On Friday, 18th March 2022, Annette Carruthers, an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the School of Art History at the University of St. Andrews, presented her talk to the Breadalbane Heritage Society and described how, despite the tragic shortness of his life, James Marjoribanks MacLaren (1853-1890) achieved much in his architectural career and is recognised as a pioneer of the Arts & Crafts Movement. Annette discussed how his work as an architect and designer impacted on his contemporaries in the context of this movement in Scotland and in Britain more widely.
On Friday, 18th February 2022, Dr. Nicki Scott, Senior Cultural Resources Advisor with Historic Environment Scotland, presented her talk and described how although the survival of so many Pictish carvings highlights the long tradition of Christian worship across Angus, the tradition of monumental display continued in the medieval period, most famously at Arbroath Abbey. But while this royal foundation rightly draws much attention, sites such as Restenneth Priory and Maison Dieu show that it wasn’t just the elites whose lives were connected to the Church. Nicki provided some insight into the lives of these foundations and the people associated with them.
On Friday, 21st January 2022, John Borland presented his talk which provided an overview of the early medieval sculpture of Highland Perthshire, following its distribution from west to east along the glens and straths, highlighting what is rare and unusual. He examined the distribution of the sculpture to see what that tells us about its cultural origins and thus assess just how “Pictish” this part of Perthshire was.
John worked as an archaeological surveyor for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Historic Scotland (RCAHMS) and then Historic Environment Scotland (HES) for 36 years, latterly recording Scotland’s Pictish and other Early Medieval sculpture.
On Friday, 19th November 2021, Dr. Liz Auty, John Muir Trust’s East Schiehallion Property Manager, discussed the Reverend Nevil Maskelyne’s 1774 expedition to Schiehallion, the people, the experiment to ‘weigh’ the world and the mountain, along with her work for the John Muir Trust.
Record 64lb salmon caught by Georgina Ballantine in the River Tay in 1922
On Friday, 17th September 2021, Dr. David Summers, the Fisheries Director of the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board presented his talk which encompassed the life cycle of the salmon, the drastic reduction in salmon numbers and current scientific research studies. He provided an overview of the status of the River Tay’s salmon population and fisheries, with an emphasis on how things compare with the past and what the future might hold.
Wednesday, 6th July, 2022 tour of the Pictish stones in Fortingall Kirk and kirkyard led by John Borland.
Twenty members of the BHS gathered in Fortingall Kirk on 6 July to hear John Borland talk about the remarkably rich selection of fragments of carved stones displayed within the church and also outside. John is well known to many of our members, having previously given talks on the subject both at BHS meetings and at TAFAC conferences. He worked as an archaeological surveyor for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland for many years, the main focus of his work being the recording of Scotland’s Pictish and Early Medieval sculpture.
Before looking at and discussing the examples of the carved stones within the kirk and those in the courtyard, John talked about the history and development of sculptured stones in this area.
Some of the pieces of carved stones, dating to around 800 AD, were discovered during the demolition of the previous church in 1901, having been built into the walls of the church.
Their remarkably crisp carving, having been protected from the elements for many centuries, contrasts with the worn condition of some of the ancient grave slabs displayed against the walls of the church outside.
John pointed out that the stone on display on the north wall behind the pulpit, which is made up of three linked ringed crosses, is of a very rare type.
Other examples of three simply-incised crosses can be seen on one of the stones outside. Another stone is carved with what appears to be the folds of robes worn by angels or saints.
John observed that none of the finely carved stones were made from locally-obtained material but of a fine grey sandstone, which may have come from Strathmore and is similar to that of the Pictish cross slabs in the museum at Meigle.
Some of the recent additions to the magnificent assemblage of sculptured stones at Fortingall were discovered lying on the top of the Kirk’s boundary walls which had become exposed after the local council had cut back the creeping ivy from the walls.
After the talk, when a tour of the kirkyard was made, John made the interesting observation that the large natural boulder with a deep circular water-filled hole cut into it, which lies next to the porch, may not have been used as a christening font as we know it. It could, he said, have been on the ground beside the church entrance and been used for foot washing, or for the baptism of recently-converted adults where the person stood in the water for the ceremony.
