History

The horizons surrounding the Carse of Stirling tell much about Scotland’s geological history. To the north and west, rise the Southern Highlands, the Highland line, marking the boundary between the Lowlands and the Highlands clear to see; a demarcation created around four hundred million years ago when two of the earth’s tectonic plates collided, causing the uplifting of the Highlands. The Highland Boundary Fault follows a south-west to north easterly axis and in fact can be traced right across Scotland from Arran and Renfrewshire in the west to just north of Stonehaven on the north east coast.

To the south, the hills forming the southern boundary of the Carse, the Touch, Gargunnock, Fintry Hills and the Campsie Fells, were formed a little later – around three hundred million years ago – by volcanic upheavals. The dykes, old layers of larva, can clearly be seen etched on the face of those hills. To the east too the landscape tells the story of the volcanic era with Abbey Craig, upon which stands the Wallace Monument, the Castle rock occupied by Stirling’s famous castle and Craigforth, all volcanic plugs. These crags are typical of the ‘Crag and Tail’ shaping of the landscape by moving ice, a story soon to unfold.

Thus the Carse itself is like an arena, lying in the bowl created by these hills, crags and mountains. However, it is an arena that has witnessed many events, which have combined in the very making of Scotland. In much more recent and understandable times for instance, all of Scotland was covered by a huge ice sheet which lay to a depth, to the north-west of here, of some five thousand feet. This big freeze was at its peak some sixteen thousand years ago. But as temperatures eventually began to rise some twelve thousand years ago, so the ice began to melt and then move. Indeed, great rivers of ice – glaciers – were to re-fashion much of the landscape of Scotland. In essence, the Carse was shaped, gouged out, by the passage of ice travelling in an easterly direction towards what we now know as the North Sea.

Naturally, sea levels rose dramatically as a consequence of the melting ice and the Forth Valley, including the Carse, now became a sea loch penetrating as far inland as Aberfoyle. Freed of the ice, the hills surrounding the Carse were soon colonised by trees and vegetation and by insects, birds and animals. The first people to inhabit the Carse probably sailed up that sea loch in dugout canoes. The origins of these people lay across the North Sea. These first human colonisers were few in number and extremely nomadic. Known as Mesolithic people – Stone Age people – they were hunter-gatherers, living entirely off nuts and berries, fish, shellfish and the animals they could hunt. Because of their nomadic lifestyle, few traces of their presence remain.

However, in several locations in and around the Carse, nineteenth century excavations revealed the skeletons of whales, which had presumably become stranded. The discovery of these creatures must have been a considerable bonus to those hunter-gatherers, who would have eagerly exploited both the flesh and the blubber of these substantial creatures. Also discovered with the skeletons were tools made by those early immigrants, fashioned from deer antlers, which were used to cut up the carcasses.

Slowly, the land now freed of the enormous weight of the ice, rose and the sea retreated until the Carse was finally entirely free of seawater. Instead, through it flowed the winding waters of the River Forth, its origins on the slopes of Ben Lomond. To the north is the River Teith, which rises in Balquhidder and joins the Forth just west of Stirling. The Forth is regarded as the senior of these two rivers albeit that the famous estuary could conceivably have been called the Firth of Teith! However, to the Highlanders, the River Forth represented the boundary of the Highlands. It is said that when Bonnie Prince Charlie crossed the river at the Fords of Frew, his Highland army showed some reluctance to make the crossing. Thus some say, the Prince dismounted and waded across the river. His army duly followed! In Gaelic, Forth translates as ‘edge’. Indeed north of the river, Gaelic was once the main language, whereas to the south it petered out.

Further waves of immigrant people now established themselves in the Carse. The hunter-gatherers were followed by the early farmers, Neolithic people who brought with them the first domesticated animals and the seeds from which to grow crops. This was a still a soggy landscape and the remains of platforms constructed from timbers, used by those folk, have been excavated, most notably just south of the river at Parks of Garden. These early Bronze Age people arrived somewhere around 3,000 BC. Later arrivals brought the first signs of the metal working cultures of the Bronze Age. There are several examples of cup and ring marked stones dating from this period, the largest collection of which lie on the hills immediately above Port of Menteith. The discovery of what has come to be known as the Blair Drummond wheel, dating back to around 1,000 BC, also proves that a form of wheeled transport had evolved. The wheel, made of wood, is in the National Museum of Scotland. A deterioration of climatic conditions around 1500BC saw a growth in the development of moorland and Lowland peat bogs.

This was, of course, a time when standing stones began to appear in the landscape. The only example within the Carse area is at Glenhead, Doune. As metal working techniques became more sophisticated, better weapons fashioned in bronze, now armed people as never before but the arrival of the Iron Age influence produced much more durable and effective weapons together with tools which made the clearing of land for agriculture much easier.

That this period in our history saw the creation of beautiful jewellery, was uncovered in 2009, when an amateur metal detectorist discovered four gold torcs or necklaces buried in a field near Blair Drummond. They dated from 300 to 100 BC and were valued at a staggering £462,000. They are on display in the National Museum of Scotland and were probably made by someone who learned his craft in the Mediterranean area.

