their way into the vale. The Barvick, which runs for three or four
miles along the western boundary of the parish, descends rapidly with
leaps and bounds into a deep and rocky dell, until it terminates in the
fall known as Spout Barvick. The Keltic, rising in the hills some four
miles to the north, enters a rocky ravine fully a mile up from the
turnpike road, and tumbling precipitously down a height of eighty feet
it reaches the vale, skirts the castle grounds, and, joining the
Shaggie, falls along with it into the Turret. The third stream--the
Shaggie--rises to the north-east of the Keltie, and, threading its way
for three miles between lofty banks covered with wood, it passes the
village, and pursues its course beneath the old ivy-crowned Roman
bridge, through the castle parks, until it becomes lost in the Turret.
The neighbourhood is peculiarly rich in trees. On the lawn behind
Monzie Castle are three of five famous larches planted in the year
1738--the fourth one fell during the November gale of 1893. They rival
those of the Duke of Athole at Dunkeld. There is a tradition that the
Duke's gardener, on his way home with the seed, was hospitably
entertained at Monzie, and planted them in remembrance of his visit.
The gardener was sent annually to observe their growth and report to
his master. "When this functionary returned and made his wonted
report, that the larches at Monzie were leaving those of Dunkeld behind
in the race, his Grace would jocularly allege that his servant had
permitted General Campbell's good cheer to impair his powers of
observation."[1] Altogether, the district is beautifully and
bountifully wooded, and many a laird gathered to his fathers must have
laid to heart some such advice as the laird of Dumbiedykes gave to his
son--"Jock, when ye hae naething else tae dae, ye may be aye stickin'
in a tree; it will be growin', Jock, when ye're sleepin'."
The valley of the Almond runs parallel to the vale of Monzie. Leaving
the manse, and passing the church and the school, the Keppoch Road
joins the road to Glenalmond, and after a walk of fully two miles the
traveller finds himself at the entrance to what is known as the Sma'
Glen--a romantic pass, stretching along the sides of the Almond for a
distance of fully two miles. Standing half-way up the glen on a
summer's day, looking northwards, the scenery is magnificent. Here,
from the mountain's brow rushes a foaming stream; there, a clump of
trees dressed in the most luxuriant green; here, mountains towering
bleak and wild; there, a few spots of verdure growing amid the rocks;
behind, the swift, pellucid Almond water; before, hills stretching on
and on till they are lost in the azure sky.
The banks of the Almond along the vale are associated with much
romance. Some time in the last century there lived at Corrivarlich a
noted sheep-stealer named Alastair Bane. Little is known of his
boyhood. He was supposed to have been brought to the district by
Highlanders who were in the habit of bringing to Crieff cartloads of
split pine from Rannoch Forest, which they sold to riddle-makers to
make riddle rims. During one of those visits the child is supposed to
have been left. He was called Alastair, owing to his supposed Highland
descent, and Bane, because of his white hair. As he grew up to manhood
he showed symptoms of a wandering disposition, and went frequently to
Amulree and Falkirk, acting in the capacity of a drover. While
pursuing this occupation he became acquainted with many of the
ferocious caterans who were at that time following the same calling.
How long Alastair continued a drover is not chronicled in oral
tradition. After a time he associated himself with a band of
bare-legged mountaineers, sixty in number, who located themselves under
his leadership in a cave in the glen, to the great terror and annoyance
of the district. It is said that the last combined effort of the band
at cattle-lifting was at a farm situated in the moor between
Fowlis-Wester and Buchanty. On this occasion dissension broke out
amongst the thieves, which ultimately ended in the breaking up of the
band. That Alastair Bane had his dwelling-place among the rocks in
Wester Glenalmond was well known, but every effort to discover its
whereabouts was in vain, until one night a shepherd, wandering on the
hills, chanced to see a light shining through a crevice in the rocks.
Creeping cautiously forward and peering through the opening, he
observed the formidable thief sitting on the floor, amusing himself
with an old fiddle and singing--
"Many a cow has lost her calf, many a sheep her lamb,
But I'll sit on a stane, and sing at my den--
The thief of Glenalmond will never be ta'en."