Everyone who attended this talk and tour agreed that it had been a fascinating and informative morning, and we are very grateful to John Borland for yet again giving up his time to help us learn more about the rich cultural heritage of this area.
If you would like to view the talk, ‘The Early medieval Sculpture of Highland Perthshire’, which John presented to the Breadalbane Heritage Society on Friday, 21st January, 2022, you can view this here:
If you wish to view this video at a larger size, click on the ‘full screen’ button at the bottom right-hand corner of the image above:
A talk presented on Zoom by John Borland to the Breadalbane Heritage Society on Friday, 21st January, 2022.
In this talk, John gave an overview of the early medieval sculpture of Highland Perthshire, following its distribution from west to east along the glens and straths, highlighting what is rare and unusual. He examined the distribution of the sculpture to see what that tells us about its cultural origins and thus assess just how “Pictish” this part of Perthshire was.
John Borland worked as an archaeological surveyor for the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and Historic Scotland (RCAHMS) and then Historic Environment Scotland (HES) for 36 years, retiring as Measured Survey Manager in May 2020. In that time, John had the opportunity to survey almost every type of archaeological and architectural monument, from Neolithic chambered cairns to WWII coastal batteries and everything in between, including castles, churches, croft houses and country houses. However, the main focus of his work latterly was recording Scotland’s Pictish and other Early Medieval sculpture.
John has been a member of the Pictish Arts Society for more than 20 years and is the current PAS President.
You can view John’s talk here:
If you wish to view this video at a larger size, click on the ‘full screen’ button at the bottom right-hand corner of the image above:
This talk was presented on Zoom, but unfortunately due to the vagaries of local internet connections, John’s speech was disrupted in a number of occasions. However, the general content of his talk is still discernible during these instances.
On Wednesday 22nd June, 2022, a group of ten members joined Rob Hands at two local battlefield sites just to the west of Perth. We assembled at the Community Hall at Bridge of Earn and drove in convoy to the Dupplin Moor site pausing on the way to see the area where the predominantly English army camped before the battle.
This gave a sense of the terrain, especially the high ground rising from the River Earn.
Then we went on to the Dupplin estate where the battle was fought in 1332 as part of the struggle for Scottish independence from England under Edward II, then Edward III. The two armies were under the control of Edward Balliol and the Earl of Mar.
We drove up to a site which Rob Hands feels best fits the description of the terrain from the available records which suggested a narrow defile where the armies would be forced to a narrow battlefront with little chance of making a flanking attack.
The Balliol’s archers were deployed on the higher ground either side of Mar’s attacking troops and were therefore able to cause havoc among the engaging forces.
Rob suggested that this was one of the earliest accounts of a battle using the power of the yew long bow in this way and which influenced battle tactics for much of the following centuries, including Agincourt.
Balliol’s troops were eventually victorious and both the Earl of Mar and Robert Bruce (illegitimate son of Robert the Bruce) were killed in the battle.
The party then moved on to the site of the later Battle of Tippermuir (1st September, 1644). The starting point for this part of the tour was Noah’s Ark on the western perimeter of Perth.
This was the period of the English Civil War and the wars of the Three Kingdoms following the Bishops’ War of 1639-40. This battle signalled the beginning of the campaign by the royalist Marquis of Montrose in support of Charles I against the Covenanter (Government) army.
Rob Hands has a remarkable memory for the names of the participants and the formation of their battle lines which he used to portray graphically how the battle developed. In this battle the innovation which went on to influence later tactics was the ‘Highland Charge’ used by MacColla which had been successful for him in Irish campaigns and instrumental in winning this battle for Montrose’s royalists. This led to a rout of the Covenanter troops with large numbers being killed on their retreat to Perth.
All the details of these two, and other, Perthshire battles can be found in Rob Hands and Paul Philippou’s book “Battleground Perthshire” from which publication the diagrams above have been taken and where the background to, and the development of, these battles is described in much more detail.
Some of the party went on to Tibbermore Church where Montrose stopped before the battle to take a drink of water and where some 300 of the Covenanter slain are said to have been buried.
Review compiled by Lesley Whitwood with photographs supplied by Lesley Whitwood and Ian Stewart. Battlefield maps courtesy of Rob Hands from the book ‘Battleground Perthshire’, published by Tippermuir Books Ltd.
