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Figures from Scottish
and world history and the part they played
in local Strathearn history. Plus famous people who had connections
with the area.
Pontius Pilate (d. after
36) Tradition has it that Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judaea 26-36AD,
was born in Strathearn. His father is said to have been a Roman officer
posted here who married a local Celtic woman and Pilate was born locally
before the family moved back to the continent. Pontius Pilate was later tried
in Rome for oppression and cruelty and may have been ordered to commit suicide
by the emperor.
Ossian (~300AD) A large
stone in the Sma' Glen is said to mark the grave of this the legendary
Celtic bard. His tales of heroic times in the Celtic past are an undecipherable
mix of myth, legend and genuine history. When a new military road was being
driven through the Sma' Glen around 1730, the grave was disturbed
so local people removed and reinterred what they believed were Ossian's
remains.
Kenneth I (d. 858)
In 843 the Scots King Kenneth Mac Alpin obtained the Pictish throne thus
enlarging Scotland. In 858 he died in battle in Strathearn and a cairn on
a mountain above Crieff marks the event.
Macbeth
(1005-57) Macbeth's hill top fortress Dunsinane lay just east of
Strathearn.
William
Wallace (1270-1305) William Wallace, Braveheart, defeated a small
English force at Blackford.
Robert
I, Robert the Bruce (1274-1329) Bruce was defeated at Methven
in East Strathearn in 1306.
Mary,
Queen of Scots, (1542-87) often hunted with Darnley in the Royal
forests in Glen Artney, south of Comrie.
James
Graham, Marquis of Montrose, (1612-50) spent the night camped out
on Calum's Hill in Crieff.
Robert
'Roy' Macgregor (1671-1734) visited the town of Crieff on
many occasions, often to sell cattle.
Charles
Edward Stuart, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' (1720-1788) held his last
war council in the Drummond Arms Hotel, Crieff.
Sir
David Baird (1757-1829) is commemorated by a hilltop monument between
Crieff and Comrie.
Robert
Burns (1759-1796) visited Crieff in 1787 and wrote two poems
with a local flavour.
Napoleon
Bonaparte (1769-1821) Napoleon's grandfather may have come from
Balloch, near Crieff!
David
'Monterey' Jacks (1822 - 1909), Californian rancher who marketed
Monterey Jack Cheese, was born in Crieff.
Elizabeth
Sanderson Haldane (1862 - 1937) was a Scottish social-welfare
worker and author.
Sophie
Stewart (1908 - 1977) was a Crieff born actress appearing
in films of the 1930s, 40s & 50s.
Ewan
MacColl (1915 - 1989) the singer, songwriter and playwright born
James Miller often claimed to be from Auchterarder, his mother however
was. |
