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Craig-y-barns
Craig-y-barns
is a part of Dunkeld. It dominates the landscape. Dunkeld without
Craig-y-barns is not Dunkeld. It consists of a range of rugged
heights, at no point reaching the altitude of a thousand feet,
yet it possesses, though in miniature, all the attributes to be
found in a mighty mountain range. It has streams, waterfalls and
reedy turns, crags, heather and pines, caves, moors and mosses;
it has squirrels, foxes and deer, song-birds, moor-birds and birds
of prey. This great barrier protects Dunkeld from the biting North
winds and forms a majestic background to a scene of sylvan and
river beauty. The hill has undergone many a transformation, but
it still retains first place in the affections of the citizens.
Its contour has repeatedly changed. Bare and rugged when the Highland
army, some centuries ago, stood on its rocky ramparts overlooking
the town, in later days "from base to brow on crag and dell,
waves to and fro, the dark fir tree," and once again "bereft
of thicket green and lofty spruce". These trees grew in no
ordinary places. They sprang out from rocks apparently so inaccessible
that the wonder was where sustenance was found or how they found
their way thither. From this circumstance probably rose the fable
that seed had been shot into the crevices of the rocks. The trees
grew nobly; scarce a bare crag was to be seen until the Great
War, when they were laid low, and many a green, mossy path, winding
in and out amongst them, was converted into a rutty and impassable
track.
Craig-y-barns
is cut into various peaks with gullies between, and from this
some have derived its name, "A Chreag Bhearnach" (The
serrated or jagged rock).
The
ascent is comparatively easy, leaving Dunkeld by Atholl Street,
at the end of which may be noticed, beside the City Hall, a building
bearing the date 1800. This was once an Independent Chapel, then
a stable, now a garage. Passing the entrance gates to Dunkeld
House on the left, then turning to the right up the Blairgowrie
Road, the hill is reached by entering the gate at Cally Lodge,
and soon a road to the top branches off to the left, its beauty
much spoilt by tree-felling.
The
walks on Craig-y-barns are numerous, winding with infinite ingenuity
between high rocks, or soaring upwards into dizzy heights. Some
are rarely beautiful, beside the tumbling burn, pushing onward
through heath and fern. All are varied. They have long been famed,
and a fine description, which can scarce be bettered, was written
by Dr. MacCulloch, Rector of the Dunkeld Royal School, early in
the nineteenth century.
He
writes,
"The
walks among the romantic woods that cover the hill proceed in
. . . various directions through the wilderness of forest till
they emerge on the open summit. A deep chasm on Craig-y-barns
forms a natural pass. From the ease with which the traveller wanders
about the whole of this wild mass of rude rock and ruder ground,
over chasm and ravine, now on the summit of the precipice, now
as if adhering to its face, he is apt to forget, as well as to
overlook, the dexterity and the resource with which the extensive
work is conducted. He will be unpardonable if he does not examine
this piece of rural engineering and wonder at the boldness which
could thus dare to imagine a road where scarce a bird could have
found footing."
Most
of the paths thus described were destroyed recently during the
process of felling the trees, but some are undergoing repair.
The chief points to be visited are the Rocking Stone and the Lovers’
Leap, the way to these at every turn revealing a new beauty. There
are pools and burns, rocks and caves, with distant views of lofty
Bens, pleasant straths and smiling valleys.
The
Rocking Stone is on a peak over 900 feet above sea level, and
is a huge mass computed to weigh about 20 tons. It occupies a
very commanding position and is raised by several stones quite
above the rocky platform on which it stands. From this platform
the ground abruptly shelves away, except on one side. As there
is no tradition to account for its name or presence, it has afforded
much room for conjecture and theory. Geologists proclaim it a
glacial perched boulder, relic of the Ice Age, when the valley
below lay ice-bound. It has also been hailed as an altar reared
by sun-worshippers, and a curious fact may be noted that it is
placed due east and west, as if to salute the rising and setting
sun. In the distance the stone presents rather a strange resemblance
to a fish— head, tail, and fins all being fairly well marked.
The
prospect from the Rocking Stone is magnificent, comanding a view
of the Vale of Atholl, with verdant fields laved by Tay and Tummel,
rising to the great mountains beyond. On a summer day, no more
enchanting spot can be imagined. The sun gilds the slope of Ben-y-Vrackie
or lights up the misty corries of Ben-y-ghloe, perchance revealing
a white patch, a legacy from winter. Towering above its nearer
companions is Farragon, whose bold craggy summit makes it a landmark
and was regarded as an emblem of loftiness and power.
"Ask
the eagle if he can fly over Farragon," says the proud Highlander
to Hal o’ the Wynd when boasting of his own prowess. He could
imagine no greater height.
The
Braes of Tullymet lie green and smiling, and nearer still are
the fields and heights of Rotmell, for some time known as St.
Colme’s Farm. Here once stood the Castle of Rotmell, reminiscent
of ancient feuds, for past it marched the great Argyll vowing
to burn the "Bonnie Hoose o’ Airlie." A local rhyme
still lingers, chronicling the fact:
"The
Cawmils are come, doon by Rotmell,
They’re
cursin’ an` swearin’ they’ll burn Dunkel’."
But
Dunkeld escaped that time. Fortunately for it, the present North
Road was not in existence and the road to the east ran behind
Craig-y-barns, not in front. So Argyll continued on his way through
Glen Cat, past the Glack on to Craiglush, and through the Stormont
Valley.
