1954 - Special Collections

YEAR B OOK AMERICA N CLA N GREGOR S OCIETY 39
•
In the Ochil foothills to the east of Dunblane lies the Sher iffmuir , a long
sloping tract of grassy moorland. The name is fami liar to lovers of Scottish
history becau se of the battl e which took place there at the end of 1715, the last
time that armed forc es clashed on the soil of Perth shir e, for no blood was spilt
within her borders in the '45. That battle was notori ously indecisive; although
J acobite and Royalist left between them fully a thousand dead on the moor . The
Earl of Mar, commanding the Jacobite forc es, struck too late ; and th e Duk e
of Argyle was able to lead the Royali sts across the Forth, and take up a goocl
def ensive position. The cla sh came early the next day. Both sides struck hard.
Mar, on the right , was for th e time successf ul; but Argyle found a weak spot
on the J acobite left. Eve ntually the Royalists could claim the victory; for they
still stood barring the way south; and Mar withdrew the Hi ghlanders back on
their tr acks.
The story is told that one man might have saved the hopes of the Old Pretender
at Sh eriffmuir, and that was none other than the notor ious Rob Roy. With
a sizeable band of Mac Gregors he had watched the confused cour se of the batt le.
When Mar appealed to him to throw his weight on the side of th e Hi ghlanders,
the story is that Rob only answered that if the fighti ng could not be won with out
him, it could not be won by him ; and he withdrew his forces intact.
Today members of Clan Gregor may not feel overproud about the reluctance
of the canny Rob to come to the aid of th e Stu art Cause in this cri sis ; but it should
be recognized that man y others at the time believed that the ill pre par ed upri sing
against the unwelcome Hanoverians in 1715 was doomed to failure.
But we must return to the Castle and to the panorama of the surrounding
country, as our ga ze sweeps on to the left. Th er e another lofty tower , seemingly
neglected, and screened by a gr ove of surrounding tr ees ,catches the eye. It is
Scotland's memoria l to Sir \Villi am W alla ce, hero and defender aga inst early
aggression by the English.
Seve ral miles beyond this monument the ruins of Doune Castl e are to be seen
overlooking the Braes of Doune . In the '45, the Hi gh landers fighting under the
bann er of their beloved Bonnie Prince Charlie used Doune Castl e as a pri son.
And it should be mentioned that the officer in charge of prisoners was none other
than a MacGr egor , Gregor of Glengyle, a nephew of the nutori ous Rob. These
several references to MacGregors have come into our story here becau se of
geog rap hical association. A litt le further along we will refer to the history of
the Clan in earlier tim es. U se of Doune Castle as a pri son by the army of the
young Pretender, as English historians have called the ad ored Stua rt leader , was
the last important phase in the histor y of this an cient castl e. It fell gradually into
disr epair; but fortunately will be preserv ed for future years as one of Perthshire's
historic landmarks.
Now we look further to th e W est where can be seen an outline of the Menteith
Hills, rising up behind and between two histor ic villages quaintl y named Port of
Menteith and Aberfoyle. Beyond these low lying hills which seem to fra me the
sett lements, stand out the snow capped peaks of Ben Ledi and Ben Venue . Fa r
to the left , and seldom visible fr om Stirlin g, peerless Ben Lomond rears its
massive head.
But tim e passes, and it is with some reluctance that we leave St irlin g Castle
to follow the Nor th road into the land of our foreb ears. Before long we have