The earliest documentary evidence of the McDougalls comes from an entry in the Kenmore Old Parish Register showing Hugh McDougall’s marriage to Mary Ferguson on 6 April 1775 at Borland Farm in Fernan, near Fortingall. Around 1812, the family moved west along Loch Tay to Lawers and took up a tenancy at the nearby township of Cuiltrannich.
References
1 Farquharson,
John: Plans and Book of reference relating to survey of the north
side of Lochtay (1769) 2 Gillies,
William A. In Famed Breadalbane (1938) 3 McDiarmid, J. Folklore of Breadalbane
(1910) 4 Statistical
Accounts for Perthshire 1791-99 and 1834-55 5 Heron, Robert - Observations Made in a
Journey through the Western Counties of Scotland (1793)
Peter Crerar” by David Crerar, 1998
A comparative study of Lochtayside and Assynt - Vols 1-3, 1985 Please
use the links below. Cuiltrannich Cuiltrannich, meaning nook of bracken in Gaelic, was part of the Breadalbane lands.
In 1770 it was registered to Colonel Robertson of Lawers, for an annual rental of £305. The exact extents of
Cuiltrannich are
unknown, but the cultivated area appears to have covered at least 45 acres of
ground on the lower slopes of Ben Lawers, just west of the Lawers Burn ravine.
The surveyors working for the Farquarson Survey of 1769 observed that, "…the bank on both sides of the [Lawers]
burn is so steep and dangerous especially near the head of the farms as frequently to
occasion the death of some of their cattle. On this account both sides of the burn, where
danger is, ought to be enclosed and planted with firs or oaks." [1] At the time of the Survey, there were 3 smallholdings. 2 more were constructed later,
further up the hill, and may have been allocated to the soldiers known as the Breadalbane Fencibles who returned from duty in Europe in 1797.
One of the lower farmhouses remained unchanged, and was occupied, well into the 20th century [8]. Its ruins, and some others, are still visible,
along with a prominent, sunken access track. The township had a smithy, a school, a lime kiln and a meal mill. It also possessed the only lint mill on the north side of Loch Tay.
This was located beside the Lawers Burn below the Killin to Kenmore road, close to the loch. It was used to process flax into linen. On the east side of the ravine is an ancient stone
circle, Machuim. First described in
Thomas Pennant's A Tour in Scotland
(1772), the local writer William A. Gillies said that "a recent
examination of the ground around the circle...suggests that at one time there
was an outer circle of stones concentric with the existing one. Most of the stones were removed in order to
make more of the field available for cultivation, but there are still large
stones buried within a few inches of the surface" [2]. J. McDiarmid wrote in 1910 in his Folklore of Breadalbane of a man from the nearby village of Killin who, on
passing the stone circle heard haunting 'fairy' music. He then entered into the circle. When he
left he was 'presented' with a strong, fast, white horse [3]. The Lady
of Lawers Lawers was sited at the mouth of its eponymous
Burn. The castle of the lairds of
Lawers was probably built close to the water's edge on the west bank. It was
destroyed in 1645 and replaced by a less pretentious building that was occupied
by the tenants of the farm of Milton of Lawers down to the latter part of last
century. The two storied house, the
ruins of which are still visible, was reputed to be Tigh Ban-tigheaona
Larbhuir, the House of the Lady of Lawers, who was said to have been a Stewart
of Appin, and the wife of one of the lairds of Lawers. The Lady was evidently a woman gifted with a
wonderful measure of wisdom and shrewdness. Among the predictions attributed to her is one connected with the
building of the church, which was probably built by Sir James Campbell, the
sixth laird. When the church was nearing completion, she said that the ridging-stones
would never be placed on the roof. The
builders brought stones for the ridge from Kenmore by boat, and dumped them on
the shore, saying: “We shall prove the
Lady to be a liar." That night,
however, a terrific storm raged along Loch Tay and the stones were swept into
the depths. Subsequently, the ridge of
the church was covered with some other material. Several of the Lady's sayings predicted changes in
the social and economic conditions of the district [7]. A
prophecy about fire-coaches yet to be seen crossing Druimuachder Pass was
accepted as foretelling the coming of the Highland Railway over Drumochter. She
foresaw a period when the population would greatly increase and the land be
intensively cultivated: “there will be a mill on every stream and a plough in
every field, and the two sides of Loch Tay will become a kail garden”. This prophecy would appear to have come true
by the end of the 18th Century, when there were fourteen mills along the
lochside; on the south side alone there were nearly two hundred ploughs between
Auchmore and Taymouth. Some of the Lady of Lawers's other prophecies refer to the old
church of Lawers, now a ruin beside her house.
