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NEWSLETTER No 26 JANUARY 1999

YOU WANTED VARIETY?

For the Society, it has been a wonderfully varied autumn and early winter.

After that stirring meeting in September in St. Serf's with Clare Richards and Kirsty Doig, we heard from two outside speakers steeped in their subjects. In October Ted Powell described the fine old complex at Innerpeffray of which he's in charge (and where we make a trip in April), and in November Bruce Walker poured out for us a wealth of detail, often quite startling, about the tradition of house building in Scotland: would you believe that earth, not stone, was the important traditional Scots building material?

Earlier in November, our themed coffee morning focussed on "technology through the ages". We frankly weren't sure what the reponse would be, but it was great. There were some unusual objects loaned for display, and everyone delighted in the friendly demonstrations of the Society's new Website

A last-minute invitation came to theSociety in October to visit a new tourist facility into which the old chapel at Duncrub has been converted, and over 35 members attended. Then, continuing the theme of variety, we fulfilled our undertaking to have Maggie Wall's monument repaired, and we added more interesting material to our Website. Please read on, there's more inside.

MAGGIE AND A KIND ACT

Last issue we reported that on September 5 or 6, 1998, the mysterious cairn put up in 1657 to Maggie Wall had been vandalised. One of Dunning Parish's best-known landmarks, it stands by Auchterarder Road west of the village.

This unusual monument is surmounted by a rough stone cross. On the crude field stones which make up the base is painted a hand lettered inscription "Maggie Wall burnt here as a witch 1657". Nobody knows who Maggie Wall was, for the shamefully ample records of people persecuted hereabouts for so-called witchcraft make no reference to her, and the legend she was the last person to be burned here as a witch doesn't fit the fact that others are known to have been executed much later. The unknown identity of Maggie Wall is one reason this strange monument attracts many visitors (including Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley who were photographed there).

September 5 or 6 Maggie's monument had another visitor or visitors who threw rocks at the stone cross breaking it off and shattering it. Mike Tanner first reported the loss, and the Society passed the news to the local papers.

In response to that story, two Perth stonemasons, Billy Traill and his assistant Graeme Malcolm called Society chairman Ian Philip and volunteered to replace the cross. On November 19 they did so. A new cross of Dunhouse grey sandstone from the St. Andrews area was put in place.

The Courier story next day carried the headline "Kind-hearted stonemasons help keep Maggie's mystery" and went on "A tiny piece of Dunning's local history was repaired yesterday by two kind-hearted Perth stonemasons who heard of the plight of the village's most mysterious relic...The operation was overseen by Ian Philip of the Dunning Parish Historical Society and farmer John Neil, whose family has owned the site of the monument for generations. Also there was local man David Doig, who spent his birthday in 1964 building a gateway in the roadside dyke for easy access to the cairn."

The repairs were made the afternoon of November 19. When chair Ian Philip told our regular meeting that night that the repair job was accomplished, there was a long round of applause for the stonemasons, especially when Ian added that they had insisted on doing the job at no charge whatever. A letter of grateful thanks expressing our appreciation of their kindness has been sent to Billy Traill and Graeme Malcolm (T & M Stonemasons) by the Society.

Line drawing

Newton of Pitcairns, Dunning. linocut by Mary Thomson

MORE FROM CHARLIE

Charlie Laing is the author of the booklet "Dunning The Way It Was". He was a plumber in the village and a well known bowler. He continues from our last issue his jottings about early Dunning.

Water Before the Piped Supply

After having written in the last newsletter about the coming of a piped water supply and street wells, another question naturally posed itself: where did the villagers get their water before 1872?

In the main, it must have been the Burn that was the source of supply. My reason for thinking this is because in my childhood there was access to the Burn on three sides of the Brig. One went down where the seats are now at Fletchers' shop. On the other side paths went down on the Kirkstyle Square end and one on the other side of the Brig. At the Granco there was no wall and the banks sloped down on either side as they do now opposite the Council houses between the footbridges. To augment this source of supply there were also wells with pumps. Two of these are still visible, one on the Auchterarder Roiad built into the wall before the entrance to the Glebe. The well was behind the wall. The other is at the top of the Upper Granco on the Bridge of Earn Road. Once again the well is behind the structure. The position of another two wells (although I never remember their being used) are in the Thorntree Court and the other at the bottom of Well Road in the Newton of Pitcairns. There was a spring running into a trough in the Bridge of Earn Road. The trough was mainly for horses, but when young we children were sent with a flagon to get good clean cold water. Perhaps some locals may know of other sources of water.

