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I HAVE entitled this chapter
“a local chapter,” as it may so be styled par excellence. It is intended to
take up, in connection with Culross and Tulliallan, such features,
topographical or otherwise, as may in many respects be interesting only to a
native, though I hope also that it may not be altogether unworthy the
attention of the general reader. I shall first advert to some special
localities which have been more or less notable from time immemorial,
beginning with the burgh of Culross. At p. 178 of vol. i. a list is quoted
of the elders of Culross Church in 1632; as a matter of local interest I
annex here in continuation, from the kirk-session minutes, a detailed
account of the districts over which they were to preside:—
“13 November 1632.
“Quo die ddibercUionis, (the
sessione, being frequently convened,) with common consent divided the paroch
into quarters and wardes, to the effect those elders within the samen, or
newest adjacent to them, myght the better tak note of the maners of the
people inhabiting the saids quarters or wardes, and also therein to consider
the necessities of the poor, and all comling strangers servants, and to
report after this manner following—viz., first:
“ The Submision of the Townes
Quarters.
“1. From the Parlyhill1 to
the strend of the people therein Robert Forrest and Patrick Rowane taking on
them the charge.
“2. Of the people fra the
strend to the end of the little cassie, James Aikine and Andro Gibsone hes
taken the oversyght on them.
“3. Fra George Bruce's
vittail houses3 eist unto Blairhall his dwelling house, of the people
therein M. Edward Blaw and James Sands hes taken the charge.
“4 Of the families fra
BlairhalTs place evin to the east end of the toune, John Sandis, elder,
Alexr. Eizat, and Andro Brande hes taken the charge.
“5. Of the families fra the
cross west throw the south and north streets, even to the Tolbuith, Adam
Primrose and Mr Robt. Gourlay taketh the oversyght
“6. Of the people from the
Tolbuith to the west end of the town, Patrick Keir, John Haliday, and Thomas
Ezat taketh the charge.
“The Divisione of Land.
“Thus—
“1. Over Castell hill, the
Blair and pertinents, West Kirk, Kirkton, and the Walles, the laird of Blair
and Allane Blaw taketh the oversyght.
"2. Over Langsyd, Birkenhead,
Bordy, Lurge, and the Sandes, James Bruce, William Sands, and Patrick Bruce
hes taken the charge.
“3. Over Easter and Wester
Kincame, Bumbrey, and their pendicles, John Turcane, Hendrie Cowy, and John
Calendar taketh the charge.
"4. Over Balgowny, Bad,
Blankyrie, Whythillis, Bath,1 Wester and Midle Granges, and Overtoune, with
the pendicles, John Colvile and Gilbert Gonrlay hes taken the charge.
“5. Over Wester and Easter
Comries, Easter Grange, Bargatie, Schyrsmill, Blairhall, and Barhill, with
the pendicles, Adam Mastertonn and John Gray hes taken the charge.
“6. Over the land and people
in the Valefield and his works, Sir John Preston taketh the charge.
“7. Over the new miln,
people, and works ther, Blairhall himself hes taken the charge.”
As defined in the charter of
James VI., already quoted, the boundaries of the royal burgh of Culross are:
on the east, the lands of Valleyfield; on the north, the lands of Blairhall
and the common moor of Culross; on the west, the lands of Walls and
Castlehill; and on the south, the sea. The first of these—i.e., the eastern
march—has given rise in modem times to a considerable amount of dubiety and
disputation in matters of assessment, regarding the limits of the town and
parish. Had the western boundary of the lands of Valleyfield extended in a
straight line from north to south, or could it be shown that they did so at
any former period, there would have been no difficulty in the case. The
fact, however, being that the eastern boundary of the burgh of Culross is
marked by a stone situated about twenty yards eastwards of the apex or comer
of a triangular piece of ground belonging to Valleyfield, which projects as
it were from the main territory of the latter into the body of the Abbey
estate, a quesion arises that is not easy of solution. The stone is close to
the point where the highroad from New-mills, descending the hill, meets the
coast road coming from the same quarter by Low Valleyfield, and thence
proceeds westwards as one highway by the Endowment and St Mungo’s into
Culross. In allocating the road assessment between burgh and parish, it is
still a vexed question to which of these the maintenance is to be assigned
of the lower descent of the highroad, passing between the Abbey woods and
the gardens of the Low Valleyfield feus, which constitute the triangular
piece of ground above-mentioned. According to the charter of Charles II.
erecting Valleyfield into a barony, that estate is bounded on the west by “
a ditch extending from the sea-shore through the lands of Byrefield and
Barhill to the Cross at our town.”1 At the present
day this description would be almost unintelligible, did we not keep in mind
that at the north-west extremity of the Valleyfield estate, close by
Shiresmill and the Bluther Bum, there is a wood that still bears the name of
the Couston or Corsetoun Wood; and in the taxed roll of Culross Abbey given
up in 1630, the lands of Corsetoun are mentioned as part of the temporality.
Corsetoun is simply another form of Crosstoun, and it is quite possible that
there may have been here in Roman Catholic times a stone cross which served
as a landmark for travellers and pilgrims to Culross Abbey. Now, from
Corsetoun Wood, almost in direct line southwards to the sea, crossing the
Kirk Brae and passing through the Abbey grounds to the quarry at the
Endowment, the remains of an ancient ditch can still be distinctly traced.
In a large portion of its extent it still forms the western boundary of the
Valleyfield estate, whilst the Abbey lands through which it passes are those
which formerly belonged to the properties of Byrefield and Barhill. The
present Abbey estate is quite distinct from the ancient domain of Culross
Abbey, and has all been formed by the acquisition of successive patches of
ground superadded to the original nucleus of territory belonging to the
first Lord Kinloss, on which he erected the modem Abbey mansion. The ancient
ditch or gully is very discernible on the west border of the Abbey wood,
below the Lady’s Walk, and disappears in the quarry, the working of which
has probably caused the obliteration of the remainder between this point and
the sea, so as to make the description of it in the charter of Charles II. a
thing of the past. If this view be adopted of the course of the ditch, we
must conclude that there was a subsequent acquisition by the proprietors of
the Abbey of a portion of territory east of this boundary, which had
originally belonged to Valleyfield. If, on the other hand, we refuse to
admit the identity of the ditch in question with the one mentioned in
Charles II.’s charter, we must conclude that the ravine known as “ The
Goat,” which comes down from the crest of the hill at the east Abbey lodge,
and forms, for a considerable distance below that point, the present
boundary between the Culross and Valleyfield estates, is to be regarded, in
its entire length from the top of the hill to the sea, as the original
western limit of Valleyfield, and that the triangle of territory between “
The Goat ” and the old east port of Culross were subsequently acquired
through purchase or exchange by the Prestons. The solution of the problem
seems now almost unattainable, and I daresay my readers will think that the
subject has by this time been sufficiently discussed.
The northern boundary of the
burgh, as laid down in the charter of James VI., has also given rise to
matter of dispute. It is stated to be the lands of Blairhall and the common
moor of Culross. The former is readily ascertained—the estate of Blairhall,
as the ancient patrimony of the Bruces, having well-defined demarcations.
But the precise limits of the common moor, as existing in ancient times, are
now hardly to be determined, seeing that a very large portion of it has been
reclaimed and converted into arable land. And as the present highroad from
Newmills to Kincardine passes for a long distance through the moor, it is a
matter of uncertainty whether or not a certain portion of this highway lies
within the burgh of Culross—that is to say, to the south of the common moor.
As regards the west and south
boundaries of the burgh, there exists no dubiety whatever. The lands of
Walls, though they have long ceased to form a separate lairdship, can still
be identified, and still preserve a remembrance for the popular mind in the
Walls Cottages or Half-way House on the Kincardine road. The lands of
Castlehill or Dunimarle are perfectly well defined, and the western boundary
of the burgh is at the present day practically marked out by the narrow road
which leads southwards from the west extremity of the Ashes Farm to the West
Kirk, and from thence by the rivulet known as the Dean Bum, which flows
southward and falls into the sea close by the house of the Dunimarle
gardener. The sea as the southern limit leaves, of course, no room for
dispute.
It ought here to be observed
that the parliamentary boundary of Culross fixed at the period of the
passing of the Reform Bill is nearly coincident with that laid down in the
charter of erection, except that the eastern and northern limits are
strictly defined—first by a line drawn due north from the western extremity
of Low Valleyfield to the Kirk Brae, and then by another extending from the
latter point due west till it meets at right angles the ancient western
boundary of the burgh. These dimensions are only recognised in the matter of
parliamentary elections, all other questions that may arise being determined
by the limits of the royal charter.
In ancient times Culross was
guarded by three gateways or ports, by which the approaches to the town on
the north, west, and east sides were secured. They have all long since
disappeared; but 'we have seen from the burgh records that the east port was
in existence down to the middle of the seventeenth century, though probably
in such a dilapidated state as to give a colourable excuse to the parties
who are reported as having been brought before the magistrates for carrying
away the materials. It must have been situated near the Pow, that grassy
plat by the sea-shore where of yore was the artificial canal or creek that
served the purpose of a harbour. I shall now proceed westwards from this
point, taking up in order the various objects of interest as I pass along,
but of course omitting all details regarding such as have already been
described.
On the north side of the
road, nearly opposite the Pow, and picturesquely situated at the foot of a
steep bank covered with wood, stands a neat cottage which bears the name of
“The Endowment.” It is occupied by a lady custodian, who acts as dispenser
of a charity which was founded by Sir Robert Preston, on the instigation
mainly of his wife, Lady Preston, for behoof of poor persons belonging to
the parish of Culross. It provides for a distribution of two shillings and a
peck of oatmeal every Monday morning to six men and six women, who are to be
elected by his representatives under his will, and enjoy the benefits of the
charity during their life or good behaviour. Besides the weekly dole, they
receive £1 at Whitsunday and another at Martinmas, and participate,
moreover, in the distribution of coals and soup made during the winter from
“The Endowment” to a larger number of persons. Of the many—indeed too
many—public charities of Culross, that of “ The Endowment ” is the chief,
its emoluments amounting in value nearly to £12 per annum, so that a keen
competition is sure to occur whenever a vacancy takes place by the death of
any of the beneficiaries. In one of the rooms of the establishment a
Sunday-school is held weekly.
Next, on our left hand is
Pond or Preston Cottage, with its tidal pond formed out of the old
“Bucket-pat”; and immediately opposite to it on the north side of the road
is the roofless ruin of Lord Bruce’s Hospital. A little farther on, on the
same side, the foundations of the south wall of St Mungo’s Chapel will be
seen projecting on the footpath, whilst immediately beyond are the house and
garden of St Mungo’s, and still farther west the Abbey orchard. About midway
between St Mungo’s and the town of Culross stood the row of small houses
known as the Petty Common, against which Lord Dundonald exercised his
machinations. In the field directly opposite, on the south side of the road,
will be observed the circular stone shaft of an ancient coalpit, down which,
it is said, his lordship’s overseer descended on that memorable Sunday
morning when he pulled down the props that supported the roofs of the
subterranean workings, and caused the sinking of the superincumbent ground
and houses. On the rising bank of the orchard to the west stood the first
building of Lord Bruce’s Hospital, the site having been afterwards excambed
for the one at the east port. We are now at the foot of the Newgate—the
steep lane or path that leads up to the church, and which, from the high
walls by which it is enclosed, irresistibly reminds one of the narrow and
hemmed-in road traversed by John Bunyan’s pilgrims. It appears to have been
constructed in the latter half of the seventeenth century.
