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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 The 
 
 Parish of Longforgan
 
 The 
 
 Parish of Longforgan 
 
 A Sketch of its Church and People 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. ADAM PHILIP, M.A. 
 
 Free Church, Longforgan 
 
 With Six Illustrations 
 
 EDINBURGH & LONDON 
 OLIPHANT ANDERSON & FERRIER
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 MORRISON AND GIBB, EDINBURGH 
 FOR 
 
 OLIPHANT ANDERSON & FERRIER 
 
 LONDON AND EDINBURGH
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THIS is simply a sketch, but it will, I trust, be 
 found sufficiently careful to form a contribution 
 to the better knowledge of the Parish. The 
 story is a quiet one, but it has all the interest 
 of common life, and- some points of contact, at 
 least, with the wide world of thought and 
 struggle. Both good men and great have 
 trodden our fields. 
 
 The notes have been gathered from many 
 books. Most of these are named in the text, 
 in justice to their authors, and to facilitate the 
 search of other labourers. The tale is not, by 
 any means, entirely bright. But I hope that 
 these gleanings from musty records and books 
 ancient and modern may lead the men of to- 
 day to cherish more reverently the memory 
 
 5 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 534815
 
 6 PREFACE 
 
 of their fathers. To those who courteously 
 permitted me to examine records in their 
 keeping I owe special thanks. 
 
 ADAM PHILIP. 
 
 LONGFORGAN, 1895.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. LONGFORGAN II 
 
 II. HISTORIC MEMORIES 23 
 
 III. ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS AND HISTORY. . 41 
 
 IV. EARLY NOTICES OF THE LAND .... 73 
 V. AT THE HUNDHIL OF LANGFORGRUND IN 1385 . 85 
 
 VI. CASTLE HUNTLY 93 
 
 VII. A LONGFORGAN LAIRD IN THE SEVENTEENTH 
 
 CENTURY 109 
 
 VIII. THE PRE-REFORMATION CHURCH, ETC. . . 131 
 
 IX. A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN, WITH 
 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND GLIMPSES OF PARISH 
 
 LIFE 147 
 
 X. THREE LONGFORGAN WORTHIES .... 269 
 
 XI. APPENDIX 291 
 
 XII. INDEX 3 J 7
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 THE RUINED CHURCH OF INVERGOWRIE. From 
 
 Photo by David Paterson 45 
 
 CELTIC STONE IN INVERGOWRIE CHURCH. From 
 
 Photo by David Paterson 59 
 
 SCULPTURED STONE IN INVERGOWRIE CHURCH. 
 
 From Photo by David Paterson ... 63 
 
 CASTLE HUNTLY. From Photo by David Paterson . 97 
 
 THE OLD CROSS OF LONGFORGAN. From Photo by 
 
 David Paterson 123 
 
 LONGFORGAN CHURCH WITH TOWER OF 1690. From 
 
 Photo by Haden Couper 181
 
 1 1
 
 See, crouching quietly at her feet, 
 Inchture's sweet hamlet, warm and neat ; 
 And eastward, three Scotch miles or so, 
 Where sheltering trees few shadows throw, 
 Old Forgan stretches to the day, 
 And sleeps the sultry hours away ; 
 While all between, and far around, 
 O'er sloping hill and level ground, 
 The scattered farm-steadings show 
 The same bright, trusting, drowsy glow. 
 
 " The Tay," by David Millar. 
 
 12
 
 I 
 
 LONGFORGAN 
 
 THE Carse of Gowrie may be roughly described 
 as being in the form of a parallelogram. The 
 river Tay bounds it on the south and west; 
 the Sidlaws on the north ; Forfarshire on the 
 east. It has three parishes that may be said 
 to be low-lying Inchture, Errol, St. Madoes. 
 Four are chiefly upland or hilly Kinfauns, 
 Kilspindie, Kinnaird, Abernyte. A part of 
 Kinnoull also lies in the Carse. Longforgan, 
 to which Fowlis Easter and Liff adjoin, runs 
 up a whole side, from the river to the Sidlaws, 
 and is partly lowland and partly upland. It 
 forms with Fowlis the eastern extremity of 
 Perthshire and of the Carse. 
 
 Some doubt exists as to the meaning of 
 the name Longforgan. It is spelt variously 
 Langforgend, Langforgand, Lanfortin, 
 
 Langforgund, Lanforgonde, Langforgond, 
 
 13
 
 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Langforgonde, Langfargunde, Langforgound, 
 Langforgown, Langforgrunde, Langforgrund, 
 Langforgund, Longfortin, Longforgund, Long- 
 forgunde, Lonforgaund, Longforgun, Long- 
 forgane, Longforgen, Forgan, Forgund, For- 
 gounde, Forgrund, Fforgan, Fforgone, etc. 
 Three suggestions have been made, 
 (i) The first is that it means "long fore- 
 ground." "The ancient name of the parish," 
 says a writer in the New Stat. Account, 
 " seems to have been somewhat different from 
 the present, as appears from a grant of the 
 lands and barony of ' Longforgund ' or ' Lon- 
 forgaund' by King Robert Bruce, in the year 
 1315, to Sir Andrew Gray of Broxmouth. The 
 epithet long, which is quite appropriate to the 
 village, and by no means unsuitable to the 
 parish itself, is prefixed probably to distinguish 
 it from two other parishes Forgan, in Fife, 
 nearly opposite to Dundee, and Forgandenny, 
 in Strathearn, another district of Perthshire. 
 Forgan or Forgund, in the absence of a better 
 or more certain derivation, has been alleged to 
 signify foreground a term, in fact, by which 
 the parish is not unfitly described." This 
 explanation, however, cannot be regarded as 
 satisfactory.
 
 LONGFORGAN 
 
 (2) A second suggestion is that it gets its 
 name from one of the hill -forts of antiquity. 
 "The ancient name of this parish," says Dr. 
 Marshall, in his Historic Scenes in Perthshire, 
 "seems to have been Longfortin. It is so 
 named in the life of St. Modwenna, who 
 flourished in the sixth century. . . . On the 
 top of the hill of Dron in this parish have 
 been found traces of an oval fortification 
 occupying an area of upwards of two acres. 
 There seems no reason to doubt that these 
 are the traces of one of those many hill-forts 
 which our remotest ancestors, of whom we 
 have any knowledge, had too much occasion 
 to raise, for their protection and security, 
 against both foreign invasion and intestine 
 insurrection." 
 
 (3) A third and much more likely sugges- 
 tion is that the "long" in Longforgan is the 
 same as " Ian," " llan," which means a church. 
 One of the early forms of the name is Lan- 
 fortin ; and, in view of the connection of Long- 
 forgan with St. Modwenna, it is extremely 
 probable that the " Ian " in Lanfortin is a 
 church. The Rev. James Johnston, in his 
 Place-Names of Scotland, says of the meaning 
 of F organ and Longforgan :
 
 16 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 " Forgan (N. Fife), 1250 Forgrund. Per- 
 haps Gaelic, fothir grunda, ' land with bottom' 
 or 'ground,' i.e. good subsoil." 
 
 " Longforgan (Dundee), c. 1 160 Forgrund ; 
 1461 Langforgend ; but Acta Sanctorum, 
 Lanfortin, where ' Ian ' must mean ' church.' A 
 church is said to have been built here, a. 500, 
 by St. Monenna or Medana. ' For ' may be 
 Old Gaelic, fothir, ' bit of land ' ; but the whole 
 name is perplexing." 
 
 The parish of Longforgan is long but narrow 
 about eight miles in length, and from one to 
 four in breadth. Its scenery is of the most varied 
 character. The finest panoramas, perhaps, are 
 to be got from the tower of Castle Huntly 
 and from the hill of Dron. Looking from 
 Dron away to the north, the eye rests on the 
 bald chain of the Sidlaws ; westwards, on the 
 Carse, appearing almost as flat as a bowling- 
 green, the beautiful woods of Rossie, and the 
 braes above Kinnaird; eastwards, on the fertile 
 slopes that reach Dundee. In front, and at a 
 little distance beneath you, lies Longforgan 
 village; beyond, rolls the noble Tay ; and beyond 
 them both rise the shores of Fife, crowned 
 by the Lomonds ; whilst away to the south and 
 west stretch the Ochils and the Grampian chain.
 
 LONGFORGAN 17 
 
 The population of the parish keeps pretty 
 steady, the losses of one part being nearly 
 balanced by the gains of another. In 1755 
 it was 1285; in 1795 it was 1526; in 1811 
 it was 1809; by 1821, through depression of 
 trade, it had fallen considerably, but in 1831 it 
 had increased to 1638. In 1881 it stood at 
 1854, but at last census it had fallen to 1779. 
 This population is fairly scattered, but it has 
 its chief centres in the villages of Longforgan, 
 Kingoodie, and Mylnefield, now commonly 
 known as Invergowrie. At Mylnefield there 
 was an earlier hamlet, Balbunnoch, part of 
 which is still to be seen behind the Free 
 Church. A map of 1817 calls it Balbonachy. 
 Older forms of the name are Balbunnok, 
 Balbunnock, Balbonnie. It means probably 
 the homestead or dwelling at the foot of the 
 hill or brae. (Gaelic, bail, a dwelling ; bonn or 
 bun, signifying the foot or end of anything ; 
 nock is Gaelic cnoc, a hill.) Last century, 
 before Mylnefield took its rise, there was a 
 small village at Lochton, belonging to Mr. 
 Haldane, the proprietor of Airthry. There 
 were also a good many hamlets both in, and 
 on the borders of, the parish. Across the 
 stream which washes Balbunnoch, there were
 
 1 8 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 a number of cottar homes. Between the pre- 
 sent village of Kingoodie and Monorgan, there 
 were little groups of houses. But these and 
 others have disappeared. "The reasons you 
 give for this decrease are quite satisfactory. 
 It is by the ingrossing of land into few hands, 
 and driving the people either out of the country 
 altogether, or into towns where they are con- 
 sumed by vices and diseases. In this way the 
 great gentlemen swallow up the lesser, the 
 great tenants the small, and the crofters or 
 cottagers, who were by far the most numerous 
 of these three orders of men, are, in many parts 
 of Scotland, almost totally extirpated" (Lord 
 Monboddo, 1780). 
 
 In former times, a considerable weaving 
 industry was carried on at Longforgan, and in 
 other parts of the parish. About the end of 
 last century, the people were most successful 
 in raising crops of lint. Down to 1864, linens 
 were woven in handlooms, to a moderate 
 extent, in the parish. (Warden, The Linen 
 Trade, p. 519.) There were about 150 looms 
 in 1840. Then there were extensive quarries 
 at Kingoodie. The former industry (weaving) 
 has ceased ; the latter, after a long pause, have 
 been reopened, but, for the most part, the
 
 LONGFORGAN 19 
 
 industry is agricultural, except at Invergowrie, 
 where the Bullionfield Paper Mills give em- 
 ployment to a large number of people. The 
 land, most of which is under cultivation, is 
 well wrought, and is divided into a number of 
 farms. 
 
 Several families have their residences in the 
 parish. The chief are Mylnefield, Castle 
 Huntly, and Lochton. Rossie Priory, the seat 
 of Lord Kinnaird, is in the parish of Inchture ; 
 but his lordship is a considerable landowner 
 in Longforgan. Formerly, the Lords Kinnaird 
 had a residence in the parish, called Drimmie 
 (Gaelic, druim, a ridge cognate with Latin 
 dorsum, a back or ridge which describes the 
 appearance of the ground perfectly). When 
 Moncur Castle was burned down in the beginning 
 of last century, the Kinnairds moved to Drimmie, 
 where they resided till Rossie was built. 
 Drimmie "originally consisted of a lodge built 
 as a banqueting-room, in order to facilitate 
 conviviality with the then proprietors of the 
 estate of Castle Huntly ; and to this lodge 
 additions have been made from time to time, 
 as necessity dictated" (Old Stat. Ace., xix. p. 
 479). There are now no traces of Drimmie. 
 
 A large part of Balruddery is also in Long-
 
 20 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 forgan. Most of these estates are finely 
 wooded, with oak, beech, ash, elm, lime, chest- 
 nut, and plane. According to Robertson, in his 
 General View of the Agriculture in the County 
 of Perth, there were ashes at Castle Huntly 
 (circa 1810) whose trunks measured from 19 to 
 27 feet in circumference. He quotes this in 
 reply to Dr. Johnson's taunt that there were 
 no trees of value in Scotland. The Glamis 
 Tree measured 2 7 feet near the root and 1 7 feet 
 a yard above the ground. One of the approaches 
 to Castle Huntly from the turnpike is through 
 a grand avenue of beech and ash trees. And 
 who that remembers the beeches of Mylnefield 
 in spring will wonder at the praise of 
 
 " Fair Milnfields woods, 
 Deep mirror'd in the murmuring river, 
 Where, joyous to the summer wind, 
 Their leafy broad boughs bend and shiver " ? 
 
 Hunter, in his Woods and Forests of Perthshire, 
 gives some valuable particulars about the trees 
 on Castle Huntly estate : " Perhaps the most 
 notable of all the trees at Castle Huntly is a 
 grand old Scots fir, about 250 years of age, 
 and which is in some respects as remarkable 
 a tree of the kind as is to be seen in the 
 country. The girth of the tree at the ground
 
 LONGFORGAN 21 
 
 is 24 feet ; at i foot up the girth is 16 feet, and 
 at 5 feet it is 15 feet. The trunk then swells out 
 until it has a girth of about 30 feet, and carries 
 a magnificent head. The tree has a noble 
 appearance, but there are indications of its 
 breaking up. Another Scots fir, much younger, 
 and in good condition, girths 1 1 feet 6 inches at 
 i foot and 1 1 feet at 5 feet, with a bole of 1 5 feet. 
 A very fine yew girths 10 feet at i foot, and 9 
 feet 2 inches at 5 feet from the ground, with a bole 
 of 9 feet ; while the circumference is 68 yards, the 
 branches sweeping the ground in beautiful 
 style. There is another specimen of the same 
 variety closely approaching this one in size. 
 There is a splendid scyamore girthing 16 feet 
 at i foot from the ground, and 1 2 feet at 5 feet, 
 with a bole of 30 feet. A great ash, girthing 
 about 30 feet at the ground, stood at the stable- 
 door until it succumbed to the fury of a gale, 
 but an excellent idea may be formed of its size 
 from the trunk, which now forms a summer- 
 house at Longforgan Manse. There are still 
 several very good ash trees throughout the 
 property, as well as oak, sycamore, elm, beech, 
 ash, and horse-chestnut trees. There is also a 
 nice little mixed plantation of about 60 acres " 
 (p. 502). "The next largest (= second)
 
 22 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 orchard in the Carse is that of Monorgan, 
 near Longforgan, on the Castle Huntly estate. 
 It extends to about 25 acres, and although it 
 was probably planted about 150 years ago, it 
 is still in a fair state of bearing " (p. 503). 
 
 Benvie lies just beyond the border of Long- 
 forgan. In front of the farmhouse there is 
 an enormous ash tree. It "girths no less than 
 32 feet at the base, 25 feet at i foot from the 
 ground, 1 9 feet at 3 feet, and 1 7 feet at 5 feet, 
 the bole being about 27 feet" (p. 488). At 
 Gray, which is close at hand, there are two 
 magnificent cedars of Lebanon.
 
 II 
 
 HISTORIC MEMORIES
 
 " It must have been early observed that the plain of Strath- 
 more, the Carse of Cowrie, and the Carse of Stirling were 
 worth fighting for, and from the dawn of the historic period 
 onward this becomes clearer." 
 
 " Scotland? by John Mackintosh, LL.D, 
 
 24
 
 II 
 
 HISTORIC MEMORIES 
 
 IT may be interesting to recall, briefly, one or 
 two of the historic memories of the parish. 
 For abundant evidence exists in old Scottish 
 Annals that it was once the centre of great 
 historic scenes. The Carse of Gowrie was one 
 of the homes of the Caledonian tribe, the 
 " Venricones." Not far from Invergowrie, just 
 beyond the border of the parish, the remains 
 of a Roman camp used to be seen. It was 
 called Cater Milley. Maitland gives a descrip- 
 tion of it in his History and Antiquities of 
 Scotland (vol. i. p. 215). He says that in the 
 Carse of Gowrie, " about half a mile benorth the 
 estuary of Tay, is a Roman camp about two 
 hundred yards square, fortified with a high 
 rampart and a spacious ditch ; but as the 
 southern side appears to have been fenced with 
 
 triple ramparts and ditches, these I take to have 
 
 25
 
 26 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 been the northern fortifications of thepraetorium, 
 the other sides being demolished by the plow, 
 the vestigia appear but plainly. However, they 
 are sufficient to show that this fortress was of a 
 parallelogram form, about a quarter of a mile in 
 length, which, from its vicinity to the Firth of 
 Tay, I take to have been one of the camps 
 which occasionally contained both the land and 
 sea forces." 
 
 Cater Milley is supposed by many to be a 
 corruption of the Latin quatuor millia, which 
 may either mark its distance from some other 
 station or the number of troops it held. 
 Chalmers (Caledonia, vol i. p. 177) derives it 
 from " the British cader, a fortress, a strong- 
 hold." There is no trace of any other Roman 
 camp within four miles. The area of Cater 
 Milley was large, but it is denied that it could 
 hold four thousand men. Knox, in his Topo- 
 graphy of the Basin of the Tay, is clear that 
 whatever be the derivation of Cater Milley, it 
 was the well-known Roman station Ad Tavum, 
 near to, or upon the Tay. The tradition is that 
 it was at Invergowrie that Agricola embarked 
 a number of his men, after returning from the 
 country of the Horestii. General Roy, who, 
 it may be mentioned, had never heard of Cater
 
 HISTORIC MEMORIES 27 
 
 Milley, calculated that between three thousand 
 and four thousand embarked ; and, as it is 
 probable that they embarked at Invergowrie, 
 Knox concludes that " the station may derive 
 the name (Cater Milley) from the temporary 
 camp of these troops being pitched on the 
 spot where the permanent camp was afterward 
 placed. The advantages of the situation, though 
 still considerable, were probably much more so 
 in the first and second centuries. The physical 
 changes hereabout have been great ; the tradi- 
 tion, universally prevalent through this part of 
 the country, seems to be borne out by evidence 
 sufficient to warrant the conclusion that the 
 course of the Tay was formerly on the north 
 side of the Carse, that fine river washing the 
 skirts of the Sidlaw Hills from Balthayock to 
 Invergowrie, to the southward of which was the 
 influx of the Earn." Last century, coal was 
 landed at the burn-mouth of Invergowrie. 
 And people still living remember seeing barges 
 load and unload there. Invergowrie may 
 mean the mouth of almost the port of 
 Gowrie. 
 
 Ochterlony, in his account of the shire of 
 Forfar, 1684-5, speaks of the " Gowrie which 
 hath its beginning in the hills of the Carse of
 
 28 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Gowrie, and falleth in the river Tay at Inner- 
 gowrie, four myles west be Dundie." " The 
 Burne of Innergowrie" was from an early time 
 (1565) the recognised boundary of Perth and 
 Forfar. According, also, to charters granted by 
 James VI. and Charles I., the privileges and 
 liberties of Dundee on the Tay extended "fraethe 
 Burn-mouth of Innergarie on the west." There 
 seems to have been in olden times a bridge at 
 Invergowrie. John Monipennie, in An Brief e 
 Description of Scotland (1612), says: "Next 
 adjacent to Gowry lyes Angusse, beginning 
 at the bridge of Innergowrie," etc. Cf. also 
 The Scots Chronicle, which calls the Gowrie 
 the Innergowry : "The rivers in Angus are 
 Innergowry and Dichty," etc. The Tay 
 attains its greatest breadth at Invergowrie Bay. 
 
 i " Yon skiff that quietly leaves the shore 
 
 To skim across thy breast, 
 Must sail, I wot, a league or more 
 Before her keel may rest." 
 
 Many a vessel, some friendly, some hostile, 
 has ploughed its waters. The Roman fleet has 
 anchored at our shores. Pictish crafts have 
 glided along its bosom. 1 Centuries later might 
 be seen English ships, French ships, Flemish 
 
 1 A Caledonian canoe has just been discovered in the Tay 
 opposite Errol.
 
 HISTORIC MEMORIES 29 
 
 ships, mercenary or merchant-laden with the in- 
 struments of war or the merchandise of peace. 
 
 In Pictish times the place was a centre of 
 life and struggle. At the beginning of the 
 twelfth century, Malcolm Canmore's son Edgar 
 was carried from the Carse of Gowrie, where 
 he was superintending the building of the castle 
 of Baledgarno, into Dundee to die. 
 
 Scotland's great champion, William Wallace, 
 must have traversed Longforgan more than 
 once on his way from Kilspindie to Dundee. 
 Blind Harry sings 
 
 " His modyr fled with hym fra Elrisle, 
 Till Cowry past, and duelt in Kilspynde. 
 
 In till Dunde, Wallace to scule thai send, 
 Quhill he of witt full worthily was kend." 
 
 When eighteen 
 
 " Upon a day to Dunde he was send ; 
 Off cruelness full litill thai him kend." 
 
 That day was a memorable one in Wallace's 
 life. In a moment of exasperation he killed 
 the son of Selby, the English Governor of 
 Dundee. Blind Harry (bk. i. 181-276) has a 
 graphic description of the incident, and of 
 Wallace's flight at night disguised as an old 
 woman. On his way back to Kilspindie, he is
 
 30 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 said to have rested at Longforgan. Not very 
 long ago, there was a weaver in Longforgan of 
 the name of Smith who had in his possession 
 a stone which was popularly known as 
 "Wallace's Stone." It was what was called a 
 bear-stone, "hollow like a large mortar, and 
 was made use of to unhusk the bear or barley, 
 as a preparation for the pot, with a large wooden 
 mell, long before barley-mells were known. Its 
 station was on one side of the door, and covered 
 with a flat stone for a seat, when not otherwise 
 employed." Smith's ancestors had been in the 
 village for five hundred years, and according to 
 the tradition, it was one of them who supplied the 
 future champion of Scotland with bread and milk 
 as he rested. The stone is now at Castle Huntly. 
 This tradition may scarcely warrant our 
 speaking of a patriotic party in Longforgan in 
 those days of struggle. Gowrie sent its quota 
 of gentry, as well as Fife and Strathern, to 
 Scone to witness the coronation of Baliol. But 
 it is worth recalling that Sir David Inchmartin 
 was one of those who were hanged by King 
 Edward's order within a year of Wallace's 
 death. And Keith, who got a grant of land in 
 Longforgan from King Robert the Bruce, was 
 one of the patriots of his day. It will not be
 
 HISTORIC MEMORIES 31 
 
 forgotten, besides, that Robert the Bruce had a 
 connection with Dundee. 
 
 " Syne to Dund he tuk the way. 
 
 He set a sege thar to stoutly ; 
 And lay thar quhill it yoldyn was, 
 To Strewillyne syne the way he tais." 
 
 Bar-hour's Bruce, bk. vii. 1101-1106. 
 
 Further, there was land in Longforgan called 
 " Le Bruy's part," and other land "whilkwas 
 John Balliol's." 
 
 Castle Huntly has an interesting connection 
 with the early struggles of Reforming times. The 
 Lord Gray of those days was a favourer of the Re- 
 formation, who used, as Calderwood tells us, "the 
 companie of those that professed godlinesse and 
 careid small favour to the Cardinall " ( Beaton). I n 
 1544, Lord Gray was staying at Castle Huntly 
 along with some of his friends ; and it was from 
 thence that he was tempted out by Beaton and 
 fell a prey to his cruelty. Knox, in his History 
 of the Reformation, tells the story thus : " The 
 Cardinall drew the Governour to Dundye ; for 
 he understood that the Erie of Rothess and 
 Maister Henrie Balnaves war with the Lord 
 Gray in the Castell of Huntlie. The Governour 
 send and commanded the saidis Erie and Lord 
 with the foirsaid Maister Henrie to come unto
 
 32 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 him to Dundye, and appointed the next day at 
 ten houris befoir none ; which hour thei decreid 
 to keap ; and for that purpose assemblet thare 
 folkis at Bawgavy or thareby. (Bawgavy is 
 4 B alga vie near Innergowrye'). The Cardinall 
 advertissed of thare nomber (thei war mo then 
 thre hundreth men) thowght it nott good that 
 thei should joyn with the toune, for he feared 
 his awin estate ; and so he persuaded the 
 Governour to pass furth of Dundye befoir nyne 
 houris, and to tak the strayth way to Sanct 
 Johnnestoun (Perth). Which perceaved by the 
 foirsaid Lordis, thei begane to feare that thei 
 war come to perseu thame, and so putt thame 
 selves in ordour and array, and merched 
 fordward of purpose to have bidden the utter- 
 most. But the crafty fox foirseing, that in 
 fightting stood nott his securitie, rane to his 
 last refuge, that is, to manifest treasone ; and so 
 consultation was tackin how that the force of 
 the otheris mycht be broken. . . . After 
 long communication, it was demanded, yf that 
 the Erie and Lord and Maister Henrie 
 foirsaid wold nott be content to talk with the 
 Governour, providit that the Cardinall and his 
 cumpany war of the ground ? Thei ansuerit, 
 ' That the Governour mycht command thame
 
 HISTORIC MEMORIES 33 
 
 in all thinges lauchfull, but thei had no will to 
 be in the Cardinallis mercy e.' Fayre premisses 
 ynew war maid for thare securitie. Than was the 
 Cardinall and his band commanded to depart ; 
 as that he did according to the purpoise tackin. 
 The Governour remaned and ane certain with 
 him ; to whom came without cumpany the saidis 
 Erie, Lord, and Maister Henrie. After many fair 
 woordis gevin unto thame all, to witt, ' That he 
 wold have thame aggreed with the Cardinall, and 
 that he wold have Maister Henrye Balnaves the 
 wyrkar and instrument thairof, he drew thame 
 fordwartes with him towardis Sanct Johnnestoun 
 whither to the Cardinall was ridden. Theibegane 
 to suspect (albeit it was to lett) and tharefor thei 
 desyred to have returned to thare folkis for put- 
 ting ordour unto thame.' But it was ansuerid, 
 ' Thei should send back fra the toune, but thei 
 most neidis go forduart with my Lord Govern- 
 our.' And so, partlye by flatterye, and partlye 
 by force, thei war compelled to obey. And how 
 sone that ever thei war within the toune, thei 
 war apprehended, and upon the morne send all 
 three to the Black Nesse, whare thei remaned so 
 long as that it pleased the Cardinallis graceless 
 Grace, and that was till that the band of manrent 
 and of service sett some of thame at libertie." 
 
 3
 
 34 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Rather an interesting anecdote connects 
 George Wishart the Reformer with the 
 neighbourhood of Invergowrie. In 1545 or 
 1546, when he set out from Montrose to " meet 
 the gentleman of the west at Edinburgh," 
 Wishart came to Dundee, but there, Calder- 
 wood tells us, " he stayed not, but went to the 
 hous of a faithfull brother, named James 
 Watsone, dwelling in Inner Gowrie, distant 
 two miles from Dundie." " That night," says 
 Calderwood, " before day he went furth to the 
 yard. William Spaldine and Johne Watson 
 followed quietlie, and took heed what he did. 
 When he had walked up and down in an alley 
 a reasonable space, with manie sobs and deepe 
 groanes, he fell upon his knees, his groans 
 increassing, and frome his knees he fell upon 
 his face. The persons forenamed heard weep- 
 ing, and an indigest sound, as it were of prayers, 
 in which he continued almost an houre, and 
 after beganne to be quiett, and so arose and 
 came to his bed. They prevented him as if 
 they had beene ignorant till he came in. Then 
 beganne they to demand where he had beene ; 
 but that night he would answere nothing. 
 Upon the morrow they urged him again ; and 
 whill he dissembled, they said, ' Mr. George,
 
 HISTORIC MEMORIES 35 
 
 be plaine with us, for we heard your mourning, 
 and saw you both upon your knees and upon 
 your face.' With dejected visage he said, 
 ' I had rather yee had beene in your beds, and 
 it had beene more profitable for you, for I was 
 skarse weill occupied.' They still urged him 
 to lett them have some comfort. ' I will tell 
 you,' said he, 'that I am assured my travell is 
 neere at an end. Therefore call to God for me, 
 that I shrinke not now when the battell waxeth 
 most hote.' Whill they weeped, and said that 
 was small comfort to them, he answered, ' God 
 sail send you comfort after me. This realm 
 sail be illuminated with the light of Christ's 
 Apostles. The hous of God sail be builded in 
 it ; yea, it sail not laike whatsoever the enemie 
 imagine in the contrarie, the very kaipstone,' 
 meaning, that it sould once come to the full 
 perfectioun. ' Neither,' said he, ' sail the time 
 be long till that the glorie of God sail evidentlie 
 appeare, and once triumphe in despite of Satan. 
 There sail not manie suffer after me. But, alas ! 
 if the people sail be after unthankefull, then 
 fearefull and terrible sail the plagues be that after 
 sail follow.' And with these words he marched 
 fordwards in his journey toward Sanct Johnston 
 and frome thence to Fife and then to Leith."
 
 36 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 John Knox himself went, in 1559, with some 
 of his brethren from Dundee to Sanct Johnstoun, 
 "where he beganne to exhort and teache." It 
 is likely that his road led him through Long- 
 forgan, Longforgan being in the line of the 
 highway between Dundee and Perth. Three 
 years later, Queen Mary made the same journey. 
 Not long after, Knox was appointed to visit, 
 amongst others, the kirks of Gowrie and 
 Menteith. 
 
 James VI. rode through it on the 22nd of 
 May 1617, on his way to Kinnaird, where he 
 spent a week. 
 
 King Charles II. stayed a night at Castle 
 Huntly in 1650, though not exactly from choice. 
 On the death of his father, Charles obtained 
 the support of the Presbyterian party on a 
 promise to meet their views. He was kept 
 under a mild surveillance at Perth. Charles 
 had little patience with the preachers and the 
 Estates, and determined to leave. So one day, 
 on the pretence of hawking, he escaped. He 
 had no change of " clothes or linnings, more 
 then wes one his bodey," and wore but a " thin 
 ryding sutte of stuffe." Crossing the Tay, he 
 rode " at a full carreire " by Inchyra to Dudhope 
 in Dundee, from whence he went by Cortachy
 
 HISTORIC MEMORIES 37 
 
 to Glen Clova, "in al, from Perthe, the way he 
 went, some 42 myles befor he rested." Here, 
 "in a nastie roume, one ane old bolster aboue 
 a matte of segges and rushes, ouerweiried and 
 werey fearfull," the king lay down to rest. 
 The leaders at Perth followed him, and having 
 overtaken him in Clova, "conducted his 
 Maiestie to Huntley Castle in the Carsse of 
 Gourey, quher he stayed all Saterdayes night, 
 and from thence, one Sunday in the afternoone, 
 he came to Perth, the 6 of Octob., and hard 
 sermon in his auen chamber of presence, the 
 afternoon's sermon in the toune being endit 
 before he entred the toune." (Cf. Balfour's 
 Annales.} The incident is known as "The 
 Start." 
 
 When General Monk was engaged in the 
 siege of Dundee, his soldiers are said to have 
 used Castle Huntly as a cavalry station, and 
 the church of Fowlis as a stable. Some 
 Athole men are also reported to have come to 
 Castle Huntly in the time of Glencairn's insur- 
 rection against the Commonwealth in 1654. 
 They meant mischief, and "fired a stack or 
 two." But tjieir rage was shortlived, and they 
 "staid and extinguished them." 
 
 A slight link connects the Pretender (James 
 VIII.) with the district. After being in
 
 38 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Dundee in 1716, James, with his friends, made 
 a leisurely progress through the Carse towards 
 Perth. They halted for dinner at Castle 
 Lyon (Castle Huntly), and then rode on to 
 Fingask. James had a great reception at 
 Fingask from Lady Threipland, who was a 
 keen partisan. Her hospitalities are sung in 
 a famous song 
 
 " When the king cam' to Fingask, 
 
 To see Sir David and his lady, 
 A cod's head weel made wi' sauce, 
 
 Took a hunder pund to make it ready." 
 
 We can believe that the hospitalities of 
 Longforgan were not less generous. The 
 Strathmore family, who were then in Castle 
 Huntly, sympathised with the Pretender. One 
 of the Earls fell at SherifTmuir. As was 
 natural, the Jacobite rising made a consider- 
 able stir in the quiet life of Longforgan. But 
 it died away quickly. Ere long, the Chevalier 
 passed the castle again on his retreat. 
 
 An unsigned letter, dated Perth, Feb. 2, 
 1716, gives us a peep into the state of things 
 in the Carse. After the rebels had left Perth 
 for Dundee, Argyle and Cadogan followed 
 with " the English foot, three regiments of 
 dragoons, and nine hundred and fifty detached
 
 HISTORIC MEMORIES 39 
 
 foreigners." Along with a detachment they 
 lodged a night at Errol. The letter goes on 
 to tell how the country gentlemen were repent- 
 ing " their dipping in this affair." Not a thing, 
 "dead or alive, eatable or portable, do the 
 foreigners leave ; and the officers of the British 
 say that to see their behaviour does so make 
 their men's mouths water, that faith they 
 cannot but indulge their men a little." The 
 rebels, we are told, destroyed barnyards, and 
 used whole stacks for firing (Hist. MSS. 
 Report, iii. p. 370). The MSS. of the Duke 
 of Montrose, reported on iii. pp. 368-402, con- 
 tain some interesting glimpses of the state of 
 feeling at Perth and Dundee. 
 
 Prince Charlie was never, that we know of, 
 in Longf organ. He was at Fingask. But in 
 1745, when he was in Perth, where he stayed 
 a week, a strong body of his followers, the 
 Macdonalds, under Keppoch and Clanranald, 
 who heard that there were two vessels in 
 Dundee, with arms and ammunition, marched 
 down the Carse, through Longforgan, to 
 Dundee, where they seized the vessels and 
 sent them up the Tay to Perth. 
 
 Next year the Duke of Cumberland led his 
 army through the parish. The duke had been
 
 40 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 at Perth, whose obsequious people, anxious to 
 ingratiate themselves with him, had offered him 
 Gowrie House as a gift. The duke was 
 gracious enough to accept the gift, only asking, it 
 is said, as he did, " whether the piece of ground 
 called the Carse of Gowrie did not go along with 
 it ? " Next week he started at the head of his 
 army for the north, travelling first to Dundee, 
 and then by the coast road to Aberdeen. 
 
 It may be added here that a number of coins 
 have been found in the parish, bearing the 
 royal names of Edward, Alexander, and Robert. 
 About 1790, an earthen pot was found with 
 seven hundred silver coins, inscribed "Edward." 
 Some stone coffins have also been discovered. 
 The most interesting of these were found at the 
 Market Knowe. 
 
 This was a knoll in the old muir of Long- 
 forgan, where the markets used to be held in 
 the earlier part of last century. According to 
 tradition, although the rest of the ground was 
 covered with broom, the Knowe kept a 
 beautiful green sward. Here some coffins have 
 been found, " consisting of four rude longitudinal 
 stones, and two smaller ones at each end, con- 
 taining human skeletons." Others have been 
 found in the neighbourhood of Cater Milley.
 
 Ill 
 
 HI&TO'RJ
 
 " Chapels lurking among trees, 
 Where a few villagers on bended knees 
 Find solace which a busy world disdains." 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 42
 
 Ill 
 
 THE ecclesiastical traditions and history of 
 the parish are not without interest. It has two 
 ecclesiastical ruins of some importance. 
 
 (i) Invergowrie Church, or, as it is now 
 commonly called, Dargie Church, stands on an 
 almost insular knoll l washed by the Invergowrie 
 burn, on the very borders of Forfarshire, and 
 within a stone's throw of the Tay. The 
 Dundee and Perth railway passes close to it, 
 but, in spite of every change, this little church- 
 crowned islet is one of the quietest old-time 
 nooks in the district. It is a favourite subject 
 for artists, and its sweet repose has made it 
 a favourite haunt of many. The late Mr. 
 M'Cheyne, during his first years in Dundee, 
 " often rode out in an afternoon to the ruined 
 
 1 Probably artificial. 
 43
 
 44 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 church of Invergowrie, to enjoy an hour's 
 perfect solitude ; for he felt meditation and 
 prayer to be the very sinews of his work." 
 
 It is not certainly known when, or even by 
 whom, the church was built. In his History 
 of the Popes, Mill says that a church stood at 
 Invergowrie so early as 431 A.D. This would 
 make it perhaps the earliest church north of the 
 Tay. We doubt if this can be claimed for it. 
 
 The tradition is that it was founded by 
 Bonifacius Queretinus, but the story of this 
 saint is hopelessly mixed up with fable. The 
 legend is that "he was the Pope of that name, 
 of a Jewish stock, descended from a sister of 
 St. Peter and St. Andrew, and born at Beth- 
 saida ; he was ordained priest by John, the 
 patriarch of Jerusalem, in his thirty-sixth year ; 
 four years after he came to Rome, where he 
 reigned more than seven years ; with seven 
 bishops, two abbesses, and a retinue of seven 
 priests, seven deacons, and of all the minor 
 orders by sevens, he came to Pictland, and 
 founded churches at Invergowrie and Resti- 
 noth, Forfarshire. He baptized King Nectan 
 and all his court. After evangelising and 
 building churches among the South Picts, he 
 went to Ross-shire, founded a church at Rose-
 
 THE RUINED CHURCH OF INVERGOWRIE. 
 
 45
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS AND HISTORY 47 
 
 markie, and dedicated it to St. Peter ; and at 
 the age of eighty and upwards he died at 
 Rosemarkie, and was buried in the church of 
 St Peter " (Smith's Dictionary of Christian 
 Biography, i. 330). Boniface's memory is still 
 kept alive at Rosemarkie by a well and a fair. 
 
 Two of the bishops who are said to have ac- 
 companied him were Pensandus and Madianus, 
 whose names are perhaps preserved in Kil- 
 spindie and St. Madoes in the Carse of Gowrie. 
 But Johnston derives Kilspindie or Kynspinedy 
 from Gaelic, ceann spuinneadaire, "height of 
 the plunderer." 
 
 The greater part of this story is clearly 
 legendary. Skene thinks that the truth at the 
 bottom of it is, that Boniface was an Italian 
 priest who came to Scotland in the seventh or 
 eighth century, with a view to bring the Scottish 
 Church to adopt the Roman customs. Boniface 
 is described as "a grave and venerable person." 
 Archbishop Spotswood, in his History of the 
 Church of Scotland, refers thus to his coming to 
 Invergowrie : "Landing in the river of Tay, 
 at the mouth of a little Water (Gobriat or 
 Gowrie, cf. Utrecht MSS.) that divided the 
 countries of Angus and Mernis, he there built 
 a church to the memory of St. Peter the
 
 48 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Apostle ; another, not far from thence, he built 
 at Telin, and a third at Restennoth." As has 
 been already said, it is not certain when the 
 church was built, but it was one of the earliest 
 north of the Tay. Two curious boulders may 
 be seen not very far from it. Legend tells that 
 one day whilst Dargie Church was building, 
 Satan was standing on the hills of Fife. 
 Incensed at the sight of the rising church, 
 Satan took and threw those stones to destroy 
 it. Both of them missed their mark. The 
 one fell beyond it, and lies in the Greystane 
 grounds (the Paddock Stone) ; the other fell 
 short of it, and is embedded in the river. It 
 would seem that the Prince of Darkness had 
 a persistent ill-will to the Carse of Gowrie. 
 Whether to revenge his defeat or not, we 
 cannot say, but legend tells he was once 
 desirous of coming from Kirkcaldy to the 
 Carse. He took with him a lapful of stones, 
 which he meant to use as stepping-stones across 
 the Tay into the lands of Gowrie. Just as he 
 was stepping over Benarty Hill in Kinross, 
 he stumbled, dropping on the land beneath, 
 the boulders that mark it. 
 
 Prior to the Reformation, Dargie Church 
 belonged to the Abbey of Scone. The Monas-
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS AND HISTORY 49 
 
 tery of Scone was a Culdee foundation of an 
 early date. It was reformed in 1114 or 1115 
 by King Alexander I., who established there 
 a community of Canons regular of St. Augus- 
 tine, whom he brought from near Pontefract. 
 There are two versions of the story as to how 
 Invergowrie Church came to be attached to 
 Scone. Sir James Balfour tells it this way : 
 " After the death of Edgar, his brother 
 Alexander, surnamed Ferss, succedit him. 
 Quhill he was a priut man, he had at his 
 christening, by the donatione of hes unckell, 
 Donald Bane, Earle of Gowrey, the lands of 
 Liffe and Innergowrey, quher, in the first zeire 
 of his raing, he began then to buld a staitly 
 palace and castle, bot was interrupted by the 
 rebells of Meirnes and Murray, quho besett him 
 in the night, and had doubtesly killed him, had 
 not Alexander Carrone firmly carried the king 
 save away . . . and by a small boat salved 
 themselves, to Fyffe and the south pairts of 
 the kingdom, where he raised ane armey, and 
 marched against the forsaid rebells of Meirnes 
 and Murray, quhome he totally overthrew and 
 subdewed, for which great mercy and preser- 
 vatione, in a thankful retribution to God, he 
 foundit the monasterey of Scone ; and too it 
 
 4
 
 50 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 gave hes first lands of Liffe and Innergowrey, 
 in A. 1114." 
 
 Wyntown in his Cronykil tells the story more 
 picturesquely and somewhat differently. When 
 King Edgar died in 1107, " Be-north Tay in- 
 til Dunde," his brother Alexander was crowned 
 king, and reigned seventeen years in honour and 
 power. He "possessed the foreign luxuries of 
 an Arabian horse, velvet furniture, and Turkish 
 armour." Wyntown tells us that Alexander 
 
 " Wes rycht manly ; 
 Alysandyr the Fers for-thi [therefore] 
 He was cald be this resowne." 
 
 His palace was at Gray, not far off from 
 Invergowrie. 
 
 "In Inwergowry d Sesowne 
 Wyth an honest Curt he bade, 
 For thare a Maner plds he hade, 
 And all the land lyand by 
 Wes hys Demayne than halyly. 
 Swa, suddanly a-pon hym then 
 A multitude of Scottis men 
 [Come] in entent to sla the King." 
 
 Perceiving that he had knowledge of their 
 purpose, they turned quickly and fled over the 
 Mount. The king with his court pursued 
 them " owre the Stockfurd into Ros." There 
 they gathered again, intending to slay him. 
 Undaunted by the heavy flood at the Stock-
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS AND HISTORY 51 
 
 furd, he rode across, gave chase, and overtook 
 them, and slew them, and "or he past 
 
 " Owt of that land, that fewe he left 
 To tak on hand swylk purpose eft. 
 Fra that day hys Legys all 
 Oysid hym Alysandyr the Fers to call." 
 
 Wyntown then goes on to tell of his return 
 to Invergowrie. 
 
 " Syne he sped hym wytht gret hy 
 Hame agayne til Inewrgowry. 
 And in devotyowne movyd, swne 
 De Abbay he fowndyd than of Scwne. 
 Fra Saynt Oswaldis in Ingland 
 Chanownys he browcht to be serwand 
 God, and Saynt Mychael, regulare 
 In-til Saynt Austynys ordyr thare." 
 
 In the Chartulary of Scone there are fre- 
 quent references to the church of Invergowrie. 
 The name appears in a good many different 
 forms, e.g. Invergowry, Inuergourin, Inuer- 
 gouren, Invergorin, Innergoueryn, Inuer- 
 goueryn, Inuergouerin, Invergoveryn, Inner- 
 gowrie, Inuergoueren, Inuergowrin, Inner- 
 goury. 
 
 The first charter of the " Liber Ecclesie de 
 Scon " is entitled Carta Alexandri Regis de 
 Fundatione Abbatie. This dedicates to the 
 church of Scone certain possessions, "cum tribus 
 carucatis Liff cum sex carucatis Grudin cum
 
 52 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 decern carucatis Inuergourin," etc., with three 
 ploughgates at Liff, six ploughgates at 
 Gourdie, ten ploughgates at Invergowrie. 
 (The two great land measures were Carucates 
 or ploughgates, and Bovates or oxgangs.) 
 " The oxgang contained thirteen acres, two 
 oxgangs made a husband-land, and eight 
 oxgangs a ploughgate, which thus consisted of 
 104 acres of arable land" (Skene, Celtic Scot- 
 land, iii. 224). 
 
 The fifth charter is a charter of King 
 Malcolm, confirmatory of the gift. 
 
 The sixteenth charter is entitled Carta 
 Malcomi Regis de ecclesia de Inuergouerin. 
 This charter is a gift to God, to the church of 
 the Holy Trinity of Scone, and to the abbot 
 and canons serving God there of the church of 
 Inuergoueren, " cum dimidia carucata terre que 
 jacet in occidentali parte ecclesie prenominate 
 nomine Dargoch et cum omnibus pertinentiis 
 ad eandem ecclesiam vel terram pertinentibus 
 in liberam elimosinam " " with the half plough- 
 gate of land which lies in the west part of the 
 church named Dargoch, together with every- 
 thing pertaining to the said church or land in 
 free gift." 
 
