Parish of Logierait

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Logierait
1834-45: Logierait

Logierait (Gael. lag-an-rath, ` hollow of the castle '), a village and a parish of N central Perthshire. The village is beautifully situated on the N bank of the Tay, 5 furlongs above the influx of the Tummel, and ¾ mile W of Ballinluig Junction, this being 8¾ miles E by N of Aberfeldy and 8 N by W of Dunkeld. A neighbouring eminence was crowned by a castle of Robert III. (1390-1406), and now is the site of a conspicuous and richly-sculptured Celtic cross, erected in 1866 to the memory of the sixth Duke of Athole. Long the seat of the regality court of the lords of Athole, which wielded wide jurisdiction with almost absolute powers, the village then had its court-house, gaol, and Tom-nacroiche or ` gallows-knoll.' The court-hall is said to have been ` the noblest apartment in Perthshire, ' more than 70 feet long, with galleries at either end; whilst Rob Roy escaped from the gaol (1717), and Prince Charles Edward confined within it 600 prisoners from Prestonpans. Almost the sole survivor of the past is the hollow ` Ash Tree of the Boat of Logierait, ' which, 63 feet in height and 40 in girth at 3 feet from the ground, is said to have been ` the dool tree of the district, on which caitiffs and robbers were formerly executed, and their bodies left hanging till they dropped and lay around unburied. ' The lower part of the trunk is quite a shell, and has been formed into a summerhouse or arbour, capable of accommodating a considerable number of people. A chain-boat over the Tay was started in 1824; and Logierait also has a post office, an inn, and the Athole and Breadalbane combination poorhouse, erected in 1864, and accommodating 117 inmates. Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy dined at Logierait on 6 Sept. 1803.

The parish comprises a main body and five detached sections, its total area being 611/3 square miles or 39, 253 acres, of which 1493½ are water, and 21, 0983/8 belong to the main body. This, with Logierait village on its southern border, is bounded W by Dull, N by Dull and Moulin, NE by Kirkmichael, SE by Clunie, and S by Dunkeld-Dowally, Little Dunkeld, and Dull. It all but surrounds the Dalcapon section of Dunkeld and Dowally, and has an utmost length from E to W of 11 miles, whilst its width varies between 17/8 mile and 4½ miles. The Tummel runs 6½ miles south-south-eastward, partly along the Moulin boundary, but mainly across the interior, till it falls into the Tay, which itself flows 65/8 miles east-by-southward along the western half of the southern border. Much the largest of nine sheets of water are Lochan Oisinneach Mhor (4 x 3 furl.) and Loch Broom (5½ x 2 furl.), which latter partly belongs to Moulin and Dalcapon. In the extreme S the surface sinks along the Tay to 185 feet above the sea; and chief elevations to the E of the Tummel are *Cregnam Mial (1842 feet), *Meall Reamhar (1741), and Tom Bheithe (1192); to the W, *Carra Beag (1250), Creagan an Feadaire (1318), and the *eastern shoulder (2000) of Beinn Eagach, where asterisks mark those heights that culminate on the confines of the parish.

Two only of the detached sections are of any size. Of these the largest, containing Carie, 3 miles WSW of Kinloch Rannoch, on the N is bounded for 3¼ miles by Loch Rannoch, and on all other sides by Fortingall. It has an utmost length and width of 5 and 45/8 miles; and its surface is mountainous, rising southward from 668 feet to 3370 at Carn Gorm on the southern border. The second largest section, containing Lochgarry House, 2½ miles E by N of Kinloch Rannoch, on the S is bounded for 33/8 miles by the winding Tummel, and on all other sides by Fortingall. It has an utmost length and width of 5½ and 2¼ miles; and the surface rises northward from 650 feet to Beinn a' Chuallaich (2925), from which again it declines to 1250 along a headstream of Erichdie Water. The three other sections are all small-one containing Killiechassie House and a third of the town of Aberfeldy; another bordering on Loch Glassie; and the third including the SW half of Loch Derculich.

The scenery of the parish, especially that of its main body, is eminently picturesque. ` The windings of the rivers, the rich vales, the sloping corn-fields and pastures, the hanging woodlands, and the awful mountains in the distance, ' as seen from a rock about 1 mile distant from Logierait village, ` form one of the noblest landscapes, for extent, variety, beauty, and grandeur, that the eye can behold; ' and the combinations of vale and hill, glen and mountain, wood and water, cliff and cascade, exquisite culture and sublime desolation, as seen from many standpoints, both in the main body and in the detached sections, are striking specimens of almost all the best kinds of Highland scenery. The rocks are very various. Several strata of limestone lie in different parts; in one place occurs a variety of talc; and building stones of different kinds are occasionally raised on almost every estate. The soil of the low grounds is chiefly alluvium; on the slopes of the hills is mostly deep and loamy; on the higher grounds is cold and spouty; and on the mountains is nearly everywhere moorish. Less than one-fifth of the entire area is in tillage; rather more than one-tenth is under wood; and the rest is either pastoral or waste. Distilling is still carried on, though not to such an extent as formerly. Antiquities are Caledonian standing-stones and cairns in several places, an ancient camp near Middlehaugh, a sculptured stone in the parish churchyard, a ruined beacon-house on a rock 2 miles from Logierait village, and sites and burying-places of several preReformation churches. Amongst natives of Logierait have been Adam Ferguson, LL.D. (1724-1816), the historian; Robert Bisset, LL.D. (1739-1805), the biographer of Burke; Daniel Stewart (1741-1814), the founder of Stewart's Hospital in Edinburgh; and General Sir Robert Dick of Tullymet, who fell at Sobraon (1846). Mansions, noticed separately, are Ballechin, Donavourd, Dunfallandy, Eastertyre, Edradynate, Killiechassie, Lochgarry, Middlehaugh, Pitnacree, and Tullymet; and 6 proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 15 of between £100 and £500, and 22 of from £20 to £50. Giving off part to Kinloch Rannoch quoad sacra parish, Logierait is in the presbytery of Weem and the synod of Perth and Stirling; the living is worth £364. The parish church, at Logierait village, was built in 1806, and contains 1000 sittings; and a handsome mission-church was built at Aberfeldy in 1884. Logierait Free church dates from Disruption times; and Tullymet Roman Catholic church, Our Lady of Good Aid, was built in 1855. In Strathtay are Episcopal and Roman Catholic chapels; and four schools-Aberfeldy public, Logierait public, Strathtay Stewart's free, and Tulloch of Pitnacree-with respective accommodation for 310, 201, 129, and 68 children, had (1882) an average attendance of 185, 128, 41, and 33, and grants of £138, 5s- 6d-, £120, 13s., £52, 0s. 6d., and £36, 14s. Valuation (1866) £14, 396, 17s. 8d., (1884) £19,118, 0s. 6d. Pop. (1801) 2890, (1831) 3138, (1861) 2592, (1871) 2417, (1881) 2323, of which 1523 were Gaelic-speaking, and 2220 were in the ecclesiastical parish.—Ord. Sur., shs. 55, 56, 54, 1869-73.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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