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The Colville family as Lords of Tillicoultry—Harvieston and its associations
with Burns—Town of Dollar—Castle Campbell and its surroundings—Road from
Dollar to the Yetts of Muckhart.
The present house of
Tillicoultry is a modern square mansion, situated on the slope of the
Kirk-hill, about a quarter of a mile to the east of the town, and near it is
the old churchyard, though the old church is almost obliterated. On a
terrace at the north end of the Kirk-hill there remained till the end of the
seventeenth century a venerable thorn, beneath which the Laird of
Tillicoultry, the first Lord Colville of Culross, was wont to repose. He had
served with great distinction in the wars of Henry of Navarre against the
Catholic League, and continued a great favourite with that prince throughout
the remainder of his life. He was sent afterwards on various missions to
France front the English Court, and was always received there with the
utmost honour and respect. During his latter days he resided almost
constantly at his house of Tillicoultry. Standing on the terrace one day,
and looking up to bis favourite thorn, whilst he was recounting his military
adventures to some friends, his foot slipped, and the old man fell down the
bank, never to rise again. His son, the Master of Colville, had predeceased
him, and his grandson, Lord James Colville of Culross, sold the Tillicoultry
estate, as already mentioned, to Sir William Alexander of Menstrie.
Going due south from the
Kirk-hill, we arrive at its conmuation "the Cuninghar," at the extremity of
which, where it abuts on the public road, may still be seen the fragment of
a circular rampart. There were some standing-stones here at one time, and
the locality was regarded as the site of a Druidical circle; but with the
exception just mentioned, almost every vestige of antiquity has disappeared,
in consequence of the excavations that have been made in the bank for the
digging of sand. A number of bones have been found at this place.
The present church and manse
of Tillicoultry is situated at the east end of the town, close to the road
leading to Tullibod) and Alloa. Proceeding eastwards towards Dollar, and
passing the new cemetery on the south side of the road opposite to the
extremity of the Cuninghar, a long descent is made, at the foot of which,
one mile from Tillicoultry and two from Dollar, is the west entrance to
Harvieston, now the property of James Orr, Esq., who succeeded his brother
Sir Andrew Orr in 1874. Sir Andrew purchased in 1859 the Harvieston estate,
which for many years previous had been in the hands of the Globe Insurance
Company. It used to belong to the family of the late Archbishop of
Canterbury—Mr Tait, the Archbishop's father, having been the last proprietor
of that name. It had come into their hands in the beginning of the last
century, having previous to that time formed part, of the lordship of
Campbell, which in its turn was, in the end of the last century,
incorporated with and now forms part of Harvieston. The Archbishop was, with
his brothers, brought up here, and his family still retain in their
possession the mausoleum or walled enclosure known as "Tait's Tomb," on the
banks of the Devon, between Tillicoultry and Dollar. His paternal
grandmother, Mrs Tait of Harvieston, was sister of Mrs Hamilton, stepmother
of Burns's great crony, Gavin Hamilton of Mauchline. On Mrs Tait's death,
Mrs Hamilton came with her family to reside at Harvieston and keep house for
her brother-in-law, Mr Tait. Burns, who visited Harvieston more than once,
has celebrated the charms both of Charlotte Hamilton—Gavin's step-sister—and
of the stream by whose banks she dwelt:—
"How pleasant the banks of the
clear winding Devon,
With green spreading bushes, and flowers blooming fair!
But the bonniest flower on the banks of the Devon
Was once a sweet bud on the braes of the Ayr."
And it is not a little
interesting to find that the poet's very last song, written at Brow on the
Solway Firth, from which he only returned to Dumfries to die, has also
reference to Charlotte Hamilton and the Devon :—
"Fairest maid on Devon banks,
Crystal Devon, winding Devon—
Wilt thou lay that frown aside,
And smile as thou wert wont to do?"
