At what date the historic ford was superseded or assisted by a bridge we cannot tell. Some kind of primitive structure evidently existed about the year 1700; for in 1703 the Kirk-Session Records minute that Mr Archibald Moncrieff, the minister, caused his elders to make a collection throughout the parish, "being that when there came rain that did raise the waters a great many people were stopt from coming to ye kirk, and such as came behoved to wead if they wanted horse, which was very discouraging." Thereafter one James Waddel is commissioned "to repair the bridge upon Allan, and he is to bring hom some great trees from ye wood for helping ye same, and over each of ye two streams of ye water there is to be put four trees, at least three of greater size, and they are to be covered with fells and sand."

In 1715, being uncomfortably near the Sheriffmuir, Blackford was seriously disturbed. For four Sundays, between October 23d and November 27th, the church was closed, and again for eight Sundays between December 3rd, 1715, and February 5th, 1716. In the latter interval, as we learn from an account preserved by the Maitland Club, Blackford was burned to the ground by a party of Highlanders. The minister "had stayed at home, preached and prayed for King George and success to his arms, till he was threatened, and parties sent to seize him from the garrisons of Tullibardine and Braco, upon which he was forced to retire and shelter himself with some of his well affected friends." His wife remained, however, and had the presence of mind, so soon as she learned what had happened, to call for "a trusty servant, and by force of money and promises prevailed with him to go to Stirling ... to give ane account to the General and other officers there what was done and acted at Blackfoord." Such is the last eventful incident in the secular history of the parish.

II.

The Church of Blackford, beside the River Allan, was transplanted thither after the Reformation. In former days the name of the parish was Strageath, and the church stood by the Earn, seven miles from its present place. The ruins of the old church are yet standing, preserved from clean removal, doubtless, because the graveyard about them is still in use. Strageath Church has a very ancient origin, being founded by S. Fergus some time in the eighth century. According to the Breviary of Aberdeen, S. Fergus, after he had been Bishop in Ireland for many years, crossed over to Scotland with some companions and settled in Strageath. Finding the district favourable, he set to work and founded three churches—presumably Strageath, Struthill, and Blairinroar. Having appointed these as he best might, and put ministers in them, he quietly retreated to preach the word of God in further parts.[4]

Towards the end of the twelfth century, Gilbert, Earl of Strathearn, founded the Abbey of Inchaffray; and in the year 1200, moved to greater liberality by the death of a son who was buried there, he further endowed the abbey with five churches and additional teinds. One of these five was the Church of S. Patrick of Strageath. The gift is confirmed in a second charter, when the Earl added four other churches and more lands to the same abbey, and again in a charter of King Alexander.[5] Twenty-five or thirty years later the Church of S. Patrick was the scene of a somewhat significant ceremonial. Earl Robert, Gilbert's son, had evidently offended against the powers spiritual, and sought, or was brought to seek, a reconciliation. A charter of his time records that Earl Robert, son of the aforesaid Gilbert, in presence of Abraham, Bishop of Dunblane, Gilbert, the archdeacon, and other notable witnesses, binds himself towards Innocent, the abbot, that he will never in all his life vex the said abbot or his convent unjustly, but will love and everywhere honour them as his most special friends, and will add to the possessions of their house whatever he may by the counsel of his friends. In particular, he confirms to them the Churches of Gask and Strageath. The Abbey of Inchaffray thus held the appointment to the parish of Strageath, and, in spite of many changes, the minister of the parish still receives part of his stipend from "the great vicarage teind of the Abbey of Inchaffray."

In pre-Reformation times there were two other ecclesiastical buildings in the parish besides the Church of Strageath—Tullibardine College and Gleneagles Chapel. The College Church of Tullibardine was founded in 1445 by Sir David Murray, who endowed it with a provost and four prebends, thus making provision not only for the wants of the people, but for younger sons of the family who might enter the service of the Church. Within the church, on the west end of the wall, are seen the arms of the founder and his lady, Dame Isabel Stewart, impaled,[6] the three stars within the bordure for Murray, and the galley for Stewart of Lorn, of which family this lady was a daughter. William Murray of Tullibardine, the son and successor of Sir David, enlarged the College of Tullibardine, and built that part where his arms and his lady's are impaled—the three stars within the tressure for Murray, and a cross ingrailed for Colquhoun, finely cut in stone on the outside of the wall. The Provostry was suppressed at the Reformation, but in the early years of the eighteenth century the Session Records frequently mention "sermon at Tullibardine, the Earle and his lady being there at present." Lord George Murray, though he favoured the Stewart cause, evidently encouraged Presbyterian worship, and occasionally showed his zeal by holding a court "for the fineing and punishing of any such persons as should be delated and found guilty of drinking themselves drunk or of profane swearing or Sabbath breaking or any such gross immoralities." The church, although no longer used for worship, is still excellently preserved, and is used as a burial-place for the Strathallan family.

Gleneagles Chapel is a small and unadorned building, standing near the present mansion-house. The old lairds of Gleneagles are buried within its walls, and the enclosed space about it has been used as a graveyard. The Session Records have an entry showing that the chapel was used as late as March 18, 1705—"Being that the Lady Gleneagles was brought to bed of a child, and the laird was desirous to have his child baptized on the Lord's Day, and was unwilling to bring him out so far as the kirk because of the seasons being yet cold and sometimes stormy. Therefor desired the minr. to preach at his chapel in the afternoon, and to baptize his child, which this day ye minr. did." As far back as 1149[7] there was a church in Gleneagles under the rule of Cambuskenneth Abbey; and, indeed, according to the most likely derivation, Gleneagles is the Gaelic rendering of the monastic "Vallum Ecclesiae"—Glen of the Church. The present chapel seems neither of age nor consequence enough to give a title. The first church, if it stood on the same site, must surely have been a larger building. A mile further up the glen, however, there rises a spring of the purest water, once believed to have virtue in curing certain diseases, and still called S. Mungo's Well. The saintly name and the fame of healing point to this spot as the more probable situation of the old church.

Our only glimpse of Blackford at the Reformation shows slight resistance on the part of some to the orders of the new church government. On October 25, 1564, Sir Patrick Fergy—"sir" being equivalent to the modern "reverend"—was cited before the Kirk-Session of S. Andrews[8] as coming in place of the consistorial court, "to underlie diciplyn for takyng upon hand to prech and minister the sacraments withoutyn lawfull admission and for drawyng of the peopll to the Chapell of Tullbarne frae ther Paroche Kyrk." On the same day, "Schyr Johan Morrison efter his recantacion admittit reader in Mithyll, was delaytit and summoned for ministration of baptisme and mariaige efter the Papistical fasson, and that indifferently to all persones, and also for profanacion of the sacrament of the Lordis Supper, abusyng the sam in privat howsis, as also in the kirkyard about the kyrkyard dykis and resavying fra ilk person that communicat ane penne, and in speciall upon Pasche day last was, in the hows of Jhon Graham in Pannalis he ministrat to ane hundreth personis. He oft tymmis called nocht comperand beand of befoir divers tymmis monest to desist tharfra under panis of excommunicacion now wordely mentis the sam to be execut aganis hym and sa decretit to be used."

A relic of pre-Reformation days is the old church bell, which hung till recently in the belfry of old Blackford Church. The bell is inscribed with the words "O Mater S.D., O Mater S.D., O Mater S.D., I.S.," and the sign of a hammer. The thrice repeated phrase is evidently a contraction for "O Mater Sanctissima Domini"—"O Most Holy Mother of the Lord."

From the Book of the Assignation of Stipends, 1574, it appears that Strageath, Muthill, and Strowane were combined under the ministry of Alexander Gaw at a stipend of L60 Scots and kirk-lands, while Andro Drummond was reader at Strageath at a stipend of L20.

In 1617, the Parish Church was changed to Blackford by Act of Parliament:—

"Our Soveraine Lord and Estaittis of this present Parliament understanding that ye kirk of the parochin of Strageth wes of auld situat and biggit upoun the newk and utmost pairt of the said parochin of Strageath, and the parochiners thereof found it nowayes to be meit to be the paroche kirk of the said parochin in respect of the wyidnes and gryit bonndis of the said parochin, they thairefore be the space of twentye-four yeiris or thairby biggit and foundit within the town of Blackfurde qlk lyis and is within ye middis of the said parochin, ane new kirk for the gryit ease of the parochoneris ... thairefore ... ordanis the samen kirk, now biggit within the said town of Blackfurde, to be ye principal kirk of ye said parochin of Strageath in all tyme cuming, and ordanis the haill parochoneris thairoff to resort thairto and ressave the benefit of ye kirk thairat."[9]

The year 1689 brought the Revolution, and the minister, Mr David Moray, A.M., refusing to conform with the new state of things, was deprived of his living by the Privy Council. He retired to Edinburgh, carrying with him the kirk bible as a memento of his ministry. When the Kirk-Session met in 1697 "it was recommended to the minister to use his endeavours to get the kirk bible from Mr Murray," and early in 1699 there appears the item—"To James Brown, the carrier, for bringing home the kirk bible out of Edenburgh from Mr David Murray, 9. 4."; and a fortnight later—"Twopence to James Brown for compleeting his payt. for bringing home of ye kirk bible."

