collapsed, but it does not seem to have been followed bythe thrilling scenes, the hairbreadth escapes, and the rigoroustreatment which marked the close of the subsequent rebellion. 

James Oliphant died in 1732, and was succeeded by his eldest sonLaurence, who is styled the "Jacobite Laird, _par excellence_. " He hadbeen in hiding for some time after the "Rising" of 1715. He, however, soon returned home, freed from all Suspicion of disloyalty. Hemarried, in 1719, a daughter of the second Lord Nairne, "who was asstaunch a Jacobite as himself. " At Gask House there is a wooden cup, with a silver rim near the top and another near the bottom. The upperone has the inscription--"_Spumantem calicem paternum in regis legitimihoeredetarii salutem redditumque felicem loete haurimus_"; and a freetranslation of this inscription is on the lower one--"Our grandsires'flowing cup we drink, and sing God save; restore our true-born lawfulKing. Amen. L. O. G. June 10th, 1740. " This discloses the strongJacobite tendency which he cherished, and the ardent longing which hefelt for the happy return of his hereditary King. He had not long towait till another opportunity occurred of making a second attempt toaccomplish the object so dear to him. In 1745, Prince Charles landedin the Western Isles, when the Highland Clans rallied to his standardwith many others favourable to his cause. The laird and his son--bothLaurence--joined Prince Charles at Perth, and incurred the risk of lossof life and property. Gask was greatly annoyed that he could notinduce his tenants to enlist in the cause of the Prince, and he hadrecourse to a very extreme measure to enforce compliance with hiswishes. In connection with this we have a very interesting statementin "The Jacobite Lairds of Gask, " being a quotation from Dr. Chambers'_History of the Rebellion_. Perhaps no one experienced so muchdifficulty in his levies as the good laird of Gask, though he was atthe same time, perhaps, the person of all others the most anxious toprovide men for the service of his beloved Prince. This enthusiasticJacobite was, it seems, so extremely incensed at the resistance hereceived from some of his tenants that he actually laid an arrestmentor inhibition upon their corn-fields, in order to see if their interestwould not oblige them to comply with his request. The case was stillat issue when Charles, in marching from Perth, observed the cornhanging dead ripe, and eagerly inquired the reason. He was informedthat Gask had not only prohibited his tenants from cutting their grain, but would not permit their cattle to be fed upon it, so that thesecreatures were absolutely starving. Shocked at what he heard, heleaped from the saddle, exclaiming, "This will never do, " and began togather a quantity of the corn. Giving this to his horse, he said tothose that were by that he had thus broken Gask's inhibition, and thefarmers might now, upon his authority, proceed to put the produce oftheir fields to its proper use. It was on this occasion that the lairdof Gask had the high honour of receiving and entertaining the Prince athis house. The table on which he breakfasted is still in the House ofGask, and in good preservation. It bears the inscription--"Charles, Prince of Wales, breakfasted at this table in the low drawing-room atGask on the 11th September, 1745. " The chair on which he then sat wasnot allowed to be occupied by any other for many years thereafter. There are still at Gask House several interesting relics of PrinceCharles, which are carefully preserved--viz. , his bonnet, the Royalbrogues, crucifix, and ribbon of the Garter, his spurs, and a lock ofhis hair, &c. The high honour conferred on the Gask family by thisvisit from their Prince would tend to inspire them with greater zealand ardour in advancing his cause. They continued faithful and devotedfollowers of the Prince in the romantic attempt he made to regain thethrone of his ancestors, and they took part in many of the battles thatwere fought to secure that object. They were both present on the fieldof Culloden and fought with great bravery on the fatal day that provedso disastrous to the Prince's cause, and which must have all butextinguished the most sanguine hopes of the keenest Jacobite. Afterthe Battle of Culloden the Oliphants endured great hardships for sixmonths while hiding among the hills of Buchan, and had many narrowescapes, until at last they landed in Sweden on the 10th November, 1746. 

But while they were involved in many troubles in those trying times, there arose one from an unexpected quarter, which caused them greatannoyance. In 1740, Mr Oliphant, as almost sole heritor, intruded theRev. John M'Leish into the parish, in opposition to the wishes of alarge majority of the people. But he lived deeply to regret the stephe then took, for, on the outbreak of the Rebellion in 1745, theminister became one of his most bitter enemies. Some of the colourstaken at the Battle of Prestonpans "fell to Mr Oliphant, which he sentto his own house at Gask. " Mr M'Leish, knowing this, searched for themto deliver them to the Duke of Cumberland, but Emily Dewar, a faithfulservant at the house, hid them in the pump, so that the minister couldnot find them. He told the tenants not to pay their rents to a rebellandlord. When the Duke of Cumberland, at the request of Lady Gask, sent out a guard from Perth to protect that lady in those troubloustimes, the minister, on hearing this, was highly indignant, andsaid--"What right had they to protect a rebel lady?" He also said thathe would go to Perth next day and speak to the Duke of Cumberland aboutthis. He said and did so many things calculated to annoy and irritatethe Gask family, that years after, when hiding on the Continent, MrOliphant wrote saying--"That ingrate man's actings have tried mypatience more than all that has happened to me. " The conduct of theminister to the laird during this trying period was surely most harshand unkind, even though he entertained different political views. MrM'Leish would probably regard, as a national calamity, the restorationof the Stuarts, knowing well the arbitrary and unconstitutional waythey often acted when in power. He might also fear that there would begreat danger to the Protestant cause were a Roman Catholic to occupythe throne of Britain. But while we sympathise with these sentiments, and think that Mr M'Leish was quite entitled to hold them, it wassurely ungrateful and unkind to act in the way he often did, not onlyto Mr Oliphant, but also to his lady. The Oliphants were thoroughlyconscientious in holding their principles, and they gave the strongestproof of this in risking their life and the loss of all their worldlysubstance in maintaining them. At the same time, we are of opinionthat theirs was a mistaken loyalty, and it was well that they did notsucceed in accomplishing their object. Had they done so, it isprobable that the civil and religious history of our country would havebeen different, and Britain might not have attained to the highposition she now occupies among the nations. But, while holding thisopinion, we cannot fail to admire the inflexible steadfastness withwhich they adhered to their principles, and the noble sacrifices theymade in support of them. It is supposed that, as Lady Nairne wouldoften hear from her father of the doings of Mr M'Leish, she has a hitat him in one of her songs--

 "M'Leish's ae daughter o' Claverse-ha' Lee, "

In his latter days, Mr M'Leish was in a very infirm state, and unableto discharge his ministerial duties. During the two last years of hislife there was only public worship in Gask Church once a month. Thedays on which divine service was held, and the names of the ministerswho officiated, are still to be seen in our Session records. Duringhis long illness it is interesting to read of the tender sympathy whichMr Oliphant expressed for him, and the Christian spirit of forgivenesswhich he manifested towards him. He wrote from the Continent:--"I'msorry to hear that Mr M'Leish has been so much distressed in hishealth. It will perhaps be agreeable to him, and let him know that Ido heartyly forgive him all the injurys he has done me undeservidly.... I shall mention no other particulars of the way he has treated me, butas I have sincerly forgiven, I pray our commune Father to forgive him, which I hope he will be earnest to obtain. " There is no record that MrM'Leish ever felt or expressed regret at the unkind way in which he hadtreated his benefactor. 

The Oliphants, after making their escape from this country to theContinent in 1746, continued to reside in different places there forseventeen years. And during that long period they sent home to theirfriends in this country a great many letters giving a detailed accountof their movements, and of their meeting with other exiles sufferingwith them in the same cause and for maintaining the same principles ofloyalty. And these papers and letters, preserved in the Gaskcharter-room, have been turned to excellent account by the present MrOliphant in the very interesting volume he compiled entitled _TheJacobite Lairds of Gask_. 

As both father and son took part in the Rebellion, the estate of Gaskwas forfeited. But it was re-purchased from the Government in 1753 byMr Oliphant of Condie, who was understood to be acting for the Gaskfamily, at the sum of £17, 800. The estate was, however, larger thenthan it is now, including both Cowgask and Williamston. The two latterwere afterwards sold to pay part of the purchase money for Gask. Itwas at one time proposed to sell the Ross and Newmiln, but Mr Oliphantobjected to this, as he considered these two farms the most improvablepart of the estate. We are told in _The Jacobite Lairds of Gask_ thatfew lost more than the Oliphants by the "Rising" of 1745. If we reckonthe seven years in which the estate was withheld from them, and thelarge sum for which it was bought back from Government, these losseswould come to about £60, 000 of our money. 

The Oliphants returned to Gask after an absence of seventeen years, inNovember, 1763. As Mr M'Leish died on the 24th March of the same year, the laird and the minister never met again. 

After all the dangers to which they had been exposed on the field ofbattle, and all the hardships they had to encounter during the longperiod they were in hiding on the Continent, they were at lastpermitted to return in safety to their native land, to spend theevening of their days in their "Ain dear wee Auld House. "

The elder Jacobite laird died in 1767, and was gathered to his fathersin the old Kirk of Gask. He was succeeded by his only son, the youngerJacobite laird. He continued to adhere with the most unshakensteadfastness to the cause of the Prince, for whom he had done andsuffered so much, and brought up his family in the strictest principlesof loyalty to the King over the water. When his family read thenewspapers to him after his eyesight became impaired, if the names Kingor Queen occurred, they must only indicate this by employing theinitials K. Or Q. , otherwise he sharply reproved them. 

When Prince Charles died in 1788, leaving an only brother, CardinalYork, many of the Jacobites transferred their allegiance to GeorgeIII. , and most of the Scotch Episcopalian clergy began to pray for thereigning family, which they had not hitherto done. Among these was MrCruickshanks, Episcopal minister at Muthill, who occasionallyofficiated at Gask. When Mr Oliphant heard this, he at once wrote toMr Cruickshanks that, as he had now disqualified himself forofficiating at Gask, his services would be henceforth dispensed with. He sent to him his official robes, and returned some books, the readingof which he had got from Mr Cruickshanks. It is said that George III. , hearing of Gask's unswerving constancy, sent, by the member ofParliament for Perthshire, his compliments--not the compliments of theKing of England, but of the Elector of Hanover--to Mr Oliphant. Hedied in 1792, and was succeeded by his eldest son Laurence, the thirdof that name in succession. It was this laird who pulled down the"Auld House" in 1800, except a part of the front wall, which wasallowed to stand, as an interesting ruin, and around which now centreso many tender and hallowed associations. He also built the presentlarge and substantial mansion-house, which occupies a commandingsituation a few yards from the "Auld House. " With the concurrence ofthe Presbytery, he removed the Parish Church and manse from the site onwhich they had stood for several centuries to another about a mile tothe north. This must have been in many respects a very desirablechange, both for the laird and the minister. There were only a fewyards formerly between the mansion-house and the manse, and thisproximity must have at times been rather uncomfortable for both. Amore eligible site, however, could easily have been got on which tobuild the new church and manse, but it possesses the great advantage ofbeing central for the whole parish. 

About the period at which we have now arrived in our narrative therewas emerging into fame a member of the Oliphant family, who wasdestined to throw as bright a lustre around that name as any who hadever borne it--who is styled "the brightest jewel in the Oliphantcrown. " I refer to Carolina Oliphant, who was the third daughter ofthe younger Jacobite laird, and who was named after the King over thewater. She was born in the "Auld House"--which she afterwardscelebrated in song--in the year 1766. She gave early indication ofsuperior poetic genius and high musical accomplishments. Her great aimwas to purify the national songs, and to render them more suitable forthe use of the people. And she was led to attempt this from anincident related in her memoirs. "Driving, during the annual fair, through a small hamlet in the neighbourhood, she remarked many personsholding in their hands a small book with a yellow cover. Desirous ofascertaining what a publication so popular might contain, shedespatched her footman to purchase a copy. It proved to be acollection of songs and ballads, many of which were ill suited for thehands of youth. " But she also composed a large number of originalsongs of great excellence, two of which are of exquisite beauty andtenderness--"The Land o' the Leal" and "The Auld House. " In early lifeMiss C. Oliphant had an intimate friend and companion in Miss Erskine, daughter of the Episcopal minister at Muthill. Miss Erskine wasafterwards married to Campbell Colquhoun of Killermont. Their firstchild died when scarcely a year old. This led Carolina Oliphant towrite "The Land o' the Leal, " which she sent with a letter ofcondolence to Mrs Colquhoun in her sad bereavement. But the strictestsecrecy was enjoined as to the writer of it, and for many yearsthereafter only a very few knew that this beautiful and touching songwas written by Carolina Oliphant. At one time it was supposed to havebeen written by Burns on his death-bed, and the first line thenwas--"I'm wearin' awa', Jean"; but it never appeared in any collectionof his poems. The songs of Lady Nairne have now become so well knownand so highly appreciated, that it is scarcely necessary to refer tothem at fuller detail here. She was married to Major Nairne in 1806 inan upper room of Gask House. As Major Nairne then held an officialappointment in Edinburgh, they took up their abode in that city, in acottage built for them by the old Chief of Strowan, called CarolinaCottage. She there employed her pen in composing songs for the_Scotish Minstrel_, while she enjoyed the intellectual society intowhich she had been introduced, and in which she was so well fitted toshine. One of her songs, "The Attainted Scottish Nobles, " had a greatinfluence in restoring them to their former titles. When George IV. Visited Edinburgh in 1822, Major Nairne and other attainted ScottishPeers were introduced to the King at Holyrood. And when it came to theknowledge of the King that Mrs Nairne had written that song it made himfavourable to the introduction of a measure which passed through bothHouses of Parliament, and received the Royal sanction in June, 1824, for the reversal of the attainders. Major Nairne was then restored tohis rank in the Peerage as Lord Nairne, and Mrs Nairne became BaronessNairne, by which she has ever since been known. 

Lord Nairne died in 1830, and was succeeded in the title by his onlyson, William, sixth Lord. Lady Nairne felt deeply her bereavement, butwas sustained under it by the comforts and consolations of religion. She henceforth devoted all her efforts to the mental culture and moraland religious training of her only child. She removed to differentparts of the country for the benefit of his health. But with all hermaternal care he sickened and died at Brussels in 1837. By the deathof her son the ties which bound her to the world were in a greatmeasure severed, and her thoughts and affections were raised to thathigher and holier state on which those who were nearest and dearest toher had now entered. She returned to Gask in 1845, and spent the lasttwo years of her life within a few yards of the spot where she wasborn. She had received early religious impressions when on a visit toMurthly Castle, and these were greatly deepened by the successivetrials and bereavements wherewith she was visited. She still continuedto take a great delight in doing good and in contributing to advancethe cause of religion in the world. Having a sum of money at herdisposal, she consulted Dr. Chalmers as to the most useful andcharitable purposes to which it might be applied. And it was at thistime that she contributed £300 to Dr. Chalmers' West Port Mission, onthe condition that he should never reveal the name of the donor. Shewas as careful to conceal her good deeds as she had been to conceal theauthorship of the beautiful songs she composed. She gradually becameweaker and weaker, but as the "outward man decayed the inward man wasrenewed day by day. " In her song of the "Auld House" she beautifullydescribes how, at the evening of the day, "The setting sun, the setting sun, How glorious it gae'd doon. "

So in the evening of the day of her life her sun went gloriously downto rise and shine in a fairer land--"The Land o' the Leal. " She wasburied in Gask Chapel, which is erected on the site of the old ParishChurch, and to the building of which she contributed. A few years agoa granite cross of beautiful design and workmanship was erected to hermemory by Mr Oliphant in the grounds of Gask. It bears the appropriateinscription:--

 CARMINA MORTE CARENT CAROLINA OLIPHANT BARONESS NAIRNE BORN AT GASK, 1766 DIED AT GASK, 1845

If superior poetical genius, great moral worth, and high Christiancharacter deserve to be held in remembrance, there are few moreentitled to this honour than Lady Nairne. Nor could a more appropriatespot have been chosen by Mr Oliphant on which to rear this tribute ofaffectionate regard to the memory of his grand-aunt than in the midstof that beautiful scenery which she loved so well, and which she hasimmortalised in her songs. Lady Nairne, however, has reared forherself a monument far more durable than that of brass or granite, inher beautiful songs, which, as the inscription truly says, will neverdie. 

I must here make a brief reference to a native of this parish, who, although born and brought up in humble life, yet attained to greateminence in his profession. I refer to Laurence Macdonald, who forsome time wrought as a common mason, but who showed a strong genius forsculpture. The first piece of work of that kind that he did was thefamily coat-of-arms of Garvock House. Mrs Oliphant discerning hisrising genius in this direction, took him to the Continent when theGask family removed there in 1822, to afford him better opportunity forthe cultivation of this art. He ultimately settled in Rome, and becameone of the first British sculptors in that city. He was there known asLorenzo de Gasco, from his native parish. In recognition of thekindness he had received from the Gask family, he afterwards sent as agift to the laird one of his best works, which now occupies a prominentposition in the House of Gask. 

James Blair Oliphant died in 1847, and was buried in the Gask Chapel. "He was the eighteenth in unbroken male succession from the WilliamOliphant upon whom Robert Bruce bestowed the lands of Gask. " After hisdeath the estate was under trustees for nearly twenty years. Andduring this period a litigation was carried on as to the right ofsuccession. Mr Oliphant of Condie was confident that he couldestablish his claim to be the nearest male heir. But there was a linkwanting in the chain of evidence, and he failed to realise his sanguineexpectations. The estate then came into the possession of the latelaird's sister's family, when the eldest son, Mr Kington Oliphant, succeeded to it nearly thirty years ago. 

We have briefly traced the history of the Oliphants during the longperiod they have been in possession of Gask estate, and while many ofthem have been distinguished in different walks of life, none of themever occupied the high position which the present Mr Oliphant does forliterary attainments and scholarly accomplishments. He has unfoldedthe history of his family with all that fulness of information by whichhe is characterised in _The Oliphants in Scotland_ and The _JacobiteLairds of Gask_. And I must express my great indebtedness to MrOliphant for the information I have derived from these volumes inwriting this article. But I am persuaded that Mr Oliphant's literaryfame will rest more on another work he produced some years ago, entitled _The Old and Middle English_, in one volume, and _The NewEnglish_, in two volumes, than on the other two, interesting as theyare. In these volumes Mr Oliphant has traced the development of theEnglish language during the last 600 years. The most competentscholars and critics have spoken of these volumes in the highest termsof commendation, and declared that Mr Oliphant has done, unaided, whatwould have required a company of philologists to achieve. Mr Oliphant, however, is not only devoted to literary pursuits, but he also takes apractical interest in the welfare of all in the parish; often visitsthem in their dwellings, and has a great pleasure in promoting theirsocial enjoyments. In these respects he is cordially supported by MrsOliphant. And I only express the best wishes of all on the estate thatthey may be long spared together to dwell among their own people, andto maintain the same friendly relations with them in the future as theyhave done in the past. 

AT THE HEAD OF STRATHEARN

By Rev. JOHN MACPHERSON, Comrie

The head of Strathearn may be said to be the parish of Comrie, becauseit comprises some miles of the strath as well as the lake from whichthe strath derives its name. The name Comrie is taken from a Gaelicword _Comhruith_, signifying confluence or running together of streams, and is aptly applied in this case. This one can easily see by standingfor a few moments upon the Bridge of Dalginross. Looking westward, hesees the River Ruchill joining the Earn behind the Parish Church; and, turning to the east, at a distance of a few hundred yards he sees theLednock discharging its waters into the same river. Hence the nameComrie, probably in the first instance applied to the village built atthe junction of the three rivers, was afterwards given to the parish. The parish of Comrie, as presently constituted, includes what wasformerly called the parishes of Comrie and Tullichettle. Hence theminister of Comrie owns two glebes--the Tullichettle glebe in thevicinity of the manse, and the Comrie glebe situated on the south bankof the Earn. The date at which this union took place is not known, butin the year 1702 the Commission of Teinds, at the request of theGeneral Assembly, made additions, _quoad sacra_, from the parishes ofMonzievaird, Strowan, and Muthill, and annexed a portion of the parishof Comrie lying upon the north side of Loch Earn, also _quoad sacra_ tothe parish of Balquhidder. This arrangement holds good at the presentday. The parish _quoad civilia_ extends from the Bridge of Lednock toLochearnhead, a distance of thirteen miles, and is about nine miles inbreadth. It contains some of the grandest mountains of the Grampianrange--Benchonzie, 3048 feet; and Ben Voirlich, 3224 feet above thelevel of the sea. The latter, it is said, can be seen from Perth, Edinburgh, and Ayrshire. 

The beauties of Strathearn have often been pictured by writers ofpoetry and prose, but without reaching the head of Strathearn thesebeauties can be only partially seen. The drive from Crieff toLochearnhead in a summer day is universally regarded as one of thefinest in all Scotland. To within a mile or so of St. Fillans the roadresembles one long avenue stretching along the base of the Grampians. The scenery is unequalled for its mixture of grandeur and beauty. There you have the rough, rugged hills of the Highlands combined withthe cultivated plains of the Lowlands, and waving woods, affording anair of warmth and freshness to the landscape. The great storm of 1893has, indeed, laid low many of our finest plantations and marred thebeauty of our scenery. Turleum Wood, which used to wave its shaggyhead so high, is now laid prostrate, and appears to the eye what itsCeltic name implies--_tor lom_, a bare hill. And yet, as far asappearance and scenery are concerned, there are few places which can aswell afford to part with some of its trees as the head of Strathearn. Comrie is best known to the public generally by its earthquakes, and asa quiet summer resort, with sequestered walks over hills and dales andalong the banks of flowing streams. But to the botanist, thegeologist, the antiquarian, and the lover of ancient legend andhistoric incident there is, besides all this, something to awakeninterest and engage attention. The number and variety of plants isvery considerable. Slate is the predominant rock, but there are alsolimestone, whin, the old red sandstone, and granite. At one time therewere two slate quarries wrought on the Aberuchill Hills, but for thelast twenty years they have been closed. A lime quarry on Lochearnsidein former times supplied the whole district with material for lime, butcarriage, labour, and fuel have become so expensive, that both buildersand farmers find it more economical to get lime ready for use from thesouth. There is granite in Glenlednock, and as the railway has nowbeen extended to the village from Crieff, it is possible that some dayit may be a source of industry to the inhabitants. In several placesin the district of which we write there are traces of what are supposedto be Druidical remains. One cannot help regretting that the oldDruids should have confined the knowledge of their religion to theirown order, and that they should have left so few traces of theirmystical rites to posterity, except what may be gathered from rudestones scattered here and there throughout the country. On the plainof Tullybannocher, and near the east lodge of Dunira, there are severalstanding-stones, which antiquarians believe to be the remains ofDruidical circles. On the plain of Dalginross, also, near the junctionof the manse road with the public road, there are three large stones, supposed to be the remains of a Druidical temple. One of these, about8 feet in length, stands, or rather leans, at an angle of 45 degrees;the others are lying flat upon the ground. One of them, a round, flatboulder, bears upon its surface cup-marks arranged in irregularconcentric circles. Was this the sacrificial stone of an ancientDruid; or are these boulders relics of the glacial period, and were themarks alluded to caused by the action of the weather? When we come todeal with Roman remains we stand upon firmer ground. On the same plainof Dalginross, and a short distance to the north of these boulders wehave referred to, is the site of the old Roman Camp, Victoria. Aboutthe end of last century the outlines of the fortifications seem to havebeen quite distinct, but since that time the plough has obliteratedalmost every trace of them. There seem to have been two camps atDalginross--a larger and a smaller one, the former capable of holding10, 000 troops. Here, it has been held by some writers, the greatBattle of Mons Grampius was fought between the Caledonians underGalgacus and the Romans under Agricola. This, however, is notprobable. Seven cities of the ancient world laid claim to Homer'sbirth-place. About the same number of places are pointed to as thescene of the Battle of Mons Grampius. Gordon says it was atDalginross, Chalmers says it was the Moor of Ardoch, some say it was inFife, others at Urie, in Kincardineshire. Skene, in his _CelticScotland_, places it on or near the Muir of Blair, about the junctionof the River Tay with the Isla. Mr Hill Burton abandons the task ofdetermining the site as hopeless. If we accept the description givenby Tacitus, in so far as it says the battle was fought "_in conspectuclassis_"--that is, "in sight of the fleet, " the place could not havebeen Dalginross, and for this one reason, that unless the Earn was verydifferent in the days of Agricola from what it is in our day, the Romanfleet could not possibly have sailed to a point within sight ofDalginross. Judging, however, from some place-names in theneighbourhood, there is little doubt that Dalginross has been the sceneof some bloody conflict or conflicts during the period of the Romanoccupation of Britain. The name of the farm adjoining the old RomanCamp, for example, is Blardhearg, which in Celtic means "the redbattle-field. " To the west, and beyond the River Ruchill, isDalrannaich, in Celtic, _Dailranaich_--"the field of mourning orlamentation"; and a little to the north is Dalchonzie, in Celtic, _Dailachaonaidh_--"the field of weeping. " To the south of the plain ofDalginross, and upon the road to Ardoch, there are still traces of theRoman occupation of Strathearn. At Blairinroar there must have been abloody conflict between the Romans and the Caledonians. The very nameof the place implies it, for Blairinroar in Celtic is the "field ofviolent onset. " There are still to be seen in this neighbourhood hugeslabs of standing-stones, some of them 20 feet in height. Those uponthe level ground probably mark the graves of distinguished Romans orCaledonians who fell upon the field of battle; but others, which run ina line extending north and south, were probably landmarks to guidemessengers on their way from Lindum, the camp at Ardoch, to Victoria, the camp at Dalginross. 

At the west side of the new cemetery, close to the public road, thereis a curious round knoll, which at one time must have been used as aplace for the burial of the dead. The attention of the writer of thiswas drawn to it about twenty years ago. There were three large slabsof stone lying upon the ground, which apparently had been at someformer period placed erect by some loving hands to mark the lastresting-place of some departed friend or hero. By the aid of some ofthe Comrie masons the stones were placed in a standing position. Curious to know what lay beneath the surface, we dug up the earth infront of the largest slab, and came upon a stone cist placed north andsouth, 7 inches long, 1 foot 8 inches broad, and 1 foot 3 inches deep. The only remains discovered was a thigh-bone, but whether it at onetime formed a part of the leg of a Celt, a Roman, or a Saxon we couldnot tell. An old man who then lived in the village of Comrie told usthat in his young days the same mound was dug up, when an urn filledwith ashes was discovered. This, perhaps, would indicate that itformed a place of burial for Romans rather than for Caledonians. Thespot is called Dunmoid, or "hill of judgment. " Besides the parishchurchyard, there are three old burying-grounds in the parish--Leckin, on Lochearnside; Dundurn, and Tullichettle. From an antiquarian pointof view, the most interesting, perhaps, is Tullichettle. It issituated in a sequestered spot on a rising ground on the right bank ofthe River Ruchill, near the farm-house of Cultabraggan. The name, which is Celtic, _Tulachchadail_--"hill of sleep"--well describes theplace, for a more solitary spot could hardly be selected for the reposeof the dead. Judging from the inscriptions upon the tomb-stones it hasbeen for long the burying-place of the Macnivens, the Macgreuthers, theMaccullochs, and other clans. There is a curious slab over the graveof the Riddochs. The following description of it, extracted from theproceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, has been kindly sent by theSecretary, Dr. Anderson:--

"It measures 5 feet 6 inches in length and 18 inches in breadth, tapering slightly towards the lower end. It bears a sword withstraight guard in the centre of the stone, and the name James Ridoch onthe blade. In the spaces on either side are a number of tradeemblems--a square, an axe, an adze, a mallet and chisel, a millrind, anaxe-pick of the kind used by millers for dressing the mill-stone, thecoulter of a plough, a hammer and anvil (?), and an auger, indicatingprobably the various mechanical aptitudes of the deceased. Theconnection of the family of Reidheuchs or Ridochs with Strathearn beganin 1502, when King James IV. Granted a charter of confirmation of thelands of Tullychedile, Culturagane, &c. , to his familiar servitor andsteward, James Redeheuche, burgess of Stirling. In 1573, these andother lands acquired by him were erected into the Barony ofTullichiddil. In 1542, James Reidheuch of Tullichiddil is mentioned asdead, and it is not till 1610 that another James appears in the line ofthe Reidheuchs of Tullichiddil. The probability is that the stone herefigured belongs to the seventeenth century, as it was only then thatthe name Reidheuche began to be spelt Ridoche. Of course, it isimpossible to say whether this is the tomb-stone of the James Ridocheof 1610, or of a successor; but there seems to be nothing against theidea of the stone being as old at least as the date thus indicated. "

Tullichettle must have been an old parish. Shortly after theReformation, in the year 1572, it was served by John Edmeston, exhorter, and in 1574 by William Drummond, who had also under hischarge Comrie, Monivaird, Monzie, and Crieff. The ruins of the churchare still to be seen within the wall of the churchyard, but of the oldmanse there is no trace left now. We have often been asked thederivation of the word Ruchill, the name of the river, which, rising atthe head of Glenartney, passes the graveyard of Tullichettle and fallsinto the Earn at the village of Comrie. It is compounded of two Gaelicwords--_ruadh_ (red), and _tuill_ (flood). _Ruadhthuill_, therefore, is the red flood, and any one who has seen the red turgid waters of theRuchill in time of flood will see that the name is significant of thething itself. The word occurs in a shorter form--Ruel, a river inArgyllshire, which gives its name to the valley through which itflows--viz. , Glendaruel. In the good old days when our Highland glensand straths were thickly populated, every hill and dale and crag andknoll had its name, and every strath and valley had its traditions. From many of our Highland glens the people are gone, and theirtraditions along with them. Sir Walter Scott, however, has renderedfamous at least one of the glens at the head of Strathearn andpreserved a few of its traditions. Who ever read that beautiful poem, "The Lady of the Lake, " but knows something of Glenartney, Benvoirlich, and Uam-Var. Here the chase, which he sings in the first canto, begins:--

 "The stag at eve had drank his fill, When danced the moon on Monan's rill, And deep his midnight lair had made In lone Glenartney's hazel shade. * * * Roused from his lair, The antler'd monarch of the waste Sprang from his heathery couch in haste. * * * With one brave bound the copse he clear'd, And, stretching forward free and far, Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var. "

Uam-Var, which in Gaelic signifies large cave, is a mountain betweenGlenartney and Callander, and takes its name from a cave on the southside of it, said by tradition to have been inhabited by a giantcenturies ago. Glenartney was a Royal forest, and a portion of it isstill fenced off for the same purpose. On an eminence at the head ofthe glen stands Glenartney Lodge, belonging to the proprietor, the Earlof Ancaster. In the past as in the present the strict preservation ofgame seems to have been attended with dangers and difficulties. Somepeople seem to have an uncontrollable liking for hunting and poaching. In the sixteenth century Glenartney was the scene of a terribletragedy. In the year 1588, John Drummond of Drummond-Ernoch wasforester to King James VI. There. One day, according to one tradition, he discovered some of the Clan Macgregor trespassing in the Royalforest. He seized them and cropped off their ears. The Macgregors, incensed by the punishment inflicted upon their clansmen, vowedvengeance against Drummond-Ernoch. They made a raid upon the forest, seized the forester, and cut off his head, which they carried with themin a corner of one of their plaids. "In the full exultation ofvengeance, " says Sir Walter Scott in his introduction to the _Legend ofMontrose_, "they stopped at the house of Ardvoirlich and demandedrefreshments, which the lady, a sister of the murdered Drummond-Ernoch(her husband being absent), was afraid or unwilling to refuse. Shecaused bread and cheese to be placed before them, and gave directionsfor more substantial refreshments to be prepared. While she was absentwith this hospitable intention the barbarians placed the head of herbrother on the table, filling the mouth with bread and cheese, andbidding him eat, for many a merry meal he had eaten in that house. Thepoor woman, returning and beholding this dreadful sight, shrieked aloudand fled into the woods, where, as described in the romance, she roameda raving maniac, and for some time secreted herself from all livingsociety. Some remaining instinctive feeling brought her at length tosteal a glance from a distance at the maidens while they milked thecows, which being observed, her husband, Ardvoirlich, had her conveyedback to her home, and detained her there till she gave birth to achild, of whom she had been pregnant, after which she was observedgradually to recover her mental faculties. " Leaving Ardvoirlich, theMacgregors proceeded to Balquhidder, and at a meeting of the clan heldin the church--the chief presiding--they placed their handssuccessively upon the dead man's head and swore to defend the author ofthe deed. At one time there was a large population in this glen. In1745 the farm of Auchinnar alone had eight tenants. An interestingdocument in possession of the relatives of the M'Greuthers of Meiggarreferring to the Rebellion of 1715 shows the power of the laird inthose days, and the resources of the glen as far as fighting men wereconcerned. It is as follows:--

"William M'Gruther, in Dalclaythick, you are hereby ordered to acquaintWilliam M'Nivan, in the same town, and Alexander M'Gruther, inDalchruwn, to go along with you as officers to command the company ofour men that is to come out of your glen, and all the men are herebyordered to obey your command on their highest peril, which you are tointimate to them, as you will be answerable to us, and this shall beyour warrant. 

