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About Balquhidder - 'nearly' a Trossachs Village

Balquhidder village - or ''Kirktoun' is at the east end of Loch Voil in Balquhidder Glen and is actually north of The Trossachs. Balquhidder Glen runs east and west and south of the giant of GlenDochart - Ben More and its companion Stob Binian. A single track road leaves the A84 at Kings House Hotel and winds its way west for 8 miles to its end at Inverlochlarig farm - once owner by Rob Roy MacGregor. The road passes through some of the most stunning scenery in the trossachs as it winds past some of the most historic and lovely places in Scotland: Achtubh and a MacGregor mausoleum, Auchleskine, The Kirktoun, Loch Voil, Monachylemhor, Loch Doine, Invercarnaig and the tiny MacGregor burial enclosure before reaching a little car park just before Inverlochlarig farm. A track then continues to the end of the Glen under the slopes of Bienn a Chroin, only 4 miles from Loch Lomond.

The village of Balquhidder is centred on the village church, where by the ruins of an earlier church, Rob Roy is buried beside his wife Mary and two of his sons. The farm across the road from the church was once tennanted by one of Rob's sons. On the other side of the Loch is Stronvar House, once a MacGregor castle but now a private home.

There are no shops in Balquhidder village but there are a few bed and breakfast establishments plus a few self catering cottages scattered along the length of the road.

Activities

Balquhidder Glen is mostly about the great outdoors - walking, climbing, sightseeing and photography. The scenery is stunning; the two lochs famous for reflections, the giant munros of the glen add to the feeling of remoteness as they dwarf everything else into insignificance.

Some things to see or do:

• From the end of June to early August a series of classical music evenings is held at the church
• Visit Rob Roys Grave and the McLaren stone in the kirkyard
• Walk up to the McLaren gathering place at Creag an Tuirc - the hill of the boar
• Walk all the way through Kirkton Glen to Glen Dochart
• See the whole length of the glen reflected in loch Voil from the little bridge over the river Balvaig - take a camera
• Drive to Inverlochlarig and stop often to see the unbelievable reflections
• Visit the little walled MacGregor burial enclosure west of Loch Doine
• Climb Stob Binian, Ben More, Stob a Choin or Cruach Ardrain (but be prepared with suitable footwear, clothing and maps)
• Sit in a picnic place by a loch with a cup of tea and soak in the tranquility

History of Balquhidder

The origin of the name 'Balquhidder' is a matter of much controversy but the most favoured explanation is that it derives from the Gaelic 'Baile-chuidir', meaning 'the town or land of joint occupancy'.

Balquhidder Glen has been long associated with the Clan MacGregor, but before the arrival of the persecuted MacGregors it was the domain of the Clan McLaren or McLaurin (clan Labhran), probably since the 6th century. There were one or two famous conflicts between the two clans in their shared tenancy of the glen - sparked off by seemingly minor events such as 'who has the right to first enter the church' or 'who hit who with a freshly caught salmon'.

The defeat of the Jacobites in the 1745 rising started the decline of the clans in the glen. After Culloden the lands of the Jacobite supporters were appropriated by the crown and the tenants were forced to leave the lands where their ancestors had lived for centuries.

The Kirktoun has a long religious history - In early times it was described as 'a thinplace' - a place where heaven and earth were very close. The Church was built in 1631 to replace an earlier church to the east of it, where Rob Roy's grave is sited. The old church was in use until 1855, by which time dampness and fungi on its walls necessitated its replacement.

Its most famous minister was Robert Kirk, who ministered here for sixteen years. He was only twenty when he first arrived. He believed in fairies and wrote a book about them called "The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies." He moved to Abefoyle where he was supposedly kidnapped by the fairies and imprisoned in a huge pine tree. His gravestone is at the old parish church at Aberfoyle.

Exploring the Trossachs from Balquhidder

Places nearby to visit from Balquhidder include: Strathyre, Killin, Callander and Stirling