Define 'Deserving Poor' . . .

Added on 29 August 2019

Dalpowie Lodge began life as The Hospital, bricks and mortar expression of the charitable nature of John Steuart (c1643 – 1720) 13th of Grandtully. [See also Dalpowie Through Time] A lifelong bachelor, ‘Old Grantully’ (as he is fondly recalled in the family history, The Red Book1...

In the Third Degree

Added on 05 June 2019

Six degrees of separation was a thing a while back. A theory to demonstrate how interconnected we now are across the planet: just six steps between you . . . and Donald Trump. It provided a hit play for John Guare, and then a middling successful film with Will Smith and Stockard Channing in the 199...

The Importance of Being Archibald

Added on 21 May 2019

Being a short account of Murthly’s part in the notorious Douglas Cause, the greatest civil trial affecting status Scotland has ever seen. Archibald was one of the recurring Christian names of the Steuarts/Stewarts of Murthly and Grandtully. Generally given to younger sons, not first-born. Whi...

Dalpowie Through Time

Added on 13 May 2019

If we were to put forward a candidate for the next series of BBC2’s excellent ‘A House Through Time’ it would be Dalpowie Lodge, which stood for over 200 years at the western edge of Murthly estate. (Pressed for an alternative we might suggest ‘Dunvorist’ in Station Ro...

The Baldarroch Murder

Added on 30 April 2019

When I started researching what happened at Baldarroch House on the evening of Friday 16th January 1925, and its aftermath, I thought I didn't know anything about it. Then I recalled a conversation from a quarter of a century ago. When first finding out about Murthly. Someone told me of a c...

The Rumsfeld Theorem

Added on 11 April 2019

The Rumsfeld Theorem was expounded by Donald Rumsfeld, then US Secretary of Defense, in 2002. It seemed to take America’s foreign policy and reduce it beyond absurd, all the way to gibberish. In essence, what he said was: There are known knowns; There are known unknowns; and, There are unknow...