He was taken, however, and paid the full penalty of the law at
Perth--hanging for sheep-stealing being in practice at that date. When
on the scaffold he prophesied that "the water o' Almond runs ower mony
a stane, but it'll ne'er run twa years withoot takin' ane." The
prophecy has reference to the number of people drowned in the river,
which is remarkable for the impetuosity of its floods.
At Fendoch--the entrance to the Sma' Glen--we tread on historical
ground. Here, at Tom-an-Die--"Hill of God"--there is no reason to
doubt, was one of the chief stations of the Romans, a standing camp,
formed, not for a halt of a few days, but to be occupied for a
considerable time. It was formed by Agricola in the year 84 A.D., in
his seventh and last campaign, probably a little before the Battle of
Mons Grampius. It had many advantages of situation, and we may well
believe that it continued to be occupied by the Romans so long as they
had possession of North Britain;--by Lollius Urbicus, who in the next
century anew drove back the Caledonians to their fastnesses beyond the
Grampians; and by the Emperor Severus in the beginning of the third
century. So distinct were the traces of the camp in the year 1795,
when the first Statistical Account of the parish was written, as to
admit of its being measured. At that time the trenches were entire,
and in some places six feet deep; but both rampart and trenches have
disappeared under the operation of the plough. Though the camp covered
upwards of fifty acres, nothing can now be seen but a small piece of
breast-work facing the Almond.
At the mouth of the Sma' Glen there is a round
knoll--Tom-an-Tighe--"the House of the Hill"--where Fingal, the father
of Ossian, is said to have dwelt until his house was destroyed by Gara.
The place is called Fendoch, a corruption of Finn-Tighe--"Finn's
House." When Fendoch was burnt, Fingal built a fort on the summit of
Dunmore, on the east side of the glen, where he and his father, Comhal,
are said to be buried. The remains of this fort, still visible, show
it to have been a place of retreat almost impregnable. That Comhal,
his son, and grandson lived in the parish, the etymology of the place
can scarcely leave a doubt. Not only have we Fingal's house, but on
the moor contiguous to Fendoch we have Cairn-Comhal--"the cairn over
the grave of Comhal"; while at Cultoquhey we have a camp called in
Gaelic Comhal Cults--that is, "Comhal's battle"; and it is worthy of
note that, towards the close of last century, some urns with ashes in
them were dug up in this locality.
In the centre of the glen stands Clach-na-Ossian--"Ossian's
Stone"--which tradition held to cover the mortal remains of Scotia's
early bard. When the Government troops under General Wade were engaged
in carrying a highway through the glen, they found it necessary to
shift the position of Ossian's Stone. The detailed narrative of what
took place is as follows:--
"I have so lately mentioned Glenalmond, in the road from Crieff,
northward, that I cannot forbear a digression, though at my first
setting out, in relation to a piece of antiquity which happened to be
discovered in that vale, not many hours before I went through it in one
of my journeys southwards.
"A small part of the way through this glen having been marked out by
two rows of camp-colours, placed at a good distance one from another,
whereby to describe the line of the intended breadth and regularity of
the road by the eye, there happened to lie directly in the way an
exceedingly large stone, and, as it had been made a rule from the
beginning to carry on the roads in straight lines, as far as the way
would permit, not only to give them a better air, but to shorten the
passenger's journey, it was resolved that the stone should be removed,
if possible, although otherwise the work might have been carried along
on either side of it.
"The soldiers, by vast labour, with their levers and jacks, or
hand-screws, tumbled it over and over till they got it quite out of the
way, although it was of such an enormous size that it might be matter
of great wonder how it could ever be removed by human strength and art,
especially to such who had never seen an operation of that kind; and
upon their digging a little into that part of the ground where the
centre of the stone had stood, there was found a small cavity, about
two feet square, which was guarded from the outward earth, at the
bottom, top, and sides, by square flat stones."[2]
"The people of the country," says Newte, who travelled through the
district in 1791, "venerating the memory of the bard, rose with one
consent, and with bagpipe music carried the sacred dust away by force,
and buried it on the top of Dunmore, in the centre of his father's
fort." Burns visited Ossian's grave. Writing to his brother, on his
return to Edinburgh from the North, he says--"Being warm from Ossian's
country, where I have seen his very grave, what care I for fertile
plains and fishing villages?" Whether the dust of Ossian slumbers
amidst these mountains or within this glen no one can say--we have but
dim tradition to guide us; but surely no spot seems more suitable for
the resting-place of the Caledonian bard. No monument is erected to
perpetuate his memory, nor speaking stone whispers to each passer-by in
the language of Wordsworth--
"In this still place remote from men
Sleeps Ossian in the narrow glen";
but it is surrounded by mountains torn and thunder-split, and it is
laved by a stream as pellucid as his own Cona, which ever sings as it
flows the lonely dirge of the bard who sang of battles and the breath
of stormy war. "We feel a pride," says Fittis, writing of Ossian's
tomb, "we feel a pride in cherishing the thought that the hoary bard's
pilgrimage closed in Perthshire's 'narrow glen,' where the murmuring
Almond sang his requiem, and that his ashes still rest not far from the
banks of the stream."
