Muckhart
Encyclopedia
Muckhart commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire
, Scotland
, Pool of Muckhart and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages
, situated on the A91
around 3 miles north-east of Dollar
. The Gaelic name, Muc-àird, comes from 'muc' (Pig) + 'àird' (Height), and may derive from the fact that the surrounding fields may once have been used for pig farming.
Previously Muckhart, together with Glendevon, formed the southernmost tip of Perthshire
, and administratively was part of Perth and Kinross. It was transferred to Clackmannanshire in a reorganisation of boundaries in 1971, and from there became part of Central Region
.
The parish boundary is somewhat eccentric and extends to the outer edge of Dollar, some 3 miles west. Due to this fact, the primary school is somewhat oddly located (the 1876 Act required the school to be at the centre of the parish) and lies over half a mile west of the outer edge of the main village. It is also some considerable distance from the main road. This can be explained in that it lies on the old coach road to Dollar. This is now just a dirt track to the school (locally known as the Cinder Path). West of the school the old coach route is very hard to follow.
Pool of Muckhart lies slightly east of the centre of the parish of Muckhart (see above). Pool of Muckhart lies in the valley of the River Devon
, near the entrance to Glen Devon.
The village lies at the eastern end of the "Hillfoot towns" which skirt the southern edge of the Ochil Hills
. The last in the range, standing as a backdrop to the village to its north side is "Seamab".
Of note in the village is the Muckhart Inn, an early 18th century coaching inn, lying at the point where the old coach road and modern road unite. Whilst the building was always low, this effect has been emphasised due to the raising of the road level (normal when ancient routes were macadam
ed in the early 19th century).
The war memorial, on the western edge of the village by the main road, is by local sculptor George Henry Paulin
.
The parish church also dates from the 18th century but is a plain Scots box chapel in style. In the churchyard is the family monument to the Christies of Cowden (a large estate one mile west, see below). This estate was famed for its Japanese garden
which has now returned to nature, having been abandoned c.1960. Its Japanese gardener, Mat Su, is buried at the end of the Christie lair.
For various reasons the name of this hamlet causes some amusement. Its name comes up in several comedy programmes, supposedly used for "comic effect", notably Channel 4's production Absolutely.
pond stood some quarter of a mile further west.
, on the main road (A91) just over a mile west of the Pool of Muckhart.
Archbishop Lambert built a house named "Castleton" on the property in 1320. The Bruces of Clackmannanshire owned the estate from 1758.
and the nephew of Mrs Isabella Christie (Hill). Alexander Christie was laird of Milnwood in Lanarkshire
, where he operated three coal mines,. and possessed of a considerable fortune from industry, which descended to John Christie. In addition, John Christie had two collieries in Edinburghshire. John married Alison Philp (b. about 1817), daughter of Alison Coldwells and William Philp, of Stobsmills, Midlothian
in 1859 (the home of her uncle John Coldwells). John Christie purchased Cowden (then known as Castleton), which contained about 524 acres, in 1865 or 1866. (Sources vary.) Traditionally the estate focused upon woodland management and the raising of pheasants. Cowden Castle became the home of the Christie family. Mrs. Bruce sold the Cowden estate, a property of about 524 acres, which contained a large three-storey, rambling, sandstone house, to Mr. John Christie in 1866 who renamed the property "Cowden Castle". Mr. Christie later had a coat-of-arms created and placed over the entrance door.
Mr. Christie collected a wide variety of artifacts during his many trips to the European continent. He filled Cowden Castle with many unrelated objects, which resulted in a very eclectic style.
John and Alison Philp Christie had three children. The first, a boy, John, (b. 1860) died before he was twelve. Isabella (Ella) Robertson Christie was born April 21, 1861 at Millbank, Cockpen, Edinburgh (John Christie's home near Edinburgh). The third-born child was Alice Margaret Christie (b. about 1863). The girls's mother, Alison Philp Christie, was in poor health and Isabella Thornburn, an elderly woman, was their nurse. Later Miss Townsend served as the governess of the two teenage girls. John Christie believed that travel was the best education for girls so he took the girls on many trips to Europe. Ella was taken to Paris at the age of twelve.
Alice Christie married Robert King Stewart, KBE, of Murdostoun
in 1881, when she was seventeen and left to live at Murdostoun Castle in Lanarkshire. After Alice married, only Ella accompanied her father on trips.
Mr Christie had an attack of pernicious anæmia
about 1887. Although he recovered his health, his illness caused him to become difficult, secretive, and eccentric for the remainder of his life.
