CRIEFF, a parish, in the county of Perth; containing
4333 inhabitants, of whom 3584 are in the town
of Crieff, 1/ miles (\V. by S.) from Perth, and 56 (N.W.)
from Edinburgh. This place, whose name, of Gaelic
origin, is derived from its situation on the side of a hill,
appears from various old documents to have been the spot
where, at a very remote period, the thane of the district
usually held his court in the open air, and dispensed
justice to the inhabitants. It was from an early date
regarded as the chief town of Strathearn, and was the
seat of an earldom until the heiress of Malise the last
earl, marrying the English Earl de Warren, was led into
rebellion against Robert I., in 1320. It continued, however,
to be the capital of that district, and was the seat
of the jurisdiction of the king's steward of Strathearn,
which office became hereditary in the family of Drummond,
with whom it remained till the abolition of hereditary
jurisdictions in 1*48. About half a mile to the
east of the town, is a spot till of late surrounded with a
low wall of earth and stone, now hardly to be traced:
here the courts were held; and a little to the west of the
town is a rising ground where criminals were executed,
and which still retains the appellation of Gallow Hill.
The town was occupied by the army of Montrose during
some of the disturbances of the great civil war; it was
burnt by the Highlanders for its loyalty in 1715, and
in the rebellion of 1745 was saved from destruction
only by the interposition of the Duke of Perth. On
the 10th of September, 1842, the town was visited by
Her Majesty, in the course of her tour in Scotland; she
was rapturously received by the inhabitants of the place,
by whom a triumphal arch had been erected at the entrance
of the town, and the Queen passed on to Drummond
Castle, in the vicinity. The town was illuminated
the first night the Queen was at the castle.
Crieff is beautifully situated on the sloping acclivity
of an eminence near the base of the Grampian hills,
commanding an extensive and richly-varied prospect of
the country towards the south, which is in a state of
high cultivation, and thickly studded with the residences
of the gentry. It consists of one principal or
high street, in the centre of which is St. James's square,
a handsome range of building; and of several other
well-built streets, one of which leads to a bridge over the
river Earn, affording a communication with the parish
of Muthill. The inhabitants are amply supplied with
excellent water from springs in the immediate vicinity,
from which it is conveyed into a reservoir in the
centre of St. James's square, where a handsome budding
of stone has been erected, which, surrounded with some
lime-trees of great beauty, forms an interesting and picturesque
ornament in the town. There is a gas company.
Nearly in the centre of the high street is the
ancient cross, of rude workmanship, consisting of a
block of stone raised on a plinth of hewn stone: it is
about six feet three inches high, about two feet in
breadth, and little more than six inches in thickness;
the front is embeUished with a cross, carved in relief,
and there are traces of a legend, the characters of which
are so obliterated by time as to be altogether illegible.
A subscription library has been established, and is well
supported; the number of volumes at present is above
1000, and it is supposed that the number will soon be
greatly extended. A circulating library is kept; and two
reading-rooms are supported by subscription. Assemblies
are held in the ball-room of the chief inn, and also
in the large rooms of St. Michael's Lodge and the
Weavers' Hall.
The principal trade carried on is the weaving of
cotton for the manufacturers of Glasgow, in which
nearly 500 persons are employed at their own homes,
in producing checks and handkerchiefs. The quantity
of yarn annually sent to this place from Glasgow is
valued at £15,000; the average value of the goods
when manufactured is about £'20,000. About 400
looms are engaged regularly at this work, which
forms the staple manufacture of the town. The manufacture
of wooUen-stutfs is also carried on to a moderate
extent, in a factory lately erected on the banks
of the river Turret, and affords employment to about
forty persons: the articles are, blankets, plaiding,
shawls, and various coloured stuffs; and all the processes
are performed with machinery propelled by
water, of which the river affords an abundant supply.
Several other persons are occupied in the manufacture
of linen-cloth, chiefly for home consumption, and a
considerable number of females in tambour-work, and
in working figured-muslins. There are three tanneries,
employing a considerable number of hands, and producing
a very large quantity of leather; likewise two
distilleries, which produce about 73,000 gallons of
whisky annually, and pay duties to the excise of more
than £"000. Five malting establishments are also
conducted, yielding in the aggregate nearly 7000 quarters
of malt, and paying a duty of £54'20 per annum.