Near the east end of the Low
Causeway or main street stands the Free Church manse, a neat modem building
which possesses some archaeological interest, as being erected on the site
of a fine old house that formerly belonged to the Bruces of Blairhall, and
was known as Lady Blairhall's jointure-house. In days gone by the county
families were frequently the owners of houses in the burgh towns, where they
occasionally resided for business or social purposes. It resulted from this
that a degree of refinement was frequently characteristic of the social
circles of these Scottish towns that would scarcely have been expected in
the circumstances and surroundings. Thus we find resident in Culross in the
seventeenth century the Earl of Kincardine and Mr Dempster of Balbougie; and
in the early years of the eighteenth, the Black and "White Colonels Erskine.
The streets of the town, as
we learn from the burgh records, seem to have been first causewayed about
200 years ago, nearly at the time when the Newgate was first formed. The
magistrates took a very simple and ready way of getting this work
accomplished by ordering all the burgesses to contribute their quota to it
either in work or money. At the present day these things are not managed so
easily. The stream known as the Stryne or Strynd then flowed in an open
course from the height above across the main street of Culross to the sea,
but is now for the most part covered over.
The Free Church of Culross is
a plain small building, situated in a small square or open place known as
the Little Sand Haven, in contradistinction to the Sand Haven in front of
the Town-house. It would appear from this appellation that in former tunes
there had been an open space between the Little Sand Haven and the sea,
though it is now occupied by houses and gardens.
There are four principal
streets or causeys in Culross. These are the Laigh or Low Causeway or
Causey, the Middle Causey, the Back Causey, and the Little Causey. The first
of these is the main street, along which we have been journeying, passing
through the Little Sand Haven, and crossing Culross from east to west. The
other three converge at the Cross, from which the Little Causey descends to
the Little Sand Haven by the end of the Free Church. The Middle Causey
ascends from the Low Causey a little to the west of the Red Lion Tnn on the
opposite side of the street, and the Back Causey joins the main street or
Low Causeway a little more westward still, at the east end of the great Sand
Haven, near the Town-house.
The last-named building has
already been described in detail. The original main street of the town
proceeds westward from this point, passing the courtyard of the Colonel’s
dose with its old houses, and leaving on the right an opening leading up to
Bessie Bar’s Well Following the narrow street, we emerge on the West Green,
in front of which and the Sand Haven are the harbour and pier of Culross,
such as they are, but which are now almost solely confined to the
accommodation of small boats. Changed, indeed, is the state of matters from
the palmy days of the commercial prosperity of Culross, when, we are
informed, as many as 170 vessels might sometimes be seen in the adjoining
roads, waiting for their cargoes of coal and salt. In modern times, indeed,
a large fleet of vessels may occasionally be seen riding at anchor in the
same quarter, but these have no concern with Culross, and are chiefly
engaged in conveying prop-wood from Sweden and Norway to the port of
Grangemouth, for the supply of the coalpits in the neighbourhood.
A wooden pier connects the
shore with the old stone pier, at the extremity of which a magnificent view
of Culross is obtained, though a more perfect one is gained by rowing a
little distance farther into the bay. To the left of the spectator, at the
pier end, are the Blue Boulder-stone and the Ailie Bocks; and almost in a
direct line to his right, and opposite to Dunimarle, is the circle of stones
that marks the site of Sir George Bruce’s famous moat.
Abutting on the West Green
are the mansion and grounds of Balgownie House; and here stood formerly the
hospital founded by the younger George Bruce of Camock for the maintenance
of twelve poor widows. The house has long since disappeared, and the bequest
having been made previous to the disjunction from Culross and annexation to
Tulliallan of a portion of the former parish, the latter, on this event
taking place, was made a participator to a corresponding extent in George
Bruce’s bounty, two-thirds of the recipients being selected from Culross,
and the remainder from Tulliallan. The benefaction is known as “ The Widows’
Meal,” and, in accordance with its terms, is paid in kind, two bolls of
oatmeal being given yearly to each widow, who, moreover, receives a small
sum of money in lieu of the former house accommodation.
The lane ascending from the
shore at Balgownie Stables to the West Kirk road bears the appellation of
the Slate Loan, probably from the grey laminated sandstone which crops out
through a great part of its course having formerly been used for slating.
The locality at the foot of this lane, where some houses formerly stood,
used to be known as the “ West Port.” The field immediately to the west,
extending to the Dean Bum, which forms the western limit of the burgh, has
from time immemorial been known as the Playfield, Here, as I have already
indicated, there is good reason to believe that the mysteries and
miracle-plays of medieval times were performed in the open air in the days
of the old regime of Culross Abbey.
If we ascend the glen of the
Dean Bum, we shall, after some scrambling, find ourselves at the West Kirk,
on the old road leading by it through the moor to Kincardine. The narrow
boundary-road of the burgh, leading north from it at this point, conducts us
to the Ashes Farm, after leaving on our right the old Cisterns Park, with
its spring or fountain-head, known as the Monks’ Well, from which the
mansion-house of Culross Abbey is supplied with water. Here we are on the
modem turnpike road leading from Kincardine to Newmills, which for about
half a mile eastwards may be said to constitute the northern limit of the
burgh territory. Though the land is all cultivated now in this neighbourhood,
it still retains some traces of the moor from which it has been reclaimed.
Its original boundaries here cannot be defined, but it extended at least as
far north as the farm of Gallow Rig or Gallows Ridge, at the east of which,
abutting on Balgownie Wood, is the farm of the Muirs. At Gallow Rig in olden
times the gibbet belonging to the Abbey domain seems to have stood, and the
road leading up to it in a direct line from Culross, about a mile distant,
bears still the name of the “Gallows Loan.” Descending the Gallows Loan
towards Culross, we arrive at the crest of the Barhill, from which, in a
clear day, the magnificent prospect already described is obtained. The field
on our right is called the Gaigie, from the property to which it formerly
belonged. On our left is a narrow lane which led up to the house of Barhill,—that
little lairdship of the Browns, from whose family the author of * The Crook
in the Lot’ selected his wife. Proceeding down the hill, we reach the point
where the road branches off from Culross to Shiresmill and the railway
station at East Grange. Passing eastwards along this road, leaving on our
right the Abbey rookery and park, with the Abbey mansion below, and crossing
the comer where the road turns northward to Shiresmill, we continue along
the disused grassy road, which conducts us past the old Abbey lodge and
original entrance to the demesne. A little to the east of this the road
descends, and at last joins the modem highroad to Newmills near the farm of
Woodhead. This grass-grown roadway is known as the Kirk Brae, and doubtless
derives its name, not from the present Abbey Church of Culross, but from the
old West Kirk, which, before the Reformation, served as the parish church,
and to which the Kirk Brae would form the approach from the east.