The Operatic Society

An important event in the village between the Wars was the Operatic Society's annual presentation. This was a well supported society and put on an opera every year. It ran for a week and the hall was full nearly every night. The operas produced were mainly Gilbert and Sullivan. Four that come to mind were The Gondoliers, The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore and The Mikado. As well as having about thirty of a cast they also had a six piece orchestra. The Society was fortunate in its early days in having an artist living in the village, Mr. Tulloch Cheyne. He painted all the scenery and this was stored in the old Free Church which was near the Wee School.

A couple of years before World War Two the singers became depleted. Instead of disbanding they produced three two-act plays. This proved just as popular and the productions were well supported. The Society eventually wound up with the start of the War in 1939.

The Pictures

Another thing the villagers looked forward to was the Pictures. In the early twenties it was Magic Lantern Shows given by a local man.

Then along came Mr. Crerar from Crieff. He had a proper projector which was worked off a dynamo in a bus. The first Pictures were silent of course and in black and white. Then in the late twenties along came the talkies. This required a larger projector so a shed was erected on stilts at the west end of the Hall. A couple of the diamond panes in the entrance window were removed, and when the machine was in the shed the lens were put through the hole. The outside door was then shut and the Picture started. The first talkie Picture in the Hall was Al Jolson in "The Singing Fool", and some time later "Under the Greenwood Tree". Once again the war put an end to these weekly visits.

Highland Games

An event looked forward to with much pleasure in the village was the Highland Games. These were held every year up until the Second World War, and attracted much attention far and wide.

A Pipe Band would be in attendance and prior to the Games opening it would parade through the village. Some years it would start from the Perth Road and other times from the Dragon. It was usually led by the Chieftain for the day and local people would fall in behind and walk to the Alley Park (now the Rollo Park). On the way they passed the fountain in Tron Square which was turned on and the water would be making patterns in the air.

The Games were of a high quality with Open and Local competitions. The Open track and field and cycling events were always well supported. The locals also had these events but an extra for them was the Pillow Fight and climbing the Greasy Pole. These two events caused great hilarity among the spectators.

There was also Highland Dancing and one of the Pipe Band would play for the dancers.

After the prizes had been presented the Pipe Band would retrace its steps and enbus for home. Sometimes, though I don't think always, there would be a dance in the Village Hall.

Merchants' Association

As I said in my booklet "Dunning the Way it Was" there were a lot of businesses in the village. These merchants formed an association and held concerts and whist drives in the village. The proceeds of these functions went towards what was known locally as the Merchants' Trip. In pre-war days the shops closed each Thursday at 1 pm, but on the first Thursday of each month they closed the whole day. It was on this whole day closing in either August or September that the Trip was held. There being no buses of the size we know today, the trips were made by train. Two or sometimes three carriages were added to a regular train, depending on how many people were going. The cost, which was very small, included all meals etc. and during the journey sweets, fruits and lemonade were brought round. This yearly outing was started in the late twenties and finished at the outbreak of the Second World War. Places visited included Aberdeen (twice), Ayr, Berwick (twice), Dunbar, Kelso and Galashiels and Rothesay (three times)

--Charlie Laing, The Granco, 1998

ANOTHER DUNNING LANDMARK....

Line drawing of Fountain

The fountain in Tron Square at the centre of Dunning bears the date 1874 at one of its corners. The other three corners carry the initials AM. On the front is the inscription: Erected as a gift to his native village by Alexander Martin, Esquire, St. John's, New Brunswick.

...a pen and ink sketch by Henry Hoey

LETTERS

On our shortest day of the year my sister Elaine and I called up the Internet. We were the 99th hit on your Dunning website. Excellent. The pictures are amazingly clear and we went through the gravestones with interest. Well done! Stewart Harris, Capetown, South Africa.