Undeterred by the sightly damp weather which had followed several days of bright sunshine, sixteen members of the Society set out on the morning of 8th June to explore the lower eastern slopes of Schiehallion.
Group start at the Braes of Foss car park
Dr. Liz Auty, the Property Manager of East Schiehallion site which is owned by the John Muir Trust, acted as our guide. Liz is familiar to members of the BHS as a speaker, most recently on the subject of Neville Maskelyne, the Astronomer Royal, who between 1774 and 1776 conducted experiments on the mountain in an attempt to determine the density of the earth.
Liz introduction by Liz at the entrance information board
There was plenty to see along the tracks, with plentiful signs that these lonely slopes, now inhabited only by sheep and wildlife, had witnessed human activity for many thousands of years.
We stopped to examine a large cup-marked boulder near the track, the earliest record of human presence, dating back perhaps 5000 years.
Cup-marked boulder
Rather more recent is the site known as Fuaran Na H-Inghinn where the remains of several large long-houses, probably medieval, are barely visible under the layers of turf and heather, their stone walls having been robbed to build a sheep fank in the late 18th or early 19th century when a change of use of the land meant the mass introduction of sheep by landowners amid the infamous highland clearances. Other evidence of an earlier way of life can still be seen in the corn-drying kiln near the long-houses, now a sunken hollow.
Long house
Common frogs
Along the way Liz pointed out various flowers: the rare Mountain Everlasting with its tiny furry blossoms, the bright blue of Common Milkwort and the starry white flowers of Chickweed Wintergreen, a localised plant here growing in profusion beside the track.
Mountain Everlasting with its tiny furry blossoms Bird’s-foot Trefoil and Common Butterwort
The starry white flowers of Chickweed Wintergreen
Few birds were to be seen except for a single Kestrel searching for prey and Whinchats perching on fence posts.
Coffee break at the sheep fank
After a pause for a welcome hot drink and snack beside the walls of the sheep fank . . .
Sheep shank
. . . the group continued upwards and into an area which has recently been fenced off to keep out deer and allow natural vegetation to grow; numbers of small birches, rowans and other species of trees are now appearing above the bracken and in time will become a forest.
Our final archaeological site was a large hut circle, dating to the Late Bronze/early Iron Age, hardly visible now from the ground under the vegetation although, as Liz pointed out, these sites show up quite well in drone photos.
Hut circle area
Just visible on the horizon were two cairns, constructed at the time of Maskelyne’s experiments as aids to measurements, and now added to by walkers. We were now at around 400 metres above sea level and time did not allow for a visit to the observatory platform at 750 metres which will have to be kept for another visit.
Everyone agreed that it had been a most enjoyable tour and we are grateful to Liz Auty and of course to Ian Stewart for arranging the visit. If you would like to view the talk which Liz presented to the Breadalbane Heritage Society on Friday, 19th November, 2021, and learn more about the work of Neville Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal, and the John Muir Trust at their East Schiehallion site, you can view this here:
If you wish to view this video at a larger size, click on the ‘full screen’ button at the bottom right-hand corner of the image above:
Thanks for this review compiled by Fran Gillespie, and photographs provided by Lesley Whitwood and Ian Stewart
On Friday, 19th November, 2021, Dr Liz Auty, East Schiehallion Property Manager for the John Muir Trust, presented a talk to our Society on the subject: “Schiehallion: The attraction of mountains, ‘weighing the world’ and contour lines”. Liz discussed Neville Maskelyne’s 1774 expedition to Schiehallion, the people, the experiment and the mountain.
The Schiehallion experiment was set up to determine the mass and mean density of the Earth and involved measuring the tiny deflection of a pendulum due to the gravitational attraction of a nearby mountain. After a search for candidate mountains, Schiehallion was considered the ideal location thanks to its isolation and almost symmetrical shape.
Towards the end of her presentation, Liz talked about the work that she does at East Schiehallion as Property Manager for the John Muir Trust and, in particular, to the collaborative work that the John Muir Trust carries out in the area with the Heart of Scotland Forest Partnership.
You can view Liz’s talk to our Society here:
If you wish to view this video at a larger size, click on the ‘full screen’ button at the bottom right-hand corner of the image above:
Breadalbane Heritage Society 
You must be logged in to post a comment.