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Callander

Coordinates:56°14′39″N4°12′52″W/ 56.24403°N 4.21446°W/56.24403; -4.21446
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the municipality (township) in Ontario, seeCallander, Ontario.
For other uses, seeCallander (disambiguation).

Callander
Callander is located in Stirling
Callander
Callander
Location within theStirlingcouncil area
Population3,080 (2022)[1]
OS grid referenceNN628079
•Edinburgh44 mi (71 km)
•London367 mi (591 km)
Council area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCALLANDER
Postcode districtFK17
Dialling code01877
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
UK Parliament
Scottish Parliament
List of places
UK
Scotland
56°14′39″N4°12′52″W/ 56.24403°N 4.21446°W/56.24403; -4.21446

Callander(/ˈkæləndər/;Scottish Gaelic:Calasraid) is a small town in the council area ofStirling,Scotland,situated on theRiver Teith.The town is located in the historiccountyofPerthshireand is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands.

The town serves as the eastern gateway to theLoch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park,the first National Park in Scotland, and is often referred to as the "Gateway to the Highlands".[2]

Dominating the town to the north are the Callander Crags, a visible part of theHighland Boundary Fault,rising to 343 metres (1,125 ft) at the cairn.[3] Ben Ledi(879 metres, 2,884 ft) lies north-west of Callander. Popular local walks includeBracklinn Falls,The Meadows, Callander Crags and the Wood Walks.[4]TheRob Roy Waypasses through Callander. The town sits on theTrossachsBird of PreyTrail.[5]The River Teith is formed from theconfluenceof two smaller rivers, theGarbh Uisge(River Leny) andEas Gobhainabout1⁄3mile (500 m) west of the bridge at Callander.

A 19th-century Gothic church stands in the town square, named after SaintKessog,an Irish missionary who is said to have preached in the area in the sixth-century. The church closed in 1985 and between 1990 and 2006 the building, after undergoing substantial interior alterations, was home to a visitor centre and audio-visual attraction telling the story of local outlaw,Rob Roy MacGregor.The church building was occupied byThe Clanranald Trust for Scotlandbetween 2015 and 2018, but it now lies empty.[6]

Founded in 1892,McLaren High Schooleducates pupils aged 11 to 18 from a wide catchment area extending as far asKillin,TyndrumandInversnaid.

In 2018 Callander was named Scotland's First Social Enterprise Place,[7]due to the amount of social enterprise activity within the town. This includes Callander Community Hydro Ltd.,[8]a community owned renewable energy project which distributes funds to a variety of local projects.

Toponym

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The nameCallanderwas first recorded, perhaps erroneously, asCallanderin 1238,[9]andKallandrechin 1438,[9]and the etymology is uncertain.William J Watsonhad the derivation asGaelicCalasraid,meaning "harbour-street" or "ferry-street" in 1913.[9]By 1926, Watson stated "Callander on Teith…is a transferred name fromCallandernearFalkirk",[9]and indeed, it is probable that from at least the 16th century,Callanderwas influenced by that spelling.[9]Early forms withCalen-may relate to the original name of the estate, which may have straddled the Teith.[9]Calendratemay have been a subdivision of this estate, and thesraidelement may relate to aRoman road.[9]Some of the early forms contain–drate,which might be Gaelicdrochaid"bridge".[9]

Calendermay also be ofBrittonicorigin,[10][11]and derived from*caleto-dubro-(Welshcaled-dŵr), meaning "hard-water".[10]The-nin the nameCallanderis intrusive.[11]It may originally have been ariver-name,perhaps that of the present River Teith.[10]A name of theCaldertype,[11]Callander may share an etymology with theCallater BurninAberdeenshire,[10]as well as the English namesCalderinWest Yorkshire,[11]andKielderinNorthumberland.[11]

History

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Aneolithicsettlement situated south of the river was excavated in 2001 finding evidence of a timber building 25 metres (80 ft) in length along with neolithic pottery.[12]The Auchenlaich Cairn, a neolithic chambered cairn which at 322 metres (1,056 ft) in length is the longest in Britain, is situated near Keltie Bridge just east of Callander.[13]The remains of an ancienthillfortcan be seen at Dunmore overlookingLoch Venachar,nearKilmahog.This fort was likely a large defended structure visible from some distance and excavations have revealed a well and signs ofvitrifiedstonework.[14][15]Nearby, the remains ofRomanramparts constructed during the campaigns ofAgricolain the first century AD are visible at Bochastle Farm.[15][16]

