Chronicles of Strathearn Part 5

THE HISTORIC PRESBYTERY OF AUCHTERARDER

By Rev. G. D. MACNAUGHTAN, B.D., Ardoch, _Clerk of Presbytery_

The district embraced within the bounds of the Presbytery of Auchterarder belonged for the most part to the ancient Diocese of Dunblane. Within it lay the famous Abbey of Inchaffray, and the minister of Muthill was usually Dean of Dunblane. As originally erected, the Presbytery was, indeed, the Presbytery of Dunblane, but in 1593 the General a.s.sembly ordained the Presbytery of Dunblane "to be transport.i.t to Auchterardour, with liberty to the brethren of Dunblane appealing to resort either to Auchterardour or Striviling as they please." When at last it got into shape it consisted of the following fifteen parishes, viz.:--Auchterarder, Blackford, Comrie, Crieff, Dunning, Fossoway, Foulis-Wester, Gask, Glendevon, Madderty, Monzie, Monzievaird, Muckhart, Muthill, and Trinity-Gask. Beginning on the sh.o.r.es of Loch Earn, it followed on both banks the river of that name for more than twenty miles, stretching upwards on either side to the surrounding hills. Northwards it reached even the banks of the Almond, while southwards it found its way into the uplands of Strathallan, and, breaking by the pa.s.s of Gleneagles into the Ochils, it went right through them to the level ground beyond, following the windings of the Devon. As a background, rose the mighty peaks of the Grampians; in the foreground lay the gentler, greener, rounded heights of the Ochil range. The seat of the Presbytery was Auchterarder, a long, straggling village, built along the crest of a rising ground; a mile or two distant from the south bank of the Earn, and at the same time not far from the top of Strathallan. Towards the close of the sixteenth century we have to think of the various parishes above named as being duly supplied with Protestant pastors, who met regularly in Auchterardour for the "weekly exercise," and to dispose of any church business that came before them. Most of these first members of the Presbytery seem to have been cadets of the leading families of the district, and, amongst them, Drummond, Graeme, Murray or Moray were common names. The Presbytery of Auchterarder first begins to take a prominent part in public affairs during the religious troubles of Charles I. The Jenny Geddes riot in St Giles has just taken place, and pet.i.tions are pouring in from all quarters against the ill-fated service-book. The Privy Council is at its wits' end as between a king resolved on innovations and a nation that will have none of them. It sends up to London specimens of the pet.i.tions received--one from the n.o.bility, one from the gentry, one from the burghs, and a fourth from the clergy. The clerical pet.i.tion thus honoured was that from the "Presbytrie of Auchtererdoch." The pet.i.tion of this Presbytery was probably selected not on account of the zealous character of the opposition of its members, but on account of their known loyalty. The impression to be produced on the King's mind was that, if even Auchterarder opposed his designs, his projects were hopeless. The Covenant was sworn, but Auchterarder was not zealous for the Covenant.

In the divisions of opinion, which led eventually to the rising of Montrose, Auchterarder sympathised with the minority. A Warning and Declaration with reference to these divisions was ordered by the General a.s.sembly to be read from every pulpit, and "the brethren of Auchtererdoch" took it upon them to disobey. It was the first ill.u.s.tration of that independence of judgment for which they have more than once been famous. It was resolved to make an example of this disobedient Presbytery, and they were cited before the a.s.sembly of 1643. "The Presbytery of Auchtererdoch was under the rod," writes Baillie, "to be made an example to all who would be turbulent." "After long examination of their business," he continues, "at last they were laureat. Some two or three of that Presbytery (when many of the gentry who were not elders were permitted to sit among them and reason against the Warning and Declaration, and when Ardoch presented reasons in write against these pieces, yet they were proven to have been forward for the present reading) were commended. Others who, notwithstanding of the Presbytery's conclusion of not reading, yet did read, were, for voicing the continuation, gently rebuked. Others who at last caused read parts of them, and Mr James Rowe, who caused read them before himself came in, were sharply rebuked, and their names delete from among the members of this a.s.sembly. Ardoch, ane old reverend gentleman, for his former known zeal was spared, only, was urged upon oath to reveal the persons from whom he had the reasons contrary to the Warning." This is a curious picture of the internal condition of the Presbytery, and exhibits in strong relief the friendly relations existing betwixt its members and the gentry of the district. The James Rowe referred to was minister of Muthill, and was married to Margaret Stirling, a daughter of the laird of Ardoch, the "old reverend gentleman" above named.

