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The ancient and fine estate of Cardross is beautifully
situated in the centre of that most charming of all charming districts,
the district of Monteith. On either side lies stretched the luxuriant
plains, teeming with Nature’s glories, and hallowed by historical and
traditional associations. Around it the hills rise, the glens dip deep,
lakes repose, and rivers roll their dark waters. The serpentine Forth
pursues its sluggish course for miles through and around its southern
marches, the silvery waters of the Lake of Monteith, and the historic
Goodie, wash its northern boundaries, while the heath-capped Grampians
throw their shadows over it.
The historical and traditionary associations that linger
around its ancient walls, where sage kings sat and youthful queens
frolicked; its noble park, with its grand old trees, spreading wide
their hoary arms, and rearing high their antlered heads; its well-kept
garden, clad with down and rose; and the waveless loch, where the swan
with zephyr-ruffled wing floats proudly along, and the heron, springing
from the reedy inlet, tend to make it, to the historian, the
traditionist, and Nature’s worshipper, one of the most interesting
estates in the kingdom.
Cardross, in Gaelic, signifies “The Fort on the
Promontory.” It was originally a Roman station, and on each side of the
mansion-house can yet be seen the old Roman pathway. During the great
historic period, Cardross was the haunt of many of the greatest men in
Scottish history. King Robert Bruce spent some time here, between the
time of his coronation and the battle of Bannockburn; and one account
says he slept in the house the night previous to his great victory. Some
historians state also that the renowned king died here; but that event,
I am inclined to think, happened at Cardross in Dumbartonshire. Bruce’s
sword is still carefully preserved in Cardross house, and this
extraordinary weapon is traditionally stated to have been left by Bruce
on one of his visits. Whether or not it belonged to the hero-king can
never be correctly known, but there can be little doubt that it is a
sword of the period. It measures over all 6 feet 2½ inches, blade 4 feet
7½ inches, breadth at hilt 2½ inches, and weighs no less than 10 lbs.
George Buchanan, the great Scottish historian, spent his
boyhood on the estate of Cardross. George’s father having died in early
life, the family was taken in charge by James Heriot, their maternal
uncle, who leased two farms from the earl of Mar for behoof of the widow
and family. The lease, dated and signed, is still preserved among the
Cardross papers. John, seventh Earl of Mar, along with James VI., was
afterwards educated by George Buchanan. Rather curious that the King of
Scotland and an earl’s son should be educated by an orphan boy, the son
of a tenant on Cardross estate! Queen Mary was a frequent visitor at the
house, during the time she resided with her guardians on the island of
Inchmahome.
Cardross was garrisoned by a detachment of Cromwell’s
army after the battle of Aberfoyle, in 1653; and here General Monk
issued an order to the Earl of Monteith to cut down the woods of the
Glashard, as they gave great protection to the royalists, and also to
raise men to guard the passes of Monteith and Aberfoyle. He collected
from his estate “forty-two” Grahams, who were known in the district as
“the forty-twa,” or “the black watch.” The men were never disbanded, and
this was the original foundation of the now distinguished “forty-second”
regiment. The original order is still preserved among the Monteith
papers at Gartmore house, and is signed George Monk.
The renowned Marquis of Montrose garrisoned Cardross for
a short period, and an interesting original letter of his was discovered
by the present proprietor, when searching for material for this article.
“Prince Charlie,” during the rebellion of 1745, and while on his route
from the north to Stirling, called at what was then known as the “Ferry
Inn,” and partook of some refreshment. Near this was the once celebrated
“Gout Well,” the waters of which were famed for curing the gout. During
the palmy days of this inn, the well was regularly visited by numbers of
cripples who were affected with that disease; but whether the “impotent
folk” drank of the well, or waited for the “moving of the waters,” I
have been unable to determine. One thing, however, seems certain, that
after the present bridge was built, and the inn demolished, believers in
its virtue became “small by degrees and beautifully less,” and now the
crystal spring gurgles over the primrose bank unheeded and unknown.
