The present Rannoch Barracks is the Scottish residence of Baron Pearson of Rannoch, a British businessman and the former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). Situated on a 6,000-acre (2,400ha) estate, the shooting lodge is named after the former barracks.
The Barracks are near to the church and deserted hamlet at Braes of Rannoch.
The barracks
The barracks were built in 1746 in response to the Jacobite uprisings, and to overawe the Robertson clan, though, by a strange quirk of fate, they would later become the residence of the chief. Following the defeat of the Jacobites at Culloden (1746), "Butcher" Cumberland ordered his troops to show no quarter to any remaining Jacobite rebels.[1] The Hanoverian Army (known as "Redcoats") then embarked upon the so-called "pacification" of Jacobite areas of the Highlands. Numerous barracks were constructed throughout the Highlands to house the Government troops, including one at the head of Loch Rannoch at Braes of Rannoch (now called Bridge of Gaur).[2] It is likely that it was a thatched-roof construction, more quarters than castle.[3]
Rannoch's clans had played a full part in the Jacobite risings. All those the troops believed to be rebels were killed, as were some non-combatants. "Rebellious" settlements were burned and livestock was confiscated on a large scale.
When the reprisals ceased, the warriors returned. However, without crops or cattle, there seemed no alternative open to them but thieving, and sheer hunger drove them to commit savage deeds. A Captain Patton of Guise's Regiment said, "the people of this country [Rannoch] are the greatest thieves in Scotland and were all in the late rebellion, except for a few. They have a great number of arms but they keep them concealed from us."[2]
Places such as Banff, Aberdeen, Angus and the Mearns suffered from the depredations of the thieves of Rannoch. In the 1747, a band of Rannoch thieves was intercepted and forty head of cattle were recovered from them. There are dozens of similar reports which gave a fair indication of the problems facing the soldiers.[2]
The infamous Sergeant Mhor (the great Sergeant), an ex-soldier who led one of the gangs, was held in Rannoch Barracks before being taken to Perth where he was condemned as a thief and executed. He protested his innocence saying he had "never killed a man but in self-defence: that he never took what was not his own, except a sheep from the hills, to give him and his food."[4][5]
Buchanan Memorial in Kinloch Rannoch
The soldiers struggled to cope with the lawlessness and aimed to bring peace to the area. Dugald Buchanan (1716–1768), a teacher and an evangelist, preaching at large open air meetings, which upwards of 500 people attended, showing great courage as he persuaded the "wild men" to give up their lawlessness and savage ways. He and his wife taught them new trades and crafts. They worked with James Small, an older brother of Major-General John Small and formerly an Ensign in Lord Loudoun's Regiment, who had been appointed by the Commissioners for the Forfeited Estates to run the Rannoch estates, which had been seized from the clan chieftains who had supported the Jacobites. The tiny hamlet at the east end of Loch Rannoch, now known as Kinloch Rannoch, was enlarged and settled, mainly by soldiers being discharged from the army, but also by displaced crofters.[2]
A wide range of agricultural and other improvement works were undertaken across the estates, including drainage, road making and bridge building. The Soldier's Trenches on Rannoch Moor as seen from the West Highland Line date from this period. Slowly peace and prosperity were brought to Rannoch. Flax and potatoes were introduced, mills built and spinning and weaving taught; a mason, joiner and wheelwright passed on their skills; a shoemaker and tailor set up business.[2]
Buchanan is commemorated by a monument erected in The Square at Kinloch Rannoch and by the first Church built at the Braes of Rannoch, or Georgetown as it was known at the time, named after the King George II. This latter name was swiftly changed again after the Redcoats' withdrawal from the area.
The main building was converted from a barracks into a shooting lodge between 1798 and 1803.[6]
The first church in Bridge of Gaur was built a few hundred yards west of the current church in 1776. This was replaced by a church on the present site in 1855, until it in turn was replaced by the current church in 1907. The flagstones on the chancel floor in the church are from one of the early churches.[7]
No one knows why the two earlier churches were replaced, and the only reminder of the original church is the bellcote, which was moved to each of its replacements in turn. The Rev Archibald Eneas Robertson (1870–1958), first ascender of all the Munros (hills in Scotland over 3,000ft), was minister here between 1907 and 1920.
Related Research Articles
Clan Donnachaidh, also known as Clan Robertson, is a Scottish clan.
Ruthven Barracks, near Ruthven in Badenoch, Scotland, are the best preserved of the four barracks built in 1719 after the 1715 Jacobite rising. Set on an old castle mound, the complex comprises two large three-storey blocks occupying two sides of the enclosure, each with two rooms per floor. The barracks and enclosing walls were built with loopholes for musket firing, and bastion towers were built at opposite corners. Destroyed by Jacobites following their retreat after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Barracks ruins are maintained as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. They are accessible at all times without entrance charge.
Kinloch Rannoch is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, at the eastern end of Loch Rannoch, 18 miles (29 km) west of Pitlochry, on the banks of the River Tummel. The village is a tourist and outdoor pursuits centre. It has a small population and is fairly remote.