When, after the Restoration, Episcopacy was re-established, Auchterarder once again formed part of the Diocese of Dunblane, and was for a time under the mild sway of the Episcopate of Leighton. The Episcopacy was almost nominal. There was no liturgy; the service continued to be much what it had been before, though Leighton encouraged the brethren to make their preaching "plain and useful for all capacities, not entangled with useless questions and disputes, nor continued to a wearisome length"; "to read larger portiones of the Scriptures"; "to restore the Lord's Prayer to more frequent use, likewyse the Doxologie and the Creed." The Presbytery continued to meet as usual, and virtually elected its own Moderator. The chief difference was that at the Synod the Bishop as of right occupied the chair. At this period we have another interesting glimpse of the internal condition of the Presbytery. It was complained to one Synod that "some young men, ministers within the Presbytrie of Ochterarder, had behaved themselves somewhat irreverendlie and undeutifullie towards some of the brethren who were older than themselves both for age and work of the ministrie. The Bishop having taken the samyne to consideration, desired the Moderator of the Presbytrie of Ochterarder, that at their first Presbyterial meeting, to admonish such brethren, that in time coming they should absteine from such unbeseeming misbehaviour, otherwyse to shew them that he would advert to it hereafter." The young lions of Auchterarder had evidently {107} begun to roar, catching something of the independent spirit of their seniors.

In this district there was but little of the Covenanting feeling that was rampant in the West. An Abdiel, however, was found among the faithless in the person of William Spence, minister of Glendevon. In 1678 he laid a paper on the table of Presbytery in which he testified against the errors of the times. He was dealt with with great leniency and patience, but in the end he proved incorrigible. After long delay he was at last, in the beginning of 1681, deposed and excommunicated by the Bishop and Synod. From that time onwards he became a political agent, and was mixed up in the plots which filled the closing years of the reign of Charles II. In 1684 he was arrested and questioned.

Though made to undergo the torture of the boot, he refused to disclose anything. He was then handed over to the tender mercies of General Dalziel, the "Muscovy beast who would roast men," and was kept from sleeping for eight or nine days till his enemies themselves were weary.

He had to be thumbscrewed, and told that they would screw every joint of his body, one after another, before his courage began to fail. "Yet {108} such was the firmness and fidelity of this poor man," writes Bishop Burnet, "that even in that extremity he capitulated, that no new questions should be put to him, but those already agreed on; and that he should not be obliged to be a witness against any person, and that he himself should be pardoned." After the Revolution he came back to Glendevon; in 1691 was translated to Fossoway, and, having outlived all his troubles, died there in peace in 1715 at the age of eighty. The policy, with which he had a.s.sociated himself as a minority of one, had triumphed.

The Revolution fell upon the Presbytery of Auchterarder like the very crack of doom. All its members, with two exceptions, were ousted.

These were the Rev. James Roy, minister of Trinity-Gask, and the Rev.

Robert Sharp, M.A., minister of Muckhart. Unfortunately, at this interesting period the Presbytery records are a blank. The last minute before the Revolution is that of September 7, 1687; the next is that of November 9, 1703. When the curtain thus rises again at the beginning of the eighteenth century the _personnel_ of the Presbytery has completely changed. Elsewhere the transformation seems to have been accomplished with little difficulty; but it was different in the Episcopal stronghold of Muthill. That parish, we find, has not yet submitted to the authority of the Presbytery, and is still vacant. It was not till August 3rd, 1704, that Mr William Haly was ordained as minister of Muthill. On the day of his ordination there was a riot, "several in the parish keeping the doors of the kirk and kirkyard with swords and staves"; and not until the following year (March 20, 1705) were the keys of the church of Muthill finally laid upon the table of the Presbytery. The new members of the Presbytery were very different from the old. They were now strongly Presbyterian in feeling, and ultra-evangelical in theology. In 1711, when threatened with the Queen Anne Act restoring Patronage, we find them instructing their commissioners to the a.s.sembly "to take all care that Patronages be not again restored," and in the following year "to give a testimony against the encroachments made on this church by the tolleration and patronages." They were earnest in prayer on behalf of the Protestant Succession of the House of Hanover. On account of the Jacobite rising of 1715 there was no meeting of Presbytery from August 30, 1715, till February 9, 1716. At this meeting reference is made to "the Popish and Jacobite rebells who had infested the bounds, threatening ministers not to pray against them and their pretended king, by reason whereof ministers were forced to flee; and spoiling the goods of the people, and robbing and burning their houses and corns; and now that they were driven out of their bounds by the good providence of G.o.d accompanying the king's forces with success against them."

