Muckhart () commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Pool of Muckhart () and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated on the A91 around northeast of Dollar. The Gaelic name, Muc-àird, comes from muc ("pig") + àird ("height"), and may derive from the fact that the surrounding fields may once have been used for pig farming.
Previously Muckhart, together with Glendevon, formed the southernmost tip of Perthshire. It was transferred to Clackmannanshire in a reorganisation of boundaries in 1971.
The parish boundary is somewhat eccentric and extends to the outer edge of Dollar, some west. Due to this fact, the primary school is somewhat oddly located (the 1876 Act required the school to be at the centre of the parish) and lies over west of the outer edge of the main village. It is also some considerable distance from the main road. This can be explained in that it lies on the old coach road to Dollar. This is now just a dirt track to the school (locally known as the Cinder Path). West of the school the old coach route is very hard to follow.
The famed, historic Rumbling Bridge across Rumbling Bridge Gorge of the River Devon in Kinrosshire is about south of the Muckhart Golf Course on the A823.
Pool of Muckhart
Pool of Muckhart () lies slightly east of the centre of the parish of Muckhart (see above). Pool of Muckhart lies in the strath of the River Devon, near the entrance to Glen Devon.
The village lies at the eastern end of the "Hillfoot towns" which skirt the southern edge of the Ochil Hills. The last in the range, standing as a backdrop to the village to its north side is "Seamab".
Of note in the village is the Muckhart Inn, an early 18th-century coaching inn, lying at the point where the old coach road and modern road unite. Whilst the building was always low, this effect has been emphasised due to the raising of the road level (normal when ancient routes were macadamed in the early 19th century).
The main mansion in the parish is Ballilisk, which lies north of the A91 between the Pool and the Yetts. In pre-Reformation times it served as a rectory to the adjacent chapel. It was birthplace and home of Bishop Paton in the 16th century. It was replaced by a new manse (to its west) around 1750 and then went into secular use. Rebuilt around 1800 it was home to the Izatt family for almost two centuries.
The war memorial, on the western edge of the village by the main road, is by local sculptor George Henry Paulin, son of Muckhart's then minister, Rev George Paulin.
A church in Muckhart is mentioned as early as 1470, when its "rector" is listed as John Andrew under the Diocese of St Andrews Cathedral. The final pre-Reformation priest seems to have survived without replacement, John Sempill being in place from 1555 to 1565, being then replaced by James Paton of Ballilisk who later went on to be Bishop of Dunkeld. Henry (Harry) Colville took over from Paton in 1579 and was the first person termed "minister". Colville stayed less than a year before being translated to Orphir in Orkney.Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae
Rev Robert Sharp served 1677 until 1697 and is noteworthy for having had his property robbed in 1679 and for being removed from his position in 1697 for "contumacy" (disobedience). He was succeeded by Rev John Gib (father of Adam Gib). Andrew Ure served 1703 to 1717 before translating to Fossoway. In 1734 Rev Archibald Rennie of Easter Ballilisk began a very controversial tenure during which he rarely appeared. He died in 1786 and was replaced by Rev Andrew Gibson who served until 1830. Rev James Thomson served the Church of Scotland 1832 to 1843 then served the Free Church of Scotland from 1843 to 1863. From 1843 to 1864 the Free Church was located at Shelterhall, midway between Muckhart and Dollar (possibly in a timber building) before moving to a permanent structure in Dollar.Ewing Annals of the Free Church; Muckhart Congregation
The post Disruption church was served by Rev Alexander Moorhead 1843 to 1869 and was replaced by Rev George Paulin. He was replaced by Rev John Edgar Cairns of County Mayo in 1907.
The ruins of the pro-Reformation church lie to the north-east of the current church. The Post-Reformation church was run by the Presbytery of Auchterarder until 1856.
The current parish church dates from the 18th century but is a plain Scots box chapel in style. In the churchyard is the family monument to the Christies of Cowden (a large estate west, see below).The Ochil Landscape Partnership Landscape Strategy . April 2008.
The Japanese garden at Cowden, part of the Cowden Castle estate, was designed in 1908 by Japanese horticulturalist Taki Handa at the instigation of Ella Christie. The garden was abandoned in the early 1960s but reopened after renovation in 2019. Its Japanese gardener from 1923–1937, Shinzaburo Matsuo, is buried in Muckhart Churchyard.
Muckhart Golf Club
Muckhart Golf Club lies on the School Road (Drumbum Road) south of the village. Set on a series of low rocky hills it includes several challenging holes. There are three nine-hole courses, named Arndean, Cowden, and Naemoor. The nine-hole Cowden course was opened by Miss Ella Christie, who provided of land, on 28 May 1908. The course fell into disrepair during World War II, when it was used for the grazing of sheep. The course was restored after the war. A second nine-hole course, the Ardean course was added in the late 1960s on land leased from Colonel (later Sir) Robert Christie Stewart, then Lord-Lieutenant of the county. A third nine-hole course named Naemoor was opened on 25 July 1998.
Yetts o' Muckhart
This hamlet lies around further east of Pool of Muckhart. A tollhouse was established here in the early 19th century on a road used by cattle drovers and coaches. Yett is a Scots word for "gate", also used in reference to hill passes.
For various reasons, the name of this hamlet causes some amusement. Its name comes up in several comedy programmes, supposedly used for "comic effect", notably Channel 4's production Absolutely.
