the Forth Naturalist Historian - Forth Naturalist and Historian ...

Volume 22 

the Forth 

Naturalist 

and 

Historian 

Naturalist Papers 

3 The Weather of 1998 – S. J. Harrison. 

14 Book Reviews – Forth Integrated Management Strategy; Estuaries of 

Central Scotland. 

15 The Forth Area Bird Report 1998 – C. J. Henty. 

43 CARSE: Recording the Natural Heritage of Stirling, Falkirk, 

Clackmannanshire – Lesley Brown. 

45 Wallacebank Wood Wildlife Reserve 1986-1999 – Angus Smith. 

54 Book Reviews – Species History of Scotland; – The Glasgow Naturalist. 

55 The Odonata (Dragonflies) of the Forth Area – E. M. and R. W. J. Smith. 

60 Journals of the University Library by FNH; Addresses of Authors and 

Reviewers. 

61 Plants of Falkirk District: an Update – W. R. Brackenridge. 

66 Book Reviews – Loch Lomond and the Trossachs; – Scotland, World 

Bibliographic Series 34; – Access to the Countryside. 

67 Brambles of the Trossachs and Stirling: Rodgers 1896 Scottish Visit 

Retraced – G. H. Ballantyne. 

76 Man and the Landscape Symposia – L. Corbett. 

Historical Papers 

78 An Association of Heritage Societies in mid Scotland – Bill Inglis. 

79 The Wallace Oak, Torwood; Supplement to Forrester (FNH 21) – 

L. Corbett. 

92 Book Reviews – Scotland’s Roman Remains; History of Dollar; Memories 

of St. Ninians. 

93 The Torwood and the Wallace Oak: some Early Records – John G. 

Harrison. 

97 Sir George Harvey PRSA; People of the Forth (12) – Maria Devaney. 

107 The Sheriffmuir Atlantic Wall: an Archaeological Survey on part of the 

Whitestone Range – D. Cowley. 

117 My Stirling as Remembered 70 years ago – Duncan McNaughton. 

133 Bridges of the Forth and its Tributaries – Louis Stott. 

154 Book Reviews – On the Trail of William Wallace; On the Trail of Robert the 

Bruce; Under the Hammer: Edward I and Scotland; Revue de Terroir. 

156 The Forth Naturalist and Historian.

Forth Naturalist and Historian, volume 22 

Published by the Forth Naturalist and Historian, University of Stirling – an 

approved charity and member of the Scottish Publishers Association. 1999. 

ISSN 0309-7560 

EDITORIAL BOARD 

Stirling University – D. McLusky (Chairman), D. Bryant, N. Dix and 

J. Proctor, Biological Sciences; S. J. Harrison and D. Simpson, 

Environmental Sciences; N. Tranter, History. 

K. J. H. Mackay, R. McCutcheon, J. M. Allan, W. Brackenridge, J. Gallagher. 

Honorary Secretary: 

Lindsay Corbett, the University and 30 Dunmar Drive, Alloa. 

Honorary Editors: 

L. Corbett and N. Dix. 

ISBN 1-898008-32-9 

Single copies may be taken of single articles provided due acknowledgement 

is made and the copies are for non-profit education or private use. 

Supported by BP in Scotland, and this volume by Falkirk Environment Trust. 

Cover: front– Sheep shearing, 1860 by Sir George Harvey PRSA 

back– Forth Rail Bridge, 1892 

By courtesy of The Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Stirling and 

R. McCutcheon 

Printed by Meigle Printers Ltd., Tweedbank Industrial Estate, Galashiels. 

Set in Zapf Calligraphic on Amber 100 gsm and cover Black Label Gloss Art 

250 gsm.

THE WEATHER OF 1998 

S. J. Harrison 

Forth Naturalist and Historian, volume 22 3 

Although very few weather records were broken during 1998, it was far 

from being an unexceptional year. The sequence of mild winter and early 

spring months continued, with the temperature in February reaching a 

remarkable 4°C above the long-term average. However, having encouraged the 

early emergence of buds and shoots, the weather then played the unpleasant 

trick of bringing a combination of killing frosts, heavy rain and snow in April. 

May promised a good summer ahead but this was not to be the case. The 

months June to August were cold and wet, and it was not until September that 

the weather eventually improved a little. A deluge then followed in October 

and November and there were widespread floods. On the whole 1998 was a 

cloudy, mild and rather wet year. 

Temperature and rainfall values in the following refer to Parkhead II although 

reference is also made to the records from Bridge of Allan and Flanders Moss. 

January Mild and very windy at first, becoming colder later 

Scotland was almost obliterated by isobars on the weather map over the first 

four days and driving rain fell in strong to gale-force south-westerly winds. 

The 5th and 6th offered a respite from the wind and rain but the night-time 

temperature fell to –1.1°C (–2.3°C Bridge of Allan) by the morning of the 6th. 

There was another spell of wet and generally windy weather until the 12th but 

the wind was from the south, which resulted in high temperatures being 

registered over this period. The maximum temperature exceeded 13.0°C 

between the 9th and 11th. The wind slackened on the 13th but the weather was 

generally unsettled with spells of exceptionally dull and wet weather. The 17th 

was the wettest day of the month, registering a rainfall of 17.7 mm (19.8 mm 

Bridge of Allan). Cold Arctic air came to Scotland late on the 18th and light 

snow began to fall. The north of Scotland was affected by very heavy snow but 

in the Stirling area there was only a light dusting down to 150 m. Dull and 

much milder weather returned on the 21st but after the 23rd the weather 

became calm and clear with night frosts for much of the remainder of the 

month. 

February Exceptionally mild but very wet at times 

Winds remained relatively light and the skies relatively clear for the first two 

days. The grass minimum in Bridge of Allan fell to –5.7°C by the morning of 

the 3rd, but later in the day the wind began to freshen from the west, heralding 

a spell of wet and windy weather which persisted until the 16th. Winds were 

south to south-westerly and daytime temperatures exceeded 14.0°C on the 13th 

and 14th. Night-time temperatures were more than 10°C higher than the longterm 

average. Between the 12th and 16th the air temperature never fell below

4 S. J. Harrison 

a remarkable 10.0°C. There was an almost total cloud cover on most days and 

heavy rain fell in occasionally very strong winds. The Allan overtopped its 

banks on the 11th and the rain deposited a notable fall of Saharan dust on the 

14th. Some sunny spells developed on the 16th but rain returned on the 19th. 

Cherry blossom was in bloom in Bridge of Allan by the 18th. Clearer weather 

moved in on the 21st and night temperatures fell towards freezing, reaching 

–1.6°C in Bridge of Allan by the morning of the 22nd. From the 23rd onwards 

the weather was generally rather wet and windy for the remainder of the 

month. During the afternoon of the 27th snow fell in cold Arctic air, which 

provided a thin cover of 1 cm on low ground by the morning of the 28th. 

March Mild and generally quite dry 

Cold weather continued for the first two days and heavy snow fell on the 

1st in a bitter easterly wind. Heavy snow fell in gale force winds in northern 

Scotland which heralded the start of a very cold spell of weather. In central and 

southern Scotland the weather turned milder on the 2nd and the snow had 

disappeared from most of the Ochils by the 3rd. However, Arctic air was never 

far away and it brought more snow on the morning of the 5th. Sleet and snow 

again fell locally on the 6th and the daytime temperature reached only 4.1°C . 

By the end of the first week, conditions in the north of Scotland had become 

severe with many roads blocked and power lines down. The weather became 

warmer briefly on the 8th and 9th but rain fell in a strengthening wind on the 

10th. Cold Arctic air then returned, with sleet falling on the 12th. The weather 

then changed for the better, reaching 15.0°C on the 14th and warm and sunny 

weather lasted until the 18th. Cloud cover then increased and the 19th to 24th 

were dull grey days with little wind. The weather remained unsettled for the 

rest of the month with occasional very blustery conditions. 

April Cold and very wet at times 

Heavy rain fell on the 2nd (19.7 mm), which had turned to snow by the 3rd 

in a strong easterly wind. On the 7th the weather was dull, damp and relatively 

mild but by the 8th Arctic air returned to Scotland bringing snow showers 

throughout the 9th, and more widespread snow later in the day. While the 

weather remained bright but cold in Scotland, with occasional snow flurries, 

England and Wales experienced a memorably wet Easter weekend with 

widespread floods between the 10th and 13th. The overnight temperature had 

fallen to –3.8°C by the morning of the 14th, and by the 15th the cold weather 

had moved south to affect much of England and Wales. Spells of rain and sleet 

persisted until the 16th when the cloud cover cleared and the daytime 

temperature managed to top 11.0°C on the 17th. The Arctic weather was 

replaced by unsettled weather from the west for the remainder of the month. 

Although there were a few sunny spells, the weather was generally cloudy 

with showers and longer spells of rain. Daytime temperatures over the latter 

part of the month were well above average. There were heavy hail showers on 

the 26th and a tornado was reported to the north of Glasgow later in the day. 

The last three days of the month were settled and quite warm.

Weather 1998 5 

May Warm and mostly dry 

The first three days were sunny and quite warm, but under clear skies night 

temperatures fell and the last of the spring air frosts were recorded on the 1st 

and 3rd. There were light showers on the 4th which heralded the start of an 

unsettled spell. Rain fell in a south-westerly breeze over the following four 

days but by the 9th the weather had changed to pleasantly warm and sunny. 

On the 11th the weather turned dull with low cloud, and there were 

thunderstorms and some remarkably high temperatures across southern 

England. On the 16th the weather turned hot and sunny after early morning 

fog. The daytime temperature topped 20.0°C over four days, and exceeded 

25.0°C in Bridge of Allan on the 17th, 18th and 19th. This brief glimpse of 

summer was interrupted on the 20th but the warm spell eventually continued 

until the 24th. Temperatures fell away quickly in a fresh north-westerly wind 

on the 25th and cold showery Arctic air dominated the weather for the 

remainder of the month and there was some late snow on the Scottish hills. 

There was continuous heavy rain on the last day of the month (10.9 mm). 

June Cool and rather wet at times 

Dull cloudy conditions gave way to sunny spells during the course of the 

2nd. The 4th and 5th were sunny and warm days, but cloud and rain arrived 

late on the 5th, and the 6th was cold, dull and very wet (16.9 mm). There was 

further rain on the 8th and 9th, the 48 h total reaching 22.6 mm. Cold Arctic air 

then resulted in three cold days with sunny spells and heavy showers, some of 

which fell as hail. The weather improved a little from the 12th and, although 

the pattern of sunny spells and intermittent rain continued, the air became 

slightly warmer. After one more cold and wet day on the 15th, the weather 

began to improve gradually. The 17th was a bright sunny day, but cloud 

returned on the 18th and 19th. The daytime temperature topped 20.0°C 

between the 19th and 21st with variable amounts of cloud. This proved to be 

the only warm spell of the month. Unsettled weather took control again late on 

the 21st and the end of the month was dominated by intermittent rain in a 

fresh south-westerly wind. 

July Warm at first, becoming cool and wet 

The first seven days were generally warm and dry but there was a little light 

rain on the 4th. Daytime temperatures exceeded 20.0°C for the first four days. 

The weather became cool and damp from the 8th. There was a spell of 

continuous heavy rain on the 12th (16.4 mm) which was the coldest day of the 

month (13.4°C). The following few days were sunny and relatively warm, but 

rain returned late on the 16th (11.3 mm). The unsettled pattern continued until 

the end of the month, there being further very wet days on the 19th and 22nd, 

and measurable rainfall on every day except the 31st. Sunday the 19th was a 

particularly wet and windy day (20.3 mm). However, sunny spells became 

more frequent and prolonged towards the end of the month and the 31st was 

sunny and very warm (22.1°C).


August Generally warm, but cool at wet at times 

The first two days were warm and dry but rain moved in from the west late 

on the 2nd. The weather remained dull and very unsettled up to the 7th which 

was dull and very wet (20.9 mm). After the 8th, the weather became warm and 

very humid, and the 10th was a particularly sticky day, reaching 24.1°C 

between short showers. After a foggy start to the 11th, unsettled, wet and 

windy weather persisted until the 16th. After a brief interlude of cool clear 

weather on the 17th and 18th, unsettled weather took over again on the 19th, 

and the 23rd provided yet another dull and wet Sunday, the temperature 

reaching only 13.5°C. The 24th saw a return to more settled weather and the 

days up to the 30th were sunny and, at times, quite warm. Under clear skies 

the overnight minimum on the 26th/27th fell to 3.5°C and the grass minimum 

reached 0.9°C in a first foretaste of autumn. 

September Warm but a little unsettled 

The month started dull and very wet, the 48 h rainfall total over the 1st and 

2nd being 27.8 mm. The weather remained dull until the 6th, by which time 

former hurricane Danielle lay off the west coast of Scotland, where it lingered 

for the following three days. Heavy rain began falling late on the 7th and by 

the morning of the 10th another 19.7 mm had fallen. In the wake of the rain, 

the wind veered to a cool north-westerly and the days up to the 16th were dry 

and bright with excellent visibility. The wind became very strong for a while 

late on the 16th. The weather then became settled until the 23rd. There were 

warm sunny days, often after early morning mist or fog, and the temperature 

topped 20.0°C between the 18th and 21st. Dense fog refused to clear away on 

the 22nd, which was, in sharp contrast, dull and cold. The remaining days were 

cloudy and dull. 

October Cool and exceptionally wet 

There was a spell of dry but very dull weather over the first three days 

before the wind freshened easterly until the 6th. In the calm settled weather 

which followed, night temperatures fell, resulting in the first autumnal air frost 

by the 8th (–0.2°C). The settled spell was, however, short-lived as unsettled 

conditions moved in from the west at the start of what was to be a protracted 

wet spell, which lasted until the 27th. Winds were frequently strong, and 

rainfall was registered on all but one day. The 16th was an exceptionally wet 

day (21.9 mm; 29.3 mm Bridge of Allan) at the end of which the Allan was in 

flood. Hail showers fell on the 18th. Particularly stormy conditions reached the 

Stirling area during the afternoon of the 20th and by the morning of the 21st 

46.3 mm of rain had fallen in Bridge of Allan in less than 15 hours, and the Allan 

was in flood again. The heavy rain returned on the 22nd (23.2 mm) and 24th 

(27.1 mm) and the Allan was in flood on both days. The unsettled wet weather 

seemed determined to continue, and the 26th and 27th were also wet and 

windy. Over the 12 days between the 16th and 27th a remarkable 130.9 mm of 

rainfall was registered at Parkhead (156.4 mm Bridge of Allan; 161.5 mm 

Flanders Moss) and it was no surprise that there was widespread flooding,

especially over the Carse. Although the wind remained fresh to strong from the 

south-west between the 28th and 30th, the rain became showery, much of 

which was squally and very heavy. 

November Variable but generally rather wet 

The weather on the 1st remained clear and bright with a sharp frost (–5.1°C) 

but rain fell on the 2nd and 3rd. The remnants of hurricane Mitch moved to the 

north of Scotland between the 8th and 9th bringing severe gales. There was 

some respite from the wind on the 10th and 11th before unsettled weather 

returned late on the 11th. Brighter weather returned on the 15th but night 

frosts returned, the minimum air temperature falling to –5.2°C by the morning 

of the 17th. The weather became wet and windy again on the 20th, but the 

daytime temperature reached 12.5°C on the 21st. Unsettled weather continued 

until the 28th when the Allan was again in flood. 

December Very changeable with some very mild spells 

The 1st and 2nd were cloudy and dull, the cloud base descending to low 

levels by mid-day on the 1st. A northerly airstream then became established 

and the 4th and 6th were very cold. Snow fell late on the 4th and lay for the 

next two days. The air temperature in Bridge of Allan had reached only –0.9°C 

by 14.00 h on the 6th, after an early morning minimum of –7.7°C (–6.8°C 

Parkhead). Unsettled weather swept in from the Atlantic on the 7th, marking 

an abrupt end to the brief cold spell. By the 8th the daytime temperature had 

risen above 10.0°C in a mild south-westerly breeze. Rain was then a regular 

feature until the 17th. Air temperatures were unseasonally high, exceeding 

14.0°C on both the 13th and 14th. The wind turned to a cold easterly direction 

on the 18th , and by the 19th cold Arctic air had spread southwards across 

Scotland. Although sunny, the 20th and 21st were very cold, with frost at night. 

After the 21st unsettled weather with occasional sleet and snow persisted for 

much of the rest of the month. Showers on Christmas Day were associated 

with hail and thunder. Conditions became very stormy late on Boxing Day and 

by midnight the wind was gusting to storm force. There was widespread 

damage throughout Scotland and the Allan was in flood again on the 27th. 

Gales revisited on the 29th as the temperature increased very quickly in a mild 

southerly breeze, which unfortunately set off avalanches in the Scottish 

Highlands. 

WEATHER NOTES 

Noteworthy Scottish weather events during 1998 


• Storms of January – gales and heavy rain affected most of the British Isles 

with winds gusting to more than 90 mph in exposed west coast locations. 

Tulloch Bridge (Lochaber) recorded 120 mm of rain over three days. By the 

morning of the 4th the wind had reached 115 mph at Mumbles Head near


Swansea, possibly the strongest this Century. There was widespread wind 

damage in Devon. 

• Snowstorms 18/19th January – heavy snow fell throughout northern 

Scotland and many roads were blocked. Aberdeen and Kirkwall Airports 

were closed for a short time and power lines on Orkney were brought down. 

• Late snowfall March 1st to 8th – Arctic air brought heavy snow to northern 

Scotland again. In Aviemore 21 cm of snow lay on the 2nd. At Carnbo 

(Kinross-shire) there were six falls of snow over the first two weeks of March, 

reaching a maximum depth of 11 cm 

The Boxing Day storm 

A storm hit Scotland late on Saturday December 26th and resulted in 

widespread structural damage, to buildings and a large number of mature 

trees. An intense low pressure passed to the north-west of Scotland which 

brought winds gusting to more than 100 mph (hurricane force) in some 

exposed locations, although gusts inland were of the order of 70 mph. The 

track and timing of the storm had been forecast by the Meteorological Office, 

who had issued severe weather warnings more than 24 hours beforehand. 

Pressure began to fall during Boxing Day and was falling rapidly by the 

afternoon. Most of the rain fell as the depression approached and had died 

away by the early hours of the 27th. The wind strength increased steadily and 

reached its peak in the wake of the depression. Between 23.00 and 23.30 h the 

average wind speed was 40 mph with gusts approaching 70 mph. Gusts, which 

are the damaging feature of strong winds, were in excess of gale force (39 mph 

or more) for 15 hours. 

The wind observations used in the profile of the storm (Figure 3) were made 

at the newly established Flanders Moss weather station which is in a very 

exposed location, largely unsheltered by local buildings or vegetation. 

The summer of 1998 

Using the summer quality index developed at the University of Stirling, the 

summer of 1998 can be classified as ‘poor’. The index value of –1.37 is the 

poorest since the summer of 1988 (–2.50). Over Scotland as a whole there is 

some evidence of a long-term upward drift in the quality of summers, 

expressed in terms of daytime temperatures and lack of rainfall. However, it 

must be borne in mind that in any such trend there will always be the 

occasional reversal, which was the case in 1998. 

Index Values of Summers in Stirling 

1988 –2.50 Very poor 

1989 1.08 Good 

1990 0.79 Above average

1991 –0.98 Below average 

1992 –1.04 Poor 



1995 3.48 Exceptionally good 

1996 1.42 Good 

1997 2.06 Very good 

1998 –1.37 Poor 


Temperature indices 

Dr John Harrison has been awarded a contract, in collaboration with the 

University of Edinburgh, to develop a new temperature index which will play 

a central part in the assessment of the impacts of climatic change in Scotland. 

The work, which is funded by SNIFFER and managed by the Scottish 

Environmental Protection Agency will devise a new index along the lines of the 

Central England Temperature (CET) which is quoted widely as an indicator of 

ongoing global warming. When developed, the index will be updated 

regularly and will be available on the Internet. 

Climatic change and winter heating requirements 

An analysis is currently under way which converts the temperature 

observations taken at the University’s climatological station (Parkhead) into 

‘heating day-degrees’ below a fixed threshold. This is used widely in the 

management of heating requirements within buildings. The principal objective 

of the research is to assess what impacts recent climatic changes may have had 

on the energy requirements for the heating of buildings. 

Flanders Moss (West Moss-Side) weather station 

The establishment of this station supports the research into topoclimates 

currently being undertaken by Dr Harrison but is also the first phase of the 

development of a field site which can provide basic training to students in 

meteorological and hydrological observation practices. The excellent exposure 

of the site and its proximity to sites of ecological and conservation interests 

have already generated a demand for the data. The site is fully automated with 

intermittent manual back-up. A Davis automatic weather station and Grant 

Squirrel logger provide readings of wind speed and direction, ground surface 

temperature, and rainfall, plus air (wet and dry bulb), surface and soil 

temperature. A gauging station on the nearby Goodie Water will be installed 

during 1999 to monitor river discharges, which are partly tidal. 

The University acknowledges with gratitude the cooperation of Kate and Steve 

Sankey, owners of West Moss-Side, who have provided the site and access to it.


Snow in Scotland, the impact of climatic change 

Ongoing climatic change in Scotland and elsewhere will have considerable 

consequences for the geographical extent of winter snow cover and the 

location and persistence of snowbeds in the uplands. Work is ongoing at 

Stirling to quantify the long-term pattern of changes in snow cover in the 

uplands where such cover has considerable ecological and economic 

importance. In the absence of accurate snow cover observations for such areas, 

models of the relationship between snow cover and elevation are being 

developed which are used in GIS-based estimates of snow cover. Information 

on snowbeds or snow patches, many of which used to persist through the 

summer in the high corries, is sparse and relies on personal observations by 

mountain enthusiasts such as John Pottie and Adam Watson. It would appear 

that snowbeds are now disappearing completely over the summer, which 

exposes the surface and the vegetation to drought and heat stresses. It is highly 

likely that, should current climatic changes continue, the very distinctive 

habitats associated with snow beds in the Scottish Highlands will be lost. 

Acknowledgement 

This paper is based on Annual Climatological Bulletin No. 20 published by 

the Climate Laboratory of the Department of Environmental Science at the 

University of Stirling.


Figure 1 Monthly air temperatures (maximum and minimum) at Parkhead I 1998.


Figure 2 Monthly rainfall at Parkhead I 1998.


Figure 3 Profile of the Boxing Day storm 1998. Wind speed and rainfall oberservations 

from Flanders Moss (West Moss-Side weather station).

14 Forth Naturalist and Historian, volume 22 

BOOK REVIEWS 

The Forth Integrated Management Strategy: Promoting the Wise and 

Sustainable Use of the Forth. Forth Estuary Forum. 1999. 72pp. Forth Estuary 

Forum (FEF), 1 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh. ISBN 0.9529692.0.11. 

Over the past five years this FEF voluntary partnership has thoroughly 

investigated the actual and potential problems confronting the Forth – its 

environment, people, communities, and organisations with both on and 

offshore responsibilities. 

FEF here presents a strategy as a first-ever template for an integrated 

management approach towards conserving the estuary’s future. This nonstatutory 

Strategy is developed at the behest of the UK Government (UK 

Biodiversity Action Plan, DOE, 1994), and it contributes to the international 

conservation study/projects of the estuaries of the world. 

A series of ‘guidelines’ and ‘actions’ for future use and management here 

address the many issues facing the Forth, and are presented within an 

integrated framework based on the Forum’s ‘Guiding Principles’, a ‘Vision’, 

and a series of ‘Objectives’. 

The whole has developed from FEF study/discussion groups and their 

papers in these ten subject areas – Nature Conservation, Built and 

Archaeological Heritage; Landscape and Amenity; Tourism and Recreation; 

Information and Research; Awareness and Education; Economic 

Development; Fisheries; Marine and Coastal Pollution; Coastal Defence. 

The Estuaries of Central Scotland. Coastal Zone Topics: Process, Ecology, & 

Management, volume 3: editors D. S. McLusky et al. Joint Nature Conservation 

Cttee (JNCC). 1997. 205pp. 

Intended to be the successor to the RSE’s symposium The Natural 

Environment of the Forth (PRSE 193B 1987) papers are on further progress and 

developments in hydrography, water quality, contamination, biological studies 

and conservation and management. Copies are available from Natural History 

Book Service, Wills Road, Totnes, TQ9 5XN, £25 plus £4 p&p.


FORTH AREA BIRD REPORT 1998 

C. J. Henty 

Fifty-four contributors appear this year, some sent notes direct to the Editor, 

others via the RSPB local group. The extensive use of record cards has greatly 

helped the compilation of notes by species. In addition, others have assisted in 

the wildfowl counts and the breeding birds survey. Red Kites are now seen 

regularly in the area but the special news is that two pairs nested successfully 

this year; Ospreys continue to do fairly well. Some massive flocks of 

Chaffinches were noted in the New Year whilst scarce migrants include a 

spring Red-Backed Shrike and in autumn a Marsh Harrier, Wryneck and two 

Great Grey Shrikes, but passage of the scarcer waders was no more than 

modest. A singing male Rosefinch reappeared this summer, presumably the 

same bird as last year and equally mateless. 

The most remarkable single record was of a Pied-billed Grebe which was 

found on Airthrey Loch in June, this American vagrant stayed for several days 

but was not reported immediately, thus the three older birdwatchers on the 

campus were humiliated by having commuted repeatedly within maybe 100 

metres of the bird without ever seeing it. 

This report is compiled from a larger archive of records submitted to the 

local recorder under the national scheme organised by the Scottish 

Ornithologists Club. The area covered by the report comprises the council 

areas of Falkirk and Clackmannan together with Stirling, excluding Loch 

Lomondside and other parts of the Clyde drainage basin. Please note that we 

do not include the Endrick water, i.e. Fintry and Balfron. Records from Carron 

Valley Reservoir are published here but it is proposed that Clyde should cover 

all the forest south of the reservoir. Observations are not spread evenly being 

concentrated on the estuary and the Carse of Stirling, although the inland part 

of Falkirk and the extensive and often inaccessable hill area in the north of our 

area has had more attention than in past years 

1998 was overall a cloudy, mild, and rather wet year. Early and mid January 

was wet and windy until a bright but frosty spell. February was almost 

continually mild, overcast and wet though at the very end an Arctic airflow 

caused snowfall, these last conditions continued in early March and then 

alternated with wind and rain. April maintained this pattern and hence was 

colder than usual. The middle of May was warm and sunny but led to 

unsettled weather through June with only brief dry and sunny spells. Early 

July was warm and sunny but there was soon domination by cool, wet 

weather. August showed an alternation of fine with unsettled conditions and 

this largely continued through September with a long fine spell midway. Early 

October was dry but dull, then became markedly wet and windy and this 

continued through November with only brief bright and frosty episodes. There 

were brief frosty and snowy spells in December but in mid-month it was

16 C. J. Henty 

notably mild with much rain, the year ended with westerly gales and some 

flooding 

The 1997 information on the breeding numbers of common species come 

from two studies of mapped territories. One is a Common Birds Census plot 

east of Doune, this is 87 Ha of undulating, dry-field farmland at about 70 m 

a.s.l, mixed pasture and winter cereal, which is referred to as “Doune CBC” in 

text. The other is a Waterways Birds Survey along 5 km of the R. Devon at Alva 

which has much damp scrub surrounded by mixed pasture and arable, 

referred to as “Devon WBS”, or, for species that are not fully mapped, as “5 km 

of lower Devon”.In addition the Breeding Bird Survey, based on transect 

counts, is now sufficiently extensive to calculate numbers of birds recorded per 

ten kilometres for several habitat types and these are regularly mentioned in 

the species paragraphs. Note that the “Urban” term includes suburban areas 

with large gardens. For less common species I can sometimes mention data in 

terms of the numbers of pairs or apparently occupied territories for particular 

locations. Several observers send in a list largely or entirely for their home 

locality, much of this information is not appropriate for these annual reports 

but it is valuable to have on record and I am keeping them in a special file. At 

the moment there are fourteen such lists referring to the whole district from 

Falkirk to Killin. 

For many species the records sent in are very unrepresentative of their 

general distribution, this applies particularly to very common species or to 

those that are secretive or breed in inaccessable places. Readers can consult the 

the Check List published in the Forth Naturalist and Historian vol 15, but in 

addition I have in this report put, after the species name, a coded summary of 

general distribution – which often apparently contradicts the detailed records 

that are published for the year. 

B - Breeding status, widespread (in more than five 10 km squares) 

b “ “ , local, scarce (in fewer than five 10 km squares) 

W - Winter status, widespread or often in groups of more than ten. 

w - “ “ , local, scarce (local and usually fewer than ten in a group) 

P - Passage (used when species is usually absent in winter, P or p used for 

widespread or local as in winter status) 

S or s - a few species are present in summer but do not normally breed. 

Thus BW would be appropriate for Robin, B for Swallow, p for Ruff and SW 

for Cormorant. No status letter is used if a species occurs less than every other 

year. 

An asterix (*) in front of the species name means that all records received 

have been quoted. 

The SOC has pressed for a more systematic vetting of records of species that 

are unusual locally, this area now has an informal panel of five – C. Henty 

(Recorder), W. Brackenridge (Dep. Recorder), J. Crook (local SOC rep), A. Blair 

and D. Thorogood. The judging of national UK or Scottish rarities continues as

efore, but we have produced for the upper Forth a list of species that are 

scarce locally and where the records need to be supported by either a full 

description or sufficient evidence to remove any reasonable doubt. This list and 

a background explanation have been circulated to a hard core of observers and 

can be got from the recorder at SOC meetings or by post. Any species which is 

a vagrant to the area, and most of those which are asterisked in this report, will 

come into this category. 

The organiser for the inland waters part of the national wildfowl counts 

(WEBS), has made available an account of the results for 1998. These often 

contribute to the species accounts and there is also a separate summary which 

concentrates on localities. 

There is an ever-increasing amount of information coming in: records on 

the standard species cards need only to be sorted and I would urge observers 

to use these wherever possible (putting several records for one species on a 

single card); records on sheets, whether written, hand-typed or computertyped, 

need to be either retyped onto a computer database or cut and pasted 

onto species sheets. This is time consuming and the recorder can no longer do 

this systematically without extensive help from contributors; otherwise these 

records will be scanned on arrival and only those items seeming to be salient 

will be transferred to the database, all the original sheets will be kept on file but 

that information is very difficult to unearth and inevitably some uncopied 

records will in fact be important but remain hidden. Appeals for assistance will 

continue! 

The following abbreviations have been used: AoT - apparently occupied 

territory, BoA - Bridge of Allan, c/n - clutch of n eggs, BBS - Breeding Bird 

Survey, CBC - Common Bird Census, CP - Country Park, F - Female, 

GP - gravel pit, J - juvenile, L. - Loch, NR - Nature Reserve, M - Male, ON - on 

nest, Res - Reservoir, SP - summer plumage, V - Valley, WBS- Waterways Bird 

Survey, WG - Wildlife Garden, Y - young. 

This report has been compiled from records submitted by: 

Bird Report 1998 17 

A. Ayre, B. D. Allan, M. Anderson, M. V. Bell, A. Blair, N. Bielby, Birdline 

Scotland, W. R. Brackenridge, R. A. Broad, D. M. Bryant, M. Callan, 

D. J. Cameron, R. Chapman, D. A. Christie, R. & A. Daly, P. Dearing, S. Dick, 

A. Downie, D. Egerton, D. S. Fotheringham, J. Grainger, A. Hannah, S. Harley, 

I. Henderson, C. J. Henty, E. Hill, D. Irving, R. Jones, G. & E. Leisk, W. McEwan, 

C. J. Mallett, P. McMenaman, J. Nimmo, D. Orr-Ewing, G. Owens, D. Rees, 

H. Robb, P. W. Sandeman, S. Sankey, R. Shand, A. Smith, P. Stirling-Aird, 

B. R. Thomson, D. Thorogood, A. Thiel, M. Trubridge, C. Warwick, J. Wheeler, 

K. Wilkinson, M. Wilson, T. Young, R. Youngman. 

Thanks are due to the Deputy Recorder, W. R. Brackenridge, for assistance 

and advice on records, to Dr S. J. Harrison for a copy of the Annual 

Climatological Bulletin (1998), and to P. Stirling-Aird for data from the Raptor 

Study Group.


RESULTS OF THE BBS SURVEYS FOR CENTRAL REGION. 

(Based on a comprehensive summary by NB). 

This year the bird report continues to make extensive use in the species 

accounts of results from the Breeding Birds Survey, these are in terms of the 

frequency of occurence of a species along linear transects in several habitat 

types. In 1998 29 1x1 kilometre squares were surveyed, 6 more than 1997. Each 

square is visited twice in spring/summer, a total of two kilometres on a set route 

is walked per visit and all birds noted in 200 metre sections; a standardised 

habitat survey is done on another visit. In the main report I have presented 

selected results, calculated as birds per ten kilometres of habitat, for the major 

habitats where it is likely that the birds are breeding locally. 

Each 200m section and the birds noted in it have been attributed to one of 

four major habitats - Mountain and moorland (=moor), Conifers (woodland + 

wood/moorland edge), Farmland, Urban/suburban. Broadleaved woodland 

occurs mainly as copses in farmland whilst conifer woodland includes both 

young plantations and mature woods 

An average of 25 species were recorded per square, but with great variation 

from four on blanket bog to 43 on mixed farmland, numbers of individuals 

varied similarly from 24 to 686, average 276. 

1998 contributors were: M.A., B.D.A., R.B., W.R.B., R. Bullman, D.J.C., Z.C., 

P. Crayton, R.C., R. Daly, D. Egerton, S. Easthaugh, S. Harley, A. Hibbert, C.J.H., 

P. McManamen, J. Nimmo, R. Osborn, L.O’T., S.S., A.T., J.W., K. Wilkinson, T.Y. 

WILDFOWL REPORT (1996-97) 

This report concerns the inland waters part of this area’s Wetland Bird 

Survey (WeBS) organised by NB and is a condensed version of a fuller report 

by him. 

WEBS is a monthly waterfowl census under the auspices of the British Trust 

for Ornithology (BTO) and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), it runs from 

September to March inclusive. For this report ‘wildfowl’ includes divers, 

grebes, cormorants, herons, swans, geese (excluding Pink-footed and Greylag 

for which the WWT organises separate counts), ducks and rails 

This report covers the area occupied by the new local government councils 

of Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire (the ‘region’). In total, 102 still water 

sites, 101 km of river and 24.4 km of canal were counted by 45 counters. 

Still Water Sites 

Standing water in Central Region amounts to 7693 hectares or 2.9% of the 

area. 

The following table consists of matched monthly data for total wildfowl on 

14 sites in the top 25. Those sites holding fed Mallard have been excluded.


Month 1996/7 1997/8 1998/9 

September 1583 1756 1494 

October 2039 2454 2082 

November 3235 3037 2633 

December 3955 3396 2710 

January 4477 3332 2599 

February 2771 2940 2133 

March 1646 1930 1338 

Total 19706 18845 14989 

This season’s numbers are the lowest in 5 years, but this is largely due to low 

figures from Gartmorn Dam where the previous regular counter has left the 

district. If Gartmorn is excluded then the other waters gave the best season 

ever. Whether there has been a real relocation of birds needs to be checked in 

future seasons. 

Turning to individual sites, the top ten along with monthly averages are 

listed below:- (previous season’s figures in brackets) 

Site Average 

1. (2) Gart Complex 433 (366) 

2. (1) Gartmorn Dam 350 (996) 

3. (4) Lake of Menteith 319 (267) 

4. (3) Airthrey Loch 295 (279) 

5. (5) Loch Earn 265 (206) 

6. (7) Blairdrummond Park 189 (162) 

7. (12) Vale of Coustry 182 (124) 

8. (9) Doune Ponds 158 (149) 

9. (12) L. Dochart-Iubhair. 150 (155) 

10. (30) L. Watston 113 (52) 

The above table excludes sites where mallard are reared and released for 

shooting. 

With the striking exception of Gartmorn most sites show modest increases 

with Lake of Menteith having the best results for 16 years. 

Some indication of the degree of winter immigration by different species 

into the region can be got by comparing the September count as a percentage 

of the peak for that winter for each of the seasons 1997/8 and 1998/9. These 

figures are 74 % and 83 % for Mallard and 61 % and 87 % for Tufted Duck, both 

species with large Scottish breeding populations. However the September 

contribution for three ducks that are scarce breeders is much smaller – Wigeon 

5 % and 10 %, Pochard 10 % and 7 %, Goldeneye 0.5 % and 0 %. Teal scores at 

34 % & 23 %, this probably exaggerates the local bird contribution since there 

is significant immigration in September. 

Linear Water Features: Rivers & Canals 

This season all of the canals in the region were counted but the river length 

decreased slightly from 118 to 104 km. Overall there were on average 13.5 birds 

per Km.


The proportion of birds that use linear waters can be checked by taking the 

two maximum 1998 counts for Jan-Mar and Sep-Dec and comparing their sum 

with the grand total of similar maxima for all inland waters. Mallard (22%), 

Goldeneye (25%), Wigeon (28%), and Teal (30%) are all very similar; the river 

specialist, not unexpected, is Goosander at 63%.The difference between 

Moorhen (67%) and Coot (1%) is also consistent with general field experience. 

These figures come from two periods without prolonged frost, ice cover would 

certainly displace some species to the rivers such as the Forth around Stirling. 

WEBS contributors to these data, additional to report list were: P. & M. 

Ashworth, B. Barker, M. Blunt, M. Cooper, S. Davies, P. Dearing, G. Diack, 

S. Easthaugh, M. Ferguson, M. Hardy, A. Hibbert, M. Kobs, D. Mason, 

R. Osborn, D. Series, D. Shenton, B. & C. Urquart, H. Weir. 

Rare Pied-billed Grebe on Airthrey Loch, June 1999. 

(K. Ranson) 

SYSTEMATIC LIST 

Codes – S, F and C indicate records from Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannan - 

shire “Districts”. 

RED-THROATED DIVER Gavia stellata (b,w) 

F 1 Blackness 10 Jan & 2 on 21 Feb. 1 Bo’ness 2 Jan & 1 Nov. 3 Kinneil 25 Jan & 1 

on 15 Feb. 2 Skinflats 31 Jan. 2 Kincardine Bridge 13 Feb & 1 on 14 Mar (DAC AS 

DMB AB GO DSF). 

S Trossachs: 2 on 12 Mar to 15 May & 1 to 26 Aug; 2 at 2nd site 26 Apr (DJC MA 

DOE). 1 Killin 1 Apr & 3 on 24 Jul (PWS).


BLACK-THROATED DIVER Gavia arctica (b,w) 

S Trossachs: 2 pairs on 2 lochs in breeding season, 1 nest failed & 1 had 1Y. 2 on 

3rd site 7 Aug (DOE DJC). 1 G.Dochart 3 May (DAC). 

PIED-BILLED GREBE Podilymbus podiceps 

S Adult Airthrey Loch 3,4, & 5 June (probably present to 7th). 

K. Ranson detected, described and photographed the bird; the results were 

passed on to the British Birds Rarities Committee and the record accepted. This 

species is a rare vagrant from North America (24 UK records to 1997) and this is 

the first record for the area. 

The bird was in size close to a juvenile Coot, larger than a Dabchick and with a 

relatively larger head and a thicker neck. The bird’s rear end was blunt but the 

short tail seemed to jut upward at times rather than showing a rounded profile. 

The legs and spread wings were not seen. 

The bill was stout, in colour – a very pale bluish-grey with a broad black vertical 

band across its middle. There was a distinct pale eye-ring. There was a welldefined 

black patch on the throat but this colour did not extend down the front 

of the neck.The underside of the tail was white.The rest of the plumage was 

greyish brown, the crown of the head, dorsal side of neck, back, and wings 

being slightly darker and more rufous than the flanks and what could be seen 

of the chest. The flanks appeared to be faintly barred. 

The bird was seen only on the open water and was observed feeding and 

preening. It dived frequently in a conventional manner but was also seen to be 

able to submerge by apparently altering its buoyancy and sinking. It seemed to 

do this when disturbed rather than when feeding. On several occasions it 

surfaced holding unidentified material in its bill and once with a 2-3” roach 

which it swallowed. It did not seem to be particularly wary of humans and on 

one occasion KR was able to get to within 25 feet before it submerged as 

described above. 

LITTLE GREBE Tachybaptus ruficollis (B,w) 

F Skinflats: max 3 on 29 Jan, last on 10 Feb (GO). Kinneil: max 3 on 11 Jan to 2 Mar 

& 3 on 19 Sep to 23 Dec (DMB AB AS DT). 2 prs with 3Y Falkirk (MA). 

14 Drumbowie Res 8 Oct (NB). 

C Pr Cambus Pools in Apr (WRB CJH). 17 Gartmorn Dam 20 Oct & 19 on 12 Nov 

(MC). 

S At 7 sites in breeding season (DAC WRB PWS CJH DT). 9 L.Voil & 12 L.Dochart 

on 22 Sep (NB). 

GREAT CRESTED GREBE Podiceps cristatus (b,W) 

26 Forth Estuary in Nov (DMB). 

F 100 Kinneil 25 Jan but few in autumn, 4 on 15 Jul & max 20 on 19 Sep & 23 on 

1 Nov (AB DT DMB). 

C 14 Gartmorn 3 Jan, 13 on 15 Mar (DAC MC). 

S 3 Prs Carron Valley Res 17 May (WRB). 2 Lake of Menteith 11 Jan, 18 on 24 Mar 

(DAC). At 5 other sites in breeding season (PWS WRB CJH). 

*FULMAR Fulmarus glacialis (p) 

F 1 Skinflats 5 Apr & 12 Sep (AB GO). 1 Kinneil 23 May, 4 on 1 Aug, max 6 on 15th, 

last on 19 Sep (DT). 

GANNET Sula bassana (p) 

F 27 Juv ->W Skinflats 20 Sep, 1 on 4 Oct (GO DMB). 1 Juv Kinneil 4 Sep & 4 on 

19th (left E) (AB DT). 

S Flying W: 2 Juv Lecropt on 13 Sep & 9 on 14th (DT).


CORMORANT Phalacrocorax carbo (S,W) 

WeBS max: 385 Forth Estuary in Jan & 153 in Sep (DMB). 125 inland in Nov 

(NB). 

F 172 Higgins Neuk 11 Jan (CJH). 51 Skinflats 6 Sep (MVB). 

C 115 S.Alloa roost 30 Jan & 155 on 20 Feb. 8 Gartmorn 1 Nov (AT). 

S 10 Airthrey 4 Mar (AT). 5 Kippen Muir Dam 4 Apr (DAC). 20 Lake of Menteith 

25 Feb & 30 on 23 Sep. 20 L.Earn 27 Dec (NB). 11 Killin 2 Nov (PWS). 

GREY HERON Ardea cinerea (B,W) 

WeBS max: 26 Forth Estuary in Nov (DMB). 95 inland in Dec (NB). 

S 32 used nests Blairdrummond (Nyadd) 22 May (CJH). 22 Lecropt 18 Jan (MVB). 

16 Lake of Menteith 25 Feb. 14 L.Earn 27 Dec (NB). 

MUTE SWAN Cygnus olor (B,W) 

WeBS max: 20 Forth Estuary in Nov (DMB). 242 inland in Oct (NB). 

Colour ring sightings: Of 3 in a herd at Alva on 26 Oct (all ringed as cygnets): a 

Juv ringed Linlithgow on 16 Aug, also seen Cramond 29 Oct; Ad ringed 

Kirkliston, previously seen Hogganfield Loch on 2 Aug; Ad ringed Torness, last 

seen there on 19 Jan 97. Another bird, ringed as an adult at Cramond in 1992, 

spent 95-98 around Balloch 

F 12 Prs around Falkirk, 3 failed, rest reared 35 Juv (MA). 39 Forth/Clyde Canal 

11 Mar, 29 Union Canal 6 Sep (NB JW). 

C 1 nest fledged 4 at Cambus. Pair bred Devon WBS. 20 Alva 14 May & 25 on 

28 Dec (CJH). 38 Gartmorn 13 Feb & 22 on 7 Mar ( MC DAC). 

S 6 sites, 7 Prs reared 22 Juv. Max 22 Lake of Menteith Jan to 28 Mar. 40 Kildean 

7 Mar & 17 Lecropt on 23rd). (NB DAC AT CJH DJC). 

WHOOPER SWAN Cygnus cygnus (W) 

WeBS max: 24 Forth Estuary in Nov (DMB). 101 inland in Mar (NB). 

F 24 Bonnybridge 20 Mar (AB), last, Ad Kinneil 26 Apr (GO). 

1st of autumn 12 Skinflats 11 Oct & 52 on 1 Nov, then 33 Stenhousemuir 31 Oct; 

at Kinneil 11 flew W on 4 Nov & 18 on 7th (AA MVB GO AB DT). 

C 9 Gartmorn 3 Jan & 12 on 13 Feb ( DAC MC). 13 Clackmannan 1 Nov & 

30 Menstrie on 31 Dec (CJH BRT). 

S Widespread on highland lochs, also on Carse of Stirling - 53 on 22 Feb. Max 

L.Dochart 35 on 23 Mar, still 11 on 3 May & 1 stayed to 9 Jun (MVB NB PWS 

DAC). 13 L.Voil 26 Apr (DT). Autumn max 21 L.Dochart 23 Dec (NB). 