The first minister after the Revolution was Mr Archibald Moncrieff, an admirable and faithful pastor, whose conscience forbade him to ask a manse from the heritors for several years, during which he lived at Stirling, and travelled to and from his work. He was succeeded in 1738 by his son, who became Sir William Moncrieff Wellwood. In that year the old kirk was burned in rather curious circumstances. The kirk was being used as the parish school, and was heated by a peat fire. In the master's absence one day the boys amused themselves by throwing about the lighted peats. The kirk caught fire, and was burned to the ground. Sir Henry Moncrieff succeeded his father in 1771, the sixth minister of the family in a lineal descent. He had not finished his University course when his father died, but the patron and parishioners waited for him. Sir Henry was too brilliant for Blackford, however, and in 1775 went to S. Cuthbert's, Edinburgh. The next minister, Mr John Stevenson, evidently did not please all. Three of the elders and a number of the congregation left the kirk. They met for some time in a stackyard beside the old ford, and eventually, with some like-minded ones in Auchterarder, formed the Relief congregation there. Mr Stevenson was followed, in 1815, by Mr John Clark—a splendid type of what was best in the reviled Moderates, an eloquent preacher, a true, large-hearted gentleman, a keen wit, and skilful farmer, as well as a faithful pastor. A new regime began with his worthy and lamented successor, the Rev. David Bonallo. The kirk on the brae-head was abandoned as insufficient and the present church, less prominent, but more convenient, was built at the east end of the village.

III.

Blackford has been the home of not a few distinguished families; but the old castles where they lived are, without exception, the most meagre ruins; of one, indeed (Tullibardine), not a stone remains to mark the site.

The chief heritor of the parish is Captain W. H. Drummond Moray of Abercairny, whose family, though old proprietors, seem never to have lived in the parish. Ogilvie Castle, a ruin on their lands, which originally belonged to the Montrose family, does not appear to have been ever occupied by the Morays.

In the south end of the parish stands Gleneagles, which Sir David Lyndsay, in his "Tale of Squire Meldrum," describes as "ane castell ... beside ane mountane in ane vaill," and a "triumphand plesand place." Gleneagles Castle was for many centuries the home of the Haldanes. They held the neighbouring lands of Frandie by charter of William the Lion, A.D. 1165-1214, and came into possession of Gleneagles about a century later. From time to time we find them taking an active and prominent part in the affairs of the kingdom. Sir John Haldane, in the reign of King James III., became "Lord Justice-General of Scotland benorth of the Forth"—a dignity next to that of Lord Chancellor; a later Sir John fought and fell at Flodden; another was one of the Lords of the Congregation. Sir John, in 1650, fell as a leader in the Presbyterian army against Cromwell at the Battle of Dunbar. Towards the end of the 17th century Mungo Haldane was an active member of the Scottish Parliament; his son John was member for Perth County in the last Scottish Parliament, and in the first British Parliament after the Union. At the beginning of the present century the estate passed into the hands of Viscount Duncan of Camperdown, and is now the property of his descendant, the Earl of Camperdown. The old castle, of solid walls, surrounded by a moat, was superseded in 1624 by the modern Place of Gleneagles, built from the ruins. Locally, the family is best remembered in one of its Presbyterian members, an ardent respecter of the Sabbath. He forbade the keeping of stalls and selling of wares on the Kirk Brae on the Lord's Day; and, finding his injunction slighted, was so roused that he went next Sunday with drawn sword, scattered the offending merchants down the brae, and tossed their wares into the lake beneath. There was no more Sunday trading at the kirk.

East of Gleneagles, overlooking its own deep wooded glen, stood Kincardine Castle, the residence of the noble family of Graham. The estate came to them from Malise, Earl of Strathearn, who granted it to his sister Amabil on her marriage with Sir David Graham, c. 1250.[10] The Grahams, as Earls, Marquises, and Dukes of Montrose, retained Kincardine till the beginning of this century, when it was sold to James Johnston, Esq. Many a fact and many a fancy attach to the old Kincardine. In 1579, the Earl of Atholl, Chancellor of Scotland, stayed at Kincardine on his way from Stirling, and suddenly took ill and died. The crime was never absolutely proved, but evidence went far to show that some rival had given him poisoned food at Stirling. During the boyhood of the great Marquis, Kincardine Castle was the principal residence of the family, and the young Lord James was a well-known figure in the neighbourhood. When his father died in 1626, the funeral took one month and nineteen days to accomplish; and the accomplishment was attended with such a consumpt of good things as makes it hard to see where room was left for mourning. When Montrose attended the General Assembly of 1638, he sat as commissioner for the Presbytery of Auchterarder, from which we may conclude that he was still closely associated with Kincardine. With the great Marquis the story of Kincardine Castle ends. In 1646, being Montrose's principal house, it was besieged and taken by Middleton, the Covenanter. We have a full account of the siege in Bishop Guthrie's Memoirs. Learning that the castle was fortified with a company of foot under Lord Napier, Middleton "brought a number of great ordnance from Sterlin Castle to batter the walls." After ten days the besieged were distressed from want of water. Lord Napier, guided by his page, who was a Graham, managed to escape. The rest surrendered, twelve being shot on the spot, and thirty-five taken prisoners to Edinburgh. "Then Middleton ordered the Castle of Kincardine to be burnt, which was done upon the 16th day of March."

Close by the Church of Tullibardine used to stand Tullibardine Castle. Here lived for generations the family of Murray, who played many a part in the changeful events of Scottish history. There was one Sir William Murray—the builder of part of the College Church—who is chiefly remembered as the father of seventeen stalwart sons. He took them one day to pay court to the King at Stirling. When the King saw their numbers he was angry, for an Act had been passed forbidding such formidable retinues. But when the Laird of Tullibardine explained that he brought only his sons, each with a single man attendant, the King's anger was turned to compliment, and he forthwith gifted an addition to the estate which grew so many men. There was a circular room in the castle, with a pillar in the centre, where all the seventeen sons are said to have slept—heads towards the wall, and feet at the pillar.[11] Fully a century later there was another Sir William Murray with the King at Stirling Castle. He so far forgot himself one day as to break the nose of the Earl of Argyll in the King's presence, for which double breach Sir William was exiled. But ere long the King felt need of him. Refractory subjects would not pay the King his mails and silver marts, and he was heard to sigh—"Oh that I had Will Murray again." The sigh was duly conveyed to the exile, who returned, and speedily regained the Royal favour by persuading the unwilling debtors to pay their dues. His son, Sir John, was educated with the young King at Stirling, and earned the title of Earl of Tullibardine in 1606. In 1670 the title went to the Earls of Atholl. Fortune was less kind to their descendant, better known as Lord George Murray. He took the Stewart side in 1745, and entertained Prince Charles Edward at Tullibardine Castle. Exile followed the disaster which overtook his cause; the old castle, abandoned as a dwelling-place, fell into decay; and a philistine farmer carted off the last stone of it to build field dykes.

In a M.S. book of Sir John Ogilvy, her Master of the Household, we learn that Queen Mary stayed at Kincardine and Tullibardine on a journey which she made to the North in 1562. Having left Edinburgh on August 11th, "she continued at Stirling until the 18th of August, when she set out from thence with a part of her train, and dined and supped at Kincardine. On the 19th she left Kincardine after dinner, and slept at St. Johnston." On the return journey, leaving St. Johnston on the 16th November, she "slept at Tulliebarne. On the 17th she proceeded after dinner to Drummond." Twenty years later these same castles were again favoured with a Royal visitor, King James VI. The visit to Tullibardine happened in August, 1584, and the motive of it was typical of that monarch's way. Moysie's Memoirs, which chronicle the visit, narrate that the King had been living ten days at Ruthven "or ever he knew there wes sex houssis infectit in Perthe, his seruandis being theare; and thairfoir with a few number the samyn nycht depairted to Tullibardin, and from that to Sterling, leavand his haill housald and seruandis encloisit in Ruthven." The visit to Kincardine is inferred from a letter written by Thomas, tutor of Cassillis, to the Laird of Barnbarroch, dated 10th October, 1585—"As for newis, it is trew my lord arrane was to have been in Kincarne upone Saterday last, and thair to have given his presens to the King, and the King thocht guid to stay him thereof for the ambassadouris causs being with his majestie, sua my lord hes nocht presentit the King as yit."

Early in this century the estate of Tullibardine was sold to Viscount Strathallan, who had married Amelia, daughter of the Duke of Atholl. Tullibardine thus became attached to the adjoining estate of Machany, long possessed by the Drummonds. The Laird of Machany and Viscount Strathallan were united first in William Drummond of Machany, who succeeded his cousin as fourth Viscount Strathallan. True to the traditions of his House and title, the fourth Viscount was a loyal and devoted Jacobite. He fought in 1715, and again in 1745, when he was killed at Culloden. After his death the penalty of his ill-fated zeal descended on his family. His wife Margaret, daughter of Lord Nairne, was taken prisoner, and kept in Edinburgh Castle from February to September, 1746; his son James, who had attended his father at Culloden, suffered attainder, and for many years the title was withheld. There was more caution in the character of Andrew Drummond, brother to the fourth Viscount, who founded the Charing Cross Bank in London. He lent large sums to the Government; but his family connexion brought him under a suspicion of double dealing, which Sir Robert Walpole was inclined to believe. Learning, however, that the suspicion was unfounded, Sir Robert sought to conciliate the Drummond by warmly offering to shake hands with him when they encountered one day in the King's drawing-room. But Mr Andrew, proof against blandishment no less than against suspicion, met the advance by holding his hands behind his back. The ancestral spirit shone again in Andrew John Drummond, who should have been seventh Viscount. He died in 1812, a General in the British Army. The forfeited title was restored in 1824 to his cousin, James Drummond, Esq.