Cardross is also celebrated as being the traditional
scene of the old “tragical ballad” of “Sir James the Rose” and “Matilda
Erskine.” The tragedy is supposed to have been enacted some short time
after the battle of Flodden, and during the time the estate was held by
the Buchan family.
About thirty years ago, when levelling the ground for an
artificial flower garden, at the south-west corner of the mansion-house,
a very considerable quantity of human bones were discovered, and only a
very short space below the surface. Whether or not these were the
remains of Matilda and her lovers, is now beyond being set at rest, but,
all things considered, they certainly give a strong colouring to the old
and interesting tradition.
On Cardross estate lies a large track of that remarkable
deposit called “Flanders Moss,” which extends from the village of
Gartmore to a point opposite the village of Thornhill, embracing in
extent some thousands of acres, and varying from five to twenty feet in
depth. Graham of Duchray, writing in the year 1724, says the moss
extended from the hill of Gartmore to “within two or three miles of
Stirling, on both sides of the Forth.” The persevering industry,
however, of a century and a half since the laird of Duchray wrote, and
the last fifty years of that period— fraught with all that science and
modern ingenuity could invent—have told its wonders, as the beautiful
and fertile Carse of Stirling now shows. On Cardross alone several
hundred acres of the very finest land have been reclaimed, now yielding
to the landlord from one to two pounds an acre, whereas his ancestors
failed to realise as many farthings.
The whole level tract of country extending from Stirling
to the heath-clad Lennox moors, was no doubt at one period a large
inland lake, and that lake the last declining remnant of a great
ice-bound sea, which has left its traces in the grooved and smooth
surface of the rocks of our hills and lake shores. That this district of
country was covered with water, and navigable by the early inhabitants,
is abundantly proved by the discoveries of the remains of ancient
canoes. Some time ago a very perfect specimen of a canoe was discovered
under the moss beneath the village of Gart-more; and in 1724 there was,
at the Firhill of Gartmore, a stone with a large ring in it-—at that
time called the “Clachnan Loang,” or the “Ship or Boat Stone”—and
traditionally said to have been used for the purpose of boats or ships
making fast.
The vulgar traditions regarding this moss, its name and
origin, are rather amusing. One of these is, that it floated from
Flanders, and hence the name; another is, that the country originally
paid taxes to Denmark for the use of the moss, and it was only got quit
of through the great sagacity of George Buchanan, the historian,
threatening the authorities there, that if the tax was not cancelled the
moss would be immediately returned. Whether the great historian meant to
do this by bringing on a “roarin’ spate,” I have been unable to
determine. Many and conflicting are the theories propounded regarding
the age, origin, and composition of this moss. One sort of popular idea
is, that it is the wreck of ages, gathered by overflowing rivers, and
washed down by storms from the hills and higher grounds, and lodged in
the valleys beneath. My own opinion, however, is of a different
character; and from a somewhat intimate knowledge of the district, borne
out by minute inquiries of those who have spent long and laborious lives
in clearing away the different mosses of the country, I have formed the
following conclusions on the matter; but should any of my readers hold
opposite views I shall be glad to hear them explained:—
Considering, then, that this level tract was originally
an inland lake, after the gradual subsidence of the water the land would
become partially drained, by the water sinking into natural ruts in the
clay, and which in a great measure would pave the way for the great and
rapid growth of heavy timber which appears to have immediately followed.
This timber comprises oak, fir, birch, and hazel—chiefly the former as
large wood, and the latter as underwood. On the farm of Parks, on the
estate of Cardross, there seems to have been a considerable quantity of
fir. Previous to the invasion of Scotland by the Romans, this formed
part of the great “Caledonian Forest,” and was cut down by the Roman
army to drive the Caledonians from their retreats. This is abundantly
proved by the Roman roads found on the clay, and in the neighbourhood of
their camps. Many of the tree roots bear the marks of the axe as
complete as they did nearly two thousand years ago, and considerable
numbers the marks of fire; while some have been discovered around which
were small stones, as if children had been at play. In consequence of
the great masses of cut timber, and the natural softness of the soil,
there could be no cultivation, if such a thing at that early period
existed in Scotland; but, sheltered by the fallen trees, and nurtured by
a salubrious climate, vegetation grew rank and strong; and as the
seasons came and went, and years rolled on, the tall coarse grass sprung
up, grew, and died, and as lair after lair fell and rotted, it added,
however slowly, so much to the gradually increasing substance; and now,
after the lapse of about two thousand years, we have that great mass of
decayed vegetable matter called “moss.”