On Carse of Stirling 1 might have summered on upper Forth (RC), otherwise 

1st of autumn were 9 on upper Forth 30 Sep & 17 -> S Dunblane 13 Oct. Later 

counts low – 23 Drip Carse 20 Oct, 22 Blairdrummond Carse 6 Dec & 25 on 23rd 

(MVB DT per NB). 

Counts of juvs in distinct herds gave: Spring 23% Juv. Autumn 18% Juv., rather 

similar to 1997. 

PINK-FOOTED GOOSE Anser brachyrhynchus (W) 

Considerable flocks reported throughout the lowland areas, in the absence of 

regular coordinated counts these are difficult to interpret. However, 2100 at 

Lecropt 20 Jan & 4000 Blairdrummond 21 Feb probably included the majority 

present since on the whole carse there were 4590 in 1 Mar & 3350 on the 15th. 

In April around Thornhill there were 3000 on 4th & 2200 on 18th. 

In the east of the area there were 600 Slamannan 15 Feb & 440 Alloa Inch on 8th, 

the usual spring peak on the Inches was 1650 on 18 April, still 20 on 10 May and 

there were 300 Skinflats 24 Apr (AD DAC MVB DT DOE CJH DMB). 

Very early autumn birds, like 1 Skinflats 3 September and 2 L.Macanrie on 13th, 

are suspected as having summered; the main arrival was later with birds heard


over Stirling and BoA on 22nd and Thornhill on 28th, 200 flying W at Kinneil 

on 26th & 350 at Skinflats on 30th. On 1st October 500 flew E at Doune when 

there were 600 at Buchlyvie, 800 there on 6th may be extra to 1600 at Thornhill 

since there were 2000 at Flanders Moss on the 7th; 3000 here on 25th was the 

maximum. 2245 Skinflats on 18th October were transient. Later flocks included 

1000 Lecropt 28th November, 370 Thornhill Carse 9th December and 360 

L.Watston on the 13th (DT CJH GO SS DAC DOE DMB TY). 

BEAN GOOSE Anser fabalis (W) 

F Around Slamannan 157 in Jan, 119 on 10 Nov & 100 on 26th (NB WRB). 

*WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE Anser albifrons (w) 

S 1 Slamannan 15 Feb (AD). 

GREYLAG GOOSE Anser anser (b,W) 

Substantial flocks were noted mainly on Drip carse with 400 on 28 February, 

1250 15th Mar & 300 on 1st April. The max further north was 200 G.Dochart 

21 March. 500 Fallin 16 February were unusual and might be the 600 at 

Clackmannan on 6 April (DR RC DAC HR PWS DOE JG). 

The only possible breeding records were 4 at Earlsburn Res 17 May & 2 at Lake 

of Menteith on 30 July. 

The 1st of autumn were 30 Killin 30 September. 1500 Drip Moss 20 October did 

not stay, since in November the only large counts were 250 L.Ellrig & 150 

Larbert, plus, in the north, 140 Gart & L.Venachar and also 129 G.Dochart on 

19 December. (PWS DT JN MA DOE NB) 

CANADA GOOSE Branta canadensis (b W) 

WeBS max: 60 inland in Mar (NB). 

F Kinneil: 22 on 16 Aug left W, 15 ->S on 19 Sep; 14 on 21 Oct (MA DT). 

C 12 Gartmorn 8 Sep (EH). 

S 30 Blairdrummond Carse 21 Mar & 48 on 29 Aug (PWS DOE). 26 ->W Airthrey 

7 Aug & 51 ->N Dunblane 20 Sep (MVB). In October: 45 Kildean 7th, 51 (with 

Greylags) Drip Carse 20th (biggest WEBS flock to date); 38 Lecropt on 8 Nov 

(D&B DT). 32 Gart 7 Sep & 23 on 25th. 8 L.Mahaick 13 Mar was return to 

breeding site. Pr Thornhill Pond from 17 Feb, 3Y on 24 May. Other spring pairs 

at L.Katrine, L.Ard, Lake of Menteith, Blackwater Marshes (1Y), G.Finglas (3Y), 

L.Dochart, Hutchinson Dam (NB DAC CJH DJC PWS WRB). 

BARNACLE GOOSE Branta leucopsis (w) 

F 5 Skinflats 30 Sep & 55 ->E on 3 Oct (GO DAC). 4 Slamannan 15 Feb & 2 on 26 

Nov (AD WRB). 

C Alloa Inches: 5 on 21 Mar & 7 on 18 Apr (DMB); 80 on 27 Sep flew SW, returned 

E (CJH DT). 

S 1 Killin 4 Jan & 1 G.Dochart 21 Mar (PWS). 3 Blairdrummond 2 Jan, 1 Thornhill 

Carse 15 & 24 Feb (MVB DR), 2 Drip Carse 20 Oct & 1 Lecropt 28 Nov (DT). 

Birds often with grey geese flocks. 2 feral Cambuskenneth 12 Feb & 23 Sep (AT). 

*BRENT GOOSE Branta bernicla 

F 1 (dark bellied) Kinneil 16-29 Apr (GO AB AD). 

SHELDUCK Tadorna tadorna (b,W) 

F 36 Higgins Neuk 14 Mar (DSF). 245 Skinflats 5 Apr & 220 on pools 26 May (AB). 

Moult flock at Kinneil totalled 4600 on 9 Aug; 1045 at Skinflats 6 Sep & 600 on 

3 Oct (DMB MVB AB). 

C 68 Tullibody Inch 30 Jan & 75 on 25 Aug (AT CJH). 2 pairs on Devon WBS 21 Apr 

to 16 Jun (CJH). 

S 2 Cambuskenneth in Feb were highest up Forth (AT). 2 Blairlogie 18 Apr (DAC).


WIGEON Anas penelope (b,W) 

WeBS max: 438 Forth Estuary in Jan (DMB). 1514 inland in Feb (NB). 

F Kinneil: max 350 on 4 Jan to 7 on 29 Apr; 25 on 11 Sep, 250 on 21 Oct & 285 on 

26 Dec (DT AB GO). Skinflats: 19 on 30 Jan, last 3 on 24 Apr; 5 on 16 Jul, 25 on 

3 Nov (BDA GO AB). 

C 548 Gartmorn 12 Feb (MC). 2 Pairs Cambus Pools 10 Apr, 3 (eclipse Ms) on 5 Jul 

(WRB CJH). 230 Alloa Inch 31 Jan (AT); 700 Tullibody Inch 26 Dec (DMB). 

S Gart Lochs (Cambusmore): 386 on 20 Jan, 2 on 24 Jun & 40 on 19 Aug, 290 on 

18 Nov & 335 on 23 Dec (NB PWS DJC). No other large loch counts, more on 

the upper Forth between the Teith and Gargunnock, max 294 on 22 Feb & 183 

on 15 Nov (RC). 

GADWALL Anas strepera 

More sizeable parties (Ed). 

F 6 Skinflats 17 Feb, 2 on 1 Nov & 4 on 7th (AA MVB). 

C 2 Gartmorn 3 Jan to 7 Mar, max 6 on 2 Mar – followed Coot for weed scraps 

(DAC MC AT CJH). 7 (3M) Cambus Pools 4 Apr to 1M on 28th; M on 13 Nov 

(WRB CJH). 2 Tullibody Inch 12 Sep (DMB). 

TEAL Anas crecca (B,W) 

WeBS max: 1078 Forth Estuary in & 1179 in Nov (DMB). 962 inland in Dec (NB). 

F Kinneil: 310 on 27 Jan; 80 on 18 Oct, 755 on 1 Nov, 260 on 6 Dec & 300 on 13th. 

Skinflats: 343 on 11 Jan, 70 on 9 Apr, Pr on 3 May & 2 Jun, 4 on 4 Jul to 31 on 

25 Aug. 280 Kennetpans 1 Nov (CJH DT DMB MVB GO). 

C Few on Inches, 46 Gartmorn Dam 14 Jan; 123 on 31 Dec (MC EH). 74 on Devon, 

Alva-Dollar, 6/9 Dec (GEL DJ). 127 Kersipow 28 Dec (NB). F+brood 

Blackdevonmouth Marshes 23 Jul (CJH) (1st proved for lowland Clacks). 

S max of 102 L.Laggan 28 Jan, 78 Hutchison Dam 28 Nov (NB WRB). 115 on upper 

Forth between the Teith and Gargunnock 13 Dec (RC). Pr+3M Blackwater 

Marshes 13 Jun (CJH). Possibly bred Ashfield ponds (WRB). 

MALLARD Anas platyrhynchos (B,W) 

WeBS max: 619 Forth Estuary in Feb (DMB). 2670 inland in Dec (NB). 

F 175 Skinflats 15 Aug. 100 Kinneil 25 Jan; 106 on 21 Jun & 200 on 6 Dec (DT AB). 

6 broods Larbert had 45Y (MA). 

C 18 AoT on Devon WBS, 22 in 1997 (CJH). 207 Gartmorn 26 Jan, 113 on Nov (AT 

EH). 

S 306 Airthrey 19 Jan & 393 on 7 Nov, 1st brood 2 Apr, 11 broods had 51Y (AT MK). 

266 L.Watson 7 Sep (CJH). 291 on upper Forth between the Teith and 

Gargunnock 6 Sep (RC). 243 on Forth, Forthbank-Teith 6 Dec (AT D&B). 282 

Blairdrummond Safari Pond 23 Dec. About 1900 released at shooting sites 

around Dunblane. 2 pairs per sq Km Doune CBC (NB). 

PINTAIL Anas acuta (W) 

F Skinflats: max 51 on 29 Jan, 47 on 14 Feb, 37 on 1 Mar, last 2 on 30 Apr; 5 on 

6 Sep, 71 on 5 Dec. Kinneil: 24 on 24 Feb, last 2 on 16 Apr; 1st autumn on 12 Sep, 

max 20 on 12 & 17 Oct (GO AB MVB DT). 

C 1 Gartmorn 14 Jan & 31 Dec (MC DE). Pr Cambus 10 Apr & 1 on 30 Aug (WRB). 

S 1 Drip Carse 22 Feb (RC). 

Area Summary 

Jan Feb Mar Apr - Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 

56 72 45 7 1 9 35 – 71 

SHOVELER Anas clypeata (p) 

F 2 Prs Skinflats 10 & 12 Mar; 4 on 6 Sep (GO AB DMB). Kinneil: Pr 20 Mar & 

27 Apr, M on 9 May; 3 on 25 Jul & 15 on 28th, last on 1 Nov (GO AB DT MA DAC 

JG DMB).


C 2 Gartmorn 15 Mar (MC). 2 Cambus Pools 4 Apr & 2 Pr on 11th; 3 on 30 Aug 

(WRB CJH). 

POCHARD Aythya ferina (W) 

WeBS max: 230 inland in Jan (NB). 

F 7 Kinneil 21 Oct (DT). 

C 55 Gartmorn 26 Jan (AT). 

S 35 Lake of Menteith & 26 L.Venachar 28 Jan, 20 N.Third Res on 17th. 18 L.Rusky 

24 Mar; 34 L.Achray 19 Nov, 33 L.Ard 21 Dec (NB BO DAC). 

TUFTED DUCK Aythya fuligula (B,W) 

WeBS max: 544 inland in Mar (NB). 

F 28 Black Loch & 25 L.Denny Res 1 Jul, 75 Black Loch on 7 Sep (NB). Several 

around Grangemouth May-June (GO AB). 

C 5 AoT on Devon WBS (CJH). 14 Cambus Pools 28 Apr (WRB). 232 Gartmorn 

13 Feb & 100 on 11 Oct & 31 Dec (MC EH DE). 

S 34 Cambusmore 31 Jul (PWS). Winter counts low, max 52 Blairdrummond 

26 Jan, 56 Lake of Menteith 28 Jan & 64 on 31 Dec (NB). 

SCAUP Aythya marila (w) 

F Kinneil: max 3 on 23-30 May, 6 on 12 Sep. 1 Skinflats 30 May & 10 Jun, 1 on 

26 Dec (DT GO). 

EIDER Somateria mollissima (w) 

F 5 Carriden & 2 Bo’ness 15 Feb. Kinneil: 13 Mar to 9 May, max 8(6M) 25 Mar; 

5(3M) on 7 Nov. M Skinflats 29/30 Apr; 3 Grangemouth 5 Dec (DMB GO DT 

MVB). 

*LONGTAILED DUCK Clangula hyemalis 

F 1 F/Imm Little Denny Res 14 Dec (NB). 

GOLDENEYE Bucephula clangula (W) 

WeBS max: 94 Forth Estuary in Feb (DMB). 454 inland in Mar (NB). 

F 43 Higgins Neuk 1 Feb (DSF). 15 Carronshore 8 Feb. 20 Skinflats 17 Mar, Pr 

15 Jun & F summered; 36 on 7 Nov. 16 Kinneil 30 Jan, 11 on 7 Dec (AB GO AA 

DT CJH MA). 29 Black Loch 10 Feb & 16 on 10 Dec (NB). 

C 62 Gartmorn 13 Feb & 38 on 31 Dec (MC DE). 32 Kennetpans 13 Feb (CJH). 15 

Cambus 1 Mar & M on 30 May (DMB DAC). 

S 60 on Forth at Stirling 23 Jan; 49 on 6 Dec (AT). 13 Carronbridge 23 Jan (MA). 66 Lake of 

Menteith on 28 Jan, 90 on 24 Mar; 57 on 22 Nov. 44 L.Achray/Venachar 23 Mar 

& 27 L.Ard, on 24th. 30 L.Dochart/Iubhair 24 Feb; 37 on 19 Dec (NB). One May 

report: F L.Dochart on 3rd (DAC). 

33% M (n=128) in Feb/March. 

*SMEW Mergus albellus (w) 

S L.Dochart/Iubhair: M on 24 Jan (displayed with M Goldeneye) & 1 Feb. M on 

19 Dec (NB DT). 

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER Mergus serrator (B,W) 

54 Forth Estuary in Feb (DMB). 

F 26 Skinflats 15 Feb. 21 Kinneil 31 Mar & 9 May (MVB AS GO). 25 Higgins Neuk 

19 Dec (DSF). 

S In spring at L Arklet, L.Katrine. M on upper Forth at Arnprior 15 Nov (DOE 

DA). 2 Killin 22 Sep – late inland (PWS). 

GOOSANDER Mergus merganser (B,W) 

WeBS max: 183 inland in Jan & Dec (NB). 

F 14 L.Ellrig 15 Feb (JN). 13F Skinflats 17 Sep. R.Carron: 14 (8M) at Bonny Water 

& 6 (4M) at Larbert on 6 Dec (MA). 

C 6 Cambus 4 Apr (WRB). 13 (3M) on Devon at Dollar 9 Dec (DE). 

S 11 Airthrey 19 Jan (AT). 19 Ashfield 15 Sep (AW). On Teith up to Doune: 48 on


20 Jan, 16 on 14 Nov (ZC); 18 below Callendar on 19 Mar (DJC). 29 on Forth, A91 

to Teith, 6 Dec, 1st ad Ms of autumn 7 Nov (AT D&B). Total on the upper Forth, 

Arnprior-Gargunnock, 24 on 6 Dec (DAC DR SE). 

In spring/summer noted in Trossachs at 5 sites Doune-L.Arklet, also Pass of 

Leny & L.Voil (DOE JW HR). 

*RUDDY DUCK Oxyura jamaicensis (b) 

C M Lake of Menteith 30 Apr (DAC). 

RED KITE Milvus milvus 

The RSPB/Scottish Natural Heritage re-establishment scheme continues with 

twenty more hand-reared birds being released this year, making a total of 57 

since 1996. However, the special news is that two pairs nested and reared 5 

young, these were wing tagged and one was seen at a roost in the English 

Midlands in November. The male of one of the breeding pairs had fledged in 

1996 in Easter Ross whilst older released birds from our area were seen in 

winter of 97/98 in Galloway, Cork, Donegal, and Gloucester. The breeding birds 

and the majority of their young and of released birds winter locally and attend 

a communal roost. (From report by L O‘Toole. Please try to note wing tag colours on 

any bird you may see, Ed). 

Many records from Dunblane to Callendar, also 1 Aberfoyle 13 Apr & Lecropt 

22 Oct to 5 Dec with 4 on 24 Nov (DT). 

MARSH HARRIER Circus aeruginosus. 

C Ad F Tullibody Inch 12 Sep (DMB). 

HEN HARRIER Circus cyaneus (b, w) 

One coastal record. 18 males and 14 Ringtails noted, omitting repeated records. 

C 1 Blackdevonmouth 31 Aug (CJH). 

S Many singles on Carse of Stirling 5 Jan to 8 Mar and 8 Aug to 29 Dec. Also on 

surrounding hill ground but only 1 record Apr-Jul, M Braes of Doune 28 Jun 

(DR DI SS RC WRB DJC DAC DOE NB BO SH CJH DT). 

GOSHAWK Accipiter gentilis 

Pair bred in area (per DOE). 

S 1 L.Voil 26 Apr. 1 Lecropt 8 Nov (DT). 

SPARROWHAWK Accipiter nisus (B,W) 

Many records throughout area, including gardens at Bo’ness and Buchlyvie. Few noted 

in midsummer when it is presumably secretive. Breeding records from 

Skinflats, Doune CBC (GO AB DAC AS JW DJC PM MA NB et al). 

BUZZARD Buteo buteo (B,W) 

As breeding bird: widespread & increasing S, scarce C, no proof F. 

F 3 Torwood 29 Mar (AB). 1 Slamannan 7 Sep. Around Falkirk mainly Feb/Mar & 

Aug to Dec, max 3 Muiravonside Park 5 Aug; 2 Carron Glen 25 Apr, 1 Bo’ness 

27 Jul, 1 Lathallan from 26 Jun (MA NB AS GO JW). 

C 4 Tillicoultry 24 Jan. 1 Gartmorn 3 Jan & 2 on 7 Mar. 1 Clackmannan 5 Jan & 2 

on 13 Sep. 2 AoT Devon WBS. (DAC JW CJH). 

S In main breeding range to W & N, largest group was 6 Braes of Doune 1 Feb & 

8 Mar; 4 pairs in 4 km (DJC DOE CJM DAC). 8 BoA 29 Aug (CJH). 7 Dumyat 

25 Oct (DMB). 

GOLDEN EAGLE Aquila chrysaetos (b,w) 

S 8 territories checked, 6 occupied by pairs & 2 by singles. 4 successful reared 4Y 

(PSA). No records outwith highlands. 

OSPREY Pandion haliaetus 

F 1 Carron Dams 2 Apr, mobbed by gulls (MA). 

S 1st seen 2 Apr, last 27 Aug (an injured bird, ringed on Tayside). Six pairs held 

territories of which 4 reared 8 young, in spite of prolonged summer rain (RSPB).


1 L.Dochart 29 Apr & 19/30 Jun. 2 Killin 8 Aug (PWS). 1 -> SW Kinbuck 2 Aug 

(DT). 

KESTREL Falco tinnunculus (B,W) 

Difficult to make significant observations, hence greatly underrecorded. 

F Through year at Skinflats (GO). 

C 2 AoT Devon WBS (CJH). 

S 3 Prs Earlsburn 17 May (DOE). 9 Gleann a’Chroin 10 Aug (2 families) & 12 on 

11 Sep; on 26 Aug a F was dropping prey for 3 juv, apparently hunt training 

(DJC). 

MERLIN Falco columbarius (b?,w) 

F 1 Skinflats 9 Sep (AB). 1 Kinneil 6 Sep & 21 Oct (DMB DT). 1 Higgins Neuk 6 Sep 

& 23 Oct (MVB DSF). 

S 1 Doune 9 Jan (RHD). 1 L.Katrine 18 Feb (NB). 1 Cambusmore 26 Jan & 1 found 

dead 10 Apr. 1 in Callendar 5 May, 1 Stuc a’Chroin 7 Jul & a pair Gleann an 

Dubh Choirean 10 Aug (DJC). 1 Kippen 11 Nov (TY). 

PEREGRINE Falco peregrinus (B,W) 

F 4 coastal records Aug & Nov (DT). 

C 2 territories checked, 2 pairs were successful rearing 4Y (PSA). 

S 20 territories checked, 13 pairs & 1 single. 10 successful pairs reared at least 20 

Y (PSA). The Aberfoyle pair raised 3y in public view on CCTV. On low ground 

Jan-Apr & Aug-Dec. 1 over Stirling 16 Jun. 1 with Blackbird prey at Brig o’Turk 

23 Mar & 1chased a Feral Pigeon into a Thornhill garage on 9 May. (DOE DR 

DAC DT DJC SS). 

RED GROUSE Lagopus lagopus (B,W) 

Generally under-recorded 

S Max G.Finglas 12 on 28 Aug (also 6 noted dead by deer fence). 3 sites 

Sheriffmuir, max 13 on 13 Jan. 11 Touch Res. Jan & Dec. 20 Cringate Muir 29 Mar 

& 100 on 27th. Heard Flanders Moss 11 Dec. (DJC AD AT DOE DT SS). 

*PTARMIGAN Lagopus mutus (b,w) 

S 3 Ben Heasgarnich 4 May. Pr Ben Each 13 May. On Stuc a Chroin Jan, Sep, max 

5 on 2 Dec (WRB MA DJC). 

BLACK GROUSE Tetrao tetrix (B,W) 

S Eight lek sites totalling 63 birds in Trossachs. 6 L.Voil 10 Dec. 22 (1F) Braeleny 

20 Nov. 14 Braes of Doune (Cromlix) 11 Apr. 2M Carron Bridge 1 May. 6 found 

dead by G.Finglas deerfence. (DOE DJC DAC WRB). 

CAPERCAILLIE Tetrao urogallus 

S At two sites in L.Ard Forest, 2M on 2 Apr & 1M on 14 & 21st. F Menteith Hills 

2 Apr (DOE). F (fence strike) G.Finglas 18 May (DJC). Unusually open habitat, Ed. 

GREY PARTRIDGE Perdix perdix (B,W) 

F 20 Kinneil 4 Jan & 14 on 13th (DT GO). 7 Grangemouth 4 Jan (JW). 

C 2 AoT on Devon WBS. 9 Blackdevonmouth Marshes in Nov (CJH). 

S 25 Forthbank 27 Jan (AT). 1 in Stirling garden 13 Jul (RJ). 

*QUAIL Coturnix coturnix (b) 

F 1 called Skinflats 30 Apr (DT). 

PHEASANT Phasianus colchicus (B,W) 

Abundant (usually by releases) on fields next to keepered estates. 

C Probably only 3 AoT on Devon WBS (approx. 1 km sq) (CJH). 

S 10 AoT per km sq on Doune CBC, 14 in 1997 (NB). 

WATER RAIL Rallus aquaticus (w) 

F 1 Kinneil 13 Jan. Skinflats: From 27 Jan to 23 May, max 3 on 25 Mar (GO AB DT). 

C Cambus Pools: From 4 Apr to 30 Aug, max 4 on 19 Jul (WRB). 1 

Blackdevonmouth Marshes 13 Sep (CJH).


S 2 Hutchison Dam 31 Jan & 28 Sep (WRB). 

*CORNCRAKE Crex crex 

F 1 calling Skinflats 15 & 16 Jun (GO BDA). 

MOORHEN Gallinula chloropus (B,W) 

WeBS max: 247 inland in Nov (NB). 

F 14 Skinflats 20 Jan. (GO). 3 Prs reared 16 Y on Forth/Clyde Canal (MA). Max on 

Union Canal 72 in 4 km 8 Nov (JW). 22 Callendar Park 6 Nov (AA). 

C Max 12 Cambus Pools in Jul-Aug (CJH WRB). 3 AoT on Devon WBS, as 1997 

(CJH); 11 above Alva 30 Aug (GEL). 

S Airthrey: 21 on 19 Jan, 22 on 25 Oct. 10 Cambuskenneth 23 Jan & 11 on 7 Nov 

(AT). At Killin marshes from 24 Mar, 2Y seen 23 May (PWS). 

COOT Fulica atra (B,W) 

WeBS max: 247 inland in Nov (NB). 

F 23 Callendar Park 16 Feb (AA). 2 Prs Skinflats 25 Mar (GO). 3 Prs reared 8Y West 

Mains Pond (MA). 

C 2 Prs Cambus Pools 10 Apr (WRB). 567 Gartmorn Dam 26 Jan, much ice (AT). 

S Airthrey: 50 on 1 Feb, 31 on 25 Oct; 4 Prs with 12 Y 24 May (AT). 14 L.Watston 

19 Jan & 13 Dec (CJH). 313 Lake of Menteith 29 Dec. 54 Gart 20 Jan & 63 on 

25 Nov (NB DJC). Bred Ashfield,Thornhill, Cocksburn Res. 

OYSTERCATCHER Haematopus ostralegus (B,W) 

Spring return inland in February: Airthrey 2nd, Ashfield 4th, Doune 6th, 

Kippen Muir Dam 15th; also 150 Craigforth 8th (DMB WRB DOE DAC CJH). 

F 100 Kinneil 15 Aug (DT). 72 Higgins Neuk 13 Feb (DSF). 

C 7 AoT Devon WBS, 9 in 1997 (CJH). 

S 104 Gart 25 Feb & 165 Thornhill Carse on 28th (NB DR). In March: 200 

Cambusmore GP on 24th, 600 Blairdrummond 21st; 300 Craigforth 22nd, 140 

Ashfield (PWS DT WRB). 1 Gart 19 Dec (DOE). 

Breeding pairs: 5 Braes Doune (Severie), 13 per sq km Doune CBC (DOE NB). 

5 in a young plantation Thornhill on 8 May (DJC). 

RINGED PLOVER Charadrius hiaticula (b,W) 

F 12 Skinflats 27 May. 29 Kinneil 6 Mar, 20 on 27 Jul & 33 on 5 Dec (GO MA DMB). 

S 3 Cambusmore 23 Mar (NB). 2 Carron Valley Res 15 Mar (WME). 2 Lower 

Earlsburn Res 29 Mar (DT). 2 Kinbuck 15 Mar, 3 Barbush GP 4 Apr & Pr on 18th 

(WME WRB). 

GOLDEN PLOVER Pluvialis apricaria (B,W) 

The small number of likely breeding records may indicate a reduction in range 

compared with twenty years ago. Inland passage noted in spring. Numbers 

high by estuary in late autumn. 

F 85 Larbert 20 Mar. Skinflats: 48 on 24 March; 1st of autumn 4 on 14 Jul, 32 on 

11 Aug, 75 on 5 Sep, 580 on 1 Nov (MA GO AB MVB). 400 Kincardine Bridge 10 

Oct (JG). 233 Bo’ness 4 Sep & 250 Blackness 23 Oct. 110 Kinneil 6 Dec (AS DT). 

S 25 Thornhill Carse 7 Feb & 80 (in BP) on 15 Apr (DAC). 20 Drip Carse 22 Feb, 185 

on 1 Mar & 105 on 1 Nov (RC MVB). 50 L.Tay 6 Mar (PWS). Pr Ben Heasgarnich 

4 May, 2 Stuc a’Chroin 7 Jul (WRB DJC). 

GREY PLOVER Pluvialis squatarola (W) 

F Few on estuary this year. Skinflats: 13 on 31 Jan; lst of autumn 4 on 10 Aug, max 

21 on 10 Oct, 9 on 5 Dec (DMB GO AB MVB). 

LAPWING Vanellus vanellus (B,W) 

5362 on Forth Estuary in Sep (DMB). 

F 233 Bo’ness 4 Sep (AS). Skinflats: 292 on 12 Jan; 90 on 7 Jul to 250 on 25th & 1840 

on 6 Sep. Kinneil: 800 on 15 Feb; 150 on 1 Aug, 500 on 19 Sep, 605 on 26 Dec. 850 

Kincardine Bridge 8 Oct. 331 Higgins Neuk 11 Jan & 452 on 19 Dec. 600


Dunmore 18 Oct (GO DT MVB MA AB JG CJH DSF). 

C 214 Alva 11 Mar (GEL).16 AoT Devon WBS (CJH). 200 Cambus 15 Jul & 250 on 

6 Sep; 740 Tullibody Inch 27 Aug, 2480 on 12 Sep & 1500 on 27 Oct (CJH WRB 

DMB DT). 

S Spring return to Ashfield 30 Jan (4 Pr nested 1Y reared), L.Venachar 10 Feb. 

Nested in young plantations at Kinbuck & Thornhill (4Prs). (WRB DJC). 8 pairs/ 

sq Km Doune CBC, 7 in 1997 (NB). 35 AoT Braes of Doune (Severie) 28 Mar 

(DOE). 3 AoT Killin on 16 Jul (PWS). 

KNOT Calidris canutus (W) 

F Kinneil: 3000 on 4 Jan, 5500 on 11th & 4300 on 27th; 1 on 21 Jul, 80 on 11 Sep, 

3800 on 5 Dec & 4000 on 19th. 5 Skinflats 11 Aug & 50 on 26th. (DT DMB CJH 

GO DT AB). 2 Higgins Neuk 1 Feb (DSF). 

C 1 Tullibody Inch 12 Sep (DMB). 

*SANDERLING Calidris alba (p) 

F 7 Kinneil 8 Aug & 1 Skinflats on 14 Aug (DT GO). 

LITTLE STINT Calidris minuta (p) 

F 2 Skinflats 6 Sep & 1 on 8th. 3 Ad Kinneil 25 Jul, Juvs from 6 Sep to 1 Oct, max 

6 on 26 & 29 Sep (AB MVB DT DMB GO). 1 (probably lst winter) Kinneil 5 Dec; 

seen with Dunlin, distinctive features described. Apparently 2nd winter record 

for Scotland (DMB). 

CURLEW SANDPIPER Calidris ferruginea (p) 

F 1st Kinneil 1 (adult) on 28 Jul, then Juvs from 6 Sep to 18 Oct, max 8 on 14 Sep 

& 4 on 23rd (GO DT MA DMB). 

Area Summary (half monthly) 

Jul Aug Sep Oct 

0 1 0 0 8 4 3 1 

DUNLIN Calidris alpina (b?,W) 

7973 Forth Estuary in Jan (DMB). 

F Kinneil: 6000 on 11 Jan & 3000 on 15 Feb; 100 on 10 Aug & 1000 on 23 Dec. 

Skinflats: 1960 on 11 Jan, 300 on 27 Apr, mainly BP; lst of autumn 7 on 9 Jul, 2475 

on 5 Dec (DMB DT JG MVB AB GO). 560 Higgins Neuk 11 Jan & 450 on 20 Oct 

(DSF). 

S 2 Prs Earlsburn Res 17 May (DOE). 

RUFF Philomachus pugnax (p) 

F 1st Skinflats 6 Aug, max 4 on 11th & 14th, last 1 on 28 Nov. Kinneil: 4 on 1 Aug, 

max 5 on 11 Nov (GO DT AB JG MA DAC BDA). 

C 2 Blackdevonmouth Marshes 4 to 23 Sep (CJH WRB). 


Aug Sep Oct Nov 

8 4 7 3 1 0 5 1 

JACK SNIPE Lymnocryptes minimus (w) 

F 2 Higgin’s Neuk 1 Feb. 3 Kinneil 20 Jan, 2 on 18 Oct & 28 Nov, 4 on 6 Dec. 

1 Skinflats 29 Nov. (BDA GO DT AB). 

C 1 by Devon at Alva 11 Oct & 4 on 6 Dec (GEL). 3 Blackdevonmouth Marshes 

15 Nov & 1 on 13 Dec (CJH). 

S 1 Hutchison Moor 11 Apr (WRB). 

SNIPE Gallinago gallinago (B,W) 

Probably under-recorded in breeding season but may have decreased (Ed). 

F Kinneil 8 on 20 Jan; from 8 Aug, 19 on 6 Sep, max 20 on 6 Dec .1st Skinflats 

11 Aug & max 15 on 9 Sep & 14 on 29 Nov. (GO DT DMB AB). Max Camelon 

(R.Carron) 18 on 2 Jan, 19 on 6 Sep & 21 on 8 Nov (MA). 

C 28 Gartmorn Dam 15 Mar (MC). Blackdevonmouth Marshes from 23 Jul, max 82


on 21 Aug & 29 on 15 Nov (CJH). 

S R.Forth: 17 Kippen 1 Feb & 17 Stirling 8 Mar (TY AT). Drumming in Apr-May at 

Glen Dubh (L.Ard), Kippen Muir, Glen Finglas, Cromlix Moor, Severie (17 on 

29 Mar) (DAC WRB DOE). Autumn numbers not above 10. 

WOODCOCK Scolopax rusticola (B,W) 

Under-recorded (Ed). 

S/F Winter records at: L.Katrine, Braeval, Thornhill, Daldorn, Torrie, Plean, Larbert. 

3 Brig o’Turk 19 May (DAC DT SS BDA DJC). 

BLACK-TAILED GODWIT Limosa limosa (W) 

F Kinneil was the major site with Skinflats being significant August to October, 

site max was 154 Kinneil 1 Nov (GO DT DMB et al). After very few from May 

to early August, numbers built up to an autumn plateau of over 100 by early 

September. The apparent passage in late April is probably due to double 

counting of birds commuting from Kinneil to Skinflats. 


Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 

Knnl 53 58 57 50 61 54 23 21 9 2 4 11 51 58 106 109 113 130 154 55 104 

Skn 2 1 36 10 7 6 3 5 6 25 18 26 50 64 37 64 

Area 53 60 57 50 62 64 23 57 19 19 6 3 9 17 76 76 132 159 177 167 154 119 104 

BAR-TAILED GODWIT Limosa lapponica (W) 

254 Forth Estuary in Jan (DMB). 

F Kinneil: 250 on 11 Jan, 270 on 3 Feb, last 1 on 30 May; 45 on 18 Oct, 150 on 23 Dec 

(DMB AB MA DT). lst of autumn 1 Skinflats 10 Aug (GO). 

C 4 Kennetpans 11 Jan (CJH). 

WHIMBREL Numenius phaeopus (p) 

F In spring from 21 Apr to 1 Jun, max 7 Skinflats 29 & 30 Apr. 2 on 13 Jun. 1st of 

autumn, 1 on 30 Jun, last 30 Sep (GO DT DMB AB MA BDA). 

C 11 Cambus 28 Apr (WRB). 

S 1 Lake of Menteith 13 May (RAB). 


Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep 

0 20 6 2 2 1 3 2 0 0 1 1 

CURLEW Numenius arquata (B,W) 

The March return is clear in inland records, and early return to estuary. Also 

contrast in breeding populations E & W of Callander (Ed). 

873 on Forth estuary in Feb & 903 in Nov (DMB). 

F 164 Higgins Neuk 1 Feb. 504 Skinflats 15 Feb, still 38 on 26 May; 300 on 3 Oct. 

Kinneil: 230 on 5 Jul, 125 on 12 Oct. (DSF MVB GO AB DT). 105 Blackness 

28 Jan, 65 Bo’ness 10-22 Jan (AS). Inland in winter: 155 Muiravonside 5 Jan & 72 

Polmont 8 Feb (MA JW). 

C 3 AoT Devon WBS. 186 Kennetpans 8 Jan; 120 Tullibody Inch 27 Aug & 220 on 

29 Dec, 215 on flooded stubble Clackmannan 1 Nov (CJH DMB). 

S 12 Buchlyvie Muir 24 Feb, 1 Benvane on 25th & 77 Gart on 28th (DAC DJC). 20 

Killin 20 Mar (PWS). 43 L.Mahaick 13 Mar (NB). 15 AoT Cringate Muir 27 Mar, 

20 AoT Severie on 29th &10 Earlsburn on 17 May (DOE). 2 AoT on Doune CBC 

(NB). 3 pr Glen Finglas 22 Jun (DJC). 1 L.Venachar 27 Dec (NB). 

SPOTTED REDSHANK Tringa erythropus (p) 

F 1 Skinflats 25 Mar to 3 May; 1 on 6 Sep & 2 on 8th. Kinneil: 1 from 2 Jan to 3 May; 

1 from 6 Sep to 25 Dec (GO AB DMB DT DBA). 

Area Total (half monthly) 

Jan Feb Mar Apr May - Sep Oct Nov Dec 

1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 3 2 0 0 1 1 1 1


REDSHANK Tringa totanus (B,W) 

F Skinflats: 775 on 11 Jan; 130 on 23 Jul, 250 on 8 Aug, 820 on 6 Sep. Kinneil: 1080 

on 11 Jan; 150 on 15 Jul, 800 on 10 Aug, (MVB DT AB DMB JG). 55 Higgins Neuk 

19 Dec (DSF). 

C 4 AoT Devon WBS (CJH). 

S Return to Forth (Thornhill Carse) 28 Feb, R.Devon (11) on 26 Mar, Gart on 23rd, 

L.Venachar & Killin 24th (DR NB PWS). 2 Pr Kippen Muir 17 Apr (DAC). 2 Prs 

Ashfield 19 Apr (WRB). 6 Prs Severie 21 Apr (DOE). 

GREENSHANK Tringa nebularia (p) 

F 1 Skinflats 23 Apr to 30 May, 2 on 1 Jun & 1 on 30th; from 23 Jul to 11 Sep, max 

6 on 15 & 26 Aug. Kinneil: 2 on May 30; from 15 Jul to 19 Sep, max 2, (AB GO 

DT BDA DAC AS). 

C Blackdevonmouth Marshes from 21 Aug to 19 Sep, max 8 on 6 Sep. 

1 Kennetpans 6 Sep & 3 Tullibody Inch on 12th (CJH WRB DMB). 1 on Devon 

(Dollar) 7 Sep (DE). 

S 2 Thornhill 2 Sep (SS) 


Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep 

0 1 1 3 2 1 1 4 8 16 19 2 

GREEN SANDPIPER Tringa ochropus (p) 

Unusual number of wintering records 

F 2 Grangemouth (R.Avon) 1 Jan & 1 there to 11th; 1 nearby 25 Nov. 1 Polmont 

3 Jan to 1 Mar (2), also 1 on 31 Dec. 2 Kinneil 31 Jul; 1 Skinflats 10 Oct & 2 on 

31st, 1 on 5 Dec (JW AD MA GO BDA MVB). 

C 3 Blackdevonmouth Marshes 21 Aug & 1 Cambus on 24th (CJH). 

WOOD SANDPIPER Tringa glareola 

F 1 Kinneil 11 Sep & 12, 18 & 21 Oct (DT). 

COMMON SANDPIPER Tringa hypoleucos (B) 

Spring return in April: Kinbuck 19th, Doune 23rd, Killin (4) & L.Arklet 25th, Kinneil 

26th, Glen Finglas 30th (WRB PWS DOE). 

F Kinneil & Skinflats: mainly 30 June to 15 Aug, max 6 on 29 Jul & late birds on 11 

&12 Sep (GO DT). 

C 3 AoT on Devon WBS (6 in 1997). 9 Cambus, in noisy flock, 8 Aug(CJH). 

S 2 AoT Doune CBC (NB). Summer AoTs: L.Iubhair, Earlsburn (4), L.Arklet (3), 

Blackwater Marshes (2), L.Venachar (3) (DAC DOE CJH DJC) 

Estuary autumn totals : Jul Aug Sep 

9 9 14 3 2 0 

TURNSTONE Arenaria interpres (W) 

F max 7 Kinneil 8 Aug (DT). 

*ARCTIC SKUA Stercorarius parasiticus (p) 

F 1 Blackness 23 Oct (DT). A remarkably poor autumn, Ed 

*GREAT SKUA Stercorarius skua (p) 

F 1 Bo’ness 19 May, mobbed by gulls (AS). 

LITTLE GULL Larus minutus (p). 

F Skinflats: (mainly 1st summer birds) from 16 May to 16 Jun, max 5 on 21 & 

24 May. 5 on 23 July. 1 Kinneil 5 Jul (DMB AB GO MA BDA DT). 

BLACK-HEADED GULL Larus ridibundus (B,W) 

F 250 Skinflats (with 1st juv) 26 Jun, 770 on 9 Dec (AB AA). 206 Higgins Neuk 

6 Sep (DSF). 

S 45 pairs at Ashfield colony in May (WRB). 50 at Thornhill colony 27 Apr (DOE 

DAC). 468 Alva 26 Oct (NB). 120 flycatching BoA 29 Aug. 1500 on new plough 

Drip Carse 21 Sep (CJH).


COMMON GULL Larus canus (B,W) 

F 565 (on flooded pasture) Slamannan 10 Jan; 304 on 5 Oct(NB). 

S 500 Cambusmore GP 24 Feb & 19 Aug (PWS). 20 Prs Kenknock, 10 Prs L.Arklet, 

15 L.Tinker (WRB DOE). 

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL Larus fuscus (b,S)0 

Few mid-winter records, as usual; increasing nest attempts on roofs ; more 

stayed late into autumn. 

F 1 Kinneil 11 Jan (DMB). 3 Skinflats 9 Jan,11 on 20 Dec (GO). 1 Gartmorn 21 Feb 

(CJH-maybe spring return). Nested on roofs at Carronshore,10 Juv on 15 Jul 

(AB), also cairns at mouth of Carron, 3 Prs 13 Jun (DMB). 

C 120 AoT on Menstrie bond roofs 16 Apr, 5 young seen 9 Jul (CJH). 

S 1 Stirling 24 Jan, 1 Feb & 6 Dec (DMB DT AT). 123 (53 Juv) Cambusmore GP 

17 Aug (DJC). 

HERRING GULL Larus argentatus (b?,S,W) 

F 5200 Kinneil 19 Jan (CJH). 10 dead or dying (? poisoned) on 23 Sep (DT). 

C 12 AoT Menstrie bond roofs 9 Jul. 600 Alloa tip 5 Dec &1500 Tullibody on 16th 

(CJH KW). 

S 5800 on Fallin tip 14 Jan & 3000 on 18 Dec (CJH). 

ICELAND GULL Larus glaucoides 

F 1 Ad Kinneil 19 Apr (M Kenefick). 

GLAUCOUS GULL Larus hyperboreus 

F 1 (2nd or 3rd winter) Kinneil 4 Jan (DT). 

GREAT BLACK-BACKED GULL Larus marinus (S,W) 

Highly under-reported (Ed). 

F 32 Skinflats 10 Oct (JG). 

S 3 Ad L.Coulter 7 Jan (NB). 2 Pendreich 25 Jul, around brood Oystercatchers 

(AT). 

KITTIWAKE Rissa tridactyla (P,w) 

F 60 Ad Skinflats (estuary) 12 May. 18 Kinneil 23 May, 2 on 8 Aug (DT). 

SANDWICH TERN Sterna sandvicensis (P) 

F 15 Skinflats 27 Jul (flew W, high) & 25 Aug (GO). 

COMMON TERN Sterna hirundo (B) 

F lst, 2 Skinflats 3 May, 43 on 4 Jul & 60 on 20th (GO AB CJH). 102 pairs 

Grangemouth Docks 13 Jun but only 10Y likely to have fledged (DMB). 

*BLACK TERN Chlidonias niger 

F 1 Ad Skinflats 10 Jun (GO). 

*GUILLEMOT Uria aalge (W) 

F Singles at Kinneil 25 Jan, R.Carron at Skinflats 31 Jan, Higgins Neuk 1 Feb, 

Kinneil 25 Apr (AB DAC DSF GO). 

RAZORBILL Alca torda 

F 2 Kinneil 25 Jan & 1 on 15 Feb (AB GO). 

FERAL PIGEON Columba livia 

F 500 Skinflats 15 Aug (DT). 150 Kinneil 19 Dec (CJH). 

STOCK DOVE Columba oenas (B,W) 

Widespread in small numbers, surely much overlooked though BBS records 

only in farmland 

F 62 Kinneil 6 Mar & 40 on 8th (GO DT). 16 Larbert 4 Feb & 24 on 24th (MA). 20 

Polmont 8 Feb (JW). 

C Probably 2 AoT on Devon WBS (CJH). 

S 68 Lanrick 11 Apr (DOE).


WOODPIGEON Columba palumba (B,W) 

Greatly underreported. BBS shows 48 per 10 km on farmland, 3x more than 

urban or conifer habitats (NB). 

F 548 Skinflats 4 Feb (GO). 

C 350 Glenochil 5 Jan & 300 Tullibody 2 Mar (CJH). 

S 8 AoT per km sq on Doune CBC. 200 L.Voil 25 Nov. 300 Blairdrummond 23 Dec 

& 700 Lecropt on 31st (NB MVB). 

COLLARED DOVE Streptopelia decaocto (B,W) 

Greatly under-reported, but scarce away from suburbs and large farms (Ed) 

F Vagrant to Skinflats, 3 on 1 May (GO). 

S 2 Killin 8 Apr & 16 May (PWS). 

CUCKOO Cuculus canorus (B) 

1st records in April at Cocksburn Res 24th, L.Venachar (E) 28th, Dunmore 29th 

& G.Buckie on 30th (AT DJC). 

BBS shows 1 per 10 km on farmland, 5 in conifers and 1 on moorland. 

Spring/Summer records from Larbert, Dunmore, Earlsburn, Cromlix, Callander, 

G.Ample, G.Finglas, G.Dubh (L.Ard Forest), L.Arklet (MA DJC DOE WRB PM). 