As populations began to expand, the farming of the land gained increasing importance. There were also significant developments in more durable buildings. The remains of palisaded structures and Iron Age forts have been found scattered around the Carse, notably at Gillies Hill near Cambusbarron and surprisingly perhaps, the remains of several brochs have also been found. These tower-like buildings are familiar in the Northern Isles and the north and west of Scotland and their construction in the Carse probably owed their origins to people of considerable power, wealth and influence probably derived from their trade with the Romans. Most of these brochs were subsequently destroyed by fire, either by the Romans or as a consequence of the eventual retreat of the Romans to Hadrian’s Wall, which of course cut off that source of income.

There were five such structures on the Carse itself and detailed examination of one near Buchlyvie known as the Fairy Knowe, indicates it was built in the first century AD. Many of the artefacts and other items suggest that its inhabitants were kept busy working leather, wood and metal and there is evidence that they melted down Roman metal in order to fashion their own tools and ornaments. As you will have guessed, the Romans now became a presence.

Meanwhile, evidence of crannog dwellings is to be found in and around the Lake of Menteith. The remains of five crannogs lie beneath the waters of the Lake. These were built on a foundation of rocks into which were driven stakes. Thence a circular structure was built with access by water only. To the north of here on Loch Tay, there is a crannog centre at which a crannog has been re-constructed. It is well worth a visit.

A Roman camp was built on the western shore of the Lake of Menteith and it is believed that a Roman road traversed the Menteith Hills to link with a fort at Bochastle at Kilmahog near Callander. There was another structure at Doune, part of which is believed to have been a hospital. A chain of forts from Drymen, Malling at Port of Menteith, Bochastle and Doune were built in order to control access to the glens to the north. This was called the Gask Ridge and indeed, the Romans described the country across the Forth and northwards, as an island! They were not alone for a map drawn by Matthew Paris around 1250, also shows the land north of the River Forth to be a separate island too!

Clearly there was a healthy trade between the Romans and the indigenous people for many Roman artefacts have been discovered during excavations of local native sites. One major import during the Roman period was of course, Christianity. The Roman occupation here however, was relatively brief and in building the Antonine Wall to the south of here, they appear to have abandoned the area around the Carse. However, there was a road, which connected the wall and the fort at Ardoch near Braco, which is thought to have crossed the River Forth somewhere in the eastern part of the Carse. Soon however, the Antonine Wall was abandoned around 160 AD as the Romans now retreating further south to Hadrian’s Wall, virtually ending their previously permanent occupation of Scotland.

Now a new force arrived in the area, the Britons, a Celtic people who spoke a language similar to modern Welsh. They established the kingdom of Strathclyde, which stretched from the English Border through Galloway to its capital at Dumbarton. Although the Britons settled as far north as Aberfoyle, where a monastic site was established, the boggy nature of the Carse prevented further movement east and north.

Indeed it is thought that the boggy nature of the Carse acted as a kind of barrier between these Britons and the Picts who dominated the north. However, the influence of the Britons had declined by the sixth century as the Scots, originally from Ireland, began to spread eastwards from their base at Dalriada in Argyll. They arrived in the upper Forth Valley bringing with them the influence of the Celtic church. In the ninth century, the Scots and Picts united to create the Kingdom of Scotland. Around 900 AD, the Vikings conducted forays into the area. However, during the ensuing centuries as populations continued to grow, farming the land was the pre-occupation of the people.

The rearing of black cattle had meanwhile become an important factor in the Highlands. These cattle were driven down to the Lowlands markets of which one of the main ones was at Falkirk. However, because the drovers wished to avoid the tolls at the bridge over the Forth at Stirling, some drovers established a different route across the Carse of Stirling, which crossed the Forth at the Fords of Frew, south east of Kippen. In 1745, the crossing of the Forth at the Fords of Frew also provided a route for the Highland army of Bonnie Prince Charlie. They used the fords primarily to avoid the well-fortified Stirling Castle, which of course commanded the only bridging point at Stirling.

During the earlier uprising in 1715, the fords had been guarded on behalf of the Jacobites by none other than Rob Roy MacGregor. Indeed, as a noted cattle thief, it is likely that Rob Roy had used the fords to take the cattle he had stolen to the market. In 1691, Rob Roy and his clansmen had mounted an ambush between Kippen and Buchlyvie to steal a drove of cattle heading for Falkirk but the residents got wind of his intentions and sent warnings to the authorities. However, he reaped retribution upon the folk of Kippen by taking all the local cattle, house cows and all.