Dunalastair is an estate in the southern part of the Highlands, in Perthshire, Scotland. It is 18 miles west of the town of Pitlochry, lying along the River Tummel between Tummel Bridge to the east and Kinloch Rannoch to the west, and incorporates part of Dunalastair Loch/Reservoir.
The Highbridge Skirmish was the first engagement of the Jacobite Rising of 1745 between government troops and Jacobites loyal to Prince Charles Edward Stuart. It took place at Highbridge, Lochaber, on the River Spean on 16 August 1745, and marked the commencement of hostilities between the two sides.
Archibald Cameron of Lochiel was a doctor and a prominent leader in the Jacobite rising of 1745. On 7 June 1753, at Tyburn, he was the last Jacobite to be executed for high treason.
Donald Cameron of Lochiel, was hereditary chief of Clan Cameron, traditionally loyal to the exiled House of Stuart. His father John was permanently exiled after the 1715 Rising and when his grandfather Sir Ewen Cameron died in 1719, Donald assumed his duties as 'Lochiel.'
Dugald Buchanan was a Scottish poet writing in Scots and Scottish Gaelic. He helped the Rev. James Stuart or Stewart of Killin to translate the New Testament into Scottish Gaelic. John Reid called him "the Cowper of the Highlands".
A network of military roads, sometimes called General Wade's Military Roads, was constructed in the Scottish Highlands during the middle part of the 18th century as part of an attempt by the British Government to bring order to a part of the country which had risen up in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.
Braes of Rannoch is a hill with a deserted hamlet and church in Perthshire. The hamlet was formerly, briefly, called Georgetown, as the redcoat barracks of Jacobite rising of 1745 were then known, then known as Bridge of Rannoch, or Bridge of Gaur, after the bridge on the River Gaur. The original barracks have gone but a large house and shooting lodge, Rannoch Barracks, is named after them. The Braes of Rannoch Manse became a hostel for forestry workers by the 1970s. The church is today a tourist feature on the road from Kinloch Rannoch to Rannoch Station.
James Small was a retired Army officer, a factor of forfeited estates in Perthshire and an improver of Kinloch Rannoch, Scotland.
The Independent Highland Companies were irregular militia raised from the Scottish clans of the Scottish Highlands by order of the Government between 1603 and 1760 in order to help keep the peace and enforce the law in the Highlands and were recognized as such by the Government. The officers of the Independent Highland Companies were commissioned as officers of the British Army but the Independent Companies were not recognized as official regiments of the line of the army. The Independent Highland Companies were the progenitors of the Highland Regiments of the British Army that began when ten Independent Highland Companies were embodied to form the Earl of Crawford's Highland Regiment that was numbered the 43rd Regiment of Foot in 1739.
The Skirmish of Loch Ailort was a conflict that took place on 9 May 1746 at Loch Ailort, in the district of Moidart, Scottish Highlands and was part of the Jacobite rising of 1745.
The Skirmish of Arisaig took place on 16 May 1746 at Arisaig, Scotland and was the last armed conflict of the Jacobite rising of 1745. It was fought between a British Government force and Jacobites of the Clan Macdonald of Clanranald.
The Dunalastair Hotel Suites is a grade listed, 5 star hotel located in Kinloch Rannoch, Perthshire. Originally established in 1788, the hotel is one of the Scottish Highlands oldest hotels : The current building dates from 1862 and has seen numerous owners and refurbishments, with the current iteration being opened in May 2017 following an extensive redesign by the London based Henley Plc which subsequently won several awards.
The Raids on Lochaber and Shiramore took place in the Scottish Highlands between 22 May and 31 August 1746 and were part of the closing operations of the British-Hanoverian Government to bring to an end the Jacobite rising of 1745. Sometimes referred to as the "mopping up" operations many rebels surrendered themselves and their arms, while others were captured and punished. It also included the hunt for the Jacobite leader Bonnie Prince Charles Edward Stuart otherwise known as the Young Pretender. Most of the work was done on behalf of the Government by the Independent Highland Companies of militia and also the Campbell of Argyll Militia.
The Raid on Rannoch took place in 1753 in the tumultuous aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Lieutenant Hector Munro, 8th laird of Novar who was a commissioned officer in the 34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot led the raid to capture the Jacobite rebel John Dubh Cameron who was later executed.
The Heart Stone or Clach Cridhe in Perth and Kinross, Scotland is an ancient landmark on Rannoch Moor situated on the old 'Road to the Isles'. During the construction of the B846 road from Kinloch Rannoch to Rannoch railway station it was seen as an obstacle and was drilled and split and later it was moved to its present location in the 1950s to prevent it being submerged in the artificially enlarged Loch Eigheach Gaur Reservoir. The stone now stands beside the B846 road from the station to Kinloch Rannoch.
The Atholl raids of 14 - 17 March 1746 were a series of raids carried out by Jacobite rebels against the British-Hanoverian Government during the Jacobite rising of 1745.
The Killin incident of 1749 took place in August 1749 in Killin in the Scottish Highlands in the tumultuous aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Two men who had been plundering at will in full Highland dress after the Dress Act 1746 had made it illegal to wear it, had been captured by soldiers of the British Army, but a large mob secured their release.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
