Arrochar Parish Church
History
The Parish of Arrochar
By the Rev. Ian D. Reid
Situation. - The parish lies on the neck of land in the northern most part of the county of Dumbarton between Loch Long and the freshwater Loch Lomond. From a starting point at the middle of Loch Long opposite the entrance to Glen Douglas, the parish boundary goes straight through the middle of that glen to meet the county boundary in Loch Lomond; it continues northwards following that boundary and taking in two farms on the east side of Loch Lomond to the road bridge over the River Falloch, where it turns west along the county boundary until it meets the Loin Water. At that point the ecclesiastical (unlike the civil) parish invades the county of Argyll and takes in the part of the parish of Lochgoilhead and Kilmorich contained in a straight line to the point "Rest-and-be-Thankful" on the lnveraray road, then south-east in a straight line to Loch Long at Coilessan Farm, whence it continues south down Loch Long to the point opposite Glen Douglas. The part of Argyll county was added to the parish of Arrochar by the General Assembly of 1953 to form part of the ecclesiastical parish, but for purposes of civil law it is still part of the parish of Lochgoilhead and Kilmorich. The original parish was set up in 1658, by separation from the parish of Luss.
The present ecclesiastical parish of Arrochar contains about 30,000 acres and the civil parish 25,872. (This figure is given in the 1951 census report; the county council estimate is lower.) There is much high ground. The highest peaks are Ben Vorlich, 3,092 feet, and Ben Vane, 3,004 feet, and there are many others over 2,000 feet. Only a small portion of the parish can be reckoned as arable, while there is a large extent of hill grazing and high rocky wasteland. The rivers flowing into Loch Lomond are the Douglas Water, the Inveruglas Water and the River Falloch, besides many mountain streams. Into Loch Long there fall the Loin Water, the Croe Water and numerous streams. There are several small mountain lochs, of which the largest is Loch Sloy, now increased in area for the purpose of the hydro-electric scheme. A low-lying one is Geal Loch, near the River Falloch where it enters Loch Lornond.
History. - This is the land of the Macfarlane clan and is steeped in legend. tradition and history. According to the Old Statistical Account "the people of this parish are mostly Macfarlane, and until lately they have always had a strong attachment to the laird as chief," but today there is only one family in Stronafyne farm, apart from one lady in Loch Long Hotel (they are cousins) who boast the name of the ancient clan. The Macfarlane clan is in the unhappy position of being without a chief and landless; for the barony of Arrochar was sold in 1784 to pay the debts of the twenty-first chief, and the last chief the twenty-fifth died in 1866. All through the ages the inhabitants of this part of Scotland seem to have had a reputation for lawlessness and wild turbulence, but, when it is remembered that until modem times the parish was the only door to the western and north-western Highlands from the Lowlands, and that the superior, the Earl of Lennox, authorised his kinsman Macfarlane of Arrochar to levy blackmail on all traffic north and south, one does not wonder at the evil name that the men of the district acquired. To-day a very different tale can be told, for the people of the parish are of a decent, hard working and honest type, while the land, which until 1954 had been part of the estates of the Colquhouns of Luss for the previous 133 years, has been sold to an English firm of land speculators to meet the duties imposed on the death of the late laird, Sir lain Colquhoun. This firm is now re-selling the various portions to tenants and others.
Population. - The population of the parish, as the following figures show, has increased in the main since the first census in 1801:
1801 470 1891 1,457
1841 580 1901 605
1851 562 1911 537
1861 629 1921 896
1871 525 1931 670
1881 517 1951 1,367
The writer reckons that the present population in the additional area of the ecclesiastical parish numbers about 850. The very sharp rise in 1891 was due to the influx of workers employed on the building of the West Highland Railway, and the increase in 1951 arose from the employment of some 600 men on the construction of the Loch Sloy dam and power house. Of the settled population some 25 per cent are native to the parish and a further 6 per cent are from other parts of the county. The rest of the inhabitants might be termed "incomers" who have come from other parts of Scotland, a few from south of the border, and also one or two Irish families.
