family until its attainder after the death of James, Duke of Perth,
when the lands passed into the hands of the Commissioners of the
Annexed Estates. Under their administration a good deal was done for
the improvement of the place. The Commissioners encouraged the
manufacture of linen, and they laid out the lands of Borland Park into
convenient divisions, erecting cot-houses thereon for the soldiers who
had been engaged in the German War. They also made a grant of the
Girnal House of Auchterarder for the benefit of the inhabitants. The
lands were restored to the Perth family in 1784, and were disposed of
by Lord Perth shortly thereafter; the Castle and the adjoining lands of
Castlemains becoming the property of the late John Malcolm, Esq., while
the remainder of the Barony was purchased by the Hon. Basil Cochrane,
by whose trustees it was sold in 1831 to the late Lieutenant-Colonel
James Hunter, who erected a mansion-house thereon. He died in 1874,
leaving the estate to his nephew, Major Patrick Hunter, who in 1887
sold it to the late James Reid, Esq., Lord Dean of Guild of Glasgow,
and it is now possessed by his trustees.
The Castle of Auchterarder, which is situated about a quarter of a mile
to the north of the town, though not of large dimensions, must have
been a place of considerable strength. It was surrounded by a moat,
the traces of which are still visible. The only remaining fragment is
a part of the donjon keep. A carved stone is built into the wall.
Through exposure it is very much defaced, but it represents a warrior
seated in a chariot, and is supposed to be Roman. The wall is nine
feet thick. Some years ago the draw-well of the Castle, built around
with masonry, and of considerable depth, was discovered. The Castle is
said to have been entire until the end of last century, when a vandal
farmer took it down to build farm offices.
A Common of upwards of two hundred acres in extent is situated to the
west of the town, over which the inhabitants from time immemorial
exercised a right of pasturage. A Process of Division was raised
before the Court of Session in 1808 by the Honourable Basil Cochrane,
then proprietor of the Barony. This process was wakened in 1814, and
again in 1841. Defences were lodged for the portioners and feuars, and
thereafter by the inhabitants, on the ground that, as the Common was a
pertinent of a royal burgh, it was indivisible, and the Act for
division of commons did not apply. Litigation followed, and ultimately
in 1860 a Bill was brought into Parliament and carried through for the
vesting of the Common for the benefit of the town in a set of
Commissioners. Under the Muir Improvement Act, 1860, the Common was
reclaimed by the Commissioners, being drained, trenched, and fenced.
The debt incurred in the reclamation is nearly wiped out, and it now
forms a valuable source of public revenue. The careful and economic
conduct of the Commissioners since the Act was passed, by which such a
favourable result has been attained, is deserving of all praise, and
the gratitude of future generations.
In 1894 the ratepayers resolved to adopt the Burgh Police Act, and the
affairs and management of the town are now entrusted to Police
Commissioners.
Having given this retrospect of the civil history of Auchterarder, we
shall now advert to a few prominent facts in its ecclesiastical annals.
The first notice we have of the Church of Auchterarder is in the
foundation charter by Gilbert, Earl of Strathearn, dated in 1198, in
favour of the Abbey of Inchaffray. By that charter he granted the
Church of St. Meckessock of Eochterardeour, and the four other Churches
of Aberuthven, Madderty, Strageath, and Kinkell. This grant was
subsequently confirmed, and the additional churches added thereto of
Dunning, Monzievaird, Fowlis, and Kilbryde.[11]
As already stated, King Alexander II. granted the teind of his duties
of Auchterarder, and, by a subsequent charter, amongst other grants he
confirmed the grant of these churches to Inchaffray.
William the Lion executed a similar confirmation of the grant of the
Churches of Madderty, Kinkell, and Auchterarder.
In virtue of these grants the teinds of the Church of Auchterarder were
drawn by the Abbey of Inchaffray, but, as a condition, the Abbey had to
provide divine ordinances in the Parish Church, and the cure
accordingly was served by a vicar. The church and parish were within
the Diocese of Dunblane. The old parish church is situated about half
a mile to the north of the town, and, though roofless, is standing
nearly entire. It is a long, narrow building with no architectural
beauty. The foundation cross--a long slab with a Latin cross
thereon--was, a number of years ago, exhumed, and now stands within the
walls; while the baptismal font, which until lately stood at the
western entrance, was recently removed for safe custody to the new
parish church within the town. The old bell is also there. Although
small, it gives forth a very sweet and clear sound, and bears the
impress of antiquity.