I do enjoy reading the newsletters. In fact the last time despite my close acquaintance with Dunning I discovered several things I didn't know before. At the moment I'm very busy selling my house preparing to move to Warminster in Wiltshire to be nearer my elder daughter. I want to keep in touch so will notify you of my change of address as soon as I have it. I don't want to miss an issue. Marjory Addison, Aberdeen

I often wish I could roam over the districts of the Earn and Tayside and fossick in archives and other repositories for evidence of past events and contest the past, but at this distance the best I can do is a little geneaology. Maybe some one there will be interested in the enclosed "Mailer" family tree. My mother was Pearl Evelyn Mailer. (These single sheets about descendants of Lellius Mailer, William Mailer, John Mailer, and John Seymour McGill are now in the family archive files in the Society's new office in the Old Infant School, and can be seen by anyone interested). I have enjoyed the new Historical Society Website immensely. Keep up the good work! John Seymour McGill. Hillcrest, New Zealand, e-mail: jobemacs@xtra.co.nz

Enclosed is my application for membership. My connection with Dunning is through my mother, Elizabeth Cunningham. she was a teacher at Dunning School prior to her marriage in 1915 to my father, George Mailer of Auchterarder. He was called up for military service before my birth in 1916. After which, my mother closed the house and returned to Dunning to stay with her widowed mother in a cottage, now very much altered and called "Ormlie", and immediately resumed her teaching post in the school. She remained there till my father's demobilization in 1919. I was utterly devoted to my grandmother and spent every school holiday with her until her death in 1919, so I have very vivid memories of Dunning in the '20s.

My Aunt Kate, who lived with my grandmother was Miss Druitt's assistant at the post office for many years. I greatly enjoyed taking part in Mr. Laing's conducted walk around Dunning in June. My present connection with Dunning is now tenuous: a few rounds of golf during my yearly holiday at Auchterarder. But I maintain a great affection for the village and will look forward to receiving the newsletters. Isabell Whyte,Swaffham, Norfolk.

During a recent visit to the village, I spoke to the Society members guiding at the session house about the cast-iron headstone located in St. Serf's cemetery near the gate, and thought I should pass along the information to you in writing.

The plaque is a memorial to James Graham Davie (born 15 September 1832) and his wife Mary Clark who are buried at St. Serf's. This James Davie was a brother of my direct ancestor Robert Davie, the last Dunning weaver (pictured in A Village of Crossroads and Characters). James was a coachman at Kippen and died as a young man from "sun stroke".In spite of dying young, James had five sons (Alexander, John, Robert, George and James).

The plaque, which is now rusty and illegible, is probably in its original position. I wrote this information down shortly after being told it by James's granddaughter Madge about twenty years ago. Callum Davie, Perth

Editor: Thank you for all the letters received: it's heartening to hear from members. Our new office address is the Dunning Parish Historical Society, The Old Schoolhouse, Newton of Pitcairns, Dunning PH2 0SL

FEUDALISM LIVES ON IN DUNNING

by Margaret Storm

Margaret Storm, a Society member from Perth, is a solicitor. With kind permission of members Peter and Sheena Proff, Cora Linn, Lower Granco, we asked Margaret to examine the deeds of the Proffs' home and explain to them and to us some of the complexities of such deeds

Line drawing cottage by burn

--Ink sketch by Alfred Prenslow

Cora Linn, Lower Granco Street, above illustrated, now belongs to Peter and Sheena Proff who live there with their four children.

The house dates back to 1828 and originally belonged to Matthew Lawson, agent for the Union Bank of Scotland in Dunning, who took title by way of a Feu Disposition by the Commissioner for John, Lord Rollo, dated April 1, 1830. The title then passed to his widow-and then to his son Thomas Lawson who recorded a title on March 16, 1878.

Dunning is a very typical example of a feudal village with the Rollo family as superiors for centuries. The feudal period extends from the establishment by the Battle of Carham in 1018 of the Kingdom of Scotland until the Wars of Independence between Scotland and England at the end of the 13th century.

