The Stayt of Crieff - Site of the Court of the Earls of Strathearn
The
Stayt of Crieff
Site
of the Court of the Earls of Strathearn
The Old Coat of Arms of Crieff
Site of the historic Stayt of Crieff 2013 - a ploughed field !
In just over a year of “ blogging ” our local history here in
Strathearn , we have covered a multitude of topics regarding people , places and “ things ” ! What is
clear that this , one of the most
beautiful parts of Perthshire –
nay Scotland – has an incredible and special heritage that must
be protected and projected to a wider
audience than just those who
dwell by the banks of the Earn !
Sadly much of the
recorded history of the area has now
been lost by the removal of the detailed
information from official maps . Regrettably
present day searchers scouring the well detailed Ordnance Survey maps in both
the Landranger ( 1: 50 000 ) or the Pathfinder ( 1: 25 000 ) will do so in vain
if they are looking for the historic Stayt of Crieff or indeed Fowlis Castle –
ancient home of the Celtic Earls of Strathearn .
It is something of a
concern when one finds that new editions from the OS seem to have removed important
local references which are so important
when trying to follow a heritage
trail . With the arrival on the Royal scene of the Earl and Countess of
Strathearn aka Duke and Duchess of Cambridge , more people world
wide are going to want to know
more about the Strath. The ignoring of these two historical sites on current OS maps is more than regrettable –
it is
something that must be remedied .Fowlis
Castle – the traditional power base of the Celtic Earls of Strathearn and dramatically visited by King Robert the Bruce in the 14th
century and the “ Stayt ” or Court of
the Earls located to the south of Crieff adjacent to the new Strathearn Campus
and the site of the newly rediscovered Neolithic Cursus !
We have looked at Fowlis Castle in a previous blog so let us examine the historic site of the “
Stayt “ – a mediaeval Court or Parliament
of the ancient Earls . It was shown a way back on the OS map of the 1860s
which you can check out on :
The map can be
enlarged by clicking on it as
appropriate . The Stayt is located just above Broich House to the south of
Crieff itself .
What is so incredible about
that site is that there was a Neolithic burial chamber lying below the site of the ancient Stayt of the Earls of Strathearn. It was only when the mound of the Stayt was
removed in the 19th century that the ancient secrets were revealed .
The coat of arms of
Crieff depicted above is a reproduction
of an old picture post card . Although somewhat tarted up with pseudo heraldic
foliage , it depicts nevertheless an important part of Strathearn heritage .
The man holding the scales of justice is the Steward of Strathearn who
administered justice on a regular basis to all and sundry . He is perched on
top of a mound of earth sitting on the throne of justice , At his feet are the
“ jougs “ or stocks where the miscreants were tethered to submit to there prescribed punishment .
Name and meaning. The Stayt or Stait of Crieff is found in a wide variance of spellings over the centuries . Stayt = Stede , Steid meaning a place .
“ jougs “ or stocks where the miscreants were tethered to submit to there prescribed punishment .
Name and meaning. The Stayt or Stait of Crieff is found in a wide variance of spellings over the centuries . Stayt = Stede , Steid meaning a place .
“ Then aucht the clerk to title the court , mak and mention of the
day , yeir and steid quhan and quhair the court is haldin ” ( Balfour ) . The word is rendered “stayt”
from a notorial instrument expede in 1475 ( Hist .MSS.Commission , 3rd Report ,
p. xxiv , and App.p.418), but other renderings have been given , e.g. Scait ,
Skait , Skath ( ibid 7th Report , App. Pp.711-715 ).
The above is transcribed from a paper by Mungo Headrick entitled “ The Stayt of Crieff – a Bronze Age Burial Site ” circa 1860 .
Location : Regrettably present day searchers scouring the well detailed Ordnance Survey maps in both the Landranger (1: 50 000 ) or the Pathfinder ( 1: 25 000 ) will do so in vain . The Stayt of
Crieff has according to the cartographers of that well respected organisation
vanished ! The 1932 edition as well as earlier versions , showed the locus of
this historic site as well as the closely linked , but now vanished , standing
stone in the adjoining field . The OS reference is NN 866 207 . In practical
terms it is on the south side of Broich
Road
The History of the Stayt : The most accurate account historically and archeologically is that written by Mungo Headrick away back in 1the 1860s . It has been largely forgotten so I reproduce it in entirety for the sake of future searchers of the truth ! Incidently Mungo was an ancestor of an old friend of mine and well known Crieff worthy the late Fraser Neil .
