PerthshireCrieffStrathearn Local History

Ochtertyre -tales of mass murder and romantic poetry ! Excerts from “Beauties of Upper Strathearn “ – an 1860 Tourist Guide The mansion house is situated about half way down the slope and is a plain modern and commodious building. At the foot of the slope there is a beautiful sheet of water, on the promontory of which stands the donjon of an old fortress that once occupied the whole of the promontory. To the west of the mansion house there is an observatory most picturesquely situated and designed. Granite Lodge  The tourist , sending forward his vehicle to the lower west lodge , may enter the grounds   by the east avenue   at what is called the Granite Lodge .On the left , at half distance between the lodge and the mansion   may be seen the family mausoleum , a massive   and tasteful structure of Gothic architecture, erected in 1809 and adorned   with suitable windows of   stained glass. On a black marble tablet, under the ...

                            The Campus , The Cursus and The Stayt   Colin Mayall  Crieff November 2009 (Updated February 2010 , May 2014)       Crieff’s Cursus - The Symbolic River ( written 2006 ) Perhaps you had noticed that they were digging ditches and doing all sorts of things in the field where the new Crieff High school is scheduled to be built? . This was   a sort of preamble to the building work commencing in the near future ( after November 2007 ) . It is now a pre requisite of all building works that where there is an important site of historic interest archaeological work must be undertaken prior to works commencing . The proximity to the   old Stayt of Crieff ( the “ Parliament “ of old Strathearn ) was the reason . That was the spot where the Stewards of Strathearn sat on the elevated pimple that occupied the site...

                                  Weavers of Strathearn For Strathearn, the diminution in importance of the Michaelmas Fair or Market brought about by the collapse of the cattle trade,was to a certain extent offset by the rapid growth of the linen trade. Traditionally,rural communities had always had a weaving tradition although mostly in wool.With the Union of Parliaments, the protective tariffs set up by the English state were abolished and at last Scottish merchants were given equal opportunities to deal with the lucrative London market where the light ,cheap linen cloths had begun to usurp the hold of the traditional woollen garment. A " count " of heads in Scotland had been carried out around 1755 by Dr Webster. This is a useful base to compare with later figures. Indeed in The Statistical Account of Scotland edited by Sir John Sinclair and covering the period 1791 to 1799,...

Happiness and Sorrow in Reflection Peter MacGregor from Gilmerton - official Piper Despite the rattles of the sabres and   the distant sounds   of war   drums   , Crieff ( and specifically   Monzie ) were the focal   point   for   some 3 500 Rover Scouts   from all over the World . A “ Moot “ was   the scouting   term   for a meeting or   gathering and the Scouts had   declared their internationalism by   holding Moots , firstly in Kandersteg in Switzerland in 1931 and then in Ingaro Sweden in 1935 . Both these   events   attracted    some 3 000 Rover Scouts from many countries . It was a great honour that Scotland was   chosen and indeed Strathearn   and Monzie were to   play host . Although the prevailing turmoil had begun to ruffle the   waves in Europe , some 3 500 arrived at Crieff Station in July 1939 to march or...

Back to the Past Comrie in the 1790s We are somewhat fortunate in Scotland to have   preserved on line the Incredible Statistical Accounts . The   first produced in the 1790s   were   co ordinated   by Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster in Caithness . He sent out a   structured questionnaire   to over 900 parish ministers   covering the whole of Scotland   They were asked   160 questions   in four sections covering geography and topography , population , agriculture and industrial production   and   some   miscellaneous queries . The general response   was   excellent     and a detailed portrait of the Nation   was laid   before   the General Assembly ( of the Church of Scotland ) in 1799 . We   now have an incredible   picture of the world in which our ancestors lived and worked . A time   which enables us   to   look at on the eve of both the ...