"Given at Drummond Castle, the fifteenth day of August, one thousandseven hundred and thirteen years. 

"See that none of the men of Auchinnear of whatever rank be absent, asthey will be answerable, and all the men in good order. 

"(Signed) DRUMMOND. "

M'Gruther and his two neighbours obeyed the summons of the laird ofDrummond, and took charge of the company of Highlanders raised inGlenartney; but the laird could not save them from the consequence oftheir obedience. When the Rebellion was quelled they were banished toAmerica and sold as slaves. The two M'Gruthers managed to get back totheir native country, but were doomed to spend seven long years inhiding. 

The origin of place-names may not be of so much interest to the readeras it is to the writer of this article, but we cannot resist thetemptation of recording a suggestion made to us years ago as to theorigin of the word Glenartney, by Mr James Ferguson, the present keeperof the forest, and the worthy successor of old Drummond-Ernoch. It isthis: _Gleann-àrd-an-fheidh_--"the high glen of the deer. " This wouldcertainly account for the last syllable of the modern name, and wouldalso accord with the fact of the place being an ancient forest; but weprefer the derivation _Gleann-ardan_--"the glen of heights, " and wethink the last syllable has been added merely to suit the imperfectionof the Saxon's vocal organs. 

The mansion-houses of the head of Strathearn and their occupants are ofsome historical interest, but, as our space is limited, our referenceto them must be brief, and confined to a few of the oldest. On themargin of Loch Earn stands Ardvoirlich House. The present occupant ofthe estate is Colonel John Stewart, who spent the first part of hislife in India, and now resides upon the estate. With the exception ofthe Drummonds, who trace their ancestry back to Maurice, the Hungarian, who lived about the time of the Norman Conquest, the Stewarts ofArdvoirlich are the oldest family in the district. They lay claim notonly to a long ancestral line, but also to Royal blood, through a sonof Murdoch, Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, and son of Robert II. Among the antique curiosities of this family, it is said, there is alarge gem called _clach dhearg_--red stone, seemingly white rockcrystal, bound with four silver bands, which used to be regarded as atalisman, giving to water into which it is dipped virtue for the cureof all diseases of cattle. In recent times the Stewarts have been afamily of soldiers who served in India. Their burying-place is withinthe old Chapel of Dundurn, but the monuments erected to the memory ofmembers of the family recently deceased are in the Parish Church ofComrie. They are all handsome, and a great ornament to the interior ofthe Parish Church; but one of them is worthy of special notice onaccount of its artistic beauty. It is that erected by theGovernor-General of India and other dignitaries and friends tocommemorate the death of William Stewart, who, along with his wife andinfant son, was murdered in the Indian Mutiny of 1857. It is acenotaph of pure Carrara marble, with the figure of a Sepoy soldierwith arms reversed on the one side, and a Hindoo in a kneeling postureon the other. 

Dunira House is the seat of the Dundases. The present proprietor isSir Sidney James Dundas, the third baronet of Beechwood and Dunira, whosucceeded his father, Sir David Dundas, Bart. , in 1877. What is theword Dunira derived from? Is it like Dundurn, "the hill or fort uponthe Earn"? or is it _Dun aoraidh_, "the hill of worship"? It isdifficult to say; Gaelic words have been so much corrupted to suit thetongues of the Saxon. There is little doubt, however, that in ancienttimes the locality was intimately associated with divine worship. Notfar from the east lodge there are to be seen large standing-stones, supposed, as already said, to be the remains of an old Druidicalcircle. On the hillside, above Dunira House, there is a place calledDrumnakil, which signifies the "ridge of the chapel"; and farther tothe north-east, near the hill of Dunmore, is Ballochintaggart, "the gapof the priest. " At Drumnakil there is an old burying-ground, thegrave-stones scarcely discernible among the rank grass; but all traceof the chapel, or monks' cell, if ever there was one, has disappeared. Dunira was once the property of Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville andBaron Dunira. He was son of Robert Dundas of Arniston, Lord Presidentof the Court of Session. He was called to the bar in 1763, and electedmember of Parliament for the County of Edinburgh in 1774, and afterholding several important offices under the Crown, he retired with Pittin 1801, and the following year he was raised to the Peerage. Afterhis death his Perthshire friends paid a tribute to his memory and worthby erecting a monument on Dunmore Hill, at Comrie. It is an obelisk, 72 feet high, built in 1812 of Innergeldie granite. A better sitecould not have been chosen. From the top of Dunmore Hill there is amagnificent view of varied landscape. To the west you have a peep atLoch Earn, the Aberuchill Hills, and the old white-washed Castlenestling among its trees; to the south you have the village of Comrieand the strath, with the Earn and the Ruchill winding their way throughthe plain; to the east, Sir David Baird's Monument, the Knock ofCrieff, Turleum, the Ochils, and one of the Lomonds of Fife; looking tothe north, we see Glenlednock stretching far towards Loch Tay, withSpout Rollo at its head, and guarded on each side by the lofty peaks ofthe Grampians. This, like so many others of our Highland glens, hassuffered much through depopulation during this century. An oldGlenlednock farmer still living in the parish informs us that in hisrecollection there were thirty-six tenants with their cottars, wherethere are now five and a few shepherds. One cannot help admiring theindustry, economy, and thrift of these old Highland farmers, who insuch numbers could live and thrive and pay higher rents to the landlordthan the few who are now in possession of the land. 

Aberuchill Castle was for nearly three centuries the seat of theCampbells of Aberuchill and Kilbryde. It was originally built in 1602, but has since been modernised and enlarged. The Crown granted acharter of the lands of Aberuchill in 1596 to Colin Campbell, secondson of Sir Colin Campbell of Lawers. His son James was made a baronetof Nova Scotia by Charles I. In 1627. He fell fighting for Charles II. At the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Sir Colin, only son of Sir James, succeeded him. He was the most distinguished of the family. Bred tothe law, he rose to the position of Lord of Session with the title ofLord Aberuchill. Sir Colin was a Whig and a Presbyterian when the mostof the gentry of Strathearn were either Episcopalians or PopishJacobites. His name is associated with the massacre of Glencoe, inasmuch as he was a member of the Council that refused the certificateof the Sheriff-Depute of Argyle that M'Donald of Glencoe had taken theoath of allegiance to King William, unless they got a warrant toreceive it from the King. From 1693 to 1702 he represented the Countyof Perth in the Scottish Parliament, and died in 1704. From theCampbells, the estate passed into the hands of the Drummonds. It isnow the property of Captain Robert Dewhurst, son of George C. Dewhurst, Esq. , lately deceased. 

It would be unpardonable to write anything about Comrie without makingallusion to the earthquakes which have made it famous. In theStatistical Account of Scotland, published in the year 1794, the Rev. Mr M'Diarmid, minister of the parish, gives an account of the firstrecorded earthquake in the district. During the autumn of 1789 loudnoises, unaccompanied by any concussion, were heard by the inhabitantsof Glenlednock; but on the 5th of November of that year they werealarmed by a loud rumbling noise, accompanied with a severe shock ofearthquake, which was felt over a tract of country of more than twentymiles in extent. The Rev. Mr Mackenzie, successor to Mr M'Diarmid, writing in 1838, in the last Statistical Account, says that "at andafter the time of the last Statistical Account the earthquakes were sofrequent and violent, and accompanied with such noises, as to occasiongreat alarm, especially one which occurred on a Sabbath while thecongregation was assembled. " The year 1839, however, was the time ofthe great earthquakes. Writing in 1842 in the last StatisticalAccount, the Rev. John Ferguson, minister of Monzievaird, says:--"Atthis time they began to be frequently felt, nearly 20 shocks beingoccasionally experienced in 24 hours. The most violent one happenedabout ten o'clock on the evening of 23d October, 1839. The shockseemed to pass along through the parish of Monzievaird from north-westto south-east. For a second or two every house for miles around thevillage of Comrie was shaken from top to bottom; and while the motionwas passing away to the eastward it was accompanied by a tremendousnoise like the roar of 100 pieces of ordnance discharged at once andgradually dying away in the distance. This earthquake was partiallyfelt throughout a great part of Scotland, as far as Inverness, Dunbar, Berwick, and the banks of Loch Awe. In this neighbourhood it was veryalarming. Several individuals fainted, and most of the inhabitants ofthe village of Comrie spent the whole night in the streets, or in thechurches, which were very properly opened for prayer. Many stone dykeswere thrown down, walls of houses rent, and chimney-stalks shattered, the stones being frequently shifted from their places, but no seriousdamage was sustained. The shocks have again diminished both infrequency and violence since the autumn of 1839. " Another severe shockoccurred in November, 1846, but from that date they have decreased bothin number and intensity. The cause of these subterranean commotions isin this as in similar cases a matter of conjecture, but there is goodcause for thankfulness that they have hitherto been attended with noserious damage to life or property. 

The Session records of some parishes in Scotland are of some historicalvalue, but this is not so with those of Comrie. Beyond the perpetualreiteration of cases of discipline and doles to the poor, there islittle to be found in them to throw light upon the Christian life andwork of the parish. So meagrely kept were these records that until theyear 1829 the Christian name and surname of the Moderator and Clerknever appear in the minutes--not even the Secession of 1843 isrecorded, though the minister left the church with a great majority ofthe congregation to worship upon Tomachessock. The only exception towhat we have just stated, perhaps, is a minute of Kirk-Session dated17th November, 1772, recording the honour due to Patrick Campbell, Esq. Of Monzie, then deceased, and the Rev. Robert Menzies, minister of theparish, for the active and benevolent part they took in the building ofthe Dalginross Bridge over the Earn. The bridge was built in 1756 at acost of £230. 

The Parish Church was erected in 1805, and holds 1044 sitters. Themanse was built in 1784, and an addition was made to it in 1822. A newchurch was built in St. Fillans in connection with the Church ofScotland in 1878, and in March, 1895, it was endowed and erected into aparish _quoad sacra_ under the old name of Dundurn. It is curious tonote how the land has been changing hands during the last 180 years. In 1715, the heritors were the Earl of Perth, Duke of Athole, theproprietors of Aberuchill, Lawers, Monzie, Cultabraggan, Ardvoirlich, Comrie, Strowan, Drummond-Ernoch, and Balmacuin. At present they arethe Earl of Ancaster, Marquis of Breadalbane, and the proprietors ofArdvoirlich, Dunira, Aberuchill, Strowan, Lawers, Dalchonzie, andDrumearn. 

ON THE BANKS OF THE DEVON

By Rev. E. B. SPEIRS, B. D. , Glendevon

Seeing that "St. Serf's Bridge" still spans the Devon at one partwithin the parish of Glendevon, and that the good Saint did not himselfbuild the bridge, but, following a common practice, baptised and madeChristian what was a Pagan structure, reared in this instance by theImperial legionaries, it might be permissible for the local historianto go back at least to the times of the Roman occupation. Afterdescribing the camp and the Roman road which still exist in the mind'seye of the antiquaries, he might then go on to tell of holy St. Servan's feats in the way of detecting sheep-stealers by making them, like Speed under the influence of Proteus' reasoning, cry "Baa, " orrelate some such pretty human story as that of how he turned water intowine for the sake of a sick monk, or unfold the thrilling tale of howhe fought the Dovan dragon, as Wyntoun sings, or at least says:--

 "In Dovyn of devotyoune And prayere, he slew a fell Dragoune, Quhare he was slayne, that place wes ay The Dragownys Den cald to this day. "[1]

The more exact methods of writing history now in vogue, however, almostcompel the chronicler to begin with the first certain mention ofGlendevon in accredited records, and that belongs to the year 1521. Onthe eleventh of July of that year an interesting ceremony was gonethrough down at Cambuskenneth, on the banks of the Forth. Abbot Mylne, a man both of culture and character, who to a genuine love of lettersadded a love of art and architecture, and who was ultimately the firstPresident of the Court of Session, had re-built the great altar, thechapter-house, and part of the cloister of his Abbey, and had laid outtwo new cemeteries. In order to signalise these notable additions andrestorations he invited the Bishop of Dunblane to conduct aconsecration and dedication service. The Bishop was directly assistedin this solemn function by three of his principal clergy--hisarchdeacon, George Newton; John Chesholme, prebendary of Kippane; and"Jacobus Wilson, prebandarius de Glendowane. " John Tulydaf, warder ofthe Minorites of "Striueling" (Stirling), preached on the efficacy ofdedication after the celebration of the Mass, and amongst those presentwere the "noble and powerful" Lord John Erskin, Jacobus Haldene ofGlenegges (Gleneagles), Knight, and various others of the local clergy, nobility, and gentry, together with a large concourse of people fromthe surrounding district. The official account of what took place onthis high day when Glendowane, Glendovan, Glenduen, or Glendevon, firstemerges into the light of history, is duly signed by Jacobus Blakwood, presbyter of the Diocese of Dunblane, public notary by apostolicauthority, who was on the spot and saw everything properly done. [2] Thename of Prebendary Wilson occurs in several documents both before andafter this, all of which have reference to matters connected eitherwith Cambuskenneth or Dunblane. He gets prominent mention in a paperdated from Cambuskenneth, June, 1530, in which he is styled "CanonicusDunblanensis, " heading a list of "venerable and discreet" gentlemen, including Alanus Balward, vicar of Kalender, and Andreas Sym, vicar ofCumry, but we cannot trace him further down than March of the followingyear. It is clear from this that Glendevon was attached to the "Kirkof Dunblane, " and that the Parish Church was served from there, not, itis to be hoped, in the slovenly fashion characteristic of these times, when the stipend was too often fought for by different teind hunters inthe shape of the bishop of the diocese and the abbot of someneighbouring monastery, a state of things to which Prebendary Wilsonhimself bears witness. There is something almost pathetic in thethought that less than forty years after that dedication service inwhich the Prebendary of Glendevon took part, these additions were to bepulled to pieces by the savage mob which wrecked, amongst otherreligious houses, the stately monastery on the Links of the Forth; andit is just possible that the great destroyer--spiritually at least--ofwhat Canon Wilson helped to build up was in his parish in 1556. At anyrate a spot is still pointed out on the glebe where, according totradition, John Knox preached. We know from his own statement[3] thathe spent some time in the early part of the summer of that year atCastle Campbell--which is only some four or five miles distant--"wharehe taught certane dayis"; so it is at least not utterly improbable thathe may have come through Glenquey past the Maiden's Well, and visited apossible congregation in Glendovan, exhorting them to "prayaris, toreading of the Scriptures, and mutuall conference unto such tyme as Godshould give unto them grettar libertie. "[4]

The second direct mention of Glendevon in public records is of asomewhat unsavoury order, and affords a rather curious illustration ofthe beliefs of the people of Scotland in the seventeenth century. JohnBrughe, one of the most notorious necromancers and wizards of his day, was tried at Edinburgh on November 24th, 1643, for practising sorceryand other unholy arts, and amongst the charges brought against him wasthat he had met Satan thrice "in the kirkyeard of Glendovan at quhilkistymes ther was taine up thrie severall dead corps, ane of thame beingof ane servand man named Johne Chrystiesone; the uther corps, tane upat the Kirk of Mukhart, the flesch of the quhilk corps was put abovethe byre and stable-dure headis" of certain individuals in order todestroy their cattle. [5] John's object in collecting Glendovan "muild"was, according to this indictment, not a beneficent one; but it is tobe remembered to his credit that he used the powdered bones of the deadand other materials, notably "ane inchantit stane of the bignes of adow egg, "[6] for the healing of man and beast, and we are told that forcuring a number of oxen afflicted with the murrain by administering apint of one of his patent medicines, accompanied with the invocation, "God put thame in their awin place, " repeated thrice, he got "ellevinod schillings, with twa peckis of meill and thrie tailyeis of beiff. "In those days, when not only human nature but Nature herself lay underthe black shadow of one of the foulest of superstitions, the fair banksof the Devon were much frequented by the devil, who had whole "covins"of witches and wizards in his service, so that it is not surprising tohear that John was frequently in his company. "That John Brughe hadbeen with the devil at the Rumbling Brigs and elsewhere was affirmed byKatherine Mitchell to be of veritie, at the tyme of hir criminalltryell at Culrose, and immediately befoir hir executione, the said JohnBrughe being confronted with hir at the tyme. "[7] We can claim thisrenowned empiric not only for the Glendevon district, but in a sensefor the Presbytery, since it was alleged against him that he had gothis uncanny knowledge "from a wedow woman, named Neane Nikclerith, ofthreescoir years of age, quha wis sister dochter to Nik Neveding, thatnotorious infamous witche in Monzie, quha for her sorcerie andwitchecraft was brunt fourscoir of yeir since or thereby. " Spite ofall he had done for the "bestiall, " and all the testimonials he hadfrom patients whom he had cured of their "seiknessis" by enchanteddrinks, Glendovan and Mukhart mould, and sympathetic conjuring of"sarkis, coller bodies, beltis, and utheris pertaining als weill to menas to wemen, " John was found guilty and condemned to be strangled andburned. These were the real Dark Ages, when intimations werefrequently made from the Glendevon and other pulpits that the ministerand session would be glad to receive information against suspectedwitches, and when the common pricker who pricked poor witches "withlang preins of thrie inches" to discover the marks of Satan, wasspecially busy in the vale of Devon, where in a record year no lessthan sixteen of the local "covin" were burned. In the Roll ofFugitives from kirk discipline drawn up by the Synod of Perth andStirling in 1649, Glendevon was represented by a warlock, "Mart. Kennard, suspect of witchcraft, " but of his fate we know nothing. Inthis connection it may be remarked that though the "Kirkyeard ofGlendovan, " immortalised by John Brughe's ghoulish visit, contains noepitaphs, humorous or otherwise, it possesses a "Plague Stone, " a largerough slab, under which lie those who died of what is vaguely calledthe Plague (1645?), and the lifting of which was duly guarded againstby a solemn curse pronounced over it on whoever would dare to removeit, for two hundred years ago a curse could break bones or "ryve thesaull out of ye. "

Two years after John Brughe suffered at Edinburgh, the quiet of theusually peaceful valley of the Devon was broken by the clatter ofcavalry and the skirling of the pipes, as Montrose, having in his usualbrilliant fashion outwitted Baillie, marched through, burning andplundering as he passed, leaving Muckhart, Dollar, and, above all, Castle Campbell, the lowland hold of the detested Argyles, heaps ofblackened ruins, a march which was to end in the bloody Battle ofKilsyth, that "braw day" when, as the Highlander with grim humourremarked, "at every stroke I gave with my broadsword I cut an ell o'tamn'd Covenanting breeks. " When Chambers says[8] that "theCovenanting army marched close upon the track of Montrose _downGlendevon_, at the distance of about a day's march behind, " he, ofcourse, means down the Devon valley, and not down Glendevon proper, since it is pretty certain that Montrose, in making his descent fromthe north, entered the low country not by Gleneagles, but by thesouth-east end of the Ochils. Glendevon Castle--originally built, itis supposed, by the Crawfords[9] in the sixteenth century--thus escapedthe fate which befel Castle Campbell[10] and Menstrie House, and otherplaces in the Devon and Ochil district at this time, when the fiercestrife was not merely between cavaliers and Covenanters, but quite asmuch, and specially during the Devon valley march, between the Ogilviesand Macleans on the one hand, and the Campbells and their friends onthe other. It is, however, impossible, to say whether the Keep, whichhas been in the possession of the Rutherford family since 1766, wasactually at this time in the hands of the Crawfords, and, indeed, thetraditions regarding its ownership are so vague--one of them assigningit to the Douglases--that, in the absence of authentic records, it isimpossible to make any really satisfactory statement regarding itsorigin and history. 

{195}

Some years later the parish of Glendevon came prominently before thepublic in connection with the deposition and excommunication of itsdoughty true-blue Presbyterian minister, the Rev. William Spence, M. A. , though it was not till he had been removed from his living that thereally romantic part of his career began. He had graduated at St. Andrews in 1654, and after some years of schoolmastering[11] andprobationership he was, in 1664, duly admitted on the new BlackPrelatic conditions to the parish of Glendevon. Under the mild rule ofBishops Leighton and Ramsay he lived quietly there for fourteen years. His name occasionally appears on the Synod and Presbytery Committeesduring this period, and he seems to have done his best to get thebrethren stirred up to "better the provision of Glendovan. " The Bishopand Synod did actually order a "perambulation" to be made to see ifanything could be annexed from the adjacent parishes, especially"Denying and Fossoquhy, " so that, as Mr Spence put it, "aneaugmentation proportionablie might {196} be made to him out of thevacant teindes of the said paroches in respect of the poornes andmeannes of his stipend for the present. "[12] The perambulation, beyondaffording a pleasant outing to the visitors in the long May days, doesnot seem to have had any practical result. Mr Spence had, however, been thinking of higher things than teinds and augmentation, and hadbeen looking far beyond the bounds of his own parish, and, spite of theextreme gentleness of the somewhat mongrel Prelatic-Presbyterian ruleunder which he was, and the general atmosphere of conformity which hebreathed, he began to have serious searchings of heart about the stateof the "poor afflicted" Church. Accordingly, towards the end of 1678he took the bold step of presenting a paper[13] to the Presbytery ofAuchterarder drawing the attention of the Court to the sundry grosscorruptions under which the Church was suffering and to the horriddefection from its first purity, obvious to {197} every man who did notwilfully shut his eyes. The evils against which he asked the Court totestify were doctrinal, liturgical, disciplinary, moral, and what maybe called ecclesiastical. He includes in the sweep of his veryimpartial denunciation not only the pernicious tenets of Pelagianism, Arminianism, Latitudinarianism, and Popish errors, but "the dotage ofQuakers and other enthusiasts, " human inventions in worship, and theprivate essays made to introduce or impose an unwarrantable liturgie ofunsound and useless form, the loose spirit of atheism, profaneness, andungodliness reigning in all corners of the kingdom, and the dreadfuldifferences that prevailed, and calls for a return to sound doctrine, the practice of "the gude Kirk primitif, " the exercise of a strictdiscipline, and the ways of peace. At the special meeting ofPresbytery called to consider his paper he asked to have it back, apparently because he now thought its terms were not strong enough, andmeanwhile a committee was appointed not to deal but to confer with him"until he should get full satisfaction of everything that was hisscruple. " He refused, however, to meet the Committee or attend thePresbytery, on the ground that he had {198} not "clearness" as to theauthority and constitution of a semi-prelatic Court. The Bishop andPresbytery thereupon suspended him, and he was summoned before theSynod in April, 1679, but did not attend, on account of "ane aguishdistemper which had seized on him. " A Synodal Committee with fullpowers was then appointed, before which he compeared in May, but spiteof earnest entreaties of the Bishop he would withdraw nothing, and evenadded that he did not think the present Church government agreeable toScriptural rules--a view shared by some of the Episcopalian bishopsthemselves. The Bishop and Committee recorded their opinion that thepaper was contrived and adhered to for advancing some private interestagainst the unity and peace of the Church, and rather unfairlyinsinuated that Mr Spence was the more hardened therein by the lateexecrable murder of the Bishop of St. Andrews and the expectation of aRevolution to follow thereupon, and unanimously resolved that thisunruly and unreasonable member be deposed. Mr Spence was quiteprepared for this, and, "with some signs of choler in his countenance, "handed a second paper to the Bishop, which turned out to {199} be aprotest against the sentence of the "pretended" Bishop and Synod ofDunblane passed on him. He was asked to retire for a little till theyshould consult, but he scornfully replied that he did not own theirjurisdiction, and was making for the church-door when the Bishopordered the beadle to lay hold of him, and carry him to his house, anddesire the Baillie to keep him safely until he should find caution toanswer before a competent judicatory. This was Mr Spence's first tasteof imprisonment, of which he was to have a very large supply, of verydifferent quality, too, later on. The good Bishop on his ownresponsibility sent three of the brethren that night to reason withhim, but Mr Spence would not yield, and was let out on bail. Heappeared at the next meeting of Synod, but, spite of the threat ofexcommunication, stuck to his guns and argued against his treatment ontechnical grounds, and on the following day, when, after being dulycited, he neither compeared nor pled "ane aguish distemper, " the Bishopand Synod charged the Presbytery of Auchterarder to proceed with theexcommunication, which after some bungling they did, and finally thesuperior Court ordered the {200} intimation of the excommunication tobe read from every pulpit in the Diocese on the first Sabbath ofJanuary, 1681, but no attempt was made to detain the unruly member, andthe door of grace was left open to the very last, quite remarkableleniency when it is remembered that 1680 was the year of the SanquharDeclaration and Airds Moss, and that the peroration of Mr Spence'sprotest would have done credit to Cuddy Headrigg's mother. "For thesereasons specially, and many others I need not mention now, I, the saidWilliam Spence, protest against the sentence aforesaid, and disown thesame, seeing the said inflicters have hereby proclaimed themselves tobe the patrones and abettors of all the said corruptions, supplantersof the Gospel faction for Anti-christ, promoters of the powers ofdarkness, enemies to the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and such from whomall good Christians ought to separate because of their maintaining anddefending soul-murdering heresies, and in persecuting with the utmostviolence and rigour any man who darr open his mouth for the truth ofChrist. (_Sic Subscribitur_), Mr William Spence. "[14]

{201}

Mr Spence as yet was only an ecclesiastical rebel, and instead of goingover to the extreme Covenanters, made his way to Holland, where hejoined the colony of Scotch refugees. Ultimately he attached himselfto the Earl of Argyle as a kind of secretary, and conducted part of thecorrespondence between the Earl and the English plotters. He was inLondon in 1683, apparently on the Earl's business, when he was arrestedand imprisoned for some months, but as he could not be efficientlyexamined in England, where torture was not legal, he was finally sentdown to Scotland along with Carstares and other suspects in HisMajesty's "Kitchin Yaucht, " which did not go at a royal pace, for thejourney to Leith took thirteen days. They arrived late at night onNovember 14th, having left London on the 1st, and were taken straightto the Tolbooth. [15] A week after, orders came from London that MrSpence should be put to the torture, but for some reason or other hewas left alone till the April of the following year, being evidently inirons all the time, his close connection with Argyle rendering hisimprisonment {202} extra rigorous. [16] He was taken out of irons onthe 25th of that month, but it was not till the 24th of July that hewas ordered to appear before the Council and required to take an oathto answer all the questions put to him. He refused and protested, andwas tortured in the boot, but, spite of the awful agony, remained"obstinate and disingenuous, " whereupon the Privy Council "resolved touse all methods necessary to bring the said Mr William Spence to a trueand ingenuous confession, and for expiscating the truth in so importanta matter, do recommend to General Dalziel forthwith to call for thesaid Mr William Spence from the Magistrates of Edinburgh, and to causesuch of His Majesty's forces, officers, and soldiers, as shall be foundmost trusty, to watch the said Mr William Spence by turns, and not tosuffer him to sleep by night or by day, and for that end to use alleffectual means for keeping him awake. "[17] The "effectual means" were"pricking, "[18] and the intention was to induce raving, so that in his{203} delirium the brave prisoner might perhaps reveal his secrets. The torture was continued for eight or nine nights, but Mr Spence didnot rave, and tired his tormentors out. It was next resolved to trythe "thumbkins" on him, and, indeed, Spence seems to have been one ofthe first regular prisoners to suffer this new Muscovy torture, [19] forthe Act of Council authorising the use of "the new invention and enginecalled the thumbkins" was passed only a fortnight before; but thesanguine expectations of the Lords were not fulfilled in the presentcase, for though he sank under the agonising torment, he would notyield. Ten days later he was again threatened with the boot, andhaving meanwhile understood from his friends that the Governmentpractically knew already all he could tell them, he promised to make afree and ingenuous confession on certain conditions--namely, that nonew questions should be put to him, that he should not be obliged to bea witness against any person, and that he himself should be pardoned. Unfortunately, by a sheer accident in disclosing the meaning of some ofthe ciphers used in Argyle's correspondence, he put the Council {204}on the track of the cipher[20] which expressed the name of hisfellow-prisoner, the famous Carstares, who, however, does not in anyway blame Mr Spence for what happened. He was sent back to prison, strict orders being given that he was not to be permitted to seeCarstares, and when the Council adjourned for the holidays on September13th, he was removed to Dumbarton Castle, and granted liberty withinthe walls. Whether he escaped, or was allowed to go out of thecountry, we cannot tell, but it is clear at any rate that he rejoinedhis old master in Holland, and the next we hear of him is that he wasone of those who accompanied Argyle when he made his disastrous descenton Scotland in the spring of 1685. When the little fleet arrived offKirkwall Mr Spence must needs go ashore to visit his uncle who livedthere, along with one of the Earl's scouts. "Both, " says Wodrow, [21]"were discovered and catched by the old bishop there. The Earl wasperemptorily resolved to recover the two gentlemen, and ordered SirPatrick Hume with a party of Fusileers to attack the town"; but thecaptains were obdurate {205} and nervous, and gave the Earl time onlyto seize seven islanders and a vessel "lying ther with meall andmoney, " when the ships sailed away, leaving the unfortunate secretaryto his fate. [22] He was sent down to Edinburgh, [23] indicted fortreason, and remitted in due form to the Assizes, tried, and foundguilty, and we seem at last to be near his end when we read that theLords ordained Mr William Spence to be taken to the Cross of Edinburghon Wednesday next, July 22nd, and there to be hanged. Before that dayarrived, however, he got a reprieve, and on August 17th he was allowedto remove to a chamber in Edinburgh because of sickness--quiteunaccountable leniency at a time when the authorities did not scrupleto hang dying men in their night-shirts. The Magistrates were maderesponsible for his safe keeping, and he undertook to re-enter theprison on the first of September. His reprieve was now continued till{206} November 1st, and the last we hear of him was that in a letterfrom the King, dated October 14th, orders were given that he was to bekept a close prisoner. His master had been executed on June 30th, andhad testified before his death that Mr William Spence had been to him afaithful friend and servant. It is impossible to say what became ofhim between this time and the Revolution, and unless he succeeded inescaping, it is highly probable that he remained in prison till thegeneral clearance made by the alarmed authorities on the eve of thatevent. All we know for certain is that the General Assembly of 1690, amongst other items of business, declared his deposition null and void, and restored him to his old parish, the minister, Alexander Meldrum, having been deposed shortly before for not reading the Proclamation ofthe Estates, and not praying for their Majesties William and Mary. Heremained in it only a few months, and in the autumn of 1691 he wastranslated to Fossoway, where he ended his days in peace in 1715, [24]at the age of 80, a clear proof {207} that he was a man of ironconstitution as well as of iron will and iron convictions. 

