PerthshireCrieffStrathearn Local History

 I'm not saying what glen it belonged to and its not the Clans I'd be thinking of then When I came at the turn of the evening To the mouth of yon Glen Twas a desolate Glen as I'd known it With never a stick upon stone And a scattering of sheep on a hillside That was bare as a bone ( Robert Bain 1865 - 1955, father of Elizabeth Colvin Bain  )  I recall many moons   ago talking   to three charming elderly sisters   in a pleasant end terrace house in Nellfield Road Crieff . In those   days the houses   overlooked   the green expanse of what were the girls’ hockey pitches of Morrison’s Academy , a well established   seat of learning in our small town . The eldest of the ladies   was Elizabeth Colvin Bain   - a retired   geography teacher   from the Academy and unbeknown to me then a more than competent amateur archaeologist ! Elizabeth Bain died in 1999 aged   94 years but left behind...

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 ...

                                                       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 “ B...

Crieff’s   High Street Before World War 1 ( 1913/1914 ) Part One      Tom Cuthbert , grocer , East High Street ( now Mike Sweeney , barber )                                                                                                                                           ...

Innerpeffray - an ancient Chapel - the oldest lending Library in Scotland PLUS  a Roman Ford and Road !     Innerpeffray Library   Although Innerpeffray is  tucked  away by the  banks of the Earn  east of Crieff  and is now a quiet back water - it has a vibrant  past dating from the Roman invasion in the 1st century AD right up to date . This  unique  gem is an essential  visit when you come to Strathearn ! Read on !      (the following account of the Library  is reproduced  from the Innerpeffray Library wewbsite with grateful acknowledgement -http://www.innerpeffraylibrary.co.uk)  The Library and School at Innerpeffray were founded by David Drummond 3rd Lord Madertie in around 1680, the first free public lending library in Scotland. Madertie was a member of the Drummond Family, one of the most important landowning families of the area, friend and bro...