[1] Blind Harry's Wallace. Book iv., l. 309.

For this and other references and much valuable assistance the writer is indebted to the kindness of A. G. Reid, Esq., Auchterarder.

[2] Ib. Bk. v., l. 293.

[3] Lindsay of Pitscottie's History of Scotland. Vol., p. 256.

[4] Brevarium Aberdonense Pars Hyemalis. Fol. 164.

[5] Liber Insule Missarum, pp. 4, 8, 18, 19.

[6] Nisbet's Heraldry. Vol. II., app. 188.

[7] Chartulary of Cambuskenneth. Walcot's Scoto Monasticon.

[8] Register of Kirk-Session of S. Andrews. Scot. Hist. Society.

[9] Thomson's Scots Acts, IV., 556.

[10] Liber Insule Missarum, p. xxxiii.

[11] This and the anecdote about Mr Andrew Drummond are given by the kindness of Viscountess Strathallan.



THE ABBEY OF INCHAFFRAY

By Rev. JAMES BROWN, M.A., Maderty

To those who appreciate time and labour expended upon historical and antiquarian research, there can be few—if, indeed, there be any—among our Scottish counties which present scope for their enthusiasm so extensive and so varied as that contained within the borders of Perthshire. Generally speaking, the attractions identify themselves. The Cathedral at Dunblane, the Round Tower at Abernethy, the Camp at Ardoch—these preserve still many of their original features and characteristic lineaments, and need hardly fail to arrest attention. But what chance traveller by road or by rail would, when midway between Crieff and Methven, dream that the bare, solitary column he sees in the valley below could prove other than the gable-end of a disused barn? Nay, did he approach and pass the remnant itself, he would probably wonder to learn that the gloomy, forsaken pile alone marks a spot once the centre of much holy rigour, educational zeal, and industrial activity; that thence sallied forth, six hundred years ago, the monk patriot, with whom the Scottish warriors knelt to pray upon the field before engaging in the memorable conflict whose issue achieved for them their country's independence. A ragged wall, an arched chamber, several solid heaps of fallen mason-work are all that remain of Inchaffray Abbey.

Perthshire owes largely to the ancient Earldom of Strathearn. Little is known concerning the line till Gilbert succeeded in 1171. Unlike his immediate predecessors, he manifested no hostility to the inroad of Norman and Saxon customs and usages. He was the first to adopt the wise precaution of obtaining charters for his lands, and rivalled the most ardent and obsequious followers of David I. in munificent gifts of these to the Church. Although it would be hazardous to accept as altogether faithful the statement of Fordun, the chronicler, that Earl Gilbert apportioned his whole estates—which extended in length from Newburgh to the west end of Balquhidder, and from the Ochils to the Grampians in breadth—equally between the See of Dunblane, the Abbey of Inchaffray, and himself with his heirs, we have yet sufficient reason to consider that his liberality to ecclesiastical settlements was handsome. It certainly reflects upon him high credit that, due to his pious devotion, the family of Strathearn were the only Scottish subjects (excepting possibly the Lords of Galloway) who established a bishopric and inherited its patronage.

About 1189 the King made over to Gilbert the lands of Maderty with all their feudal rights and privileges. In return, the Earl bound himself to contribute half a knight's service, and to secure that no part of these lands should ever be allowed to come again into the hands of their former owner, Gilliecolm Marischall, or any of his heirs. This Gilliecolm—elsewhere described as arch-tyrannus et latronum princeps—had incurred his monarch's bitter displeasure by an act of felony, having betrayed the sovereign Castle of Earn to his Majesty's most mortal foes, and taken part with them to do him hurt to his power.

Not long after the transference, the Earl sought to signalise his estimate of the Royal favour by founding a religious house. He chose for a site the swamp-girt island which lay toward the northwestern corner of his lately acquired possession. So frequent were the liturgical celebrations there that the settlement received the name of Inis Aifreen (Celtic), Insula Missarum (Latin), Inchaffray—signifying "Island of Masses." He dedicated the monastery to God, St. Mary, and St. John Evangelist; deputed Malis, the hermit, to select Augustinian Canons from Scone, and granted his first charter, which bears the signatures of himself, his wife (Matilda), and his six sons. The edifice must have been completed by 1198, as Gilchrist, the heir, who died in that year, was interred within the building. Through this bereavement, the family's affections became more closely united to the place. "We love it so much," the parents are recorded to have said, "that we have chosen it as the place of sepulture for us and our heirs, and have already buried there our eldest son." Further and more extended benefactions followed. By the great charter, of date 1200, Inchaffray was endowed with the Churches of St. Kattanus of Abruthven, St. Ethernanus of Maderty, St. Patrick of Strogeath, St. Meckessok of Auchterarder, and St. Beanus of Kinkell; with tithe of the Earl's kain and rents of wheat, meal, malt, cheese, and all provisions throughout the year in his Court; with tithe of all fish brought into his kitchen, and of the produce of his hunting; with tithe of all the profits of his tribunals of justice and all offerings; with the liberty to its monks of fishing in the Peffer, of fishing and birding over all the Earl's lands, waters, and lakes; of taking timber for building and other uses from his woods, and pannage or mast feeding for pigs, as well as bark and firewood, in whatever places, and as much as they chose. Some years later an additional charter granted also the Church of St. Beanus of Foulis, with the dower land of the church and the common pasturage of the parish, and likewise the Church of the Holy Trinity of Gask, with the same privileges. To this document appends a fragment of the donor's knightly seal, which shows on the obverse side a mounted knight with drawn sword, and on the reverse side the inscription—"Secretum G. comitis, de Straderne."

Whatever may have been the demands of spiritual functions upon the time of the monks, they cannot fairly be charged with "agricultural indolence." Their glebe consisted entirely of marsh and bog when the Abbacy was created. By 1218—i.e., in about twenty years—it had all been ditch-drained and reclaimed. The beneficial results of their labour are noticeable to-day. Fields immediately adjoining the ruin exhibit quite a different appearance in spring and yield quite an appreciable advantage in autumn compared with those more remote. No stronger evidence need be required than that the rental of the former doubles that of an equal area of the latter.

The detail of the great charter includes, as we said, "the tithe of the fines levied at the Earl's Court." Nowhere else throughout Scotland could a subject of the King exercise jura regalia. Perth was our only county, and the Earls of Strathearn our only Earls Palatine. When precisely this independent jurisdiction was bestowed and when revoked and abolished we have no clear account. But, according to the trustworthy evidence embodied in the above-mentioned deed of gift, we gather not only that the privilege existed in the thirteenth century, but that it operated favourably for the monks.

The source and reference of the name given to the parish has never been satisfactorily determined. Some have attempted to connect it with the dedication of Inchaffray. Now, whatever truth there might be in the view that part of the dedication—"to the Virgin"—was suggested by the name of the parish (Maderty being the English for the Celtic "mother of God"), there is certainly nothing whatever to support the opinion that the district took its style from the Abbey. Maderty was Maderty long before Inchaffray was Inchaffray.

Earl Gilbert died in 1223. Robert, his successor, maintained the like generous attitude which his father had borne toward the Church. We may, no doubt, feel disposed to conjecture some proof of estrangement having marred the hitherto peaceful relations between patron and clergy. But if such did arise, it can have been only temporary, for the very record which excites the suspicion assures us of even more devoted loyalty on his part. "In the Church of Strogeath, and in the presence of Abraham, Bishop of Dunblane, and others, Robert, Earl of Strathearn, bound himself toward the Abbot of Inchaffray that he would never in his life vex the said abbot or his convent unjustly—nay, would love and everywhere honour them as his most especial friends, and would add to the possessions of their house whatsoever he might by the counsel of his friends. He particularly confirmed to them the Churches at Gask and Strogeath."

The year 1240 witnessed Inchaffray narrowly becoming Chapter of the Diocese. "Clement, Bishop of Dunblane, went to Rome, and represented to Pope Gregory IX. how of old time his bishopric had been vacant upwards of a hundred years, during which period almost all the revenues had been seized by the seculars; and although in process of time there had been several bishops instituted, yet, by their simplicity or negligence, the former dilapidations were not recovered, but, on the contrary, the remainder were almost quite alienated; so that for ten years a proper person could not be found to accept of the charge; that the case having been laid before the Pope, he had committed the trust of supplying that vacancy to the Bishops of St. Andrews, Dunkeld, and Brechin, who made choice of this Clement; but he found his church so desolate that he had not where to lay his head in his cathedral. There was no college there, only a rural chaplain performed divine service in the church that had its roof uncovered; and the revenues of the See were so small that they could hardly afford him maintenance for one half of the year. To remedy these evils the Pope appointed William and Geoffrey, the Bishops of Glasgow and Dunkeld, to visit the Church of Dunblane, and if they should find these things to be as represented, he authorised them to cause the fourth part of the tithes of all the parish churches within that diocy to be assigned to the bishop thereof, who, after reserving out of these tithes so much as should be proper for his own sustenance, was by the advice of these two bishops and other expert persons to assign the rest to a dean and canons whom the Pope enjoined to be settled there, if these matters could be brought about without great offence; or, if otherwise, he ordered that the fourth of the tithes of all such churches of the diocy as were in the hands of seculars should be assigned to the bishop, and that the bishop's seat should be translated to St. John's Monastery of Canons-regular, (i.e., Inchaffray), within that diocy, and appointed that these canons should have the election of the bishop when a vacancy should happen thereafter." Either "these things were found to be not so," or else the former part of the alternative was duly carried out, as the bishop's seat remained at Dunblane, and Inchaffray was denied its only opportunity of elevation to cathedral rank.



