PerthshireCrieffStrathearn Local History

A Battle of Kings Fought On Our Doorstep Perched high above Loch Turret are some of the most picturesque peaks in Strathearn. For many years visitors and locals alike have walked from the foot of the Turrett Dam past Creag Chaissean towards Choinneachain, the Blue Crags and the source of the Barvick Burn.  Picture of the Cairn taken by Crieff author and ley line expert David Cowan  http://www.ley-man.co.uk/ Not the highest of local hills at little over two and half thousand feet but undoubtedly one of the most interesting. In 2005 the stone cairn from which the hill gets its name celebrated a unique anniversary. The ordnance survey map proclaims both in English and our native Gaelic that it is King Kenneth’s Cairn.  Who was Kenneth and why does this lonely peak have a cairn in his memory?  One thousand years ago (the actual date is subject to debate) a great battle was fought between Kenneth lV, King of Scots, and his cousin Malc...

Strathearn's Hidden Architectural Beauty  And A Few Stories ! Braco Castle ( above ) : A tall and very extensive building covering four periods. The original fortalice has been a square tower or keep, with a projecting stair-tower, of probably 16th century construction, though possibly earlier. To it was added, towards the middle of the 17th century, an extension to the south, engulfing the stair-tower. Then a large L-shaped extension, of the same height and general style was added to the east, during the reign of George III, to form three sides of a square. Finally, in  the Victorian era, the square was filled in with a slightly lower 'castellated' central portion and sham turrets.  Williamston House : Near Madderty , Williamston dates back to the 16 th century and  belonged to the Oliphant family of Gask . Alterations  were carried out by Laurence Oliphant who had purchased the house from Sir William Blair of Kinfauns. Historical rumour ...

  The Old Parish Church in Church Street Crieff July 2014 PART FOUR The old grave yard in Church  ceased  to function  away back in 1853  when the present one in Ford road opened  There were a number of interments after that date  where families  had  purchased  burial lairs  from the Parish Kirk . In the 1990s Perth  and Kinross Council acting as the responsible party for the maintenance of the churchyard , advertised in the local press that any one who held  burial rights in the ground were required  to contact them pending the removal of a number of stones / memorials . Fortunately the  churchyard had  been surveyed in August 1972  by Allison Mitchell and her  father , assisted  by the late Marshall Sloan a well known local worthy . Some  134 memorials  were listed and it would  appear that in or around 500 individuals had been laid ...

  The Old Parish Church in Church Street Crieff July 2014 PART THREE I thought it a good  idea  to list here the succession  to the  post of minister or rector in the Crieff Parish Church  from  the year 1560 . Why 1560 ? Well that was the year that officially the Church in the town/ village ceased  to be Catholic  and  became ( nominally ) Protestant . Am afraid  much of our local church history has  been formulated in the mind  set of our Calvanistic  ancestors . A lot of the truth , in my opinion  has  been dusted  under the carpet . Read about the kind of guys who " administered " unto the morally and spiritually weak and form your own opinions ! Ministers of Crieff Parish Church after Reformation 1560 : Alexander Christie – Catholic Priest joined Reformed Church- reader in Monzievaird in  1567 . 1563 : Thomas Drummond – probably knew John Knox ( Hea...

  The Old Parish Church in Church Street Crieff July 2014 PART TWO Why this part of Crieff is so important to our fragile  heritage ? Now a sad site  One of Crieff’s saddest sites is that  of the old decaying  parish church in Church Street in the  heart of the  old town  .The location of the  Church and its grave yard is  why the town of Crieff expanded  outwards  from this particular  locus .  Close  by was situated  the old Cross of Crieff . The place  where the drovers of old  gathered  for  a  “ blether “and  perhaps a wee dram or two   in the adjoining  hostelry – the place where Rob Roy taunted the redcoats in the aftermath of Sheriffmuir and the ‘ 15 Uprising . This is old Crieff – the original Crieff ! The gradual demise of this  old building is sad  but perhaps  inevitable.  It has  been  badl...

The Old Parish Church in Church Street Crieff July 2014 PART ONE Introduction to set the scene I have  been writing on the history of Crieff and the Strathearn area  over many years . This blog  has  been on the go for over two years and has published  well over one  hundred  “ blogs “ on a variety of local history topics covering  the Romans  , the Picts , the lost Abbey of Inchaffray and of  course the  fantastic  discoveries  of our Neolithic past – the Cursus and the timber  round  houses found in proximity . Invariably  the  tone of  my writings  has  been positive and welcoming whenever  possible  and , I trust , objective  and critical when I deemed it in the public  interest .  I live  close by the old Parish Church of Crieff in Church Street  ( or Kirkgate as it was once known ) and know both  the old buildin...

The Scotsman 10 th November 1891 The “ Kind Gallows of Crieff"  At a meeting of the Town Council yesterday a very interesting relic  was formally handed over to the  Council for safe custody ,this being two parts of the famous Kind Gallows of Crieff , so well known as being referred to by Sir Walter Scott in his Waverley and also mentioned by Lord Macaulay in his History of England ( sic ) . During the great fairs held in Crieff prior to the establishment of the Falkirk Trysts about the year 1770, hanging of cattle stealers  was very common and the Earls of Strathearn and other feudal superiors were wont to hold frequent courts in afield to the south west of the Town, known as the Stayt .The principal highway in the valley of the Earn led east and west past the Gallows Hill , a small knoll nearly a mile  from the Stayt . This place of execution is now embraced  in Crieff and is at present indicated  by a tree , the locality being...