Auchterarder in the 1790s - home to the Ryder Cup in 2014 at its Gleneagles Golf Club !
The name Auchterarder
means “ the summit of the rising ground “ Apart from the town of that name it
applies also to the parish which was
formed when it joined
with its neighbour to the east ,
Aberuthven in the 16th Century .
The main rivers in the parish are the Earn and the smaller Ruthven , In the 18th
century there were some 11 mills powered
by the waters of the Ruthven and made it a vital part of
the economy of the parish , From an early date the stone built
houses were roofed by a grey local slate which was noted
for both for its appearance and
its durability .
Although the carrying out surveys and obtaining accurate
census statistics did not start
until 1801( with the detailed
census from 1841 ) , we have
available figures from a survey carried
out by Dr Webster in the 1770s He calculated
that there some 1194 persons in the parish . By the 1790s this had increased to a total of 1670 souls with 805 males and
865 females .The split down between town and village and rural living showed that there were 798
residing in Auchterarder town , Borland Park and Miltown with 878 in country locations . In the period prior
to the introduction of Statutory Registration in January 1855 ,
parishes relied on individuals submitting particulars of births , baptisms
, marriage , banns and deaths to
the Parish Clerk of the Established
church – namely the Presbyterian Church of Scotland . With the surge in the number of breakaway
bodies after the first secession
in the 1730s , many people ignored recording events . The situation was exacerbated by the introduction of a levy or
tax on each entry . Would be genealogists and family tree researchers should realise that the further back one goes the thinner is the availability of recorded
information . For some strange reason we find that not only in Auchterarder but throughout Scotlands some 940 parishes
deaths and burials failed to be recorded
in any appreciable numbers .
The First Statistical Account tells us that in 1791
Auchterarder Parish , the four main land owners did
not reside within the parish , a
situation that was sadly replicated
throughout most of rural Scotland
. The parish recorded farmers and “
occupiers of land “ as numbering 81 with some 49 weavers ( probably of the hand
loom variety ) and surprisingly 78 “ mechanics “ ! As this was in the pre motor
and engine era I can only assume that these guys were employed working on the machinery that was in place in the 11
mills that had been built on the Water of Ruthven. This period of
time was very much when farming
was labour intensive with comparatively
small units compared with the modern era . The Account for Auchterarder lists 109 male servants ( farm workers ) and
some 120 female servants . The women were in probability employed as domestics , dairy maids and field
workers .
Religion was always
an important aspect of life in 18th and 19th Century
Scotland . These Statistical Accounts
covered all of Scotland’s 940 plus parishes and were , by and large , written by the Parish
Minister , that is the incumbent
minister of the Established Presbyterian Church of Scotland . Much strife and
dissension occurred throughout the land . In particular there was a great deal of disagreement
with regard to the manner in
which the Church was or a should be governed . There were numerous “ secessions “ and breakaway bodies set up their own kirks/ churches quite often in close proximity
to the original one . These disputes
were often as not over what
would be described in modern eyes
as somewhat trivial matters . In Auchterarder in the 1730s things were
blown sky high over what was
called The Marrow of Modern Divinity
. This was a pamphlet published and
distributed within the Kirk . What got up the gullet of many
of the traditionalists was its
advocacy of the belief that one could “ come to Christ without foregoing one’s sin
“ amongst a host of similar teachings . The Auchterarder congregation were
looking for a new minister and examined one William Craig .
Craig had read and
believed in the content of the “ Marrow” pamphlet but was asked
to deny its principles before
becoming licensed and to sign up a loosely drawn up statement . Because he refused to subscribe to this
statement, William Craig was denied licensure to the ministry and the matter
came to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for resolution. The
statement under question became known as "The Auchterarder Creed" and
after being discussed at length in the General Assembly of the Church of
Scotland was adopted thus accelerating a
large exodus of members known as Seceders who established their own Church .