 The thirty-second charter is a charter of
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS AND HISTORY 53 
 
 King William, granting and confirming the same. 
 And it is named in several episcopal charters, 
 and in a papal bull of Benedict. Dargoch, now 
 Dargie, appears also in the forms Dargon and 
 Dargo ; and in the Chartulary, and in the Feus 
 of Scone, are to be found a good many of the 
 local names of the surrounding district the 
 "landis and toun of Wester Innergowry," the 
 land of Lyf, Ochtirlyf, Estergurdy, Vestergurdy, 
 Myddilgurdy, Petelpy, Driburgh, Logy, Blak- 
 nes, Balgally, Balgartynnay, Denemill, Kirk- 
 toun of Liff, Netherliff, Brewlandis, Kirkcroft, 
 Tempilhall, etc. 
 
 We may give here an example or two from 
 the Feus of Scone : 
 
 XXXII. To umquhile David Ogilvy of 
 Tempilhall & Christiane Gelletlie his spous 
 half of the cornemyln of Denmyln, &c. ; i 
 March 1585. 
 
 XLI. To Johnne Watsoun the serd pairt 
 with the auchteen pairt of the landis & toun 
 of Wester Innergowry, etc. ; 3 March 1585. 
 
 LI 1 1. To Johnne Moreis in Wester Inner- 
 gowry and Elizebeth Blak his spous of the half 
 of the corne myln and myllandis of Wester 
 Innergowrie ; 5 March 1585. 
 
 LXXII. To Jonet Bell relict of umquhile
 
 54 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Robert Blak and Johnne Blak her sone the 
 landis of Wester Innergowry; 16 March 1585. 
 
 LXXXII. To umquhile William Charteris 
 the landis of Dargo ; 16 April 1586. 
 
 Next to nothing can be said of Invergowrie 
 Kirk from the days of Alexander to days 
 subsequent to the Reformation. A charter 
 exists of Hugo, Bishop of St. Andrews, con- 
 firming certain donations made by his pre- 
 decessors, amongst others, 27 of the churches 
 of Scone, with the chapel of Kinfans, Craigy, 
 Rate, Liff, and Innergoury, etc. 
 
 It was, like Kinfauns, in the " Baronie in 
 Angus," and its rental, as it appears in the 
 Rentall of the Abbacie of Scowne [1561], was 
 
 The Kirk of Innergowrie . . xxlib. 
 
 The Kirk of Kinfauns . . . xxxiijli. vjs. viijd. 
 
 At the same time its minister seems to have 
 been paid in kind 
 
 Tua ch. beir. 
 Tua ch. meill. 
 
 In the sixteenth century the benefices of Liff, 
 Logic, and Invergowrie were held by one 
 incumbent. In 1551, "Dan Andro Gornar, 
 ane of the brether of the Abbay of Scone," 
 was "vicar of Loge, Lif, and Inergowry." 
 
 One little thing links the Almshouse of the
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS AND HISTORY 55 
 
 Red or the Trinity Friars in Dundee both with 
 Longforgan and Invergowrie. King Robert 
 III. gave the church of Kettins, with all its 
 fruits and revenues, perpetually to the Hospital. 
 In time, "the oversight of the Hospital and 
 its endowments came into the hands of the 
 Town Council ; and it is probable that they, to 
 meet pressing necessities, sold the Kettins' 
 revenues in great part, as they did the teinds 
 of Longforgan at a later time, leaving only a 
 portion unalienated. . . . We do not know 
 when the Trinity Friars ceased to be associated 
 with the Hospital, but for a considerable time 
 before the Reformation the Town Council 
 regularly appointed Almshouse masters to take 
 charge of the house, and to collect and disburse 
 its revenues ; as also chaplains to minister to 
 the spiritual wants of its inmates. . . . The 
 Almshouse Chapel was honourably furnished, 
 and the resident chaplain was suitably accom- 
 modated. Before the occupation of the town 
 by the English in 1547-48, the altar ornaments 
 and the other valuables in the house were 
 carried away for safety, and hid in Invergowrie. 
 After the spoilers had gone, and the Council 
 were beginning to restore such order as they 
 could, they ' decernit John Watson to deliver
 
 56 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 to the maister of the Almshouse ane silver 
 chalice, and ane wardour bed with the curtains 
 given to the merchants, with all other gear 
 whilk he hes perteining thereto ; and shortly 
 after, John Watson of Ennergowry deliverit 
 ane silver chalice, weighing- auchteen unce 
 spune and all, and confessit that he had ane 
 wardour bed with twa curtains of serge per- 
 teining to the Almshouse ' ' (Maxwell's Old 
 Dundee prior to the Reformation, p. 66). 
 This John Watson was <( a man of good credit." 
 He was Knox's authority for the story of 
 George Wishart's prayer at the house of James 
 Watson at Invergowrie. John Watson was a 
 relative of James. 
 
 Beyond this, a reference in some charter and 
 the mention of a few names in the Feus of 
 Scone, we know little of the church of Inver- 
 gowrie during this time, and can only realise its 
 life as sharing the life of Scone, and as kindred 
 to the life of other churches in the country. 
 
 After the Reformation, Invergowrie Church 
 was served by a Ninian Hall, who was translated 
 to it in 1571. He had a stipend of ^5, i is. ifd., 
 "payit be the Collectour of Angus." He was 
 removed to Biggar before 1574. 
 
 In the Register of Ministers and Readers in
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS AND HISTORY 57 
 
 the Kirk of Scotland, from the book of the 
 Assignation of Stipends in 1574, we find that 
 Logy, Dundee, Lyff, Invergowrie, Abirnyte, 
 Lundie, were grouped together, and served by 
 William Haitlie, minister, with Andro Hany, 
 reidare at Logie and Lyff, Alexander Forbes, 
 reidare at Invergowrie, Michael Greig, reidare 
 at Abirnytt, George Cochrane, reidare at 
 Lundy. Haitlie was succeeded in the charge 
 of Invergowrie by John Christesoun. Before 
 September 1613, the parish of Invergowrie was 
 united to Liff, and it was also the practice at 
 this time to present to Liff, Logie, and Inver- 
 gowrie. The king was the patron. (The 
 grass in the churchyard belongs to the minister 
 of Liff, and there is also a portion of land 
 known as the Glebe.) The present church, 
 which stands on the foundation of an earlier 
 one, has no claim to great antiquity. It is in 
 ruins, which are, however, well preserved, and 
 seen through the screen of trees that guard it, 
 its ivy-covered walls make a pleasing picture. 
 Architecturally, it has nothing special to mark 
 it. But it is not all of the same age. 
 
 The most interesting thing in Invergowrie 
 Church is the sculptured work. Not very far 
 from the end of the inner south wall may be
 
 58 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 observed, built into it, a beautiful Celtic stone. 
 Dr. Joseph Anderson, in his Scotland in 
 Early Christian Times (Second Series), refers 
 to it. The Invergowrie stone is a cross-bearing 
 slab, and is one of the few of the erect slabs 
 which, "like the free-standing crosses, are 
 characterised by the absence of the symbols " 
 (p. 81). It is two and a half feet high. The 
 entire surface of the stone is divided into 
 panels, " without any apparent prominence 
 being given to one more than another " 
 (p. 100). The interlaced work of the monument 
 is fine. Generally it is "associated with fret- 
 work, as in Fig. 66, at Invergowrie. ... In 
 the general term fretwork I include almost all 
 the varieties of pattern produced by straight 
 instead of curved lines. The lines may inter- 
 sect or approach each other vertically or hori- 
 zontally, or deflect at various angles ; but they 
 do not interlace, and they do not curve." 
 Built also into the outside wall is another 
 stone, on which is carved the figures of three 
 men. Their look and dress pronounce them 
 ecclesiastics. There is some scroll-work 
 beneath. Two of the figures have shoulder 
 brooches. In his Prehistoric Annals of Scot- 
 land (vol. ii. p. 266), Wilson says of these
 
 CELTIC STONE IN INVERGOWRIE CHURCH. 
 
 59
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS AND HISTORY 61 
 
 brooches : "The oval brooches are most fre- 
 quently found in pairs, and may be presumed 
 to have been worn on the front of the shoulders 
 or breast, as shown in a curious piece of 
 sculpture built into the church wall of Inver- 
 gowrie. It represents, probably, priests, as 
 two of them hold books in their hands. The 
 two outer figures are adorned with large 
 brooches on their shoulders ; while the central, 
 and perhaps more important figure is without 
 them, but wears instead a circular ornament 
 on the lower front of his garment. Along with 
 the pairs of oval brooches, a third is frequently 
 found, flat and sometimes trefoiled." He thinks 
 that the brooches belong to the Scoto-Norwegian 
 period (870 A.D.-io64). Immediately over this 
 stone is a bit of another stone with a horse and 
 rider, above which is to be seen a part of the 
 bodies of two or three figures. (For Illustration, 
 see p. 63.) 
 
 We may mention that there are several 
 sculptured monuments in the Carse district. 
 There is a stone at Benvie, a valuable monu- 
 ment at St. Madoes, and fine slabs at Rossie 
 Priory. Illustrations of the Invergowrie stones 
 may be seen in the work issued by the Spalding 
 Club, on the Sculptured Monuments of Scotland,
 
 62 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 by Dr. John Stuart. (Cf. also Proceedings, Soc. 
 Antiquaries, vol. ii. 443 ; vi. 394-95 ; xvi. 95 ; 
 xvii. 211 ; Jervise and Warden.) 
 
 The aisle of the church is the burial-place of 
 the Clayhills of Invergowrie, the nave that of 
 the Mylnes of Mylnefield. There are few 
 stones of public note in the little churchyard 
 which surrounds it. One of the more interest- 
 ing is a stone to a son of the famous Bishop 
 Horsley of St. Asaph. 
 
 The monolith just outside the churchyard 
 has no special value. It served as a bridge 
 across the stream before the present one was 
 built. 
 
 A quaint prophecy, attributed to Thomas the 
 Rhymer (circa 1280), may bring to a close 
 our notes on this venerable ruin. A little way 
 from the churchyard are "two unembellished, 
 boulders, each about two tons weight," known 
 as the Goors, the Gows, the Ewes or the 
 Yowes of Gowrie. Of these, Thomas sings 
 
 "When the Yowes o' Gowrie come to land, 
 The Day o' Judgment's near at hand." 
 
 At the beginning of the century the " Yowes " 
 were within high- water mark. Writing in 1826, 
 Robert Chambers says that the prophecy 
 obtained "universal credit among the country
 
 SCULPTURED STONE IN INVERGOWRIE CHURCH.
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS AND HISTOR Y 65 
 
 people. In consequence of the natural retreat 
 of the waters from that shore of the firth, the 
 stones are gradually approaching the land, and 
 there is no doubt will ultimately be beyond 
 flood-mark. It is the popular belief that they 
 move an inch nearer to the shore every year. 
 The expected fulfilment of the prophecy has 
 deprived many an old woman of her sleep, and 
 it is a common practice among the weavers and 
 bonnet - makers of Dundee to walk out to 
 Invergowrie on Sunday afternoons, simply to 
 see what progress 'the Yowes' are making" 
 (Popular Rhymes, p. 97). 
 
 It is said that the building of the Dundee and 
 Perth railway outside the Goors has discredited 
 Thomas. But we must leave to his comment- 
 ators to say whether they have quite "come 
 to land," and also to interpret the line 
 
 "The Day o' Judgment's near at hand" 
 
 Not far off is the residence of Mr. James 
 Henderson, which bears the historic name of 
 The Gows. 
 
 (2) Dron Chapel stands on a platform, above a 
 dell in the high grounds of Longforgan, a mile 
 and a half north of the village. The name 
 Dron (Gaelic, Droigheann, Droigkionn] means 
 
 5
 
 66 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Black-thorn. The chapel belonged to the 
 Abbey of Coupar-Angus. That abbey was 
 founded in 1164 by King Malcolm IV., grand- 
 son of David I., who is known as "ane soir 
 sanct for the crown." The Coupar monks 
 belonged to the Cistercian Order, or, as they 
 came to be called, the White Monks, their 
 whole dress having been white except the cowl 
 and scapular. The Cistercian Orderwas founded 
 in 1090 by Robert de Molesme, at Citeaux, in 
 Burgundy, hence their name Citercians or 
 Cistercians. The most famous of the Cister- 
 cians is the great St. Bernard, author 'of the 
 hymn, " Jesu ! dulcis memoria" ("Jesus! the 
 very thought of Thee "), and others ; but the 
 order reckoned in its ranks able and earnest 
 men, who gave it such an impulse that there 
 were at one time between three and four 
 thousand Cistercian houses. Coupar was one 
 of these, and during four centuries, from its 
 foundation in 1 164, it continued to be a famous 
 centre of religious life in Scotland. The abbey 
 had many benefactors, amongst the most pro- 
 minent being the Hays of Errol. 
 
 The peeps which the register of Cupar 
 Abbey gives of its life, with its abbots and 
 brothers, their friends and other religious men,
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS AND HISTORY 67 
 
 with its baker and brewer, its gardener and 
 warreners, its land-steward and foresters, its 
 bullock-herds and storemasters, its cellarer and 
 bursar, with its rules as to food, " to the pro- 
 portion for each brother for daily bread sixteen 
 ounces of good wheat, sixteen ounces of oaten 
 bread, two quarts of beer (ceruisie), and for the 
 said strangers yearly one boll of wheat," if 
 they tell us little directly of Dron, yet help us 
 to understand the life it shared. Each brother 
 got "in the year ^13, 6s. 8d. for flesh, fish, 
 butter, salt, and other spices, and figs, soap 
 (smigmate), and candles for the refectory, etc.. 
 . . . and for clothing, 533. 4d. each friar annually." 
 The chapel at Dron was built in 1164. It 
 is now almost entirely in ruins. But the gables 
 remain, in one of which, the west, there is a 
 considerable window. A churchyard surrounded 
 it, and there seems to have been, from the 
 earliest times, an almost direct road from the 
 chapel at Dron to the abbey at Coupar. There 
 is a fine view from the platform towards Lochee, 
 and the Tay at Dundee. The latter town was 
 the port for Coupar Abbey. Once a year the 
 principal tenantry were bound to send a couple 
 of horse and four oxen to bring up to the abbey 
 such things as coal, lime, timber, slates, and
 
 68 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 perhaps a little of the Burgundian wine for 
 which the Abbey of Citeaux was so famous. 
 Dron, we may be sure, got its share from the 
 passing caravans. 
 
 About a mile to the south of Longforgan, 
 and not far from the Tay, lie the grounds and 
 orchard of Templehall. A little way from it 
 there used to be seen the remains of a burying- 
 ground. It is probable that there was a chapel 
 beside it at one time. There is, so far as we 
 know, no documentary evidence on the matter ; 
 but in view of the fact that the Knight 
 Templars had lands in so many parishes, it is 
 not at all unlikely that Templehall is a memorial 
 of their zeal. A stone, evidently a part of a 
 tombstone, may be seen .in the grounds, bearing 
 the date 1664. Another, built into a wall, has 
 1677 on it. 
 
 About 1780, when trenches were being dug 
 at the east end of Longforgan village, some 
 large stones were found " lying in such an 
 arrangement as gave the appearance of a large 
 building, which is supposed to have been some 
 religious establishment" (Old Stat. Ace., xix. 
 561). These are not now to be seen. Farther 
 west, on the bank of Longforgan, some ecclesi- 
 astical stones have also been turned up.
 
 Longforgan is associated \\ith the name of 
 another saint besides Boniface St. Modwenna, 
 or, as the name is sometimes given, Moninna, 
 Monenna, Monyma, Monynne, Medana. The 
 story of Modwenna, like that of Boniface, is 
 wrapt in confusion. Some think that there was 
 more than one Modwenna. Forbes, however, 
 holds that there was but one, and looks on her 
 as "a connecting link between the three great 
 wonder-workers of Ireland, as receiving the 
 monastic habit from St. Patrick, as ever con- 
 tinuing the friend of St. Brigida, and as yielding 
 up her spirit in the same year that the great 
 Apostle of Hy entered into the world." 
 
 Her name was Darerca, her cognomen 
 Monynne. She was born in Ireland, in the 
 region of Conaille, and had her chief abode 
 at Killevy. At an early age she took a vow 
 of chastity, and, according to the story, got the 
 virgin habit from St. Patrick. Leaving Ireland, 
 she laboured in England and Scotland. Con- 
 chubranus says that she founded seven churches 
 in Scotland. The first was at Chilnecase in 
 Galluveic (Galloway); the second on the summit 
 of the hill Dundevenel (Dundonald); the third 
 on the hill of Dunbreten (Dumbarton) ; the 
 fourth on the castle of Strivelin ;, the fifth
 
 70 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 in Dun-eden, which in the English language 
 is called Eden-burg ; the sixth on the hill of 
 Dunpelder ; and the seventh at Lanfortin, near 
 Aleethe, supposed to be Dundee. Hector 
 Boyce (born at Dundee about 1465) is the first 
 to give as a name Alectum. 
 
 Modwenna had a special liking for Lanfortin, 
 which is, of course, Longforgan. Here she is 
 said to have sung " the Psalter immersed in 
 water to the breast, and received the consolation 
 of angels, once only interrupted by a sin of one 
 of the sisters." The sin of the sister consisted 
 of a trifling theft. The story is, that one day, 
 when Modwenna was out on a pilgrimage with 
 the sisters, they came to a river which, being 
 shallow, they meant to ford. To their surprise, 
 however, it rose in flood as they reached it, 
 and fording was impossible. Alarmed at this, 
 Modwenna sought to discover the sinful deed 
 which she was sure must have caused this un- 
 expected difficulty. One of the sisters con- 
 fessed that she had stolen a handful of leeks. 
 No sooner was it confessed and repented of, 
 than the flood fell, and the pilgrims were able 
 to cross the stream. 
 
 From Longforgan, Modwenna went to Rome, 
 journeying, there " with naked feet and hair
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL TRADITIONS AND HISTORY 71 
 
 shirt." On her return from Rome she founded 
 a monastery at Burton-on-Trent, and then re- 
 visited Longforgan, where she died, about one 
 hundred and thirty years old. Conchubranus 
 says : "Post haec vero exiit ad Aleethe, ubi modo 
 est optima ecclesia, quam Longfortin aedeficavit, 
 cum quodam fonte sanctissimo . . . et multum 
 dilexit ilium locum in quo in finem vitae suae 
 ut affirmant, Domino volente, emisit spiritum." 
 ("After these things then she went to Aleethe, 
 where there is a very fine church, which she 
 built at Longfortin, with a most sacred spring, 
 . . . and she loved that place much in which, at 
 the close of her life, as they affirm, God willing 
 it, she gave up her spirit.") 
 
 Her sisters were sent for, and they stayed some 
 days at Longforgan. The following epitaph, 
 quoted by Ussher, gives her story shortly 
 
 " Ortum Modwennae dat Hibernia, Scotia finem, 
 Anglia dat tumulum, dat Deus alta poll. 
 Prima dedit vitam, sed mortem terra secunda, 
 Et terram terrae tertia terra dedit. 
 Aufert Lanfortin quam terra Conallea profert ; 
 Felix Burtonium virginis ossa tenet." 
 
 " Ireland gives Modwenna birth, Scotland her end, 
 England a grave, God the height of heaven. 
 The first gave her life, but the second land death, 
 The third land gave her a home of earth. 
 Lanfortin carries off what the land of Conaille brings forth ; 
 Happy Burton keeps the bones of the virgin."
 
 72 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Ussher gives 660 as the date of her death 
 in the Index Chronologicus to his British 
 Antiquities. DCLX. " Monenna virgo Lan- 
 fortini in Albania mortua est" 
 
 There is a holy well dedicated to her in 
 Kirkmaiden parish, Wigtownshire. Her relics 
 are said to have been divided between the 
 Scots, English, and Irish, the first portion of 
 them being at Lanfortin. Cf. Skene, Celtic 
 Scotland, ii. 37. 
 
 The Aberdeen Breviary states that St. 
 Palladius died " at Longforgund in the Mearnis." 
 " Annorum plenus apud Longforgund in Mernis, 
 in pace requiescit beata." This is, however, 
 evidently an error on the part of the scribe, 
 who wrote Longforgund instead of Fordoun, 
 the scene of some of Palladius' labours, and the 
 reputed place of his death.
 
 IV 
 
 ^prices OF THS 
 
 73
 
 "The rude forefathers of the hamlet." 
 
 " It is for man to tame the chaos ; on every side whilst he 
 lives to scatter the seeds of science and of song, that climate, 
 corn, animals, men, may be milder, and the'germs of love and 
 benefit may be multiplied." Emerson. 
 
 74
 
 IV 
 EARLY NOTICES OF THE LAND 
 
 SOME of the earliest notices of Longforgan 
 connect themselves with the kings of Scotland. 
 There was a royal palace in Dundee, and 
 Alexander the First had another at Invergowrie, 
 perhaps Hurley- Hawkin. During the twelfth 
 century there were four royal manors in Gowry. 
 These were Scone, Coupar, Stratherdel, and 
 Longforgan. Skene is inclined to think that 
 they were royal thanages. He says (Celtic 
 Scotland, Hi. p. 275) : "In the reign of Mal- 
 colm the Fourth, who confirms the foundation- 
 charter of Alexander the First, we find mention of 
 the four royal manors of Gouerin or Gowry pay- 
 ing ' can ' to the king, and these were Scon or 
 Scone, Cubert or Coupar-Angus, Forgrund and 
 Longforgan, and Stratherdel ; and these appear 
 to have been likewise royal thanages." 
 
 But earlier still than Malcolm's day there 
 
 75
 
 76 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 are interesting traces. Malcolm's grandfather 
 was King David I., the "soirsanct." One of 
 David's gifts to the monks of Scone was half of 
 the skins and the fat of all the beasts killed for 
 the king on his domains north of the Tay. 
 
 The Soir Sanct had royal manors in nearly 
 every shire, and amongst other things gifted to 
 Scone was "the tenth of the can of his cheese 
 brought in from his manors of Gowrie, Scone, 
 Cupar, and Forgrund." The amount of cheese 
 made shows that the dairy was then an object 
 of care and a centre of activity. We have 
 some information as to how the royal manors 
 were wrought. It was by their own free 
 tenants and their villeins. When travelling 
 through his kingdom, the king was wont to 
 visit his manors. He did this partly for the 
 purpose of collecting rents, and partly for the 
 purpose of receiving the produce. Whether 
 King David visited Longforgan we cannot 
 say. But it is not unlikely. He used, besides, 
 to go through the land in the interests of 
 justice, and where there was a palace, might 
 be seen listening to the cases of his people. 
 The king had under him two judges, one for 
 the north, the other for the south. Then under 
 these, there were inferior judges, "who borrowed
 
 EARLY NOTICES OF THE LAND 77 
 
 their designations from the district in which 
 they officiated, and were denominated the 
 Judge of Gowry, the Judge of Buchan, the 
 Judge of Strathern, the Judge of Perth " 
 (Ty tier's History of Scotland, ii. 143). 
 
 Reference has already been made to King 
 Malcolm's connection with the place. One of 
 the gifts of his successor, William the Lion, 
 was of lands in Longforgan. William had a 
 brother whom he created Earl of Huntingdon. 
 To this David, Fordun says (ii. 276, Skene's 
 translation), " the late King William/his brother, 
 after he had been released, and had come back 
 from England, had given the earldom of 
 Huntingdon, to be held of him likewise the 
 earldom of Garviach, the town of Dundee, the 
 town of Inverbervie, and the lordship of 
 Lanforgonde, together with many other lands " 
 (Lindores, Inchmartin). 
 
 One of Earl David's daughters was the 
 mother of Robert the Bruce ; and John Baliol, 
 to whose coronation at Scone gentlemen from 
 Gowry went, was his great-grandson. When 
 King Edward I. of England went from Dundee 
 to Baledgarno in 1296, and again when he 
 marched from Perth to Dundee in 1303, he 
 must have passed through the royal manor of
 
 78 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Longforgan. One of the Bruce's acts, not long 
 after, was to take the possession of an English 
 baron named Sir Edmund de Hastings and 
 gift it to the family of Gray. John de Hastings 
 was, it will be remembered, one of those who 
 put in a claim to King Edward along with 
 Bruce and Baliol for a part of the kingdom of 
 Scotland in 1291-92. 
 
 There are three interesting charters granted 
 by Bruce of lands in Longforgan. These 
 charters are now in possession of the Earl of 
 Strathmore at Glamis Castle. They are 
 given at length in Appendix, Part III., Four- 
 teenth Report of the Historical Manuscripts 
 Commission. Sir William Eraser, who reports 
 upon them, says (p. 1 74) : " The earliest charter, 
 No. i, in the first section, is granted by Robert 
 Bruce, Earl of Carrick and Lord of Annandale, 
 in favour of Alexander de Keith, of the lands of 
 Longforgan. The charter is undated, but was 
 granted between the years 1295 and 1304. . . . 
 In the year 1315, when Bruce was king, he 
 granted another charter of part of the mill of 
 Longforgan, in favour of Alexander Keith, who 
 is therein named as his ' beloved and faithful.' 
 
 " This charter, No. 3, is interesting as show- 
 ing that at the date of it, 1315, the year after
 
 EARLY NOTICES OF THE LAND 79 
 
 Bannockburn, the resignation of the subjects 
 granted to Keith was made by John Glastreth, 
 the former owner, at Tarbat, near Louchfyne, 
 before many magnates. The king was there 
 on a visit to his Highland home, in his visits to 
 which, we are informed by Barbour, that he 
 followed the example of King Magnus Barefoot 
 of Norway, in being drawn across the isthmus 
 of Tarbert in his galleys. 
 
 " A third charter was granted by King Robert 
 Bruce to the same Alexander Keith, again 
 described as ' his beloved and faithful,' No. 4. 
 From that charter it appears that Alexander 
 Keith had no heirs (male) of his body, as the 
 lands were to pass to his daughter Agnes, and 
 William Avenell, styled the king's cousin, and 
 the heirs to be lawfully begotten between them, 
 and failing such heirs, the lands to return to the 
 king. The charter, No. 4, commemorates the 
 presence of the king at Berwick-on-Tweed, 
 which seems to refer to the Parliament or 
 Council held there in November 1324. The 
 fact that Alexander Keith was there in attend- 
 ance upon the king on important occasions, 
 seems to suggest that he belonged to the royal 
 household. But Keith has not been identified 
 as a member of the ' mighty men of lineage,'
 
 8o THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 as Wyntoun calls them, of that name, who long 
 held the hereditary office of Marischal of Scot- 
 land. In the time of Queen Mary, William, 
 the fourth Earl Marischal, possessed landed 
 property extending to 270,000 merks of yearly 
 rent. These lay in so many counties that he 
 could travel from Berwick to the northern 
 extremity of Scotland, eating every meal and 
 sleeping every night upon his own estates." 
 
 The year after Bannockburn was thus a 
 memorable one in Longforgan. Keith took 
 the place of Glastreth. It also witnessed the 
 real incoming of the first of the Grays, a family 
 that was destined to play a great part in the 
 life of the district, as well as in the life of the 
 State. 
 
 There are several notices in the Register of 
 the Great Seal of grants of land in Longforgan. 
 David II. made a grant in the thirty-eighth 
 year of his reign, " dilecto et fideli nostro Ade 
 Pingle to tarn terram de Langforgund," etc. 
 Roger Pyngill was a man of note in Bruce's 
 reign, and received certain lands in Scotland, 
 " pro homagio et servicio suo " for himself and 
 heirs. David II. confirmed several grants made 
 by Keith the Marischal of Scotland to Adam 
 Pyngill, and one of his own gifts was of land
 
 EARLY NOTICES OF THE LAND 81 
 
 in Longforgan. King Robert II. made a grant 
 to Patrick Gray, another to Alanus de Erskyne, 
 of lands in the barony of Longforgan. One 
 charter of this king has considerable interest. 
 It is a grant to John Lyonn, knight, and besides 
 recalling to us that Randolph of Dundee, 
 knight, once held Kingoodie, and that Gilbert 
 of Monorgan is an ancient name, gives a 
 curious glimpse of Adam Pyngill. 
 
 In 1450, James II. confirmed a charter of 
 Patrick, Lord of Glammis, and of the barony 
 of Longforgan, by which he conceded to 
 Thomas Gray " 10 libratas terrarum nuncu- 
 patarum Uviryardis de Mounorgunde, in dicta 
 baronia de Langfargunde." 
 
 Sixteen years later, James III. confirmed a 
 charter of Lord Gray, by which he sold and 
 alienated to John Stewart of Fertirkil "terras 
 de Killibroath et Disert, in comitatu Atholie, 
 vie. Perth, baronie de Langforgound annexas." 
 
 In a charter issued in favour of Lord Gray, 
 the year before, Longforgan is called Forgounde. 
 
 James IV. granted still further favours to his 
 counsellor Lord Gray in 1489, " terras de 
 Mylhil, cum molendino ejusdem, et terras de 
 Birflat, infra baroniam de Forgund, vie. Perth." 
 
 Six years later, in 1495, the same monarch 
 6
 
 82 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 granted to Robert Lile, son of Lord Lile, 
 amongst other things, " terras de le Mylhil et 
 Byreflat cum molendino earundem, in baronia 
 de Forgund, vie. Perth." 
 
 In some respects the most interesting notice 
 of the lands of Longforgan occurs in a charter 
 dated 7th January 1508-9, and granted by 
 James IV. to Lord Gray, Justiciary of Scotland. 
 It concedes to him, " terras et baroniam de 
 Langforgund, cum dependentiis, tenentibus et 
 tenandriis, viz. terras de Langforgund, Huntlie 
 cum turre et fortalicio, Bulyeoun, Gedpik, 
 Balbunnok, Kingaidy, Ebrukis, Thrissile- 
 holme, Raschycruke, Drone, Knap, Laurestoun, 
 Litiltoun, 12 bovatas terrarum in villa de 
 Inchmartin, terras de Montskeide, Mon- 
 tramyche, alias Disart, et Killebroiche, 
 vie. Perth" ("the lands and barony of 
 Langforgund, with the dependencies, tenants, 
 and tenandries, viz. the lands of Langfor- 
 gund, Huntlie, with the tower and fortalice, 
 Bulyeoun, Gedpik, Balbunnok, Kingaidy, 
 Ebrukis, Thrissleholme, Raschycruke, Drone, 
 Knap, Laurestoun, Litiltoun, 12 bovates of 
 lands in the town of Inchmartin, the lands of 
 Montskeide, Montramyche, alias. Disart, and 
 Killebroiche, in the county of Perth").
 
 EARLY NOTICES OF THE LAND 83 
 
 The charter goes on to say that these lands 
 had formerly been held by Andrew Gray from 
 the king, and that in token of his special favour 
 he incorporated them anew into one free barony 
 of Longforgan. 
 
 It will be noticed how many of the most 
 familiar names in the parish occur in the charter 
 Huntly, Bullion, Kingoodie, Dron, etc. 
 
 In 1524, James V. granted a charter confirm- 
 ing to the fourth Lord Gray and his heirs the 
 lands and baronies of Langforgund, Fowlis, 
 and Dundee, with the castles of Huntly and 
 Bruchty Craig, etc. 
 
 This short sketch may help to remind us of 
 the men who formerly owned and moved in 
 Longforgan. The list includes John Glastreth, 
 Sir Edmund de Hastings, Sir Andrew Gray, 
 Alexander de Keith, Adam Pyngill, Gilbert 
 de Monorgound, Robert Lile, John Lyon, etc., 
 some of them men who stood in the foremost 
 ranks of their country's service. 
 
 It is all but impossible for us, in looking 
 abroad on the smiling Carse, to realise the 
 struggles through which we have come to the 
 peace, and the effort through which we have 
 come to the plenty, that prevail. But, every 
 now and then, we get glimpses, as we look
 
 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 back, of days of stern warfare and dire want. 
 Alexander I. is said to have built Baledgarno 
 Castle to suppress thieves. Fordun mentions 
 also how, in 1336, through the ceaseless maraud- 
 ing of both sides Scotch and English the 
 whole land of Gowrie, as well as Angus and 
 Mearns, was all but reduced to a hopeless 
 wilderness and pressing want. That there 
 were perils from beasts and robbers in the 
 Carse, the Cupar Register shows. If it is 
 sometimes a bitter cry that comes to us from 
 these times, let us not forget how much we 
 owe to the chivalrous men who, like Gray and 
 Randolph and Keith, fought our battles, and to 
 the unnamed heroes in the Church and in 
 humble life, who fought the soil and tilled 
 what they conquered, and so laid the founda- 
 tion of a prosperity and a plenty for those 
 who should enter into their labours.
 
 V 
 
 me HU^DHIL OF 
 
 1385
 
 " Most righteous judge ! a sentence. Come, prepare." 
 
 Shakespeare, 
 
 86
 
 V 
 
 AT THE HUNDHIL OF LANGFOR- 
 GRUND IN 1385 
 
 1385 carries us back a long way. But one of 
 the most curious glimpses which we have of 
 early Longforgan belongs to this year. In 
 Celtic times, as is known, the people gathered 
 in council and for justice at what was called 
 the Moothill. The Moothill was a mound 
 which lent itself naturally to the purposes 
 already named. Of a Moothill in Longforgan 
 in those distant times, we know nothing. But, 
 curiously enough, records exist of meetings at 
 the Moothill, or, as it is described in the docu- 
 ments themselves, the " hund hil of Langfor- 
 grund," in 1385. These records are written 
 on a " long narrow roll of parchment of separate 
 pieces stitched together," and are preserved 
 among the papers of Sir Patrick Keith Murray 
 
 of Ochtertyre and Fowlis Easter. They 
 
 87
 
 88 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 contain an account of the proceedings of five 
 Barony Courts held by Sir Patrick Gray, who, 
 in addition to Fowlis, possessed the barony of 
 Longforgan. These records are of the highest 
 value. In the first place, they are almost the 
 only specimen of the proceedings of a Scotch 
 Barony Court in the fourteenth century known 
 to exist. Further, they are marked by great 
 detail. And they are also interesting as 
 specimens of the vernacular in the Carse of 
 Gowrie at the close of the fourteenth century, 
 part of the proceedings being in Scotch. 
 
 The courts described sat in four successive 
 months. The first was held on the i6th of 
 January 1385; the second on the 3rd of 
 February ; the third on the 25th of February ; 
 the fourth on the 8th of March ; the last on 
 the 2ist of April. It is curious to read to- 
 day the names of the officers who took part in 
 these courts. It must not be thought that 
 those meetings were wanting in the elements 
 that make them imposing. Sir Patrick Gray, 
 "lorde of the chefe barony of Longforgonde," 
 was surrounded in his court by the same 
 figures that appeared in the court of the king. 
 There were " mony nobillis " and "mony gude 
 men." Robert Louranson, the dempster of the
 
 AT THE HUNDHIL OF LANGFORGRUND 89 
 
 King's Court, was dempster of the Barony Court. 
 Then we read of the sergand, Robyn Jopson. 
 
 It may be of interest to give a short account 
 of the proceedings : 
 
 At the first meeting, held on Tuesday the 
 i6th of January 1385, after the court had been 
 fenced and Robyn Jopson's authority as serjeant 
 admitted, Robyn was asked if he had executed 
 the summons on the tenants and parceners of 
 Lytylton and Lowranston of Achlyrcoman, 
 calling them to appear. Robyn replied that 
 he had, and read his citation, which was as 
 follows : "I, Robyn Jopson, sergand, lauch- 
 fully made and ordanyt of the chef part of the 
 barony of Langforgund throu Sir Patrick 
 Gray, lord of that ilk chef part of that ilk 
 barony in the sheradom of Perth, somonde at 
 the chef plaz of the teneindri of Lytilton 
 and Lowranstone of Ochtyrcomane within the 
 Lytilton, Sir Thomas the Hay, of Lowchqwor- 
 wart, and Dam Jonat, his spouse, throu reson 
 of his spouse, Sir William of Cunygham, 
 and Dam Margaret, his spouse, Elezabeth of 
 Maxwel, Alexandir of Kocborne, and Katerin, 
 his spouse, for reson of his spouse, and Dugal 
 Me Duel, and Eufam his spouse, for resone of 
 his spouse, the Wedynysday, the xvi. day
 
 90 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 of the moneth of November, that thai apere 
 lauchfolly at the Hundhil in Langforgrond, in 
 the sheradom of Perth, to Sir Patrick Gray, 
 lord of the chef part of Langforgonde and 
 orlard of the landys of Lytilton and Louranz- 
 stone of Ouchtircomon, thys tewysday that 
 nw ys the xvi. day of this moneth of Jenuer, 
 to schaw how and for qwat caus, throw qwat 
 chartir or ewydens thai halde or clemys to hald 
 the landys or tenandris of Lytiltone and Low- 
 ranzstone of Achtyrcoman of hym, and of his 
 chef parts of the Barony of Langforgond within 
 the sheradom of Perth, and to do this day efter 
 my sumonz for yhour haldying as the law and 
 ordyr of law askys in yt selfe, yat I haf mad 
 this somondys in this maner as I hafe re- 
 cordyt laufully, lo here my witnez Robyn 
 Jonson of Balligyrnach and Richard of Pent- 
 land, William Scot and Andrew Yhong." 
 
 None of the parties cited appeared at the 
 Hundhil on the i6th of January. So, the 
 Court decreed, through its dempster, that the 
 Serjeant should levy a distraint of the value 
 of six cows from each of them, and should 
 cite them further to appear at the Hundhil on 
 the 3rd of February. Again the parties cited 
 did not come, and a fresh decree was made.
 
 AT THE HUNDHIL OF LANGFORGRUND 91 
 
 This took place a third time. At the fourth 
 court, Sir Thomas Hay appeared at the 
 Hundhil. He pled that he ought not to be 
 fined for his earlier non-appearance. To this, 
 Sir Patrick agreed. Hay was next asked what 
 title he had to the land in dispute. Sir 
 Thomas said he had no charter, but asked 
 fifteen days' delay before judgment was given. 
 This was granted. The Court in the meantime 
 agreed to the following judgment : " Than the 
 Curt fullely awisit with the consale of mony 
 gude men thair beand, decretyt that the lande 
 of Lytilton and Lowrandston in Ouchtercomane 
 aucht to dwell yn to Sir Patrick's Grayis handis, 
 to the tyme that it was lauchfully recouerit 
 fra the forsayde Sir Patrick othir with trety 
 or with proces of lauch, the dome of qwhilk 
 decrete the forsayde Sir Patrick delay t graci- 
 ously deferryt tyl his lauchfulle day next eftir 
 pas, to prowe gif the forsayde personaris walde 
 seke hym othir with tretys grace or lauch, and 
 assignet thareto, tewisday the xxi. day of 
 Auryll next for to caus his dome to precede 
 and to be giffyn gif thai come noucht, and 
 that he made manyfest in playne Curt." 
 
 The last court on this matter was held at 
 the Hundhil on the 2ist of April. There,
 
 92 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 "throw Sir Patrick Gray, lorde of the chefe 
 barony of Langforgonde, mony nobillis thare 
 beande, with consale of tha nobillis, and of 
 his curt, he wele awisit that the forsayde per- 
 sonaris contenyt in his prosces souch hym 
 nother with grace, lufe, na with lauch, to delay 
 his dome na his proces, with consale of the 
 forsayde curt and noblis that thare was, throw 
 the mouth of Robert Louranson than demstare 
 of oure lord the kingis curt, and of his, it was 
 giffyn for dome that the Lytilton, and Lowrand- 
 ston of Ouchtercomane suld dwell in the handis 
 of the forsayde Sir Patrick and his ayeris, 
 qu'hill the tyme that all the forsaydis personaris 
 and all thaire namys nemmyt sulde recouir 
 the landys othir be grace trety or prosces of 
 law, and this endyt the proces." 
 
 Cf. Report by Dr. John Stuart on the 
 MSS. of Sir Patrick Keith Murray, Bart, of 
 Ochtertyre, Historical Manuscripts, Third 
 Report, p. 410. Cf. also Introduction, p. 24.
 
 VI 
 
 93
 
 " See, 'mid yon trees, a battlemented pile 
 That tops the rock, o'erlooking many a mile 
 Of level carse. 
 
 Fair Emma Gordon and her bridal train 
 First graced its halls. Fair Emma ! Huntly's child ; 
 No sweeter spring-born blossom ever smiled 
 Than she, all blushing, on that happy day, 
 The wedded love of brave young Andrew Gray, 
 Wide Cowrie's pride, and Castle Huntly's lord, 
 And she the guerdon of his patriot sword 
 At least so runs the tale. 
 
 " The Tay" by David Millar, canto v. 
 
 94
 
 VI 
 CASTLE HUNTLY 
 
 IN point of interest Castle Huntly stands pre- 
 eminent among the homes of Longforgan. It 
 is a noble pile of enormous strength. Built of 
 stone from the quarries at Kingoodie, it has 
 stood, almost unharmed, the blasts of over four 
 hundred years. The natural strength of the 
 castle is considerable, standing, as it does, on 
 the top of a precipitous and " verie stubborne 
 rock," hardly accessible except on one side. 
 But it does not seem to have been looked upon 
 as a military stronghold. Writing in his Book 
 of Record, Earl Patrick of Strathmore says : 
 " My grandfather made this purchase from the 
 Lord Gray, at which time, save that the land 
 was speciall good, it was a place of no considera- 
 tione, fit for nothing else but as a place of 
 refuge in the time of trouble, wherein a man 
 
 might make himself a prisoner, and in the 
 
 95
 
 96 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 meantime might therein be protected from a 
 flying partie, but was never of any strenth, or 
 to have been accounted a stronghold to endure 
 a siege, or a place capable to hold so many as 
 with necessarie provisions could hold out long, 
 or by sallies to doe much preiudice to an 
 enimie." Some idea of its internal strength 
 may be got from the fact that its walls are in 
 some places ten feet thick. Its tower rises to a 
 height of about one hundred and thirty feet, and, 
 altogether, it is a fine specimen of an old 
 baronial home. 
 
 The castle is said to have been built in 1452, 
 under a special licence granted by James II. to 
 Andrew the second Lord Gray, giving him leave 
 to build a castle upon the barony of Fowlis or 
 Longforgan. But the first definite mention of 
 the tower and fortalice of Huntly occurs in a 
 charter of 1508-9. It is likely that in still 
 earlier times a castle or fort of some kind stood 
 on the rock. The tradition is that it was once 
 surrounded with water, and that the very stones 
 with which the present castle was built were 
 brought by water from Kingoodie. 
 
 It is impossible to say in what way the castle 
 came to be called Castle Huntly. The tradition 
 lingers still that Andrew Gray, the founder of
 
 CASTLE HUNTLY. 
 
 97
 
 CASTLE HUNTLY 99 
 
 the castle, wedded a daughter of Lord Huntly, 
 and called his home after his bride. The 
 unfortunate thing for this pretty story is that 
 no such marriage took place, although later 
 there was an alliance between a Gray and a 
 Huntly. The rock or the land may have borne 
 the name of Huntly from an earlier time, or, as 
 the Grays came from Northumberland to Perth- 
 shire in the days of Bruce, it may have been 
 taken, as has been suggested, from the property 
 of that name in Berwickshire. 
 
 Castle Huntly has been in the hands of three 
 ancient families. Built originally by the second 
 Lord Gray, it passed early in the seventeenth 
 century into the hands of the family of Lyon. 
 During this time it ceased to be known as Castle 
 Huntly, being called after Lord Glamis " Castle 
 Lyon " ; but towards the close of last century, 
 when it passed into the hands of the second Mr. 
 Paterson, it was renamed by him, in honour of 
 his wife, a daughter of Lord Gray, Castle Huntly. 
 
 It lies beyond our purpose to describe the 
 castle, or to trace at length the fortunes of the 
 families who have held it. Admirable sketches, 
 and easily accessible, may be found in R. Fittis' 
 Book of Perthshire Memorabilia, and A. H. 
 Millar's Historical Castles and Mansions of
 
 TOO THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Scotland. Cf. " Perthshire." But a few facts 
 may be given. It is in 1308 that the Grays 
 first appear in the manor of Longforgan. Sir 
 Andrew Gray was the first of the line to be 
 closely connected with the place. He was one 
 of the valiant band which followed Bruce. In 
 1312, when Edinburgh Castle was entered by 
 surprise, Sir Andrew Gray was the second man 
 to put his foot on the walls, and in return for his 
 splendid services Bruce gave him a number of 
 estates, including the barony of Longforgan. 
 Towards the close of that century, one of the 
 Grays of Broxmouth married the daughter of 
 Sir Roger de Mortimer, heiress of Fowlis. 
 Gray was also possessor of the barony of Long- 
 forgan, which his father had acquired from the 
 heiress of Roger de Kyd and Marion Oliphant ; 
 but from this time till 1452, when Castle 
 Huntly is said to have been built by the second 
 Lord Gray, the interests of the family belong 
 chiefly to Fowlis. Castle Huntly remained 
 in the possession of the Lords Gray till 1615, 
 when it passed from their hands. 
 
 The Lords of Castle Huntly were all im- 
 portant men. The third Lord Gray led a wing 
 of the rebel army at Sauchieburn, and is credited 
 with having been one of the three horsemen who
 
 CASTLE HUNTLY 101 
 
 killed James III. after the battle. This led to 
 his promotion. He was made High Sheriff of 
 Forfar, Lord of the Privy Council, Justice- 
 General benorth the Forth, Justiciar of Scotland, 
 and received amongst others the lands and 
 baronies of Fowlis, Longforgan, Huntly, etc. 
 
 The fourth Lord Gray died at Castle Huntly 
 in 1541. One of his daughters married 
 Monorgan of that ilk. The fifth Lord was a 
 prominent figure in the days of Beaton, and 
 supported the Reformation. After the battle 
 of Pinkie he was accused of surrendering 
 Broughty Castle to the English, and the Regent 
 Arran determined to attack Castle Huntly. 
 
 The sixth Lord was a less distinguished man. 
 But his son may fairly be described as one of 
 the extraordinary characters in Scottish history, 
 at once one of the cleverest and one of the 
 most unprincipled of intriguers. The Duke of 
 Guise, the captive Queen of Scotland, Elizabeth, 
 King James, Arran these were some of the 
 parties with whom he played his game. Some 
 of his letters exist, dated from Castle Huntly, 
 full of curious glimpses of his views. He was 
 an able man, and gave King James some 
 admirable counsel. Lord Gray died in 1612. 
 
 Shortly after his accession, the new Lord
 
 102 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 disposed of Castle Huntly to Lord Glammis, 
 the first Earl of Kinghorne, for 40,000 merks. 
 The earl died in 1615. Two years later, the 
 second Earl was " retoured as heir to his father, 
 Earl Patrick, in the lands called the Mains of 
 Huntly, with the castle and fortalice of Huntly, 
 which formerly belonged to Andrew, Lord 
 Gray ; and also in that part of the lands of 
 Longforgan, called Easter and Wester Colts, 
 with the moor adjoining, all in the barony of 
 Longforgan, and formerly belonging to the said 
 Andrew, Lord Gray ; but the lands of Goatpick, 
 a quarter of the lands of Cattermillie or Bullion, 
 the third part of the lands of Balbunnoch or 
 Balbonnie, and Nether Carse, with the lands of 
 Kingoodie or Mylnfield, all parcels of the 
 barony of Longforgan, were specially excluded 
 from this re" tour." 
 
 The second Earl was a man of some note in 
 his day. He took the Covenanting side, and 
 fought at the battle of the Bridge of Dee. An 
 old Pasquil on that battle refers to him 
 
 " God bliss our Covenanters in Fyffe and Lothean, 
 In Angus and the Mearnis, quho did us first begin 
 With musket and with carabin, with money speare and shield, 
 To take the toune of Aberdeen, and make our Marques yield. 
 
 God bliss Montrois our General, 
 
 The stout Earl of Kinghorne, 
 
 That we may long Hue and rejoyce 
 
 That ever they were borne.
 
 CASTLE HUNTLY 103 
 
 The man that hes ane eiuell wyffe, 
 He prayes God to amend her, 
 That he may Hue a quyat lyffe, 
 And dye a Covenanter." 
 
 " Kingorne" is also praised by Lithgow as a 
 peer 
 
 "by true Religion crownd, 
 
 And Honour to" as one who made profession, 
 "Of Christ's Reformed Church by cleare confession." 
 
 The earl did a good deal for Castle Huntly, 
 and intended it to be the summer residence of 
 the family. His son tells us of him: "My 
 father, as he had indeed reason soe to doe, did 
 in the year of God 1637 finish the staircase 
 which he had begun some years before, and he 
 put on an inteer new roofe upon the Castle and 
 Jamm which before had ane old scurvie battle- 
 ment, and was vaulted in the top and flagged 
 over. He did also build that which is the 
 present kitchen, which had only a chimney 
 with a timber brace carried up, with patent 
 straw and clay, and full of hazard for taking of 
 fire, as, indeed, upon many occasions it did, but 
 I was obleidged to make a thorrow reformatione 
 thereof: he built also the Brew-house and 
 Woman-house which now is, and the greatest 
 Barne which stands on the north-west corner 
 of the stack-yard, without so much as a closs or 
 court, so that the first landing or lighting was
 
 104 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 att the verie entrie gate." He died at St. 
 Andrews of smallpox in 1646. 
 
 The next Earl, who became the first Earl 
 of Strathmore in 1677, is perhaps the most 
 interesting of the lords of Castle Huntly. 
 Under his guidance it became a changed place, 
 and he was identified with the interests of 
 Longforgan as few have been. It was during 
 his time, in 1672, that King Charles II. erected 
 the barony of Castle Huntly into a lordship, to 
 be called the Lordship of Lyon, and it is usually 
 supposed that the castle came to be known as 
 Castle Lyon at this point. 
 
 But of Earl Patrick again. 
 
 The second Earl of Strathmore was a man 
 of considerable power. The third fell at Sheriff- 
 muir, fighting for the Chevalier. " Poor 
 Strathmore was shott thro' the heart after he 
 askt quarters." Several songs preserve his 
 name. His successor entertained the Chevalier 
 at Castle Lyon. He met a tragic fate, being 
 killed in the streets of Forfar in a drunken 
 fray. Scarcely less sorrowful is the tale of the 
 widowed countess. She stayed in Castle Lyon, 
 which was the jointure-house of the countesses, 
 for seventeen years, and then entered into what 
 proved a most unhappy marriage with a young
 
 CASTLE HUNTLY 105 
 
 man, George Forbes, one of her servants. The 
 marriage took place at Castle Huntly in 1745. 
 
 The last of the Strathmores to hold Castle 
 Lyon was John, the seventh Earl. He married 
 the wealthiest heiress in England, Miss Mary 
 Eleanor Bowes of Streatlam, whose surname he 
 was permitted by Parliament to assume Bowes- 
 Lyon. He died in 1776. Instead of staying 
 in Castle Lyon, his widow sold it the following 
 year. Mr. George Paterson was the purchaser, 
 and the price ,40,000. 
 
 The new laird did not belong to the district. 
 Born in 1734, he had spent the earlier part of 
 his life in India. Returning to Scotland in 
 1776 with a large fortune, he married towards 
 the close of that year a daughter of Lord Gray. 
 Just at this time Castle Lyon came into the 
 market. Mr. Paterson bought it, and in his 
 bride the castle welcomed a descendant of 
 Lord Gray who built it. In her honour he 
 renamed it Castle Huntly. Mr. Paterson was 
 a great enthusiast, and besides doing much to 
 improve Castle Huntly, inaugurated many 
 changes, and was the first to introduce the 
 newer implements and methods of agriculture 
 to the district. A record of these may be 
 found in the Old Statistical Account. He died
 
 106 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 in 1817, and was succeeded by his son, Colonel 
 Paterson. The colonel died in 1846, and 
 was succeeded by his only son George. 
 Though trained for the Bar, he took a 
 keen interest in the estate, and became an 
 authority on the subject of Fiars. He died in 
 1867. The present proprietor is a son of Mr. 
 Paterson. Mrs. Armitstead is tenant. 
 
 A LAY OF CASTLE HUNTLY. 
 In canto v. of The Tay, the tale of Emma 
 Gordon is told with considerable spirit. 
 
 " Fair Emma Gordon wadna gie 
 
 Her hand to Andrew Gray, 
 Nor leave the Bogie's flowery braes 
 For a' the sweets o' Tay. 
 
 She wadna leave the Bogie banks 
 
 For a' the lords she saw, 
 An' far less wad a Gowrie knicht 
 
 Entice her steps awa'. 
 
 Yet a' her sighs, her maidens said, 
 
 Were for Sir Andrew Gray, 
 An' a' her fears and prayers were his 
 
 By night but an' by day." 
 
 Emma Gordon's mother was a haughty 
 dame. 
 
 "An' tho 1 her father weel could prize 
 
 The worth o' Andrew's sword, 
 He cou'dna brook that Huntly's bairn 
 Sud wed less than a lord.
 
 CASTLE HUNTLY 107 
 
 A braver knicht than Andrew Gray 
 
 Ne'er belted on a sword 
 A truer knicht than Andrew Gray 
 
 Ne'er waited on his lord. 
 
 An' Emma Gordon brawly knew 
 
 Nae knicht cou'd love sae weel : 
 To her, his eye the sweetest shone 
 
 Tho' 'neath a casque o' steel. 
 
 Was ne'er than Emma Gordon's seen 
 
 A form sae sweet an' fair, 
 Nae bird was blyther in the glen, 
 
 Nor rose bloom'd richer there ! " 
 
 At this point the Douglas raises his standard 
 against King James. " Fickle Crawford's 
 powerfu' Earl" goes with the rebels. The 
 king's hope is largely in Huntly. 
 
 " Our gude king trusts to Huntly's sword, 
 An' brooks nae lang delay." 
 
 One by one the chieftains rally to Huntly, 
 who praises them. Of Gray he says 
 
 " ' An' doughty Gray, come as it may, 
 
 Will be baith staunch an' true, 
 
 But, Emma Gordon, wha, the day, 
 
 May wear the spurs for you?' 
 
 Fair Emma's cheeks grew like the rose, 
 
 Now like the lily hue 
 ' He fechts for me, my father dear, 
 
 Wha fechts the best for you ! 
 
 But if I choose a valiant knicht, 
 
 As choose fu' weel I may, 
 I'll bind my favour round the crest 
 
 O' young Sir Andrew Gray.'
 
 io8 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 The Earl frowned. Wi' tremblin' hand, 
 
 But an' a pearly tear, 
 She's tied around his glancin' crest 
 
 A ringlet o' her hair ! 
 
 'Now by St. Bridget's sacred shrine, 
 
 And by the haly rude, 
 The hand that wins my ladye's gift 
 
 Sal win my red heart's blude ! ' " 
 
 A fight shortly ensues between Crawford's 
 warriors and Huntly's. 
 
 " But aye the loudest in the shout, 
 
 The foremost in the fray, 
 Was Emma Gordon's trusty knight, 
 The brave Sir Andrew Gray." 
 
 The victory falls to Huntly. Then comes 
 the rewarding of the victors. Huntly gets the 
 "braes o' Badenoch and a' Balquhidder too." 
 
 " ' But as for Gray, that wilfu' wight, 
 
 We can nae mercy shaw : 
 We'll bind him firm this very nicht 
 As strait as bands can draw ; 
 
 An' big a keep on Cowrie braes 
 
 Whaur he his weird may dree, 
 An' bonny Emma Gordon sal 
 
 His gentle jailor be !' 
 
 Now gowden peace, wi' kindly ray, 
 
 Cheers ilka Scottish glen, 
 An' fears nae mair the Douglas name 
 
 Wi' a' his riever men ; 
 
 An' Castle Huntly shaws its toures 
 
 High ower the Tay's blue tide, 
 Whaur bonny Emma Gordon wons 
 
 Lord Andrew's ladye bride ! "
 
 VII 
 
 109
 
 " I doe admyre him, for his gifts most rare, 
 Which few can paralell, nor yet compare," 
 
 no
 
 VII 
 
 A LONGFORGAN LAIRD IN THE 
 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 
 
 ONE day, early in June 1660, a tiny barque 
 might have been seen entering the port of 
 Dundee. It had come from St. Andrews. Its 
 freight was humble. Part of it was the bed of 
 a student of the University, not yet out of his 
 teens, who had just gone for the first time, a 
 day or two before, to his ancestral home at 
 Castle Lyon. Things, there, were in a sad 
 plight. There was not " so much as on bed to 
 ly doune in," and the young laird, the third 
 Earl of Kinghorne, had to borrow one from the 
 minister of Longforgan till his own should come 
 from St. Andrews. 
 
 It is difficult for us, looking at the appoint- 
 ments of the castle to-day, to conceive the 
 cheerless lot of the laird. The castle was two 
 hundred years old. A good deal had been 
 
 in
 
 ii2 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 done for it, but it was a bleak house for the 
 young laird who entered it on the 3<Dth May 
 1660. The picture that he draws of his 
 surroundings, both within and without, is 
 pathetic. The garden was a marsh. The 
 barns and byres were without a tenant, nor 
 were some of them fit to hold anything. The 
 offices at the barns were " no better then a 
 company of small and naughtie cottar houses," 
 ugly cottages, built of earth, for whose yearly 
 repair, he tells us, a great deal of good pasture 
 ground was continually wasted. " The pend 
 and entrie hard by it was a quagmire, as the 
 most part of the enclosed ground besouth it 
 was, the middows an open and common pasture, 
 so that before my time it was not known what 
 the mawing of grass or use of hay was att that 
 place." Inside, the laird found nothing but 
 bare walls, nothing of the comfort which we 
 associate with a castle. 
 
 The causes of this desolation were many. 
 The young lord was eighteen. His father had 
 died when he was four. Like some other 
 noblemen of the day, his father was a 
 Covenanter, and for propagating the good 
 cause, as his son somewhat sarcastically 
 describes what, being a Royalist and Episco-
 
 A LONGFORGAN LAIRD 113 
 
 palian, he looked upon as " the rebellious 
 Covenant," had involved himself in an outlay of 
 something like 40,000 merks, on several expedi- 
 tions and in the purchase of arms. In addition 
 to this, Cromwell, enraged at the line his 
 father took, imposed a fine of ^"1000 upon the 
 estate. According to the young lord, also, his 
 father was too trustful of men. He lent money, 
 and became cautioner for persons who failed 
 him sadly. His servants, also, out of vanity, 
 and from a mistaken desire to magnify their 
 master, had entered the value of the estate 
 above its worth, which, in a time when public 
 burdens were heavy, and levies were being 
 called for, was a source of misfortune. What 
 with one thing and another, the debt which his 
 father left behind him amounted to ^400,000. 
 This, at six per cent, of interest, was a crushing 
 burden. Indeed, nearly the whole of the estate 
 was mortgaged, so that, speaking of "Old 
 Glammis," he says with sorrow: "For the 
 first three years of my life, w ch 1 only reckon 
 since the year 1660, I could not endure almost 
 to come near to, or see it, when the verie Mains 
 was possessed by a wedsetter." (A wadsetter 
 is the creditor to whom the wadset or " legal 
 deed by which a debtor gives his lands, or
 
 ii4 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 other heritable subjects, into the hands of his 
 creditor, that the latter may draw the rents in 
 payment of the debt." Cf. Jamieson Dictionary.} 
 It says much for the earLthat, by care, he wiped 
 off more than half of this debt. 
 
 The laird's mother had lost her husband 
 early, and had married again. He may have 
 had a legal right, but her second husband 
 practically emptied Castle Lyon, and when the 
 young lord came to it there was not, as he has 
 told us, a bed on which to lie, and he had to 
 buy back the furniture of a room from his step- 
 father, " att a deere enough rate, and a dusone 
 of spoons, and a salt att 3 lib. the ounce, where- 
 upon my father's and mother's name were." 
 
 Lord Kinghorne says with not a little bitter- 
 ness : "I was not so much spoil'd by them 
 (English garrison) as I was by my owne father- 
 in-law " (stepfather) ; and adds, what we can now 
 better understand, " I had a verie small and a 
 verie hard beginning." 
 
 But a good brave heart beat in the breast of 
 the young St. Andrews' student, and though 
 but seventeen years of age, he set himself with 
 courage to rebuild what had been broken, 
 on the principles of just and equal dealings 
 with men. Besides himself, and perhaps a
 
 A LONGFORGAN LAIRD 1 1 5 
 
 servant, there was no one in the gloomy 
 fortalice, and the only company he had was 
 that of a little dog, " that I keeped att, and 
 brought with me from St. Andrews." Some of 
 his peeps are quaint, but none is more so, nor 
 more suggestive of his desolate surroundings 
 than this. At the midsummer market he 
 bought three horses. Till then, there was not 
 a four-footed beast about the place, except his 
 dog. A little furniture had been left at 
 Glamis after the English were gone, so the 
 " horses went from the Cars to bring it, for att 
 Glammiss I could command no carrieges, all 
 there about being wedsett ; amongst other 
 things which cam from thence were some old 
 potts and pans q ch were verie usefull, so 
 within few dayes I gott two rowmes more 
 dressed up, as a begers cloak consists of many 
 cluts of divers colors, so my furniture was verie 
 disagreeable." 
 
 A fresh brightness dawned when his sister 
 came to the castle. The two of them were 
 young, but "her companie was of great com- 
 fort." They consulted and planned together, 
 and in two years' time they had got together 
 " as much of cours furniture as in a verie mean 
 and sober way filled all the rowms of my house,
 
 n6 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 some on way, some another." His sister was 
 clever with her fingers, and under her manipula- 
 tion, with a little pewter, two suite of arras 
 hangings, and some linen from England, and a 
 few odds and ends, the castle became more 
 homelike. 
 
 About this time, still another influence came 
 to brighten it. This was his marriage. Lord 
 Kinghorne's bride was a daughter of the Earl of 
 Middleton. Than a bride from this home, 
 nothing could have seemed less promising. 
 The earl had risen from being a pikeman in 
 Hepburn's Regiment to a position of supreme 
 power in Scotland. No one lived more 
 splendidly, and none more recklessly than he. 
 But Lady Helen, who married Lord Kinghorne 
 in 1662, rewarded him with a constant affec- 
 tion. She entered with spirit into his plans 
 and trials, and seconded his efforts. The Book 
 of Record, in which he tells us all this, is full of 
 the most hearty appreciation of Lady Helen. 
 He tells with a glow of pride how, when he 
 went to Castle Lyon to put things in order as 
 best he could for her coming, his young wife 
 thought it long enough. In his own quaint 
 way he tells us of a surprise he prepared for 
 her : " Att that same time also I caused bringr
 
 A LONGFORGAN LAIRD 117 
 
 home a verie fin cabinet, the better was not in 
 the kingdome in these days, which I never told 
 my wyfe of till her coming home, and upon her 
 first comeing into her owne chamber I pre- 
 sented her with the keyes of the Cabinet." 
 Twenty-five years after, he is as enthusiastic as 
 ever about Lady Helen. " I have reason," he 
 writes, " dayly to adore and magnify the 
 name of my God, who out of his infinit 
 goodness to me, more than I deserve, and to 
 my family, has blest me with good and 
 vertewous sons and daughters, of good disposi- 
 tions and frugall and moderat as much as my 
 heart can desyre. Blessed be he who has 
 made me happy by them, and make me thank- 
 full and exemplar to them in what is good. 
 Nor can I deny the great advantage I have by 
 their mother, who's care has been of her 
 children, and to stay at home and guide w4n 
 the house her part." Elsewhere he says of his 
 marriage, "It has been verie successful." 
 
 The picture of their home love is as pleasing 
 as can be. When his eldest son was abroad, 
 the earl says that his return would be almost as 
 joyful to him as his birthday was ; and all the 
 glimpses we get of the home life, the money 
 arrangements with his wife, his wish to teach
 
 ii8 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 his daughter " a little management, and to know 
 the species of money," smaller details, like the 
 buying of sweetmeats at the marriage of his 
 niece, make up a picture that lingers gratefully 
 in the memory. 
 
 The earl had a passion for building. The 
 countess was a shrewd, practical woman. He 
 tells us naively how she induced him to make 
 his constant abode at Castle Lyon longer than 
 he had intended, " till she gott together some 
 things necessary to be had before we could 
 think of comeing to Glammiss," for she " con- 
 sidered that nothing contributs so much to the 
 destruction and utter ruine of furniture than the 
 transporting of it." So here they stayed quietly 
 the first ten years of their married life, trying 
 to get together what would entirely furnish the 
 house, and " were as much strangers to Old 
 Glammiss as if it had not been." During these 
 years his wife saw Glamis but once. 
 
 Lord Kinghorne is a fine type of one of those 
 who facilitated the passage from the ruder ways 
 of warfare to a gentler social life. Castle Lyon 
 seemed to him, at first, like a prison. He 
 wanted every person who had such houses to 
 reform them, and describes himself as much 
 addicted to a general reformation, and as one who
 
 A LONGFORGAN LAIRD 119 
 
 had " not a little propagate that humour in the 
 cuntrie where I live." His first efforts were 
 directed to Castle Lyon. His idea was to live at 
 it in summer, and at Glamis in winter. A single 
 extract will show what had to be done, and 
 what he did. " The house itselfe was extreamly 
 cold, and the hall was a vault out of q ch since 
 by the stricking thereof I have gained the 
 rowmes immediatly now above it, no access 
 there was to the upper part of the house without 
 goeing thorrow the hall, even upon the most 
 undecent occasions of Drudgerie unavoidable, to 
 be seen by all who should happne to be in that 
 rowme, nor was there any other to reteir to, 
 till the rowme w ch is off it was changed as it 
 now is, for all that time it was not above four- 
 teen feet broad." The earl had stairs and 
 rooms hewn out of the solid wall, other accom- 
 modation was added, windows were put in, and 
 as the old furniture did not suit the new rooms, 
 it was taken to Glamis, " a place not easie to 
 be filled," new things were bought for Castle 
 Lyon, so that " att this day it stands compleitly 
 furnished and verie fashionable." 
 
 Under the inspiring hand of Lord Kinghorne 
 the castle became quickly a busy centre of 
 life. The laird was interested in everything ;
 
 120 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 in the church, in which, as a heritor, he had a 
 large say ; in the people of the Churchtown ; in 
 his tenants and neighbours. He had rather a 
 poor opinion of the people at the outset. They 
 were at the time of his entry "generally ill 
 payers." This was neither owing to their own 
 poverty nor to the poverty of the land, but to 
 the fact that the tenantry at that time "were a 
 race of evill doers, desolate fellowes, and 
 mislabourers of the ground." His picture of 
 his fathers servants, whom he describes as all 
 libertines, is not more complimentary. But his 
 own keen sense of justice, his watchful eye, 
 his love of work, did wonders. He had plenty 
 of work to give in the fields about the castle, 
 which even then yielded a larger variety than 
 any other part of his domain. A little army of 
 workmen was kept going constantly. There 
 were four masons steadily working at the castle, 
 and often he had more. Then there were 
 painters (two English women painters did some 
 of his work), and plasterers, slaters, thatchers, 
 glaziers, Wrights, etc. Byres and sheep-cots 
 were erected and put in repair, wood was 
 planted, enclosing walls were built. Instead of 
 empty barns and offices, he soon had at Castle 
 Lyon a "verie considerable stock of corn and
 
 A LONGFORGAN LAIRD 
 
 cattel w ch would aryse to a great soume of 
 money." At Castle Lyon and Glamis there 
 were about a hundred oxen for ploughing and 
 work, besides cows and young cattle. Beside 
 the little dog that kept him company at St. 
 Andrews, there were a number of hounds, and 
 his horses were increasing. What with all 
 this, the payment of accounts, the disposal of 
 crops, the superintendence of improvements, 
 the earl had a busy time. Now and then a 
 barque might be seen at the Burnmouth of 
 Invergowrie with coals for the castle. The 
 payment of these had to be attended to. 
 Another time his horses might be seen crossing 
 to Glamis. In his own way the earl was a 
 bit of a merchant. He had a share (-|) in a 
 Dundee ship called the Lyon, which carried 
 grain, and brought amongst other things wood. 
 He sent some of it once on his " own adventure 
 to Norroway." In another place he tells us of 
 chartering a ship called the Providence of 
 Dundee, to carry his bear and pease to Dunkirk, 
 and perhaps French wines would be brought 
 in return. No doubt it was owing to the energy 
 of Earl Patrick that, in 1691, Longforgan and 
 Baledgarno were reported by the Visitors of 
 the Royal Burghs as trading with Dundee to
 
 122 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 the value of ^"3000. Perth reported Longfor- 
 gan as trading to the value of ^"1000 in the 
 same year. 
 
 A good many local names, both of persons 
 and places, occur in his Record, viz. Ranken 
 who was intruded into Benvie, Carstairs the 
 minister of Inchture, and Nicolson of Errol, 
 Forrester of Millhill, Ogilvy of Templehall, 
 "his nyebour Monorgon, Moreis of the Raws, 
 Ogilvy of Trottock, . . . Bulien, the Knap, 
 Lawriestone, Dron, the Byreflat in Longforgan, 
 the Burnmouth of Invergowrie, Benvie, Fowlis, 
 Millfeild." 
 
 The lairds of those days were certainly not 
 faultless. The tone of some of them was 
 anything but high, and their dealings with one 
 another were not marked always with fairness. 
 
 There are fewer peeps than we could have 
 wished of the village life. It is Earl Patrick 
 who is supposed to have erected the cross 
 which used to stand in the village, but is now 
 within the private grounds of the castle. He 
 built also several gateways between the village 
 and the castle. He named one Port-Patrick 
 after himself, which came to be corrupted into 
 Port-Patience. This is the handsome gateway 
 at the entrance to the grounds. The church is
 
 THE OLD CROSS OF LONGFORGAN. 
 
 123
 
 A LONGFORGAN LAIRD 125 
 
 mentioned several times, and he did much to 
 improve it. There were three " Brewars " in 
 the town John Lyon, Alexander Watsone, and 
 Thomas Davie. Thomas Davie seems to 
 have been the chief. It was his house that the 
 earl's masons haunted. John Lyon sold the 
 laird a horse for his stone cart for ^"53, 6s. 8d. 
 During the better half of the year, work began 
 at 5 in the morning and ended at 7 in the 
 evening. There was a pause for breakfast 
 between 8 and 9, for dinner between 12 arid 
 1.30, and for the "four-hours' drink" between 
 4 and 4.30 the afternoon tea of those days. 
 In some cases, besides, there was the morning 
 drink. Lord Kinghorne was opposed to it. 
 " I chuse much rather to pay a very full and 
 competent pryce to all kind of work men then 
 to be in use of waisting meall and malt and 
 allowing them morning drink and four hours 
 w ch was the custom long ago ; but that I 
 have worn it out of use, finding too, tho' it 
 was much, yet these kind of cattell being in 
 use of it, considered it very little." 
 
 Of rent, only a small part was paid in money, 
 most being paid in kind. It was sometimes 
 paid in labour. Andrew Wright, for instance, 
 who held the Byreflat at Longforgan, paid it
 
 126 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 by doing wright-work at Castle Lyon and 
 Glamis. Wages were usually paid in money 
 and meal. The earl both liked to give and 
 get a bounty besides. He mentions a slater, 
 who, for "thieking the new byres and sheep 
 cott att my barns of Castle Lyon," got, besides 
 his due, 3 bolls, i f. 2 p. meall of bounty. His 
 " mawers " at the castle got bounties also. What 
 he gave, he liked to get. He speaks of a bit 
 of wall which " must be taken down and rebuild 
 by them in bounty to me." 
 
 Some of his views and reflections on work 
 and workmen are curious. " I hold it as a rule 
 to agree w l workmen, so as not to have the 
 trouble of feeding them, for in some cases, if 
 they know off no employ' elsewhere, they 
 prolong the work for the benefit of having 
 their meat bound to their mouth. . . . And 
 ev'ne of masons and wrights, wher a man 
 has much adoe, it is expedient to have a 
 headsman over the rest, who must also have 
 something of this nature done to them. Tho' 
 ev'ne it's frequently losed that is done that 
 way, for they are apt enow to receive the 
 favour w'out any rebatement of the pryce of 
 ther work. And the only way not to be cheated 
 is to have no work." Now and then, the earl
 
 A LONGFORGAN LAIRD 127 
 
 rebelled at the charges that were made. He 
 delayed paying his tailor on one occasion, 
 on account of the exorbitance of the price. 
 Another debt due to his saddler was not cleared 
 for some time, " by reason of the rudness and 
 importunity of the sadler." Even of worthy 
 Andrew Wright he writes in one place, " I 
 wonder he is not ashamed " ; and Robert 
 Stratone the apothecary comes in for this blow 
 " Such accts are ridiculous, and I pray God 
 help them who have occasione to be much in 
 there books, since ther drogs and pastiles are 
 sett downe under such strange names and 
 unknown marks that they cannot be weel 
 controlled." 
 
 It was during Earl Patrick's time that Long- 
 forgan was erected into a barony the Lordship 
 of Lyon. In 1677 the earl was created first 
 Earl of Strathmore. Other honours followed. 
 He was made a member of the Privy Council 
 in 1682, and an Extraordinary Lord of Session 
 in 1686. (Judges' gowns were costly and rare. 
 " The late Argyles was sold be his son Charles 
 to my Lord Strathmoir." Cf. Letter, 1693.) 
 The earl was a keen Royalist and an Episco- 
 palian. He led the militia of Angus to the 
 west, on the outbreak of Argyle's rebellion.
 
 128 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 And his name stands along with that of Sir 
 George Kinnaird and others, on many of those 
 cruel documents that told so hardly on the 
 Covenanters. (Cf. for Strathmore's name, Com- 
 mission for raising the Highlanders (the 
 Highland Host), 1677 ; Letter to the King 
 anent Lord Car dross, 1680, etc.) He found it 
 difficult to fall in with the new regime of the 
 Prince of Orange. With several other noble- 
 men, he was anxious to resist it. But every- 
 thing, as he says, succeeded with the Prince to 
 a miracle, and so he found it wise to yield to 
 the new order. His share in these transactions 
 is regrettable, but they brought their own 
 misfortunes to him. Hopeful at one time "to 
 hough Melvill, and defeat all his Presbiterian 
 
 o 
 
 projects," he finally took the oath of allegiance 
 to the king. Unhappily, " his Book of Record " 
 closes about this time. He lived on four or 
 five years, but except through an occasional 
 glimpse, we can say little of one who, during 
 thirty years, stands out so picturesquely in the 
 life of Longforgan. 
 
 For fuller information about Earl Patrick, 
 see The Glamis Book of Record, 1684-1689, 
 edited from the Original MSS. at Glamis, by 
 A. H. Millar, F.S.A., Scot, for the Scottish
 
 A LONGFORGAN LAIRD 129 
 
 History Society. The Book of Record is full 
 of interesting personal details. Its value is 
 much enhanced by Mr. Millar's Introduction 
 and Notes. 
 
 Some curious side-lights on the life described 
 by Earl Patrick may be got in a poem by 
 W. Lithgow Scotland's Welcome to her 
 Native Sonne and Soveraigne Lord, King 
 Charles, published fifty years before The Book 
 of Record, in 1633. Amongst other things it 
 sings of the decay of good housekeeping, the 
 want of planting, the decay of schools and 
 churches, the scarcity of small moneys, the ruin 
 of castles, brokers, usurers, witches, vagabond- 
 ing Greeks, suretyship, valuations, lawyers, 
 spendthrift lairds, tenants, leases, the hurt of 
 youth, the wrong use of tithes, etc.
 
 VIII 
 THE 
 
 CHURCH, ETC.
 
 " Nor be it e'er forgotten how by skill 
 Of cloistered Architects, free their souls to fill 
 With love of God, throughout the Land were raised 
 Churches on whose symbolic beauty gazed 
 Peasant' and mail-clad Chief with pious awe ; 
 As at this day men seeing what they saw, 
 Or the bare wreck of faith's solemnities, 
 Aspire to more than earthly destinies." 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 132
 
 VIII 
 
 THE PRE-REFORMATION 
 CHURCH, ETC 
 
 WE cannot say when Longforgan village took 
 its rise, and whether it gathered itself first 
 round the church or the castle. Probably it 
 was round the church. Its name seems to 
 indicate this. There was a church before we 
 know of a castle. It was usual to speak of the 
 village as the Churchtown. Unfortunately, we 
 have no information as to the appearance of 
 the earliest church. Down to the year 1794 
 the people used to worship in what was the old 
 pre- Reformation building. It is not known, 
 exactly, when it was built. In form and 
 architecture it resembled the old church of 
 Fowlis, which makes it likely that both the 
 churches were built about the same time, and 
 by the same member of the house of Gray to 
 
 whom both estates belonged. One who used 
 
 133
 
 134 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 to worship in it last century has given us a 
 sketch of its appearance, "It was," he says, 
 "an old, long, narrow, and inconvenient build- 
 ing, consisting of two parts, and evidently built 
 at very different periods. The eastmost, which 
 belonged entirely to the estate of Castle Huntly, 
 was a substantial building, all of ashlar Kin- 
 goody stone ; and from a very handsome cross 
 on the east gavel, and several recesses of 
 hewn stone within, probably for altars, or 
 shrines of some favourite saints, it had every 
 appearance of having been the original church 
 when the Roman Catholic religion prevailed. 
 . . . The west end of the church, though appar- 
 ently older, must have been of a much later date. 
 It was a very insufficient building, of bad 
 materials." The church tower was not added 
 till 1690. 
 
 Previous to the Reformation, Longforgan 
 Church and its emoluments belonged to the 
 Priory of St. Andrews. The parish was served 
 by a resident vicar-pensioner. Benvie had a 
 rector (Rector de Benvie, Joh. Spanky, A.D. 
 1479-95); Longforgan had a vicar. There are 
 several references to the church in the Chartu- 
 lary of the Priory of St. Andrews. It is 
 mentioned in a bull of Innocent the Fourth in
 
 THE PRE-REFORMATION CHURCH, ETC. 135 
 
 1 248 ; and Martin, in the fourth year of his 
 popedom, refers to the church of Langforgrunde. 
 (Cf. p. 413, Lib. Cart., Bannatyne Club.) A 
 charter of William, Bishop of St. Andrews, 
 dated 6 Kal. Feb. 1292, exists, granting to the 
 Prior and Canons the vicarages of Forgrund in 
 Gouirryn and of Forgrund in Fyf. (Appendix, 
 p. 34.) Another is a charter of David the 
 Bishop in reference to the church of Forgrund 
 in Gouerin. This charter gives to God and to 
 the Canons of the church of St. Andrews, the 
 church of Forgrund in Gouerin, " cum decimis 
 oblationibus et terris et omnibus aliis ad dictam 
 ecclesiam de jure pertinentibus." 
 
 A little further light may be got from the 
 following entry, which gives the valuation of 
 the churches : 
 
 Goueryn. 
 
 Foulis 
 
 Forgrund 
 
 Rossinclerach 
 
 Inchethor 
 
 Kynspinedy . 
 
 Rath 
 
 Erole 
 
 De Lif 
 
 De Inuergoweryn 
 
 iii* x M a 
 
 Anegus. 
 
 (Cf. pp. 35-38.) 
 
 xv Marc. 
 
 Ix Marc, 
 xxvj M a . 
 
 Ix M a . 
 xxx M a . 
 
 x M a . 
 
 lxM a . 
 
 viij M a . 
 viij M a .
 
 136 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Still a further entry may be given from another 
 source from the valuations of all the benefices 
 of the kingdom of Scotland made by the legate 
 of the Roman Pontiff. 
 
 Gowry. 
 
 Rectoria de Dunbarny . j c xx li. 
 
 Vicaria eiusdem . . xxvj li. xiij. s. iiij d. 
 
 Rectoria de Banvy . . xxvj li. xiij. s. iiij d. 
 
 Vicaria de Langforgund . xxxiij li. vj. s. viij d. 
 (Cf. Statuta Ecclesiae Scoticanae, App. xxxiv.) 
 
 Two of the St. Andrews Synodal Statutes 
 in the fifteenth century may be referred to, as 
 shedding light on the life of the church. One 
 made it binding on every rector or vicar under 
 severe penalties to report the " name of every 
 person, of whatever condition or age, dying 
 within his parish, to the first Consistory 
 to be held after Easter, in the parish church 
 of St. Andrews for the arch-deaconry of 
 St. Andrews, in the church of St. Giles at 
 Edinburgh for the archdeaconry of Lothian." 
 This has fairly been described as laying 
 the foundation of parochial registers. (Stat. 
 Ecc. Scot., Preface, 186.) Then each priest 
 was bound to have a seal with his name for 
 the authentification of writs and citations that 
 might be sent to him.
 
 THE PRE-RE FORMATION CHURCH, ETC. 137 
 
 There are few references in historical docu- 
 ments to the church. King James III. gave a 
 charter under the Great Seal in 1471, confirm- 
 ing, for the salvation of his soul, grants made 
 to the church of St. Andrews amongst others, 
 " ecclesiam de Langforgrunt, cum terra de 
 Pilmure, et pertin, et una bovata terre in 
 Monorgunt," etc. 
 
 A charter of some local value exists, granted 
 in favour of the Perth Dominicans by the 
 Countess of Huntly, which reflects curiously 
 the life of the time. It does not refer directly 
 to the church. When the reforming spirit 
 began to show itself in Scotland, an attempt 
 was made by some of the more serious 
 Romanists to grapple with the abuses which 
 threatened to crush the church. In this, the 
 Dominican friars took a lead, and, in conse- 
 quence, won for themselves considerable favour. 
 After the death of the third Earl of Huntly, 
 the countess, who, it may be mentioned, was 
 the widow of Lord Glammis, made a grant to 
 the Dominicans of her half-lands of Littleton 
 in the barony of Longforgan, for the repose of 
 her husband's soul and of her own. The 
 charter is dated 1525. It begins so 
 
 "To all who shall see or hear this charter,
 
 138 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Elizabeth Gray, Countess of Huntly, wishes 
 salvation in Him, who is the common Saviour. 
 From the beginning of the world, the Father 
 Almighty, the universal Creator, three yet 
 always one, ordained and hath rendered holy, 
 by his laws both of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments, the nuptial band between the man and 
 the woman, and which he had strengthened 
 also by the knot of mutual friendship and 
 special love, so that the one party does not use 
 to be forgetful of the other, whether they be 
 present companions, or one of them has passed 
 from this mortal life : I, therefore, being now 
 mindful of my most beloved husband, Alex- 
 ander, late Earl of Huntly, Lord of Badenoch, 
 who conferred many benefits upon me, and 
 being also devoutly striving for the salvation of 
 his and of my soul, have determined to procure 
 the assured suffrages of pious prayers, and to 
 found, and by God's grace perpetually to 
 establish, in some religious places, sacred 
 obsequies for the augmentation of the divine 
 service ; And because among the several 
 societies, in this kingdom of Scotland, who 
 receive in common any property, such as lands 
 and annual rents, the Predicant Friars are poor, 
 promoters of religion, conforming to the
 
 THE PRE-REFORMATION CHURCH, ETC. 139 
 
 Institutes of their spiritual fathers, reformed, 
 abstaining, agreeably to their own Constitutions 
 and those of their fathers, from all kinds of 
 flesh, so that in life and doctrine they are an 
 excellent pattern to the people, I have chosen 
 that they chiefly shall perform the foresaid 
 prayers and divine obsequies." 
 
 Then follow certain conditions on which the 
 lands are given. 
 
 " The said Friars or their successors, to 
 render to me and my heirs, for satisfaction of 
 my lord superior of the said lands, two pennies 
 of the current money of Scotland on the ground 
 of the said lands, in the name of maill. Also 
 the said Friars and their successors shall be 
 bound and obliged as in law and equity they 
 may, to chant and celebrate solemnly, with a 
 memorial, in their dark blue vestments with 
 deacon, sub-deacon, and acolytes in their choir, 
 between the hours of seven and nine daily, a 
 Mass of Repose for the comfortable rest of 
 my soul, and of the soul of the late Alexander, 
 my husband, except on solemn days and 
 principal festivals, which, according to the 
 Ordinary or Calendar of the said Friars, are 
 double, on which a Mass shall be celebrated 
 for us out of the Festival, with a collect, and
 
 140 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 memoriam for our souls. Also, every year, 
 on the day of the decease of my said husband 
 namely, the i6th of January they shall 
 celebrate for our souls funeral exequies, or 
 an anniversary, with nine lessons, with due 
 solemnity." 
 
 In the event of the Friars failing to comply 
 with the conditions, they were to "resign and 
 renounce into the hands of the Lord Superior 
 for the time the said lands of Littleton," etc. 
 
 The Friars found considerable difficulty in 
 getting the land. Upon her death, which took 
 place a year or two after the gift, Lord Glammis, 
 the countess's son by her first marriage, con- 
 tested the alienation. It took about a quarter 
 of a century to settle the matter, but the Friars 
 got it. 
 
 At the Reformation, along with other pro- 
 perties belonging to St. Andrews, Longforgan 
 was annexed to the Crown. Nearly a century 
 later, in 1641, it was transferred by King 
 Charles to the magistrates of Dundee, for the 
 benefit of the burgh. Alexander Wedderburn 
 was, at the time, Town Clerk of Dundee, and 
 amongst favours which he obtained from the 
 king for the city was " a gift of the patronage 
 and tithes of the parochine of Longforgan, for
 
 THE PRE-REFORMATION CHURCH, ETC. 141 
 
 maintenance of the ministrie and other pious 
 works." Twenty years after, in 1661, the 
 Scottish Parliament confirmed the charter 
 which had been burnt at the siege of the city 
 in 1651. The Act runs: "And, moreover, 
 Our Soverane Lord, with the consent of the 
 Estates of this pnt. Parliament, ratifies, ap- 
 proves, and confirmes the Charter of Mortifica- 
 tion, granted be his Maiestie's said Royall 
 Father, of everlasting memorie, with consent 
 of his Commissioners of Exchequer therein- 
 speit, of the date the said fourteinth day of 
 September 1641, to the Provost, Bailies, 
 Councill, and Community of the forsaid burgh 
 of Dundie, and their successors, and annexed 
 and incorporated to the forsaid burgh, of the 
 tiend- shaves of all and sindrie touns, lands, 
 barns, and others whatsumever lying within 
 the paroche of Long Forgund, and Shireffdome 
 of Pearth, dispensing with the generallitie : 
 As also of the advocation, donation, and right 
 of patronage of the samen paroche kirk of 
 Long Forgund, with power to them to present 
 a sufficient minister to the forsaid kirk, and 
 modified stipend thairof, so oft as the same 
 shall vaik : which tiends and patronage his 
 Maiestie's said Royall Father dissolved from
 
 142 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 the Crown and united and annexed the samen 
 to the forsaid burgh." 
 
 This, it need not be said, was a valuable 
 source of revenue to the town ; but, as may be 
 supposed, it was not without difficulty that it 
 obtained its rights. The times were unsettled, 
 the roads were few, access was difficult ; and 
 when measures were taken to collect the tithes, 
 it proved anj'thing but easy to do so. " At an 
 early period," Mr. Maxwell writes, "the Earl of 
 Kinghorn, one of the principal heritors, entered 
 into a temporary ' contract with the town anent 
 his tithes,' but the other parochiners did not 
 pay their teind-bolls for the crop 1642, and 
 although the Council gave warrant to the 
 treasurer to agree with them ' at moderate 
 prices,' they neither paid in money nor in kind, 
 and a legal charge had to be made against 
 them for that crop. ' The laird of Monorgan 
 alleged that he had already got ane tack of his 
 teinds, which he proposed should be ratified,' 
 but the Council cautiously 'continued their 
 answer till they advise with their lawyers 
 thereanent ' ; and when he pressed ' for the 
 answer anent the renewing of his tacks,' they 
 resolved ' to entreat the Lord Fothrines ' a 
 Senator of the College of Justice 'to meet
 
 THE PRE-REFORMATION CHURCH, ETC. 143 
 
 for them in a friendly communing, and quhen 
 he shall return to the country ane day to be 
 appointed.' ... A little later, 'William 
 Bruce, tenant of the Knapp, gave a band in 
 payment of his bygone teinds, the present crop 
 being included, for five hundred merks ' ; but 
 the most of the lairds were obdurate " (History 
 of Old Dundee, pp. 448-9). The Master of 
 Gray, for example, would not hear of his 
 tenants of Littleton and Lochton paying any 
 at all. The patience of the fathers of Dundee 
 was, at length, worn out. They named two 
 of their number "to deal with the haill heritors 
 and tenants of the parochine for ane sattled 
 course for recovery of the teinds." And after 
 David Yeaman, notary, had "caused denunce 
 such of the heritors as hes been charged," 
 poinding of their produce followed. But even 
 this proceeding, as Mr. Maxwell adds, did not 
 "prove to be very effectual, for the victual 
 which was seized having been brought into 
 the burgh, it was ' wrangouslie taken upon 
 Saturday last be ane number of poor people 
 perteining to the Countess of Kinghorn and 
 Lord Brechin,' who carried it off to some place 
 of hiding. Whereupon, 'it was thought 
 expedient that the Council sail still try quhat
 
 144 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 meal can be yet gotten in secret in the town, 
 and quhat can not be gotten thereof that the 
 Lord Brechin and the Countess be dealt with 
 to share with the town.' Lord Brechin, after- 
 wards the Earl of Panmure, was father of the 
 Countess, and he about this time held the Earl 
 of Kinghorn's Perthshire estate of Castle 
 Huntly under mortgage; consequently he 
 would have an interest in the poinding and 
 recovery of the victual " (p. 450). This is not 
 the end of the tale. Failing by force to win 
 the lairds, the Council tried to persuade them, 
 and so they determined "to convene with the 
 parochiners of Longforgan, to treat concerning 
 such byrun teinds as they are awing to the 
 town, and to set them at such a heich rate as 
 may be had therefor." This, however, came 
 to nothing. The heritors would not yield, 
 and this, in spite of their being threatened 
 with "the pain of horning, and being presently 
 denuncit for non - payment." The difficulty 
 was, at length, overcome in this way. The 
 Council resolved that instead of using the 
 tithes for the ordinary purposes of the town, 
 the stipends of two of the ministers "presently 
 serving the cure of the kirk in the burgh shall 
 be providit from the teinds of Longforgan,"
 
 THE PRE-REFORMATION CHURCH, ETC. 145 
 
 and to this they were eventually destined, 
 "saving and expecting as much thereof as is 
 or sail be appointed to Mr. Alexander Mylne, 
 the present minister." The, tithes now began 
 to be paid, the Earl of Kinghorn and Colonel 
 Brown of Muirtone leading the way. One or 
 two held back, among these being the Master 
 of Gray ; but the Council " were content to 
 supersede any process against him until his 
 lady be weill." Nevertheless, they came in, 
 and so plentifully that, in addition to providing 
 for the minister of Longforgan and two ministers 
 in Dundee, it was definitely proposed to 
 support the third minister of the burgh from 
 them. 
 