During this period English influence on Scottish institutions in general was strong, being fostered by the marriage of Malcolm Canmore to the English princess Margaret and by the Anglicisation of Scotland undertaken by the Scottish King David I.

For Scots law the most important introduction from England during this period was the feudal system of land ownership by which grants of land were made by superiors to vassals in return for military service as and when required. The feudal system has continued as the basis for the Scots law of land ownership up to the present day.

The theory of the feudal system was that all the land in the country belonged to the king and that the right of every landowner to his land was derived directly or indirectly from a grant made by the king. Powerful nobles held their land "immediately" under the king and lesser subjects held their land "mediately" under the king i.e. by a grant made to them or their predecessors by a superior intermediate between them and the king. The Rollo family in Dunning are superiors intermediate.

The granting of land ownership under the feudal system is referred to as "feuing". The land granted is referred to as "the feu". The person who feus the land is called the "superior" and the person to whom it is feued is called the "vassal" or "feuar". In making a feudal grant, the Crown or any other superior retains a radical or original right to the land referred to as the "superiority" or "dominium directum" (direct ownership). The right which the vassal or feuar receives is referred to as the "dominium utile" (useful ownership). The "dominium directum" is the higher right in the feudal sense but the "dominium utile" is the more valuable right which entitles the feuar to use the land as his own provided he pays the feu-duty and observes the other conditions of the feu.

As mentioned earlier, in former times the return made by the feuar to the superior for the grant of land was military service as and when required. This type of tenure, known as "ward holding" was abolished just after the Jacobite rebellion of 1745.

The normal tenure is now "feu holding" where the feuar pays a certain periodic sum known as feu duty to the superior and may also be bound to observe conditions e.g. as to the type of building which may be erected on the feu.

The Feu Disposition or title in favour of Matthew Lawson contains all the usual and necessary clauses in such a title. There is an obligation to maintain a pavement of three feet in width along the street bounding the feu and to clean the public street opposite. The condition regarding the pavement prevails to this day as the pavements in Lower Granco Street are unadopted by the local authority. There is a prohibition on building any tan works, butchers' shambles, candleworks or heckling houses or any other noxious or dangerous works on the feu without the superior's consent, and in laying any dunghills on the streets passing the property. The house on the feu had been built according to the building plan of the "Town of Dunning" prepared by a John Bell, surveyor, in Edinburgh, being two storeys high, built of stone and lime, and roofed with blue slates. The title provides that all other buildings on the feu should conform to said building plan. Whenever the house or houses built on the feu became ruinous, the feuar was bound to rebuild the same within five years or forfeit the feu to Lord Rollo. In many ways, in these times, the superior was the equivalent of the planning and environmental departments of the local authority as the conditions were intended to protect the amenity and hygiene of the Town.

Many Feu Dispositions have far more onerous provisions in that all alterations, additions and extensions must be approved by the superior as well as obtaining planning permission and building warrant. Modern titles to residential developments can contain very detailed conditions e.g. the property may only be used as a private dwelling house for one family, no boats or caravans may be parked except with proper screening, only two dogs and two cats may be kept and that only if they do not create a nuisance to neighbours, no signs and sometimes satellite dishes may be erected and that outside colour schemes should be approved by the superior. All these conditions, and more, are to protect the amenity of the development and the proper and comfortable enjoyment by the residents. The feuar should obtain superior's consent to change of use, alterations or additions, prior to applying for planning permission. Most superiors simply charge sufficient to cover their own outlays, but some seek to make a sizeable charge for their consent although it is open to the feuar to apply to the Lands Tribunal for a variation of title conditions if he feels the charge is unreasonable.

For the most part, the superior simply needs to send a letter of consent to the alterations or additions or endorse a plan with his consent. In the event of a feuar seeking a change of use from for example private dwelling house to guest house or hotel, a Minute of Waiver is required to vary the conditions of the feu title. This is more expensive as the superior will expect the feuar to meet his legal expenses--as well as the feuar's own legal expenses--on top of any charge requested by the superior.