SaintKessog,a disciple ofColumbaof Iona, preached and taught in this area in the early sixth century. A small mound by the River Teith is named in pseudo-Gaelic as "Tom na Chessaig", meaning "the Hill of Kessog". This man-made mound is circular with a level top approximately 10 metres (30 ft) in diameter. It is reputed to have been constructed as a memorial to the Saint or even to be the remains of Callander's original church (situated close to the old graveyard). The structure has actually been identified as a medievalmotte,although no excavation has confirmed this. Historians record that an annual market called "Feill ma Chessaig" (festival of Kessog) was held here until the early 19th century.[17][18]

A medieval tower house, Callander Castle, once stood south of the river, which is said to have been "a square tower of considerable height". This belonged to the Livingstons ofCallendar HousenearFalkirk.The only remains of the castle are some masonry and a possibledatestoneinscribed 1596, which is now incorporated within the old St Kessog's Manse on the same site.[19]

In 1645, during the campaigns ofMontrose,a battle was fought at Callander between theCampbellsofArgylland the Atholl men. The Campbells were harassing theMcGregorsand theMcNabsfor their allegiance to Montrose. While besieging Castle Ample, the news came of the advance of 700 Atholl men under Inchbrakie. A retreat was made southwards, but, as the Campbells were crossing a ford to the east of the village of Callander, they were overtaken and compelled to give battle. Inchbrakie, advancing part of his force to attack the defenders, quietly marched another detachment towards a ford higher up near the present bridge. A crossing was soon effected, and the Campbells, being unexpectedly attacked on the rear, broke and fled, leaving eighty of their men dead on the field.

Although it is not known when the area was first settled, Callander is mentioned in parish records since at least the 15th century. The Medieval Parish of Callander was a patchwork of estates, settlements and farms and some of these survive in the present street names, such as Murdiestoun, Balgibbon and East Mains. The area around Callander was cleared for sheep before 1800 as part of the early phases of theHighland Clearances.[20]

Scottish Gaelicwas once widely spoken. In 1803,William Wordsworthand his sister,Dorothy,visited Callander and the Trossachs and recorded everyday encounters with Gaelic language and culture.[21]In the 1840s sermons were delivered in both Gaelic and English, and Gaelic was taught in at least two schools in the area. By the 1880s most locals were speaking a mixture of Gaelic,Scotsand English. In the 1900s, Celtic scholar,William J. Watson,documented, "four Gaelic-speaking men born near Callander, two of whom were over 80 and had excellent knowledge of the place-names." However, one 19th century writer (Alexander MacGibbon) took objection to the local dialect, stating, "The true Gaelic is a noble language, worthy of the fire of Ossian, and wonderfully adapted to the genius of a warlike nation; but the contemptible language of the people about Callander, and to the east, is quite incapable of communicating a noble idea."[9][22]

Callander was served by rail from 1 July 1858 as the terminus of abranch linefromDunblane.[23]A secondCallander railway stationwas opened about1⁄2mile (800 m) to the west, behind the Dreadnought Hotel, on 1 June 1870 when the railway was extended toKillinen route toOban,and closed on 5 November 1965. Sections of this formerCallander and Oban Railwayline, between Callander andStrathyreand betweenBalquhidderand Killin Junction, are now part of theNational Cycle Network(route 7)[24]and theRob Roy Way.[25]Track from the dismantled Callander and Oban Railway was used in the construction of the transit system for the1968 Summer OlympicsinMexico City.[23]

Notable residents

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Callander achieved prominence during the 1960s as the fictional setting "Tannochbrae"in theBBCtelevision seriesDr. Finlay's Casebook.[29]

In the fictional world of theG.I. Joe: A Real American Herofranchise, the characterDestrowas born in Callander.[citation needed]

The fictional teenager,Adrian Mole,while on holiday atLoch Lubnaigwalks to Callander to buy aMars barand playSpace Invaders(The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾bySue Townsend).

Annual events

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Former St. Kessog's Church
Post Office
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References

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  1. ^"Mid-2020 Population Estimates for Settlements and Localities in Scotland".National Records of Scotland.31 March 2022.Retrieved31 March2022.
  2. ^"Callander from The Gazetteer for Scotland".scottish-places.info.
  3. ^"Ordnance Survey - Callander Crags".Archived fromthe originalon 5 October 2013.Retrieved24 March2008.
  4. ^"Callander and Local Area walks".Archived fromthe originalon 27 June 2007.
  5. ^"Trossachs Bird of Prey Trail".Archived fromthe originalon 4 October 2013.Retrieved1 October2013.
  6. ^"Callander, Ancaster Square, St Kessog's Church".CANMORE.Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.Retrieved14 November2018.
  7. ^"Callander named Scotland's first Social Enterprise Place - TFN".
  8. ^"CCDT Callander Community Hydro Ltd".incallander.co.uk.
  9. ^abcdefghiMcNiven, Peter E. (2011).Gaelic place-names and the social history of Gaelic speakers in Medieval Menteith(PDF)(PhD). University of Glasgow.
  10. ^abcdA. D. Mills,A Dictionary of British Place Names(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), s.v.
  11. ^abcdeJames, Alan G."A Guide to the Place-Name Evidence - Guide to the Elements"(PDF).Scottish Place Name Society - The Brittonic Language in the Old North.Retrieved25 October2018.
  12. ^Barclay, Gordon; Brophy, Kenneth; MacGregor, Gavin (2002). "A Neolithic building at Claish Farm, near Callander, Stirling Council, Scotland, UK".Antiquity.76(291). Antiquity Publications: 23–24.doi:10.1017/S0003598X00089675.
  13. ^Batey, Colleen, ed. (1991).Discovery and Excavation in Scotland: an annual survey of Scottish archaeological discoveries, excavation and fieldwork(PDF).Council for Scottish Archaeology. p. 9.ISBN090135211X.ISSN0419-411X.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^"Dunmore".CANMORE.Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.Retrieved26 April2018.
  15. ^ab"Dunmore Hillfort and Bochastle Roman Fort".Retrieved26 April2018.
  16. ^"A History of Callander The Trossachs, Scotland".Archived fromthe originalon 26 September 2013.Retrieved1 October2013.
  17. ^"Tom Na Chisaig - Canmore".Retrieved11 October2017.
  18. ^"A History of Callander The Trossachs, Scotland".Archived fromthe originalon 26 September 2013.Retrieved11 October2013.
  19. ^"Callander Castle".CANMORE.Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.Retrieved26 April2018.
  20. ^Campbell, Alexander (1804).The Grampians desolate: a poem.Edinburgh, J. Moir. pp. 210–211.Retrieved25 November2017.
  21. ^Wordsworth, Dorothy (1997).Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland.Yale University Press.ISBN0300071558.
  22. ^Newton, Michael.(2010).Bho Chluaidh Gu Calasraid - from the Clyde to Callander: Gaelic Songs, Poetry, Tales and Traditions of the Lennox and Menteith in Gaelic with English Translations,p. 285. The Grimsay PressISBN1845300688.
  23. ^abThomas, John (1990).The Callander & Oban railway.The history of the railways of the Scottish Highlands. Vol. 4 (2 ed.). David St John Thomas.ISBN9780946537464.
  24. ^"National Cycle Network".Archived fromthe originalon 28 September 2007.Retrieved26 June2007.
  25. ^"Rob Roy Way Home".Rob Roy Way Official Site.
  26. ^"Scottish clan gets first chief in more than 330 years".The Scotsman.Edinburgh. 14 September 2018.Retrieved29 July2021.
  27. ^"Britain's 'last witch': Campaign to pardon Helen Duncan".BBC News.Retrieved11 October2013.
  28. ^"The List Interview: James' guitarist talks on Girl at the End of the World, living in Scotland and not being forgotten".
  29. ^"BBC Alba to re-run Dr Finlay's Casebook to mark 50th anniversary".BBC News.14 August 2012.Retrieved11 October2013.
  30. ^"Stirling Council Fisheries".facebook.
  31. ^ab"Callander Summerfest".facebook.
  32. ^"Callander Highland Games".facebook.
  33. ^Trossachs Beer festival Website}
  34. ^"Callander Jazz & Blues Festival".callanderjazzandblues.
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