The next event of interest connected with the Abbey is the pilgrimage of the Abbot Maurice to Bannockburn. Every schoolboy can tell the story, for no annals of Scotland omit to record his presence and service when the rival hosts stood face to face for a huge trial of strength and valour. But probably it is not quite so well understood that much of the glorious success which crowned the Scottish arms was popularly attributed to the fact that the monk carried with him the arm of St. Fillan. A legend is that St. Fillan, when Abbot of Pittenweem, transcribed with his own hand the Holy Scriptures, and that his left arm became so luminous that it enabled him to proceed during darkness with his pious work. Lesly asserts that this wonderful limb afterwards came into the possession of Robert Bruce, who enclosed it in a silver shrine, which he commanded should be borne at the head of the army. Previous to the battle, a story has it, the King's chaplain (Maurice), with the view of preserving the treasure from all chance of abstraction by the English, had it removed and deposited in a place of security. While, however, the King, unaware of what had been done, was addressing his prayers to the empty casket, it was observed to open and shut suddenly. On inspection, the Saint was found to have himself returned his luminous member to its place as an assurance of victory. The writers of the Statistical Account of Maderty thus express themselves—"This relic might, indeed, have given some encouragement to the superstitious; but one arm of a brave Scotchman fighting in earnest for the liberty of his country had more effect in obtaining that memorable victory than could have been produced by the innate virtue of all the relics of the dead that could have been collected." If these critical authors had been less anxious to square truth with orthodoxy, and not orthodoxy with truth, they would have known that where the entire force was "superstitious" the influence of the sacred arm would enormously intensify soldierly enthusiasm, and that it is impossible to define its comparative share in the result. Robert Bruce, indeed, appears to have been sensibly impressed by the good offices of the sacred relic, and attested his gratitude in a substantial manner. He founded a priory at Strathfillan, on the Dochart, a stream in the Breadalbane district of Perthshire, and consecrated it to the Saint. At the dissolution of religious houses this priory with all its revenues and superiorities passed, by order of the King, to Campbell of Glenorchy, ancestor of the Lords of Breadalbane. Maurice's conduct on the field attracted the attention of others besides Bruce. Macleod of Scarinche, in Lewis, conceived a strong regard for the Abbot, and induced him to reside for a time at his western home, where he erected a monastery to St. Kattanus, whose bones lay buried there. Strathfillan, Scarinche, and Abernethy were cells of Inchaffray.

The Earls continued successively to be bountiful benefactors of the convent. One of them, Malise, in 1258, presented it with certain of his slaves (nativi)—namely, Gilmory, Gillendes, and John Starnes, the son of Thomas and grandson of Thore. Absolute serfdom was then a Scottish institution, comprising part of the labouring class, who were bought and sold with the land to which they were attached; and gifts of nativi by their masters to the religious establishments of those times are frequently recorded.

After the ancient line of Strathearn had failed in the direct male descent, and when Maurice de Moray, created Earl by David II., had met his death at Durham in 1346, leaving no issue, the King bestowed the Earldom upon his nephew, Robert, the High Steward, afterwards Robert II., who on his accession to the throne (1370) relinquished the Earldom in favour of his son David. Seventy years later the title and estates fell vacant and were merged in the Crown, the bishopric and temporalities being henceforth held in free barony of the Sovereign.

The intimate association of Inchaffray Abbey with the national and religious fortunes of Scotland receives further guarantee in 1513. Whether as chaplain or as common soldier, and under what designation, no available narrative declares. But certain it is that the stubborn fight which evoked Scotland's most waefu' dirge, no less than that which occasioned her immortal paean of victory, was graced by an abbot of this monastery. The respective fates of these two divines, however, were widely different. Not even monks, clad though they be in all the panoply of the Church, are safe from sword or arrow. He of Flodden never saw his northern charge again. Unknown, yet not unwept, he fell beneath the spoiler's weapon with the "flowers of the forest."

It is noteworthy that Abbots of Inchaffray, ex-officio prelates of Parliament, took little to do with public affairs. They do not seem to have shared at all extensively in the transactions which so often brought together the leaders of the various religious houses.

The subjoined list is fragmentary, but authoritative so far as it goes:—

MALIS—The Hermit—was present and acted as the head of the establishment at the beginning. Earl Gilbert must have considered him a person of trust, since he committed to him the important duty of selecting the necessary canons.

INNOCENT—The first Abbot—officiated during the lordship of Robert, 1223-1231.

ALAN—1258-1271.

HUGH—1284.

THOMAS—1296.

MAURICE—The Bannockburn celebrity—was promoted to the See of his own Diocese of Dunblane. Early in his Episcopate a dispute which arose concerning the lands of Airthrey was submitted to arbiters, one of whom was his successor in the Abbacy of Inchaffray, viz.:

CHRISTIAN.

WILLIAM appears to have acted for an unusually long term, or had a successor of the same name. On the Feast of Matthias, 1398, a deed of Janet Moray, wife of Alexander Moray of Abercairny, was witnessed by William the Abbot, John the prior, and the whole Convent of Inchaffray. On 25th January, 1468,

GEORGE obliged himself to make Lawrence, Lord Oliphant, his bailie for life of the lands of the monastery within twenty days after he should be admitted to the spirituality by the ordinary and by the King to the temporality of the said benefice. The family of Oliphant held this relation during the reign of James V., Mary, and James VI. In 1539,

GAVIN DUNBAR, Archbishop of Glasgow, had the Abbacy in commendam. On 15th May of that year he granted Anthony Murray a tack of 4 merk lands of the "Raith" "for furnishing of our bulls"—probably for the expense of his confirmation. Before the tack had run out the tenure was made perpetual by a free charter of the same lands of "Raith" and of the Moor of Maderty, granted by

ALEXANDER, styled Archbishop of Athens, postulate of the Isles, and perpetual commendator of the Monastery of Inchaffray, dated at Inchaffray, December 24th, 1554. This commendator was Alexander Gordon (brother of George, fourth Earl of Huntly), who was defeated in his hopes of the Archbishopric of Glasgow on the death of Gavin Dunbar, and imperfectly consoled by the high-sounding title of Archbishop of Athens in partibus fidelium, the poor See of the Isles, with, on November 26th, 1553, the Abbacy of Inchaffray in commendam, which last he held till 1564. In 1558 he was promoted to the See of Galloway. Nine years later he was accused before the General Assembly of the Kirk, and confessed to the indictment that he had not visited for three years part of the churches within his charge; that he had haunted Court too much; that he had purchased to be one of the Session and Privy Council, which cannot agree with the office of a pastor or a bishop; that he had resigned Inchaffray in favour of a young child, and set diverse lands in feu in prejudice of the Kirk. The young child was James Drummond of Innerpeffray, second son of David, second Lord Drummond. The Abbey was erected into a temporal lordship in his favour, and in 1609 he was created Lord Maderty. From him is descended the noble family of Strathallan.

And now the old Abbey fell on troublous times. The Reformation—that harbinger of good not unmixed with evil—closed the book of the monastery. It is strange and sad that ecclesiastical changes should partake so largely in the destruction of buildings and the spoliation of belongings. Never yet did religious fanaticism satisfy its own desires without simultaneously and obligingly ministering to the rapacity of the attendant greedy grabber. And so Inchaffray, experiencing the fate of other such establishments, had its walls torn down, its vessels strewn and broken, its canons put to flight or death, its revenues disposed by rude, regardless hands. The Earl of Kinnoull is the proprietor of the ruin and the few acres that surround it. These gave him the patronage of the seven parishes with which, we observed, the convent had been endowed.

Quite a crop of stories are told in connection with the demolition of Inchaffray. It is said, for instance, that long ago the ploughman-tenant of the dwelling contiguous to the convent discovered, while digging, the golden image "of a sow." This relic (for relic it was supposed to be of the abbey practices) he carefully secreted, but latterly converted into current coin, and became himself a very wealthy man. But perhaps the most reliable and authenticated is the following:—A Fowlis widower, lately bereaved, sought to find a grave-stone to honour his spouse's memory. Either he was too fastidious or too ungenerous, but he abstracted from Inchaffray a stone to be utilised for this solemn purpose. The writer quite lately identified the stone as the lid of the coffin of Abbot Maurice. There is the figure of a battle-axe engraved upon the slab.

And now we return to the point from which we started. All that the passer-by can see of this object is a chimney-crowned gable. Nearer approach shows an arched chamber. But the whole history of an interesting past appears to be covered with debris. It is impossible to fancy the feelings of Abbot or Earl were he to rise from his tomb and hear to what uses the fabric of his cherished house was being devoted. Pig-styes, barn-walls, fences—these comprise the objects to which the "holy stones" are set. O tempora, O mores.

If these words should meet the eye of antiquarian enthusiasts, and should happen to stir within them the desire of research, a welcome and a courteous lodging will be found at the Manse of Maderty.