Mr Christie founded Christie Homes (later Lothian Homes Trust) in 1889, a charity which opened several orphanages for girls in and around East Lothian
. A Christie Home was opened at Portobello in 1892. Tenterfield, in Haddington, was opened in 1898. Mr Christie caused an orphanage to be created at Catlaw Head. He concealed his support of orphanages from his family.
Mrs Christie, who was a bit older than her husband, passed away in 1894 at the age of about 76. Mr Christie refused to purchase a casket for his wife's burial, so Ella had to use her funds to purchase a casket for her mother.
As Mr Christie's illness progressed he became increasing secretive and paranoid. In 1895, medical doctors advised Mr. Christie to take a trip to Egypt
for health reasons. His daughter, Ella, as caretaker to her father, accompanied him on his trip. While in Egypt he suddenly decided to return home and abandoned his daughter in Egypt. When in his late seventies, Mr. Christie dyed his mustache and proposed marriage to a woman fifty years younger.
Ella Christie found Mr. Christie dead at the age of 80 years in his townhouse at 19 Buckingham Terrace, Edinburgh
on August 19, 1902. At the time of his death, he owned estates at Milnwood in Lanarkshire, Arndean in Clackmannanshire, Glenfarg
and Easterton in Perthshire, and Carnbo
in the county of Kinross, in addition to his estate at Cowden.
Miss Christie resolved to contest the will. She was told by solicitors that the "dead hand would prevail", however, she eventually located a firm which would take her case.
Miss Christie ordered a stained glass window erected in honour of her father removed from Muckhart Church and she moved to 19 Buckingham Terrace for the duration of the trial.
The trial was held in the Law Courts in Parliament Square in July 1903. Dr T. S. Clouston, president of the college of physicians and an expert in diseases of the brain, introduced medical evidence from the British Medical Journal and gave his expert opinion that pernicious anæmia adversely affected the brain. Several witnesses provided an abundance of testimony regarding Mr. Christie's bizarre behaviour in the years after his illness and the unfairness of the will. All of the evidence supported the conclusion that Mr. Christie was not of sound mind at the time of his execution of his will.
This evidence put the defendants in a state of despair and persuaded them to agree to an out-of-court compromise settlement in which the Christie daughters received the bulk of the estate, while the orphanages received a sum sufficient for their needs. The press gave a value of ₤250,000 as the value of the estate – a vast sum in the years before the currency inflation of World War I.
Miss Isabella (Ella) Robertson Christie (b. 1861, d. 1949), daughter of John (b. 1822, d. 1902) and Alison Philp Christie (d. 1894), famed for her foreign travels and accounts thereof., succeeded her father as laird of the Cowden Castle estate. She then preferred to be known as "Miss Christie of Cowden". There were many times when Miss Christie was not in residence because of her extended travels abroad. Miss Christie travelled with a lady's maid and a bearer.
Miss Christie travelled in India, Ceylon, and Tibet
in 1904, She arrived first in Bombay
where she was a guest of Lord and Lady Lamington
, who provided her with a bungalow at Government House
. Miss Christie visited many places, both on and off the beaten path, while in India.
Miss Christie, like other lady travellers, preferred to maintain her independence, by avoiding travelling with a companion. When Miss Christie encountered Miss Jane Ellen Duncan on the plain of Ladakh
, they pitched their tents as far apart as possible and agreed to travel on different days so as to avoid travelling together. Nevertheless, Miss Christie and Miss Duncan were friends.
Miss Christie was a skilled photographer with the Kodak camera. She recorded her trips on film. She allowed Miss Duncan to use many of her photographs in her book about her travels.
Miss Christie travelled in China and Japan in 1907.
Miss Christie, after her visit to Japan in 1907, caused a Japanese garden
, designed by Taki Handa, a student at Doshisha University
, Japan who was studying at Studley College
, around 1908, to be planted at Cowden on a seven-acre site, which she named Shah-rak-uenor, meaning place of 'pleasure and delight'. Queen Mary
visited the garden in 1932. The garden was maintained by a Japanese man named Matsuo until his death in 1936, after which Miss Christie maintained the garden until her death in 1949. The garden then fell into disrepair and was closed permanently in 1955.
Although the Japanese garden is now unrecognisable, it still has many hundreds of rhododendron
s, brought over from the Himalayas
to brighten up the estate in the 19th century. There is now some interest in restoring the Japanese garden.
Cowden received telephone service in 1910.
Miss Christie travelled in Central Asia in 1910 and 1912.
Miss Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
in 1911. She was elected Vice-President of the Society in 1934. She was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
in 1913.