Lees of Muckhart
Not always recognised as the third and final part of the village group, this area is now in single use as a farm. It lies just west of Muckhart Primary School on the old coach road to Dollar (the southern section of this road is barely discernible).
Baldiesburn
Somewhat depleted in size, this small hamlet on the main road west of the Pool of Muckhart now has only two houses. It has lost several buildings but was previously a small industrial centre. Of interest, the sheds still attaching the eastern building were built as a blacksmith's c. 1700. The building to the west was a carpenter's, but most of its sheds are now gone. The buildings on the south side of the road were removed when the main road was straightened c.1970. Also obliterated by this roadworks, the village curling pond stood some further west.
Cowden estate
Early history
The Cowden estate lies just to the south of the higher ground known as the Ochil Hills, on the main road (A91) just over west of the Pool of Muckhart. The estate formerly focussed around Cowden Castle, a traditional Scottish stone-built castle of various dates, originating around 1500. This was demolished in 1950. Some of the early outbuildings, such as the sawmill range and bell-tower from the 17th century, still survive.
Archbishop Lambert built a house named "Castleton" on the property in 1320.Cowden Castle. In: Scotland's Places. The Bruces of Clackmannanshire owned the estate from 1758.
John Christie era
John Christie FRSE (b. 4 July 1822, d. 19 August 1902) was the only son of Alexander Christie (born 1789, died 1859) and Isabella Robertson (b. about 1792) of Struan and the nephew of Mrs Isabella Christie (Hill). Alexander Christie was laird of Milnwood in Lanarkshire, where he operated three coal mines, . and possessed of a considerable fortune from industry, which descended to John Christie. In addition, John Christie had two collieries in Edinburghshire.
John Christie purchased Cowden (then known as Castleton), which contained about ,Fletcher, Angus. Inland Revenue. Edinburgh: HMSO. Scotland: owners of lands and heritages 17 & 18 Vict. Cap. 91, 1872-1873, 1874: p. 124. in 1865. Mrs. Bruce sold the Cowden estate, a property of about , which contained a large three-storey, rambling, sandstone house, to Mr. John Christie in 1866 who renamed the property "Cowden Castle". Traditionally the estate focused upon woodland management and the raising of deer and pheasants. Cowden Castle became the seat of the Christie family. Mr. Christie later had a coat-of-arms created and placed over the entrance door. John Christie was reported to own in 1873.Scotland: Owners of Land and Heritages 1872–1873. Edinburgh: Murray and Gibb, Printers to Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1874: p. 112.
Mr. Christie collected a wide variety of artefacts during his many trips to the European continent. He filled Cowden Castle with many unrelated objects, which resulted in a very eclectic style.Stewart, Averill. Alicella. London: John Murray, 1955.
John married Alison Philp (b. about 1817), daughter of Alison Coldwells and William Philp, of Stobsmills, Midlothian (the home of her uncle John Coldwells) on 27 April 1859. John and Alison Philp Christie had three children. The first, a boy, John Coldwells Christie, (born 1860) died before he was twelve. Isabella (Ella) Robertson Christie was born 21 April 1861 at Millbank, Cockpen, Edinburgh (John Christie's home near Edinburgh).Christie, Ella R. Khiva to Samarkind. Coventry: Trotamundas Press, 2009 . The third-born child was Alice Margaret Christie (b. about 1863). The girls' mother, Alison Philp Christie, was in poor health and Isabella Thornburn, an elderly woman, was their nurse. Later Miss Townsend served as the governess of the two teenage girls. John Christie believed that travel was the best education for girls so he took the girls on many trips to Europe. Ella was taken to Paris at the age of twelve.
Alice Christie married Robert King Stewart, KBE, of Murdostoun in 1881, when she was seventeen and left to live at Murdostoun Castle in Lanarkshire. After Alice married, only Ella accompanied her father on trips.
Mr Christie had an attack of pernicious anæmia about 1887. Although he recovered his health, his illness caused him to become difficult, secretive, and eccentric for the remainder of his life.The Will of John Christie of Cowden. The Scotsman, Edinburgh, Tuesday, 21 July 1903, p. 8.
In 1893 the castle was extended by the prodigious Glasgow architects Honeyman and Keppie, probably at the request of Ella, given her father's health.
Mr Christie founded Christie Homes (later Lothian Homes Trust) in 1889, a charity which opened several orphanages for girls in and around East Lothian. A Christie Home was opened at Portobello in 1892. Tenterfield, in Haddington, was opened in 1898.Florabank Road, Templedean House and West Templedean Including Boundary Walls and Gatepiers, Haddington, British Listed Buildings. Mr Christie caused an orphanage to be created at Catlaw Head. He concealed his support of orphanages from his family.
Mrs Christie, who was a bit older than her husband, died in 1894 at the age of about 76. Mr Christie refused to purchase a casket for his wife's burial, so Ella had to use her funds to purchase a casket for her mother.
As Mr Christie's illness progressed he became increasing secretive and paranoid. In 1895, medical doctors advised Mr. Christie to take a trip to Egypt for health reasons. His daughter, Ella, as caretaker to her father, accompanied him on his trip. While in Egypt he suddenly decided to return home and abandoned his daughter in Egypt. When in his late seventies, Mr. Christie dyed his moustache and proposed marriage to a woman fifty years younger.