The Church of Auchterarder was dedicated to St. Mackessog, who was also
the patron saint of Luss and Comrie. He flourished in the sixth
century, and his day was the tenth of March. His legend and office are
given under that date in the Breviary of Aberdeen. Southward from the
church a few hundred yards there is a perennial spring still bearing
the name of Mackessog's Well, and which until recent times was resorted
to for the healing virtue of its waters. After the Reformation the
Saint's day was kept on the 10th of March, O.S., as one of the
principal fairs of the town, and so continued until a recent period.
The old church appears to have been used as a place of worship until
about the time of Charles I. The tradition is that the roof fell in on
a Sunday after the congregation had left and were returning on the Brae
of Powhillock to Auchterarder. While the old church continued to be
the church of the parish, there was at an early period, and anterior to
the Reformation, a chapel in the town of Auchterarder where the present
parish church stands. The croft at the back is still named the Chapel
Croft. The northern part of the present parish church and the steeple
were erected about the middle of the seventeenth century, the steeple
being built of stones taken from the old Castle of Kincardine,
dismantled after the siege in 1646. The southern portion of the church
was added in 1784.
There is incorporated with the parish of Auchterarder the eastern
portion of the parish of Aberuthven. Aberuthven was one of the
earliest ecclesiastical foundations in Scotland. It was dedicated to
St. Cathan, Bishop and Confessor, who flourished in the sixth century.
His festival was held on the 17th of May. The Churches of Kilchattan,
in Bute, and Fortingall, in Perthshire, were also dedicated to him.
Aberuthven was one of the churches appropriated to the Abbey of
Inchaffray by the foundation charter of Gilbert, Earl of Strathearn,
before referred to. The cure was served by a vicar appointed by that
house. In the charter it is named "_Ecclesia Sancti Kattani de
Abbyrrothueuen_." This charter was confirmed, and other churches
granted by a subsequent charter of the Earl Gilbert. Alexander II.
confirmed this last charter. Earl Malise confirmed by charter the
gifts of his grandfather, Gilbert, and the confirmation of his father,
Robert, Earl of Strathearn, and granted four merks of the rents of his
lands of Aberuthven, which the Canons of Inchaffray were accustomed to
receive previous to the year 1247.
Aberuthven continued a separate parish from Auchterarder until some
time after the Reformation. It was united to Auchterarder prior to
21st February, 1618, and the minister for some time thereafter occupied
the manse and glebe of Aberuthven. The parish of Aberuthven included
the Brae of Foswell, south of the Ruthven, now partly situated in the
parish of Auchterarder and partly in Blackford. Kincardine Castle, the
seat of the Earls of Montrose, was within the bounds. Aberuthven was
the parish church where that family worshipped and where their remains
were interred. The walls of the Church of Aberuthven--a long, narrow
building like that of Auchterarder--are still standing. On the south
side, and partly within the area, a four-square building named "the
Aisle" has been erected as a mausoleum for the ducal family of
Montrose. The last received within its walls was James, Duke of
Montrose, who died in 1836. This aisle was designed by Adam, the
eminent architect. At the east end of the church, on the gospel side
of the site of the high altar, there is a recess in the wall, forming
an ambry of elegant form. It is evident there has been a door upon it,
from the iron sockets which still remain. This was probably used for
holding the church utensils. Worship was continued in Aberuthven
Church until the end of the seventeenth century, as the funeral sermon
of the Marchioness of Montrose was preached in it on 23rd January,
1673, by the Rev. Arthur Ross, the then parson of Glasgow, afterwards
Archbishop of St. Andrews. His daughter, Anna, Lady Balmerino, was the
mother of the gallant Lord Balmerino who was beheaded on Tower Hill in
1746.
Sir David Cardney was vicar of the Parish Church of Auchterarder in
1527.
After the Reformation it was proposed by the General Assembly, in 1581,
that the Presbytery should be erected as the Presbytery of Crieff. The
Assembly, on 8th April, 1593, "ordaines the Presbyterie of Dumblane to
be transportit to Ochtirardour, and ordainis the Presbyteries of
Stirling and Perth to establishe the said Presbyterie in Auchtirardour
upon Thursday come xv. days," being 19th April, 1593. It was changed
to Muthill prior to 18th January, 1633, but Auchterarder was resumed
before 1638.
