Perthshire
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Perthshire
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(Click on the picture to see a larger one) Perthshire lies almost exactly in the centre of Scotland and is one of the country's most beautiful counties - all it really lacks is a coastline. Two Perthshire towns, Scone and Dunkeld, were made joint capitals of Scotland by Kenneth MacAlpin in the 9th century, and for centuries the nation's kings were enthroned at Scone on the Stone of Destiny (the coronation ceremony was not adopted until the 13th century). The 336lb stone was stolen by Edward I of England in 1296 and placed in Westminster Abbey. Under the terms of the Treaty of Northampton in 1328 the English agreed to return it, but in fact they held onto it and it was only recently, 700 years later, that it was returned to Scotland, although not to Scone. Monarchs nevertheless continued to be crowned at Scone, Charles II being the last in 1651. Now for a rather unlikely tale. About 2000 years ago, the story goes, there was Roman military camp at Bridge of Lyon, one of the most far-flung outposts of the Roman Empire. As is the way of things a Roman officer serving there fell for a local girl and in due course she bore him a son in the village of Fortingall. What happened to the girl is not known, but the boy accompanied his father back to Rome. Unhindered by his Scots birth, the boy made a career for himself in the Roman Civil Service, and was eventually posted abroad to administer a rather unruly part of the Empire. There, thanks to an incident to which he probably attached little importance, he became one of the most infamous men in history. His name was Pontius Pilate. We'd very much like to believe this story - we do, after all, believe in the Loch Ness monster - but if we forget the legend and remember the facts, there's no getting away from the fact that the first Roman incursion into Scotland didn't take place until 79 or 80 AD, and so, sadly, the dates just don't tie up. Pity.......... Perth is the county town and it is also known as The Fair City, but it was the scene of a gladiatorial type contest back in 1396 when to settle a feud, 30 members of Clan Chattan engaged in fight to the death with 30 Mackays in front of Robert III. Twenty-nine Mackays were slain - the Chattans were luckier, 10 of their number surviving. In the choir of Dunblane Cathedral you'll find three slabs marking the graves of poor Margaret Drummond and her unfortunate sisters. Back at the beginning of the 16th century, young King James IV had an eye for the ladies and was very fond of the Drummond girls, particularly Margaret. However, politics of the time required that James should marry Princess Margaret of England and some local girls should not be allowed to stand in the way of that alliance. Accordingly, in a way that makes today's political spin doctors look like complete amateurs, James' "advisors" arranged for the Drummond girls to be poisoned and so they met their deaths. James was not pleased and gave the girls a magnificent funeral in the Cathedral. One of the buildings depicted on our map is the Old Church at Balquhidder, where Rob Roy MacGregor, outlaw and Jacobite, is buried. Others include Castle Menzies, currently owned and being restored by the Clan Menzies Society, and Blair Castle, home of the Dukes of Atholl. Family names associated with Perthshire include Robertson, Drummond, Murray, Menzies, Stewart, Ruthven, MacLaren and Campbell. Our map of Perthshire measures 15 x 14 inches (387 x 357 mm) when stitched on the recommended 27-count Linda evenweave material and has 26 buildings, place names, compass and crest. The stitch count is 198 x 183.
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Mearnscraft |