To complete the description
of Culross within the burgh : Retracing our steps up the Kirk Brae to the
foot of the Gallows Loan, we turn southwards to the left, and, opposite the
west Abbey lodge, pass on our right the opening of the road leading to the
West Kirk, between the Barcrook field on its north and the Gutterflat on its
south side. Continuing the descent, and leaving on our right the lodge
entrance to the mansion of the Park, we reach the Parlyhill, or space on the
top of the hill in front of the churchyard gate, the favourite place for the
Sunday lounge or “crack” before the morning and afternoon services,—a
practice reprobated so severely in many a deliverance of the kirk-session.
Leaving the church, manse, and ruins of the monastery on our right, we
reach, a little lower down, the point where the Newgate diverges, and then,
after descending for about 300 yards a very steep causeway, each side of
which used in former times to be bordered with houses, the sites of which
are now all included in the grounds of the Park, we reach the “ Lockit Well
” and the head of the Tanhouse Brae. A road diverges in a north-west
direction at this point, leading round the Park grounds to the West Kirk
highway. A comer in this, forming a grassy plateau, overlooks and commands a
splendid view of the town of Culross. It is known as the Sessions Green,
being probably so called from having been at one time the property of the
kirk-session, who owned lands in this neighbourhood, including the
Gutterflat. Another pendicle in that quarter, which I have not been able to
identify, bore the name of the Psaltercroft—probably from its produce having
been appropriated in ancient times to the maintenance of the music in the
choir > of the Abbey Church. A similar designation waa long current in
connection with the Abbey Church of Dunfermline, where the space enclosed
within the ruins of the ancient choir, which is now occupied by the New
Abbey Church, was known as the Psalter Churchyard.
From the Sessions Green a
narrow path leads along the crest of what may be termed the “Hanging Gardens
of Culross,” seeing that they are supported by stone terraces along the high
bank that rises behind the houses on the Sand Haven and the West Green. They
form a marked feature in the view of Culross from the water, as already
mentioned.
Returning to the Tanhouse
Brae, another steep descent conducts us to the Cross and open place by which
it is surrounded. The Middle and Back Causeways open into it on the west
side, and the Little Causeway on the south. At the north-west angle is the
curious edifice known as the Study, and already described. About half-way
down the Middle Causeway stands the Dundonald Arms Inn, a very comfortable
little hostelry, famous for its snug, well-appointed dinners at ordinations,
ploughing-matches, and suchlike occasions. On the other side of the street
is the fine old house traditionally said to have been occupied by Bishop
Leighton on his diocesan visits to Culross. The garden behind it descends to
and opens on the main street or Low Causeway.
The roads through the
parishes of Culross and Tulliallan partook in old times, as we are informed
by the authors of the Old Statistical Account, of the same qualities that
distinguished British roads generally previous to the introduction of
mail-coaches and the systematic improvements of Macadam,— that is to say,
they were execrable as regarded the transit of all kinds of wheeled
vehicles, though they might be practicable enough, under most circumstances,
for pedestrians and horsemen.
The present broad and
commodious highway, which now extends between Newmills and Kincardine, was
laid out in the first years of this century, when such general improvements
in roadmaking had taken place all over the island. Part of it forms the high
or upper road to Culross; but previous to its construction, the chief
highway to Culross lay along the shore, and was then, as till very recently
it was in many places, most inconveniently and dangerously narrow. The fine
modern bridge that now spans the Bluther Bum at Newmills was erected at the
time the new road was formed. The picturesque old bridge that crosses it a
little higher up is, as it now stands, sufficiently narrow, affording no
more space than would just allow passage for one horse and cart. In times
more remote, it would seem to have been narrower still, as, on examining the
structure from below, there has evidently been a second arch joined on to
the first, so as to give a greater breadth of roadway. As originally
constructed, it would at most admit only of being crossed by a single horse*
man. As its masonry bears a somewhat dose resemblance to that of Culross
monastery, it may not be altogether an unfounded conjecture that it was
built by Malcolm, Earl of Fife, for the convenience of persons travelling to
or from the religious house which he had founded.
From old Newmill bridge one
road led by the shore to Culross, and another by Valleyfield House, through
Culross moor, to Clackmannan. What precise direction the latter followed
after leaving the bridge, I cannot take upon me to determine; but after
running westwards nearly in the same line
with the present upper road
to Culross (its course being indeed distinctly traceable through the wood on
the north side), it seems to have turned northwards, and then, passing close
to the mansion of Valleyfield, and behind the farm of Woodhead, to have
proceeded along the declivity (where its course may still be followed)
across Blairhall bank, and thence, by the present farm of Blairhall Mains,
to the road running north in continuation of the Gallows Loan. Crossing this
road, its course is still very manifest in the old disused road which leads
from this point into Tulliallan woods behind Righead. It continued in this
way straight on through the moor to Clackmannan, and seems to have been a
leading artery of communication between the east and west.
Another old road ascended the
face of the hill from the western end of Low Valleyfield, and may still be
traced on the side of the bank. After the new road leading down from the
finger-post to the Endowment had been formed, the latter, in consequence of
its having been given in exchange for the older one, received the
designation of the Swap Road—a name which is not yet altogether forgotten.
This old road seems to have continued in an easterly direction, pretty
nearly on the same line with the present highroad (as may still be traced),
till it joined the old highway, already mentioned, leading to old Newmill
bridge.