A stone over the doorway of this church bears the date 1669, which would
suggest that she lived around the middle of the seventeenth century. She is
buried under the gateway of the old, walled graveyard by the loch. Between this burial ground and the church
lie the remains of the old village of Lawers, with the ruins of the mill and
mill race visible. Well above the
water, on the road between Kenmore and Killin are a group of buildings - the
old-established Ben Lawers Hotel, the School and the Free Church, which was
formerly the Church of Scotland Mission.
On living
standards in Breadalbane The reasons for the abundance of mills and ploughs at the end of the
18th Century are not immediately obvious, since the land could barely support its residents. Historically, cultivation was on the runrig
system, under the old in-field and out-field arrangement. On the poor upland
soils, this antiquated arrangement gave the Highlanders a marginal
existence. The minister of Fortingal
parish [4] found it hard
to believe that they could exist on so little:
“They bled their cows several times in the year, boiled the blood, eat a
little of it like bread, and a most lasting meal it was.” The Earls of Breadalbane tried to relieve
the pressure on the over-burdened land by building roads and bridges to open up
the country and facilitate transport. They were instrumental in establishing
flax processing as a major industry on Loch Tayside. They sent some farmers’
sons to England to learn the new methods of agriculture. On some of their
lands, the process of replacing the old system began: new, compact farms were
laid out; rotation of crops was established and winter feeds were
improved. Their “wise plans” ushered in
a period of stability and relative prosperity so that, according to the
minister of Killin [4], the people
were “in general, rather in easy than affluent circumstances” by the end of the
18th Century. This was not exactly the experience of Robert Heron
writing in his 1793 Observations [5]. On the banks of the River Tummel, he found
refreshment in a house that “exhibited a scene of nastiness and simplicity
which convinced me that the primitive manners of my country were not everywhere
lost”. There were also mixed opinions
among the clerical authors of the Statistical Reports [4] concerning the standards of living of their
parishioners - some despaired of their poverty, while others thought they were
doing rather well. The minister of
Kenmore recorded a population increase of 12% in the 45 years since Webster’s
census return of 1755. Certainly, smallpox inoculations would have helped to
reduce the death rate from that terrible disease. And, as potatoes grew to be
the staple diet, people’s health and their survival rates would have
improved. Furthermore, the
consolidation of farms being experienced elsewhere does not appear to have
started in Kenmore until much later:
“The old system of rotation,” wrote the minister, “namely the infield
land with oats and bear alternately and the outfield with oats and ley is in
general continued …[and]… although it is certain that the noble proprietor
might increase his rent roll considerably by enlarging the possessions and
lessening the number of tenants, yet, knowing their attachment to the country,
he allows them to remain in the abodes of their forefathers”. Unfortunately, this meant that, “In these
places, the tenants in general have but very small possessions, several of them
being crowded together in the same farm”.