Miss Christie toured America with a side trip to Havana
, Cuba
in 1914. She sailed on the Carmania
in February. While in New York City, she met the Vanderbilts, and lunched with Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt. In Washington, D. C., she toured the White House
and Arlington
, the former home of Robert E. Lee
. In the South, she visited Richmond, Virginia
and Charleston, South Carolina
before leaving for Havana and Camagüey
in Cuba. She then returned to the United States and visited New Orleans before moving on to Baton Rouge, where she was the guest of her second cousin, Miss Katherine Marion Hill (b. December 25, 1856, d. February 25, 1949) at her mansion on Lafayette Street, and met her American cousins, the descendents of John Hill
. Moving west, she visited the Grand Canyon
, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara, California
, where she met the widow of Robert Louis Stevenson
. Starting back to the east, she stopped off at Yellowstone National Park
before arriving in Chicago
. After Chicago, she stopped at Niagara Falls
, and then moved on to Massachusetts
, where she visited Plymouth
, a community of the Shakers
, and the homes and graves of her favorite American authors. After a visit to Yale University
, she returned to New York and went up to West Point on June 22, 1914 to attend the graduation of her Louisiana cousin, John Hill Carruth, a cadet who fainted while on parade during her visit. Miss Christie returned home on the Mauretania
in June 1914, just in time for the World War.
Miss Christie did her part in the Great War. In 1916, she was offered the Directorship of a canteen in Bar-sur-Aube
, France by the French Red Cross Committee, which she accepted. The canteen was called in French, Cantine des Dames Anglaises. She did this for a year and then returned to Cowden. In 1918, she once again went to France to direct a canteen at Mulhouse
, Alsace
until 1919, when the need for a canteen ended.
Miss Christie published a book about her travels in central Asia, Through Khiva to Golden Samarkand, in 1925.
Miss Christie and her sister, Lady Alice Christie King Stewart, published a reminiscence of their lives entitled A Long Look at Life, by Two Victorians in 1940. Miss Christie's sister died at Claghorn House in South Lanarkshire
on September 5th of that same year.
Miss Christie died of leucæmia
in Edinburgh on January 29, 1949 at the age of 87 years. Funeral services were held at Muckhart Parish Church on Wednesday, February 2. Miss Christie was the last surviving Christie.
sign painted on a wall near the lodge marks a humorous direction sign to the town of Dollar
to the west, but due to the road moving now serves no function.
Of great interest, the estate sawmill buildings still survive amid the woods. These date from the mid 18th century. They had adjacent ponds to float larger logs into the saws to cleverly avoid weight problems. Several modern houses have been built within the estate, many hidden in its wooded grounds.
In the same locale lies Vicar's Bridge. Sadly the historic bridge was replaced by a modern structure in the 1960s. Of note here, was a murder in the late 19th century of a passer-by a certain Joe Bell. A tree known as "Joe Bell's tree" had the letters JB carved on it and allegedly were carved whilst he waited for a victim. This could of course have been added after the event for dramatic purposes. Joe Bell had the unfortunate claim to fame of being the last man publicly hanged in Scotland (in Perth).
Back on the main road to Dollar the small farm known as Shelterhall was bought in a derelict state by the Longmuir brothers of Bay City Rollers
fame in the late 1970s and temporarily became a place of "pilgrimage" for some years during the period of "Rollermania", which was rife at that time. The brothers also purchased and ran the "Dollar Arms" in Dollar
to the west.
Clackmannanshire
Clackmannanshire, often abbreviated to Clacks is a local government council area in Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife.As Scotland's smallest historic county, it is often nicknamed 'The Wee County'....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, Pool of Muckhart and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages
Hillfoots Villages
The Hillfoots Villages are the villages and small towns which lie at the base of the southern scarp face of the Ochil Hills, formed by the Ochil Fault, in Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire in central Scotland....
, situated on the A91
A91 road
The A91 is a major road in Scotland, United Kingdom. It runs from St Andrews to Bannockburn, via Cupar. Along the way, the road runs adjacent to parts of the St. Andrews Old Course and Jubilee golf courses into Guardbridge. Past Guardbridge is Clayton Caravan Park. Further towards Cupar is the Eden...
around 3 miles north-east of Dollar
Dollar, Clackmannanshire
Dollar is a small town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated between the Ochil Hills range to the north and the River Devon to the south. Dollar is on the A91 road, which runs from Stirling to St. Andrews. The town is around 3 miles east of Tillicoultry...
. The Gaelic name, Muc-àird, comes from 'muc' (Pig) + 'àird' (Height), and may derive from the fact that the surrounding fields may once have been used for pig farming.