We have to go forward something like a hundred years before the parishor its fair stream comes again into notice, though probably in theinterval occurred the summary act of justice commemorated by theGlendevon "Gallows Knowe, " on which some of the last Highland reiverswere hung, and also the tragic event at "Paton's Fauld, " a spot a shortdistance from the old drove road opposite the "Court Knowe, " where twolocal gipsy families effectively settled their quarrel by practicallyannihilating each other. [25] It was in August, 1787, that Burns firstmade acquaintance with the Devon, which he has celebrated in three ofhis poems, though it is evident that both on his flying visit toHarvieston and during the longer stay he made in October of the sameyear he was more pleased with the human flowers that bloomed on itsbanks than with the awesome grandeur of the Rumbling Brig, and thatPeggy Chalmers and Charlotte Hamilton were more intimately associatedwith his fond memories of the Devon valley than Caudron Linn and theDeil's Mill. Although the ladies at Harvieston were somewhatdisappointed[26] that the more prominent local glories did not inspirethe poet to an outburst, it is clear that the subtle softness of theDevon scenery made a deep impression on Burns, if the more aggressivebeauty of its waterfalls and gorges left him cold. You feel this inall he has written about it, and it is significant that in one of hislast songs, composed when he was down in body, mind, and estate, histhoughts went back to the "crystal Devon, winding Devon, " whose musicseems to have got into his verse, and to the happy days he had spent onits "romantic banks" and amidst its "wild sequestered shades. " It maybe noted here that the "Holy Fair" was continued in Glendevon longafter Burns' famous attack, and that down to 1835 the minister of theparish received an annual grant of five, and sometimes ten shillings, for grass destroyed at the Sacrament; while a handy parishioner alsodrew five shillings per annum for putting up the Communion tent on theglebe, and a little extra now and then for making a road to it. [27] Itis impossible to say if Burns when at Harvieston was ever actually inGlendevon, but about thirty years later the home of the Taits, whichthe poet found so pleasant, is brought into close connection with theparish owing to an incident which had its own share in giving to theChurch of England one of its wisest, if not one of its greatest, primates. It was in Glendevon House that young Archibald CampbellTait, according to his own statement, which was found in his desk afterhis death, written on a sheet of foolscap, had an experience which henever forgot. His words are--"I had ridden over with my brotherCrawfurd from Harvieston to Glendevon to visit old Miss Rutherford, andstayed the night in her house. I distinctly remember in the middle ofthe night awaking with a deep impression on my mind of the reality andnearness of the world unseen, _such as through God's mercy has neverleft me_. "[28] And with this fragment of spiritual history our localrecord comes to a close. If the parish of Glendevon, nestling, likeBurns' Peggy, "where braving angry winter's storm the lofty Ochilsrise, " and its clear winding river, occupy but a lowly place inScottish story, they have something better even than archaeologicaltreasures and stirring memories--the abiding presence of that spirit ofbeauty, which is above all change, and which ever haunts

 "The green valleys Where Devon, sweet Devon, meandering flows. "

[1] Much of the legendary history of the Devon is given in theextraordinary poem "Glenochel, " by Mr James Kennedy. 

[2] See _Registrum Monasterii S. Marie De Cambuskenneth_, A. D. 1147-1535. Edinburgi: 1872; p. 122. 

[3] _History of the Reformation_, Vol. I. , p. 233. 

[4] The parish was served by readers from 1568 to 1586, when the readerSymon Pawtoun was presented to the living, and, curiously enough, hissuccessor, A. Marschell, after being minister for a year, was forced bythe Presbytery to accept the lower position. 

[5] See _The Darker Superstitions of Scotland_. By John GrahamDalyell. Glasgow: 1835; p. 579. 

[6] Mr Wood Martin in his learned work, _Pagan Ireland_ (London: 1895);describes similar usages still prevailing in Ireland. 

[7] _Dalyell_, p. 671. 

[8] _History of the Rebellions in Scotland_. By Robert Chambers. Vol. II. , p. 87. 

[9] _Statistical Account of 1794_, p. 234. 

[10] _Memoirs of the Marquis of Montrose_. By M. Napier. Vol. II. , p. 537. 

[11] He was schoolmaster at Abernethy, and subsequently married thedaughter of the parish minister. She died in 1708 at the age of 80. 

[12] See _Register of the Diocesan Synod of Dunblane_. Edited by JohnWilson, D. D. Edinburgh: 1877; page 91. 

Before the passing of the Act of 1810 for augmenting parochial stipendsin Scotland, the stipend was £21 17s 11d, the smallest in Scotland. 50Geo. III. , cap. 84. 

[13] _Diocesan Register_, p. 251. 

[14] _Diocesan Register_, p. 150. 

[15] _Historical Selections_. _From the MSS. Of Sir John Lauder ofFountainhall_. Vol. I. , p. 138. 

[16] Wodrow's _History of The Sufferings of The Church of Scotland_. II. , p. 386. 

[17] Wodrow II. , p. 386. 

[18] Graham Dunlop MSS. , quoted in Story's _Carstares_, p. 80. 

[19] See Fountainhall, p. 138. 

[20] Story's _Carstares_, p. 82. 

[21] History, II. , p. 531. 

[22] Fountainhall, p. 164. 

[23] That his spirit was in no way cowed is obvious from the report ofwhat he said and did when he was brought before the Privy Council andinformed that "Argile was tane, " and urged to tell everything. "Helaugh't at them, and with a very obstinate and unbelieving carriagesaid--'If ye have the principall, what neids ye ask these questions atme. '"--Fountainhall, p. 187. 

[24] _Fasti Ecclesia Scoticanae_. By Hew Scott, D. D. Vol. II. , pp. 766-768. 

[25] The ecclesiastical quarrel which began in 1765 when Mr PatrickCrichton was presented to the living, went on for several years, andonly ended when the presentee, seeing that a peaceable settlement wasimpossible, retired. 

[26] Chambers' _Life of Burns_, II. , 144. 

[27] Glendevon Session Records. 

[28] _Life of Archibald Campbell Tait_. By R. T. Davidson, D. D. , andW. Bentham, D. D. 2 Vols. London: 1891. 

BY THE WELL OF ST. FILLAN

By Rev. THOMAS ARMSTRONG, Dundurn

 "Harp of the North! that mouldering long hast hung On the witch-elm that shades Saint Fillan's spring. " --_Lady of the Lake_. 

Any one who has visited the scene hallowed in tradition as the sojournof St. Fillan, can understand how the genius of Scott should havetraced to Fillan's spring that draught of inspiration which conceivedsuch a splendid poem as the "Lady of the Lake"; for it is here that thescenery of Upper Strathearn reaches its climax of beauty and grandeur. 

Take St. Fillan's Hill as the point of vantage, and the view is mostentrancing. Looking towards Comrie and Crieff, we have at our feet therichest and most beautifully wooded part of Strathearn--the valleyinterspersed in the most picturesque fashion, with knolls richly cladwith larch, oak, or hazel; while here and there the gleam of the RiverEarn betrays her course, where she has emerged from sombre wood, ordeep and rocky gorge. In spring-time the eye is delighted andrefreshed with the varieties of green--from the deep and sombre shadeof the Scotch pine and the almost yellow and brown of the young oak tothe exquisite freshness and tender beauty of the larch. In autumn itis one blaze of colour. At our feet an avenue of beeches glowing red;everywhere masses of oak of russet brown--the rich and varied tints ofthe bracken contributing their share to the similitude of a glorioussunset; and the whole picture is rendered complete to the eye by beingset in that massive rocky framework, known as the Aberuchill range, whose stern and rugged sides add to the feeling of the picturesque andbeautiful the sense of the sublime. 

Looking westward, we have within our immediate view a contrast in theform of a fine piece of pastoral scenery--green fields with cattle orsheep grazing, ploughed land and cornfield, farm-steading, and all thatsuggests the peaceful but laborious life of the hardy sons of toil. 

Almost at our feet, in striking solitude, we discern the chapel andburying-ground of Dundurn. The peacefulness of the place, and thesolemn grandeur of the mountains which soar above, and seem as ifplaced there to safeguard the seclusion, are all in harmony. 

From the point of view already taken, that noble Ben, called Biron, forces itself upon our admiration--a mountain with what we might callcharacter--not of any common order--not beaten into any shape by theruthless elements, but with many determined points, which have survivedthe war with winds and frosts and rains--an old veteran, who, in spiteof the scars where the shadows rest, has a look of triumph about him, especially when his peaks at evening catch the setting rays of the sun, or peer through a surrounding mist. 

Although we are not at any great altitude on the top of St. Fillan'sHill, we are yet high enough to get a glimpse of that gem of Highlandlochs--Loch Earn, set literally at the feet of the hills, its watersmurmuring a never ceasing song, as if happy with their near presence, having wooed and kissed their steep and rugged sides into silverstrands and gently curving bays from end to end; and, indeed, the verywoods, as if drawn by this music and this wooing, have come to the verywater's edge to bathe and to drink, and to watch their graceful formsmirrored in the bosom of the loch. 

I need no apology for thus dwelling upon the romantic scenery of theplace, for if, in these matter-of-fact times, the fame and reputedvirtue of the Well of St. Fillans have departed, and the days ofpilgrimage to its source are over, still the pure air, and perfectpeace, and wild and romantic surroundings remain, to minister theirundoubted healing powers to wearied minds and jaded bodies. 

In writing about the Well of St. Fillans and other places ofantiquarian interest in this neighbourhood, it almost goes withoutsaying that much must be taken on trust. People are prone to believethat the dirty pool of stagnant water which still remains in the driestsummer on the top of St. Fillan's Hill is the famous spring to whichpilgrims at one time resorted. Any one who examines it will not failto observe that it has all the appearance of an artificially builtwell, and must have been kept in order and preservation for a purpose. Tradition confirms the belief that this was at one time the well, butnot always. The Rev. Mr M'Diarmid, minister of the parish of Comrieabout the beginning of this century, gives us the following account ofit:--

"This spring, tradition reports, reared its head on the top of DunFholain (Fillan's Hill) for a long time, doing much good, but indisgust (probably at the Reformation) it removed suddenly to the footof a rock, a quarter of a mile to the southward, where it stillremains, humbled, but not forsaken. It is still visited byvaletudinary people, especially on the 1st of May and the 1st ofAugust. No fewer than seventy persons visited it in May and August, 1791. The invalids, whether men, women, or children, walk or arecarried round the well three times in a direction Deishal--that is fromeast to west, according to the course of the sun. They also drink ofthe water and bathe in it. These operations are accounted a certainremedy for various diseases. They are particularly efficacious forcuring barrenness, on which account it is frequently visited by thosewho are very desirous of offspring. All the invalids throw a whitestone on the Saint's cairn, and leave behind them as tokens of theirgratitude and confidence some rags of linen or woollen cloth. The rockon the summit of the hill formed of itself a chair for the Saint, whichstill remains. Those who complain of rheumatism in the back mustascend the hill, sit in this chair, then lie down on their back, and bepulled down by the legs to the bottom of the hill. This operation isstill performed, and reckoned very efficacious. At the foot of thehill there is a basin made by the Saint on the top of a large stone, which seldom wants water even in the greatest drought, and all who aredistressed with sore eyes must wash them three times with this water. "

Of such holy wells, it may be interesting to learn that there were, previous to the Reformation, a great number throughout Scotland. [1]They were usually called after saints, because of the cells of saintsbeing fixed near a spring. Hence these wells are usually in thevicinity of old ecclesiastical sites, and in many cases where the wellsalone remain, they mark the place of those sites. 

At these wells all diseases were supposed to be within the reach ofcure. A student of the development theory might almost find traces ofthe growth of the specialist in them, for some of them acquired a famefor the cure of special diseases. The Well of St. Fillan, atStrathfillan, _e. G. _, was famous for the cure of insanity; the Well ofSt. Fillan, about which I write, as has already been noticed, was muchresorted to for the cure of barrenness; and if we transfer the virtueof the waters to the credit of the Saint under whose auspices a curewas wrought, we might say of St. Servan that he was considered a greatoculist; of St. Anthony, that he was an eminent specialist in thetreatment of children's diseases; for to the Well of St. Servan theblind were led, to the Well of St. Anthony, sickly and "backganebairns. " In accounting for the popularity of these wells, thephilosopher will reflect that there is a kernel of truth in mostwidespread error. The truth in the well is the truth that underlay thehydropathic treatment involved, also the treatment of fresh air andexercise, and the extra exertion, the stimulus of change, and theexcitement associated with such pilgrimages, not to speak of the powerof faith, based though it was on error. From this point of view we mayin some respects regard the modern hydropathic establishment as in theline of development with the holy well of old. 

It is a testimony to the universality and the popularity of the holywells in this country, and to the persistency of the superstition, after it had been condemned by the Reformation, that a public statutehad to be enacted in 1579 prohibiting these pilgrimages, and that thishaving been ignored or defied, they had again to be denounced in thestrongest terms in 1679. "It seems not to be enough, " says this edict, "that whole congregations were interdicted from the pulpit precedingthe wonted period of resort, or that individuals humbled on their kneesin public acknowledgment of their offence were rebuked or fined fordisobedience. Now it was declared for the purpose of restraining thesuperstitious resort in pilgrimage to chappellis and wellis, which isso frequent and common in this kingdom, to the great offence of God, the scandall of the Kirk, and disgrace of His Majestie's government, that commissioners diligently search in all such pairts and placeswhere this idolatrous superstition is used, and to take and apprehendall such persons, of whatsoever rank and quality, whom they salldeprehend going pilgrimage to chappellis or wellis, or whom they sallknow themselves to be guilty of that cryme, and to commit them to wairduntil such measures should be adopted for their trial and punishment. "It is further of especial interest to note the local effort made tosuppress these pilgrimages. In the records of the Synod of Perth thereis a minute to the following effect:--

"It is found that there is frequent repairing on certain dayssuperstitiously to some wells within this province, as to one calledDumlorn, in Comrie. In the meantime the Synod ordains and entreats allthe gentlemen of these bounds where these wells, or any other of thatkind are, that they would use all diligence against these abuses asthey may according to the Acts of Parliament made thereanent. "

Those who have an antiquarian turn of mind will, on visiting the top ofDundurn, where the original well is supposed to have been, findthemselves expatiating upon other features of interest surroundingthem. The hill itself, it will be remarked, is covered all round, withthe exception of the precipitous front facing the east, with piles ofloose water-worn stones. At first view they appear only an irregularmass, and seem to be there only to make the ascent more slippery anddifficult. Mr Skene, in his _Celtic Scotland_; points out that here wehave the remains of an ancient fort. It is only recently, however, that the subject has come in for thorough investigation by Dr. Christison, one of the Rhind lecturers on Archaeology, who, by carefulmeasurements and by the extensive knowledge which he has brought tobear on the subject, has quite established the fact. One sees thatfrom the east side of the hill the position is by nature impregnableagainst attack; while on the south, west, and north sides, it is thetriumph of the antiquarian's research and skill to re-build for us inimagination a series of fortified lines and enclosures, the originalsites of which time has not altogether obliterated. The fortress wasknown in early days as Dundurn, and must have been a stronghold ofconsiderable importance. [2]

Looking down upon the plain below, the little chapel at our feet, called the Chapel of St. Fillan, also takes us back to antiquity, though to a less remote one than the fortifications. It takes us backto pre-Reformation times. There is no record of the century to whichit belongs, and the only relic that has been preserved to us from thepre-Reformation period is a holy water font. It stood in a niche inthe wall of the chapel. When, however, it was deemed advisable toremove the tottering roof and to preserve what of the building wouldmake a picturesque ruin, the font was taken in charge by ColonelStewart of Ardvoirlich, and handed over by him to the Trustees of theDundurn Parish Church. Placed on a suitable stand, and with anappropriate inscription, this font will represent an interesting linkbetween the past and the present. 

This old chapel, doubtless at one time a place of worship, wasabandoned at the Reformation, and was taken possession of by theStewart clan as a burial vault about the year 1580. For a long timethis interesting old burying-ground was allowed to remain in a state ofshameful neglect. There seemed to be no direct responsibility on thepart of any heritor for its upkeep, and what seemed everybody'sbusiness became nobody's. This condition of _laissez faire_ wasconfirmed by a sentimental though unreasonable objection to shiftinginto their right position a number of head-stones which time andweather had either displaced or Darwin's worms had covered up. It wasonly five or six years ago that a Committee was formed, which in aregular manner, and with the consent of all parties interested, took incharge the upkeep of the burial-ground, with the aid of publicsubscription. A head-stone of great interest to antiquarians is onewith figures of Adam and Eve sculptured in relief, while above thesefigures an angel is represented. The tree carved on the other side ofthe stone is evidently the tree of good and evil, and the wholerepresents in a crude way the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. This Adam and Eve stone is considered very rare, there being very fewknown throughout the country. This one differs from the others in theabsence of the serpent, which is usually represented on them. Anothermonument of considerable interest is to be seen within the chapel. Itis a memorial tablet recently erected by the present Laird ofArdvoirlich upon the wall of the east gable and containing thefollowing inscription:--"This chapel, dedicated in early times to St. Fillan, the leper, has been, since the year 1586, the burial-place ofthe sept or clan of Stewart of Ardvoirlich. " Here follow the names ofthose buried beneath, with the dates of their decease. On glancingover the names there recorded, one will notice the name of Major JamesStewart, and will remember that it is to the same memory that a stonestill stands erected on the south side of the loch, about three milesup. We there read that this Major James Stewart was temporarilyinterred, and thereafter removed to his final resting-place at Dundurn. This member of the clan seems to have been of a fiery, irascible, andadventurous nature, and Sir Walter Scott, while in this neighbourhood, found sufficient material in connection with this personage toreproduce his likeness in his Allan M'Aulay of the _Legend ofMontrose_. In his introduction to this romance the author gives aninteresting account of his character, and sets before us two differentversions of the part he acted in the death of Lord Kilpont; indeed, onewill look upon the romantic scenery of this district with redoubledinterest after a perusal of this work of the great novelist. Withreference to this Major Stewart's tomb-stone on the side of the loch, which has just been referred to, the legend is that the Major died anatural death at Ardvoirlich, and his body was being carried to Dundurnfor burial, but the Drummonds and Murrays, who were at enmity with theclan, threatened to intercept the funeral, and a snowstorm coming on, they interred the body on the loch side near the spot where the stoneis, and subsequently took it to the chapel. 

Another head-stone of considerable interest is to be seen hear theentrance to the grounds of Ardvoirlich itself. It marks the placewhere the remains of seven of the Macdonalds were interred, the legendbeing that that clan, on their way to or from a raid on GlenartneyForest, attacked Ardvoirlich House, and the men of the clan beingabsent with their cattle on the hills, the lady of the house kept themat bay until the men came down, and then they slaughtered all theMacdonalds, except one man, and their bodies were buried in a hole onthe loch side. Years after, on excavating to make a pond for cattle todrink from, a number of human bones were found, and the stone waserected to mark the spot. 

Another object of considerable antiquarian interest in the possessionof the Ardvoirlich family is the charm-stone. It is said by traditionto have been brought from the Holy Land at the time of the Crusades bythe Fitz-Allans, who were progenitors of the Stewarts, and who wereactive Crusaders. It was considered a most holy stone, and had healingproperties of a high order. It is a very perfect specimen of rockcrystal; the silver setting is Saracenic in character, and said to bevery old. Up to 1840, and even later, people used to come toArdvoirlich from long distances to have the stone immersed in water, while a Gaelic incantation was repeated by the laird or lady. Then thewater was carried home, and one condition was that the possessor of thewater must not enter any house until home was reached; then if given tocattle to drink, or sprinkled over them, it acted as a perfect cure forany murrain or disease. 

On the death of the laird in 1854, the stone was sent into a bank forsafe custody, and then all the healing properties were destroyed. Itwas said also that the last lady of Ardvoirlich who used it, and whowas a Maxtone of Cultoquhey, had no Gaelic, and was too lowland bybirth to believe in it, and she most irreverently (not knowing theGaelic incantation) just repeated--"If it'll dae ye nae guid, it'll daeye nae hairm, " and that also destroyed the charm. 

Another object which does not fail to attract the attention of thevisitor to St. Fillans is the picturesque little island at the east endof the loch, called the Neish Island, for it has its romantic story totell. "It is uncertain" (says John Brown in his description of theplace) when or by whom "the island in Loch Earn rose into form orimportance; but that it was entirely the work of man (and certainly itwas no contemptible undertaking) is evident from its circular shape, the nature of the bed on which it is raised and surrounding it, and thepurpose to which it might be made subservient in lawless times. Theancestors of the present family of Ardvoirlich made it their occasionalresidence, at the remote period when they held the eight-mark land onwhich St. Fillans is now built, an endowment which continued annexed tothe Chapel or Priory of Strathfillan till its dissolution at theReformation. " On the island there are the remains of what appear tohave been a number of dwellings. That it was used as a haunt or refugeby raiders is certain from the tradition which gives it its name ofNeish Island. According to the tradition, it was the refuge of theremnant of the Clan Neish who had been defeated in a bloody battle withthe MacNabs. There the former carried on a kind of predatory warfarewith the MacNabs, and on one occasion so roused the wrath of the latterthat a speedy and terrible revenge followed. The stalwart sons of theMacNab, urged by their wrathful sire, whose hint in the words--"Thenight is the night if lads were but lads, " almost amounted to acommand, equipped themselves with dirk, pistol, and claymore, raised aboat on their shoulders, and carrying it by night all the way from LochTay across the hills by Glentarken, launched it stealthily on LochEarn, and taking the Neishes by surprise are said to have killed themall, except one boy, who made good his escape. The following lines bythe Rev. John Hunter, Crieff, give very appropriate expression andcolouring to this interesting tradition:--

 Here sit we down on this fair sun-strewn bank, Beside this queen of lakes, whose loveliness From out of half-shut eyelids softly woos To sweet forgetfulness. Above, the wood, and interspersed knolls, Made greener by the pat of fairy feet And dancing moonbeams, fringe the rugged knees Of scarred and bronzéd heights whose wind-notched crests Look grandly down. Fair scene and home of peace Ineffable; and yet not ever so, For I have seen these scars run full and white, And heard their trumpetings as they rush'd madly Adown the spray-sown steep, past wood and knoll, To mingle with the waters of the lake Vexed with the storm and sounding loud in sympathy. What have we here? What human trace of times When hearts o'erflowed, and hand and steel were swift, And red in the flashing of a hasty thought? Ah me! these times, these woful times when word And blow were wed, and none could sunder them, And honour'd live! See yonder isle set single In the lake, near by where Earn darts swiftly 'neath The rustic bridge to bear the music of the place To broader Tay, who murmurs from afar In the rich harmony of his many streams--yon isle, The haunt of lovers now, where hearts that touch And thrill, cling closer in the eerie sense Of fear that lurks amid the tumbled stones Of robbers' lair. Here, once upon a time, When might was right, and men made wrongful Gain of Nature's fastnesses, a ruffian couched And preyed upon his kind. Long time he throve, But vengeance woke at length, and the heavy tread Of frowning men from far Loch Tay--skiff-laden. Adown the glen they came one moonless night, Goaded by tingling sneer of white-hair'd sire. They rest where Tarken pours his scanty tide, Then silently--nor moon nor star appearing-- Launch forth upon the lake, and softly steal Towards the caitiff's fire gleaming through the dark Like blood-shot eye. All saving one, and he Was left to skirt the shore and give the foe Rough welcome should he 'scape to land. Who then Fair-hair'd and young stood there in melting mood, With all his mother in his swimming eyes, Of abbot's line--with dirk half drawn, fearing, Hoping, praying, as his gentler nature bade That life and light would not go out together. The hope seem'd vain. From out the gloom there came The grinding keel--the tread of hurrying feet-- Clashing of words, of steel, and all was dark-- And all was still. But hark! a sound--the faint Breathing of one who swims with pain, the plash Of nerveless hands nearer and nearer comes, Yet ever fainter. What boots it now to have Escaped the vengeful swords that smote his kin? The waves engulf him and his bubbling cry. But unhoped help is near--a friendly word-- A plunge, then stroke on stroke, and timeously A hand to save. Say not, ye thoughtless ones, That yon grim head, clean sever'd from the trunk, Was the chief trophy of that night. Nay; For kindly thoughts endure, and the High Will That holds all things within the ever-opening fold Of His eternal purpose--that High Will Look'd down with loving eyes that pierce the dark, And bless'd the deeds that glorified MacNab, The abbot's son--half-savage and half-saint. Time sped; the deed was not forgot, and still The tale is told when nights are long and the lone Owl hoots upon the hill. And now there stands Within bowshot of the isle--a house of God That calls to prayer--a parish church--the fruit Of kindly thoughts that stirr'd the watcher's heart, And clomb to Heaven in mute appeal, that night When vengeance smote and light and life went out together. 

So much, then, for the prospect which an antiquarian standing by theWell of St. Fillan would embrace within the programme of his research. If we try to form a picture of the social condition of the people wholived in the midst of this fair vale of Earn in those early days, it isa scene of continual strife we conjure up--clan fighting with clan, andone feud succeeding another. These were the days of superstitiouspilgrimages, days of rooted custom and unchanging faith. So much thebetter for the Saint. The halo of his sanctity shines out all the moreagainst the background of ignorance and strife. If he were to re-visitthose scenes now, how much would he have to deplore! No morepilgrimages, no more belief in miracles. What a downcome from hisdignity to be the patron of a golf course or the chaplain of a curlingclub, instead of enjoying the fame and name of the holy well. _Requiescat in pace_. 

The past was not all strife, however. Traces of agriculture lead us topicture this fine strath as at one time throng with peaceful and busylife. There were, no doubt, in those warlike times intervals of peace, when the inhabitants of the glen could tend their cattle and cultivatetheir potatoes and corn at leisure; and whether we look back upon thisland of the "mountain and the flood" as having been the nursery of ourbest soldiers, or as having been peopled by a race rendered strong andmanly by a simple mode of life, the present prospect of our Highlandglens cannot but fill us with sad reflection when we behold the processof emigration and depopulation still going on, and when we see that erelong the only links with the past of a once strong and hardy race ofpeople will be the mere traces of their cultivation, the ruins of theironce populous hamlets, and the grave-stones in their oldburying-grounds. 

It is true there is a compensating process going on. For while oneregrets the disappearance of the old thatched houses of the primitivevillage of St. Fillans and the migration of their youthful life to thecity, the rise of the modern villa along the loch side speaks of thegrowth of a temporary population known as the "summer visitors. " Itis not likely that their peaceful pursuits--their climbing and pic-nicexpeditions, their regattas and loch illuminations, will be consideredto be as worthy to be recorded in a future "Book of Chronicles" as thefeuds and raids of the past. Still, it is to be hoped that this landof "brown heath and shaggy wood" may even in this innocent way ministerto the rearing of a healthy manhood and womanhood, and continue to bethe nursery of that muscular body and brave spirit which in the pasthave made the name of Caledonia great. 

[1] _Proceedings of the Antiquarian Society_, 1882-83. 

[2] Fortrenn seems to have been the ancient name of a large district ofStrathearn, of which Dundurn, or the fort of the Earn, was the capital. 

THE PLAIN OF THE BARDS

By Rev. ARTHUR GORDON, M. A. , Monzievaird

To supply even in brief outline a sketch of the united parishes ofMonzievaird and Strowan is to cover many centuries and to recall someextraordinary events and remarkable persons. These parishes comprisean area of about eight miles long by six miles broad, and on the mapsomewhat resemble a pear. The scenery varies from the bare summit ofBenchonzie, the limit on the north, where the highest elevation isreached at 3048 feet, and the wood-crowned Turleum, 1291 feet high, where "wind and water sheers, " the southern boundary, down to thewell-cultivated and nearly level carse, which lies all the way betweenCrieff and Comrie at about two hundred feet above the sea. The littlehills abound with coigns of vantage, rewarding the pedestrian; whileeven the driving tourist finds a rich harvest for the eye in thewonderfully diversified landscape presented on all sides. The RiverEarn, if it lacks the majesty of the Tay and the impetuosity of theGarry, makes itself recognised as the dominating feature, whether inits quiet meandering moods or in the flooded temper, overflowing itsbanks and spreading its deposit of alluvial soil. Its tributaries--theLednock, with its "Deil's Cauldron, " and the Turret and Barvick, oftvisited for their pleasing cascades, along with many another rivuletand spring--call up the Promised Land of old--"a land of hills andvalleys which drinketh water of the rain of heaven. " In climate, also, this part of Strathearn is singularly favoured, sheltered as it is fromthe biting east wind and fortified from the northern blasts by itsmountain barriers. Its rainfall, also, is far from excessive; for manysky-piercing hill-tops tap the rain clouds from the Atlantic longbefore they reach Central Perthshire. 

The name of the parish, now called Monzievaird, but formerly Monivaird, and anciently Moivaird, is believed to be Gaelic, and to signify, notthe hill, but rather the "mossy plain" of the bards. It is difficultto say how far this carries us back. The Bards are not to beconfounded with the Druids, a religious class from which they werequite distinct. The bards seem to have been the seanachies, antiquaries, poets, and genealogists. It was their special function tocompose and to chant verses or rhymes in praise of their heroes orbenefactors, and in the absence, so far as we know, of any method ofrecording past transactions or histories, we may believe that ourancestors transmitted orally, in lines composed by the bards, thememorable sayings and deeds which they wished to hand down togenerations after them. How far they were worthy of credit, and howfar they were subject to the vices of flattery or detraction we cannottell, but we may be sure that those who were accounted great in theseancient times were anxious to have their doughty deeds immortalised, and perhaps were as sensitive to the tone of public criticism thusrepresented as is the statesman or warrior of to-day. What would wenot give to hear from the living voice of one of those bards, were itonly possible, the stores of traditionary lore of which they were thesole depositories! As it is, we can but lament the almost totalabsence of reliable information regarding their genius, perhaps alsothe jealous competition for the laureate's place in these pre-historictimes. 