The Lands Tribunal was established under the Conveyancing and Feudal Reform (Scotland) Act, 1974, and given powers, among others, to vary or discharge feuing conditions which have either become obsolete or which frustrate development because the superior refused to agree to variation or will only agree at a price. On a successful application to the Lands Tribunal, the conditions may be varied or discharged but the Tribunal is empowered to award compensation to the superior if it thinks fit.

The feudal title to Matthew Lawson also contains a right of pre-emption which entitles the superior to first refusal of the feu on sale at the highest price offered by any other person, bona fide (in good faith), in writing. Since 1938, the superior must accept the pre-emption offer within 21 days of such offer being made (or less if the feu title provides otherwise).

Now, in terms of the Land Tenure Reform (Scotland) Act, 1974, if at any time a pre-emption offer has been made and not accepted, the right of pre-emption is absolutely extinguished and is never exercisable again on any later occasion.

The feu title to Matthew Lawson provides for a feu duty of 17 shillings per annum payable in arrears at Martinmas (November 28). Until September 1, 1974, feu duty was a necessary element in any feu title and on a sale the obligation to pay the feu duty passed to the new owner.

In terms of the 1974 Act already referred to, every feuar is entitled to redeem (pay off) his feu duty by giving notice to the superior and paying the redemption price at or before any term of Whitsunday (May 28) or Martinmas. The redemption price is the cash amount required to purchase a holding of two and a half per cent consolidated stock to yield the annual amount of feu duty. On a sale, the feu duty is compulsorily redeemed by the seller and the calculation of the redemption price is normally at date of entry. For practical purposes, this calculation is known as the "feu duty factor" and the relevant figure can be obtained from the financial pages of most newspapers on the redemption date in question. The feuar's solicitor attends to the redemption as part of the sale procedure. He or she sends the necessary notice to the superior or his agents with the amount due and obtains a receipt which is passed to the new owner for keeping with the title deeds. The feuar requires to calculate his own figure on a voluntary redemption although he may ask his solicitor, or the factor for the superior, to assist him.

Out of historical interest, the terms of Whitsunday and Martinmas referred to above are the legal terms (dates) for payment of rent under an agricultural lease. After the abolition of military service, the feuar was obliged to annually deliver grain or perform agricultural services to his superior which was scarcely distinguishable from a return under an agricultural lease and hence the legal terms extended to the times for collection of feu duty.

No feu duties may now be created. The 1974 Act does not abolish feudal tenure or prohibit the creation of new feudal titles but simply the financial return. A superior still has the right to impose and enforce feuing conditions.

The Feu Disposition then goes on to refer to the symbolic passing of the land to Mathew Lawson and his successors. The basic rule of common law was that the only means of transferring property was delivery. In accordance with that rule heritable property was in early times transferred from one person to another by "symbolic" delivery, the nearest approach to actual delivery. The symbols varied with the property e.g. for land and houses they were earth and stone, for salmon fishing a net and coble (boat) and for a right of ferry an oar and some water. Originally the symbols were actually handed over on the land in the presence of witnesses-the ceremony of "seisin" or "sasine". By this ceremony the new owner became "infeft" (legally entitled to the land). By 1617, when the Register of Sasines was set up, it had become the usual practice for the ceremony of sasine to be narrated in a "notarial instrument" (a formal legal document drawn up a notary) known as an "Instrument of Sasine", and it was these Instruments of Sasine which by the 1617 Registration Act had to be registered in order that the public might be aware of the change of ownership of land.

In course of time it came to be realised that the appearance of the Instrument of Sasine on the Register of Sasines was of greater legal importance than the ceremony itself, and finally the Infeftment Act of 1845 provided that the ceremony was no longer to be essential and that infeftment might be achieved by the recording of an Instrument of Sasine in the Register of Sasines. After that date the Instrument of Sasine was usually of a ficitious nature in that it narrated a ceremony which had never taken place. Subsequent legislation on conveyancing made Instruments of Sasine unnecessary by allowing deeds of conveyance (by which transfers of land are made by superior to vassal or seller to purchaser) to be themselves recorded in the Register of Sasines.

All in all, there has been little change in the law of land ownership from Matthew Lawson's ownership of Cora Linn in 1828 until the Proffs' ownership now.