Previously Muckhart, together with Glendevon, formed the southernmost tip of Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
, and administratively was part of Perth and Kinross. It was transferred to Clackmannanshire in a reorganisation of boundaries in 1971, and from there became part of Central Region
Central Region, Scotland
Central Region was a local government region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996. It is now divided into the council areas of Falkirk, Stirling, and Clackmannanshire, which had previously been districts within Central...
.
The parish boundary is somewhat eccentric and extends to the outer edge of Dollar, some 3 miles west. Due to this fact, the primary school is somewhat oddly located (the 1876 Act required the school to be at the centre of the parish) and lies over half a mile west of the outer edge of the main village. It is also some considerable distance from the main road. This can be explained in that it lies on the old coach road to Dollar. This is now just a dirt track to the school (locally known as the Cinder Path). West of the school the old coach route is very hard to follow.
History of Muckhart
Muckhart was the Parish of Muckhart. Two historical reports by ministers of the Gospel exist.Pool of Muckhart
River Devon, Clackmannanshire
The River Devon is a tributary of the River Forth in Clackmannanshire, Scotland.-Geography:The source of the river is Blairdenon Hill in the Ochils at an altitude of ....
, near the entrance to Glen Devon.
The village lies at the eastern end of the "Hillfoot towns" which skirt the southern edge of the Ochil Hills
Ochil Hills
The Ochil Hills is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/Glen Eagles and Glenfarg, the latter now largely replaced except for local traffic by the M90...
. The last in the range, standing as a backdrop to the village to its north side is "Seamab".
Of note in the village is the Muckhart Inn, an early 18th century coaching inn, lying at the point where the old coach road and modern road unite. Whilst the building was always low, this effect has been emphasised due to the raising of the road level (normal when ancient routes were macadam
Macadam
Macadam is a type of road construction pioneered by the Scotsman John Loudon McAdam in around 1820. The method simplified what had been considered state-of-the-art at that point...
ed in the early 19th century).
The war memorial, on the western edge of the village by the main road, is by local sculptor George Henry Paulin
George Henry Paulin
George Henry Paulin, often called Harry Paulin, or 'GHP' was a Scottish sculptor and artist of great note in the early 20th century....
.
The parish church also dates from the 18th century but is a plain Scots box chapel in style. In the churchyard is the family monument to the Christies of Cowden (a large estate one mile west, see below). This estate was famed for its Japanese garden
Japanese garden
, that is, gardens in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles....
which has now returned to nature, having been abandoned c.1960. Its Japanese gardener, Mat Su, is buried at the end of the Christie lair.
Muckhart Golf Club
Muckhart Golf Club lies on the School Road (Drumbum Road) south of the village. Set on a series of low rocky hills it includes several challenging holes. There are three nine-hole courses, named Arndean, Cowden, and Naemoor. The nine-hole Cowden course was opened by Miss Ella Christie, who provided 55 acres of land, on 28 May 1908. The course fell into disrepair during World War II, when it was used for the grazing of sheep. The course was restored after the war. A second nine-hole course, the Ardean course was added in the late 1960s on land leased from Colonel (later Sir) Robert Christie Stewart, then Lord-Lieutenant of the county. A third nine-hole course named Naemoor was opened on 25 July 1998.Yetts o' Muckhart
This hamlet lies around quarter of a mile further east of Pool of Muckhart. A tollhouse was established here in the early 19th century on a road used by cattle drovers and coaches. Yett is a Scots word for "gate".For various reasons the name of this hamlet causes some amusement. Its name comes up in several comedy programmes, supposedly used for "comic effect", notably Channel 4's production Absolutely.
Lees of Muckhart
Not always recognised as the third and final part of the village group, this area is now in single use as a farm. It lies just west of the school on the old coach road.Baldiesburn
Somewhat depleted in size, this small hamlet on the main road west of the Pool of Muckhart now has only two houses. It has lost several buildings but was previously a small industrial centre. Of interest, the sheds still attaching the eastern building were built as a blacksmiths c. 1700. The building to the west was a carpenters, but most of its sheds are now gone. The buildings on the south side of the road were removed when the main road was straightened c.1970. Also obliterated by this roadworks, the village curlingCurling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...
pond stood some quarter of a mile further west.
Early history
The Cowden estate lies just to the south of the higher ground known as the Ochil HillsOchil Hills
The Ochil Hills is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/Glen Eagles and Glenfarg, the latter now largely replaced except for local traffic by the M90...
, on the main road (A91) just over a mile west of the Pool of Muckhart.
Archbishop Lambert built a house named "Castleton" on the property in 1320. The Bruces of Clackmannanshire owned the estate from 1758.