Innerpeffray, annexed _quoad civilia_ to the parish of Monzie about the
beginning of the seventeenth century, is one of its historic scenes.
It derives its name from the Pow--a small stream which joins the Earn
near this place. Inner-Powfray signifies the junction of two rivers.
The name Powfray was given to it when the marshy grounds around the
Abbey of Inchaffray were cut and drained, after the Battle of
Bannockburn, by order of King Robert the Bruce, for the services of
Maurice, Abbot of Inchaffray. In process of time "Powfray," or
"Innerpowfray," became merged into "Innerpeffray," the name by which it
has been known for many generations.
The first laird of Innerpeffray was Sir John Drummond. The lands were
bequeathed to him by his father as his patrimony, and in 1508 he
founded here a collegiate church, which he endowed with a revenue
sufficient to maintain a provost and prebend. The ruins of the chapel,
dedicated to Saint Mary, mentioned as early as 1342, are still to be
seen. The chapel has one feature not observed in any ecclesiastical
edifice--what is termed "a squint"--an oblique opening in the wall to
allow those who were late in attendance to hear mass without attracting
the attention of the officiating priest. Few traces of ornament are to
be seen on the building, but at the eastern gable there is a niche in
which a half life-size figure of the Saint may have been placed. The
chapel was an off-shoot of the Abbey of Inchaffray, and part of it has
been used for generations as the burial-place of the Earls of Perth.
Robert Mercer, the third laird of Innerpeffray, granted to the Abbot
and Convent of Inchaffray the right to fish for eels in the water at
Polpefery, within the lordship of Dullory. Eels, it appears, formed a
favourite article of food among all classes of the people. During the
season of Lent the monastic establishments throughout the country
consumed large quantities. The fish were captured principally by means
of weirs, the eel-skins being used for making bindings to flails. The
licence to the Abbey of Inchaffray is dated 1454, and is as follows:--
"To all who shall see or hear this charter, Robert Mercer of
Innerpeffry wishes eternal salvation in the Lord. Be it known to your
University that I, not led by force or by fear, nor fallen in error,
but determined by my pure and spontaneous will, with consent and assent
of Alexander Mercer, my heir, and with consent and assent of Andrew
Mercer of Inchbrakie, are pledged for a certain sum of money, have
given, granted, and by this my present charter have confirmed, in
perpetual and pure charity, for the honour of Almighty God, and the
glorious Virgin Mary, and the blessed John the Evangelist, for the
salvation of my soul, and of the soul of Janet, my spouse, and that of
Alexander, my heir aforesaid, and of all my successors, to the Abbot
and Convent of Inchaffray, and their successors, serving, or that shall
in future serve God in that place, entire liberty and perpetual licence
of fishing, by means of enclosures, nets, or whatever instruments are
necessary for catching eels and other fishes.... In witness whereof
the seal of me, Robert Mercer, and the seal of Andrew Mercer, my uncle,
are appended to my present charter, before these witnesses, Tristram of
Gorty, John Quhyston, Alexander Cardeny, William Bonar of Kelty,
Alexander Sharp of Strathy, an John Crab, shield-bearer, with many
others, on the twenty-fourth day of the month of June, in the year of
our Lord one thousand four hundred and fifty-four."[3]
The Library of Innerpeffray was founded by David, third Lord Madertie,
whose family is now represented by Viscount Strathallan. Lord
Madertie's grandfather, James Drummond, was the second son of David,
Lord Drummond, and was created Lord Madertie on 31st January, 1609. He
was educated along with James VI., and was esteemed by that monarch as
"a man of parts and learning," and became a special favourite of the
Court. By his marriage with Jean, daughter of Sir James Chisholm of
Cromlix, he obtained the Barony of Innerpeffray, which had been his
mother's portion, and at his death, in 1623, his eldest son, John,
succeeded to the title. John was married to Helen Leslie, eldest
daughter of Patrick, Commendator of Lindores; and David Drummond, the
founder of the Library, was their eldest son. His second wife was Lady
Beatrix Graham, sister of the great Marquis of Montrose, and the
intimate relationship betwixt the families accounts no doubt for the
existence of several volumes that belonged to Montrose, which are now
in the Library.