Remains at the western end of the parish are supposed to represent twoDruidical temples. Cairns and barrows have been numerous, and in oneof these, on Ochtertyre, there was discovered, near the close of lastcentury, a stone coffin, containing two coarse earthenware urns. Oneof these held burnt bones, and the other the bones of a head, havingthe lower jaw-bone and teeth in marvellous preservation. In the stonecoffin was also found a stone hatchet about four inches long, bluishcoloured, and of triangular shape, which evidently belonged to an agebefore iron was in use here. It is well known that the Romans hadcamps at Ardoch, Strageath, and Dalginross. Evidences of theirpresence in Monzievaird might, therefore, be expected, and they are notawanting. A Roman burial-ground of some extent, full of large slabs ofstone, lies northeast of Clathick (hence perhaps the name), and is in aline between the camp at Dalginross--a circular burial-place nearVictoria--and the Roman station on the Brae of Callander. In 1783there was found in the plain of Monzievaird a bronze vessel resemblinga coffee-pot, and in 1805 the bronze head of a spear was found inOchtertyre Loch. In 1808 similar spear heads were found near thechurch, erected in 1804, which now serves the united parishes. Theserelics are pronounced by the best antiquarians to be undoubtedly Roman. 

We now proceed to notice the first written account which history givesof Monzievaird. If there be any truth in the old chroniclers, a battlewas fought here, and, after a long civil war, a contested succession tothe Crown was settled by the slaughter of the reigning sovereign ofAlban, a usurper who passes over the stage of history under the variousnames of "Gryme, " "Girgh Mackinat Macduff, " and reigned eight years. It may be worth while to give several references. John of Fordun'schronicle tells how Malcolm, son of Kenneth, strengthened by the favourof the people, and at the instigation of some of his chiefs, sent amessage to the King, giving him the alternatives of either vacating thethrone, or that they two should submit their cause to the just verdictof God by fighting, either man to man or accompanied by their warriorhosts. Gryme was very indignant at this defiance, while Malcolm, onthe other hand, boldly advanced to meet him with a small but pickedband, and reached a field called Auchnabard (the field of the bards), styled "a meet place for a battle. " Here the two armies fought out acruel engagement, till at length the King was mortally wounded, and, being led out of the battle by his men, died the same night. ThusMalcolm gained the victory and the kingdom. The register of St. Andrews calls the slain monarch "Kenneth (Grim), " and makes his deathto be "at Moieghvard" in 1001. _The Chronykil of Scotland_ calls thissame place "Bardory, " and in Latin "Campus Bardorum, " which correspondsto Auchnabard. A cairn on a neighbouring height commemorates thisconflict which made history; but the slain King was not buried here, but

 "Carried to Colme-Kill; The sacred storehouse of his predecessors, And guardian of their bones. "

The Church of Monzievaird was in all probability founded, by SaintSerf, and he was certainly its patron saint. If we are not compelledto postulate two saints of this name from the number of years coveredby traditions which cannot all relate to the same person, we wouldincline to quit hold of the earlier and less definite tradition, and toconsider Saint Serf as contemporary with Adamnan, the celebrated Abbotof Iona, and distinguished biographer of Saint Columba. St. Serffounded many churches, and his reputation in the Middle Ages for theneat and appropriate miracles attributed to him may be reckoned themeasure of his eminence among Scotland's early evangelists. Wyntoungives a quaint dialogue between St. Serf and the enemy of mankind, inwhich the Devil, plying the Saint with many knotty theologicalquestions, wholly fails to overcome him, and suddenly departs. Anotherof these monkish miracles makes St. Serf discover the theft of a sheepby ordering it to bleat forth the story of its wrongs from the guiltystomach of the thief, and to redden his face with shame for havingdenied his crime! St. Serf's memory survives here in the well calledafter him, with its plentiful supply of water. As lately as 1760 theparishioners were wont to be drawn by a lurking superstition to drinkof it on Lammas Day, leaving in it white stones, spoons, or rags, whichthey brought as remembrancers, just as devout Mohammedans still leavetheir prayer rags attached to the grating of the Mosque El-Aksa, atJerusalem, or the lower branches of the giant oak that marks the siteof the grove at Dan. St. Serf's festival and fair day long continued, and was kept on the 1st of July while the market lasted. The churchitself was impropriated to the Abbey of Inchaffray, founded by the Earlof Strathearn about the beginning of the twelfth century, and wasserved by a vicar, to whom that monastery delegated the clerical duty, doubtless on the usual pittance of stipend. 

The Tosachs, from the Gaelic word meaning "first" or "chief, " were theold proprietors of Monzievaird. Their first residence was not at theold castle at Greenend, but at Balmuick, on the estate of Lawers, thencalled Fordie, and the foundation of the house was traceable at theclose of last century. The chief of Monzievaird was accustomed toexecute a man on the first day of every month, and this celebration ofthe almanac at Tom-an-Tosach was apparently designed to prevent thefeudal rights of pit and gallows from falling into desuetude. Thestory runs that the last chief held nightly interviews with a fairy, aproceeding which aroused his wife's jealousy. She tracked him by aball of worsted attached to his button, and, discovering him inconclave with the fairy, demanded her immediate destruction. Thereuponthe fairy fled, and the power of the Tosach departed also. Theinhabitants rose against him, and he had to seek refuge abroad. 

Castle Cluggy, which stands on the peninsula on the north side of theLoch of Monzievaird, is undoubtedly very old, but how old no one cantell. A square tower, about 17 feet by 18 feet, with walls five or sixfeet thick, of tremendous strength, is all that now remains. It issaid to have been a seat of the "Red Cumin, " the rival of Robert theBruce for the throne of Scotland, slain at Dumfries before the highaltar. The prison is sometimes said to have been on the island in theloch, but really the dungeon must be sought under the foundations ofthe tower. In the charter giving Ochtertyre to the Murrays, in theyear 1467, it is even then described as an "ancient fortalice. " Thekey of the tower was found about fifty years ago on the east side ofthe building. The old church of Monzievaird, now converted into amausoleum, was the scene of a dreadful tragedy, characteristic of thespirit of feudal times. The Murrays and the Drummonds were but illneighbours in the days of James IV. The collision between them in thisinstance has been ascribed to the levying of tithes, but withouthistoric grounds; and the law of retaliation is even older than that ofteinds, and far more widely practised. In a foray which began nearKnock Mary the Murrays or their retainers were overpowered and drivenwestward. They kept up a running fight round the western base ofTomachastel, and an obstinate struggle took place in the hollow betweenWesterton and the Loch, where many men fell. The Murrays, however, succeeded in reaching the church, where 120 men able to bear arms, withtheir wives and children, took refuge. They were followed by theDrummonds, reinforced, as some say, by Campbell of Dunstaffhage, andthirsting for vengeance. Even then they might have escaped, had notone of the Murray clan indiscreetly revealed their hiding-place byaiming a successful shot at one of the Drummonds. The Drummonds nowsummoned them to surrender, but in vain, and then piled wood round thelong, low, heather-thatched edifice, and consumed it with its humanholocaust. One Murray alone, David by name, escaped, being aided byone of the Drummonds, who was attached to his sister. He in turn washated and persecuted by his own clan, and forced to escape to Ireland. After some years he returned thence under the effectual protection ofthe powerful Abbot of Inchaffray, who was a Murray. He was settled onthe Abbey lands, and the property which he received still bears thename of Drummond-Ernoch (of Erin). 

The massacre of Monzievaird was sternly avenged by King James IV. TheMaster of Drummond, leader of the party, and some of his followers wereexecuted at Stirling. The estate of Drummond was required to providefor the widows and orphans, and further to expiate their sacrilegiouscrime by re-building the church. Even then the house of prayer couldscarcely be called the abode of peace. It is said to have been thescene of fierce bickerings, and that the gauntlet of the Murrays wasfor many years fastened on a small gallery of the church, and formalchallenge made to anyone to remove it before divine service was allowedto begin. When the foundations of the present mausoleum were being duga quantity of charred wood was found, and very many calcinedbones--those nearer the door on the west being of larger size than theothers towards the east, which were probably those of women andchildren. They must have been buried as they lay. 

The Murrays of Ochtertyre come of the Tullibardine family, and thepresent proprietor is the fifteenth in descent from the first. Theaddition of Keith to the ancient "Moray, " changed to Murray, arose frommarriage with the heiress of Dunnottar Castle, in Kincardineshire. Itis a singular fact that the succession has uniformly descended fromfather to son. The existing house of Ochtertyre was built by thegreat-grandfather of the present Baronet, and for prospect it would behard to equal it. The old house stood near the great ash tree furtherwest, and a yet older is proved by a family record, which narrates thebirths of generations at Quoig House, above the church. Robert Burns'visit to Ochtertyre in 1787 and the two poems he produced are toofamiliar to need mention here. In the reign of Charles I. A mortalitygreater even than that caused by war almost depopulated the bonniebraes of Ochtertyre. The dreaded Plague assumed alarming proportions, and many huts were erected for isolation near the west end ofMonzievaird Loch. The dead were not buried in the churchyard, but in alarge sepulchral mound near the Marle Lodge gate. 

The Right Honourable Sir George Murray, G. C. B. , perhaps the mostdistinguished member of the Ochtertyre family, after meritoriousservice in Egypt and the Peninsular War, was chief of the general staffunder Wellington at Waterloo. He also served the State as apolitician, six times representing Perthshire in Parliament, andattaining among many honours the office of Secretary of State for theColonies in the Duke of Wellington's Government of 1828. The presentBaronet is a worthy successor of an honoured line, and his generousconsideration for the public in throwing open his grounds and grantingthe fullest facilities for their enjoyment deserves the highest praise. It is claimed for Glenturret that the two last wolves seen in Scotlandwere killed there. But a similar claim has been advanced forNairnshire, and, with far more likelihood, for the wilds of the Moor ofRannoch. The glen, however, was long famous for its falcons. In fewplaces is the bird-life more various or abundant than in the woods ofbonnie Ochtertyre. And the rabbit, introduced there while the presentcentury was young, has evidently come to stay and to multiply. 

At Upper Quoig two reputed witches once dwelt, but whether from greaterfear or greater enlightenment here than elsewhere, they were nevercalled to endure the ordeal either by fire or by water. They hunted incouples apparently, for the story goes that two men at Clathick, risingearly on a May morning, saw them coming up the burn-side, putting atether across the stream, and saying, "Come all to me. " Thisincantation succeeded in providing the witches' dairy with a doublesupply of milk, while their neighbours had none! Verily many poor oldcrones have lost their lives on as trivial a charge. Passing westwardto the compact property of Clathick, now owned by Captain CampbellColquhoun, we learn that it was given off from Ochtertyre in dowry witha Miss Mary Murray. It was a curious marriage contract provision thather initials should be cut upon each lintel, and men were living thirtyyears ago who had seen "M. M. " carved on the stones of the old house. 

The estate of Lawers conjures up from the deep oblivion of ages manystirring times. It was originally "Fordie, " but was named Lawers afterthe Campbells from Loch Tayside came into possession. How differentour quiet Christian Lord's Days and "kirk-yard cracks" from theseSunday and festival occasions of bloodshed, "When strangers from Breadalbane And clansmen from Loch Tay Brought to the priest their offerings, But fought each holy day!"

Still we may remark the ruined chapel almost smothered by theoverturned yew trees that were planted, less, perhaps, to mark the"route" of the Mass carried in procession (hence "routine, " corruptedinto "Rotten Row, ") than to furnish the twanging bow for these martialspirits. That great boulder-stone at the north-eastern end of themagnificent avenue opposite is, most likely, a Roman landmark, thoughit is customary to declare that the Earn once flowed past it. ColonelCampbell of Lawers was not only a sincere reformer, but John Knox'shistory tells us how he commanded a regiment raised to make good thecause of religious faith and freedom. His second successor was a yetmore staunch and eminent Scotsman, knighted in 1620, and created Earlof Loudon in 1633. He proved himself a stout opponent of the arbitrarymeasures of Charles I. And Laud; was one of the most prominent actorsin the Glasgow Assembly of 1638, and nominated to represent the Churchof Scotland in the Westminster Assembly of Divines. He narrowlyescaped being beheaded in the Tower of London, in spite of a safeconduct and without trial; but the fiat of the insensate monarch wasrecalled, and the warrant torn up by Charles a single day before theaxe was doomed to fall, from fear of the odium and vengeance his deathwould have called forth. Not to remain Chancellor of Scotland (as hewas for ten years) would he imperil the interests of religious libertyand national independence, just then threatened by Stuart absolutism;and yet he was a man of the type of the great Montrose, as loyal to theKing as he was true to Church and people. Few deserve better to rankamong "The Scots Worthies. " He disponed Lawers estate to his brother, who, fighting against Cromwell at Inverkeithing, was badly beaten, andhad his lands on the north of Loch Earn taken from him by an oppressiveexaction put in force against him by the same Stuart dynasty, whosecause he had so faithfully championed. 

A thrilling tale introduces the next laird of Lawers, son of the lastnamed. He executed a punitive commission against his uncannyneighbours, the Macgregors, who determined on revenge. They surprisedhim at Lawers in bed, and threatened instant death, even in his wife'spresence. He urged for time to pray, and that it might be forquietness in the chapel hard by, which request they granted. On theway thither he so played on their cupidity, offering them 10, 000 merksif they would spare his life, that at last he prevailed. Faithful tohis engagement, he raised this immense sum, much of it being gatheredin halfpence, and carried on horseback to the appointed trysting-place. But Lawers was better than his word, for soldiers surrounded the house, and made the Macgregors prisoners. The game ended with checkmate, whenthe duped freebooters paid the death penalty in Edinburgh. ColonelDavid R. Williamson, the present laird of Lawers, has been long notedfor his public spirit and eminent services to agriculture. 

Tomachastel, the central wooded height of the parish, now surmounted bythe monument, erected by his widow, in 1832, to the memory of GeneralSir David Baird of Ferntower, is marked out beyond all reasonable doubtas the site of the ancient Castle of Earn, for long the fortressdwelling of the great and powerful Earls of Strathearn. The title isnow merged in the names of Royalty, like the Dukedoms of Rothesay andAlbany. Our own beloved Queen's father was the Duke of Kent andStrathearn, as her third son is Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. Nosituation within the wide strath can compare with it in fair andfar-reaching prospect, combined with facilities for defence; and thelighting of its beacon fire would be so universally observed over awide domain that a personal summons, like that of the fiery cross, would scarcely be needed. Romance and gruesome horror are strangelyblended here; for was it not from the walks in close proximity to thecastle that the fair Lady Mary Graham, only daughter of stout oldMalise, Earl of Strathearn, espied her future husband, John Moray ofDrumshergart, fishing in the well-stocked pools below? And did he notfind her society more engrossing than any (whole or half) scalyinhabitant of the mermaid's pool? The Morays of Abercairny estate (thefair lady's marriage portion) and many another territorial family claimdescent from the union of these happy lovers. The rough hospitality, and swift, if not always impartial, administration of feudal justiceare themes inviting to historic imagination; nor is the religiouselement wanting, for the Earls of Strathearn, besides foundingInchaffray Abbey, endowed the Bishopric of Dunblane with one-third oftheir domains. A sad and shameful story links the castle with the goodKing Robert the Bruce, and probably brought about its destruction. Joanna, only child of the seventh Earl, was Countess in her own right, and married to John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, and English Governor ofScotland. The husband and wife had different minds and purposes. Thelady was found guilty of conspiracy, with Lord Soulis of HermitageCastle and others, against the life of the good King Robert. Sheconfessed her offence, and was condemned to perpetual imprisonmentwithin her own castle. Constant tradition affirms that it was set onfire and burnt to the ground, whether as the result of accident or asuccessful siege. One story tells how the Earl tried to save his wife, but failed from the irresistible power of the flames. The castlebecame a ruin, and was never re-built. Actual observation, after morethan 500 years, has confirmed the truth, in this case stranger thanfiction. Sir David Baird, the hero of the Nile, Cape of Good Hope, Corunna, and Seringapatam (remembered by the oldest folk for huntingwith hawks, attended by a native Indian), having died at Ferntower in1832, was first buried in Monzievaird Churchyard, and old people stillrecall the extraordinary storm of thunder and rain which signalised hisfuneral day. His widow prepared the massive monumental obelisk ofgranite, said to be exactly similar to Cleopatra's Needle, since struckby lightning in 1878, and badly rent, but now restored. It requiredfoundations broad and deep. Most of the stones of the old castle hadgone to form dykes in the neighbourhood. The workmen, thinking theyhad to deal with solid rock, proceeded to blast it, when to theiramazement the charge of gunpowder, instead of only throwing stones anddebris into the air, operated downward and revealed a dungeon cut inthe solid rock. There lay all that remained of the proud and daringJoanna, Countess of Strathearn and Princess of the Orkneys. A few goldand silver bracelets and ornaments, belonging to a lady's dress, werefound among the black rubbish with another trinket, teaching the old, old lesson, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. "

It only remains to describe the antiquities of Strowan. There was aThane of "Struin" in Strathearn, in very early times, when Thanes wereservants of the King, holding their land in fee-farm for a certain"census, " or feu-duty. Strowan, like Monzievaird, had a Celtic saintfor founder--St. Ronan. He is not to be identified with the saint ofthat name, of whom the venerable Bede records that he championed thelater Roman method of calculating the time of the Easter festivalagainst Bishop Finan of Lindisfarne, who stoutly held the Columbanrule. Rather may we count him the same with the Abbot of Kingarth, inBute (died 737 A. D. ), and founder of Kilmaronog, on Loch Etive, theparish of similar name in Dumbartonshire, and the Parish Church ofIona, called after him "Tempul Ronain. " St. Ronan's name is to thisday associated with his well, the pool that never failed to supply himwith fish on Fridays; the ruins of the old church or chapel, and St. Ronan's bell. Tradition says that the Cross of Crieff was taken fromStrowan to Crieff upwards of 200 years ago. The market cross ofStrowan now stands on a small mound west from the old kirk and near themansion-house. A fine old lime tree which shaded it succumbed to theunprecedented storm of November, 1893; and all who know the venerableLaird of Strowan hope that he may live to see the young lime saplingwith which he lately replaced it grow up to cast its shade over thecross once more. The latter is Maltese in form; and has on it, besidesthe initials of the Latin inscription on the Saviour's cross, I. N. R. I. , the Moray star, and other symbols. It was probably taken from thechurchyard. The arches of the bridge, with its narrow roadway andparapet, and little cities of refuge for foot-passengers, are not of ahoary antiquity; but the pillars, on which at one time planks used tobe laid for crossing, are much older. The Kirk-Session records containmany entries of sums paid to the boatman for ferrying parishioners fromthe north side to Strowan Church. Picturesque ruin though the churchis, it is not 230 years old in any part, and public worship onalternate Sundays was performed there till the beginning of thiscentury. In 1669 the previous church was still standing, and in suchrepair that an application was made to the Synod to require the lairdsof Monzievaird, Ochtertyre, Fordie, Clathick, &c. , to attend the Churchof Strowan in consequence of Monzievaird Church having become ruinousand past repair. The Commissioners of Teinds had ordered one church tobe built near the present site, but the heritors of each of the unitedparishes did their best to evade complying. Two graves are deservingof special mention. One is the resting-place of "fair Helen ofArdoch"; the other marks the place of repose of the eldest son of theHouse of Strowan, who laid down his life on the sands of Tel-el-Kebir, bravely advancing to the charge against the Egyptian lines. 

St. Ronan's Bell is preserved at Strowan House. It is small, circular, and looks as if it had been made to be grasped by the hand. Traditionsays it was rung under the bell-man's gown when mass was said in Romishtimes. The tongue is wanting. Some say it never had one, but wasmeant to be struck from without. It never could have been heard afaroff. Close scrutiny proves it to be slightly cracked. But worthlessfor music, it is excellent for law! It is the symbol of tenure ofBallindewar or Dewarland. (Dewar is from the Gaelic for keeper). TheDewars were the hereditary beadles of Strowan, and keepers of St. Ronan's bell. They held their croft free of all cess, stipend, orpublic burden, as it still remains. When the present Laird of Strowannegotiated at a high price the purchase of this piece of land, hereceived with "the bellman's pendicle" the bell itself as the charterof the feu lands, and as custodier of all rights of the same. 

The saddest feature in making this short survey of the united parish isthe great and continuous decline of the population. In 1755 there were1460 people; in 1793 there were 1025; in 1891 the number had sunk to490. No doubt the livelier prospects of town life allure many. Nodoubt many have profited by the fact of removal. The agriculturaloutlook appears gloomier than ever, which tends to restrict the areaunder cultivation. But it cannot be gainsaid that many have had toremove from the mistaken policy of adding land to land and field tofield. It is breaking down when viewed in the sole interest of theproprietor; how much more is it found wanting when viewed from thestandpoint of the wider interests and welfare of our common country?

The minister of Monzievaird and Strowan most likely to achieveimmortality is the Rev. William Robertson, the gifted versifier andauthor of Hymns 3--"Thee God we praise, Thee Lord confess, " theMonzievaird _Te Deum_, and 311--"A little child the Saviour came, " thefirst baptismal hymn, in the Scottish Hymnal. To him the account nowgiven, incomplete as it is, owes more than to any other. He has alsocast into verse that seems worth preserving his parish musings in thefollowing lines:--

 A shady knoll o'erlooks a dale Where Earn meanders down the vale; A knoll enwreathed in oak and fern, The sweetest nook in all Strathearn. The morn there breaks with earliest ray, Here latest shines the lingering day, There summer reigns supremely fair, And winter ev'n is lovely there. Its eastern prospect looks entire Along the glades of Ochtertyre; Its south, a mountain forest shade By dark blue pine and larches made; While lone Glenartney in the west Lies cradled like a turtle's nest, And huge Benvoirlich crown'd with snow Defends the smiling glens below. Dear shady knoll, whose varied view Enfolds green field and mountain blue, How oft at morn and eventide I've strolled around thy stony side And listened to the artless song That swell'd the glorious vale along! Mark'd where the sunbeams kindliest fell On rocky ridge and heathery dell, And yielded all my soul to share The teachings of a scene so fair! In storm or calm, thy grateful shade My fond retreat was ever made. There have I marked the thunder cloud Invest all heaven with sable shroud; There heard the peal arouse again The echoes of the Turret glen, While Auchingarroch from afar Rolled back the elemental war; There have I watched wing'd lightning play Adown Glenartney's rugged way, Or gild each flinty summit hoar From Callander to far Ken More; There seen the Ruchill deluge foam, And o'er the strath in eddies roam, Sweeping beyond the power to save A golden harvest on its wave. 

 * * * * *

 High on my left, unstained by storm, An obelisk uprears its form; Commemorates in fitting style Heroic deeds upon the Nile, When he who conquered in Mysore To Afric's sands his legions bore, And showed the trembling prince and slave The gentleness of one that's brave. Yet on that monumental stone More feats of high renown are shown, Where he a prisoner and enchained, At last his noblest laurels gained: Lived to avenge each treacherous wrong, And triumph when he suffered long. There, too, his brilliant tasks to cope, 'Tis told he seized the Cape of Hope; And sad Corunna's bloody shore But added to his fame the more. A widow's love the warrior praised, A widow's love the column raised; And yet that column tall and bold, Traced in the lines of Egypt old, Arises as a new cut stone Amid the dust of ages gone; For while it tells of yesterday, It stands upon the summit grey Where stately tower and donjon stern Were keep and tomb of fair Strathearn; Where Wallace oft his prowess tried, And royal Bruce in valour vied. Talk we of Bruce? By yon dark wood The Comyn's ancient fortress stood-- That traitor whose unhappy fate Still on the monarch's conscience sate, And urged him in a zeal divine To send his heart to Palestine. 

 See where the waters dash aside, And swiftly round the thicket glide, Where mossy crag and fan-like bough Inshade the torrent far below. Within a towery wilderness Of nature's wildest gorgeousness, There rose in architecture quaint The cell of Strowan's valiant saint-- A soldier-priest whose claymore long Was more persuasive than his tongue; Here stands his cross, there flows his well, Here still is seen his holy hell; Here, ivy-mantled, still remain The ruins of the ancient fane, Where once to heaven the anthem rose, And silent now the loved repose. 

 On every side each scene has store Of song and legendary lore; Each stream has still its story true, Each height some bloody conflict knew; Each crag must give its meed to fame, And consecrate a hero's name. High o'er the rest, all bleak and dern, Moulders the royal Kenneth's cairn, Who for his crown his good sword bared, And fell in fight at Monzievaird. Even in their church, the doom of fire Consumed the clan of Ochtertyre; And in his home across the plain, Old Drummond-Ernoch was slain; Sons of the mist avenged their dead, And bore away his grisly head. 

 Old tales like these, old legends true, Spring up where'er I turn my view-- From Turret's glen and brawling wave, From Tosach's keep and fairy grave, From Ochtertyre's unfading bower, From Comyn's lone and moated tower, From where our chief with skilful eye Watched wonders in the midnight sky, From Tomachastel's haunted brow, From cell for Ronan's prayer and vow, From lordly Drummond's forest wall, From Lochlane's grim empannelled hall, From stately Turleum clothed in pine, And every height surrounding mine. 'Twere idle then each tale to tell, Of ancient feat by stream or dell, From Benychonzie's snow-clad breast To green Glenartney in the west, Or round by sweet Dunira's den, Where "bonnie Kilmanie gaed up the glen. " No need I ween of distant view My sauntering footsteps hence to woo; No need of song or knightly feat To add new charm to my retreat. Its own associations claim Far better meed than modern fame, With books and scenes and neighbours sage, I commune with a former age. 

BETWEEN STRATHALLAN AND STRATHEARN

By Rev. JAMES MACGIBBON, B. D. , Blackford. 

The name Blackford was given, according to tradition, by an ancientking of Caledonia, whose experience in passing the River Allan at thispoint was of the saddest. The stream spread itself out in those days, says the story, so as to be more lake than stream. When the king cameto it with his queen and suite the waters were deep and the currentstrong. It must have been at night surely, if we are to have any faithin the tale, for the poor queen was carried away beyond help and hope. They drained the strath dry to recover the body; and a solitary knollon the Allan's bank some way below the present village marks the placewhere they found and buried the remains of fair Queen Helen. Hence thename Blackford. In the days of the Roman occupation the legionariesfrequented this upper part of Strathallan, and have left traces oftheir presence. Many of them, indeed, must have quartered near; for atthe Loaninghead, about two miles east of the village, there is anundeniable Roman camp, an outpost of the great camp at Ardoch. 

But the earliest historical reference to Blackford is in Blind Harry's"Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace. " After taking the peel ofGargunnock, Wallace and his men passed up Strathallan on the way toMethven, and at Blackford met a party of the English, whom they slew, and threw their bodies into the Allan. 

 "At yai Blackfurd, as at yai suld pass our, [1] A squeir come, and with hym bernys four. Till Doun suld ryd and wend at yai had beyne All Inglismen, at he befor had seyne. Tithings to sper he howid yaim amang. Wallace yarwith swyth with a suerd outswang. Apon ye hede he straik with so great ire, Throw bayne and brayne in sondyr schar ye swyr. Ye tothir four in hands sone wer hynt, Derfly to dede stekyt or yai wald stynt. Yar horss yai tuk, and quhat yaim likit best, Spoilzied yaim bar, syne in the brook yaim kest. "

Further on in the same story, we learn that Wallace after slayingFawdoune, and seeing his ghost at Gask Hall, rode south, hotly pursuedby the English. He forded the Earn at Dalreoch, and crossed the Muirof Auchterarder. "Ye horss was gud, " but the forced pace sorely taxedits strength; so "at ye Blackfurd" he alighted and walked. After hehad gone a mile his pursuers overtook and harassed him. They had greatadvantage, being on horse, while he was on foot; yet Wallace beat backthe foremost of them, recovered his seat, and fled towards Sheriffmuir. 

 "Quhil yat he cum ye myrkest mur amang, [2] His horss gaiff our and wald no furthyr gang. "

Then, rather than let the steed fall into the hands of the enemy, "His houch sennownnis he cuttyt all at anys, And left hym yus besyde ye standand stanys. For Southrone men no guid suld off hym wyn. In heith haddyr Wallace and yai can twyn. "

In the year 1488, according to the Lord Treasurer's accounts, KingJames IV. , returning from his coronation at Scone, halted at Blackfordfor refreshment:--"Item--Quhen the King cum forth to Sanct Johnistonfor a barrel of Ayll at the Blackfurd, xijs. " Again, on November 7, 1496, on a journey from Methven to Stirling:--"Item--That samyn day atthe Blackfurd quhaire the King baytit for corn to the horss, ii. S. ";and the same year, on the way to Perth, March 12th--"Item--Giffen atthe Blackfurde quhair the King drank as he raid by, xiiii. D. " In 1498there is the curious entry:--"Item--xxv March, to ane woman of theBlackfurde that brocht coppis to the King and at the Kingis command, xiij. S. Iiii. D. " These "coppis, " probably wooden drinking cups orquaichs, were evidently of some value according to the reckoning ofthat day. A more quaint and artistic record of this monarch's doingswas made later in Tullibardine. Pitscottie tells that in 1511 KingJames IV. Built "ane very great monstrous schip, " called "TheMicheall. " Nearly all the woods of Fife were cut down to provide thenecessary timber, in addition to that brought from Norway. A year wasspent in the building, and the cost to the King was £40, 000. Whencomplete she was manned by 300 sailors, 120 gunners, and 1000 "men ofwarre, " besides officers. The dimensions of this leviathan were 240feet long, 36 feet broad, and the sides 10 feet thick, "so that nocannon could doe at hir"; "and if any man believes that this schip wasnot as we have schowin, latt him pas to the place of Tullibardynequhair he will find the breadth and length of hir sett withhawthorne. "[3] Three of these thorn trees were standing in 1837; noneof them exist now. A farmer, to improve his field, rooted them out, and did his best to fill up the hollow representing the hull; but spiteof these obliterations, the plan of the great ship may be traced yet. 

