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Clan MacLaren Excursion
We currently have over 550 rented houses and flats. Around 50 of these become available for rent each year. We hope to have new properties in Strathblane and Balmaha soon and currently have properties in the following communities
Visiting Glentarken
On the morning of 22 July some 39 people assembled in the Lochearnhead carpark to join the Clan MacLaren excursion around sites of interest to the clan in the district. Kingshouse Travel provided a 28 seater bus but such was the interest in the event that it was necessary for other people to follow in their own cars. Overseas visitors who joined the excursion included 6 from Australia, 10 from the USA, 2 from Belgium, 1 from Germany and 1 from France. The excursion was open to local residents and it was pleasing that a small number decided to come along. The excursion was ably guided by Charlie Hunter from Balquhidder. Our first stop was to visit Briar Cottage, a short stop down the road from the carpark. Briar Cottage, formerly known as Easter Achraw, had been home to MacLarens from the 1790s until 1991. Kim and Fraser Proven welcomed us and guided us into their house where we saw the original cruck frame ceiling in the east gable of the original cottage. The next stop was the MacLaren burial ground at Leckine (Earnknowe) that lies below Leckine House. There is a picturesque tale about why the burial ground is situated here. The story goes that a corpse, possibly of a MacLaren Chief or Chieftain, was being taken to the burial ground at Killin during the winter, but due to a storm was left at Leckine and was later buried there. Today the oldest identifiable MacLaren memorial dates from 1773. It is likely that the burial ground was in use well before this date. The Clan MacLaren Society is grateful to the Alexander and Martyn families for their assistance with maintaining this ancient site. Further around Loch Earn we visited the old clachan or farm town of Glentarken which was inhabited by McLaren tenants from the 1600s until the 1850s. Many of us walked up the hill to see the remains of their houses. Many McLaren tenant farmers lived at farms along Loch Tay and there are several McLaren monuments in the Killin churchyard marking the spot where they were buried. Gordon McLaren is descended
from one of the Loch Tay families and we were fortunate to have him on the excursion and he provided us with more information about these families. Some people viewed McLaren Hall, the village hall, which was built from funds bequeathed to the village by Archibald McLaren who was a Loch Tay farmer. We all enjoyed a most welcome soup and sandwich lunch at the Killin Hotel. Then it was back in the buses (and cars) for the return trip to Balquhidder. The Braes of Balquhidder were farmed by the MacLarens since medieval times. The Clan MacLaren Society now owns and looks after the “old kirk” in the burial ground. This church was built in 1631. Near the Old Kirk is a burial stone that was erected by Daniel MacLaurin in 1868 and on its inscription gives a version of the history of the clan. The more able members of the Group took the short walk up the hill to Creag an Tuirc. This was the traditional rallying point of the clan in former times and it is now where the Clan MacLaren meets following the Lochearnhead Highland Games. From Creag an Tuirc we had a magnificent view of Loch Voil and we saw the field, near Kirkton, where Rob Roy was defeated in a duel in 1734 after a dispute with the MacLarens. For the final stop we drove up the valley along Lochs Voil and Doine to Monachyle Mhor where some of the participants took
Aberfoyle Deanston Gartmore Lochearnhead Balfron Doune Killin Strathyre Buchlyvie Drymen Kinlochard Stronachlachar Callander Gargunnock Kippen Tyndrum
We may be able to build in other communities in the future – please let us know to if you want to live in a village that is not listed above. Information on local housing need and demand helps us plan for the future. If you are interested one of our properties become available please
in renting when they contact us:
Rural Stirling Housing Association Stirling Road, Doune FK16 6AA Telephone: 01786 841101 Email: enquiries@rsha.org.uk www.rsha.org.uk
Registered as a Scottish Charity No. SC037849
afternoon tea. A small hardy group walked across boggy ground to see the ruins of Invernenty Cottage built on a knoll on the southern side of the valley alongside Invernenty Burn. This was the former home to Donald McLaren drover, farmer and Captain in the Appin Regiment at the battle of Culloden. In 1803 Donald’s son, James, accompanied by his family and other emigrants went to Prince Edward Island in Canada and settled along the Brudenell River and helped to establish a new settlement from which there were many McLaren descendants.
Participants crying “Creag an Tuirc” the war cry of the MacLarens at Creag an Tuic
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