The Stayt of Crieff – A Bronze Age Burial Site
by
Mungo Headrick
( 1860 )
Quite recently there came into the possession of The National Museum of Antiquities , Edinburgh , an urn of dark colour . The urn is of the food vessel type ( see page 1 ) , stands 4 5/8 inches in height , expands from a width of 5 ¼ inches at the moth to a width of 5 ¾ inches at the shoulder , and thence contracts to base of about 3 inches in diameter . Three slightly raised mouldings encircle it : at the lip . at the shoulder and midway between . The shoulder moulding is ornamented by a double row of triangular punctulations and the other two by a single row of similar markings . The vessel is encircled between the central moulding and that on the shoulder , as well as on the inward sloping rim , by two transverse lines formed by the imprint of a twisted cord of two strands of clay when soft . The transverse lines are not continuous
Being interrupted in three places by a number of vertical lines formed in the same way as the transverse lines . Hanging from the shoulder is a series of impinging and inverted chevrons each filled in with like markings , drawn on the clay with a pointed tool . The urn , it is stated , had been found in a cist near Crieff in 1860 . No more definite indication of the locality of the find is given and the purpose of this paper is ( first ) to identify the mound in which the cist was exposed , and ( second ) to show that the mound had been in use as a place of justice when courts were held in the open air . , down to a date near the end of the seventeenth century .
Prior to the year 1860 there stood on the lands of Broich , near Crieff , a low mound some 12 yards in diameter , which had at one time been surrounded by a wall of earth and stone . The site is indicated on the O.S . map at a point some 330 yards to the east of the entrance to Broich , on the south side of the road leading from Crieff to Highlandman , and on the field side of the narrow belting of wood which skirts the road at that part . In the month of November 1860 the mound was levelled and ploughed over , and in the course of the operations two cists containing human remains were exposed , along with an urn of clay the measurement of which is given as 5 inches in height by 5 inches across the mouth . The finds were duly recorded at the time in the local press ** , from which the following particulars are taken : -
17th November 1860 : “ One of the urns ( cists ? ) was simply composed of blue whinstone sides , the ends of red sandstone . These were laid roughly together . The bones deposited were very much decomposed and broken , so much so that , had it not been for the presence of a pretty complete heel bone , ulna , , rib etc ., it would have been difficult to determine whether they were human remains or not . Some of these are crumbled to an almost impalpable white powder , and others are appear to have been subjected to the action of fire …… The second deposit of bones was less formal – resting in the solid soil , and covered over with three rough slabs of no great size ….There is an immense boulder , weighing over a ton , which has not yet been displaced , but which is supposed to cover the upper slab of a cist . ”
24th November 1860 : “ The huge stone , weighing close on two tons being removed , disclosed a sandstone slab 5 feet 3 inches by 2 feet 2 inches , and about a 1 ( foot ?) thick . Beneath this slab was another of those little cists or cinerary boxes measuring 2 feet 6 inches by 1 foot 6 inches , and about 10 inches deep , and composed of rough slabs . The bones found in this were in that abnormal pulverised state which we discussed last week …. An interesting vase , somewhat in the style of an Etrurian vessel , has been found in that last discovered grave .It is globular; stands 5 inches high , with a mouth about 5 inches across and is made of clay hardened by fire . There are rude attempts at floriated decoration round the vase , somewhat in a “ herring
bone “ pattern , and evidently done by pats of a trowel or what served the maker for one . This relic is now in the possession of A. Monteith Esq ., of Broich . ”
8th December 1860 : “ We will now take a glance at the interior of the quasi** tomb before it was touched by the intruder’s feet . The surface of the bottom was smoothly laid with clay …. An urn lay on its side ….and beside it lay a small heap of ( it is supposed ) cremated human bones . The moulds was of a dark brown colour , and had a rich , soft , velvety feel . “
It will be seen that the urn now in the National Museum corresponds with that taken out of this mound ; and as there is no record of any other urn having been found in a cist near Crieff in 1860 , the conclusion is irresistible that it is the same .
It was on this mound that the court of the Earls of Strathearn and the stewards or seneschals was held , when such courts were held in the open . from the Statistical Accounts we learn that the old Tolbooth in Crieff was erected in 1665 for the accommodation of the steward’s court , “ which from this period ceased to be held in the open air . “ It is known that some forty volumes of records of the steward’s court were stored in the Tolbooth , and that they were ruthlessly destroyed by soldiery quartered there in 1798 , who used the tomes for fuel !
The above is transcribed from a paper by Mungo Headrick entitled “ The Stayt of Crieff – a Bronze Age Burial Site ” circa 1860 .
Location : Regrettably present day searchers scouring the well detailed Ordnance Survey maps in both the Landranger (
The History of the Stayt : The most accurate account historically and archeologically is that written by Mungo Headrick away back in 1the 1860s . It has been largely forgotten so I reproduce it in entirety for the sake of future searchers of the truth ! Incidently Mungo was an ancestor of an old friend of mine and well known Crieff worthy the late Fraser Neil .