Harvieston is most
beautifully situated amidst the woods and declivities which here, as
generally in the Dollar valley, constitute the great charm of the lower
slopes of the Ochil range. Above rise the verdant hills, and seem to
overhang the road, to the portion of which extending from Tillicoultry to
Dollar must perhaps be assigned the palm, in point of picturesque
attraction, in the whole route by the hillfoots. The present house of
Harvieston is a large and imposing mansion in the Italian style, and the
grounds attached to it form an important feature in the landscape. The
estate includes Castle Campbell and its glen, with which we shall soon make
acquaintance.
Continuing along a finely
shaded road, we pass on our right the mausoleum of the Tait family, and at a
little distance afterwards on our left the east entrance to Harvieston.
Shortly after this we enter the town of Dollar (Hotel: Castle Campbell),
which, originally a small village lying on the side of a mountain-gorge, has
now spread out into a large town with handsome streets, villas, and all the
appliances and luxuries of modern civilisation. Much of this development has
doubtless been owing to the erection here of Dollar Academy, an extensive
educational establishment, founded through the munificence of a Mr John
M'Nab, a native of Dollar, who, leaving the place a poor boy, with barely
enough in his pocket to defray his fare for crossing at Queensferry, found
his way to Leith and thence to London. There he settled, and in the course
of a long life, spent in seafaring and shipowning, he contrived to amass an
immense fortune. This he left to the minister and kirk-session of Dollar, to
be employed in the erection of an institution for the purposes of education,
he himself having apparently experienced in his young days the desirability
of such a provision being made for poor scholars. Through some ambiguity in
the wording of his will, executed in England, it was questioned whether, in
accordance with the testator's directions regarding the foundation of a
"charity," its conditions might not be fulfilled by the establishment at
Dollar of a large hospital or poorhouse. There was also a difficulty caused
by the bequest to the minister and parish of Dollar, a circumstance which
for a time left practically the application of the funds and management of
the trust in the hands of one man—the clergyman. A keen and protracted
contest ensued, in which were invoked the authority of the Court of Session,
the English Court of Chancery, and the Imperial Parliament. Ultimately the
matter was arranged by the creation of a body of trustees, by whom the
affairs of the institution were managed for a number of years, and recently
there has been a fresh organisation at the hands of the Educational
Endowments Commission. The idea of a vast poorhouse or hospital had long
been abandoned, and a large and handsome academy had been built at an
expense of ^10,000. It was opened in 1820, and has enjoyed a great and ever
extending reputation. All householders residing within the parish of Dollar
have a right to partake of its benefits, and hence multitudes of families,
chiefly of the middle classes, have been induced to settle in the place in
consideration of the educational advantages which it affords. Dollar Academy
provides higher or secondary education for both sexes, and the capital fund
of its endowment amounts to about ^90,000.
The street leading up to the
Academy is termed Cairnpark Street, and so named because it occupies the
site of a field in which stood an immense cairn of stones, 30 feet in
height, with a base of 30 feet square. It was removed in the beginning of
this century, and the stones of which it was composed, to the amount of
about a thousand cart-loads, were broken up and used as metal for forming
the new road by the foot of the Ochils. At the bottom of the cairn a number
of clay urns were found, and these, in a similar spirit to that which
prompted the whole procedure, were allowed to go to destruction.
The original nucleus of
Dollar consisted of what is now known as "Old Dollar," situated at the
north-east extremity of the present town, on the rising ground at the
entrance of the gorge of Castle Campbell. The Dollar burn, formed by the
union of two streams from the hills, flows past it in a southerly direction
to the Devon, and the modern town of Dollar spreads itself out on the
acclivity on either side of the stream (though chiefly on the western bank)
which ascends from the Devon to the Ochils. The main street crosses it from
west to east, along the great road from Stirling to Kinross, from both of
which places, as also from Dunfermline, Dollar is equally distant (12
miles).