BARN OWL Tyto alba (b,w) 

S At 5 sites Thornhill Carse, also Gargunnock, Carron Glen, Ashfield, Dunblane, 

Kilbryde, L.Tay (DR DJC SS CW DOE WRB). 

TAWNY OWL Strix aluco (B,W). 

F Reported Grangemouth, Larbert (AS GO). 

S Reported Arnprior, Airthrey, BoA, Dunblane, Drumloist, Callander, L.Voil (DAC 

AT DJC). 

*LONG-EARED OWL Asio otus (b,w) 

F Skinflats from April to June, 3Y in May (GO AB BDA). 

S 1 Thornhill Carse (Frew) 6 Mar (DR). 1 Blairdrummond Carse 8 Dec (DOE). 

SHORT-EARED OWL Asio flammeus (b,W) 

F 1 Skinflats 22 Aug (GO). 

S 3 N.Third Res 28 Mar (JW). 2 Cringate Muir/Earlsburn 4 Apr, 4 Prs 17 May (GO 

DOE). 1 Thornhill 1 Feb, 9 Aug & 15 Nov (SS). 1 Lossburn Res 28 Sep & 25 Oct 

(AT CJH). Braeleny-Arivurichardich 7 Jul to 31 Oct, 2Y seen 10 Aug, 7 birds 

26 Aug (DJC DAC). 1 G.Finglas 26 Aug (MA). 

SWIFT Apus apus (B) 

1st records: Lake of Menteith (15) on 7 May, Doune & BoA on 8th, Callander (8) 

& Stirling (10) on 9th, Grangemouth (15) on 12th, Ashfield (6) on 13th (DOE NB 

DMB DJC DT GO WRB). Last August records 21 Grangemouth on 22nd, Airth 

& L.Ard Forest on 24th, Tullibody Inch on 27th (GO DMB CJH). 1 Ashfield 3 Sep 

(WRB). 

S Max in July: 30 BoA 19th & 27th (AT CJH); 100 Stirling on 31st (DT). 

KINGFISHER Alcedo atthis (b,w) 

F 1 Skinflats Jan, Mar, Aug, Sep; 1 Kinneil 4 Sep & 25/28 Nov (GO AB DMB MA 

BDA). 1 on Avon at Grangemouth 11 Jan, 28 Jul & 20 Oct (MVB JW AS). 1 

Higgins Neuk 24 Aug. 1 on Glen Burn (Falkirk)16 Dec. 2 Pairs on Carron at 

Larbert all year, 2 Juv being fed 13 Jun (MA). 

C 2 on Devon at Tillicoultry 28 Mar & 18 Apr (DAC) & noted down to Cambus 

Feb, Aug-Dec (GEL RN PD WRB AB CJH). 

S 1 Killin 29 Mar (PWS). At two sites on Teith below Callander 10 Mar (DJC). 1 on 

Allan 21 Mar & 9 May, Pr on 19 Jul (CJH DOE M.Ferguson). 1 Kinbuck 8 Oct & 

1 Cambuskenneth on 10th (AT). 1 Airthrey Sep to Dec (DMB MVB). 1 on Carron 

below Carron Valley Res 5 Dec (WRB BDA).


WRYNECK Jynx torquilla 

F 1 Kinneil 12 Sep (GO AB DT). 

GREEN WOODPECKER Picus viridis (B,W) 

C Around Blairlogie Jun & Jul, 1 Mine Wood 25 Jul (DAC AT). 1st in 4 years on 

Devon WBS (CJH). 

S 1 Plean CP Mar & May (AB). 

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER Dendrocopus major (B,W) 

F 5 sites around Falkirk Jan to Nov. M Skinflats Jan & Mar. (JW AS MA AB GO). 

S 8 sites from Aberfoyle to Braes of Doune and Balquhidder (DAC DJC NB). 5 in 

150m at L.Voil 15 Mar (AT). 

SKYLARK Alauda arvensis (B,W) 

BBS shows 32 on moorland, 10 in conifers, 9 on farmland and 10 in ‘Urban’. 

F Singing Kennetpans 13 Feb & Skinflats from 21st (AB). 50 Kinneil & 60 in stubble 

Larbert 6 Dec (DT MA). 

C 11 AoT on Devon WBS, as 1997 (CJH). 30->W Cambus 11 Oct (DMB). 30 

Menstrie 31 Dec (BRT). 

S 3 AoT per sq Km on Doune CBC, 9 in 1997 (NB). 43 Forthbank 27 Jan & song 

12 Feb (AT). 110+60 Blairdrummond Carse 1 Mar (MVB). 36 Thornhill 1 Mar & 

50 on 11 Oct, 5 AoT (SS). 100 Lecropt 30 Nov & 5 Dec (DT). Singing males: 40 

Cringate Muir 27 Mar, 30 Earlsburn 17 May, 30 Uamh Beg 13 Apr (DOE). 

SAND MARTIN Riparia riparia (B) 

1st records: 2 Cambusmore on 29 Mar (50 on 7 Apr), in April: 30 Airthrey on 1st, 

50 Lake of Menteith on 4th (PWS DJC DMB DT). 

F 18 Kinneil 27 Jul (GO) Possibly start of autumn passage, Ed. 

S 98 nests Cambusmore 2 Aug (CJH). 10 nests Inverlochlarig 4 Jun (DOE). 

SWALLOW Hirundo rustica (B) 

1st records: 1 Cambusmore 29 Mar (DJC), 2 Lake of Menteith on 8 April (DOE), 

widespread arrival 18-24 Apr. Last mainly October: 22 Skinflats, 2 Airthrey & 

1 Ashfield on 9th, Blairdrummond & Stirling on 21st (AB DMB WRB NB DT); 

1 Cambus 13 Nov (CJH). 

C 150 Tullibody Inch 27 Sep (CJH). 

S 9 AoT per sq Km on Doune CBC, 7 in1997 (NB). 500 Doune Ponds 27 Aug 

(DOE). 

HOUSE MARTIN Delichon urbica (B) 

1st records: Stirling & Airthrey (6) on 23 Apr, Lake of Menteith (5) on 25th, 

Ashfield on 26th (DT DMB DOE WRB). Widespread by 6 to 9 May 

Early departure, 40 Dunblane 26 Sep, last 2 Airthey 3 Oct & 6 Buchlyvie on 8th 

(MVBDMB DAC). 

S 500 Lake of Menteith 31 May (DAC). 10 nests per sq Km on Doune CBC, back 

to 1994-5 average (NB). 10 Prs Inverlochlarig 4 Jun (DOE). 

TREE PIPIT Anthus trivialis (B) 

BBS shows 13 in conifers,1 on moorland & farmland. 

1st records: Kinneil 23 Apr, many in Trossachs on 24th, 3 Rhuveag on 26th. (GO 

DOE DT). Last L.Ard Forest 24 Aug (CJH). 

S 20 singing L.Ard 11 May (DOE). 

MEADOW PIPIT Anthus pratensis (B,W) 

BBS shows 65 per 10 km in moor/conifer edge, 117 on moorland, & 7 on 

farmland. 

F 27 Darnrig Moss 13 Feb (MA). Singing Skinflats 4 Apr (AB). 120 Higgins Neuk 

6 Sep (DSF). 

C 38 Blackdevonmouth Marshes 26 Aug, 160 on 31st, still 100 on 26 Sep, few later 

though 21 on 5 Dec (CJH).


S 20 Killin 2 Apr (PWS). 45 migrants Ashfield & 36 at Cornton 11 Apr (WRB CJH). 

Passage through Doune CBC noted 22 Apr to 8 May (NB). 130 L.Watston 7 Sep 

(CJH). 200 Sheriffmuir 12 Sep, following a Hen Harrier (MVB). 

YELLOW WAGTAIL Motacilla flava 

F Skinflats: 1 on 29 Apr, thought to be Grey-headed (thunbergi) race (BDA GO). 1 

on 6 & 9 Sep (GO AB). 

GREY WAGTAIL Motacilla cinerea (B,w) 

Only 7 January records and few after mid November except for 12 on the 

Devon Dollar-Menstrie 6/9 Dec (GEL PD DE). Widespread records from 21 Feb 

to 8 Mar suggest spring return. 

Still many traditional sites unoccupied W.Stirling (HR). 2 pair Doune CBC, 1st 

juv seen 13 May (NB). Summer records at 12 sites Stirling & Ochils. Family 

parties on R.Avon at Grangemouth & R.Carron at Larbert (JW MA). 

PIED WAGTAIL Motacilla alba (B, w) 

Noted at 7 sites Jan-Feb (DAC AT). 

F White Wagtails M.a.alba : At Skinflats from 24 Apr (10) to 3 May (2), max 20 on 

27 Apr (DT AB GO); also 12 Alloa Inch (Clacks) 2 May (DMB). 

C 1 AoT on Devon WBS, 3 in 1997. 21 Blackdevonmouth 19 Jul & 20 on 23rd, 3 on 

5 Dec (CJH). 

S 10 AoT per sq Km Doune CBC, 5 in 1997, 1st juv seen 5 Jun (NB). 25 Airthrey 

3 Apr (AT). 45 Barbush 3 Sep (WRB). 

WAXWING Bombycilla garrulus 

F 1 Stirling 30 Jan to 12 Feb, 3 Bannockburn 16 Feb (DT BDA). 20 L.Katrine 6 Mar 

(per HR). 

DIPPER Cinclus cinclus (B,W). 

F 8 on Carron above Larbert 15 Feb & 6 on 12 Oct (MA). 

C Frequent on middle Devon, max 17 below Dollar 20 Oct (DE). 

S Average year W.Stirling (HR). 2 pair on Doune CBC (NB). 9 on Teith Callander- 

Deanston (DJC). 

WREN Troglodytes troglodytes (B,W) 

Under-recorded (Ed). BBS shows 63 per 10 Km in conifers, 20 on farmland & 17 

in ‘Urban’. 

F 1 on foreshore at Bo’ness 2 Jan. 12 Wallacebank wood 21 Feb (AS). 

C 16 AoT on 5 Km of lower Devon, 11 in 1997 (CJH). 

S 17 AoT per sq Km Doune CBC, highest ever; juv seen from 11 Jun (NB). 

HEDGE SPARROW Accentor modularis (B,W) 

Under-recorded (Ed). BBS shows 20 per 10 Km in ‘Urban’, 10 in conifers & 2 in 

farmland. 


S 8 pair per sq Km on Doune CBC, 6 in 1997, Juv seen from 4 Jun (NB). 

ROBIN Erithacus rubecula (B,W) 

Under-recorded (Ed). BBS shows 38 per 10 km in conifers, 12 on farmland & 18 

in ‘Urban’. 

F nest building Bo’ness 30 Mar, feeding young 30 May (AS). 


S 4 pairs per sq Km on Doune CBC, as 1997, 1st juv seen 1 Jun (NB). Autumn song 

at Airthrey from 6 Aug, sang at night on 18 Jan (CJH AT). 

REDSTART Phoenicurus phoenicurus (B) 

1st of spring 2M L.Ard 23 (DT). 1st autumn migrant Skinflats 16 Jul (BDA). 

S 45 nest attempts at Trossachs colony produced 230 Y (HR). 

WHINCHAT Saxicola rubetra (B) 

BBS shows 2 per 10 km in conifers, 2 on moorland & 1 on farmland.


1st records: 1 Thornhill 26 Apr; 3M Hutchinson Moor 2 May & 5 Menteith on 

8th (DT WRB BDA). 

C 3 upper Glendevon 16 Jun & family party 6 Jul (DMB MA). 

S 6 Prs L.Arklet 14 Jun, 5 Prs Menteith 30 Jul (DOE). 

STONECHAT Saxicola torquata (b,w) 

F F Larbert 8 Mar (MA). 1 Fannyside 5 Oct & M Skinflats on 8th (AD AB). 

S In breeding season noted at 9 sites in Gargunnocks, Trossachs, Balquhidder. In 

late autumn also at Kippen Muir & wintered Thornhill Jan-Feb & Oct-Dec (DJC 

DOE DAC DT NB SS). 

WHEATEAR Oenanthe oenanthe (B) 

BBS shows 6 per 10 km, only on moorland. 

3 Barbush & 20 L.Ard Forest 8 April, Inverlochlarig on10th; on estuary to 

29 Apr. Other migrants, 7 Ashfield 7 Apr, Doune CBC 29 Apr to 8 May, 5 

(Greenland race) Bandeath 3 May, 1 R.Devon (Alva) 14 May (WRB DOE DAC 

GO NB DMB CJH). Autumn migrants at Kinneil & Skinflats 29 Jul to 3 Oct; 3 

Tullibody Inch 27 Sep, 1 Fannyside 5 Oct & 1 Sheriffmuir on 11th (DT AB JG 

CJH AD MVB). 

S 6 Prs L.Ard & 6 Prs L.Arklet 11 May, 5 Prs with Y Monachyle 18 Jun (DOE). 13 

G.nan Meann (Finglas) 30 Apr (DJC). 1 Pr Kinbuck (low ground) (MVB). 

*RING OUSEL Turdus torquatus (b) 

S M Rhuveag 26 Apr (DT). 3 (2M) Monachyle Glen 18 Jun (DOE). 2 M singing 

Ben Each 13 May (MA). 

BLACKBIRD Turdus merula (B,W) 

BBS shows 106 per 10 km in ‘Urban’, 29 on farmland & 13 in conifers. 


S Singing Airthrey on 26 Jan (AT). 17 pairs per sq Km on Doune CBC, 13 in 1997, 

1st juv seen 10 Jun (NB). 

FIELDFARE Turdus pilaris (W) 

Spring departure meagre, 98 Castle Cary 10 Apr & 150 Braes of Doune on 13th 

(250 on 29 Mar) (MA DOE). 

Autumn arrival was late.150 Glen Casaig 23 Oct, 100 Flanders Moss & 40->W 

Blackdevonmouth on 25th. Large parties widespread in November, max 600 

Glen Lochay on 12th, 665 Glen Dochart on 15th, 400 Braeleny on 20th, 500 Glen 

Finglas on 21st & 500 L.Tay on 28th. Visible movement mainly to SW: 140 

Kippenmuir 25 Oct, 200 Kinneil 7 Nov & 50 Duke’s Pass on 24th. In December, 

max 200 L.Tay on 8th. (DJC DOE CJH PWS NB DT). 

C 90 Alva 16 Feb & 200 Gartmorn 2 Mar (NB CJH). 

F 58 Camelon 2 Jan (MA). 50 Skinflats 12 Dec & 70 Higgins Neuk on 19th (GO 

DSF). 

S 60 Callander on 5 Jan, 120 Lecropt on 24th, 250+300 Blairdrummond carse on 

25th & 200 Braes of Doune on 31st; 86 Lecropt 1 Mar (DJC AD MVB DAC AT). 

SONG THRUSH Turdus philomelos (B,W) 

BBS shows 13 per 10 km in 13 ‘Urban’, 10 in conifers & 5 in farmland. 

Few in January - 1 Bo’ness, 2 Stirling, 4 Alva, 2 Gartmorn (AS AT). 1 Killin 14 Feb 

& Buchlyvie on 17th represent spring arrival (PWS DAC). 

C 3 AoT in 5 Km lower Devon, 2 in 1997 (CJH). 

S 1 AoT on Doune CBC (NB). 

REDWING Turdus iliacus (W) 

1st of autumn 2 Braes of Doune 2 Oct, at Airthrey 4 on 6th & 60 -> W on 14th, 

20 Invertrossachs on 10th. Large parties occasional from 14 Oct with 150 

L.Macanrie on 14th & 200 ->SW on 25th. Few in November, 10 -> W Duke’s 

Pass on 24th. (DOE MVB DAC DT CJH).


F 63 Falkirk 28 Jan (MA). 

C 200 Gartmorn 2 Mar (CJH). 

S 250 Arnprior 11 Jan (DAC). 

MISTLE THRUSH Turdus viscivorus (B,W) 

BBS shows 4 per 10 km in conifers, 3 on farmland, 1 in ‘Urban’. 

F Widespread in small numbers around Falkirk (AS MA JW GO). 

S 1 AoT Plean CP 20 Mar (AB). 20 Doune 4 Feb (DOE). 15 Airthrey 17 Jul (AT). 15 

->SW, with Redwings, Kippenmuir 25 Oct (DT). 

GRASSHOPPER WARBLER Locustella naevia (b) 

F 4 Skinflats 23 Apr, 1 to 18 Jul ( BDA GO AB DT). Singing birds at 2 sites 

Bonnybridge 27 Apr & 2 by Carron on 1 May, also Camelon, 2 sites Falkirk May- 

Jun (MA). 

C 1 AoT Devon WBS. 3 Cambus Pools 28 Apr to 24 Jul (CJH WRB). 

S 1 Thornhill 1 May, also Lake of Menteith, Gartur, Flanders Moss(2), Drip Carse, 

L.Doine (2), Inverlochlarig - feeding Y 17 Jun (SS RAB DOE DT BDA). 

SEDGE WARBLER Acrocephalus schoenobaenus (B) 

1st records April: 26th Kinneil, 28th Cambus, 30th Skinflats (GO WRB AB DT). 

Summer records widespread as far north as Inverlochlarig. 

C 50 AoT on Devon WBS, 54 in 1997; 20% of birds arrived by 2 May (CJH). 

S 3 AoT Doune CBC from 11 May, lst juv on 25 Jun (NB). 5 AoT Thornhill (DOE). 

WHITETHROAT Sylvia communis (B) 

BBS shows 5 per 10 Km in ‘Urban’, 3 on farmland. 

1st records in April: 23rd Skinflats, 27th Kinneil & Doune (GO AB NB). 

C 9 AoT on Devon WBS (as 1997), 4 arrived by 2 May but 3 not till 14/24th (CJH). 

SWP 4 AoT per sq Km Doune CBC (NB). 4 AoT Dunblane 23 May (WRB). 5 AoT 

Doune (Inverardoch) 7 Jun (DOE). 

GARDEN WARBLER Sylvia borin (B) 

1st record 30 April at Arnprior, then in May: 2nd Polmont & R.Devon, 3rd Lake 

of Menteith, 8th Plean CP (DAC JW CJH WRB AB). 

F Bred at 2 sites Polmont (JW). 

C 8 AoT Devon WBS, 5 in 1997; 6 arrived by 24 May (CJH). 

S 4 AoT Ashfield-Dunblane 23 May (WRB). 5 sites Doune-Trossachs in Jun (DOE), 

records north to L.Lubnaig. 

BLACKCAP Sylvia atricapilla (B) 

Widespread as breeder but no records north of Trossachs (Ed) 

Winter records: M Doune 3 Jan, F Polmont on 17th, F Carronshore on 23rd; F 

Dunblane 24 Nov & 2 Dec, Ms at Airthrey 25 Nov (F on 16 Dec), Stirling on 28th 

& BoA on 29th, Polmont on 26 Dec (RHD JW DI DMB AB SD). 1st of spring, M 

in song BoA 25 Mar, main arrival in April, 24th Lake of Menteith, 25th Larbert, 

26th Skinflats (DOE JW GO). Last of autumn M Buchlyvie 24 Sep (DAC). 

F In summer at least 6 sites around Falkirk (JW). 

WOOD WARBLER Phylloscopus sibilatrix (B) 

Underrecorded 

1st records Lake of Menteith 30 Apr & Thornhill 2 May (DAC DT). 4 M 

Kinlochard 18 May (DOE). 

CHIFFCHAFF Phylloscopus collybita (B) 

1st records in March: Tillicoultry, Stirling (E) & Plean CP 28th, Stirling (W) 30th; 

then Larbert 6 Apr, Invertrossachs on 8th & Blairlogie on 12th; migrant at 

Devon WBS on 14th (DAC DT CJM MA DOE BRT CJH). Last, 1 Stirling 18 Sep, 

1 Airthrey on 10 Oct & 1 Ashfield on 11th (DT WRB MVB), 

F Widespread east of Falkirk (JW). 

S 3 AoT Plean CP 26 Apr (AB). 1 Aberfoyle 28 Nov (DI).


WILLOW WARBLER Phylloscopus trochilus (B) 

1st record 1 Larbert 31 Mar, then in April: Bonnybridge & Stirling on 10th, Plean 

CP on 11th, Buchlyvie & Doune on 13th. Last, 1 Airthrey 24 Sep. (GO JM MA 

CJM DT DAC DOE DMB). 

BBS shows 60 per 10 km in conifers, 24 in farmland, 38 in ‘Urban’ (NB). 

C 17 AoT on 5Km of lower Devon, 14 in 1997 (CJH). 

S 10 pairs per sq Km on Doune CBC, 9 in 1997 (NB). 

GOLDCREST Regulus regulus (B,W) 

BBS shows 40 per 10 km in conifers, 1 on farmland (NB). 

Widespread in small numbers, max 27 Wallacebank Wood (Falkirk) 26 Jan (AS). 

F Song at Skinflats from 21 Feb, birds at Kinneil 10 Feb & 3 Oct could be migrants 

(AB GO). 

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER Muscicapa striata (B) 

Under-recorded (Ed). Scarce in BBS, 1 per 10 km, only in farmland (NB). 

1st records: in May, Pass of Leny 16th, Ashfield & L.Katrine 23rd (JW DAC 

WRB). Last, 3 L.Ard Forest 29 Aug (CJH). 

S In summer 3 Prs Invertrossachs, also at 13 other sites, mainly Trossachs- 

Dunblane (DJC DOE DAC WRB). 15 (presumed family parties) in 1.5 km L.Ard 

Forest 31 Jul (CJH). 

PIED FLYCATCHER Ficedula hypoleuca (b) 

1st records: Balquhidder (Rhuveag) on 26 Apr, Aberfoyle 8 May, Kilmahog 10 

May (DT DOE JW). 

S 62 nest attempts at Trossachs colony, 229 Y reared, (HR). 

LONG-TAILED TIT Aegithalos caudatus (B,W) 

F 14 Bo’ness 2 Jan & 15 on 29 Sep (AS). 5 Kinneil 10 Feb (GO). 

S 28 Dunblane 21 Jun & 12 Jul (MVB). 16 BoA 13 Oct, 13 Lanrick 10 Mar, 15 L.Voil 

& 16 L.Doine 25 Nov (AT DJC). 

COAL TIT Parus ater (B,W) 

Greatly under-recorded (Ed). BBS shows 38 records per 10 km in conifers, 1 on 

farmland (NB). 

F 35 Wallacebank Wood 26 Jan & 43 on 26th (AS). 

S Transect frequencies per hour: 7 Achray Forest 20 Nov & 6 on 24th, 4.5 Torrie 

Forest 4 Dec (CJH). 

BLUE TIT Parus caeruleus (B,W) 

Under-recorded (Ed). BBS shows 25 per 10 Km in ‘urban’ squares, 31 on 

farmland & 17 in conifers. 


S 9 pair per sq Km on Doune CBC, 7 in 1997, 1st Juv seen 17 Jun (NB). Occupancy 

good in Trossachs but only fair success (HR). 

GREAT TIT Parus major (B,W) 

Under-recorded (Ed). BBS shows 10 per 10 km in conifers, 14 on farmland and 

9 in ‘Urban’ squares. 

C 4 AoT on 5Km of lower Devon, 5 in 1997 (CJH). 

S 4 AoT per sq Km on Doune CBC, 7 in 1997, 1st Juv seen 11 Jun (NB). Low 

occupancy in Trossachs & only fair success (HR). 

TREECREEPER Certhia familiaris (B,W) 

Under-recorded (Ed). BBS shows 1 per 10 km on farmland. 

Recorded Jan-Mar from Bo’ness, Wallacebank Wood (5) & by Devon at 

Tillicoultry (4) (AS DAC). 

RED-BACKED SHRIKE Lanius collurio 

F M by disused railway line Falkirk 22 May (MA).


GREAT GREY SHRIKE Lanius excubitor 

S 1 Flanders Moss 29 Nov (DR). 

1 Carronbridge 5 & 6 Dec. Haunted a gorse patch on ridge, flew, with hovering, 

across river to edge of conifer forest in Dumbarton (DJ CJH). 

JAY Garrulus glandarius (B,W) 

BBS records largely from conifers, 4 per 10km. 

F All year at Torwood (AB) – continuous with range around Stirling (Ed). 2 

Fannyside 5 Oct (AD). 

S Recorded from some 22 sites from Buchlyvie to L.Voil; no records from north 

edge of Gargunnocks. 

MAGPIE Pica pica (B,W) 

Its abundance around Stirling is not necessarily noted in the west and east of 

the area (Ed). BBS shows 27 per 10 km in ‘urban’ squares, 6 in farmland & 1 in 

conifers. 

F 12 Bo’ness 2 Jan (AS). 


S 11 Cambuskenneth 7 Nov & 24 Stirling on 23rd (DT), but roost numbers higher: 

75 Airthrey 19 Jan, max 143 on 4 Feb, still 83 on 7 Mar (AT). 1 AoT on Doune CBC 

(NB). 

JACKDAW Corvus monedula (B,W) 

An overlooked species, about 4 reports (Ed). BBS shows highest frequency in 

urban areas. 

S 150 Callendar 13 & 17 Jan (DJC). Scores taking acorns at Airthrey 22 Oct (CJH). 

5 pair per sq Km on Doune CBC, 4 in 1997 (NB). 1 at Lecropt 1 Mar was 

completely grey-brown except for a black face (AT). 

ROOK Corvus frugilegus (B,W) 

Rookery counts: BoA(N) 79 in pines; BoA(S) 188; Myretoun 56; 55 Menstrie 

nursery (new in 1996). Total 378 (406 in 1997). 154 Gartmorn (CJH). 155 

Wallacebank Wood on 21 Mar (AS – probably some nests still to be built, Ed). 

S 2000, roost flight to S, BoA 1 Feb. Scores taking acorns Airthrey 22 Oct (CJH). 

CARRION CROW Corvus corone (B,W) 

Possibly the most widespread species of all: BBS shows 40 per 10 km in ‘Urban’ 

squares, 64 in farmland, 27 in conifer & 12 on moorland. 

F 1 Hoodie Kinneil 28 Mar (GO). 

C 4 AoT on Devon WBS, 1 on 14 Apr possessed white wing stripes and a white 

rump (CJH). 

S 5 AoT per km sq at Doune CBC (NB). 80 G.Casaig 22 Jun, mobbed Buzzard. 

Hoodies: 10 records (including hybrids) were from the usual breeding range N 

& W of Lake of Menteith (DJC NB DAC). Mixed flock of 43 Stuc a Chroin 11 Sep 

included 5 Hoodies – only 15 km WNW, 13 Balquhidder 28 Nov all Hoodies; 1 

nearby feasted on rowan berries (DJC). 

RAVEN Corvus corax (B,W) 

C 1 Mill Glen, Tillicoultry, 28 Jan (AT). 

S 16 territories checked, 11 pairs & 1 single, 8 successful pairs of which 4 raised 12 

Y (PSA). Successful tree nest Brig o’Turk. 14 G.Finglas 16 Feb & 22 on 15 Jul. 10 

Stuc a Chroin area 25 Jan (DJC MA). Outwith of main breeding areas: 2 Carron 

Bridge 5 Dec (WRB). 3 Kippen Muir 25 Oct (DT). Over Airthrey Jul-Oct (AT 

DMB). 

STARLING Sturnus vulgaris (B,W) 

Greatly underreported (Ed). BBS show most frequent in ‘Urban’ squares. 

F 2200 Kincardine Bridge roost 19 Dec (CJH). 400 Slamannan 13 Feb (MA).


S 12 AoT per sq Km on Doune CBC, 11 in 1996; fledglings from 1 Jun, 470 on cut 

silage field 5 Jun (NB). 

HOUSE SPARROW Passer domesticus (B,W) 

Under-recorded (Ed). BBS shows 50 per 10 km in ‘Urban’ areas, 23 on farmland. 

F 63 on grain spill by Avon S of Bo’ness 8 Sep (AS). 

S 15 pairs per sq Km on Doune CBC,14 in 1997; fledglings from 2 Jun (NB). 20 

Killin 14 Jun (PWS). 

TREE SPARROW Passer montanus (B,W) 

F 22 by R.Carron at Larbert 24 Feb & 15 on 12 Apr (MA). 2 Dunmore 10 May & 6 

S.Alloa 1 Nov (SH MVB). 

C 6 Gartmorn 7 Mar (DAC). 30 + 18 Menstrie 31 Dec (BRT). 

S 60 Lecropt 7 & 18 Jan (MVB). 13 Drip Carse 15 Mar & 20 Thornhill Carse 7 Nov 

(NB DAC). 

CHAFFINCH Fringilla coelebs (B,W) 

BBS shows 150 per 10 km in conifers, 65 on farmland & 31 in ‘Urban’ squares. 

F 50 Kinneil 25 Jan (AB). 

C 11 AoT on lower Devon in May, 13 in 1997 (CJH). 

S 32 pairs per sq Km on Doune CBC, 28 in 1996 (NB). 2000 Kinbuck 1 Jan & 3000 

on 25th; 1350 on 28 Nov & 2300 on 6 Dec. 2500 Doune (stubble) & 250 W of 

Buchlvie 26 Jan, 200 Braes of Doune 13 Feb & 700 Thornhill on 17th; Song at 

BoA on 12 Jan (AT) but still in flocks in April: 200 Callendar & 700 Lanrick on 

11th, 150 Kinbuck on 19th (MVB CJH DJC DOE NB WRB). 

BRAMBLING Fringilla montifringilla (W) 

Very scarce late winter and autumn 

F 20 Kinbuck 30 Jan (MVB). 2M Larbert 30 Mar & 1 on 12 Apr (MA). M Skinflats 

22-23 Apr (AB BDA). 

S M Balquhidder 20 Jan & at Stirling 16 Apr. 1 -> SW Kippen Muir 25 Oct, 1 

Ashfield on 6 Nov; in December 1 Carronbridge & Braes of Doune but 31 under 

beeches at Balquhidder on 2nd (DJC RJ DT WRB BDA DOE). 

GREENFINCH Carduelis chloris (B,W) 

Underrecorded. BBS shows 47 per 10 km in ‘Urban’ squares, 6 in farmland & 3 

in conifers. 

F Max 8 at feeder Bo’ness Jan-May & Oct-Dec (AS). 

S 4 pairs per sq Km on Doune CBC, 1st Juv on 30 Jun (NB). 100 Lecropt 2 Jan 

(MVB). 

GOLDFINCH Carduelis carduelis (B,W) 

BBS shows 2 per 10 km in farmland and 2 in ‘Urban” squares. 

F 27 Bo’ness 4 Feb (AS). 20 Skinflats 4 Sep (AB). 50 Lathallan 10 Jan; 66 by Union 

Canal Polmont 6 Sep & 25 Nov (JW MA). 

C 4 AoT on Devon WBS, as 1997 (CJH). 21 Menstrie 6 Dec (BRT). 

S 2 pairs per sq Km on Doune CBC, as 1997 (NB). 30 Cambusmore 28 Feb & 36 on 

8 Mar (DJC). 45 at 2 sites Kinbuck 6-7 Oct (AT), record flock of 300 on 31 Dec 

(MVB). 

SISKIN Carduelis spinus (B,W) 

BBS shows 53 per 10 km in conifers, 2 on farmland. 

In gardens at Bo’ness, Grangemouth & Stirling until late Apr or early May (AS 

GO RJ). 

F 2 Skinflats 20 Jun was unusual date (GO). 

C 75 in alders, R.Devon at Alva 5 Jan (CJH). 

S 250 in alders L.Chon 28 Dec (RAB).


LINNET Carduelis cannabina (B,W) 

BBS shows 4 per 10 km on moorland, 3 on farmland & 13 in ‘Urban’. 

F 70 Skinflats 30 Apr (AB). Kinneil:150 on 8 Mar & 355 on 31st; 200 on 18 Oct, 1500 

on 6 Dec down to 400 on 28th (DT CJH). 134 Drumbowie 7 Jan (NB). 100 

Camelon 30 Jan, 65 Larbert 3 Apr (MA). 

C 100 Alva 14 Apr (CJH). 300 Cambus 26 Sep (DMB). 

S 2 AoT on Doune CBC, 3 in 1997. 550 Lecropt 2 Jan, 60 Drip Carse 15 Mar. 600 

Kinbuck 20 Sep, 100 Doune 2 Nov & 100 Braes of Doune on 15th (NB MVB 

DOE). 

TWITE Carduelis flavirostris (b,W) 

F 5 Kincardine Bridge 22 Feb & 30 Kinneil 1 Nov (DMB). 

C 1 Glendevon Res 16 Jun (DMB). 

S Spring/summer reports from Inverlochlarig, Monachyle, Glen Finglas (14), 

L.Voil (DT DOE MA DJC). 40 Kinbuck 1 Jan & 15 on 19 Apr; 30 on 31 Oct to 400 

on 31 Dec (MVB WRB). 40 G.Finglas 24 Mar (DJC). 30 Ben Dubhcraig 10 Oct 

(J.Gordon). 

REDPOLL Carduelis flammea (B,W) 

BBS shows 4 per 10 Km in conifers. 

F 8 Wallacebank Wood 26 Jan (AS).). 

S Spring/summer records from L.Dochart, Braes of Doune (PWS WRB). 36 

L.Katrine 28 Dec (DAC). 

COMMON CROSSBILL Loxia curvirostra (b,W) 

BBS shows 5 per 10 km in conifers 

F 5 (4M) Howierigg woods 3 May (MA). 

S Widespread L.Ard Forest, G.Dubh to Invertrossachs, Apr-Jul & Nov-Dec, max 8 

on 2 Apr (DOE PM CJH). 4 Inverlochlarig 1 Jul; 3 Carron Bridge 30 Nov (DT). 

Pair Buchlyvie 13 Apr (DAC). 6 Torrie Forest 4 Dec (CJH). 

COMMON ROSEFINCH Carpodacus erythrinus 

S An adult male singing at Balquhidder 2 & 17 Jun, possibly for two weeks 

previously (DOE). Possibly the same bird as 1997, Ed. 

BULLFINCH Pyrrhula pyrrhula (B,W) 

BBS shows 4 per 10 km in conifers, 1 on farmland & 2 in ‘Urban’. 

Widespread in groups less than ten. 

F 21 Blackness 10 Jan (DAC). 

C 8 Tillicoultry 28 Mar (DAC). 

S 30 G.Ogle 7 Feb. In spring at Stirling fed on buds of Amelanchier, Hypericum 

(RJ). 8 Doune 4 Apr (DAC). 12 Killin 3 Nov (PWS). 14 L.Doine 28 Nov (DJC). 

SNOW BUNTING Plectrophenax nivalis (W) 

C 17 Mill Glen (Tillicoultry) 28 Jan (AT). 3 Dumyat 15 Mar (P.Hancock). 

S Stuc a Chroin: 3 on 25 Jan & 5 on 29th, 2 Prs & M at 3 sites on 19 Mar; 12 on 2 

Dec (DJC). A few G.Ogle, Balquhidder, Gargunnocks Feb & Nov; 2 Uamh Beg 

13 Apr were late (DOE). 

YELLOWHAMMER Emberiza citrinella (B,W) 

BBS shows 7 per 10 km on farmland & 5 ‘Urban’. 

F 16 Skinflats 12 Jan (GO). 16 Higgins Neuk 1 Feb & 50 on 22nd (DSF DMB). 

C 10 AoT in 5 km on lower Devon, 9 in 1997 (CJH). 30 Gartmorn 16 Dec (PMA). 35 

Menstrie 31 Dec (BRT). 

S 11 AoT per sq Km on Doune CBC, 10 in 1997, 1st Juv 8 Jun (NB). 60 

Blairdrummond Carse 2 Jan, 35 Cambuskenneth 23 Jan. 30 Lecropt 18 Jan & 27 

on 1 Mar (MVB RC AT). 40 Argaty (Braes of Doune) 13 Feb. 8 Prs Flanders Moss 

19 Jun (DOE).


REED BUNTING Emberiza schoeniclus (B,W) 

BBS shows 1 per 10 km in farmland, 2 in ‘Urban’ & 2 on Moorland. 

C 10 AoT on Devon WBS, as in 1997. 5 singing Ms Blackdevonmouth Marshes 

19 Jul (CJH). 30 Menstrie 1 Feb (AD). 

S 2 AoT on Doune CBC, (NB). 21 Cambuskenneth 23 Jan (AT). 13 L.Katrine 18 Feb 

(NB). 

CORN BUNTING Emberiza calandra 

No records. 

Escaped Species 

BLACK SWAN Cygnus atratus 

C 1 Cambus 10 Apr (WRB). 

MANDARIN DUCK Aix galericulata 

S F/Juv at Airthrey 25 Jul, 28 Aug & 22 Sep (GO DMB). DMB notes that only 

details of head patttern allows distinction from F Wood Duck. 

RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE Alectoris rufa 

S 15 Callendar 10 Feb (DJC). Reports around Dunblane, max 40+20 Kinbuck 

7 Nov (DAC). 

BLACK-THROATED TIT Aegithalos concinnus 

F 1 Polmont 10 Nov; with other tits in garden, a distinctive Himalayan species, 

generally grey with rusty crown, black cheeks and bib separated by white, red 

flanks (JW).


CARSE: RECORDING THE NATURAL HERITAGE OF CENTRAL 

SCOTLAND 

Lesley Brown 

In the 1960’s and early 1970’s the effects of human activities on the 

environment were becoming evident to both scientists and the public alike. 

Once common plant and animal species were becoming noticeably rarer. This 

realisation along with books such as Rachael Carson’s The Silent Spring, sparked 

the public awareness of the steady decrease in, what is now called, Biodiversity 

and a renewed interest in the environment in general and environmental 

recording in particular. 

The biological recording movement in Scotland started to gel in the mid- 

1970’s prompted by both professional scientists and amateur naturalists, and 

eventually leading to the formation of the umbrella organisation Biological 

Recording in Scotland (BRISC). The creation of a dedicated Local Biological 

Record Centre (LRC) covering Clackmannan, Falkirk and Stirling had been 

evolving since the late 1970’s and three years ago this LRC was called Central 

Area Recording System for the Environment, CARSE for short. CARSE is now 

a limited company and registered charity which operates a computerised 

database for recording all wildlife found in Central Scotland, i.e. – Stirling, 

Clackmannan and Falkirk Council areas, and is based in the Smith Museum in 

Stirling. 

CARSE recently received a grant from the National Lottery Charities Board 

which has allowed us to employ a full-time Wildlife Records Officer on a threeyear 

contract. The new Wildlife Records Officer, Lesley Brown, had previously 

worked with Biological Record Centres in Ayrshire and Renfrewshire. The 

grant has also enabled CARSE to become a more professional operation with 

new telephone and fax lines, an answering machine and a new computer. This 

should enable us to produce more and better reports and newsletters (1) and 

allow Email distribution to online members. It should also facilitate more 

efficient processing of records and the future use of Geographical Information 

Systems for map based referencing. 

CARSE is involved with the local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs) of 

Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannan Councils. LBAPs are part of the 

implementation of the Rio Earth Summit Agreements and identify locally 

important Biodiversity and endangered species and habitats. We exchange 

information with statutory bodies, e.g. Scottish Natural Heritage, voluntary 

bodies, e.g. Scottish Wildlife Trust, Amateur Entomologists’ Society and 

Butterfly Conservation, and with Ranger Services and other Local Biological 

Record Centres. We also support both local and nationally run environmental 

surveys. 

In Spring 1999 CARSE launched a Wetland Wildflower Survey highlighting 

the species Cuckoo Flower, Ragged Robin and Yellow Flag Iris and their

44 Lesley Brown 

wetland environments. We will be periodically spotlighting specific species and 

habitats to raise public awareness. Suggestions for future surveys are 

welcomed. 

Cuckoo Flower Cardamine pratensis, also known as Lady’s Smock, has lilac or 

white cross-shaped flowers between April and June. It is common in damp 

grassy places, often along drainage lines, low lying road verges, playing fields 

and other grassy areas. Cuckoo Flower is an important food plant for the 

caterpillars of Orange Tip and Green-veined White Butterflies. We are also 

interested in records of any butterflies seen. Folklore says bringing the plant 

into a house invites lightning strike and that it can cure scurvy. 

Ragged Robin Lychnis flos-cuculi has very distinctive bright pink flowers 

with a raggedy, tattered appearance and is in bloom between May and August. 

This medium to tall plant is commonly seen in damp meadows and marshy 

places. It is often included in the seed mixes used for landscaping road verges 

and in wildlife gardens. 

Yellow Flag Iris Iris pseudacorus is the common wild iris seen in Scotland. Its 

distinctive yellow flowers are seen from May to July anywhere water 

accumulates. This iris, unlike escaped garden varieties, likes having its feet in 

water and is particularly common in swamps, marshes, ditches and along 

drainage lines, generally in large clumps. Folklore says it can be used for liver 

problems and to protect against airborne pestilence. 

In addition to running surveys, CARSE plans to organise training events 

open to anyone interested in learning about local natural history and biological 

recording. Subjects and dates are still to be arranged. Talks can also be arranged 

for interested groups. 

We welcome records for all species whether common or rare. All 

information is used to protect and enhance the natural environment following 

confidentiality guidelines. Records are particularly needed from less populated 

areas, so any records from walkers and climbers are especially welcomed. Also 

needed are bird, invertebrate and fungal records. 

Recording sheets and further information are available from Lesley Brown, 

Wildlife Records Officer, CARSE, c/o Smith Museum, Dumbarton Road, 

Stirling, FK8 2RQ, telephone 01786 446008, fax 01786 449160. 

(1) Bark and Bite is the newsletter and the fourth issue is Autumn 1999. The 

second AGM was held at the Smith on 24 August and followed by a 

presentation ‘Taking the Mystery out of Invertebrates’ by Craig McAdam 

of Amateur Entomologists’ Society. The 100,000th biological record has 

recently been added to the database.


WALLACEBANK WOOD WILDLIFE RESERVE – 1986/99 

Angus Smith 

The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) reserve at Wallacebank Wood, the location 

of the legendary gigantic hollow ‘Wallace Oak’ in which Sir William Wallace of 

Elderslie reputedly hid from the English soldiers after his defeat at the first 

Battle of Falkirk in July, 1298, has been well documented historically, but little 

or nothing has been written about its current status and the purpose of this 

article is to give an up-to-date account of what has happened to it in the last 

decade or so. 

Wallacebank Wood (OS Grid Ref NS 847 847) is an ancient semi-natural 

deciduous woodland, extending to 16 ha (39.5 acres) situated on the east side 

of the A9 (T) road approximately one mile north of its junction with the M876 

road in the Torwood area north of Larbert (Figure 1). 

The wood is on fairly level ground and its central part is a fine example of 

lowland oak wood with relatively few non-native species. The predominant 

tree species is Oak (Quercus) of fairly even age; between 180 and 200 years. The 

non-native species, Beech (Fagus sylvatica), Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), 

Larch (Larix decidua), Norway Spruce (Picea abies) and Scots Pine (Pinus 

sylvestris) are in distinct groups or scattered throughout the wood and were 

probably planted in the 1830’s. 

Glenbervie Golf Club are the owners of Wallacebank Wood and on 1st May, 

1986 (at the instigation of Mr Forbes Howie who was then the Chairman of the 

SWT Falkirk Group and a director of the Golf Club) they entered into a 25-year 

agreement with the SWT to manage the wood as a Wildlife Reserve. At that 

time large areas of the wood were infested with Rhododendron species 

(Rhododendron ponticum), probably planted by a former estate owner some 70 or 

80 years ago as cover for game. This was growing in thickly tangled areas 

extending in clumps up to 6 metres high by some 50 metres in diameter 

inhibiting natural regeneration of other species. 

Members of Falkirk SWT group started work clearing the rhododendron 

and cutting out beech saplings in October 1986 and by 1997, with some 

assistance with locally based SWT Environment Teams over a two-year period, 

the rhododendron had been cleared and burned on site. It was found that by 

raking up and burning the leaf litter from the areas coved by the 

rhododendron regeneration of other species occurred within two or three 

years, while regeneration took considerably longer in areas not cleared of litter. 

Initially the stumps were treated with glyhposate when they were cut, but this 

was not totally effective in preventing regrowth and stools which are sprouting 

new leaves are being uprooted with the aid of a winch. Rhododendron 

seedlings germinating in the cleared areas are being removed as they appear.

46 Angus Smith 

Figure 1 Wallacebank Wood.

Wallacebank Wood 47 

Before work on the removal of the rhododendron started it appeared that 

all of the oak trees had been planted about the same time, but as clearing 

progressed it became obvious that a majority of the oaks in the north section of 

the wood had been coppiced. The stools of the original trees were some six 

metres in circumference (Figure 2) indicating an age in the region of 500 to 800 

years – adding to the probability that “a hollow tree of gigantic proportions“ 

did exist in the time of Wallace. 

Shrubs in the reserve include Holly (Ilex aquifolium), Bird Cherry (Prunus 

padus), Elder (Sambuycus nigra), Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), and Hazel 

(Coryllus avellana), all of which are well scattered throughout. Guelder Rose 

(Viburnum opulus) is found at the edge of the wood in one or two places. Yellow 

Flag (Iris pseudacorus), and Golden Saxifrage (Chrysoplenium alternifolium) grow 

in a damp area at the west side of the north section of the reserve, where old 

drains appear to have collapsed or have been clogged up by the passage of 

time. Wood Millet (Milium effusum), which is considered rare in the Falkirk area, 

is abundant throughout the wood. 