At the Reformation the parish of Auchterarder was supplied by David
Murye, reader, in 1567. The first Protestant minister in Auchterarder
was John Hamyll. He was previously vicar of Dunning, having succeeded
there to his uncle, Sir John Hamyll, who from his title was likely
vicar of Dunning in the old church and conformed to the new opinions.
John Hamyll was presented by King James VI. to the Vicarage of
Auchterarder on 28th June, 1568, and to the Vicarage of Aberuthven on
1st March, 1582. He had also charge of Kinkell and Dunning.
John Graham was minister of Auchterarder in 1636. He was a member of
the General Assembly at Glasgow, in 1638, at which the famous James,
Marquis of Montrose, was representative elder from the Presbytery of
Auchterarder, he being then on the Covenanting side. Mr Graham was
deposed by the Commission of the Assembly on 27th November, 1644, for
speaking once to the Marquis of Montrose.[12] The sentence was taken
off by the Assembly, 8th February, 1645; but he was again deposed by
the Assembly, 6th July, 1649. His prelatic predilections were
attributed to his wife being a descendant of John Hamilton, the last
Catholic Archbishop of St. Andrews.
James Drummond, son of the Rev. James Drummond, minister of Fowlis, and
a near relative of the Earl of Perth, was successively incumbent of
Auchterarder and of Muthill. He was consecrated Bishop of Brechin on
Christmas Day, 1684, in the Chapel Royal of Holyrood. He is reported
to have been a man of strict Protestant principles, and a decided
opponent of King James' interference with the Church, though he, like
most of his brethren, was a keen supporter of hereditary monarchy, and
took a decided part with King James when the most of his courtiers
deserted him. Bishop Drummond was deprived of his bishopric at the
Revolution, having preached at Brechin for the last time on Sunday,
18th April, 1688.[13]
David Freebairn was minister of Auchterarder from 1680 to 1686, when he
became minister of Dunning. He was deprived by the Privy Council, 4th
September, 1689. He went to Edinburgh, and was consecrated a bishop of
the Scottish Episcopal Church, 7th October, 1722, and died Primus and
the oldest Presbyter in Scotland, 24th December, 1739, in his
eighty-seventh year and sixty-fourth of his ministry. "He was of
blameless conversation and sweet temper, while he was a vigilant
preacher and a successful physician." His son Robert was a bookseller
and printer in Edinburgh, and a staunch adherent of the Stuart family.
Andrew Duncan, D.D., was minister of Auchterarder from 1781 to 1802,
when he was translated to Ratho. He was Principal Clerk to the General
Assembly, and Moderator of the Assembly in 1824.
Robert Young was presented to the church by the Earl of Kinnoull, 14th
September, 1834. Objections were taken to him under the Veto Act, and
his settlement was delayed till 1843. He died 15th September, 1865.
He was an excellent scholar, an able preacher, and a faithful pastor.
In conclusion, let us express a hope that Auchterarder may long
flourish and increase in prosperity, and that the sentiment contained
in its motto may continue to be verified--_Non potest civitas abscondi
supra montem posita_.
[1] M.S. in the Imperial Library at Paris. Fonds Lat., 6049, folio 30
b.
[2] Buchanani Hist.
[3] Knox's _History of the Reformation_.
[4] _Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland_. Vol. II.; 1689.
[5] _Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland_. Vol II.; 1646.
[6] _Calendar ut supra_; 1691.
[7] _Calendar_; 1858.
[8] _History of the House of Drummond_. By Viscount Strathallan.
[9] _Rotuli Camerarii Scotiae_.
[10] _Register of the Privy Council of Scotland_. Vol. I., p. 348.
[11] _Liber Insule Missarum_.
[12] _Guthrie's Memoirs_.
[13] _History of Brechin_. By David D. Black (pp. 97-98.)
AT THE GATE OF THE HIGHLANDS
By Rev. JOHN HUNTER, M.A., Crieff
The title describes admirably the position of the town of Crieff,
planted as it is on the Knock, at the base of which the main road from
Stirling and the South splits into two portions--the one running by way
of Monzievaird and Comrie, the other by Monzie and the Sma' Glen, into
the Western and Northern Highlands.
