PerthshireCrieffStrathearn Local History

The Witches Maze At Tullibole Castle Crook of Devon     This week   my   eye   caught the   newspaper article and the BBC News story on the opening of the “ Witches Maze “ at Tullibole Castle in the Crook of Devon . Quite an appropriate “blog “ as Halloween approaches   complete with witches , black cats , turnip lanterns and the inevitable guysers ! Tullibole Castle   Lord Moncrieff and Lesley Riddoch (  who used to live in Fowlis Wester )at the opening     The memorial however is a somewhat sad reflection on the evil and indeed   bizarre behaviour of our ancestors and in particular our   Established   Church . These pillars of society undertook a spate of trials   which on reflection   make the Salem Witch Trials across the “ Pond “ resemble a Sunday school picnic ! The Witches Maze at Tullibole Castle commemorates the victims of the Crook of Devon witch trials in 1662. The castle was once home to William Halliday and his son John who held court

St Fillans – a look into its past   Much of the input in this   blog   was published in the “Guide to St Fillans “ about 1980 . It is said that Queen Victoria swithered at   one   time   between St Fillans and Balmoral when she   was seeking a Scottish Estate . I   my self   was delighted   to   be invited to appear in the BBC TV   Landward programme in 2010 concerning the village   and its origins .  Some two hundred years ago it was known as   Port of Lochearn and consisted of a few   thatched biggins or cottages   . The largest one was   called Portmore and another was called   Portbeag or Littleport . Above   St Fillans as we know   it   today lies the remains   of an old township called Morell located to the west of Glentarken Wood . It   was eventually abandoned at the beginning of the 19 th Century when the occupants   moved down the hill and settled in the cottages   which had been built at   Port of   Lochearn . Neish Island   In 1817 Lord Gwydyr