A SOUTHERN OUTPOST ON THE EDGE OF THE HIGHLANDS

By Rev. HUGH M. JAMIESON, Monzie

Monzie—a southern outpost on the edge of the Highlands—is said to derived from the Gaelic Moeghe, signifying "a good plain." It is a long, narrow, irregular parish, extending for nearly twelve miles up both sides of the River Almond, until it touches, on the north, the parishes of Dull, Weem, and Kenmore.

The vale of Monzie—the southern boundary of the parish—where stands the church, the hamlet, and the Castle of Monzie, extends for nearly three miles in a north-east direction, gradually rising to the height of several hundred feet. The most striking peculiarity of the surroundings of Monzie is the combination of wild and mountainous scenery with cultivation and picturesqueness. One of the finest views in the whole of Strathearn can be had from the Highland Road, to the east of the church. In the foreground are the luxuriant woods, the rich pastures, and the Castle of Monzie, and at a distance of seven or eight miles is the Aberuchill range, towering in majesty on the horizon, with the giant Ben Voirlich just visible over their heads. A little to the left is Turleum—a conical-shaped hill of respectable altitude; while Benchonzie and other off-shoots of the Grampians bound the view on the north. The general effect is exceedingly beautiful, and the mingling, within a short distance, of the sublime and the picturesque is probably not surpassed anywhere in Scotland.

There are three streams rising in the hills to the north that find their way into the vale. The Barvick, which runs for three or four miles along the western boundary of the parish, descends rapidly with leaps and bounds into a deep and rocky dell, until it terminates in the fall known as Spout Barvick. The Keltic, rising in the hills some four miles to the north, enters a rocky ravine fully a mile up from the turnpike road, and tumbling precipitously down a height of eighty feet it reaches the vale, skirts the castle grounds, and, joining the Shaggie, falls along with it into the Turret. The third stream—the Shaggie—rises to the north-east of the Keltie, and, threading its way for three miles between lofty banks covered with wood, it passes the village, and pursues its course beneath the old ivy-crowned Roman bridge, through the castle parks, until it becomes lost in the Turret.

The neighbourhood is peculiarly rich in trees. On the lawn behind Monzie Castle are three of five famous larches planted in the year 1738—the fourth one fell during the November gale of 1893. They rival those of the Duke of Athole at Dunkeld. There is a tradition that the Duke's gardener, on his way home with the seed, was hospitably entertained at Monzie, and planted them in remembrance of his visit. The gardener was sent annually to observe their growth and report to his master. "When this functionary returned and made his wonted report, that the larches at Monzie were leaving those of Dunkeld behind in the race, his Grace would jocularly allege that his servant had permitted General Campbell's good cheer to impair his powers of observation."[1] Altogether, the district is beautifully and bountifully wooded, and many a laird gathered to his fathers must have laid to heart some such advice as the laird of Dumbiedykes gave to his son—"Jock, when ye hae naething else tae dae, ye may be aye stickin' in a tree; it will be growin', Jock, when ye're sleepin'."

The valley of the Almond runs parallel to the vale of Monzie. Leaving the manse, and passing the church and the school, the Keppoch Road joins the road to Glenalmond, and after a walk of fully two miles the traveller finds himself at the entrance to what is known as the Sma' Glen—a romantic pass, stretching along the sides of the Almond for a distance of fully two miles. Standing half-way up the glen on a summer's day, looking northwards, the scenery is magnificent. Here, from the mountain's brow rushes a foaming stream; there, a clump of trees dressed in the most luxuriant green; here, mountains towering bleak and wild; there, a few spots of verdure growing amid the rocks; behind, the swift, pellucid Almond water; before, hills stretching on and on till they are lost in the azure sky.

The banks of the Almond along the vale are associated with much romance. Some time in the last century there lived at Corrivarlich a noted sheep-stealer named Alastair Bane. Little is known of his boyhood. He was supposed to have been brought to the district by Highlanders who were in the habit of bringing to Crieff cartloads of split pine from Rannoch Forest, which they sold to riddle-makers to make riddle rims. During one of those visits the child is supposed to have been left. He was called Alastair, owing to his supposed Highland descent, and Bane, because of his white hair. As he grew up to manhood he showed symptoms of a wandering disposition, and went frequently to Amulree and Falkirk, acting in the capacity of a drover. While pursuing this occupation he became acquainted with many of the ferocious caterans who were at that time following the same calling. How long Alastair continued a drover is not chronicled in oral tradition. After a time he associated himself with a band of bare-legged mountaineers, sixty in number, who located themselves under his leadership in a cave in the glen, to the great terror and annoyance of the district. It is said that the last combined effort of the band at cattle-lifting was at a farm situated in the moor between Fowlis-Wester and Buchanty. On this occasion dissension broke out amongst the thieves, which ultimately ended in the breaking up of the band. That Alastair Bane had his dwelling-place among the rocks in Wester Glenalmond was well known, but every effort to discover its whereabouts was in vain, until one night a shepherd, wandering on the hills, chanced to see a light shining through a crevice in the rocks. Creeping cautiously forward and peering through the opening, he observed the formidable thief sitting on the floor, amusing himself with an old fiddle and singing—

"Many a cow has lost her calf, many a sheep her lamb, But I'll sit on a stane, and sing at my den— The thief of Glenalmond will never be ta'en."

He was taken, however, and paid the full penalty of the law at Perth—hanging for sheep-stealing being in practice at that date. When on the scaffold he prophesied that "the water o' Almond runs ower mony a stane, but it'll ne'er run twa years withoot takin' ane." The prophecy has reference to the number of people drowned in the river, which is remarkable for the impetuosity of its floods.

At Fendoch—the entrance to the Sma' Glen—we tread on historical ground. Here, at Tom-an-Die—"Hill of God"—there is no reason to doubt, was one of the chief stations of the Romans, a standing camp, formed, not for a halt of a few days, but to be occupied for a considerable time. It was formed by Agricola in the year 84 A.D., in his seventh and last campaign, probably a little before the Battle of Mons Grampius. It had many advantages of situation, and we may well believe that it continued to be occupied by the Romans so long as they had possession of North Britain;—by Lollius Urbicus, who in the next century anew drove back the Caledonians to their fastnesses beyond the Grampians; and by the Emperor Severus in the beginning of the third century. So distinct were the traces of the camp in the year 1795, when the first Statistical Account of the parish was written, as to admit of its being measured. At that time the trenches were entire, and in some places six feet deep; but both rampart and trenches have disappeared under the operation of the plough. Though the camp covered upwards of fifty acres, nothing can now be seen but a small piece of breast-work facing the Almond.

At the mouth of the Sma' Glen there is a round knoll—Tom-an-Tighe—"the House of the Hill"—where Fingal, the father of Ossian, is said to have dwelt until his house was destroyed by Gara. The place is called Fendoch, a corruption of Finn-Tighe—"Finn's House." When Fendoch was burnt, Fingal built a fort on the summit of Dunmore, on the east side of the glen, where he and his father, Comhal, are said to be buried. The remains of this fort, still visible, show it to have been a place of retreat almost impregnable. That Comhal, his son, and grandson lived in the parish, the etymology of the place can scarcely leave a doubt. Not only have we Fingal's house, but on the moor contiguous to Fendoch we have Cairn-Comhal—"the cairn over the grave of Comhal"; while at Cultoquhey we have a camp called in Gaelic Comhal Cults—that is, "Comhal's battle"; and it is worthy of note that, towards the close of last century, some urns with ashes in them were dug up in this locality.

In the centre of the glen stands Clach-na-Ossian—"Ossian's Stone"—which tradition held to cover the mortal remains of Scotia's early bard. When the Government troops under General Wade were engaged in carrying a highway through the glen, they found it necessary to shift the position of Ossian's Stone. The detailed narrative of what took place is as follows:—

"I have so lately mentioned Glenalmond, in the road from Crieff, northward, that I cannot forbear a digression, though at my first setting out, in relation to a piece of antiquity which happened to be discovered in that vale, not many hours before I went through it in one of my journeys southwards.

"A small part of the way through this glen having been marked out by two rows of camp-colours, placed at a good distance one from another, whereby to describe the line of the intended breadth and regularity of the road by the eye, there happened to lie directly in the way an exceedingly large stone, and, as it had been made a rule from the beginning to carry on the roads in straight lines, as far as the way would permit, not only to give them a better air, but to shorten the passenger's journey, it was resolved that the stone should be removed, if possible, although otherwise the work might have been carried along on either side of it.

"The soldiers, by vast labour, with their levers and jacks, or hand-screws, tumbled it over and over till they got it quite out of the way, although it was of such an enormous size that it might be matter of great wonder how it could ever be removed by human strength and art, especially to such who had never seen an operation of that kind; and upon their digging a little into that part of the ground where the centre of the stone had stood, there was found a small cavity, about two feet square, which was guarded from the outward earth, at the bottom, top, and sides, by square flat stones."[2]

"The people of the country," says Newte, who travelled through the district in 1791, "venerating the memory of the bard, rose with one consent, and with bagpipe music carried the sacred dust away by force, and buried it on the top of Dunmore, in the centre of his father's fort." Burns visited Ossian's grave. Writing to his brother, on his return to Edinburgh from the North, he says—"Being warm from Ossian's country, where I have seen his very grave, what care I for fertile plains and fishing villages?" Whether the dust of Ossian slumbers amidst these mountains or within this glen no one can say—we have but dim tradition to guide us; but surely no spot seems more suitable for the resting-place of the Caledonian bard. No monument is erected to perpetuate his memory, nor speaking stone whispers to each passer-by in the language of Wordsworth—

"In this still place remote from men Sleeps Ossian in the narrow glen";

but it is surrounded by mountains torn and thunder-split, and it is laved by a stream as pellucid as his own Cona, which ever sings as it flows the lonely dirge of the bard who sang of battles and the breath of stormy war. "We feel a pride," says Fittis, writing of Ossian's tomb, "we feel a pride in cherishing the thought that the hoary bard's pilgrimage closed in Perthshire's 'narrow glen,' where the murmuring Almond sang his requiem, and that his ashes still rest not far from the banks of the stream."