Public Services. - Water for the domestic use in the Arrochar and Tarbet districts is now obtained from a reservoir which is situated on the slopes of Ben Riach and which was enlarged for this purpose some four years ago. Before this most of the houses had their own private tank supplies, as is still the case in the houses outwith the special district. The parish was fortunate in being chosen for development by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board, since practically all the houses are lit by electricity, as are the main roads within Arrochar village and Tarbet. There is also a system of sewage disposal for the same special district. The disposal of domestic refuse is carried out under contract by a Garelochhead firm, which removes rubbish to a site to the east of Arrochar golf course.
A resident medical practitioner in Tighness (Arrochar) and a district nurse serve the whole of the parish area.
Education. - Arrochar primary school is situated on the banks of Loch Lomond, 300 yards from Tarbet Hotel on the Oban Road. In the past it was a one-teacher school, and there was also a school at Tighness in Arrochar. The Education Act in 1918, however, raised the Arrochar (Tarbet) school to junior secondary status, and the school at Tighness continued as an infant school. Then in 1946 Arrochar (Tarbet) was again reduced to a primary school, and the Tighness one was closed. There was a primary school at Ardlui till 1942, when it too was closed. At Arrochar (Tarbet) there are now four teachers including the headmaster (who lives in the schoolhouse), and the school roll is 102. The pupils are conveyed by motor transport from Ardlui, Glen Douglas, Firkin. Morelaggan, Succoth and Arrochar to this central primary school. A school canteen in a separate building provides lunches for the pupils. The post-qualifying pupils of the district are conveyed by motor to Hermitage School at Helensburgh. In the Argyll portion of the ecclesiastical parish there is a one-teacher primary school in Glencoe, and the roll is 18, ranging from five to twelve years. The pupils who attend this school live in the Range Cottages, Ardgartan and Coilessan; a special arrangement is made between the two county councils for the teaching of the Succoth children at Arrochar. In accordance with another inter-county agreement, all the secondary pupils living in the Argyll section of the parish are conveyed to Hermitage school in Helensburgh. Suggestions have been put forward for the establishment of a new junior secondary school to serve the whole area and this would certainly benefit the pupils, as they are at present away for home for ten hours of each school day; but the matter has been shelved.
Transport. - The parish is still the gateway to the west and north-west. The main trunk road from Glasgow to Oban runs alongside Loch Lomond to Ardlui, and the main road from Glasgow to the Cowal, Knapdale and Kintyre country passes through Tarbet and Arrochar and round the head of Loch Long. At Arrochar Hotel another main road leads south to Garelochhead, Helensburgh, the River Clyde towns and Glasgow. The amount of traffic on both the through roads is very heavy, since many road haulage vehicles use the Loch Lomond road throughout the year and the traffic is augmented during the summer months by innumerable private cars and omnibuses on both roads carrying tourists (lowlanders, English and foreign visitors). Arrochar and Tarbet are favourably placed for public transport. The railway has brought Glasgow within one and three quarter hours' journey, and there are four trains in either direction daily, with extra runs during the summer. One omnibus company runs a service from Glasgow to Tarbet (Loch Fyne), Ardrishaig and Campbelton, and this passes through Tarbet and Arrochar twice daily in each direction. Another Omnibus company has a service from Glasgow to Oban, which likewise passes through Arrochar and Tarbet twice daily in each direction, The former service approaches the village via Balloch and Loch Lomond, while the latter comes up Loch Long from Helensburgh and Garelochhead. Additional summer runs operate in each case. During the summer months, too, British Railways operate pleasure steamers on Loch Lomond and on Loch Long, which provide the very popular "three lochs" tour (Loch Lomond, Loch Long and Gare Loch); a public conveyance is available to take passengers over the two miles between Loch Long and Loch Lomond All these means of transport have helped to bring the district to the notice of strangers, and tourist traffic is particularly heavy, for this land of mountains, sea and loch makes a vivid impression on all who pay it a visit. The accessibility of Glasgow, Dumbarton, Alexandria and Helensburgh is one of the reasons why there are so few shops in the parish, as many of the housewives make frequent journeys to these larger centres for shopping.