The Presbytery of Auchterarder had now to deal with a matter, small in itself, which, nevertheless, created considerable stir in the Church Courts, and ultimately led to secession. On December 11, 1716, Mr William Craig, student of divinity, appeared before them for license.

The Presbytery being deeply impressed with "the errors of the times,"

examined him strictly as to his soundness of faith. Further consideration of the matter having been delayed for about a month, Mr Craig was again (January 15, 1717) before the Presbytery; was asked by them to sign the answers formerly given by him, and though he "seemed to scruple a little at something of the wording" of some of them, he finally did so, and was licensed. His signature still stands at that date in the Presbytery's copy of the Confession of Faith. The most famous statement signed by him was to the following effect:--"And further, I believe that it is not sound and orthodox to teach that we must forsake sin in order to our coming to Christ and instating us in covenant with G.o.d"--language capable of bearing an Antinomian meaning, and soon to be known as the "Auchterarder Creed." At next meeting of Presbytery (February 12, 1717) Mr Craig came back, representing that he was troubled with scruples anent the paper he had subscribed, that he had done so hastily, and that he now wished to explain his explanation.

The Presbytery, after hearing him, resolved to declare his license null and void, and in the end he had to appeal to the a.s.sembly. The a.s.sembly of 1717 was somewhat startled at the theological language of Auchterarder, ordered the Presbytery to restore Mr Craig's license, declared the chief article of the new creed to be "unsound and most detestable," and asked them to explain its meaning to a meeting of the Commission. The Presbytery was of course able to show that their meaning was both pious and orthodox, and that they had been only a little over-zealous for the purity of the faith. In the old Auchterarder fas.h.i.+on, they had been thinking for themselves, instead of taking ready-made opinions from other people. One good result of the commotion was that Presbyteries were henceforth prohibited from putting queries of their own, preliminary to license, but "those and no other"

which had received the authority of the Church. Yet it had other results which were evil. The discussion over the "Auchterarder Creed"

led to the re-publication of the "Marrow of Modern Divinity," and the "Marrow Controversy" led directly to the secession of the Erskines.

The _origo mali_ was in Auchterarder.

The "Rising" of 1745 did not interfere so much with the business of the Presbytery as that of 1715 had done. During that eventful year it continued to hold its meetings as usual. The only reference is that on May 1, 1746, a fortnight after Culloden, the Presbytery appoints that if His Royal Highness the Duke of c.u.mberland shall come this way in his return from the North, certain members should wait upon him to congratulate him upon the victory obtained by him over the rebels.

On December 14, 1756, the celebrated tragedy of _Douglas_, written by John Home, minister of Athelstaneford, in East Lothian, was acted in Edinburgh. This atrocious fact caused much searching of heart in all ultra-evangelical circles. The awful news reached Auchterarder.

Meeting in Glendevon Church on May 12, 1757, for the ordination of Mr David M'Gibbon, the Presbytery came to the following resolution:--"The Presbytery, taking into their serious consideration the general fame that a minister of this Church has composed the tragedy of _Douglas_, and has been at great pains to get it represented on the stage both at London and at Edinburgh, to the scandal of very many; and the Presbytery further considering how hurtful stage plays are to the interest of religion, and to the morals of the people, and always were held to be so in every well-regulated government, heathen as well as Christian, therefore did and hereby do instruct their representatives in the ensuing General a.s.sembly humbly to insist with the venerable a.s.sembly that they would be pleased to make effectual enquiry, without loss of time, into the ground of the above flame; and if it shall be found to be indeed true {114} that ministers of the Gospel, members of this Church, have done and behaved as above alledged, that the General a.s.sembly would be pleased to enquire if such adequate censure has been inflicted on these brethren as their crime deserves; and if it has not, that the venerable a.s.sembly would order it to be done, and that they would be further pleased to give some publick testimony of their abhorrence of such practices, that the world may see the just resentment of this Church against so uncommon and unprecedented a behaviour in some of her undutiful sons, and that they would do this in such a manner as shall appear to the venerable a.s.sembly to be most effectual for preventing the like in any of their members of whatever degree in time coming." The zeal of Auchterarder was burning with a holy fire.