A fine view of Dollar is
obtained from the train as it passes from Alloa to Kinross, along the
elevated bank or terrace on the south side of the Devon. A road from Alloa
leads along the crest of this to the Rumbling Bridge and Kinross, through
Blainngone, parallel with that which we have just been traversing by the
foot of the Ochils, and commands throughout a complete prospect of the
Dollar valley. At a point where the roads from Forest Mill and Saline
converge, a steep and winding descent leads down to the Devon, which is now
crossed here by a wooden bridge, though till within the last forty years
there was only a ford, which frequently was impassable when the water was
high. It was not an uncommon practice in those days for the Devon to be
forded on stilts. The only access to the northern bank which could then be
obtained in all weathers was by the Vicar's Bridge, three quarters of a mile
farther up, and approached on the south side by a steep descent leading down
from the village of Blairingone.
Unlike the other "hillfoots,"
Dollar has no factories or large works, with the exception of the
bleachworks near the wooden bridge, established by Mr Hay of Dollarfield
about a hundred years ago. In some respects the place may be regarded as a
miniature of Edinburgh, its mainstay being its educational advantages, and
the attractions presented by the mountain scenery and salubrious climate. In
the latter respect Dollar has always enjoyed a pre-eminence. The minister of
the parish, speaking of it in the end of the last century, says that in the
course of a parochial visitation in the month of December he did not find a
single sick person. The only disease which used to be considered as peculiar
to the locality was what is known as bronchocele or a glandular swelling of
the neck, attributable, it is said, to the drinking of the water of Dollar
burn, which is mingled during a large portion of the year with the melted
snow coming down from the Ochils. A similar cause has been assigned for the
prevalence of goitre in the Swiss valleys. A new water-supply, however, and
altered conditions of life, have rendered this characteristic one of the
reminiscences of the past.
A great deal of fanciful
absurdity has been expended in connection with the origin of the names of
Dollar and the surrounding localities, which are all supposed to have had
their source in some depressing or melancholy characteristic. Thus the
parish itself is said to be that of "Doulour" or "Grief"; Castle Campbell,
which overshadows it, was formerly called the Castle of Gloom, and the two
streams which surround it and unite in the gorge at the southern extremity
of the castle hill, had the appellations respectively of the Waters of
Sorrow and Care. The idea was not an unattractive one, and received some
support from the fact that Castle Campbell was really in ancient times known
as the Castle of Gloom, and had this designation changed to its present one
by the authority of an Act of the Scottish Parliament, passed in 1489. Put
Dollar is merely the Gaelic doi/leir, or the dark place, an epithet very
applicable to the situation of the castle in the centre of a wooded gorge,
and the position of Old Dollar at the entrance of the ravine. The Castle of
Gloom and the Gloom Hill, immediately adjoining, on the east, are a natural
Saxon rendering of the Gaelic term, and appear still more applicable when,
as not unfrequently happens, the locality is shrouded in a dense mist. As
for the Waters of Sorrow and Care, their peculiar appellations must be
dismissed as the emanations of a poetic fancy, and they are now in great
measure discarded for the more prosaic epithets of the Bank and Turnpike
burns.
Little can be stated
regarding the early history of Dollar but an engagement is said to have
taken place here in 877 between the Danes and the Scots, in which the latter
were worsted, and pursued with great slaughter to the north-cast extremity
of Fife. The occasion for the battle arose in consequence of the expulsion
from Ireland of the Danes by the Norwegians, a kindred nation of
Scandinavian settlers. The former then passed over to Scotland, and crossing
the isthmus between the Firths of Clyde and Forth, made their way into
Stirling and Clackmannanshire. A legend, too, is recorded in the Scottish
Chronicles of a company of English pirates landing in Fife, and plundering
the whole country as far as the Ochils, without encountering any resistance.
They arrived at Dollar, and carried off from the church the recently fitted
and beautifully carved woodwork of its choir. This they transported to their
ships, and sailed off in great glee, till they approached Inchcolm, when the
vessel containing the sacred timber disappeared suddenly beneath the water.
The rest of the expedition, warned by the punishment which had thus followed
their sacrilegious act, desisted from prosecuting further their hostile
intentions against the monastery on the island.