Voluntary Services. - Arrochar parish hall, situated midway between Tarbet and Arrochar, is a wooden building with corrugated iron facings and was built in 1890, when the cost was met mainly from public subscriptions raised to a large extent by the minister of Arrochar, the Rev. James Dewar. It serves as the focus of the social activities of the parish, and during the winter months is in use every night of the week. The organisations which have their meetings and functions in the hall are the Woman's Guild, Women's Rural Institute, British Legion (including a woman's branch), Red Cross, Golf Club, Rifle Association, Badminton Club, Carpet Bowling Club, and the Highlands and Islands Film Guild. The hall has an excellent floor, and numerous dances, whist drives and social evenings draw the people from all over the parish to this centre of communal life.
A portion of Tarbet farm on the south side of the road opposite the parish hall has been made over to the local golf club and a very fair nine-hole golf course has been constructed. There are not many members, and they find it difficult to keep the course in good condition by voluntary labour. A football club was formed in 1954 and is showing a great deal of promise in games against neighbouring village teams, while a team has also been formed for the younger boys of the district; in each case, however, transport is a formidable item of expenditure.
In 1946 a youth club was formed in Arrochar, and it is aided by grants from Dunbartonshire education committee. The club has the use of the old Tighness primary school building, where it meets for handicraft, sewing, and small social activities; a flourishing badminton section meets in the parish hall; and here too, social functions are held throughout the year. The main women's organisations in the parish are the Woman's Guild, which meets every week, the Woman's Rural Institute, which meets once a month; the British Legion (Woman's Branch) also meets once a month; a section of the Woman's Voluntary Services; and a detachment of the Red Cross, with a junior section. To some extent the membership of these organisations overlaps, and it is not unusual to find one person a member of three or even four. The 1st. Arrochar and Tarbet wolf cub pack was formed in 1946 and is the only uniformed organisation for boys in the district. About 25 strong each session, the boys have done well, and have been second on two occasions and third once in the county totem pole competition.
Housing. - No "thackit" houses are left in Arrochar parish; the last two in the village were demolished about ten years ago. The majority of the houses built in the nineteenth century were of the "but-and-ben" type, and a good number of these are still in occupation. There are also a small number of houses of that type, which are more than 100 years old. Among the large houses of the district are Stuckgowan, about one and a half miles south of Tarbet, formerly residence of the owners of Tarbet estate, which now is part of the Luss estates; Ben Cruach Lodge, Tarbet, formerly a shooting lodge on the Luss estate, which has now been purchased as a private house; and Blarannich, one mile north of Tarbet, also a shooting lodge, now owned and occupied by the resident plumber. Auchendarroch and Edendarroch, in Tarbet and a little south of the village are also large houses which are privately owned. In Arrochar and on Loch Longside, Rossmay, one and a half miles south is a boarding house. Ardmay is a pig and poultry farm, the old Established church manse is another boarding house; Mansefield, Inveriach, Daildarroch and Benriach are all privately owned, Daildarroch being converted into self-contained flats; Fascadail is owned by the Admiralty and occupied by their range officer; Arrochar House, the former house of the Colquhouns in this area, the rear portion of which is the original lnveriach House built in 1697, is being run as a private hotel; Oakbank is owned by the Admiralty and occupied by the assistant range officer; Ravenswood belongs to the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board and is occupied by the manager of the Loch Sloy station; High Bellevue is a boarding house; Ardgarten, on the west side of Loch Long, is a youth hostel.