Innerpeffray, annexed quoad civilia to the parish of Monzie about the beginning of the seventeenth century, is one of its historic scenes. It derives its name from the Pow—a small stream which joins the Earn near this place. Inner-Powfray signifies the junction of two rivers. The name Powfray was given to it when the marshy grounds around the Abbey of Inchaffray were cut and drained, after the Battle of Bannockburn, by order of King Robert the Bruce, for the services of Maurice, Abbot of Inchaffray. In process of time "Powfray," or "Innerpowfray," became merged into "Innerpeffray," the name by which it has been known for many generations.

The first laird of Innerpeffray was Sir John Drummond. The lands were bequeathed to him by his father as his patrimony, and in 1508 he founded here a collegiate church, which he endowed with a revenue sufficient to maintain a provost and prebend. The ruins of the chapel, dedicated to Saint Mary, mentioned as early as 1342, are still to be seen. The chapel has one feature not observed in any ecclesiastical edifice—what is termed "a squint"—an oblique opening in the wall to allow those who were late in attendance to hear mass without attracting the attention of the officiating priest. Few traces of ornament are to be seen on the building, but at the eastern gable there is a niche in which a half life-size figure of the Saint may have been placed. The chapel was an off-shoot of the Abbey of Inchaffray, and part of it has been used for generations as the burial-place of the Earls of Perth.

Robert Mercer, the third laird of Innerpeffray, granted to the Abbot and Convent of Inchaffray the right to fish for eels in the water at Polpefery, within the lordship of Dullory. Eels, it appears, formed a favourite article of food among all classes of the people. During the season of Lent the monastic establishments throughout the country consumed large quantities. The fish were captured principally by means of weirs, the eel-skins being used for making bindings to flails. The licence to the Abbey of Inchaffray is dated 1454, and is as follows:—

"To all who shall see or hear this charter, Robert Mercer of Innerpeffry wishes eternal salvation in the Lord. Be it known to your University that I, not led by force or by fear, nor fallen in error, but determined by my pure and spontaneous will, with consent and assent of Alexander Mercer, my heir, and with consent and assent of Andrew Mercer of Inchbrakie, are pledged for a certain sum of money, have given, granted, and by this my present charter have confirmed, in perpetual and pure charity, for the honour of Almighty God, and the glorious Virgin Mary, and the blessed John the Evangelist, for the salvation of my soul, and of the soul of Janet, my spouse, and that of Alexander, my heir aforesaid, and of all my successors, to the Abbot and Convent of Inchaffray, and their successors, serving, or that shall in future serve God in that place, entire liberty and perpetual licence of fishing, by means of enclosures, nets, or whatever instruments are necessary for catching eels and other fishes.... In witness whereof the seal of me, Robert Mercer, and the seal of Andrew Mercer, my uncle, are appended to my present charter, before these witnesses, Tristram of Gorty, John Quhyston, Alexander Cardeny, William Bonar of Kelty, Alexander Sharp of Strathy, an John Crab, shield-bearer, with many others, on the twenty-fourth day of the month of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand four hundred and fifty-four."[3]

The Library of Innerpeffray was founded by David, third Lord Madertie, whose family is now represented by Viscount Strathallan. Lord Madertie's grandfather, James Drummond, was the second son of David, Lord Drummond, and was created Lord Madertie on 31st January, 1609. He was educated along with James VI., and was esteemed by that monarch as "a man of parts and learning," and became a special favourite of the Court. By his marriage with Jean, daughter of Sir James Chisholm of Cromlix, he obtained the Barony of Innerpeffray, which had been his mother's portion, and at his death, in 1623, his eldest son, John, succeeded to the title. John was married to Helen Leslie, eldest daughter of Patrick, Commendator of Lindores; and David Drummond, the founder of the Library, was their eldest son. His second wife was Lady Beatrix Graham, sister of the great Marquis of Montrose, and the intimate relationship betwixt the families accounts no doubt for the existence of several volumes that belonged to Montrose, which are now in the Library.

The Library was intended for the benefit of students, and any other persons in the district possessed of a literary turn of mind, or having a thirst for knowledge. By his will, dated 1680, David, third Lord Madertie, bequeathed the half of 6000 merks to be employed by Lord John Carmichael and John Haldane of Gleneagles for the maintenance of a library and schoolhouse which he had erected at the Chapel of Innerpeffray. The sum conveyed was in a heritable bond, which made the bequest inept; but in 1691 the nephew and heir of Lord Madertie executed a deed of mortification, having for its object the vesting of 5000 merks for the encouragement of learning and the good of the country; "and as a constant and perpetual stock for the preserving of the said library and maintaining a keeper and schoolmaster, and for augmenting the library and building a house; but under reservation of his rights and those of his successors to nominate the librarian and schoolmaster."[4] The endowment covered a school and library, but under the new scheme, instituted in 1888, the school has been taken over by Muthill School Board, and the present trustees are empowered, after paying L15 per annum for the maintenance of the school and the expenses of the trust, to pay over the remainder of the income, and to transfer the library to any town or village within five miles of Innerpeffray.

The Library is particularly rich in old Bibles. The oldest one in the collection, and one having a special interest of its own, is dated 1530. It is in black-letter French, the translation being by St. Jerome. It is a large folio copy, and contains initial letter illustrations and pictorial woodcuts, the title-page being in red and black ink. There is also a copy of what is popularly known as the Treacle Bible, so called because of the rendering given to the passage in Jeremiah viii. 22—"Is there not tryacle at Gylyad?" Two other peculiarities deserve passing notice. The seventh commandment reads—"Thou shalt not break wedlocke"; and Genesis xxxix. 2—"And God was with Joseph, and he became a lucky man." One of the smallest Bibles in the collection is one that is said to have been carried about by the Marquis of Montrose. It bears his autograph in more than one place, written in a bold plain hand. It seems to have been lost for a number of years, and only turned up after a more careful supervision was exercised. It was printed in the French language at Sedan in the year 1633. There are quite a number of mottoes or extracts copied by the Marquis himself on the leaves of the Bible, taken from classical authors, showing that the book was one for close companionship. Three of these extracts freely translated may be here transcribed. The first is—"Honour to me is better than life"; the second, "Though the shattered universe o'erwhelm him, the ruins should find him untrembling"; and the third, under a pen-and-ink sketch of a mountain and a rose, "Roses grow not without thorns." Of psalm-books there are several very interesting examples. The oldest of these is an edition of Marot and Beza's Psalms, dated 1567, and having music set to many of the Psalms in staff and sol-fa notation. This copy is believed to be unique. It contains a great number of prayers. The volume of translations and paraphrases of the Psalms, which was published in 1630 as the work of James VI., is to be found in this collection. It is entitled "The Psalms of King David, translated by King James." It has portraits of King David on one side of the title-page and that of King James on the other—one of the portraits being, of course, apocryphal. Of prayer-books there is a copy of the "Booke of Common Prayer," printed by Barker in 1604; and also a copy of the book known as John Knox's "Confession and Declaration of Prayers," which was printed in 1554, and which lately gave rise to considerable discussion as to whether the early Reformed Church in Scotland used a liturgy. The oldest printed book in the Library is a copy of Barclay's "Ship of Fools," the date being 1508. Next in point of value as a specimen of typography is the famous Paris edition of Hector Boece's "Chronicles," printed in 1527; and of as much interest is the edition of Bellenden's translation of this work, printed by Thomas Davidson, of Edinburgh, in 1536. There is a specimen of early English printing shown in Fayban's "Chronicle," the copy at Innerpeffray being the extremely scarce first edition of 1533. The first edition of Holinshed's "Chronicles of Englande, Scotlande, and Ireland," which was printed in 1577; is also to be found here in good condition. Amongst other notable books may be mentioned:—"The AEneid," by Gavin Douglas, 1533; Bishop Lesley's "History of Scotland," in the original Latin, printed at Rome, 1578; Drummond of Hawthornden's "Flowres of Sion," 1630; the same author's "History of the Five Jameses," 1654; and also his "Miscellaneous Poems," 1656; Drayton's "Polyolbion"; Dr Donne's "Elegies"; Stowe's "Chronicles," 1580; Hitchcock's "Quintessence of Wit," 1590; John Major's "De Gestis Scotorum," 1536; Bacon's "Essays," 1639; and the first edition of Burton's "Anatomy of Melancholy." Students of warfare will find much to interest them in some of the military books of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries—one of these especially, printed in the German language in 1620, being the work of John Jacobi von Wollhausen, and entitled Kreigskunst. It contains engravings showing the mode of pike exercise and the method of drill adopted for the management of the musket with rest and linstock as then used. Amongst the law books are numerous volumes of decisions by Kilkerran, Forbes, Durie, Dirleton, Maclaurin, and others; as well as textbooks on law by Grotius, Montesquien, Duffendorf, and other well-known writers.

