Crieff
and Strathearn's Drovers' Tryst walking festival
Running from 6th to the 13th October 2007
The festival will include a variety of walks and associated
activities, from climbing Ben Vorlich, to walking from Loch
Tay to the Sma' Glen, with many activities open to all the
family. The events programme includes 'Plaids and Bandanas,
a performance by Ceilidh Menage offering an exploration of
highland drovers and wild west cowboys through song, stories
and slides, as well as a traditional Drovers' Ceilidh.
Many
of the walks celebrate the Cattle Drovers, the people who
made Crieff the cross-roads of Scotland at the turn of the
18th Century. From climbing the local Munros to a creepy crawly
walk for children, the Drovers’ Tryst Walking Festival
has something for everyone. Whether you enjoy a brisk hike
up a hill or a ramble in the valley, the Perthshire based
Tryst offers you a week of autumnal beauty.
Visit the sights and sounds of Strathearn including live
street theatre, live music, ceilidh, pipe bands and the farmer's
market. Take part in abseiling, weaving, spinning and glassblowing
or savor Strathearn's colourful whisky history.
The History of the Drovers' Tryst
"Michaelmas
Market though shorn of its former glory is still considered
the principal one in Crieff. At one time the crowd attending
it extended from what is now the Crown Hotel to Comrie Street
and from James Square down to the Market Park. To a great
extent it held its former reputation as a cattle market, the
cattle being gathered together in the Market Park. All sorts
of goods were for sale including boots, shoes, cloth, tin
ware, pails and tubs while apple and pear carts and sweetie
stands abounded. In addition, at this, as well as at other
markets, there were shows of different kinds, exhibiting giants
or dwarfs or other freaks which were usually well patronized
as were also merry go rounds, jugglers and cheap jacks."
Porteous written in 1912.
Crieff was chosen as the venue for the yearly fair for mainly
geographic reason. The Sma' Glen was the traditional route
from the north, which cattle from the north east (Aberdeenshire)
came down Strath Tay or from Blairgowrie and Alyth converging
at Dunkeld and heading west up Strath Bran to Amulree and
then down to Crieff. The large numbers from Argyll and the
islands made their way by Rannoch Moor, Glen Dochart and Lochs
Tay and Earn to Crieff. This coupled with easy access for
the buyers from the south promoted the town.
'Mackey's
Journey though Scotland' published in 1723 recalls his visit
to the Tryst. There were then 30,000 beasts being sold for
30,000 guineas. The highland drovers often continued southwards
offering their services to the dealers for one shilling a
day for the southern trip and returning at their own expense.
The Market was held in the second week of October. It was
under the control and patronage of the Earl of Perth who held
a Court for the purpose of regulating disputes and keeping
order. According to the schoolmaster for Monzie in the Statistical
Account of 1793 the good citizens of that Parish "went
in fear of their lives from the Highland drovers who broke
into their houses, forcibly billeting themselves and often
carried off part of the house hold goods and removed the potatoes
from their fields". The Account for Crieff, written some
20 years after the demise of the Tryst, adopts a somewhat
different approach: "The old people here sometimes speak
with deep regret of the glorious scene displayed to view when
30,000 black cattle in different droves overspread the whole
adjacent country for several miles around the town."
Much
of the trade was done by means of bills and by the second
quarter of the 18th century Crieff came to be regarded as
one of the main financial centers of Scotland. In 1770 the
Tryst was transferred to Falkirk by the Commissioners of the
Forfeited Estates.
With thanks to Colin Mayall and 'The Story of Strathearn'
Crieff
and Strathearn's Drovers' Tryst walking festival 
Many
of the walks celebrate the Cattle Drovers, the people who
made Crieff the cross-roads of Scotland at the turn of the
18th Century. From climbing the local Munros to a creepy crawly
walk for children, the Drovers’ Tryst Walking Festival
has something for everyone. Whether you enjoy a brisk hike
up a hill or a ramble in the valley, the Perthshire based
Tryst offers you a week of autumnal beauty. 
"Michaelmas
Market though shorn of its former glory is still considered
the principal one in Crieff. At one time the crowd attending
it extended from what is now the Crown Hotel to Comrie Street
and from James Square down to the Market Park. To a great
extent it held its former reputation as a cattle market, the
cattle being gathered together in the Market Park. All sorts
of goods were for sale including boots, shoes, cloth, tin
ware, pails and tubs while apple and pear carts and sweetie
stands abounded. In addition, at this, as well as at other
markets, there were shows of different kinds, exhibiting giants
or dwarfs or other freaks which were usually well patronized
as were also merry go rounds, jugglers and cheap jacks."
'Mackey's
Journey though Scotland' published in 1723 recalls his visit
to the Tryst. There were then 30,000 beasts being sold for
30,000 guineas. The highland drovers often continued southwards
offering their services to the dealers for one shilling a
day for the southern trip and returning at their own expense.
Much
of the trade was done by means of bills and by the second
quarter of the 18th century Crieff came to be regarded as
one of the main financial centers of Scotland. In 1770 the
Tryst was transferred to Falkirk by the Commissioners of the
Forfeited Estates.