In spring and early simmer the reserves’ display of flowering plants is 

impressive, with Primrose (Primula vulgaris) found growing on the banks of the 

stream at the south end of the wood, Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria), 

Wood Anemone (Anemone nemorosa), Wood-sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) and 

Bluebell or Wild Hyacinth (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) in particular carpeting the 

ground. Dog’s Mercury (Mercurialis perennis) and Wood Sage (Teucrium 

scorodonia) are abundant in various parts of the wood, as are Honeysuckle 

Figure 2 (Angus Smith)


(Lonicera periclymenum) and Bramble (Rubus fruticosus agg). Greater Stitchwort 

(Stellaria holostea) is common throughout while Bugle (Ajuga reptans) and Wild 

Rose (Rosa) are less frequent. Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) was one of the first 

plants to appear after clearance of the Rhododendron and it is now 

widespread. (A full plant list, the names of which have been checked against 

The New Consise British Flora, 1982, W. Keeble Martin, and Collins Guide to 

the Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of Britain and Northern Europe, 1987, 

Richard Fitter and Alastair Fitter, is given in the Appendix. 

Oak seedlings suffer from grazing by Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and 

Roe Deer (Capreolus capreolus), but where there is open canopy selected 

seedlings are being protected by tree shelters or ‘Tuley Tubes’. Acorns are 

collected and grown on by members of the local Group for subsequent planting 

in areas where fallen limbs of the older beech trees create openings in the 

canopy. Other native tree species, Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) and Gean (Prunus 

avium) are also being planted in these areas to create a natural mix. This 

management regime will continue to create a varying age structure. 

Rabbits in the reserve can be a problem on the golf course, but from time to 

time the population is decimated by recurring myxomatosis. Sightings of 

Weasel (Mustela invalis), Wood Mouse (Mus sylvaticus), Mole (Talpa europea), 

Hedgehog (Erinaceus eropaeus) have been reported and Stoats (Mustela erminea) 

are seen regularly, particularly in winter when they are in ermine. Badger 

(Meles meles) are not resident but, on one occasion during the summer of 1996 

clear evidence of badgers visiting and digging up the nests of Bumble Bees 

(Bombus sp.) was found. Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) occasionally den in the north 

section of the reserve where Roe Deer and Brown Hare (Lepus capensis) are 

regularly found. Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is abundant throughout. A 

report by the Golfcourse Manager in November 1998, of the presence of Mink 

(Mustela lutreola) gives grounds for some concern. It is a distinct possibility that 

the Mink may have been following and feeding upon Salmon (Salmo salar) Sea 

Trout or the conspecific Brown Trout (S. trutta) spawning in the small streams 

crossing the golf course, which eventually flow via the Pow Burn into the River 

Forth. It is to be hoped this animal’s visit was, indeed, just a visit and it does 

not take up residence in the reserve. 

Reported sightings of birds include Blackbird (Turdus merula), Dunnock 

(Prunella modularis), Jay (Garulus glandarius), Magpie (Pica pica), Woodcock 

(Scolopax rusticola), Goldcrest (Regulus regulus), Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos), 

Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus), Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata), 

Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus), Yellowhanmer 

(Enberiza citrinella), Pied Wagtail (Motacilla yarrellii), Grey Wagtail (Motacilla 

flava), Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus), Siskin (Carduelis), Redpoll (Carduelis 

flammea), and Swift (Apus apus) – flying over. Green Woodpecker (Picus Viridis) 

is seen regularly on the golf course and Barn Owl (Tyto Alba) hunts over fields 

on the east side of the wood. Buzzards (Buteo buteo) are also seen more 

frequently over the northern section of the reserve and Sparrowhawk (Accipiter 

nisus) can be expected at any time.

Wallacebank Wood 49 

Breeding birds include Rook (Corvus feugilegus), with a rookery of upwards 

of 150 nests, Chaffinch (Fringilla coelaba), Robin (Erithacus rubecula), Blue Tit 

(Parus caeruleus), Coal Tit (Parus ater), Great Tit (Parus major), Tree Creeper 

(Carthia familiaris), Wren (Troglodytes trogloytes), all in fairly large numbers while 

Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) and Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) have their own distinct 

nesting sites. 

Lepidoptera were recorded by Dr C. W. N. Holmes, a member of the local 

group during 1987. The species then recorded includes only two species of 

Butterflies, Green-veined White (Pieris napi) and Meadow Brown (Maniola 

jurtina). During August, 1997, however, the author found Purple Hairstreak 

butterflies (Quercusia guercus) to be well established in several colonies 

throughout the reserve. 

During monthly visits to the Reserve between November, 1986 and October, 

1987, Miss S. I. Baldwin, Natural History Dept. Royal Museums of Scotland, 

recorded the Spiders found on the reserve. Seventy-seven species were 

recorded including one new to Scotland (Cicurina cicur) and eight others new 

to Stirlingshire (VC 86). This was fully reported in The Glasgow Naturalist (1991). 

Access to the reserve, which is surrounded on two sides by Glenbervie Golf 

Course, must of necessity be controlled. The route into the reserve entails a 

walk of 500 metres and the directions given on the attached large scale map 

(Figure 3 ) must be closely adhered to. Care should be taken not to disturb 

golfers playing on the course. Dogs are prohibited. Parking is available for SWT 

members and visitors at the east side of the main Golf Club Car Park. 

In July, 1999, the Scottish Wildlife Trust published a Reserve Leaflet for Wallacebank 

Wood, which can be obtained free of charge from the author or the Professional’s Shop at 

Glenbervie Golf Course. 

References, Notes: 

Baldwin S. I. 1991. Spiders from Wallacebank Wood, Glasgow Naturalist 22 Part 1. 

Bates M. A., Arnott D. A. and Nugent E. 1994. Vegetation Survey of Falkirk District 

(North); Phase 1 Habitat Survey/Mational Vegitation Classification of seminatural 

woodland/Urban wildlife assessment/Mire assessment Final Draft of report to 

Scottish Natural Heritage from Green Associates, Contract No. 94/5. 

Richard Fitter and Riahard Manuel, 1986. Collins Field Guide to Freshwater Life, 25 (304). 

Richard Fitter and Alastair Fitter, 1987. Collins Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns 

of Britain and Northern Europe. 

Colin D. I. G. Forrester. 1998. The Wallace Oak, Torwood and Roy’s Military Survey, 1998, 

Forth Naturalist and Historian 21, 63-70. Also papers ibid 22 in press. 

Colin D. I. G. Forrester. 1987. Finding the Site of the Wallace Oak in Torwood, The Scottish 

American S (3). 

Glenbervie Golf Club. Souvenir Booklet, Golden Jubilee 1932-1982. 26pp. 

W. Keeble Martin. 1982. The New Concise British Flora. 

Scottish Wildlife Trust, 1995. Wallacebank Wood Management Plan 1995/2000. 

ScottishWildlife Trust, 1999. Wallacebank Wood Reserve Leaflet.


Figure 3

Appendix 

SCOTTISH WILDLIFE TRUST FALKIRK GROUP 

Wildlife Reserve 

Plants recorded at Wallacebank Wood 1986/98 

TREES & SHRUBS 

Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus 

Alder Alnus glutinosa 

Silver Birch Betulan pendula 

Downy Birch Betula pubescens 

Hazel Corylus avellana 

Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna 

Beech Fagus sylvatica 

Ash Fraxinus excelsior 

Holly Ilex aquifolium 

Norway Spruce Picea abies 

Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris 

European Larch Larix decidua 

Aspen Populus tremula 

Gean Prunus avium 

Bird Cherry Prunus padus 

Blackthorn Prunus spinosa 

Elder Sambucus nigra 

Rowan Sorbus aucuparia 

Guelder Rose Viburnum opulus 

English Oak Quercus robur 

HERBS & GRASSES 

Yarrow Achillea millefolium 

Sneezewort Achillea ptarmica 

Ground-elder Ageopodium podagraria 

Velvet Bent Agrostis canina 

Common Bent Agrostis capillaris 

Bugle Ajuga reptans 

Wood Anemone Anemone nemorum 

Wild Angelica Angelica sylvestris 

Sweet Vernal Grass Anthoxanthum odoratum 

Cow Parsley Anthriscus sylvestris 

Tall Oat Arrhenatherum elatius 

Harebell Campanula rotundifolia 

Lesser Knapweed Centaurea nigra 

Common Mouse-ear Cerastium fontanum 

Rosebay Willowherb Chaemerion angustifolium 

Golden Saxifrage Chrysosplenium oppositifolium 

Creeping Thistle Cirsium arvense 

Wallacebank Wood 51


Marsh Thistle Cirsium palustre 

Climbing Fumitory Corydalis claviculata 

Cocksfoot Dactylis glomerata 

Tufted Hair-grass Deschampsia cespitosa 

Wavy Hair-grass Deschampsia flexuosa 

Foxglove Digitalis purpurea 

Wild Hyacinth Hyacinthoides non-scripta 

Broad-leaved Willowherb Epilobium montanum 

Wood Horsetail Equisetum sylvaticum 

Large Hemp-nettle Galeopsis speciosa 

Common Hemp-nettle Galeopsis tetrahit 

Goosegrass Galium aparine 

Heath Bedstraw Galium saxatile 

Ground Ivy Glechoma hederacea 

Hogweed Heracleum sphondyllum 

Yorkshire Fog Holcus lanatus 

Creeping soft-grass Holcus mollis 

Slender St. John’s Wort Hypericum pulchrum 

Common Catsear Hypochaeris radicata 

Yellow Flag Iris pseudacorus 

Soft Rush Juncus effusus 

Nipplewort Lapsana communis 

Meadow Vetchling Lathyrus pratensis 

Honeysuckle Lonicera periclyymenum 

Birdsfoot-trefoil Lotus corniculatus 

Greater Birdsfoot-trefoil Lotus uliginosus 

Heath Woodrush Luzula multiflora 

Hairy Woodrush Luzula pilosa 

Greater Woodrush Luzula sylvatica 

Common Cow-wheat Melampyrum pratense 

Dog’s Mercury Mercurialis perennis 

Wood Millet Milium effusum 

Wood Sorrel Oxalis acetosella 

Reed-grass Phalaris arundinace 

Timothy-grass Phleum pratense 

Tormentil Potentilla erecta 

Primrose Primula vulgaris 

Meadow Buttercup Ranunculus acris 

Creeping Buttercup Ranunculus repens 

Downy Rose Rosa mollis 

Bramble Rubus fruticosus agg. 

Raspberry Rubus idaeus 

Common Sorrel Rumex acetosa 

Sheep’s Sorrel Rumex acetosella 

Broad Dock Rumex obtusifolius 

Knotted Figwort Scrophularia nodosa 

Ragwort Senecio jacobaea

Hedge Woundwort Stachys sylvatica 

Lesser Stichwort Stellaria graminea 

Greater Stichwort Stellaria holostea 

Common Chickweed Stellaria media 

Devil’s bit Scabious Succisa pratensis 

Tuberous Comfrey Symphytum tuberosum 

Wood Sage Teucrium scorodonium 

White Clover Trifolium repens 

Stinging Nettle Urtica dioica 

Common Valerian Valeriana officinalis 

Germander Speedwell Veronica chamaedrys 

Heath Speedwell Veronica officinalis 

Tufted Vetch Vicia cracca 

FERNS 

Lady Fern Athyrium filix-femina 

Broad Buckler Fern Dryopteris dilatata 

Male Fern Dryopteris filix-mas 

Bracken Pteridium aquilinum 

Wallacebank Wood 53


BOOK REVIEWS 

Species History in Scotland. Introductions and Extinctions since the last Ice 

Age. Robert A. Lambert (ed), Scottish Cultural Press, 1998, 160pp. ISBN 

1-84017-011-5. £14.95. 

This fascinating review of the fortunes and misfortunes of various plants 

and animals in Scotland gives a clear insight into the impact of human societies 

over the last ten thousand years. Roy Dennis sets the scene with an appeal for 

greater tolerance for the reintroduction of some of Scotland’s vanished animals 

and birds, notably the European beaver. The book then delves into the ancient 

past, examining the former distributions of woolly mammoth, aurochs (wild 

cattle), lynx and the like, from caves and other archaeological sites. 

The more recent past is better recorded in the literature, and there are some 

extraordinary accounts of the intrepid hunters of great auks throughout the 

North Atlantic and up until very recently, of basking sharks off the Scottish 

west coast. These chapters reveal the excesses of our past greed and lack of 

concern, which unfortunately remain a problem for modern ecosystems and 

species. 

As a contrast, the final chapter reminds us of some of the problems of 

species introductions, focusing on the severe impact of red deer and other 

species on the native fauna and flora of New Zealand. There are literally 

hundreds of references in these chapters to enable the enthusiast to follow up 

both the errors of the past and the problems facing our current flora and fauna. 

W. R. Brackenridge 

Glasgow Naturalist. 23 (4) 1999. 

Loch Lomondside depicted and described, 2. Early maps and map makers. 

John Mitchell pp.2-8. 

Scottish Insect Records for 1997. E. G. Hancock. pp.55-58. 

Extension of the Ringlet butterfly’s distribution in southern Lomondside. 

John Mitchell. p69.


THE ODONATA (DRAGONFLIES) OF THE FORTH AREA 

E. M. and R. W. J. Smith 

In 1905 William Evans, FRSE, read a paper with the above title to the Royal 

Physical Society of Edinburgh (Evans 1904-6). His account of the status of the 

various species 100 years ago makes an interesting comparison with present 

day knowledge. He recorded 11 species of dragonflies in ‘Forth’, all still 

present, with one recent addition. 

William Evans, 1851-1922, was an enthusiastic field naturalist with a 

thorough knowledge of systematic botany and zoology. His work on local 

natural history spanned species from mammals to protozoa, and from 

flowering plants to fungi. He described several species new to science besides 

adding many to the British, and particularly to the Scottish, lists. Evans 

published over 100 papers on every aspect of Natural History. He was elected 

a Fellow of the Royal Physical Society in 1880 and a Fellow of the Royal Society 

of Edinburgh in 1884. In 1906 his Presidential Address to the Royal Physical 

Society was on “Our Present Knowledge of the Fauna of the Forth Area”. 

Calopteryx virgo: The Beautiful Demoiselle, a magnificent blue-winged 

damselfly of running waters, was recorded by Evans in 1896 and 1905 in the 

vicinity of Aberfoyle but not elsewhere in ‘Forth’. There have been recent 

sightings in the same area and the distribution of this species appears to have 

changed very little. This is a damselfly that could well repay more study into 

its present breeding sites in the Aberfoyle district. Evans quotes Stewart (1809) 

that C. virgo occurred in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh during that period 

and that, in 1841, it was included in a list of insects in the parish of Dollar, in 

the New Statistical Account. It would appear that C. virgo was much more 

widespread 200 years ago than at present. 

Lestes sponsa: The Emerald Damselfly occurs throughout ‘Forth’ in good 

numbers. Curiously the only record Evans personally had of this species in 

‘Forth’ was of one in the Callander area although “… it is common … (at) 

Dalmally …” Evans collected Ischnura elegans at Aberlady between July and 9 

August 1898 but did not record L. sponsa which is a late summer species. It is 

now extremely common there and would be difficult to miss. This species is 

now so widespread and numerous in ‘Forth’ that it is tempting to suggest that 

it has increased and spread greatly in the area in the last 100 years. 

Pyrrhosoma nymphula: Evans gives the Large Red Damselfly as “… widely 

distributed throughout the area and is still locally common.” He correctly 

describes its habitat as “ … the margins of peat pools, ponds and ditches … 

(etc).” The status of this species (the only red damselfly in Scotland) seems still 

to be the same – common except on the eastern coastal sandy areas. 

Ischnura elegans: The Blue-tailed Damselfly was “ … widely distributed and 

common locally” 100 years ago. This is still true today of this small, rather

56 E. M. & R. W. J. Smith 

delicate-looking species. It is most plentiful in the thicker vegetation bordering 

ponds or by slow-flowing ditches and avoids the more open moorland or pools 

at higher altitudes. There was one year when, at Milkhall Pond SWT reserve in 

Midlothian, it was plentiful. After the following particularly hard winter the 

numbers at this reservoir, which is 260 metres above sea level, had noticeably 

decreased suggesting that its larvae may be susceptible to cold winters. 

Enallagma cyathigerum: The Common Blue Damselfly is widespread and is 

our most plentiful damselfly. It prefers open water with floating vegetation 

such as pond-weeds for egg-laying, which it does under-water. It ranges from 

high-altitude waters to those at sea-level and can tolerate a fair degree of 

pollution. Its status has not changed since Evans’ day. There are four different 

species of look-alike ‘blue-black’ damselflies in Scotland. Enallagma can be 

separated from the others as it has only one short black line at the side of the 

thorax. The other three are Coenagrion spp and have two short black lines on 

the side of the thorax. Only one of these, C. puella, occurs in ‘Forth’. 

Coenagrion puella: The Azure Damselfly is “ … common in the greater part of 

England … (but) appears to be a rare insect in Scotland” (Evans, 1904-6). His 

only record in ‘Forth’ was on 22 June 1886 at the Bush, near Roslin in 

Midlothian. In the 1970s one, a female, was caught on the Union Canal, 

Edinburgh and identified at the Royal Scottish Museum and described as a 

‘rarity’. However, in the following year, many dozens were present on the 

canal and, subsequently, it has been shown to be quite widespread in Fife, the 

Lothians and south Scotland, perhaps preferring waters with much greater 

plant cover than those frequented by E. cyathigerum. There has obviously been 

a steady movement north of this species particularly during the last 50 years. It 

is now recorded over much of ‘Forth’, spreading to Lochan Eabarach, 

Aberfoyle (John Mitchell, pers. comm.) and north to the head of Loch Lubnaig, 

Strathyre (Bayne 1985). 

Aeshna juncea: The Common Hawker was the commonest of the larger 

dragonflies in ‘Forth’ in Evans’ day and it remains so today. It is widespread, 

breeding in acidic and neutral ponds but not, usually, in the more alkaline 

pools of sandy shore-lines (although we have recorded this species breeding in 

the Culbin Forest). There has been no major noticeable change in distribution 

over the past 100 years. 

Cordulegaster boltonii: The Golden-ringed Dragonfly has a strikingly 

coloured abdomen with black and gold rings. It is our largest dragonfly and is 

characteristically seen flying low over running water, usually hill streams. 

Evans noted it as locally common in such areas in Upper Forth and the 

Trossachs area but he did not record it in the lower Forth area. The distribution 

today is virtually the same. 

Somatochlora arctica: The Northern Emerald is one of our more elusive 

dragonflies being restricted to forest bogs where it egg-lays in very shallow 

Sphagnum-covered bog-pools. Evans had no record of this species in Forth and 

this was the situation until 23 July 1994 when both male and female were seen

Dragonflies of the Forth Area 57 

at a bog in Loch Ard Forest near Aberfoyle (Knowler and Mitchell 1994). It was 

proved to be breeding in 1998 when one was found emerging (Professor J. 

Knowler, pers. comm.) This was a considerable extension south of the known 

range of S. arctica in Scotland although breeding has subsequently been proved 

much further to the south in Kintyre. Drainage for afforestation and 

agriculture has probably damaged much habitat leading to fragmentation of 

suitable breeding areas. 

Libellula quadrimaculata: The Four-spot Chaser. Although Duncan (1840) 

wrote that this species occurred at Duddingston Loch and the Pentland Hills, 

both in the Edinburgh area, Evans reported that it was seldom seen in that area 

in his time. His only relevant record was on 8 June 1895 when three were seen 

at a curling-pond near Drumshoreland, Linlithgow. In Upper Forth he stated 

that it was still locally common. The distribution has hardly changed over the 

last 100 years. In recent years the first Lothians breeding record was in 1998 

when Greg Fitchett recorded egg-laying at Craigton Quarry, near Winchburgh, 

West Lothian (pers. comm.) An area of disused quarry had recently been 

scraped then abandoned. It subsequently flooded and started to vegetate 

producing the typical niche favoured by L. quadrimaculata. Unfortunately it is 

now rapidly becoming overgrown by False Bulrush which will make it 

unsuitable for this species. This does suggest that only the lack of suitable 

shallow waters and appropriate short vegetation prevents this species from 

returning. 

Sympetrum striolatum: The Common Darter. Evans was familiar with 

Sympetrum nigrescens, the Highland Darter, in the west of Scotland. He 

collected a red dragonfly from the Callander area in the early 1870s but none 

were seen by him since then in that locality. The Highland Darter, confined to 

north-west Scotland, is very similar to, and is now considered as possibly a race 

of, the Common Darter which is widespread in England. Intermediate forms 

occur. Whether Evans’ Callander specimen most resembled S. nigrescens or 

S. striolatum is unknown. Of even greater interest was Evans’ discovery of 

S. striolatum, on 27 July 1901 beside a dry ditch at Luffness, East Lothian. About 

a fortnight earlier his wife had spotted a red dragonfly of similar size and 

appearance on the top of a tramcar in Morningside, Edinburgh. S. striolatum is 

well-known to be a migratory species. In the early 1970s Tommy Boyd 

discovered S. striolatum breeding at the Marl Loch, Aberlady, the first breeding 

record for this species in south-east Scotland. More recently it was found in Fife 

and in the last few years, at accelerating speed, this species has spread to many 

coastal localities eastwards as far as Coldingham Loch, north over much of Fife 

and at inland ponds throughout Mid and West Lothian and up into the 

Trossachs. 

Sympetrum danae: The Black Darter (formerly Sympetrum scoticum) is our 

smallest dragonfly – average length 32 mm. It flies in late summer and autumn. 

The mature male is unmistakeable being black with an Indian-club shaped 

abdomen and black legs. However females and immature males are yellow 

with black markings and look similar to female and immature males of

58 E. M. & R. W. J. Smith 

S. striolatum. This species is not uncommon throughout ‘Forth’ where the 

habitat is suitable. Acidic bog-pools in Lower and mid-Forth have strong 

populations. Evans reported that this species was common in Upper Forth but 

rare in the Edinburgh area. He himself recorded it in the Pentlands, Ochils, 

Lomonds and the Trossachs. Distribution today is little changed with perhaps 

an extension of range into a few suitable ponds in our towns. 

Migrant dragonflies. The only confirmed record of a migrant dragonfly in 

‘Forth’ is of two Red-veined Darters Sympetrum fonscolombii on the Isle of May 

on 17 August 1911, one of which was caught by W. Evans (Eggeling, 1956). This 

occurred during a major invasion of this species from Europe that year. In 1995 

there was another large-scale influx into Southern England mainly involving 

the Yellow-winged Darter Sympetrum flaveolum. (Silsby and Ward-Smith, 1997). 

There was a further invasion in 1996 of many species including 4000 

S. striolatum at Dungeness, Kent (Parr, 1997). This co-incided with a widespread 

increase and inland spread of S. striolatum in South Scotland. 

One has to be aware of the possibility of assisted passage. One notable 

example was of the Emperor Dragonflies Anax imperator that emerged from a 

garden pond in Edinburgh. These would certainly have been accidentally 

introduced as eggs in aquatic plants from the south of England put into the 

pond two years previously (Smith, 1995). An unusual dragonfly in Fife flying 

out of a covered lorry just arrived from England and a Golden-ringed 

Dragonfly flying out of a railway tunnel in Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh 

are other examples. 

In 1996 the Atlas of the Dragonflies of Britain and Ireland (Merritt et al., 1996) 

was published. This was the culmination of many years of dragonfly recording 

organised by the Biological Recording Centre, Monks Wood. This recording 

scheme and its successors have greatly encouraged interest in these insects 

providing detailed knowledge of distribution and habitat. Dragonfly recording 

is still going on and, since the publication of the Atlas, has resulted in 

innumerable new 10 km sq records, particularly in Scotland, still a very much 

under-recorded country. On behalf of Monks Wood and the British Dragonfly 

Society we would like to thank the many enthusiasts who have contributed 

records to the scheme. A thorough knowledge of distribution is a prerequisite 

of conservation. Further records should be sent to the Scottish Recorder for the 

Odonata Recording Scheme, Mrs E. M. Smith, 33 Hunter Terrace, Loanhead, 

Midlothian EH20 9SJ. 

During the last 100 years the loss of ponds has continued mainly due to 

agricultural changes. However there has been a recent upsurge of interest in 

the creation of new ponds which has helped to restore numbers of the 

common odonata. Some species have increased in range, notably S. striolatum, 

L. sponsa and C. puella. Global warming may perhaps bring new species into 

‘Forth’. Aeshna grandis and Aeshna cyanea are possibilities.

Figure 1. Sympetrum striolatum (Common Darter). 

Dragonflies of the Forth Area 59 

References 

Bayne, D. M. (1985). New records for the Azure Damselfly. The Glasgow Naturalist, 21,107. 

Duncan, J. (1840). Entomology, volume 1, National Library, volume XXXIV. 

Eggeling, W. J. (1956). Dragonflies recorded from the Isle of May. The Scottish Naturalist. 

68, 173. 

Evans, William (1904-6). The Odonata (Dragon-flies) of the Forth Area. Proceedings of the 

Royal Physical Society. XV1, 87-96. 

Knowler, J. T. and Mitchell, J. (1994) The Northern Emerald: an addition to the Forth 

Valley Dragonfly Fauna. Forth Naturalist and Historian 17, 54. 

Merritt, R., Moore, N. W. and Eversham, B. C. (1996). The Atlas of the Dragonflies of Britain 

and Ireland, HMSO. 

Parr, A. J. (1997). Migrant and dispersive dragonflies in Britain during 1996. Journal of the 

British Dragonfly Society 13 (2), 41-48. 

Silsby, J. and Ward-Smith, J. (1997). The influx of Sympetrum flaveolum (L.) during the 

summer of 1995. Journal of the British Dragonfly Society 13 (1), 14-22 

Smith, E.M. (1995). Anax imperator (Leach) in Edinburgh. Journal of the British Dragonfly 

Society 11 (1), 14-16.


Journals to Stirling University Library by FNH – these include exchanges, 

some by the secretary – Green Diaries of Stirling and of Falkirk – by Central 

Action: Local Agenda 21, environment, sustainable, development; Birds – 

journal of the RSPB; The Glasgow Naturalist; The Scottish Naturalist (at times 

titled The Western Naturalist); Scottish Wildlife – journal of the Scottish Wildlife 

Trust; Landscape Scotland Quarterly; Scottish Local History – the Scottish Local 

History Forum’s journal; The Forth Estuary Forum’s newsletter and reports; 

Revue de Terroir; Time; and the National Geographic magazine. 

Addresses: Authors and Reviewers 

G. Ballantyne, Branksome, 193 Nichol Street, Kirkcaldy, KY1 1PF. 

W. R. Brackenridge, 7 The Square, Ashfield, FK15 4JN. 

Leslie Brown, CARSE, Smith Museum, Dumbarton Road, Stirling, FK8 2RQ. 

L. Corbett, 30 Dunmar Drive, Alloa, FK10 2EH. 

D. Cowley, RCAHMS, 16 Bernard Terrace, Edinburgh, EH8 9NX. 

Maria Devaney, Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Stirling, FK8 2RQ. 

J. G. Harrison, 14a Abercromby Place, Stirling, FK8 1QP. 

S. J. Harrison, Environmental Science, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA. 

C. J. Henty, Psychology Department, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA. 

W. Inglis, Education Department, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA. 

Elspeth King, Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Stirling, FK8 2RQ. 

A. Smith, 9 Braehead Grove, Bo’ness, EH51 0EG. 

E. M. and R. W. J. Smith, 33 Hunter Terrace, Loanhead, EH20 9SJ. 

L. Stott, 10 Trossachs Road, Aberfoyle, FK8 3SW.


PLANTS IN FALKIRK DISTRICT: AN UPDATE 

W. R. Brackenridge 

The following list is an interim update of the list published in a previous 

edition of the FNH (Stewart, 1988), and it is based on data gathered during 

recent ‘Phase 2’ site surveys by Keith Watson in 1994 and 1997 for Scottish 

Natural Heritage. These were mostly Wildlife Sites which were felt to require 

detailed survey by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, also some raised bog sites. It also 

includes records from W. Brackenridge, from 1991 to 1995 (referred to by WB). 

A large number of additional species, listed alphabetically by scientific name, 

have been located in the district. The identifications follow Stace (1991). 

It should be noted that some of the places referred to may be subject to 

development (housing, etc.), however the diversity of species on recentlydisturbed, 

or derelict sites around industrial areas, is highly significant. 

Although the semi-natural woodlands, wetlands and the Forth estuary and its 

environs will perhaps receive priority, such species-rich sites are of 

considerable interest. These ‘new habitats’ may be included in the drawing up 

of Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs) by Falkirk Council, as with other 

local authorities. The survey by Watson was a review of Wildlife Sites and to 

recommend other potential sites, to aid planning policy. 

Many of the additional species are ‘exotic’ plants, which have escaped from 

gardens or parks, or have been dumped on roadsides and riverbanks. Some of 

these ‘aliens’, such as Giant Hogweed and Japanese Knotweed have spread 

considerably in the last decade and may now require control measures, whilst 

some native species of semi-natural (especially upland) habitats are declining 

because of the re-seeding of old pastures, afforestation and open-cast mining. 

Those records referring to the Jupiter Wildlife Garden do not include the 

species introduced there since 1992, however several unusual or rare plants 

had already become established (Brackenridge, 1996). 

The author would welcome further records of plants which are known to 

occur, which are missing from either Stewart’s paper or the undernoted lists. 

All records are from 1994-97 unless otherwise dated. 

Additional species 

(I denotes garden escapes or other naturalised plants) 

Agrostis gigantea (Black Bent) Rare : Carron Meander, West Mains Pond. 

Alchemilla vestita ssp. filicaulis (a Lady’s Mantle) : Rare : Braes Wood, 

Westquarter Glen. 

Alnus incana I (Grey Alder) : Rare: West Mains Pond (but now widely planted 

and suckering). 

Aruncus dioicus I (Buck’s-beard) : Rare : Polmont Park. 

Azolla filiculoides I (Water Fern) : Rare : Kinneil Estate (WB-1992).

62 W. R. Brackenridge 

Berberis vulgaris I (Barberry) : Rare : Polmont Woods. 

Botrychium lunaria (Moonwort) : Rare : California North (WB-1986). 

Bromopsis inermis I (Hungarian Brome) : Rare : Westquarter Burn. 

Buddleja davidii I (Butterfly-bush) : Rare – overlooked : Polmont Station. 

Carex dioica (Dioecious or Separate-headed Sedge) : Rare : Tak-ma-Doon Road. 

Carex muricata, ssp.lamprocarpa (Prickly Sedge) : Rare : Bo’ness foreshore; 

Jupiter WG (WB-1991). 

Centaurea montana I (Perennial Cornflower) : Rare : Maddiston. 

Chaenorhinum minus (Small Toadflax) : Rare : Craigbank Quarry (Avonbridge); 

Jupiter WG (WB-1992). 

Cotoneaster horizontalis I (Wall Cotoneaster) : Rare: Summerford. 

Cymbalaria muralis I (Ivy-leaved Toadflax) : Rare (overlooked?) : Cleuch 

Plantation. 

Daucus carota (Wild Carrot) : Rare : Bo’ness Foreshore. 

Eleocharis quinqueflora (Few-flowered Spike-rush) : Rare : Tak-ma-Doon Road, 

South Torwood. 

Epilobium roseum (Small-flowered Willowherb) : Rare : Cleuch Plantation. 

Euphorbia peplus (Petty Spurge) : Rare : Carriden Woods. 

Fuchsia magellanica I (Fuchsia) : Rare : Westquarter Burn. 

Geranium endressii I (French Cranesbill) : Rare : Rumford East. 

Hedera hibernica (Irish Ivy) : Local (overlooked): Carriden Woods, Hail Wood, 

Polmont Park. 

Hesperis matrionalis I (Dame’s Violet) : Local (overlooked?) : Wallacestone, 

Rumford East; Bonny Water at Bonnybridge (WB-1995). 

Hieracium grandidens (Glandulosa subsection) Hawkweed : Rare : Westquarter 

Burn. 

Hippophae rhamnoides I (Sea Buckthorn) : Rare : Bo’ness Foreshore. 

Knautia arvensis (Field Scabious) : Rare: South Polmont, Bo’ness Foreshore; by 

M9 east of Polmont (WB-1998). 

Leontodon hispidus (Rough Hawkbit) : Rare : Bo’ness Foreshore. 

Ligustrum ovalifolium I (Garden Privet) : Rare : Cleuch Plantation, Hallglen 

Haven. 

Linaria purpurea I (Purple Toadflax) : Rare: Craigbank Quarry (Avonbridge). 

Linaria repens I (Pale Toadfiax) : Rare : Jupiter WG (WB-1991). 

Lonicera pileata I (Box-leaved Honeysuckle) : Rare : Cleuch Plantation. 

Lysimachia nummularia I (Creeping Jenny) : Rare : Craigbank Quarry 

(Avonbridge). 

Malva moschata I (Musk Mallow) : Rare : Powburn Coast, Bo’ness Foreshore. 

Mentha x rotundifolia I (Apple Mint) : Rare : Wallacestone. 

Nasturtium x sterilis (Hybrid Watercress) : Rare (overlooked?) : West Mains 

Pond. 

Orobanche minor (Common Broomrape) : Rare : Jupiter WG (WB-1991). 

Ornithopus perpusillus (Common Birdsfoot) : Rare : Jupiter WG (WB-1991), 

Bonnyfield Quarry (Bonnybridge) (WB-1995). 

Philadelphus coronarium (x virginalis?) I (Mock Orange) : Rare : Westquarter 

Burn, Polmont Park. 

Plantago media (Hoary Plantain) : Rare : Bo’ness Foreshore.

Falkirk District Plants 63 

Poa subcaerulea (Spreading Meadow-grass) : Local : Braes Wood, Carriden 

Woods, Torwood Heath, Rashiehill Mire. 

Polygonum bistorta I (Bistort) : Rare : Polmont Woods (WB-1993). 

Polygonum lapathifolium (Pale Persicaria) : Rare (overlooked?) : Parkfoot Marsh. 

Populus x canescens I (Grey Poplar) : Rare : Carriden Woods. 

Potentilia reptans (Creeping Cinquefoil) : Local : Jupiter WG, Grangemouth 

Docks (WB-1991). 

Prunus lusitanica I (Portuguese Laurel) Rare : Carriden Woods, Polmont Park. 

Rhynchospora alba (White-beaked Sedge) : Rare : Sheilknowes. 

Ribes sanguineum I (Flowering Currant) : Rare: Craigbank Quarry, 

Wallacestone, Maddiston. 

Rosa caesia (Dog Rose – addition to R. canina group) : Rare: Summerford, 

Tippetcraig. 

Rumex longifolius (Northern Dock) Local: Shortrig, Milnquarter, California 

North, Craigbank Quarry (Avonbridge), Wallacestone, Bo’ness Foreshore, 

Parkfoot Marsh. 

Rumex x arnotti (Hybrid Dock) : Rare : Shortrig. 

Salix repens (Creeping Willow) : Rare: Shortrig, Jawhills, Greyrigg. 

Scirpus sylvaticus (Wood Club-rush) : Rare : Castlecary Glen. 

Scleranthus annuus (Annual Knawel) : Rare : Bonnyfield Quarry 

(Bonnybridge) (WB-1995). 

Sisymbrium orientale (Eastern Rocket) : Rare : South Polmont. 

Sorbus intermedia I (Swedish Whitebeam) : Rare : Wallacestone, Bo’ness 

Foreshore. 

Spiraea pseudosalicifolius I (Spiraea) : Rare : Hallglen Haven, Wallacestone, 

Seabegs Wood. 

Tritonia (Crocosmia) crocosmiflora I (Montbretia) : Rare-overlooked? : Black 

Loch, Hallglen Haven. 

Tropaeolum majus I (Garden Nasturtium) : Rare casual : Maddiston. 

Ulex minor I? (Western Gorse) : Rare: South Polmont. 

Verbascum nigrum I (Dark Mullein) : Rare : Bo’ness Foreshore. 

Veronica anagallis-aquatica (Blue Water Speedwell) : Rare : Kinneil Kerse (WB- 

1992). 

Vicia tetrasperma (Smooth Tare) : Rare : Jupiter WG (WB-1992). 

Other sites found for scarce species since Stewart, 1988 

Alchemilla xanthochlora (Pale Lady’s-mantle) : Rare : Westquarter Burn. 

Anthyllis vulneraria (Kidney Vetch) : Rare : Bo’ness Foreshore; Jupiter WG 

(WB-1991). 

Calamagrostis epigejos (Wood Small-reed) : Local : Bo’ness Foreshore; Jupiter 

WG (WB-1991). 

Callitriche platycarpa (Various-leaved Water-starwort) : Local: California Muir 

Calystegia sepium, ssp. pulchrum I (Hairy Bindweed) : Local : West Mains Pond. 

Cardamine amara (Large Bittercress) : Rare : Torwood Glen. 

Carex aquatilis : Rare: Wester Drum (tentative identification). 

Carex disticha (Brown Sedge) : Rare : Hall Wood.

64 W. R. Brackenridge 

Carex hirta (Hairy Sedge) : Local – overlooked : Hall Wood, High 

Bonnybridge, West Mains Pond, Westquarter Burn. 

Carex hostiana (Tawny Sedge) : Rare : Braes Wood 

Carex laevigata (Smooth-stalked Sedge) : Rare : Seabegs Wood. 

Carex pallescens (Pale Sedge) : Rare : Avonbank-Birkhill, Braes Wood. 

Carex pulicaris (Flea Sedge) : Rare : Loch Ellrig 

Centaurium erythraea (Common Centaury) : Rare: Summerford, Bo’ness 

Foreshore; also Jupiter WG, Grangemouth Docks, by M9 at Polmont (WB). 

Circaea x intermedia (Intermediate Enchanter’s Nightshade) : Rare : Castlecary 

Glen, Rumford East, Polmont Woods. 

Corydalis claviculata (White Climbing Fumitory/Corydalis) : Rare: Dales Wood. 

Echium vulgare (Viper’s Bugloss) : Local : Bo’ness Foreshore; Grangemouth 

Docks, Jupiter WG (WB-1991). 

Epipactis helleborine (Broad-leaved Helleborine) : Rare : Braes Wood, Limerigg 

Pools, Torwood Glen. 

Galeopsis speciosa (Large Hemp-nettle) : Local: Skipperton Glen. 

Galium uliginosum (Fen Bedstraw) : Rare: Tak-ma-Doon Road, South Torwood, 

Shortrig, Braes Wood. 

Geranium molle (Dove’s-foot Cranesbill) : Local : Polmont Station; 

Bonnybridge (WB-1995). 

Geranium lucidum (Shining Cranesbill) : Rare: Skinflats Wood. 

Geranium sylvaticum (Wood Cranesbill) : Rare : Westquarter Burn. 

Gymnocarpium dryopteris (Oak Fern) : Rare : Cleuch Plantation, Braes Wood. 

Hieracium brunneocroceum (Orange Hawkweed) : Local : HalIglen Haven, 

Rumford, Polmont Station, Jupiter WG (WB). 

Honkenya peploides (Sea Sandwort) : Rare: Carriden Woods (shoreline). 

Hypericum tetrapterum (Square-stemmed St. John’s-wort) : Rare : Polmont 

Woods. 

Isolepis setacea (Bristle Club-rush) : Local: South Torwood, Rough Castle, 

Maddiston West. 

Lamium album (White Dead-nettle) : Local : Powburn Coast; Jupiter WG-1991 

(WB). 

Lathyrus montanus (Bitter Vetch) : Local : Rumford West. 

Leucanthemum maximum I (Shasta Daisy) : Rare : Wallacestone. 

Listera ovata (Twayblade) : Rare : Braes Wood. 

Lycopodium clavatum (Stag’s-horn Clubmoss) : Rare : Limerigg Pools. 

Peplis portula (Water Purslane) : Rare : Loch Ellrig. 

Melilotus alba (White Melilot) : Rare : Polmont Woods, Bo’ness Foreshore. 

Mentha piperata I (Peppermint) : Local : Hallglen Haven, Maddiston, Polmont 

Woods. 

Mentha x villosa I (Apple Mint): Stoneywood, Polmont Station. 

Millium effusum (Wood Millet) ; Local : Castlecary Glen, Westquarter Burn, 

Polmont Park. 

Mimulus guttatus I (Monkey-flower) : Local : Maddiston. 

Mimulus moschatus I (Musk) : Rare : North Stenhousemuir. 

Ononis repens (Common Rest-harrow) : Rare: South Polmont, Avonbank- 

Birkhill.

Falkirk District Plants 65 

Petasites albus I (Creamy Butterbur) : Rare: Skipperton Glen, Summerford, 

Cleuch Plantation, Westquarter Burn. 

Phegopteris connectilis : Beech Fern: Rare : Braes Wood, Castlecary Glen. 

Phleum bertolonii (Smaller Cat’s-tail) : Rare: Carriden Woods. 

Platanthera chlorantha (Greater Butterfly Orchid) : Rare : Bo’mains Meadow, 

Avonbank-Birkhill, Balquhatstone (Slamannan). 

Populus tremula (Aspen) : Rare: Castlecary Glen. 

Pyrola minor (Common Wintergreen) : Rare: Braes Wood, Summerford, 

Redding grassland. 

Ranunculus omiophyllus (Round-leaved Crowfoot) : Rare : South Drum clay 

pit. 

Rheum rhabarbum I Rhubarb : Local : Haliglen Haven. 

Ribes alpinum I (Mountain Currant) : Rare: Westquarter Burn. 

Sagina nodosa (Knotted Pearlwort) : Rare: Tak-ma-Doon Road, Shortrig, 

California North, Loch Elirig, Craigbank Quarry. 

Salix pentandra (Bay Willow) : Rare: Shortrig, Craigbank Quarry, Rumford 

West, Newcraig, Loch ElIrig, Lochgreen. 

Salix purpurea (Purple Osier) : Rare Wallacestone; Bonnyfield Quarry 

(Bonnybridge), Loch ElIrig, also planted by M876 (WB 1995-98). 

Salix phylicifolia (Tea-leaved Willow) : Rare: California Muir, Greyrigg, Black 

Loch. 

Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (Grey Bulrush) : Local : West Mains Pond. 

Silene vulgaris (Bladder Campion) : Local : Polmont Station; Jupiter WG, M9 

west of Kinnaird, Bonnyfield Quarry Bonnybridge), A803 east of 

Bonnybridge, Lochlands (Larbert)(WB-1991-96). 

Solidago virgaurea (Golden-rod) : Local : Shortrig, Torwood Glen. 

Sorbus aria (Whiteheeen) : Rare : Castlecary Glen. 

Sparganium emersum (Unbranched Bur-reed) : Rare : Wallacestone. 

Spiraea douglasii I (Bridewort) : Rare : Braes Wood. 

Tolmeia menziesii I (Pick-a-back Plant) : Local : Avonbank-Birkhill (presumably 

now frequent along River Avon). 

Viola lutea (Mountain Pansy) : Rare : Braes Wood. 

Acknowledgement 

The author wishes to thank Scottish Natural Heritage (Stirling Office) for 

access to the site survey reports. 

References 

Stewart, N. F. 1988, Plants in Falkirk District, Forth Naturalist and Historian Vol 10, 53-79. 

Brackenridge, W. R. 1996, Wildlife Comes to Grangemouth – a Potted History of the 

Jupiter Project, Forth Naturalist and Historian Vol 19, 91-96. 

Stace, C. 1991, A New British Flora, Cambridge University Press.


BOOK REVIEWS 

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. Robert D. Campbell. 1999. Mainstream 

Publishing. 250pp. ISBN 1.84018.189.3. £9.99. 

Well produced with many illustrations, many coloured; and tourist 

information – visitor services, transport, accommodation – supplement a very 

readable, knowledgeable, informative text, taking us round the area by ten 

road routes. Some source works, naturalist and historical, are mentioned in the 

introduction, including FNH’s Central Scotland: land, wildlife, people (by title 

only), but not our Lure of Loch Lomond (which is kindred though briefer to much 

of this book), while giving some lesser works. Opportunities in the text to give 

further reading are not taken eg. Mair’s. Stirling and our Mackay’s Doune; 

historical notes. The reader really needs a magnifier to benefit from the useful 

maps and street plans. Though a great deal of known information is given well, 

a notable ommission spotted was the classic bathyspheric surveys by Murray 

and Pullar c1900 of all Scottish lochs, where the author only mentions the 

earlier Admiralty survey of Lomond. 

As the author says “it is remarkable that there has been no comprehensive 

guide” to the region , but by “bringing together much diverse information 

about this beautiful region … about to become Scotland’s first National Park”, 

he has here succeeded in providing an admirable guide for some time to come. 

Scotland: World Bibliographical Series (vol 34). Dennis Smith, compiler. 

revised edition 1998. ABC Clio Press. 466pp. ISBN 1.85109.280.3. £37. 

This extensive series, presently of over 200 titles, will eventually cover every 

country,and some of the world`s principle regions and cities, each in a separate 

volume of annotated entries of books and papers dealing with its history, 

geography,economy, politics, and people, culture, customs. Each volume seeks 

to achieve by careful selectivity and critical comment of the literature, a realistic 

expression and appreciation of the country; for the reader – reference sources 

in a uniform format. FNH’s Central Scotland: land, wildlife, people, and the Forth 

Naturalist and Historian are in the chapters on Flora and Fauna, and on Local 

Studies. 

