There is an old print of Dunkeld, dated 1693, in which the general aspect is so unfamiliar as to be almost unrecognisable at the first glance. Closer inspection reveals that it is mainly the absence of the Bridge which causes the unfamiliarity. The most noticeable feature is the bold, unbroken sweep of the river, with the steep declivities dipping into the water, clear, and free from the heaps of stones which now deflect the currents. The rocky contour of Craig-y-barns, bare, jagged and treeless, in the background, shows little change, but there are several houses west of the Cathedral and a large square building is very conspicuous. This latter was Dunkeld House, which played so prominent a part in the Cameronian defences in 1689, and was pulled down in 1829. Several boats on the river complete a picture which drew admiration even in a period when Nature’s beauties were seldom prized.

Gray, the poet, in a letter to Walpole (Earl of Orford) gives a fine description of his advance to Dunkeld in the days before the Bridge was built. The road came to the brow of a steep descent, and the sun then setting between two woods of oak, we saw far below us the river Tay come sweeping along at the bottom of a precipice at least 150 feet deep, clear as glass, full to the brim, and very rapid in its course. Down by the side of the river, under the thickest shades is seated the town of Dunkeld; in the midst of it stands a ruined Cathedral— the tower and shell of the building still entire, a little beyond it a large house belonging to the Duke of Atholl."

A bridge had long been felt to be a necessity. The river was often swollen, delay and danger were both incurred in the attempt to cross either by the fords or the ferries. Many noted men and travellers have crossed it near Dunkeld. Bruce and his army, after the defeat of Methven, 1306, had crossed at the "King’s Ford" and passed northwards, Montrose crossed and re-crossed, Burns used the Inver Ferry, near the Cathedral. Pennant, in his "Travels," gives an amusing account of his trip across the Tay, the boat being attended by a tame swan, which was perpetually soliciting the favours of the passengers.

The present Bridge is not the first which spanned the Tay at Dunkeld. So long ago as 1461, Bishop Lawder laid the foundations of a bridge to be constructed partly of stone and partly of timber. This one was carried on by his successor, Bishop Livingtoun, but it is unknown if this bridge ever attained completion. Again, Bishop Brown began a stone bridge near his Palace and saw an arch of it finished in 1513. During his summer residence at Dunkeld, in the last year of his life, it was his amusement and recreation to watch from his chamber window the building of the Bridge. In his will he wrote, "All the share of St. Colme’s patrimony which falls to me, I bequeath for the support of the Church and Bridge of Dunkeld and maintenance of the poor."

His executors drove the piles for other two arches. Bishop Douglas continued the work, and as Myln says, "Upon receiving two hundred and forty pound from Bishop George’s executors, the work was brought the length that all foot passengers had an easy passage." This bridge was probably swept away. Shortly before the present one was built, when the river was exceptionally low, part of an arch on the north bank became visible, as were also piles supporting the second and third arches. These have been seen again in recent years.

When the military road from Fort George to Dunkeld was in course of construction, General Wade came to the latter place with the intention of building a bridge across the Tay. It is related that he desired an interview or consultation with the Duke of Atholl on the subject, but his request was so coolly and carelessly received that his dissatisfaction was great and he retired in anger to Aberfeldy, where he built his bridge instead of at Dunkeld.

The present Bridge, which forms such a pleasing feature in the landscape, is mainly due to the efforts of John, 4th Duke of Atholl. In 1803 an Act was obtained to build a Bridge and to make roads and approaches thereto. It was designed by Telford and opened in 1809, as the date on the middle arch denotes. A medal was struck to commemorate the building, one being preserved in the Perth Antiquarian Museum.

There are seven arches, five beneath which the river flows and two on land. The entire length is 685 feet and the width 26 1/2 feet. The height of the centre is 90 feet. During its construction the current of the river was diverted, as may be gathered from the study of old prints.