 This was too much, and, fortunately, it did 
 not take place. The Civil War entailed a 
 heavy expenditure on Dundee, and involved 
 it in debt, and, to relieve the situation, the 
 Council determined "that the teinds shall be 
 sold to any of the heritors who will buy the 
 same." These were readily bought. So, in 
 a short time, the magistrates of Dundee had 
 alienated the grant of King Charles, and the 
 right of patronage passed into the hands of 
 the Earl of Strathmore, from whom it was 
 subsequently acquired by Mr. Paterson. 
 
 10
 
 146 THE PARISH OF LONGFORCAN 
 
 Earl Patrick of Strathmore makes this entry 
 in 1689: "Two years agoe I settled w l the 
 Archbishop of St. Andrews for a new Tack of 
 the Teinds of my Lands of Castle lyon for 
 the pay 1 of the former tack dutie of ^40 lib. 
 stg. yeare, and six chalders of victuall to the 
 minister of Lonforgan yearlie, I gave him bond 
 for the entry w ch was agreed upon to be tuelve 
 hundreth pounds scotts " (Glamis Book of 
 Record, p. 96). 
 
 Longforgan is now in the Presbytery of 
 Dundee. In the draft scheme of Presbyteries 
 presented to the Assembly of 1586, which con- 
 tinued " till Episcopacy came in, and, with a 
 few alterations, was standing at the Assembly, 
 1638," Langforgand appears in the Presbytery 
 of Angus and Mernes along with Dundie, 
 Maynes, Lyf (Lyphe), Inner Gowrie, Foulis, 
 Inchestare, Banvy, etc. It was only last 
 century that Forfar and Meigle were constituted 
 independent Presbyteries.
 
 IX 
 
 LIST OF 
 
 WITH BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND GLIMPSES 
 OF PARISH LIFE 
 
 147
 
 ''As for my Clergie, I affirming vow, 
 The solid trueth to God, and then to You ; 
 There are no People, nor no Land so blest 
 With Godly Preachers, and Gods word profest 
 With more sinceritie, taught, showne, and preach'd, 
 Than in my kingdome." 
 
 William Lithgow.
 
 IX 
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS OF 
 LONGFORGAN 
 
 FROM THE REFORMATION TO 1843 
 
 1. John Goodfellow 
 
 2. Nicol Spittal . 
 
 3. Robert Rynd l ... 
 
 4. James Jarden, A.M. 
 
 5. Joseph Laurie, A.M. 
 
 6. David Broune, A.M. 
 
 7. Alexander Mylne . 
 
 8. James Middiltoune . 
 
 9. Alexander Symmer, A.M. 
 
 10. David Forrester, A.M. . 
 
 1 1. Thomas Mitchell, A.M. . 
 
 Settled, 1571. 
 (Settled, 1575. 
 (Died, 1576. 
 5 Settled, 1590. 
 4 Died, 1614. 
 j Settled, 1615. 
 I Died, 1630. 
 J Settled, 1630. 
 I Trans, to Perth, 1635. 
 < Settled, 1635. 
 (Died before 1649. 
 1 Settled, 1649. 
 | Trans, to Dundee, 1661. 
 (Settled, 1 66 1. 
 }Died, 1672. 
 i Settled, 1673. 
 "(Died, 1683. 
 f Settled, 1684. 
 (Died, 1697. 
 ( Settled, 1702. 
 (Demitted, 1708. 
 
 1 Before Rynd came, Patrick Galloway of Fowlis had charge 
 of Longforgan. 
 
 149
 
 ISO THE PARISH OF LONGFORCAN 
 
 ,,Ja m es 
 
 ,3. George Lyon, A.M. 
 
 H. Adam Cairns . . . 
 
 f Settled, 1822. 
 ,5. Robert Skene Walker . J 
 
 VDied, 1854. 
 
 i. JOHN GOODEFELLOW. Settled, 1571. Prior 
 to the Reformation in 1560, he was a member 
 of the Chapter of St. Andrews. He may be 
 the same as John Gudefallo, who was minister 
 of Ben-holme. He was a friend of John Spots- 
 wood, Superintendent of Lothian. Spotswood 
 "left to the poor of the pars of Calder-Comitis., 
 xx merkis, and giffis to Johne Spotswood in 
 Blakisling, and his bairns, xli of that in the 
 hands of Johne Gudefellow, min. of Long- 
 forgan, for his help at the schulis." In Calder- 
 wood's History, iii. p. 186, Johne Guidfallow, 
 minister at Longforgunde, is named along with 
 David Robertsone at Rossy. 
 
 Literature on Goodefellow. Calderwood, iii. 
 p. 1 86; Wodrow, Biog., i. p. 350; Test. Reg. ; 
 Scott's Fasti, i. p. 174; iii. pp. 714, 857. 
 
 1 During Mr. Hodge's ministry in the time of the Rebellion, 
 1715, an Episcopal intrusion took place, and for some months 
 Mr. William Elphinston, Episcopal preacher, held the church.
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 151 
 
 2. NICOL SPITTAL. Settled, 1575. Spittal 
 was successively minister of Fowlis in Gowrie, 
 Benvie, Longibrpfan. He died at Dundee on 
 
 o o 
 
 the gth of April 1576. 
 
 Literature. Reg. Min. ; Test. Reg. ; Reg. 
 Assig. ; Wodrow, MiscelL, i. p. 353 ; M ait- 
 land, MiscelL, iii. ; Scott's Fasti, iii. pp. 712, 
 
 715. 7i9- 
 
 3. ROBERT RYND. Settled 1590. (Before 
 
 Rynd came, Patrick Galloway of Fowlis had 
 charge of Longforgan.) 
 
 Rynd's father was a somewhat celebrated 
 man in his day. His name occurs for the first 
 time in a list which was approved by the 
 General Assembly of 1560, containing "the 
 names of them quhilks the ministers and com- 
 missioners thinks most qualified for the adminis- 
 tering of the Word of God and Sacraments, 
 and reading of the commone prayers publicklie 
 in all kirks and congregations, and given up 
 by them everie one within their owne bounds." 
 
 Not long after this he was admitted first 
 Protestant minister of Kinnoull, which he held 
 along with the mastership of the Grammar 
 School of Perth. He was a staunch friend of 
 Mr. John Row of Perth, and took a large share 
 in the business of the church. He was one of
 
 152 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 those who were appointed to draw up . the 
 Second Book of Discipline, was a member of 
 no less than eight Assemblies between 1576 
 and 1597, and was one of the Commissioners 
 for the trial of the Bishop of Dunkeld. He 
 married Beatrix, a . daughter of the family of 
 Pitcairn of that ilk. He died in 16 10, at a great 
 age, and was said to have accumulated "great 
 riches," and to have made " a god of his geir." 
 
 Row describes in his History an interesting 
 interview which took place between Rynd and 
 his friend Mr. John Row, whilst the latter was 
 lying on his deathbed. 
 
 " There was one passage remarkable in. the 
 tyme of his sickness, a little before his death. 
 The master of the gramer scule, commonlie 
 callit Dominie Rynd, cam to visit him, and 
 said, ' Sir, ye hae monie small bairns, and alas ! 
 yee hae little or noe gear to leave them ; what 
 will become of them ? I fear they beg through 
 the countrie. Sir, yee have not been careful 
 to gather gear to them as yee micht, both at 
 Rome and since ye cam to Scotland/ Mr. 
 John Row turning him to the wall, lay silent a 
 pretty space, pouring out his soul to God, 
 Thereafter, turning himself, he says, ' Dominie, 
 I have been thinking on that yee wes saying to
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 153 
 
 me. I will not justifie myself, nor say I have 
 been careful eneuch to gather gear to my 
 bairnes. I think I micht, and ought to have 
 done more that way than I have done. But, 
 Dominie, I have laid over my bairnes upon 
 God, and the weil ordered covenant, for we 
 must lippen much to the auld charter " Pro- 
 videbit Dpminus." But, Dominie, let me tyme 
 about speak to you. Yee have but ae son, and 
 yee have great riches to give him ; and ye mak 
 a god of your gear ; and yee think who but 
 your onlie son my son, say yee, he will have 
 enough. But, Dominie, it fears me ye have 
 little credit, and farre less comfort be him. 
 Yea^ it may be that when my bairns, whom I 
 have laid ower upon God's gracious and all 
 sufficient Providence, may have competencie in 
 the world, your son may have much mister, and 
 beholden to some of mine, for "it is God's 
 blessing that maketh rich." ' And the event did 
 speak the fulfilling of this prophesie of the 
 dying servant of Jesus Christ, for Mr Row's 
 family were all well provydit for ; and Dominie 
 Rynd, his only rich heir, he wes minister of 
 Dron, and wes a verie prophane and dissolute 
 man ; given to drunkenness and manie evil 
 vices, so that he became verie poore ; and in
 
 154 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 his own tyme, for povertie, was forced to sell 
 his bookes to Mr. Johne Row, the schoolmaster 
 of Perth, son to Mr. John Row, minister at 
 Carnock, and grandson to him who uttered the 
 prophesie ; and after his death, his wife, for 
 povertie, turned ane gangrell poore woman, 
 selling some small wares, and often was re- 
 freshed with meat and drink in the house of 
 one of Mr. John Row, minister at Carnock, his 
 sonnes, minister of Seires, in Fife" (Row's 
 History]. 
 
 Besides Patrick, minister of Dron, William 
 Rynd had three sons in the ministry. 1 
 
 (1) Colin was minister successively at For- 
 teviot and Auchtergaven, and then for a time 
 in Ireland. He was latterly in straitened 
 circumstances, and received aid from the 
 Sessions of Kilspindie, Dron, and Aberdalgie. 
 
 (2) William was a man of some note. He 
 was the tutor and governor of John, Earl of 
 Gowrie, and went with him and his brother to 
 Padua in 1594. 
 
 After the so-called Gowrie Conspiracy in 
 1600, Rynd suffered much for his alliance with 
 that nobleman. He was " tortured in the 
 
 1 There is a confusion about Rynd's family which has not 
 been cleared up.
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 155 
 
 boots where he gott . . . chops, so that his 
 legs were crushed, and he sorely tormented, 
 but they could never extort out of him any 
 privitie or knowledge of the fact." 
 
 Like Patrick and Colin, William came to be 
 in reduced circumstances; and in 1644 the 
 Kirk Session of Cupar gave to "ane minister 
 callit Mr. William Rynd of ninety-four years 
 of aige, tua dolars." 
 
 (3) Robert, minister first of Edmam, second 
 of Merton, then of Fowlis in Gowrie, was 
 presented to Longforgan about 1590 by King 
 James VI. He was a member of the Assembly 
 in 1610. Little is known of him, but his death 
 was startling. 
 
 In the Chronicle of Perth, this entry occurs : 
 "In the toun of dundee, vpown thursday night 
 the xxix of December 1614 zeiris, Mr James 
 row, minister at Kilspindie, and Mr. Robert 
 Rynd, minister at Langforgown, lyand both in 
 ane bed within the dwelling hous of and 
 baith being veill quhen they lay down, were 
 founde vpon the morning efter, both deid." 
 
 Row and Rynd were brothers-in-law, Rynd 
 being married to Row's sister, a daughter of 
 the famous Mr. Row of Perth. Rynd died 
 leaving no provision for his family. For his
 
 156 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 son, Mr. James, a royal missive was given to 
 the Archbishop of St. Andrews, 24th Feb. 
 following, requiring his presentation to the first 
 competent living which shall fall vacant, " that 
 so he might be a meane to keep his mother, 
 brothers, and sisters from the extreme of 
 necessitie." It is more than doubtful if he 
 got one. Things, however, seem to have 
 brightened for his brother Andrew, minister 
 (first) at Alva, and (secondly) at Tillicoultry. 
 His name appears among the benefactors of 
 Glasgow University, to the building of whose 
 library he gave twenty merks. 
 
 Literature. Reg. Assig., Sec. SigiU, and 
 Pres. St. Andreivs Syn., and Test. Reg. (St. 
 And. and Edin.); Calderwood, Row's History; 
 Scott's Reformers, p. 182 and p. 257 (Orig. 
 Letter ii.) ; Scott's Fasti, \. p. 459, 529; Ibid. 
 ii. pp. 691, 740; Ibid. iii. pp. 715-719, etc.; 
 Chronicle of Perth ; Wilson's Presbytery of 
 Perth', Mun. Univ. Glasg., iii.; Wod row's 
 History ; Stevenson's. 
 
 4. JAMES JARDEN, A.M. Settled, 1615. He 
 got his degree from St. Andrews in 1606. 
 Later he studied at the New College. He 
 was presented by King James to Caerlaveroch, 
 but did not accept it. The same year, 1609,
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 157 
 
 he received presentation to Ferry- Port-on-Craig. 
 Six years later he was translated to Longforgan, 
 where he laboured for fifteen years, dying in 
 October 1630, in the twenty-first year of his 
 ministry, about the age of forty-four. Of 
 Jarden's work we know little. The very year 
 in which he was settled, a large change came 
 over the parish. In that year, 1615, Castle 
 Huntly passed from the family of Gray to that 
 of Lyon. 1623-24 was a year of great hardship 
 all over the district. The frost lasted from 
 Martinmas to the end of January, when it 
 yielded a little. It gathered again shortly 
 after. How hard it was may be judged by 
 this, that "ellewin cairtis with 21 puncheonis 
 of wyne" went up from Dundee to Perth on 
 the ice. 
 
 Literature. Reg. Sec. SigilL, and Pres. 
 Sees., St. Andrews Syn., and Test. Reg. (St. 
 And.); Bannatyne Miscell., iii. ; Scott's Fasti, ii. 
 p. 426; iii. 715. 
 
 5. JOSEPH LAURIE, A.M. Settled, 1630. 
 Laurie is a man of considerable interest. He 
 was born in Glasgow. His father was Mr. 
 Blaise Laurie, Professor of Greek in the 
 University, and "Regent there from 1583- 
 1 598." In a letter (Letters, iii. pp. 402-3, Laing's
 
 158 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Edition) to Mr. W. Douglas, Professor of 
 Divinity at Aberdeen, speaking of "famous 
 men of our University and City," Baillie names 
 " Blasius Laurentius, Mr. R. Laurie's grand- 
 father, born with us, and long a Regent in our 
 house, one of the bravest philosophs and 
 humanists of his tyme." 
 
 Joseph Laurie received his degree from 
 Glasgow in 1606, and was admitted to Kirkin- 
 tilloch before September 1613. 
 
 He brought a supplication before the Presby- 
 tery in 1617 against a reader and musician 
 named Duncan Birnet, who had called him 
 "ane dissembled hypocrite, one whose con- 
 science was so wyde, that cairtes and wains 
 micht go throw it ; ane teacher of the word 
 that was unworthie, ane beggar, and ane 
 beggar's burd, that he had als meikle silver 
 as micht buy him from the gallows ; lastlie, 
 that he would brek ( his head at the kirk of 
 Leinze." Duncan compeared and acknow- 
 ledged the slander. 
 
 About the same time we read of Laurie 
 visiting the Session of Glasgow, along with 
 Mr. Robert Boyd, "principall commissioner 
 directed for that effect," and Mr. John Black- 
 burn, and Mr. Alexander Rouatt.
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 159 
 
 Three years later, in 1620, Laurie was trans- 
 lated to Stirling. His next charge was Long- 
 forgan, to which he was presented by King 
 Charles I. Baillie calls him "an excellent 
 preacher." 
 
 During the time that Laurie was at Long- 
 forgan the castle was held by the second Earl 
 of Kinghorne. His sympathies were with the 
 men who, later, subscribed the Covenant. The 
 parish registers (births and marriages) begin in 
 Laurie's time. 
 
 He was translated to Perth in the end of 
 1634. In the account of his settlement we get 
 a good idea of the summary way in which the 
 bishops had come to exercise their jurisdiction 
 in " ordaining ministers, and admitting on their 
 own authority, with small regard either to the 
 judgment of the Presbyteries or the wishes of 
 the congregations of the Church." Here is the 
 only notice of it : 
 
 "At Perth, the fourth of May, 1635 Mr. 
 Ninian Drummond, Moderator. (The former 
 days, there was no exercise or meeting because 
 of the great storm of snow, the lyke not seen 
 in any man's remembrance living at this present.) 
 Whilk day ther was no exercise nor addition, 
 because those who were appointed were not
 
 160 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 present. Notwithstanding, the brethren who 
 were present did convene within the revestrie 
 of the Paroch Kirk to witt, Mess rs John 
 Robertson, Joseph Lawrie, minister of Perth, 
 the said Mr. Joseph being accepted before, be 
 commission of the Archbishop of St. Andrews, 
 Mr. David Weemys," etc. 
 
 Laurie did not, however, feel tied to Prelacy, 
 and took part in the measures which shortly 
 after issued in its overthrow, and in the re- 
 establishment of Presbytery as the national form 
 of church government. " On the 2Qth April, 
 1638, he took the oath against ' Budds and 
 Bryberie,' declaring that he neither was, nor 
 would be, corrupted to do anything prejudicial 
 to the freedom of the General Assembly about 
 to be held, nor to the Solemn League and 
 Covenant.'' He does not, however, seem to 
 have been so hearty as some of his friends 
 desired. Baillie writes in 1638: "In all our 
 meetings I - marvell that our tounsman, Mr. 
 Joseph Lawrie, hes never appeired : he was 
 putt out by St. Andrewes and the High Com- 
 mission from Stirling : I took him long since 
 for an excellent preacher ; he now serves at St. 
 Johnstoun ; I heard he preaches against the 
 bookes (Books of Service); yet did I never
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 161 
 
 see him in any of our conventions for thir 
 matters." 
 
 Laurie was chosen as the first Moderator of 
 the Presbytery under the new system, his 
 colleague, Mr. Robertson, having hitherto held 
 the position permanently by the voice of the 
 Archbishop. 
 
 Laurie died in 1640, at the age of fifty-four, 
 and in the twenty-seventh year of his ministry. 
 He left two sons in the ministry ; (i) Thomas of 
 Lesmahago, formerly of Robertoun ; and (2) 
 Robert, who succeeded his father. 
 
 Robert Laurie, or, as he is often called, 
 Robert Lowrie or Lawrie, had a curious history, 
 and has left his mark on more than one passage 
 of Scottish Church life. He was in his teens 
 when his father came to Longforgan, and when 
 the home was transferred to Perth had barely 
 reached his majority. Robert was a student 
 for the Church when his father was at Long- 
 forgan. The first public notice that we have 
 of him is as a reader and uptaker of the Psalms 
 in Perth. Under date, September 5, 1637, the 
 Chronicle of Perth says : " Mr. Robert lawrie 
 admittit reader and uptaker of the psalmes be 
 the prouest, baillies, and counsall, without con- 
 sent of the ministeris and elderis. Mr. John
 
 162 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 robertsone, minister, being present dissentit 
 thairfra, and depairtit, and wold haive bed the 
 full consent not onlie of the ministeris and 
 elderis, but also of the Archbishop of Sanctan- 
 drois. George bisset dissentit to his admissioun 
 as elder, and efter consentit as councellor. Mr. 
 Joseph lawrie his father compeirit not, becaus 
 his collige mr. John refussit, zit willing." 
 
 Six months later, he took a prominent part 
 in the swearing of the National Covenant at 
 Perth. Says the Chronicle'. "This (The 
 Confession of faith and bond of Covenant) wes 
 publicklie red befoir none on peax day, being 
 the xxv day of marche 1638, be mr. Robert 
 lawrie reader. Mr. Johne robertsone preachit, 
 being ane fast, and the haill kirk and congrega- 
 tioun tarie suorne thairto, be uphaulding of 
 thair hands." 
 
 Before he was ordained he acted as the Perth 
 Presbytery Clerk for two years and a half. He 
 was ordained at Perth in 1641, and remained 
 there till 1644, when he was translated to 
 Edinburgh. During his tenure of office in 
 Perth a rather interesting case arose between 
 the Town Council and the Presbytery as to its 
 jurisdiction. The following minute states the 
 case: "Perth, 3oth March, 1642. Mr. Robert
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 163 
 
 Laurie declared that the Town-Council has 
 made ane Act, ordeeining that Mr. John 
 Robertson, and he sail preach on Sunday, 
 before and afternoon, per vices, and that the 
 Council did send unto him and require him to 
 preach on Sunday before noon ; therefore he 
 craved the Presbyterie's judgment as to what 
 answer he sail give them. After consideration, 
 the brethren ordeeined him to answer. The 
 matter is ecclesiastical, and he micht delay 
 untill the Counsill shall propound the matter 
 unto the Presbyterie, and that the Presbyterie 
 consider thereof." 
 
 Laurie's first charge in Edinburgh was 
 Trinity College Church. He was translated to 
 the Tron in 1648. One of the things that 
 interested him much in Edinburgh was the 
 Metrical Version of the Psalms ; and he had a 
 share in the production of the present Scottish 
 Version of 1650. He was one of those who 
 were appointed by the General Assembly of 
 1649 to "re-examine the Paraphrase of the 
 Psalmes, and to emit the same for publicke use." 
 In 1650, Jan. i, we read: "The Commission 
 of the Assembly understanding the paines 
 Mr. Jo. Adamson, Mr. Zacharie Boyd, and 
 Mr. Ro l Lowrie have been at in the transla-
 
 164 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 tion of the Psalmes and other Scripturall Songs 
 in Meeter, and how usefull their travells have 
 been in the correcting of the Old Paraphrase of 
 the Psalmes, and in compileing the New, Doe 
 therefore return them heartie thanks for these 
 their labours, and that the Moderator shew this 
 to Mr. Jo. Adamsone, Mr. Robert Lowrie, and 
 wrytte to Mr. Zacharie Boyd to this purpose." 
 Dr. Laing says that the fact that this version 
 has continued so long in use must be attributed 
 to the care bestowed " by many learned divines 
 to render it at once a simple and faithful 
 paraphrase of the original text." Beattie says 
 of it : " And this, notwithstanding its many 
 imperfections, I cannot help thinking the 
 best." 
 
 Laurie seems to have tried the art of Zachary 
 Boyd, and to have written Scriptural Songs. 
 A minute of date 22nd Feb. 1650 runs so : 
 "The Commission understanding that Mr. 
 Ro* Lowrie has taken some paines in putting 
 the Scripturall Songs in Meter, They therefore 
 desire him to present his labours therein to the 
 Commission at their next meeting:." Laine, 
 
 O o ' 
 
 however, says : "It may be added, that in the 
 Minutes of the Commission no further notice is 
 taken either of these Scriptural Songs by Leitch
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 165 
 
 or Lowrie ; which do not appear ever to have 
 been printed." 
 
 The later notices of Laurie introduce him in 
 a somewhat different and less pleasant light. 
 
 When the Presbytery of Edinburgh petitioned 
 Parliament, in 1661, for a meeting of the 
 General Assembly in order to a settlement of 
 the church government, and in favour of 
 keeping the Covenant, he was one of those who 
 were appointed to wait on the Lord High 
 Commissioner Middleton. Before Sir Alexander 
 Durham was crowned lyon king of arms in the 
 face of Parliament in i66r, Laurie preached 
 a sermon in the House on "What shall be done 
 to the man whom the king delighteth to 
 honour ? " Next year he was translated to the 
 High Church. His sympathies had become 
 Episcopalian. He was the only, or almost the 
 only minister in Edinburgh who conformed to 
 Episcopacy, and, in consequence, got the nick- 
 name of the " Nest Egg." The same year saw 
 him presented to the Deanery. His character 
 seems to have suffered with his change. 
 Wodrow tells us that he tried to calumniate the 
 character of those who were executed for the 
 Pentland rising. " To blacken these noble 
 sufferers, Mr. Robert Lawrie, a little after
 
 1 66 , THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 their death, declared from one of the pulpits in 
 Edinburgh that they had gone down to the 
 pit with a lie in their right hand, but brought 
 no proofs of his uncharitable and unchristian 
 censure. There was indeed a cause ; he was 
 hounded out to this bitter and unjust reflec- 
 tion. Their death and the triumphant nature 
 of it had left deep impressions of the righteous- 
 ness of their cause and their own innocence ; 
 and this public calumny only left the speaker 
 under a blot, yea, the hatred and contempt of 
 many, but did no hurt to the sufferers. Indeed, 
 from the time of these repeated public execu- 
 tions, the Episcopal interest in the kingdom 
 gradually and sensibly decayed, till the prelates, 
 the chief instruments of the bloodshed, were at 
 length laid aside as a public nuisance." 
 
 In 1672, Laurie was consecrated at Holy- 
 rood Bishop of Brechin, where he continued 
 till his death, some five years later. He did 
 not altogether like Sharp's policy. In 1675 he 
 was in favour of a General Council being held, 
 but gave in to Sharp. Ramsay of Dunblane 
 stuck out a little, but had also to yield. He 
 made "more noise than Laurie the nest egg." 
 Sharp, however, gained the day. 
 
 He died, according to Wodrow, a remorseful
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 167 
 
 death. " So bitter a morsel was a bishopric to 
 many of them, that a little before his death at 
 Edinburgh, he discharged the bellman to cry 
 him by the designation of bishop, but ordered 
 himself to be cried late minister of Edinburgh." 
 
 He was a man of considerable ability and of 
 varied learning. He was counted an eloquent 
 preacher. The only thing he published was a 
 sermon, in 1660. 
 
 He died at the age of sixty-two, in the 
 thirty-seventh year of his ministry. 
 
 6. DAVID BROUNE, A.M. Settled, 1635. He 
 studied at St. Andrews, where he was 
 laureated in 1612. He was admitted to Essie 
 in 1617, whence he was translated to Long- 
 forgan in 1635. Here he laboured till 1644. 
 Beyond the fact that he had a son Patrick, and 
 two daughters Jeane and Annie, little is known 
 of him. 
 
 Broune's ministry in Longforgan fell in the 
 stirring times of the Covenant. The lord of 
 Castle Huntly was a staunch Covenanter. 
 That there were others in the parish who 
 sympathised with it strongly, may be judged 
 from the following inscription on a stone in 
 Longforgan churchyard : " Hir rests ane trev 
 covenanter, Androv Smyth, in Hvntlie, aged
 
 168 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 63, 1643. My say l to praise the lord. 
 A. S. ; E. F. Memento Mori." Was Andrew 
 Smith, the "true covenanter," a descendant 
 of the worthy matron who succoured William 
 Wallace, a still earlier champion of Scottish 
 liberty ? 
 
 It was in Broune's time, also, that the teinds 
 of Longforgan were assigned to Dundee. The 
 stipend in Longforgan was quite modest, and 
 when the tithes came to be realised, Broune 
 thought that he ought to have some augmenta- 
 tion, and so " desired that the Council would 
 tak some course in a fair way rather than that 
 he should be put to seek provision for his kirk 
 be law." This desire the Council were good 
 enough to " tak in good pairt," and they agreed 
 "to meet with him and think upon the best 
 ways for his sattling." The meeting succeeded 
 in making an arrangement for the future, but 
 when Mr. David "still desired satisfaction for 
 his stipend of 1642," the Council " continued 
 the giving answer until the next occasion." 
 The next occasion does not seem ever to have 
 come. Broune died in 1646. 
 
 7. ALEXANDER MYLNE. Settled, 1649. By 
 King Charles' charter, the burgh had now 
 the patronage of the kirk of Longforgan.
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 169 
 
 Several years passed before a settlement was 
 effected. It might be supposed that this was 
 due to irritation at the lairds and the parishioners 
 who had frowned at the rights of the town, or 
 that it was due to the greed of the burgh in 
 seeking to get the tithes for the use of the 
 common good. But the records of the city 
 show that the matter was early discussed by 
 the Council, which "considering how necessary 
 it is that the kirk be weill provided with ane 
 able and qualifeit man for serving the cure 
 there, and being informed of the literature and 
 qualification of Mr. Alexander Mylne, expectant 
 in divinity, resolved and ordained that ane 
 presentation be drawn up to him to the kirk 
 and modifest stipend." 
 
 Mylne was the son of one of the bailies. 
 He studied at St. Andrews, where he got his 
 degree in 1639. Ten years later, he was 
 admitted to Longforgan. 
 
 In 1 66 1 he was translated to the Second 
 Charge, or South Church of Dundee. He 
 died four years after, in 1665, about the age of 
 forty-seven. "He was proprietor of the town 
 and lands of Pilmore, and bequeathed to the kirk- 
 session j c xxxiii li. vi s. viij d. for behoof of the 
 poor. He marr. Agnes Fletcher, and had
 
 170 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 four sons and a daugh. Alexander served heir 
 roth Nov. 1666, James, Thomas, George, and 
 Margaret. His lady, 'of her voluntary good- 
 ness, gifted and dedicated, 24th July 1659, 
 table cloths and towels to the service of the 
 kirk of Longforgan in all tyme heir after.' ' 
 
 Alexander Mylne's father, the bailie, and 
 his brother Thomas, are both supposed to have 
 perished during the siege of Dundee in 1651, 
 the latter at the early age of twenty-two. There 
 are two stones in the Howff placed by Alexander, 
 which record in a glowing way their worth. 
 The one to his brother bears that it was put 
 up by Magister Alex. Milne, Pastor Forgonen- 
 sis (Mr. Alex. Milne, minister of Longforgan). 
 It was of Mr. Mylne that Earl Patrick borrowed 
 a bed when he came to Castle Lyon in 1660. 
 
 From Mr. Mylne the family of Mylne of 
 Mylnefield is descended. This family was known 
 as Mylne of Mylnefield from about the end of 
 the seventeenth century. The house is beauti- 
 fully situated on a rising ground a little to the 
 south of the turnpike, and nearly midway 
 between the villages of Longforgan and Inver- 
 gowrie. It has some noble trees about it, and 
 its grounds offer some of the most charming 
 views in the district. Mr. Thomas Mylne, the
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 171 
 
 laird in the second half of last century, was a 
 man of enterprise. He did a great deal to 
 improve the land, and the parks of Mylnfield 
 had a name for the sheep they reared. Since 
 then the estate has been broken up. The 
 house and surrounding policies are now the 
 property of the Misses Brand. From the style 
 of its architecture the oldest part of the house 
 is judged to be three hundred years old. 
 
 8. JAMES MIDDILTOUNE. Settled, 1661. 
 Middiltoune was ordained at Montrose in 1659, 
 whence he was translated to Longforgan in 
 1 66 1. He died in 1672, in the thirteenth year of 
 his ministry. His wife's name was Elizabeth 
 Murray, and he had a son John and a daughter 
 Helen. " His books, with utencils and abulze- 
 ments, were estimat at ii c li. Frie geir, d. d., 
 v c xxxiili. xivs. iiij d." 
 
 The most interesting episode, perhaps, in the 
 church records of the day is the baptism of 
 Earl Patrick's eldest son. A large company, 
 including the High Commissioner's wife, Lady 
 Middleton, was staying at the castle. The 
 baptism took place on the i9th May 1663. The 
 record tells how on that day John, Lord Lyon, 
 eldest lawful son to the noble and potent Earl 
 Patrick, procreat betwixt him and Dame Helen
 
 172 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Middletone his spouse, was presented by the 
 said noble Earl and baptized by Mr. Jas. 
 Middletone, our own minister, with all solemni- 
 tyes requisite. Among those present were 
 the Earls of Errol, Morton, Panmure, Sirs 
 Geo. Kinnaird, Hay of Megginch, etc. 
 
 One event of more public note in the parish 
 occurred the year in which Middiltoune died. 
 In 1672, Charles II. granted a charter in favour 
 of Earl Patrick of Strathmore, erecting Long- 
 forgan into a free burgh of barony, " with power 
 to erect and constitute bailies, burgesses, clerks, 
 officers, sergeants, etc., and to admit all kinds of 
 trades to a variety of privileges ; to have a weekly 
 market within the burgh, and to have two free 
 yearly fairs . . . each to last three days." It is 
 to be feared that Longforgan has never risen 
 to its privilege of erecting and constituting 
 bailies and burgesses. By the same charter the 
 barony of Longforgan was erected into a lord- 
 ship, to be called the Lordship of Lyon. It is 
 likely that it was at this time that the castle 
 ceased to be known as Castle Huntly and came 
 to be known as Castle Lyon, a name which it 
 bore for over one hundred years. 
 
 The feudal system was then in full force. 
 Everyone in the village was subject to the
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 173 
 
 castle. As much as three-fourths of the rent 
 was paid in kind in 1667, and part of the rest 
 in constant service. 
 
 9. ALEXANDER SYMMER, A.M. Settled, 1673. 
 He was a student at St. Andrews St. 
 Salvator's College, and received his degree in 
 1667. Having passed his trials before the 
 Presbytery, he was ordained at Longforgan on 
 the 7th May 1673. He laboured there for ten 
 years and a half, dying in October 1683, about 
 the age of thirty-six, "an young man unmarried." 
 " His books and some little plenishing were 
 estimat at j c xxxiii li. vis. viij d., drogs 
 furnished the tyme of his deceis j c li. Frie geir, 
 d. d., iiij c xcvij li." 
 
 The 8th volume of the Longforgan Session 
 Records begins with Mr. Symmer's ministry. 
 The first page is pasted down ; but, on May 8, 
 1673, we read that both sermons were preached 
 by our own minister. He seems to have been 
 a painstaking man. He took from July 1673 
 to May 1674 to overtake nine verses of the 
 First Epistle of John, which was his "ordinary." 
 He was pretty often sick, which explains the 
 large expenditure on drugs referred to. His 
 place on these occasions was frequently taken 
 by Expectants, who correspond to Probationers.
 
 174 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Rather a curious reference occurs to his absence 
 on March T, 1674 : " One sermon preached by 
 Mr. John Dunbar (the day being tempestuouss) 
 upon 20 Job 2" ver. : our own min r being 
 diuerted by y e death and buriall of ane Aunt." 
 
 There are a good many notices in the 
 Records of the School. But it does not appear 
 that they indulged their teacher. One entry, in 
 1683, runs : " Given out for four dealls to be a 
 bed to the Schoolm r , 01 : 20 : 09." 
 
 Money, however, was rather scarce. In 
 1683 "the money in the box being compted 
 amounted to 500 Merks with a 20 merk of 
 Gold." There was, notwithstanding, every 
 desire to help forward the industrious, and one 
 of the grants given was a grant to Andrew 
 Hallay, "Student att the Old Colledge in 
 St. Andrews to help to Lawreate him." 
 
 It was at this time not uncommon to bury in 
 the church. Burial in kirks, as is known, had 
 been forbidden by more than one act of the 
 Assembly. Cf. 1588, 1643. Some of the lairds, 
 however, insisted on doing what their fathers 
 had done, and broke church doors to do it. In 
 some places the practice was tacitly allowed. 
 It was so in Longforgan. 
 
 There are three payments in two years for
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 175 
 
 a burial-place in the church, one of 10 marks 
 in 1679 by "the good wife off Templehall for 
 a Libertie to burie her daughter in the Church," 
 one by Lochtown in 1681 for "a buriall place 
 for two children in the church," and another by 
 William Smith " for a buriall place to his son 
 in the church." 
 
 Mr. Symmer had his difficulties to face with 
 high and low, but he carried them through 
 successfully. One of his greatest troublers was 
 Sir Geo. Kinnaird. The head of the Inchture 
 branch of this family succeeded in 1643 m tne 
 era of the Civil War. We know from the 
 " Rentall of the County of Perth," made up in 
 1649, the extent of his patrimony in the Carse 
 and in Longforgan. We read 
 
 ''Long/organ Parish. 
 
 Laird of Inchture, for Drymmie, Whelplaw, 
 Unthank, and his part of Rawes, ^549, 6s. 8d." 
 
 When Charles II. ascended the throne, Sir 
 George got a charter under the Great Seal of 
 the lands and baronies of Forgan and Fowlis. 
 He was created Baron Kinnaird in 1682, and, 
 as has been mentioned before, his name appears, 
 along with that of Strathmore, in more than one 
 of those lamentable documents intended to crush
 
 176 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 the Covenanters. The church records prove 
 that he was anything but a high-toned man. 
 
 During Mr. Symmer's ministry the church 
 itself seems to have been in a sad condition. 
 Shortly before he died, in the summer of 1683, 
 Earl Patrick tells us that "when the roofe of 
 the Quire of the Church of Longforgane was 
 altogether ruinous, it gott a new roofe att the 
 common charge of the heritors." He adds : " I 
 took occasione att the same time to reforme my 
 loft and seat of the church and to build a roume 
 off it for a retyring place betwixt sermons " 
 (p. 36, Bk. Rec.). Part of this building still 
 exists. It is a square building standing 
 diagonally at the rear of the present church. 
 When the old church stood, it was joined to it. 
 The lower part is used as the Castle Huntly 
 burying-place. Above it was the room where 
 the laird stayed between sermons. After the 
 Strathmores left Castle Lyon, it served for a 
 time as a session-house. Earl Patrick has two 
 quaint notices in his Book of Record of the 
 payment of the work : " William Rennay in 
 Dundee hes gott towards his payment for the 
 painting (such as it is) of the roofs of the Quir 
 of Longforgone 40 lib. and a boll of meall." 
 " The Glazier's acct. of glass and weir for my
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 177 
 
 new loft at the Church of Longforgan came to 
 in about 60 lib. w ch I ordered to be payed by 
 my factor att Auchterhouse, it comprehended 
 lykwayes the repairing of some broken glass 
 windows att Castle Lyon." 
 
 Andrew Wright, Lord Strathmore's clever 
 wright, did a good deal of work at the church. 
 38 lib. was paid to a man Alison in Dundee for 
 100 dales for the church. The earl has a 
 curious entry about it : " There was 100 
 dales brought last year for the use of the 
 church the payment of which has been forgott, 
 and on alisone having undiscreetly charged my 
 servants with it who bought them who aught 
 rather first to have acquainted me, upon the 
 knowledge thereof I have immediately ordered 
 the payment by Thomas Steel in Dundee." 
 
 10. DAVID FORRESTER, A.M. Settled, 1684. 
 The Record of Sept. 7, 1684, says: "Mr. 
 David Forrester entred minister att Longforgan 
 this day. Previous to this he had been at 
 Lauder." Forrester was a student at St. 
 Andrews, where he got his degree in 1652. 
 Licensed in 1656, he went to Lauder. 
 Forrester had some difficulties at Lauder, but 
 he was successful in raising a church, and took 
 a considerable share in advocating Episcopal 
 
 12
 
 178 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 views. He was a man of position and means, 
 being proprietor of Milnhill, to which his son 
 Alexander, advocate, succeeded. (Cf. Tombs t, 
 Davidis Forrester de Milnhill.} He was also 
 a partner in the disastrous Darien Company. 
 " Mr. David Forrester, minister at Longforgen," 
 is entered in the books of the Company as 
 holding stock to the value of ^100. Several 
 local names appear in the list. Thomas Miln 
 of Miln-field held ^200; Lord Strathmore, 
 who then had Castle Huntly, ,500; Rachel 
 Zeaman, relict of Mr. George Forrester of 
 Knap, ;ioo. Of names a little further afield, 
 we find Lord Kinnaird held ^700, Duncan of 
 Lundie ^"1000, the minister of Foulis ,100, 
 and Drummond of Megginsh ,500. 
 
 The Forresters were a prominent Dundee 
 family about this time, and one of Mr. David's 
 ancestors had frequently been Provost of the 
 city. Earl Patrick of Strathmore had many 
 transactions with Alexander Forrester. Before 
 he set out for the west with his regiment, he 
 received from Alex r ffoster of Millhill 333 
 lib. 6 ss. 8 d. 
 
 There are some interesting glimpses in the 
 Session Records of the parish life during his 
 ministry. The Strathmore family occupied the
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 179 
 
 castle, and there was sometimes service at it. 
 Their influence was considerable, and we find 
 mention of the chaplain and other friends of 
 the family preaching. The present church 
 tower bears the following inscription : " Founded 
 in the year 1690, and finished of the charge of 
 Patrick Earle of Strathmore and Kinghorn, 
 Viscount Lyon, Lord Glammiss, etc. The 
 bells were giv'n by the session and the clock 
 by the frank contributions of the people." The 
 bell presently used at Invergowrie mission 
 church was brought from Lpngforgan, and 
 bears the date 1690. 
 
 It would appear that Mr. Forrester was a 
 man of vigour. One of his services was to 
 form a new Session, " since a great part of the 
 old Sessioners are dead, and they which remain 
 earnestly desire to goe of for some time at 
 least, having been so long in place, that so 
 others may have their turn." After the new 
 elders were appointed, there were ten, and in 
 special matters of importance the heritors 
 were to sit with and help them. These men 
 were told off to work. One Sabbath it was 
 intimated from the pulpit " that the Elders are 
 to look their Quarters before, after, and in time 
 of Sermon, and if any be found, as is usuall, in
 
 i8o THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 this town or elsewhere vaging abroad or 
 keeping from the Church, th'yle be brought to 
 publick censure." Sunday drinking was 
 evidently a crying evil. Not long before this, 
 it was resolved by the Session that " y e two y l 
 collect y e poors' money go through y e Brewers 
 houses of this Town of Longforgan in time of 
 Sermon." There were three at this time. It 
 may, however, be feared that the Church was 
 too little alive to the need of having nothing to 
 do with ill-timed practices. There are a good 
 many such entries as these : " Giv'n out to y e 
 Masons and Wrights this week as drink money." 
 " Giv'n for Ale at repairing y e Churchyard 
 Trees." " To the Clocksmith (for his diligence) 
 to drink." " Giv'n to y e Wrights at mounting 
 y e Sessione house as Drink-money." " To y e E: 
 of Strathmore his Cairters at y r redding y e 
 Churchyaird, as drink money." " To pay ale 
 spent at her funerall." A good many of the 
 cases of discipline arose in connection with drink. 
 The tone was rather low on the subject, which 
 may also be said in regard to cases of immorality. 
 If it did not boast of bailies, Long- 
 forgan seems, at least, to have boasted of a 
 town's piper in those days. His name was 
 Patrick Morton. He was summoned once
 
 LONGFORGAN CHURCH WITH TOWER OF 1690. 
 
 181
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 183 
 
 before the Session for drunkenness, and for 
 speaking in the church in time of worship 
 through his sleep. The piper was somewhat 
 refractory till he was summoned the third time, 
 when he " compear'd and willingly humbl'd 
 himself before y e Session for his fault in crying 
 out Who pays me in time of Sermon, and he 
 was absolv'd." 
 
 One curious entry occurs in regard to the 
 schools. Anything like private adventure was 
 frowned upon. A woman took up a school in 
 1697, but it was quickly put a stop to. "The 
 Beddalls appointed to discharge this town a 
 woman who had tak'n up a school contrair to 
 all former practise and order, and all such 
 attempts either in this town or up and down 
 y e parish are prohibite y l so y e publick be not 
 wrong'd." When Rollock, named Commissary 
 of Angus and the Carse of Gowrie in 1580, was 
 appointed to the High School of Edinburgh, 
 the burgesses were required to send their 
 children there, or "pay to Rollock a penalty 
 for each boy elsewhere instructed" (Stevens, 
 High School, p. 17). Mr. Forrester and his 
 Session seem to have been prompted in their 
 ways by kindly motives. It was once, for 
 example, enacted that henceforth no pledges
 
 1 84 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 should be taken at contracts, but only sufficient 
 caution, and that in measure from the poor, 
 "since people can scarce want their money till 
 due time of returning y m come." 
 