An oil-mill has been established, which is in constant
operation; and there are corn, flour, and barley mills,
all belonging to one proprietor, who disposes of the
produce at the Glasgow and Dundee markets. The
trade is principally with Glasgow, but certain portions
of it are carried on vvith Edinburgh, Perth, Stirling,
Dundee, and several towns in England. Great facility
of communication with the neighbouring towns is afforded
by good roads which pass through the parish,
and of which the Tay-bridge road, traversing Glenalmond,
is one of the best in the country. Mail and
stage coaches pass daily through the town, and an act
of parliament was obtained in 1846 for the construction
of a branch to Crieff of the Scottish Central railway.
The market, held on Thursday, is well attended by the
farmers, and abundantly supplied with provisions of all
kinds for the supply of the inhabitants. From its
central situation, the town has been made the seat of
numerous fairs previously held in the neighbouring
parishes; and nine fairs, for which a commodious situation
has been provided by Lady Willoughby de Eresby,
are now regularly held. They are on the first Thursday
in January, the third in February, the second in March,
the first in April, the first and last in June, the second
in July, the third in August, and that preceding the
October Falkirk tryst. There are three branch banks.
The GOVERNMENT of the town, which is a burgh of
barony, is vested in three baron-bailies and a committee,
appointed by the three proprietors of the lands
on which the town is built, of whom Lady Willoughby
de Eresby is the chief. The common funds, amounting
to about £100 per annum, are appropriated by the committee
in watching and lighting the streets, and supplying
the inhabitants with water. A court is held quarterly
by the sheriff of the county for the recovery of
small debts and the determination of minor offences.
There is neither a regular magistracy nor police, and the
whole management is vested in the committee of the inhabitants.
The Masons' Hall, or St. Michael's Lodge,
was built in 1S16, at an expense of £2000, under the
direction of a committee of the society; it is a handsome
edifice, containing a good assembly-room, and the
requisite offices. The Weavers' Hall, a neat building
also containing an assembly-room, was erected by that
company in 1786. The old Tolbooth was built in 1665,
for the accommodation of the officers of the steward's
court, after the proceedings ceased to be conducted in
the open air. It contained a prison in the lower part,
in which offenders were temporarily confined; a courtroom
where the small-debt and other courts were held;
and above, a room for the use of the public library.
The building has been demolished by the County Prisoa
Board, and a larger edifice occupies its site.
The PARISH is separated into two divisions by the
intervening lands of the parish of Monzie. The Highland
division comprises the larger portion of the district
of Glenalmond, through which the river Almond
has its course, and abounds with every variety of mountain
scenery, in its wildest and most romantic features.
The Lowland division, which may properly be regarded
as the parish, is about four miles in length, and three
in breadth, and comprises 3800 acres; it is bounded on
the north-west by the river Shaggy, on the east by the
Pow, on the south by the Earn, and on the west by the
Turret. The surface is generally level, being broken
only by the Knock of Crieff and Callum's Hill, the
former of which has an elevation of 400 feet above the
sea. These eminences are both richly wooded, and add
greatly to the diversity and the beauty of the scenery.
The Earn, which issues from the lake of that name,
forms the boundary of the parish for nearly three miles,
and at Critff receives the waters of the Turret. It is
crossed by a good stone bridge of four arches, one of
which was broken down by the Highlanders in 1715 to
arrest the pursuit of the royalist forces, and has been
replaced by one that does not harmonize with the others.
The rivers generally abound with trout, and the Earn
with salmon, eels, perch, and pike, which are taken in
great numbers, and are of superior quality.
The SOIL in the north, west, and south is light and
sandy, intermixed with gravel; nearer the town, a rich
loam; and in the east and south-east portions, a stiff
reddish clay. Of the 3800 acres in the parish quoad
sacra, all, with the exception of about 600 in plantations,
are under cultivation; the system of agriculture is in
a highly improved state, and draining has been extensively
practised in the most efficient manner. The chief
crops are oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips, of which
great quantities are grown, of excellent quality; wheat
is also raised, but to a very limited extent, the soil not
being so well adapted for it. Cattle are grazed here for
the supply of the south-country markets, and for home
consumption; and about 1500 are annually fed by the
various distillers in the neighbourhood. Few sheep are
pastured, except for the use of the parish. The woods,
occupying little more than ten acres, consist of oak (of
three kinds, the common, the scarlet, and the Turkey),
ash, elm, beech, sycamore, chesnut, plane, walnut, and
poplar; and the plantations, to which considerable
attention is paid, are chiefly larch, spruce, Scotch, and
silver firs. There are not many trees remarkable for
their growth: at Inchbrakie is an ancient yew of extraordinary
size, in which the Marquess of Montrose is
said to have concealed himself. The substrata of the
hills are mostly mica and clay slate, with quartz, hornblende-
slate, and some portions of granite; the lower
lands are partly sandstone of a reddish hue, alternated
in some places with trap-dikes of limited extent, and
partly greenstone, which is wrought for the roads.