At what date the historic ford was superseded or assisted by a bridgewe cannot tell. Some kind of primitive structure evidently existedabout the year 1700; for in 1703 the Kirk-Session Records minute thatMr Archibald Moncrieff, the minister, caused his elders to make acollection throughout the parish, "being that when there came rain thatdid raise the waters a great many people were stopt from coming to yekirk, and such as came behoved to wead if they wanted horse, which wasvery discouraging. " Thereafter one James Waddel is commissioned "torepair the bridge upon Allan, and he is to bring hom some great treesfrom ye wood for helping ye same, and over each of ye two streams of yewater there is to be put four trees, at least three of greater size, and they are to be covered with fells and sand. "

In 1715, being uncomfortably near the Sheriffmuir, Blackford wasseriously disturbed. For four Sundays, between October 23d andNovember 27th, the church was closed, and again for eight Sundaysbetween December 3rd, 1715, and February 5th, 1716. In the latterinterval, as we learn from an account preserved by the Maitland Club, Blackford was burned to the ground by a party of Highlanders. Theminister "had stayed at home, preached and prayed for King George andsuccess to his arms, till he was threatened, and parties sent to seizehim from the garrisons of Tullibardine and Braco, upon which he wasforced to retire and shelter himself with some of his well affectedfriends. " His wife remained, however, and had the presence of mind, sosoon as she learned what had happened, to call for "a trusty servant, and by force of money and promises prevailed with him to go to Stirling... To give ane account to the General and other officers there whatwas done and acted at Blackfoord. " Such is the last eventful incidentin the secular history of the parish. 

II. 

The Church of Blackford, beside the River Allan, was transplantedthither after the Reformation. In former days the name of the parishwas Strageath, and the church stood by the Earn, seven miles from itspresent place. The ruins of the old church are yet standing, preservedfrom clean removal, doubtless, because the graveyard about them isstill in use. Strageath Church has a very ancient origin, beingfounded by S. Fergus some time in the eighth century. According to theBreviary of Aberdeen, S. Fergus, after he had been Bishop in Irelandfor many years, crossed over to Scotland with some companions andsettled in Strageath. Finding the district favourable, he set to workand founded three churches--presumably Strageath, Struthill, andBlairinroar. Having appointed these as he best might, and putministers in them, he quietly retreated to preach the word of God infurther parts. [4]

Towards the end of the twelfth century, Gilbert, Earl of Strathearn, founded the Abbey of Inchaffray; and in the year 1200, moved to greaterliberality by the death of a son who was buried there, he furtherendowed the abbey with five churches and additional teinds. One ofthese five was the Church of S. Patrick of Strageath. The gift isconfirmed in a second charter, when the Earl added four other churchesand more lands to the same abbey, and again in a charter of KingAlexander. [5] Twenty-five or thirty years later the Church of S. Patrick was the scene of a somewhat significant ceremonial. EarlRobert, Gilbert's son, had evidently offended against the powersspiritual, and sought, or was brought to seek, a reconciliation. Acharter of his time records that Earl Robert, son of the aforesaidGilbert, in presence of Abraham, Bishop of Dunblane, Gilbert, thearchdeacon, and other notable witnesses, binds himself towardsInnocent, the abbot, that he will never in all his life vex the saidabbot or his convent unjustly, but will love and everywhere honour themas his most special friends, and will add to the possessions of theirhouse whatever he may by the counsel of his friends. In particular, heconfirms to them the Churches of Gask and Strageath. The Abbey ofInchaffray thus held the appointment to the parish of Strageath, and, in spite of many changes, the minister of the parish still receivespart of his stipend from "the great vicarage teind of the Abbey ofInchaffray. "

In pre-Reformation times there were two other ecclesiastical buildingsin the parish besides the Church of Strageath--Tullibardine College andGleneagles Chapel. The College Church of Tullibardine was founded in1445 by Sir David Murray, who endowed it with a provost and fourprebends, thus making provision not only for the wants of the people, but for younger sons of the family who might enter the service of theChurch. Within the church, on the west end of the wall, are seen thearms of the founder and his lady, Dame Isabel Stewart, impaled, [6] thethree stars within the bordure for Murray, and the galley for Stewartof Lorn, of which family this lady was a daughter. William Murray ofTullibardine, the son and successor of Sir David, enlarged the Collegeof Tullibardine, and built that part where his arms and his lady's areimpaled--the three stars within the tressure for Murray, and a crossingrailed for Colquhoun, finely cut in stone on the outside of thewall. The Provostry was suppressed at the Reformation, but in theearly years of the eighteenth century the Session Records frequentlymention "sermon at Tullibardine, the Earle and his lady being there atpresent. " Lord George Murray, though he favoured the Stewart cause, evidently encouraged Presbyterian worship, and occasionally showed hiszeal by holding a court "for the fineing and punishing of any suchpersons as should be delated and found guilty of drinking themselvesdrunk or of profane swearing or Sabbath breaking or any such grossimmoralities. " The church, although no longer used for worship, isstill excellently preserved, and is used as a burial-place for theStrathallan family. 

Gleneagles Chapel is a small and unadorned building, standing near thepresent mansion-house. The old lairds of Gleneagles are buried withinits walls, and the enclosed space about it has been used as agraveyard. The Session Records have an entry showing that the chapelwas used as late as March 18, 1705--"Being that the Lady Gleneagles wasbrought to bed of a child, and the laird was desirous to have his childbaptized on the Lord's Day, and was unwilling to bring him out so faras the kirk because of the seasons being yet cold and sometimes stormy. Therefor desired the minr. To preach at his chapel in the afternoon, and to baptize his child, which this day ye minr. Did. " As far back as1149[7] there was a church in Gleneagles under the rule ofCambuskenneth Abbey; and, indeed, according to the most likelyderivation, Gleneagles is the Gaelic rendering of the monastic "_VallumEcclesiae_"--Glen of the Church. The present chapel seems neither ofage nor consequence enough to give a title. The first church, if itstood on the same site, must surely have been a larger building. Amile further up the glen, however, there rises a spring of the purestwater, once believed to have virtue in curing certain diseases, andstill called S. Mungo's Well. The saintly name and the fame of healingpoint to this spot as the more probable situation of the old church. 

Our only glimpse of Blackford at the Reformation shows slightresistance on the part of some to the orders of the new churchgovernment. On October 25, 1564, Sir Patrick Fergy--"sir" beingequivalent to the modern "reverend"--was cited before the Kirk-Sessionof S. Andrews[8] as coming in place of the consistorial court, "tounderlie diciplyn for takyng upon hand to prech and minister thesacraments withoutyn lawfull admission and for drawyng of the peopll tothe Chapell of Tullbarne frae ther Paroche Kyrk. " On the same day, "Schyr Johan Morrison efter his recantacion admittit reader in Mithyll, was delaytit and summoned for ministration of baptisme and mariaigeefter the Papistical fasson, and that indifferently to all persones, and also for profanacion of the sacrament of the Lordis Supper, abusyngthe sam in privat howsis, as also in the kirkyard about the kyrkyarddykis and resavying fra ilk person that communicat ane penne, and inspeciall upon Pasche day last was, in the hows of Jhon Graham inPannalis he ministrat to ane hundreth personis. He oft tymmis callednocht comperand beand of befoir divers tymmis monest to desist tharfraunder panis of excommunicacion now wordely mentis the sam to be executaganis hym and sa decretit to be used. "

A relic of pre-Reformation days is the old church bell, which hung tillrecently in the belfry of old Blackford Church. The bell is inscribedwith the words "O Mater S. D. , O Mater S. D. , O Mater S. D. , I. S. , " andthe sign of a hammer. The thrice repeated phrase is evidently acontraction for "O Mater Sanctissima Domini"--"O Most Holy Mother ofthe Lord. "

From the Book of the Assignation of Stipends, 1574, it appears thatStrageath, Muthill, and Strowane were combined under the ministry ofAlexander Gaw at a stipend of £60 Scots and kirk-lands, while AndroDrummond was reader at Strageath at a stipend of £20. 

In 1617, the Parish Church was changed to Blackford by Act ofParliament:--

"Our Soveraine Lord and Estaittis of this present Parliamentunderstanding that ye kirk of the parochin of Strageth wes of auldsituat and biggit upoun the newk and utmost pairt of the said parochinof Strageath, and the parochiners thereof found it nowayes to be meitto be the paroche kirk of the said parochin in respect of the wyidnesand gryit bonndis of the said parochin, they thairefore be the space oftwentye-four yeiris or thairby biggit and foundit within the town ofBlackfurde qlk lyis and is within ye middis of the said parochin, anenew kirk for the gryit ease of the parochoneris ... Thairefore ... Ordanis the samen kirk, now biggit within the said town of Blackfurde, to be ye principal kirk of ye said parochin of Strageath in all tymecuming, and ordanis the haill parochoneris thairoff to resort thairtoand ressave the benefit of ye kirk thairat. "[9]

The year 1689 brought the Revolution, and the minister, Mr David Moray, A. M. , refusing to conform with the new state of things, was deprived ofhis living by the Privy Council. He retired to Edinburgh, carryingwith him the kirk bible as a memento of his ministry. When theKirk-Session met in 1697 "it was recommended to the minister to use hisendeavours to get the kirk bible from Mr Murray, " and early in 1699there appears the item--"To James Brown, the carrier, for bringing homethe kirk bible out of Edenburgh from Mr David Murray, 9. 4. "; and afortnight later--"Twopence to James Brown for compleeting his payt. Forbringing home of ye kirk bible. "

The first minister after the Revolution was Mr Archibald Moncrieff, anadmirable and faithful pastor, whose conscience forbade him to ask amanse from the heritors for several years, during which he lived atStirling, and travelled to and from his work. He was succeeded in 1738by his son, who became Sir William Moncrieff Wellwood. In that yearthe old kirk was burned in rather curious circumstances. The kirk wasbeing used as the parish school, and was heated by a peat fire. In themaster's absence one day the boys amused themselves by throwing aboutthe lighted peats. The kirk caught fire, and was burned to the ground. Sir Henry Moncrieff succeeded his father in 1771, the sixth minister ofthe family in a lineal descent. He had not finished his Universitycourse when his father died, but the patron and parishioners waited forhim. Sir Henry was too brilliant for Blackford, however, and in 1775went to S. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh. The next minister, Mr JohnStevenson, evidently did not please all. Three of the elders and anumber of the congregation left the kirk. They met for some time in astackyard beside the old ford, and eventually, with some like-mindedones in Auchterarder, formed the Relief congregation there. MrStevenson was followed, in 1815, by Mr John Clark--a splendid type ofwhat was best in the reviled Moderates, an eloquent preacher, a true, large-hearted gentleman, a keen wit, and skilful farmer, as well as afaithful pastor. A new regime began with his worthy and lamentedsuccessor, the Rev. David Bonallo. The kirk on the brae-head wasabandoned as insufficient and the present church, less prominent, butmore convenient, was built at the east end of the village. 

III. 

Blackford has been the home of not a few distinguished families; butthe old castles where they lived are, without exception, the mostmeagre ruins; of one, indeed (Tullibardine), not a stone remains tomark the site. 

The chief heritor of the parish is Captain W. H. Drummond Moray ofAbercairny, whose family, though old proprietors, seem never to havelived in the parish. Ogilvie Castle, a ruin on their lands, whichoriginally belonged to the Montrose family, does not appear to havebeen ever occupied by the Morays. 

In the south end of the parish stands Gleneagles, which Sir DavidLyndsay, in his "Tale of Squire Meldrum, " describes as "ane castell ... Beside ane mountane in ane vaill, " and a "triumphand plesand place. "Gleneagles Castle was for many centuries the home of the Haldanes. They held the neighbouring lands of Frandie by charter of William theLion, A. D. 1165-1214, and came into possession of Gleneagles about acentury later. From time to time we find them taking an active andprominent part in the affairs of the kingdom. Sir John Haldane, in thereign of King James III. , became "Lord Justice-General of Scotlandbenorth of the Forth"--a dignity next to that of Lord Chancellor; alater Sir John fought and fell at Flodden; another was one of the Lordsof the Congregation. Sir John, in 1650, fell as a leader in thePresbyterian army against Cromwell at the Battle of Dunbar. Towardsthe end of the 17th century Mungo Haldane was an active member of theScottish Parliament; his son John was member for Perth County in thelast Scottish Parliament, and in the first British Parliament after theUnion. At the beginning of the present century the estate passed intothe hands of Viscount Duncan of Camperdown, and is now the property ofhis descendant, the Earl of Camperdown. The old castle, of solidwalls, surrounded by a moat, was superseded in 1624 by the modern Placeof Gleneagles, built from the ruins. Locally, the family is bestremembered in one of its Presbyterian members, an ardent respecter ofthe Sabbath. He forbade the keeping of stalls and selling of wares onthe Kirk Brae on the Lord's Day; and, finding his injunction slighted, was so roused that he went next Sunday with drawn sword, scattered theoffending merchants down the brae, and tossed their wares into the lakebeneath. There was no more Sunday trading at the kirk. 

East of Gleneagles, overlooking its own deep wooded glen, stoodKincardine Castle, the residence of the noble family of Graham. Theestate came to them from Malise, Earl of Strathearn, who granted it tohis sister Amabil on her marriage with Sir David Graham, c. 1250. [10]The Grahams, as Earls, Marquises, and Dukes of Montrose, retainedKincardine till the beginning of this century, when it was sold toJames Johnston, Esq. Many a fact and many a fancy attach to the oldKincardine. In 1579, the Earl of Atholl, Chancellor of Scotland, stayed at Kincardine on his way from Stirling, and suddenly took illand died. The crime was never absolutely proved, but evidence went farto show that some rival had given him poisoned food at Stirling. During the boyhood of the great Marquis, Kincardine Castle was theprincipal residence of the family, and the young Lord James was awell-known figure in the neighbourhood. When his father died in 1626, the funeral took one month and nineteen days to accomplish; and theaccomplishment was attended with such a consumpt of good things asmakes it hard to see where room was left for mourning. When Montroseattended the General Assembly of 1638, he sat as commissioner for thePresbytery of Auchterarder, from which we may conclude that he wasstill closely associated with Kincardine. With the great Marquis thestory of Kincardine Castle ends. In 1646, being Montrose's principalhouse, it was besieged and taken by Middleton, the Covenanter. We havea full account of the siege in Bishop Guthrie's Memoirs. Learning thatthe castle was fortified with a company of foot under Lord Napier, Middleton "brought a number of great ordnance from Sterlin Castle tobatter the walls. " After ten days the besieged were distressed fromwant of water. Lord Napier, guided by his page, who was a Graham, managed to escape. The rest surrendered, twelve being shot on thespot, and thirty-five taken prisoners to Edinburgh. "Then Middletonordered the Castle of Kincardine to be burnt, which was done upon the16th day of March. "

Close by the Church of Tullibardine used to stand Tullibardine Castle. Here lived for generations the family of Murray, who played many a partin the changeful events of Scottish history. There was one Sir WilliamMurray--the builder of part of the College Church--who is chieflyremembered as the father of seventeen stalwart sons. He took them oneday to pay court to the King at Stirling. When the King saw theirnumbers he was angry, for an Act had been passed forbidding suchformidable retinues. But when the Laird of Tullibardine explained thathe brought only his sons, each with a single man attendant, the King'sanger was turned to compliment, and he forthwith gifted an addition tothe estate which grew so many men. There was a circular room in thecastle, with a pillar in the centre, where all the seventeen sons aresaid to have slept--heads towards the wall, and feet at the pillar. [11]Fully a century later there was another Sir William Murray with theKing at Stirling Castle. He so far forgot himself one day as to breakthe nose of the Earl of Argyll in the King's presence, for which doublebreach Sir William was exiled. But ere long the King felt need of him. Refractory subjects would not pay the King his mails and silver marts, and he was heard to sigh--"Oh that I had Will Murray again. " The sighwas duly conveyed to the exile, who returned, and speedily regained theRoyal favour by persuading the unwilling debtors to pay their dues. His son, Sir John, was educated with the young King at Stirling, andearned the title of Earl of Tullibardine in 1606. In 1670 the titlewent to the Earls of Atholl. Fortune was less kind to theirdescendant, better known as Lord George Murray. He took the Stewartside in 1745, and entertained Prince Charles Edward at TullibardineCastle. Exile followed the disaster which overtook his cause; the oldcastle, abandoned as a dwelling-place, fell into decay; and aphilistine farmer carted off the last stone of it to build field dykes. 

In a M. S. Book of Sir John Ogilvy, her Master of the Household, welearn that Queen Mary stayed at Kincardine and Tullibardine on ajourney which she made to the North in 1562. Having left Edinburgh onAugust 11th, "she continued at Stirling until the 18th of August, whenshe set out from thence with a part of her train, and dined and suppedat Kincardine. On the 19th she left Kincardine after dinner, and sleptat St. Johnston. " On the return journey, leaving St. Johnston on the16th November, she "slept at Tulliebarne. On the 17th she proceededafter dinner to Drummond. " Twenty years later these same castles wereagain favoured with a Royal visitor, King James VI. The visit toTullibardine happened in August, 1584, and the motive of it was typicalof that monarch's way. Moysie's Memoirs, which chronicle the visit, narrate that the King had been living ten days at Ruthven "or ever heknew there wes sex houssis infectit in Perthe, his seruandis beingtheare; and thairfoir with a few number the samyn nycht depairted toTullibardin, and from that to Sterling, leavand his haill housald andseruandis encloisit in Ruthven. " The visit to Kincardine is inferredfrom a letter written by Thomas, tutor of Cassillis, to the Laird ofBarnbarroch, dated 10th October, 1585--"As for newis, it is trew mylord arrane was to have been in Kincarne upone Saterday last, and thairto have given his presens to the King, and the King thocht guid to stayhim thereof for the ambassadouris causs being with his majestie, sua mylord hes nocht presentit the King as yit. "

Early in this century the estate of Tullibardine was sold to ViscountStrathallan, who had married Amelia, daughter of the Duke of Atholl. Tullibardine thus became attached to the adjoining estate of Machany, long possessed by the Drummonds. The Laird of Machany and ViscountStrathallan were united first in William Drummond of Machany, whosucceeded his cousin as fourth Viscount Strathallan. True to thetraditions of his House and title, the fourth Viscount was a loyal anddevoted Jacobite. He fought in 1715, and again in 1745, when he waskilled at Culloden. After his death the penalty of his ill-fated zealdescended on his family. His wife Margaret, daughter of Lord Nairne, was taken prisoner, and kept in Edinburgh Castle from February toSeptember, 1746; his son James, who had attended his father atCulloden, suffered attainder, and for many years the title waswithheld. There was more caution in the character of Andrew Drummond, brother to the fourth Viscount, who founded the Charing Cross Bank inLondon. He lent large sums to the Government; but his family connexionbrought him under a suspicion of double dealing, which Sir RobertWalpole was inclined to believe. Learning, however, that the suspicionwas unfounded, Sir Robert sought to conciliate the Drummond by warmlyoffering to shake hands with him when they encountered one day in theKing's drawing-room. But Mr Andrew, proof against blandishment no lessthan against suspicion, met the advance by holding his hands behind hisback. The ancestral spirit shone again in Andrew John Drummond, whoshould have been seventh Viscount. He died in 1812, a General in theBritish Army. The forfeited title was restored in 1824 to his cousin, James Drummond, Esq. 

[1] Blind Harry's _Wallace_. Book iv. , l. 309. 

For this and other references and much valuable assistance the writeris indebted to the kindness of A. G. Reid, Esq. , Auchterarder. 

[2] Ib. Bk. V. , l. 293. 

[3] Lindsay of Pitscottie's _History of Scotland_. Vol. , p. 256. 

[4] _Brevarium Aberdonense Pars Hyemalis_. Fol. 164. 

[5] _Liber Insule Missarum_, pp. 4, 8, 18, 19. 

[6] Nisbet's _Heraldry_. Vol. II. , app. 188. 

[7] _Chartulary of Cambuskenneth_. Walcot's _Scoto Monasticon_. 

[8] _Register of Kirk-Session of S. Andrews_. _Scot. Hist. Society_. 

[9] Thomson's _Scots Acts_, IV. , 556. 

[10] _Liber Insule Missarum_, p. Xxxiii. 

[11] This and the anecdote about Mr Andrew Drummond are given by thekindness of Viscountess Strathallan. 

THE ABBEY OF INCHAFFRAY

By Rev. JAMES BROWN, M. A. , Maderty

To those who appreciate time and labour expended upon historical andantiquarian research, there can be few--if, indeed, there be any--amongour Scottish counties which present scope for their enthusiasm soextensive and so varied as that contained within the borders ofPerthshire. Generally speaking, the attractions identify themselves. The Cathedral at Dunblane, the Round Tower at Abernethy, the Camp atArdoch--these preserve still many of their original features andcharacteristic lineaments, and need hardly fail to arrest attention. Butwhat chance traveller by road or by rail would, when midway betweenCrieff and Methven, dream that the bare, solitary column he sees in thevalley below could prove other than the gable-end of a disused barn?Nay, did he approach and pass the remnant itself, he would probablywonder to learn that the gloomy, forsaken pile alone marks a spot oncethe centre of much holy rigour, educational zeal, and industrialactivity; that thence sallied forth, six hundred years ago, the monkpatriot, with whom the Scottish warriors knelt to pray upon the fieldbefore engaging in the memorable conflict whose issue achieved for themtheir country's independence. A ragged wall, an arched chamber, severalsolid heaps of fallen mason-work are all that remain of Inchaffray Abbey. 

Perthshire owes largely to the ancient Earldom of Strathearn. Little isknown concerning the line till Gilbert succeeded in 1171. Unlike hisimmediate predecessors, he manifested no hostility to the inroad ofNorman and Saxon customs and usages. He was the first to adopt the wiseprecaution of obtaining charters for his lands, and rivalled the mostardent and obsequious followers of David I. In munificent gifts of theseto the Church. Although it would be hazardous to accept as altogetherfaithful the statement of Fordun, the chronicler, that Earl Gilbertapportioned his whole estates--which extended in length from Newburgh tothe west end of Balquhidder, and from the Ochils to the Grampians inbreadth--equally between the See of Dunblane, the Abbey of Inchaffray, and himself with his heirs, we have yet sufficient reason to considerthat his liberality to ecclesiastical settlements was handsome. Itcertainly reflects upon him high credit that, due to his pious devotion, the family of Strathearn were the only Scottish subjects (exceptingpossibly the Lords of Galloway) who established a bishopric and inheritedits patronage. 

About 1189 the King made over to Gilbert the lands of Maderty with alltheir feudal rights and privileges. In return, the Earl bound himself tocontribute half a knight's service, and to secure that no part of theselands should ever be allowed to come again into the hands of their formerowner, Gilliecolm Marischall, or any of his heirs. ThisGilliecolm--elsewhere described as _arch-tyrannus et latronumprinceps_--had incurred his monarch's bitter displeasure by an act offelony, having betrayed the sovereign Castle of Earn to his Majesty'smost mortal foes, and taken part with them to do him hurt to his power. 

Not long after the transference, the Earl sought to signalise hisestimate of the Royal favour by founding a religious house. He chose fora site the swamp-girt island which lay toward the northwestern corner ofhis lately acquired possession. So frequent were the liturgicalcelebrations there that the settlement received the name of _InisAifreen_ (Celtic), _Insula Missarum_ (Latin), Inchaffray--signifying"Island of Masses. " He dedicated the monastery to God, St. Mary, and St. John Evangelist; deputed Malis, the hermit, to select Augustinian Canonsfrom Scone, and granted his first charter, which bears the signatures ofhimself, his wife (Matilda), and his six sons. The edifice must havebeen completed by 1198, as Gilchrist, the heir, who died in that year, was interred within the building. Through this bereavement, the family'saffections became more closely united to the place. "We love it somuch, " the parents are recorded to have said, "that we have chosen it asthe place of sepulture for us and our heirs, and have already buriedthere our eldest son. " Further and more extended benefactions followed. By the great charter, of date 1200, Inchaffray was endowed with theChurches of St. Kattanus of Abruthven, St. Ethernanus of Maderty, St. Patrick of Strogeath, St. Meckessok of Auchterarder, and St. Beanus ofKinkell; with tithe of the Earl's kain and rents of wheat, meal, malt, cheese, and all provisions throughout the year in his Court; with titheof all fish brought into his kitchen, and of the produce of his hunting;with tithe of all the profits of his tribunals of justice and allofferings; with the liberty to its monks of fishing in the Peffer, offishing and birding over all the Earl's lands, waters, and lakes; oftaking timber for building and other uses from his woods, and pannage ormast feeding for pigs, as well as bark and firewood, in whatever places, and as much as they chose. Some years later an additional chartergranted also the Church of St. Beanus of Foulis, with the dower land ofthe church and the common pasturage of the parish, and likewise theChurch of the Holy Trinity of Gask, with the same privileges. To thisdocument appends a fragment of the donor's knightly seal, which shows onthe obverse side a mounted knight with drawn sword, and on the reverseside the inscription--"Secretum G. Comitis, de Straderne. "

Whatever may have been the demands of spiritual functions upon the timeof the monks, they cannot fairly be charged with "agriculturalindolence. " Their glebe consisted entirely of marsh and bog when theAbbacy was created. By 1218--_i. E. _, in about twenty years--it had allbeen ditch-drained and reclaimed. The beneficial results of their labourare noticeable to-day. Fields immediately adjoining the ruin exhibitquite a different appearance in spring and yield quite an appreciableadvantage in autumn compared with those more remote. No strongerevidence need be required than that the rental of the former doubles thatof an equal area of the latter. 

The detail of the great charter includes, as we said, "the tithe of thefines levied at the Earl's Court. " Nowhere else throughout Scotlandcould a subject of the King exercise _jura regalia_. Perth was our onlycounty, and the Earls of Strathearn our only Earls Palatine. Whenprecisely this independent jurisdiction was bestowed and when revoked andabolished we have no clear account. But, according to the trustworthyevidence embodied in the above-mentioned deed of gift, we gather not onlythat the privilege existed in the thirteenth century, but that itoperated favourably for the monks. 

The source and reference of the name given to the parish has never beensatisfactorily determined. Some have attempted to connect it with thededication of Inchaffray. Now, whatever truth there might be in the viewthat part of the dedication--"to the Virgin"--was suggested by the nameof the parish (Maderty being the English for the Celtic "mother of God"), there is certainly nothing whatever to support the opinion that thedistrict took its style from the Abbey. Maderty was Maderty long beforeInchaffray was Inchaffray. 

Earl Gilbert died in 1223. Robert, his successor, maintained the likegenerous attitude which his father had borne toward the Church. We may, no doubt, feel disposed to conjecture some proof of estrangement havingmarred the hitherto peaceful relations between patron and clergy. But ifsuch did arise, it can have been only temporary, for the very recordwhich excites the suspicion assures us of even more devoted loyalty onhis part. "In the Church of Strogeath, and in the presence of Abraham, Bishop of Dunblane, and others, Robert, Earl of Strathearn, bound himselftoward the Abbot of Inchaffray that he would never in his life vex thesaid abbot or his convent unjustly--nay, would love and everywhere honourthem as his most especial friends, and would add to the possessions oftheir house whatsoever he might by the counsel of his friends. Heparticularly confirmed to them the Churches at Gask and Strogeath. "

The year 1240 witnessed Inchaffray narrowly becoming Chapter of theDiocese. "Clement, Bishop of Dunblane, went to Rome, and represented toPope Gregory IX. How of old time his bishopric had been vacant upwards ofa hundred years, during which period almost all the revenues had beenseized by the seculars; and although in process of time there had beenseveral bishops instituted, yet, by their simplicity or negligence, theformer dilapidations were not recovered, but, on the contrary, theremainder were almost quite alienated; so that for ten years a properperson could not be found to accept of the charge; that the case havingbeen laid before the Pope, he had committed the trust of supplying thatvacancy to the Bishops of St. Andrews, Dunkeld, and Brechin, who madechoice of this Clement; but he found his church so desolate that he hadnot where to lay his head in his cathedral. There was no college there, only a rural chaplain performed divine service in the church that had itsroof uncovered; and the revenues of the See were so small that they couldhardly afford him maintenance for one half of the year. To remedy theseevils the Pope appointed William and Geoffrey, the Bishops of Glasgow andDunkeld, to visit the Church of Dunblane, and if they should find thesethings to be as represented, he authorised them to cause the fourth partof the tithes of all the parish churches within that diocy to be assignedto the bishop thereof, who, after reserving out of these tithes so muchas should be proper for his own sustenance, was by the advice of thesetwo bishops and other expert persons to assign the rest to a dean andcanons whom the Pope enjoined to be settled there, if these matters couldbe brought about without great offence; or, if otherwise, he ordered thatthe fourth of the tithes of all such churches of the diocy as were in thehands of seculars should be assigned to the bishop, and that the bishop'sseat should be translated to St. John's Monastery of Canons-regular, (_i. E. _, Inchaffray), within that diocy, and appointed that these canonsshould have the election of the bishop when a vacancy should happenthereafter. " Either "these things were found to be not so, " or else theformer part of the alternative was duly carried out, as the bishop's seatremained at Dunblane, and Inchaffray was denied its only opportunity ofelevation to cathedral rank. 

[Illustration: Inchaffray]

The next event of interest connected with the Abbey is the pilgrimage ofthe Abbot Maurice to Bannockburn. Every schoolboy can tell the story, for no annals of Scotland omit to record his presence and service whenthe rival hosts stood face to face for a huge trial of strength andvalour. But probably it is not quite so well understood that much of theglorious success which crowned the Scottish arms was popularly attributedto the fact that the monk carried with him the arm of St. Fillan. Alegend is that St. Fillan, when Abbot of Pittenweem, transcribed with hisown hand the Holy Scriptures, and that his left arm became so luminousthat it enabled him to proceed during darkness with his pious work. Lesly asserts that this wonderful limb afterwards came into thepossession of Robert Bruce, who enclosed it in a silver shrine, which hecommanded should be borne at the head of the army. Previous to thebattle, a story has it, the King's chaplain (Maurice), with the view ofpreserving the treasure from all chance of abstraction by the English, had it removed and deposited in a place of security. While, however, theKing, unaware of what had been done, was addressing his prayers to theempty casket, it was observed to open and shut suddenly. On inspection, the Saint was found to have himself returned his luminous member to itsplace as an assurance of victory. The writers of the Statistical Accountof Maderty thus express themselves--"This relic might, indeed, have givensome encouragement to the superstitious; but one arm of a brave Scotchmanfighting in earnest for the liberty of his country had more effect inobtaining that memorable victory than could have been produced by theinnate virtue of all the relics of the dead that could have beencollected. " If these critical authors had been less anxious to squaretruth with orthodoxy, and not orthodoxy with truth, they would have knownthat where the entire force was "superstitious" the influence of thesacred arm would enormously intensify soldierly enthusiasm, and that itis impossible to define its comparative share in the result. RobertBruce, indeed, appears to have been sensibly impressed by the goodoffices of the sacred relic, and attested his gratitude in a substantialmanner. He founded a priory at Strathfillan, on the Dochart, a stream inthe Breadalbane district of Perthshire, and consecrated it to the Saint. At the dissolution of religious houses this priory with all its revenuesand superiorities passed, by order of the King, to Campbell of Glenorchy, ancestor of the Lords of Breadalbane. Maurice's conduct on the fieldattracted the attention of others besides Bruce. Macleod of Scarinche, in Lewis, conceived a strong regard for the Abbot, and induced him toreside for a time at his western home, where he erected a monastery toSt. Kattanus, whose bones lay buried there. Strathfillan, Scarinche, andAbernethy were cells of Inchaffray. 

