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THE forty-merk land of Lawers
was one of the earliest possessions of the Glenorchy Campbells on Loch
Tayside. It was bestowed upon Sir Colin, the first laird, in 1473, by James
III. for his zeal in pursuing and bringing to justice the murderers of his
unfortunate grandsire, James I. The property had, prior to that, been in the
possession of Thomas Chalmers, one of those implicated in the deed.
Sir Colin gave the lands of
Lawers, together with the three-merk land of Correquhirk, to his son John,
by his fourth wife, Margaret, daughter of Luke Stirling of Keir. The eight-merk
land of Shian in Glenquaich was also bestowed on John by his eldest brother,
Sir Duncan, who succeeded as second laird of Glenorchy. Sir Duncan, however,
retained the superiority of Shian for a time. The Campbells of Lawers
afterwards came into other lands, among them being Carwhin and Easter
Ardeo-naig on Loch Tayside.
Among the “Landis-lords and
Baillies in the Hielands and lies,” in the roll of 1587, we find the laird
of Lawers, who was at that time Sir John Campbell. He married Beatrice,
daughter of Sir Colin, sixth laird of Glenorchy, by his first wife Margaret
Stewart. His second son, Colin, was the founder of the house of Aberuchill,
now represented by the Campbells of Kilbryde.
In 1633, when an act for the
further suppression of the Macgregors was passed, Sir John Campbell, the
then laird of Lawers, was appointed one of the justices for dealing with the
“lawless limmers” of that clan. In that year, having previously married the
grand-daughter of Hugh Campbell, Sheriff of Ayr, and first Baron Loudon, he
was created Earl of Loudon by Charles I., and his younger brother succeeded
to the estate of Lawers.
Many of the clan Campbell
were killed at Inverlochy, and at the battle of Auldearn in May, 1645,
Colonel Campbell of Lawers, who commanded the foot soldiers on the right
wing, fell fighting against the Loyalists, while his brother, Archibald, was
taken prisoner. In 1650, when Montrose was summoned before the Parliament in
Edinburgh, to hear his death-warrant, the Earl of Loudon, who was then
Chancellor, no doubt embittered by the knowledge of the injuries done to his
own kith and kin by the great Marquis, shewed the greatest enmity towards
him, and enumerated one by one his transgressions in a long and vituperative
harangue.
In 1678, the laird of Lawers
was appointed one of the Commissioners for the county of Perth for the
supply of a new and “voluntar offer to His Majesty of eighteen hundred
thousand pounds Scots.”
In 1686, Sir James Campbell
disposed to the first Earl of Breadalbane the superiorities of the paternal
lands in Glenquaich, which included the four-and-a-half-merk land of
Turrerich, the four-merk land of Kinloch, the twenty-shilling land of
Tirchardy, and the four-merk land of Garrows. Along with them was also
disposed the croft in Easter Shian called the Officer’s croft, together with
the Laird’s meadow, which had been in 'the occupation of an Andrew Macjock
in the commencement of the seventeenth century, and which is known to the
present day as Croftmacjock—the forty-shilling land of Easter Shian, by
which it is surrounded, having been sold in 1637 by the then laird of
Lawers, with consent of his son Mungo, to John Campbell of Edramuckie.
The Campbells of Lawers
appear to have severed their connection with Loch Tayside about 1693, when
they finally settled at Fordie in Strathearn, an estate long held by them,
and which was designated Lawers after their old patrimony.
The residence of the Lawers
family on Loch Tayside was situated close to the water’s edge, and a little
to the west of the mouth of the burn of Lawers. It was unique in being a
double-storied thatched building, but is now roofless and in ruins. The
family also had a town house—or “ludging” as it was termed—in Perth,
adjacent to the tenement possessed by the lairds of Glenorchy. The last
occupant of the house at Lawers was a lady, called in Gaelic, “Baintighearna
Lauthair,” and local tradition asserts she was a Stewart by birth, of the
Appin branch. She is said to have possessed a wonderful gift of prophecy,
and several stories are told in the district of the fulfilment of her
predictions.
In 1480, the lands of Lawers
were described as comprehending “Lawarmoir, Lawarmanach, Glenlawar Estir and
Glenlawar Westir.” Later on the lands were divided as follows:—Easter,
Middle and Wester Cloanlawer, Cragganruar, Shenlarich, Mar-ragintrowan,
Drumglas, Lurgbuie, Duallin, Lawernacroy, Machuim, Milton or Parks of
Lawers, Cuiltrannich, Drimnaferoch, Tomb and Croftintygan. The upper crofts
of Cuiltrannich are at present the highest cultivated lands on Loch Tayside.
The meal mill of Lawers stands in Cuiltrannich, the school1
in Drimnaferoch, and Tynacroit or Crofthouse in Tomb. A lint mill was
formerly wrought here.1 In 1669, a church was erected close by the lochside
and near to the house of Lawers. The minister of Kenmore provided service
here from time to time for a considerable period,2 but latterly a pastor was
placed who had also under his charge the church of Ardeonaig. Sometime prior
to 1833, the west loft of the church fell, and the building was abandoned.
The present church was then built, and at the time of the Disruption was
handed over to the Free Church body. The graveyard of the district—Cladh
Machuim—lies on the east side of Lawers burn, on the farm of Machuim. One or
two interments are said to have taken place outside the old church, but
there are no gravestones to be seen there.
The most, if not all, of the
lint mills in Breadalbane, were erected by Hugh Cameron, who was born at
Lawers in 1705. He is said to have constructed nearly a hundred mills in
different parts of the country, and to have introduced spinning wheels into
Breadalbane. He died at the extraordinary age of 112 years.
The ministers of Kenmore
appear, as a rule, to have personally conducted the services at Lawers ; but
we find that in 1714, the Rev. Alexander Comrie, then parish minister,
installed the Rev. Robert Stewart as his vicar there, with power to hold
sessions, baptize and marry. He was to keep a register of all he did, and
send a scroll to Kenmore, so as not to wrong the clerk, the beadle, and the
box (Kenmore Kirk Session Records). Mr. Stewart was for sometime minister of
Killin. He was twice married, and died in 1729, leaving by his first wife
four sons, James, laird of Killiechassie, Duncan, laird of Blackhall,
Alexander, laird of Cloichfoldich, and Robert, laird of Derculich. During
the time he was at Lawers, “ he neither kept register or scrolls, and
monopolised all the dues payable to the Clerk, Bedal, and Box.” (Scott’s
Fasti Ecelesice Scoticance.)
In the middle of last
century, the north side of Loch Tay was provided with three public schools,
exactly the same number as at present. One was situated at Tomachrocher in
Morenish, another on the inarch between Lurgbuie and Drumglas in Lawers, and
the third at Boreland in Fearnan. From a report on the state of religion in
the Highlands made at the instigation of the General Assembly in 1760, we
find the number of scholars attending Lawers school during the winter time
was between fifty and sixty, while at Killin there were only thirty-four.
The teachers at these two places, in addition to a small sum paid to them
out of the Royal Bounty, each received from the Earl of Breadalbane a salary
of a hundred merks a year, and were provided with a free house, garden, and
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