John Christie era
John Christie (b. 4 July 1822, d. 19 August 1902) was the only son of Alexander Christie (b. 1789, d. circa 1868) and Isabella Robertson of StruanStruan
Struan is a small village situated on the west coast of the island of Skye, on the shores of Loch Beag, itself an inlet of Loch Harport. "Struan" is the anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic word sruthan, meaning "small stream", or the flow at the point where a spring appears.It has a...
and the nephew of Mrs Isabella Christie (Hill). Alexander Christie was laird of Milnwood in Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire or the County of Lanark ) is a Lieutenancy area, registration county and former local government county in the central Lowlands of Scotland...
, where he operated three coal mines,. and possessed of a considerable fortune from industry, which descended to John Christie. In addition, John Christie had two collieries in Edinburghshire. John married Alison Philp (b. about 1817), daughter of Alison Coldwells and William Philp, of Stobsmills, Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
in 1859 (the home of her uncle John Coldwells). John Christie purchased Cowden (then known as Castleton), which contained about 524 acres, in 1865 or 1866. (Sources vary.) Traditionally the estate focused upon woodland management and the raising of pheasants. Cowden Castle became the home of the Christie family. Mrs. Bruce sold the Cowden estate, a property of about 524 acres, which contained a large three-storey, rambling, sandstone house, to Mr. John Christie in 1866 who renamed the property "Cowden Castle". Mr. Christie later had a coat-of-arms created and placed over the entrance door.
Mr. Christie collected a wide variety of artifacts during his many trips to the European continent. He filled Cowden Castle with many unrelated objects, which resulted in a very eclectic style.
John and Alison Philp Christie had three children. The first, a boy, John, (b. 1860) died before he was twelve. Isabella (Ella) Robertson Christie was born April 21, 1861 at Millbank, Cockpen, Edinburgh (John Christie's home near Edinburgh). The third-born child was Alice Margaret Christie (b. about 1863). The girls's mother, Alison Philp Christie, was in poor health and Isabella Thornburn, an elderly woman, was their nurse. Later Miss Townsend served as the governess of the two teenage girls. John Christie believed that travel was the best education for girls so he took the girls on many trips to Europe. Ella was taken to Paris at the age of twelve.
Alice Christie married Robert King Stewart, KBE, of Murdostoun
Murdostoun
Murdostoun is or was a vast estate in Lanarkshire, Scotland, which includes a castle, , which lies on the South Calder Water near the village of Bonkle in the parish of Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland. The name MURDOSTOUN was derived from the words MURTHOCK and TON which meant dwelling of Murthock...
in 1881, when she was seventeen and left to live at Murdostoun Castle in Lanarkshire. After Alice married, only Ella accompanied her father on trips.
Mr Christie had an attack of pernicious anæmia
Pernicious anemia
Pernicious anemia is one of many types of the larger family of megaloblastic anemias...
about 1887. Although he recovered his health, his illness caused him to become difficult, secretive, and eccentric for the remainder of his life.
Mr Christie founded Christie Homes (later Lothian Homes Trust) in 1889, a charity which opened several orphanages for girls in and around East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
. A Christie Home was opened at Portobello in 1892. Tenterfield, in Haddington, was opened in 1898. Mr Christie caused an orphanage to be created at Catlaw Head. He concealed his support of orphanages from his family.
Mrs Christie, who was a bit older than her husband, passed away in 1894 at the age of about 76. Mr Christie refused to purchase a casket for his wife's burial, so Ella had to use her funds to purchase a casket for her mother.
As Mr Christie's illness progressed he became increasing secretive and paranoid. In 1895, medical doctors advised Mr. Christie to take a trip to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
for health reasons. His daughter, Ella, as caretaker to her father, accompanied him on his trip. While in Egypt he suddenly decided to return home and abandoned his daughter in Egypt. When in his late seventies, Mr. Christie dyed his mustache and proposed marriage to a woman fifty years younger.
Ella Christie found Mr. Christie dead at the age of 80 years in his townhouse at 19 Buckingham Terrace, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
on August 19, 1902. At the time of his death, he owned estates at Milnwood in Lanarkshire, Arndean in Clackmannanshire, Glenfarg
Glenfarg
Glenfarg is a small village in the Ochil Hills in the county of Perth and Kinross, central Scotland. The village benefited from a station on the Perth to Kinross railway line until the line's closure in 1964. The North British Railway experienced problems because of the landscape, which required 2...
and Easterton in Perthshire, and Carnbo
Carnbo
Carnbo is a hamlet in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies approximately 6 miles east of Kinross, on the A91 road on the South Queich burn....
in the county of Kinross, in addition to his estate at Cowden.