It is in the middle of the
fifteenth century that the Campbell family first appear on the scene, the
lands of Dollar having become vested in coheiresses, one of whom married the
first Earl of Argyll. The date of 1465 is commonly assigned for this event;
and subsequently to this period we find them, as evinced by numerous royal
charters, confirmatory and otherwise, proprietors of large tracts of
territory, not only in the neighbourhood of Dollar, but through the whole
adjacent country, ranging from Menstrie on the west, to the Yetts of
Muckhart on the east, and extending as far south as the parish of Saline in
Fife. They were, in fact, the governing family in the district—one specially
important office that they held being the hereditary bailiary of Culross
Abbey, which they exercised till 1569, when the jurisdiction was made over
to Robert Colville of Cleish, ancestor of the Lords Colville of Ochiltree.
Dollar belonged to the
diocese of Dunkeld, and in the earlier half of the sixteenth century it had
the fortune to be under the spiritual oversight of Thomas Forrest, or Forret,
who has come down to posterity as the " Good Vicar of Dollar," and one of
the early martyrs in the cause of the Reformation. He is said to have
belonged to the family of Forret, landed proprietors in Fife, and his father
is styled by Calderwood " master stabler to James IV." He himself was a
canon of the monastery of Inchcolm, and was early noted both as a pious
youth and earnest student. After his appointment to Dollar, he soon became
renowned through the whole country for the zeal and activity of his
ministrations, which were principally directed to the exposition of the Holy
Scriptures. Nor in the inculcation of good works did he omit to practise
what he preached. He was both extremely charitable to the poor, and
refrained from oppressing them by those exactions which had become so
intolerable on the part of the clergy. In particular, he never availed
himself of the ecclesiastical privilege which claimed as a perquisite on the
occasion of the death of the head of a family, the best cow and the coverlet
or uppermost cloth of the best bed. He is also traditionally said to have
erected for the public convenience the bridge across the Devon, known as the
Vicar's Bridge, which has thus served to perpetuate his name.
All this zeal and
unselfishness, however, proved eminently distasteful to his ecclesiastical
superiors, who perceived in the former a tendency towards justification by
faith and cognate Protestant doctrines, whilst in the latter they foresaw an
encouragement to the laity to resist the temporal claims put forward by the
Church. Forrest was cited before the Bishop of Dunkeld, and examined as to
the practices alleged against him : his answers proved, as might have been
expected, unsatisfactory and he was sent for trial to Edinburgh, where he
was convicted of heresy, and, with four other fellow-sufferers, burned to
death at the stake on the Castle Hill in 1538.
The Pearls of Argyll, who
seem then to have occupied Castle Campbell as their chief residence, adopted
zealously the cause of the Reformation during the last years of the regency
of Mary of Guise; and we find the "old Phrle of Argyle," as John Knox terms
him, extending his hospitality and protection to the Reformer, who spent
some days at Castle Campbell previous to his departure for Geneva in 1556.
Here he "taught certane dayes and the place is yet pointed out 011 the
castle eminence where he is traditionally said to have preached. A few years
afterwards Castle Campbell was honoured by a visit from Queen Mary, who
travelled thither from Edinburgh in January 1563, to be present at the
marriage of Sir James Stewart of Doune (afterwards Lord Doune) with Lady
Margaret Campbell, daughter of Archibald, fourth Earl of Argyll. They were
the parents of the "bonnie Earl of Moray," whose tragic fate has already
been recorded.
In 1605 the greater part of
the possessions of the Argyll family in the parish of Dollar were feued out
by Archibald, Earl of Argyll, the father of the celebrated Covenanting
leader, with the reservation only of Castle Campbell and two farms in the
neighbourhood. The rights of lordship or superiority, however, were retained
both here and over the adjoining district of Muckhart. During the great
civil war, the Marquis of Argyll, in command of an expedition against the
Ogilvies in the Braes of Angus, had burned in 1640 their mansion of the
"bonnie house o' Airlie," an act for which summary vengeance was taken by
Montrose's army in 1644 on their march through the Dollar valley to the
field of Kilsyth. Not only was Castle Campbell burned and wrecked, but
almost every house in the parishes of Dollar and Muckhart was committed to
the flames. The case of the unfortunate inhabitants of this district was
brought subsequently before the Covenanting Government, and active measures
taken for relieving the sufferers, on whose behalf several Royalists were
severely mulcted in the way of compensation. The castle never recovered from
the onslaught to which it had been subjected, but in Cromwell's time it was
garrisoned by a detachment of his troops, who sent out in 1652 a requisition
to the town of Culross for a supply of bedding—a demand the enforcement of
which occasioned a vast amount of trouble and annoyance to that little
burgh.