The Earls continued successively to be bountiful benefactors of theconvent. One of them, Malise, in 1258, presented it with certain of hisslaves (_nativi_)--namely, Gilmory, Gillendes, and John Starnes, the sonof Thomas and grandson of Thore. Absolute serfdom was then a Scottishinstitution, comprising part of the labouring class, who were bought andsold with the land to which they were attached; and gifts of nativi bytheir masters to the religious establishments of those times arefrequently recorded. 

After the ancient line of Strathearn had failed in the direct maledescent, and when Maurice de Moray, created Earl by David II. , had methis death at Durham in 1346, leaving no issue, the King bestowed theEarldom upon his nephew, Robert, the High Steward, afterwards Robert II. , who on his accession to the throne (1370) relinquished the Earldom infavour of his son David. Seventy years later the title and estates fellvacant and were merged in the Crown, the bishopric and temporalitiesbeing henceforth held in free barony of the Sovereign. 

The intimate association of Inchaffray Abbey with the national andreligious fortunes of Scotland receives further guarantee in 1513. Whether as chaplain or as common soldier, and under what designation, noavailable narrative declares. But certain it is that the stubborn fightwhich evoked Scotland's most waefu' dirge, no less than that whichoccasioned her immortal paean of victory, was graced by an abbot of thismonastery. The respective fates of these two divines, however, werewidely different. Not even monks, clad though they be in all the panoplyof the Church, are safe from sword or arrow. He of Flodden never saw hisnorthern charge again. Unknown, yet not unwept, he fell beneath thespoiler's weapon with the "flowers of the forest. "

It is noteworthy that Abbots of Inchaffray, _ex-officio_ prelates ofParliament, took little to do with public affairs. They do not seem tohave shared at all extensively in the transactions which so often broughttogether the leaders of the various religious houses. 

The subjoined list is fragmentary, but authoritative so far as it goes:--

MALIS--The Hermit--was present and acted as the head of the establishmentat the beginning. Earl Gilbert must have considered him a person oftrust, since he committed to him the important duty of selecting thenecessary canons. 

INNOCENT--The first Abbot--officiated during the lordship of Robert, 1223-1231. 

ALAN--1258-1271. 

HUGH--1284. 

THOMAS--1296. 

MAURICE--The Bannockburn celebrity--was promoted to the See of his ownDiocese of Dunblane. Early in his Episcopate a dispute which aroseconcerning the lands of Airthrey was submitted to arbiters, one of whomwas his successor in the Abbacy of Inchaffray, viz. :

CHRISTIAN. 

WILLIAM appears to have acted for an unusually long term, or had asuccessor of the same name. On the Feast of Matthias, 1398, a deed ofJanet Moray, wife of Alexander Moray of Abercairny, was witnessed byWilliam the Abbot, John the prior, and the whole Convent of Inchaffray. On 25th January, 1468, GEORGE obliged himself to make Lawrence, Lord Oliphant, his bailie forlife of the lands of the monastery within twenty days after he should beadmitted to the spirituality by the ordinary and by the King to thetemporality of the said benefice. The family of Oliphant held thisrelation during the reign of James V. , Mary, and James VI. In 1539, GAVIN DUNBAR, Archbishop of Glasgow, had the Abbacy _in commendam_. On15th May of that year he granted Anthony Murray a tack of 4 merk lands ofthe "Raith" "for furnishing of our bulls"--probably for the expense ofhis confirmation. Before the tack had run out the tenure was madeperpetual by a free charter of the same lands of "Raith" and of the Moorof Maderty, granted by

ALEXANDER, styled Archbishop of Athens, postulate of the Isles, andperpetual commendator of the Monastery of Inchaffray, dated atInchaffray, December 24th, 1554. This commendator was Alexander Gordon(brother of George, fourth Earl of Huntly), who was defeated in his hopesof the Archbishopric of Glasgow on the death of Gavin Dunbar, andimperfectly consoled by the high-sounding title of Archbishop of Athens_in partibus fidelium_, the poor See of the Isles, with, on November26th, 1553, the Abbacy of Inchaffray _in commendam_, which last he heldtill 1564. In 1558 he was promoted to the See of Galloway. Nine yearslater he was accused before the General Assembly of the Kirk, andconfessed to the indictment that he had not visited for three years partof the churches within his charge; that he had haunted Court too much;that he had purchased to be one of the Session and Privy Council, whichcannot agree with the office of a pastor or a bishop; that he hadresigned Inchaffray in favour of a young child, and set diverse lands infeu in prejudice of the Kirk. The young child was James Drummond ofInnerpeffray, second son of David, second Lord Drummond. The Abbey waserected into a temporal lordship in his favour, and in 1609 he wascreated Lord Maderty. From him is descended the noble family ofStrathallan. 

And now the old Abbey fell on troublous times. The Reformation--thatharbinger of good not unmixed with evil--closed the book of themonastery. It is strange and sad that ecclesiastical changes shouldpartake so largely in the destruction of buildings and the spoliation ofbelongings. Never yet did religious fanaticism satisfy its own desireswithout simultaneously and obligingly ministering to the rapacity of theattendant greedy grabber. And so Inchaffray, experiencing the fate ofother such establishments, had its walls torn down, its vessels strewnand broken, its canons put to flight or death, its revenues disposed byrude, regardless hands. The Earl of Kinnoull is the proprietor of theruin and the few acres that surround it. These gave him the patronage ofthe seven parishes with which, we observed, the convent had been endowed. 

Quite a crop of stories are told in connection with the demolition ofInchaffray. It is said, for instance, that long ago the ploughman-tenantof the dwelling contiguous to the convent discovered, while digging, thegolden image "of a sow. " This relic (for relic it was supposed to be ofthe abbey practices) he carefully secreted, but latterly converted intocurrent coin, and became himself a very wealthy man. But perhaps themost reliable and authenticated is the following:--A Fowlis widower, lately bereaved, sought to find a grave-stone to honour his spouse'smemory. Either he was too fastidious or too ungenerous, but heabstracted from Inchaffray a stone to be utilised for this solemnpurpose. The writer quite lately identified the stone as the lid of thecoffin of Abbot Maurice. There is the figure of a battle-axe engravedupon the slab. 

And now we return to the point from which we started. All that thepasser-by can see of this object is a chimney-crowned gable. Nearerapproach shows an arched chamber. But the whole history of aninteresting past appears to be covered with debris. It is impossible tofancy the feelings of Abbot or Earl were he to rise from his tomb andhear to what uses the fabric of his cherished house was being devoted. Pig-styes, barn-walls, fences--these comprise the objects to which the"holy stones" are set. _O tempora, O mores_. 

If these words should meet the eye of antiquarian enthusiasts, and shouldhappen to stir within them the desire of research, a welcome and acourteous lodging will be found at the Manse of Maderty. 

A SOUTHERN OUTPOST ON THE EDGE OF THE HIGHLANDS

By Rev. HUGH M. JAMIESON, Monzie

Monzie--a southern outpost on the edge of the Highlands--is said toderived from the Gaelic _Moeghe_, signifying "a good plain. " It is along, narrow, irregular parish, extending for nearly twelve miles upboth sides of the River Almond, until it touches, on the north, theparishes of Dull, Weem, and Kenmore. 

The vale of Monzie--the southern boundary of the parish--where standsthe church, the hamlet, and the Castle of Monzie, extends for nearlythree miles in a north-east direction, gradually rising to the heightof several hundred feet. The most striking peculiarity of thesurroundings of Monzie is the combination of wild and mountainousscenery with cultivation and picturesqueness. One of the finest viewsin the whole of Strathearn can be had from the Highland Road, to theeast of the church. In the foreground are the luxuriant woods, therich pastures, and the Castle of Monzie, and at a distance of seven oreight miles is the Aberuchill range, towering in majesty on thehorizon, with the giant Ben Voirlich just visible over their heads. Alittle to the left is Turleum--a conical-shaped hill of respectablealtitude; while Benchonzie and other off-shoots of the Grampians boundthe view on the north. The general effect is exceedingly beautiful, and the mingling, within a short distance, of the sublime and thepicturesque is probably not surpassed anywhere in Scotland. 

There are three streams rising in the hills to the north that findtheir way into the vale. The Barvick, which runs for three or fourmiles along the western boundary of the parish, descends rapidly withleaps and bounds into a deep and rocky dell, until it terminates in thefall known as Spout Barvick. The Keltic, rising in the hills some fourmiles to the north, enters a rocky ravine fully a mile up from theturnpike road, and tumbling precipitously down a height of eighty feetit reaches the vale, skirts the castle grounds, and, joining theShaggie, falls along with it into the Turret. The third stream--theShaggie--rises to the north-east of the Keltie, and, threading its wayfor three miles between lofty banks covered with wood, it passes thevillage, and pursues its course beneath the old ivy-crowned Romanbridge, through the castle parks, until it becomes lost in the Turret. 

The neighbourhood is peculiarly rich in trees. On the lawn behindMonzie Castle are three of five famous larches planted in the year1738--the fourth one fell during the November gale of 1893. They rivalthose of the Duke of Athole at Dunkeld. There is a tradition that theDuke's gardener, on his way home with the seed, was hospitablyentertained at Monzie, and planted them in remembrance of his visit. The gardener was sent annually to observe their growth and report tohis master. "When this functionary returned and made his wontedreport, that the larches at Monzie were leaving those of Dunkeld behindin the race, his Grace would jocularly allege that his servant hadpermitted General Campbell's good cheer to impair his powers ofobservation. "[1] Altogether, the district is beautifully andbountifully wooded, and many a laird gathered to his fathers must havelaid to heart some such advice as the laird of Dumbiedykes gave to hisson--"Jock, when ye hae naething else tae dae, ye may be aye stickin'in a tree; it will be growin', Jock, when ye're sleepin'. "

The valley of the Almond runs parallel to the vale of Monzie. Leavingthe manse, and passing the church and the school, the Keppoch Roadjoins the road to Glenalmond, and after a walk of fully two miles thetraveller finds himself at the entrance to what is known as the Sma'Glen--a romantic pass, stretching along the sides of the Almond for adistance of fully two miles. Standing half-way up the glen on asummer's day, looking northwards, the scenery is magnificent. Here, from the mountain's brow rushes a foaming stream; there, a clump oftrees dressed in the most luxuriant green; here, mountains toweringbleak and wild; there, a few spots of verdure growing amid the rocks;behind, the swift, pellucid Almond water; before, hills stretching onand on till they are lost in the azure sky. 

The banks of the Almond along the vale are associated with muchromance. Some time in the last century there lived at Corrivarlich anoted sheep-stealer named Alastair Bane. Little is known of hisboyhood. He was supposed to have been brought to the district byHighlanders who were in the habit of bringing to Crieff cartloads ofsplit pine from Rannoch Forest, which they sold to riddle-makers tomake riddle rims. During one of those visits the child is supposed tohave been left. He was called Alastair, owing to his supposed Highlanddescent, and Bane, because of his white hair. As he grew up to manhoodhe showed symptoms of a wandering disposition, and went frequently toAmulree and Falkirk, acting in the capacity of a drover. Whilepursuing this occupation he became acquainted with many of theferocious caterans who were at that time following the same calling. How long Alastair continued a drover is not chronicled in oraltradition. After a time he associated himself with a band ofbare-legged mountaineers, sixty in number, who located themselves underhis leadership in a cave in the glen, to the great terror and annoyanceof the district. It is said that the last combined effort of the bandat cattle-lifting was at a farm situated in the moor betweenFowlis-Wester and Buchanty. On this occasion dissension broke outamongst the thieves, which ultimately ended in the breaking up of theband. That Alastair Bane had his dwelling-place among the rocks inWester Glenalmond was well known, but every effort to discover itswhereabouts was in vain, until one night a shepherd, wandering on thehills, chanced to see a light shining through a crevice in the rocks. Creeping cautiously forward and peering through the opening, heobserved the formidable thief sitting on the floor, amusing himselfwith an old fiddle and singing--

 "Many a cow has lost her calf, many a sheep her lamb, But I'll sit on a stane, and sing at my den-- The thief of Glenalmond will never be ta'en. "

He was taken, however, and paid the full penalty of the law atPerth--hanging for sheep-stealing being in practice at that date. Whenon the scaffold he prophesied that "the water o' Almond runs ower monya stane, but it'll ne'er run twa years withoot takin' ane. " Theprophecy has reference to the number of people drowned in the river, which is remarkable for the impetuosity of its floods. 

At Fendoch--the entrance to the Sma' Glen--we tread on historicalground. Here, at Tom-an-Die--"Hill of God"--there is no reason todoubt, was one of the chief stations of the Romans, a standing camp, formed, not for a halt of a few days, but to be occupied for aconsiderable time. It was formed by Agricola in the year 84 A. D. , inhis seventh and last campaign, probably a little before the Battle ofMons Grampius. It had many advantages of situation, and we may wellbelieve that it continued to be occupied by the Romans so long as theyhad possession of North Britain;--by Lollius Urbicus, who in the nextcentury anew drove back the Caledonians to their fastnesses beyond theGrampians; and by the Emperor Severus in the beginning of the thirdcentury. So distinct were the traces of the camp in the year 1795, when the first Statistical Account of the parish was written, as toadmit of its being measured. At that time the trenches were entire, and in some places six feet deep; but both rampart and trenches havedisappeared under the operation of the plough. Though the camp coveredupwards of fifty acres, nothing can now be seen but a small piece ofbreast-work facing the Almond. 

At the mouth of the Sma' Glen there is a roundknoll--Tom-an-Tighe--"the House of the Hill"--where Fingal, the fatherof Ossian, is said to have dwelt until his house was destroyed by Gara. The place is called Fendoch, a corruption of Finn-Tighe--"Finn'sHouse. " When Fendoch was burnt, Fingal built a fort on the summit ofDunmore, on the east side of the glen, where he and his father, Comhal, are said to be buried. The remains of this fort, still visible, showit to have been a place of retreat almost impregnable. That Comhal, his son, and grandson lived in the parish, the etymology of the placecan scarcely leave a doubt. Not only have we Fingal's house, but onthe moor contiguous to Fendoch we have Cairn-Comhal--"the cairn overthe grave of Comhal"; while at Cultoquhey we have a camp called inGaelic Comhal Cults--that is, "Comhal's battle"; and it is worthy ofnote that, towards the close of last century, some urns with ashes inthem were dug up in this locality. 

In the centre of the glen stands Clach-na-Ossian--"Ossian'sStone"--which tradition held to cover the mortal remains of Scotia'searly bard. When the Government troops under General Wade were engagedin carrying a highway through the glen, they found it necessary toshift the position of Ossian's Stone. The detailed narrative of whattook place is as follows:--

"I have so lately mentioned Glenalmond, in the road from Crieff, northward, that I cannot forbear a digression, though at my firstsetting out, in relation to a piece of antiquity which happened to bediscovered in that vale, not many hours before I went through it in oneof my journeys southwards. 

"A small part of the way through this glen having been marked out bytwo rows of camp-colours, placed at a good distance one from another, whereby to describe the line of the intended breadth and regularity ofthe road by the eye, there happened to lie directly in the way anexceedingly large stone, and, as it had been made a rule from thebeginning to carry on the roads in straight lines, as far as the waywould permit, not only to give them a better air, but to shorten thepassenger's journey, it was resolved that the stone should be removed, if possible, although otherwise the work might have been carried alongon either side of it. 

"The soldiers, by vast labour, with their levers and jacks, orhand-screws, tumbled it over and over till they got it quite out of theway, although it was of such an enormous size that it might be matterof great wonder how it could ever be removed by human strength and art, especially to such who had never seen an operation of that kind; andupon their digging a little into that part of the ground where thecentre of the stone had stood, there was found a small cavity, abouttwo feet square, which was guarded from the outward earth, at thebottom, top, and sides, by square flat stones. "[2]

"The people of the country, " says Newte, who travelled through thedistrict in 1791, "venerating the memory of the bard, rose with oneconsent, and with bagpipe music carried the sacred dust away by force, and buried it on the top of Dunmore, in the centre of his father'sfort. " Burns visited Ossian's grave. Writing to his brother, on hisreturn to Edinburgh from the North, he says--"Being warm from Ossian'scountry, where I have seen his very grave, what care I for fertileplains and fishing villages?" Whether the dust of Ossian slumbersamidst these mountains or within this glen no one can say--we have butdim tradition to guide us; but surely no spot seems more suitable forthe resting-place of the Caledonian bard. No monument is erected toperpetuate his memory, nor speaking stone whispers to each passer-by inthe language of Wordsworth--

 "In this still place remote from men Sleeps Ossian in the narrow glen";

but it is surrounded by mountains torn and thunder-split, and it islaved by a stream as pellucid as his own Cona, which ever sings as itflows the lonely dirge of the bard who sang of battles and the breathof stormy war. "We feel a pride, " says Fittis, writing of Ossian'stomb, "we feel a pride in cherishing the thought that the hoary bard'spilgrimage closed in Perthshire's 'narrow glen, ' where the murmuringAlmond sang his requiem, and that his ashes still rest not far from thebanks of the stream. "

Innerpeffray, annexed _quoad civilia_ to the parish of Monzie about thebeginning of the seventeenth century, is one of its historic scenes. It derives its name from the Pow--a small stream which joins the Earnnear this place. Inner-Powfray signifies the junction of two rivers. The name Powfray was given to it when the marshy grounds around theAbbey of Inchaffray were cut and drained, after the Battle ofBannockburn, by order of King Robert the Bruce, for the services ofMaurice, Abbot of Inchaffray. In process of time "Powfray, " or"Innerpowfray, " became merged into "Innerpeffray, " the name by which ithas been known for many generations. 

The first laird of Innerpeffray was Sir John Drummond. The lands werebequeathed to him by his father as his patrimony, and in 1508 hefounded here a collegiate church, which he endowed with a revenuesufficient to maintain a provost and prebend. The ruins of the chapel, dedicated to Saint Mary, mentioned as early as 1342, are still to beseen. The chapel has one feature not observed in any ecclesiasticaledifice--what is termed "a squint"--an oblique opening in the wall toallow those who were late in attendance to hear mass without attractingthe attention of the officiating priest. Few traces of ornament are tobe seen on the building, but at the eastern gable there is a niche inwhich a half life-size figure of the Saint may have been placed. Thechapel was an off-shoot of the Abbey of Inchaffray, and part of it hasbeen used for generations as the burial-place of the Earls of Perth. 

Robert Mercer, the third laird of Innerpeffray, granted to the Abbotand Convent of Inchaffray the right to fish for eels in the water atPolpefery, within the lordship of Dullory. Eels, it appears, formed afavourite article of food among all classes of the people. During theseason of Lent the monastic establishments throughout the countryconsumed large quantities. The fish were captured principally by meansof weirs, the eel-skins being used for making bindings to flails. Thelicence to the Abbey of Inchaffray is dated 1454, and is as follows:--

"To all who shall see or hear this charter, Robert Mercer ofInnerpeffry wishes eternal salvation in the Lord. Be it known to yourUniversity that I, not led by force or by fear, nor fallen in error, but determined by my pure and spontaneous will, with consent and assentof Alexander Mercer, my heir, and with consent and assent of AndrewMercer of Inchbrakie, are pledged for a certain sum of money, havegiven, granted, and by this my present charter have confirmed, inperpetual and pure charity, for the honour of Almighty God, and theglorious Virgin Mary, and the blessed John the Evangelist, for thesalvation of my soul, and of the soul of Janet, my spouse, and that ofAlexander, my heir aforesaid, and of all my successors, to the Abbotand Convent of Inchaffray, and their successors, serving, or that shallin future serve God in that place, entire liberty and perpetual licenceof fishing, by means of enclosures, nets, or whatever instruments arenecessary for catching eels and other fishes.... In witness whereofthe seal of me, Robert Mercer, and the seal of Andrew Mercer, my uncle, are appended to my present charter, before these witnesses, Tristram ofGorty, John Quhyston, Alexander Cardeny, William Bonar of Kelty, Alexander Sharp of Strathy, an John Crab, shield-bearer, with manyothers, on the twenty-fourth day of the month of June, in the year ofour Lord one thousand four hundred and fifty-four. "[3]

The Library of Innerpeffray was founded by David, third Lord Madertie, whose family is now represented by Viscount Strathallan. LordMadertie's grandfather, James Drummond, was the second son of David, Lord Drummond, and was created Lord Madertie on 31st January, 1609. Hewas educated along with James VI. , and was esteemed by that monarch as"a man of parts and learning, " and became a special favourite of theCourt. By his marriage with Jean, daughter of Sir James Chisholm ofCromlix, he obtained the Barony of Innerpeffray, which had been hismother's portion, and at his death, in 1623, his eldest son, John, succeeded to the title. John was married to Helen Leslie, eldestdaughter of Patrick, Commendator of Lindores; and David Drummond, thefounder of the Library, was their eldest son. His second wife was LadyBeatrix Graham, sister of the great Marquis of Montrose, and theintimate relationship betwixt the families accounts no doubt for theexistence of several volumes that belonged to Montrose, which are nowin the Library. 

The Library was intended for the benefit of students, and any otherpersons in the district possessed of a literary turn of mind, or havinga thirst for knowledge. By his will, dated 1680, David, third LordMadertie, bequeathed the half of 6000 merks to be employed by Lord JohnCarmichael and John Haldane of Gleneagles for the maintenance of alibrary and schoolhouse which he had erected at the Chapel ofInnerpeffray. The sum conveyed was in a heritable bond, which made thebequest inept; but in 1691 the nephew and heir of Lord Madertieexecuted a deed of mortification, having for its object the vesting of5000 merks for the encouragement of learning and the good of thecountry; "and as a constant and perpetual stock for the preserving ofthe said library and maintaining a keeper and schoolmaster, and foraugmenting the library and building a house; but under reservation ofhis rights and those of his successors to nominate the librarian andschoolmaster. "[4] The endowment covered a school and library, butunder the new scheme, instituted in 1888, the school has been takenover by Muthill School Board, and the present trustees are empowered, after paying £15 per annum for the maintenance of the school and theexpenses of the trust, to pay over the remainder of the income, and totransfer the library to any town or village within five miles ofInnerpeffray. 

The Library is particularly rich in old Bibles. The oldest one in thecollection, and one having a special interest of its own, is dated1530. It is in black-letter French, the translation being by St. Jerome. It is a large folio copy, and contains initial letterillustrations and pictorial woodcuts, the title-page being in red andblack ink. There is also a copy of what is popularly known as theTreacle Bible, so called because of the rendering given to the passagein Jeremiah viii. 22--"Is there not tryacle at Gylyad?" Two otherpeculiarities deserve passing notice. The seventh commandmentreads--"Thou shalt not break wedlocke"; and Genesis xxxix. 2--"And Godwas with Joseph, and he became a lucky man. " One of the smallestBibles in the collection is one that is said to have been carried aboutby the Marquis of Montrose. It bears his autograph in more than oneplace, written in a bold plain hand. It seems to have been lost for anumber of years, and only turned up after a more careful supervisionwas exercised. It was printed in the French language at Sedan in theyear 1633. There are quite a number of mottoes or extracts copied bythe Marquis himself on the leaves of the Bible, taken from classicalauthors, showing that the book was one for close companionship. Threeof these extracts freely translated may be here transcribed. The firstis--"Honour to me is better than life"; the second, "Though theshattered universe o'erwhelm him, the ruins should find himuntrembling"; and the third, under a pen-and-ink sketch of a mountainand a rose, "Roses grow not without thorns. " Of psalm-books there areseveral very interesting examples. The oldest of these is an editionof Marot and Beza's Psalms, dated 1567, and having music set to many ofthe Psalms in staff and sol-fa notation. This copy is believed to beunique. It contains a great number of prayers. The volume oftranslations and paraphrases of the Psalms, which was published in 1630as the work of James VI. , is to be found in this collection. It isentitled "The Psalms of King David, translated by King James. " It hasportraits of King David on one side of the title-page and that of KingJames on the other--one of the portraits being, of course, apocryphal. Of prayer-books there is a copy of the "Booke of Common Prayer, "printed by Barker in 1604; and also a copy of the book known as JohnKnox's "Confession and Declaration of Prayers, " which was printed in1554, and which lately gave rise to considerable discussion as towhether the early Reformed Church in Scotland used a liturgy. Theoldest printed book in the Library is a copy of Barclay's "Ship ofFools, " the date being 1508. Next in point of value as a specimen oftypography is the famous Paris edition of Hector Boece's "Chronicles, "printed in 1527; and of as much interest is the edition of Bellenden'stranslation of this work, printed by Thomas Davidson, of Edinburgh, in1536. There is a specimen of early English printing shown in Fayban's"Chronicle, " the copy at Innerpeffray being the extremely scarce firstedition of 1533. The first edition of Holinshed's "Chronicles ofEnglande, Scotlande, and Ireland, " which was printed in 1577; is alsoto be found here in good condition. Amongst other notable books may bementioned:--"The AEneid, " by Gavin Douglas, 1533; Bishop Lesley's"History of Scotland, " in the original Latin, printed at Rome, 1578;Drummond of Hawthornden's "Flowres of Sion, " 1630; the same author's"History of the Five Jameses, " 1654; and also his "MiscellaneousPoems, " 1656; Drayton's "Polyolbion"; Dr Donne's "Elegies"; Stowe's"Chronicles, " 1580; Hitchcock's "Quintessence of Wit, " 1590; JohnMajor's "De Gestis Scotorum, " 1536; Bacon's "Essays, " 1639; and thefirst edition of Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy. " Students of warfarewill find much to interest them in some of the military books of thesixteenth and seventeenth centuries--one of these especially, printedin the German language in 1620, being the work of John Jacobi vonWollhausen, and entitled _Kreigskunst_. It contains engravings showingthe mode of pike exercise and the method of drill adopted for themanagement of the musket with rest and linstock as then used. Amongstthe law books are numerous volumes of decisions by Kilkerran, Forbes, Durie, Dirleton, Maclaurin, and others; as well as textbooks on law byGrotius, Montesquien, Duffendorf, and other well-known writers. 

Monzie is best known in connection with the burning of a witch. Thetraditionary story makes out Kate M'Niven to have been a nurse in thefamily of the Grammes of Inchbrakie, and as a proof that she was amember of the weird sisterhood, a story is told of her in connectionwith a visit which the Laird of Inchbrakie made to Dunning on theoccasion of some festivity. According to the fashion of the time, hetook with him his knife and fork. After he was seated at the dinnertable he was subjected to annoyance similar to that which teased UncleToby--namely, the hovering of a bee about his head. To relieve himselffrom the tiny tormentor, he laid down his knife and fork, and attemptedto beat off the insect with his hands. It soon flew out at the window;but behold! the laird's knife and fork had disappeared. They weresearched for all over the table, and under the table; nowhere couldthey be found; but when their owner reached home and recounted hismysterious loss, Kate M'Niven, who was present, straightway went andproduced both articles safe and sound from their accustomed repository. It was whispered that Kate had personated the bee. 

Relieved of her duties in the house of Inchbrakie--as the result, it issaid, of an attempt to poison the young laird--Kate M'Niven returned toher old home at the Kirkton of Monzie, where she acquired an "uncanny"reputation. Evidence of her sorceries was collected or suborned, andthrough the machinations of the young laird of Inchbrakie, she wasapprehended and brought to trial on a charge of witchcraft, and herguilt being conclusively established, sentence of death was pronouncedagainst her. The stake was pitched and the faggots piled on the summitof the Knock of Crieff, and thither was the sorceress dragged, tosuffer in presence of an immense multitude gathered from all thesurrounding country. 

 "From Fowlis and Logiealmond, even from Perth, The rabble-multitude poured thick and fast, Until it seemed as if the conscious earth Believed this spectacle might be the last Of fire and faggot she would e'er behold, Lighted by _legal cruelty and crime_. For never did such hosts of young and old, Of tottering crones, and women in their prime, Of high and low, of poor men and of rich, Assemble at the burning of a witch. "[5]

The Inchbrakie family tradition is much more reliable than thetraditionary story as related by Dr. Marshall and Rev. Mr Blair. Writing under date November 25, 1895, Miss L Graeme says:--"My motherwas the wife of the second son of Inchbrakie, and I have over and overagain heard her relate how, on her home-coming as a bride, mygrandfather on one occasion told her the story. He spoke of Monziehaving brought a witch to the notice of the authorities. She was beingburnt on the Knock of Crieff, above Monzie, when the Inchbrakie of theday, [6] riding past, did all in his power to try and prevent the matterfrom being concluded, without avail. Just as the pile was being litshe bit a blue bead from off her necklet, and spitting it atInchbrakie, bade him guard it carefully, for so long as it was kept atInchbrakie the lands should pass from father to son. Kate then cursedthe Laird of Monzie. 

"My grandfather had the ring[7] carefully kept in a casket, and his owndaughter was not allowed to touch it--only the daughters-in-law. On mymother presenting my grandfather with his first grandson, he bade herslip it on her finger, as the mother of an heir. Nearly forty yearsafter, when I was a young girl, I well remember my mother's horror anddismay when my cousin Patrick--the head of the family--after hismajority, opened at our house a box of papers which, during thefamily's absence abroad, had been left in my mother's care; for therewas the ring in which the stone was set--no longer guarded within thewalls of Inchbrakie. A few years after this the first acres of the oldBarony of Inchbrakie and Aberuthven were sold; now there is not one ofthem left. 

"The ring is still retained among the family papers--such, at least, aswere left after the burning of the castle by Cromwell. It is amoonstone sapphire, set in two brilliants of different shape. There isa curious bluish enamel on part of the gold, which is embossed half-wayround. There is also a charm, which is said to have belonged to KateM'Niven. It is a slight iron chain with a black heart, having twocross bones in gold on the back, bearing the words 'cruelle death' onit, and attached to it a death's-head in the shape of a serpent's headwith curious enamel. "

The first statute in Scotland against witchcraft was passed in the year1563, during the reign of Queen Mary, and is here inserted as a sampleof the simple and concise enactments which were passed in these days:--

 "Queen Marie--Ninth Parliment IV. Of June, 1563. 73. Anentis Witchcraftes. 