I have frequently had
occasion to refer to the old road leading through the moor by the West Kirk
to Kincardine. It still affords a most delightful walk in dry weather,
skirting as it does the south border of Tulliallan wood, and ever redolent
of the fragrance of the Scotch firs.. There is rich velvety turf for the
feet; and the sides of the road, as well as the adjoining wood, are verdant
with blaeberry plants. This portion of Tulliallan forest was long the
property of Sir James Gibson-Craig (formerly James Gibson, Esq. of Ingliston),
the well-known Liberal representative of the Stirling Burghs, who obtained a
feu-grant of it from the burgh of Culross, it being the last portion of
Culross moor that was so disponed. He seems merely to have procured it to
strengthen his influence in the burgh, as he never bestowed the least
attention on his acquisition, though he paid regularly every year the feu-duty
of £50, which still forms an important item in the town’s revenues. After
his death, it was purchased by the Tulliallan family, with whose estate it
is now incorporated.
Delightful is this woodland
road, either “When purple morning starts the hare,” or again,
“When e’enin’, sinking in the
west,
The curtain draws of nature’s rest; ”
and no more appropriate
locality could have been selected by the heroine of Burns’s charming song
for meeting her swain at break or close of day. It emerges at last on the
turnpike road a little to the east of Bordie, and then continues on the
opposite side of the way to Kincardine, passing very dose both to the
Standard Stone and the Pulpit, and likewise not far from Tulliallan Castle.
An interesting road in the
parish of Tulliallan is the “Drove Road,” which diverges from the highway
leading north from Kincardine a little to the south of the hamlet of
Dalquhamy, and passing first in an easterly and then in a northern
direction, emerges at last on the great north road leading from Dunfermline
to Alloa. And the last of these byways to which I shall refer is that very
beautiful one which passes behind the woods of Brankston Grange, skirting
nearly the northern boundary of Culross parish, and having its western
termination at the Hareshaw Mill in the parish of Clackmannan, and its
eastern in the parish of Saline, joining there the road which runs south and
north between.the villages of Saline and Comrie.
The principal monuments in
Culross and Tulliallan have already been described. Of those which possess
for the most part only a local interest, may be mentioned first the fragment
of old building at Bordie on the crest of the hill overlooking Kincardine
and the Forth, and commanding a magnificent view. With many others I had
been accustomed to regard this as the veritable ruin of the old
family-mansion of the Bruces of Bordie; and I was confirmed in this
impression on learning that the lintel of one of the windows, now covered by
a cowshed, bears the initials J. O. B. I am credibly informed, however, that
the remnant in question is in reality only an abortion, being an edifice
commenced but left unfinished by the last proprietor of the estate before it
was purchased by the Dundases of Blair, and incorporated with that property.
There had doubtless existed at one time an old mansion on this site, but it
seems to have disappeared. The old garden with its wall is very distinctly
marked, though it is now turned into a corn-field.
To the east of Bordie, on the
slope extending between the Tulliallan woods and the sea-shore, there used
to be two small properties occasionally referred to in the burgh and
kirk-session records, and bearing the names respectively of Birkenhead and
Lang-side. Of the former of these there is still one of the outhouses
remaining, whilst a small house situated a little to the north-east of Blair
Castle Mains represents the latter. In the same line with these, but to the
west of Bordie, was the ancient though small lairdahip of Lurg, the memory
of which is still preserved in the house occupied by the Sands gamekeeper.
North from Bordie, in
Tulliallan forest, is the old house of Keir, which deserves some notice as
the ancient residence of the Browns of Keir, formerly influential heritors
in the parish of Culross, and relations of the Browns of Barhill. Though
much sunk now in point of status, it bears still evident traces in its
surroundings of former respectability and position. Lord Keith lived here
for a time whilst the present castle of Tulliallan was in process of
erection.
An old mansion that has
disappeared was that of the old house of Balgownie, which in days gone by
was situated, not near the town of Culross like the present one, but fully
two miles off in the hollow at the foot of the hill, a few hundred yards to
the west of the farm of Balgownie Mains. The Erskines of Balgownie, cadets
of the Mar family, were among the most influential in the parish of Culross.
Their house is said to have corresponded fully with their position, but it
has now entirely disappeared. An old lady, long since deceased, informed my
old Mend the Rev. William Stephen, that she remembered seeing the last
remains of the old house of Balgownie removed (in accordance with the spirit
of vandalism that was so rampant a hundred years ago) to supply materials
for building the present mansion of Balgownie at the west end of Culross;
and here I ought not to omit mention of Balgownie wood, an extensive tract
of forest situated a little to the southeast of Balgownie Mains. It was long
annually felled as coppice, and was famous for its supplies of bark, the
stripping of which furnished occupation to a large number of persons, as
well natives as strangers. Reference is made to this traffic in the burgh
records as early as 1654: latterly the wood was exploits on so great a scale
that very little of the old timber was left. For many years it has been left
nearly undisturbed, but has scarcely yet recovered the effect of the old
devastations.
Proceeding now to the
sea-shore at the south-east extremity of the parish, I would note, in
passing, a large white house known as “ Low Valleyfield ” par excellence,
being the largest house in the straggling village of that name, and forming
a prominent object from the water. The circumstance of my having been bom in
it and spent there the first two years of my life, will form an excuse for
this reference; and I now pass on to another dwelling of smaller dimensions
westward along the shore, which preserves for me reminiscences, and these
much more distinct than the house of Low Valleyfield. It was the place to
which we were sent on our daily expeditions in the summer-time, for the
purpose of an immersion in the “briny.” It may here be remarked that Culross
Bay, though not presenting the most agreeable beach for bathing in the
world, is yet, from its shallowness and uniformity of level, remarkably
safe, and there is no danger of wandering too rapidly out of one’s depth, or
being suddenly and unexpectedly overwhelmed by the advancing waves. The
water is none of the saltest or clearest, being both largely charged with
alluvium and with the particles of peatmoss which at one time was discharged
in great quantities into the Forth at Blair Drummond, above Stirling. This
was in consequence of the operations adopted for clearing away the moss in
that quarter from the subjacent soil, and discharging it into the river, so
as to effect a reclamation of many acres of rich arable soil. The idea was
an ingenious one, and attended with a great measure of success, but proved
in its execution most detrimental to the general amenity of the banks of the
river, and more especially the estuary between Kincardine and Queens-ferry.