In the course of the eighteenth century the best known members of the Presbytery were the dynasty of Moncrieffs at Blackford, and Dr. John Kemp, of Trinity-Gask. Of the former, three generations succeeded each other from 1697 to 1775, in which year Sir Henry Moncrieff left Blackford to become minister of the West Kirk, Edinburgh. Of Dr. Kemp, who left Trinity-Gask {115} in 1776, to become minister of New Greyfriars, Edinburgh, a full account will be found in Kay's _Edinburgh Portraits_. He was three times married, his second and third wives being Earls' daughters.

The century was now drawing to a close. Since the Reformation there had been no church extension within the bounds of the Presbytery. At last, however, there was to be an awakening from this long sleep. The district of Ardoch formed the southern portion of the parish of Muthill. In the centre of it lay the famous Roman Camp, one of the most ancient historic spots in Scotland, whose earthen trenches had been thrown up by the soldiers of Agricola. It was the traditional site of the Battle of Mons Grampius, where Galgacus and his Caledonians fought for liberty, and, after all that has been written on the subject, is as probably the real site as any other. There, in 1780, a chapel of ease was built, and opened for wors.h.i.+p on March 25, 1781.

The bounds of the chapel also included a small portion of the parish of Blackford, and a larger portion of that of Dunblane, the Presbytery thus extending its jurisdiction down the banks of the Allan to within a few miles of the cathedral city. The Chapel at Ardoch was the Presbytery's first-born child. In later years, in connection with the Church Extension movement, promoted by Dr. Chalmers, the West Church was built in Crieff in 1838, and the Chapel of Blairingone, in the parish of Fossoway, in 1840. Thus equipped, the Presbytery of Auchterarder was to meet the storm of 1843.

In the earlier years of the nineteenth century there were even to observant eyes no signs of the coming blast. The Act of Queen Anne, restoring Patronage, though long protested against, had been sullenly acquiesced in by the Church. Moderates and Evangelicals, though contending together in the several Church Courts, kept themselves carefully within the limits of the Church's const.i.tution. But a new era was about to dawn. The struggle for political liberty which found expression in the great Reform Act of 1832, had its counterpart also in the ecclesiastical world. Patronage was again felt to be an intolerable burden, and the rights of the Christian people to require vindication. In these changed circ.u.mstances it became a difficult and delicate matter to "redd the marches" between the Church and State.

With level-headed common-sense upon both sides it might have been done.

Unfortunately, in the struggle our most prominent national characteristics, instead of being combined, got opposed to one another.

The proverbial "canniness" of the Scottish nation was all upon the one side; the equally proverbial _perfervidum ingenium_ was all upon the other. Led by the latter feeling, the Church resolved to fall back on her own inherent rights and to get quit of Patronage by a side wind.

In 1834 she pa.s.sed the Veto Act, giving power to "the major part of the male heads of families, members of the vacant congregation," in any parish to get quit of an unpopular presentee. The Presbytery of Auchterarder was doomed to be the c.o.c.kpit in which this great fight was to be fought out. In the autumn of 1834 the Rev. Robert Young was presented to the parish of Auchterarder by the Earl of Kinnoull. At the moderation of his call on 2nd December the Rev. John Clark, Blackford, preached from Mark xii., 10-11, a text somewhat interesting in the light of what afterwards took place--"And have ye not read this scripture: The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner: This was the Lord's doing, and is marvellous in our eyes?"