Monzie is best known in connection with the burning of a witch. The traditionary story makes out Kate M'Niven to have been a nurse in the family of the Grammes of Inchbrakie, and as a proof that she was a member of the weird sisterhood, a story is told of her in connection with a visit which the Laird of Inchbrakie made to Dunning on the occasion of some festivity. According to the fashion of the time, he took with him his knife and fork. After he was seated at the dinner table he was subjected to annoyance similar to that which teased Uncle Toby—namely, the hovering of a bee about his head. To relieve himself from the tiny tormentor, he laid down his knife and fork, and attempted to beat off the insect with his hands. It soon flew out at the window; but behold! the laird's knife and fork had disappeared. They were searched for all over the table, and under the table; nowhere could they be found; but when their owner reached home and recounted his mysterious loss, Kate M'Niven, who was present, straightway went and produced both articles safe and sound from their accustomed repository. It was whispered that Kate had personated the bee.

Relieved of her duties in the house of Inchbrakie—as the result, it is said, of an attempt to poison the young laird—Kate M'Niven returned to her old home at the Kirkton of Monzie, where she acquired an "uncanny" reputation. Evidence of her sorceries was collected or suborned, and through the machinations of the young laird of Inchbrakie, she was apprehended and brought to trial on a charge of witchcraft, and her guilt being conclusively established, sentence of death was pronounced against her. The stake was pitched and the faggots piled on the summit of the Knock of Crieff, and thither was the sorceress dragged, to suffer in presence of an immense multitude gathered from all the surrounding country.

"From Fowlis and Logiealmond, even from Perth, The rabble-multitude poured thick and fast, Until it seemed as if the conscious earth Believed this spectacle might be the last Of fire and faggot she would e'er behold, Lighted by legal cruelty and crime. For never did such hosts of young and old, Of tottering crones, and women in their prime, Of high and low, of poor men and of rich, Assemble at the burning of a witch."[5]

The Inchbrakie family tradition is much more reliable than the traditionary story as related by Dr. Marshall and Rev. Mr Blair. Writing under date November 25, 1895, Miss L Graeme says:—"My mother was the wife of the second son of Inchbrakie, and I have over and over again heard her relate how, on her home-coming as a bride, my grandfather on one occasion told her the story. He spoke of Monzie having brought a witch to the notice of the authorities. She was being burnt on the Knock of Crieff, above Monzie, when the Inchbrakie of the day,[6] riding past, did all in his power to try and prevent the matter from being concluded, without avail. Just as the pile was being lit she bit a blue bead from off her necklet, and spitting it at Inchbrakie, bade him guard it carefully, for so long as it was kept at Inchbrakie the lands should pass from father to son. Kate then cursed the Laird of Monzie.

"My grandfather had the ring[7] carefully kept in a casket, and his own daughter was not allowed to touch it—only the daughters-in-law. On my mother presenting my grandfather with his first grandson, he bade her slip it on her finger, as the mother of an heir. Nearly forty years after, when I was a young girl, I well remember my mother's horror and dismay when my cousin Patrick—the head of the family—after his majority, opened at our house a box of papers which, during the family's absence abroad, had been left in my mother's care; for there was the ring in which the stone was set—no longer guarded within the walls of Inchbrakie. A few years after this the first acres of the old Barony of Inchbrakie and Aberuthven were sold; now there is not one of them left.

"The ring is still retained among the family papers—such, at least, as were left after the burning of the castle by Cromwell. It is a moonstone sapphire, set in two brilliants of different shape. There is a curious bluish enamel on part of the gold, which is embossed half-way round. There is also a charm, which is said to have belonged to Kate M'Niven. It is a slight iron chain with a black heart, having two cross bones in gold on the back, bearing the words 'cruelle death' on it, and attached to it a death's-head in the shape of a serpent's head with curious enamel."

The first statute in Scotland against witchcraft was passed in the year 1563, during the reign of Queen Mary, and is here inserted as a sample of the simple and concise enactments which were passed in these days:—

"Queen Marie—Ninth Parliment IV. of June, 1563. 73. Anentis Witchcraftes.

Item—For sa meikle as the Queen's Majesty, and the three estates in this present Parliament, being informed that the heavie and abominable superstition used by divers of the lieges of this realm, by using of witchcrafts, sorcerie, and necromancie, and credence given thereto in times by-gone, against the law of God; and for avoiding and away-putting of all such vain superstition in times to come, it is statute, and ordained by the Queen's Majesty, and the three estates aforesaid—that no manner of persone or persones, of what-sum-ever estait, degree, or condition they be of, take upon hand in onie times hereafter to use onie manner of witchcraft, sorcerie, or necromancie, nor give themselves forth to have onie such craft or knowledge thereof, their-throw abusan the people; nor that onie persone seek onie help, response, or consultation at onie such users or abusers foresaid, of witchcraft, sorcerie, or necromancie, under the pain of death, as well to be execute against the user, abuser, as the seeker of the response or consultation. And this is to be put in execution by the justice, sheriffs, stewards, bailies, lords of regalites and royalties, their deputies, and other ordinary judges competent within this realm, with all vigour, and they have power to execute the same."[8]

That Kate Nike Neiving—not M'Niven, as her name is generally pronounced—was among the first to suffer as the result of the passing of this statute, is clearly proved by referring to the case of John Brughe, the notorious Glendevon wizard, who was tried at Edinburgh on November 24th, 1643, for practising sorcery and other unholy arts. It was alleged against him that he had obtained his knowledge "from a wedow woman, named Neane Nikclerith, of threescoir years of age, quha wis sister dochter to Nike Neveing, that notorious infamous witche in Monzie, quha for her sorcerie and witchcraft was brunt fourscoir of yeir since or thereby."[9]

That the date of the burning of the witch at Monzie took place in the year 1563, and not, as is generally supposed, in the year 1715 is not only proved by the recorded evidence in the case of John Brughe already referred to, it also receives confirmation from the fact that although reference is made over and over again in the Session Records to public events, there is no mention made of the witch. An additional argument for the earlier date is also found in the fact that Patrick Graeme, younger of Inchbrakie (referred to by Dr. Marshall as the person who brought Kate to the stake, and by Mr Blair as the man who would prove the means of her death), had been for over twenty years in exile. Having slain John, the Master of Rollo, when returning homewards from a revel at Invermay, he escaped abroad, and it was not till the year 1720 that he procured remission of his sentence and returned to Inchbrakie. That he did return is proved by the fact that he was a witness to a feu-charter, granted by Anthony Murray of Dollary, to Donald Fisher, taylzior in Crieff, dated "at Dollary," January 13th, 1725.

An attempt has been made not only to fix the date as 1715, but also to give a list of the "understanding gentlemen, magistrates, and ministers of the neighbourhood," who acted as judges on the occasion; and in particular the then minister of Monzie—Mr Bowie—is singled out as one of those who are said to have been bitter against the witch, and because of the part he is supposed to have taken in bringing her to justice, not only was a curse pronounced upon the parish, but for rhyming purposes a curse is also pronounced on Mr Bowie and his successors in office—

"Yon bonnie manse shall ne'er a tenant see Who shall not yet this bitter day abye,"—

a curse which has not been realised, so far as we know, in the case of any of those who have ministered in holy things in the parish. If there is any honour attached to the work of burning witches, we conclude that the parish can claim the honour of being the first to obey the law enacted on the 4th of June, 1563, and if the evidence given at the trial of John Brughe be at all reliable—as we have no reason to doubt—the real name of the witch was Kate Nike Neiving.

Fifty years ago, Monzie was a flourishing village of one hundred and twenty inhabitants, while in the immediate neighbourhood there would be perhaps two hundred and thirty more. Now, the population over the same area is not above a fourth of that number. The few cottages that remain speak of other days, and the old churchyard, and the jougs—an iron collar in which offenders were pilloried—fastened to the porch of the church, bring back the long-forgotten past. Many changes have taken place during the last fifty years. Pendicles have been swept into large farms; the industry of weaving and spinning has disappeared. But the natural aspect of Monzie is unchanged: the Almond and the Shaggie still run sunny and clear from the everlasting hills through her silent vales, which look upon the lover of nature with a face of beauty as fresh and entrancing as ever.



[1] Statistical Account of Monzie, by Mr Laurie.

[2] Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland, 1732.

[3] Liber Insule Missarum.

[4] Memorials and Queries. Printed by Constable, Edinburgh, 1846.

[5] The Holocaust. By Rev. George Blair. Edinburgh: 1845.

[6] The first Graeme of Inchbrakie was a son of the first Earl of Montrose. His father gave him a charter to it, and to Aberuthven, dated June, 1513.

[7] The stone had been honoured by being set in a gold ring.

[8] Waverley Anecdotes, p. 190.

[9] The Darker Superstitions of Scotland. By John Graham Dalziel. Glasgow: 1835, p. 579.



THE CASTLE, BARONY, AND SHERIFFDOM OF AUCHTERARDER

By A. G. REID, F.S.A., Scot., Auchterarder

Tradition asserts that the Castle of Auchterarder was one of the seats of the Scottish Kings and the residence of King Malcolm Canmore, who granted the Common Muir to the neighbouring burgh. The Barony was originally a Crown possession. Being situated on the road from the Royal Palaces of Scone and Forteviot to Stirling, and the principal manor place of a Barony belonging to the Crown, there is every probability that the tradition of its having been a royal palace is correct, and that the warlike Malcolm and the sainted Margaret abode within its walls.

