Old Photographs Balquhidder Scotland

Old photograph of the Post Office in Balquhidder, Scotland. The Maclaurins acquired the district as early as the 9th century and occupied it for several hundred years until ousted by the Macgregors, a neighbouring clan, who had repeatedly raided their lands, and in 1558 slew the chief and many of his followers. The Parish is also an ancient seat to branches of the Stewart and Fergusson Clans.





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Tour Scotland Photograph David Carnegie Gravestone Balquhidder

Tour Scotland photograph of the David Carnegie gravestone in the cemetery in Balquhidder, Scotland. David Carnegie, of Stronvar, born 3rd of May 1813, died 15th February 1890. David was a major landowner and benefactor in Balquhidder. He was the grandson of George Carnegie who fled to Sweden after the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. George established a very successful business in Gothenburg and became a wealthy man. David made his fortune from brewing in Gothenburg and also sugar refining. His second wife was his cousin, Susan. They had three children and decided to make their home in Scotland. In 1849 John Lorn Stewart sold the Glenbuckie estate to Carnegie. By this time a new Glenbuckie house had been built on the site of the present Stronvar House. The house was rebuilt on a much grander scale to the design of the architect David Bryce. Beautiful gardens were created and the estate was renamed Stronvar by Carnegie. He acquired several other areas of land including Stroneslaney and Gartnafuaran and built many houses in the village for his tenants, solid stone houses which are still there today. He gifted the Church, also designed by David Bryce, to the village in 1855 and also the school and schoolhouse in 1869 as well as the Reading Room.



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Tour Scotland Photograph Margaret MacLaren Memorial Balquhidder

Tour Scotland photograph of the Margaret MacLaren Memorial in Balquhidder Churchyard, Scotland. Wife of The MacLaren. Born 21st of March 1924, died 2nd September 1978. Balquhidder was the heartland of the MacLaren Clan. The MacLarens, a powerful and warlike Clan, were probably some of the first dwellers in Balquhidder Glen. They were named after Abbot Labhran who had a cell in Auchtubh around 1250. He is thought to have build Eaglais Beag, the Little Church, which was roughly at the east end of the 1631 Church



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Tour Scotland Photograph Donald MacLaren of MacLaren Memorial Balquhidder

Tour Scotland photograph of the Donald MacLaren of MacLaren Memorial, in Balquhidder Churchyard, Scotland. Chief of Clan Labhran. Born 22nd July 1910, died 8th June 1966. In the 18th century the Clan MacLaren supported the Jacobite House of Stuart and fought at the Battle of Sherrifmuir in 1715. The clan also fought in the 1745 to 1746 Jacobite Uprisings at the Battle of Prestonpans and the Battle of Falkirk in 1746. They also fought at the Battle of Culloden in the Appin regiment under Lord George Murray. After the battle the clan chief at that time, an earlier, Donald MacLaren remained a fugitive until the amnesty of 1757.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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Street View Balquhidder Church Scotland

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Street view of Balquhidder Church, Scotland. Balquhidder was the scene of some of the exploits of Rob Roy, who died there in 1734. The local kirkyard is his final resting place, his grave marked with the appropriately defiant motto 'MacGregor Despite Them'. St Angus came to Balquhidder Glen in the 8th or 9th century and recognised what the Celts called a "thin place" where the boundary between Earth and Heaven was close. He knelt and blessed the glen and built a stone oratory at Kirkton, where he spent the rest of his life. Angus was the first to bring Christianity to Balquhidder. Behind the present kirk is Tom nan Angeae, the hill of fire, where until the 19th century hearth fires were renewed at Beltane and Samhain to encourage ancient gods to bring warmth to the land. Angus was buried at the foot of this hill and a flagstone laid over him which stands today in the present church. There are some foundations of the east end of the small medieval parish church of Balquhidder around the grave of Rob Roy and his family (which seem deliberately to have been buried at the site of its altar). A few metres to the west are the roofless ruins of this building's 17th century seccessor. The present church, built on a new site to the north of the ancient graveyard, is of 19th century date.

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Photograph Interior Balquhidder Parish Church Scotland

Photograph of the interior of Balquhidder Parish Church, Balquhidder, Scotland. There is a display on the history of Balquhidder in the church, which is open to the public during the summer, when there is also a programme of evening concerts in the building.

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All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

Tour Scotland Photograph Balquhidder Parish Church

Tour Scotland photograph of the Parish Church in Balquhidder, Scotland. The present church, built on a new site to the north of the ancient graveyard, is of 19th century date.

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Tour Scotland Photograph Old Kirk Balquhidder

Tour Scotland photograph of the old Kirk at Balquhidder, Scotland. Some ruins of the east end of the small medieval parish church of Balquhidder, built in 1631 a stone in the floor is said to cover the grave of St Angus.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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Tour Scotland Photograph Donald MacLaren Gravestone Balquhidder

Tour Scotland photograph of the Donald MacLaren gravestone in Balquhidder Churchyard cemetery, Balquhidder, Scotland. In memory of Donald McLaren, Innkeeper, Strathyre, who died 21st of July 1890 at 70 years of age.

In Lochearnhead, in the lands of MacGregor, MacLaren, MacNab, and Stewart of Strathern, Clan members from all over the world gathered together to experience all the thrills of traditional highland games.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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