Dunkeld

Dunkeld, a town of Perthshire, 16 miles NNW. of Perth. It lies in a deep romantic hollow, on the great east pass (of Birnam, q.v.) to the Highlands, on the left bank of the Tay, which here is spanned by Telford's handsome bridge (1805-9). It is environed by dark-wooded and craggy mountains. Dunkeld is a place of great antiquity, and a Culdee church was founded here about 815. In 1107 Alexander I. revived the bishopric, one of whose holders was Gawin Douglas (1474-1522), translator of Virgil's Aeneid. The place was successfully held by a small Cameronian regiment, under Cleland, against 5000 Highlanders, 21st August 1689. The cathedral, mainly in Pointed style, was built between 1318 and 1501, and comprises nave, choir, chapter-house, and tower. At the Reformation it was unroofed, but the choir has been renovated, and is now the parish church. Of two or three ancient monuments, the most interesting is one to the Wolf of Badenoch (Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan, who died in 1394). The Duke of Athole's grounds, unsurpassed in Scotland for extent and beauty, lie on the west and north of Dunkeld, and include the cathedral; Craigvinean and Craig-y-Barns; 50 miles of walks, and 30 miles of drives; falls of the Bran (upper one 80 feet), near Ossian's Hall at the Rumbling Bridge; and 20 sq. m. of larch-wood, including what are claimed to be the first two larches planted in Britain (in 1738), although the point has been disputed. Pop. (1831) 1471; (1881) 768; (1891) 613.