Above all, the shores of Culross Bay were sadly polluted, being lined in
many places with thick layers of black moss or mud, over which the advancing
tide rolled in waves of a deep inky hue. The nuisance, in consequence of
being stopped or abated at its fountain-head, has of late years in a great
measure ceased, though it will take a long period yet to efface its effects.
Besides the moss, which may be regarded as an accidental and temporary
pollution, the alluvial sludge which deposits itself on the soil of the bay
is of a more enduring character; and I well remember that when, as
frequently happened, we had to wade in for a considerable distance to obtain
a dip, it was necessary to cleanse ourselves of the unctuous slime in a
bucket of fresh water.
But I must return again to
the little cottage, with its mistress, Mrs Cumming, or as she was commonly
known, in accordance with the old Scottish fashion which retains for a
matron her maiden name, by her latter designation of Becky Hoy. Indeed I
never knew her by any other. Dear old Becky 1 she was emphatically a “ canty
carline,” and a fine specimen of the hearty and intelligent old Scotchwoman.
She had originally come from the neighbourhood of Shiresmill, her mother
having rented the farm of Bargatie, at Bargatie Brae, a little to the north
of that hamlet. She herself was laundry-maid in the service of Sir Charles
Preston of Valleyfield, the elder brother of Sir Robert. After her marriage
she settled with her husband on the feu in Low Valleyfield; and there she
continued to reside for upwards of sixty years, till her death, which did
not take place till she had reached the verge of ninety. When I last saw her
she was eighty-seven, and retained all her faculties unimpaired, with the
exception of hearing. Her house was a very picture of neatness and comfort.
She has given a name to the
steep path leading up by her garden to the highroad on the braes above,
which will doubtless perpetuate her memory in this quarter under the
appellation of “Becky’s Brae.”
Immediately adjoining Becky’s
feu on the west, was another belonging to a very different character, a
half-witted man named Will Harrower, who was generally known as Laird
Harrower, Laird Will, or with dignified brevity, “The Laird.” The Laird’s
house was at one time in a sad state of dilapidation, the roof being so open
to the skies that he used to declare that he was the only man in the parish
who could lie in his bed and see the moon and stars. He has long since been
gathered to his fathers.
I shall not say anything more
about the Low Valleyfield folks, beyond that they have always borne the
reputation of a special race of people, differing in many respects from the
inhabitants of Culross. A sort of traditional animus on the part of the
latter town against her eastern neighbour would seem almost still to exist,
cording down from the days when Sir George Preston got Valleyfield erected
into a burgh of barony, and arrogated the right of communicating to the
burgesses a share in the monopoly of girdlemaking.
As I am now on the subject of
“characters,” I may here mention the Brothers Eeid in the Back Causeway of
Culross, who carried on a miscellaneous business in money-lending,
market-gardening, hair-cutting, bird-stuffing, and dealing in old furniture
and antiquities. Their house was a perfect “Old Curiosity Shop,” and
suggested irresistibly the idea of a wizard’s mansion or the abode of a
dealer in occult arts. In the third of the above vocations—the mowing of
polls—it was my fortune occasionally to be admitted within the precincts,
when myself, brothers, and sisters used to be despatched periodically from
Inzievar2 to Culross for the purpose of getting our
heads trimmed. A queer job, I remember, they made of them, the “ cut ” being
very much of the charity-school kind, or what used to be known as the “ cog
cut r».e., the primitive style of hair-cutting, which was exercised by
placing a “ cog ” or wooden bowl on the head and cutting the hair all round.
I remember the horror expressed by an Edinburgh hair-dresser on witnessing
the result of Mr Reid’s operations on my head.
But I must not be too hard on
“The Barber,” as he used to be known in our household, for I well remember
what enjoyment we derived from these visits to his house, which we used to
regard as glorious “outings.” Well do I remember the dimly lighted, grimy
chamber, with its old-fashioned pulpit-like chimney, and the old pictures,
clubs, and relics of antiquity by which it was surrounded. And the
delightful room up-stairs, filled with stuffed animals and other
curiosities, reached by a broken old ladder, and where we were only admitted
occasionally, must not be forgotten. One specialty that it contained was a
hand-organ, whilom the property of Mrs Barbara Maclean, the minister’s wife
of Dunfermline, the sweet sounds evolved from which appeared to us the music
of the spheres. And a very intelligent man to boot was Mr Reid, who had a
great turn for natural history and antiquities, and could discourse in very
interesting fashion on the various articles of the collections he had made.
There were two brothers who lived together, but it is only of one of them
that I have a special recollection. Their museum of curiosities was sold and
dispersed after their death.
