The 1692 massacre at Glencoe
and the risings of the 18th century successively affected Crieff. In 1716
after the Battle of Sheriffmuir - just north of Dunblane - 350 returning
Highlanders burned most of Crieff to the ground in
revenge for its pro-government sympathies - it was reported that of the total
population only two people supported the Old Pretender! In the '45 it nearly
suffered a similar fate but was saved by the Duke of Perth - a friend and
supporter of Prince Charles.
The Highlanders were itching to fire the town again and were reported as
saying
"she should be a bra toun gin she had anither sing"
(singe).
In the years leading up to the '45 uprising, Crieff was a turbulent town set
in the midst of an uneasy peace. In one of the many violent incidents,
Rob Roy McGregor's
outlaw son was pursued through the streets by soldiers and
killed. During the usual October Tryst, Crieff was the prototype wild west'
town, milling with cattle, horse thieves, bandits and drunken drovers. The
inevitable killings were punished on the
Kind Gallows,
for which Crieff became known throughout Europe.
In February 1746 the Jacobite army was quartered in and around the town with
Prince Charles Edward Stuart holding his final war council in the old
Drummond Arms
Inn in James Square - on the site of the present hotel. He also had his horse
shod in the blacksmith's in King Street -a plaque on the modern police
building marks the site. Later in the month he reviewed his troops in front
of Fernton House, on what is today the Crieff Golf Course.
©
The Perfect Solution
Last updated November 1999
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