Crieff has had a long history. The most probable meaning of the name
is "Tree-town," from _Craobh_--Gaelic for "tree"--a fact that carries
us back into a remote age. Fifty or sixty years ago, the Breadalbane
Highlanders spoke of Crieff as the "town of the tree." In early
historical times the fame of Crieff was overshadowed by that of Foulis,
near by which was the Castletown--the principal residence of the Earls
Palatine of Strathearn--not the Celtic Earls whose home was at
Tom-a-chastel, but the Stewarts, and afterwards the Grahams, who rose
into place and power in Strathearn upon the ruins of the ancient line,
which seems to have had no family name.
Treasonable practices against the life of Robert the Bruce brought
about the downfall of the Celtic Earls. The Black Parliament, which
sat at Scone in August, 1320, condemned Joanna, daughter of Malise, the
last Earl, to perpetual imprisonment. She had married Warrenne, Earl
of Surrey--appointed Guardian of Scotland by Edward I. in 1296--and in
1334 her father resigned his Earldom of Strathearn to his son-in-law.
For the doing of this he was forfeited and attainted, in 1345, "as an
enemy to the King and Kingdom of Scotland." The fief reverted to the
Crown. Next year was fought the Battle of Durham, and David II. was
carried captive to London, where he remained for eleven years. While
in England he bestowed the forfeited Earldom of Strathearn upon his
nephew, Robert, the High Steward of Scotland, afterwards King Robert
II. On his accession to the throne, in 1370, Robert II. transferred
the Earldom to David, the eldest son of his second marriage to Euphemia
Ross, the widow of Randolph, Earl of Moray. Earl David took the title,
Earl Palatine, in 1375, and his only daughter, Euphemia, who succeeded
him in 1389, styled herself "_Senescalli Comitissa Palatina de
Strathearn_." She married Patrick Graham, who was killed at Ferntower,
in 1413, by Sir John Drummond of Concraig, Steward of Strathearn, and
kinsman of James I., whose mother was Annabella Drummond. The only son
of Patrick Graham and his wife, Euphemia, was Malise Graham, who, as
Earl of Strathearn, became security along with twenty-seven others for
the payment of the ransom of James I. He was detained as a hostage in
England for thirty years, and meantime his estates and title were
resumed by the King, on the ground that they did not descend to the
heir-female. To compensate him for this, he was created Earl of
Menteith. The annual rental of his estates as Earl of Strathearn was
set down in the Durham Schedule at 500 merks. The schedule was drawn
up in the year 1424.
Even in the time of the old Earls, Crieff held an important position in
public affairs. It will hardly do to say that it was the capital of
Strathearn. As a Royal Burgh of the foundation of Malcolm Canmore,
perhaps Auchterarder was entitled to claim the premier rank. But it
would seem that the business of the ancient Earldom was transacted
here. So early as 1218, Earl Gilbert, the founder of the religious
house of Inchaffray, granted a charter of "six marcis of Abercarnich,
dated apud Crefe die Santi Ambrosii." Fifty years later, Earl Malise,
who was the first of his race to show fondness for English
ways--sending his sons, Gilbert and Robert, to be educated in the
English Court--granted, to the Convent of Inchaffray, permission to
quarry stones within his lands at Nether Gask. The permission was
dated at Crieff, 1266. Later traces are a narration by Robert, the
Steward of Scotland and Earl of Strathearn, of the proceedings of his
Court, held at Crieff on May 8th, 1358; and the fact that on May 7th,
1491, William, Lord Ruthven, moved King James IV. and his Council for a
return of the record of "ane justiceayr holden at the Skait of Creif on
the penult day of July, 1443."
The Steward's Court of Strathearn was held in the open air. The site
was included within the park of Broich. It was a circular mound,
twelve yards across, and was recognisable up to the year 1860. A
"fail" dyke surrounded the spot, and two aged larch trees threw their
shadows upon it. A certain reverential feeling, due to a site from
which had gone forth the issues of life and death, kept the place
intact. But in that year vandalism scored a regrettable triumph. The
site was trenched and levelled. Two cists were discovered of the
rudest construction. Human remains were found within one of them,
bearing traces of fire action; also an urn, which measured 5 inches in
height and 5 inches across. Here, then, was the stayt, or skait, or
skeat of Crieff. The Court continued in the full vigour of its energy
for more than a hundred years, dispensing justice both in civil and
criminal cases. Originating in the claim of Earl David in 1375 to be
Earl Palatine, its jurisdiction continued in unimpaired strength and
scope down to the year 1483--well on into the reign of James III., and
exactly thirty years before the disastrous Battle of Flodden. This
latter date is interesting to us, seeing that it marks the turning
point in the fortunes of Crieff. With the decay of the power of the
Court of the Earl Palatine of Strathearn Crieff also decayed, and sank
into the position of an ordinary kirk-town. The period of decaying
prosperity lasted for 200 years--on to 1683, when a forward impulse was
given by George Drummond of Milnab, who in that year became Lord
Provost of Edinburgh. By giving off pieces of his lands, in feu, he
offered an inducement to settle in Crieff, which was taken advantage of
to some small extent. Others have taken up the lead of the
enterprising Laird of Milnab, and Crieff is now a town of feuars,
holding mainly of the Perth Estate, Dollerie, and Broich. But this is
modern history, and we have not yet done with the old. I have still to
relate as briefly as may be how it came about that the Court of the
Earls Palatine lost power and influence.
