HISTORY - KIRKMICHAEL

Approaching Kirkmichael from the south as you travel down the Strath, the view becomes dominated by the rolling shapes of the Cromdale hills, the tapestry of the heather forming distinctive patterns, where it has been periodically burnt in strips - a management practice which maintains this unique landscape and provides a habitat for the red grouse - that distinctive moorland bird so famous for the challenge it provides sportsmen on the ‘Glorious Twelfth’ of August when the grouse shooting season starts.

Set against the backdrop of these open heaths, the parish church of Kirkmichael was built in 1807, but it is believed to be the third or fourth built here, for as a site of worship the church dates back to at least the thirteenth Century. The peaceful setting however disguises an interesting past, for its graveyard is full of several notable academics and military men raised in these parts, who having reached many distant corners of the world, returned to the resting place of their forefathers-

“This little churchyard” wrote Dr William Barclay in the Banffshire Journal “is eloquent, beyond any other in the north of Scotland of which we have knowledge, of what was done by the Gael in many a gallant conquest in foreign fields”

The church is also reputed to have witnessed many an episode in the history of the glen and one notable incident occurred in 1490, the year that these lands passed from Stewart hands and became Gordon property.

Apparently the new landlords were not well received by many of the tenants, who held back their rent in money kind and services. In response some 200 Gordon men camped one Saturday night in the birch wood of Cnoc Fergan across the river, and on the following Sunday, while the Stewart congregation gathered, filled the doorways and windows of the church with brushwood. Once they were trapped the Gordon’s threatened to burn all within unless they pledged allegiance to the new laird. Needless-to-say an end to the disaffection was not long in coming and the problem was quickly solved.

The population on both sides of the river have traditionally attended the church and stories also tell of parishioners from the other side, carrying salmon spears with them on their way to Sunday worship. The spears were left against the church wall during the service, after which some ready sport was available on the way home. Crossing the river was sometimes a dangerous procedure and fords in this area were apparently attempted on stilts, adding to the adventure.

Several suspension bridges in the Strath now provide more easy access to the other bank. The closest to the church lies about 1 km upriver near the former church of Dalvrecht - now a private residence - but once the former Free Church meeting place, set up following the Disruption of the Church of Scotland in 1843. It was then that many of the Kirkmichael parishioners left the church here and moved across to worship on the other bank, following this historical event, when widespread disaffection with state interference in the running of the established church caused open revolt.

Across the river the steep slopes of Cnoc Fergan are clothed with spruce, Scots pine, larch and noble fir, but many years ago the noises and smells of an open air market place filled the air. Half way up the hill, in the midst of a small grove, lies a tall cairn with a freshwater spring and a metal cup. This is Fergan’s Well and tradition tells of a busy sheep market that used to be held on this slope before the construction of Tomintoul in 1776 caused the market to be moved.

Further downriver the Strath opens out more and the full splendour of the whole glen becomes increasingly apparent. In spring and summer the fresh green leaves of the slender silver birches and the silvery water of the Avon contrast with the darker coloured hills, which themselves erupt in a blanket of blazing purple, when the heather comes into flower during August. The autumn red and yellow hues and snow capped hills in winter, add yet more variety to an ever changing annual scene which has been an inspiration for many. The journey down the strath next passes the Tomintoul distillery, although there is no visitor centre here. Shortly beyond the still, a road joins from the left and a metal sided bridge, formerly known as the Silver Bridge , comes into view.

Glenlivet welcomes you to explore its tracks and byways.