Quarries of freestone are worked in several parts, the
stone possessing great durability, and being susceptible
of a high polish; but the veins have not yet been
wrought to a sufficient depth to produce the best specimens.
The annual value of real property in the parish
is £7600.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposes the parish is within
the bounds of the presbytery of Auehterarder and synod
of Perth and Stirling; patron. Lady Willoughby de
Eresby. The stipend of the incumbent is £182. 14.,
with a manse, built in 1701, and a glebe valued at £10
per annum. Crieff church, built in 1/86, and thoroughly
repaired in 1827, affords accommodation for 966 persons.
An additional church was erected in 1837, at an
expense of £1533, and for a time had a quoad sacra
parish annexed to it, containing 2177 inhabitants, and
called West Church: the minister is appointed by the
subscribers and heads of families, communicants. There
are places of worship for members of the Free Church,
the United Presbyterian Synod, Episcopalians, and Roman
Catholics. The parochial school affords a useful
education; the master has a salary of £34, with a house
and garden. There are some friendly societies, of which
the Masons', instituted by the Duke of Perth in 1737,
and the Weavers', instituted in 1770, are the chief.
On taking down the old parish church, which was
a very ancient building, about forty gold coins of the
reign of Robert I. were found in a niche in one of the
walls; on the obverse was a head of the king, with
the legend Rohertus Rex Scotontm, and on the reverse,
a figure of St. Andrew with his cross. There are some
traces of a Roman road, which is supposed to have connected
the camp at Stragcath with that at Dalginross,
passing through the lands of Broich; and in forming
the present road through Burrel-street, a Roman pavement
was discovered, in tolerable preservation, and at a
considerable depth below the surface. Near the field
where the stewards of Strathearn were accustomed to
hold their courts, is a large upright stone with a sharp
summit, the history of which is not clearly ascertained.
From the well-known fact that many Druidical remains
existed in the neighbourhood, it is supposed to have
been one belonging to a circle, of which the others may
have been removed at various times, and applied to
agricultural uses. According to, another account, it
seems to answer the description of the blot stein, stone
of sacrifice, or stone of fear, on which human victims
were offered, previously to the introduction of Christianity
into the northern countries. Here, it is thought,
victims were immolated toThor, the Scandinavian deity;
around were circular ranges of stone, dug deep in the
ground, but now almost covered by the soil, and within
these ranges sat the judges, with the accused, their advocates,
and the witnesses, convened in solemn trial,
and the people assembled beyond the ranges. On the
summit of the stone were broken the backs of the victims
offered as expiatory sacrifices to appease the wrath
of the offended deity, and to purge the community from
the guilt rendering them obnoxious to that wrath. This
spot was the scene of a sanguinary conflict in 1413 between
Graeme, Earl of Strathearn, and Drummond of
Concraig, steward of that district, in which the former
was slain. It was also chosen by Sir John Cope for his
head-quarters, in the rebellion of 174.'); and there is
still a fine spring called " Cope's well," near which an
old sword was lately found. Some slight remains exist
of the ancient house of Inchbrakie, the strongly-fortified
residence of Patrick Graeme, colonel of the Posse Comitatus
of the county of Perth, and cousin of the celebrated
Marquess of Montrose, in whose cause he took a decisive
part. He is said to have defeated the Duke of
Argyll, and to have taken Aberdeen, in retaliation for
which his house at Inchbrakie was burnt by Cromwell.
A short time since, some workmen employed in the
moat found, embedded in the castle, one of the cannonballs
that had been fired at the house by the besiegers.
Mallet, the poet, and Dow, the historian of Hindostan,
are said to have received their early education in the
school of this parish; and Dr. William Wright, a physician
and natural philosopher of eminence, and Dr.
Thomas Thomson, the distinguished professor of chemistry
in the university of Glasgow, were born in the
place. Sir David Baird, Bart., passed the later years of
his life at Ferntower, in the parish; and the sword of
Tippoo Saib, presented to the general after the storming
of Seringapatam, is still preserved there. A marble
tablet on the wall of the parish church records his decease,
and the deep sympathy which it excited in the
minds of the people of Crieff, by whom his memory is
held in veneration.