Item--For sa meikle as the Queen's Majesty, and the three estates inthis present Parliament, being informed that the heavie and abominablesuperstition used by divers of the lieges of this realm, by using ofwitchcrafts, sorcerie, and necromancie, and credence given thereto intimes by-gone, against the law of God; and for avoiding andaway-putting of all such vain superstition in times to come, it isstatute, and ordained by the Queen's Majesty, and the three estatesaforesaid--that no manner of persone or persones, of what-sum-everestait, degree, or condition they be of, take upon hand in onie timeshereafter to use onie manner of witchcraft, sorcerie, or necromancie, nor give themselves forth to have onie such craft or knowledge thereof, their-throw abusan the people; nor that onie persone seek onie help, response, or consultation at onie such users or abusers foresaid, ofwitchcraft, sorcerie, or necromancie, under the pain of death, as wellto be execute against the user, abuser, as the seeker of the responseor consultation. And this is to be put in execution by the justice, sheriffs, stewards, bailies, lords of regalites and royalties, theirdeputies, and other ordinary judges competent within this realm, withall vigour, and they have power to execute the same. "[8]

That Kate Nike Neiving--not M'Niven, as her name is generallypronounced--was among the first to suffer as the result of the passingof this statute, is clearly proved by referring to the case of JohnBrughe, the notorious Glendevon wizard, who was tried at Edinburgh onNovember 24th, 1643, for practising sorcery and other unholy arts. Itwas alleged against him that he had obtained his knowledge "from awedow woman, named Neane Nikclerith, of threescoir years of age, quhawis sister dochter to Nike Neveing, that notorious infamous witche inMonzie, quha for her sorcerie and witchcraft was brunt fourscoir ofyeir since or thereby. "[9]

That the date of the burning of the witch at Monzie took place in theyear 1563, and not, as is generally supposed, in the year 1715 is notonly proved by the recorded evidence in the case of John Brughe alreadyreferred to, it also receives confirmation from the fact that althoughreference is made over and over again in the Session Records to publicevents, there is no mention made of the witch. An additional argumentfor the earlier date is also found in the fact that Patrick Graeme, younger of Inchbrakie (referred to by Dr. Marshall as the person whobrought Kate to the stake, and by Mr Blair as the man who would provethe means of her death), had been for over twenty years in exile. Having slain John, the Master of Rollo, when returning homewards from arevel at Invermay, he escaped abroad, and it was not till the year 1720that he procured remission of his sentence and returned to Inchbrakie. That he did return is proved by the fact that he was a witness to afeu-charter, granted by Anthony Murray of Dollary, to Donald Fisher, taylzior in Crieff, dated "at Dollary, " January 13th, 1725. 

An attempt has been made not only to fix the date as 1715, but also togive a list of the "understanding gentlemen, magistrates, and ministersof the neighbourhood, " who acted as judges on the occasion; and inparticular the then minister of Monzie--Mr Bowie--is singled out as oneof those who are said to have been bitter against the witch, andbecause of the part he is supposed to have taken in bringing her tojustice, not only was a curse pronounced upon the parish, but forrhyming purposes a curse is also pronounced on Mr Bowie and hissuccessors in office--

 "Yon bonnie manse shall ne'er a tenant see Who shall not yet this bitter day abye, "--

a curse which has not been realised, so far as we know, in the case ofany of those who have ministered in holy things in the parish. Ifthere is any honour attached to the work of burning witches, weconclude that the parish can claim the honour of being the first toobey the law enacted on the 4th of June, 1563, and if the evidencegiven at the trial of John Brughe be at all reliable--as we have noreason to doubt--the real name of the witch was Kate Nike Neiving. 

Fifty years ago, Monzie was a flourishing village of one hundred andtwenty inhabitants, while in the immediate neighbourhood there would beperhaps two hundred and thirty more. Now, the population over the samearea is not above a fourth of that number. The few cottages thatremain speak of other days, and the old churchyard, and the jougs--aniron collar in which offenders were pilloried--fastened to the porch ofthe church, bring back the long-forgotten past. Many changes havetaken place during the last fifty years. Pendicles have been sweptinto large farms; the industry of weaving and spinning has disappeared. But the natural aspect of Monzie is unchanged: the Almond and theShaggie still run sunny and clear from the everlasting hills throughher silent vales, which look upon the lover of nature with a face ofbeauty as fresh and entrancing as ever. 

[1] _Statistical Account of Monzie_, by Mr Laurie. 

[2] _Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland_, 1732. 

[3] _Liber Insule Missarum_. 

[4] _Memorials and Queries_. Printed by Constable, Edinburgh, 1846. 

[5] _The Holocaust_. By Rev. George Blair. Edinburgh: 1845. 

[6] The first Graeme of Inchbrakie was a son of the first Earl ofMontrose. His father gave him a charter to it, and to Aberuthven, dated June, 1513. 

[7] The stone had been honoured by being set in a gold ring. 

[8] _Waverley Anecdotes_, p. 190. 

[9] _The Darker Superstitions of Scotland_. By John Graham Dalziel. Glasgow: 1835, p. 579. 

THE CASTLE, BARONY, AND SHERIFFDOM OF AUCHTERARDER

By A. G. REID, F. S. A. , Scot. , Auchterarder

Tradition asserts that the Castle of Auchterarder was one of the seatsof the Scottish Kings and the residence of King Malcolm Canmore, whogranted the Common Muir to the neighbouring burgh. The Barony wasoriginally a Crown possession. Being situated on the road from theRoyal Palaces of Scone and Forteviot to Stirling, and the principalmanor place of a Barony belonging to the Crown, there is everyprobability that the tradition of its having been a royal palace iscorrect, and that the warlike Malcolm and the sainted Margaret abodewithin its walls. 

Auchterarder was one of the Royal Burghs of Scotland. It may be saidthat no charter of erection is in existence, but its absence isexplained by the fact that the proximity of a royal seat gave theneighbouring town the status of a Royal Burgh. Whether or notAuchterarder got a charter of erection from the Sovereign, no doubt canexist that at a very early period it was one of the Royal Burghs ofScotland. In the charter of William, the son of Malise, of the landswithin or outside the town of Auchterarder, still known as the Abbeylands, granted to the Canons of Inchaffray, which lands he had boughtfrom John, the son of Baltin, he not only appended his own seal to thewriting, but, for greater security and fuller evidence, procured to beappended thereto the common seal of the Burgh of Auchterarder. 

The Barony of Auchterarder remained Crown property until the time ofKing Robert the Bruce. King Alexander II. , by charter, dated at Cluny, the 13th day of August, in the eleventh year of his reign (1227), granted to the Canons of the Abbey of Inchaffray the teind of hisduties of Auchterarder to be drawn yearly by the hands of his tacksmenand bailies of Auchterarder. 

In 1296, Edward I. Invaded Scotland with 5000 armed horse and 30, 000footmen. He passed the River Tweed on 28th March, and continued hisprogress until 24th April, when he routed the Scots at Dunbar withgreat slaughter. He continued his triumphant progress northwards, resting at various places. We are told that "on the Thursday he wentto Stirling, and they who were within the Castle fled, and noneremained but the porter, who surrendered the Castle, and there came theEarl of Strathearn 'to the peace, ' and there tarried the King fivedays. On the Wednesday before the Feast of St. John (20th June) theKing passed the Scottish sea, and lay at Auchterarder, his Castle; onthe Thursday, at St. John of Perth, a good town, and there abodeFriday, Saturday, and Sunday; this same day was John the Baptist'sDay. " His progress and the places at which he stayed arecircumstantially narrated in the Itinerary from which we quote. Hereturned to Berwick on 22nd August, and the chronicler adds--"And heconquered the realm of Scotland, and searched it, as is above written, within twenty-one weeks without any more. "[1]

Attention is directed to the terms of the words of the Norman FrenchItinerary in reference to the King having taken up his residence inAuchterarder Castle. "_Le Mescredy devaunt Seint Johne passa le roi leMere d'Escoce et jut â Outreard, son chastelle. _" Reference is made inthe narrative to many other castles in which the King lay, but only inthis instance is the castle stated to have belonged to him. This isconclusive evidence that the Castle was the property of the Crown, andthat the King took up his abode in it as such. 

The halting of Edward I. With his army at Auchterarder was not the onlyoccasion upon which Auchterarder received an embattled host. In 1332the Scottish army of Donald, the Earl of Mar, 30, 000 strong, lay atAuchterarder previous to the disastrous Battle of Dupplin, [2] and in1559 the army of the Dowager Queen Mary, under the Duke of Hamilton andMonsieur d'Osel, lay there, prepared to encounter the Lords of theCongregation. [3] The most disastrous military visit and the last waswhen the Earl of Mar, in 1716, burnt the town. 

Auchterarder being the only Royal Burgh in Strathearn, was the headburgh of that County Palatine and the seat of a Sheriffdom, the area ofwhich was probably co-extensive with Strathearn. In the interregnumafter the death of Alexander III. The office of Sheriff was vested inMalcolm of Innerpeffray, who, in the _compotus_ of the extent of allthe King's lands of Scotland for the period between 25th April, 1304, and 28th February, 1305, accounted as "Sheriff of Uthrardor of itsissues, iocs. "; and again, "from said Sir Malcolm of the issues of theSheriffdom of Uthrardor and the farms of Glendowiche, £58. "[4]

The Sheriff figures in a transaction in the Scottish War ofIndependence. There was an Inquisition at Perth held on 1st September, 1305, before Malise, Earl of Stratherne, lieutenant of the warden northof Forth, and Malcolm de Inverpefray, Knight, Deputy of John deSandale, Chamberlain, and William de Bevercotts, Chancellor ofScotland, on certain articles touching the person of Michael de Miggalby Gilbert de Hay, David de Graham, and others; "who say on oath inMichael's presence that he had been lately taken prisoner forciblyagainst his will by William le Waleys, that he twice escaped, but wasfollowed and brought back, and he was told if he tried to get away athird time he should lose his life. Thus, it appears, he remained withWilliam through fear of death and not of his own will. " The followingdeliverance is endorsed:--"The Chamberlain is 'commanded to give himhis goods and chattels of the King's special grace. '"[5] The Sheriff, as Chamberlain, no doubt favourably represented to the King Michael'sexcuse, as the subsequent conduct of both the Earl of Strathearn andhimself showed a fellow-feeling, and that, like Michael, they had beenacting under constraint. 

On 15th September, 1305, King Edward I. , with the concurrence of tenScots and twenty-two English Commissioners to his Parliament, made anordinance containing certain regulations "for the settlement ofScotland. " Amongst these regulations was the following:--"That thereshould be Sheriffs natives either of Scotland or England, to beappointed or removed by the Lieutenant or the Chamberlain, atdiscretion, who should execute the office of escheatry as usual, andthat none should be appointed but the most sufficient men and mostprofitable for the King, and people, and the maintenance of peace. "Sir Malcolm de Innerpeffer was appointed, or rather continued, inoffice of Sheriff of Auchterarder, and he was at same time appointedSheriff of the shire of Clackmannan. [6] The appointment did not, however, extinguish the Sheriff's patriotism, as the next thing we hearof him is:--

"The King sends to Walter, Bishop of Chester, the Treasurer, Malcolm deInnerpeffrei, Knight, who at the time of this last 'riote' of the Scotswas the King's Sheriff of Clackmannan and Auchterarder, butnevertheless was one of the first to join Sir Robert de Brus, andwickedly allotted the Earls of Menteth and Strathern in aiding saidRobert; also fought against the King at the Battle of Seint Johan dePerth, and has done all the damage he could, commanding that he besecured in some strong castle, not in irons, but body for body. "

"Whereon said Malcolm was at once delivered to the Constable of theTower of London, on the 7th of December. "

Another writ follows regarding Sir Malcolm's two horses, which the Kingpermits him to make profit of at pleasure. [7]

We do not know the result of the proceedings against the Sheriff ofAuchterarder, but as his two horses were restored to him, he seems tohave been treated leniently. In regard to the Earl, we find that inNovember, 1306, he presented a memorial to the King and Council, showing that he was compelled to join Sir Robert de Brus through fearof his life. 

The Castle and Barony of Auchterarder appear to have been Crownpossessions until the reign of Robert the Bruce, when they became theproperty of Sir William de Montfichet or Montifex, appointed Justiciarof Scotland in 1332. The family was of Norman extraction. They hadpossessions in England, and a branch for some time settled in Scotland, Robert Montfichet being a witness to a charter of William the Lion in1184. In Robertson's _Index of Ancient Charters_ there occurs an oldofficial inventory, compiled, apparently, about the close of thesixteenth century, in which mention is made of a charter--"Wilhelmo deMontefixo of the lands of Auchterarder with the town duty. " SirWilliam Montfichet or de Montifex had large possessions, being not onlyproprietor of the Barony of Auchterarder, but of Cargill and Kincardinein Menteith, and other lands in Perthshire; and also of Kilmahew, inDumbartonshire, and other lands. He had three daughters, who becamehis heirs-portioners. To his eldest daughter Marie he left the estatesof Auchterarder, Cargill (or Stobhall), and Kincardine in Menteith. She married Sir John Drummond, the seventh Thane of Lennox. Sir JohnDrummond's eldest daughter was Annabella Drummond, Queen to Robert III. Our present Gracious Sovereign Queen Victoria is a lineal descendant ofMarie Montifex of the Castle of Auchterarder. [8]

In the reign of David II. Mention is made of the Burgh of Auchterarderin the account of the Great Chamberlain for 1366 as being in arrear ofthe contribution for payment of the King's ransom, being due the sum ofthirty-one shillings. [8] In 1374, the Chamberlain debits himself withthirty-three shillings and fourpence received from the bailies ofAuchterarder for contribution; and there are two different entries inthe rolls of 1390, both relating to a debt owing by the Crown to thecommunity of Auchterarder on account of certain services to the lateKing Robert II. There is also another entry in the Chamberlain Rolls, under date 1435, in which it appears that the services to the Crown hadnot been uplifted by the Chamberlain from the burgesses of Cromarty, Dingwall, and Ochterardor, because no Chamberlain aires had been heldwithin those burghs at the time when the account was made up. Underdate August, 1569, in the accounts of the High Treasurer there is anentry, where the "customaries of Ochterairder" are mentioned along withthose of St. Andrews. 

On 14th August, 1565, by Act of the Privy Council, in name of Henry andMary, it was ordained "that lettres be direct to officiaris of armeschargeing thame to pas to the mercat croces of the Burrowis ofEdinburgh, Hadingtoun, Linlythquow, Striviling, Clakmannane, Kinross, Uchterardour, Perth, Cowper, and all utheris places needful, and thairbe oppin proclamation in thair Majesteis' name and autoritie to chargeall and sindrie Earlis, Lordis, Baronis, frehalderis, landit men, andsubstantious gentilmen dwelland within the bundis (_inter alia_ of theStewartrie of Stratherne), with their houshaldis, honest friendis, andservandis weil bodin in feir of weir, and providit for xv. Days afterthair comin, to convene and meet the King and Quenis Majesteis at theplaces and upon the days respective efter following--that is to say, the inhabitantis of Stratherne to meit thair hieneises at StrivilingBrig upon Sounday the xii. Day of August instant. "[10]

Not only is there thus evidence of Auchterarder being assessed in duesand exercising the privileges of a Royal Burgh, but, what is of moreimportance, as showing its burghal character, is, that there are threeseparate precepts of Parliament--in 1570, 1581, and 1600--summoningCommissioners to Parliament from the Burgh. No doubt the names of theCommissioners do not appear in the Rolls of Parliament, but that didnot derogate from the right of the Burgh to send them; and the probablecause of their not having been sent, and of the infrequency ofAuchterarder appearing in the public records, arose from its beingcompletely inland, and without foreign trade, on which the greatcustoms were levied, and consequently being one of what were called dryburghs. Owing to this, and being much exposed to predatory incursions, it had fallen into an unprosperous and decayed state, which would wellaccount for the fact common enough to Royal Burghs of its not sendingany Commissioners to Parliament. 

This state of matters is quaintly described in the Act of Parliament of30th November, 1581, entitled "Ratification of the Fair ofVchterardour, " which had been obtained with a view to restore theprosperity of the burgh. The Act is in the following terms:--

"Oure Souerane Lord and three estaites of this p'nt Parliament, understanding that the burgh of Vchtirardour is of auld erectit in anefrie burgh regall, and that the samin is far distant fra the sayportis, and hes not usit faires nor m'cat dayis; the samin is becumdecayit, and the inhabitantis thereof pure sua that thai ar not abillto intertene the civill ordor of ane frie burgh, nor zit execute sicjustice as thay micht in the cu'trie about being opressit dyvers tymesbe broken men and lymmeris, quha makis incursiones, and hereis monycu'trey men and manassies aftymes the inhabitantis of the said town andburgh; and thairfoir said Souerane Lord wt. Auise foirsaid, for help ofthe comoun welth of the said burgh, and support of the inhabitantisthairof, hes given and grantit lyk as his heires wt. Auise forsaidis, gevis and grantis license, fredome, and libertie to the provost, bailleis, inhabitantis, and communitie of the said burgh ofVchtirardour to hald zeirlie ane trie fair and m'cat day upoun the 25thday of November nix to cum, and to cotinew zeirlie thairefter in alltymes cu'ing, declarand expresslie be thir p'ntis that all or SoueraneLordis liegis may resort and repair thairto for bying and selling ofall guidis and m'chendice thairintill, quhairby the policie of the saidburgh may the better incres, and that the liegeis also may haif thebetter eisement and intertertenigment for decora'un of the realme; andordainis l'res of publica'un to be direct hereupon in form as effeiris. "

This fair--the date being transferred by the change of style to 6thDecember--though shorn of its former importance, is still held. It wasthe day for reckoning and paying yearly accounts in the town anddistrict, and was until lately a large cattle market. 

After the Act of Parliament establishing the fair there is littlereference in contemporary records to Auchterarder. The Castle andBarony continued in possession of the noble family of Perth, whichduring the eventful years of 1715 and 1745 exercised its influence, notwithout effect, in the district in favour of the exiled family. One ofthe most memorable events in the history of Auchterarder was theburning of the town in January, 1716, by the Earl of Mar, after theBattle of Sheriffmuir, in order to prevent shelter to the Duke ofArgyll's army, which in pursuit had to encamp amidst the scene ofdesolation. This was an impolitic act, and calculated to exasperatethe public mind against the exiled family. The burning was accompaniedby great hardship, having been done during the depth of winter in asnow storm. The sufferers, after great delay and protractedlitigation, succeeded in obtaining payment from the Exchequer of apecuniary consideration, called the "burning money, " in respect oftheir losses. 

After the Act for the abolition of the heritable jurisdictions in 1748the portion of Auchterarder strictly burghal ceased to have titlescompleted in the burgage form. Until that date titles were made up onburgage holding and resignations made in favour of the bailies ofAuchterarder, who probably received their appointment from the familyof Perth, the proprietors of the adjoining Barony. No burgh registerexisted, and the instruments were somewhat anomalously recorded in theParticular Register of Sasines. A difficulty was presented as tocompleting titles when there were no bailies to give infeftments orreceive resignations; and so late as 1832 a petition was presented tothe Court of Session praying the Court to appoint bailies to the burghof Auchterarder to give infeftment. The then proprietor of the Barony, conceiving this was derogatory to his rights as alleged superior, entered appearance, and the petition was withdrawn on the superioroffering to give a charter of the lands in question to complete thetitle. 

The Barony of Auchterarder continued in the possession of the Perthfamily until its attainder after the death of James, Duke of Perth, when the lands passed into the hands of the Commissioners of theAnnexed Estates. Under their administration a good deal was done forthe improvement of the place. The Commissioners encouraged themanufacture of linen, and they laid out the lands of Borland Park intoconvenient divisions, erecting cot-houses thereon for the soldiers whohad been engaged in the German War. They also made a grant of theGirnal House of Auchterarder for the benefit of the inhabitants. Thelands were restored to the Perth family in 1784, and were disposed ofby Lord Perth shortly thereafter; the Castle and the adjoining lands ofCastlemains becoming the property of the late John Malcolm, Esq. , whilethe remainder of the Barony was purchased by the Hon. Basil Cochrane, by whose trustees it was sold in 1831 to the late Lieutenant-ColonelJames Hunter, who erected a mansion-house thereon. He died in 1874, leaving the estate to his nephew, Major Patrick Hunter, who in 1887sold it to the late James Reid, Esq. , Lord Dean of Guild of Glasgow, and it is now possessed by his trustees. 

The Castle of Auchterarder, which is situated about a quarter of a mileto the north of the town, though not of large dimensions, must havebeen a place of considerable strength. It was surrounded by a moat, the traces of which are still visible. The only remaining fragment isa part of the donjon keep. A carved stone is built into the wall. Through exposure it is very much defaced, but it represents a warriorseated in a chariot, and is supposed to be Roman. The wall is ninefeet thick. Some years ago the draw-well of the Castle, built aroundwith masonry, and of considerable depth, was discovered. The Castle issaid to have been entire until the end of last century, when a vandalfarmer took it down to build farm offices. 

A Common of upwards of two hundred acres in extent is situated to thewest of the town, over which the inhabitants from time immemorialexercised a right of pasturage. A Process of Division was raisedbefore the Court of Session in 1808 by the Honourable Basil Cochrane, then proprietor of the Barony. This process was wakened in 1814, andagain in 1841. Defences were lodged for the portioners and feuars, andthereafter by the inhabitants, on the ground that, as the Common was apertinent of a royal burgh, it was indivisible, and the Act fordivision of commons did not apply. Litigation followed, and ultimatelyin 1860 a Bill was brought into Parliament and carried through for thevesting of the Common for the benefit of the town in a set ofCommissioners. Under the Muir Improvement Act, 1860, the Common wasreclaimed by the Commissioners, being drained, trenched, and fenced. The debt incurred in the reclamation is nearly wiped out, and it nowforms a valuable source of public revenue. The careful and economicconduct of the Commissioners since the Act was passed, by which such afavourable result has been attained, is deserving of all praise, andthe gratitude of future generations. 

In 1894 the ratepayers resolved to adopt the Burgh Police Act, and theaffairs and management of the town are now entrusted to PoliceCommissioners. 

Having given this retrospect of the civil history of Auchterarder, weshall now advert to a few prominent facts in its ecclesiastical annals. 

The first notice we have of the Church of Auchterarder is in thefoundation charter by Gilbert, Earl of Strathearn, dated in 1198, infavour of the Abbey of Inchaffray. By that charter he granted theChurch of St. Meckessock of Eochterardeour, and the four other Churchesof Aberuthven, Madderty, Strageath, and Kinkell. This grant wassubsequently confirmed, and the additional churches added thereto ofDunning, Monzievaird, Fowlis, and Kilbryde. [11]

As already stated, King Alexander II. Granted the teind of his dutiesof Auchterarder, and, by a subsequent charter, amongst other grants heconfirmed the grant of these churches to Inchaffray. 

William the Lion executed a similar confirmation of the grant of theChurches of Madderty, Kinkell, and Auchterarder. 

In virtue of these grants the teinds of the Church of Auchterarder weredrawn by the Abbey of Inchaffray, but, as a condition, the Abbey had toprovide divine ordinances in the Parish Church, and the cureaccordingly was served by a vicar. The church and parish were withinthe Diocese of Dunblane. The old parish church is situated about halfa mile to the north of the town, and, though roofless, is standingnearly entire. It is a long, narrow building with no architecturalbeauty. The foundation cross--a long slab with a Latin crossthereon--was, a number of years ago, exhumed, and now stands within thewalls; while the baptismal font, which until lately stood at thewestern entrance, was recently removed for safe custody to the newparish church within the town. The old bell is also there. Althoughsmall, it gives forth a very sweet and clear sound, and bears theimpress of antiquity. 

The Church of Auchterarder was dedicated to St. Mackessog, who was alsothe patron saint of Luss and Comrie. He flourished in the sixthcentury, and his day was the tenth of March. His legend and office aregiven under that date in the Breviary of Aberdeen. Southward from thechurch a few hundred yards there is a perennial spring still bearingthe name of Mackessog's Well, and which until recent times was resortedto for the healing virtue of its waters. After the Reformation theSaint's day was kept on the 10th of March, O. S. , as one of theprincipal fairs of the town, and so continued until a recent period. 

The old church appears to have been used as a place of worship untilabout the time of Charles I. The tradition is that the roof fell in ona Sunday after the congregation had left and were returning on the Braeof Powhillock to Auchterarder. While the old church continued to bethe church of the parish, there was at an early period, and anterior tothe Reformation, a chapel in the town of Auchterarder where the presentparish church stands. The croft at the back is still named the ChapelCroft. The northern part of the present parish church and the steeplewere erected about the middle of the seventeenth century, the steeplebeing built of stones taken from the old Castle of Kincardine, dismantled after the siege in 1646. The southern portion of the churchwas added in 1784. 

There is incorporated with the parish of Auchterarder the easternportion of the parish of Aberuthven. Aberuthven was one of theearliest ecclesiastical foundations in Scotland. It was dedicated toSt. Cathan, Bishop and Confessor, who flourished in the sixth century. His festival was held on the 17th of May. The Churches of Kilchattan, in Bute, and Fortingall, in Perthshire, were also dedicated to him. Aberuthven was one of the churches appropriated to the Abbey ofInchaffray by the foundation charter of Gilbert, Earl of Strathearn, before referred to. The cure was served by a vicar appointed by thathouse. In the charter it is named "_Ecclesia Sancti Kattani deAbbyrrothueuen_. " This charter was confirmed, and other churchesgranted by a subsequent charter of the Earl Gilbert. Alexander II. Confirmed this last charter. Earl Malise confirmed by charter thegifts of his grandfather, Gilbert, and the confirmation of his father, Robert, Earl of Strathearn, and granted four merks of the rents of hislands of Aberuthven, which the Canons of Inchaffray were accustomed toreceive previous to the year 1247. 

Aberuthven continued a separate parish from Auchterarder until sometime after the Reformation. It was united to Auchterarder prior to21st February, 1618, and the minister for some time thereafter occupiedthe manse and glebe of Aberuthven. The parish of Aberuthven includedthe Brae of Foswell, south of the Ruthven, now partly situated in theparish of Auchterarder and partly in Blackford. Kincardine Castle, theseat of the Earls of Montrose, was within the bounds. Aberuthven wasthe parish church where that family worshipped and where their remainswere interred. The walls of the Church of Aberuthven--a long, narrowbuilding like that of Auchterarder--are still standing. On the southside, and partly within the area, a four-square building named "theAisle" has been erected as a mausoleum for the ducal family ofMontrose. The last received within its walls was James, Duke ofMontrose, who died in 1836. This aisle was designed by Adam, theeminent architect. At the east end of the church, on the gospel sideof the site of the high altar, there is a recess in the wall, formingan ambry of elegant form. It is evident there has been a door upon it, from the iron sockets which still remain. This was probably used forholding the church utensils. Worship was continued in AberuthvenChurch until the end of the seventeenth century, as the funeral sermonof the Marchioness of Montrose was preached in it on 23rd January, 1673, by the Rev. Arthur Ross, the then parson of Glasgow, afterwardsArchbishop of St. Andrews. His daughter, Anna, Lady Balmerino, was themother of the gallant Lord Balmerino who was beheaded on Tower Hill in1746. 

Sir David Cardney was vicar of the Parish Church of Auchterarder in1527. 

After the Reformation it was proposed by the General Assembly, in 1581, that the Presbytery should be erected as the Presbytery of Crieff. TheAssembly, on 8th April, 1593, "ordaines the Presbyterie of Dumblane tobe transportit to Ochtirardour, and ordainis the Presbyteries ofStirling and Perth to establishe the said Presbyterie in Auchtirardourupon Thursday come xv. Days, " being 19th April, 1593. It was changedto Muthill prior to 18th January, 1633, but Auchterarder was resumedbefore 1638. 

At the Reformation the parish of Auchterarder was supplied by DavidMurye, reader, in 1567. The first Protestant minister in Auchterarderwas John Hamyll. He was previously vicar of Dunning, having succeededthere to his uncle, Sir John Hamyll, who from his title was likelyvicar of Dunning in the old church and conformed to the new opinions. John Hamyll was presented by King James VI. To the Vicarage ofAuchterarder on 28th June, 1568, and to the Vicarage of Aberuthven on1st March, 1582. He had also charge of Kinkell and Dunning. 

John Graham was minister of Auchterarder in 1636. He was a member ofthe General Assembly at Glasgow, in 1638, at which the famous James, Marquis of Montrose, was representative elder from the Presbytery ofAuchterarder, he being then on the Covenanting side. Mr Graham wasdeposed by the Commission of the Assembly on 27th November, 1644, forspeaking once to the Marquis of Montrose. [12] The sentence was takenoff by the Assembly, 8th February, 1645; but he was again deposed bythe Assembly, 6th July, 1649. His prelatic predilections wereattributed to his wife being a descendant of John Hamilton, the lastCatholic Archbishop of St. Andrews. 

James Drummond, son of the Rev. James Drummond, minister of Fowlis, anda near relative of the Earl of Perth, was successively incumbent ofAuchterarder and of Muthill. He was consecrated Bishop of Brechin onChristmas Day, 1684, in the Chapel Royal of Holyrood. He is reportedto have been a man of strict Protestant principles, and a decidedopponent of King James' interference with the Church, though he, likemost of his brethren, was a keen supporter of hereditary monarchy, andtook a decided part with King James when the most of his courtiersdeserted him. Bishop Drummond was deprived of his bishopric at theRevolution, having preached at Brechin for the last time on Sunday, 18th April, 1688. [13]

David Freebairn was minister of Auchterarder from 1680 to 1686, when hebecame minister of Dunning. He was deprived by the Privy Council, 4thSeptember, 1689. He went to Edinburgh, and was consecrated a bishop ofthe Scottish Episcopal Church, 7th October, 1722, and died Primus andthe oldest Presbyter in Scotland, 24th December, 1739, in hiseighty-seventh year and sixty-fourth of his ministry. "He was ofblameless conversation and sweet temper, while he was a vigilantpreacher and a successful physician. " His son Robert was a booksellerand printer in Edinburgh, and a staunch adherent of the Stuart family. 

Andrew Duncan, D. D. , was minister of Auchterarder from 1781 to 1802, when he was translated to Ratho. He was Principal Clerk to the GeneralAssembly, and Moderator of the Assembly in 1824. 

Robert Young was presented to the church by the Earl of Kinnoull, 14thSeptember, 1834. Objections were taken to him under the Veto Act, andhis settlement was delayed till 1843. He died 15th September, 1865. He was an excellent scholar, an able preacher, and a faithful pastor. 

In conclusion, let us express a hope that Auchterarder may longflourish and increase in prosperity, and that the sentiment containedin its motto may continue to be verified--_Non potest civitas abscondisupra montem posita_. 

[1] M. S. In the Imperial Library at Paris. Fonds Lat. , 6049, folio 30b. 

[2] Buchanani Hist. 

[3] Knox's _History of the Reformation_. 

[4] _Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland_. Vol. II. ; 1689. 

[5] _Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland_. Vol II. ; 1646. 

[6] _Calendar ut supra_; 1691. 

[7] _Calendar_; 1858. 

[8] _History of the House of Drummond_. By Viscount Strathallan. 

[9] _Rotuli Camerarii Scotiae_. 

[10] _Register of the Privy Council of Scotland_. Vol. I. , p. 348. 

[11] _Liber Insule Missarum_. 

[12] _Guthrie's Memoirs_. 

[13] _History of Brechin_. By David D. Black (pp. 97-98. )

AT THE GATE OF THE HIGHLANDS

By Rev. JOHN HUNTER, M. A. , Crieff

The title describes admirably the position of the town of Crieff, planted as it is on the Knock, at the base of which the main road fromStirling and the South splits into two portions--the one running by wayof Monzievaird and Comrie, the other by Monzie and the Sma' Glen, intothe Western and Northern Highlands. 