Ella Christie era
The morning after John Christie died, a stranger arrived at 19 Buckingham Terrace and informed Miss Christie that her father had executed a will that left all his property to his orphanages and she and her sister were to get nothing. Miss Christie would have been homeless and penniless, however, Lady Stewart would have her husband on which to depend.Miss Christie resolved to contest the will. She was told by solicitors that the "dead hand would prevail", however, she eventually located a firm which would take her case.
Miss Christie ordered a stained glass window erected in honour of her father removed from Muckhart Church and she moved to 19 Buckingham Terrace for the duration of the trial.
The trial was held in the Law Courts in Parliament Square in July 1903. Dr T. S. Clouston, president of the college of physicians and an expert in diseases of the brain, introduced medical evidence from the British Medical Journal and gave his expert opinion that pernicious anæmia adversely affected the brain. Several witnesses provided an abundance of testimony regarding Mr. Christie's bizarre behaviour in the years after his illness and the unfairness of the will. All of the evidence supported the conclusion that Mr. Christie was not of sound mind at the time of his execution of his will.
This evidence put the defendants in a state of despair and persuaded them to agree to an out-of-court compromise settlement in which the Christie daughters received the bulk of the estate, while the orphanages received a sum sufficient for their needs. The press gave a value of ₤250,000 as the value of the estate – a vast sum in the years before the currency inflation of World War I.
Miss Isabella (Ella) Robertson Christie (b. 1861, d. 1949), daughter of John (b. 1822, d. 1902) and Alison Philp Christie (d. 1894), famed for her foreign travels and accounts thereof., succeeded her father as laird of the Cowden Castle estate. She then preferred to be known as "Miss Christie of Cowden". There were many times when Miss Christie was not in residence because of her extended travels abroad. Miss Christie travelled with a lady's maid and a bearer.
Miss Christie travelled in India, Ceylon, and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
in 1904, She arrived first in Bombay
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
where she was a guest of Lord and Lady Lamington
Baron Lamington
Baron Lamington, of Lamington in the County of Lanark, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1880 for Alexander Baillie-Cochrane, a long-standing Conservative Member of Parliament and old friend of Benjamin Disraeli. He was the son of Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas...
, who provided her with a bungalow at Government House
Raj Bhavan (Maharashtra)
Raj Bhavan is the official residence of the Governor of Maharashtra. It is located in the capital city of Mumbai, Maharashtra on Malabar Hill. The present governor of Maharashtra is Kateekal Sankaranarayanan.The Raj Bhavan is located in of sylvan surroundings, surrounded on three sides by the sea...
. Miss Christie visited many places, both on and off the beaten path, while in India.
Miss Christie, like other lady travellers, preferred to maintain her independence, by avoiding travelling with a companion. When Miss Christie encountered Miss Jane Ellen Duncan on the plain of Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a region of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of the Republic of India. It lies between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent...
, they pitched their tents as far apart as possible and agreed to travel on different days so as to avoid travelling together. Nevertheless, Miss Christie and Miss Duncan were friends.
Miss Christie was a skilled photographer with the Kodak camera. She recorded her trips on film. She allowed Miss Duncan to use many of her photographs in her book about her travels.
Miss Christie travelled in China and Japan in 1907.
Miss Christie, after her visit to Japan in 1907, caused a Japanese garden
Japanese garden
, that is, gardens in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles....
, designed by Taki Handa, a student at Doshisha University
Doshisha University
, or is a prestigious private university in Kyoto, Japan. The university has approximately 27,000 students on three campuses, in faculties of theology, letters, law, commerce, economics, policy, and engineering...
, Japan who was studying at Studley College
Studley College
Studley Horticultural & Agricultural College for Women was a horticultural and agricultural college for women in Warwickshire, England which operated from 1898 until 1969.-History:...
, around 1908, to be planted at Cowden on a seven-acre site, which she named Shah-rak-uenor, meaning place of 'pleasure and delight'. Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
visited the garden in 1932. The garden was maintained by a Japanese man named Matsuo until his death in 1936, after which Miss Christie maintained the garden until her death in 1949. The garden then fell into disrepair and was closed permanently in 1955.
Although the Japanese garden is now unrecognisable, it still has many hundreds of rhododendron
Rhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
s, brought over from the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
to brighten up the estate in the 19th century. There is now some interest in restoring the Japanese garden.
Cowden received telephone service in 1910.
Miss Christie travelled in Central Asia in 1910 and 1912.
Miss Christie was elected a fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
Royal Scottish Geographical Society
The Royal Scottish Geographical Society is a learned society founded in 1884 and based in Perth. The Society has a membership of 2500 and aims to advance the science of geography worldwide by supporting education, research, expeditions, through its journal , its newsletter and other publications...
in 1911. She was elected Vice-President of the Society in 1934. She was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
Royal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
in 1913.