Auchterarder was one of the Royal Burghs of Scotland. It may be said that no charter of erection is in existence, but its absence is explained by the fact that the proximity of a royal seat gave the neighbouring town the status of a Royal Burgh. Whether or not Auchterarder got a charter of erection from the Sovereign, no doubt can exist that at a very early period it was one of the Royal Burghs of Scotland. In the charter of William, the son of Malise, of the lands within or outside the town of Auchterarder, still known as the Abbey lands, granted to the Canons of Inchaffray, which lands he had bought from John, the son of Baltin, he not only appended his own seal to the writing, but, for greater security and fuller evidence, procured to be appended thereto the common seal of the Burgh of Auchterarder.

The Barony of Auchterarder remained Crown property until the time of King Robert the Bruce. King Alexander II., by charter, dated at Cluny, the 13th day of August, in the eleventh year of his reign (1227), granted to the Canons of the Abbey of Inchaffray the teind of his duties of Auchterarder to be drawn yearly by the hands of his tacksmen and bailies of Auchterarder.

In 1296, Edward I. invaded Scotland with 5000 armed horse and 30,000 footmen. He passed the River Tweed on 28th March, and continued his progress until 24th April, when he routed the Scots at Dunbar with great slaughter. He continued his triumphant progress northwards, resting at various places. We are told that "on the Thursday he went to Stirling, and they who were within the Castle fled, and none remained but the porter, who surrendered the Castle, and there came the Earl of Strathearn 'to the peace,' and there tarried the King five days. On the Wednesday before the Feast of St. John (20th June) the King passed the Scottish sea, and lay at Auchterarder, his Castle; on the Thursday, at St. John of Perth, a good town, and there abode Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; this same day was John the Baptist's Day." His progress and the places at which he stayed are circumstantially narrated in the Itinerary from which we quote. He returned to Berwick on 22nd August, and the chronicler adds—"And he conquered the realm of Scotland, and searched it, as is above written, within twenty-one weeks without any more."[1]

Attention is directed to the terms of the words of the Norman French Itinerary in reference to the King having taken up his residence in Auchterarder Castle. "Le Mescredy devaunt Seint Johne passa le roi le Mere d'Escoce et jut a Outreard, son chastelle." Reference is made in the narrative to many other castles in which the King lay, but only in this instance is the castle stated to have belonged to him. This is conclusive evidence that the Castle was the property of the Crown, and that the King took up his abode in it as such.

The halting of Edward I. with his army at Auchterarder was not the only occasion upon which Auchterarder received an embattled host. In 1332 the Scottish army of Donald, the Earl of Mar, 30,000 strong, lay at Auchterarder previous to the disastrous Battle of Dupplin,[2] and in 1559 the army of the Dowager Queen Mary, under the Duke of Hamilton and Monsieur d'Osel, lay there, prepared to encounter the Lords of the Congregation.[3] The most disastrous military visit and the last was when the Earl of Mar, in 1716, burnt the town.

Auchterarder being the only Royal Burgh in Strathearn, was the head burgh of that County Palatine and the seat of a Sheriffdom, the area of which was probably co-extensive with Strathearn. In the interregnum after the death of Alexander III. the office of Sheriff was vested in Malcolm of Innerpeffray, who, in the compotus of the extent of all the King's lands of Scotland for the period between 25th April, 1304, and 28th February, 1305, accounted as "Sheriff of Uthrardor of its issues, iocs."; and again, "from said Sir Malcolm of the issues of the Sheriffdom of Uthrardor and the farms of Glendowiche, L58."[4]

The Sheriff figures in a transaction in the Scottish War of Independence. There was an Inquisition at Perth held on 1st September, 1305, before Malise, Earl of Stratherne, lieutenant of the warden north of Forth, and Malcolm de Inverpefray, Knight, Deputy of John de Sandale, Chamberlain, and William de Bevercotts, Chancellor of Scotland, on certain articles touching the person of Michael de Miggal by Gilbert de Hay, David de Graham, and others; "who say on oath in Michael's presence that he had been lately taken prisoner forcibly against his will by William le Waleys, that he twice escaped, but was followed and brought back, and he was told if he tried to get away a third time he should lose his life. Thus, it appears, he remained with William through fear of death and not of his own will." The following deliverance is endorsed:—"The Chamberlain is 'commanded to give him his goods and chattels of the King's special grace.'"[5] The Sheriff, as Chamberlain, no doubt favourably represented to the King Michael's excuse, as the subsequent conduct of both the Earl of Strathearn and himself showed a fellow-feeling, and that, like Michael, they had been acting under constraint.

On 15th September, 1305, King Edward I., with the concurrence of ten Scots and twenty-two English Commissioners to his Parliament, made an ordinance containing certain regulations "for the settlement of Scotland." Amongst these regulations was the following:—"That there should be Sheriffs natives either of Scotland or England, to be appointed or removed by the Lieutenant or the Chamberlain, at discretion, who should execute the office of escheatry as usual, and that none should be appointed but the most sufficient men and most profitable for the King, and people, and the maintenance of peace." Sir Malcolm de Innerpeffer was appointed, or rather continued, in office of Sheriff of Auchterarder, and he was at same time appointed Sheriff of the shire of Clackmannan.[6] The appointment did not, however, extinguish the Sheriff's patriotism, as the next thing we hear of him is:—

"The King sends to Walter, Bishop of Chester, the Treasurer, Malcolm de Innerpeffrei, Knight, who at the time of this last 'riote' of the Scots was the King's Sheriff of Clackmannan and Auchterarder, but nevertheless was one of the first to join Sir Robert de Brus, and wickedly allotted the Earls of Menteth and Strathern in aiding said Robert; also fought against the King at the Battle of Seint Johan de Perth, and has done all the damage he could, commanding that he be secured in some strong castle, not in irons, but body for body."

"Whereon said Malcolm was at once delivered to the Constable of the Tower of London, on the 7th of December."

Another writ follows regarding Sir Malcolm's two horses, which the King permits him to make profit of at pleasure.[7]

We do not know the result of the proceedings against the Sheriff of Auchterarder, but as his two horses were restored to him, he seems to have been treated leniently. In regard to the Earl, we find that in November, 1306, he presented a memorial to the King and Council, showing that he was compelled to join Sir Robert de Brus through fear of his life.

The Castle and Barony of Auchterarder appear to have been Crown possessions until the reign of Robert the Bruce, when they became the property of Sir William de Montfichet or Montifex, appointed Justiciar of Scotland in 1332. The family was of Norman extraction. They had possessions in England, and a branch for some time settled in Scotland, Robert Montfichet being a witness to a charter of William the Lion in 1184. In Robertson's Index of Ancient Charters there occurs an old official inventory, compiled, apparently, about the close of the sixteenth century, in which mention is made of a charter—"Wilhelmo de Montefixo of the lands of Auchterarder with the town duty." Sir William Montfichet or de Montifex had large possessions, being not only proprietor of the Barony of Auchterarder, but of Cargill and Kincardine in Menteith, and other lands in Perthshire; and also of Kilmahew, in Dumbartonshire, and other lands. He had three daughters, who became his heirs-portioners. To his eldest daughter Marie he left the estates of Auchterarder, Cargill (or Stobhall), and Kincardine in Menteith. She married Sir John Drummond, the seventh Thane of Lennox. Sir John Drummond's eldest daughter was Annabella Drummond, Queen to Robert III. Our present Gracious Sovereign Queen Victoria is a lineal descendant of Marie Montifex of the Castle of Auchterarder.[8]

In the reign of David II. mention is made of the Burgh of Auchterarder in the account of the Great Chamberlain for 1366 as being in arrear of the contribution for payment of the King's ransom, being due the sum of thirty-one shillings.[8] In 1374, the Chamberlain debits himself with thirty-three shillings and fourpence received from the bailies of Auchterarder for contribution; and there are two different entries in the rolls of 1390, both relating to a debt owing by the Crown to the community of Auchterarder on account of certain services to the late King Robert II. There is also another entry in the Chamberlain Rolls, under date 1435, in which it appears that the services to the Crown had not been uplifted by the Chamberlain from the burgesses of Cromarty, Dingwall, and Ochterardor, because no Chamberlain aires had been held within those burghs at the time when the account was made up. Under date August, 1569, in the accounts of the High Treasurer there is an entry, where the "customaries of Ochterairder" are mentioned along with those of St. Andrews.

On 14th August, 1565, by Act of the Privy Council, in name of Henry and Mary, it was ordained "that lettres be direct to officiaris of armes chargeing thame to pas to the mercat croces of the Burrowis of Edinburgh, Hadingtoun, Linlythquow, Striviling, Clakmannane, Kinross, Uchterardour, Perth, Cowper, and all utheris places needful, and thair be oppin proclamation in thair Majesteis' name and autoritie to charge all and sindrie Earlis, Lordis, Baronis, frehalderis, landit men, and substantious gentilmen dwelland within the bundis (inter alia of the Stewartrie of Stratherne), with their houshaldis, honest friendis, and servandis weil bodin in feir of weir, and providit for xv. days after thair comin, to convene and meet the King and Quenis Majesteis at the places and upon the days respective efter following—that is to say, the inhabitantis of Stratherne to meit thair hieneises at Striviling Brig upon Sounday the xii. day of August instant."[10]