The cost naturally was great and the Grant paid by the Commissioners of High Roads and Bridges was not sufficient to defray expenses. Money was borrowed on the security of the Tolls, the Ferries were abolished and the right of portage solely given to the Bridge. No pedestrian or vehicle was allowed to pass without paying portage dues, which were collected on behalf of the Duke of Atholl, who had incurred the chief expense and lost the ferry dues. As time passed, the toll levied on each foot passenger caused a great deal of friction, leading to a series of regrettable disturbances known as the Toll Riots, the memory of which still lingers. Whilst acknowledging on the one hand that the Atholl family had been responsible for the great part of the expenses, on the other it was asserted that the pontage dues paid for years had amply covered the debt. The grievance was felt more keenly after the opening of the Dunkeld and Perth railway in 1856. Either through stupidity or the prejudiced objections shown by many landowners when railways were first constructed, the Railway Station was placed at some distance from Dunkeld and, worse still, on the opposite side of the river. The blunder was soon recognised, but the deed was done, and each citizen was forced to pay toll ere he could enter upon a railway journey; no visitor could enter Dunkeld by rail without paying his "bawbee." The citizens grumbled that the custom even exposed them to ridicule. It was a common joke in the countryside that Dunkeld folks were closed within gates when "curfew rang," for the gatekeeper retired then from his sentry box and had to be rung up to open the gate and get his" bawbee." It seemed an undignified way to enter an ancient Cathedral City. After the Disruption of the Scottish Church, the Free Church Congregation had also grumbled. Members from Birnam, the village which had sprung up rapidly after the Railway was opened, could not attend their place of worship without this addition to the Sunday collection, and in these days, when whole families did attend, the addition was not altogether welcome. Besides all this, the toll certainly helped to create and foster a spirit of jealousy and rivalry between two communities which might have been one.

The Toll Gates were lifted several times and thrown into the river during the Riots, several civil and criminal cases resulting. Public feeling ran high. The community was divided. So great were the disturbances that special constables were sworn in and a detachment of the Royal Highlanders sent to Dunkeld in the year 1868. It is on record, however, that the latter enjoyed their sojourn, finding the work of keeping peace a sinecure. Indeed, they commended the community as a friendly one and eminently law-abiding.

In May, 1879, the Bridge was taken over by the County, under the Road and Bridges Act, and the big white toll-gate, so long an eyesore to many, was removed in the middle of the night to prevent any chance of public demonstration.

One of the leaders of the agitation, who fought hard for the removal of the Toll and whose efforts helped largely to attract public attention to the grievances complained of, was Alexander Robertson, a native of Dunkeld, popularly known as "The Chief" or "Dundonnachie." He died in 1893, and is buried in the Nave of the Cathedral, where his name is recorded on the family tombstone.

The Bridge in itself is a picturesque object, and the view from it is justly famous. It has formed a theme for poets and artists alike.

Miss Martineau, the famous writer of an earlier century, suggests that the scene at Dunkeld Bridge should be a particular object with every observant pedestrian.

The Revd. Dr. Hugh MacMillan, the well-known writer and preacher, says, "I know no fairer stretch of a river than that of the Tay at Dunkeld. . . . The views on the Tay for five miles above epitomise all that is best in Highland river scenery."

Another writer, Ian MacLaren, in his novel "Kate Carnegie," thus praises the view, "But it is so with Scottish folk that they may have lived opposite the Jungfrau at Murren and walked amongst the big trees of the Yosemete Valley and watched the blood-red afterglow on the Pyramids and yet will value a sunset behind the Cuchullin Hills, and the Pass of the Trossachs, and the mist shot through with light on the side of Ben Nevis and the Tay at Dunkeld - just above the Bridge - better guerdon for their eyes."

Niel Gow composed a tune in its honour and a local poet, Stewart, sang of Bridge and view—

"Our airy brig’s licht arches show

Five lithographs o’ Luna’s bow.

Look frae ‘t towards Craig Vinean’s brow

And there’s a scene

Deep mirror’d in the stream below,

Matchless—alane!