 Another entry is perhaps less considerate, 
 but it gives a peep into the times : " It's also 
 ordered y l no Brydegroom kiss his bryde before 
 y e Minister, under the pain of ten merk." 
 
 On the whole, we should say that the 
 minister and Session seem to have taken an 
 intelligent interest in the state of the church. 
 It is a little amusing to break up into detail 
 what we generally now slump as " Sundries." 
 One item stands : " Giv'n out this week for 600 
 nails." Another: "Giv'n to the Beddall for 
 soweing the thongs of the Bells Tongues." 
 Another : " For prins to y e fastening y e Table 
 Cloath." 
 
 One of the things that engaged a good deal 
 of attention was the clock. As already 
 mentioned, the clock was gifted by the people. 
 But it seems to have been a poor bargain, and 
 was all along a costly and a troublesome thing. 
 In 1694 there was "giv'n out to David Lyon 
 at Castle Lyon for his gilding and painting 
 y e Horologes, 65 Ib. i8s. 6 d. Shortly after, 
 we read of a fee being given to the officer for
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 185 
 
 going twice for the clocksmith, and "because 
 he's not yet come he's to be sent for again that 
 the Clock prove not useless," The follow- 
 ing amusing notice occurs in 1722. The 
 new beadle was to get & Scots for his 
 duties and 10 merks money "for waiting 
 on the clock in case it continue going." The 
 technical term seemed to be "waiting on the 
 clock," which must have been tedious, for on 
 one occasion it stood five years without going. 
 The clock was reconstructed by an "ingenious 
 self-taught carpenter" in 1878. 
 
 It may be of interest to say a little of the 
 services of the church. 
 
 Mr. Forrester had a reader associated with 
 him, called Mr. Greenhill. There were two 
 services on the Sunday. We have little 
 evidence as to how these were attended. On 
 the one hand church discipline was pretty 
 strong in the matter, but on the other there 
 are references to vaging about and loitering in 
 the brewers' houses. Forrester was determined 
 to improve Sunday observance. The beadle, a 
 worthless scamp, who was afterwards turned 
 off for " his many gross faults," was in the habit 
 of making graves on the Sabbath. That was 
 forbidden "except on case of necessity," and
 
 i86 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 an earnest attempt was made to gather the 
 people to worship. 
 
 The Communion was celebrated twice a year 
 the times, however, varied. There was 
 more than one diet. " The Communion intimated 
 this day fourth-night for y e first dyet ; this day 
 twenty days for y e last dyet." In 1678 we read 
 of the Action Sermon being appointed to begin 
 "preciselie by 9 off the clock." 
 
 The minister appointed the elders "their 
 severall places in geting about the Sacrament 
 of the Supper." 
 
 One of the entries relating to the Communion 
 may be given : 
 
 Oct. 23. 1693. 
 Given for the Communion Elements. 
 
 For Thirteen Pints of Wine . . 23 08 oo 
 
 It. for bringing it home . . . oo 07 oo 
 
 Giv'n out to pay y e Bread . . . 02 1 6 
 
 Giv'n for prineing y e Table Cloaths . oo 
 
 Giv'n to y e Beddall for his shoes . . 01 
 
 Item. To him as his Fee . . \ . 06 
 
 Occasionally in those times there was no 
 sermon, sometimes because of the minister's 
 indisposition, once during the vacancy after 
 Forrester's death on account of " the letter for 
 y e Min r who was to preach being miscaryed," 
 and now and then because " the ways were not
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 187 
 
 passible by the aboundance of snow dayly 
 falling down." Both during Mr. Symmer's 
 and Mr. Forrester's ministry, great care was 
 taken in the disposal of the church money. 
 Some of the gifts to the poor are quaintly 
 expressed. There are such entries as these : 
 " To y e Poor." " To the common poor." " To 
 our own poor." "To the ordinar Poor." "To 
 poor men at the door." " Given to a daft man." 
 " Given to a distressed Gentilewoman." "Given 
 to a distressed poor passenger." "Given to a 
 poor bodie." "Given to ane object of pitee." 
 " Given to a vagabond." Given to ane miser- 
 able object." " Given to more than an ordinary 
 beggar." " Given to 24 ordinary beggars." 
 " Given to Robert Young, a poor man, to help 
 him to buy a cow, one pound sterling." "To 
 a poor boy to buy a psalme book." " To a 
 poor boy to buy a New Testament." " To a 
 poor minister called Mr. Al. Campbell." 
 " Giv'n to Jo. Reddin, a broken Glasgow 
 Merchant who had a printed Counsell's warrant 
 to relieve him on his way." 
 
 It will be seen from the following entries 
 how cosmopolitan were the Longforgan char- 
 ities. "Given to a Grecian priest named 
 Mercury Sascurie." "To ane Irish Protestant."
 
 1 88 THE PA RISH OF L ONGFORGA N 
 
 " To a persecuted Polonian." " To a distress'd 
 Irish man." " To a professour of Tongues 
 fled from France." " To a Sea-man newly 
 plundered by y e French." And in 1695, an 
 Act was read for a collection " for y e relief of 7 
 captive Christians in Barbary." None, how- 
 ever, of the sums was deadly. More than 
 likely some of these cases were frauds. Possibly 
 the distinguished " professour of Tongues " from 
 France, who was glad to get a coin at Long- 
 forgan church, was a stowaway in one of Earl 
 Patrick's ships. And while alive to the 
 honour of a visit from a Grecian priest, the 
 mention of Mercury Sascurie recalls the lines in 
 William Lithgow's Scotland's Welcome to her 
 Native Sonne concerning vagabonding Greeks. 
 
 " There's to a needfull Cauiat, Pie set forth, 
 For eu'ry Noble Lord, and Man of worth, 
 For Bishops, Preachers, euery tovvne, and place, 
 Where vagabounding Greeks, use now to trace ; 
 Deluding and deceauing you, with leyes, 
 And Testimonials fals ; making you beleeue, 
 They must their wives, their Bairnes, or friends releive." 
 
 We have found little trace in the records of 
 anything like witchcraft. As is well known, a 
 belief in witches was widespread. Perthshire 
 was not behind the other counties in this faith. 
 There is an old rhyme, relating to the Carse,
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 189 
 
 which is said to have been used by the witches 
 as an incantation when about to supply them- 
 selves with milk from the cattle of their neigh- 
 bours. It runs 
 
 " Meares' milk, and dears' milk, 
 And every beast that bears milk, 
 Between St. Johnston and Dundee, 
 Come a' to me, come a' to me." 
 
 But that there were people in Longforgan 
 swayed by the power of witchcraft, the following 
 incident from the church records shows : 
 
 On June 28th, 1696, Jean Anderson gave in 
 a claim against Mason Gil. Blyth's wife, for 
 "scolding her and calling her a witch," and 
 that she would prove her claim laid 03!. 145. 
 ood. Two days later, Jean Morom the wife 
 was called to the Session, and " being pos'd with 
 the crime gave no direct answer, but frivoul- 
 usly replay'd if she said any such thing it was 
 more than she knew or minded of." Witnesses 
 were accordingly called, but none testified 
 except John Mitchell. He "could not mind 
 everything y l past in their scolding, but only 
 this that she said avoid Satan. So nothing 
 directly prov'n and the Session desiring peace, 
 call'd in Jean Anderson, who by the interces- 
 sion of the Elders and other friends, was
 
 igo THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 content to be at peace with her neighbour Jean 
 Morom, provyding she would humble her-self 
 before the Session and the witnesses for calling 
 her a witch, etc. To which at length the said 
 Jean condescends, and so the people about 
 call'd in with the witnesses, on her knees with 
 tears, she beg'd pardon that ever she had 
 offended God in such a manner, by calling her 
 neighbour a Witch and in pronouncing against 
 her those words : You're not gracy, avoyd 
 Satan, God be 'twixt the and me, and entreated 
 her neighbour to be reconciled with her and so 
 absolved." 
 
 On August i, 1697, there was no sermon, 
 because of the minister's indisposition. Three 
 days later we read : " Our Minister, Mr. David 
 Forrester, departed this life." Ten months 
 after, the box and Communion tokens, together 
 with the cup, "were given up by ye Min r 
 Relict," and with this the last Episcopal ministry 
 in Longforgan church may be said to have 
 closed. Mr. Forrester was in the sixty-third 
 year of his age. So far as we know, with 
 the exception of Mr. Walker, who wrote the 
 New Statistical Account of the parish, Mr. 
 Forrester has the honour of being the only 
 Longforgan minister who has done any
 
 literary work, and his book was published 
 before he came to it. 
 
 The title of his book is The Differences of 
 the Time in three Dialogues : The first, anent 
 Episcopacy ; The second, anent the obligation 
 of the Covenants against Episcopacy ; The 
 third, anent Separation : Intended for the 
 quieting the minds of people, and settling them 
 in more Peace and Unity. 
 
 It is a i2mo., printed in Edinburgh, 1679. 
 The Preface indicates its object : " Separation, 
 which is the Epidemical Disease of the Time, 
 came to such a height last Summer 1678, that 
 like a Flood it almost carried all before it, in 
 many places of the Land. These Dialogues 
 were then written. The Author, living among 
 a People who were in hazard to be draiven 
 away with the spait of the Time, thought it 
 his duty to fortifie them against the danger, by 
 letting them see the sin and unwarrantableness 
 of these dividing Practices, which were now 
 grown to be in fashion. And this, together 
 with the Activity and Concurrence of Magistrals 
 in the Place who were careful to suppress the 
 beginnings of Schism in the Bud ; was found not 
 to be in vain ; for through the blessing of God 
 that People hath hitherto stood their ground ;
 
 192 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 for which, they indeed deserve commendation ; 
 though at first sundry of them out of Novelty 
 went to field meetings, yet presently they 
 returned to the ways of Peace and Order, a 
 very few excepted." 
 
 It is a book of 225 pages. It is in the 
 dialogue form " betwixt a Doubting Person 
 and an Informer." 
 
 The ist chapter (105 pages) is an argument 
 for the lawfulness of Episcopacy, seeking at 
 the same time to prove more, from (a) Scripture, 
 (b] the most primitive times following the 
 Apostles, (c) Confessions and Concessions of 
 the ablest Protestant Divines. 
 
 The 2nd Dialogue discusses more shortly 
 the obligatoriness of the Covenants against 
 Episcopacy. And both were written to show 
 in Cap. III. that those who separated from the 
 Church did so on unsatisfactory grounds, and 
 were guilty of Schism. 
 
 The book is full of learning and quotations 
 from the Fathers and Reformed Theologians. 
 It is milder at the beginning than at the close, 
 and is marked by a good deal of special 
 pleading. It is bitter on the Field Preachers, 
 and on those who denounced and forsook the 
 Intruding Ministers.
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 193 
 
 It may be added as a further comment on 
 Forrester and his book that his name appears 
 in the list of late Episcopal ministers who 
 subscribed an address to the General Assembly 
 of 1692. The Carse, unfortunately, had too 
 many of these changelings. It was of this 
 Assembly that Dr. Arch. Pitcairne wrote his 
 fierce satire, "Babell." 
 
 On the north wall, within the present church, 
 there is a monumental slab to his memory, 
 with an inscription in Latin. It was raised by 
 his two daughters, Martha and Magdalena, and 
 speaks of him as a most faithful pastor and 
 " viri vitae integritate eruditione et orthodoxia 
 ornatissimi," i.e. "a man most highly distin- 
 guished by integrity of life, erudition, and 
 orthodoxy." 
 
 Martha and Magdalena Forrester erected 
 also in the HowfF, Dundee, a handsome tomb- 
 stone in memory of their brother, Mr. Alex. 
 Forrester de Milnhill. The Latin inscription 
 is very laudatory. He died in 1715, at the age 
 of forty-nine, and was succeeded at Millhill by 
 his brother John. 
 
 The slab in the west wall of the church bears 
 the date 1698. 
 
 1 1. THOMAS MITCHELL, A.M. Settled, 1702. 
 13
 
 194 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 At Mr. Forrester's death there was a somewhat 
 prolonged vacancy. It lasted about five years. 
 During this time a good number of ministers 
 preached at Longforgan, including John 
 Forrester of Stirling, described as a burning 
 and shining light, Lyon of Kinnettles, Lyon of 
 Tannadice, Lyon of Rescobie, evidently friends 
 of the Strathmore family, also Balvaird of 
 Kirkden, his chaplain, and the Governour to 
 the Master of Kinnaird. A week after 
 Forrester died, the elders ordered the "Clerk 
 to record y e places of y e texts in time coming." 
 Whether this was intended to discourage the 
 repetition of old sermons, we cannot say, but 
 it is interesting to know the very texts which 
 were preached upon, two hundred years ago, 
 in Longforgan. 
 
 The members of Session in those days had 
 quite a keen eye to their rights. Here is a 
 minute of Oct. 4, 1697: "It being certain 
 that Janet Murray in Milfield is contracted 
 and proclaimed w l Geo. Martin in Liff, the 
 Sess. Clerk is appointed to write to y e Min r 
 of Liff to desist in y r matter till he get a line 
 from this place showing y l all dues are pay'd 
 here." 
 
 The Earl of Strathmore took an active part
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 195 
 
 in the affairs of the kirk. It is mentioned in 
 the Presbytery Records that Mr. John Forrester 
 was asked to commune with the Earl anent 
 the planting of Longforgan. During the last 
 years things do not seem to have prospered, 
 and the church stood sorely in need of elders. 
 In 1699, Lord Strathmore wrote a letter to 
 the Presbytery asking them " to constitute an 
 eldership in the parish of Longforgan." He 
 enclosed, at the same time, a list of persons 
 whom he thought fit to be elders. Messrs. 
 Christison and Orr were appointed to examine 
 the fifteen persons named. In due time they 
 presented their report to the Presbytery. Some 
 of its details are curious. Five were absent 
 from the examination. One refused to accept 
 office. Six satisfied the examiners as to their 
 knowledge ; they owned the Confession of Faith 
 and the church government then established, 
 and kept up the worship of God in the family. 
 Three are spoken of as being weak in know- 
 ledge. Of these, one " doth not ordinarily 
 pray in his family," while another "prays with 
 his wife, but not with his family." 
 
 In 1702 the vacancy was filled by the 
 appointment of Thomas Mitchell. The facts 
 of his life are few. His first appointment was
 
 196 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 as schoolmaster at St. Martins. In 1697 he 
 was licensed by the Presbytery of Dalkeith. 
 Two years later, he was ordained at Coupar- 
 Angus, whence he was translated to Longforgan 
 in 1702. He demitted in 1708, and died in 
 1713, about the age of forty-one, in the fifteenth 
 year of his ministry. " His books were estimat 
 at vj c li., furniture, etc., ij c li., Inventar and 
 debts, ij m j c Ivli." 
 
 The only interest that belongs to Mitchell's 
 name arises in connection with his father and 
 his brother. His father was for long a minister 
 in Dundee. He was keenly interested in the 
 Quaker Question, and published (i) A 
 Dialogue between a Quaker and a Stable 
 Christian; (2) " Ane sober Answer to an 
 angry pamphlet, or a Reply to Robert Barclay's 
 Book Truth cleared of calumnies ; (3) Ane 
 Catechisme. 
 
 His brother William was a somewhat dis- 
 tinguished man. There are some interesting 
 references to him in Wodrow's Correspondence. 
 Wodrow says of him that " he was one of our 
 chief men, and singularly useful many years." 
 After Principal Carstares' death, he was recog- 
 nised as the leader of the Church, and on 
 account of his gifts as a preacher and as a
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 197 
 
 speaker, and "being perhaps the most wealthy 
 minister in Scotland, had great influence at 
 Court." In 1718 he received the thanks of 
 the General Assembly for a gift of ^100 to 
 the Society for Propagating Christian Know- 
 ledge. Mitchell has the distinction of having 
 occupied the chair of the General Assembly 
 perhaps a greater number of times than any- 
 one else. Carstares was Moderator four times, 
 Mitchell five, the last time being appointed by 
 a single vote. Wodrow says : "As I reckoned 
 it on my buttons, Mr. Mitchell had but one, 
 and I am pretty sure he had not two." There 
 are some quaint descriptions of his appearances 
 in the Assembly in Wodrow's letters to his 
 wife. On one sermon he makes a suggestive 
 comment : " This day we had an excellent 
 sermon by Mr. Mitchell, upon Zech. vi. 13, 
 upon the regal power of Christ in his church. 
 It were a pity but it were printed, but the 
 sermons that are most proper for the press do 
 not readily come there." 
 
 12. JAMES HODGE. Settled, 1709. Mr. 
 Hodge began his ministry at Mains in 1707, 
 from whence he was translated to Longforgan in 
 August 1 709, where he laboured till his death 
 in 1737.
 
 198 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 One short break took place during the 
 Rebellion in 1715. That was a troubled time 
 for more than one in the neighbourhood. The 
 godly Mr. Ramsay of Collace had his house 
 attacked by the rebels who held Perth, and 
 he was compelled to retire. But, before long, 
 the cloud lifted, and the Duke of Argyle 
 paralysed the rebel forces. During this period 
 Mr. Hodge was obliged to leave for a time. 
 His absence was a short one, but it was marked 
 by an Episcopal intrusion. This was helped 
 by the sympathies of the Strathmore family 
 being cast with the Pretender, who paid Castle 
 Huntly a flying visit in 1716. There are no 
 minutes in the Longforgan Records between 
 Sept. 4, 1715, and Feb. 19, 1716. But a 
 note says: "Observe. That in regard the 
 unhappy and unnatural rebellion headed by 
 the late Earle of Marr in favour of a Popish 
 Pretender had the entire management of this 
 
 O 
 
 Countrey ; Ministers for their safety were 
 oblidored to retire South so that we had no 
 
 o 
 
 sermon by our own Minister (Mr. William 
 Elphistoun, Episcopal Preacher intruding then 
 into the Church) untill the first Sabbath of 
 February ensueing when His Majestic King 
 George his forces under the command of
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 199 
 
 His Grace the Duke of Argile dispersed the 
 rebels and reduced this Countrey to its former 
 liberties." 
 
 A good deal of confusion and difficulty was 
 introduced by the Episcopal intrusion. Moneys 
 were unaccounted for, and parties proved false. 
 The Presbytery had to appoint that " Precentors 
 and Beddals within their bounds who did 
 officiate in these Stations in any parishes where 
 Kirks were intruded upon should be deposed." 
 John Bathie, the beadle of Longforgan, was one 
 of the offenders, and was accordingly suspended 
 from his office, but a month later was reinstated, 
 having "acknowledged his fault" and "pro- 
 fessed sorrow therefore . . . with Certification 
 to be proceeded against, if he be not more 
 cautious for the future." The schoolmaster 
 was also deprived of his office amongst other 
 things for having attended King James in 
 Dundee, and having his child baptized by an 
 Episcopal preacher. A thanksgiving service 
 for the ending of the Rebellion was held as ap- 
 pointed by Government, in June 1716, when Mr. 
 Hodge preached on the text Esther cap. ix. i. 
 
 The parish does not seem tc have been in 
 a very healthy state when Mr. Hodge was 
 settled. The Sabbath Day was much profaned
 
 200 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 by people "walking in the streets and drinking 
 in the change houses of this town in time of 
 sermon." The following entry gives a peep 
 into the sort of life which was too prevalent in 
 the Carse : 
 
 June 1716. "The Minister represented that 
 he upon the representation to him of a design 
 the herds in their bounds had ao-a-reed to meet 
 
 oo 
 
 within this parish this day (being the Lord's 
 day) in order to fight ; ordered some persons 
 to waite the place of their designed meeting, 
 in order to y r being prosecute as Profaner of 
 the Sabbath. Then the several elders told 
 that upon the same representation made to 
 them, they took care to discharge all their own 
 and neighbours' herds within this parish from 
 the said meeting. The session after enquiry 
 whose herds had been their conveened, they 
 find those only in the parishes of Erroll and 
 Inchture mett in the place to the number of 
 eightie persons, but that there was none within 
 this parish there, and these herds understand- 
 ing they were tak'n notice of, removed out 
 of the parish with their design of fighting 
 frustrate. The session taking this affair under 
 their consideration, and finding the Sabbath 
 day would be greatly profaned by such ane
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 201 
 
 unaccountable practice, judged it fit that some 
 notice be taken of these herds who came to 
 the place, and for that effect recommends to 
 the Minister to write to the Minister of Errol 
 and Inchsture thereanent." Cases of im- 
 morality were painfully common, which would 
 seem to indicate rather a low tone in the 
 parish. Mr. Hodge was resolute in dealing 
 with every form of open sin. He was strict 
 to a fault, and highly conscientious in his 
 dealings with his people. One man guilty 
 of adultery had to appear eighteen times before 
 the congregation, and, on three of those 
 occasions, in sackcloth. There were a good 
 many appearances in sackcloth about this time. 
 A person guilty of fornication had to appear 
 three times, and one who had made a relapse 
 six times ; and it was enacted in 1725 that if 
 any persons should " in time coming be found 
 guilty of antenuptial fornication, they shall be 
 liable to the same penalty with other forni- 
 cators." 
 
 One of the much frequented institutions of 
 the parish was the Stool of Repentance. 
 There are some curious references to it. 
 Andrew Deuchars the wright got 8 Ibs. in 1731 
 " for making a new stool of Repentance of his
 
 202 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 own timber and for mending seats in the 
 kirk." The same year 125. was paid "for 
 materials to colour the stool of repentance," 
 and three months later 8s. " for running in Balls 
 and for lead at y e Stool of Repentance." It 
 would seem from the Records that the Stool 
 was never empty. 
 
 In other ways things were in rather a de- 
 pressed state. Mr. Hodge had to act both as 
 Precentor and Session Clerk, and upon his 
 shoulders the big share of every matter fell. 
 Cases of discipline were both many and heavy, 
 and it now and then needed the interposition 
 of an authority like the factor of the Countess 
 of Strathmore to bring offending parties to 
 book. Two youths were summoned in 1731 
 for "fighting together and beating one another 
 in the kirk, and that in the very time of 
 worship." One of the lads objected, and the 
 factor to the Countess of Strathmore was 
 appealed to to interpose his authority and 
 oblige him to come. This countess was the 
 widow of Lord Strathmore who was killed at 
 Forfar. 
 
 One practice that prevailed during Mr. 
 Hodge's time was lending money to suitable 
 persons. Little seems ever to have been lost
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 203 
 
 in this way, though there were slight mishaps. 
 Moreover, advances were made to people for 
 special ends. A hundred marks Scots were 
 left in 1719 for the use of the poor by George 
 Greenhill, the late gardener at Castle Lyon, 
 which was given to the Presbytery Bursar. 
 Frequent mention is made of moneys " received 
 from Mr. James Duncan, professour of philo- 
 sophy in y e Old Colledge of St. Andrews " 
 in "part payment of a sum of 300 merks 
 borrowed by him from the session." Of 
 Professor Duncan's career next to nothing is 
 known. There is no complete list of Professors 
 in St. Andrews previous to the middle of last 
 century. But it appears from the Matriculation 
 Book that Duncan was Regent and Professor 
 of Philosophy in St. Salvator's College from 
 1716-17 to 1722-23 at least. These are the 
 first and last years in which his name appears. 
 
 Two or three of the entries in the Session 
 Records may be given, partly for their quaint- 
 ness and partly for the peep they give us into 
 the thoughts and the doings of Mr. Hodge 
 and his Session. 
 
 Collections were made (i) "for the Relief 
 of the widows and orphans of the fishermen in 
 the Mearns ; " (2) " for the Relief of the French
 
 204 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Protestants in Saxony and for the Scots 
 Presbyterian congregation in New York ; " 
 (3) " for William Duncane who had his house 
 brunt," and " for Francis Nicol who had his 
 horse, the mean of his livelihood, taken 
 from him ; " (4) " for the Bridge of Strone," 
 etc. 
 
 Several Fasts and Thanksgivings were held. 
 
 Oct. 1726. " For a tree to support my Lord 
 Kinnaird's loft, i, 45." "It being use and 
 wont y 4 the collections at marriages belong to 
 the precentor and church officer equally to be 
 divided betwixt them, the Session continues 
 the same." "Sold of uncurrent half -pennies, 
 etc." " Mrs. Buchan, the minister of St. 
 Kilda's relict, 12S." 
 
 Mr. Hodge was married to Margaret 
 Scrimgeour, and had five of a family a son 
 and four daughters. 
 
 One of the daughters, Jean, was married in 
 1732 to John Guthrie, younger of that ilk. 
 We read of a collection being made on the 
 Wednesday that they were kirked. One of 
 jean s descendants became wife of the Laird 
 of Mylnefield. 
 
 Mr. Hodge died Nov. 21, 1737. He was 
 much respected by his people, and has left an
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 205 
 
 example of painstaking, faithful service. Mr. 
 Hodge deserves mention also as a benefactor 
 of the poor in Longforgan, having left 400 
 merks for their benefit. Mr. Hodge was laird 
 of Bathkemmer. 
 
 Note on William Elphinston : He was 
 settled at Logic in 1687, but "was deprived 
 for not reading the Proclamation of the Estates, 
 and not praying for their majesties William 
 and Mary. He officiated as Episcopal min. 
 at Longforgan in March 1709, read the burial 
 service at the funeral of Mr. Silv. Lammie, 
 min. of Essie and Nevay, was deposed by 
 the Presb. of Dundee 26th Dec. 1716 for 
 disloyalty ; and died at Edinburgh, Qth May 
 1723. He marr. a daugh. of Mr. Andrew 
 Honyman, min. of Kinneff, had a son James, 
 author of several miscellaneous works, and a 
 daugh., who marr. Mr. William Strachan, 
 Kings Printer" (Scott's Fasti, ii. 736). 
 
 13. GEORGE LYON, A.M. Settled, 1738. 
 The. story of the vacancy at Longforgan is of 
 some interest. Not long after the death of Mr. 
 Hodge, a meeting of the elders was held, at 
 which, " taking to their consideration the 
 present desolate situation of this parish since 
 the death of their late Rev d and worthy pastor,
 
 206 
 
 and judging it their duty to contribute to the 
 speedy settlement thereof, with the consent of 
 heritors and heads of families, did and hereby 
 do appoint Alex. Jack etc . . . two of their 
 number to attend the Rev d Presbytery of 
 Dundee." They asked them to use their 
 interest with the Presbyteries of Meigle and 
 Forfar to get Mr. George Lyon and Mr. 
 Robert Maxwell, preachers of the gospel in 
 their bounds, to preach at Longforgan. 
 
 Lyon was chosen. When the heritors and 
 elders asked the Presbytery to moderate a call, 
 the famous Mr. Willison was appointed to 
 preach. Four months later, in September 1738, 
 Mr. Lyon was ordained to the parish. 
 
 A good deal of interest attaches to the name 
 of Mr. Lyon on account of his illustrious 
 ancestry and his distinguished descendants, 
 as well as on account of the long and honour- 
 able service he gave to the Church. Mr. Lyon 
 could lay claim to a " lang pedigree." He was 
 a descendant of the ancient house of De Leonne 
 in France, who attended William the Duke of 
 Normandy in his conquest of England. Nearly 
 thirty years after the battle of Hastings, about 
 1091, his son, Roger de Leonne, accompanied 
 King Edgar, the son of Malcolm Canmore, to
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 207 
 
 Scotland, and as an acknowledgment of his 
 services against Donald Bane, received Glen 
 Lyon. From him descended Sir John Lyon, 
 whose son got the Thanedom of Glamis from 
 King Robert 1 1. The Thane of Glamis married 
 the Princess Jean, King Robert's second 
 daughter. He received, further, the Barony 
 of Kinghorn, and his grandson was made a 
 peer Lord Glamis. 
 
 By his first and second sons the family 
 honours have been perpetuated. His third 
 son, William, got the lands of Ogle in the 
 county of Forfar. His descendant, George 
 Lyon of Wester Ogle, had a son William, who 
 in 1 700 was admitted minister of Airlie." (Cf. 
 Rogers' Four Perthshire Families?) This was 
 the father of Lyon of Longforgan. He died 
 in 1743, five years after his son was settled. 
 Two further facts may be mentioned about Mr. 
 Lyon's father. He was one of those who 
 dissented against the deposition of Mr. John 
 Glas, the minister of Tealing, for Independent 
 principles. Lyon lived to see the sentence 
 which was passed in 1730 removed, and Mr. 
 Glas restored " to the character of a minister 
 of the gospel of Christ," the Assembly "de- 
 claring, notwithstanding, that he is not to be
 
 208 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 esteemed a minister of the Established Church 
 of Scotland, or capable to be called and settled 
 therein, until he shall renounce the principles 
 embraced by him, that are inconsistent with the 
 constitution of this Church." Mr. Glas was the 
 founder of the body which is known as the 
 Glassites. The other fact is that Mr. Lyon of 
 Airlie was married to Agnes Glas, a sister of 
 Glas of Tealing, so that the heretic of Tealing 
 was uncle to the minister of Longforgan. 
 
 Lyon of Longforgan was connected by 
 marriage with another somewhat distinguished 
 minister of the day. His sister Jean married 
 Moncrieff of Culfargie, who was one of the 
 founders of the Associate Presbytery, and the 
 first Professor of Divinity in connection with 
 that body. 
 
 Not a great deal is known of the personal 
 history of Mr. Lyon, the subject of our sketch. 
 He is described as a man of " unimpeachable 
 character." His ministry was a long one, 
 extending from 1738 to 1793, in which year he 
 died, in his eighty-third year, and in the fifty- 
 fifth year of his ministry. The Session Records 
 that might help us to clothe his ministry with 
 flesh and blood are, unfortunately, largely 
 awanting.
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 209 
 
 The population was steadily increasing. 
 There were between forty and fifty baptisms 
 in a year, and in one decade there were no 
 less than two hundred and eighteen people in 
 the parish married. The general health was 
 good, although ague was rather common in 
 the low-lying districts. Mr. Lyon made the 
 curious observation that the hilly parts of the 
 parish were the least healthy. The same 
 remark was made of other parishes in the 
 Carse. 
 
 Dunsinane lies but a little beyond one end of 
 Longforgan. Readers of Shakespeare will 
 remember how Macbeth says 
 
 " Our castle's strength 
 
 Will laugh a siege to scorn ; here let them lie 
 Till famine and the ague eat them up." 
 
 There are traces of the plague in the century 
 preceding Lyon's time. It carried off five 
 hundred persons in Perth in 1608-9. A stone 
 used to be shown, not far from Longforgan 
 village, where a number of persons who were 
 said to have died of it were buried. The 
 tradition was common that the stone had an 
 inscription recording the fact. One who saw it 
 last century speaks of it as being then defaced. 
 
 The religious life of the parish seems to have 
 14
 
 2io THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 been marked by little movement. On the 
 whole, discipline was less strict than during 
 Mr. Hodge's ministry, but it was still main- 
 tained. The penalty for fornication was raised 
 to ,10 Scots. As an illustration of the 
 observance of Fast Days, two cases that 
 occurred in 1746 may be given. A woman 
 was sessionally rebuked for employing a man 
 to bring her lint home on the Fast Day, whilst 
 a mason and his wife were similarly charged 
 for having a cart yoked and for driving for the 
 land. In one case of discipline the interven- 
 tion of the Justice of Errol was sought. Two 
 elders were suspended for gross neglect and 
 carelessness. 
 
 The year 1 740 was a year of great distress 
 to the poor on account of a fierce storm in 
 January, and it needed all that Mr. Lyon and 
 his Session could do to cope with the "neces- 
 sitous conditions " of the people. But " his 
 charity, benevolence, and attention to the poor 
 made him eminently useful and much esteemed." 
 A contemporary proprietor in the parish pays 
 this tribute to him : " During a ministry of 
 fifty years and upwards, besides a very con- 
 scientious discharge of his duty in his official 
 capacity, his chanty, benevolence, and attention
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 211 
 
 to the poor made him extremely useful and 
 much beloved. His character was irreproach- 
 able ; he was a sincere Minister of the Gospel ; 
 a good Christian ; and an honest man." The 
 monumental slab in the northern wall of the 
 parish church was put there by his son William 
 of Ogil, and is a warm tribute to his father as 
 "an eminent pattern of piety and humility." 
 
 Mr. Lyon was a man of some means, and, in 
 addition to the glebe, farmed a good piece of 
 ground in the neighbourhood of the village. 
 
 He was twice married, first to Katharine 
 Hodge, who lived but a short time, and secondly 
 to Margaret Rodger. By her he had three sons 
 and two daughters. The best known of his 
 sons was the Rev. Dr. Lyon of Glammis, who 
 married Agnes Ramsay L'Amy, the writer of 
 " Neil Gow's Fareweel to Whisky," and other 
 pieces. " Neil Gow's Fareweel " is said to have 
 been written by her at his request to accompany 
 a tune of his own. The first verse runs 
 
 " You've surely heard o' famous Neil, 
 The man that play"d the fiddle weel ; 
 I wat he was a canty chiel, 
 
 And dearly lo'ed the whisky, O ! 
 And, aye sin' he wore the tartan trews, 
 He dearly liket Athole brose ; 
 And wae was he, you may suppose, 
 To play fareweel to whisky, O."
 
 212 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Mr. Lyon's younger daughter, Janet, married 
 Dr. Moncrieff, physician at Perth ; Margaret, 
 the elder, Principal Playfair of St. Andrews. 
 The Principal, then minister of Meigle, preached 
 in Longforgan the Sabbath after Lyon was 
 buried. 
 
 Margaret deserves more than a passing 
 notice. Besides being the wife of Principal 
 Playfair, this child of Longforgan became the 
 mother of illustrious sons, and is cherished as 
 the grandmother of still more illustrious grand- 
 sons. She is buried in St. Andrews, close by 
 the grave of Samuel Rutherford. Her son 
 
 o 
 
 George was Inspector-General of Hospitals in 
 the East India Medical Service. William was 
 a Lieutenant-Colonel of the 62nd Native Infantry 
 of India. Hugh Lyon entered the Indian 
 Military Service, and took part in " the 
 storming and capture of the fortress of 
 Ralunga." 
 
 Hugh and William returned to St. Andrews, 
 and did much to adorn their home. 
 
 Her grandsons have been still more dis- 
 tinguished 
 
 1 i) Lyon (who bears her name of Lyon), now 
 Baron Playfair. 
 
 (2) Robert Playfair, Lieutenant - Colonel,
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 213 
 
 Consul-General for Algeria, and author of 
 many considerable works. 
 
 (3) William, Physician-Accoucheur to H.I. 
 and R.H. Duchess of Edinburgh, now Duchess 
 of Saxe-Coburg. 
 
 One event of a more public kind deserves 
 notice here. It will be remembered that in 
 consequence of scanty harvests about 1770, 
 there were in several parts of the country what 
 are known as Meal Mobs. Perth was the 
 centre of the storm, but the tide of destruction 
 rolled down the Carse towards Dundee. The 
 harvest of 1772 was poor, and before the end 
 of the year meal was very scarce. The poor 
 were up in arms against the export of grain. 
 The first outbreak took place on the 2ist of 
 December, when three or four hundred men 
 from Abernethy and Newburgh met to wreak 
 their rage on a farmer at Elcho who was 
 charged with keeping back grain from the 
 market. They neither found the farmer nor 
 grain, and so they dispersed. Four days later, on 
 Christmas, rumour ran through Newburgh that 
 a vessel was being laden with corn at Errol. A 
 little army of some sixty men set out from 
 Newburgh by boat and made for Port Errol, 
 where the grain was being loaded. The crew,
 
 214 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 the Errol farmers, and their servants, managed 
 to repulse them, and when reinforcements 
 were summoned by the invaders, they repulsed 
 them again. 
 
 A fiercer encounter still took place in Perth 
 on the 3ist of the month, when the mob carried 
 everything before them. This was unfortunate. 
 News of it speedily reached Dundee, and on 
 the 4th of January a Meal Mob of several 
 hundreds " carried off from the Packhouse about 
 400 bolls of wheat and barley." For some 
 days Meal Mobs disturbed Dundee, and on 
 Friday the 8th of January a large body of 
 rioters marched to Mylnefield, the beautiful seat 
 of Mr. Mylne. Arrived there, the rioters made 
 a fierce onset on the house. The servants 
 answered bravely, but after a stubborn fight it 
 fell into the hands of the mob. Their rage was 
 wild. Part of the building was torn down, the 
 furniture of the house was flung about and 
 broken, while whatever could be seized on was 
 stolen. When the sack of Mylnefield was 
 complete, part of the mob retreated laden with 
 spoil. " By this time," as the graphic narrative 
 in the Scots Magazine of the day continues, 
 "a very great body of Carse farmers and their 
 servants, armed with muskets, cutlasses, pitch-
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 215 
 
 forks, etc., had been called out by the ringings 
 of the several parish bells, and were drawn up 
 in the neighbourhood of Mylnefield ; but as it 
 was said the mob had many of them firearms, 
 they hesitated about approaching, till they were 
 joinedby Colonel D (Duncan), who, on hear- 
 ing the bells, had most generously left his own 
 hduse with only one servant, to give his advice 
 and assistance in quieting these disorders. He 
 prevailed with the Carse folks to lay aside their 
 muskets, and led them directly on to the house 
 of Mylnefield, where was a part of the mob still 
 remaining ; of which, after a very feeble resis- 
 tance, he took a good many prisoners, and 
 dispersed the rest. This gentleman's spirited 
 behaviour in the service he has now done the 
 public, by effectually breaking the mob, can be 
 equalled only by the humanity and tenderness 
 shown to the poor misguided people, of which 
 it mostly consisted, in first getting the farmers 
 to lay aside firearms, the use of which would 
 have been very fatal ; and, after breaking the mob, 
 in preventing, as much as one man could, the 
 fury of the Carse servants, male and female, 
 from breaking out on the poor creatures of 
 prisoners, and the rest of the routed and 
 dispersed rioters.
 
 216 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 " Upon an express coming from Mylnefield, 
 informing that the mob was put to flight, the 
 magistrate who commanded the guard, marched 
 them, to the number of 130 effective men, to 
 the West Port, in order to prevent them so 
 entering the town again in a body ; but none 
 appeared, except a few stragglers, who were 
 taken into custody, and examined, and after- 
 wards dismissed, as they appeared only to 
 have gone there from an idle and ill-timed 
 curiosity." 
 
 Within a short time the power of the law 
 reasserted itself, and seventeen of the Meal Mob 
 ringleaders in Dundee were put in the town 
 prison, " whence they were conveyed to Edin- 
 burgh, bound in carts, under a strong guard of 
 military ; where they arrived on Sunday night, 
 the loth of January, and were lodged in the 
 prison of that city." Next March, six of the 
 Dundee Meal Mob rioters were indicted to 
 appear at the Justiciary Court in Edinburgh. 
 Five were outlawed for not appearing. Richard 
 Robertson, a sailor, answered. He was unani- 
 mously found guilty of having been engaged in 
 the riot at Mylnefield, and was sentenced by 
 the lords who presided, to be banished to one 
 or other of his Majesty's plantations for life.
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 217 
 
 " Upon sentence being passed, the pannel made 
 a short speech, informing the court, that he had 
 a wife and children, whose subsistence depended 
 entirely on him ; that though he did not 
 acknowledge himself guilty of any crime, yet he 
 was willing to undergo whatever punishment 
 the court should inflict upon him, however 
 severe, if they would allow him to remain at 
 home with his family, and concluded, by saying, 
 that if they did not change his sentence from 
 perpetual banishment, he would much rather be 
 hanged than submit to it." 
 
 A little later, Janet Barclay, wife of William 
 Craighead, weaver in Dundee, who was among 
 the rioters at Mylnefield, received sentence of 
 transportation for life. 
 
 This, however, is not the close of the story 
 of the sack of Mylnefield. We find the county 
 meeting held at Forfar on March 10, voting 
 the thanks of that county to Colonel Duncan 
 and the farmers in the neighbourhood who had 
 helped to quell the riot, and voting its thanks 
 also to Mr. Graham of Fintry for his spirited 
 action on that occasion. Mr. Graham had a 
 personal reason. A month later we read 
 "April 12. At Dundee, Robert Graham of 
 Fintrie, Esq. ; to Miss Peggy Mylne, second
 
 2i8 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 daughter of Thomas Mylne of Mylnefield, 
 Esq." 
 
 Whether Miss Peggy's prospects had 
 anything to do with it we cannot say, 
 but Mr. Mylne seems to have been upset 
 by the apparent slur on the kindness of his 
 heart. 
 
 The county meeting at Forfar passed this 
 resolution also : That as, from the atrocious 
 circumstances attending the unprovoked riot, 
 or rather robbery, at the house of Mr. Mylne 
 of Mylnefield, people at a distance might be led 
 to think Mr. Mylne either a corn-dealer, meal- 
 monger, or some such obnoxious person ; the 
 meeting, in justice to that gentleman's character, 
 which is, in every respect, very opposite to that 
 of a forestaller, think themselves bound, in 
 honour, to publish the following circumstances, 
 which consist with the knowledge of the 
 whole county : That Mr. Mylne never deal 
 in meal, or grain of any kind, further than 
 to dispose of the produce of his own estates ; 
 not one boll of which he ever exported ; and 
 what grain he sold this season, previous to these 
 riots, was to two brewers and a baker in 
 Dundee ; one of the parcels of barley, and all 
 the wheat, he referred the price of to the brewer
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 219 
 
 and baker who got it, and who fixed the 
 price of the barley at 145. and the wheat 
 at 2Os. ; the price of the third parcel he fixed 
 with the brewer who got it at i6s. 6d., notwith- 
 standing that, some days before, a very large 
 quantity of barley was sold in his neighbour- 
 hood at 1 8s., a circumstance which was known 
 both to him and the brewer ; which, it is 
 hoped, will plainly demonstrate that Mr. Mylne 
 had no intention of screwing up the prices of 
 grain." 
 
 The Laird of Mylnefield further brought an 
 action against the County of Perth in the Court 
 of Session for damage done by the Meal Mob. 
 A debate took place as to how much Mr. 
 Mylne was entitled to claim, and as to who 
 should pay it. The Court finally decided that 
 he was only entitled to the damage which had 
 been done to his house, and that said damage 
 should be paid for by the inhabitants of Perth- 
 shire, and levied by the Justices of the Peace. 
 
 A RETROSPECT. 
 
 It may be worth while to pause here, for a 
 moment or two, and try to picture to ourselves 
 the general condition of things in Longforgan.
 
 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 The fifty years of Lyon's ministry saw many 
 changes, and more were brewing when he 
 died. Within the last thirty years of the 
 century no less than six-sevenths of the 
 parish changed hands. Castle Huntly was 
 sold by the Strathmore family in 1777 to 
 Mr. Paterson, whose descendants still own 
 it. The new proprietor did a good deal for 
 his people. 
 
 In his General View of the Agriculture of 
 the Carse of Gowrie, 1794, Donaldson says 
 that previous to 1755 the humbler homes of the 
 Carse were " paultry and mean." Of late, 
 however, several of the proprietors have 
 expended very considerable sums in erecting 
 commodious and substantial houses for the 
 inhabitants ; and the villages of Errol, Balled- 
 garno, and Longforgan, in place of being a 
 deformity, have now become an ornament to 
 the country" (p. 21). 
 
 The earlier houses in Longforgan were very 
 lowly. They were "narrow, low-roofed, and 
 inconvenient." They were built " with turf and 
 stone, or with clay for mortar, and all thatched with 
 turf and straw." There was not a trace of lime 
 to be seen in 1777 in the houses of the village. 
 
 A good many of these houses disappeared
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 221 
 
 at this time. Mr. Paterson put up about sixty 
 new houses on his property. Those in the 
 village were a great improvement upon the old. 
 Robertson refers, in 1799, to the neatness and 
 taste of the buildings in Longforgan, Crieff, etc., 
 and speaks of these places as being almost 
 entirely new. Within walls, these houses 
 measured 28 or 30 feet by 15. They had two 
 apartments, with a window in each to the street. 
 Then there was a smaller room in the middle, 
 with a window to the back, which was used as 
 a storeroom. The door was in the centre. 
 The houses were built of stone and lime. The 
 floors were of earth or clay. The garrets were 
 laid with deal, and the houses were covered 
 with "sewed thatch of wheat-straw, tiles or 
 slates, with sky-lights." It cost to build them 
 from ^30 to ^50 apiece. A number of new 
 farmhouses were put up about the same 
 time. 
 
 The village had then some six hundred 
 inhabitants. There were three farmers in it, 
 paying rents from ^60 to ^150, and thirty-six 
 acremen paying from ^"5 to 16. Most of 
 the latter followed a trade besides, but the 
 little farm brought many a* comfort. All the 
 inhabitants, manufacturers or labourers, had
 
 222 
 
 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 gardens. The following table will give some 
 idea of the occupations of the people of the 
 parish : 
 
 Minister 
 
 Schoolmaster 
 
 Surgeon 
 
 Excise Officer 
 
 Butcher 
 
 Baker . 
 
 Brewers 
 
 Coopers 
 
 Masons 
 
 Innkeepers . 
 