One more “character,”
belonging to a much higher social sphere, though originally he had not
belonged to one much more exalted, should not be omitted in treating of the
notables of Culross and Tulliallan. I refer to the well-known Sir James
Wylie, so celebrated as the favourite surgeon of the Emperor Alexander I. of
Russia, grand-uncle of the present Czar. The story of his life is rather
piquant, and may thus be told:—
Sir James Wylie was a native
of Kincardine-on-Forth, in the parish of Tulliallan, and was the son of a
carrier or carter. His father is said to have been of a rough intractable
nature, akin to his occupation, whilst his mother was a woman of much higher
intelligence and aspiration. There was a large family of sons, some of whom,
inasmuch as they took after him, the father declared to be his; whilst he
made over to his wife, as her special offspring, those who had “a soul above
buttons,” and desired to raise themselves to a higher station. It was said
the mother had sometimes to smuggle these out of the house by the window in
order that they might attend school. One of them—James—managed to procure a
university education, and having qualified himself as a surgeon, went out in
that capacity on board a ship bound for St Petersburg. It anchored at
Cron-stadt in the end of the last century, just when the vagaries of the
Imperial madman Paul were causing his Ministers the utmost trouble and
vexation Among other lunatic whims, it is said that Paul had persuaded
himself that a bee had found its way into his ear. His courtiers vainly
endeavoured to demonstrate to him the baselessness of his belief, but only
rendered him more obstinate in maintaining it. At last they hit on the
bright idea of suggesting to him a consultation with the young Scotch
surgeon who was in the ship that had just arrived at Cronstadt. Paul readily
acceded to the notion, and young Wylie was sent for, being doubtless well
tutored as to his patient on the way. Having arrived at Court, and been
presented to Paul, lie declared, on examining the ear, that there was really
a bee inside, but that he would soon effect its removal. He made some
manipulations about the imperial head, exclaimed he had caught the creature,
and then, turning to Paul, asked if he did not now feel himself rid of the
pest. The Emperor answered that it was really so; and from that day the
surgeon’s position at Court was assured. Such, at least, is the story,
though I do not vouch for its accuracy. After the death of Paul and
accession of Alexander, Mr Wylie’s fame and fortune rapidly advanced, the
Emperor treating him as a personal friend, and it is said that Wylie had in
his keeping many important secrets of the Romanoff family. He accompanied
Alexander on his expedition after joining the coalition of sovereigns
against Napoleon, and was present at the battle of Leipsic. On this occasion
he had the honour of amputating the legs of General Moreau, who had joined
his fortunes to those of the Allied sovereigns, but did not now survive the
decisive victory which crushed the strength of imperial France, already
greatly weakened by the disastrous Russian expedition. On the visit of the
Allied sovereigns to Great Britain in 1814, Mr Wylie accompanied his
imperial master, and at Alexander’s request had the rank of a baronet of the
United Kingdom conferred on him by the Prince Regent.
Sir James Wylie does not seem
to have ever revisited his native town of Kincardine, where he had a
multitude of relations. He is said not to have regarded them with particular
favour; but his mother, Mrs Wylie, paid a visit to her son at St Petersburg,
where she seems to have received much kindness and attention. On her return
home, she astonished greatly the good folks of Tulliallan by appearing in
church with an Indian shawl and a pair of gold spectacles, with which she
had been presented by her dutiful son.
Sir James Wylie died at the
commencement of the Crimean war, and bequeathed by will all his property to
the Emperor. The bulk of this was situated in Russia; but some years before
his death he had purchased stock in the British funds to the amount of
£70,000—for the purpose, it is said, of purchasing an estate. His Scotch
relatives, whom he had thus unceremoniously left out in the cold, maintained
that the general bequest to the Czar did not cany this particular sum of
money; and in this contention they were, after prosecuting a suit in
Chancery, successful. There were no surviving brothers or sisters of Sir
James; but there was a host of nephews and nieces, all in respectable
positions in life, among whom the money was divided.
A chapter like the present
may be appropriately concluded by a comparison between the ancient and modem
localities of the parishes, so as to ascertain how many of the former have
been preserved or can now be identified.
I have already said that the
greater part of the land in the parish of Culross is at the present day
owned by the descendants of Sir George Bruce— though merely by an accidental
concourse of circumstances. The only estate which has never been purchased
or transferred since the Reformation, and is still enjoyed by the
representatives of the family which have held it for upwards of 300 years,
is that of Valleyfield, belonging to Mr Campbell Preston.
The lands of West Grange,
excluding those of Bath and Divelly, which have only been incorporated with
it in modem times, belonged, like the rest of the parish of Culross, to the
Abbey domain, and were in the end of the sixteenth century in the hands of a
feuar named Andrew Stewart. A decree is registered against him in the Burgh
Court of Culross for payment of a quantity of malt purchased by him from the
elder Robert Brace of Blairhall, and his wife, Margaret Hamilton, a natural
daughter of the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of St Andrews. It afterwards
passed into the hands successively of Gilbert Gourlay, George Henderson, and
John Malcolm. About the middle of the last century it was purchased by Mr
Dalgleish, the ancestor of the present proprietor, whose father, James
Dalgleish, Esq., added to the family property the estate of Balgownie, which
he purchased from Captain Cunningham, the representative of the old
proprietors, the Erskines. A small portion of the original estate, with the
family mansion, at the west extremity of Culross, was retained by Captain
Cunningham, and still belongs to his family.
The estates of Middle Grange
and East Grange —deriving their titles, like West Grange, from their having
been the home farms attached to Culross monastery — are now respectively the
property of Laurence Johnston, Esq. of Sands, and the Carron Company. Middle
Grange was the earliest property acquired in the parish of Culross by Mr
Johnston’s family, into whose ownership it came about 1730. They afterwards
acquired the properties of the Bur-rowin, Whitehills, Montd Claret, and the
Ashes, in the parish of Culrossand in the parish of Tulliallan the estate of
Sands, which has since been their principal seat. East Grange, from at least
the end of the sixteenth to the middle of the seventeenth century, belonged
to a family of the name of Masterton; afterwards it passed to Mr Murray; and
latterly to Captain Kerr, from whose representatives it was purchased by the
Carron Company a few years ago.
Included in West Grange is
the property of Bath, which seems at one time to have belonged to the
Mastertons of East Grange, who were also proprietors of the farm of Divelly.
They appear to be the same as the Mastertons of Parkmill, who take their
name from the village of Masterton, to the south-east of Dunfermline, and
one of whom is said to have been the architect of Dunfermline Abbey. There
were formerly two Baths, Easter and Wester; and the former of these used
also to bear the designation of Chapel Bath or The Chapel. From a somewhat
singular congeries of names in this quarter, it has been fancifully
conjectured, and even gravely asserted, that some former laird in this
quarter, having travelled on the Continent, bestowed Italian names on those
bleak localities, which experienced the usual fate in such cases of being
strangely corrupted in the vernacular. Thus Montd Claret and Divelly were
supposed to be corruptions of Monte Claro and Della Villa; whilst Bath, or
Chapel Bath, implied the existence in former days of a holy well or healing
spring. All these surmises are, I believe, quite erroneous, as I shall
endeavour to show in the next chapter.