In Auchterarder by
the time of the first Statistical Account
we are told “ The number of souls in the Established Church is
1176 and of Seceders including those of the Relief population 492 . There are
only 2 Episcopalians . “
It is always interesting to know what
things were really like in those far off days . The benefit of the Accounts is that we can
get an accurate picture of the conditions under which our ancestors
lived and worked all those years ago . The arable economy of
Auchterarder in the late 18th
century was based on crops such as wheat , oats , barley , peas , hay , potatoes
and turnip . Although tree plantations or
woodlands did not exist in any number , there were numerous examples of fir , oak , ash , elm , beech , alder , birch
and elder scattered throughout the
parish . The countryside was
populated by hares , partridges , otters
, polecats and foxes . It would appear
that in the 18th century the
rabbit was not the
main occupant of the rural terrain
!
The small farms that
were scattered throughout the parish
followed a similar routine and grew peas , lint seed ( flax ) and potatoes .It
was interesting to note that the turnip was becoming a popular root crop amongst many farmers whilst
invariably grass pasture is sown and cut
eventually as hay . Although some wheat is sown
the majority of farmers sow barley which appears to be more
suited to the area .To the west
of the village of Auchterarder there
lies some 200 acres of common land known
as the Moor of Auchterarder . Here
cattle are grazed . In addition there is
common land on the Hill of Foswell , part of the Ochils .
In the late 18th century there were 4 corn mills, 3 lint mills, a paper mill
, 2 oil mills and a fulling mill located
on the Ruthven Water and the author of the Statistical
Account noted that it was of great significance that the
main road from the Perth and
Aberdeen and the “ east country “ to the
north , came through the parish giving
access to Stirling and Glasgow .
One of the
problems facing Auchterarder village in the late 18th century
was a laclk of regular fresh water .
Apparently the river ran dry in the
summer and despite sinking of wells , the problem remained . It was hoped to
lay wooden pipes from the fountain source
a distance of some 2 miles but this
was deemed an unaffordable burden .
The Account provides
us with details regarding the cost of food at that
time and the wages that were being paid . Farm labourers in the summer were paid one shilling a day ( some 5 pence in current currency ) and in
winter ten old pence or approximately
4 pence in current currency . Masons and
carpenters as skilled tradesmen got a higher daily wage .
The former 1/6 a day or 7.5 pence new
and the latter 1/ 2 or 6 pence new .
The First Statistical
Account is a superb example of social history .. The Auchterarder account ,
written by the local minister , paints a real picture of the state of
the parish some 212 years ago in the
period prior to the upsets of the
Napoleonic Wars . There is a
detailed account of life and economic existence
for a typical family in Auchterarder . Note that the example
given states that there are some 7
children in the household . Although families
did tend to be much larger than in this present era , do
remember that there was a high level
of infant and child mortality which
often reduced the number of
dependents quite dramatically . In the example below I have
altered the original pounds , shillings
and pence to modern sterling to facilitate understanding .
Year : 1791
Statement of the annual
Income and expenditure of a Day – labourer ( farm worker ) in the Parish of
Auchterarder who has a wife and seven children , the oldest of which is a girl
13 years of age and the second a boy who tended cattle last season . Along with his dwelling house he rents an acre of land .
Income : The father of
the family has 5 pence a day of wages
for 8 months in the year and 4 pence a day for the remaining 4 months
.Deducting 43 days for Sundays ,holidays and bad weather from
the summer months and 30 days on the
same account from the winter months he
gains during the whole year :
£ 13.85
The mother with the assistance
of her eldest girl , in the management of her family , earns by spinning 7.5 pence a week which is in a year £ 3.90
The eldest boy
earned by tending cattle £ 0.90
The acre of land
produced last year 6 firlots of oats @ £0.68
the boll £1. 00
4 bolls of barley
£2.80
6 bolls and a firlot
of potatoes £ 1. 30
Sold a calf
£0.35
Total income £ 24.11
Expenses: Rent of his
house and land £3.00 and expenses
of food and management
£1.25 £ 4.25
Fuel and 8 bolls
and a firlot of oatmeal £7.41
4 bolls of barley
meal £1. 87
Father’s clothes ( shirt
, shoes , stockings bonnet and
Handkerchief ) £1. 12
Mother’s clothes (
shift and 2 aprons, shoes , handkerchief
Stockings , bonnet )
£ 0.44
Clothes and shoes for
children £2.28
Food bought : cheese
butter salt butcher meat £2.60
Lamp oil and
candles
£ 0.40
Molasses for making ale
£0.50
Expenses for illness, needles , pins and thread £ 0.76
Whisky , small beer
and wheaten bread ay New Year £ 0.17
Family consumes the potatoes the land produces £1.3
Grass to the cow and straw
in winter £ 0. 82
Total Expenses £24.00
The above clearly shows
how tight was the rural family’s
budget with little between solvency and poverty and the small
amount of rented land and
the ability to keep a cow was very
important to basic survival .