The Admiralty built for their workers houses of the two-storey cottage type on each side of Loch Long, and there are also six semi-detached Weir-type steel houses in their range grounds. After the First World War the local authority built 16 houses in the field behind the parish church. The houses are two storeys high, of the flatted type, and form three sides of a square in a continuous line. Since the Second World War the local authority has built 18 semi-detached cottage type houses in a field south of Arrochar House; four of these are in the process of completion. At the head of Loch Long, on part of the Succoth farm lands, the Forestry Commission has erected 24 brick and wood cottage type houses for their workers; these are very warm and comfortable houses and have been an added incentive to prospective workers, whose distance from the village, once they are settled, tends to make them a separate community. When the Loch Sloy generating station was planned it was decided workers there would be housed at Tarbet, and a portion of land was bought at Ballyhennan, next to the former United Free Church. There the Board has built 27 excellent stone-fronted houses to conform to the church and blend into the landscape. They are built in a crescent round an open space which is intended to develop as a shrubbery and park. The houses are all-electric and are occupied by maintenance engineers and other workers on the Loch Sloy scheme. The Board also built six houses of the brick and wood type at Inveruglas as temporary housing for the first of their engineers, but five of these have since been sold to private owners.
Farming. - There is no general farming or cropping within the parish. The 1955 agricultural statistics for the parish, as supplied by the Department of Agriculture for Scotland, are as follows:
tillage 18 acres; rotation grass, 35 acres; permanent grass, 285 acres; rough grazing, 28,458 acres. (The figures given here result in a total exceeding the acreage of the parish, as certain properties whose farm buildings are in the parish extend into adjacent parishes.) The hill country is divided between nine farms: Doune and Ardleidh, small farms (worked as one farm) on the east bank of Loch Lomond; Garabal 4,350 acres, in the northern part of the parish; Stuckindroin, 4,061 acres, north and east of Ben Vorlich; Stronafyne, 6,843 acres, from Ben Vorlich to the county boundary of Argyll and south to the Arrochar-Tarbet road; Tarbet, on the north side of Ben Riach; Invergroin, in Glen Douglas, on Beinn Bhreac; Firkin, on the Loch Lomond side of Beinn Bhreac; and Succoth, east of Ben Arthur. A few cows are kept for domestic milk supplies, and store cattle in small quantities are fed for market, but there are no dairy farms. A small amount of grain is grown on the better land of each farm, while hay is grown and cut for feeding purposes on any suitable field that is left. The rest of the acreage of each farm is given over to hill-sheep, the estimated sheep population of the parish in 1955 being 13,053. There were only 30 head of dairy cattle and 71 beefcattle. Evidence of former crofts is obvious in all parts of the parish, but only one is now worked as such, Cnoc in Tarbet. In spite of the large acreage given over to sheep-grazing the number of farm workers is small: no more than about twenty men are employed in that work in the whole parish. A system of "helping" is in vogue at the busy times, such as dipping and clipping, when neighbouring farmers unite and complete the task on one farm and then move on to the next. The farmers and shepherds lead a very busy and arduous life on land that is not very fruitful, and in weather that is more often wet and windy than dry and warm.
Industry. - Sheep farming, forestry, the hydro-electric scheme, the torpedo range and the railway all tend to employ the older men, so that there is an exodus of young men from the community as they approach manhood. No real work is available for young girls in the district, and they too go to other parts for work. A small proportion of these return to settle in later life, but the biggest number stay away and merely pay holiday visits to their relatives.
The construction of the West Highland Railway, from Glasgow to Fort William, in the last decade of the nineteenth century, was the first enterprise to bring new people to the district. Parliamentary powers were obtained by the Railway Company on 12 August 1889, and on 7 August 1894 the whole line was opened for passenger traffic. Arrochar and Tarbet station is a main centre on the line, and there are 38 employees within the parish. The stretch of line from Arrochar to Craigendoran is unique in having a "push-and-pull" train operating system between these two points. The district is well served for passenger traffic during the winter, when four trains run daily in each direction, and in the summer this is increased to six a day north and south. Fifteen houses have been built by the Railway Company and are occupied by the employees and their families.