Crieff has had a long history. The most probable meaning of the nameis "Tree-town, " from _Craobh_--Gaelic for "tree"--a fact that carriesus back into a remote age. Fifty or sixty years ago, the BreadalbaneHighlanders spoke of Crieff as the "town of the tree. " In earlyhistorical times the fame of Crieff was overshadowed by that of Foulis, near by which was the Castletown--the principal residence of the EarlsPalatine of Strathearn--not the Celtic Earls whose home was atTom-a-chastel, but the Stewarts, and afterwards the Grahams, who roseinto place and power in Strathearn upon the ruins of the ancient line, which seems to have had no family name. 

Treasonable practices against the life of Robert the Bruce broughtabout the downfall of the Celtic Earls. The Black Parliament, whichsat at Scone in August, 1320, condemned Joanna, daughter of Malise, thelast Earl, to perpetual imprisonment. She had married Warrenne, Earlof Surrey--appointed Guardian of Scotland by Edward I. In 1296--and in1334 her father resigned his Earldom of Strathearn to his son-in-law. For the doing of this he was forfeited and attainted, in 1345, "as anenemy to the King and Kingdom of Scotland. " The fief reverted to theCrown. Next year was fought the Battle of Durham, and David II. Wascarried captive to London, where he remained for eleven years. Whilein England he bestowed the forfeited Earldom of Strathearn upon hisnephew, Robert, the High Steward of Scotland, afterwards King RobertII. On his accession to the throne, in 1370, Robert II. Transferredthe Earldom to David, the eldest son of his second marriage to EuphemiaRoss, the widow of Randolph, Earl of Moray. Earl David took the title, Earl Palatine, in 1375, and his only daughter, Euphemia, who succeededhim in 1389, styled herself "_Senescalli Comitissa Palatina deStrathearn_. " She married Patrick Graham, who was killed at Ferntower, in 1413, by Sir John Drummond of Concraig, Steward of Strathearn, andkinsman of James I. , whose mother was Annabella Drummond. The only sonof Patrick Graham and his wife, Euphemia, was Malise Graham, who, asEarl of Strathearn, became security along with twenty-seven others forthe payment of the ransom of James I. He was detained as a hostage inEngland for thirty years, and meantime his estates and title wereresumed by the King, on the ground that they did not descend to theheir-female. To compensate him for this, he was created Earl ofMenteith. The annual rental of his estates as Earl of Strathearn wasset down in the Durham Schedule at 500 merks. The schedule was drawnup in the year 1424. 

Even in the time of the old Earls, Crieff held an important position inpublic affairs. It will hardly do to say that it was the capital ofStrathearn. As a Royal Burgh of the foundation of Malcolm Canmore, perhaps Auchterarder was entitled to claim the premier rank. But itwould seem that the business of the ancient Earldom was transactedhere. So early as 1218, Earl Gilbert, the founder of the religioushouse of Inchaffray, granted a charter of "six marcis of Abercarnich, dated apud Crefe die Santi Ambrosii. " Fifty years later, Earl Malise, who was the first of his race to show fondness for Englishways--sending his sons, Gilbert and Robert, to be educated in theEnglish Court--granted, to the Convent of Inchaffray, permission toquarry stones within his lands at Nether Gask. The permission wasdated at Crieff, 1266. Later traces are a narration by Robert, theSteward of Scotland and Earl of Strathearn, of the proceedings of hisCourt, held at Crieff on May 8th, 1358; and the fact that on May 7th, 1491, William, Lord Ruthven, moved King James IV. And his Council for areturn of the record of "ane justiceayr holden at the Skait of Creif onthe penult day of July, 1443. "

The Steward's Court of Strathearn was held in the open air. The sitewas included within the park of Broich. It was a circular mound, twelve yards across, and was recognisable up to the year 1860. A"fail" dyke surrounded the spot, and two aged larch trees threw theirshadows upon it. A certain reverential feeling, due to a site fromwhich had gone forth the issues of life and death, kept the placeintact. But in that year vandalism scored a regrettable triumph. Thesite was trenched and levelled. Two cists were discovered of therudest construction. Human remains were found within one of them, bearing traces of fire action; also an urn, which measured 5 inches inheight and 5 inches across. Here, then, was the stayt, or skait, orskeat of Crieff. The Court continued in the full vigour of its energyfor more than a hundred years, dispensing justice both in civil andcriminal cases. Originating in the claim of Earl David in 1375 to beEarl Palatine, its jurisdiction continued in unimpaired strength andscope down to the year 1483--well on into the reign of James III. , andexactly thirty years before the disastrous Battle of Flodden. Thislatter date is interesting to us, seeing that it marks the turningpoint in the fortunes of Crieff. With the decay of the power of theCourt of the Earl Palatine of Strathearn Crieff also decayed, and sankinto the position of an ordinary kirk-town. The period of decayingprosperity lasted for 200 years--on to 1683, when a forward impulse wasgiven by George Drummond of Milnab, who in that year became LordProvost of Edinburgh. By giving off pieces of his lands, in feu, heoffered an inducement to settle in Crieff, which was taken advantage ofto some small extent. Others have taken up the lead of theenterprising Laird of Milnab, and Crieff is now a town of feuars, holding mainly of the Perth Estate, Dollerie, and Broich. But this ismodern history, and we have not yet done with the old. I have still torelate as briefly as may be how it came about that the Court of theEarls Palatine lost power and influence. 

The result was due in great measure to the jealousies and dissensionsof the rival families of the Murrays and the Drummonds. The people ofCrieff, in the period of its decadence, may well have anticipatedShakespeare's "A plague on both your houses, " as applied to theCapulets and the Montagues. The hereditary office of Steward ofStrathearn was a prime bone of contention. In the days of the CelticEarls the office was usually held by a younger son, or other nearrelation. The last of these Seneschals of the old line was Malise, whohad married Murialla, the widow of Fergus, son of Gilbert, Earl ofStrathearn, the benefactor of Inchaffray. He got with her the lands ofTullibardine in dower. A son, Henry, and a daughter, Ada, were born tothem. The daughter married Sir William Murray, who got the lands ofTullibardine conveyed to him, in 1284, by his mother-in-law, andconfirmed, for his greater security, by his brother-in-law, Henry. This Sir William Murray was one of those who were summoned to Berwickby Edward I. In 1292 to hear the advocacy of the claims of Bruce andBalliol. Henry, the brother-in-law, became Steward of Strathearn onthe death of his father, Malise. His only daughter married Sir MauriceDrummond of Concraig, and carried with her the office and lands held byher father. Sir Maurice was the first Drummond who was Steward ofStrathearn. Both he and his wife were buried within the choir of theChurch of Muthill. It is not to libel human nature to say that theTullibardine Murrays looked with disfavour upon the passing of theStewardship to the Drummonds of Concraig. The latter, however, werelegally in possession, and the Murrays had to bide their time. Theopportunity was not long in coming. King Robert II. Died in 1390. Heis described by Froissart as a man "not valiant, with red, blearedeyes, who would rather lie still than ride. " His reign was prosperousbut at his death "every man did what seemed right in his own eyes. "His third son, nicknamed the Wolf of Badenoch, quarrelled with theBishop of Moray and burned his Cathedral of Elgin. The Duke ofRothesay, heir to the throne on the death of his father, Robert III. , was starved to death in Falkland Palace by his uncle, the Duke ofAlbany in 1401. In these wild days Strathearn had its own troubles. In or about the year 1391 the Stewardship was held by Sir John Drummondof Concraig the grandson of Sir Maurice, who lies buried in the choirof Muthill Church. Sir John married Matilda Graham, the sister of SirPatrick Graham who subsequently became Earl of Strathearn in right ofhis wife Euphemia, the daughter of Earl David, first Earl Palatine. Itwas his duty, as Steward of Strathearn, to try Sir Alexander Murray ofOgilvy for the murder of William de Spalding. This was speciallyunfortunate, seeing that Sir Alexander Murray's father had got theBarony of Ogilvy in compensation for the loss of the Earldom ofStrathearn, when it was assumed by Robert Stewart, afterwards KingRobert II. He was at the bar of a Court over which he doubtlessthought he had a right to preside. The Court sat at Foulis. Upon thebench were Sir John and Maurice Drummond, deputies of the HighJusticiar, the Lord of Brechin. The accused pled the privilege of onewho was within the ninth degree of kin and "bluid" to Macduff, sometime Earl of Fife, stating that he had gone to the Cross of Macduff, near Newburgh, and "given nine kye and ane colpindach (young cow), andwas therefore free of the slaucher committed by him. " His counsel wereSir Bernardo de Hawden, Knight of Gleneagles, and Sir John de Logy ofLogiealmond. The judges referred the matter to the High Justiciar, whodecided that Sir Alexander should make his defence before the Court atFoulis. He submitted, and got off easily, "not with such severitiesand rigours of law as might have been shown. "

[Illustration: Gateway, Foulis Church. ]

This affair made matters worse between the Murrays and the Drummonds. Sir Alexander and his friends set about trying to emancipate themselvesfrom the jurisdiction of the Stewards of Strathearn. They found anaider and abettor in Sir Patrick Graham, who had assumed the title ofEarl of Strathearn in right of his wife. Sir John Drummond ofConcraig, the Steward, was his brother-in-law, but disposed to standstiffly upon his position as hereditary Steward. He declined to resignhis office into the hands of the Earl of Strathearn as superior. Uponthis there ensued a bitter personal quarrel between the Earl and theSteward. The Murray party saw their advantage and took it. The wifeof the Laird of Ogilvy was grand-niece to the second wife of the Earlof Strathearn, and through this connection or otherwise he was inducedto give a pledge that he should either have power to dispose of theSteward's office or not be Earl of Strathearn. He set out from MethvenCastle with the intention of breaking up the Steward's Court at theStayt of Crieff. Sir John and his friends encountered him in the parkof Ferntower at a place still marked by a large standing-stone. TheEarl was killed, and Sir John and his friends fled to Ireland. Fordunstates that none of them were brought to justice, except William andWalter Oliphant. These were probably sons or grandsons of Sir WalterOliphant of Gask, who married Elizabeth, the youngest daughter ofRobert the Bruce, on 11th Jan. , 1364. This fatal encounter in the parkof Ferntower took place in 1413, during the regency of Albany, whosucceeded to power in 1406, after the death of his brother, King RobertIII. Sir John had secured the succession to his lands and offices infavour of his son, Malcolm, so that the outlawry decreed against himaffected himself only. He died in Ireland. But misfortune dogged hisHouse. Even in the time of his grandson, the family historian states"that ever since the killing of the Earl of Strathearn the family hadno settled peace, but were forced to keep house to so many friends andservants for their security that it brought a consumption upon theirfortune, ingadged it in burdens, and made him pairt with many of hislands to relieve his debts. " In 1474 the laird of the time, MauriceKeir Drummond, sold lands and his office of Steward to his chief, JohnDrummond of Cargill, afterwards Lord Drummond. 

Thus the Murrays had gained their object, so far. The family ofConcraig was ruined. But they were foiled in their attempt upon theStewardship. They had tried for that many ways. In 1441, Sir DavidMurray of Tullibardine had attempted "to wind himself once inpossession of the Stewartrie" by proposing a marriage alliance betweenhis daughter, Isabella, and Malcolm Drummond, son of Sir John. Thescheme fell through somehow. Meantime, King James I. Had put new lifeinto the central governing body. Parliament was now waking up to asense of its rights and duties. The actual reign of James I. Onlylasted for thirteen years (1424-1437), but he held no fewer thanthirteen Parliaments during these years. It was his object to breakthe power of the nobles and local dignitaries. The unique position ofthe Earldom of Strathearn and the hereditary Stewardships which hadgrown up alongside of it attracted his attention. The Earldom was theonly Palatinate within the bounds of Scotland; the only Earldompossessing Royal privileges. King James I. Was a reformer of the"hot-haste" school. The execution of a plan of action followed hardupon the heels of the conception of it. An Act of his first Parliamentdirected an inquest to be made by the Sheriff--"what lands pertain tothe King, or has pertained during the reign of the last three kings, and in whose hands they now are. " In terms of this statute, King JamesI. Resumed the Earldom of Strathearn on the ground that it was a malefee, and did not pass to the wife of Patrick Graham, the heir-female. This happened in 1436, and it cost the King his life the following yearat the hands of Robert Graham, uncle and tutor of the young heir, Malise, who was still detained as a hostage in England in security forthe payment of the King's ransom. But the impulse had been given;though dead, the reformer King still spoke to the nation, and in 1442James II, and his Parliament declared that the Earldom had fallen tothe Crown. In 1455 it was enacted that all regalities in the King'shands should be annexed to the royalty, and subject to the King'sCourt. This action in Scotland had the support of the Murray faction. They had come to see the futility of any attempt upon the Stewardship. In the year 1474--the very year in which Maurice Keir Drummond ofConcraig had parted with lands and office to his kinsman, the Laird ofCargill--Sir William Murray of Tullibardine obtained from King JamesIII. A discharge or dishonouration of the Seneschalship of Strathearn. The effect of this was that his person and his lands were emancipatedfrom the jurisdiction of the Steward's Court. This example wasfollowed by the Laird of Abercairny, who held a tack of the lands ofTullichettle, which Sir William Stirling of Keir, the granter, wascalled on to warrant. In 1483, the Laird of Abercairny, HumphreyMurray, appeared at the Stayt of Crieff and withdrew hissuit--"_Levavit sectam suam de predicta curia_, " which was transferredby Crown charter to the King's Sheriff Court at Perth. Thus terminatedthe jurisdiction of the Earls Palatine of Strathearn. It was followedup by a declaration of date 16th February, 1505, to the effect that"the Baroneys of new create and maid within the King's Earldom ofStrathearn within thir three years bipast" were released of all servicein the Steward Court of the King's Earldom of Strathearn. Such servicewas now due to the King's Sheriff Court of Perth "in all times to cum. "

In giving this rapid sketch of the early history of Crieff, I havefollowed mainly the guidance of the writer of a historical introductionto a little book entitled _The Beauties of Upper Strathearn_. For theshort account of the Skait of Crieff, I am indebted to one or twoarticles in the _Strathearn Herald_, written by the late H. B. Farnie, on the 17th and 24th days of November, 1860, just when the trenchingand levelling were in full swing. We must now turn to the later periodduring which Crieff tasted the sweet uses of adversity. It sufferedeclipse for 200 years--from the year 1483, when the jurisdiction of theEarl Palatine terminated, down to 1683, when a citizen ofCrieff--George Drummond of Milnab--became Lord Provost of Edinburgh. During these long years, Crieff was an ordinary kirk-town, nowisedistinguished among its fellows. It had its Gothic Church, which seemsto have dated from a very remote period. When it was demolished, in1787, forty gold coins of Robert I. Were found in a hole in the wallsix feet from the ground. There was a law plea for the possession ofthese coins between the Crown and James Gentle, the purchaser of theold walls, which was decided in favour of the Crown. The houses ofCrieff were clustered round this old church--mainly east and north andsouth. Crieff had no west end beyond the Cross until after 1731, whenthe Master of Drummond made good his title to the Perth Estate, afterthe forfeiture which ensued upon the proceedings of 1715. It wasburned to the ground in this year, but, thanks to the Master ofDrummond, it had reached a thriving condition as a market town for themidland and western districts of Scotland, when the Highlanders brokeloose again in 1745. It suffered no second burning, though theHighlanders had possession of it, and Prince Charlie held a stormycouncil of war in the old Drummond Arms, at the foot of Hill's Wynd. Since then, Crieff has become a "braw toon" without the other "singe"its Highland neighbours destined for it. The coming of the railway in1856, and the adoption of the Police Act in 1864, have done wonders, enabling it to take full advantage of its many attractions. It wasloyal to the Hanoverian dynasty during the troubles of the "'15" andthe "'45"; but one hundred years before the last outbreak it gave akindly welcome to Montrose, who entrenched himself very securely atCallum's Hill, having doubtless his headquarters at the house of hiskinsman, Inchbrakie. 

We come now to look more closely at Crieff, when it set out upon itscomparatively undistinguished career as a kirk-town. No doubt it feltthe loss of the Court of the Steward of the Earl Palatine ofStrathearn, just as the whole strath felt the want of the sunshine ofthe Royal favour after the murder of King James I. In the BlackfriarsMonastery of Perth, at Christmastide, 1437. But though, doubtless, many forsook it, some remained, and there were kirk-lands near by forthe maintenance of the Gospel. Conflicting interests began to stir inconnection with these lands. When they come under our notice thekirk-lands of Crieff are attached to the Chapel Royal at Stirling. In"Ane Index of Rights of the Chappell and of their Bulls or Patents" weread, as one of the contents, "Applicatio prima fructuum de Air, Kincardin, Crieff, et Pettie Brachley. " This seems to have beensanctioned by a Bull of Alexander VI. , of date May 16th, 1502; andsurely it is interesting to know that the kirk-lands of Crieff, Ayr, Kincardine, and Pettie Brachley--wherever that was--were allocated tothe Chapel Royal at Stirling by the Borgia Pope, Alexander VI. , one ofthe prime disgraces of the Chair of St. Peter. But the allocation didnot pass unchallenged. Crieff had its perpetual pensionary vicar inthose days, and naturally enough he could see neither rhyme nor reasonin the arrangement which a Pope had no doubt sanctioned, but whichcompletely ignored his interests. The name of the worthy vicar wasMaster John Broune, [1] a discreet man, as he is called in the publicinstrument in which the process is recorded, by means of which he gotan augmentation of stipend. The instrument begins in this way:--

"In the name of God. Amen. By this present public instrument, be itevidently known to all men, that in the year of the Incarnation of ourLord, 1511, on the 5th day of March, the 15th year of the Indiction, being the 9th year of the Pontificate of the Most Holy Father inChrist, and Master of our Master, Julius II. , Pope by the DivineProvidence. Compeared in person, in Court, Master John Broune, perpetual pensionary vicar of the parish of Crieff, in Stratherne, onthe one part, and on the other, Masters William Sterheid and JohnGoldsmyth, Canons of the said Chapel Royal and Prebendaries of the sameChurch of Crieff. "

The President of the Court was Master David Abercrummy, principalofficial of Candida Casa and of the Chapel Royal, Stirling, alsosub-deacon of the same Chapel Royal. A notary public was also presentand certain subscribing witnesses. Master John Broune, the vicar, stoutly maintained that the pension was too small and mean (_exiguaparva et exilis_) for his proper maintenance, and strengthened his pleaby the production of two documents--one subscribed by the proper handof the most excellent Prince and Master of our Master, James IV. , themost illustrious King of the Scots; the other subscribed by the properhand of the reverend Father in Christ, and Master of our Master, David, by the Divine compassion, Bishop of Candida Casa and of the ChapelRoyal, Stirling. Then follows the King's letter in "braid Scots":--

"We, as patrone of the Kyrk of Creyf, gyffis our full consent andassent to thir ouyr lettres that the Bishop of ouyr Chapel Rial erecand mak the vicar's pension of the said kyrk equivalent to the utherisvicaris pensionarys of the Kyrks of Balmaclellene, Suthwyth, andKellys, unit and erectit to our said chappell with ane manse, yard, andgleyb of twa akaris of the kyrk-land of Creyf, callyt 'For, ' nextadjacent to the said kyrk, to the sustentacion of the vicar thairof toserve the cuyr, payand procuragis and synnagis, and mak the dene ruralexpensys in visitacion as efferys, and ordains that this be done be theBishop of ouyr Chapell Ryal and official tharof by tharis dyscrecionys, the quantyte of the cuyr beyng consyderit. 

"Subscrivit with ouyr hand at Edynbrugh, the xxv. Daye of September, and of our reng the xxiiij. Or zeir, 1512. _Et sequitir subscripciomanualis_. Rex James. "

There is a slight discrepancy in the above record; for whereas theRoyal letter is dated the 25th day of September, 1512, it is stated tohave been produced by the vicar before the Court of Master DavidAbercrummy on the 5th day of March, 1511. The explanation may be thatit was found difficult to grit the augmentation out of the clutches ofthe Stirling Canons, even after the Bishop of Candida Casa (Whithorn)had decreed in the vicar's favour, and that the Royal authority hadagain to be invoked to give effect to it. However this may be, it iscertain that Master John Broune gained his point, as will appear fromthe following document, also in "braid Scots":--

"Schyr official, forsamekyll as the vicarage of the Kyrk of Creyf, isnocht contenyt, in the erectioun of our Souerane lordis Chapell Rial asthe layf of the vicarages that are incorporat tharto, this is, tharfor, that ze assygne and mak ouyr vicar of Creyf als meikle zeyrly to hispensioun of the fructis o' the sayd vicarage to sustene him and servethe cuyr as ony of the vicarages of Balmaclellene, Suchwych, or Kellishas, with ane manse, zard, and gleyb and twa akaris of the kyrk-landcallyt 'For, ' next adjacent to the sayd kyrk, wyth certain gress soumsfor gudying of the sayd gleyb, according to the extent of the saydkyrk-land, he payand of the samyn procurage and synnage aucht and wountand makand the deyne rurale expense quhen he vesiis the sayd kyrk. 

"Alanerlye, for that our Souerane lordis, patroun of the sayd Kyrk ofCreyf, has consentyt heirto, and commendit us to hys writtings to dothe samyn, keip this our mandment for your warand, and cause the samynto be fulfyllyt, sa that we heir na complant tharof in tymys cuming. Subscrivit wyth our hand at Edinbrugh, the v. Day of March, the zer ofGod im. Vc. Xi. Zeris. _Et sequitur subscripcio manualis dictiEpiscopi D. Candide Case et Cappelle Regie Striuelingensis Episcopus_. "

Then follows a narrative of proceedings in monk Latin, which I havebeen at some pains to translate thus:--

"Certain relevant documents having been publicly examined and shown inopen Court, the said vicar immediately demanded from the judge that heshould proceed with the augmentation of his annual pension of the saidperpetual vicarage according to the tenor of the said two documents, especially because no reasonable bar had been alleged in Court why theaugmentation in this kind should not be granted. And MasterAbercrummy, the foresaid judge, having carefully examined the twodocuments and the foundation of the foresaid Chapel Royal, Stirling, particularly in that point where it treats of the erection of perpetualvicarages and of their annual pensions, as in the case of the ParishChurches of Suchwych (Southwick), Kellis (Kells), and Balmaclellan, belonging to the said Chapel Royal, augmented the annual pension of theperpetual vicarage of Crieff in the manner which follows, andordained--viz. , that the perpetual vicar of the Church of Crieff, inStrathearn, who has had, _pro tempore_, shall have in perpetuity of thefruits of that Church of Crieff for his own sustenance and for thosedependent on him, wherewith he may be able to live in comfort, twenty-four merks of the usual money of Scotland and two acres ofarable land adjacent to the said church of the town, which is called'For, ' pertaining to the same church and (origin?) the house built uponit, along with pasture for his own animals according to the congruency(convenience?) of the same said acres, and with 'hearth-rights in themuirs and marshes of the said town' (focalibus competentinus in moriset marresiis ejusdem villae. ) [The Latin is barbarous, and may meananything; but it does seem to have some connection with the right ofdigging peats. ] And besides, that the forenamed vicar, who has beenbound, _pro tempore_, so, hereafter is, in perpetuity, bound to payannually to the bishop in ordinary of the place the procurations auchtand wount on behalf of the said church, the synodal moneys and expensein ordinary for the Dean of Christianity who has annually visited thesaid Church of Crieff, in Strathearn, and the parish thereof; and thatthe payment of the pension, as regards the said 24 merks, shall be madeto the said vicar of Crieff for the time being, at the four usualannual terms, in equal portions, to be lifted annually out of thefruits of the said Church of Crieff--viz. , at the Festivals of theFinding of the Holy Cross; of St. Peter of the Chain; of All Saints;and of the Purification of our Lady. 

"Upon which premises--all and single--the foresaid John Broune, perpetual pensionary vicar of the said parochial Church of Crieff, inStrathearn, asked the present public instruments to be executed for himby me, notary public undersigned. These deeds were lodged in theChapel Royal, near the town of Edinburgh, in the consistory of thesame, at the twelfth hour before mid-day, or thereby, in the year, day, month, indiction, and pontificate as above, there being presentdiscreet men, Masters Ninian Spottiswoode, Archdeacon of the furesaidChapel Royal, Stirling; John Tod, Alexander Painter, William Atkyn, Nicholas Buchan, all of the Chapel; James Aikman, burgess of Edinburgh;John Abercrummy, and Alexander Ramsay, with divers others, witnesses tothe premises. 

(Signed) "J. PRYMROIS. "

It would appear from all this that there was a deal of trouble inconnection with the erection of the Church of Crieff. One is apt toget confused among the Popes, Bishops, principal officials, andnotaries public who were all concerned in the erection. We seem toreach the close of the long process on the first day of September, 1537, the year of the marriage of James V. To Madeleine of France, theyear which lies almost exactly midway between the Battle of Flodden andthe outbreak of the Reformation in 1560. Upon the second day ofDecember, 1537, "the reverend father in Christ, Henry, by the Divinecompassion, Bishop of the forenamed Chapel and of Candida Casa, fromthe tribunal with the consent of his brother canons, or at all eventsof the greater part of them, being assembled in Chapter, and as amemorial of a perpetual thing, ordered, ordained, and decreed that theerection of the Vicar Church of Crieff should be registered by MasterJohn Lambert, Prebendary of the sacred Chapel and scribe of theforesaid Chapter, and to be inscribed and placed upon the books of theRegistrars of the oft-mentioned Chapel. "

I am greatly indebted to A. G. Reid, Esq. , Auchterarder, for kindlyfurnishing me with the above valuable extracts, and I bring the paperto a close with a word or two about the Crieff of a later time. Theannals of Crieff as a kirk-town are a dreary waste in the judgment ofone who assures us that he has waded through the records of servicesfrom 1549 to 1700. One incident, however, took place between thesedates which may be mentioned as being the last expiring flicker of theold jurisdiction exercised by the Stewards of Strathearn. The Earl ofPerth discharged the duties of the office--what remained of them--downto the abolition of heritable jurisdictions in 1748. In the year 1682, the minister of Trinity-Gask, by name Richard Duncan, was condemned todeath for the murder of a child which was found concealed under his ownhearth-stone. Lord Fountainhall reports that he was convicted on veryinsufficient evidence, and the country people took the same view of thecase. He was hanged on the "kind gallows of Crieff, " on the knoll nearthe Cemetery, still marked by a solitary tree. The story goes that amessenger was seen and heard approaching, bearing a reprieve, but hecame too late. Local sympathy asserted that the hour of execution wasanticipated to gratify the spite of some one in authority. Howeverthis may be, the hanging of the Episcopal minister of Trinity-Gask wasthe last exercise of criminal jurisdiction on the part of the Stewardof Strathearn. This was the last time the "kind gallows of Crieff"bore its ghastly fruit. The Highlanders' salutation to it is familiarto everybody. 

A pleasanter sight by far than a string of dangling caterans was thegreat annual tryst, or Michaelmas Market. It was largely frequented, as being the only market of any consequence between Stirling andInverness. We have it on the authority of Macky, a Government secretagent, who visited Scotland in 1723, that no fewer than thirty thousandcattle were sold to English dealers for thirty thousand guineas. Hecame from Stirling expressly to see the market, and here is his graphicdescription of what he saw:--

"The Highland gentlemen were mighty civil, dressed in their slash'dshort waistcoats, a trousing (which is breechen and stockings of onepiece of striped stuff), with a plaid for a cloak and a blue bonnet. They have a ponyard knife and a fork in one sheath, hanging at one sideof their belt, their pistol at the other, and their snuff-mull before, with a great broadsword by their side. Their attendance was verynumerous, all in belted plaids, girt like women's petticoats down tothe knee, their thighs and half of the leg all bare. They had eachalso their broadsword and poynard, and spake all Irish, anunintelligible language to the English. However, these poor creatureshired themselves out for a shilling a day to drive cattle to England, and to return home at their own charge. There was no leaving anythingloose here but it would have been stolen. "

The Michaelmas Market was shorn of its glory and its picturesque aspectby the transference of the cattle tryst to Falkirk in 1770. There wasoccasional bloodshed at these gatherings, the peace being withdifficulty preserved by the authority of the Lord of Drummond, whocollected the customs of the fairs of Crieff and Foulis. These customsamounted, in 1734, to nearly £600 Scots. The Lochaber axes carried bythe guardians of the peace may still be seen in the armoury at DrummondCastle. This last shred of baronial supervision--the ghost of theancient Stewardship--disappeared in 1831. But perhaps the mostinteresting memorial of the Crieff Michaelmas Tryst is a poem writtenby one of the Highland drovers, whose appearance moved the compassionof Macky, the tourist of 1723. His name is Robert Doun or Donn. Hehad left his heart behind him in his native glen, as people will do, drovers as well as others. There is a ring of genuine poetry in theverses in which he expresses his love-sickness--his desire to go uponthe wings of the wind as it whistles northward, northward:--

 "Easy is my bed--it is easy, But it is not to sleep that I incline. The wind whistles northwards, northwards, And my thoughts move with it. More pleasant were it to be with thee In the little glen of calves Than to be counting of droves In the enclosures of Crieff. "

Mention of the name of Robert Doun brings up recollections of anotherliterary name--that of David Mallet, or Malloch, who is said to havebeen born in Crieff. He has the honour of being mentioned severaltimes in Boswell's _Life of Johnson_. The latter had no great respectfor him, though, perhaps, he did not mean all he said in his famouscriticism of Lord Bolingbroke's philosophy, which Mallet publishedafter the author's death. "Sir, he was a scoundrel and a coward--ascoundrel, for charging a blunderbuss against religion and morality; acoward, because he had no resolution to fire it off himself, but lefthalf-a-crown to a beggarly Scotchman to fire it off after his death. "It has been disputed whether Mallet, or Thomson of the "Seasons, " wrote"Rule Britannia. " I do not care to enter into it. After all, DavidMallet was a lesser light in the literary firmament. It more concernsthe literary honour of Crieff that John Cunningham, the historian ofthe Church of Scotland, did his life-work here; and that in the year1793, Rachel Barlas, daughter of the Secession minister of Crieff, wentto Comrie as wife of Samuel Gilfillan and became the mother of GeorgeGilfillan, late of Dundee, a man of fine gifts and of glowingimagination--somewhat loosely controlled, who wrote much--too much; butunfortunately left nothing worthy of the reputation he had among hisintimates. 

[1] Vicars of Crieff at an earlier date were Bricius, who was a witnessto the reconciliation of Earl Robert and Innocent, Abbot of Inchaffray, in the Church of Strogeth. The entry is--"_Bricio persona de Creffe, et Malisio filio ejus_, " showing that celibacy was not the universalclerical custom; and Nicholas, who in one charter, of date 1258, iscalled "_Camerario Comitis_" (Malise); and in another, "_Meo filio_, "by "_Malisius filius Gilberti quondam Comitis de Stratherne_. " Hencehe was a cousin of the Malise to whom he was "camerarius. "

APPENDIX

[Transcriber's notes:

Several entries in this appendix refer to page numbers elsewhere inthis book. Those page numbers are indicated by numbers enclosed incurly braces, e. G. {99}. They have been located where page breaks