To a sharp and experienced eye, each year’s growth can be
distinctly traced for several feet. At my request, a friend of mine made
two different calculations of its apparent age, and the system followed
was this:—He first took a part of the moss of an average depth, and
carefully examined the lairs as far as possible; then, if a certain
number of feet or inches gave so many years’ growths, how many did the
whole depth give? The first result was something more than eighteen
hundred years, the second about twenty-one.
The “water of Guidi,” now vulgarly called Goodie, which
flows out of the Lake of Monteith, and washes the northern boundary of
this moss, joins the Forth a little beyond its present termination, was
anciently a lake, and in many old writs is styled the “Loch of Guidi,”
and on its banks stood the ancient Pictish city “Guidi.” Here, in the
eighth century, the Piets were attacked and routed by the Scots. The
Scots in their turn were overpowered, and their country overrun by the
Danes, who very naturally would introduce Danish names and customs, and
there can be no doubt but the name “Flanders’ Moss” is a corruption of
some Danish word with which we are not familiar. The reverend editor of
the “ History of Stirlingshire,” says it derives its name from the
Danish “Flyn,” a flat—“Flynder,” a flat fish, &c.
Many interesting and valuable relics have been discovered
under this moss. Graham of Duchray says, there was found in the year
1723, in the Forth, near Cardross, a large bone, between six and seven
feet long, one foot three inches thick, and one foot one inch broad. He
also mentions the discovery of some immense horns—so large that a farmer
used one of them as a foot-bridge over a syvre between his barn and
byre. Two years ago, when cutting the moss to the east of the house of
Cardross, what appeared, to be the skeleton of a horse was brought to
light, and at a depth of about fourteen feet below the surface. The
bones were completely “mossised,” being perfectly black, and were nearly
all destroyed before being observed, part of the skull alone having been
saved, which is now in the possession of a gentleman of antiquarian
tastes. Beside the skeleton lay an entire hazel wand, which crumbled
away on being exposed to the air. The fact of the stick would suggest
the idea that man was present at the death.- Not long ago part of an
untanned cow-hide, with portions of hair adhering, was found on the clay
beneath the moss on the estate of Cardross.
The most important and interesting discovery, however,
made in this moss, was the laying bare, a few years ago, in the
“Colniemoien” portion of it, of an ancient native encampment, made after
the present gipsy fashion. The different articles were found on the clay
soil underneath several feet of solid moss, the ribs of the tent or camp
being still fixed in the clay. Their number could be counted, and the
round shape of the abode easily distinguished. Adjoining the encampment
were a considerable quantity of bones completely blackened, and which
crumbled away on their exposure. Near it also was found an iron hammer,
with a round ring at the end for attaching to the girdle: hammers of
this kind were carried for close-quarter fighting. In the immediate
neighbourhood of the encampment were discovered several pieces of
peculiarly dressed wood, which, when fitted together, made a complete
and ingenious armchair. Whether this was a Roman or native Caledonian
“tent ” it is now impossible to tell. I should think, however, it is
more likely to have been the abode for the time being of a native
family, and possibly attacked by invaders. The fact of the bones would
suggest this, they having all the appearance of human bones—in all
likelihood the remains of the inhabitants of the “tent.” On the other
hand, the make of the hammer would lead us to believe that it had
belonged to a party considerably advanced in science, above what the
natives of that early period could be expected to be. A great number of
Roman roads have been laid bare from time to time under this moss;
these, however, are generally observed in the vicinity of their “peels”
or encampments, and frequently passing between one camp and another, and
across the low marshes between two higher grounds. The most perfect of
these, in this quarter, stretches from a camp which stood on the farm of
East Garden, under the moss, on Parks farm, and crosses the Forth below
the house of Cardross. |