While another bard, Imrie, says—

"Thy stately bridge,

The broad Tay rolling at my feet below,

As from the Mountain Gates it rushes free."

After the building of the Bridge, the aspect of Dunkeld, as it had appeared after 1689, was entirely changed. The long street running from the West Ferry past the Cathedral, terminating in "The Brae," ceased to be the chief. A new street sprang up from the Bridge, cutting across the Main or High Street, the modest Inns were superseded by large Hotels; Banks and other buildings arose in vacant spaces. The Ketlochy Burn, once a bonnie, prattling stream, forming a picturesque boundary as it ran down the slopes on the east side of the town, was converted into a common sewer and continues its course in drain pipes under Atholl and High Streets. The Boat Brae, to the east, then descended with almost precipitous slope to the margin of the river and was covered with whins and broom.

The north and south views from the Bridge present a great contrast to each other. To the north, Craig-y-barns forms a rocky frowning barrier with the long slope of the Craigvinean on its left, apparently blocking the Tay. In the foreground is the Cathedral, grey with years, its green lawn sloping to the river. On this lawn once stood, not so very long ago, the Cottage of St. Adamnan, occupied for many years by the Duchess Dowager of Atholl. The Cottage was a beautiful and interesting object as viewed from the Bridge. Flower beds in front, of varied hues, brightened the landscape and charmed the eye, and the ear was alike charmed in those mornings, gone for ever, when it was the custom of Her Grace ‘s noted piper, George MacPherson, to march with stately tread up and down as he played whilst his ducal mistress partook of the first meal of the day. It was a common sight in the summer to see relays of visitors emerge from the Hotels and line the Bridge as they listened to the strains of music which testified that they were within the "Gates of the Highlands." On the opposite side, a beautiful bank of glowing rhododendrons gave colour to the scene in June. With the passing of the Cottage, and the cutting of various trees, the old building is much better seen, and the sweep of the Tay is solemn and majestic as it comes seemingly out of the long ridge of hill and flows past the hoary battlements and houses clustering on the banks.

Turning to the south and east, the current is broken up into numerous smaller ones, caused by deposits of sand and stones brought down in flood and forming into small islands. Already one has grown so large that it is familiarly termed the Island; it is thickly wooded and blue with lupins in summer. Others are rapidly forming and, if unchecked, will ruin the view in this direction. The prospect on this side is milder, but still very beautiful. Newtyle and Birnam Hills appear to touch as they form Birnam Pass, and again the Tay is apparently blocked, no outlet being visible. Turrets, spires and roofs indicate the village of Birnam. God’s Acre lies round Little Dunkeld Church in the foreground, and the War Memorial looks down from the heights at the end of the Bridge. Near what was once the East Ferry is Eastwood House, a residence of the Duke and Duchess of Atholl.

Sometimes, standing on the Bridge, beautiful and useful as it is, a thought rises if, after all, it is an unmixed blessing. It closed the Ferries, two charming trips across the river—no boats, save for private fishing, are permitted on this charming stretch of water. Inhabitants of Dunkeld have scarcely any access to the noble river flowing past their town. There is a short rough road near the Bridge, a few yards in front of the Cathedral and to the west, and that is all on the west. To the east, matters are as bad. Gardens have risen on its banks. A road between these gardens was open for a time, leading to the Pond, as the town rubbish heap was euphemistically termed. This was closed years ago, though the old name of the Pond is still used, and the rubbish heap removed farther east. There are then three openings in the wall, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Slaps. From the 1st to the 2nd, the path is rough and dangerous, from the 2nd to the 3rd a clearance has been made and a few seats placed for the benefit of the passer-by. At the 3rd Slap or "Green of the Boat" at East-ferry, the Grounds of Eastwood House begin and block out the Tay, the highroad being kept rigidly away from the river until Caputh Bridge is reached.

Dunkeld an Ancient City
Elizabeth Stewart
Dunkeld, 1926

Return to Dunkeld History