Miss Christie toured America with a side trip to Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
in 1914. She sailed on the Carmania
RMS Carmania (1905)
The RMS Carmania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown & Company for the Cunard Line. In World War I the Carmania was converted to an armed merchant cruiser.-History:...
in February. While in New York City, she met the Vanderbilts, and lunched with Mrs. Franklin Roosevelt. In Washington, D. C., she toured the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
and Arlington
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, formerly named the Custis-Lee Mansion, is a Greek revival style mansion located in Arlington, Virginia, USA that was once the home of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It overlooks the Potomac River, directly across from the National Mall in Washington,...
, the former home of Robert E. Lee
Robert E. Lee
Robert Edward Lee was a career military officer who is best known for having commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War....
. In the South, she visited Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
and Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
before leaving for Havana and Camagüey
Camagüey
Camagüey is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third largest city. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province.After almost continuous attacks from pirates the original city was moved inland in 1528.The new city was built with a confusing lay-out of winding alleys that made...
in Cuba. She then returned to the United States and visited New Orleans before moving on to Baton Rouge, where she was the guest of her second cousin, Miss Katherine Marion Hill (b. December 25, 1856, d. February 25, 1949) at her mansion on Lafayette Street, and met her American cousins, the descendents of John Hill
John Hill (planter)
John Hill of Homestead Plantation was a wealthy industrialist, sugar planter, philanthropist, and benefactor of Louisiana State University.-Early life in Scotland:...
. Moving west, she visited the Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
, where she met the widow of Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
. Starting back to the east, she stopped off at Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
before arriving in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. After Chicago, she stopped at Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
, and then moved on to Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, where she visited Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, a community of the Shakers
Shakers
The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
, and the homes and graves of her favorite American authors. After a visit to Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, she returned to New York and went up to West Point on June 22, 1914 to attend the graduation of her Louisiana cousin, John Hill Carruth, a cadet who fainted while on parade during her visit. Miss Christie returned home on the Mauretania
RMS Mauretania (1906)
RMS Mauretania was an ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend, Tyne and Wear for the British Cunard Line, and launched on 20 September 1906. At the time, she was the largest and fastest ship in the world. Mauretania became a favourite among...
in June 1914, just in time for the World War.
Miss Christie did her part in the Great War. In 1916, she was offered the Directorship of a canteen in Bar-sur-Aube
Bar-sur-Aube
Bar-sur-Aube is a commune of France in the Aube department, of which it is a sub-prefecture.-Population:The inhabitants of the commune are called Baralbains.-Culture:*Market every Saturday morning in the halls...
, France by the French Red Cross Committee, which she accepted. The canteen was called in French, Cantine des Dames Anglaises. She did this for a year and then returned to Cowden. In 1918, she once again went to France to direct a canteen at Mulhouse
Mulhouse
Mulhouse |mill]] hamlet) is a city and commune in eastern France, close to the Swiss and German borders. With a population of 110,514 and 278,206 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2006, it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin département, and the second largest in the Alsace region after...
, Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
until 1919, when the need for a canteen ended.
Miss Christie published a book about her travels in central Asia, Through Khiva to Golden Samarkand, in 1925.
Miss Christie and her sister, Lady Alice Christie King Stewart, published a reminiscence of their lives entitled A Long Look at Life, by Two Victorians in 1940. Miss Christie's sister died at Claghorn House in South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire
South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
on September 5th of that same year.
Miss Christie died of leucæmia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
in Edinburgh on January 29, 1949 at the age of 87 years. Funeral services were held at Muckhart Parish Church on Wednesday, February 2. Miss Christie was the last surviving Christie.
Recent history
Cowden Castle, burned in 1950 and was pulled down in 1952. Thereafter the estate was absorbed into the Arndean Estate, the seat of the Stewart family. (Ardean lies about a mile to the south-west of the Cowden estate.) Still surviving are Cowden's stables and the east and west lodges (the east lodge is now off the main road due to the straightening). A faded dollarDollar
The dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
sign painted on a wall near the lodge marks a humorous direction sign to the town of Dollar
Dollar, Clackmannanshire
Dollar is a small town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated between the Ochil Hills range to the north and the River Devon to the south. Dollar is on the A91 road, which runs from Stirling to St. Andrews. The town is around 3 miles east of Tillicoultry...
to the west, but due to the road moving now serves no function.
Of great interest, the estate sawmill buildings still survive amid the woods. These date from the mid 18th century. They had adjacent ponds to float larger logs into the saws to cleverly avoid weight problems. Several modern houses have been built within the estate, many hidden in its wooded grounds.
