History & Archaeology

Tigh Nam Bodach

The ancient pagan shrine of Tigh nam Bodach is located in Glen Cailliche (the Crooked Glen of the Stones), north of Loch Lyon. The shrine is made up of a modest stone structure that houses a family of three bell shaped water stones from the river bed of the Lyon. The largest represents the Cailleach (old woman), accompanied by the Bodach (old man) and their daughter, Nighean. In what is believed to be the oldest uninterrupted pre-Christian ritual in Britain, the water-worn figures from the River Lyon are taken out of their house every May and faced down the glen, and returned every November.

The ritual marked the two great Celtic fire festivals of Beltane(Summer) and Samhain (Winter)and the annual migration of Highland cattle on and off the hills. Legend states that The Cailleach, in the tradition of the Celtic mother-goddesses, blessed the stock and the pasturage and ensured good weather and "strange and terrible" things could happen to those who dared disturb her wintering grounds in Glen Cailliche.

The Cailleach, or divine goddess, is a potent force in Celtic mythology, commonly associated with wild nature and landscape. A local myth says that Loch Tay was formed when she forgot to leave a flagstone lid on a magical spring well.

The Black Watch Monument, Aberfeldy

Close by Wade’s Bridge in Aberfeldy stands the Black Watch Monument. It takes the form of a massive cairn topped with a statue of Private Farquhar Shaw dressed in the original uniform of the Black Watch Regiment.

In the wake of the 1715 Jacobite rebellion, companies of trustworthy Highlanders were raised from loyal clans. They became known as the ’Black Watch’ for the watch they kept on the Highlands and from their dark government tartan. In 1739 King George II authorised the companies be formed into a regiment of foot, "the men to be natives of that country, and none other to be taken". That same year they held their first regimental parade on the banks of the River Tay at Aberfeldy, on what is now part of the Golf course.

The monument was unveiled in 1887 by the Marquis of Breadalbane to commemorate the first muster of the Regiment in May 1740. The muster took place on the Weem Cow Park on the north bank of the River Tay, in the Parish

THIS CAIRN IS ERECTED BY GRATEFUL AND ADMIRING COUNTRYMEN
IN COMMEMORATION OF THE ASSEMBLING TOGETHER AT TAYBRIDGE
IN OCTOBER 1739

OF THE SIX INDEPENDANT COMPANIES AFTERWARDS INCREASED TO TEN

OF THE "FREICEADAN DUBH" OR BLACK WATCH

WHO AFTER SERVING IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE HIGHLANDS
WERE EMBODIED INTO A REGIMENT DESIGNATED THE 43rd AND AFTERWARDS
THE 42nd ROYAL HIGHLANDER WHOSE FIRST MUSTER TOOK PLACE IN MAY 1740 NEAR TAYBRIDGE AND ALSO IN RECOGNITION OF THE VALOUR AND PATRIOTISM WHICH HAVE EVER SINCE DISTINGUISHED THE SOLDIERS OF THIS CORPS DURING ITS ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER IN MANY LANDS
A.D. 1887

Alltandubh

The former township of Alltandubh (Little Black Stream) once comprised eight buildings and a corn-drying kiln.

The Bridge Through Ha-Ha, Kenmore Village

The bridge at Ha-Ha can easily be missed as you walk along the North Terrace on the north bank of the River Tay downstream from the bridge at Kenmore. The North Terrace is a broad walk and beech avenue over 2000m long, with Maxwells’s Tower at one end and the Star Battery, a fake gun emplacement used during Queen Victoria’s visit, at the other. The views from the terrace and associated paths closer to the river are many and varied, depending on the twists and turns of the routes, including views along and across the river and to the parks on either side.

This picture copyright Russel Wills and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence.

Carn Na Marbh

Carn na Marbh translates as "cairn of the dead", and tradition asserts that 14th century century plague victims were buried here.

This picture copyright Euan Nelson and licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence.