From the Manse

Forward with Scotland’s Past!
The  Battlefield Band used this as their slogan -telling the traditional tales of Scotland and more with a modern twist to the music. But the past is somewhere that not all folk are happy to think about. The past “is a foreign country” as one historian put it. Lenin himself indeed sneered about Scotland that “it lives off its past and Mr Carnegie.”

Lenin got it right, in so far as history is big attraction for many who visit our country. No cruise ship arrives at our coast without a tour to a castle, or a battlefield. Our history then is important economically, but also there is a fascination with how folk lived.

This summer we called at the excellent Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore. The best bargain in Scottish tourism (it’s free). The buildings collected from all over the Highlands remind you, if your are a bit older, of childhood days.

The 1930’s schoolroom had a thing that looked like an iPad. You could write on it but it didn’t need electricity. The slate and pencil must have been a bit noisy compared to an iPad! And further back in time there is a village of black houses, with their smoking peat fires central in the floor and their cosy thatch roofs. There is also a mid 20th century farm with the machinery and housing of a passing age. How small tractors were.

Scotland’s Gardens
For other tourists to visit to a beautiful garden as well as a castle is their pleasure. Indeed keen gardeners often buy the Scotland’s Garden scheme book, the guide to gardens open each summer. They go for inspiration and relaxation to gardens great and small but all lovingly cared for.

Finally, this summer after years of passing by Anna and I visited Attadale gardens at Strathcarron. No wonder the readers of Gardners’ World named it top in their ‘favourite to visit ‘ list. It was a sun drenched day we called and the setting and structure and above all the planting, so imaginatively restored since the great gales, made it a magical day. If you have never been it is open until 31st October (closed Sundays).

Sacred Scotland
Scotland’s Churches run a scheme similar to the Gardens. Area guides detail many of our churches from all denominations. Some are open regularly, others on specific days often at the same time as a local garden. For many a call to the key holder is needed to gain access. I have just added Lochluichart Kirk to the scheme. If you have access to the web it can be found at www.sacredscotland.org.uk

The details found online are not in print yet as the Highlands guide doesn’t get published until next year so it is still a work in progress. I have however discovered that the church cost £1,689.3s.3d to build.

Churches are part of the fabric of Scotland’s identity with many links to our history they are also sacred places pointing  to the Christian heritage of our land. There will always be change of course but the witness to Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour in the lives of people also found expression in the buildings small and large that to this day brings people together for regular worship as well as the great events of life and death. We lose something special when a church closes.

And finally...St Finnan’s Church
Thanks to those who gave me further information about he site of St Finnan’s church at Garve. The evidence was staring me straight in the face. KILLIN FARM of course this is Cill Fhinn, the church of St Finnan.

In Watson’s Celtic Place Names he notes that Loch Garve is still called Loch Maol Fhinn ‘Finn’s servants loch. He goes on to say there is a Gaelic saying that this church was one of the oldest in Scotland “Cill-Phinn; Cill-Duinn; Cill Donain, na tri cilltean is sine an Albainn”  “Killin, Kildun, Kildonan, the oldest cells (Churches) in Scotland”

Fraser Stewart