The result was due in great measure to the jealousies and dissensions
of the rival families of the Murrays and the Drummonds. The people of
Crieff, in the period of its decadence, may well have anticipated
Shakespeare's "A plague on both your houses," as applied to the
Capulets and the Montagues. The hereditary office of Steward of
Strathearn was a prime bone of contention. In the days of the Celtic
Earls the office was usually held by a younger son, or other near
relation. The last of these Seneschals of the old line was Malise, who
had married Murialla, the widow of Fergus, son of Gilbert, Earl of
Strathearn, the benefactor of Inchaffray. He got with her the lands of
Tullibardine in dower. A son, Henry, and a daughter, Ada, were born to
them. The daughter married Sir William Murray, who got the lands of
Tullibardine conveyed to him, in 1284, by his mother-in-law, and
confirmed, for his greater security, by his brother-in-law, Henry.
This Sir William Murray was one of those who were summoned to Berwick
by Edward I. in 1292 to hear the advocacy of the claims of Bruce and
Balliol. Henry, the brother-in-law, became Steward of Strathearn on
the death of his father, Malise. His only daughter married Sir Maurice
Drummond of Concraig, and carried with her the office and lands held by
her father. Sir Maurice was the first Drummond who was Steward of
Strathearn. Both he and his wife were buried within the choir of the
Church of Muthill. It is not to libel human nature to say that the
Tullibardine Murrays looked with disfavour upon the passing of the
Stewardship to the Drummonds of Concraig. The latter, however, were
legally in possession, and the Murrays had to bide their time. The
opportunity was not long in coming. King Robert II. died in 1390. He
is described by Froissart as a man "not valiant, with red, bleared
eyes, who would rather lie still than ride." His reign was prosperous
but at his death "every man did what seemed right in his own eyes."
His third son, nicknamed the Wolf of Badenoch, quarrelled with the
Bishop of Moray and burned his Cathedral of Elgin. The Duke of
Rothesay, heir to the throne on the death of his father, Robert III.,
was starved to death in Falkland Palace by his uncle, the Duke of
Albany in 1401. In these wild days Strathearn had its own troubles.
In or about the year 1391 the Stewardship was held by Sir John Drummond
of Concraig the grandson of Sir Maurice, who lies buried in the choir
of Muthill Church. Sir John married Matilda Graham, the sister of Sir
Patrick Graham who subsequently became Earl of Strathearn in right of
his wife Euphemia, the daughter of Earl David, first Earl Palatine. It
was his duty, as Steward of Strathearn, to try Sir Alexander Murray of
Ogilvy for the murder of William de Spalding. This was specially
unfortunate, seeing that Sir Alexander Murray's father had got the
Barony of Ogilvy in compensation for the loss of the Earldom of
Strathearn, when it was assumed by Robert Stewart, afterwards King
Robert II. He was at the bar of a Court over which he doubtless
thought he had a right to preside. The Court sat at Foulis. Upon the
bench were Sir John and Maurice Drummond, deputies of the High
Justiciar, the Lord of Brechin. The accused pled the privilege of one
who was within the ninth degree of kin and "bluid" to Macduff, some
time Earl of Fife, stating that he had gone to the Cross of Macduff,
near Newburgh, and "given nine kye and ane colpindach (young cow), and
was therefore free of the slaucher committed by him." His counsel were
Sir Bernardo de Hawden, Knight of Gleneagles, and Sir John de Logy of
Logiealmond. The judges referred the matter to the High Justiciar, who
decided that Sir Alexander should make his defence before the Court at
Foulis. He submitted, and got off easily, "not with such severities
and rigours of law as might have been shown."
[Illustration: Gateway, Foulis Church.]