 Alehouses 
 
 Lint-dressers 
 
 Gardeners 
 
 Lint-millers . 
 
 Corn-millers 
 
 Tailors 
 
 Shoemakers . 
 
 Blacksmiths . . 8 
 Wrights . . .16 
 Weavers . . .61 
 Male servants of all 
 
 denominations . 136 
 Female servants of 
 all denominations, 
 above . . . . 80 
 Farmers paying ,100 
 per annum and up- 
 wards . . -15 
 Do. paying ^50 per 
 
 annum to ^100 . 10 
 Do. from 20 to $o' 7 
 Do. from ^10 to 20 18 
 Do. from ^5 to 10 . 28 
 
 Wages were not high, but during the last 
 quarter of the century they went up rapidly. 
 
 Farm servants' wages were about ,5 in 1780. 
 
 In 1781, 
 ,, 1783, 
 1789, 
 1790, 
 
 1792, 
 *793i 
 1795, 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 O 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 7 
 
 7 
 16 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 , 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 o 
 
 , 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 5 
 
 IO 
 10 
 
 7 
 16 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Women got from ^3 to ^4, but usually got 
 a part of it in lint and cloth.
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 223 
 
 Another table will bring out the change 
 between 
 
 1777 and 1797. 
 
 Labourers got ] gjJSr ^ ^ per day ; 6d per day. 
 
 Wrights ... is. is. 8d. 
 
 Masons . . . is. 2d. 2s. 
 
 Tailors . . . 6d. with their meat is. 
 
 With rent to meet, clothing to provide, and 
 education to pay, these sums left but a small 
 margin. But a distinct improvement took 
 place about this time in the mode of living. 
 Comparatively few used butcher meat, but 
 good wholesome food was fairly plentiful, and 
 some of the lesser luxuries began to be used. 
 It is doubtful how far this change affected the 
 farm servants. Formerly, they lived with the 
 family, and "their usual food was broth made 
 of kail and barley, or grotts (unhusked oats), 
 without meat, and bannocks made of pease and 
 bean meal. Now (circa 1797) "they live apart 
 from the family in their bothie, and get what is 
 livery meal, i.e. 2 pecks of oat-meal per week, 
 and 3 choppins (quarts) of skimmed milk per 
 day." 
 
 Other changes were taking place tending to 
 the emancipation of the people. Down to 1777 
 the feudal system prevailed, though less strictly
 
 224 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 than before. In the leases which came into 
 Mr. Paterson's hands when he acquired Castle 
 Huntly, the tenantry were bound to quite a 
 number of services. Amongst other things, 
 they were thirled to a special mill. The mill 
 was that of Millhill. Originally, it belonged to 
 the family of Lyon, but it had passed out of 
 their hands. And yet, out of this evil system of 
 thirlage, the people of Longforgan, and indeed 
 all the tenants of Castle Huntly, had still to 
 grind their corn at this mill, though it was no 
 longer a part of the property. In early times, 
 when mills were few, it was a boon to the 
 tenants to have their corn ground at almost any 
 price. Thirlage was a sort of compensation for 
 building and upholding a mill, and paying the 
 wages of a miller. It is frequently spoken of 
 in leases as " doing debt to the mill." Accord- 
 ing to Robertson, the multure amounted in 
 some places to four lippies out of every sixteen 
 pecks, or about j^th part of the whole. On the 
 lands of Keithock, it is described in the 
 Register of Cupar Abbey as "the ane-and- 
 twenty corne," i.e. the twenty-first sheaf, which 
 would amount to nearly five per cent. In later 
 times, when mills increased, and, with them, 
 competition, the system of thirlage became a
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 225 
 
 heavy grievance. It was like a tax on industry. 
 To keep up its rent, the baron compelled his 
 people to grind their corn at his mill, notwith- 
 standing that there were other mills where it 
 
 o 
 
 could have been done cheaper. The millers, 
 too, took advantage of those who were thirled, 
 and proved themselves often as insolent and 
 overbearing, as they were inattentive and 
 negligent. Before the century closed, the 
 system of thirlage was past. 
 
 There were other things that were equally 
 absurd. In earlier days, the small farmers and 
 acremen had no leases at all. They were 
 simply tenants at will, and were tied down by 
 most rigid conditions; and "so little was the 
 interest of the landlord understood, or the 
 tenant regarded, that so lately, as between the 
 year 1750 and 1760, it was an established 
 custom, that the Earl of Strathmore's officers 
 (who was the proprietor at that time) actually 
 seized upon one tenth of the crop yearly, upon 
 the lands of Longforgan, as part rent, and 
 carried it, corn and fodder, off the field ; and 
 not one dared to lead a sheaf of corn till that 
 was done. Some time after, new tacks (leases) 
 were entered into, more favourable to the 
 tenant ; but, in all, still such a number of 
 15
 
 226 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 feudal services were required, as to show the 
 practice of former times, and how unwilling 
 they were to give them up ; and what is very 
 extraordinary, it was not the landlords alone 
 who were unwilling to give them up ; for in 
 the year 1782, when the present proprietor of 
 Castle Huntly proposed to convert all the 
 feudal bondages into a very moderate money- 
 rent, some very intelligent tenants were averse 
 to convert even the harvest-bondage, which of 
 all others was the most oppressive, although 
 at the moderate computation of lod. per day 
 per shearer. . . . 
 
 " The tacks (leases) entered into, between 
 1760 and 1770, with the greater tenants in this 
 parish, were in general for 38 years, to them- 
 selves, heirs, executors and assignees, with 
 power to sublet. They were all thirled to a 
 particular mill ; their restrictions were loose 
 and unguarded ; subject to bondage in harvest 
 and a certain number of carriages. . . . 
 
 o 
 
 Liferent tacks were then not uncommon ; and 
 they sometimes extended to two or three lives. 
 In some tacks (leases) a very extraordinary 
 clause was introduced ; the tenant had leave to 
 name any life he pleased during his tack (lease), 
 upon which his possession was to continue. . . .
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 227 
 
 " At this day (circa 1797) there is no thirlage ; 
 there is no bondage in harvest; nor are the 
 tenants bound to day's work in planting, etc. 
 They pay their rents in money and victual 
 only. They are not bound to go messages ; 
 and they only are bound to carry with their 
 horses and carts, a certain proportion of coals 
 for the proprietor's family, if they reside ; 
 which is exceedingly moderate, and some carts 
 for lime, etc., which is seldom demanded ; but 
 it is expressly provided, that they shall not 
 be demanded either in seed-time or harvest" 
 (Sin., Stat., xix. pp. 517-20).* 
 
 Jacobin principles had some hold in the 
 parish at the close of the century, One cause 
 of this in Longforgan, as elsewhere, was the 
 reaction of the people from the too great rigour 
 of the system under which they had been reared. 
 
 This period saw a great improvement upon 
 the land of the parish, and, indeed, of the Carse. 
 Passing glimpses that we get of earlier times 
 show that the Carse was very damp and 
 swampy. This was the case in Longforgan. 
 It is not unlikely that Monorgan is really Mon- 
 Fhorgan ; the moss or marsh (Gaelic, moine] 
 of Forgan, the " f " having dropped out through 
 aspiration. Cf. Killallan, which is Kil-Fhillan,
 
 228 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 the church of Fillan. In both cases the "h" 
 marks the genitive. Earl Patrick speaks of 
 the ground as being very marshy and swampy. 
 An amusing story is told of one of the Carse 
 lairds, who was in the habit of complaining of 
 the boorish stupidity of those whom he em- 
 ployed. The laird used to say that, if he only 
 had good clay, he thought he could make 
 better men himself. This came to the ear of 
 the people, and roused their anger. It was not 
 long before they had their revenge. One day 
 the laird got into a quagmire where he stuck. 
 He struggled to" extricate himself, but in the 
 nature of the case it was useless. At this 
 moment a peasant chanced to pass. The laird 
 cried lustily to him to help him out of the 
 quagmire. Unhappily, the swain recognised 
 him. He passed heedlessly on, willingly deaf 
 to his cries, just giving, as he passed, a knowing 
 look, and saying, " I see ye're making your 
 men, laird; I'll no' disturb ye." 
 
 "Previous to the year 1735," says Robertson 
 (Gen. View, of Agric. Perthshire, 1799, p. 63), 
 " even the fertile soil in the Carse of Gowrie 
 was astonishingly unproductive, in comparison 
 of its present state. The land was overrun in 
 many places with rushes, or disfigured with
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 229 
 
 pools of water, at that time the usual haunt of 
 lapwings ; and the whole people subject to the 
 ague. The outfield ( = unreclaimed land) was 
 cultivated as long as it produced three or four 
 bolls from the acre. The infield ( = cultivated) 
 was generally cropt in four divisions, wheat, 
 barley, oats, pease and beans. About this 
 period, some gentlemen and farmers in that 
 district diffused a spirit of improvement among 
 all ranks in their neighbourhood ; and the 
 rushes, the lapwing, and ague have now totally 
 disappeared." 
 
 The roads, too, were few and poor, and often 
 impassable. Prior to 1 790, a good part of the 
 Carse was inaccessible for nearly half the year. 
 Produce had to be delivered on horseback. 
 This made the carting of manure, etc., to the 
 farms all but impossible. The state of the 
 roads affected everything. Robertson mentions 
 how lime had been used with advantage at 
 Lauriston in Longforgan, but that the full 
 benefit was not reaped, owing to the distance 
 and scarcity of fuel, which was, of course, 
 largely due to the want of good roads (p. 33). 
 
 In 1790, the turnpike from Dundee to Perth 
 was begun. The keystone of the arch that 
 spans the Invergowrie burn at Mylnefield bears
 
 230 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 the date 1791. In addition to this, the heritors 
 of Longforgan spent some hundreds of pounds 
 in improving the cross roads. This large 
 improvement was both a cause and an effect of 
 the increasing value of land. We subjoin from 
 Sinclair's Statistical Account two or three illus- 
 trations of this increasing value : 
 
 " In 1777, the rents doubled what they were 
 in 1750, in consequence of the beginning 
 improvements in agriculture at that time." 
 
 "In 18 years more, i.e. in 1795, the value of 
 property actually doubled what it was in 1777, 
 and from the same causes, added to the 
 decreased value of money." 
 
 "About the year 1750, the best clay farms 
 were let at 53. per acre. A few years after, 
 when valued for new leases, they were supposed 
 to be overrated at IDS. In 1759, the same 
 farms were let at 175. In 1782, they rose to 
 253. In 1786, they were let at 455. And the 
 same lands would probably let now at 505. per 
 acre at least " (p. 525). 
 
 "Another estate, of about 300 acres, in 1777, 
 brought a rent of ^65, which now pays ^305, 
 besides 75 acres of very thriving plantations, 
 which were at that time not worth more than 
 2S. per acre on an average. They were valued
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 231 
 
 lately by a nurseryman at ^3375 sterling. 
 Their weedings yield about IDS. per acre per 
 annum ; and if they continue to thrive equally 
 well, may, when fifty years old, be worth four 
 times the sum" (p. 501). 
 
 There was a good deal of waste land in 
 Longforgan, where now and then a fox might 
 be seen on its way to some poultry-yard, and 
 even "a strolling red-deer," and where the cry 
 of the plover and the snipe and the heron might 
 be heard. In 1780, between the bank of Long- 
 forgan and the clay, there was a piece of 
 ground called the Latch. (A farm road there 
 is still spoken of as the Latch Road.) It 
 covered 20 acres, and was so morassy that, at 
 bits, it could not carry a horse. This was 
 improved by the digging of ditches, and twenty 
 years later, what was let in 1780 at 53. per 
 acre, was worth from 503. to ^"3. When Mr. 
 Lyon was settled in Longforgan, there was an 
 uncultivated moor of some 600 acres which ran 
 across the parish from east to west. Little 
 was to be seen on it but whin and broom. 
 This moor was divided in 1761 among the 
 adjoining proprietors of Castle Huntly and 
 Mylnefield, and is now represented by planta- 
 tion and arable land.
 
 232 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 It was about this time that the newer 
 methods of work began. The old implements 
 were giving place to new and better. Querns 
 were rapidly disappearing. It was time. Before 
 thrashing-mills were introduced, much waste 
 and embezzlement took place. The first 
 thrashing-mill in the district was introduced in 
 1788 by Mr. Paterson, who had an inventive 
 turn and was fond of experimenting. Eight 
 years later, there were fifteen ; fifty years later, 
 there were thirty-two. Except five or six on 
 high ground, which were driven by water, they 
 were all driven by horses. Steam power had 
 only been tried in one case in the Carse by 
 1838. How far we have travelled from that 
 state of things ! 
 
 The crops in Longforgan seem generally to 
 have been good, and there are the details on 
 record of great crops. One of the crops which 
 the people of Longforgan were especially 
 successful in raising, was lint. The familiar cry 
 of potato disease comes to us from last century. 
 Besides a large industry in live stock, there 
 was some bee culture, a little cheesemaking, a 
 larger quantity of butter, which found a good 
 market in Dundee. When the smaller farms 
 were merged in greater, poultry-keeping fell off
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 233 
 
 considerably. In earlier times, the lesser farmers 
 and the acremen used to pay a portion of their 
 rent in kind in fowls. This both kept up the 
 breed and met the wants of the neighbouring 
 market. In time, however, the practice ceased, 
 and this branch of work fell off. The change 
 was probably necessary, but it has taken away 
 something from the picturesqueness of our 
 country life, and when such things are dis- 
 appearing so fast, we read regretfully that 
 there were once eight dovecots or pigeon- 
 houses in the parish. One has just been pulled 
 down at Invergowrie. It must, however, be 
 said that the pigeons were destructive. 1796 
 was a trying year in the parish. It is calculated 
 that, in that year, grain equal to the mainten- 
 ance of 3000 persons was devoured by pigeons 
 in the county of Midlothian. In a parish 
 about the same size as Longforgan, with 1800 
 inhabitants, the doves of its six pigeon-houses 
 are reckoned to have eaten 120 bolls yearly. 
 Each pigeon-house consumed 20 bolls of corn. 
 It is little wonder that the farmers complained. 
 A short reference to harvesting will bring 
 this sketch to a fitting close. At this time, the 
 practice was to hire shearers for the whole 
 harvest, which lasted generally about three
 
 234 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 weeks. Wages ran between 2os. and 305. for 
 men, and between 143 and 2os. for women. 
 In 1780, the harvest cost in one farm in the 
 parish 55. per acre; in 1781, 55. 8d. ; 1782, 6s. ; 
 1783, 73. i id. Before the century closed, it 
 had gone as high as IDS. per acre. 
 
 "All the shearers get bread and beer in the 
 field, i.e. a choppin (of about an English quart) 
 of beer, and the bread of i-i4th of a peck of 
 oatmeal for breakfast ; and for dinner 3 
 mutchkins (pints) of beer, and i-i4th of a peck 
 of meal in bread ; and with some, it is also a 
 practice to get half a lippie of oatmeal every 
 night, i.e. i-8th of a peck, while the harvest 
 lasts, for their supper, which they may either 
 use or take home to their families. . . . 
 
 " It was, till very lately, the custom to give 
 what was called a Maiden Feast, upon the 
 finishing of the harvest ; and to prepare for 
 which, the last handful of corn reaped in the 
 field was called the Maiden. This was 
 generally contrived to fall into the hands of one 
 of the finest girls in the field ; was dressed up 
 in ribbands, and brought home in triumph, with 
 the music of fiddles or bagpipes. A good 
 dinner was given to the whole band, and the 
 evening spent in joviality and dancing, while
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 235 
 
 the fortunate lass who took the maiden was the 
 Queen of the feast ; after which, this handful of 
 corn was dressed out, generally in the form of 
 a cross, and hung up, with the date of the year, 
 in some conspicuous part of the house. This 
 custom is now entirely done aw r ay ; and in its 
 room to each shearer is given 6d. and a loaf 
 of bread." Sin., Stat., xix. pp. 549-50 (circa 
 
 1797). 
 
 14. ADAM CAIRNS. Settled, 1793. Cairns 
 was brought up at the parish school of 
 Temple. He was licensed in 1787. Six 
 years later, he was presented to Longforgan by 
 George III., and was ordained in September 
 1 793. The manse to which he came was built 
 in 1753, during Mr. Lyon's time. Shortly after 
 he entered the charge it got a thorough repair, 
 and "is now (1797) a most excellent convenient 
 house ; it has very good offices, all lately 
 repaired, a good garden, and is beautifully 
 situated, commanding a most extensive view 
 of the river Tay, and the rich grounds 
 below." With the house, garden, glebe, and 
 offices, the position was worth about ^150 per 
 annum. 
 
 When Cairns was settled, there was only one 
 ruling elder in the parish, and things were in
 
 236 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 the sleepy condition which the reign of 
 Moderatism had produced in Scotland. The 
 condition of the poor was not less urgent than 
 it had been. One of the entries in 1818 is as 
 follows: "The Session taking into considera- 
 tion that their Clerk, from his entry, has had 
 the marriage Pawns allowed him, and for which 
 he taught some poor Scholars ; but as the 
 necessities of the Poor are now more urgent 
 and pressing, they resolved that, in future, the 
 Pawns shall be paid into the Poors' Fund. 
 They further resolved that the said Pawns 
 shall be regulated in the following manner, viz. 
 When the Proclamation is on three Lord's 
 days, the Pawns shall be one Shilling and 
 Eight Pence. When on two Lord's days, the 
 Pawns shall be Two Shillings and one Penny. 
 And when on one Lord's day, the Pawns shall 
 be Three Shillings." The Clerk did not 
 approve of the change, and "produced letters 
 from the Session Clerks of the Parishes of 
 Fowlis Easter, Murroes, and Blairgowrie (in all 
 which Parishes he had been Schoolmaster and 
 Session Clerk), showing that the Marriage 
 Pawns had been allowed him and his Suc- 
 cessors in Office, in all these Parishes, and none 
 of the dues were given to the Poor." We
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 237 
 
 have quoted it, however, as suggesting the 
 necessitous case of the poor. 
 
 1796 was a year of much hardship. The 
 crop of 1795 was so deficient, that before 
 February, 1796, there was widespread want. 
 This was abated by the spirited action of the 
 heritors. " Mr. Mylne of Mylnefield, and Mr. 
 Wemyss of Laurieston, who had oats, took 
 charge of their own tenants ; but as Lord 
 Kinnaird and Mr. Paterson had neither oats 
 nor meal of their own, they sent from London 
 400 quarters of the best mealing English oats, 
 which they directed to be ground into meal, to 
 be sold at the Dundee market price to all of 
 their tenants who wanted, and who could afford 
 to pay ; and to those whose daily earning were 
 not sufficient to maintain themselves and family, 
 they ordered the meal to be given out weekly 
 at a reduced price, i.e. at is. per peck, and to 
 continue till next harvest ; and to the poor for 
 nothing" (Sinclair's Stat., xix. pp. 485-86). 
 The Session at the same time resolved to 
 give " their resident poor meal instead of 
 money; and to every person entitled to is. to 
 give in its place one peck of good oatmeal." 
 
 1811, long remembered in the district for its 
 comet, was as prosperous as the year 1812 was
 
 238 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 trying. " By the harvest being rainey, and by 
 an excessive Wind on a Sunday that Harvest, 
 which shook a great part of the corn that was 
 uncut, the supply of meal was very scanty, and 
 the price rose gradually from is. 6d. per Peck to 
 2S. 6d. per Peck, and at last to the great price of 
 35. per Peck, and could not be got, but with 
 difficulty at any price, so that the distresses 
 of the Poor have been, and are still, very 
 
 great. 
 
 It may be of interest to give a condensed 
 statement of the number of the "listed poor," 
 and of the amount received and expended in 
 the twenty-six years between 1790 and 1815. 
 During these years "the listed poor were 348, 
 giving an average of 1326" the greatest 
 number ever being 18. In 1838 the number 
 on the roll was 20. It is now (1895) 24. 
 
 These figures will show that there were 
 comparatively few who needed this form of 
 help, at the close of last century. It is spoken 
 of as extraordinary that there was only one 
 travelling beggar in the parish. This state of 
 things may be accounted for, by the compara- 
 tively prosperous state of the parish at this 
 time. Wages, indeed, were not high, but the 
 living was simple, and there was plenty of work.
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 239 
 
 Kingoodie quarry gave employment to a large 
 number, and so did the making of the Perth 
 and Dundee turnpike. Then there were other 
 buildings being erected. Women and children 
 could easily get work in the fields for three- 
 fourths of the year. Others had it steadily in 
 weaving. 
 
 During the same period, ^"1588, 45. 7jd. was 
 received for the poor, and ^1595, 2s. 4d. spent 
 an average of 61, 73. In 1838, ^98, 95. 
 was spent ; in 1895 the total expenditure of the 
 Parochial Board on the Registered Poor, was 
 ,129, 135. id. The sums given were very 
 modest. The twelve persons on the Session 
 list in 1795 had, on an average, less than a 
 shilling in the week. 
 
 The Poor's Fund was raised partly by 
 interest on an invested sum of ^230, partly 
 by weekly collections averaging ios., partly 
 by fees for marriages and burials, partly from 
 seat-rents, and partly by gifts and fines. A 
 few entries may be given : 
 
 "Oct. 2, 1805. To Cash from Lord Kin- 
 naird for the use of the Poor." 
 
 " Nov. 26, 1805. Funeral of the Right Hon. 
 Lord Kinnaird, ^5, 55. To Gratuity at the 
 Funeral of the Right Hon ble Lady Kinnaird,
 
 240 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 who died two days after the burial of her 
 husband, ^3, 35." 
 
 "Dec. 20, 1807. To Cash received at the 
 Funeral of Lord Gray, ^5." 
 
 "July 1 6, 1809. Received for the Poor, a 
 gift at the funeral of Charles Kinnear, tenant at 
 Inchmichael, the sum of Ten Guineas, 10, 
 los." And a like sum was given in 1802 by 
 George Paterson of Castle Huntly on the 
 death of " his lady." 
 
 Next year the laird made another donation. 
 On the 1 2th of May the castle was observed to 
 be on fire. By the exertions of the people of 
 Longforgan, the fire was prevented from de- 
 stroying more than the wing in which it broke 
 out. Mr. Paterson gave $ then. 4, 95. 
 was received from some persons who were 
 fined by the Justices for a breach of the Lord's 
 Day ; and 2, 2s. was received from Charles 
 Hunter of Dron, "as a fine from Peter 
 Falconer, Sadler in Forgan, for shooting his 
 dog." Mention is made of a fine of 6s. 8d. for 
 a private rebuke by the minister ; and another 
 of ;i, IDS. 
 
 There are two entries in 1814 of gifts by the 
 laird of Castle Huntly. The laird did not 
 forget his collection when detained from church.
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 241 
 
 ;i, iis. 6d. is entered as Mr. Paterson's collec- 
 tion, "paid up, as he has not been in church for 
 some time past, owing to distress." 
 
 The same year, a guinea was presented by 
 him, " being the amount of what the Customs 
 of the New Market or Tryst held this day in 
 Longforgan came to (this being the first year 
 Custom was taken, it being free of Custom for 
 seven years before)." This Fair or Tryst was 
 established in 1807 by Mr. Paterson, and was 
 held on the last Monday of April. Longforgan 
 had two other markets dating from 1663, one 
 on the first Wednesday of June, and another 
 on the first Wednesday of October. (Cf. Act 
 in favour of the Earl of Kinghorne for two 
 yeerlie fairs in the toun of Longforgun, Sept. 5, 
 1662.) A good deal of business used to be 
 transacted at those fairs. Farm servants were 
 engaged and cattle sold. Time has changed 
 these customs, and what is now known as 
 Forgan Market is only a shadow of what it 
 was. The markets were held at the Market 
 Knowe. This was a tumulus on the moor of 
 Forgan, "about 6 feet high, and 28 yards 
 diameter, surrounded with a ditch 10 yards 
 wide." 
 
 Three national events were celebrated 
 
 16
 
 242 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 publicly in Longforgan during Mr. Cairns' 
 ministry. The first was on the occasion of the 
 victory of his Majesty's fleet at Trafalgar, in 
 which battle Lord Nelson was killed. An 
 extraordinary collection was made for the 
 widows and families of those who fell in the 
 action, and the parish was asked to "appear 
 in mourning in token of respect for the memory 
 of Lord Nelson." When George III. died, 
 6| yards of black flannel were bought, "with 
 other necessaries, for covering the Pulpit and. 
 Desk, as a token of respect to the memory of 
 our deceased Sovereign." But the greatest 
 demonstration took place on the occasion of the 
 Jubilee of George III. in 1809. It was in- 
 timated, on October 22nd, that a thanksgiving 
 sermon would be preached, and a collection for 
 the poor made, that they may be enabled to 
 rejoice as well as others. 
 
 The following is a description of the day's 
 doings : " The day was ushered in by ringing 
 of the Bells, displaying of Flags and other 
 demonstrations of joy ; at 12 o'clock, public 
 worship began, when our minister preached a 
 suitable Sermon from i Peter ii. 1 7, ' Fear 
 God Honour the King.' After Sermon all 
 the Tenants of Castle Huntly with as many of
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 243 
 
 their families as could attend, were feasted by 
 George Paterson, Esquire, of Castle Huntly, 
 in the Garden belonging to Mr. John 
 Hume, master of the Inn, where upwards of 
 600 persons dined together. In the Inn, 
 the principal Farmers, with the Minister and 
 Schoolmasters, dined together. A Bonfire was 
 lighted up at the Cross in the evening, and two 
 Hogsheads of Porter distributed among the 
 people. The whole ended with peace, harmony, 
 and joy, without any riot or disturbance what- 
 ever." The only mishap was the rending of 
 the great bell, which was sold for ^5, and it 
 was five years before the clock went again. 
 An old residenter, who died in 1884, told me 
 that she remembered being let in, as a child, at 
 the close of the Jubilee Banquet and getting 
 cold potatoes which were to her a great 
 treat. 
 
 During Mr. Cairns' time a good deal of 
 overhauling took place. A new church was 
 built in 1 795, and most of its furnishings were 
 renewed. It may be of interest to give the 
 cost of some of these. Two new Communion 
 Flagons cost \, us. ; a Folio Pulpit Bible, 
 2, i os. ; a Psalm Book for the use of the 
 Minister in the Church, 6s. ; a Chest to hold the
 
 244 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Session Books and Papers, 1 6s. ; 1 200 Tokens 
 with the Matrices, 2, os. nd. The Beadle 
 had 2 a year ; the Precentor ^3 ; the Clerk 
 ^4. These were modest sums, but other out- 
 lays were, of necessity, higher in proportion. 
 We are reminded that Rowland Hill had not 
 done his work when we find sixpence entered 
 for the postage of a letter ; and we are inclined 
 to smile when we read of five shillings being 
 given, in 1808, as expenses to a "man who 
 came from Dundee to inform the Session that 
 Widow Gray was dead." 
 
 One of the larger changes took place in con- 
 nection with education. Till about the year 
 1800, there was but one school for the parish. 
 There was a "very tolerable" schoolhouse, 
 with a house for the master attached to it, and 
 the post was worth about ^50 a year. Mr. 
 Paterson of Castle Huntly, under whose patron- 
 age the school may be considered to have 
 been, took a lively interest in it. He paid for 
 twelve scholars whose parents were unable 
 to meet the school fees or school wages, as they 
 were called, and used to give prizes of " Bibles, 
 New Testaments, Collections, account - books, 
 pens and paper." 
 
 About the year 1800 a private school was
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 245 
 
 established in the village of Kingoodie by 
 Thomas Mylne, Esq. of Mylnefield, and another 
 in the "town " of Longforgan by Mr. Paterson, 
 the laird of Castle Huntly. In 1825, the 
 average number of scholars at Kingoodie was 
 60 ; in Mr. Paterson's school at Longforgan, 
 30. The parish school had an average of 
 60. The effect of the Education Act in in- 
 creasing the attendance of scholars has been 
 striking. There are now two schools in the 
 parish, one at Longforgan, one at Mylnefield. 
 In 1821, with a population of 1544, the average 
 attendance was 150 ; in 1895, with a population 
 of 1779, the attendance averages 297. 
 
 There are few indications of much spiritual 
 life in the parish during this time. The number 
 of communicants was high, sometimes over 
 700. But it was not an unknown thing to 
 see weavers of Kingoodie returning from 
 the Sacrament drunk. Discipline was much 
 relaxed, and it does not seem to have been 
 administered in a helpful way. The late Mr. 
 Gilfillan gives us a peep in his Journal of a 
 kind of life that, we believe, was more pre- 
 valent a hundred years ago than it is to-day : 
 " 1 5th September 1863. Was at Longforgan 
 to-day at the funeral of a child. The father's
 
 246 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 grief is great, but he consoles himself by the 
 hope of infant salvation. . . . Met a curious 
 specimen, a man eighty - nine years of age, 
 who appears seldom to have had one thought 
 above the clods, to which he is now reluctantly 
 bending. Dr. R. was once pressing him about 
 his soul, when he broke in and said, ' Eh, 
 man ! when I was young we used to sit drink- 
 ing till it was three in the morning. It was 
 fine fun.' R. gave him up in despair." There 
 are other traces of much low life. The warmest 
 religious life was to be found outside the 
 Established Church. There were about the 
 year 1800 a few Dissenting families in Long- 
 forgan belonging to the Relief, the Independ- 
 ent, the Original Secession, and the Secession 
 Churches. These numbered in all about 40 
 persons. There were 12 Episcopalians. The 
 nearest Secession place of worship was at 
 Myrekirk. On the Sabbath, some of those 
 worthies found their way there, either in a cart, 
 or both (man and wife) seated on one horse. 
 There were a good many fellowship meetings 
 held in these homes ; and it was not an un- 
 common thing for the Seceder ministers in 
 passing through the country, from place to 
 place, to put up for a night in one of the homes
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 247 
 
 of Longforgan. By this means, news of the 
 churches as well as of public events was spread, 
 and godly impressions made upon the old who 
 loved the truth, and upon the young who were 
 seeking it. 
 
 One of the better signs in the parish was the 
 support given to the Carse Bible Society. No 
 less a sum than 6, 6s. is entered on the 
 records of the Session as having being paid. 
 
 Mr. Cairns was twice married first to a 
 daughter of Mr. Miln of Kinnaird, and secondly 
 to Elizabeth Hally, who died in 1847. He 
 died himself in 1821, in the sixty-fourth year of 
 his life, and in the thirty-ninth of his ministry. 
 By his first wife, Mr. Cairns had a son who 
 was destined to occupy a position of some 
 prominence. 
 
 Adam Cairns was born at Longforgan 
 Manse, on the 3Oth January 1802. He got 
 the rudiments of education in the parish school. 
 At the age of fourteen he went to St. Andrews, 
 where he took a good place. After a fierce 
 spiritual conflict he found the light. In 1824, 
 he was licensed by the Presbytery of Cupar. 
 One of his first sermons was preached in 
 Longforgan. Thereafter he assisted for a 
 time the Rev. Sir Henry Wellwood Moncreiff,
 
 248 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 Bart. An affectionate friendship sprang up 
 between the venerable baronet and his assistant, 
 as the following incident related by Cairns will 
 show : " The late Sir Henry Moncreiff was, 
 in the best sense of the term, my father. I 
 loved him while he lived, and I venerate his 
 memory. It was my privilege to be much 
 with him during his last days and his last 
 hours. One forenoon, as his end approached, 
 he began to bewail the unworthiness of his 
 life, declaring in moving words that he had 
 been an unprofitable servant. I ventured to 
 say to him, ' Sir, you should not speak of your- 
 self in that way. Remember how much good 
 you have been enabled to do. What an ex- 
 ample you will leave for the benefit of others, 
 and especially of such as I am!' He replied 
 with all the decision of his character, ' Stop, 
 you are wrong ! I have no good thing in me ; 
 I leave you no example. I am nothing but 
 a poor dying sinner. Christ is all ! I am 
 nothing, and I leave nothing. Christ is all ! 
 I now see more clearly than ever I did before 
 the greatness of the ministry ; and had I to 
 begin life again, I would go through the whole 
 world preaching the glorious gospel, holding 
 forth Christ and Him crucified, the only refuge
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 249 
 
 and hope of the perishing. There is nothing 
 else worth living for.' ' 
 
 His first charge was at Manor, where he 
 was ordained in 1828. Five years later he 
 was translated to Dunbog, and thence to Cupar 
 in 1837. At this time the Ten Years' Conflict 
 was raging. Cairns took the N on- Intrusion 
 side, and was one of the noble band of men 
 who, rather than surrender the Crown Rights 
 of Jesus Christ, surrendered his position and its 
 emoluments when the Free Church of Scotland 
 separated from the State in 1843. After the 
 Disruption he went for a time to Gibraltar, 
 his health being poor. In 1853 he received 
 the degree of D.D. from the University of St. 
 Andrews. Demitting his charge at Cupar, 
 he sailed for Australia, and was inducted the 
 same year to Chalmers' Church, Melbourne. 
 Influential as Dr. Cairns had been at home, 
 his settlement in Melbourne was the beginning 
 of a career of nobler influence. The discovery 
 of the goldfields had drawn thousands to 
 Australia, and it was at this critical time that 
 Dr. Cairns was sent out by his Church at the 
 head of a little band of ministers, whose mission 
 was to supply the young colony with the means 
 of grace.. "This was a splendid gift to a
 
 250 
 
 young country. It would be difficult to over- 
 estimate the far-reaching good resulting from 
 it. The influence of Adam Cairns and that 
 band of men whose hearts God had touched 
 has been powerfully felt to this day as an im- 
 portant factor in the Christian civilisation of 
 Australia, and will long continue to be so 
 recognised." 
 
 It is a far call from Longforgan to Victoria, 
 but it may help us to understand the oppor- 
 tunity which had come to this son of Long- 
 forgan Manse, if we recall one or two facts 
 about the colony. Two years before he went 
 out to it, there were about 100,000 people in 
 Victoria ; three years after he settled in it, there 
 were almost 400,000. The yield of gold in 
 1853 was more than \2\ millions. The 
 average of the eight years ending 1861 was 
 nearly 10 millions, and during the thirty years 
 prior to 1881 it had produced over 202 millions. 
 When Cairns went out in 1853, he took an 
 iron house with him. It was brought out at 
 a cost of ;iooo. "As an illustration of the 
 enormous rise in wages through the gold 
 discovery, the cost of erection amounted to as 
 much as the original purchase." 
 
 It was a trial to Cairns to leave Scotland.
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 251 
 
 " It is with peculiar pain," he said in the 
 General Assembly before he left, "that I take 
 leave, as I must now do, of the Free Church 
 the Church of my heart, my affections, and my 
 hopes the Church of my country and my God." 
 But he threw himself with extraordinary spirit 
 into the work that waited him. In 1852, ten 
 churches were built; in 1853, seventy-nine. 
 His own church was built in seventeen days, 
 and everything was pushed forward with an 
 energy which was constantly reinforced by his 
 great personality. For the first twelve years 
 of his ministry in Melbourne he seldom had 
 more rest than "about four hours out of the 
 twenty-four." But his toil was Australia's 
 gain. The press was loud in his praise. One 
 of its leading organs has testified : " By his 
 marked strength and individuality of character, 
 he succeeded in rapidly bringing about a great 
 change in the prospects of his Church in Victoria. 
 His eloquence and earnestness soon won him a 
 large congregation. Mainly by his efforts the 
 union of the Presbyterian bodies was effected, 
 the Scotch College was built and carried 
 on, provision for education made, young 
 men trained for the ministry, and much 
 other important work done for the social,
 
 252 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 religious, and intellectual advancement of the 
 colony." 
 
 After twelve years' hard toil, his nervous 
 system gave way, and he returned to Scotland 
 for a time. His address to the General 
 Assembly in 1865 contains, perhaps, the best 
 account we can give of his early work, and it 
 is a noble specimen of his eloquence : " Twelve 
 years have rolled away since I bade you 
 farewell. I went with your Commission in 
 the very height of the prodigious stream of 
 emigration, to Victoria, consequent on the 
 discovery of the goldfields, to do what I could 
 to provide for the spiritual wants of our people, 
 and to co-operate with others in building up 
 our Presbyterian cause in that far distant land. 
 I have now returned, as it were, to report 
 progress to tell how your Commission has 
 fared in the hands of those to whom it was 
 confided. Well, I have seen many strange 
 and many wonderful things. I have seen a 
 city, little better than a collection of hovels, 
 built of brick, of wood, of zinc, of corrugated 
 iron, of canvas, of lath and plaster, of wattle 
 and daub, rise and expand into the form and 
 dimensions, with something of the beauty and 
 something of the splendour of a magnificent
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 253 
 
 metropolis. I have seen a state of social 
 anarchy and utter confusion give place to one 
 of order and comfort the certain proof of a 
 thriving and, I hope, upon the whole, a very 
 promising young commonwealth. I have seen 
 a population of 70,000 or 80,000 multiplied 
 eight times. I have seen a country, whose 
 only roads were bush-tracts, intersected with 
 railways of admirable construction. I have 
 witnessed, also, the origin and development of 
 those philanthropic institutions which attend 
 the progress of Christian civilisation ; hospitals 
 for the sick and maimed ; refuges for the 
 destitute and helpless ; asylums for the orphan 
 and stranger, the deaf and dumb, etc. I have 
 assisted at the setting up and establishing of a 
 system of common schools, which has ripened 
 into a liberally supported educational system, 
 almost commensurate with the necessities of 
 the population. Alongside of this national 
 scheme for the education of all, there are well- 
 appointed and ably-conducted grammar schools, 
 of which the most popular and most prosperous 
 is our own Scotch College, under the efficient 
 management of Mr. Morrison. And this 
 educational edifice is crowned, as it ought to 
 be, with a university, built at great cost, with a
 
 254 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 competent staff of professors, with ample means, 
 and very considerable pretensions. But more 
 interesting to this audience will be an account 
 of our religious operations. Twelve years ago, 
 there were in the colony just fourteen Presby- 
 terian ministers of all sections. These were 
 divided amongst themselves, weakened each 
 other's hands, and embarrassed each other's 
 movements. Now, the Presbyterian Church 
 of Victoria, the United Church, consists of 
 ninety-four ministers, ordained and settled in 
 charges, together with ten at the disposal of 
 our Home Mission and eligible for calls, and 
 two missionaries, one to the Chinese, and 
 another to the Aborigines. 
 
 " O happy Scotland, highly favoured of God ! 
 No country can compare with thee, either as 
 to the riches of gospel privileges, or of names 
 that are so many towers of strength. Let no 
 one suppose that lapse of time, or remoteness 
 of position, has cooled or tended to cool the 
 ardour of my devotion to my native land. No ; 
 Scotland is dearer to me than ever. I love 
 every feature of her countenance, every line 
 and nook and point of her varied and beautiful 
 scenery. Dear to me are her mountains and 
 hills, her glens and straths, her lochs and rivers,
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 255 
 
 her mossy waters and wimpling burnies, her 
 bonnie haughs and heathery braes ; dear to me 
 are the voices of her nature the song of her 
 birds and the murmur of her streams, the 
 warbling of the lark as he climbs the sky with 
 quivering wings, of the mavis from the tree top, 
 of the cushat from the leafy grove, of the lintie 
 from the waving and tasseled broom ; dear to 
 me are all the turns and windings of her strange, 
 eventful, romantic history, from Fingal and his 
 heroes. . . . But immeasurably dearer is Scot- 
 land to me, for her noble army of martyrs and 
 confessors, from Hamilton, from Wishart, from 
 him of the lion heart and eagle eye, the fervent, 
 the sagacious, the prophetic, the indomitable 
 Knox, down through a long and illustrious 
 succession of burning and shining lights, of 
 whom the world was not worthy, to him, in 
 many respects the brightest of them all, the 
 champion of all righteousness and goodness 
 and truth that tongue of fire, that old man 
 eloquent, the beneficent, the gracious, the 
 incomparable Chalmers. To these men of 
 God and their associates, to their sanctified 
 wisdom, to their self-denying lives, to their 
 wrestling prayers, Scotland is indebted for her 
 marvellous prosperity, for her peerless and
 
 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 imperishable renown. In that far-off region of 
 the earth from which I have come to visit you, 
 I have often experienced the agony of home- 
 sickness, a vehement craving for my native 
 country. At times Nature has reasserted her 
 former sway. Feeling has broken loose in a 
 tide of emotion that has quite overwhelmed 
 one. Busy memory has recalled some fondly 
 loved face or form, some dear friends or happy 
 scenes, or perhaps some line or verse of a 
 ballad has haunted me like a fairy. 
 
 ' Oh, why left I my hame ? why did I cross the deep ? 
 Why left I the land where my forefathers sleep? 
 I sigh for Scotia's shore, and I gaze across the sea ; 
 But I canna get a blink o' my ain countrie.' 
 
 " But truth is stronger and better than senti- 
 ment, and the love of Christ is at once sweeter 
 and more constraining than any tie or sympathy 
 of nature. My choice is Australia ; my deliber- 
 ate choice is Australia. I will soon go back, 
 never to return, with no wish to return, because 
 I believe such is the will of the Lord. There 
 He hath appointed me to labour for Him. There 
 is the sphere of my ministry, the home of my 
 children, and by and by in its soil this anxious 
 body will find a quiet tomb. In that sunny 
 land I expect and wish to spend the remainder
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 257 
 
 of my days in serving the Lord, as He shall 
 enable me, and as a fellow-worker with others 
 in opening up and preparing the way for the 
 coming of the great King, to take possession 
 of His own, for the ends of the earth are His by 
 the promise of the eternal covenant. ' Bind 
 thy sword upon thy thigh, thou most mighty, 
 with thy glory and thy majesty ; and ride on, 
 ride on prosperously, because of truth, and 
 meekness, and righteousness." 
 
 In 1878, Dr. Cairns celebrated his jubilee. 
 An address was presented to him, which speaks 
 of him following in " the footsteps of several 
 generations of honoured forefathers." He died 
 suddenly three years later, on the morning of 
 Sabbath the 3Oth January 1881. The week 
 before, he preached from the words: "And 
 Enoch walked with God, and he was not ; for 
 God took him." " Next Sabbath morning he 
 was found ' asleep in Jesus/ with his left hand 
 under his head, and an expression of perfect 
 calmness on his countenance." He was in his 
 eightieth year, and had served twenty-seven 
 years in the Colonies. 
 
 The following memorial minute records the 
 reverence in which he was held : "In the 
 Courts of the Presbyterian Church he was an 
 17
 
 258 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 acknowledged leader, and to every important 
 movement of the Church he contributed the 
 powerful assistance of his enthusiasm and 
 energy, being especially helpful in all questions 
 affecting the purity of the Church's government, 
 discipline, worship, or doctrine. 
 
 " Having been appointed to the principalship 
 of the Theological Hall, his large acquaintance 
 with theology, his soundness of doctrine, and 
 the kindly vehemence of his nature, made him 
 an invaluable teacher of our students for the 
 ministry. 
 
 " While taking a leading part in the affairs of 
 the Presbyterian Church, he always showed a 
 warm interest in the other evangelistic denomi- 
 nations, and in all public matters which involved 
 the spiritual or moral good of the community, 
 especially signalising himself as a champion of 
 the Sabbath, and an unflinching advocate of 
 scriptural truth." 
 
 He was a strong advocate of, and did much 
 to bring about, the union of the Presbyterians 
 in Victoria. Several works, it may be added, 
 came from his pen ( i ) Some Objections to 
 Universal Atonement stated, and the Current 
 Objections to a Particular and Efficacious Atone- 
 ment considered. Two Discourses. Cupar,
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 259 
 
 1844, 8vo. (2) The Second Woe. Edin., 1852. 
 
 (3) On the Origin and Obligation of the Sabbath. 
 
 (4) Account of Dunbog (New Stat. Ace., ix.), 
 etc. 
 
 Not long before his death, Dr. Cairns 
 revisited Longforgan. His love for the old 
 home and the haunts of his childhood was keen. 
 But the generation that knew him was away. 
 Few who had gone up to the church to hear 
 the young probationer in the twenties, were 
 there to welcome the grand old man of 
 Melbourne. They were sleeping in the church- 
 yard side by side with his father. 
 
 15. ROBERT SKENE WALKER. Settled, 1822. 
 Mr. Walker began his ministry at Auchter- 
 gaven in 1808, whence he was translated to 
 Kinclaven in 1812. On the death of Mr. 
 Cairns, he was presented to Longforgan, where 
 he was admitted on Sept. 5, 1822. 
 
 One thing that seems to have got an impulse 
 during the earlier years of Mr. Walker's 
 ministry was Sabbath schools. In 1827, an 
 extraordinary collection was made for providing 
 books, as rewards for the scholars attending the 
 Sabbath evening schools in the parish. Of 
 these there were three in the parish in 1838. 
 It was the time, also, of quickened missionary
 
 260 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 interest. In 1824 a collection was made for 
 missionary purposes, amounting to ^i i, 95. i id. 
 Dr. Dickson of Edinburgh pled the cause of 
 the Scottish Missionary Society in 1830; and 
 ten years later, on his return from Palestine, 
 Mr. M'Cheyne lectured on his mission. 
 