Access to the Countryside for Open Air Recreation. Scottish Natural 

Heritage’s Advice to Government. The Access Forum. November 1998. 60pp. 

After extensive and vigorous debate this states that the best way to meet the 

Government’s intent to create greater freedom for people to enjoy the 

countryside is to change the law to create a right of access.


BRAMBLES OF THE TROSSACHS AND STIRLING: 

W. M. ROGERS’ 1896 SCOTTISH VISIT RETRACED 

G. H. Ballantyne 

Most people with more than just a passing interest in wild flowers are 

probably aware that there are some groups of plants which are ‘difficult’ and 

which need to be left to specialists. The main groups include the hawkweeds 

(Hieracia), dandelions (Taraxaca) and brambles (Rubi). Most of these reproduce 

asexually and, e.g. what Linnaeus classified as a single species, Rubus fruticosus, 

is now known to consist of several hundreds of true-breeding entities, each the 

product of a fertile cross in the past. In the case of brambles, well over 300 

microspecies have been reliably recorded from Britain and Ireland and several 

additions are being described yearly. However, it is now evident that many 

brambles have a very localised distribution – some a mere bush or two – and it 

has become the custom to bestow a scientific binomial only if a particular 

microspecies is known to be present over a reasonably large area. Therefore 

there are quite a few bushes and clumps to be found that cannot be named, 

and may never receive one. 

Differences between some species are small and not obvious whereas others 

look quite dissimilar. In the field environmental factors, especially shade, can 

exacerbate difficulties in identification so that the same taxon growing at the 

edge of a wood can look quite distinct in the wood itself. Thus it is not 

surprising that the early botanists were baffled by brambles and in fact it was 

not until about 1970 that any real progress was made. By then, Eric Edees had 

been joined by Alan Newton in paying the Rubus genus much attention, and 

their resultant Brambles of the British Isles (Edees and Newton 1988) at last made 

it worth while for interested individuals to record brambles meaningfully. 

In Scotland not much work was done on the genus during the 19th century. 

Towards its close, the foremost British authority was the Reverend W. Moyle 

Rogers of Bournemouth, who received parcels of dried specimens from north 

of the Border and thus gained a knowledge of some species. In 1896 he took the 

opportunity of a first visit to Scotland to stay in Callander for the first three 

weeks of July and to explore the surrounding countryside increasingly being 

called the Trossachs, in search of brambles. He chose well for, unknown to him, 

Callander lies near the dividing line between what were much later described 

as the North Sea and Irish Sea Bramble Florulas (Newton 1980), thus giving 

him the chance to find a good range of species. Had he gone to any number of 

other places as his base, he might have been quite disappointed, for there are 

many parts of the country bereft of other than a handful of species. He also 

made short outings to a few other localities, notably Killin and Crieff while he 

stayed at Gargunnock at the invitation of Colonel Stirling, a local botanist, for 

three days at the end of his visit and explored the Stirling area. The results of 

this Scottish trip are described in Rogers (1897a and 1897b).

68 G. H. Ballantyne 

His first excursion was to Callander Crags, where he found two species new 

to him in a living state. The number of new species was increased by 

subsequent walks, causing him to comment that the Crags were “exceedingly 

good bramble ground”. He also explored the immediate countryside around 

the town and went to the shores of Lochs Venachar, Lubnaig, Earn, Tay and the 

Lake of Menteith, and, albeit briefly, further afield to Oban, Balloch and the 

Edinburgh area. At several of these localities he came across brambles he was 

unable to name, while confirming the identities of some that he had seen in a 

pressed state. Specimens of those that he had difficulty with were subsequently 

sent to the leading German batalogist of the day, Dr W. O. Focke, so that by the 

end of 1896 he had names for most. However, bramble nomenclature was still 

in a very muddled state then and it has taken a long time to sort out just what 

Rogers did and did not find. This is not a criticism of him, for he was a first-class 

observer and interpreter as his Handbook of the British Rubi (1900) shows, but a 

reflection on just how difficult it was to assign meaningful names then. 

Although I first visited the Callander district in search of local brambles in 

1981 and the Stirling area in the late 1980s, it was not until 1998 that I was able 

to follow in Rogers’ tracks to any extent. A full hundred years has seen many 

changes, of course, with much habitat loss, but with the exception of the first 

four species in the following list there were probably as many bushes around 

as in Rogers’ day, if not all exactly in the same stations. Brambles are pretty 

resilient and liable to persist for long periods! The Crags were an immediate 

success, as had been the case with Rogers: on my first half hour’s walk I saw 

no fewer than nine species, followed by a further five not long afterwards – a 

large total for a Scottish site. With the facility for much faster travel than in 

Rogers’ time, I was able to add to that figure from the various lochs in the 

vicinity, so that in a single day I came across as many species as he had in about 

a week. A visit to Killin (Mid Perth, VC 88) confirmed my suspicion that, 

despite Rogers’ implication to the contrary, the west end of Loch Tay was not 

good for brambles, although I did have the satisfaction of clearing up a longstanding 

query over the identity of ‘R. macrophyllus’ (q.v., below). Loch Earn 

proved much more productive, with a total of 14 species; the contrast between 

the comparatively developed north shore and the single track south side 

(except near St Fillans) was marked, with the latter presumably being not too 

dissimilar to what it was like when Rogers explored it. What he called R. 

britannicus now R. pictorum Edees was very showy in several parts round the 

loch. A third trip, to the Lake of Menteith and Aberfoyle and thence to Loch 

Lubnaig and Balquidder completed my 1998 retracing of Rogers’ footsteps 

although of course I could not go to exactly everywhere he went. These later 

outings added fewer new species, naturally, but verified several of Rogers’ 

finds and elucidated the identities of others. Coupled with my previous Stirling 

visits I was pleased to refind nearly all his species and, in time and with help, 

to establish the precise identities of most. 

During the twentieth century, and particularly in its second half, there have 

been many alterations to the names of the brambles on the British list. This has 

been due both to research demonstrating that a lot of continental names had

Brambles of the Trossachs and Stirling 69 

been incorrectly applied and thus needed to be rejected, and to the naming of 

a considerable number of new species. As these changes make it difficult to 

reconcile the nomenclature used by Rogers, the accompanying list is arranged 

in the same order as he employed in 1897, with his names followed by the 

current ones used by Edees and Newton (1988) in bold type. It should be noted 

that in Rogers’ time the concept of a “species collectivae” was prevalent, i.e. the 

lumping together under one name of two or more, not necessarily closely 

related, taxa. There are several examples in the list of these aggregate names. 

SUBERECTI = subgenus RUBUS 

This group combines the characters of rasp (R. idaeus L.) with those of the 

non-glandular groups of the true brambles, notably the Silvatici, and are 

usually associated with moors and heathy ground. They are much diminished 

of late. 

R. fissus Lindl. = R. scissus W. C. R. Watson: “Locally abundant in open 

heathy places”; as these have declined very considerably, this species is now 

found in only small quantity, although widespread. By south side of Loch Earn; 

east side of Loch Lubnaig; etc. 

R. suberectus Anders. = R. nessensis W. Hall: “Nowhere seen in any great 

quantity”; still between Strathyre and Loch Lubnaig, by the lochside; and near 

Loch Tay, by Pier Road at Killin. 

R. plicatus Weihe & Nees: Although described as “fairly widespread”, in 

1998 only a single stem was seen, by the south road of Loch Earn at the caravan 

site. 

R. rogersii Linton = R. fissus Lindley: “I think the most abundant and most 

conspicuous suberect bramble in W[est] P[erth]”; now much reduced owing to 

loss of habitat. Only the odd bush in 1998, as at Bracklinn Falls car park and by 

Loch Venachar. 

In contrast to Perthshire, Rogers did not see any living bushes of any of the 

series Suberecti in the Stirling area, although had he had time to go to Flanders 

Moss or other comparable spots he would probably have found them as 

plentiful. He had seen dried specimens of R. scissus and R. nessensis from the 

county. 

(R. latifolius Bab.: see Caesii/Corylifolii at end.) 

Series RHAMNIFOLII 

“More than half of the Rhamnifolians known for Britain occurred in the 

localities I visited, and many of them in great quantity”. One hundred years 

on, the figure is now about a quarter. Several of those noted by Rogers still 

grow abundantly. 

[R. incurvatus Bab.: Although Rogers said he found “well marked examples” 

by L. Earn, in his Handbook (1900) he states “I cannot recall having seen this


typical plant from any English or Scottish locality” (p.27). This species is 

scarcely found in Scotland, and this record does not appear in Edees & Newton 

(1988); both D. E. Allen and myself consider it to be an error, perhaps for 

R. pyramidalis Kaltenb. a similarity to which Rogers discusses.] 

R. lindleianus Lees: In Scotland this is a western species and so Rogers’ 

statements that he found it “by L. Earn, in great quantity” and “by L. Tay, 

abundant” are surprising. In 1998 some were present by both shores of L. Earn, 

particularly on its north-west side, but only one bush was seen at the west end 

of Loch Tay. His Stirlingshire dried specimens all came from Loch Lomond. 

R. rhamnifolius Weihe & Nees (sp. collect.): Under this name Rogers 

mentioned two brambles he was unable to name satisfactorily, one on 

Callander Crags which he considered to show “rather closer affinity with R. 

pulcherrimus” = R. polyanthemus Lindeb. – and in fact this may have been the 

species involved, as an atypical form was seen there in 1998. The other, found 

at Stirling and which he assigned to R. cardiophyllus Lef. + P. J. Mueller, has 

been determined by A. Newton as his R. wirralensis, a member of the series 

Mucronati. 

R. nemoralis P. J. Mueller: Rogers did not find this growing, his 

determination being made from material gathered by his son from Black Hill, 

south of Callander; it is in fact R. wirralensis (det. D. E. Allen, conf. A. Newton). 

It is likely that “var. glabratus” from Wester Glen, Gargunnock was also that 

species. It should be noted that what Rogers normally understood to be 

nemoralis was the bramble now called R. oxyanchus Sudre; see also R. villicaulis 

Koehl. var selmeri, below. 

R. pulcherrimus Neuman = R polyanthemus: In the west and especially the 

southwest, this is abundant, but it is much less so in central and eastern 

Scotland, so Rogers’ assessment that it was “not very abundant” was correct. 

Found in small quantity in 1998 on Callander Crags, by L. Venachar and by the 

Lake of Menteith. 

R. scheutzii Lindeb. = R. errabundus W. C. R. Watson: A new species in the 

living state to Rogers, who sent specimens to Focke for determination along 

with various notes, which he reproduces. He considered it to be “one of the 

most abundant and most constant brambles seen by me in Mid-Scotland”, an 

accurate summing-up of its position both then and now. 

R. lindebergii P. J. Mueller: Seen by Rogers in only two localities, “in the 

higher part of the Callander Crags”, i.e. by the track above Bracklinn Falls car 

park where it still grows, and from the Aberfoyle area. In 1998 it was noticeable 

in several places along the Loch Earn South Road. This bramble seldom occurs 

in any quantity and avoids the more acid soils; it is scattered throughout 

central and south Scotland. 

(R. dumnoniensis Bab.: “extraordinarily abundant” near Oban, which is still 

the case but well outwith the Trossachs.) 

R. villicaulis Köhler. var. insularis (F. Aresch.) Rogers = R. septentrionalis W. 

C. R. Watson. Rogers was delighted to see this species, which he opined was


“one of the most abundant and characteristic of Scottish brambles”, having 

described the form from dried material in 1894. While his view is perhaps an 

overstatement of its distribution, it certainly is widespread in central and 

especially north Scotland (‘septentrion’, chosen by Watson, is an ancient name 

for ‘the north’). Still on the Callander Crags and scattered throughout the 

Trossachs although seldom in quantity; here and there in Stirlingshire. 

R. villicaulis Köhler. var. selmeri Lindeb. = R. nemoralis P. J. Mueller. At the 

time Rogers was writing there was considerable confusion over the segregates 

comprising the aggregate R. villicaulis. In his 1894 description of the various 

taxa he points out the differences between insularis (see previous entry) and 

selmeri, which “seems to be the commonest fruticose bramble in Scotland, as in 

most parts of the British Isles”, so much so that he gave no stations for it. It is 

indeed widespread and often abundant and, along with R. latifolius and 

R. radula, has the widest distribution of all the Scottish species of Rubus. 

(R. rhombifolius Weihe: “I think certainly a strong form of this” in one place 

west of Callander; although a possibility – there is a good colony at 

Rowardennan by Loch Lomond, a mere four miles distant (but on the other 

side of Ben Lomond) – his identification may be an error. In his Handbook, 

Rogers places this taxon under the aggregate name villicaulis near to selmeri, i.e. 

nemoralis, and it may have been a form of that. A voucher specimen has not 

been found.) 

Series SILVATICI 

R. macrophyllus Weihe & Nees (sp. collect.): most of the available material 

gathered under this composite name, including R. schlechtendalii Weihe, has 

proved to be R. leptothyrsos G. Broun, discussed in the next entry. However, a 

puzzling specimen collected by Loch Tay at Killin by different batologists, 

including Rogers who called it “somewhat off type” (by 1900 dubbing it 

macrophylloides), has turned out to be a shade form of R. furvicolor Focke. 

Another “shade form … not very well marked” shown to Rogers at 

Gargunnock may well have been leptothyrsos. 

R. hirtifolius Muell. & Wirtg., var. danicus Focke = R. leptothyrsos G. Broun: 

Rogers had not come across this in England but from specimens received he 

realised it was “a frequent and very handsome Scottish bramble”. This is 

indeed the case, especially in the central belt. Focke had confirmed it as his 

R. danicus and Rogers goes on to discuss its affinities with ‘macrophyllus’ (see 

previous entry). He also noted specimens seen from further afield than the 

Trossachs area and Stirlingshire. 

R. pyramidalis Kaltenb.: a short entry states “By L. Earn, a hairy form …“; a 

specimen has not been seen but a bramble collected near the east end of the 

loch and on the outskirts of St Fillans has been confirmed by D. E. Allen as 

“fairly typical” pyramidalis. The other station was “near Killin; the type”, which 

may in fact prove to be furvicolor or wirralensis if a specimen can be traced.


Series EGREGII = MUCRONATI/ANISACANTHI 

R. mucronatus Blox. = R. mucronulatus Boreau: Described as “frequent and 

locally abundant” in West Perth, an assessment which applies to most of central 

Scotland including parts of Stirlingshire; and also to the NE, where in some 

areas it is the sole bramble. 

R. melanoxylon Mueller & Wirtgen = R. furvicolor Focke: Rogers was very 

pleased to find this species and have it verified as part of the British bramble 

flora (along with R. drejeri). He gives a long account of the differences between 

it and allied taxa, and states that “I have no other British specimens that quite 

match the Scottish ones”, confirming the fact that it is endemic to Scotland. 

However, not surprisingly, this bramble caused him much confusion, being 

collected under a variety of names: “macrophyllus sp.coll.”; “near pyramidalis”; 

“near mucronatus”; and “rosaceus”. R. furvicolor‘s stronghold is in the NE, with 

good populations also in the west central region centred on VC87 (West Perth), 

and occasionally in VC86 (Stirlingshire). The lectotype is a specimen from Loch 

Earn, collected by Rogers on his 1896 visit – but it should be noted that this is 

in VC88 (Mid Perth), not, as indicated in Edees & Newton (1988), following 

Rogers’ original error, in VC87. 

R. infestus Weihe: This was apparently observed by Rogers in several places. 

sometimes in quantity, but there may have been confusion at times with the 

next species, R. drejeri: at least one of his specimens is labelled “near infestus” 

when in fact it is drejeri. In 1998 R. infestus was seen only as a few plants on 

Callander Crags, although it does certainly occur elsewhere in the general area. 

In Stirlingshire, Rogers “saw handsome bushes at Gargunnock and Stirling” 

(1897b), where it can still be found. This species is scattered throughout central 

and south Scotland, coast to coast. 

R. drejeri G. Jensen. An extended note on the R. drejeri aggregate is given, 

beginning with the fact that a plant Rogers had seen two or three years 

previously and took to be R. drejeri had turned out to be his own R. leyanus. He 

goes on to give a detailed comparison of the two taxa and adds an account of 

a new variety, hibernicus, collected in Co. Down in 1894/5. He was gratified that 

Focke had named his mid-Scotland specimens as R. drejeri, concluding his note 

with the declaration “The confident restoration to our British list of typical 

R. drejeri and its ally R. melanoxylon at the same time and from the same part of 

Scotland is remarkable”. Actually, this restoration of R. drejeri was doubted by 

Alan Newton during the 1970s (Newton, 1979). At that time, he had not seen 

any of Rogers’ specimens of it and it was not until August 1978 that he came 

across living bushes. I well remember his elation on realising that plants found 

in the Blairgowrie area (VC89, East Perth) were true R. drejeri, while, coincidentally, 

I was able to send him two examples from Fife (VC85) about the 

same time. In 1896 Rogers had collected material in Perthshire from Lochs Earn 

and Venachar; 100 years on only one patch was seen, by the former locality – 

perhaps the same as that referred to under R. infestus. Rogers also collected it 

in Stirling where it is frequent. The species’ distribution in Britain is 

concentrated on east central Scotland, with further-flung outliers being found 

regularly.

Series RADULAE 

R. radula Weihe: As an aggregate species, Rogers considered this to be 

locally abundant, with four forms including the type, which he did not see in 

the Trossachs area. However, in 1998 typical radula was found by the Lake of 

Menteith and Loch Earn. He also encountered “a good deal of radula, some of 

which was nearly or quite typical, while other bushes were less so” (1897b) at 

Stirling, and the typical form at Crieff. The true species is abundant in east and 

south Scotland and scattered throughout the rest of Scotland. 

R. radula Weihe var. echinatoides Rogers = R. echinatoides (Rogers) Dallman: 

“Locally the most abundant form”; it is at its northern limit away from the NE 

coast and does not occur in the Loch Earn area but can still be found at 

Callander, Loch Tay, Lake of Menteith, and at Gargunnock. The next species, 

R. scoticus, is equally as frequent. 

R. radula Weihe var. anglicans Rogers = R. scoticus (Rogers & Ley) Edees. 

Rogers comments “not seen growing by me”; however, on his second day he 

collected on Black Hill just south of Callander what he believed to be “a weak 

form” of what is now called R. dasyphyllus. Later, he redetermined it as 

“anglicans or ericetorum … var. scoticus Rogers & Ley”. In turn this was upgraded 

to a full species by Edees in 1974. It seems odd that Rogers did not come across 

more of this bramble, as it is common in and around Callander; elsewhere it 

occurs southwards down most of the west coast. 

R. anglosaxonicus Gelert var. raduloides Rogers = R. raduloides (Rogers) 

Sudre: The sole record is at Gargunnock near Stirling, from where Rogers 

mentions “a very handsome form … [that] departs from the type considerably 

in the direction of my raduloides var.” (1897b). It has not yet been refound there 

but it does occur in Stirling in several places. This is predominantly a western 

and south-western species, penetrating the Clyde/Forth valley eastwards. 

[P. echinatus Lindley: “I have, I think, seen dried specimens from Stirling 

Castle Hill” (1897b) (author’s emphasis) but this appears to be an error – it 

seems unlikely Rogers would have missed the plant on his visit. This species 

has not been reliably recorded north of North Yorkshire.] 

Series KOEHLERIANI = HYSTRICES 


[Rogers detected what he considered to be “a weak form” of R. Koehleri 

Weihe & Nees, var. pallidus Bab. = R. dasyphyllus in two stations. One has 

proved to be R. scoticus (q.v.) and it is likely that the other, from near Lake of 

Mentieth, will be the same. R. dasyphyllus is common throughout south 

Scotland but thins out rapidly towards the Forth/Clyde line; it may well occur 

in the Trossachs but in very limited quantity. The other member of this group 

Rogers termed “my infecundus var. of R. rosaceus Weihe & Nees”, which was 

possibly a form of R. furvicolor, found at Balloch at the south end of Loch 

Lomond, not far outside the Trossachs.]


(BELLARDIANI)/CAESII = CORYLIFOLII 

The Corylifolian group was not well understood in Rogers’ day and it still 

causes many problems, as demonstrated by his exclusion from it of two of its 

most prominent Scottish members, R. latifolius and R. pictorum. 

R. latifolius Bab.: Babington described this species in 1851 from specimens 

he gathered at Cramond Bridge, just west of Edinburgh. Forty-five years later 

Rogers made a special trip there but found the bramble to be “in very small 

quantity”. This is rather surprising as it is, along with R. radula, the dominant 

species in east and south Scotland. It occurs in a variety of forms, one or two of 

which may deserve a new name in time. Rogers placed it under the series 

Suberecti, although in his Handbook he has it in the Subrhamnifolii series a 

group no longer recognised. His uncertainty is expressed in the account of his 

visit to Stirling: “On the Castle rock I saw both R. corylifolius Sm. and 

R. caesius L. (sp. collect.). A bush or two or more of the R. corylifolius seemed 

fairly good R. sublustris of Lees, which may be regarded as typical corylifolius 

[=, in Scotland, R. latifolius], but most of the bushes were, I think, 

uncharacteristic, while some of them looked like hybrids of R. corylifolius and 

R. caesius. R. caesius itself I saw there …“ (1897b). This succinctly sums up the 

position of R. latifolius today. (It should be noted that Rogers’ last observation 

is an error, as in Scotland the true dewberry occurs only in the extreme SW; 

some low-growing forms of latifolius can mimic it.) 

R. britannicus Rogers = R. pictorum Edees: “A strong, very handsome 

bramble in sunny places, and, I believe, a well-marked distinct species” seen “in 

considerable quantity” by Rogers. It is indeed the commonest bramble in midcentral 

Scotland, found in a variety of habitats and often the only one to be 

encountered, catching the eye with its masses of white blooms in mid summer. 

Rogers placed it in the Bellardiani, now Glandulosi. Watson (1958) was also 

confused by it, putting it under his own R. iodnephes, and allocating it to the 

Dispares, now Anisacanthi. In 1982, what had been dubbed ‘false iodnephes’ for 

some years was put out of its misery by Edees, who named it R. pictorum, after 

the ancient Scottish people. 

Mention is made earlier of two recent determinations of R. wirralensis A. 

Newton under rhamnifolius and nemoralis. Several brambles collected in 1998, 

notably from the sides of Lochs Venachar and Achray, have proved to be R. 

wirralensis (det D. E. Allen) which seems to be widespread in the Trossachs. 

and reaches Stirling. Only one other bramble was found which was not listed 

by Rogers under one name or another, viz. R. elegantispinosus (A. Schum.) 

H. E. Weber, a clump of which was growing by a car park on the east side of 

Loch Lubnaig. This is of comparatively recent garden origin and is now 

thoroughly established in the central belt and is spreading rapidly. 

In addition to the 34 taxa in his two lists. Rogers gives a further 25 recorded 

from Scotland, leaving “fifty-five species and thirty-six varieties of British Rubi 

… still unrecorded from any part of Scotland”. The 59 taxa mentioned by him, 

together with the vice-comital list given in an Appendix to the Handbook of


1900, formed the basis of the first comprehensive Rubus list for Scotland, issued 

a year or two later. This was compiled by Trail (1902-03), who acknowledges the 

debt owed to Rogers, without whose records it could not have been made. This 

list, of course, has been much out of date for many years and is very badly in 

need of revision, a task for the beginning of the new millennium. Interestingly, 

there are fewer than 70 named species (out of well over 300 on the British list) 

currently recorded from north of the Border, which is not many more than 

Rogers listed – although the determinations of many have changed of course 

and others have been deleted. 

Without the assistance of Dr David Allen, this paper could not have been 

compiled. As well as giving advice, determining some of my finds and 

commenting on and making corrections to the draft, he examined Rogers’ 

specimens from his Scottish trip in the Natural History Museum (BM) and let 

me have details of both the original determinations and the comments of Focke 

and later experts. Few papers on British brambles could be written without the 

help, direct or indirect, of Alan Newton and I am indebted to him also. Lindsay 

Corbett kindly furnished me a copy of Rogers (1897b). 

It should be noted that unattributed quotations throughout are taken from 

Rogers (1897a). 

References 

Edees, E. S. & Newton, A. (1988). Brambles of the British Isles. London, The Ray Society. 

Newton, A. (1979). Rubus drejeri G. Jensen in Scotland. Watsonia 12; 342. 

Newton, A. (1980). Progress in British Rubus studies. Watsonia 13; 35-40. 

Rogers, W. M. (1897a). On some Scottish Rubi. J.Bot. 35; 42-50. 

Rogers, W. M. (1897b). Notes on Stirlingshire Rubi, 1896. Trans. Stirlingshire Nat. Hist. & 

Arch. Soc. 19; 107-110. 

Rogers, W. M. (1900). Handbook of the British Rubi. London: Duckworth. 

Trail, J. W. H. (1902-03). Scottish Rubi. Annals of Scottish Natural History. 1902: 170-176, 

233-244; 1903: 41-47, 103-107. 

Watson, W. C. R. (1958). Handbook of the Rubi of Great Britain and Ireland. Cambridge: 

Cambridge U. P.


Man and the Landscape Symposia 

This November 1999 is our 25th annual symposium, with review/survey 

presentations on Landscape; Archaeology; History; Butterflies; Birds; Ecology. 

The first was organised by Lindsay Corbett, Robert Innes of the University’s 

Continuing Education, and the Clackmannanshire Field Studies Society 

(CFSS), after the Advancement of Sciences (BA)’s meeting/conference at the 

University in 1974. We were anxious that such presentations of general interest 

and quality should be regular, and not just once a lifetime – since BA (British 

Association) meetings are annually at universities – hence a 40 year plus cycle! 

Following the BA meeting also, several University staff and others inaugurated 

the Forth Naturalist and Historian (FNH) as an informal University body to 

promote the environment and encourage and publish contributions to the 

natural and social history of central Scotland. Thence FNH has since run these 

symposia, with the continuing support of CFSS whose members have regularly 

reported on the presentations and published them in the April issue of the half 

yearly CFSS Newsletter. These thus provide a brief record of the 25 years of the 

Man and the Landscape. 

Symposium Year Theme/s CFSS Newsletter 

No. Vol. Part Pages 

1 1975 Forth Estuary and Carse, Moorlands 16 5 (4) 19-20 

Man and Landscape 

2 1976 Run Rigs, Flowers, Birds, Country Park 18 6 (2) 10-11 

3 1977 Flanders Moss, Butterflies, Doune 20 7 (1) 15-21 

Muckhart 

4 1978 Climate, Fish, Recreation, Haldane, 22 7 (3) 1, 21 

Fairy Knowe broch 

5 1979 Fossils, Gartmorn, Peregrine, Devon Birds, 24 8 (2) 7-9 

6 1980 Earthquakes, Rainfall, Nimmo 25 9 (1) 5-7 

Woollen Mills and 27 10 (1) 31 

7 1981 Howieton, L Lomond Birds, Forth, RLS … 28 10 (2) 14 

8 1982 Wildlife, Conservation, R Burns, 30 11 (2) 12-18 

Bronze and Iron Age sites 

9 1983 Lochs, Culross, Battle of Stirling Bridge 32 12 (2) 18-19 

10 1984 Waterpower, Sandmartins, Coal … 34 13 (2) 11-14 

11 1985 Conservation, Recreation, L Lomond, 36 14 (2) 8-13 

Agriculture, Aerial photography, Industrial… 

12 1986 Scenery & Geology, Cornstones … 38 15 (2) 10-24 

Fisher Row, C Scotland bird watching 

13 1987 Dutch Elm, Antonine Wall, Menteith No CFSS reports 

Birds, Oral history, Young Forth 

Naturalists awards … 

14 1988 Woodlands, Graveyards, Bridge of Allan No CFSS reports 

History Society, Shieldhill, SCP, 

YFN awards … 

15 1989 The Forth – Cruise, Scottish Navy 16C, 44 18 (2) 19-29 

Fish, Birds, Future, YFN awards … 

16 1990 Loch Lomond – also with a cruise, Key 46 19 (2) 18-23 

review by J Tivy, Tom Weir, YFN awards, 

Plants, Natural History, Now and Future


17 1991 Focus on Falkirk, Origins, Callendar 48 20 (2) 22-28 

House, Geese, Opencast mining, Birkhill 

18 1992 University Jubilee, 25 years of change, 50 21 (2) 15-22 

Historian’s view, Impact of University, 

Birds, Weather, River/estuary 

19 1993 Clackmannanshire environment/heritage/ 52 22 (2) 14-22 

Railways, Red Carr Wood, East India Co., 

Alloa Tower, Gartmorn Nature Reserve 

20 1994 Waters of C Scotland, Nature conservation, 54 23 (2) 13-22 

Forestry, Fish, FRPB, Bridges, Water 

supply (F Khan), Water power 56 24 (2) 19-31 

21 1995 Mountains, Muirs, Mosses – Birds and 56 24 (2) 18-28,28a 

Animals, Raised bogs, Grouse moors, 

Ochils, Sheep, Jacobite march, Tom Weir 

22 1996 Environmental Awareness & Education 58 25 (2) 17-26 

23 1997 Transportation- People and Environment 60 26 (2) 14-23 

24 1998 Woodlands-Past, Present, Future 62 27 (2) 17-28 

25 1999 Jubilee – Landscape, Archaeology, History, 

Butterflies, Birds, Ecology 

Note: There are 5 yearly index/contents to the CFSS Newsletter, so some 

details on the CFSS reports on the papers of the symposia are traceable.


AN ASSOCIATION OF HERITAGE SOCIETIES IN MID-SCOTLAND 

Bill Inglis 

University of Stirling 

On Saturday October 17 last year at a meeting attended by representatives 

of 16 local societies it was decided to establish an Association of Heritage 

Societies for Mid-Scotland. 

Why? The unanimous view was that an Association could 

Develop a range of activities which most individual societies found 

difficult eg conferences, specialist workshops, visits to major centres of 

historical interest and publications. 

Behind this broad aim was the desire to 

Generate increased interest in the Scottish past. 

Enhance our understanding of Scotland’s heritage. 

Sharpen individual and group abilities to investigate Scotland’s history. 

To date 13 societies, principally focussing on local and family history, 

archaeology and civic issues have formally joined the Association. 

On Saturday March 13 over 100 people went by bus to Edinburgh to visit 

the Museum of Scotland and Mary King’s Close. On Sunday April 18 Richard 

Fawcett and Peter Buchanan of Historic Scotland introduced over 60 members 

of the Association to the restored Great Hall of Stirling Castle. 

On Saturday May 22 at Stirling University the Inaugural Conference was 

attended by over 40 people. The theme was “Evidence of Our Past” in which 

speakers concentrated on the documentary and physical evidence of 

Scotland’s history. The keynote address was by Fiona Watson of the 

University History Department describing “The Changing Faces of William 

Wallace”. 

The remaining speakers were drawn from member societies. 

Ron Page (Stirling Field and Archaeological Society) concentrated on recent 

archaeological investigations in Stirling, Craig Mair (Bridge of Allan Local 

History Society) on the gravestones of Old Logie Kirkyard, Bill Inglis 

(Dunblane Local History Society) on 17th and 18th century inventories, Alison 

Brown (Drymen Local History Society) on compiling a local photographic 

archive and Archie Smith (Callander and District Heritage Society) on 18th 

century estate plans. In general everybody was impressed by the variety, local 

relevance and liveliness of the presentations. 

In the coming year, in addition to winter visits and a conference in the early 

summer, the Association will be producing its first publications and a number 

of specialist workshops in cooperation with Stirling Council, and the Scottish 

Local History Forum. (For further details of the Association please contact Bill 

Inglis 01786 822962)


THE WALLACE OAK: TORWOOD: 

A SUPPLEMENT TO FORRESTER [FNH 21] 

Lindsay Corbett 

Colin Forrester’s paper ‘The Wallace Oak, Torwood – and Roy’s Military 

Survey‘ (1) is based on earlier research, and is here supplemented by 

contemporary quotations, artifacts, and notes from further research on matters 

relevant to this legendary tree. Presented by date these come from – Forrester 

himself, K. J. H. Mackay, Sir John Clerk, W. F. Howie, Angus Smith, Bob 

McCutcheon, Elspeth King, M. Donnelly, John Ballantyne, John Harrison, Peter 

Cadell, Ian Scott, and the journal of the Falkirk Local History Society – Calatria. 

1628 

“On Christmas Day a freak tidal wave activated by violent winds swept up 

from the Forth. This was treated as a national disaster, many families losing 

their homes and fields. A lake existed thereafter for some time, and this would 

have extended to the East end of the wood where you (Forrester) have marked 

the Wallace Oak on Roy’s map.” 

(pers. comm. Howie to Forrester, April 1985) 

One of the families/victims of this was Thomas Bruce of Woodsyde (now 

Glenbervie). Reported as “A local disaster of the seventeenth century” in Love’s 

Antiquarian Notes and Queries volume 1 (1908) pp175-181 – which quotes from 

the Privy Council of Scotland at 5 February 1629 et sub – 

“…ane great and large mosse of the thicness of ane speir hes been driven by the 

force and violence of wind and water … has overflowed and covered the saids 

lands … overturned the whole housis … so that twenty families were 

constrayned for lyffe and deid … are upoun a suddane turned beggars … the 

lords of Secreit Counsell recommends the saids distrest … to the … charitable 

and christiane consideratioun of the whole estaits … committs the collectioun of 

this … benevolence of the people … to the owniers and indwellers of the 

lands …” 

(Ian Scott) 

1643 

Gilbert Blackhall, a Jesuit priest – on a journey from Edinburgh to Stirling – 

quote – 

“…Torwood, which now hath nothing but some scattered oakes, dying for 

antiquity, which conserve the name and memory of that sometimes so famous a 

Wood, especially in the history of Wallace...” 

From Ancient Castles and Mansions of Stirling Nobility by J. S. Fleming, 1902. 

(Howie and Mackay)

80 L. Corbett 

1687 

Milntoun of Bannockburn and Edinburgh, 25 and 28 April 1687. A contract 

for the sale of growing timber in Torwood between Sir Andrew Bernie of Saline 

with the consent of William, Lord Forrester of Corstorphine, and Robert Cadell 

of Banks and James Kerr of Keir, which includes this – quote – 

“...sell to Robert and James, equally between them, the heall growing timber in 

Torrwood, beugh and barke therof, comprehending Aikens glen on the east syde 

of the burne, and all other pairts and pertinents of the said wood, with frie ische 

and entrie therto (excepting Wallace tree, the tuo parkes lately cutt lying upon 

the west syde of the heugh way betwixt the samen and the house of 

Torrwoodhead) … to cutt and sell within the space of eight yeires after ther 

entrie…” 

(Harrison and RD. 13. 1688 no 353) 

This was discovered by John Harrison (2) in the findings of John 

Ballantyne’s researching Scotland woodland management contracts for 

Professor Chris Smout of St Andrews. 

(Harrison and Ballantyne) 

1689 

The ‘Wallace’ quaich wood with silver rim and two ‘handles’ (lugs) … 

inscription on rim, ending on each lug – 

“Torwood, I was cut, from that known tree 

“Where Wallace, from warrs toyls took sanct‘arie 

“Mars’s sones, I’m only nou made fitt 

“When with thee sones Bacchus the shall sitt” 

Given by the Laird of Polmais to Sir Robert Hamilton. An. 1689. Lent by 

Lord Lamington. Displayed in case 4 East Gallery of the 1911 Glasgow 

Exhibition – catalogue entry 120. Note also another at 1795 below. 

(Donnelly) 

1712 

A handwritten note on the fly-leaf of a copy of The London Spy of 1709 in the 

library of Sir John Clerk at Penicuik House, Orchyeard Head, 28 October 1712 – 

“Wallace his oak tree is in ye midst of ye Torewod 

“betwixt (Tor) wodehead gth belongs to my Lord 

“Fo(rre)ster and wodesyd yt belongs to Sir 

“Harie Rollock & is 21 passes in circumference 

“and 7 in diameter. It bears no leaves 

“except a part towards ye north & is all 

“rotten & bad in ye heart, ye outward 

“circumference to ye thickness of a fot 

“standing still” 

(Mackay and Clerk)

Wallace Oak: Supplement 81 

1771 

The Wallace Oak, Torwood, engraved by W. Miller from a drawing by 

Alexander Nasmyth, 1771. The ruins of the Tor Castle are in the background. 

Discovered in the Mitchell Library’s Constable’s Miscellany volume 53, ‘Life of 

Wm Wallace part 1’. 1830. 

This is also the front cover feature of the Forth Naturalist and Historian 

volume 21. 

(King) 

1776 

A copy of an expanded part of the Torwood area of a road map, Taylor & 

Skinner, 1776, found in the library of Penicuik House. 

(Mackay and Clerk)

82 L. Corbett 

1782 

According to The Scottish Nation (3) an elegantly mounted snuff box was 

presented to Lord Buchan, 11th Earl, David Stuart Buchan (1742-1829), by the 

Goldsmiths of Edinburgh in 1782. Made from the tree which sheltered Wallace, 

and described by the Smith Art Gallery and Museum as – 

“of the highest quality … with a gold and silver plated inscription”. 

The Earl was a great admirer of Wallace, owned Kirkhill in Uphall (West 

Lothian), and bought Dryburgh Abbey and its lands. There in 1814 he had John 

Smith of Darnwick build on th slopes of Bemersyd Hill the massive statue of 

Wallace, visable from as far away as Berwick (7), and see 1814 below. 

(Howie and Mackay) 

1792 

In 1792 the Earl of Buchan obtained leave to transfer this Edinburgh 

Goldsmiths’ snuff box – 

“to the only man in the world he thought it justly due” – George Washington, first 

president of the United States of America. He had it conveyed to the President by 

the portrait painter Archibald Robinson, and it became known as the Washington 

Snuff Box. Buchan, a highly respected friend to the United States, named 

Washington “the William Wallace of America”. 

It was last publicly seen at a Daughters of the American Revolution tea party 

in Belleville, Illinois on 22nd February 1923, and under guard by owner Henry 

Williams. It is the subject of a detailed report of 10th February 1997 by Robert 

Goodrich of the Post Dispatch Belle. This included an illustration of the oval 

shaped 6+4+2 inches box, carved from the wood of the Torwood Wallace Tree, 

and said to have a secret compartment. Buchan had asked George Washington 

to pass the dedicated box to his successor, but the President is said to have 

willed it back to the Earl. Goodrich says it never got back to the Earl, but was 

‘acquired’ via a US Navy Commander by the pioneer Belleville family Williams. 

Another account says it did come back, was ‘rededicated’ by Buchan, and 

sent to someone else in America, but en route it was highjacked in a stage coach 

hold up. 

The Williams family reputedly kept it secure till the death of Henry J. 

Williams in August 1931, but he had no survivors, and no traced will. According 

to the Belleville Daily Advocate, quote – 

“…the Museum of Edinburgh tried several times to purchase the snuff box from 

the Williams family, but was rebuffed. – This 1997 faxed report to Forrester also 

says – quote – 

“…enthusiastic efforts are being made to find this very desirable box by 

International Press Service correspondent Jim Leggett, a Stirling Scot and Wallace 

admirer, of Charlotte, NC.” 

Colin Forrester wrote to President Regan about this in 1985, but without 

reply. A note to Forrester by the Earl Buchan also in 1985 says that a number of


the boxes were made, “and one came up at a Christie auction ‘recently’ ” but he 

did not buy. 

(Forrester, King, LC) 

1794 

Remarks on the Wallace tree by the Rev George Harvie in his reports on the 

parishes of Larbert and Dunipace in the Old Statistical Account of Scotland … 

quotes – 

“In Dunipace parish is the famous Torwood; in the middle of which there are the 

remains of Wallace’s tree, an oak which, according to a measurement when 

entire, was said to be about 12 feet diameter. To this wood Wallace was said to 

have fled, and secreted himself in the body of the tree, then hollow, after his 

defeat in the north. Adjoining to this is squaire field, inclosed by a ditch, where 

Mr Donald Cargill excommunicated King Charles II.” 

1795 

Quaich – wood and silver-mounted, four heraldic shields, engraved thistle 

rim, inscribed – 

“This cup is part of the oak tree in the Torwood, which was often an asylum to the 

immortal Wallace.” and “Drink of this and mark the footsteps of a hero.”

84 L. Corbett 

With Wallace’s head and date 1795. Lent by W. Meikle. Displayed in case 4 

East Gallery of the Glasgow Exhibition of 1911 – catalogue entry 104 – note also 

1689 above. 

(Donnelly) 

1805 

From The Beauties of Scotland edited by R. O. Forsyth, 1806, 5 volumes, in the 

Stirlingshire chapter vol. 3 pp381-490 is this quote p405-6 – 

“In this county are many coppices,.used as such past all memory … Torwood … 

remains of the Caledonian Forest … some oaks rise to a great size. The most noted 

tree in the whole district was Wallace’s oak, in the middle of the famous Torwood. 

This tree, which when entire neasured 12 feet diameter, afforded … a seasonable 

shelter, in an hour of danger, to the hero whose name it bears, and company of his 

brave attendants, strugling for the independance of their country. A few small 

decaying fragments only are all the remains that are now to be seen of this 

venerable oak; and even these will soon be eradicated from the Torwood, as the 

virtuosi in several parts of the kingdom are picking them all up, and forming them 

into various devices, for the glorious memory of the ever-celebrated Wallace.” 

(Howie and LC) 

1812 

Wallace Oak snuff box … in the Queen’s Royal Collections, Frogmore 

House, Windsor … ref 54349. This small oval box is one of three presentations 

made to the Prince Regent (later King George IV) in June 1812 at Carlton House 

London, by John Russell of Falkirk (1745-1817), the Royal Watchmaker of 

Scotland. This was his recognition and thanks for the Prince’s keen interest and 

commissions. A gold plate on the lid has this inscription – 

“To His Royal Highness the Prince Regent This Box made from the Celebrated 

Wallaces Tree in the Torwood Stirlingshire Containing Wheat found in a Vault of 

the Roman Wall of Grahams Dyke at Castle Cary and is supposed to have lain 

there for upwards of 1400 years Is presented with the most profound respect by 

John Russell Watchmaker for Scotland To His Royal Highness” 

(Forrester, L.C., and Calatria 9, 1996, 90-91)


1814 

At the inauguration of the first public statue of Wallace (the Dryburgh) (7), 

commissioned by the Earl of Buchan (see 1792 above), the Provost of Stirling 

could not attend but sent to the Earl ‘a staff made from the Wallace Oak’. 

(King … 1-SAGM 6/96.11) 

1815 

Quaich of wood, mounted in silver; a plate inside engraved with Wallace’s 

tree and “Tor Wood 1294” 

“To the immortal memory of Sir William Wallace, the ill requited hero of his native 

land.” Four silver shields (one lost) applied to the outside, one has date 1815. 

Encircling grooves decorate the outside. Two handles or lugs. H 1 5 ⁄8 in., diam. with 

lugs 4 1 ⁄8 in. Scottish, early 19th cent. (Noel Paton Collection.) … 1905-1009.” 

This is the index entry in the Royal Museum of Scotland as reported by 

Godfrey Evans to an inquiry by Colin Forrester in 1985. 

(Forrester, and LC) 

1817 

Quote from the second edition of Nimmo’s History of Stirlingshire edited by 

McGregor Stirling, p 170, about the Wallace Oak – 

“…the remaining stump is no less than 11 to 12 feet in diameter … it stand supon 

a summit of a small eminance, which is surrounded on all sides by a swamp. A 

rugged causeway runs from the south through the swamp, and leads up to the 

tree. Some other vestiges of the stonework are discernable, surrounding the tree 

in a circular form, and lending to the conjecture, that the oak is of very high 

antiquity … and … that being much frequented by Druidical priests among 

whom the oak was sacred, the causeway having been laid for their approach to 

it, and the performance , underneath its branches, of religeous rites”. 

(McCutcheon) 

1810-20 estimated 

A painting ‘The Blasted Oak, Torwood Forest near Stirling’. Oil on board 

laid down on canvas, by the Reverend John Thomson of Duddingston (1778- 

1840) – Recently acquired by the Smith Art Gallery and Museum. 

(King)

86 L. Corbett 

1827 

Sir Walter Scott in his Tales of a Grandfather – on Scottish history to 1746 – 

speaks of his having seen some of the roots of the Wallace Oak. 

(Howie) 

1830 

Plan of the Estate of Woodside, property of James Russell Esq of Edinburgh 

(MS NLS Deposit 240 … Russell and Aitken Papers) … poorly legible … see 

Forrester’s paper, figures 3 and 4. The plan has many pencilled annotations 

thought to be by James Aitken who aquired the estate in 1899, and the Asylum 

in 1869. A different hand added the location of Wallace’s Oak, and the 

‘proposed pond’ at Cockmylane, probably that of Anne Stirling of Glenbervie, 

who was rebuilding Glenbervie House around 1850. Her daughter Mrs 

Houston of Johnstone claimed to have identified the site of the Oak. 

(Gibson’s Lands and Lairds of Larbert and Dunipace, 1908 p75; and pers. comm. 

Patrick Cadell, NLS, to Forrester, 1985) 

(Howie, Forrester, Cadell ) 

1840 

Thought by some to be the date of the pencilling ‘Wallace Oak’ on the 

Woodside Plan possibly by a member of the Blair family. 

(Mackay) 

1841 

From the New Statistical Account of Scotland, Stirlingshire volume, are these 

quotes from the Rev. John Bonar’s reports on his parishes of (a) Larbert and (b) 

Dunipace – 

(a) “There was – 50 years ago, a remarkable oak in this neighbourhood on the 

lands of Blairs, two miles north of Larbert. It was called Wallace’s tree. When 

I saw it about 1794, there remained only a part of the outer shell and a branch 

with a few green leaves on it....the capacity of the hollow might be such as to 

contain a man or two … as the popular story … asserted…” 

(b) “The forest of Torwood is associated with all that is enobling in patriotism and 

persoal valour. Here stood Wallace’s Oak, 12 feet in diameter, in the hollow of 

which he and his companions, it is said, used to meet and concert their plans 

for wrasting from the grasp of the ambitious Edward. This noble son of the 

forest disappeared about 30 years ago, after having weathered the storms of 

a thousand winters.” 

Might not ‘hollow’ be the enclosed centre of a coppiced tree, since these 

woods are said to have been coppiced “passed all memory”, as quoted above 

at 1806, The Beauties of Scotland.........LC 

1850 

The pencilling of ‘Wallace’s Oak’ on the Woodside estate plan by Ann 

Stirling of Glenbervie … as in figure 4 of the Forrester paper, as noted above at 

1830. 

(Cadell)

1866 

“Captain Stobo MP is to send an elaborate side board, made from the wood 

of Wallace’s Oak” – quoted in a recently noted report in the Glasgow Herald 

1866 27th June p1 col 1, on a ‘Glasgow Museum and Polytechnic Exhibition’ 

(?Torwood oak) 

(Donnelly) 

1880 

R. Gillespie, rewriting Nimmo’s History of Stirlingshire in its 3rd edition, 

enthuses on the ennobling patriotism and valor culled from various sources, 

including quotes – 

“At Torwood … remains of the primaeval Caledonian forest. … Down on top of an 

ordinary ‘hillock’, north of the present toll house, stood the gigantic oak into 

whose capacious interior Wallace is said to have retreated when pursued in 1298 

… The noble tree was surrounded in former days by a marsh. Not the smallest 

vestage, however, of the Wallace Oak remains … Even the ‘oldest inhabitant’ can 

say nothing of it save what he has gathered from tradition … Sir Walter Scott saw 

some roots 80 years ago … Recently we were shown a treasured morsel of the 

tree in the Chambers Institute at Peebles … Wallace, undoubtedly, often chose the 

solitude of Torwood as a place of rest … here he concealed his numbers and his 

designs, to oppose the tyranny of Edward … to sally out suddenly on the enemy, 

and retreat as suddenly … While his army lay in these woods, ‘the oak’ was his 

headquarters … But of one defeated army after another, we find it said that the 

fugitives found refuge here…” 

(Mackay and LC) 

1882 

Wallace Oak … in Poetical Musings, 1882, by Joseph Hutton … sung to tune 

‘Bonnie Dundee’ – 

“We sing of the heather, the broom and the blue bell, 

“And join in our charms the sweet wimpling rill, 

“We forget not the thistle, that flower of the free, – 

“Then why not remember the Wallace Oak Tree! 

“Let us sing of that oak where our young hero played, 

“All sportive and joious beneath the green shade; 

“Then resting in sunshine in yiuth’s happy morn, 

“Eyr fate bad him feel that the rose had a thorn. 


“That treasured old oak, by arts magic hand, 

“In casket or cup a memorial shall stand; 

“And ages unborn shall sing o’ that name 

“That engraph’d bonnie Scotland to freedom and fame! 

(McCutcheon and LC)

88 L. Corbett 

1891 

From the Scottish Chiefs, by Jane Porteous pp362-3 

“As the chief meant to assume a border minstrel’s garb, that he might travel the 

country unrecognised as its once adored Regent, he took his way towards a large 

hollow oak in Torwood, where he had deposited his means of disguise (a) – 

(a) The remains of a venerable oak, bearing Wallace’s name, has long been 

revered in this wood. Indeed, there are several oaks consecrated to his 

memory in various parts of Scotland: some as his shelter at one place, some at 

another; for he who often has to watch for his country, without ‘bield or 

board’, must have been glad of a tree canopy or a cave for his lodging. More 

than one of these fine old oaks (of perhaps a 1000 years ‘age’) (4), has been 

lopped in our own times to afford relics of the hero; in the shape of caskets, 

crosses, and even rings set in gold. Of all these forms, the writer of The Scottish 

Chiefs has had presents from their brave and noble descendents; namely – the 

late Earl of Buchan; Lady Macdonald Lockhart; the Lady Charlotte Gordon; 

the Duchess of Richmond; etc etc ” 

(Jane Porteous 1891) 

See note (4) for a notable example from the Elderslie Wallace Oak. 

(King) 

1903 

Torwood … from F. H. Croome’s Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland volume 1, 

1903 – 

“Torwood a village in Dunipace parish … to the S. are the ruins of Torwood Castle, 

mid 16th C … surrounded by the Tor Wood, a remnant of the ancient Caledonian 

Forest and the hiding place of Sir William Wallace. The true ‘Wallace Oak’ here is 

gone forever though a shoot of it was thriving as late as 1835 … an old thorn tree 

near it was very possibly the identical tree beneath which Donald Cargill 

excommunicated Charles 11, Sept 1680 (Transactions of the Highland Agricultural 

Society 1881, p204)” 

(LC) 

1908 

Quotes from Gibson’s Lands and Lairds of Larbert and Dunipace in footnotes to 

the chapter on Woodside estate, being information communicated to Gibson 

by Mrs Houston of Johnston Castle, who was a grand-daughter of Mrs 

Sylvester Douglas Stirling of Glenbervie, and states that this is partly based on 

information given by her grandmother whose knowledge of the places dated 

from 1832. 

“Cargill’s Thorn at one time marked the spot where the Covenanter Donald 

Cargill excomunicated Charles II, but is no longer in existence having been blown 

down 10 to 15 years ago. It stood on the east side of the Falkirk/Stirling road on 

Woodside estate which originally formed part of the ancient Low Torwood.” 

“Wallace’s Oak which stood on another part of Woodside (Low Torwood) has also 

vanished. There is an account of it in the second edition of Nimmo’s History of 

Stirlingshire, in which the editor calls it “an august vegetable”. Mention is made


of a ‘druidical causeway’ leading up to the tree and circling round it. By means 

of tradition and an old map we succeeded in identifying the spot a few years ago, 

and even found traces of the rough causeway mentioned by Nimmo.” 

see also above at 1817 (pers. comm. Howie to Forrester 17/4/85) 

1982 

The Glenbervie Golf Club’s Jubilee Booklet has various notes relevant to the 

Wallace Oak, the Cargill Tree, the history of the Torwood area, previous owners 

etc – as mentioned in the Forrester paper and as its reference 16. 

(Howie) 

1986 

Glenbervie Golf Club contracts the Scottish Wildlife Trust to manage the 

Wallacebank Wood, which is within the golf course grounds, as a listed Wildlife 

Nature Reserve. This was negotiated by Forbes Howie. Subsequently, in the 

course of arduous rhododendron clearance, SWT people, Smith (6), found 

evidence for the Wallace Oak being in the wood, as posed by Forrester, in that 

many of the oaks in the the northern section had been coppiced – including 

one of 21 feet in girth at the stool. This would indicate an age of some 500 to 

800 years – adding to the probability that a “a hollow tree of gigantic 

proportions” did exist in the time of Wallace. 

(Angus Smith)

90 L. Corbett 

1989 

There are notes on the Oak, Torwood, the Blairs … in Forrester’s The 

Forresters, a Lowland Clan and its Lands. 

1996 

A ‘reconnaissance’ of the Wallacebank Wood was made in August by Angus 

Smith, warden of this SWT Nature Reserve,and Mackay and Corbett of FNH – 

W. F. Howie was unfortunately unable to attend. It was proposed that the ‘tree’ 

might be considered a bit more left (north) and within the Nature Reserve 

rather than on the boundary, which, since the 1830s Woodside plan (FNH 21 

p70), has had additional plantings some ten meters wide Several current 

coppiced oaks just within the wood could be seen as possible sites of an ancient 

large circumference oak. 

(Smith) 

Notes and References 

(1) Forrester, D. I. G. 1998. The Wallace Oak, Torwood – and Roy’s Military Survey. Forth 

Naturalist and Historian 21,63-70. 

(2) Harrison, John G. 1999. The Torwood and the Wallace Oak; some early records. 

Ibid 22. 

(3) Anderson, W. 1863. The Scottish Nation. Fullarton. Edinburgh. 

(4) Recently one Wallace artifact remarkably recovered by the Smith Art Gallery and 

Museum was one much sought, but feared lost, made from the Elderslie Wallace 

Oak – a picture frame housing six Wallace supportive letters by notable European 

patriots, including Garibaldi. This was a feature at the grand opening of the Stirling 

Wallace monument in 1886, but long lost. 

(5) A possible wording for a hoped for ?Millennium? plaque to commemorate the 

Wallace Oak, Torwood – 

“In this wood was the legendary Wallace Oak, Torwood – a refuge of the hero, 

Guardian of Scotland, Sir William Wallace, particularly after the battle of Falkirk, 22 

July 1298. This commemorative plaque is the long time ambition of Colin D. I. G. 

Forrester, ancestor of the ancient royal foresters, the Forresters of Corstorphine, and 

founder of the Clan Forrester. He researched and traced the site of this legendary 

tree, as reported by the Scotsman of 8th April 1985, and in The Forth Naturalist and 

Historian volumes 21 and 22, 1998 and 1999”. 

(6) Smith, Angus. 1999. Wallacebank Wood wildlife reserve-1986-99. Forth Naturalist and 

Historian 22. 

(7) Ross, David R. 1999. On the Trail of William Wallace. John Donald, Edinburgh. 

(8) While little of the great forest of Tor Wood remains today, the area is still patched 

with woodland. It has a rich history, on which Colin Forrester has a paper in 

progress. As Nigel Tranter says in his 1971 book The Heartland, the Queen’s Scotland, 

Hodder & Stoughton, “Scotland would not have been the same without the Tor 

Wood.”

Appendix 


Key list by date 

1628 Xmas day … mosse disaster 

1643 Jesuit priest 

1687 Deed/contract … sale of wood, Torwood 

1689 Quaich … Glasgow … 1911 Exhibition 

1712 London Spy 

1771 Namsmyth painting … illus. 

1776 Road map, Torwood … illus. 

1782 Snuff box … Edinburgh Goldsmiths to Buchan 

1792 Snuff box … Buchan to Washington … illus. 

1794 Old Statistical Account 

1795 Quaich … Glasgow … 1911 Exhibition 

1805 Coppicing … Beauties of Scotland 

1812 Snuff box … Russell … to Prince … illus. 

1814 Staff … Dryburgh Statue … Buchan 

1815 Quaich … NMS … 

1817 Nimmo’s History … 2nd edition 

1810-20 Painting … Thomson … illus. 

1827 Walter Scott 

1830 Woodside plan 

1840 Pencilling of Wallace Oak site 

1841 New Statistical Account 

1850 Pencilling site of Oak 

1866 Side board … Glasgow 

1880 Nimmo’s History 

1882 Poetical Musings 

1892 Porteous’s Scottish Chiefs 

1903 Crome’s Ordnance Survey Gazetteer 

1908 Gibson’s Land and Lairds 

1982 Glenbervie Golf Club’s Jubilee booklet 

1986 Wallacebank Wood … SWT Wildlife Reserve and coppicing … illus. 

1989 Notes from Forrester 

1996 Wallacebank Wood … recce


BOOK REVIEWS 

Scotland’s Roman Remains: An Introduction and Handbook. Lawrence 

Keppie. new edition 1998. John Donald. 200pp. ISBN 0.85976.495.8. £9.95. 

This edition not only includes new findings of a dozen years of excavations 

and research since 1986 when it was first commisioned by the Council for 

British Archaeology Scotland, but illustrations have been enhanced and 

updated by computer aided technology. Also updated are the bibliography 

and visiting information – the latter by revisiting many of the sites described – 

one of which saw the complete removal of the railway viaduct over the fast 

flowing Esk. Site descriptions and locations are discussed more widely than in 

previous works. Excavated artifacts are described, and where they can be seen. 

This new edition is witness to the success the work has achieved since 1986 in 

increasing public interest and enjoyment in Scotland’s cultural heritage. 

History of Dollar. Bruce Baillie. 1998. Dollar Museum Trust. 156pp. 

ISBN 0.9534542.0.7. £10. 

A sound and handsome history produced by a team of people from the 

Friends of Dollar Museum, a group of enthusiastic achievers, led by the author, 

a former master and archivist of the Academy. His many years of interest and 

research have produced this history to make a real advance on numerous 

‘reminiscences’, including the well known one of Gibson of the 1880s, and 

papers in the Dollar Magazine over the years. The well illustrated text takes us 

from the early Dollar and its lands, through the Castle Campbell and Argylls, 

early church, the centuries 17th to 20th, peoples, places, events – including Tait, 

the Cowden estate, explorer Christie, Japanese garden, the Academy, and so 

much more – all greatly complementing the resources of the expanding 

museum. 

Memories of St Ninians. Willie Jenkins. 1999. Stirling Libraries. 65pp. 

ISBN 1.870542.39.8. £3.50. 

Some fifty, mostly old and very well restored photographs of people and 

places, are informatively annotated to give the book a real feel of history, a 

celebration of the individuality of St Ninians and its people at work and leisure. 

The author’s inimitable knowledge, his extensive collection of photographs, his 

enthusiasm for the place and for sharing it with others, are well demonstrated 

here. Helpful maps show details of the area as of 1896 and 1996.


THE TORWOOD AND THE WALLACE OAK; SOME EARLY RECORDS 

John G. Harrison 

The Wallace Oak in Torwood was discussed by Forrester (1) whilst a 

supplement to Forrester’s paper appears in this issue. Forrester used 

cartographic evidence to locate the site of this once-famous tree. Recent work 

has located a number of records concerning management of the Torwood in 

the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Two of these refer to the Wallace 

Tree and the records make clear that the tree’s long survival was the result of a 

deliberate policy of protection. 

Like other semi-natural woods in early modern lowland Scotland the 

Torwood was managed for the production of timber, bark, charcoal and other 

wood products. The general aspects of the system are described by Smout and 

Watson (2). At some phases in the cycle of management the woodland was also 

grazed and grass was cut for hay. Small woods might be cut in one year but 

larger woods were divided into a number of sections (called haggs) and one 

hagg cut per year. Trees were to be cut carefully so as to encourage re-growth. 

Each section was fenced after it was cut to exclude grazing animals. The 

contracts often specify that a proportion of substantial trees (maidens) should 

not be cut and specific trees might be named or marked for preservation. After 

cutting, re-growth from the stumps was rapid and after 20 years or so the wood 

was ready to be cut again. Contracts between proprietors and felling 

contractors become increasingly common from about 1600 on and are the 

prime documentary source. 

Lord Forrester, proprietor of the Torwood, entered into such a contract some 

time prior to 1656 but breached it by selling the wood to others; arbitrators 

ordered him to compensate the original contractors (3). In 1682 Andro Mackie 

bought the rights to the bark of the trees in the Holleinwaird of Torwoodhead 

(a part of the Torwood). He was to pay 37 shillings Scots per boll with a free boll 

for every twenty bolls and an extra free one for every 100 so this was a 

substantial area of woodland (4). In the same month, William Livingstone had 

paid 400 merks for the rights to the haill greine wood and growing timber of all sorts 

quhatsomever presentlie growing within the dykes and upon the dyke backes, with 

severall uther bussis of timber growing without the dyke, of the parke of Torwoodhead 

called the eister parke theirof, and within the roume and mealling presentlie possest be 

Margaret Rennie, with the bark and other wood products. He had only two 

years to do this work and this contract clearly refers only to a part of the wood. 

There is no mention of reservation of maidens but he was to do the work 

carefully to secure re-growth (5). 

A 1687 contract excluded the tuo parkes lately cutt (those involved in the 1682 

contracts) which lay upon the west syde of the heigh way betuixt the samen and the 

house of Torrwoodhead, and also the planting in and about the yeards and inclosours 

of Torrwoodhead. But otherwise this contract encompassed the whole Torwood

94 John G. Harrison 

comprehending Aikens glen on the east syde of the burne. Oak was the prime 

produce but it also mentions ‘common timber’ such as birk, arne, eash and hizell 

[birch, alder, ash and hazel]. The 1687 contract specifies that the cutters were to 

leave in everie hagg uncutt yeirlie the number of ane hundred young oaks betuixt 

fyfteen and eighteen inches [say 40 to 50 cm] in greatnes about. The wood was to be 

cut in eight haggs and work to be completed within nine years (6). 

In 1740 parts of the wood were feued (7). The division refers to parts north 

and south of the road from Larbert to Stirling and to the wood dykes. The 

division seems to have given rise to confusion and by 1791 the new march was 

to apply only for cutting grass whilst the ‘ancient’ boundaries applied when 

cutting timber (8). 

Also in 1740 Lady Forrester sold the timber in specified sections of the wood, 

north and south of the highway. The dykes and other boundaries involved are 

carefully specified but there is now, also, mention of planted trees and of the 

Firrwood. The planted fir trees could be thinned but, where needful, the firs 

were to be replaced with oaks, ashes and elms from the estate nurseries and the 

haggs were also to be ‘thickened’ by replanting. Parts of the adjacent muir were 

to be new planted (9). Some years earlier than this, in 1723, Johnstoune had 

commented that “The Tormuir which in old time was a part of this wood is 

inclosed and planted which will make that wood as beautiful as ever” (10). 

Deliberate planting was rare prior to the eighteenth century and this 

represents a very significant change of woodland management; but otherwise, 

the cutting by haggs, fencing and so on are very traditional. 

Finally, in 1787, William Wilson bought the right to cut the wood of 

Torwood, consisting of 120 aces (11). The conditions are traditional. The wood 

was to be cut in haggs over an eight year period; the trees were to be carefully 

cut, the haggs fenced. Charcoal could be made in the wood so long as no 

damage was done. Three old oak maidens were to be left in each of the first 

three haggs and four in each of the others and a total of 2176 young seedlings, 

from six to nine inches round at a yard [roughly 15-25 cm at 1 metre] above the 

ground were to be left in the whole wood. No small seedlings (less than halfbarrel 

size) were to be cut. The owner would supply the cutter with materials 

for fencing where the walls were inadequate. Bark and other produce were to 

be removed by three, specified gates. 

These contracts suggest that the traditional management system was based 

on a number of recognised divisions, some separated by earth banks, some by 

stone dykes and elsewhere by roads or tracks. The 1687 tack allowed the 

tenants to cut the oak but not the other trees growing on these wood dykes, 

specifically for the better strenthning and fixing of the said fence. An agricultural 

tack of Todhills, the Wandless and Greingait of Torwoodhead dated 1657 

obliged Duncan Robein to assist in building and maintaining wood dykes and 

in bringing in the wood hay and also granted him grass for two horses within 

the wood (12). The 1687 tack further refers to the house within the laigh forresters 

fauld and the forester’s fauld itself; these might either be ploughed or kept in

grass as the tenants preferred. The contractors could also have the grazing of 

each year’s hagg before cutting began for their horses and for two milk cows 

but they were to preserve the meadow and other grass of the wood from 

damage. 

The persistence of the Wandless (‘wanlace’) is interesting as a relic of the 

wood’s use as a hunting forest; it would have been the enclosure to which deer 

were driven for killing by the royal or noble hunting party (13). On Timothy 

Pont’s manuscript map of the area Wainless is shown in the south east corner of 

the wood. This map, originally surveyed in the late sixteenth century but 

revised later, shows a double wall or fence about the whole wood and what 

might be a road leading from Wainless to Woodsyde in the north east corner. 

We thus have records of cutting of major parts of Torwood about the 1650s, 

of an eight-year cutting cycle beginning in 1687, another eight-year cycle 

beginning in 1741 and a last one beginning in 1787. The woodland was 

interspersed with meadows and parts were grazed. In spite of the evidence of 

planted firs and other species, the overall impression is very traditional. 

The Wallace Tree is mentioned in 1687 and 1787. In 1687 the contractors 

could cut the whole wood excepting Wallace tree, the tuo parkes lately cut … etc. In 

1787 the vendor reserved (Article 8) the whole grass of the wood as [well as] the 

whole ash in the wood also the old stock called the Wallace Tree and the seedling on the 

East side of it which the purchaser shall no ways hurt or damage. The 1687 record is 

by far the oldest non-literary record of the tree. It is clear evidence that there 

was an ancient tree here, closely associated with Wallace – though, I must 

emphasise, this is 400 years after Wallace’s day and is not evidence that he 

sheltered within its hollow trunk. The contracts confirm Johnstoun’s assertion 

in 1723 that Wallace tree … [is] ever excepted from cutting when the wood is sold (14). 

And together the records make clear that this was the conscious protection of 

a famous, national relic. 

Already, by 1723, the tree was ‘much decayed’ only bearing leaves and 

acorns on the north side. By 1787 it was a mere ‘stock’ or stump. This is 

consistent with Bonar’s recollection (15) that about 1797 the tree consisted of an 

outer shell and a single branch with a few leaves. Most tantalising of all, the 

proposed preservation of the ‘seedling on the East side of it’, hints that the 

proprietor was encouraging the growth of a successor to the tree – presumably 

the ‘shoot’ which was ‘still thriving as late as 1835’ and perhaps, if Charles 

Rogers is to be credited, so late as 1850 (16). 

References 

Torwood and the Wallace Oak 95 

1. Forrester, C. D. I. G. (1998) The Wallace Oak and Roy’s Military Survey. Forth 

Naturalist and Historian 21, 63-70. 

2. Smout, C. and F. Watson. Exploiting Semi-natural Woods. In Scottish Woodland 

History, T. C. Smout (ed) (Edinburgh, 1997).

96 John G. Harrison 

3. National Archives of Scotland (NAS), Stirling Commissary Court, Register of Deeds, 

CC21/13/4, f. 17r. 

4. NAS, vouchers of General Register of Deeds, RD.12. 1683, no. 538. I am grateful to 

John Ballantyne for drawing this and the following two references to my attention. 

5. NAS, vouchers of General Register of Deeds, RD.12. 1683, no. 662. 

6. NAS, vouchers of General Register of Deeds, RD.13. 1688, no. 353. 

7. NAS, Stirling Sheriff Court, Register of Deeds, SC67/49/23, 202-212 

8. NAS, Stirling Sheriff Court, Register of Deeds, SC67/49/40, 123. 

9. NAS, Register of Deeds, RD.4/167, 30 June 1742. 

10. Johnstoun [Mr of Kirkland] Morwenside Parish, Falkirk, Bothkennar, Airth, Larbert 

and Dunipace. In Mitchell, A. (ed) (1906) Geographical Collections Relating to Scotland 

made by Walter MacFarlane. 

11. NAS, Stirling Commissary Court, Register of Deeds, CC21/13/17, 215. 

12. NAS, Stirling Sheriff Court, Register of Deeds, SC67/41/1, 65. 

13. Gilbert, J. M., Hunting and Hunting Reserves in Medieval Scotland, (Edinburgh, 

1979) 54. 

14. Johnstoun, cited above, I, 333. 

15. Bonar, OSA, cited Corbett in FNH. 

16. Croome (1903) cited Corbett FNH. Rogers, C., A Week at Bridge of Allan, (Edinburgh, 

1851) 84.


SIR GEORGE HARVEY PRSA (1806-1876) 

People of the Forth (12) 

Maria Devaney 

Figure 1 Self Portrait in Pencil, 1849. 

‘One of the best known and most distinguished among the Scottish Artists’. 

Robert Brydall, History of Art in Scotland. 

Sir George Harvey (figure 1), a landscape and genre painter, played an 

important role in the establishment of a ‘Scottish School’ of artists in the mid- 

19th century. His career coincided with the period following the establishment 

of the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh, when Scottish born artists could for the 

first time, train, exhibit, and base themselves in Scotland, without having to 

move south to further their careers. 

Harvey was born in St Ninians in 1806, where his father, also George 

Harvey, worked as a clockmaker. The Harveys moved into the town of Stirling 

later the same year, when Harvey senior was admitted into the Hammermen’s 

Trade. Young George Harvey was one of five children, and he attended the 

High School in Stirling, before being apprenticed to a bookseller in the town.

98 Maria Devaney 

His first painting, entitled ‘His Own Catch of Trout’ (figure 2) is now part of the 

Stirling Smith’s large collection of works by Harvey. At the end of his 

apprenticeship, Harvey did not enter the bookselling trade, but instead 

attended the Trustees Academy in Edinburgh for a further two years where he 

studied fine art under Sir William Allan. Allan was one of the pioneers of 

Scottish history painting, and had himself studied under David Wilkie at the 

Trustees Academy. The popular success of Scott’s Waverley novels encouraged 

Scottish artists to look to the history of their own country for source material, 

instead of classical subjects. Harvey in his turn continued to build on this trend, 

by choosing to paint scenes from the lives of the Covenanters, contemporary 

Scottish life and latterly Scottish landscape. 

Many of Harvey’s early paintings must have been inspired by the 

geography and people of Stirling. It is said he often used family and friends as 

his models. ‘Disputing the Billet’, exhibited at the Scottish Academy in 1827 

shows a householder and her son trying to oust the militia foisted on them for 

the drill period. The young soldier’s assurance is pitted against the refusal for 

admittance by the woman (figures 3 and 4). Harvey must have been aware of 

such incidents in Stirling, the garrison town. The Castle was the military base 

for the Highland Borderers Militia (now the Argyll and Sutherland 

Highlanders) and recruits regularly underwent drill periods and were 

allocated billets in the area, when accommodation was in short supply. 

‘The Small Debt Court’, exhibited the same year describes several incidents 

which Harvey has captured in such well observed detail. Scots Law allowed 

creditors to recover debt up to the amount of twelve pounds through the 

Sheriff’s Small Debt Court. The finished painting is now lost, but several 

sketches survive in the Smith collection, which suggest the scope of the 

painting. ‘Family at the Law Court’ (figure 5) is a sketch showing a country 

family come to town to have a grievance heard. The husband, suffering from 

poor eyesight peers to read a legal letter, while his young son holds his hat. 

The Sheriff Court in Stirling, in Harvey’s day, as now, served a large scattered 

rural population, as well as the town itself. 

Harvey may have treated these incidents from contemporary life with some 

affection and amusement, but later he did tackle more serious subjects. 

‘Quitting the Manse’ (figure 6), exhibited at the Royal Academy, London in 

1847 and the Royal Scottish Academy in 1848, deals with the repercussions of 

the Disruption of 1843 when nearly 500 ministers left their charges for the sake 

of conscience and established the Free Church of Scotland. The painting shows 

a minister and his family shutting the door of their home for the last time to 

face homelessness. The entire village watches their departure with sorrow and 

regret. Harvey used Tullibody Church as his model for the background of the 

painting. The finished work is now in the collections of the National Gallery of 

Scotland, but has sadly deteriorated due to Harvey’s over use of bitumen. 

Many of his paintings have been lost in this way, and their images survive only 

through his sketches and engravings.

Sir George Harvey 99 

It was through engravings that Harvey’s works became known to a popular 

world wide audience. His treatment of Scottish history and contemporary 

incidents appealed to Scots at home, and also the growing numbers of 

emigrant Scots, who responded to the sentiment and nostalgia of pictures such 

as ‘Quitting the Manse’ and his series of Covenanting scenes. Harvey’s first 

painting of this series, ‘The Covenanters Preaching’ was exhibited at the 

Scottish Academy in 1830. It is now in the collections of Glasgow Museums. 

Several sketches for this painting are in the Smith collection, including a pair of 

covenanting figures (figure 7) and a study for the preacher (figure 8). The 

former sketch also reveals notes to the engraver in Harvey’s own hand. 

His next Covenanting scene, ‘The Baptism’, was exhibited the following 

year. The Smith has the initial composition and several sketches including the 

study for the central family group (figure 9). The finished painting is in the 

collections of Aberdeen Art Gallery. Harvey’s sketch has incorporated the 

custom of the ‘Baby’s Maiden’, when a young girl passed the baby between 

mother and father, then back again. The mother is dressed in white garments. 

The source for this subject matter is thought to have been drawn from 

literature, from Christopher North’s ‘Lights and Shadows of Scottish Life’. 

Harvey’s other Covenanting works included ‘The Battle of Drumclog’ 

(Glasgow Museums, first exhibited 1836 at the Scottish Academy) and the 

‘Covenanters’ Communion’ (first exhibited 1840). 

Harvey’s sympathetic treatment of the Covenanters, and the troubles of 

Scottish church matters in his own day, perhaps struck a chord with the artist 

since his own family, originally called Hervé, had fled France during the 

Revolution and experienced such persecution. 

Harvey did for a time paint other history subjects including ‘Shakespeare 

before Sir Thomas Lucy’ (exhibited 1837), ‘An Incident in the Life of Napoleon’ 

(exhibited 1845), and the ‘First Reading of the Bible in the Crypt of Old St 

Paul’s’ (exhibited 1847), but it was his everyday subjects such as ‘The Curlers’ 

(National Gallery of Scotland, first exhibited 1835) and several paintings 

inspired by childhood that he enjoyed a popular following. 

Harvey’s first school subject was ‘Village School’ (exhibited 1826), reputedly 

based on a school at Causewayhead. The same school is said to have also been 

the model for ‘Examination of a Village School’ (exhibited 1832). Harvey’s gift 

for expression can be seen in his many sketches of children. His childhood 

subjects were a celebration of adventure and discovery, and depicted children 

with great charm. ‘Boy Restraining Dog’ (figure 10) is a sketch for ‘Rabbit 

Hunting in the Craigs’, exhibited at the Scottish Academy in 1828. At that time, 

the Craigs was rugged land outside the town walls of Stirling. Other childhood 

subjects included ‘Harrying the Byke’ (1827), ‘The Lost Child Restored’ 

(1829) (4), ‘Boys and Burning Glass’ (1834) and ‘Blowing Bubbles: The Past and 

the Present’ (1849). 

Harvey’s landscapes, the least recognised during his lifetime are now 

considered to be some of his best work. They suggest a close study of nature


and weather conditions; a modern approach at the time. His landscapes were 

at first only backgrounds to his historical or genre subjects, but later in his 

career he concentrated on pure landscape with fewer and fewer figures. 

In ‘Sheep Shearing’ (figure 11) he “attained a truth and subtlety of aerial 

effect new in Scottish art” (J. L. Caw). Dating from 1859, it marks the transition 

from figure to landscape painting, and depicts man in harmony with his 

environment. Harvey has captured a scene from the annual event of ‘the 

clipping’, taking place beneath dramatic hills (thought to be the Ochils). Each 

stage of the process has been described in detail from the bringing in of the 

next animal, the shearing, the branding, sharpening of shears, and the collie 

dogs carefully watching the flocks. The whole image exudes such harmony, in 

terms of composition, treatment of subject and depiction of the landscape and 

sky. 

The reasons for his turning more towards pure landscape subjects are not 

known, although it is thought that John Ruskin’s Edinburgh lectures of 

November 1853 may have had a major impact on Harvey. Ruskin wrote to his 

father, “I have many friends and admirers in Edinburgh, and am in some 

respects far better understood there than in London. The Edinburgh artists – 

Harvey, D. O. Hill, Noel Paton, etc, are all eager to meet me” (D. & F. Irwin). In 

one of his lectures, Ruskin attacked the current trend for history painting, and 

promoted Pre-Raphaelitism with its uncompromising truth and minute detail 

taken directly from nature. Ruskin stated that “the only historical painting 

worth a straw” is the recording of contemporary events. It is clear to see 

Ruskin’s influence in Harvey’s ‘Sheep Shearing’. 

Portraiture is another aspect of Harvey’s oeuvre which is rarely discussed. 

There are three oil portraits in the Smith collection, one of his brother 

Alexander who became Baillie of Provan in Glasgow, and the others are of 

former Provosts of Stirling, William McAlley and William Rankin. There are 

also individual sketches of himself and his father, the Stirling clockmaker. The 

collection of Harvey oil sketches are principally portraits and character studies 

of unnamed people, likely to be friends, members of his family or models. It 

would appear that portrait commissions were few until Harvey’s career as a 

Royal Academician began to flourish. This is surprising when his portraits 

reveal such insight into character and expression, without any leanings 

towards sentimentality. 

Art historians and critics have since Harvey’s day considered his painting 

techniques, particularly in his earlier works, to be lacking. It is generally agreed 

however that Harvey’s painting improved as he matured. He was certainly 

held in the highest regard by his peers. Harvey was involved in the formation 

of the Scottish Academy, and was one of the original Associates in 1826 at the 

young age of twenty. By 1829 he was elected an Academician. His support of 

the Academy can be seen in the number of paintings he submitted each year to 

the annual exhibitions, and in his support of younger artists, and is 

acknowledged by his colleagues. The Rev. A. L. Simpson states that it was to


Harvey and others that the Academy owed its ‘early stability and youthful 

vigour’. He also cites Harvey’s role in the purchase of paintings by William 

Etty, now in the National Gallery of Scotland. His efforts were officially 

recognised when Harvey became the fourth President of the Royal Scottish 

Academy in 1864, and served until his death in 1876. 

Harvey’s legacy to Scottish art is now widely acknowledged by art 

historians, principally, his role in establishing a vibrant Scottish school, with the 

Royal Scottish Academy at its centre. He is often referred to as an ‘Edinburgh’ 

artist, but Harvey clearly drew on his Stirling background and connections for 

subject matter and inspiration. The Harvey family connection continued with 

the town, when George’s brother William took over the family business. 

George’s niece, Nellie Harvey became a popular local artist and member of the 

Stirling Fine Art Association. It was through her that most of the large 

collection of sketches survive, and which she generously gifted to the Smith in 

1935. 

References 

(1) History of Art in Scotland by Robert Brydall. W. Blackwood and Sons. 

(2) Scottish Painting Past and Present. J. L. Caw, Edinburgh. T. C. and E. C. Jack, 1908. 

(3) Scottish Art by Stanley Cursiter. G. G. Harrap and Co. Ltd., 1949. 

(4) Harvey’s ‘Lost’ Child Restored. M. Devaney. Forth Naturalist and Historian, 21 85-87. 

(5) Scottish Painting 1837-1939. William Hardie. Studio Vista, London 1980. 

(6) Guide to the Collection of Scots Character Studies by Sir George Harvey PRSA. 

N. Harvey. Smith Institute, Stirling, 1938. 

(7) Scottish Painters at Home and Abroad 1700-1900. D. and F. Irwin. Faber and Faber, 

London 1975. 

(8) Sir George Harvey PRSA 1806-1876. Essays by Andrew Lindesay and Nigel Walsh. 

Foreword by Lindsay Errington. Smith Art Gallery and Museum, Dumbarton Road, 

Stirling. 

(9) The Scottish School of Painting. W. D. McKay, London. Duckworth and Co., 1906. 

(10) The Royal Scottish Academy 1826-1916. F. W. Rinder and W. D. McKay. J. MacLehose 

and Sons, 1917. 

(11) A Selection from the Works of Sir George Harvey PRSA. Rev. A. L. Simpson. 

Andrew Elliot, Edinburgh. 

The illustrations in this article are all by Sir George Harvey and are all in the Smith Art 

Gallery and Museum Collection.


Figure 2 His Own Catch of Trout, Oil on Board, c1826. 

Figures 3 and 4 Sketches for Disputing the Billet, Oil on Paper, c1827.


Figure 5 

Family at the Law Court, 

Oil on Paper, 

Study for the Small Debt 

Court, c1827. 

Figure 6 Quitting the Manse, c1847, taken from ‘A Selection of the Works of 

Sir George Harvey PRSA’, Rev. A. L. Simpson.


Figures 7 and 8 

Sketches for the Covenanters’ 

Preaching, Oil on Paper, c1830.

Figure 10 

Boy Restraining Dog – 

Quarry Emerging, 

Oil on Paper, 

study for Rabbit Hunting 

in the Craigs, 

c1828. 


Figure 9 

Sketch for The Baptism, 

Oil on Paper, 

c1831.

Figure 11 Sheep Shearing, Oil on Panel, 1859. 

106 Maria Devaney


THE SHERIFFMUIR ‘ATLANTIC WALL’: 

AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY ON PART OF THE WHITESTONE 

MILITARY RANGE 

David C. Cowley, John A. Guy and Diana M. Henderson 

Few would credit that part of Hitler’s coastal defences could have been built 

in Scotland, and yet, on moorland north of Stirling, a section of the Atlantic 

Wall was constructed and survives to this day (NGR NN 8379 0367). This was 

recorded in the course of mapping an area of Sheriffmuir, on the western flank 

of the Ochils, by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical 

Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS). For the most part the archaeological 

remains in the area were of post-medieval date, comprising braided trackways, 

enclosed patches of straight cultivation ridges and smaller stock enclosures, but 

they also included a series of much more recent military training works. These 

lie on a terrace pockmarked by shell craters at about 295 m OD and were 

formerly part of the Whitestone Range. The importance of recording 20th 

century military remains such as these archaeologically is now widely 

recognised (e.g. Lowry, 1995), in particular because they are often regarded as 

eyesores and are prone to being ‘tidied-up’ without any form of drawn or 

written record. Notwithstanding the aesthetics of such sites, they are important 

historical monuments which are often poorly documented, if at all. 

Consequently, they are little understood despite dating to such a recent period 

of our history. This is certainly the case at Whitestone Range, which was in use 

for about 100 years. 

Between about 1860 and 1906 Whitestone Range was one of ten Militia and 

Volunteers ranges and training grounds in the Tillicoultry-Dollar area. In 1907 

the annual training camp of The Argyll and Sutherland Brigade of the 

Volunteers took place on Sheriffmuir and a four lane rifle range at the south 

end of the area that has been mapped may date to this period. An aerial 

photograph taken in 1946 (106G/SCOT/120, No. 4250, 20.06.1946) records its 

layout as patches of lighter vegetation some of which can still be traced on the 

ground, presumably indicating the locations of supports for a target 

superstructure. A scatter of small emplacements and slit trenches, dug into the 

hillside and fronted by an upcast bank, lie across the hillside around the rifle 

range, but these probably date to WW II. 

During WW I the 52nd (Lowland) Division trained on the range before 

going to Gallipoli in 1915. They are likely to have started what is evidently the 

earliest system of trenches on the terrace. This system may have been extended 

by Second Line or Reserve Battalion drafts of men destined for France 

throughout WW I and was subsequently tailored to the WW II training 

operations. Some of the shell holes on the hillside to the east (Figure 1) may 

originate in this period, as the 4th Lowland Howitzer Brigade Royal Artillery of 

52nd (Lowland) Division were stationed in Stirling and Tillicoultry in 1914/15.

108 D. C. Cowley, J. A. Guy, D. M. Henderson 

The most spectacular structures on the range, however, are the remains of a 

mock-up of the anti-invasion beach defences built by the German army along 

the Atlantic seaboard of the Continent during WW II. This was one of a number 

of other such practice works (Shepheard, 1994, Thomas, 1995) constructed 

during 1943 as part of the intensive rehearsals for Allied D-Day landings. The 

49th and the 52nd (Lowland) Divisions trained in the area in 1943-44, along 

with the 1/4th King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, based in Crieff. Mock-ups 

of German coastal defences were also built near Muthill by the 294 Field 

Company Royal Engineers. Operations related specifically to the breaching of 

the defences were the remit of the Assault Engineers. If there was any 

modification of the range during the Cold War it has not left much trace, and 

the range is now dormant. 

The WW II Practice Works 

The elements of the site dating to WW II are described in detail below, 

divided between defensive (i.e. German) and offensive (i.e. allied) positions 

(Figure 2). The defensive positions lie to the east of the public road and 

comprise a section of reinforced-concrete ‘Atlantic Wall’, fronted by an anti-tank 

ditch, lying at the north-east end of the terrace, and a system of bunkers and 

gun emplacements linked by trenches that extends over a distance of 600 m to 

the south-west of the Wall. The system incorporates the trenches dug during 

WW I. The offensive positions lie to the west of the road and mainly comprise 

a series of gun emplacements and levelled platforms set out along a graded 

access track. The depot where raw materials for the construction of the WW II 

site were handled lies to the north (NN 8404 0406; beyond the top of Figure 2). 

Practice works such as these required considerable intelligence information, 

including aerial photography of actual German defences on the continent. 

Thus, the Sheriffmuir area may be a model of a specific segment of known 

beach, but it may also be a ‘composite’, drawn from a number of different 

locations. The recollections of a Captain M. A. Philip (Brigade Signals Officer, 

185 Bde 3 Div.) recorded in the Imperial War Museum Oral History Collection 

provide a useful insight into the operation of the practice works. 

“We began some Combined Operations exercises, pretty primitive at first, known as 

‘dryshod-exercises’. A road or some other suitable landmark represented the coastline, 

and if you were on one side of it you were technically afloat and on the other side on land 

again. Men and vehicles were fed across the ‘coastline’ at specified intervals to represent 

landing craft discharging their contents.” 

This description has clear resonance on Sheriffmuir, the sinuous line of the 

graded track to the west of the public road representing the shore, and the 

ground shelving gently up towards the ‘Atlantic Wall’, a good approximation of 

a beach. 

Defensive Positions: The ‘Atlantic Wall’ and Tobruk Shelter 

The ‘Atlantic Wall’, incongruous in its moorland setting, is a massive block of 

reinforced concrete 86 m long and about 3 m in height. Just over half of the

Sheriffmuir Atlantic Wall 109 

length of the Wall is 3 m thick, stepping down to 0.7 m at the south-west end, 

where the Wall curves round slightly to the west. The rear face of the Wall is 

vertical for about half its height, battering inwards towards the top, which is 

flat. The front, or seaward (facing north-west), side slopes outwards to create 

an overhang, with a small inwards batter at the top supporting iron pickets 

between which barbed wire could be strung. The pattern of the corrugated 

iron sheets used for shuttering in the construction of the Wall and individual 

dumps of concrete are clearly visible. Some care has been taken in finishing the 

surfaces and filling the gaps between the initial dumps of concrete. A small 

tunnel runs through the Wall about half way along. The Wall was built to 

practice assault techniques and presumably specifically to perfect a method of 

breaching it. It is no surprise, therefore, that the front face of the Wall is 

extensively pitted by impacts from a variety of calibres revealing the 1 ⁄2 inch and 

1 inch iron reinforcing rods. Holes of various diameters have been drilled into 

the face of the Wall to take explosive charges which may have been responsible 

for much of the extensive damage to the Wall. The most spectacular damage is 

a gap some 4 m wide (Figure 3), from which a spread of debris extends 

backwards for some 40 m. The sheer force of the explosion that caused this 

breach can be seen in the twisted reinforcing rods, bent back from the edges of 

the hole. This explosion and the consequential damage must have marked a 

notable success in perfecting techniques to overcome such a massive obstacle. 

The Wall is fronted by a flat bottomed anti-tank ditch some 3 m across and 

about 0.6 m deep, with an upcast bank on the ‘seaward’ side. A trench running 

at right-angles to the south-west end of the Wall may have run up to an 

emplacement on the hillside 180 m to the south-east (NN 8389 0351; off the east 

side of Figure 2). Some 20 m to 25 m to the north-west of the ditch a trench runs 

roughly parallel to the Wall and may originally have connected the network of 

trenches to the south (see The Trench System below) with an underground 

bunker to the north-east of the Wall. This bunker (Figure 4) incorporates a 

Tobruk shelter, consisting of a sunken chamber with two observation and firing 

holes (in this case octagonal) in the roof, which was almost flush with ground 

level and so presented a very small target. Initially developed by the Italian 

Army in North Africa, this type of bunker was quickly adopted by the Afrika 

Korps and was developed by the German Army as an integral part of many 

defences on the north-western seaboard of the continent (Thomas, 1995, 43). 

By comparison with the Wall this bunker shows relatively little sign of any 

damage, in common with the two concrete bunkers built into the trenchsystem 

to the south-west. To the east of the Tobruk shelter a large disturbed 

hollow full of ironwork extends as far as a grass-covered mound, probably a 

bunker, and trenches extend up the hillside to a gun emplacement to the south 

(NN 8389 0351; off the east side of Figure 2). 

What may be the line of a tramway or levelled path lies to the rear (southeast) 

of the Wall, in amongst a confusing network of earlier braided trackways; 

its course is best discerned from the air (Figure 1). It runs from an area of 

disturbed ground beside the public road to the north of the Wall and does not


appear to extend far beyond the Wall. The disturbed ground may mark the site 

of the depot for handling building materials for the Wall, with what may have 

been a site office built on a concrete floor beside the entrance from the road. If 

the levelled path originally carried a trolley way from the depot to the Wall, it 

must have been carried across Geordie’s Burn on a timber bridge. Strips of 

worn vegetation are visible on the 1946 aerial photograph to the south of the 

Wall and may mark the lines of paths bringing building materials from the 

public road to other parts of the range. The absence of such paths between the 

road and Wall adds weight to the suggestion that building materials for the 

Wall came from the depot. 