The building itself was
allowed to go to ruin, and the Argyll family living at a great distance at
their seat at Inverary Castle, seem to have gradually lost .interest in
Castle Campbell and its territory. Their connection with it finally ceased
in 1805, when they disposed of it to Mr Tait. It is now the property of Mr
Orr of Harvieston.
Castle Campbell is, of
course, the principal object of interest connected with Dollar; and from the
elevated knoll on which it stands, in the midst of a densely wooded gorge,
it looms forth like the presiding genius of the place. Always attractive
with its surroundings, its appearance is perhaps most striking in winter or
early spring, when the trees are bare of foliage, and clouds of mist are
partially shrouding its grey walls and battlements. Before the use of cannon
in sieges, it must have been a very strong fortress indeed, seeing that
before the present walk up the glen was constructed along the precipitous
banks where scarcely any natural footing exists, the only approach was from
the north side by the narrow road which leads up from Old Dollar on the
western flank of the Gloom Hill. The castle knoll is a wedge-shaped
eminence, washed on the east side by the Turnpike burn or Water of Care, and
on the west by the Bank burn or Water of Sorrow, which unite at the point of
the wedge near that singular rift or cleft .n the rock known as "Kemp's
Score."
The opening up of the pathway
through the glen has been an immense boon both to the inhabitants of Dollar
and the general public, who have thus been spared the fatigues of a
circuitous route, and been enabled to contemplate in comfort and safety a
scene of mingled grandeur and beauty that resembles a miniature Switzerland,
and may call up to the traveller reminiscences of that country. The work was
accomplished mainly through the exertions of the late Dr Strachan of Dollar
and Mr Peter Stalker, who, having obtained the permission of Sir Andrew Orr,
the then proprietor, managed to collect a sum of ^300, which was expended in
the formation of the roadway. This was no easy undertaking, as the rock
required in many places to be blasted, and bridges had to be constructed at
the junction of the streams. To maintain the road in good order a toll of
sixpence is charged at the entrance of the glen, and as this procures also
admission to the castle, the impost must in the circumstances be regarded as
a very reasonable one.
Dollar or Castle Campbell
Glen, is certainly on the whole the finest in the Ochils; though doubtless
the natives of Menstrie, Alva, and Tillicoultry will each claim the
superiority for his own valley. It is flanked on the west side by Dollar
Hill, which rises to the height of 1129 feet; and on the east by Gloom Hill,
which is lower, and has only an elevation of 728. Above Dollar Hill rises
the pyramidal King Seat (2no feet), which commands a magnificent view of the
Dollar valley; whilst to the north of the castle is the Saddle Hill (1633
feet), behind which is the White Wisp or Craiginnan Hill (2111 feet), one of
the highest in the Ochils. All these hills look down on the castle, which is
seen to special advantage from a point at the crest of the ravine, where the
slope of Dollar Hill abuts on the latter. The grey tower there stands forth
on its green knoll amid the border of bright foliage which clothes the sides
of the 'gorge, the depths of which the eye strives to penetrate, whilst the
ear meets the sound of the clear rushing waters as they descend in cascades
or ripple gently over the smooth shining pebbles.
Castle Campbell bears no
date, but seems to have been built at three different periods. There is the
keep or tower at the north extremity, constructed much after the orthodox
model of such buildings—that is to say, of a basement storey for stores, or
possibly occasionally cattle; a kitchen above, with a vaulted roof; then a
great hall, with a modern roof of wood, the old one having been destroyed ;
then a grand vaulted apartment at the very top, and above that the
battlements or flat roof, now surrounded by a low parapet, though it used to
be merely an expanse of green turf without any protection. Yet here parties
used to picnic, and even have dances!
