Chronicles of Strathearn

by Unknown

Uam-Var, which in Gaelic signifies large cave, is a mountain between Glenartney and Callander, and takes its name from a cave on the south side of it, said by tradition to have been inhabited by a giant centuries ago. Glenartney was a Royal forest, and a portion of it is still fenced off for the same purpose. On an eminence at the head of the glen stands Glenartney Lodge, belonging to the proprietor, the Earl of Ancaster. In the past as in the present the strict preservation of game seems to have been attended with dangers and difficulties. Some people seem to have an uncontrollable liking for hunting and poaching. In the sixteenth century Glenartney was the scene of a terrible tragedy. In the year 1588, John Drummond of Drummond-Ernoch was forester to King James VI. there. One day, according to one tradition, he discovered some of the Clan Macgregor trespassing in the Royal forest. He seized them and cropped off their ears. The Macgregors, incensed by the punishment inflicted upon their clansmen, vowed vengeance against Drummond-Ernoch. They made a raid upon the forest, seized the forester, and cut off his head, which they carried with them in a corner of one of their plaids. "In the full exultation of vengeance," says Sir Walter Scott in his introduction to the Legend of Montrose, "they stopped at the house of Ardvoirlich and demanded refreshments, which the lady, a sister of the murdered Drummond-Ernoch (her husband being absent), was afraid or unwilling to refuse. She caused bread and cheese to be placed before them, and gave directions for more substantial refreshments to be prepared. While she was absent with this hospitable intention the barbarians placed the head of her brother on the table, filling the mouth with bread and cheese, and bidding him eat, for many a merry meal he had eaten in that house. The poor woman, returning and beholding this dreadful sight, shrieked aloud and fled into the woods, where, as described in the romance, she roamed a raving maniac, and for some time secreted herself from all living society. Some remaining instinctive feeling brought her at length to steal a glance from a distance at the maidens while they milked the cows, which being observed, her husband, Ardvoirlich, had her conveyed back to her home, and detained her there till she gave birth to a child, of whom she had been pregnant, after which she was observed gradually to recover her mental faculties." Leaving Ardvoirlich, the Macgregors proceeded to Balquhidder, and at a meeting of the clan held in the church—the chief presiding—they placed their hands successively upon the dead man's head and swore to defend the author of the deed. At one time there was a large population in this glen. In 1745 the farm of Auchinnar alone had eight tenants. An interesting document in possession of the relatives of the M'Greuthers of Meiggar referring to the Rebellion of 1715 shows the power of the laird in those days, and the resources of the glen as far as fighting men were concerned. It is as follows:—

"William M'Gruther, in Dalclaythick, you are hereby ordered to acquaint William M'Nivan, in the same town, and Alexander M'Gruther, in Dalchruwn, to go along with you as officers to command the company of our men that is to come out of your glen, and all the men are hereby ordered to obey your command on their highest peril, which you are to intimate to them, as you will be answerable to us, and this shall be your warrant.

"Given at Drummond Castle, the fifteenth day of August, one thousand seven hundred and thirteen years.

"See that none of the men of Auchinnear of whatever rank be absent, as they will be answerable, and all the men in good order.

"(Signed) DRUMMOND."

M'Gruther and his two neighbours obeyed the summons of the laird of Drummond, and took charge of the company of Highlanders raised in Glenartney; but the laird could not save them from the consequence of their obedience. When the Rebellion was quelled they were banished to America and sold as slaves. The two M'Gruthers managed to get back to their native country, but were doomed to spend seven long years in hiding.

The origin of place-names may not be of so much interest to the reader as it is to the writer of this article, but we cannot resist the temptation of recording a suggestion made to us years ago as to the origin of the word Glenartney, by Mr James Ferguson, the present keeper of the forest, and the worthy successor of old Drummond-Ernoch. It is this: Gleann-àrd-an-fheidh—"the high glen of the deer." This would certainly account for the last syllable of the modern name, and would also accord with the fact of the place being an ancient forest; but we prefer the derivation Gleann-ardan—"the glen of heights," and we think the last syllable has been added merely to suit the imperfection of the Saxon's vocal organs.