Mr Young's call was signed by three persons, for the Earl of Kinnoull as Patron, and by two members of the congregation. He was vetoed by 287 male heads of families, and the Presbytery had no option under the Act but to reject the call. This decision was confirmed on appeal to the a.s.sembly, and Mr Young and the Earl of Kinnoull had to seek redress in the Civil Courts. The "Auchterarder Case" now attracted the attention of the whole country. It raised the question of the legality of the Veto Act. In November, 1837, it was heard before the whole Court of Session, and the Judges by a majority found that, Mr Young having been duly presented, the Presbytery was bound to take him upon trials. An appeal was ultimately taken to the House of Lords, and by it, in 1839, the decision of the Court of Session was re-affirmed. By the highest legal authority the Veto Act was found to be worthless.

But the Church had gone too far to retrace her steps, and she now raised the banner of Spiritual Independence. Other questions had come to the front which heightened and intensified the feeling that prevailed. By the equally illegal Chapel Act, also pa.s.sed in 1834, chapel districts were formed into parishes _quoad sacra_, and their ministers found ent.i.tled to seats in the Church Courts. The minister of Ardoch Chapel at once took his seat in the Presbytery, and was followed in due time by the ministers of the West Church, Crieff, and the Chapel at Blairingone. The Church had been led into an _impa.s.se_ from which there was no outlet but by secession. The secession came.

In defence of their somewhat mysterious principles no fewer than 451 ministers, on the 18th day of May, 1843, left the Church. All the world wondered. It was said that in no country other than Scotland could such a spectacle have been seen. Yet one cannot help looking back with sorrow upon the blundering that made it possible. Like the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, it was "magnificent, but not war."

With the addition of the chapel ministers the members.h.i.+p of Auchterarder Presbytery had risen to eighteen. The parish of Auchterarder was still vacant. Of the remaining seventeen, eight were found to have seceded. Of these, five were legal members of Presbytery--viz., James Carment, Comrie; Peter Brydie, Fossoway; John Reid Omond, Monzie; John Ferguson, Monzievaird; and James Thomson, Muckhart. The three others were the chapel ministers--Samuel Grant, Ardoch; Finlay Macalister, West Church, Crieff; and Andrew n.o.ble, Blairingone. The case of Mr Brydie, of Fossoway, was somewhat peculiar. On October 13, 1843, he pet.i.tioned the Presbytery asking it to annul its judgment with regard to him, and submitted a medical certificate to the effect that at the time of his secession he was "in a state of lunacy." The Presbytery, having consulted the Synod, reponed him, on the ground that at the time he separated himself from the Church he had been in a state of unsound mind.

The Presbytery now once more consisted of fifteen parishes and three chapels. The vacancies in the parishes were easily supplied. It was different with the chapels. A new minister was, indeed, ordained at Ardoch in December, 1844, but it was 1848 before the West Church, Crieff, and the Chapel of Blairingone were once more re-opened for wors.h.i.+p in connection with the Church of Scotland. The decks had been cleared after the storm, the rigging re-fitted, and the sails spread once more to catch the favouring breeze. In a few years the Presbytery's organisation had become more efficient than ever. In 1854 certain portions of the parishes of Monzie and Foulis were disjoined from the Presbytery to form a part of the new parish of Logiealmond.

In 1855, Ardoch was erected into a parish _quoad omnia_. In 1864, the West Church, Crieff, became a parish _quoad sacra_. The Chapel of Blairingone was also by and by to become a parish; yet, when it did so, it no longer formed a part of the Presbytery of Auchterarder. In 1856 the General a.s.sembly determined to create a new Presbytery of Kinross, and for this purpose to disjoin the two parishes of Muckhart and Fossoway (the latter including Blairingone) from the Presbytery with which they had been a.s.sociated for two hundred and fifty years.

Auchterarder refused her consent, and protested, but in vain. She was bereaved of her children.

This change somewhat altered the centre of gravity of the Presbytery.

Hitherto Auchterarder had been its natural centre, and its most convenient place of meeting. From this time onwards it began occasionally to meet at Crieff. In 1866 an Act of a.s.sembly was pa.s.sed ordaining it to meet alternately in Auchterarder and Crieff.

After the Secession of 1843 a subtle change began to creep over the opinions of the Presbytery. It was no longer the ultra-evangelical body which it had been for more than a century. It began to take broader views of culture and of human life. Were another minister of the Church of Scotland now to write a new tragedy of _Douglas_ he would be likely to receive its congratulations rather than its denunciations.