 $, 143. rojd. was collected for the Jewish 
 work. But there was need for much effort, as 
 the following anecdote will show. Meg Craw 
 was somewhat of a character. She seldom, if 
 ever, darkened the kirk door. Still, she rather 
 encouraged her family to go. But Meg, who 
 kept the purse, would scarcely ever give them 
 anything for the collection. One day her 
 daughters went to her, feeling sure that they 
 had a claim which Meg could not refuse. 
 "Mother," they said, "there's to be a special 
 collection the day for the bringing in o' the 
 Jews." Darting a wild glance at them, she 
 exclaimed, " The Jews ? I've heard o' thae 
 craiters a' my days. If they winna come in, 
 let them bide oot ; never a bawbee will they get 
 frae me." Crestfallen, the girls had just to go 
 and blush to the ladle once more. 
 
 An entry dated May 22, 1831, may be given, 
 which suggests changed thoughts towards the 
 Church : "Mr. Ross, probationer, preached, our
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 261 
 
 own Minister being distressed, and in the time 
 of divine service an alarm was brought to the 
 Church of a house being on fire in the Town, 
 and the whole congregation left the Church, 
 and came back again after the fire was extin- 
 guished." 
 
 The mention of M'Cheyne reminds us, that 
 Mr. Walker's ministry began when the great 
 Evangelical movement was advancing to its 
 victory. Mr. Walker's friends belonged chiefly 
 to the Evangelical party, and in the years 
 preceding the Disruption, it is men like 
 Hamilton of Abernyte, Grierson of Errol, 
 Ewing of Dundee, who appear as his helpers. 
 Longforgan shared, if to a small extent, the 
 marvellous blessings that came to Dundee and 
 the district in connection with the labours of 
 William Burns and M'Cheyne. Burns had 
 anxious souls in Longforgan, and M'Cheyne 
 had those in the parish who loved to call him 
 their father in Christ. The religious life of the 
 village was greatly helped by the warmth of 
 the Seceders in it. They were too few to 
 have a regular minister, but there were a good 
 many prayer meetings in private homes, and 
 there was frequently a service on the Sabbath 
 evenings in summer. It was a common thing
 
 262 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 for the student who preached in the forenoon 
 to the Seceders in Haldane's tabernacle at 
 Abernyte, to come on to Longforgan at night. 
 One of the still-remembered students was the 
 late Dr. Gardiner of Dean Street, Edinburgh. 
 At other times, ordained ministers came. Mr. 
 Gilfillan of Dundee came once a year, and 
 Mr. Nicol of Pitrodie oftener. No public 
 building, of course, could be got for these 
 services. They were held in sheds and barns, 
 and, frequently, in the open air. " The 
 meetings were advertised by a written notice 
 tacked on trees at each end of the village. 
 They were largely attended, and compared 
 with the canny preaching common in most 
 country places, the barn preachings were much 
 enjoyed" (MSS. Account}. All this helped, 
 without a doubt, to cherish the deeper life of 
 the people. Besides this, other things were 
 working. Abernyte was one of the adjoining 
 parishes. There James Hamilton had been 
 permitted to excite a widespread interest. 
 Many persons, both in the parish and beyond 
 it, were, under his ministry, touched by the 
 Spirit of God. The news of it spread, and 
 helped to kindle interest elsewhere. And 
 then, there were all the spiritual forces
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 263 
 
 working, which culminated in the Disruption in 
 1843. 
 
 During the Ten Years' Conflict, Mr. Walker, 
 who was of a quiet and retiring nature, took no 
 prominent part. He was frequently urged by 
 the more vehement advocates of Non-Intrusion 
 to pronounce himself. But he stood uncom- 
 mitted to the last. All he would say was, "If 
 the crisis come, I hope I will be enabled to 
 stand true to my convictions." When the crisis 
 came, and the Disruption of the Church took 
 place, and when others who were much more 
 pronounced than he stayed in, Mr. Walker 
 went out. 
 
 Feeling was hot in Longforgan over the 
 Church question, as it was everywhere. One 
 of the lairds is credited with saying, " Had it 
 not been for that wasp Candlish, the whole 
 affair would have blown over." There were 
 keen discussions, by the fireside, over the 
 Voluntary Question, and over the Non-Intru- 
 sion articles in the Dundee Warder, and the 
 Witness, and The Secession Church Magazine. 
 Sometimes there were larger meetings, addressed 
 by ministers and laymen from Dundee. When 
 the hour struck, a number of those who had 
 pledged themselves, even in the Session, drew
 
 264 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 back. Only one of the elders went with Mr. 
 Walker. His name was John Dickson. Mr. 
 Henry Prain, who knew him well, describes 
 him as a devout and simple-minded Christian. 
 "He was faithful in the discharge of all his 
 duties ; if possible, more than faithful to his 
 obligations as a Free Churchman and a Free 
 Church elder. His attendance at church on 
 Sabbath, at church meetings on week-day 
 evenings, and at all prayer meetings, as well as 
 his visitations to the sick, were systematic and 
 regular. Other things might stand over, these 
 never. Summer and winter, sunshine and 
 storm, were alike unable to keep him back. 
 Once only, in more than twenty years, and 
 near the end of his days, did I know of him 
 turning back. It was a day of storm. The 
 snow was drifting fiercely. He started for 
 church and went so far, but for once he had to 
 turn. One who saw him said, 'John Dickson's 
 near his end now, for he has turned back from 
 the church.' . . . By his death the Free Church 
 lost a pillar, the village a true Christian 
 inhabitant." 
 
 Though only one elder went out, there was 
 a goodly body of the people. There were few 
 of the more wealthy among them. There were
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 265 
 
 only two farmers, but there were some of the 
 most active and pious of the people. 
 
 It was, originally, intended to build the new 
 church at the east end of Longforgan village ; 
 but, as a site could not be got there, it was 
 erected at Mylnefield. It cost a little over 
 ^400 ; but it ought to be said that the carting 
 .was done free. A number of the farmers gave 
 help, but the burden of this service was borne 
 by the two farmers who had cast in their lot 
 with the Free Church. To these two, Mr. 
 Jackson of Longforgan, one of the most en- 
 thusiastic supporters of the Reform Bill of 1832, 
 and Mr. Miller of Carmichaels, and to Mr. 
 Alexander Moncur, a young manufacturer in 
 Longforgan, who gave yeoman service in con- 
 nection with the building and with the organisa- 
 tion of the congregation, the Free Church 
 cause owes much. 
 
 During its erection, service was generally 
 held in a meadow in the open air, behind the 
 present church, and old worshippers still love 
 to relate how, with but one or two exceptions, 
 the Sabbaths were fine. 
 
 The church was opened early in 1844. 
 
 Mr. Walker's case was attended by not a 
 little hardship. His position at Longforgan
 
 266 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 was a comfortable one, and he was not very 
 strong. But he made little complaint. Once, 
 when asked by a friend as they were passing 
 the glebe, if he did not feel a good deal in 
 leaving the old home and its interesting 
 associations, all he said was, " Yes, I do ; but 
 I am much happier in my mind now, than I 
 could have been had I remained in the, 
 church." 
 
 For some years, as no site for a manse could 
 be got, he had to stay in Dundee, and walk out, 
 in storm or sunshine, to Invergowrie to preach. 
 A site was got, at length, in this way. On one 
 occasion, when Mr. Walker was preaching, a 
 fire broke out in a neighbouring farm. He 
 bade the men amongst his hearers go and help 
 to put it out. The farmer belonged to the 
 Established Church, and Mr. Walker's action 
 led to the granting of a site. 
 
 It may, however, be added that Mr. Walker 
 did not seem to be injured by the change. His 
 strength seemed to renew itself, and his labours 
 were more manifold than before. 
 
 Mr. Walker was twice married. He wrote 
 the account of the parish for the New Statistical 
 in 1838. He died in 1854, in the forty-sixth 
 year of his ministry. A memorial tablet has
 
 A LIST OF MINISTERS IN LONGFORGAN 267 
 
 been placed in the Free Church, of which he 
 was the first minister. 
 
 Mr. Walker was succeeded in the ministry 
 by the Rev. John Hunter, with whom the Rev. 
 Adam Philip was associated as colleague in 
 1 88 1. Dr. Ritchie was presented to the 
 Established Church when Mr. Walker sur- 
 rendered the charge. His death (July 3rd, 
 1895) removed one of the few remaining 
 ministers in the Establishment who held 
 charges previous to the Disruption. Dr. 
 Ritchie attained the ripe age of ninety. He 
 celebrated his jubilee seven years ago. The 
 Rev. N. K. Mackenzie, appointed assistant 
 and successor in 1885, is now sole minister. 
 The incumbent in the Scottish Episcopal 
 Church is the Rev. W. Simons. 
 
 We do not propose to follow the story 
 further in detail. There were some regrettable 
 things done at the Disruption, and there have 
 been regrettable things since. But, notwith- 
 standing, the work of God goes on. Souls 
 have been saved and saints have been trained. 
 Ministers of the gospel have gone from the 
 parish, and the people of Longforgan are doing 
 something, however humble, to recruit the 
 honourable services of the country and the
 
 268 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 manifold activities of Christian work. The 
 parish has been refreshed with the dew of 
 heaven. We long for more. To the next 
 chronicler of our Annals, we hope it may be 
 permitted to tell of greater " times of refreshing," 
 of more missionary zeal, and also of the reunion 
 of the Presbyterian community in Longforgan 
 and in Scotland.
 
 X 
 
 WORRIES 
 
 269
 
 X 
 THREE LONGFORGAN WORTHIES 
 
 MR. HENRY PRAIN, whose forebears were in 
 the village of Longforgan centuries ago, has 
 furnished me with the following sketch of one 
 or two of the village characters fifty, years ago. 
 His paper is entitled "A Short Biographical 
 Notice of Three Longforgan Worthies." He 
 has also given me the use of other papers. 
 
 " In a village, old as the days of Wallace, and 
 honoured with a visit from him as he was 
 running away from Dundee, in this village, 
 old - fashioned, badly - housed, yet pleasantly 
 situated, lived and died my three Scotch 
 Worthies. There they were from a little past 
 the middle of last century until about the 
 middle of the present. 
 
 " To give an idea of the particular place in the 
 village where they lived, it is needful to tell 
 
 something about the situation and shape of it. 
 
 271
 
 272 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 The situation is most beautiful. It is set upon 
 a crescent, at the east end of the Carse of 
 Gowrie, extending four or five miles from 
 south-east to north-west, and about the centre of 
 the crescent, sloping towards the south, about a 
 mile and a half north of the Tay, overlooking 
 many long miles of that magnificent river and 
 many broad acres of the flat Carse. On the 
 other side of the river are to be seen the Fife 
 hills, dotted with mansion-houses and woods, 
 corn and pasture fields, villages and home- 
 steads, from beyond Abernethy on the west to 
 Tayport on the east. The shape of the village 
 can hardly be described. It is more than half 
 a mile long. The road between Dundee and 
 Perth goes through it. On each side of the 
 road, there is a row of houses so called ; but, 
 occasionally, a house or two turns at a right 
 angle northward or southward. The houses 
 were mostly thatched and mud-floored. Many 
 of them have a step down from the road. 
 
 " But to the abodes of my heroines, Dumbie, 
 Nelly, and Highland Jean. Oh for a photo of 
 the three and of the huts in which they lived 
 and died ! Those three huts formed one row 
 at the extreme east end of the village, on the 
 north side of the road, six or seven yards from
 
 THREE LONGFORGAN WORTHIES 273 
 
 it, about thirty yards apart from the houses on 
 the west side, and far away from any houses on 
 the east side. Although the three houses were 
 joined together, each had its own door, and one 
 or two windows, or rather holes, small enough, 
 but sufficient to let in plenty of air and some 
 light. The houses were built with clay, mixed 
 with land boulders for stones, thatched with 
 straw, and floored with mud. The houses 
 stood entirely free from all others, and were 
 fully exposed to every blast that blew. When 
 the wind was from the north or east, the wintry 
 blasts were bitter and biting pure and undis- 
 turbed from the Sidlaws ; and when from the 
 south or south-east, the wind was thin, keen, 
 and without a break from the Bay of St. 
 Andrews. The crevices in the walls rather 
 invited, than prevented, the wind from entering. 
 In big snowstorms, which came generally 
 from the east or north-east, this isolated 
 row had to bear the fury of the blast, which 
 came sweeping over the bare landscape without 
 interruption until it reached the huts wherein 
 my three worthy maidens were sheltered. It 
 was a glorious sight to see those hills of snow 
 in their sparkling beauty, variety of size, curve, 
 
 and taper-like ramparts of whitest alabaster 
 18
 
 274 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 surrounding and enveloping the three mounds. 
 But to think of the three imprisoned inhabitants 
 within ! Once or twice they were so completely 
 buried in the snow that only the chimney-tops 
 could be seen, and a young man had to climb 
 over the wreaths and call down the chimney to 
 the person below, to knock on the back of the 
 door in order that the men might know where 
 to begin and dig them out. 
 
 "I shouldhave mentioned that the employment 
 of the villagers was mostly agricultural, weaving, 
 and the spinning and pirn wheel. At that time 
 most of the families had more or less land, and 
 grew and manufactured their own flax. Latterly, 
 as most of the small crofts were taken into large 
 farms, and as hand spinning had been super- 
 seded by machinery, the employment was chiefly 
 weaving, winding, and harvest work." 
 
 Nelly Johnstone and Highland Jean are the 
 more interesting of the Worthies. We give Mr. 
 Prain's sketch of each. 
 
 A. NELLY JOHNSTONE. 
 
 Nelly lived in the middle house of the three, 
 the door of which was rather low, but amply 
 sufficient to admit Nelly. There was one 
 window to the south, with a small curved
 
 THREE LONGFORGAN WORTHIES 275 
 
 tunnel at the side, through which the cat went 
 in and out at its pleasure, and another window 
 to the north. These two, with a big low vent, 
 served to admit all the light there was in that 
 lowly dwelling of one apartment, with its clay 
 floor and small fireplace. That one room con- 
 tained the machinery by which she earned her 
 frugal livelihood, as well as her furniture. The 
 
 o 
 
 machinery was a spinning-wheel and reel, a 
 pirn-wheel and swifts. The furniture consisted 
 chiefly of a close bedstead, the lids of which 
 could be opened or shut at pleasure, a very big 
 press with drawers at the bottom, this article 
 served for wardrobe and library, a plate-rack, 
 one or two old chests, a buffet stool for dining- 
 table, and a large dresser, two chairs, and two 
 or three small stools, an axe, and an old spade. 
 Her garden was in two divisions. The portion 
 at the back was used for growing potatoes and 
 other vegetables ; the portion before the door 
 was a wilderness of every description of herbs, 
 groundsel, marsh mallow, camomile, pepper- 
 mint, etc. Around this garden there was a 
 hedge of shrubs, appleringo, sweet brier, roses 
 red and white, both wild and tame, bluebells 
 and balm, etc. Nelly dealt greatly in herbs 
 herself, and freely dispensed them to others,
 
 2;6 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 with her sage advice and directions as to how 
 they should be used. 
 
 Nelly herself was a low-built, broad, bent 
 body. She had a pleasant enough expression ; 
 but, being near-sighted, had rather a peculiar 
 look about the eyes. She never got the name 
 of a witch. An herbster she was well known 
 to be. A good-flax spinner in the days when 
 the spinning-wheel was used, a good canny 
 pirn-winder, no very great shearer, but from 
 these occupations she earned her sole livelihood 
 for many a long year. With the bigger wages 
 for harvest work, she paid her yearly rent of 
 twenty-five shillings. Her average wage for 
 pirn-winding was not more than two shillings a 
 week. Her living was very plain indeed- the 
 potatoes and vegetables which grew in her 
 garden, some oatmeal, peppermint for tea, and 
 treacle for sugar. Sometimes the neighbours 
 gave her a bowl of broth, occasionally a loaf, 
 which she took thankfully, but never with a 
 hint of " Haste ye back." A penny from the 
 Session she would not hear of, until over eighty. 
 
 Nelly's dress was as plain as her living. 
 Like the dress of the Israelites in the wilder- 
 ness, it never seemed to grow old. Her work- 
 ing dress was a short-gown, blue flannel petti-
 
 THREE LONGFORGAN WORTHIES 277 
 
 coat, a checked apron, and thick sowback, tied 
 on with a black ribbon. For meetings on 
 week days she had a dark gown and black- 
 and-white tartan shawl, and for Sabbath much 
 the same. But one bonnet served for all 
 occasions and all seasons. And such a bonnet 
 for size and shape ! There was material 
 enough in it to make three or four of the 
 bonnets worn nowadays. You had a long 
 look under the dark shade before you could 
 see her face. Add now the strong-built whale- 
 bone umbrella, the Bible, balm and appleringo 
 folded in a white napkin. Umbrella under her 
 arm, Bible in hand, thus equipped, you would 
 have met Nelly every Sabbath morning, between 
 eight and nine o'clock, summer and winter, on 
 
 o 
 
 the road to the Chapelshade Kirk, Dundee, a 
 distance of 6^ miles. She worshipped in that 
 church for many years before the Disruption of 
 1843, and for more than twenty years after that 
 event in Chapelshade Free Church. In the 
 early Sabbath mornings, you would have seen 
 the smoke ascending from her chimney, and 
 been sure that there was ascending also the 
 incense of praise and thanksgiving. 
 
 Being born and brought up beside Nelly, and 
 a great favourite with her from my boyhood, I
 
 278 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 could tell many a famous tale about her. She 
 was humble and unassuming in her manner ; 
 yet her influence, her conversation, and whole 
 bearing were a great power for good in the 
 village, especially among the young women, who 
 were much given to frequent her lowly dwelling. 
 She was a great reader, and had a wonderful 
 stock of books some volumes in black letter, 
 all by orthodox authors, such as Flavel, Ruther- 
 ford, Melville, Henderson, Bunyan, Boston, 
 Baxter, the Erskines, Ralph and Ebenezer, etc. 
 Above all, she read and studied the Bible. 
 
 In Nelly's time, tent preaching in rural 
 districts was very common on sacramental 
 occasions in summer, and she was in the habit 
 of attending many of these great gatherings. I 
 have known her travelling ten or twelve miles, if 
 she had heard that a really good preacher was 
 to be there, furnished with a bit of oaten cake, 
 which she would sit down and eat by the side 
 of some spring or burn, after having given 
 thanks. On this simple fare she supported 
 herself until she returned, late in the evening, 
 to kindle her fire and make a little supper for 
 herself, refreshed with the spiritual food she 
 had received. The long day's travel was never 
 grudged, nor did she ever seem a bit the worse
 
 THREE LONGFORGAN WORTHIES 279 
 
 nor less able to be at work on Monday morning. 
 In the tens of thousands of miles which she must 
 have travelled to church, in the course of fifty 
 or sixty years, she must have got many a 
 drenching with rain and suffered the pelting 
 of many a snowstorm and surly winter's blast, 
 endured the sultry, oppressive heat of summer, 
 and the chilly feeling of hoarfrost as she walked 
 away in the dark wintry mornings, often a 
 solitary wanderer on the road, by hedgerows 
 and woods, sometimes overtaken by a thunder- 
 storm. She spoke of being awestruck with the 
 thought of hearing God's voice in the thunder, 
 and seeing an emblem of His power in the 
 darting lightning flash. Yet from all these 
 dangers she escaped unscathed, and enjoyed 
 unbroken health up to within a few years of 
 her death, at the age of, at least, eighty-five. 
 
 Nelly was not only fond of hearing good 
 preaching and going far to hear it, but she had 
 a fine memory, and used it to hold the texts and 
 heads and particulars of the sermons, and it gave 
 her great pleasure to communicate what she had 
 heard to those who visited her. Many a grand 
 text and sermon she told over to me. Once, 
 when hearing the account of an extraordinary 
 sermon, I think by Parker, I nearly offended
 
 2 8o THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 her. The text was about the twelve gates 
 into the city in Revelation. She went on 
 telling me what he said about the various gates 
 we had to pass through. There was the gate 
 of foreordination, the gate of adoption, the 
 gate of regeneration, and so on and on with 
 each of the twelve. When near the end, I 
 was inclined to laugh, and said, " Would it 
 not do if we got in at ' ony ane ' ? " She looked 
 at me rather seriously, and said, " Oh, laddie ! " 
 but pardoned my ignorance. 
 
 Besides Nelly, there were in the village a few 
 families belonging to the Seceders who had to 
 go to a church west from Lochee the Kirk of 
 the Myre, and when it was shut, to the School- 
 wynd, Dundee. But as Nelly belonged to the 
 Established Church till 1843, ^ was thought 
 strange that she should go so far for preaching, 
 and leave " the minister the Lord had sent to 
 be over the parish." From the ignorant and in- 
 different she had some not very pleasant remarks 
 to endure about wearing her shoes, etc. Never- 
 theless, she held on her own way to the end. 
 
 Among the distinctive features of Nelly's 
 character were her cheerfulness and her 
 sustained and regular attendance upon the 
 worship of God, in private and public. In her
 
 THREE LONGFORGAN WORTHIES 281 
 
 lowly home she had erected an altar to the 
 God of salvation, never to be neglected. 
 Indeed, she lived and breathed in an atmo- 
 sphere of devout and humble praise and 
 thanksgiving. Visitors were never long in 
 her house, until they felt they were on con- 
 secrated ground, although there had been no 
 formal dedication with priestly mummeries. For 
 a long time there was a weekly prayer meeting 
 held in the village, and sometimes a mile or 
 two out of it, when a suitable place for it was 
 found. These meetings were held in private 
 houses, as not even the schoolhouse was 
 allowed for that purpose, the leaders of those 
 meetings being chiefly elders belonging to 
 Dissenting churches. Wherever these meet- 
 ings were held, Nelly was always to be found 
 among the worshippers. Neither distance nor 
 weather was a barrier to her, for she in no 
 way practised silver-slipper religion. 
 
 Nelly had a very strong Scotch feeling of 
 independence. She was poor in money, but 
 rich in cheerful contentment with her lot. She 
 had never in all her life possessed at one time 
 thirty shillings. But she had no beggarly 
 spirit. As years beyond threescore and ten 
 told that she was not so strong as she had
 
 282 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 once been, I tried several times to persuade 
 her to take a little help from the Kirk Session, 
 but she would not hear of it for years, until an 
 illness came over her, when for some weeks 
 she was unable to work. With a sorrowful 
 heart and pitiful look she at last yielded to my 
 suggestion ; but she said, "As the rent, twenty- 
 five shillings, will be to pay, you will take the 
 ten shillings I have laid past for it, and give 
 it to them to help it." I said, " Not in the 
 meantime, but I will think about it." I had 
 to be very tender and careful as to what I 
 said on the subject. She had not long received 
 help from the Session, when a new source of 
 income came, with overwhelming surprise, upon 
 her. An old maiden lady in the village died and 
 left Nell 19, 195. Whenever she got the news 
 I was sent for. Never can I forget the earnest, 
 anxious countenance with which she looked up 
 and almost cried out, " O laddie, pray for me 
 that I may be keepit hummel. Fat can I do wi' 
 a' that siller? Ye'll pay back the Session fat 
 I've gotten," etc. I calmed her as best I could, 
 and promised, but said we would wait a wee. 
 Of course the paltry sum she got from the 
 Session was given up. The sum 1 9, 1 93. given 
 her by the lady served her all the years she lived,
 
 THREE LONGFORGAN WORTHIES 283 
 
 and there were a few shillings of it in the house 
 when she died at well upon ninety years. 
 
 The whole bearing of Nelly's long life was 
 a power for the moral and spiritual well-being 
 of more than one generation. Her religion 
 was the natural outflow of her sanctified life. 
 She was possessed with the Spirit of Christ. 
 He dwelt in her richly by faith and the hope 
 of glory, and these graces, ever working by 
 love, made her religion feel just as natural as 
 "the balmy breath of incense breathing morn." 
 Hence her unruffled contentment, her constant 
 cheerfulness, and her great power for winning 
 the confidence of, and her entire freedom to 
 give faithfully, the needful counsel to each of 
 her maily callers in their varied circumstances, 
 so that the remark was common that one 
 never went in and came out from Nelly's, 
 without feeling brighter and better for the 
 visit. Her counsel or advice was so full of 
 heart and earnest simplicity, that it went 
 directly to the heart of the hearer. Often the 
 language was very quaint, but always free from 
 offence. To the young she would say, 
 " Mind and aye do biddin'. The Bible doesna 
 say, Obey good parents, but obey yer parents 
 in the Lord." To young women she often
 
 284 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 said, " Noo, dinna speak back. Be aye civil, 
 and though a thing be na pleasant, there's 
 anither Master abune ye have to please, and 
 He kens a' about it." When told that any of 
 the lassies were to be married, she would say, 
 " A weel, a weel. I hope they'll do the right 
 gate thegither." She never joked much about 
 marriage. The writer of these lines about 
 Nelly will never forget one fine summer 
 morning, more than fifty years ago, when busy 
 at the warping-mill in an outhouse. Nelly, as 
 her work required, came in with a bag of filled 
 pirns to get empty pirns to fill. I stopped 
 the mill in order to make the exchange. She 
 said, "That's a bonnie mornin'. Ye've gotten 
 up and able to be at yer wark. I hope ye hanna 
 forgotten to gie thank for the mercies, though it 
 were but three or four wirds." So saying, she 
 went away with her pirns. But that sunny morn- 
 ing and those few words so kindly and tenderly 
 spoken, have not been forgotten by me. 
 
 The time drew nigh when Nelly had to bid 
 farewell to all earthly concerns. She had no 
 very lengthened nor severe illness. She was 
 just " wearin' awa'," and she knew it. She 
 knew also, long before, that her mansion above 
 was fitted up and ready to be occupied.
 
 THREE LONGFORGAN WORTHIES 285 
 
 B. HIGHLAND JEAN. 
 
 Jean, in personal appearance, was unlike 
 Nelly. She was fully medium height, and very 
 strongly built, with a Highland lounge or bend 
 in her shoulders, and a climb - mountain - like 
 step in her walk ; a rather masculine tone of 
 voice, with a strong Gaelic accent. Some of 
 these peculiarities she had acquired in her early 
 youth, at the foot of Mount Blair, where she was 
 born. She came down to the Lowlands when 
 quite young. Jean's dress was made from the 
 most durable material, meant to be suitable either 
 for outdoor or indoor work, as far as possible fit 
 for all kinds of work and all kinds of weather. 
 
 She was mostly employed at farm work, 
 during summer and harvest. At all kinds of 
 agricultural work she was a first-rate hand, and 
 often had to do work that needed more than 
 the strength of an ordinary female. In the 
 winter-time, in her younger days, she spun flax, 
 and sometimes a coarser sort of yarn as flax- 
 spinning wore out. For many years before she 
 died, her winter work was the pirn-wheel. Jean 
 lived upon very plain food, indeed very coarse 
 food. People, nowadays, would not believe if 
 I were to tell about nettle kale, peppermint
 
 286 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 tea, and pease brose. Yet these, with bread 
 baked with a little oatmeal, mixed with potatoes, 
 were all well known, and often used for the 
 support of Jean's robust health and strength. 
 
 Jean had often to go a good bit for out- work, 
 and was early up in the morning, made ready 
 her flagon with its mixture for dinner on the 
 field, and was never too late for her work. She 
 returned at night between seven and eight 
 o'clock, made her supper, and prepared for bed 
 with thanksgiving for the mercies of the day. 
 I never knew Jean off work with sickness until 
 her last, when she was over ninety years old. 
 
 Jean never was at any school, but she 
 managed to learn to read. Her only book 
 was the Bible, and it she knew well, especially 
 the Psalms of David. These she not only 
 knew, but could repeat to a great extent, and de- 
 lighted to give quotations from them. She was 
 a regular attender at the parish kirk. Her red 
 plaid and black big bonnet were never missed 
 on Sabbath, and among the first on the road 
 was Jean. The parish kirk and the " minister 
 sent by the Lord to be over the flock" were 
 sacred institutions with Jean, and she blamed 
 Nelly very much for not going to " oor ain kirk." 
 
 Jean's income was bigger than Nellie's. She
 
 THREE LONGFORGAN WORTHIES 287 
 
 was much stronger, and a good part of the year 
 she wrought at farm work, and had from eight- 
 pence to tenpence a day. At the harvest work, 
 too, she made more money ; but putting all 
 together, and one year with another, her 
 average income was never more than four 
 shillings or four-and-sixpence a week all her life. 
 Her yearly rent was twenty-five shillings. Her 
 clothes were coarse, strong, and well-cared for. 
 Her living was of the plainest, her garden 
 supplied a large portion of it ; but a robust 
 constitution, hard work, and a good deal of it 
 outdoor, gave her almost unbroken good 
 health. No doubt a thankful and contented 
 mind did its share in the matter. Like Nelly, 
 she had a noble, independent spirit, no beggarli- 
 ness about her, nor complaints about weakness 
 or want. The idea of taking anything from the 
 Session she spurned ; and only at last, when the 
 burden of fourscore years and ten was upon her, 
 with a sorrowful sigh she agreed to take a little. 
 Jean was a born Highland soldier a true 
 heroine fit for following Prince Charlie, as this 
 story will prove. As I said, Jean's house was 
 next to Nelly's, and joined with it. One night, 
 shortly after Nelly had got the 19, 195. left 
 her by the lady, a blackguard who had heard
 
 288 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 about it, thought that the money might be in 
 the house, and that he could take it. Mistak- 
 ing the one house for the other, he went to Jean's 
 window after midnight, and made an attempt to 
 get in. The window was small, and not fit to 
 let a person in without a good deal of squeez- 
 ing. Jean was in bed, but, startled with the 
 noise, sprang to the floor, demanding who was 
 there. By this time the cowardly rascal had 
 his head in at the window, and was pressing 
 hard to get his body in. That night Jean had 
 gathered a bundle of sticks in the wood, and 
 they were lying on the floor. In the dark, she 
 felt among the sticks, and found a young birch 
 tree with part of the root on it, making a fine 
 club. With this strong weapon, in willing 
 hands, Jean laid on, thud after thud, with a hech 
 saying, " I'se pet ye out o' that, ye base black- 
 guard ! " He was some time in drawing himself 
 back, and Jean was not idle. The scoundrel 
 got angry, and was determined to get in. 
 Again and again he made attempts, but was 
 met with the same hearty reception, until after 
 a " lang fecht," as Jean said, " he gaed awa,' 
 but I'se warrant no' wi' a hale head." 
 
 Poor creature, she sat up all night after the 
 battle was over, watching, club in hand, for fear
 
 THREE LONGFORGAN WORTHIES 289 
 
 he would come back, for she said, " I needna 
 ha' gaen to my bed, I was so forfochen." At 
 the time this took place, Jean would be well 
 over eighty, but she lived a good few years 
 afterwards in health and strength, and pursued 
 her ordinary labour. 
 
 There is a story connected with Jean's death- 
 bed which I cannot leave out. It was so like 
 her, especially like her manner of bringing in 
 quotations from her favourite book, the Psalms, 
 whenever she was pressed for an answer. All 
 her life, Jean attended to her household affairs 
 herself. No help from any other body was 
 allowed. She was never particularly cleanly, 
 and when she had been in bed for days, things 
 got worse. The neighbours who attended to 
 give her food, or do any little thing, were only 
 allowed to go so far. When they tried to get 
 things put to rights, Jean's answer always was, 
 " Och, it's braly." At last a deputation came 
 to me, and asked me to go and speak to her 
 about the business. When I went into the 
 house, Jean was lying in her bed. A table 
 stood before it, covered with various articles of 
 crockery, prominent among them being a big 
 black teapot. Below the table there were, I 
 do not know how many things, along with pots 
 19
 
 290 THE PARISH OF LONGFORGAN 
 
 and pans, which occupied the front seat. Before 
 the table stood an old rickety chair, nearer the 
 fireplace a buffet stool and one or two smaller 
 ones, at the window stood the pirn-wheel and 
 swifts. I ferreted my way to the foreside of the 
 bed. I stood in danger of moving my hand for 
 fear of the crockery, or my feet for fear of the 
 pots. I asked very earnestly for her, sympa- 
 thised with her, tried to bring in the cleaning- 
 up, but failed, tried again, and got an evasive 
 answer, " Och aye, but it's fine ; I should be 
 thankfu'." Again I urged the importance of 
 cleaning up, for her health and comfort. But 
 mark my answer, very pathetic and firm : 
 " Though ye have lien among the pots, yet 
 shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with 
 silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." 
 
 Jean grew gradually worse, and said nothing 
 against the house-cleaning. She was very 
 kindly attended to, and, in little more than a 
 week after the above quotation from her 
 favourite book, the Psalms, she joined her two 
 neighbours, Dumbie and Nelly, in the auld 
 kirkyard. She was ninety-four years of age 
 when she died, having in a humble, honest, 
 industrious, and honourable manner, fought 
 life's battle.
 
 XI 
 APPENDIX 
 
 A 
 
 Population. 
 In 1755 1285. 
 
 1795 i5 26 - 
 
 1801 .... J 5^9- 
 
 1811 .... 1809. 
 
 1821 . . . . 1544. 
 
 1831 1638. 
 
 1841 .... 1660. 
 
 1851 .... 1787. 
 
 1861 .... 1823. 
 
 1871 .... 1753. 
 
 1881 .... 1854. 
 
 1891 1779. 
 
 During the decade, 1811-21, the population fell no 
 less than 265. This was largely due to want of work at 
 Kingoodie. That village lost 134 in the ten years. The 
 population of the parish is 30 less than it was in 1811. 
 
 The yearly average of births for the last seven years is 47^. 
 ,, deaths ,, 27?. 
 
 ,, marriages ,, 8$. 
 
 The number of illegitimate births in 1894 was 4. 
 291
 
 292 APPENDIX 
 
 This may be compared with a statement in the New 
 Stat. Account, 1838 : 
 
 The yearly average of baptisms for the last seven years is 37^. 
 ,, burials 25^. 
 
 ,, marriages ,, 17^. 
 
 Illegitimate births in the course of the last three years, 8. 
 
 B 
 List of Heritors. 
 
 1. Charles J. G. Paterson, Esq. of Castle Huntly. 
 
 2. James M. White, Esq., M.P., of Balruddery. 
 
 3. Right Hon. Lord Kinnaird of Rossie Priory. 
 
 4. The Misses Brand of Mylnefield. 
 
 5. William Wilkie, Esq. of Mylnefield. 
 
 6. David M. Watson, Esq. of Bullionfield. 
 
 7. Trustees of the late James Brown of Lochton. 
 
 8. William D. Graham Menzies of Hallyburton. 
 
 9. Miss St. Clair Trotter of Ballindean, and Mrs. Stead's 
 
 Trustees. 
 10. James G. and the Misses Hunter of East Mylnefield. 
 
 Valuation Roll. 
 
 The valuation stood at the following figures in 
 
 s. d. 
 
 1650 . . . ' . 7250 o 01 
 
 1667 . . . 7252 6 8/ b 
 
 1835 . 7254 6 8 
 
 1895-6 . . 14223 5 5 
 
 We reproduce the roll at two earlier periods. The first is 
 extracted from a copy of the Rental Book of Perthshire, 
 commonly called Cromwell's, made up 1649-50. The 
 second is from the County Cess Book of 1834-35. 
 
 In 1650, 1666-67, 1835, Invergowrie valuation was ^80.
 
 APPENDIX 293 
 
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 APPENDIX 
 
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 APPENDIX 295 
 
 Parochial Registers. 
 
 There are, at the Register House, Edinburgh, three 
 volumes of records belonging to Longforgan. 
 
 Vol. I. contains a record of births from 1634-78, and of 
 marriages from \ 633-75. Vol. II. contains a record of births 
 from 1678-1776, and of marriages from 1716-51. Vol. III. 
 contains a record of births and marriages from 1776 to 1819. 
 
 Then, in the custody of the local registrar, there is a 
 record of births, deaths, marriages, from 1820 to 1854. 
 
 Cf. Report of Records at Register House. 
 
 "The records of the Kirk-Session begin in 1654, and 
 consist of eight volumes, some of which are in a very in- 
 different state of preservation. But, in so far as a judgment 
 can be formed, they all appear to have been pretty regularly 
 kept" (N. Stat. Ace., x. p. 408). 
 
 The records now in the possession of Longforgan Session 
 are numbered. 
 
 Vol. 8 (as it is marked) extends from 1673-1699. It is 
 a large volume, well kept, and full of interesting matter. 
 
 Vol. 9 extends from 1710 to 1729. It is a book of 352 
 pages. It is also well kept, and the minutes are full. 
 
 Vol. 10 contains minutes for the years 1738-39, 40-41, 
 
 42-43- 
 
 Vol. ii contains minutes for the years 1743-1749. 
 
 Those two volumes were found in the manse about 1822. 
 They are in poorer condition, and are not nearly so well kept. 
 
 Vol. 12 extends from 1782-1812. There is a long gap 
 before 1782. 
 
 Vol 13 begins in 1813, but after 1821 this volume came 
 to be used chiefly as a cash book. This volume is of value 
 from what may be called its appendices. 
 
 From 1821 the records are, on the whole, kept carefully. 
 
 The Parochial Registers in the Carse do not, except in
 
 296 APPENDIX 
 
 the case of Errol, go back to Reformation times. The 
 earliest entry in the Errol baptismal register is 1553. The 
 Saint Madoes record goes back to 1591. In the other 
 parishes the entries begin about the same time as in 
 Longforgan. 
 
 The first entry at Kinnaird is in 1633. 
 
 Inchture 1623. 
 
 ,, Kilspindie,, 1656. 
 
 Abernyte 1664. 
 
 At Kinfauns, the register of births, baptisms, and 
 marriages begins in 1646. In Liff, which adjoins Long- 
 forgan, though beyond the Carse, the register of births 
 commences in 1633. See TurnbulPs Memoranda of the 
 State of the Parochial Registers of Scotland. 
 
 A writer in Slack-wood's Magazine (Feb. 1848), dealing 
 with the bearing of certain facts in the New Statistical, makes 
 the following observations, which need to be remembered 
 about the records in Longforgan as well as elsewhere : 
 "Most parishes have also records of births or baptisms, 
 marriages and deaths. From these, and these only, this 
 work could derive the element of its important section of 
 vital statistics ; but how far were they fitted to serve that 
 purpose ? It is certain that they nowhere form a complete 
 register of these occurrences, and that, for the most part, 
 they are very defective. Baptisms appear to have been 
 entered in the parish register regularly till the year 1783, 
 when the imposition of a small tax broke the custom of 
 registration; and when that tax was removed, Dissenting 
 bodies were unwilling to resume the practice. The propor- 
 tion of registered baptisms to births, for instance, is at the 
 present time not more than one-fourth in Edinburgh, and 
 one-third in Glasgow. The marriage register is also unavail- 
 able to statistical purposes, by reason of the practice of 
 double enrolment in the parish of each party. In many 
 parishes no record of burials exists ; in others, those of 
 paupers are omitted."
 
 APPENDIX 297 
 
 The register of baptisms in Longforgan was kept only 
 fairly, some of the Dissenters declining to register through 
 the Established Church. The same may be said of the 
 marriage register. The burial register was very imperfectly 
 kept. In one period, where over four hundred baptisms 
 are recorded, there are no burials entered. It was late in 
 last century till it was done with any care. Even then it 
 is an imperfect record of the actual number of deaths in 
 the parish. The register was made up from the fees paid 
 for the use of the mort-cloth. It needs, however, to be 
 remembered that the poor did not pay for it ; and, on the 
 other hand, that it was sometimes used for persons who 
 were brought from other parishes to be buried. Mr. 
 Walker (New Stat., x. p. 411) thinks that the number of 
 persons removed for burial from Longforgan, may be put 
 against the number of persons brought to it. We cannot 
 say if this be so; but in view of what has been said, we 
 need to be careful in dealing with such statistics as may 
 be gathered of the number of births, marriages, deaths. In 
 1794 there were 35 baptisms, 35 persons of the parish 
 were married, and the mort-cloth was paid for 16 times. 
 The following year there were 43 baptisms, 20 persons of 
 the parish were married, and the mort-cloth was paid for 
 18 times. In the decade preceding 1793 the mort-cloth 
 was used 256 times, an average of more than 25 per annum. 
 The draining and other improvements that were taking 
 place were evidently lowering the death - rate. But its 
 facts are full of suggestion. 1794 was a prosperous year 
 in the parish, and the register tells us that 35 persons were 
 married. 1795-96 was a very trying year, and the number 
 fell to 20. Last year (1894) there were only 9 marriages. 
 In 1893 the number was 7. 
 
 D 
 
 Church Accommodation. 
 The Established Church was built in 1795, during the
 
 298 APPENDIX 
 
 ministry of Mr. Cairns. It is a good, substantial, plain, 
 square building, with large Gothic windows to the south, 
 and a circular gallery. Mr. Walker writing in 1838 for the 
 New Stat. Account, describes it as " very commodious and 
 comfortable. It is too large, however, containing more 
 than 1000 sittings, nor is there any probability of the ample 
 accommodation which it affords being required. But it 
 could not be better situated for the great bulk of the 
 population," which numbered then 1638. It was then 
 the only place of worship. The Census of 1891 showed 
 the population to be 1779, a decrease of 75 since 1881. 
 There are now, besides the Church in Longforgan, a Free 
 Church with accommodation for 400, a Mission Station 
 under the Established Church Session with accommodation 
 for 300, and an Episcopal Chapel with accommodation for 
 a considerable number. In connection with the last 
 named, a large and handsome church has been built, but 
 is as yet unopened. These are all at Invergowrie. There 
 is also a Mission Hall in Kingoodie. 
 
 E 
 
 Stipend. 
 
 The following is from the Register of Minister and Readers 
 in the year 1574 : 
 
 Banvy, Fowlis, Langforgund. 
 
 . <' 
 
 Nicholl Spittall, minister . .11600 
 
 Johnne Blair, reidare at Banvye . 1600 and k.l. 1 
 Patrick Mortimer, reidare at Fowlis 13 6 8 
 Johnne Smyth, reidare at Long- 
 forgund (his auld pension, etc.). 
 
 The Glamis Book of Record, 1684-89, enters the stipend 
 
 1 k.l. =kirkland, and means that beyond the money stipend some- 
 thing was paid in victual. 
 The 116, os. od. is Scots.
 
 APPENDIX 299 
 
 of the minister as 5 bolls wheat, 46 bolls beer, and 44 
 bolls oats (p. 4). Wheat was selling at about 6 per boll, 
 barley at from ^4 to 5, 6s. 8d. per boll, oats at from 
 z to 4. per boll. On the lowest calculation this comes 
 to about ^350 Scots. 
 
 Cf. A. H. Millar's Introduction to Book of Record, pp. 
 
 37, 38. 
 
 The following extract is from Sinclair's Statistical, vol. 
 xix. p. 482 : 
 
 "Manse. The manse was built 1753. 
 
 "Stipend. The stipend is n bolls of wheat, 56 bolls of 
 barley, 57 bolls of oats, 2 bolls of meal, and ^20 sterling, 
 besides a good glebe, worth ^10 sterling per annum at 
 least ; so that, with the house, garden, and offices, it is 
 worth about ^150 per annum, taken at a medium of 10 
 years back." 
 
 By the time that the New Statistical was written, another 
 manse had been built, and otherwise the position was 
 improved. This manse, which still stands, was built in 
 1823-24. It is spoken of as "an excellent house, com- 
 manding a delightful prospect, and embracing every 
 accommodation for a family. The glebe consists of between 
 4 and 5 acres of good ground, and its yearly value may 
 be stated at ^14 or ^15. The stipend was augmented 
 in 1824 to 1 8 chalders of grain, in the following propor- 
 tions, viz. 138^ bolls of barley, 138^ bolls of meal, and n 
 bolls of wheat, all payable by the highest fiars of the 
 county, together with 2, being an allowance for a grass 
 glebe, and 8, 6s. 8d. for furnishing Communion elements. 
 The whole has amounted on an average of the thirteen 
 years that have elapsed since the decreet of modification 
 to about ,308 a year" (New Stat. Ace., x. 419, 1838). 
 
 It was (1894) per crop ^280, 75. 8d., exclusive of manse 
 and glebe. In 1893, per crop, it was ^319, 143. 5d. 
 
 A hundred years ago, a proprietor in the parish devised 
 a plan for improving ministers' stipends in Scotland. It
 
 300 APPENDIX 
 
 is sketched in his account of Longforgan in Sinclair's 
 Statistical, vol. xix. pp. 482-83: Plan for improving 
 Ministers' Stipends. 
 