Change is in the air! Proposed reforms of land tenure include the abolition of feudal tenure with the existing owners becoming absolute owners of the land. While feu duty would disappear, there would still be the possibility under the proposed new system of creating conditions running with the land similar to the conditions under the feudal system. The Lands Tribunal for Scotland would be given power to annul or modify unreasonable conditions. Abolition of the feudal system is under active consideration by the Scottish Law Commission.

-Margaret Storm, Perth

VIDEOS, BOOKS AVAILABLE.

Please contact David Williams, Burnbank House, Kirkstyle Square, Dunning PH2 0RR, telephone 01764 684 232. to order fine gifts from the Society....at a discount to members!

Line drawing of bridge

Dunning Burn at Kirk Wynd. - pencil sketch by Kenny Laing

CHRISTMAS SONG

The following song was sung by the children of the Dunning Infant School, on the occasion of their being entertained, together with others, at a Christmas Tree Festival given by Robert Graeme, Esq. of Garvock, 25th December 1879.

AIR "JOHN BROWN"

The Squire of Garvock's kindness having made us all so gay,
Our duty, and our pleasure, is our best repects to pay
To Mr. Graeme, and wish him many a happy Christmas Day,
As Time is marching on.

Chorus: Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! for good Squire Graeme,
Long may the House of Garvock proudly bear that honoured name,
And future generations will sustain its Roll of Fame,
As Time is marching on.

A Celtic Chief who flourished after Christ four hundred years
And, commanding brave retainers, with old Romans measured spears,
Was the proud and powerful ancestor of him who now us cheers,
As Time is Marching on. Chorus: Hurrah! etc.

In many bloody battles have the valiant old Grames fought,
With Roman foes at Severns' Wall the Graemes the whole world taught
That Scotch-worth joined with noble birth would not be set at naught
While Time is marching on. Chorus...

The Danes, a thousand years ago, usurped the English crown,
And tried to conquer Scotland and rob her of her renown,
But gallant Graeme was ready, and he mowed her armies down,
As they came marching on. Chorus...

Five hundred years have almost lapsed since James the First was King,
And William Graeme, his nephew, in Garvock first did bring,
Since then the Son has heired the Site in one unbroken string,
As Time went marching on. Chorus...

Altho' de Graeme can boast near kin to Lord and Duke and King,
he most delights, at Christmas, gifts to humble folk to bring,
The sick, the poor, the old, the young, with joy he makes us sing,
As Time is marching on. Chorus...

May heaven smile on Garvock and shower bliss on Robert Graeme,
For of our County gentlemen he's the Creme de la Creme.
May lady fair and son and heir add lustre to his name,
As Time comes marching by. Chorus...

David Doig provided this verse from the scrapbook of the Reverend Peter Thomson, Dunning parish minister.

Line drawing of old men

A photographic detail from "Dunning, A Village of Crossroads and Characters", a 1991 book by Lorne Wallace which is out of print but which is now freely available on our Society website: www.dunning.mcmail.com

THE LAST OF A NOBLE MANSION

Member Jessie Lester kindly provided us with this clipping from "The Journal" of May 9, 1953

The Duncrub story is in its final chapter, as a gang of workmen this week reduced the once noble mansion at Dunning to the last pathetic pile of rubble.

For centuries (Editor: actually this house was built about 1862) it housed the Lords of Rollo. Now the last of its hewn sandstones are being used in the building of an extension to Morrison's Academy, Crieff.

Only two parts of the magnificently-carved masonry have been spared. They stand 50 yards apart. One is the servants' quarters, and the other the private chapel with its spire. There was a time when the household and staff, mustering 40 people, gathered within its sacred walls every morning for the short service with which the Duncrub day began.

Now it has been down-graded to the level of a store-house. behind its lovely stained-glass windows there will be tons of potatoes, cattle-cake, or other farm wares. The servants' quarters may be used to hold farm implements. All around, within the next year, there will be ploughed land.

Within sight of these forlorn buildings stands a fine reconditioned cottage, which is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell. Adjacent to it are the famous Duncrub gardens which Mr. Mitchell has turned into a good-going market-garden business.

Back in the days when the Rollo family was in residence and Duncrub was fully staffed, a cart-load of vegetables went from the gardens to the "Big House" every day to be consumed by family and staff.