The Trench System 

To the south-east of the ‘Atlantic Wall’ an extensive network of trenches 

connects a concrete blockhouse, two concrete and two timber bunkers and four 

gun emplacements (Figure 2). The blockhouse lies midway along the trenchsystem, 

and is built above ground of reinforced concrete, with three openings. 

It has been fired on extensively and damage is particularly marked around the 

openings. In addition holes have been drilled into the concrete to take 

explosive charges, which may account for some of the larger craters in the 

blockhouse walls. 

The trenches extend from the terrace up the flank of Black Hill to the southeast, 

and are clearly of two distinct phases, the earlier a simple system dating 

from WW I, subsequently modified and extended during WW II. The WW I 

trench runs north-east along the terrace from a point adjacent to a turf redoubt 

(possibly dating to early in WW II, together with a gun emplacement 60 m to 

the east-north-east) on the south-west. The blockhouse and at least three 

machine gun emplacements are laid out along it, indicating its reuse during 

WW II, presumably as part of the ‘Atlantic Wall’ practice works. The two 

concrete bunkers are situated along the back of the terrace and are connected 

into the later system. The concrete bunkers are both rectangular but do not 

show much sign of damage. Evidently they were not subjected to the same 

attention that inflicted so much damage on the blockhouse. The trenches that 

connect these bunkers into the system to the north-west, however, are cut by 

trenches that zigzag up the slope from the bunkers to circular gun 

emplacements on the hillside to the south-east. Another trench zigzags up to a 

third emplacement to the south-west. The gun emplacements survive as 

ragged hollows measuring between 5 m and 8 m in diameter, and in one case 

the iron rods that supported some superstructure are still in place around the 

edges of the hollow. 

In addition to the gun emplacements, machine gun emplacements are 

scattered across the site, but, these are much smaller, measuring only about 2 m 

in diameter, in some cases with a concrete lining. The final defensive feature is 

an asymmetrical anti-tank ditch, which lies along the north-west front of the 

trenches forming the German front line. The scatter of small emplacements 

and slit trenches to the south of the trench-system may also have been


associated with the practice works to provide defensive flanking covering fire, 

perhaps with mortars or smoke, as it was being attacked. 

Offensive Positions 

The positions from which the defensive works were fired on lie immediately 

to the west of the public road, although fire may also have come from further 

afield. The locations of at least six gun emplacements are marked by hollows 

measuring up to about 10 m in diameter (one lies off Figure 2 to the west); a 

pronounced break of slope within some of the hollows may mark the original 

position of a revetment around the interior. Their disposition does not appear 

to relate to the ‘Atlantic Wall’ and they may date to earlier in WW II. The main 

positions from which the Wall was assaulted probably lay along a graded 

access track, which is clearly visible on aerial photographs (Figure 1), leading 

off from the public road and running roughly parallel to the Wall and trenches. 

This sinuous track may also be taken to represent the shoreline across which 

troops participating in ‘dryshod-exercises’ disembarked. Aerial photography 

(Figures 1 and 5) shows the ground at the south end of the track churned up 

by tracked vehicles, possibly tanks, which must have been manoeuvring here 

as well as firing on the Wall. Spaced along the west side of the track are a series 

of low turf mounds, mostly occurring in groups of three, and set about 5 m 

apart. Each mound measures about 1.5 m in length by 0.5 m across, and lies at 

right angles to the line of track, orientated towards the defensive works. These 

may have been markers to position field artillery, which could be returned to 

the same location reasonably accurately. Some mounds lie beside graded 

platforms, visible most clearly on aerial photography (Figure 1, shown as open 

rectangles on Figure 2), which may have been intended to simulate landing 

craft from which troops could ‘land’ on the ‘beach’; equally they may have 

provided level stances for tanks or other artillery firing on the defensive works. 

Conclusion 

While the main objectives of the majority of these features appears to have 

been training exercises for the assault in Normandy, it is also clear that there 

were several phases of construction. As we have seen, the trenches linking the 

concrete bunkers to the gun emplacements on the hillside to the south-east cut 

other elements of the trench-system, and it is equally clear that one of the 

tracks visible on the 1946 aerial photograph (Figure 1), leading from the public 

road up to the blockhouse, perhaps bringing building materials into this end of 

the site, is cut by the anti-tank ditch. Close examination of the 1946 aerial 

photograph (Figure 1) reveals that the northern sector of the main trenchsystem 

appears fuzzy in comparison with those to the south, and therefore 

being of somewhat earlier date. Accordingly, it should be concluded that the 

area was used as a training ground at various stages in the war, on the one 

hand for minor exercises, represented by trenches and gun emplacements, and 

on the other for the major set-piece landing exercises that were to determine 

the outcome of the war.


The survey has highlighted the complexity of range archaeology and shows 

how survey can illuminate this aspect of military training and warfare. The 

WW II practice works are an impressive monument to the effort that went into 

preparing assault troops for what they would face when landing on the 

Continent. As such, they are very potent pieces of history. The survey provides 

a valuable record of one element of this rapidly vanishing, and often 

unappreciated heritage, while the incongruity of a coastal defence on 

moorland at nearly 300 m above sea level adds to the interest of the site. Care 

should be taken when visiting the site as there is a lot of protruding iron work, 

rolls of barbed wire and other traps for the unwary. 

Information about this or other military sites would be welcomed by both 

the National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS, RCAHMS, 16, Bernard 

Terrace, Edinburgh, EH8 9NX) and the Scots at War (The Institute for Advanced 

Studies in The Humanities, The University of Edinburgh, 2 Hope Park Square, 

Edinburgh, EH8 9NW). 

Acknowledgements 

David Easton and Geoffrey Stell provided valuable assistance in the field 

and together with Roger Thomas commented on earlier drafts of this paper. 

Particular thanks to Strat Halliday for editing the final draft. Rob Shaw 

undertook the survey and produced Figure 2. Illustrations are Crown 

Copyright – RCAHMS. 

References 

Lowry, B. (ed.) 1995. 20th Century Defences in Britain An introductory guide. Council for 

British Archaeology, Practical Handbooks in Archaeology No. 12. 

Shepheard, C. 1994. ‘Hankley Common’. Surrey Industrial Heritage Group Newsletter 

79, May 1994. 

Thomas, R. J. C. 1995. ‘Castlemartin’s little bit of Tobruk’. Sanctuary (Ministry of Defence 

Conservation magazine), 24, 24-3.


Figure 1 

Aerial photograph taken by the RAF in 1946 (106G/SCOT/120, No. 4250, 20.06.1946). The 

WW II works are relatively sharp and vegetation has not yet regenerated across features 

such as the track to the west of the public road, the anti-tank ditch and some of the 

trenches. North is to the top of the page.


038 

037 

036 

035 

034 

033 

032 

NN 

275 

280 

Sheriffmuir Road 

285 

Redoubt 

'Coastline' access 

track 

290 

Rifle range targets 

295 

Anti-tank 

ditch 

834 835 836 837 

838 

300 

N 

305 

310 

Tobruck 

shelter 

315 

Atlantic wall 

320 

325 

330 

100m 

335 

Tramway 

Debris 

340 

345 

350 

Bunker 

Ditch 

Gun emplacement 

Machine gun 

emplacement 

Track or tramway 

Trench 

Figure 2 

Map of part of the Whitestone range focusing on the trench-system, the ‘Atlantic Wall’ 

and the offensive positions to the west of the Sheriffmuir road.


Figure 3 

The breach in the ‘Atlantic Wall’, showing the bent iron reinforcing rods, the form of 

construction and the anti-tank ditch on the north-west. The scale is 1 m in height 

(photograph D. C. Cowley). 

Figure 4 

Aerial photograph (RCAHMS D28166, 27.01.1998) looking west across the ‘Atlantic Wall’ 

(the anti-tank ditch fronting the Wall lies in shadow) and the bunker with the Tobruk 

shelter. The two firing and observation holes in the roof of the bunker are clearly visible 

although the bunker to the south is obscured by a patchwork of vegetation.


Figure 5 

Aerial photograph (RCAHMS D28173, 27.01.1998) of ground at the south end of the 

artillery access track that has been comprehensively churned-up by vehicle tracks 

(probably tank). In the top right of the photograph a rectangular enclosure can be seen 

in the heather. This is one of a series along the east of the road and may be stock 

enclosures, perhaps of 18th century date.


MY STIRLING AS REMEMBERED 70 YEARS AGO 

Duncan W. McNaughton (1) 

One of the most interesting papers given to the Stirling Field and 

Archaeological Society was that given in 1927 by Mr J. W. Campbell (2), one of 

their oldest members, of his recollections of Stirling in his youth around 1854. 

A great many changes in the town of Stirling had taken place in those seventy 

years, and while the later similar period has not made so great a difference on 

the appearance of the town, I feel that perhaps those changes which have 

occurred over those decades should be noted, as far as I recollect, for the 

benefit perhaps of some local historian seventy years on (1). Perhaps some of 

the local residents can correct me, or come up with added information. 

Port Street, Murray Place, Thistle Areas 

The main streets, Port Street, Murray Place, Barnton Street, etc, are in part 

relatively unchanged apart from the shopping complex, but new traffic 

regulations, a new road, the demolition of buildings and changes of shops, 

have given an appearance to some parts different from that familiar to me in 

childhood and youth. 

The nature of the traffic, and its vastly increased volume, has been one of 

the chief reasons for the alterations to roads which have left me bewildered. In 

my early days one entered the town from St Ninians, negotiating the 

Railworks, still in production, which jutted out into the road, and would 

probably be faced with the green double decked petrol tram at the terminus, 

on the lines in the middle of the road. It must have been a real modern 

innovation; either during or just before the First World War, for the normal 

tram was a double decker drawn by two horses as the petrol variation was 

extremely unreliable, and more often off the road than on it. The horsedrawn 

trams to St Ninians found the slope up from the Black Boy too much, and 

required an extra horse to help them up the incline to the end of Melville 

Terrace. The trace boy and his horse waited on the road in front of Dr Vost’s 

house opposite the Black Boy, and the recess in the banking for the horses’ nose 

bag may still be visible. 

To us youngsters the sight of the trace horse with its jangling harness, and 

the trace boy reclining on its back was one of the highlights of a walk out 

Melville Terrace. Miss MacJannet, an elderly, old fashioned lady, who then 

lived in Woodlands, used to come out to feed the horse. The main tram 

terminus was at the foot of King Street from which they ran to Bridge of Allan. 

They were all double deckers, with sparred wooden seats, and a single sparred 

backrest which swung over to reverse the seating. In summer, open single 

deckers appeared on the Bridge of Allan run, and it was a great treat for a five 

or six year old to sit beside or near the driver and watch the horses. 

The main depot was about two hundred yards from Causewayhead on the 

Stirling road, near the old Causewayhead Station, and consisted of a large

118 Duncan McNaughton 

single storey stable on the right from which the new horses were led out ready 

harnessed. On the left was the tram park and the manager’s house. The latter 

is still there, but the stables and tram park have entirely disappeared. The trams 

ceased to run just after 1918 when motor buses began to appear. These I think 

were the General Omnibus Co., with a depot at the end of Forth Street. The 

buses were unusual in that they were Petrol Electric, which meant, we 

believed, that they were powered by electric motors with their own petrol 

engine as a generator. At first, they (and nearly all motor lorries) had solid 

rubber tyres, which on the still cobbled roadways were not altogether 

comfortable. However pneumatic tyres and smooth asphalt surfaces appeared 

not long after the end of the War. The road laying replacing the cobbled streets 

was a major disturbance. 

To return to the approach to the town. The main road from St Ninians has 

changed little in appearance. Apart from extensions by the new public 

departments, all the houses and mansions are still standing, though few are left 

in private ownership. The greatest change is that a complete football stadium 

has intruded into what was a select residential area for Glasgow and Stirling 

businessmen and county families. To the south east the residential area of 

Randolph Road and Livilands now houses the new Royal Infirmary after its 

move from Thistle Street. 

Where Melville Terrace meets Park Terrace, there used to be at the back of 

Port Street, a block of private houses with their gardens reaching down to Park 

Terrace, an area now occupied by the garage. The Black Boy still stands despite 

the opposition of some in the town who objected to it as indecent (3). Some 

humorists, not long after it was unveiled in the late 19th century, dressed him 

in a vest for the benefit of the good public of the Terraces on their way to 

church. However that was long before my time. 

The road to the Park is unchanged in appearance, although Allan Park has 

suffered a cinema and a garage at last. At first glance the section of Port Street 

beyond Park Terrace to Dumbarton Road is much as it was seventy years ago, 

but has been extended to cover Col. Morton’s house and stable at No. 1 Pitt 

Terrace. Familiar shops have however disappeared. Before the pend on the left, 

leading to the flats was Isa Whyte’s flower, vegetable and sweet shop, 

considered to be one of the best in the town. Sowden and Forgan’s music shop 

on the other side of the pend was originally a double shop across the road 

beside that of Harris the tailor. Halfway to Dumbarton Road was the bakery 

and tea room of Elder the Baker, a popular rendezvous and thought to have the 

best bread and cakes in the town. Next to this large shop was another 

institution – Jean Johnstone’s fish shop, also held to have the best fish. It is still 

there though Jean Johnstone has long gone. Palmer’s shop next door is 

relatively new having originally been in King Street. It too was considered the 

best in the town for travel goods, umbrellas and other weather ware and sports 

goods. 

On the other side of the street adjoining No. 1 Pitt Terrace were a joiner’s 

and undertaker’s offices and a workshop behind, reached by a pend. Beside

Stirling, 70 years ago 119 

the pend was Hogg the Chemist, Harris the tailor and next the public house 

George Owen the cycle agent, one of the two main suppliers of bicycles in the 

town. Old Mr Owen was a crafty chess player and one of the ablest of the 

Stirling Chess Club. I found that, as a young member, I had to be exceedingly 

watchful in playing him, I didn’t often beat him! 

On the corner of Dumbarton Road and Port Street was, in my earliest 

memory, the high class and extensive grocery of Robertson and Macfarlane in 

opposition to D. & J. McEwan across the road. When they ceased business their 

premises were taken over by Messrs. Graham and Morton as an extension of 

their fine furniture and house furnishing business next door. Next to G. & M. 

was Drummond’s Tract Depot, still in the business of providing religious tracts, 

but now providing cards, notepaper, etc, very much changed from its 

worldwide trade at the beginning of the century from the centre it had built at 

the foot of King Street. The only further change is that at the end of the Town 

Wall in Dumbarton Road Alex Sands had his auction saleroom and 

undertaker’s rooms. These have now gone and their place taken by a public 

toilet and less important salerooms. 

Opposite Dumbarton Road the Craigs was the main access to the road via 

Fallin along the south of the Forth. It was even then what modern town 

planners would certainly call underdeveloped, being much as it had been at 

the end of the 19th century. As I have not been down the Craigs for over 40 

years, I have no idea what changes have come about, and can only describe it 

as I remember, and presume that whatever changes have taken place that they 

are for the better. 

In my time, Messrs. Gray, seedsmen and their stores adjoined the public 

house on the left, and a farrier carried on business behind the public house in 

the opposite corner, entered by a large gate spanned by a large wooden sign. 

The remainder of the upper part of the street consisted of fairly non-existent 

shops, with tenement houses above. Halfway down on the left was an open 

space filled by low toilets their roofs not greatly above street level. The ground 

fell back here to another street lower than the Craigs, where Stirling’s first 

cinema was built, or almost the first. I can remember directly opposite beside 

the Observer offices and printing works, an entrance to the Electric Theatre. 

This and the Kinema were owned by the Menzies Bros, who later built the 

Picture House and ran the motor business in Orchard Place. To us, however, 

the Kinema was not considered the most desirable place of entertainment, and 

I cannot remember ever seeing a film there. 

The Craigs opened out after warehouse property to an open square, into 

which a lane from Thistle Street led, running behind the Kinema and the 

former site of Macdonald Fraser’s cattle market. Here the horse brakes, open 

wagons with wooden seats, began their journey to Millhall and Fallin. The 

factory on the right hand side was in full production but the vacant ground as 

far as Nelson Place was given over to allotments during and after World War I. 

This area – the Boroughmuir – was largely occupied by Messrs. Graham and 

Morton’s extensive stables and furniture stores. Beyond that one could take a


pleasant walk along the burn, between Nelson Place and green fields, to the 

Shirra’s Brae. On the right of the Craigs were the fairly old houses of George 

Street opposite the Craigs School, leading into the Well Green, where the 

building since identified, I believe, as a medieval chapel still served as a public 

wash house. 

To return to Port Street, where more than any other place except the 

St Mary’s Wynd new buildings have transformed the appearance of Stirling as 

I knew it. These have taken place on the right hand side where the new 

shopping centre and Woolworths have replaced first of all Kinrosses 

coachbuilding premises and workshops (4). Here there was a large showroom 

displaying carts, gigs, carriages and floats built in the extensive workshops 

behind the saleroom. Later the firm abandoned the horsedrawn carriage in 

favour of the new motor car, and these occupied the showroom while the 

coachbuilding works became a large and important garage and repair shop, 

probably the largest in the town at that time. Slightly further along were 

Mrs Hetherington’s grocers’ shop and two butchers’ shops of the Cullen 

brothers. Why two brothers should open shops almost side by side I do not 

know, but I think there was some family disagreement. Both were highly 

thought of and well patronised. Practically next door was the ironmonger’s 

shop of Messrs. Somerville and Valentine on the flight of stairs leading down 

to Orchard Place. This must have been and old property as the successive 

raising of the street and pavement had left the shop below street level, and, as 

it faced up King Street, it had flooding to contend with in heavy rain with the 

water coming down from the upper part of the town. 

The other side of Port Street was very much as it is today though some of 

the shops have had their fronts renewed. Messrs. D. and J. McEwen were in the 

large corner shop, the largest grocery shop in the town, and a number of 

smaller shops including Stewarts the jewellers continued towards King Street. 

A little more than halfway was the large double shop and bakery of Keith and 

Ralston, probably the largest in the town. It was noted particularly for its cakes, 

and its tea room was a popular rendezvous for the ladies. It also had a branch 

in Bridge of Allan, and I have a faint impression of one in Dunblane where one 

got iced drinks after the tiring walk through the Glen. On the corner of King 

Street was Jimmy Gavin’s men’s’ outfitters recognised as having a superior 

stock of men’s’ wear and accessories. 

King Street Area 

King Street has not changed much in appearance except for the 

disappearance of Messrs. Graham and Morton on the left hand side of the 

street, and the extension of Menzies the Ladies’ outfitter, on the other side, now 

linked to Kenneth Morton’s new shop. Two important shops however lower 

down the street have disappeared. On the left just above Gavin’s shop was 

Messrs. Crawford, booksellers. One could order any book through them if not 

held in their large stock of good quality literature. They also stocked good 

quality stationery and writing materials. Less extensive stock but also of good


quality was to be found in James Shearer’s shop near the Gold Lion. He was 

the main publisher of local history, and those interested in the story of the town 

and its medieval buildings owe him a great debt for preserving accounts and 

drawings of them before they were swept away. 

The most important shop in King Street, and in fact in the district was that 

of Graham and Morton. While their Dumbarton Road shop dealt in superior 

furniture, curtaining and furnishing materials, the King Street shop had the 

most extensive ironmongery business in the whole area. There were two shops 

separated by a long close which ran right back to the Town Wall on the Back 

Walk. Old Col. Morton had had unusual success in persuading the Town 

Council to allow him to breach the wall to provide him with a goods access. On 

either side of the close were large workshops and stores – blacksmiths and 

tinsmiths’ shops, for grate building was one of their many services. Above the 

ironmongery shop was an extensive silver and cutlery department. Most of the 

county was served by the firm, particularly the rural area, as well as parts of 

Perthshire and even Argyll. 

Macaree’s clothing store was there then serving as now the middle and 

lower strata of the community. Only one other place should be mentioned and 

that was the Journal office with its printing works behind a relatively small 

shop. The Stirling Journal was the third of the Stirling newspapers and was 

owned by Drew Learmouth. It was a sober paper and came out, I think, on a 

Tuesday but was widely read. It was situated just above Crawford’s bookshop. 

The Corn Exchange is exactly as I remember it apart from the extension to 

the Council chambers, which to my mind is largely in keeping with the main 

building. 

Where that stands there used to be an old two storied house. The top flat 

was used as a practice room by the Burgh Band, but the lower flat was a second 

hand shop kept by Mrs Dewar. It was an indescribable hotch potch of old 

furniture, books and household articles, picked up from the unsaleable items at 

local auction sales. Still one could sometimes pick up a bargain, especially in 

books, as she had no idea of the value of things. A friend of mine, a local 

architect, found a 17th century edition of Shakespeare’s plays priced 6d, which 

he got for 3d because it was a bit dirty. Later he had it valued in London at 

£1000, as it turned out to be a rare edition. Mrs Dewar was also a zealous 

photographer of local vents, using a large box plate camera, mounted on a 

tripod, requiring her to be covered in a large black cloth. I well remember 

supporting one leg of the tripod while she photographed Earl Haig from a 

precarious stance in front of Campbell Bannerman’s statue, as he unveiled the 

town’s war memorial. 

The Municipal Buildings had only been completed just before the 1914-1918 

war, as I clearly remember being perched on my grandfather’s shoulders to see 

George IV driving up Wallace Street in a small car on his way to open them. 

On King Street next to the Arcade stood the shop of Menzies, the ladies’ 

outfitters, as it does now. Then however its main business was bespoke


dressmaking, and the other items of ladies’ dress requirements were confined 

to the present front shop, which ended at the foot of the stairs, at the top of 

which a glass partition divided off the dressmaking section. There was then no 

tearoom. 

Friar Street Area 

Friar Street has not changed greatly in appearance. McCulloch and Young, 

even then, had a popular restaurant and the rest of the street has the same 

appearance, only Miss Crocket’s paper shop, facing the bank, and Jimmy 

Millar’s bakers shop facing down Friar Street have gone. At that time Friar 

Street was cobbled and open to all traffic, albeit mostly horsedrawn carts and 

lorries. At the top next to the public house was Leathley’s fish shop. The 

Leathely’s prided themselves on driving high stepping, mettled young horses 

for their fish floats and were notorious for their reckless driving, though I 

cannot remember their involvement in any accidents. 

Their daredevil driving was equalled by that of Fullarton, the dairyman, or 

his young drivers. He had, I believe, a place in Baker Street and possessed I 

think, two of the earliest motor milk floats in the town painted a bright yellow. 

Their speed was something the sober townsfolk was not accustomed to and 

they named them “The Yellow Peril”. 

Further down Friars Street before approaching the Co-operative buildings 

was a large deep windowed shop; once occupied by Hay the music seller, 

before transferring to Murray Place beside the South Church. It was then taken 

over by McLaren, the painter, who also dealt extensively in prints and 

paintings which were also displayed in a glazed passage to the right of his 

shop. Next door, but on the second floor were the auction rooms of Henry P 

Watt. 

Incidentally one of the traffic hazards of this street was that on market days, 

one would probably be faced with a drove of cattle or sheep being driven from 

the market en route for the Corn Exchange and Dumbarton Road. The reason 

was that, still, at that period, the town had the right to collect the old medieval 

customs on farm produce and animals leaving and entering the town. At the 

bridge at the foot of Wallace Street, and, I think, on the St Ninians Road or Port 

Street there were provisions to collect these, but could be evaded for traffic to 

the west by using the Friars Street-Corn Exchange route. 

Continuing along Murray Place there are some more major changes. Next 

to Somerville and Valentines opposite the foot of King Street was a wide flight 

of steps leading down to Orchard Place, a relatively wide street which ran 

along the back of Murray Place from Thistle Street. At the front of the steps on 

the right was a narrow lane or entrance to the Olympia theatre which occupied 

the ground behind what is now the new Centre. It was a largeish building 

which mainly staged variety shows. I have a feeling that it was owned or 

managed by the Menzies Bros, who had built the Kinema. 

It was destroyed by fire just after World War II and never rebuilt. It was the 

largest hall in the town, but again it could have been a death trap owing to the


restricted access and egress. Somewhere down here also was a Territorial 

training depot. 

The left hand side of Orchard Place consisted of basement access and 

storage rooms for the Murray Place shops. On the right hand side was a large 

garage and repair premises for Menzies who also built the Picture House at the 

end of the street on the corner of Orchard Place and the road down to the 

gasworks, behind which I think there was a bonded warehouse. At its opening 

a man named Menzies – no relation – who lived at the time in Plean Castle, 

created a scene over the pronunciation of the name Menzies about which he 

had strong feelings. This cinema was for long the only decent one in the town. 

From the Picture House Thistle Street ran down past the gasworks to a lane 

leading behind the Kinema to the Lower Craigs. On the left of this lane had 

been a large area of ground occupied by Macdonald Fraser’s cattle market 

leading to extensive railway sidings. This gave up shortly after or during World 

War I, and the resulting vacant area was used for the Shows on their visits to 

the town. Circuses however, preferred to set up their tents on the flat area of 

the King’s Park. 

Murray Place Area 

Next to the stairs down to Orchard Place stood the Waverly Hotel. Its 

proprietor, Peter Macalpine, was something of a character who was no 

respecter of persons and exceedingly outspoken. Beyond his hotel was the 

large double shop of McLachlan and Brown who were considered to be very 

high class ladies’ dressmakers and outfitters. They also had an equally 

reputable gentleman’s tailoring department facing the Station Hotel. Slightly 

further along Murray Place was the County Hotel, a temperance hotel, on the 

second floor above the shops. On the corner of Thistle Street was the large 

establishment of Virtue the ironmongers, who later had to migrate to a smaller 

shop in King Street. 

The other side of King Street has also seen some changes mainly in shops. 

The bank at the foot of King Street, built by the Drummonds for their original 

Tract Depot, was already installed, and next to it, the shops of Hepting and 

Farrer, the jewellers (earlier Hepting, optician), and Drummond the seedsmen, 

who also had a nursery on the Cambusbarron Road. The other shops as far as 

the turn of the road have not made any impression on me, but as one 

approached the turning there was Jimmy Blair the hairdresser, Birrel the 

confectioner and on the corner Eneas Mackay, travel agency. Almost next to 

him was the photographer Crowe and Rodger, followed by McLachlan and 

Brown’s shop already mentioned. On the entrance to the Arcade was the 

North British Butter Co, with Brown the hatter opposite. I may be wrong, but 

I have an impression that there was a small hotel on the upper floors. 

At the top of Thistle Street opposite Eneas Mackay’s premises stood the 

North Parish Church which has now disappeared. The Baptist Church next to 

it may soon go the same way, and give place to shops. The lane beside the


Station Hotel led down to large stabling for Jeffrey’s extensive fleet of horse 

cabs, many of whom stood daily in front of the North Church and the Station, 

and latterly in front of the South Church, until replaced by the new motor taxis. 

The Arcade consisted of a number of small shops, a ladies’ toilet and an 

extremely large toy shop latterly run by Mr Craig. In the centre portion was the 

entrance to the Alhambra Theatre which stretched back behind the King Street 

shops. Most of it is now part of the extension of Messrs. Menzies. Again I am 

doubtful it would be permitted to function today owing to its limited access, 

but it was a very comfortable little theatre. 

The large building at the top of the Station Road opposite the Station Hotel 

was built and run as the County Club. Below that on the Station Road was a 

sculptor’s yard next to the Savings Bank which had moved from Murray Place. 

The other side of the street was the blank wall of the Station Hotel stables until 

Burns the jeweller from Port Street took a newly built shop in the early thirties. 

To the Post Office the street has not changed much. The stretch from the 

high buildings, originally private houses were already occupied as business 

premises, including the dentist’s surgery of Common, now in Albert Place. On 

the opposite side the space between the South Church and the bank then in 

operation, at the corner of Friars Street was occupied by a nondescript hall 

used as a church or meeting place by some religious body. If it has disappeared 

it is not before time. Hay’s music shop from Friars Street was built here. 

From the Post Office Maxwell Place ran down at an angle to the railway 

bridge, making a direct road to the Riverside. Beside the Post Office, Bailie 

McElfrish had a newspaper and tobacconist shop, displaying his posters along 

the railings. A kenspeckle figure he had a very sharp tongue, and woe betide 

any youngster who fell foul of him. On the right of Maxwell Place were some 

shabby houses, from some of which small businesses were run, and adjoining 

them were the stables and lorry park of Wordie the carters. The big Clydesdale 

horses were stabled on the second floor, reached by a wooden ramp, and it was 

always a delight to see and hear the heavy horses clomping up to the stalls. 

This disappeared in the early twenties when the Regal cinema was built beside 

the bridge. It had an excellent and popular cafe much patronised. The other 

side, Maxwell Place, consisted solely of the back premises of the Barnton Street 

shops ending in housing at the corner of Viewfield street which ran up to the 

County Buildings. In a yard, near the foot, a cycle repair shop was run by one 

William Shakespeare if my memory does not fail me. Beyond the entrance to 

Viewfield Street were small shops and Sergie’s Restaurant. The latter served 

the farmers and drovers from the Live Stock Marts, which occupied a large 

portion of what had been Speedies mart, which had reached across to and 

down Wallace Street. The main entrance was at the end of the flats at the start 

of the Bridge and I think took up ground which had been railway sidings for 

cattle trucks now no longer used. Sergies had a perpetual sound of frying with 

the accompanying smells and its hygiene gave rise to suspicion. To us children, 

the sight of real mice playing with the sugar mice in the shop window was a 

constant fascination.


Riverside Area 

As we are on the old road to the Riverside, we might as well have a quick 

walk down memory lane. On the right of the bridge, or lane, was a very handy 

shortcut to the station along the back of the Regal and the back of the Post 

Office and gardens of the Barnton Street houses. It was a godsend in the old 

days when running along for the first train to Glasgow for a nine o’clock class 

at the University. On the left were the Livestock Marts. At the other end were 

the Ordnance stores which were a hive of activity in World War I with horse 

drawn military wagons carrying all sorts of equipment, as well as gun limbers 

and artillery. Opposite was the main railway goods yard, an extensive area 

stretching as far as the bridges at the foot of Wallace Street. Its Forth Street 

boundary constructed of a continuous fence of railway sleepers. Forth Street 

boasted quite a number of small industrial premises. On the right was Parks 

Brush factory, next to Oliphant’s sweetie factory producing mainly boilings. 

Next to Oliphant’s was the large open walled area, containing the lorry park 

and stables of Messrs. Cowan the carriers which extended back to Ronald 

Place. On the opposite corner of the road leading to Roseberry place was a yard 

for repairing agricultural machinery. I am not clear about the other factories, 

but one at least was a laundry, and the last was a lemonade factory, where the 

hiss of the gas being injected into the bottles was always thrilling to us 

youngsters. This building became the first depot of the General Omnibus Co. 

In Argyll Avenue there was the flourishing Ochilview Tennis Club, a 

consuming interest on summer evenings when we stood on its wall to watch 

the players. The site of Riverside School was then the Cow Park, grazed by the 

cows of Gilvear, farmer and milkman. It was our favourite play area for football 

and cricket, always with a wary eye for Mr Gilvear who chased us for our lives. 

Another play area was a walled enclosure in the opposite field with house 

foundations built to about three feet. 

The banks of the river were not built up and were guarded only by a simple 

wooden fence as far as the Boating Club House, which housed a number of 

single skiff, four oared racing skiffs as well as pleasure boats. It was quite 

popular with the young men who exercised in the racing boats, and even with 

some families who went for a row up the river. Pollution, not being recognised, 

as it is today, swimming was popular despite the evil looking mud. 

Beyond the Boating Club apart from Provost Baxter’s house, there was 

nothing but open field from behind Millar Place and Abbey Road down to the 

river and round to the Abbey Ferry. 

There was a football pitch on the corner of Millar Place, though I never saw 

it in use. It was a nice evening walk through the fields along the river. There 

was as yet no Riverside Bowling Club. That came some years later. 

At that time there was no footbridge to Cambuskenneth, and one was 

dependent on the “pennyworth of navigation” in the clumsy ferry boat rowed 

by a sturdy boatman. It was sometimes a hard haul if the river was running 

strongly. I don’t remember whether it also operated at night.


At one time there were at least two textile factories and I think a sawmill on 

the left hand side of Abbey Road going towards the town, but I can only 

remember one nearest the river still in operation. The other sites were cleared 

just after 1918, or before that, and were used for the “Shows” after they left 

Goosecroft. At the junction of the Shore Road (Low Road) and Abbey Road was 

an old red washed building, said to be a salt factory, though I never saw signs 

of activity, beyond the occasional arrival of carts of raw salt. The harbour was 

even then deserted even in war time, although small vessels did use the 

Ordnance pier. D & J McEwan did, in the early thirties bring in an occasional 

coasting vessel with a cargo of grain, piloted by old Captain Wilson, the last of 

the river pilots, but the silting up of the river made this impossible. Curiously, 

the booking office for the old pleasure cruises on the river were still standing. 

Barnton Street, Wallace Street Areas 

To return to the town. Barnton Street from the Post Office appears the same 

although many of the shops have changed ownership. On the right hand side 

the corner shop was Mrs Somerville’s papershop. Next to it was Skinner’s large 

chemist shop, and the extensive grocery of Messrs McEwan Bros. Few of the 

remaining shops along this side of the street have registered in my memory, 

except a few at the end, including Tyndale McLelland, a grocer beside Copley’s 

fruit and vegetable shop, Forrester’s fish shop and the large premises of Dowell 

the tailor with the windows facing the County Buildings. One clear picture 

remains in my mind. In front of the County Buildings one could sometimes see 

an old fashioned motor coach, with a poster proclaiming a run to Mussleburgh 

for 1/6 return. This was part of some rivalry of different bus companies, and as 

the Stirling company (General Omnibus?) was not allowed to use a terminus in 

Edinburgh, one could be taken straight through. 

At the foot of Friars Street were the extensive premises and offices of the 

Stirling Co-operative Society, occupying the building on the corner which had 

once been Campbell’s Royal Hotel, but before my time. I think that even earlier 

the large building at the foot of Queen Street, which was divided in my time 

into residential flats had been the original Royal Hotel. The reason for this is 

that when coming up Wallace Street, one could clearly read the sign “Royal 

Hotel Stables” which had been painted above the ground floor windows of the 

houses in Cowane Street, implying that the first few houses there had been 

converted to houses at an early date. Again this side of Barnton Street shows 

little or no structural changes, except that a little along from the last Cooperative 

shop stood the offices with printworks behind of the “Stirling 

Sentinel”, one of the three local weekly newspapers, which were destroyed 

completely in a spectacular fire some fifty odd years ago. Unfortunately a 

number of unbound books and a stock of books on local history were 

destroyed, though through the efforts of a Mr Crobie, a number were found 

and saved. I have a set of the “Stirling Antiquary” rescued by him, and still 

readable despite the charred edges. 

At the end of this side of the street, Viewfield Street ran up to meet the 

Bridge Street passing at the top. Burden’s Brewery what was still in full swing


in my early days. The Viewfield church was then set back behind a massive 

wall, which has now been removed to give place to shops. 

Queen Street looks the same today as it did seventy years ago, except the 

Queen’s Hotel has taken over the building once residential flats, already 

mentioned. At the top right hand side in my earliest days was a busy tannery 

with along yard which ran down the back of the Bridge St houses, beside a 

long lane. The smell was atrocious from the processing and the rotting debris 

in the yard and we used to run down the lane as fast as we could, holding our 

breath. This ceased operating either during the 1914-18 War or shortly 

afterwards and the site was used for another cinema, the Queens, a pleasant 

picture house but a bit inconvenient to reach. I believe it has also ceased 

operating as a cinema. 

Cowane Street, as I remember it, consisted mainly of old working class 

housing, some of which was have been over a hundred years old even then. It 

had been a colony of wool workers in the basements which had windows at 

pavement level. My grandfather who came to the town, probably in the sixties 

of last century, told me that he could then hear the whir of the spinning wheels 

and clack of the shuttles from these ill-lit basements. If these have now been 

cleared away, it is not before time. 

It is however at the foot of Union Street at its junction with Wallace Street 

that the biggest change has taken place and the approach from Davy Bain’s 

clock to the Bridge is entirely different. Here, behind Davy Bain’s clock, 

massive gates and fences barred the entrance to the town from the bridge, to 

allow the Forth and Clyde Railway to cross the main roads on its way to 

Gargunnock, Kippen and all stations west. The crossing was controlled from a 

signal box set back from the road on the left, from which the signal man came 

down to shut the gates and lock the wicket gates on the pavement, and reopen 

them when the engine and two or three carriages had crawled over. 

The clock reminds us of Provost Bain who had a thriving grocery business 

on the corner between Union Street and Wallace Street which he had built up 

over all his life in Stirling. I can just remember him as a little stocky man with 

a short white beard. I’ve heard it said that when, as a young man, he first set 

up his shop, he slept in it all week, and then, at the week-end tramped home 

to Auchterarder over Sheriffmuir with his takings. I doubt if one could dare do 

that today. 

At the bridge, on the left hand side, stood a public house, the Bridge 

Customs, whose licensee was responsible for collecting the Burgh customs on 

farm produce, sheep, cattle, etc as already mentioned. There was a weigh 

bridge in front of the pub, and one often saw lorries, laden with hay and other 

farm produce including cattle and sheet, being weighed there. A small street 

connected the public house with the Old Bridge at water level and here the 

Town fishings, another ancient practice, rented by Mr David Bentley Murray 

were carried on.


Top of the Town and King’s Park Areas 

The new road from the foot of Wallace Street to the Station runs across an 

area, then comprising a sawmill, part of Speedies mart which reached halfway 

down Wallace Street, and railway sidings. The road has also demolished the 

Live Stock Marts and the Regal Cinema. 

The area of the town where change is most marked is St Mary’s Wynd, and 

the top of the town as far as Broad Street and St John Street are concerned. 

Upper and Lower Bridge Streets are, I understand, reviving, whereas in my 

time they were in decline from their previous reputation as a fashionable area 

for the well to do upper class and military families. The Wynd, however, was a 

complete and absolute slum which had been neglected for two hundred years. 

Many of the houses had been build in the 17th and perhaps 16th centuries and 

they were beyond repair, housing the poorest of the poor, with a reputation for 

flouting the law. My father, a Special Constable in World War I, used to tell of 

exciting chases down the back of Upper Broad St to the Wynd. This was all 

cleared away in the thirties, and new housing built. It sometimes seems to me 

that it is a pity that some of the more interesting doorways and other 

architectural features were not incorporated in the new buildings. The 

renovation of the old 18th century houses in Broad Street was much more 

imaginatively done and the appearance of the street hardly seems to have 

altered. 

Seventy years ago the Police headquarters were still beside the old Burgh 

Court Buildings were courts were still being held. 

A good many old houses on St John Street have either disappeared or have 

been renovated. One which has gone, was pointed out as the Hangman’s 

House, next to the court buildings, no doubt convenient for that gentleman to 

carry out his duties at the Burgh Cross. The Erskine Church was a thriving 

body though now deserted, and the once well kept grounds overgrown. It 

seems that in these days it is too much to ask people to climb the hill to church, 

as I am told that the East and West churches have also ceased regular services. 

I have a great feeling of regret, as I took great interest when the two churches 

were rejoined to restore the building to its original fine appearance. One thing 

of the restoration was the excavation of the choir, and part of the nave of the 

old West church, to provide choir rooms, etc. The site of the church had been a 

town cemetery in the middle ages, and many had also been buried there after 

the church was built, and so hundreds of skeletons turned up. Amongst them 

was found a sepulchral chalice which, I hope, has been duly preserved by the 

Kirk authorities. The beadle and I searched the ground round the place where 

the chalice was discovered, thinking that an important cleric, meriting burial 

with a chalice, might have had a ring or something to identify him. We found 

nothing but scraps of coarse black material as from a monk’s robe with copper 

clips to hold it closed. This crumbled immediately on exposure to the air. Later, 

on trying to discover whom this might have been, I came to the conclusion that 

it was possibly Archbishop Hamilton Archbishop of St Andrews who was

executed at the Old Bridge or the Cross in 1571 for supporting the Catholic 

faith and persecuting the Reformers. 

As we proceed down Spittal Street, we find the Old High School where I 

spent so many happy days now abandoned and likely to be put to other use. 

Some parts of it, mainly the frontage must be well over a hundred years old. 

The enormous rooms built at a time when classes were equally large were no 

longer suited to modern teaching techniques, and the school population 

outgrew its original home. How things change! I can just remember 

Dr Lawson, the Rector, the last of the old school of teachers, coming to the 

school in his frock coat and tile hat! Now the school has moved out to a new 

site where there were open fields at the back of Snowdon Place. 

Below the school the Education Offices occupy what was the old Royal 

Infirmary before its removal to Livilands. I can well remember as a very young 

primary schoolboy waving to the wounded soldiers of the 1914-18 War 

convalescing in the gardens of the hospital below the school playground. 

There were few facilities for school lunches in these days, though a small 

luncheon room staffed mainly by the domestic department served those pupils 

from a distance with a bowl of soup for 1d, a meat and potato course for 4d, 

with 2d for a sweet. Those of us in the town had to run up and down Spittal St 

for a hurried meal! 

People 


We have now been around the town looking at the changes in its 

appearance, but what of the peoples’ lives? What differences are there in the 

habits and amusements in these seventy odd years? Stirling was lucky in 

having the great open space of the King’s Park. It provided a very popular golf 

course supporting the Stirling Golf Club, then much nearer the Park gates, with 

the artisan’s club, the Victorian, behind it. The flat region of the Park did not 

then have any tennis courts – they came in the late twenties, and were 

exceedingly popular, though that popularity seems to have waned. There were 

no toilet facilities at that time until they were erected at the gates and, for some 

reason, caused considerable ribaldry in the local press. At the same time a 

putting green was laid down. The rest of the flat area was used for cattle shows 

and football pitches and was at these times exceedingly muddy. I cannot 

remember any swings or other amusements for children. For most Stirling 

people the Park provided a fine walk (on Sundays) round the racecourse by the 

quarry. Incidentally in the early years of the 1914-18 war there was a small 

airfield at Tolleninch farm, and the quarry was a vantage point to watch these 

early stringbags taking off and landing. The air currents above the Castle 

caused quite a number of crashes which always added spice to the anticipation 

of the spectators. 

There was also the King’s Park football team with its pitch at Springkerse 

over the bridge at the foot of the Craigs. It was moderately successful and had 

a good following in the town. It had one fervent supporter in Prig Wordie. Who


he was was a mystery as was his means of support. He claimed he was one of 

the wealthy Wordie family who had the carting business, that may have been. 

His main object was making the price of his next pint and he went around 

picking up trifles to flog. He often came to the Smith Institute with what 

purported to be antiques or historical curios, few of which were genuine. 

However he never caused trouble and on away football matches he was to be 

found at the station with his decrepit hat, decked in the red and white club 

colours held out until he had collected his fare. There was considerable interest 

in amateur football and on Saturday afternoons, a dozen amateur clubs would 

be playing in the King’s Park. In summer months one would watch Stirling 

County Cricket club playing at Williamfield, while the same ground was the 

attraction for Stirling High School rugby and hockey teams. Eventually partly 

due to my own humble efforts, the school had its own ground in an adjacent 

field. 

For evening entertainment in the wetter months, there was no radio or 

television, though primitive crystal wireless sets with earphones were 

beginning to appear, often a homemade effort. One had to make ones own 

amusement with hobbies, card games or the early scratchy gramophone. 

Outside one could go to one of the picture houses, the Olympia, Alhambra, or 

the Albert Hall if a celebrity concert or lecture was being staged. The Stirling 

Fine Art Association had an annual exhibition in the Smith Institute with a 

weekly concert, provided mainly by local artists which were well attended. 

There were also numerous clubs in the town for indoor sport and games and 

interests which had a flourishing membership. The local Gilbert and Sullivan 

Society also had a winter season when they staged a G & S opera usually in the 

Albert Hall, playing to packed houses. 

However there was a peculiar custom indulged in by the Stirling men folk. 

On good nights they would gather in front of the Post Office and meet their 

friends, or just watch the world going by. Then they would stroll along to the 

end of Port Street at least and return, perhaps once or twice a night, no doubt 

settling the affairs of the town and the world. Sometimes we would extend our 

walk to include the Terraces or over the top of the town. I wonder if this has 

died out since the War. 

Perhaps the great night of the year, often eagerly anticipated especially by 

the younger folk was the Friday evening before the “Brigallan Games”. This 

was memorable because of the great attraction of this visit of the “Shows”. It 

was, then, a Mecca for almost every kind of show business on the roads in 

Scotland. Huge roundabouts, swings, helterskelters, hoopla, boxing booths, 

sweetie stalls, peep shows and anything to conjure the money from folks’ 

pockets. 

On that night almost everything on wheels was on the road, apart from the 

hundreds making their way by Shanks pony. Horse drawn gigs, floats, brakes, 

cabs and carts, extra trams and later every conceivable motor vehicle – early


high buses and charabancs with single seats running across with doors on each 

side, and so high that grasping handles one had to climb up two high steps to 

get in, taxis and even private cars. The games seem to have declined 

considerably in attraction from these exciting times. 

Looking back I wonder if we were not a lot happier with our simpler 

amusements, with more time for our hobbies and pursuits, than the present 

day frenetic search for ways to combat boredom and the hideous assault on our 

senses by the mass pop scene. 