 " It would be a good plan, were Government to make an 
 offer to proprietors to purchase their teinds, which, it is 
 believed, most would do. This would raise a very large 
 capital ; and were the produce put in the hands of trustees, 
 under the direction of the Church, to be lent out by them 
 to the best advantage, and to empower them to buy land if 
 they thought proper, to be applied solely and entirely to 
 pay the ministers' stipends, and to uphold the church and 
 manse, a permanent fund would be established immediately, 
 to accommodate the parishes with more becoming places 
 of worship, to lodge the ministers more commodiously, and 
 also, to make many livings much better; and might, in 
 time, be the means of making stipends keep pace with the 
 value of money. This is but the outlines of a plan, which 
 may, indeed, be liable to objections ; but the advantages 
 would be so great, it seems to merit consideration. The 
 stipends would still be unequal, according to circumstances ; 
 but, by proper regulation, all of them might be better. The 
 clergy would then be raised to that rank and consideration 
 in society to which they are well entitled ; and men of 
 learning and abilities would consider the Church as an 
 object of honourable ambition ; heritors would no longer 
 have causes of disputes with their pastors ; and the Court 
 of Teinds, with a thousand etceteras, might be set aside for 
 ever." 
 
 It is evident that, a hundred years ago, one mind, at least, 
 in Longforgan, was exercising itself on those questions 
 which are pressing for solution to-day. 
 
 More recently, Mr. George Paterson, another of the lairds 
 of Castle Huntly, showed interest in a question that is 
 related to the ecclesiastical. In 1853 he published an 
 Historical Account of the Fiars in Scotland. Four years 
 later, he put out another pamphlet, The Striking of the
 
 APPENDIX 301 
 
 Fiars in Scotland. The chief part of this had been printed 
 before in Macphail's Edinburgh Ecclesiastical Journal, Feb. 
 1853. Some of the suggestions in these brochures have 
 been accepted in the Perthshire Fiars Court. 
 
 Schools. 
 
 In 1838 there were six schools in the parish the 
 Parochial School, and five others of a private nature. 
 
 After the Disruption, a school was carried on at Mylne- 
 field by the Free Church, with an attendance varying at 
 different times from 50 to 120 scholars. On the passing 
 of the Education Act, the school ceased to exist, and the 
 education of the young of the parish is conducted now in 
 two schools the Longforgan School with 145 scholars, and 
 the Mylnefield School with 211 scholars ; in all, 356. These 
 schools obtained this year (1895) ^290, 8s. icd. in grants, 
 and are doing good work. The total spent on education 
 during the year, including the repayment of loans, has been 
 ^939> is. 2d. 
 
 Sabbath Schools. 
 
 "There are also (New Stat. Ace., x. 420, 1838) three 
 Sabbath schools, which have been very serviceable in 
 diffusing among the youth an acquaintance with the Holy 
 Scriptures, and of which the good effects would be still 
 more apparent were the attendance upon them less 
 fluctuating than it frequently is." There are now five 
 schools, well equipped with libraries, etc. 
 
 At the Disruption a Sabbath school was started in 
 Longforgan village at the suggestion of Mr. Walker. It was 
 headed by John Dickson, Alexander Moncur, and Henry 
 Prain. Lieutenant-Colonel Davidson, who came as a 
 tenant to Castle Huntly in 1851, took a lively interest in its 
 progress during the time he was in the parish. One of the
 
 302 APPENDIX 
 
 visitors at the castle when the school was being entertained 
 was Dr. Islay Burns of Dundee. The school had its ups 
 and downs. At one time a determined effort was made by 
 the laird to stamp it out, but it lived through the storm. 
 It is to the honour of the then laird, that he afterwards 
 frankly acknowledged his mistake. 
 
 Teacher's Salary. 
 
 Answers to Queries made to Schoolmasters in conse- 
 quence of an Application to Parliament in 1825 for an 
 Augmentation of Salary. The answers were returned to 
 Sheriff-Deputes. 
 
 Query i. What were the salary and emoluments of the 
 schoolmaster at the earliest period at which they can be 
 correctly stated, and the branches of education taught at 
 the same period? 
 
 Ans. i. Before the year 1697, the salary to the school- 
 master was paid by a certain tax on each plough (how much 
 is not known), and by a tax on each house that had no land 
 of 3^ yearly. The Kirk-Session paid for a house, school, 
 and garden to the schoolmaster. The school fees in 1668 
 were for reading, 6d. per quarter; for writing, lod. per 
 do. ; for arithmetic or Latin, is. i Jd. per do. The school 
 fees appear to have continued the same until 1758. There 
 is a want of records from 1758 to 1772; but in that latter 
 year, reading was raised to is. per quarter; reading and 
 writing to is. 6d. per do. ; arithmetic to 23. per do. ; Latin, 
 2S. 6d. per do. In 1697 the heritors fixed the salary at 
 ^7, 55. yearly, which continued till 1788, when they volun- 
 tarily subscribed a salary of 20 yearly. The average 
 number of scholars might then be about 80, as there were 
 no private schools in the parish, which would make the 
 schoolmaster's emoluments from 1697 to 1772 to be about 
 yearly, exclusive of house and garden.
 
 APPENDIX 303 
 
 Query 2. What were the salary and emoluments of the 
 schoolmaster between 1780 and 1803, and the branches of 
 education taught at the same period ? 
 
 Ans. 2. The salary, as above, was jj, 53. until 1788, and 
 the fees as fixed in 1772, which will make the emoluments 
 of the schoolmaster to amount to 26 yearly from 1780 to 
 1788. From 1788 to 1803 the salary was 20, and the 
 fees were raised to is. 6d. per quarter for reading, 2s. per do. 
 for writing, 23. 6d. for arithmetic, and 35. for Latin, which 
 will make the emoluments to be about 40 yearly for that 
 period. The average of the schoolmaster's emoluments 
 from 1780 to 1803 (23 yrs.) will thus amount to about 
 35^5- The branches of education taught were reading, 
 writing, arithmetic, Latin, and the practical mathematics. 
 No private schools were in the parish for the greatest part 
 of this period. 
 
 Query 3. What were his salary and emoluments between 
 1803 and 1824, specifying salary, school fees, other sources 
 of emoluments, size of his house ? 
 
 Ans. 3. The salary was the maximum (22, 45. 5^d.). 
 The school fees were 23. per quarter for reading; 25. 6d. per 
 do. for reading and writing; 33. per do. for reading, 
 writing, and arithmetic ; 55. per do. for Latin ; 43. per do. 
 for practical mathematics. The house is large, consisting 
 of six rooms besides the teaching room. The annual 
 average of permanent income of the schoolmaster (after 
 deducting the poor scholars, who might be about of 
 the whole number) was about ^37, ios., exclusive of 
 house and garden. During this whole period there were 
 two private schools in the parish, which lessened the number 
 of scholars at the Parochial School. See the note at the 
 end. 
 
 Query 4. What were these for the year ending in 
 1825? 
 
 Ans. 4. The salary and school fees are the same as in 
 the preceding Answer to Question 3 ; but the number of
 
 304 APPENDIX 
 
 scholars being a little below the former average, taken in 
 that Answer, therefore the income of the schoolmaster 
 for the year 1825 is ^36, 53., exclusive of house and 
 garden. 
 
 Note. The year is understood in this Answer and in all 
 the others to be accounted from the end of the harvest 
 vacation of one year to the beginning of the harvest 
 vacation in the next year. See note at the end of the 
 Queries for other sources of emoluments. 
 
 Query 5. State whether there be at present one or more 
 schoolmasters established on the legal provision ; if two, 
 whether there be two schoolmasters' dwelling-houses, their 
 size, the proportion of salary allotted to each, and the 
 amount of school fees received by each. 
 
 Ans. 5. There is only one schoolmaster established on 
 the legal provision. 
 
 Query 6. What is the present rate of school fees ? 
 
 Ans. 6. The present fees for teaching at the Parochial 
 School are 23. per quarter for reading ; as. 6d. per do. for 
 reading and writing ; 33. per do. for reading, writing, 
 and arithmetic ; 53. per do. for Latin ; 45. per do. for 
 practical mathematics, in their various branches; ^i, is. 
 for a full system of book-keeping ; 75. 6d. per do. for geography 
 and the use of the globes. 
 
 Query 7. What is the average number of scholars who 
 attend one or both schools annually ? 
 
 Ans. 7. The average number of scholars who attend the 
 Parochial School annually is about 60 ; but there are only 
 three quarters in the year to be accounted for at that 
 average, as one quarter is lost entirely by the harvest and 
 other country work. 
 
 Query 8. What are the branches of education which the 
 present schoolmaster is qualified to teach, and the branches 
 actually taught ? 
 
 Ans. 8. The schoolmaster is qualified to teach English, 
 grammar, writing, arithmetic, book-keeping, Latin, and
 
 APPENDIX 305 
 
 the mathematics in their various branches, both in theory 
 and practice. All these branches are actually taught. 
 
 Query g. State whether there be at present any and what 
 other schools in the parish ; if there be, when established, 
 by whom maintained, whether Dissenters or others, the 
 emoluments of the schoolmasters, the rate of school 
 fees, branches of education taught, and by what numbers of 
 children attended ? 
 
 Ans. 9. There are two other schools in the parish. One 
 of them, in the village of Kingoodie, was established about 
 the year 1800. It is maintained by Thomas Mylne, Esquire 
 of Mylnefield, who gives the schoolmaster a free house and 
 garden. The present schoolmaster is a member of the 
 Church of Scotland. The emoluments of the schoolmaster 
 are about 20 annually, exclusive of house and garden. 
 The school fees are 25. per quarter for reading; 25. 6d. 
 per do. for writing ; 35. per do. for arithmetic. Reading, 
 writing, and arithmetic are taught in this school. The 
 average number of scholars for three quarters in the year is 
 60. The other private school is in the town of Longforgan. 
 It is maintained by George Paterson, Esquire of Castle 
 Huntly, who gives a free house to teach in. The present 
 schoolmaster is a member of the Church of Scotland. The 
 emoluments of the schoolmaster are about ^10, IDS. 
 annually. The school fees are 25. per quarter for reading, 
 2s. 4d. per do. for writing, and 25. 6d. per do. for arith- 
 metic. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are taught in 
 this school. It was established about the year 1799. 
 The average number of scholars for three quarters in 
 the year is 30. 
 
 Query 10. What is the greatest distance at which 
 children go daily to school ? 
 
 Ans. 10. The greatest distance that any of the scholars 
 have to travel to the school is about two miles. 
 
 Query n. State whether there be any part of a parish 
 so distant from a school as to prevent attendance ; if there 
 
 20
 
 306 APPENDIX 
 
 be, what is the distance, and what is the population of such 
 part of the parish ? 
 
 Ans. ii. The northmost part of the parish is about six 
 miles from the Parochial School ; but it is not above two 
 miles from the schools of the neighbouring parishes of 
 Abernyte, Kettins, and Lundie, where the inhabitants send 
 their children. There is, therefore, no part of this parish 
 but the inhabitants may send their children to some school. 
 The population of that part of the parish which cannot send 
 their children to the Parish School, owing to the great 
 distance, is about one-eighth of the whole population, which 
 in 1821 was 1544. 
 
 Query 12. What proportion does the population of any 
 towns or villages in the parish bear to the population of the 
 whole parish ? 
 
 Ans. 12. The population of the town of Longforgan is 
 about one-third ; and the population of the village of 
 Kingoodie about one-eighth of the whole population of the 
 parish according to the census in 1821, by which the popula- 
 tion of the whole parish was found to be 1544. 
 
 Note referred to in Answers to Queries 3rd and 4th. 
 In addition to his income as schoolmaster, the present 
 incumbent is also Session-Clerk, the average dues of which 
 office may be about 4, los. annually, which sum is to be 
 added to the amount of income specified in Answers 3rd 
 and 4th. George Paterson, Esq., the principal heritor, 
 patronises the Parochial School, and has given ^5 
 annually for teaching poor scholars on his estates, since the 
 year 1818 (having allowed 3 annually prior to that year 
 for the same purpose), and also ji, is for teaching a 
 Sunday school. Lord Kinnaird, another of the heritors, 
 has also given 2, IDS. annually, since the year 1820, for 
 teaching poor scholars on his estates. It may be observed 
 that these allowances are not permanent, or of right, but 
 only during pleasure. The whole average income from 
 every source betwixt 1803 and 1824, in Answer to Query
 
 APPENDIX 307 
 
 3rd, was about ^55. And the whole emoluments in 1825 
 from every source, in Answer to Query 4th, is ^59, 6s., in- 
 cluding bad debts, or fees that are at present owing, but 
 may never be paid. 
 
 Peter Forbes, schoolmaster, Longforgan, 8th October 1825. 
 We, the minister, and two of the heritors of the parish 
 of Longforgan, having read over, and considered the fore- 
 going Queries with the Answers thereto, as made out by the 
 schoolmaster, do certify them to be true, according to the 
 best of our knowledge. 
 
 fRobt. S. Walker, Minister. 
 (Signed) J. Geo. Paterson. 
 
 [Thos. Drummond. 
 
 H 
 Inns, etc. 
 
 More than one mention is made in the Session Records 
 of the Brewers' houses in the town of Longforgan. In 
 Earl Patrick's time there were three. When Sinclair's 
 Statistical was published, there were two inns in the village, 
 one at the west end, "and another about the middle of 
 the town, upon a much larger scale, with a brew- 
 house, malt barn, bake-house, and good stabling attached 
 to it" (xix. 472). There were altogether in the parish at 
 that time two brewers, two innkeepers, and four alehouses 
 (p. 488). 
 
 When the New Statistical was written (1838), there were 
 " four licensed public-houses in the parish, besides the 
 toll-house, forming the boundary between the counties of 
 Perth and Angus" (New Stat., Ace. x. 412). These were 
 situated in Longforgan, Kingoodie, Mylnefield. The 
 result of this state of things was melancholy. 
 
 There are now two licensed houses in the parish one at 
 Invergowrie, and one at Longforgan.
 
 3o8 APPENDIX 
 
 I 
 Financial Statement of Free Church Congregation in 1893. 
 
 In connection with the Jubilee of the Free Church, "a 
 Statement of Accounts for fifty years, from the Disruption, 
 1 8th May 1843 to i5th March 1893," was compiled by 
 D. M. Watson and John Smith, joint-treasurers of the church. 
 This is a somewhat unique compilation. It contains a list 
 of the ministers of Longforgan from the Reformation to the 
 Disruption, the names of the Free Church ministers, and 
 elaborate statistics of the receipts and expenditure of the 
 past fifty years under thirty-four headings, etc. It is a 
 statement of great value as illustrating the growth of 
 Christian liberality in the district. A few figures may be 
 given : 
 
 Total receipts in 1 844, ,243 9 3^ ^1893,^771 2 5 
 
 Sustentation Fund ,131211!. ^335 1911 
 
 Missions Schemes ., ,197 i 10 
 
 Collections and ) r r 
 
 donations } ^ 6 7 " " ^ 7 ' 
 
 The church, built in 1843-44, cost ,412, 145. 
 
 The manse, built in 1849, cos t $ 2 %i 7 s - 6d. 
 
 The manse library has been gathered at a cost of about 
 ^1400. 
 
 A large sum has been spent both on the church and on 
 the manse since they were built. 
 
 We are especially thankful to see an increase of mission- 
 ary liberality. M'Cheyne was perhaps the first to give an im- 
 pulse to this cause. The impulse has been renewed by 
 many, notably by the Rev. Dr. Paton of the New Hebrides 
 on two memorable occasions, and the Rev. Dr. Laws of 
 Livingstonia.
 
 APPENDIX 309 
 
 Long/organ Free Church Manse Library. 
 
 The following reference to this remarkable collection 
 appeared lately in the Free Church Monthly Record'. 
 
 " In the Free Church manse of Longforgan, is a library 
 which deserves to be better known. The idea of it 
 originated, we believe, with Mr. Watson of Bullionfield, to 
 whose contributions it mainly owes its existence. The 
 first proposal was to establish it in Dundee, to connect it 
 with the Free Library there, and to make it open to 
 ministers of all denominations. This plan, however, was 
 abandoned, and the library is now a local one, for the use 
 of the Free Church minister of Longforgan, the presbytery 
 and the deacons' court being trustees. Its cost, including 
 bookcases, has been about ^1300, an additional sum of 
 ;ioo being sunk, and the interest spent on repairs, etc. 
 The library is a very valuable one. It is rich in patristic 
 literature, and contains some rare books, such as Knox's 
 Liturgy (1611), Laud's Liturgy (1637), the Babylonish 
 Talmud, etc. It is also well supplied with the works of 
 the great English Church writers, with the literature of 
 Scotland during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 
 and with many commentaries and books of reference." 
 
 K 
 Christian Agencies in 1895. 
 
 There are four churches (i) The Established Church, 
 (2) The Free Church, (3) The Scottish Episcopal Church, 
 (4) The Established Church Mission. There are, in all 
 of these, two services of some kind on Sabbath. In con- 
 nection with one or all of them, there are Sabbath Schools, 
 Bible Classes, Sewing and Mission Work Meetings, Prayer 
 Meetings, Tract Distribution, etc.
 
 3io APPENDIX 
 
 There is a Mission Hall at Kingoodie, where a Service 
 and a School are held on Sabbath, and a Prayer Meeting 
 during the week. 
 
 Besides the strictly Church interests, the people con- 
 tribute something to objects like the M'All Mission, 
 China, Rescue Work, Colportage, etc. There is an 
 Auxiliary of the Bible Society and a Young Women's 
 Christian Association. 
 
 Kingoodie. 
 
 The meaning of Kingoodie, anciently written Chingothe, 
 Kyngudy, Ceinguddie, Kingudie, Kingaidy, is puzzling. 
 The first syllable Kin or Chin is, of course, the Celtic 
 word for " head," Ceann, Kyn. Goodie may be the Gaelic 
 Gaoth, gen Gaoithe, the wind. Ceanngaoithe, or with the 
 article Ceannagaoithe, the headland of the wind. In 
 Bourtie parish, Aberdeenshire, there is a hill called 
 " Kingoodie Hill," 600 feet high. In the same parish 
 there was a place, Kingoodie, where there were marks of 
 the remains of a chapel. " Kingoodie is now part of the 
 estate of Blair, and on its coming into the possession of 
 Mr. Leith (a nephew of Mr. Leith Lumsden of Clova) he 
 changed the name of the house to Leithfield" (Rev. W. 
 Temple's Thanage of Fermartyn, p. 366). 
 
 Dr. Davidson of Bourtie informs me that the farm of 
 Greystone or East Kingoodie (compare in our district 
 Greystane and Kingoodie), where formerly stood a hamlet, 
 is entirely exposed to the wind, and would exactly answer 
 the above derivation. The rest of the property of Kingoody 
 or, as it is now more usually called, Blair dips down 
 from this elevated wind-swept point. 
 
 Kingoodie in Perthshire owes its importance to its 
 quarry. It is on the Mylnefield estate. Last century, 
 Mr. Mylne the proprietor built a number of cottages there 
 for the quarrymen. We cull the following from an in-
 
 APPENDIX 311 
 
 teresting note on the Kingoodie quarry in Sinclair's 
 Statistical : 
 
 " The Kingoody stone is of a greyish colour, called by 
 minerologists Grain-stone ; it is difficult to work ; hard and 
 durable to an uncommon degree; so much so, that the 
 fine old tower, the steeple of Dundee, which was built of 
 it in King David the Second's time, has shown scarce any 
 symptoms of decay, except where the influence of the 
 town atmosphere reaches. Castle Huntly, supposed to be 
 built in 1452, has scarce a stone in it which has yielded to 
 the influence of the weather; and a gate at that place, 
 built of Kingoody stone, by Earl Patrick of Strathmore, 
 130 years ago, is crowned with four pyramids, the points 
 of which appear perfectly entire at this day (1797), not 
 measuring more in diameter than i-i6th of an inch. 
 These are only a few amongst many instances of its 
 durability. 
 
 " Mr. Mylne, the proprietor, employs from fifty to sixty 
 hands in the quarry of Kingoody ; four boats for transport- 
 ing stone, which are navigated by nine hands, and not only 
 sends stones to the whole extent from Montrose to Perth 
 by water, but likewise for fifteen or sixteen miles of country 
 round by land carriage. He also sends considerable 
 quantities to England ; and lately undertook, by contract, 
 to furnish stones from this quarry to two navigable canals, 
 the one called the Gippon's Navigation, near Ipswich ; the 
 other the Chelmsford Canal, near Maldon, in Essex. He 
 has built a considerable village upon the spot for the 
 labourers, the inhabitants of which at present amount to 
 116 of all ages. 
 
 "Although it does not properly belong to this paper to 
 interfere with the business of revenue or finance, yet as the 
 subject is curious, it is worth while to remark, that owing 
 to the interpretation put upon the wording of the late Act
 
 3 i2 APPENDIX 
 
 of Parliament, for imposing a duty upon stone sea-borne, by 
 the revenue officers, the exportation of stone from this 
 quarry, in all probability, will soon be at an end. For, 
 although the whole revenue arising to Government, betwixt 
 the 5th day of July 1794 and the 5th day of July 1795, 
 from this duty, was only ^16, i8s. 3fd., yet, from the 
 distance between Kingoody and the ports of Perth and 
 Dundee, such is the difficulty of procuring coast-despatches 
 for a cargo of stone, worth only 175., and not exceeding 
 lod. per ton in value, as to prolong a voyage, performed, 
 before the commencement of this Act, in twelve hours, to 
 three days. Whatever reasons Government may have for 
 continuing this Act, as it is at present, does not fall within 
 our province to say ; but although of very small import to 
 them, it is a very material concern to the proprietor and his 
 employees ; for, in the year above mentioned, this duty 
 alone occasioned a delay of work equal to twenty times the 
 value of the duty paid." 
 
 Robertson ( General View of the Agriculture in the County 
 of Perth, p. 35) speaks of it as "unquestionably the finest 
 in the county. Many astonishing slabs are raised at 
 Kingoodie." 
 
 Morison, in his Guide to the City of Perth and its 
 Environs, published in 1812, says of the Depot (for 7000 
 prisoners of war) built at Perth in that year : " These 
 buildings are chiefly of whinstone, from quarries in the 
 vicinity of the town, and that of Kingoody Quarry in the 
 neighbourhood of Dundee." The inner work of the Bell 
 Rock Lighthouse is of Mylnefield stone. 
 
 In 1838, when the New Statistical was written, the 
 company which rented the quarries were employing between 
 50 and 60 men. Good workers had 143. a week. There 
 were three boats carrying stone. 
 
 There are now (1895) between 60 and 70 men employed. 
 
 Rossie Priory, the seat of Lord Kinnaird, was built of 
 stone from another quarry in the parish.
 
 APPENDIX 313 
 
 In Edward's Description of the County of Angus, 1678, 
 he makes it terminate in one direction, "at the quarry of 
 Kingudie." 
 
 The quarry was the scene of an unfortunate railway 
 accident in 1852. A train was thrown over the bridge 
 beside it. The guard, Charles Balfour, was so dreadfully 
 injured that he lay between life and death for months. 
 He recovered, however, and was appointed stationmaster at 
 Glencarse. He wrote "The Iron Horse," describing a 
 journey from Dundee to Perth, in the early days of the rail- 
 way. The piece has a local interest. We give two verses : 
 
 " Come Hieland man, come Lowland man, come every man on 
 
 earth, man, 
 
 And I'll tell you how I got on atween Dundee and Perth, man ; 
 I gaed upon an iron road, a rail they did her ca', man ; 
 It was ruggit wi' an iron horse, an awfu' beast to draw, man. 
 Sing fal la la. 
 
 The beast it roared, and aff we gaed, through water, earth, and 
 
 stanes, man ; 
 
 We ran at sic a fearfu' rate, I thought we'd brak our banes, man ; 
 Till by and by we stoppit at a place ca'd something Cowrie, 
 But ne'er a word had I to say, but only sit an' glower aye. 
 Sing fal la la." 
 
 This song may be found in Ford's Harp of Perthshire, 
 where a place is also given to the songs of one or two local 
 men. Amongst these are the authors of Random Readings 
 in Verse and Prose, and Up Glenesk. 
 
 M 
 
 Bullionfield. 
 
 " In Scotland, the fourth of July used to be known as 
 Martin of Bullion's Day, in honour of the translation of the 
 saint's body to a shrine in the cathedral of Tours. There 
 is some uncertainty about the origin of the term Bullion, 
 though, according to the likeliest etymology, it is derived
 
 314 APPENDIX 
 
 from the French bouiller, to boil, in allusion to the heat of 
 the weather at that time of the year. There is an old 
 proverb that if the deer rise up dry and lie down dry on 
 Martin of Bullion's Day, there will be a good gose-harvest, 
 i.e. an early and plentiful one. . . . There are traces of 
 both Martin and Bullion in Scottish topography. In 
 Perthshire there is the parish of St. Martin's, containing 
 the estate of St. Martin's Abbey. Some miles to the east 
 is Strathmartin in Forfarshire, already alluded to, and not 
 far from it in the same county we find Bullionfield, in the 
 parish of Liff and Benvie. It is probable that these 
 names are in some way connected together." (Cf. Folklore 
 of Scottish Lochs and Springs, by James M. Mackinlay, 
 F.S.A., Scot, pp. 48-49.) 
 
 In Pennant's Tour in Scotland, i. p. 78, we read: "Re- 
 passed the Tay at Bullion's Boat; visited the field of 
 Loncarty." Bullion's Boat is not very far from St. Martin's. 
 
 The beautiful gateway leading into Greystane, just across 
 the road from Bullionfield, was a part of the old St. Paul's 
 Churchyard, London. 
 
 N 
 
 Storms and Distress. 
 
 The Ettrick Shepherd has a paper of thrilling interest in 
 his Tales on storms. He says : " Storms constitute the 
 various eras of the pastoral life. They are the red lines in 
 the shepherd's manual the remembrancers of years and 
 ages that are past the tablets of memory by which the 
 ages of his children, the times of his ancestors, and the rise 
 and downfall of families are invariably ascertained. Even 
 the progress of improvement in Scottish farming can be 
 traced traditionally from these, and the rent of a farm or 
 estate given with precision, before and after such and such 
 a storm, though the narrator be uncertain in what century 
 the said notable storm happened. ' Mar's year,' and ' that 
 year the Hielanders raide,' are but secondary mementos to
 
 APPENDIX 315 
 
 the year nine, and the year forty these stand in bloody 
 capitals in the annals of the pastoral life, as well as many 
 more that shall hereafter be mentioned." 
 
 Hogg describes the thirteen drifty days about 1620, the 
 blast o 1 March 2^th, 16 , when many thousands of sheep 
 perished in a forenoon. "The years 1709, 40, and 72, were 
 all likewise notable years for severity. In the latter, the 
 snow lay from the middle of December until the middle of 
 April, and all the time hard frozen. Partial thaws always 
 kept the farmer's hope of relief alive, and thus prevented 
 him from removing his sheep to a lower situation, till at 
 length they grew so weak that they could not be removed. 
 There has not been such a general loss in the days of any 
 man living as in that year. It is by these years that all 
 subsequent hard winters have been measured, and, of late, by 
 that of 1795. But of all the storms that ever Scotland 
 witnessed, or I hope ever will again behold, there is none of 
 them that can be compared with the memorable 24th of 
 January 1794, which fell with such peculiar violence on 
 that division of the south of Scotland that lies between 
 Crawford-muir and the border. In these bounds there were 
 seventeen shepherds perished, and upwards of thirty carried 
 home insensible, who afterwards recovered ; but the number 
 of sheep that were lost far outwent any possibility of calcu- 
 lation. One farmer alone, Mr. Thomas Beattie, lost seventy- 
 two scores for his own share." 
 
 It appears from the Records that remain that most of 
 these were times of storm and distress in our district. 
 One or two facts may be given. In 1607 there was a 
 steady frost from December i to March 21, and "passage 
 upone the yce over Tay all the tyme (at Perth) and passage 
 ower and ower at the mil of Enrol." 
 
 The frost of 1623-24 is spoken of as surpassing anything 
 that has been experienced. There are a good many 
 allusions to snow and impassable roads during the same 
 century. If 1709 was disastrous, 1740 was dreadfully so,
 
 316 APPENDIX 
 
 owing to the wildness of the storm in January. More 
 memorable still is the storm of 1772. For a year or two 
 the harvests had been scanty. The suffering was intensified 
 by the great storm of 1772 and the poor harvest, and cul- 
 minated in the Meal Mob riots which affected the district. 
 The same causes, the storm, and the scanty harvest of 1795, 
 issued in widespread suffering. The year 1812 is another 
 black one in the annals of the poor. Of recent storms the 
 most famous are the Tay Bridge storm of 1879; the wild 
 November gale of 1893, when thousands of the forest giants 
 of Scotland and some of our noblest trees were hurled to 
 the ground; and last, but not least, the long and strong 
 frost and the blinding blizzard of 1895.
 
 INDEX 
 
 ABERDEEN, Breviary of, 72. 
 Abernyte, 13, 261-62. 
 Accommodation, church, 297-8. 
 Action sermon in 1678, 186. 
 Ad Tavum, 26. 
 Agricola, 26. 
 Ague, 209, 229. 
 Alectum, 70. 
 Aleethe, 70, 71. 
 Alexander I., 49-51, 75, 84. 
 Almshouse of Red Friars, 55, 56. 
 Anderson, Dr. Joseph, 58. 
 Andrews, St., 104, in, 134, 135, 
 I 36i 137, 140, 146, 203. 
 
 BALBUNNOCK, etc., 17, 82, 102. 
 
 Baledgarno, 29, 77, 84, 121, 220. 
 
 Balfour, Sir James, 37, 49. 
 
 Balgavie, 32. 
 
 Baliol, John, 30, 31, 77, 78. 
 
 Balnaves, Henrie, 31. 
 
 Balruddery, 19. 
 
 Bannockburn, 80. 
 
 Barbour (Bruce), 31, 79. 
 
 Barony Court, 88-92. 
 
 Barony of Longforgan, 172. 
 
 Beadles, 185, 199. 
 
 Beaton, Cardinal, 31-33 
 
 Benvie, 22, 61, 134. 
 
 Bernard, St. , 66. 
 
 Boniface, 44-47. 
 
 Bonnet makers of Dundee, 65. 
 
 Bounties, 126. 
 
 Bovates, 52. 
 
 Boyce, Hector, 70. 
 
 Broune, David, 149, 167, 168. 
 
 Bruce, Robert the, 14, 30, 31, 77, 78. 
 
 Bulien, Bulyeoun, 82, 122. 
 
 Bullion's Boat, 314. 
 
 Bullionfield, 19, 83, 296, 313-14. 
 
 Burial in church, 174-75. 
 
 Burns, William, 261. 
 
 CAIRNS, Adam, 150, 235-59. 
 ,, Dr. Adam, 247-59. 
 Calderwood's History, 31, 34, 35. 
 Caledonian canoe, 28. 
 Camp, Roman, 25. 
 Candlish, Dr., 263. 
 Canmore, 29. 
 Carse, 13, 22, 24, 25, 27, 38, 40, 48, 
 
 61, 214, 227, 228, 229. 
 Carucates, 52. 
 Cater Milley, 25-27. 
 Chalmers, Caledonia, 26. 
 Chambers, Robert, 62. 
 Charles I., 140. 
 
 ,, II., 36, 172, 175. 
 Charlie, Prince, 39. 
 Christesoun, John, 57. 
 Christian agencies, 309, 310. 
 Chronicle of Perth, 161. 
 Church charities, 187, 188. 
 Church, pre-Reformation, 131-46. 
 Cistercians, 66. 
 Clayhills, the, 62. 
 Clock, the church, 179, 184, 185. 
 Coffins found, 40. 
 Coins found, 40. 
 Communicants, number of, 245. 
 Conchubranus, 69, 71. 
 Cottar houses, 18, 112. 
 Coupar Abbey, etc., 66, 75, 76, 224. 
 Covenant, the, 162, 167. 
 Covenanters, 112, 167, 168. 
 Cromwell, 113, 296. 
 Cross, the old, 122, 123. 
 Culfargie, 208. 
 Cumberland, Duke of, 39, 40. 
 
 DARGIE, 43, 48. 
 Dargo, Dargoch, etc., 52, 53. 
 Darien Company, 178. 
 David I, 76. 
 II, 80, 81. 
 
 317
 
 INDEX 
 
 Dialogues on Episcopacy, 191. 
 Discipline, Church, 180, 201-2, 210, 
 
 245- 
 
 Disruption, the, 263-66. 
 Dominicans, Perth, 137. 
 Dovecots, 233. 
 Drimmie, 19. 
 Drink money, 180. 
 Dron, 15, 16. 
 Dron, chapel of, 65-68. 
 Drunkenness, 180, 181, 245, 246, 307. 
 Duncan, Professor, 203. 
 Dundee,' 29, 31, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 
 
 55. 65. 70, 81, 121, 140, 141, 145, 
 
 146, 155, 168, 169, 213. 
 
 EDUCATION, 244, 245. 
 Edward I., 30, 77. 
 Elders, 195, 236. 
 
 Elphinston, William, 150, 198, 205. 
 Episcopal Intrusion, 150, 198, 199. 
 Epitaph of Modwenna, 71. 
 Errol, 13, 39, 135, 220. 
 Expectants, 173. 
 
 FAIRS, 172, 241, 
 
 Fast Days, 21 o. 
 
 Feus of Scone, 53-54. 
 
 Financial Statement of Free Church 
 
 in 1893, 308. 
 Fingask, 38, 39. 
 Fittis, R. , 99. 
 Forbes, Bishop, 69. 
 Fordun, John of, 77, 84. 
 Forrester, David, 149, 177-93. 
 
 ,, family of, 178. 
 Fowlis-Easter, 13, 133, 135. 
 
 ,, kirk of, 37. 
 
 Fraser, Sir William, 78. 
 
 GALLOWAY, Patrick, 149, 151. 
 George III. Jubilee, 242-43. 
 
 ,, death, 242. 
 
 Gilfillan, Rev. G. , 245. 
 Glamis Book of Record, 95, 116, 
 
 128, 146, 176, etc. 
 Glamis Castle, 78, 113, 115, 118, 119, 
 
 121, 126. 
 Glamis Tree, 20. 
 Glas of Tealing, 207, 208. 
 Glastreth, 80, 83. 
 Gobriat, the, 47. 
 Goodfellow, John, 149, 150. 
 Goors or Gows, 62, 65. 
 Gordon, Emma, 94, 106. 
 Gornar, Dan, 54. 
 Gow, Neil, 211. 
 
 Gowns of judges, 127. 
 
 Gows, the, 65. 
 
 Gray, family of, 80, 100, 101. 
 
 ,, Sir Andrew, 14, 83, 96, 97, 
 
 100, 106-8. 
 Greystane, 48, 314. 
 
 HAITLIE; William, 57. 
 
 Haldane, Robert, 17. 
 
 Haldane's Tabernacle at Abernyte, 
 
 262. 
 
 Hall, Ninian, 56. 
 Hamilton, Dr. James, 261. 
 Harry, Blind, 29. 
 Harvesting, 233-35. 
 Hastings, Sir Edmund de, 78, 83. 
 Hays of Errol, 66. 
 Heritors, list of, 296. 
 Highland Jean, 285-290. 
 Historical Manuscripts, Report on, 
 
 39, 78, 92. 
 
 Hodge, James, 150, 197-205. 
 Horestii, the, 26. 
 Horsley, Bishop, 62. 
 Houses, 112, 220, 221, 272. 
 Hundhil, the, 87, 92. 
 Hunter, Rev. J., 267. 
 Hunter's, Woods and Forests of 
 
 Perthshire quoted, 20. 
 Huntly, Castle, 19, 20, 31, 36, 37, 
 
 38, 82, 83, 93-108, 111-29, J 67, 
 
 171, 172, 176, 198, 224, 231, etc. 
 Hurley-Hawkin, 75. 
 Husband-land, 52. 
 
 ICE on Tay, 157, 315. 
 Inchmartin, Sir David, 30. 
 Inchture, 12, 13, 122, 135, 200, 201. 
 Inns, 307. 
 Invergowrie, 17, 19 ; Burnmouth of, 
 
 27, 28, 121, 122 ; bridge at, 28 ; 
 
 kirk of, 43-65, 135 ; Wishart at, 
 
 34- 
 
 JACOBIN PRINCIPLES, 227. 
 James II., 81. 
 
 ,, III., 81, 137. 
 
 ,, IV., 81, 82. 
 
 ., V., 83. 
 
 VI., 36. 
 Jamieson, 114. 
 Jarden, James, 149, 156, 157. 
 Jews and Meg Craw, 260. 
 Johnnestoun, St., 32. 
 Johnson, Dr. Sam., 20. 
 Johnston, Rev. J., 15, 47. 
 Johnstone, Nelly, 274-85.
 
 INDEX 
 
 319 
 
 KEITH, 30, 79, 84. 
 
 Kettins, 55. 
 
 Kilspindie, 13, 29, 47, 135, 154, 155. 
 
 Kinfauns, 13, 54. 
 
 Kinghorne, First Earl, 102. 
 
 ,, Second Earl, 102, 103. 
 
 Kingoodie, 17, 18, 96, 310-13. 
 Kinnaird, 13, 36. 
 
 ,, Sir George, 128, 175, 176. 
 Kinnoull, 13, 151. 
 Knox, James, 26, 27. 
 Knox, John, 31, 36. 
 
 LAURIE, Joseph, 149, 157-67. 
 
 ,, Robert, 161-67. 
 Lay of Castle Huntly, 106-8. 
 Leases, old, 224, 225-27. 
 Liber Ecclesie de Scon, 50. 
 Liff, 13, 49, 52, 53, 54, 57, 135. 
 Lithgow, William, 103, 129, 148. 
 Lochton, 13, 19, 143, 292. 
 Longforgan, meaning of name, 
 
 13-16 ; scenery, 16 ; population 
 
 of, 17, 295 ; work in, 18, 19 ; 
 
 residences in, 19 ; trees, 2022 ; 
 
 remains found at, 68 ; Modvvenna 
 
 in, 70-72 ; laird of, 109-29 ; 
 
 people of, 1 20 ; trade with, 121 ; 
 
 cross of, 122 ; teinds of, 140-45, 
 
 168 ; gifts to kirk of, 170 ; lordship 
 
 of, 172, etc. 
 Lyon, Castle, 38, 99. 
 
 ,, Dr., of Glamis, 211. 
 
 ,, George, 150, 205-13. 
 
 MADIANUS, 47. 
 
 Madoes, St., 13, 47, 61. 
 
 Maiden, the, 234. 
 
 Maitland, 25. 
 
 Making men, 228. 
 
 Malcolm, 52. 
 
 Manors, royal, 75. 
 
 Manse, the, 235, 303. 
 
 Manse library, 313. 
 
 Market Knowe, 40, 241. 
 
 Marshall, Dr., 15. 
 
 Marshy land, 227-29. 
 
 Maxwell, 56, 140, 141, 142. 
 
 M'Cheyne, 43, 260, 261, 308. 
 
 Meal Mobs, 213-19. 
 
 Medana, 16. 
 
 Melbourne, Cairns in, 249. 
 
 Metrical version of the Psalms, 
 
 163-65. 
 
 Middleton, Earl of, 116. 
 Middiltoune, James, 149, 171-73. 
 Mill, 44. 
 
 Millar, A. H., 99, 128-29. 
 
 ,, David, 12, 94, cf. also 106, etc. 
 Missions, 260, 308. 
 Mitchell, Thomas, 149, 193-97. 
 Modwenna, St., 15, 69-72. 
 Monenna, St., 16. 
 Monboddo, Lord, 18. 
 Moncreiff, Sir Henry Wellvvood, 
 
 247-48. 
 
 Moncur Castle, 19. 
 Moneys lent, 202-3. 
 Monipennie, John, 28. 
 Monk, General, 37. 
 Monorgan, 18, 22, 81-83. 
 Moothill, the, 87. 
 Murray, Sir Patrick Keith, 87, 92. 
 Mylne, Alexander, 149, 168-71. 
 
 ,, family of, 62, 170, 217-19. 
 Mylnefield, 17 ; woods of, 20 ; 
 
 house, 170 ; sack of, 214. 
 
 NECTAN BAPTIZED, 44. 
 Nelson's, Lord, death, 242. 
 Nest Egg, the, 165, 166. 
 
 OCHTERLONY, 27. 
 
 Orchards, Carse, 22. 
 Oxgangs, 52. 
 
 PADDOCK STONE, '48. 
 
 Palladius, 72. 
 
 Parliament, Act of, quoted, 141. 
 
 Parochial records, 136, 295-297. 
 
 Patersons, the, 105-6. 
 
 Pennant's Tour, 314. 
 
 Pensandus, 47. 
 
 Pitcairne, Dr., 193. 
 
 Plague, the, 209. 
 
 Playfair, Baron, 212. 
 
 ,, Principal, 212. 
 Ploughgates, 52. 
 Poor, the, 236-40. 
 Population, 209, 291, 298. 
 Port- Patrick, 122. 
 Pretender, the, 37, 198-99. 
 Professors, no complete list of, at 
 
 St. Andrews, 203. 
 Prophecy of John Row, 152-54. 
 Pyngill, Roger and Adam, 80, 83. 
 
 QUEEN MARY, 36, 80, 101. 
 
 RAMSAY OF COLLAGE, 198. 
 
 Rath, 135. 
 
 Rebellion, the 1715, 198. 
 
 Red Friars, 55. 
 
 Rents, 230.
 
 320 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Ritchie, Dr., 267. 
 
 Roads, 229, 231. 
 
 Robert III., 55. 
 
 Robertson, 20, 224, 228, 229, 
 
 312. 
 
 Rollock, 183. 
 Rosemarkie, 44, 47. 
 Rossie, 16, 61, 312. 
 Rossinclerach, 135. 
 Row,' John, 152-54. 
 Roy, General, 26, 27. 
 Rynd, Colin, 154-55. 
 
 ,, Dominie, 151-54. 
 
 ,, James, 156. 
 
 ,, Patrick, 152-55. 
 
 ,, Robert, 149, 151-56. 
 
 ,, William, 154-55. 
 
 SABBATH OBSERVANCE, 180, 185, 
 
 199, 200. 
 
 Sabbath schools, 259, 301, 302. 
 Sackcloth, appearance in, 201. 
 Satan, legends about, 48. 
 Schools and schoolmasters, 174, 183, 
 
 2 44> 2 4S, 3 OI > 302-7. 
 Scone, 75. 
 
 , , Abbey of, 48-49. 
 Scots Chronicle, 28. 
 Seceders, 246, 261, 262, 280. 
 Services, 185, 186. 
 Sessioners, 179. 
 Session records, 173. 
 Shakespeare, 86, 209. 
 Skene, 47, 72, 75, 77. 
 Smith, 30. 
 
 ,, Androv, 167. 
 Soir Sanct, 76. 
 Spalding Club, 61. 
 Spanky, John, 134. 
 Spittal, Nicol, 149, 151. 
 Spotswood, Archbishop, 47. 
 Start, The, 37. 
 Stipend, the, 168, 298-301. 
 Stones in Invergowrie Kirk, 57-62. 
 Storms and distress, 210, 314-16. 
 Stool of repentance, 201-2. 
 Stratherdel, 75. 
 
 Strathmore, family of, 38, 104, 105, 
 
 179. 
 Strathmore, First Earl, 104, 109-29, 
 
 145, 146, 171, 172, 179, 194. 
 Stuart, Dr. John, 62, 92. 
 Symmer, Alex., 149, 173-77. 
 
 TEINDS OF LONGFORGAN, 140-45, 
 
 168. 
 
 Templehall, 53, 68, 122. 
 Ten Years' Conflict, 263. 
 Texts noted, 194. 
 Than ages, 75. 
 Thirlage, 224-27. 
 Thomas the Rhymer, 62, 65. 
 Thrashing-mills, 232. 
 Thriepland, Lady, 38. 
 Tower of church, 179. 
 Town piper, 180-83. 
 Trinity Friars, 55. 
 Tytler's History, 77. 
 
 USSHER, Archbishop, 71, 72. 
 Utrecht MSS., 47. 
 
 VALUATION ROLL, 292-94. 
 Venricones, the, 25. 
 Vessels on the Tay, 28. 
 
 WADSETTER, a, 113. 
 
 Wages, 222, 223. 
 
 Walker, Rev. R., 150, 259-67. 
 
 Wallace, Sir William, 29, 30. 
 
 Warden, 18, 62. 
 
 Watson, James, 34, 56. 
 
 John, 55, 56. 
 Wedderburn, Alex., 140. 
 William the Lion, ,53, 77. 
 Wilson, Sir Daniel, 60, 61. 
 Wishart, George, 34, 35, 56. 
 Witchcraft, 188-00. 
 Wodrow on the Nest Egg, 165-67. 
 
 ,, sermons, 197. 
 Wordsworth, 42, 132. 
 Working hours in 1684, 125. 
 Worthies of Longforgan, 269-90. 
 Wyntown, 50, 51, 80.
 
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