In 1910 the Admiralty began building on the west (Argyll) side of Loch Long, a torpedo range for the trying and proving of the completed torpedoes that were then made in Greenock. The range has developed into one of the main industries of the locality; has an experimental station attached to it; and some 70 men are employed, most of whom are immigrants to this area. Fifteen houses are owned by the Admiralty near the range and seventeen others in the village of Arrochar. Very few young men are employed at this station; the average age is reckoned as 50.
The lower slopes of the hills lend themselves to the growing of trees, and in 1924 the Forestry Commission began operations on the estate of Ardgartan, on the west side of Loch Long; in 1928 they took over the estate of Coilessan from Glasgow Corporation. The area of the Ardgartan forest totals 18,126 acres within the county of Argyll, including the portion in the ecclesiastical parish of Arrochar, and about one-third of that acreage has been planted with spruce and larch trees. The old houses on the two estates are tenanted by forestry workers, and the brick and timber houses mentioned above have been built on part of the Succoth farm land to the west (Argyll) side of Loin Water for the housing of other forestry workers. A total of 80 men and women are employed in forestry, and of these 90 per cent have come from Glasgow and its neighbourhood; presumably they prefer the country life to city grime. Young married couples are in the majority in this scheme.
The most recent industry to come to the Arrochar district is the result of the large amount of rainfall in the parish. The North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board built a dam at Loch Sloy and led water for power to the generating station at lnverglas. When it is realised that the average at Sloy Dam for the years of rainfall records from 1947 to 1955 inclusive, is 129 inches per annum, it will be seen that this site was a natural choice for waterpower. The total catchment area is 32 square miles, an increase from that natural one of 6½ square miles; burns have been tapped, a tunnel has been bored through Ben Vorlich, and Loch Sloy has been changed from a small loch to a very large sheet of water by the construction of a massive dam which has raised the level of the loch by about 150 feet. When the reservoir is at its maximum surface level, one inch of rain yields 1,300,000 units of electricity. The generating station was officially opened by the Queen (now Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) on 18th. October 1950, a day of typical Loch Sloy weather, heavy and continuous rain. Further construction is still being carried out at sub-stations outside the parish and this work is now nearing completion. The station is used for peak hour feeding, and the electric power goes into the national grid system and is then distributed to receiving stations. Some 22 men are employed at the station. The Board has constructed new houses in stone at Tarbet for their employees at the station and also for those who will be employed at sub-stations and on-line maintenance.
Tourism. - There are five hotels and one private hotel in the parish. In Arrochar the Loch Long Hotel is in the Tighness district; Arrochar Hotel lies at the junction of the Helensburgh and the Tarbet roads; and Ross Hotel stands in the village towards the head of the loch. Tarbet Hotel is situated at the junction of the Oban and Arrochar roads, while Ardlui Hotel is at the head of Loch Lomond commanding the Oban road. These hotels are all licensed and give excellent service. Arrochar House private hotel is the only unlicensed hotel in the parish; has accommodation for more than 20 people; and is open throughout the year. All the hotels are fully occupied by visitors during the season, and have obtained a good name throughout the country. A minor, and extremely lucrative, business is carried on during the summer months by the housewives in most of the houses in the parish. After Easter and the Spring cleaning, a crop of boards and placards begins to shoot up in the front gardens announcing that bed and breakfast are available to passing tourists. The charge is 12s.6d a night, and until the end of September most houses are well patronised by visitors, some of whom stay for longer than they intended when they find they are receiving excellent fare.
