Crieff

Crieff
Scottish Gaelic: Craoibh
Scots: Crieff

High Street, Crieff
Crieff
 Crieff shown within Perth and Kinross
Population 7,368 [1]
OS grid referenceNN863219
Council areaPerth and Kinross
Lieutenancy areaPerth and Kinross
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town CRIEFF
Postcode district PH7
Dialling code 01764
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK ParliamentOchil and South Perthshire
Scottish ParliamentPerthshire South and Kinross-shire
List of places
UK
Scotland

Coordinates: 56°22′32″N 3°50′33″W / 56.37568°N 3.84262°W / 56.37568; -3.84262

Crieff (/kriːf/; Scottish Gaelic: Craoibh, meaning "tree") is a market town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich and also lies on the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins onto the A823 which leads to Dunfermline.

Crieff has developed into a hub for tourism, trading mainly on its whisky and cattle droving history. Tourist attractions include the Caithness Glass Visitor Centre and Glenturret Distillery. Innerpeffray Library (established c. 1680), Scotland's oldest lending library, is also nearby. St. Mary's Chapel, adjacent to the library, dates from 1508. Both the library and chapel are open to the public: the library is run by a charitable trust, the chapel is in the care of Historic Scotland.

History

For a number of centuries Highlanders came south to Crieff to sell their black cattle whose meat and hides were avidly sought by the growing urban populations in Lowland Scotland and the north of England. The town acted as a gathering point or tryst for the Michaelmas cattle sale held each year and the surrounding fields and hillsides were black with the tens of thousands of cattle - some from as far away as Caithness and the Outer Hebrides (for comparison, in 1790 the population of Crieff was about 1,200 which led to a ratio of tens cows per person, similar to the sheep/human ratio in New Zealand).

During the October Tryst (as the cattle gathering was known), Crieff was the prototype 'wild west' town. Milling with the cattle were horse thieves, bandits and drunken drovers. The inevitable killings were punished on the Kind Gallows, for which Crieff became known throughout Europe.

By the eighteenth century the original hanging tree used by the Earls of Strathearn had been replaced by a formal wooden structure in an area called Gallowhaugh - now Gallowhill, at the bottom of Burrell Street. What is now Ford Road was Gallowford Road which led down past the gallows to the crossing point over the River Earn. In such a prominent position, Highlanders passing along the principal route would see the remains of so punished dangling overhead. The Highlanders used to touch their bonnets as they passed the place, with the words: "God bless you, and the Devil damn you." In Lord Macaulay's history he talks of a score of plaids hanging in a row, but the remains of the Gallows - held in Perth Museum - suggest the maximum capacity was only six. Crieff's Parish Church had a strong Episcopalian dominance from the Reformation in 1560 up until the "Revolution" of 1688. In 1682 William Murray ignored the Presbytery and brought Episcopalian format into worship including the Lords Prayer and the Doxology. The Apostles' Creed was also used at Baptisms. After the Jacobite victory at Killiecrankie, Murray quoted the 118th Psalm " This is the day God made, in it we'll joy triumphantly".

Rob Roy MacGregor visited Crieff on many occasions, often to sell cattle. 'Rob Roy's outlaw son' was pursued through the streets of Crieff by soldiers and killed. In the second week of October 1714 the Highlanders gathered in Crieff for the October Tryst. By day Crieff was full of soldiers and government spies. Just after midnight, Rob Roy and his men marched to Crieff Town Square and rang the town bell. In front of the gathering crowd they sang Jacobite songs and drank a good many loyal toasts to their uncrowned King James VIII.

In 1716, 350 Highlanders returning from the Battle of Sheriffmuir burned most of Crieff to the ground. In 1731, James Drummond, 3rd Duke of Perth, laid out the town's central James Square and established a textile industry with a flax factory. In the 1745 rising the Highlanders were itching to fire the town again and were reported as saying "she shoud be a braw toun gin she haed anither sing". But it was saved by the Duke of Perth - a friend and supporter of Prince Charles. In February 1746 the Jacobite army was quartered in and around the town with Prince Charles Edward Stuart holding his final war council in the old Drummond Arms Inn in James Square - located behind the present hotel in Hill Street. He also had his horse shod in the blacksmith's in King Street. Later in the month he reviewed his troops in front of Ferntower House, on what is today the Crieff Golf Course.

In the nineteenth century Crieff became a fashionable destination for tourists visiting the Highlands and as a country retreat for wealthy businessmen from Edinburgh, Glasgow and beyond. Many such visitors attended the hydropathic establishment, Crieff Hypopathic Establishment there, now Crieff Hydro which opened in 1868, and remains in operation.[2] Crieff still functions as a tourist centre, and the large villas stand as testaments to its use by wealthy city-dwellers.

Crieff was once served by Crieff railway station. The station was opened in 1856 by the Crieff Junction Railway, but was closed in 1964 by British Railways as part of the Beeching Axe.

Fame in verse

Crieff was immortalised by William McGonagall in his poem "Crieff"

"Ye lovers of the picturesque, if ye wish to drown your grief,
Take my advice, and visit the ancient town of Crieff."[1]

  1. ^ McGonagall, William (1899). "Beautiful Crieff". McGonagall Online. 

Events

Every year the town hosts the Crieff Highland Games, which include music and dancing competitions and feats of strength.

Schools

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ "Scotland's Census 2011 - Crief Locality Area Profile". www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk. 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Bradley, James; Dupree, Mageurite; Durie, Alastair (1997), "Taking the Water Cure: The Hydropathic Movement in Scotland, 1840-1940" (PDF), Business and Economic History 26 (2): 426–437, retrieved 17 November 2009
  3. ↑ "New Seekers star Eve Graham looks back 40 years after their greatest hit". Daily Record. 12 March 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  4. ↑ Duke, Lynn (19 October 2012). "Denis attributes acting career to his Crieff roots". Daily Record.
  5. ↑ Carr, Ellie (19 May 2001). "He is the actor formerly known as Denis Lawson. Now he's more famous as Ewan McGregor's uncle. But he's not bitter". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  6. ↑ Barratt, Nick (11 November 2006). "Family Detective". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  7. ↑ Moncur, James (6 March 2010). "Incredible story of the Dundee United footballer who won an Academy Award". Daily Record. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  8. ↑ Rae, Douglas (16 June 1995). "OBITUARY: Neil Paterson". The Independent. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  9. ↑ "Perthshire’s sports awards nominees named". Perthshire Advertiser. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  10. ↑ van Praagh, Anna (1 November 2009). "Rory Stewart: A new kind of Tory". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  11. ↑ Gossip, Shona (24 May 2010). "Article - Former Black Watch soldier shares his experiences". Press and Journal. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  12. ↑ "Restaurant review: Hawke & Hunter, Edinburgh". The Scotsman. 26 June 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  13. ↑ Purnell, Gareth (8 March 2008). "Simon Taylor: Sinatra of Scottish rugby hopes his latest return is a happy one". The Independent. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  14. ↑ Bardgett, Frank (2010). Scotland's Evangelist - D.P. Thomson. Haddington: Handsel Press. pp. 253–258, 339–350. ISBN 978-1-871828-71-9.
  15. ↑ "Thomas Thomson". Electricscotland.com. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  16. ↑ Kaufman, MH (February 2008). "Daniel John Cunningham (1850-1909): anatomist and textbook author, whose sons achieved distinction in the Army, Navy and Indian Medical Service.". Journal of Medical Biography 16 (1): 30–5. doi:10.1258/jmb.2006.006058. PMID 18463062.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, February 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.