In 1750, Lord Kames of Blair Drummond, began a massive programme of reclamation. At the time, the Highland Clearances were in full swing and Lord Kames offered land free of rent to many displaced Highlanders, especially many from the Balquhidder and Lochearnhead areas. Strips of land were allocated to the victims of the Clearances and the back-breaking work began to dig the peat, which in places was many feet deep, before floating it down the river. The folk tasked with the work of clearing the layers of peat, were mockingly called ‘the Moss Lairds’ by local residents but thanks to their toil, much of the Carse was cleared of peat to reveal the fertile Carse clays beneath. A school for the children of the Moss Lairds was built, which is now a private residence. Other landowners followed the lead of Lord Kames and also cleared lands of the peat. A massive water wheel was built at Deanston to convey water from the River Teith through channels to increase the flow to the Forth.

The first of these Moss Lairds constructed their homes by first digging a deep trench right down to the clay. In the centre was left a large block of peat which was scooped out in much the same way as a child might hollow out the heart of a turnip to make a lantern. The walls of the house constructed in this manner were some four feet thick at the base and three feet thick at roof level, which was roughly twelve feet above the clay floor. Timber for the roof was provided by the landowner. However, as the peat dried out the houses literally shrank from a ceiling height of ten feet to a mere five feet! Later houses were built of brick.

Some of today’s Carse farmers are descended from those Moss Lairds and they farm some of the richest farmland in the country. Indeed, the Carse is famous for its hay, which is still highly valued and much sought after. Much of the Carse’s hay crop is bought and transported to farmers in Highland Scotland and to horse owners all over Britain. Today, the Carse is dominated by mixed farming -livestock comprising cattle and sheep with excellent crops of barley - much of it for grown for malting.

And yet, some bog remains. Flanders Moss is now a National Nature Reserve under the management of Scottish Natural Heritage and is renowned for its amazing plants, fascinating wildlife and interesting birds, a wild oasis of untamed land amid manicured farmland. Access to the Moss is gained from the B822 Kippen to Thornhill road. There is boardwalk and a tower, which affords remarkable views across this unique ‘wilderness’ area where the peat bog is undisturbed. This gives a remarkable sense of place as a reminder of how the whole Carse once was.

There are two main roads running through the Carse, the A811 to the south, which runs through or close to the villages of Buchlyvie, Arnprior, Kippen, Gargunnock and Cambusbarron. To the north the A81, the A873 and the A84 traverse the settlements of Port of Menteith, Thornhill and Blair Drummond. There are inns, shops and coffee houses in most of these villages, there are farm shops at Blair Drummond and Kippen Station and a garden centre at Ward Toll at the western extremity of the Carse.

The name Kippen Station, confirms that there was once a railway here, which linked Stirling with Balloch at the southern end of Loch Lomond and with Glasgow. The line opened in 1856 but was closed to passenger traffic in 1934 and altogether in 1951. However, it played an important role during the Second World War for at the western end of the Carse, especially around Port of Menteith, was established the second largest ammunition dump in Britain. Thus the railway provided the necessary transportation for ammunition. Little remains of the railway other than the base of the track, although there are still a number of station houses and a few cottages which were originally occupied by linesmen, all of them now converted to modern homes. A signal box also remains where Kippen Station once stood close to the Fords of Frew.

The main body of water in the Carse area is the Lake of Menteith, the only lake in Scotland and one of Scotland’s most important trout fisheries. It was also once home to the island Priory of Inchmahome, established in 1238. On another island, Inch Talla, lies the ruins of a castle which was once the home of the Graham Earls of Menteith. The lands of Inchmahome extended well to the south of the Lake as far as Arnprior (the land of the Prior). However, when the dissolution of the monasteries came with the Reformation, James V bestowed the Priory and its lands on John Erskine of Cardross, third son of the Lord Erskine. In 1547, after the Battle of Pinkie, the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, was taken to Inchmahome to ensure her safety. She was only resident for a few weeks before being taken to Dumbarton where a ship was waiting to take her to France where she was to become betrothed to the Dauphin.

The Lake gained its nomenclature when a nineteenth century map surveyor misinterpreted a local description of the area in which it was called the ‘Laigh of Menteith’ (the low lying ground of Menteith), translating Laigh as Lake. Inchmahome, which has a remarkably peaceful atmosphere among the Priory ruins on this idyllic isle, is a very popular tourist destination and ferry conveys visitors to and from the island daily from Easter to October.

Thousands of travellers pass through the Carse of Stirling, often heading for the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park and the scenic Highlands to the north. Others, of course, pass through it on their way to the historic city of Stirling little knowing the Carse’s important place in history.

Down the centuries, the Carse of Stirling has seen the passage of countless generations. There were the very first people to set foot on Scottish soil, the hunter gatherers who exploited what was then a seashore. Then came the early farming folk, the builders of Brochs and Crannogs, the Roman Legions, armies, droves of cattle, the infamous Rob Roy, Lord Kames, the Moss Lairds and today’s modern farmers. They tell the human story of the Carse, the landscape tells the physical story. And, this is also a landscape embellished by a remarkable range of wildlife. Resident birds and animals include ospreys and otters, red deer and badgers, hen harriers, roe deer, buzzards and kites, pine marten and of course, brown hares, not to mention an amazing variety of smaller mammals, reptiles, amphibians and small birds. There is so much to discover in the Carse of Stirling on foot, by bike and by car!