The Stayt of Crieff – A Bronze Age Burial Site
by
Mungo Headrick
( 1860 )
Quite recently there came into the possession of The National Museum of Antiquities , Edinburgh , an urn of dark colour . The urn is of the food vessel type ( see page 1 ) , stands 4 5/8 inches in height , expands from a width of 5 ¼ inches at the moth to a width of 5 ¾ inches at the shoulder , and thence contracts to base of about 3 inches in diameter . Three slightly raised mouldings encircle it : at the lip . at the shoulder and midway between . The shoulder moulding is ornamented by a double row of triangular punctulations and the other two by a single row of similar markings . The vessel is encircled between the central moulding and that on the shoulder , as well as on the inward sloping rim , by two transverse lines formed by the imprint of a twisted cord of two strands of clay when soft . The transverse lines are not continuous
Being interrupted in three places by a number of vertical lines formed in the same way as the transverse lines . Hanging from the shoulder is a series of impinging and inverted chevrons each filled in with like markings , drawn on the clay with a pointed tool . The urn , it is stated , had been found in a cist near Crieff in 1860 . No more definite indication of the locality of the find is given and the purpose of this paper is ( first ) to identify the mound in which the cist was exposed , and ( second ) to show that the mound had been in use as a place of justice when courts were held in the open air . , down to a date near the end of the seventeenth century .
Prior to the year 1860 there stood on the lands of Broich , near Crieff , a low mound some 12 yards in diameter , which had at one time been surrounded by a wall of earth and stone . The site is indicated on the O.S . map at a point some 330 yards to the east of the entrance to Broich , on the south side of the road leading from Crieff to Highlandman , and on the field side of the narrow belting of wood which skirts the road at that part . In the month of November 1860 the mound was levelled and ploughed over , and in the course of the operations two cists containing human remains were exposed , along with an urn of clay the measurement of which is given as 5 inches in height by 5 inches across the mouth . The finds were duly recorded at the time in the local press ** , from which the following particulars are taken : -
17th November 1860 : “ One of the urns ( cists ? ) was simply composed of blue whinstone sides , the ends of red sandstone . These were laid roughly together . The bones deposited were very much decomposed and broken , so much so that , had it not been for the presence of a pretty complete heel bone , ulna , , rib etc ., it would have been difficult to determine whether they were human remains or not . Some of these are crumbled to an almost impalpable white powder , and others are appear to have been subjected to the action of fire …… The second deposit of bones was less formal – resting in the solid soil , and covered over with three rough slabs of no great size ….There is an immense boulder , weighing over a ton , which has not yet been displaced , but which is supposed to cover the upper slab of a cist . ”
24th November 1860 : “ The huge stone , weighing close on two tons being removed , disclosed a sandstone slab 5 feet 3 inches by 2 feet 2 inches , and about a 1 ( foot ?) thick . Beneath this slab was another of those little cists or cinerary boxes measuring 2 feet 6 inches by 1 foot 6 inches , and about 10 inches deep , and composed of rough slabs . The bones found in this were in that abnormal pulverised state which we discussed last week …. An interesting vase , somewhat in the style of an Etrurian vessel , has been found in that last discovered grave .It is globular; stands 5 inches high , with a mouth about 5 inches across and is made of clay hardened by fire . There are rude attempts at floriated decoration round the vase , somewhat in a “ herring
bone “ pattern , and evidently done by pats of a trowel or what served the maker for one . This relic is now in the possession of A. Monteith Esq ., of Broich . ”
8th December 1860 : “ We will now take a glance at the interior of the quasi** tomb before it was touched by the intruder’s feet . The surface of the bottom was smoothly laid with clay …. An urn lay on its side ….and beside it lay a small heap of ( it is supposed ) cremated human bones . The moulds was of a dark brown colour , and had a rich , soft , velvety feel . “
It will be seen that the urn now in the National Museum corresponds with that taken out of this mound ; and as there is no record of any other urn having been found in a cist near Crieff in 1860 , the conclusion is irresistible that it is the same .
It was on this mound that the court of the Earls of Strathearn and the stewards or seneschals was held , when such courts were held in the open . from the Statistical Accounts we learn that the old Tolbooth in Crieff was erected in 1665 for the accommodation of the steward’s court , “ which from this period ceased to be held in the open air . “ It is known that some forty volumes of records of the steward’s court were stored in the Tolbooth , and that they were ruthlessly destroyed by soldiery quartered there in 1798 , who used the tomes for fuel !
**
Strathearn Herald , 17th and 24th November and 8th December 1860
Thanks for posting this - VERY interesting! I have a question. I am interested in the case of the Reverend Richard Duncan, minister of Kinkell and Trinity Gask, who was hanged for infanticide in 1682. According to the Highland Strathearn website, which has an article called "Hanging Around Crieff"(!) the Rev. Duncan was tried at the Stayt - however, if the steward's court had moved to the Old Tolbooth in 1665, presumably he was actually tried there?
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