Blaeu Atlas of Scotland, 1654
Name: | Blaeu, Joan, 1596-1673 |
Title: | Perthia Provinciae Perthensis Nova Descriptio |
Pagination: | 88-89 |
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Translation of text:
richness of soil, lies more level on the other bank of the Tay. In this part of the Perth region across the Tay is to be seen Scone, once a famous monastery venerated for the inauguration of the kings of Scotland, from the time when Kenneth, the Picts having been slaughtered to extermination nearby, placed here the stone which had been brought to Argyll from Ireland and fixed into the wooden chair for consecrating the kings of the Scots, which King Edward I of England had taken to Westminster. On this a prophecy is commonly uttered, which since it has now found credence, as only a few of that kind do, I have had appended.
Unless fate fails, wherever the Scots findThe stone located, they are bound to rule there.
Now however Scone by the special favour of King James provides the title of Baron to David de Moray or Murray. [Later he was created Viscount of Stormont. This monastery was totally destroyed, so that not even the least trace of it is to be seen; in its place he built a very elegant palace, together with very lovely gardens. But no descendents being left, by virtue of a charter of entail, after the death of Quint-Iern his heir who died without children, this lordship has now passed to John Earl of Annandale.]
Where the Tay now spreads out more expansively, Errol hangs over it, the dwelling of the famous Earls of Erroll, who have been from the times of the Bruces hereditary Constables of Scotland; they trace their undoubtedly ancient origin to one Hay, a very strong man, who, when the Scots’ line was yielding in a difficult battle against the Danes at Luncarty, snatched a yoke and with his sons restored the line by so bravely and successfully fighting and encouraging that they won the victory, and the King and estates of the kingdom attributed the victory and their safety to his courage. Hence in this place the most fertile lands were assigned to him and his family, and in witness of this they placed a yoke as crest above their arms. [This Barony of Erroll was recently sold through the Lord of Kinghorn, maternal uncle of this Earl of Erroll, to the Earl of Dupplin.] About the adjoining Castle Huntly there is nothing for me to write, except that it gave its name to a most ample and honoured family; on which in its own place. [Camden is in error here, for it was not this Barony that gave its name to the family of Huntly, but that other one which is located to the south in Teviotdale or the Merse. Now this Barony he bought from Lord Gray on behalf of the Lords of Kinghorn.]
A NEW DESCRIPTION
OF THE PROVINCE
OF PERTH
The province of Perth has as borders on the north and north-west the regions of Badenoch and Lochaber, situated in the Prefecture or Sheriffdom of Inverness; on the north-east it is bounded by Mar, lying in the prefecture of Aberdeen; on the west it touches Argyll; on the south-west it lies very close to Britannodunum, alias Lennox; on the south it has Clackmannan, Stirling, and the Firth of Forth; on the south-east Fife and Kinross; and finally on the east it touches Angus. This Province stretches in length more than fifty-two miles, viz. from Invergowrie in the eastern part to the parish of Aberfoyle to the west, where Lennox lies very close. But where it is widest, viz. from Uchnahannoloch, a mountain on the border of Atholl and Badenoch, to Stirling bridge, it extends more or less 48 miles. Of the noteworthy rivers by which it is watered, easily the first and largest is the Tay; from the loch of the same name, 10 miles long and one mile wide, it bursts into Breadalbane, and bending towards the Grampian mountain, touches Atholl, a fertile region actually located in the valleys of Grampian; that part which unfolds into a plain at the foot of the mountains they call Blair, a word which means ground free of trees. Below Atholl on the left bank of the Tay is situated the town of Caledonia, in the vernacular Dunkeld, that is mound of hazel. Situated about 10 miles below Dunkeld on the right bank of the Tay is Perth itself, whose honour is declared by the fact that the whole Sheriffdom is eager to be known by the same name. Into Loch Tay discharge streams, viz. the Dochart and the Lochay; the Dochart flows from a loch of the same name, in the vernacular Loch Dochart, two miles long and half a mile broad. This loch has an island and fortified castle, each facing the western side of the River Tay; its length, which extends between the loch of the same name from which it rises and the mouth of the River Emsa[?] where it flows into the sea at Broughty Castle, is 46 miles (2). From the fields of Glen Lyon flows down the River Lyon; rising from a loch of the same name which is two miles long, after it has travelled 24 miles in its winding course, it finally slips into the Tay one mile below the loch. Then nine miles down to the east, near the church of Logierait in Atholl the Tummel enters the Tay, a distinguished river which rises from Loch Rannoch and in its downward course touches on Atholl for 16 miles. Into the Tummel again, near the garden of lead, in the vernacular Leidgrein[?], flows the small River Garry, taking its origin from a loch of the same name, whose length of 18 miles discharges into the Garry near Blair Castle. The Tilt rises from the loch of the same name, its length is 16 miles, at Dunkeld, 16 miles below the head of the Tay, it slips into the Tay. The Braan, 6 miles long, having its origin in Loch Freuchie which is two miles long, in Glen Quaich, turning south-east for 6 miles below Dunkeld, enters the Tay at the ruins of the old castle of Kinclaven. The Isla, taking its origin from the valley of the same name, in the vernacular Glen Isla, whose length is more or less 20 miles, falls into the Isla (3) again at Bermenia[?]. The River Keth[?] is noted for salmon fishing, especially at its sheerest waterfall, which too the inhabitants call Keth, near Blairgowrie (4), where it rushes among the opposing rocks with such force and noise that its excessive violence damages the organ of hearing; for at fixed times each year a huge quantity of salmon comes down (5) there; some of them, when the river has become larger or faster by rain or the inrush of rivers born from it, overcome the precipice of the waterfall and so avoid the skills of the fishermen and escape in safety; others, while they are striving, although with vain effort, to climb the waterfall against the force of the rushing water, not so much by swimming as by jumping, are driven back by the force of the torrent and deceived by the wiles of the fishermen; others finally are captured immediately from the whirling abyss below the waterfall in the nets and other traps of the fishermen. Into the Keth again pour the streams of Glenshee and Strathardle, running from the heads of these regions. Above the town of Perth, commonly St John’s, to the north west the Almond flows into the Tay, coming from the head of the valley of the same name, which in length extends more than 14 miles. In order of dignity the Tay is followed by the Earn, a quite well-known river, taking its origin from the loch of the same name, in the vernacular Loch Earn, in a mountainous region which in the vernacular is called Balquhidder; between the mouth of that loch and the fall of the Earn into the Tay, at Abernethy, three miles below Bridge of Earn, is a distance of 24 miles. Into the Earn at the church of Comrie (6) flows the Water of Ruchill, coming down for 6 or 7 miles from a mountain valley in the vernacular Glen Artney.