PerthshireCrieffStrathearn Local History

The Toshachs of Strathearn and Possibly the USA ! A Strathearn Castle That Has " Vanished " !       Toshach       The name   “Toshach “ is   not one readily associated   with Strathearn – indeed   those   older   citizens   amongst us   will   recall   one John Toshack   who was a renowned football /soccer player   for   Wales   many moons ago ! Indeed the name crops up again as “ Taoiseach” – the Prime Minister of the Irish Republic . It is derived from the Gaelic 'toiseach', meaning chief, leader or front man. An ancient title ranking next to the mormaer. The Toshach's of   Monzievaird ( pronounced mony – vaird ! ) had as their coat of arms a silver shield surmounted by a fess or horizontal bar .It has been speculated that the Toshach's of Monzievaird held the rank of barons. The Toshes (or Toshach's) of Monzievaird were derived from the Thanes of Strowan ("The Highland Clans, Sir Ian Moncreiffe ) . “ Pit and Gallows&quo

                                                       Murder suspect Ailean Breac Stewart                                                                Recreated likeness       Murder Site Memorial Cairn     To the memory of a man  hanged in a travesty of justice      This tale is   perhaps geographically out with the normal range of this “ Blog “ but the recent   press   coverage and general interest deem that I include it   for   the wider   audience . As a schoolboy in those   so far off days I was nurtured on the works Stevenson and Scott as well as   the   more modern John Buchan . Buchan   just happened   to have been a pupil at the same establishment I attended albeit   some   years prior ! Stevenson’s“ Kidnapped   “ was   undoubtedly amongst the   most popular   of the “ home   readers”   we had   to digest in the quest for the basics of our   Scottish heritage . “ Kidnapped “ introduced   me to the tale of the Appin Murder which is