PerthshireCrieffStrathearn Local History

There  were more than  a few stares and  scratching of  heads last week  when well known  Civil Engineering contractor Murphy started  to erect  a circle  of  timber adjacent to the entrance to the Strathearn Campus ! This was in fact  the culmination  of  much work , talk and discussion  following the discovery in 2011 at Pittentian near Crieff of  what appeared  to be a timber circle of  great antiquity . It  had  been identified  during  a  survey in advance of the  construction  of  the Beauly to Denny power line  which was  scheduled  to bisect the Strath transmitting power to the Central  Belt  . Thanks  to the funding provided by Scottish and Southern Energy , Northlight Heritage undertook a detailed  excavation on the site which lies  approximately half a mile east of the Campus and the anc...

MacRosty Park Crieff I know that if you have  been following this local history Blog on Perthshire Crieff and Strathearn you will be interested in  my new Blog  site  which  will display a  wide variety of pictures old and new covering this  most beautiful part of Scotland .The first  one has  just been launched and shows  the wonderful MacRosty Park in Crieff throughout the seasons . Have a look and see if  you like it ! http://pastpresentpicsstrathearnperthshire.blogspot.co.uk

Perhaps I am being parochial but it  is regrettable  that the Royal couple  who  are due  to visit  Strathearn in late May  are  virtually always  referred  to as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge  rather  than by  their  Scottish titles of the Earl and Countess of Strathearn !  I ran  a Blog on my Blog site  http://perthshirecrieffstrathearnlocalhistor.blogspot.co.uk/ some two years  ago on the Pictish origins  of the original Earls and  how they ruthlessly maintained  their  power base in Strathearn – the successor  to the ancient kingdom of Fortren or Fortriu .  My last  Blog  concerned the unfortunate minister of Kinkell who was the last person to be hung in Crieff . Richard Duncan found  guilty  by the Earl of Strathearn  duly dispatched on the “ Kind Gallows “  in 1682 despite  the fact  that a reprieve  ...

The Last Hanging In Crieff The Gallows of Crieff : The importance of Crieff as a place of significance in Perthshire was emphasised  rather  strangely  by the fact that it  not only was it  an established place for executions  but also had a full time hang man to carry out the prescribed  sentence . This  was  somewhat  unusual in Scotland  in the 16 th , 17 th and 18 th centuries and his services  were often called upon  for from not only the “ Fair City “ of Perth but places  much further afield . Although there has  been  some debate over the years  as  to where the actual location of the gallows  was in the  town , circumstantial evidence  points  pretty convincingly to the appropriately named  Gallow Hill , a small knoll once the locus of  cattle pens  but now given over to a small development by Hillcrest Housing Association . When the ne...

Daniel Robertson - Monzievaird ploughboy and millionaire  NOTE :** Scottish idiom - A  lad o' pairts  is a youth, particularly one from a humble background, who is considered talented or promising. I have researched  more than a few  families  from Strathearn as a professional genealogist .In common with the rest of  Scotland historic and economic  pressures  often  forced  families   to  depart these  shores  for the “ New World “ that is North America  or  perhaps to Australia South Africa or New Zealand  . There was  indeed in the  18 th and 19 th century a  pattern of  step migration as families  left  many of their rural or Highland roots  to head  for  the  burgeoning Central Belt locations  such as Glasgow or the  mining  towns of Ayrshire or Lanarkshire . I blogged  some  months...

Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Volume 2  By Society of Antiquaries of Scotland ( 1822 ) The Old Strowan Kirk closed to worship about 1802 Extracts From  A History of the Parishes of Monivaird And Strowan In the Archives of the Society By Mr Porteous , Minister of Monivaird The united parishes of Monivaird and Strowan are almost in the midst of Perthshire , sixteen miles north west from Stirling and thirteen miles west from Perth ; to both which places small ships and the tides come . The inhabited part thereof is a parallelogram of four miles from east to west . , and two miles from north to south : but it has another parallelogram of the Grampian Hills and moorish ground on the north , of four miles in length , and two in breadth ; and a smaller one on the south , of moor , of the same length , but only half a mile in breadth ; and its is bounded on the north by the tops of high mountains; which lie betwixt...

The stigma of social and physical handicap Poorhouses in Scotland Scotland  has  had a different Poor Law system to that of England . In 1579 the Scottish Parliament legislated enabling individual  parishes to remunerate the impoverished  living therein .It established a system which was not just an enumeration of the destitute but an examination  of whether these individuals could find alternative  means of support from other individuals or family members .They made begging and vagrancy public nuisances The Act intended  to remove the responsibility for the support of the poor from the church to the parishes . Magistrates were ordered to build Correction Houses or workhouses so that beggars could be made to work. In 1843, a Commission of Enquiry was set up to suggest improvements to the Scottish Poor Law system. Proposals suggested included: Setting up a Board of Supervision and Parochial Boards ,the levying of a poor rat...