Contained by a high wall and having a Gothic archway for an entrance, the garden had four acres of vegetables and soft fruits. There were glass-houses, too, with luscious black grapes, peaches and nectarines, and choice blooms of the mansion decorations.

Outside these walls another four acres of gardens have fruit trees, daffodil borders etc. Mostly this area is overgrown. But there are still traces of former glory to be found on the rolling acres of Duncrub estate.

Under the direction of farmer John Marshall, of Dalreoch, hundreds of ornamental trees were felled and the roots bulldozed from the ground. Now the great parks of Duncrub have vanished, and in their place are fields of potatoes and grain.

With thanks to the Journal

NOT THAT WE'RE PARANOID

On November 30, the fine new Museum of Scotland was opened in Edinburgh by the Queen. Among the exhibits is the Dupplin Cross, which for the last three years had been the object of so much controversy, as recorded in these pages. The Scottish Secretary had ruled the Cross, taken from Dupplin Estate earlier this year and restored by Historic Scotland, will be on temporary display in the Museum for three years and then will be moved back to Strathearn to what will be its permanent home in St. Serf's, Dunning.

That's what the Secretary decided, although some Dunning folk are openly sceptical that the Cross will ever be moved to St. Serf's. It is reassuring that the latest issue of Historic Scotland Friends' Magazine reports "a number of artefacts in the care of Historic Scotland will be on display in the new museum. Historic Scotland conservators have been preparing the Dupplin Cross for display (there). The cross, which is now in the care of Historic Scotland, will be on loan to the museum for three years before being permanently housed in St. Serf's church, Dunning, close to its original location at Forteviot."

Meanwhile, a new display put up in mid-November in Perth Museum makes public plans for an ambitious extension to that museum, for which funding is now being sought. In the detailed list describing what the proposed new Perth extension would contain, one item listed is, yes, the Dupplin Cross! An accompanying diagram shows just where the Cross would be displayed.

Maybe it does make sense to doubt the Cross will ever come back to Strathearn and be housed in St. Serf's. We hope to find out more for you. Get set for the next round...!

THE DPHS 1999 WINTER/SPRING PROGRAMME

Thursday, January 14, 7:30 pm, Village Hall. "The Ups and Downs of the Auld Kirk". Dunning's favourite local historian Kenny Laing is always good value if you're looking for an entertaining and informative evening, and this time Ken puts his enthusiasm and humour into some stories about old St. Serf's you'll undoubtedly have never heard before. Slides, too.

Wednesday, February 17, 7:30 pm, Village Hall. It promises to be another memorable Members' Night, with four members to be heard from. Mother and son team Betty and Andrew Taylor will tell us of Dunning's now disappeared railway station, where Betty's father was a linesman; owner Wilf Meadows will describe the history of one of the parish's largest and most historic farms, Balquhandy; and, to bring an exotic flavour to the evening Elizabeth Templeman of Crieff, a descendant of the Rollo family, will relate the adventures of a Rollo in the jungles of the Far East. NOTE THIS IS A WEDNESDAY EVENING.

Thursday, March 18, 7:30 pm, Village Hall. Video Night, as we bring out a big screen to see some videos on local topics made by Society members Lorne Wallace and David Doig. Among the subjects: Memories of the Kirkstyle, and Wildlife at Your Back Door.

Thursday, April 15. 7:00 pm A Visit to Innerpeffray. Following the excellent October talk by Ted Powell, we visit fascinating Innerpeffray Library & Chapel. Meet in Tron Square at 6:30 pm to share a ride, or go directly to Innerpeffray (south of Crieff).

Thursday, May 13, 7:30 pm, Village Hall. Our Annual General Meeting will be followed by speaker Gordon Barclay of Historic Scotland, who has prepared an exciting proposal for archaeological research to be carried out in, among other places, Dunning Parish. Mr. Barclay is an expert on the early Bronze Age.

Saturday, May 22 Our annual coach trip will take us this time on a south-east: adventure. Full details in our April newsletter.

Coming up: a visit to Dunkeld, our last barn dance?, and lots more!

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