Commerce. - The tradesmen resident in the parish include one building contractor, employing 15 men; one plumber and apprentice; one joiner; one garage owner, employing six men; one engineer employing four men and two boys. The shops in the district, like the houses, are not confined to one place, but are scattered throughout the parish. There is a provision merchant in Tighness (Arrochar) with four assistants, and also a general store with two employees. In Arrochar there are a novelty shop, two cafes, and a sweet and tinned goods merchant, the Post Office, where may be obtained newspapers, sweets and tobacco (three assistants), and a butcher's shop employing three men and a boy. In Succoth there is a small general shop. The Tarbet Store is the only shop in that part, and it also has a Post Office attached to it. Each of the hotels has a display of tartan and Scottish novelties for sale to visitors. A handloom weaver plies his craft in a converted cottage about a mile north of Tarbet.
Churches. - In 1843, with the rest of Scotland, the people of the parish were disturbed by the Disruption. The then incumbent, Peter Proudfoot, who wrote the new Statistical Account "came out"; by April 1844 the Free Church had built a new church to hold 250, adjacent to the old burying ground of Ballyhennan, and the records state that the cost was on £240 sterling. The building is in the shape of a cross with a belfry between the right transept and the nave, and the church hall is in the upper part. It was completed in four months, and is still in use as a place of worship. It continued as the Free Church until 1900, when it became part of the United Free Church of Scotland. In 1929, with the majority of the United Free Church, it joined the now re-united Church of Scotland. The minister at the time, the Rev. R.D.E. Stevenson, continued in office until 1947, when he retired to facilitate a local union with the Established Church in Arrochar. The parish church, after Proudfoot had left it at the Disruption, called Dr. John Macfarlane, a Gaelic speaker. In 1847 the old church, which had been built in 1733, was replaced by the present building, a fine and pleasing edifice with a square central tower, facing Loch Long from its situation in God's acre. Two adjoining walls of the original church are preserved in the churchyard with (fortunately) an entrance and the date 1733 over it; this is not scheduled as an ancient monument.
About six and a half miles north of Tarbet on Loch Lomondside is situated what is known as the Pulpit Rock. A deep recess, cut to form a rude pulpit, was excavated under the direction of the Rev. Peter Proudfoot about the beginning of the nineteenth century. It served as a meeting place for the upper reaches of Loch Lomond until, in 1895, a mission church was established at Ardlui, principally by the unwearying labours of the Rev. James Dewar, minister of the parish church at the time. The Free Church, naturally, had to open a similar mission church, but it was only a wooden hut and has now disappeared. The Ardlui church is still in use, and services are held there once a month, though the population in that area has decreased very much. This church is one of the loveliest of its kind in the country and compares favourably with others of like dimensions. Its plain style merges admirably with its sylvan setting.
The Church of Scotland membership in the parish was 196 at 31 December 1953. They are all adult members and are living in houses scattered throughout the whole area of the parish. It is only at communion times, in May and November, that a commendable representation is to be found at one service. The average attendance at Tighness (Arrochar) church during the winter is 45; this rises to 65 in the summer holiday months. At Ballyhennan (Tarbet) church the average throughout the year is 25. The attendance at Ardlui fluctuates more, owing to the sparseness of the population and the inclement weather, from 8 in the winter months to 25 in June and July. Two communion cups in the possession of Arrochar church were given in 1742 by a Lady Arbuthnot, the mother-in-law of the then laird of Arrochar, and these were being used in the twenties of this century. She also left two hundred merks (Scots) for the purchase of a bell, and this, after hanging on a "Bell tree" in the churchyard from 1802 to 1847, was placed in the tower of the present church, from which it is still rung to call the faithful few.
That the people of the parish are not in any way "kirk greedy" is apparent from the fact that there are over 250 houses in the parish and only an average of 90 attends at the three churches. Weather, Sunday work, Sunday newspapers and laziness are the reasons for the lapses. There are a few Episcopalians in the parish but some attend the Presbyterian churches. On Christmas Day 1952 the Glasgow Diocese of the Church of Rome opened a new chapel in Arrochar village. About twelve families in the parish owe allegiance to this faith.
1955