The Library was intended for the benefit of students, and any other
persons in the district possessed of a literary turn of mind, or having
a thirst for knowledge. By his will, dated 1680, David, third Lord
Madertie, bequeathed the half of 6000 merks to be employed by Lord John
Carmichael and John Haldane of Gleneagles for the maintenance of a
library and schoolhouse which he had erected at the Chapel of
Innerpeffray. The sum conveyed was in a heritable bond, which made the
bequest inept; but in 1691 the nephew and heir of Lord Madertie
executed a deed of mortification, having for its object the vesting of
5000 merks for the encouragement of learning and the good of the
country; "and as a constant and perpetual stock for the preserving of
the said library and maintaining a keeper and schoolmaster, and for
augmenting the library and building a house; but under reservation of
his rights and those of his successors to nominate the librarian and
schoolmaster."[4] The endowment covered a school and library, but
under the new scheme, instituted in 1888, the school has been taken
over by Muthill School Board, and the present trustees are empowered,
after paying £15 per annum for the maintenance of the school and the
expenses of the trust, to pay over the remainder of the income, and to
transfer the library to any town or village within five miles of
Innerpeffray.
The Library is particularly rich in old Bibles. The oldest one in the
collection, and one having a special interest of its own, is dated
1530. It is in black-letter French, the translation being by St.
Jerome. It is a large folio copy, and contains initial letter
illustrations and pictorial woodcuts, the title-page being in red and
black ink. There is also a copy of what is popularly known as the
Treacle Bible, so called because of the rendering given to the passage
in Jeremiah viii. 22--"Is there not tryacle at Gylyad?" Two other
peculiarities deserve passing notice. The seventh commandment
reads--"Thou shalt not break wedlocke"; and Genesis xxxix. 2--"And God
was with Joseph, and he became a lucky man." One of the smallest
Bibles in the collection is one that is said to have been carried about
by the Marquis of Montrose. It bears his autograph in more than one
place, written in a bold plain hand. It seems to have been lost for a
number of years, and only turned up after a more careful supervision
was exercised. It was printed in the French language at Sedan in the
year 1633. There are quite a number of mottoes or extracts copied by
the Marquis himself on the leaves of the Bible, taken from classical
authors, showing that the book was one for close companionship. Three
of these extracts freely translated may be here transcribed. The first
is--"Honour to me is better than life"; the second, "Though the
shattered universe o'erwhelm him, the ruins should find him
untrembling"; and the third, under a pen-and-ink sketch of a mountain
and a rose, "Roses grow not without thorns." Of psalm-books there are
several very interesting examples. The oldest of these is an edition
of Marot and Beza's Psalms, dated 1567, and having music set to many of
the Psalms in staff and sol-fa notation. This copy is believed to be
unique. It contains a great number of prayers. The volume of
translations and paraphrases of the Psalms, which was published in 1630
as the work of James VI., is to be found in this collection. It is
entitled "The Psalms of King David, translated by King James." It has
portraits of King David on one side of the title-page and that of King
James on the other--one of the portraits being, of course, apocryphal.
