REDGORTON, a parish, in the county of Perth,
4 miles (W. by N.) from Perth; containing, with the
villages of Bridgetown, Luncarty, Craighead, Cromwell-
Park, Pitcairn-Green, and part o( the former quoad
sacra district of Stanley, IQ'ig inhabitants. This parish
comprehends the three ancient, and now united, parishes
of Redgortou, Luncarty, and St. Serf's, which are supposed
to have been formed into one about the period of
the Reformation; the presbytery records, which extend
back to 1619, speaking of them as at that time consolidated.
The original orthography of Redgorton was
Rochgorton, a form used in a charter of King David's
preserved in the chartulary of Scone, in which he conveys
the church to Scone Abbey. The present prefix
of the name, though probably created by illiterate pronunciation,
is yet a correct translation of the Gaelic
prefix Rocli, or Ranch, which signifies " red." Gorton, or
Garten, implies "a little field;" and the whole word
Redgorton, signifying " the red field, or field of blood,"
is generally considered as having been applied on account
of the celebrated battle of Luncarty, which took place
here. Of the three old parishes, that of Redgorton belonged
to the abbey of Scone; while Luncarty was a
parsonage, not connected with any corporate or collegiate
institution: to the parish of St. Serf, a name corrupted
from St. Servanus, was attached the barony of Huntingtower.
The district was memorable in ancient times for military
operations. The Roman station Orrea was situated at
the confluence of the Tay and the Almond, in the parish;
traces of it are still visible, and it is supposed to have
covered twelve acres of ground. Near this spot, Roman
urns have been found containing ashes and burnt bones,
particularly two urns of large dimensions, which some
conjecture to have held the ashes of Aulas Atticus, who
was killed in the celebrated battle with Galgacus, at the
foot of the Grampian mountains, and of Agricola's son,
who died in the eighth year of his father's expedition
into Britain. A Roman road from Ardoch, on the
ridge of Gask, leads to this station; and the piers that
supported the bridge by which the Tay was crossed, are
yet to be seen in the bottom of the river at this place.
Orrea continued to be an important station throughout
the twenty-five years that LoUius Urbicus was lieutenant
in Britain, to a.d. 16 1; it is supposed to have been
abandoned in the year I70, and again occupied, by the
Emperor Severus, in 209. Altogether, it appears to have
been in the hands of the Romans for about 125 years.
But the most interesting occurrence connected with
the district is the memorable battle of Luncarty, which
was fought about the year 990, in a field on the banks
of the Tay, two miles above the mouth of the Almond;
and in which a signal victory was obtained by the
Scots, under Kenneth III., over the Danes, through the
valour of the peasant Hay and his two sons. The
Danes, having landed a great force at the mouth of the
Esk, took and destroyed the town and castle of Montrose,
and slaughtered all the inhabitants. Thus successful,
they were about to lay siege to Perth, then
called Bertha; upon which the Scottish king, having received
intelligence of their invasion, hastily marched
from Stirling, and fixed his camp upon Moncrielf hill,
attended by his nobles, retainers, and many countrymen
who had hillowed him. Hearing, however, of the danger
which threatened Perth, he immediately marched thither,
passing the enemy, and faking up his station at Luncarty.
After some skirmishing, the Danes came down
from an eminence on which they had posted themselves;
and u general and desperate engagement took place,
which issued in the precipitate flight of the main body
of the Scots, both wings having been previously routed.
At this critical time, a man named Hay, then working
in an adjacent field, observing the panic of the Scots,
who were vigorously pursued by the Danes, seized the
yoke of his plough; and taking his two sons that were
with him, and who both seized whatever implement they
could lay hold of, they all crossed the shallow part of
the Tay, and by remonstrances and threatenings stopped
the flight of their countrymen. By some prodigious
efforts of valour, these three men checked the fury of
the Danes, and gave the Scots an opportunity of rallying
upon an eminence which still retains the name of
Turn-again hill; when, several fortunate circumstances
occurring to the Scots, in the renewed conflict, the
Danes were completely routed. Their general, who was
the king himself, was slain; and a stone yet remaining,
which bears the name of Denmark, was raised on the
spot to perpetuate the memory of his fall. The Scottish
monarch is said to have immediately given Hay his
choice of the territory that could be traversed by the
greyhound's course, or compassed by the falcon's flight,
as a reward for his bravery. Hay having chosen the
falcon's flight, the bird was let loose from a neighbouring
hill, and pursued its course as far as the borders of
Errol parish, where it alighted on a large stone which
has since borne the name of the Hawk's Stane; and all
the intervening ground was given in perpetuity to the
family. In memory of the battle, the Hays still bear as
their arms the instrument of victory, with the allusive
motto Sub jitgo. It should be observed, however, that
though these traditionary particulars are generally credited,
some writers dispute the authenticity of the account,
and trace this ancient family to the stock of De
la Haye, of Norman origin.
The PARISH is divided into two detached parts, the
lower of which lies at the confluence of the Tay and the
Almond, and the upper beyond the parish of Moneydie,
at the foot of the Grampians. The former is about six
miles long and two broad, and contains about 6400
acres. It is bounded on the east by the river Tay, which
separates it from the parishes of Scone and St. Martin's;
on the north by the parishes of Auchtergaven and
Kinclaven; on the south-west by the Almond, which
divides it from the parishes of Tibbermore and Methveu;
and on the west and north-west by the Coldrochie,
the Shochie, and the Ordic, which separates it from the
parish of Moneydie. The upper part, called the Barony
of Mullion, is about three miles long and three-quarters
broad, and contains only about 1200 acres. The Shochie
divides it from Auchtergaven on the north; and a
stream called the Crachie separates it from the extinct
parish of Logiealmond, annexed to the parish of Moneydie
quoad sacra.
These two divisions are as dissimilar in appearance as
they are in dimensions. In the lower district the surface
is diversified by inimerous undulations, the highest
of which do not rise more than 100 feet above the level
of the sea; the whole lands are under cultivation, and
generally subdivided by thorn hedges. The ridges and
knolls are to a great extent planted with wood, which
ab(mnds also in other parts of the parish. They present
in many places beautiful scenery, and command
distant prospects; the ridge of Redgorton embraces a
view of Scone parlt and palace, of the bridge and city of
Perth with its fertile valley, and of the noble river Tay,
of which the eye catches many glimpses through the
opening woods. The soil of this division varies, sometimes
changing suddenly from a deep rich loam to a cold
till, and in other places being a dry gravelly or sandy
earth. The upper district consists of open moorland,
uninclosed field, and mountains covered with heath: the
soil is a sharp, gravelly, or moorish loam; and though,
if well cultivated, it produces good grain, the elevation
of the land exposes the crops to injury from early frost.
There is a lake of small extent in the Barony of MuUion;
its depth is said to be considerable. The only streams
that run through the parish are the Shochie and the Ordie,
both of them tributaries of the Tay.
About .5780 acres in the parish are cultivated; 600
are in grass, 860 occupied by wood, and 440 acres uncultivated.
Oats and barley are grown in considerable
abundance, with the usual green crops. Potatoes form
the chief article in the produce of the soil, their annual
value amounting to about £6400: the sort cultivated
here is the Perthshire-red, which has long maintained a
high character in the London market. The cattle were
formerly a mixture, of dilferent shapes and sizes; but
within the last thirty or forty years they have mostly
consisted of a cross between the Teeswater and the Ayrshire.
The most improved system of husbandry is followed.
Draining, and the recovering of waste land, have
for some time been regularly practised; and great improvements,
especially in the formation of plantations
and ornamental scenery, are owing to the late Lord
Lynedoch, who held about two-thirds of the whole parish.
The woods on his lordship's property comprise
nearly 800 acres; they consist to a large extent of oak,
and the acorns were selected with the greatest possible
care. The rocks in the lower part of the parish are
principally grey sandstone, of excellent quality for building;
red sandstone is found along the channel of the
Almond. In the upper district, greywacke exists to a
considerable degree. The annual value of real property
in Redgorton is £7713.
The chief villages are Pitcairn-Green, Luncarty,
Bridgetown of Almond, Craighead, and part of Stanley.
There are bleachfields at Luncarty, Pitcairn-Field, and
Cromwell-Park, of which the first-named is the most
extensive in the country. About 2,000,000 yards are
annually bleached at the Luncarty works, the greater
portion damask, and 120 hands are employed. There
are two power-loom establishments, one or two flaxspinning
mills, and a cotton-spinning mill. On the river
Tay are several salmon-fisheries, the value of which,
however, has much fallen off within these few years;
one of them, formerly worth £550, now returns but
£65 per annum: the quality of the salmon is considered
very superior. The turnpike-road from Perth to Dunkeld
runs through the parish for four miles, and has a branch
by Stanley: the Perth and Forfar railway also intersects
the parish. There being no bridge in this part across
the Tay, the passage is made by a commodious boat;
the Almond has three bridges, one of which is upwards
of 200 years old. Ecclesiastically, Redgorton is within
the bounds of the presbytery of Perth and synod of
Perth and Stirling; patron, the Crown: the stipend of
the minister is £189j and there is a raanscj with a glebe
valued at about £18 per annum. The church, built in
1776, and since enlarged, is situated nearly in the middle
of the lower part of the parish, and contains 7 00 sittings:
it is inconveniently placed for the population in the
upper district, being from seven to eight miles distant
from some of the inhabitants. A handsome chapel of
ease has been erected at Stanley, the minister of which
receives a stipend of £150, ensured by a l)ond, from the
manufacturing company of the place, who also give a
house. There are places of worship for dissenters. A
parochial school is maintained; the master has the
maximum salary, with a house and garden, and the fees.
In the district are still to be seen the remains of some
round camps, and numerous tumuli.