In 1791 in
Auchterarder there were 13 persons on Poor Relief who received a weekly allowance through the church .
Others received occasional charity hand outs to keep them off
the poverty level . It was stated in the Account
that the value of the stipend ( the minister’s salary ) was £ 90 which
included money from the “ glebe “ or
ground attached to the manse which was
often let for grazing .
At the time of the Account
Auchterarder was the main village / town
in the parish . It had once been a Royal Burgh and sent a member of Parliament
to Edinburgh . Many of the houses were burgage properties where the right of rental belonged to the
monarch .At this time the main
street was about a mile long with about
100 houses many of which had been recently rebuilt .
Four Fairs were held each year with an annual cattle Tryst
where the black cattle from the Highlands were sold . It stated that the
current population ( 1791 ) was 594 but increasing with several new houses having been built .Apart from the Established
Church ( of Scotland ) there was a Relief Kirk ( one of the churches which had
broken away from the main Kirk ) . The account narrates in some detail the
state of industry in the town :
“About twenty years
ago ( 1770 ) a considerable manufacture of
yarn and narrow linen cloth was carried on in Auchterarder . It was fold
bleached and unbleached a nd sent to Glasgow . This trade is in great measure extinct .Sale
linens are still manufactured in the town and neighbourhood ; and linen of a
fabric peculiar to the place , and which
goes by its name . At a little distance from Auchterarder is a village called the Borland Park , built
by Government for the accommodation of soldiers who were disbanded after
the war of 1763 and contains a 140 inhabitants who are mostly weavers . Most of
the soldiers who were planted in it , left very soon afterwards although the terms
of their settlement were very advantageous , either from dislike to the place or more probably to their new mode
of life . On the south of Auchterarder and along the side of the Ruthven is Miltown
a small village containing 64 inhabitants
. here there is a distillery consisting
of two , 40 gallon stills .”
There is mention in the Account
of some of the antiquties found within the parish . Auchterarder . To the
north of the town lies the old Castle of Auchterarder which served as the hunting seat of Malcolm Canmore . Sadly the account
tells us that the farmer
was allowed to use the stones of
the castle to construct a new farm house
. North of the castle lies the old
parish church which is pre Reformation and
was known as St Mungo’s Chapel . The burial ground was for many years
the old church yard .
The author of this
intriguing Account , the Rev Andrew
Duncan reveals a degree of knowledge with
regard to the nature of spinning and
weaving within the parish .He states “
were the two handed spinning wheel more
generally used it would probably
contribute in some measure to better the circumstances of the lower class
of people as well as to increase the materials of the linen manufacture . There
are but one or two such wheels in this parish and it is but little used in many parts of the country
. It might also be for the interests of the lower class of people , and especially
the women , were they more employed than they are , in manufactures for which they are qualified .The great
demand for men for all kinds of work has
raised their wages to an exorbitant height ; while in this part of the country ,
at least , the wages of female servants are
barely sufficient to support them when in health . They cannot afford to set
aside any provision for sickness or old age , without the utmost parsimony . Nevertheless
everybody is now decently and comfortably clothed , which was perhaps not the
case then and there is now four times the quantity of butcher meat used .There
is now a baker in the village .”
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