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The Vicar's Bridge—Lower course of the Devon—Sauchie Town—Tullibody—Its
church and other objects of interest—Farm of the "King of the Muirs,"
At a little distance below
the Cauldron Linn, about half-way between the Dollar and Rumbling Bridge
stations, the Devon is crossed by a viaduct on the Alloa and Kinross
railway. Here, too, it receives the West Gairney, a stream coming down from
Kinross-shire, and known in the upper part of its course by the name of the
Pow. Farther down still, about three-quarters of a mile above Dollar, it is
crossed by the Vicar's Bridge, an ancient structure, originally erected by
Thomas Forrest, the good Vicar of Dollar, but till within a comparatively
recent period only a narrow bridge of nine feet in breadth, without any
parapet; it was consequently impassable for vehicles. The more recent
portion is on the west side, and here an inscription has been put up to the
memory of the Vicar. The scenery around, though differing much from that at
the Rumbling Bridge, is still very picturesque, and immediately above the
bridge there is a good trouting-pool.
From the Rumbling to the
Vicar's Bridge the course of the Devon has been through a deep, densely
wooded ravine, but shortly after reaching the last-named point, the valley
begins to widen out, and before reaching the vicinity of Tillicoultry, it is
fringed by a broad belt of meadowland. This characteristic increases as it
advances to the sea, and latterly the river makes its way through a dead
level of carse-land.
Beyond Tillicoultry, and near
the Devon Ironworks, on the right bank of the river, is the old ruin of
Sauchie Tower, formerly the residence of the Shaws, the ancient proprietors
of the Sauchie estate. This afterwards came into the possession of the Earl
of Cathcart, and ultimately was acquired by the Earl of Mansfield, to whom
it now belongs. The present mansion-house of the estate is called Shaw Park,
and is picturesquely situated at the north-west extremity of Gartmorn dam,
on an eminence covered with wood and commanding an extensive view. Sauchie
is now a quoad sacra parish formed out of Clackmannan.
The long terrace that extends
along the south bank of the Devon from the neighbourhood of the Rumbling
Bridge almost to the mouth of the stream, by Powmill and Blairingone, comes
to a termination at the ancient village of Tullibody, two miles to the
north-west of Alloa. From this point a road leads almost due north, crossing
the Devon by an ancient, high-arched bridge, and joining, a little to the
east of Menstrie, the highway from Stirling to Dollar by the foot of the
Oehils. Tullibody, from various reasons, is well deserving of attention. It
formed originally a parish itself, and even claimed to be the mother church
of Alloa, to which, notwithstanding a considerable amount of opposition, it
was annexed by an ecclesiastical decree in the year 1600. Originally it
belonged to the Abbey of Cambuskenneth.
Tullibody is rather an
irregularly built straggling village, but it commands a fine view of the
Ochils and the Devon valley. Robert Dick, the naturalist and baker of Thurso,
whose biography has been written by Mr Sm'les, was born at Tullibody in
1811, and passed here the years of his boyhood and youth. It is also notable
in connection with the Abercromby family, who own a large amount of property
in the parish, and take from it part of the title of their peerage.
Tullibody House, the old mansion of the estate, stands close to the Forth, a
little above Alloa. The celebrated Sir Ralph Abercromby, the hero of
Alexandria, is sometimes stated to have been born there, but the more
generally received account is that his birthplace was at another of the
family seats at Menstrie. He was the eldest son of George Abercromby of
Tullibody, who acquired also the property of Brucefield in Clackmannanshire,
and retired thither after having made over the Tullibody estate to Sir
Ralph. After the latter's death, a peerage was bestowed on his widow, and
thus transmitted to his descendant, the present Lord Abercromby.
Tullibody is now a quoad
sacra parish. The church, after long remaining a ruin, was converted into a
mausoleum for the Abercromby family, and latterly, about half a century ago,
was refitted as a place of worship. In the middle of the sixteenth century
it had been subjected to peculiarly contumelious treatment at the hands of a
French army which had come over to assist Mary of Guise in her struggles
with the Reformers. They had retreated from the east of Fife, to which they
had previously marched round by Stirling Bridge from Edinburgh and
Linlithgow, and were now compelled to return on the same track by the
arrival of a fleet of English vessels in the mouth of the Firth. Meantime,
to cut off their retreat to the west, Kirkaldy of Grange had broken down the
bridge over the Devon at Tullibody. The French arriving there and finding
their passage interrupted, took off the roof from Tullibody church, and
employed the beams in improvising a new bridge. Crossing the river by this
means, they arrived at Stirling, and at last managed to reach Leith.
In 844 Tullibody is said to
have been the scene of an engagement between Kenneth, the Scottish claimant
to the throne, as representing his father Alpin, and Drust or Drest, the
Pictish monarch by whom Alpin had been defeated and slain. It resulted in
the entire discomfiture of Urust; and the supremacy over Alban, or Scotland
to the north of the Forth, was thus ensured for ever to the Scottish
dynasty. The field of victory was long marked by a memorial stone, which
more than half a century ago was removed, but its site is still pointed out,
about fifty yards from the " Haer Stane." The last is a shapeless mass of
basalt, of whose history nothing is known. It stands on the declivity of
Baingle Brae, to the southwest of the village, and was formerly surrounded
by a number of smaller stones, after the manner of the so-called Druidical
circles.
At the north end of the
church of Tullibody is a stone coffin, called the "Maiden's Stone," which is
said to commemorate the faithlessness of a priest who had betrayed a young
lady of good family in the neighbourhood. She died of a broken heart, and
expressed as her last request a wish that her coffin should remain for ever
at the church-door, as a warning and testimony against the treachery of man.
The occurrence, the legend says, took place on the eve of the Reformation,
and the guilty ecclesiastic, who had to save himself by flight, was the last
priest who officiated at Tullibody.
To the east of the village is
a large wood, known as Tullibody Wood, in which Montrose and his Highlanders
encamped on their way to the field of Kilsyth. During the eventful year
1745, when the Highlanders were marching down on the low country and
threatening Stirling, Ebenezer Erskine, one of the leaders of the Secession,
held here his Sunday services. Just outside of it, at its north-east
extremity, is the farm called the " King o' the Muirs," noted in connection
with an alleged adventure of James V. It is said that this monarch, having
been belated when out hunting in the upper barony of Alloa, and become
separated from his attendants, sought shelter in a farmhouse, where he
remained for the night and received the utmost hospitality. In special token
of goodwill, his host desired his wife to kill the hen that roosted next the
cock, as being the fattest, and prepare it for his guest's supper. The king
was much gratified by all this kindness, but strictly preserved his
incognito, and when he left next morning, requested the farmer, a man of the
name of Donaldson, to call next day at Stirling Castle, and ask for the
Goodman of Ballengeich. Donaldson did so, and of course was much astonished
to find that he had been entertaining the king. James presented him with the
farm which he cultivated—apparently a portion of the Crown lands —though it
afterwards came into the possession of the Mar family. ' Whatever reliance
may be placed on this story, it is certain that it was occupied for
generations by a family of the name of Donaldson, who were, however,
dispossessed by the Erskines about a hundred years ago. It has been alleged,
in excuse of this apparent act of severity, that the Donaldson who was then
tenant had become incorrigibly idle and negligent in the management of his
farm, as well as in the payment of his rent, and that Mr Erskine, after that
his patience had been tried beyond endurance, was at last obliged with great
reluctance to turn him out of his holding. He retired to Alloa and died
there, but retained to the last the title of "king." |
