Fearnan Village Association

A year ago, when we started the project to find out more about the men who are commemorated on Fearnan’s War Memorial, the only information that we had was their names and regiments.

Slowly, Ian McGregor has been able to uncover information about these men, and recently we were delighted to receive a letter from Marilyn Ward, the granddaughter of Duncan Matheson, pictured here in his HLI uniform.

Marilyn had read about our research on the FVA website.

We now know that Duncan, whose family home was Rock Cottage, was the son of William Matheson and his first wife Christina.  He was a tram driver and enlisted in the army, together with many of his fellow workers, in the 15th Highland Light Infantry (Glasgow Tramways battalion). He is pictured here with colleagues at training camp in Ayrshire, still wearing their Glasgow Corporation Transport uniforms. Duncan is third from left in the back row:

Glasgow Tram Drivers Battalion

In November 1916, a letter from Duncan to his brother William was published in the local newspaper.  The letter is remarkably upbeat, given the circumstances and Duncan’s recent experiences – presumably to reassure the folks at home. It describes both the lead-up to a battle – waiting in the trenches “up to the arm pits in mud” – and then the attack, signalled by an exploding mine.

Duncan was wounded in the fierce battle that followed: “A piece of shell entered my left thigh, and passed clean through it without touching the bone. A regular beauty!”

Due to heavy shelling, it was several hours before he could crawl back to his own front line trench and from there make his way, along with other wounded men, back to the collecting station some two miles away, where his wounds were attended to and “the inner man fortified”.

As we now know, Corporal Duncan Matheson died the following year on the 14^th July 1917, of wounds received in further action.

Very sadly for the family, his brother Peter also died in the war in Mesopotamia (now Iraq).  In addition to being commemorated on the Fearnan War Memorial, Peter is remembered on the memorials in Basra and in Aberfeldy, where he lived with his wife and daughters.

Many thanks to Marilyn Ward for sharing her family photographs and memorabilia with us, copies of which will be put into the Fearnan Archive.

Here we are in 2014!  May it be a good year for you.

Looking back over last year, this little blog was viewed 6,000 times by people not just from Fearnan but also from all over the world.  About a third of our regular readers come from overseas, mainly Canada, the US, Europe and, interestingly, Iceland. The gallery of photographs of Fearnan proved particularly popular last year, and continues to be viewed on a regular basis.

In 2012, one of the most popular postings on the blog was the article on Fearnan the Eagle.  You may remember that we reported how Keith and Hazel Brockie helped to ring and satellite-tag a golden eagle chick, and they named him ‘Fearnan’.

We are sad to report that the golden eagle found dead in the hills above Glen Lethnot in Angus in December was, in fact, Fearnan. It was reported in the media at the time that RSPB Scotland was alerted to the eagle’s death when its satellite tracking signal remained static for several days, and tests on the bird revealed it had been poisoned.

The RSPB said that, in the past five-and-a-half years, another four eagles, a red kite and seven buzzards have been shot, poisoned or trapped on sporting estates in the Angus glens. However, as Keith has pointed out, it is only the birds that have been tagged that can be readily found and identified, so the numbers quoted could be just the tip of the iceberg.

There is a lot more information about Fearnan the eagle and his untimely death on Keith Brockie’s Facebook page, where he also reports that the Scottish Parliament is taking note of the killing, and the following parliamentary motion has been lodged by James Dornan MSP for Glasgow Cathcart:

“That the Parliament notes the poisoning of the golden eagle named Fearnan and believes that the killing of birds of prey has no place in modern Scotland; believes that the golden eagle population is of national interest, as demonstrated by a recent poll in which the species was voted the country’s favourite animal; supports efforts by Police Scotland to bring wildlife criminals to justice, and commends the Scottish Government’s commitment to end raptor persecution.”

Fearnan flying in Glen Lyon Dec 2011.

Keith had seen Fearnan as recently as June 2013, when he was on the Dunmaglass Estate near Inverness, and Fearnan flew past only 50 meters away.

There is a copy of an interview that Keith did with the Daily Record, “Perthshire artist hits out at eagle’s poisoning” here.

Male Siskin

Anyone who feeds birds in their garden will notice Siskins visiting their feeders, especially in the early spring.  You might be surprised to learn how far some of these little birds have travelled.

Bird movements are tracked by ringing – placing a lightweight, uniquely numbered, metal ring around a bird’s leg, which provides a reliable and harmless method of identifying birds as individuals.

Ringing aims to understand what is happening to birds in the places they live and how this affects population increases and decreases.  This knowledge is vital for conservation. It also gives information on the movements individual birds make and for how long many live.

Keith and Hazel Brockie are trained ringers, and have provided this interesting insight into some of the information that can be gleaned from their work.

“Hazel and I ringed many Siskins in our garden during April 2013, and eight of them were controls – that is to say, birds which had been ringed already, somewhere else in the UK.

 Two of these control birds had travelled over 400 miles in a relatively short space of time, with one having been ringed in Sway, New Forest, Hampshire, on the 9^th March 2013, and the other in the Honiton Station Area, Devon, on the 26^th January 2013.  A third Siskin had come almost as far – from Alderton, Suffolk where it was ringed on the 24^th February 2013.

Three others had travelled between 200 and 300 miles, previously being ringed in Clairegate, West Midlands (284 miles), Great Warford, Cheshire(236 miles) and Marple, Greater Manchester (233 miles) just a few weeks before. Two relative locals had come from Peebles and Gauldry in Fife – the latter having flown 65 miles in 3 days!

Male Redpoll

Also, on the 18^th April 2013, we caught a male Lesser Redpoll (pictured) that had been ringed in Brandon, Suffolk on the 9^th March 2013, some 342 miles away

Waxwing

The winter of 2012/13 saw an invasion of Waxwings from Scandinavia and Russia. 

I caught twelve that were feeding on rowan berries on the tree by the village hall entrance. Since ringing them, three have been caught again – curiously all three were not just from the same batch which we ringed on the 17^th November 2012, but were also on consecutive ring numbers from that batch.”  Keith Brockie

And finally, as the countdown to Christmas continues apace, the FVA Committee would like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas, and good health and happiness in 2014.

Last Saturday afternoon’s Mulled Wine and Mince Pies was a very convivial event, with some 35 villagers gathering in the village hall for some pre-Christmas cheer and chat.

There was also an chance to meet some new Fearnan residents  – Linda and Alistair in Taronga, Lesley and John in Brambles (formerly Am Fasgadh) and Rosalind and Nick in Tigh Na Clachan.

Welcome to you all – we wish you every happiness living in Fearnan and hope to see you at future events.

Many thanks to all those who helped organise the afternoon. The event raised £137.05 for Aberfeldy Community Hospital. (For the record, the 5p was found on the floor and added to the takings!) This sum will be added to funds raised by the Hall Committee which means that a very useful sum will be presented to the hospital.

Remembrance Day

November saw the annual Remembrance Service at the Fearnan Memorial. There was a good turnout this year, and two wreaths were laid.

Our picture is of Frank Hughes laying a wreath on behalf of Councillor Mike Williamson, as Mike was unable to attend all of the services that take place on his patch.

Flying Boats

Last week’s storm was unusually severe, but fortunately Fearnan escaped relatively unscathed.  Whilst the Douthwaites lost a tree, they gained a boat – found wedged between the rhododendrons and the fence by the wind!

Pudding Night!

The next FVA event to put into your diary is the world-famous Fearnan Pudding Night on the 15th February. Don’t miss it! More puds in one place than you’ll ever see anywhere else, ever!

Just a little reminder that everyone is welcome to join us for Mulled Wine, Mince Pies and a lot of Christmas spirit in the Village Hall from 3pm this Saturday.

The cost is £4.00 and it’s a joint event run by Fearnan Village Association and the Village Hall Committee. Proceeds will be donated to Aberfeldy Community Hospital.

We hope to see you there!

A Service of Remembrance will take place this Sunday, 10th November, at the Fearnan War Memorial. The short service of prayer, the two minute silence, and laying of the wreath starts at 11.00. Everyone is welcome and please gather at about 10.50 am.

As we’ve noted before, for a small village, Fearnan lost a disproportionately high number of men during the First World War.  Over the last year, Ian McGregor has been researching the names of the Fearnan men who died in the Great War and in particular has been trying to find photographs of them. With the help of Mike Haig of the Scottish War Memorial Project, Kenmore, he now has obtained pictures of 6 of the 8 men who are named on the memorial.

They are:

Left:Peter Mathieson (Black Watch);

Right:Duncan Mathieson (Highland Light Infantry), son of William and Christina Mathieson of Rock Cottage.

Left:Duncan Fraser (Scots Guards) and right: Malcolm Fraser (Scots Greys) sons of James and Jessie Fraser of Rosebank.

Below Left: Hugh Cowan (R.S. Fusiliers);    Below Right: John Laughlan Fraser (R.F. Artillery), son of Donald and Kate Fraser.

Ian is still looking for information and photographs of James Dewar of the Scots Guards and Duncan McPhail, also of the Scots Guards. We hope to have photographs and information on all 8 men in time for the 100 year anniversary of the Great War next year. If you think you can help, he would be delighted to hear from you at ison06@btinternet.com

Another month and another successful coffee morning! Some 30 people came to the village hall last Tuesday morning to enjoy coffee, cake and chat.  This included 4 holiday visitors to the area who called in for morning coffee on their way to play golf at Strathtay.

As ever, there was plenty of fresh home baking on offer and the made-on-the-spot pancakes are proving a great hit.

A get-well card for Andy Burt was signed by all, and the latest news is that Andy has been moved to Aberfeldy Hospital to continue his recovery.

The next get-together is the Mince Pies and Mulled Wine on Saturday 7^th December.

Towards the end of the week we received some welcome news about the Local Development Plan.  You will recall that there was considerable concern in the village when Perth & Kinross Council published the draft Local Development Plan some months ago.  It proposed 2 significant sites for housing development on the edges of the village along with the designation of the old quarry “for industrial use”.

The Community Council and the FVA campaigned against these proposals, which were felt to be inappropriate, and enlisted the support of some of our local councillors. Early on, PKC agreed to drop one of the housing sites and we were very pleased to learn on Friday that the other proposed housing site (the first field on the left as you leave Fearnan on the Fortingall Road) will also be dropped from the Plan along with the proposed change to the designation of the quarry.

Many thanks to all who helped to achieve this result – in particular Councillor Ian Campbell, the Community Council, and those of you who wrote to the Council expressing your views.

The next Coffee Morning will be on Tuesday 8th October at 10.30 am in the Village Hall.  As ever, there’ll be delicious home baking on offer, fresh filter coffee, a choice of teas and a friendly buzz about the place.

There isn’t a Coffee Morning in November, but don’t forget that the Service of Remembrance takes place on Sunday 10th November at the War Memorial. The short service of prayer, the two minute silence, and laying of the wreath starts at 11.00. Everyone is welcome and please gather at about 10.50 am.

The final event of the year will be Mince Pies and Mulled Wine on Saturday 7th December at 3.30pm in the Village Hall. A good warm-up for Christmas!

It’s a sure sign that Autumn is with us when the FVA Coffee Mornings resume after the summer break.

And a busy and lively affair it was, too, with a number of new faces and lots of regulars – all keen to catch up with everyone’s news.

It was good to welcome our latest new member, Pippa MacLeod, who came with her mother to meet some of her neighbours in the village. 

Sheila, a regular at Pudding Nights and BBQ’s, made it to her first day-time event while an (anonymous) male visitor, attending his first ever coffee-morning in all his 46 years, confessed to finding it a convivial and enjoyable event!

Freshly made warm pancakes were on offer, carefully hand-crafted by Sue, and courtesy of the new pancake-maker we acquired over the summer. Even the Hall was getting in on the act and looking good with its newly sanded and polished floor.

The next coffee morning is on Tuesday 8th October – don’t miss it!

Earlier in the year, there was a discussion at the Fearnan Village Association AGM about the possibility of getting some signs for the important registered monuments in the village, along with a centrally-placed orientation board showing visitors where to find them.

The monuments are:

• the Baptismal Font from the Celtic Church built by Ciaran around 500AD;

• the Market Cross in Boreland Wood, which appears on a map produced as far back as 1769;

• the Measles Stone, an example of a Healing Stone which were common until around the 17th century;

• the Boar Stone which features in one of the Lady of Lawers prophesies, and may have been associated with the Ring Stone on Lawers as a signpost for journeys east and west.

At the moment, only the Baptismal Font has a sign explaining its significance.

Our plan for signs received a boost recently, when the Community Council were advised of the availability of grants for signs and pathways from the Countryside Trust.  There has since been a meeting between the Community Council, the FVA and the person responsible for preparing the requests for grants, and we have agreed to provide information to support an application for a grant towards the cost of signs for Fearnan’s monuments. Nothing is certain and it may take some time, but we have our fingers crossed!

Coffee Mornings resume after the summer on Tuesday 10th September, and the one after that is Tuesday 8th October.

And finally, we have been asked by the Community Council to pass on a reminder to be vigilant about security on any outhouses, sheds or garages. There have been a number of thefts of equipment in recent days.