A
narrow path leads from the Rocking Stone to a tiny sheet of water,
heather, mosses and blackberry knolls adorning its banks. That
insect-eating plant, the Sundew (Drosera Rotundifolia), is very
conspicuous in the green spongy moss with its round, red, hairy
leaves and small greenish-white flowers. One branch of the path
runs round the lakelet, the other ascends and soon reaches the
Lovers’ Leap, a huge precipitous crag several hundred feet
high. The story attaching to the name is lost; tradition is silent,
though Imrie, the local poet, has woven a touching tale of the
flight of two lovers, converts to the Christian faith, who fled
from the wrath of Druidic priests at the Altar or Rocking Stone.
Imrie acknowledges he has no foundation for the tale. It is a
flight of fancy, but may be true. The view from the Lovers’
Leap differs greatly from that of the Rocking Stone. The latter
looks towards the mountains, the former towards the plain, through
the Pass of Birnam. Through this "Gateway to the Highlands"
Newtyle and Birnam, giant sentinels on either side, the Howe of
Strathmore is descried, the thin blue line of the Sidlaw range
on the horizon. To the east glitter the many lochs of the Stormont,
and more lie out of sight. Dunkeld Bridge stands out prominently,
the broad Tay rolls in grandeur through the valley from the "Mountain
gates," past the Cathedral’s hoary pile, the clustering
houses of Dunkeld, and the more scattered village of Birnam. It
is all a wonderful picture.
While
the Lovers’ Leap and the Rocking Stone are the main objectives
on Craig-y-barns, there are other points of interest—Lady
Emily’s Seat, Lady Charlotte’s Cave, the Duchess’
Cove—all named after various members of the family of a former
Duke of Atholl.
Dr.
MacCulloch describes a grotto in a very romantic and beautiful
spot, and tells of a man who actually offered to occupy it and
act the part of hermit, provided the Duke of that day gave him
monthly wages!
Imrie,
writing at a later period, says the grotto known by the name of
the Duchess’ Cove was a favourite resort; here throwing aside
the pomp and grandeur of her station, it was said she would ply
the wheel for hours, attended only by some worthy domestic. Nor
did his Grace ever fail to pay his Duchess a visit in her solitary
bower, where a repast, usually some dainty of the season, was
spread, which they enjoyed."
Imrie
also mentions that in his time the grotto was in a very dilapidated
state. It is more so now.
Just
below the Lovers’ Leap there is another neglected.spot, once
trim and beautiful, where still flourish rhododendrons and other
shrubs. Locally this is MacRaw’s Garden, but MacCulloch’s
Guide terms it Lios-na-craggan (The garden of the rock), it being
then an ornamental enclosure teeming with rich flowers. Before
that period, however, there was a cottage with garden attached,
tenanted by a worthy and industrious couple, David and Janet MacRaw.
Looking at the wilderness it now presents, it is surprising to
read in old books of the fruit, flowers and potatoes grown there.
David’s employment was to keep the walks in repair and to
see no damage was done to young trees. His wife sold to visitors
strawberries and cream, "bread of her own baking, cheese
of her own making." An old rhyme runs:
"In
Craig-y-barns there lived a pair,
Far
frae strife, and free from care;
But
death cam’ rapin’ to their door,
An’
sent them to Dunkeld, 0."
They
died in 1805 and rest in Dowally Churchyard.
At
the base of the hill are two small lochs, a mile or so apart,
Cally and Polney—often spelt" Pulney," but the
former is said to be the correct designation. Cally, once a peat
moss in use, was laid out beautifully with foreign shrubs on its
banks and water lilies on its surface. round it went a broad green
walk, "where soft the footstep falls," but the loch
at this day is weedy and neglected and rush-grown, its soft mossy
paths cut up and piles of broken timber covering the shrubbery.
Yet in May or June the red masses of rhododendron and the yellow
bloom of azaleas hide much that is unsightly; again in autumn
the crimson colouring of azalea leaves and the varied tints of
other plants resemble a tropical scene in their fiery flame of
colour.
Polney
lies close to the Pitlochry road, exactly one mile from Dunkeld,
with the rocks of Craig-y-barns rising nobly behind. The correct
nomenclature of this small loch is Polnan-Geadas, meaning the
"Pike pool," that fish being in abundance in its waters.
It is a romantic spot; votaries of the "roarin’ game"
frequent it in winter, and many a shout has echoed along its banks.
Close by is the King’s Pass, with the King’s Seat on
the left, within the Dunkeld House policies, as are the "Standing"
and "Early Christian" Stones already described. Another
Stone, but in the Tay, is not far off and bears a curious name.
This is the Clach-na-Taggart, or "The Priest’s Stone"
a few smaller stones are so placed in the water as to form a crossing
to it from the bank.
In
the King’s Pass, but on the right-hand side of the road,
is another of the Craig-y-barns caves. Duncan Hogg’s Hole
is high up amongst the precipitous rocks. Duncan was a freebooter
in the good old times and lived by plundering or relieving travellers
of their goods, but the date of his doings is unregistered.
Craig-y-barns
is rich in natural history. One poet sings
"Round
Craig-y-barns’ clifty brow,
The
goshawk wheels on moveless wings";
Another:
"And
there, see, roond by Craig-y-barns,
The
corbies sail."
The
roe and the fallow deer have their haunts in its recesses, though
the former are not so numerous as they were; the fox is occasionally
seen; the capercailzie is at home in its fir trees, so is the
kite. Once the golden eagle nested on its crags, the polecat
was a dangerous tenant, and the wild goat found footing on its
narrowest ledges. The early Kings of Scotland found the hunting
of boars and other wild animal attractive enough to bring them
often to the vicinity. William the Lion is said to have had
a hunting seat on the detached portion which thus bears the
name of King’s Seat. At the foot is a well named St. Columb’s
Well.
Dunkeld
an Ancient City
Elizabeth Stewart
Dunkeld, 1926
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to Dunkeld History
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