Its theology became sweeter, and it is in no danger of framing a new "Auchterarder Creed" upon the lines of the last. When the new movement began for the improvement of public wors.h.i.+p there was, indeed, enough of the old leaven left to lead to a vigorous resistance. This struggle centred round "The Crieff Organ Case" in 1866-67. Ultimately, however, the new views prevailed, and at the present moment (1896) the once hated "kist of whistles" has found its way into no fewer than thirteen out of the sixteen parishes which at present compose the Presbytery.

Since the days of that conflict, indeed, its spirit has broadened and broadened. The old independent tone, for which it had been conspicuous even in the seventeenth century, has become more and more marked. In recent years the Presbytery has never been willing tamely to follow the lead of a.s.sembly leaders and a.s.sembly Committees, but has insisted on expressing a vigorous opinion of its own upon all the questions of the day.

In the course of the present century several ministers, afterwards to become better known, have begun their respective careers within the bounds of the Presbytery. Dr. William Robertson, latterly minister of New Greyfriars, Edinburgh, was ordained as minister of Muckhart in 1831. Dr. Robert Home Stevenson, minister of St. George's, Edinburgh, Moderator of the General a.s.sembly of 1871, was ordained in 1840 as a.s.sistant and successor in the parish of Crieff. Dr. John Cunningham, minister of Crieff from 1845 to 1887, was Moderator of the General a.s.sembly of 1886, and was latterly Princ.i.p.al of St. Mary's College, St.

Andrews. His successor in the Moderators.h.i.+p of a.s.sembly, Dr. George Hutchison, Banchory-Ternan, was ordained as minister of Monzie in 1845.

Dr. Paton J. Gloag, then of Galas.h.i.+els, Moderator of the a.s.sembly of 1889, was ordained in 1848 as a.s.sistant and successor in the parish of Dunning. Dr. John Wilson, a genial man, much beloved by all his brethren, was minister of Dunning from 1861 to 1878, Clerk of Presbytery from 1864, and author of "Index to the Acts of a.s.sembly."

Dr. William Mair, minister of Ardoch from 1865 to 1868, is now of Earlston, and author of the well-known "Digest of Church Laws."

The loss of Muckhart and Fossoway, the addition of Ardoch and Crieff West left the Presbytery still with its original number of fifteen parishes. There was yet another to be added. In the extreme west of the parish of Comrie, at the point where the River Earn leaves its parent lake, was the district of Dundurn. Next to Ardoch, it was probably the oldest historic spot within the Presbytery. There, first of all places within the bounds, had the Gospel in the course of the sixth century been preached by the saintly Fillan. It was still haunted by sacred memories. It had been the site of a pre-Reformation chapel. It had long been a preaching-place for the minister of Comrie.

Latterly there had sprung up by the sh.o.r.es of the beautiful lake a hamlet which called itself St. Fillans. It became a favourite place of summer resort. In 1879 a new chapel was built, and in 1895 the district of Dundurn was erected into a parish _quoad sacra_.

At the present moment (1896) the Presbytery thus consists of sixteen parishes, all fully equipped; 94 elders and 5023 church members form its effective strength as a part of the Church militant. It has faced many a serious crisis in the past; with a calm cheerfulness it faces the future.

MEMORIES OF GASK

By Rev. JAMES MARTIN, Gask

The parish of Gask is a comparatively small one both in population and in territorial extent. The earliest historical record we have of it goes back to the time of the invasion of Britain by the Romans. The road which pa.s.ses along the ridge of high ground was originally made by the Romans, and was designed to form a line of communication between the camp at Ardoch and the camp at Bertha, near the junction of the Almond with the Tay. On the north side of it, in this parish, there are still to be distinctly seen two small camps or stations, and on the south side of it there is a larger one. The Romans have left traces of their presence here in the works they constructed, which the lapse of eighteen centuries has not entirely obliterated.

Coming down the stream of time, we find that Wallace, that n.o.ble and disinterested patriot, sought a hiding-place in time of danger amid its dense woods. During a visit to Perth in 1296, a plot was laid by the English to capture him, but, having received timely warning, he made his escape with his small band of followers to Gascon Ha'. This is generally supposed to have occupied a different site from the ruin near the River Earn which now bears that name, and which is celebrated by Lady Nairne in the song of "Bonnie Gascon Ha'." The Gascon Ha' to which Wallace repaired for safety from his treacherous and relentless enemies is said to have stood a mile and a half to the north-east of that ruin in the midst of the Gask woods. Here they prepared to pa.s.s the night, and having obtained two sheep from a neighbouring fold, they kindled a fire and made ready their evening repast. Greatly exhausted with their long and fatiguing march, Wallace proposed that his followers should rest while he would keep watch. During the course of the night he was startled by the "blowing of horns mingled with frightful yells, proceeding apparently from a rising ground in the immediate neighbourhood." Scouts were sent out from time to time, but all failing to return, the patriot was at last left alone. He wandered about till morning, killing two of the English whom he encountered, one of whom was Sir John Butler, and then hastened with all speed to Torwood, near Dunipace, where his uncle was parish priest.

At an early period the lands now comprehended in this parish belonged to the Earl of Strathearn, the great landowner in this district at that time. It is said that he possessed all the lands lying between the Cross of Macduff, near Newburgh, and the west end of Balquhidder in length, and between the Ochils and the Grampians in breadth. It was out of his lands of Nether Gask that he granted liberty to quarry stones for building the Abbey of Inchaffray, along with two acres of ground on which to erect workshops.

The lands of Gask have now been in the possession of the Oliphant family for nearly six hundred years. The name was originally written Olifard, then Olyfaunt, and now Oliphant. Sir William Olyfaunt was the first of that name on whom these lands were bestowed by King Robert the Bruce. Sir William occupied a prominent position in the early history of our country. He was Governor of Stirling Castle, and when summoned in the name of Edward I. to surrender it, made the n.o.ble reply, "I have never sworn fealty to Edward, but I have sworn to keep the Castle, and must wait the order of my const.i.tuent." And when the Castle was besieged by Edward and his army he defended it for three months, and only capitulated from the scarcity of provisions. He was a member of the Parliament held at Aberbrothock in 1320, and subscribed along with some other Scottish Barons the famous letter to the Pope, which so n.o.bly a.s.serted the independence of Scotland. To that doc.u.ment were affixed the seals of Sir William Olyfaunt and Malise, Earl of Strathearn. He died in 1329, and was buried in the Church of Aberdalgie, where a monument of black marble was erected to his memory.

When the present Church of Aberdalgie was built in 1773 the site was changed, and the monument to Sir William Olyfaunt was left in the open churchyard. In 1780, Mr Oliphant of Gask erected a stone covering over it to protect it from injury by the weather.

Sir William was succeeded by his son, Walter Olyfaunt, who married a daughter of King Robert the Bruce, and, "having resigned the lands of Gask into the hands of his brother-in-law, David II., obtained, in 1364, a new charter confirming them to the said Walter and his spouse Elizabeth, our beloved sister, on a peculiar tenure for the reddendum of a chaplet of white roses at the feast of the nativity of St. John the Baptist at the manor place of Gask." This incident has been happily expressed in a poem by Miss Ethel Blair Oliphant, now Mrs Maxtone Graham, who inherits much of the poetic genius of her great-grand-aunt, Lady Nairne.

THE TRIBUTE OF GASK

Now ken ye the gift Gask has brought to the King?

'Tis an off'ring sae royal, sae perfect, and fair, Than jewels o' siller more dainty and rare, A crown for a maid or a monarch to wear.

The courtier's tribute is but a poor thing, For what can he offer and what can he bring, Than the crown of White Roses from Gask to the King?

Now ken ye the service Gask does for the King?

All for his sake, in the bloom of the year, In the gardens of Gask the white blossoms appear-- The Royal White Roses to Scotland sae dear.

Then far o'er Stralhearn let the praise of them ring, Let them live once again in the song that we sing, The crown of White Roses from Gask to the King.

Now ken ye what Gask will yet do for the King?

In the days that may come, when the roses are dead, When the pledge is forgotten, the vows left unsaid; What then shall lie found for an off'ring instead?

Oh! then at his feet his heart he will fling.