The mansion-houses of the head of Strathearn and their occupants are of some historical interest, but, as our space is limited, our reference to them must be brief, and confined to a few of the oldest. On the margin of Loch Earn stands Ardvoirlich House. The present occupant of the estate is Colonel John Stewart, who spent the first part of his life in India, and now resides upon the estate. With the exception of the Drummonds, who trace their ancestry back to Maurice, the Hungarian, who lived about the time of the Norman Conquest, the Stewarts of Ardvoirlich are the oldest family in the district. They lay claim not only to a long ancestral line, but also to Royal blood, through a son of Murdoch, Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, and son of Robert II. Among the antique curiosities of this family, it is said, there is a large gem called clach dhearg—red stone, seemingly white rock crystal, bound with four silver bands, which used to be regarded as a talisman, giving to water into which it is dipped virtue for the cure of all diseases of cattle. In recent times the Stewarts have been a family of soldiers who served in India. Their burying-place is within the old Chapel of Dundurn, but the monuments erected to the memory of members of the family recently deceased are in the Parish Church of Comrie. They are all handsome, and a great ornament to the interior of the Parish Church; but one of them is worthy of special notice on account of its artistic beauty. It is that erected by the Governor-General of India and other dignitaries and friends to commemorate the death of William Stewart, who, along with his wife and infant son, was murdered in the Indian Mutiny of 1857. It is a cenotaph of pure Carrara marble, with the figure of a Sepoy soldier with arms reversed on the one side, and a Hindoo in a kneeling posture on the other.

Dunira House is the seat of the Dundases. The present proprietor is Sir Sidney James Dundas, the third baronet of Beechwood and Dunira, who succeeded his father, Sir David Dundas, Bart., in 1877. What is the word Dunira derived from? Is it like Dundurn, "the hill or fort upon the Earn"? or is it Dun aoraidh, "the hill of worship"? It is difficult to say; Gaelic words have been so much corrupted to suit the tongues of the Saxon. There is little doubt, however, that in ancient times the locality was intimately associated with divine worship. Not far from the east lodge there are to be seen large standing-stones, supposed, as already said, to be the remains of an old Druidical circle. On the hillside, above Dunira House, there is a place called Drumnakil, which signifies the "ridge of the chapel"; and farther to the north-east, near the hill of Dunmore, is Ballochintaggart, "the gap of the priest." At Drumnakil there is an old burying-ground, the grave-stones scarcely discernible among the rank grass; but all trace of the chapel, or monks' cell, if ever there was one, has disappeared. Dunira was once the property of Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville and Baron Dunira. He was son of Robert Dundas of Arniston, Lord President of the Court of Session. He was called to the bar in 1763, and elected member of Parliament for the County of Edinburgh in 1774, and after holding several important offices under the Crown, he retired with Pitt in 1801, and the following year he was raised to the Peerage. After his death his Perthshire friends paid a tribute to his memory and worth by erecting a monument on Dunmore Hill, at Comrie. It is an obelisk, 72 feet high, built in 1812 of Innergeldie granite. A better site could not have been chosen. From the top of Dunmore Hill there is a magnificent view of varied landscape. To the west you have a peep at Loch Earn, the Aberuchill Hills, and the old white-washed Castle nestling among its trees; to the south you have the village of Comrie and the strath, with the Earn and the Ruchill winding their way through the plain; to the east, Sir David Baird's Monument, the Knock of Crieff, Turleum, the Ochils, and one of the Lomonds of Fife; looking to the north, we see Glenlednock stretching far towards Loch Tay, with Spout Rollo at its head, and guarded on each side by the lofty peaks of the Grampians. This, like so many others of our Highland glens, has suffered much through depopulation during this century. An old Glenlednock farmer still living in the parish informs us that in his recollection there were thirty-six tenants with their cottars, where there are now five and a few shepherds. One cannot help admiring the industry, economy, and thrift of these old Highland farmers, who in such numbers could live and thrive and pay higher rents to the landlord than the few who are now in possession of the land.

Aberuchill Castle was for nearly three centuries the seat of the Campbells of Aberuchill and Kilbryde. It was originally built in 1602, but has since been modernised and enlarged. The Crown granted a charter of the lands of Aberuchill in 1596 to Colin Campbell, second son of Sir Colin Campbell of Lawers. His son James was made a baronet of Nova Scotia by Charles I. in 1627. He fell fighting for Charles II. at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Sir Colin, only son of Sir James, succeeded him. He was the most distinguished of the family. Bred to the law, he rose to the position of Lord of Session with the title of Lord Aberuchill. Sir Colin was a Whig and a Presbyterian when the most of the gentry of Strathearn were either Episcopalians or Popish Jacobites. His name is associated with the massacre of Glencoe, inasmuch as he was a member of the Council that refused the certificate of the Sheriff-Depute of Argyle that M'Donald of Glencoe had taken the oath of allegiance to King William, unless they got a warrant to receive it from the King. From 1693 to 1702 he represented the County of Perth in the Scottish Parliament, and died in 1704. From the Campbells, the estate passed into the hands of the Drummonds. It is now the property of Captain Robert Dewhurst, son of George C. Dewhurst, Esq., lately deceased.