Even in the 1840s, the incumbent observed that “farm buildings, in
general, are in an indifferent state” because few leases were granted and holdings
remained subdivided. By contrast, in neighbouring Rannoch, the old
‘Stake and Rise’ houses (one had to enter on all fours and, once inside, would
be unable to stand upright) had been replaced by “comfortable houses built of
stone”. “People”, stated the minister
of Fortingal, writing about the 1750s, “were starving.” Yet, 50 years later,
although rents had tripled, “the people have fulness of bread”. In Killin, there was some depopulation, “by
the union of farms and the number of sheep introduced …. and it must be
admitted that, owing to these causes, the number of people has decreased
considerably in the higher parts … but it has increased in the lower parts …
particularly in the village of Killin” [4]. So the apparent discrepancies in the ministerial
accounts of the day were simply matters of emphasis. For example, depopulation, when “swarms leave the country every
year”, was certainly taking place, but it was chiefly in the remote hill areas. One of the reasons was the increased
stocking of farms with sheep, which required only a few shepherds to
manage. Pushed off their farms, the
landless refugees ended up in the villages and found work in service, as
workers in the flax industry or as masons, joiners, shoemakers, smiths,
farriers and other craftsmen. And some,
of course, emigrated to the new lands overseas. At the end of the century, several members of the
Breadalbane Fencibles - an army unit raised by the Marquis of Breadalbane
- were settled on holdings in the
township of Cuiltrannich, which was further developed at this time. The
Cheviot comes to Loch Tay The Lady of Lawers also foretold that the jaws of
the sheep would drive the plough out of the ground, that many holdings would
become one holding and that the homesteads on Loch Tayside would be so far
apart that a cock would not be able to hear his neighbour crow. This prophecy
predicted the evictions that took place on Loch Tayside during the 1830s, when
people were cleared from the land in order to establish large sheep runs. As John
Campbell of Lochend wrote, "the sides of Loch Tay in general were never
intended by nature for the plough, and if the fertile, level lands in the
better climate of England were thought to be more profitable under grass than
under the plough, what could be expected from cultivation of the steep, broken
patches of land on Lochtayside, however good the quality might be, so far
north, so high above the sea and so frequently deluged with rain?" [6]. There had been attempts to introduce the Cheviot
sheep to Breadalbane farms in the 18th Century but they were not well received
by the locals. However, in 1834, the Second Marquis allowed his factor, James
Wyllie, to evict families and to populate his farms with Cheviots. By 1838, fourteen families had been removed forcibly
from Rhynachuilig, twelve from Edramchie, thirteen from Kiltyrie, nine from
Cloichran, and nineteen from the farm of Acharn, all on the lochside. There is no mention of Lawers or Cuiltrannich in
this dismal roll call and, to judge from the numbers crammed into the
longhouses at the time of the 1841 Census, they escaped the terror. The evictions were carried out with ruthless
severity. No sooner were the people
turned out of their homes than the thatch was set on fire to prevent them from
returning. A man who was very active as
an agent in carrying out the dastardly work was himself evicted, and forced to
emigrate. As he was leaving the
township someone asked him: "Is there no more dirty work to be done in
Breadalbane when they are sending you away?" After a decade, the land was striking in its emptiness. Of the
3500 inhabitants once living on Loch Tayside, only one hundred were left by
1850. That year the Second Marquis
tried to raise a Fencible Regiment, as his father had successfully done in the
18th Century. He found no recruits.
An old man of Loch Tayside is reputed to have growled at him to
"Put your red coats on the backs of the sheep that have replaced the
men!" Although the evictions came to an end, depopulation
continued, and the land gradually went out of cultivation. The old primitive
houses built with dry-stone walls and thatched roofs decayed. Young people left to go to the cities; in
the case of the young Duncan McDougall, to Edinburgh to sell alcohol. The
estate had no housing policy. Few tenants had security of tenure and there was
no assurance that they would be compensated for any improvements that they
made. The result was that holding was added to holding and farm to farm until
there was not sufficient man power to work and manage the land. The countryside
at present is reverting to the state of nature from which generations of
industrious farmers reclaimed it by clearing away the brushwood, gathering the
stones, and erecting miles and miles of boundary walls. Fields that not long
ago were under cultivation are now covered with briars, thorns, bracken, and
scrub. Thus have the Lady of Lawers’ predictions been
fulfilled to the letter. 6 John
Campbell of Lochend – quoted in “Lawers and Loch Tay: The Biography of
7 See
“Introduction to Old Lawers” on In Callander website
8 Morrison, Alexander - Rural settlement in the
Scottish Highlands, 1750-1850:
