Join us for a convivial pre-Christmas drink at the Village Association’s Mulled Wine and Mince Pies event in Fearnan Hall on Saturday 16th December at 4pm.

It costs £6.00pp at the door and after expenses have been deducted from the takings, a donation will be made to the Hall Committee for the upkeep of the Hall.

Tigh an Loan Hotel, Fearnan – Visitors’ Book 1902 – 1929

It is always a delight to find something that gives us a snapshot of life in Fearnan in previous times, and the opportunity to browse through the Visitors’ Book from the Tigh-an-Loan Hotel in the early part of the 20th century was a real treat.

Although, on the surface, the book is just a list of names, those names and their home addresses link Fearnan to the social and political history of the time, and even to the British Empire and to a landmark legal ruling!

The Visitors’ Book belongs to Shenac Kelloe who, along with her late husband David, was the last owner-manager of the hotel. Shenac’s grandfather, John Stewart, was one of the first.

John Stewart took over the tenancy in 1902 and in 1922, when the Breadalbane Estate came on the market, John was able to purchase the hotel outright.

At that time, Tigh-an-Loan had 5 letting bedrooms all with wash-hand basins – no ensuites in those days – and full board included Breakfast, Coffee at 11am, Luncheon at 1pm, Afternoon Tea at 4pm and Dinner at 7pm.

The Visitors’ Book starts on the 29^th May 1902 recording the visit of Mr McDonald from Glasgow. 

All entries are made in fountain pen or occasionally in pencil, and in an age where people were less inclined to overshare than today, there is rarely a full address and comments are minimal.

However, one of the most striking things about the Visitors Book is that the hotel was welcoming people from all over the world.  As you would expect, there are people holidaying from various parts of Scotland and England, and there are quite a few from Europe and even from America. 

But what is really surprising are the number of visitors from countries like India, Egypt, South Africa, British Somaliland, Zululand, Singapore, Siam, Rangoon, New Zealand, and Canada. The clue is the names of the countries and in the names of the visitors from these countries – all good Scottish names. These are not the sort of international holiday makers who come in the 21st century – they are Expats, home on leave. Opinion may have changed in the intervening years about the British Empire and its impact on the countries that were part of it, but in the early 20^th century, it provided opportunities for many Scots who left their homeland to make their careers abroad.

Returning to Scotland briefly once every few years and after journeys lasting weeks at a time, a few days at Fearnan’s Tigh an Loan Hotel must have been a welcome re-connection with their Scottish roots.  And they seem to have come in considerable numbers, often for family reunions, meeting up with people with the same surname but with Scottish home addresses.

Few people would have had their own motorised transport and getting to Fearnan involved a train journey to Killin and then the steamer from Killin to Fearnan Pier, or a train journey to Aberfeldy where the hotel bus would collect its guests and bring them to Fearnan. And here’s the hotel bus ……..

The hotel bus was a 15-seater Albion, registration ES 5150, which doubled as the village hearse when the need arose. It was first registered in 1922 and although we don’t know how long it remained in Fearnan, we do know what happened to it after it retired from service at the Tigh an Loan. It became a TV and film star, appearing in episodes of the BBC’s first series of Dr Finlay’s Casebook in the fictional town of Tannoch Brae, and in two films – ‘Regeneration’ and ‘The Happy Lands’! It is now known as The Pride of Tannoch Brae and is held in the collection of the Biggar Albion Foundation.

One of the attractions of the Tigh an Loan Hotel was access to outdoor pursuits such as shooting, deer stalking and fishing.  The hotel had its own ghillie and boats for salmon fishing, and the Visitors’ Book records a number of regulars who came in small groups to enjoy these sports. On March 29^th 1920, JRC Leighton from Paisley was sufficiently pleased with his catch to record it in the Visitors’ Book – 4 fish which weighed in at 18lbs, 16lbs, 23lbs and 13lbs – 3 of which he caught in one day.

One of the regulars was Mr Colin McAndrew from Edinburgh who came several times a year – sometimes in the company of his wife and at other times with a group of friends to fish. Mr McAndrew owned a car showroom on Lothian Road in Edinburgh and clearly enjoyed his visits to Fearnan as he went on to purchase and renovate Tigh na Choille. This purchase, along with some smaller crofts that were included in his purchase, came with rights for the common grazing land on the Cow Park. His subsequent attempt to fence off the area that he deemed to be his ‘share’ of the Cow Park was vigorously contested by the other graziers in the village and led to a court case, McAndrew v Crerar 1929 – which was ultimately decided in the House of Lords and remains important in legal circles as it was an important ruling regarding grazing rights under Scots Law.

Whilst some visitors had travelled thousands of miles across the world to reach the hotel, it was surprising to see that there was a regular pattern of people from very close by – such as Fortingall and Camserney – apparently spending nights at the hotel. Very strange – until you remember that until 1976 pubs were closed on Sundays. Hotels could only serve alcohol to residents, and the hotel had to be at least 3 miles from the drinker’s home.  This led to small groups of thirsty locals from Fearnan, Fortingall and Camserney passing each other on their way to convenient hotels that were the requisite distance from home (known as the Sunday Tour).  On arrival, they would take the precaution of signing the visitor’s book as residents, just in case the local constabulary happened by that evening.

Tourism markets were very different from today.  On the plus side, visitors would come and stay for 7 to 10 days at a time, but the downside was the very seasonal nature of tourism, with business often being very sparce outside the main summer season.  No short-breaks market or long weekend visits to help spread tourist bed nights through the year. Not surprisingly, business was not good during WW1, with far fewer visitors checking in.

The Visitors Book ends in 1929, although there were still plenty of unused pages. Perhaps after 27 years of service it was starting to get a little worn and was deemed ready for replacement. And in the days of pen and ink, accidents were likely to happen …..

Perhaps the last word should go to John Baxter from Blackpool, who had clearly enjoyed his stay and wrote on July 16^th 1926 “Lord let me linger here, for this is Bliss.”

(For the literary-minded this is an ‘adaptation’ of the line “Lord, let me linger, just for this, To win to utterness of bliss; from the poem Lord Let Me Live, by Robert William Service.)

The Christmas Lights are on the Tree!

Many thanks to John and Neil for putting the lights on the tree and to Keith for giving them a good start by tidying up and shaping the tree.

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