The Fairs in Strathearn as elsewhere
were anciently sanctioned by the Church , and derived their name from some
saint . In 1745 , the following Fairs were held as under :
St Mavains , at Fowlis Wester on 26th
October .
St Thomas , at Crieff on 21st
December .
St Patrick’s , at Strageath ( Lady
Market) on 17th March .
S St
Frances , at Crieff , on the 3rd Tuesday of June .
Michaelmas , at Crieff , on 29th November .
This last was the greatest cattle
market in Scotland and was , by Act of
Parliament, removed in 1773 ,to Falkirk
. In 1734 the customs of the Fairs of Crieff and Fowlis Wester ,
collected for the Earl of Perth by Thomas Caw , Milnab , amounted to nearly
£600 Scots . From this was paid a
large sum to the market guards and pipers , and for entertainment given by the
Earl to his tenants and feuars attending the Fairs . In consequence of the
feuds which prevailed in the districts , and the wild Highlandmen from the
north who frequented this Fair , and whose heads never bore a covering , the
Earls of Perth were wont to go in person to the Fair with a strong guard armed
with Lochaber axes , beside a force of their tenants , feuars retainers . This
ceremony was observed with more than usual pomp and circumstance by James , Duke of Perth , who joined the
Uprising of 1745 . Besides his guards
and feuars , his tenants attending the
Fair from the Baronies of Lix in Killin , Balquhidder , Kinbuck and Auchterarder , and his Estates in
Muthill , Crieff , Comrie and
Monzievaird joined in the
procession .The supporters of the House
of Hanover viewed this display with anxious suspicion , because at this period , plainly employed
for political purposes .
This nobleman was the most
enterprising improver of his day . He spent large sums of money in planting and
reclaiming land ; in bringing horses from Yorkshire to improve the breed of the
district ; in building mills and bridges ; and in opening a lead mine at Brae
Leny ; and a lime quarry in Bracklin near Callander . In 1740 he erected , at
his own expense , a linen manufactory in Crieff for the benefit of the place .
This factory stood near where the present Masons’ Lodge is.
In 1730 the “ King’s Highway “ to the
north began to be made through Crieff , and in 1743 the earl of Perth , or as
he is called the Duke of Perth , feued out St James Square , and gave
compensation for the land to the tenant
, Thomas Caw , Milnab . The only descendant of the original feuars around the
Square who holds possession is William Murray Esq., the late respected agent of
the Perth Bank . The present Crieff Inn , called the Drummond Arms , was then
erected , at which Simon , Lord Lovat ,
rested on his way to his trial as a “ rebel “ by the Hanoverian Government ,
Till this period , Crieff with the
exception of Galvelmore and Milnab , had not expanded much beyond the cross to
the west .
The following were its leading men in
1735 : Thomas Caw , Milnab ; John Caw , clothier , Milnab ; Thomas Caw ,
surgeon ; David Thomson , writer ; David Drummond , schoolmaster ; Duncan
Robertson , merchant ; William Clement , dealer in powder and lead ;John Glass,
merchant ; John Taylor , merchant ; David Peat , baxter ( baker ) George
Morrison , saddler ; Patrick Philp , slater ; Alex. Gentle , wright and glazier
; David Porteous , brewer . There were also three brewers in Galvelmore . King
Street was feued after St James Square ; and after the forfeiture of the Perth
Estate , Commissioner Street was feued by the Government Commissioners . Campbell
of Barcaldine , the agent of the Commissioners resided in Crieff , in Highland
state ; but being accused of having an excess of the “ greed of the Campbells ,
“ in taking bribes from the tenants , even so small as a stone of lint , he was
superseded .
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