Attached to the keep on the
south side is a species of supplementary tower with mullioned windows, and a
porch with a flat stone roof resting on two handsomely carved pillars. To
the south of this had been a group of apartments ranged in storeys, part of
which are still inhabited by the custodian of the castle. The lower rooms
are vaulted, but the upper ones have been repaired and modernised. What
seems to have been a long corridor or gallery extends south of the porch
from east to west, with towers at each end; and south again of this are the
remains of a large hall, which forms the south front of the castle, and
commands a grand prospect of the gorge down to the Dollar valley. The
courtyard of the castle is entered from the north beside the keep by an
arched gateway and porch, and there are still some fine old trees on the
grassy slope beyond towards the stream. A small piece of garden-ground
extends before the south front of the castle, and beyond this are the
remains of some kind of outwork ;n the form of an archway. Going through
this, we reach a small expanse or grassy projection, which forms the
southern extremity of the castle knoll. It is almost precipitous on three
sides, but at the very extremity a rude footpath, still passable for a short
distance, seems to have wound along the face of the feliff down to the
stream. On this grassy plot John Knox is said to have preached; but if so,
it could not have been to a very large audience, seeing that the space is
not merely small, but bordered by precipices. Just before passing through
the archway the traveller will observe a narrow chasm or cleft in the rock
leading away down to the water's-edge. This rift is called " Kemp's Score,"
and a story is told of a gigantic robber of former days named Kemp who made
himself notorious by his depredations, and at last was so daring as to enter
the king's palace at Dunfermline and carry off the royal dinner. He was
pursued by a young nobleman who had got into disgrace at Court, and
determined if possible now to regain favour. Overtaking Kemp after a long
chase, he attacked him, cut off his head, and hastening back with it to
Dunfermline, received pardon and reinstatement at Court. The body was thrown
by him into the Devon at a place which subsequently bore in remembrance of
him the appellation of " Willie's Pool." Such is the history of Kemp, who is
said to have scooped out the great cleft at Castle Campbell, which was
called after him Kemp's "score" or "cut." But it is scarcely necessary to
observe that all this is mere fable. The real explanation of the term is the
Gaelic Ceum scoir, the step or staircase in the rock. The cleft is probably
natural; but there can be little doubt of a sort of rude staircase or series
of steps having been made here to enable the garrison in the castle, when
besieged, to have access to the stream either for water or as a means of
egress. A similar purpose had doubtless been served by the narrow path
leading down from the grass plot already mentioned. It only remains to be
stated that Kemp's Score, though an ugly, awkward-looking place, has been
not unfrequently both ascended and descended in modern times. There is
indeed no extraordinary difficulty in doing so in dry weather, if a
reasonable amount of care and precaution be taken; but after rain, the earth
which lias accumulated in the bottom and sides of the chasm becomes very
unctuous and slippery, so that it is extremely difficult for the climber to
stead)' himself or keep a firm grip.
Like Alva, Dollar has also
had her mines. Both lead and copper were wrought for several years in the
Oehils a little above the town, and silver, it is also said, was discovered
in considerable quantities beside the Burn of Care, in Dollar Glen. But in
none of these cases did the yield compensate for the expense of working.
Valuable pebbles have been found on the summit of the White Wisp Hill. How
far it may be worth the traveller's while to climb the hill for this purpose
I cannot take on me to say, but there can be little doubt that he will
receive ample compensation for his trouble in the splendid prospect which he
will obtain from this point if the day be fine. The hill is directly north
from the castle, and the proper line of ascent is by the old ruined steading
of Craiginnan, which stands out prominently on the green slope. The valley
between the Gloom Hill and the White Wisp or Craiginnan Hill is called Glen
Quey, and by continuing in an easterly direction along the cart-track which
leads up from Old Dollar to Castle Campbell, the traveller will, after a
walk of three or four miles, emerge on Glen Devon.