The estate of Valleyfield
proper, as originally possessed by the Prestons, is but of small extent, and
does not even bulk largely along with the outlying farms of Overton and
Muirside, which were added to the family possessions by Brigadier-General
Preston in the last century. When held by Sir Robert Preston, a princely
lairdship was connected with the estate, inasmuch as he had become by
purchase the owner of Culross Abbey and the lands of Blairhall, the ancient
patrimony of the Bruces. But all the territory that Sir Robert held in his
own right, unfettered by an entail, he bequeathed, as already mentioned, to
the Elgin family.
Blairhall has always been a
large property, and at one time had been the chief one in the parish. It has
been the cradle of the Broomhall family, which is descended from Sir George
Bruce, second son of Edward Bruce of Blairhall, and now unites in itself the
titles of Elgin and Kincardine, created respectively in favour of Sir
George’s nephew and grandson. The old mansion has long since disappeared;
but a relic of the Bruces still remains in a mutilated heraldic' fragment,
surmounting what seems to have been the entrance to the old garden or
courtyard.
Though much defaced, it seems
closely allied to the figures which stand at the entrance of Kinross House,
which was built by the celebrated Sir William Bruce, the architect of
Holyrood House, and a cadet of the Blairhall family.
The Blairhall estate includes
the hamlet and mill of Shiresmill, with the farms of Duckdub (now Blairhall
Mains), Glourowrum (now New Farm), and Bennies Walls—the latter being partly
situated in the parish of Torrybum and county of Fife. It also comprised the
Newmills, and right of thirlage exercised by the same over Culross,—though
these were by General Preston recovered for Valleyfield, to which they would
seem naturally to belong. After passing into the hands of the Stewarts—one
of whom, a brother of the first Earl of Bute, married Mary Bruce, the
heiress of the property—it again was transferred into those of the
Ronaldson-Dicksons, whose fortunes, in the succeeding generation, rapidly
declined, and Sir Robert Preston became the purchaser of the domain. As if
jealous of the old preeminence of the former possessors, he subjected the
house, by demolishing the eastern wing, to a contumelious treatment, similar
to what he had practised on Culross Abbey.
The “Kingdom of Fife” has
long been noted for the multitude of small properties or lairdships which it
contains in comparison with the other counties of Scotland. The same
characteristic used to belong to the parish of Culross, but in modem times
it has almost completely disappeared. The wonder is how all these petty
heritors could have contrived to exist and maintain their position as county
gentry on the produce of their little domains. Certainly their requirements
must have been moderate, and they must have practised an almost Roman
simplicity in their mode of life. The only really large properties were
Blairhall and Balgownie—Valleyfield, though claiming the dignity of a
barony, being but of small territorial extent. West Grange has been
increased by the addition of Bath and Divelly; Comrie by the union of two
properties, known respectively as Easter and Wester Comrie—the former
belonging in the seventeenth century to John Gray—the latter to John
Colville, the son of the Commendator. East Grange seems to have been always
of the same extent as at present. Middle Grange, the Burrowin, the Ashes,
and part of Barhill, have all accrued to Sands; whilst Langside, Birkenhead,
and Bordie, stretching continuously from east to west, beginning at the
modem Blair Mains, are now all included in the estate of Blair Castle.
The property of Sands, which
for nearly a century and a half has belonged to the Johnston family, lies
now chiefly in the parish of Tulliallan, but was formerly entirely in that
of Culross, and seems to have given name to a dan, which, both as lairds and
ordi-. nary individuals, were in bygone days very numerous around and in
Culross. In the end of the sixteenth century we find a “ Thomas Sands,
portioner of that Ilk”; [Of the same place—the common old-fashioned way of
expressing laird of Birkenhead, John Sands of Langside, and John Sands of
Overton, besides many other individuals bearing the name, of lower degree.
Some time apparently in the early part of the seventeenth century the estate
of Sands came into the hands of a family of the name of Wilson, who held it
for nearly a hundred years along with the lands of Kirkton— so called from
its proximity to the West Kirk of Culross. The original acquirer of the
property is said to have been private secretary to Anne of Denmark, queen of
James VI. A descendant of his, doubtless, is a certain “ George Wilson of
Sands,” who appears in the burgh records in the early years of last century
as one of the bailies of Culross.] and there also stand recorded William
Sands,
The portion of Sands in the
parish of Culross comprises a narrow strip extending along the sea-shore to
the westward of Blair quarry, and known in former times as Kelliwood, or
Sands Kelliwood. Altogether the property, though cumulatively large, is very
much scattered. Its latest acquisition was the little lairdship of Lurg,
lying near the mansion-house of Sands, and about the last of the ancient
holdings to merge in the larger estates. The house of Lurg, as already
mentioned, is now occupied by the Sands gamekeeper.
The large domain of
Tulliallan, though perfectly compact and continuous, is nevertheless an
agglomeration of smaller territories. The barony of that the fact of the
name of the proprietor and his estate being the same. My readers will
remember Sir Walter Scott’s “ Sir Robert Redganntlet of that Ilk.”
To the Tulliallan estate
belongs almost the whole of the moor of Culross, the ancient patrimony of
the burgh, but which is now almost all planted, and generally known by the
name of the Tulliallan Woods, or Tulliallan Forest. It is intersected by
many delightful paths, the old highways across the moor, and contains within
its precincts two extensive sheets of water—the Peffermill dam on its
northern, and the Moor dam or Tulliallan Water at its western extremity. The
ground at the eastern extremity, adjoining the farm of Kirkton, used to be
occupied by a third sheet of water, known as the Kirkton dam, which was in
existence till at least the end of the last century. The site is now, like
the rest of the moor, planted with trees. |