Muckhart Mill
Slightly to the south-west of the Cowden estate, well off the current main road, lies Muckhart Mill. In more recent years this was connected to the Elmhurst family who directly linked to the Haggard family by marriage. Rider Haggard was the author of the infamous novel "She".In the same locale lies Vicar's Bridge. Sadly the historic bridge was replaced by a modern structure in the 1960s. Of note here, was a murder in the late 19th century of a passer-by a certain Joe Bell. A tree known as "Joe Bell's tree" had the letters JB carved on it and allegedly were carved whilst he waited for a victim. This could of course have been added after the event for dramatic purposes. Joe Bell had the unfortunate claim to fame of being the last man publicly hanged in Scotland (in Perth).
Back on the main road to Dollar the small farm known as Shelterhall was bought in a derelict state by the Longmuir brothers of Bay City Rollers
Bay City Rollers
The Bay City Rollers were a Scottish pop band who were most popular in the 1970s. The British Hit Singles & Albums noted that they were "tartan teen sensations from Edinburgh", and were "the first of many acts heralded as the 'Biggest Group since The Beatles' and one of the most screamed-at...
fame in the late 1970s and temporarily became a place of "pilgrimage" for some years during the period of "Rollermania", which was rife at that time. The brothers also purchased and ran the "Dollar Arms" in Dollar
Dollar, Clackmannanshire
Dollar is a small town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated between the Ochil Hills range to the north and the River Devon to the south. Dollar is on the A91 road, which runs from Stirling to St. Andrews. The town is around 3 miles east of Tillicoultry...
to the west.
Public rights-of-way
The Clackmannanshire Council has proposed the creation of public rights-of-way in the Muckhart area.Famous residents of Muckhart
- Isabella (Ella) Robertson Christie (1861–1949), Victorian lady traveller.
- Sholto Johnstone DouglasSholto Johnstone DouglasRobert Sholto Johnstone Douglas , known as Sholto Douglas, or more formally as Sholto Johnstone Douglas, was a Scottish figurative artist, a painter chiefly of portraits and landscapes....
(1871–1958), artist. - George Henry PaulinGeorge Henry PaulinGeorge Henry Paulin, often called Harry Paulin, or 'GHP' was a Scottish sculptor and artist of great note in the early 20th century....
(1888–1962), sculptor and artist.
See also
- Dollar, ClackmannanshireDollar, ClackmannanshireDollar is a small town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. It is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated between the Ochil Hills range to the north and the River Devon to the south. Dollar is on the A91 road, which runs from Stirling to St. Andrews. The town is around 3 miles east of Tillicoultry...
- ClackmannanshireClackmannanshireClackmannanshire, often abbreviated to Clacks is a local government council area in Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife.As Scotland's smallest historic county, it is often nicknamed 'The Wee County'....
- Ochil HillsOchil HillsThe Ochil Hills is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/Glen Eagles and Glenfarg, the latter now largely replaced except for local traffic by the M90...
- River Devon, ClackmannanshireRiver Devon, ClackmannanshireThe River Devon is a tributary of the River Forth in Clackmannanshire, Scotland.-Geography:The source of the river is Blairdenon Hill in the Ochils at an altitude of ....
- ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
- Japanese gardenJapanese garden, that is, gardens in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles....
- Rights of way in ScotlandRights of way in ScotlandIn Scotland a right of way is defined as any defined route over which the public has been able to pass unhindered for at least 20 years. The route must link two "public places", such as villages, churches or roads. Unlike in England and Wales there is no obligation on Scottish local authorities to...
External links
- Clackmannanshire Council - Population Breakdown by Ward 2003
- Google Maps - Muckhart
- ClacksNet - Clackmannanshire's Community Network
Further reading
- Christie, Ella R. Khiva to Samarkand. Coventry: Trotamundas Press, Ltd., 2009 ISBN 978-1906393-17-5 (Reprint of Christie, Ella. Through Khiva to Golden Samarkand. London: Seeley, Service & Co. Ltd., 1925)
- Christie, Ella R. & Stewart, Alice Margaret Christie King. A Long Look at Life, by Two Victorians. London: Seeley, Service & Co. Ltd., 1940.
- Stewart, Averil. Alicella. London: John Murray, 1955.
- Birkett, Dea. Spinsters Abroad: Victorian Lady Explorers. New York: Dorset Press, 2001. ISBN 0-7607-1932-2.
- Day, John Percival. Clackmannan and Kinross. Nabu Press, 2010 ( Reproduction of a book published before 1925).
- Barbieri, M. A Descriptive and Historical Gazetteer of the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan: With Anecdotes, Narratives and Graphic Sketches, Moral, Political, Commercial and Agricultural. Nabu Press, 2010.