The ascent of the grassy
slope above the ru;ned steading is tolerably steep, but the top of the White
Wisp is very level, resembling a wild upland moor, and the cairn or highest
point is very far back. With regard to the prospect, it may be generally
described as closely re-semb ing that obtained from the summit of Ben Cleuch,
which will be seen away to the north-west, and may be reached in this way
without much difficulty. Almost directly west from the White Wisp across the
ridge is Tormengie (2091 feet), from which the traveller will look down on
Glen Sherup with its reservoir, from which recently not only the town of
Dunfermline, but a great part of the country lying between the Devon and the
Firth of Forth, have derived their water-supply. If he descend from this
point into the valley to the south-west, he may climb the King Seat, and
then descend to Dollar by Dollar Hill and the Castle Glen.
One of the derivations
assigned for the old name of the castle is that one of the Scottish
princesses, having misconducted herself, was shut up there as a prisoner,
and said very naturally that it was a "gloomy" place. At the foot of the
Gloom Hill, to the east, an unfortunate individual was burnt as a wizard in
the end of the seventeenth century; and a more cheerful reminiscence is
called up by a locality at the east end of Old Dollar, which bears the
appellation of Fiddlefield. The popular account of this etymology is
tolerably authentic. Dollar used to be rather famous for its fiddlers, and
in the last century there lived here a noted performer of the name of
Johnnie Cook. Johnnie had repaired to Edinburgh to take part in a fiddling
competition got up by the Duke of Argyll at his town mansion of Argyll
House. He won the prize, and a considerable sum of money besides, which was
subscribed for him as the successful competitor. With this he returned to
his native place, and bought the field to which Scottish sarcasm affixed the
title just mentioned.
From Dollar to the so-called
Yetts of Muckhart, on the great north road from Dunfermline and the Rumbling
Bridge to Crieff, through Glen Devon and Glen Eagles, il a distance of four
miles. The hamlets of Pitgober, Bauldie's Burn, and the Pool of Muckhart,
are passed, as is also the domain of Castleton or Cowden (J. Christie,
Esq.), noteworthy as in former times the property of the Archbishops of St
Andrews, who made it over to the Argyll family in the end of the fifteenth
century. Some remains, including an ancient doorway and tower, are still to
be seen of a castle said to have been built in the thirteenth century by
Bishop Lamberton. The gardens and grounds of Cowden are very agreeable and
Interesting. At Bauldie's Burn, towering upwards on the left, is Sea Mab,
rising to the height of 1441 feet, the highest of the Oehils in this
neighbourhood, and presenting the appearance of a lofty cone of beautiful
greensward. The term "Pool" of Muckhart seems a singular designation, and
possibly the correct rendering may be the "Peel" or Castle of Muckhart. The
Yetts of Muckhart receives its designation from being situated on the great
highway leading from Strathearn to the south through Glen Eagles and Glen
Devon. The place where the road through the latter entered Muckhart parish
used to be called the "Mantrose (Montrose) Yetts," in reference to the
frequent descents this way of the Grahams, whose chieftains, the Earls of
Montrose, had their stronghold at Kincardine Castle, on the north side of
the Oehils, near the northern outlet of Glen Eagles. This is only twelve
miles from Castle Campbell, and they were therefore in close proximity to
the lands of the Argyll family, who suffered dreadfully in 1644 from the
ravages of Montrose and his had made his fortune by retailing at fairs a
particular kind of it known by this epithet.clan, when Castle Campbell was
burned, and the parishes of Dollar and Muckhart laid waste.
The Yetts of Muckhart may be
regarded as a sort of centre from which numerous distances in all quarters
of the compass are measured. It is eighteen miles from Crieff, eighteen from
North Queensferry, nine from Kinross, eight from Milnathort, four from
Dollar, three and a half from Glen Devon, and one and a half from Rumbling
Bridge. In itself it is only an insignificant hamlet, but there used to be a
large and important inn here which did an extensive business before the days
of railways. An immense number of carts, especially, used to pass this way
going to Strathearn with coal and lime from Blairingone and Fife.
Dollar Academy
My old school
December 2017 Fortunas Magazine |