At any rate this nostalgic journey round the town has brought back to me 

many happy memories. Maybe some have been faulty, not surprising after 

seventy or more years, and I apologise if that is so. Yet I feel I should put on 

record details about the town which may soon be forgotten and which perhaps 

would be useful to future local historians who may find here some last clue or 

piece of interesting information. 

EDITORIAL NOTES 

(1) The author was born in Stirling in 1911, graduated from the University of 

Glasgow and taught in the High School of Stirling before moving to 

Dunfermline in 1946. He was Principal Teacher of History at Beath High 

School, Cowdenbeath, where, unusual for the time, he taught mainly 

Scottish history, inspiring a generation of Fife schoolchildren, including the 

current Director of the Smith. He died in 1996. 

As a young man he helped his uncle Joseph McNaughton, Curator of the 

Smith Institute, to compile the Smith’s 1934 Catalogue, a standard 

reference work to this day. His earliest publication was an Index to the 

Transactions of the Stirling Natural History and Archaeology Society vols. 1-57 

(1878-1936) in 1936. 

FNH published the author’s History of Old Stirling in 1980 (140pp) and for 

some years thereafter he had been working on the basis of this paper. 

Stirling, his home town, was constantly in his thoughts, and he amended 

and extended this paper between then and the time of his death. He was 

an inspirational teacher who encouraged his pupils to explore and examine 

their history, and his own love of Stirling was passed on. 

He was a founder member of the Scottish Genealogy Society, and this 

manuscript was passed to the Forth Naturalist by his executor, Sheila 

Pitcairn, Chairman of Dunfermline Heritage Trust. 

(2) J. W. Campbell’s paper is in the Transactions of Stirling Field and Archaeological 

Society volume 50 pp136-149 entitled ‘Humorous Reminiscences’. However 

a major survey of the growth of Stirling, based on the evidences of the 

Ordnance maps of 1858 and 1913, by William A. Ballantyne, is more akin to 

McNaughton, and much more comprehensive than Campbell’s above.


Ballantyne is published also in the Stirling Society Transactions, in two parts, 

part I in volume 49 pages 144-185 on changes in the central part of the 

burgh, and part II in volume 50 pages 85-109 on changes in the various 

districts into which he divided the burgh, the Craigs, St Ninians, Wellgreen, 

Burgh Muir. 

(3) Campbell’s paper has the story of the Black Boy. 

(4) We published ‘The Kinrosses of Stirling and Dunblane’ including the story 

of the Coachworks in the Forth Naturalist and Historian volume 21 pages 

97-108.


BRIDGES OF THE RIVER FORTH AND ITS TRIBUTARIES 

Louis Stott 

Introduction 

The Forth is bridged by more distinguished bridges than most rivers, and 

they are insufficiently celebrated. Stirling Old Bridge occupies a particular 

place in the affections of all Scots, and has played a notable part in the history 

of the country. The Forth Road Bridge at Kincardine-on-Forth was the largest 

swing bridge in the world when built in 1936. The Forth Rail Bridge by Fowler 

and Baker remains, well over a hundred years after it began to be built, one of 

the engineering wonders of the world. The Brig o’ Forth at Aberfoyle is steeped 

in spurious associations with ‘Rob Roy’. The Forth Road Bridge is one of the 

finest examples of modern engineering in Britain, and there are a number of 

others which, anywhere else, would receive a good deal of attention. Robert 

Stevenson’s Stirling Bridge of 1931, Drip Bridge, Cardross Bridge, and Bridge 

o` Frew all have considerable interest; indeed there is no bridge over the Forth 

without its attractions. 

The tributaries of the Forth are bridged by a dozen further notable bridges; 

Brig o’ Turk in the heart of the Trossachs, Bracklinn Brig, hurled dramatically 

across a roaring waterfall; and Rumbling Bridge on the Devon, double-decked 

like the famous Pont du Diable in the St Gothard Pass. Others are of 

considerable architectural or historical interest, for example, one of Telford’s 

most spectacular bridges is hardly known beyond the Stirling district, although 

it is situated in a place renowned throughout the world, Bannockburn. Pontifex 

Maximus, as Telford was dubbed, carried his arch to its logical conclusion, a full 

circle, in the gorge of the little village’s Bannock Burn. Bannockburn Bridge is 

worth seeking out. Other examples include Callander Brig, the ‘ancient’ bridge 

across the Keltie, and the ‘Roman’ bridge at Kilmahog. 

See the Appendix for tabled data on the bridges – Table 1 for the Forth and Table 2 

for the tributaries – and illustrations of some at the end 

Bridges of the Lower Forth 

There is no doubt that the two bridges across the Firth of Forth are 

remarkable. Two such eminently successful solutions to the same problem, 

each so characteristic of its generation, cannot be so neatly juxtaposed 

anywhere else in the world. Both represent the finest architectural and 

engineering achievements of their day, which are intertwined in them, and, 

this is the thing about them, they set one another off. Whether the eye is filled 

with the ponderous grandour of the one, or enraptured by the spidery finesse 

of the other – and it is possible from the vantage-point of the Hawes Inn to 

dwell on either. 

It must be acknowledged that neither of these massive presences detracts 

from the other, and, whatever superlatives may be applied to the first, more

134 Louis Stott 

must be found for the second. They are the furthest north of the world’s 

greatest bridges, and, although great bridges have been constructed in more 

hostile places their construction – in the case of the Road Bridge with the loss, 

in upredictable circumstances, of only three lives – represents a notable 

achievement in itself. A good idea of the atmosphere during the construction 

of the railway bridge is given in this account. 

Every limb of the three great cantilever structures had to be served by cranes 

crawling upwards and outwards as the particular member grew. There were 

steam cranes, hydraulic cranes, giant rivetting cages, heavy hydraulic ‘scissor’ 

rivetting machines and all the paraphernalia common to the needs of men 

engaged in drilling, reamering, shaping, cutting and fitting steelwork together; all 

had to creep ever outward and upward along these members, Power to operate 

the plant came not through wires or even air hoses; neither dynamo nor 

pneumatic compressor was available in the contractor’s kit; coal and water for the 

cranes had to be delivered to all parts of the girderwork; rivet-heating furnaces 

weighing half a ton apiece were run on oil, and, yet another sign of the times, 

electric light was tried, with mixed results. The last was an arrangement of arclights 

of between 1500 and 2000 candlepower, which proved to be quite hazardous 

because of their unreliability. Men working out on the erection would one minute 

be working in the dazzling glare of these lights and in the next they would be in 

a darkness made more absolute by the sudden failure of a carbon. Such conditions 

cannot have added to the safety of men clambering about at night on the narrow 

slippery stagings and facing the cold and wet of a Scottish winter. 

P. S. A. Berridge The Girder Bridge 1969 

Both bridges represented, at the time they were built, the best technical 

achievements of their age. The Forth Railway Bridge restored the reputation of 

British railway engineers after the Tay Bridge disaster. Its massiveness owes 

something to that disaster, and it soon became one of the wonders of Europe. 

“The structure”, stated Black’s Guide for 1889, “is larger than any bridge yet 

built (not excepting the Brooklyn Bridge)”. Even postcards of the day, 

unusually, recited the facts and figures: 

THE FORTH BRIDGE 

THE LABOUR OF 5000 MEN FOR OVER SEVEN YEARS, DAY AND NIGHT 

COST OVER £3,500,000 COMMENCED DECEMBER 1882 

COMPLETED MARCH 1890 

Engineers: SIR JOHN FOWLER Bart AND SIR BENJAMIN BAKER KCB 

Contractor: SIR WILLIAM ARROL 

LENGTH, INCLUDING APPROACH VIADUCTS: OVER 1 1 ⁄2 MILES 

TWO SPANS 1,710 FT, AND TWO OF 690 FT 

HIGHEST POINT ABOVE HIGH WATER LEVEL 360 FEET 

HEIGHT OF VIADUCT: 158 FEET WIDTH OF VIADUCT: 27 FEET 

DEPTH OF FOUNDATIONS BELOW RIVER BED: 60 FEET 

DEPTH OF WATER IN MAIN CHANNEL: 218 FEET 

DIAMETER OF LARGEST TUBES: 12FEET 

DEAD WEIGHT ON EACH CIRCULAR PIER 16,000 TONS 

MATERIALS USED-STEEL 54,000 TONS RIVETS: 6,500,000=4,200 TONS 

GRANITE: 750,000 CUBIC FEET CONCRETE: 109,000 TONS

Bridges of the Forth 135 

All of this carried just two railway lines, but for threequarters of a century 

the bridge captured the imagination by itself – most famously perhaps in the 

two movies of The Thirty-nine Steps, neither of which much resembled John 

Buchan’s book, but which left familiar images of the bridge in the minds of 

many who had never seen it. H. V. Morton, the travel writer, put it well in the 

thirties in In Search of Scotland: “To see the Forth Bridge is rather like meeting a 

popular actress, but with this difference: it exceeds expectations.” Interestingly 

enough it became the custom to cast a coin out of the window of the train as it 

crossed the bridge. The reason for this was that the bridge replaced the very 

old established and often dangerous Queensferry which in the early days 

represented a considerable hazard to travellers who used to make an offering 

in one or another chapel situated nearby before embarking. The motor car 

brought about the revival of this crossing which lasted until the opening of the 

Road Bridge in 1964. 

The bridge realised a long-held ambition: to achieve a crossing below 

Stirling, but it did not meet demand for a road bridge at Queensferry and, in 

the late fifties, plans were laid to build the fine suspension bridge which makes 

Queensferry such a unique place for bridge enthusiasts. The building of the 

Forth Road Bridge marked the dawn of the contemporary era in Scottish 

motoring. Serious talk about a Forth Road Bridge began in the 1920s resulting 

in the eventual compromise of the Kincardine-on-Forth Bridge. After the war 

it was evident that the original suggestion, that a suspension bridge should be 

built at Queensferry, would have to be reconsidered. Some notable long span 

road bridges had been built between the wars elsewhere, but there were none 

in Britain. One reason for this was that, in a relatively small country, it could 

always be argued that even great estuaries like the Humber and the Severn 

could be circumvented with comparatively little inconvenience, provided that 

there were not delays on the alternative routes. It is also possible that some 

engineers did not trust suspension bridges. However, when the Motorway 

network was planned after the Second World War the two first estuaries to be 

included in the plans were those of the Forth and the Severn. 

In the early sixties the two great towers of the Bridge were built. Then the 

tiny thread of the catwalk appeared. It was followed by the wires from which 

the deck of the bridge would be suspended. It seemed then that, rather than 

ploughing across the Forth on the Queen Margaret eating ice cream, one might 

one day be driving across the water. The reason for this was that the solution 

to the problem of crossing the Forth without getting your feet wet which was 

so firmly imprinted in every mind, was the heavyweight engineering 

extravaganza of Baker and Fowler – most famous bridge in the world perhaps 

– the Forth Rail Bridge. While even when it was completed the road bridge 

looked so insubstantial by comparison with the Road Bridge that it appeared 

inadequate for its task, there is, surprisingly perhaps, two thirds as much steel 

in the road bridge, which is of course wider, as there is in the Rail Bridge which 

has always been regarded by engineers as much heavier than it needed to be. 

One reason why there is so much steel in the road bridge was the need to


strengthen the plate girder deck after the spectacular Tacoma disaster which 

occurred in November, 1940. The Severn Bridge, opened two years later than 

the Forth Bridge, has a box girder deck which is shaped to reduce its resistance 

to the wind which in consequence strikes vehicles on the bridge with some 

force. In fact, up to date as it was, the Forth Road Bridge was superseded in a 

technical sense by the Severn Bridge, two years later. It is strengthened 

inelegantly by what were to be, within two years, outdated methods. The 

engineers were Messrs Mott Hay and Anderson, who had built the steel arch 

bridge at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in conjunction with Freeman Fox and 

Partners, the firm which designed the Sydney Harbour Bridge of 1932 and the 

Medway Bridge in Kent. 

The bridge carries two 24 foot carriageways, two nine foot cycle tracks and two six 

foot sidewalks, the whole scheme which provides for eight miles of dual 

carriageway approach roads and incorporates 24 minor bridges, was estimated to 

cost £18 million. 

There are four stages in the erection of a bridge of this kind, in which the main 

cables pass over high towers and are anchored independently of the deck 

structure. First come the foundations for the towers and preparatory work for the 

cable anchorages. After the towers have been erected the the cables are spun. 

Finally the deck structure is suspended, 

Dorothy Henry and J. A. Jerome Modern British Bridges 1965 

Commemorative stamps, much less usual then than now, were issued to 

mark the opening. Edwin Morgan, now Glasgow’s ‘poet laureate’ wrote an 

enigmatic poem, but it was Sidney Goodsir Smith, the New Zealander who 

became Edinburgh’s poet, who caught the imagination with a brilliant 

updating of Robert Burns’ poem, The Twa Brigs, about the old and the new 

bridges in Ayr, to celebrate the existence of two Forth Bridges: 

– And here it is: 

The new brig we’d dreamed o’ 

But never dreamed sae bonny, like a sprite, 

An Ariel, sae licht as etter’s gossamer it looks … 

There she swings and lowps the Frith 

Wi a lichtsome lauch, sheer glee and joy, 

A dance-step wrocht in siller wire, 

A lassie’s lowp, fit foil for the stridin strenth, 

Dour and purposefu’, o’ her brither’s o’ the iron road 

Near a hunder years her senior – it’s truth! 

There she swings and loups 

And looks at her auld brither 

Like a wee slip o’ lassie to her busty jo 

As gin she said, as lassie says, 

‘See me! See my braw new dress, Johnie! 

See me nou, like a swan, 

No, a swallow mairlike, swingin out 

Athort Queen Margaret’s Passage, 

See me, sweet hairt, Auld Stumpie, look at me, 

Like a fling o’ the airm, a rope flung 

Athort the Firth – and we’re ane, the gither.


Elegant as the bridge is, its reinforced deck is less airy than that of the 

Severn Bridge. However, the contrast with the railway bridge is marked: the 

main span is longer, in contrast to the two railway lines the road bridge carries 

two twenty-four feet carriageways and more. In the case of the railway bridge 

much of the steelwork was assembled on site, whereas much of the Road 

Bridge was prefabricated. In comparison with the rail bridge twenty-one and a 

half thousand tons of steel were used; about half as much. However, some 

things do not change much: Sir William Arrol and Company, together with 

other distinguished bridge builders, participated in the building of the new 

bridge. 

Generally innovation in Scotland has taken place either too late, or with too 

little impetus. The Kincardine-on-Forth Bridge ought to have been built a 

decade before it was completed in 1936. It was a compromise. In 1919 Messrs 

Mott, Hay and Anderson, who eventually built the Forth Road Bridge fortyfive 

years later, produced a scheme for a road bridge at Alloa to relieve traffic at 

Stirling Bridge, and in 1923 James Inglis Ker first proposed a suspension Bridge 

at Queensferry. Mott, Hay, and Anderson undertook a survey completed in 

1928. The Government was unwilling to pay the entire cost of either bridge, 

and ‘The Silver Bridge’ at Kincardine, so called from the aluminium paint used 

to maintain it, was built by Scotland’s relatively small pre-war local authorities 

(the Burghs of Stirling, Falkirk and Dunfermline and Stirlingshire, Fife, and 

Clackmannanshire), who cooperated with one another to build a bridge at the 

lowest point where a bridge could be economically built. The Kincardine 

Bridge was the cheapest solution, and, whereas an Alloa bridge would have 

been of most benefit to Glasgow and the West, and a Queensferry bridge 

would have served Edinburgh, it went some way towards serving both. The 

bridge was designed by Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners, and built by the 

august bridgebuilders Sir William Arrol and Company and others. It was not 

until 1936 that the steel girder bridge was finished, and it was opened in 1937. 

At the time it was built it was the longest road bridge in Britain, and the swing 

bridge with the largest span in Europe. In order not to impede shipping the 

swing span was built ‘open’; it had to be closed, rather than opened, before 

traffic could use the bridge. The swing span, 110 metres long and weighing 

2000 tons, provided two 45 metre openings for navigation. At the time the 

bridge was built there was no question that provision had to be made for 

shipping. Fifty years later in 1987 it was decided that the swing span could be 

dispensed with and the ‘Silver Bridge’ was ‘closed’. It could be said of this 

bridge that before it was opened it was closed, and before it was closed it was 

opened, because before the machinery was shut down the span was swung 

open one last time. The Kincardine Bridge is celebrated on cards of the thirties 

which, as with the Forth Bridge, gave information about the bridge and details 

of its pre-eminence. 

In 1931 Jan Struthers summed up the attitude to the steel bridges of the 

twenties and thirties in Punch:


‘Statistics have shown 

That the traffic’s outgrown 

Your bumpy old, 

Humpy old, 

Bridges of stone; 

It’s the Age of the Wheel, 

And we earnestly feel 

If you want to be safe you must build ‘em of steel: 

Dashing new, 

Flashing new, 

Bridges of steel.’ 

Bridges of the Devon and Bannock 

Above the Kincardine Bridge it is bridges of stone rather than bridges of 

steel which deserve attention, but it is a mistake to suppose that the Railway 

Bridge and the two Road Bridges at Queensferry and Kincardine are the only 

‘Forth Bridges’ worth going to. Beyond Alloa, where, on the railway, there was 

another swing bridge, are the ‘Links of Forth’, notable meanders which meant 

that the little steamers which, at one time, plied between Edinburgh and 

Stirling travelled a very much greater distance than the few miles between 

Stirling and Alloa. Below this point rivers which empty into the Firth of Forth 

– the Carron, the Almond, the Avon and the Esks – are generally regarded as 

being independent streams. The trunk stream is joined by the Devon, the Black 

Devon, and the Bannock Burn, on which there are, or were, a number of 

distinguished bridges. 

From the geomorphological point of view the Devon ought to flow into 

Loch Leven and join the sea in Fife, but, at the Crook of Devon, it changes 

direction. This is a notable example of ‘river capture’ demonstrating the erosive 

power of rivers. The lower Devon cut its way back forming the dramatic series 

of gorges and waterfalls at Rumbling Bridge. At this point William Grey of 

Saline threw a narrow bridge, only twelve feet wide and without parapets, 

across the river in 1713. It carried the principal road to the North and was 

superseded in 1816 by a stone arch bridge, 120 feet above the water, built on the 

same site above the old bridge. The whole site, now in the care of the National 

Trust for Scotland is a remarkable tourist attraction, well worth seeking out. 

Near Tullibody, on the Devon, another critical crossing point, were two fine old 

stone bridges. 

At Bridgend on the A907 is the Old Bridge of Devon, an unusually long 

early sixteenth century bridge, designed to impede the rapid transit of horse 

traffic. Its great length is attributable to the difficulty in crossing the flood plain 

at this point. It is said that in 1559 Kirkcaldy of Grange dismantled a part of the 

bridge to prevent the French, retreating from Fife, from crossing the Devon. 

However, they dismantled the roof of Tullibody church to effect a temporary 

repair. A more permanent repair was carried out in 1560. Parallel to the old 

bridge, a lattice girder bridge, Downies Bridge, was erected during the 1920s. 

This metal bridge, long neglected, had suddenly this August 1999 to be by-


passed by the Miller concrete bridge built some two years earlier but not 

connected to the road – part of the A907 ‘improvement’ debacle! 

The Bannock Burn joins the Forth almost opposite the Devon, It has three 

notable bridges, one ‘new’ by Telford, another ‘old’ built by the local benefactor 

Robert Spittal whose bridge at Doune is discussed below. Spittal may have also 

financed the bridge at Tullibody. Higher up the Bannock Burn, a delightful 

mountain stream of great interest throughout its course, there is another old 

stone bridge at Chartershall dating from 1747. 

Bridges of the Upper Forth – Alloa 

All three of the bridges at Queensferry and Kincardine are relatively recent; 

further upstream The Old Stirling Bridge deserves all the attention it has had. 

It was, after all, the Forth Bridge for several hundreds of years. As Alexander 

Smith put it in A Summer in Skye, “Stirling, like a huge brooch, clasps Highlands 

and Lowlands together”. It is one of the oldest and finest stone bridges in 

Britain. What makes it more interesting than some others is its strategic 

importance: 

The Old Bridge of Stirling which will be readily distinguished from its modern 

neighbours, existed long before there was any bridge upon the Tay, or any other 

stone bridge over the Forth, and it was thus absolutely the gate between the north 

and the south of Scotland. 

Black’s Guide 1889 

The old bridge features in Kidnapped: 

“The bridge is close under the castle hill, an old, high, narrow bridge with 

pinnacles along the parapets; and you may conceive with how much interest I 

looked upon it, not only as a place famous in history, but as the very doors of 

salvation for Alan and myself. The moon was not yet up when we came there; a 

few lights shone along the front of the fortress, and lower down a fewer lighted 

windows in the town; but it was all mighty still, and there seemed to be no guard 

upon the passage.” 

Robert Louis Stevenson 

What is remarkable is that the old Stirling Bridge is still there, exactly as 

Stevenson described it. As early as 1831 it was not up to its road task, and it was 

replaced by Robert Stevenson’s elegant road bridge. Stirling Bridge remains, 

more or less as it was – strengthened and reinforced, of course – and is in use 

as a footbridge, with its appearance much as it ever was. It featured in the 

‘rebellion’ of 1745, when General Blakeney ordered the taking down of the arch 

nearest the town to defend it: 

When Charles was passing through St Ninians, Cumberland was only a mile or 

two away at Falkirk. It was the missing arch that brought Cumberland to a halt 

and gave Charles time to withdraw his men over the Ford of Frew. What 

Cumberland had to say to Blakeney is mercifully forgotten! 

Wm T. Palmer The Verge of the Scottish Highlands 1947 

The Battle of Stirling Bridge of 11th September 1297 probably took place at 

a wooden bridge just upstream of the old brig. This famous victory for the Scots


was achieved by William Wallace and Andrew Moray. The popular story of the 

stratagem used by Wallace is related by Charles Roger in his authoritative 

tourist’s guide A Week at the Bridge of Allan (1851). The story is not now taken 

seriously by most historians, but it is a fine piece of hokum. He describes how 

the English army under Surrey and Cressingham reached the Forth: 

Early on the following morning they proceeded to send the army across the river; 

but now they were to fall to a stratagem to which Wallace had dextrously resorted, 

The Forth was then crossed by a bridge, at an abrupt bend in its course, still 

known as Kildean Ford, about half a mile above the ancient stone bridge of 

Stirling. This bridge which was originally constructed by the Romans, consisted of 

a narrow platform of timber, affixed to a main beam, which was extended across 

several stone piers erected in the bed of the river. Wallace, being acquainted with 

its formation, had, prior to the arrival of the English army, ordered the main beam 

to be sawn across, while he had the fabric temporarily supported by a wedge, 

fastened to each end of the broken beam, and which, by the stroke of a hammer, 

could easily be removed. To execute his design, one of the most ingenious and 

adventurous in his army, who had followed the occupation of a carpenter, was 

placed under the bridge in a basket, in such a manner as to be unnoticed, and to 

remain unhurt, though a section of the bridge should fall into the water. 

Several thousands of the English army had already crossed the river, and the 

stream of soldiery continued to pour rapidly across, when suddenly, on the 

sounding of a horn by Wallace from the crag, the wedge securing the cut beam 

being drawn out, the bridge gave way, and communication was stopped between 

the two divisions of the army, while those in the act of crossing the broken part of 

the bridge were plunged into the water. 

The Abbey Craig, from which Wallace sounded his horn, is surmounted by 

one of the most obtrusive monuments in Britain which towers over the site, 

dominating the plain of the Forth. 

Bridges above Stirling – Forth 

Immediately above Stirling the Forth is joined by two significant tributaries, 

the Allan and the Teith. Indeed, rather like the Tummel, the principal tributary 

of the Tay, the Teith drains a basin as large as that of the main stream. The upper 

Forth itself winds across the Flanders Moss, an unimpressive stream. On Drip 

Moss there is the site of a significant medieval ford, then a ferry, which was by 

1790 succeeded by a fine stone bridge of five arches, still to be seen today. Drip 

Bridge has been replaced by a concrete beam bridge of 1920 on the road which 

leads to Doune and Callander. However, in the days of the Drovers, of Rob Roy 

and of Prince Charlie the principal crossing place was called the Fords of Frew 

which have many historical associations; the old stone Brig o’ Frew has gone, 

its successor is a modern structure of little interest. At the fords, the Forth is 

joined by a considerable tributary, the Boquhan Burn. Indeed the reason for 

the plural in ‘fords’ is that most travellers had to cross both the Forth and its 

tributary at this point. There is another good stone bridge on the burn. Higher 

up, at Wright Park, associated with Jean Key the heiress abducted by Rob Roy’s 

son, there is a spectacularly situated nineteenth century rubble bridge with the 

attractive name Bailie Bow’s Bridge. The back road crosses the same burn by


an ordinary little bridge a few metres upstream, but the architect has provided 

a grand entrance to the estate with this bridge high above a gorge. 

The next important bridge on the Forth, Cardross Bridge, like Drip, is very 

fine indeed, a three-arched stone bridge, with an inscription. It is 200 feet long, 

spanning the Forth between Port of Menteith and Arnprior. 

On the east side there is a panel declaring that it was erected in 1774, with a 

subvention of £250 from the King, out of the confiscated Jacobite estates, with the 

latin injunction that travellers should be grateful for this royal benefaction [The 

Queen’s Scotland]. 

Although it is on the verge of the Trossachs it is out of the way nowadays. In 

the days of the Forth and Clyde railway, however, it was crossed by the 

principal way by which the tourists came to Aberfoyle until the Strathendrick 

and Aberfoyle Railway Company built a direct line including a lattice girder 

bridge across the Forth. 

Above this the river is crossed by two more stone bridges of note, and a 

ferro-concrete by-pass for one of them. The Brig o’ Forth at Gartmore replaced 

the Gartartan ferry over the Forth, hard under ‘The Fairy Knowe’ where the 

local minister was supposedly taken up by the fairies, a story which fascinated 

Sir Walter Scott. The Brig o’ Forth, Aberfoyle is another interesting bridge. The 

trouble with bridges, of course, is that after a while, seen from the river bank, 

they are rather indistiguishable from one another, at first glance Aberfoyle 

resembles Gartmore. However, Aberfoyle bridge is backed by Craigmore a 

distinctive hill which marks the edge of the Highlands. It is well known partly 

because Scott mentions it, as follows, in ‘Rob Roy’. “We crossed the infant Forth 

by an old-fashioned stone bridge, very high and very narrow”. The crossing of 

the Forth and entry into the Highlands marks a turning point in the story. Scott 

was wrong in supposing that there was a bridge in Rob Roy’s day. It had 

relatively recently been erected when Scott first visited Aberfoyle in 1790, the 

old bridge having been destroyed in the 1715. The Brig o’ Forth at Aberfoyle is 

sometimes referred to as the fourth Forth Bridge, the other three, at the time it 

was erected being, one supposes, Stirling Bridge, Drip Bridge, and Cardross 

Bridge. 

The bridge is a focal point in the life of the village and it was the scene of a 

real life fracas relayed by W. T. Palmer as follows: 

Among the neighbours with whom William Graham, the eighth Earl of Menteith 

(1667-1694), had debts and disagreements, was John Graham, laird of Duchary 

and his son Thomas Graham, but for some time he found it impossible to put 

these into execution. No sheriff officer was willing to enter Duchary Castle with 

his writs. At length, what seemed to be a favourable opportunity presented itself. 

The younger Graham was to have a child baptised at the Kirk of Aberfoyle on 13th 

February 1671, and it occurred to the Earl that, not only the father of the child, but 

old Duchary and the whole family would be present at the interesting ceremony. 

He resolved therefore to seize the opportunity to serve his letters of caption. 

Having collected a number of his friends and servants and taking with them a 

Messenger-at-Arms, Alexander Muschet, he intercepted the christening party at 

the Bridge of Aberfoyle.


Duchray seems to have had warning of the Earl’s intentions, for, in addition to the 

ministers and elders of Aberfoyle and the indispensable baby, he had with him a 

strong party of his friends and tenants, all well armed. Muschet and his attendants 

advanced to execute the writ, the Earl with his armed followers remaining some 

little distance behind. But when the messenger informed Duchray that he must 

consider himself his prisoner, the latter defied him to lay hold upon him, and 

taking from his pocket a paper which he alleged was a protection from the king, 

he shouted: 

‘What wad ye dare? This is all your master!’ 

The baby was set down upon the ground, and the Duchary men, with swords 

guns and pistols, fell fiercely on Muschet and his satellites, and, threatening 

loudly that they would slay half of them and drown the rest in the Forth, drove 

them back on the Earl and his friends. The latter at first gave way but quickly 

rallied, and a stubborn fight ensued. The Earl himself narrowly escaped the bullets 

of his assailants, and several of his servants were wounded, one of them – by 

name Robert MacFarlane – having two of his fingers shot away. At last his party 

was fairly driven from the field, and turned in full flight to Inchtalla,. 

After this little interruption, it is to be hoped that the Duchray Grahams 

completed the celebration of the christening in a peaceful and Chistian frame of 

spirit. 

Wm. T. Palmer The Verge of the Scottish Highlands 1947 

The Forth rises beyond Aberfoyle, but there is one more fine old bridge on 

one of its headwaters, Teapot Bridge, next to the cottage between Loch Ard and 

Loch Chon where whisky was sold as tea! It is a delightful little sharply humpbacked 

‘Wade’ bridge on the military road to Inversnaid Fort. 

Bridges of the Allan 

The river Allan is bridged at Bridge of Allan, Dunblane and elsewhere. The 

original bridge which gave its name to the Spa Town was built in 1520 to 

replace a ford. It was stone built, narrow, high at centre, and crossed the river 

at a different angle from the present. After restoration by Lecropt Church 

heritors in 1695, it served till 1842 when it was widened and extended to take 

in the small bridge over the mill lade. A new design by F. A. Marshall & Partners 

was contracted in 1939, but work was not started till 1957. A plaque says it was 

completed in 1958 though the new road including it was not opened till 1960. 

The Inverallan Mill and the Bridge Inn remind us of the days when the village 

was a picturesque clachan on each side of the river. A celebrated inn, the 

Bridgend Changehouse, stood by the south end of the old bridge (see the 

plaque on the present bridge wall marking the site). The Changehouse was 

built in 1600, the second storey being added in the 1840s. It was taken down in 

1948. The original ‘Pape’ (Pope) James Steuart, was innkeeper and blacksmith 

here, 1632-1701. He and his family were descendants of the Royal Stuarts, and 

their story is told by one of them in the book By Allan Water (Steuart 1902), and 

was serialised in the Stirling Journal in 1902. 

Dunblane Bridge, also noteworthy, is almost as old as the Old Stirling 

Bridge, and still in use. This stone bridge built by the Bishops of Dunblane has


been incorporated in a girder bridge, and while main road traffic has been 

diverted, it still is the road access to the station. The Stirling Arms Hotel at the 

bridge used to be called the Head Inn. A plaque there says that Robert Burns 

accepted the post of exciseman there in 1796, but did not take it up. The A9 

crosses the Allan by a ferro-concrete bridge of the late forties, one of the last 

improvements to the A9 in the first phase. Dunblane is now fairly recently 

by-passed in the second phase of A9 upgrading. A concrete footbridge, called 

the ‘Fairy Bridge’, is situated above the cathedral. 

Cromlix Bridge, yet another eighteenth century stone bridge, crosses the 

Allan at Kinbuck, and is picturesquely situated amid green banks at a sharp 

bend in the road to Braco. 

At Braco two bridges of considerable interest cross the Knaik within a few 

metres of one another. The older of the two is one of many in Scotland referred 

to as the ‘Roman Bridge’ and, as it is situated in the shadow of the remarkable 

Roman Camp of Ardoch, it has more claim to the soubriquet than any of the 

others, but, like them it is of much later date. It is said to have been erected in 

1430 by the Bishop of Dunblane who also erected a bridge over the Machany 

Water near Muthill, still called the Bishop’s Bridge. Although the bridge at 

Ardoch was only six feet wide the erection of these two bridges at so early a 

date is a testimony to the importance of the route from Stirling to Crieff, and 

thence to Inverness. 

Indeed Wade made the road beyond Crieff to Dalnacardoch while the 

improvement of the stretch between Stirling and Crieff was the first road work 

undertaken by his successor, Caulfeild in 1741-2. It may have been at this time 

that an addition of three and a half feet was made to the old bridge, an addition 

which fell into the river in 1896. In any case there was much correspondence 

about a bridge ‘over the Allan’ which, from topographical evidence, was 

probably this bridge as there is a reference to a ‘steep ascent of the Bridge of 

Allan near Ardoch.’ Caulfeild rebuilt a bridge there in 1751. The newer bridge 

also proved problematic. It was begun in 1861, but the centering collapsed and 

the bridge was only completed in 1862. 

Bridges of the Teith 

The Teith is a fast-flowing stream. On it, at Deanston, one of the most 

considerable water-driven cotton mills in Scotland was established in 1785. 

Below them is the famous Brig o’ Teith with its inscription “In the Year of God 

1535 founded was this bridge by Robert Spittal, tailor to the most noble Princess 

Margaret, spouse to James IV”. There is a boldly emblazoned pair of scissors en 

saltier symbolising the fact Spittal, a notable benefactor, was a tailor: 

Its erection by Spittal, it is popularly believed, was owing to the avarice and 

disobliging conduct of one who kept the ferry at this point. Spittal had occasion to 

arrive here with a view to crossing the river, when he discovered he had either lost 

or forgotten his purse. Intimating the circumstances to the ferryman, he gruffly 

refused to allow him the use of his boat, a course which subjected Spittal to 

considerable inconvenience. But that no other person should be so circumstanced,


and that the ferryman might be punished for his disobliging obduracy, he 

forthwith determined to erect a bridge, 

Charles Roger A Week at Bridge of Allan 1851 

The other old bridge in Doune, Ardoch Bridge, close to the Castle has a 

plaque stating that it was repaired at the public expense of the shire in 1735. It 

was used by Prince Charlie in 1745. Above Doune the Teith is pre-eminently the 

river of the Trossachs. On its first major tributary is Keltie Bridge, a narrow 

pack-horse bridge dating from the period when road communication was first 

extended towards the Highlands. Higher up the same stream is Bracklinn 

Bridge, a footbridge at the waterfall associated with Scott, and a good country 

stone bridge at Eas na Caillich. At Callander the Old Brig was taken down in 

1908. Its high arches featured on prints and postcards until then showing the 

famous view of the holiday town with Ben Ledi in the background; later 

studies of the same scene incorporate the flatter-arched new bridge, made of 

concrete, but faced with stone. 

By far the most famous bridge in the Trossachs is Brig o’ Turk, situated at the 

entrance to Glenfinglas. This eighteenth century stone bridge was 

reconstructed and widened in 1931-32. Nearby, hardly known at all, is a much 

more genuine article, a narrow old bridge hidden in the woods between Loch 

Achray and Loch Venachar, the Brig o’ Michael (Mickle) across the Blackwater. 

At the foot of Loch Venachar are two stone bridges which, like Cardross Bridge 

were built with money from the forfieted estates after the Jacobite uprising, 

Gartchonzie Bridge (1779) and Kilmahog Bridge (1777), which has a plaque. 

Kilmahog is an example of a bridge called a ‘Roman’ bridge. There are three old 

bridges at Strathyre and at the foot of Loch Voil, one of which, Calair Bridge, 

is at the entrance to Glenbuckie where there are deligtful, if neglected, 

waterfalls. In his very interesting book Robert Louis Stevenson and the Scottish 

Highlanders the former town clerk of Stirling, David Morris, describes 

Glenbuckie thus: 

Glenbuckie is a wild highland glen at the northern end of the mountain pass that 

leads to Bridge of Turk. Its stream is the Calair Water, which, just before it joins the 

Balvaig near the exit of that river from Loch Voil, forms an islet known as the Black 

Isle, amid a scene of great beauty. It is the traditional site of the defeat of the 

Buchanans of Leny in the fifteenth century, in a desperate clan fight against the 

M’Larens assisted by the MacGregors. 

David Morris 1929 

What makes this fight memorable is that it originated when a Buchanan hit 

a MacLaren with a salmon at a fair in Callander. Bridges of today are unlikely 

to be remembered for such outlandish occurrences. These old stone bridges 

flung over roaring highland rivers seem as remote in time as the Forth Road 

Bridge seems up to date. However, they were the original Forth Bridges.


Editorial Note. Most of this paper was first published in Picture Postcard 

Monthly, in 1990; some additions and illustrations are contributed by L. Corbett 

and R. McCutcheon of FNH. 

References 

Hume, John R. Industrial Archeology of Scotland: (1) The Lowlands and Borders 1976 

(Stirling and Clackmannan); (2) The Highlands 1977 (Perthshire). 

McKean, Charles. 1985. Stirling and the Trossachs. RIAS/Rutland. 

Page, R. 1994. The Ancient Bridge of Stirling – a new survey. Forth Naturalist and 

Historian,17: 103-110. 

RCAHMS. 1963. Inventory of Stirlingshire. 2 volumes. 

Stirling Journal Index. 1981. Stirling University. 3 volumes. 1820-69; 1870-1919; 1920-1970. 

Press references under the heading Transport – land-bridges. Volumes 1 and 2 are op 

some of volume 3 are available from FNH. 

Stott, Louis. Not yet published. A Celebration of Bridges in Scotland. 

Swan, Adam. 1987. Clackmannanshire and the Ochils. RIAS/Rutland. 

Appendix 

Table 1. Bridges over the Forth [Trunk Stream] 

Bridge River Map Ref Date Details 

Forth Rail Bridge Forth NT 130 780 1890 Spectacular cantilever bridge. 

Forth Road NT 120 780 1958-64 Notable suspension bridge 2515m 

long. 

Kincardine NS 920 870 1936 Swing bridge; longest swing span 

when built, weighing 2000 tons; A876. 

Alloa Rail Bridge 

Stirling, 

NS 860 915 1882-3 Swing Bridge; largely dismantled. 

Stirling Relief NS 821 940 1987 Modern; concrete beam. Short 

Road Bridge sightedly designed – restricting headroom 

for possible/desirable boat traffic. 

Cambuskenneth NS 805 940 1936 Footbridge; ferro-concrete. 

Stirling Railway NS 798 943 1846-48 The Perth and North line was first. 

Bridges Later rebuilt. The second bridge is the 

Alloa/Dunfermline line, reopening in 

prospect. 

Stirling Bridge NS 797 944 1831-2 Engineered by Robert Stevenson. 

Stirling Old Brig NS 796 945 1415[?] Historic stone bridge of four 

‘Stirling Bridge’ NS 784 950[?] 13C(?) 

semicircular arches; now a footbridge 

Site of Battle in 1297 at which Wm 

Ancient 

Drip, 

Wallace defeated English. 

New Bridge NS 770 956 1920 A84 road bridge. 

Old Bridge NS 770 956 1745[?1790] Fine old stone bridge [A84], five 

arches. 

Meiklewood NS 725 956 1876 Lattice girder; Walter Paul of Killearn. 

Gargunnock 

Bridge 

NS 714 952 1932 Unprepossessing ferro-concrete.


Brig o’ Frew Forth NS 667 961 1964[?] ‘Fords of Frew’– associations with 

(Forth) (cont.) Rob Roy, Prince Charlie; old bridge 

like Drip, 

(Boquhan) NS 668 958 C18 Stone; three arches. 

Bailie Bow’s Bridge NS 652 922 C19 Rubble; elaborate estate bridge on 

Boquhan Burn. 

Netherton Bridge NS 661 986 1827 Henry Home Drummond; on Goodie 

Water. 

Poldar Bridge NS 625 966 1882 Lattice girder; Walter Paul of Killearn. 

Cardross NS 598 972 1774 Three stone arches; inscription. 

Flanders Moss 

Railway Bridge 

Gartmore, 

NS 543 980 1881 Now dismantled. 

Brig o’ Forth NS 533 988 C19 Two-span rubble bridge with 

Aberfoyle, 

Brig o’ Forth 

NN 520 009 C18 

segmental arches of unequal size; 

replaced Gartartan Ferry; 1810-20. 

Literary and historical associations. 

Milton NT 503 013 C19 Rubble arch. 

Teapot Bridge NN 439 032 C18 Markedly hump-backed ‘Wade’ 

bridge; on Allt Tairbh, headwater of 

Forth. 

Table 2. Some Notable Bridges over the Tributaries of the Forth 

Bridge River Map Ref Date Details 

Old Bridge 

of Devon 

Devon NS 847 952 C16 Three-arched bridge. Robert Spittal. 

Downies NS 847 952 1926 Steel lattice girder. 

Miller NS 847 952 1949 A907 ‘improvement’ concrete. 

Tullibody NS 857 959 C18 Two arched stone bridge. 

Vicar’s Bridge 

Rumbling Bridge: 

NS 986 980 Modern girder bridge on site of C16 

bridge gifted by Thos Forrest. 

Old Brig NT 017 995 1713 William Grey, of Saline; 

12’wide, 22’span; 86’ above water. 

New Brig 

Bannockburn: 

1816 Built on same site; 120’ above water. 

New Brig NS 809 904 1819 Telford. Unique arched. 

Old Brig Bannock NS 807 904 1871 Built by Robert Spittal (1516); single 

semental arch [33’10”], coursed ashlar. 

Chartershall Bannock NS 792 902 1747 Single rubble arch [26’8”]. 

Bridge of Allan Allan NS 788 976 1842 Widened and extended, replaced by 

new, opened 1960. 

Old Bridge NS 788 976 1520 Restored 1695. 

Dunblane NN 782 010 1409 Very old, much altered, still in use. 

‘Fairy Bridge’ 

Kinbuck: 

NN Footbridge, above Cathedral 

Dunblane. 

Cromlix Bridge NN 791 054 1752 Two-span rubble bridge with segmental 

arches.

Braco: 

Ardoch Bridge Knaik NN 837 099 1430[1724] ‘Wade’ Bridge; single arch in rubble. 

Doune, 

Brig o’ Teith 

Teith NN 722 013 1535 Widened 1866. Still main road. 

Auld Bridge Ardoch NN 730 014 1735 Single rubble arch. 

Inscription reads ‘Built upon the publick expense of the Shire AD 1735’ 

Burn o’ Cambus Annet NN 706 030 1690 Only part survives. 

Keltie Bridge Keltie NN 648 068 1690 Narrow old stone bridge. 

Bracklinn Bridge Keltie NN 645 084 Literary associations with Scott; 

footbridge. 

Callander Brig Teith NN 627 078 1908 Concrete with stone facings; 

Gartchonzie Eas NN 605 071 1779 

replaced Old Brig of 1764, 

Built, like Kilmahog, from annexed 

Gobhain estates. 

Brig o’ Turk Turk NN 530 065 1932 C18 bridge re-built. 

Brig o’ Michael Blackwater NN 532 063 C18 Old stone bridge; single arch. 

Kilmahog Leny NN 607 082 1777 So-called ‘Roman Bridge’; plaque. 

Strathyre 

Balquhidder; 

Balvaig NN 560 171 C18 Two arches. 

Stronvar Balvaig NN 535 205 C18 Four arches; rubble. 

Calair Calair 

Burn 

NN 536 203 C18 Two arches; rubble. 

Illustrations 


The following is a small selection. Another of the Forth Rail Bridge is on the 

back cover of this journal. Figure 1 illustrates the contrasting designs of the rail 

and road bridges as discussed early in the text, the apparent elegance of the 

road, the striking massiveness of the rail.

Forth 

Figure 1 Road and Rail bridges – Queensferry, aerial view. 

Figure 2 Road Bridge – Queensferry. 

Figure 3 Rail Bridge from the south. Figure 4 Kincardine’s last ‘opening’. 

L. Stott 

L. Stott 

FEF 

L. Corbett 

148 Louis Stott

Forth 

Figure 5 Alloa Rail – after ‘accident’ 1906. Figure 6 Cambuskenneth. 

R. McCutcheon. 


Figure 7 Old Stirling Bridge. Figure 8 Ancient Stirling Bridge/Battle 1297. 


L. Stott 

Bridges of the Forth 149

Forth, Ardoch, Teith 


Figure 9 Bridge of Frew. Figure 10 Bridge of Forth and Craig Mhor, Aberfoyle. 

McKenzie. 

Figure 11 Ardoch Bridge, Doune. Figure 12 Bridge of Teith, Doune. 

L. Stott 

McKenzie. 

150 Louis Stott

Figure 13 Old Bridge, Callander. 

Teith and Bannock 



Figure 15 Old Bannockburn. Figure 14 New Bridge, Bannockburn (Telfer). 




Figure 16 

Bracklinn 

Falls 

Bridge. 

Bracklinn and Devon 

L. Stott 

Figure 17 

Ye Rumbling Bridge that 

spans the gorge 

Sae rugged and sae 

grand, 

I think ye are a favoured 

bridge 

Sae near the gorge tae 

stand. 

The gorge has been the 

work of years, 

All ploughed by water 

power; 

You’ll hear the rumbling 

through the day 

And silent midnight 

hour. 

152 Louis Stott

Figure 18 Bridge of Devon, Tullibody. 

Devon and Allan 



Figure 19 The Bridge of Allan c1940. 

Figure 20 Dunblane Bridge and ‘Inn’. Figure 21 ‘Fairy’ Bridge, Dunblane. 





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