Of prayer-books there is a copy of the "Booke of Common Prayer,"
printed by Barker in 1604; and also a copy of the book known as John
Knox's "Confession and Declaration of Prayers," which was printed in
1554, and which lately gave rise to considerable discussion as to
whether the early Reformed Church in Scotland used a liturgy. The
oldest printed book in the Library is a copy of Barclay's "Ship of
Fools," the date being 1508. Next in point of value as a specimen of
typography is the famous Paris edition of Hector Boece's "Chronicles,"
printed in 1527; and of as much interest is the edition of Bellenden's
translation of this work, printed by Thomas Davidson, of Edinburgh, in
1536. There is a specimen of early English printing shown in Fayban's
"Chronicle," the copy at Innerpeffray being the extremely scarce first
edition of 1533. The first edition of Holinshed's "Chronicles of
Englande, Scotlande, and Ireland," which was printed in 1577; is also
to be found here in good condition. Amongst other notable books may be
mentioned:--"The AEneid," by Gavin Douglas, 1533; Bishop Lesley's
"History of Scotland," in the original Latin, printed at Rome, 1578;
Drummond of Hawthornden's "Flowres of Sion," 1630; the same author's
"History of the Five Jameses," 1654; and also his "Miscellaneous
Poems," 1656; Drayton's "Polyolbion"; Dr Donne's "Elegies"; Stowe's
"Chronicles," 1580; Hitchcock's "Quintessence of Wit," 1590; John
Major's "De Gestis Scotorum," 1536; Bacon's "Essays," 1639; and the
first edition of Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy." Students of warfare
will find much to interest them in some of the military books of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries--one of these especially, printed
in the German language in 1620, being the work of John Jacobi von
Wollhausen, and entitled _Kreigskunst_. It contains engravings showing
the mode of pike exercise and the method of drill adopted for the
management of the musket with rest and linstock as then used. Amongst
the law books are numerous volumes of decisions by Kilkerran, Forbes,
Durie, Dirleton, Maclaurin, and others; as well as textbooks on law by
Grotius, Montesquien, Duffendorf, and other well-known writers.
Monzie is best known in connection with the burning of a witch. The
traditionary story makes out Kate M'Niven to have been a nurse in the
family of the Grammes of Inchbrakie, and as a proof that she was a
member of the weird sisterhood, a story is told of her in connection
with a visit which the Laird of Inchbrakie made to Dunning on the
occasion of some festivity. According to the fashion of the time, he
took with him his knife and fork. After he was seated at the dinner
table he was subjected to annoyance similar to that which teased Uncle
Toby--namely, the hovering of a bee about his head. To relieve himself
from the tiny tormentor, he laid down his knife and fork, and attempted
to beat off the insect with his hands. It soon flew out at the window;
but behold! the laird's knife and fork had disappeared. They were
searched for all over the table, and under the table; nowhere could
they be found; but when their owner reached home and recounted his
mysterious loss, Kate M'Niven, who was present, straightway went and
produced both articles safe and sound from their accustomed repository.
It was whispered that Kate had personated the bee.
Relieved of her duties in the house of Inchbrakie--as the result, it is
said, of an attempt to poison the young laird--Kate M'Niven returned to
her old home at the Kirkton of Monzie, where she acquired an "uncanny"
reputation. Evidence of her sorceries was collected or suborned, and
through the machinations of the young laird of Inchbrakie, she was
apprehended and brought to trial on a charge of witchcraft, and her
guilt being conclusively established, sentence of death was pronounced
against her. The stake was pitched and the faggots piled on the summit
of the Knock of Crieff, and thither was the sorceress dragged, to
suffer in presence of an immense multitude gathered from all the
surrounding country.
"From Fowlis and Logiealmond, even from Perth,
The rabble-multitude poured thick and fast,
Until it seemed as if the conscious earth
Believed this spectacle might be the last
Of fire and faggot she would e'er behold,
Lighted by _legal cruelty and crime_.
For never did such hosts of young and old,
Of tottering crones, and women in their prime,
Of high and low, of poor men and of rich,
Assemble at the burning of a witch."[5]
The Inchbrakie family tradition is much more reliable than the
traditionary story as related by Dr. Marshall and Rev. Mr Blair.
Writing under date November 25, 1895, Miss L Graeme says:--"My mother
was the wife of the second son of Inchbrakie, and I have over and over
again heard her relate how, on her home-coming as a bride, my
grandfather on one occasion told her the story. He spoke of Monzie
having brought a witch to the notice of the authorities. She was being
burnt on the Knock of Crieff, above Monzie, when the Inchbrakie of the
day,[6] riding past, did all in his power to try and prevent the matter
from being concluded, without avail. Just as the pile was being lit
she bit a blue bead from off her necklet, and spitting it at
Inchbrakie, bade him guard it carefully, for so long as it was kept at
Inchbrakie the lands should pass from father to son. Kate then cursed
the Laird of Monzie.