Kilmahog
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Kilmahog (: Cell of St. Chug) is a hamlet situated half a mile to the west of
Callander Callander (; ) is a small town in the council area of Stirling (district), Stirling in Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. De ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.


Toponym

Kilmahog is supposedly derived from the
Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...
, Cille MoChùig, meaning cell of Chug (a church dedicated to Saint Chug). Although a medieval chapel was located at Kilmahog, the identity of Chug is not authentically known. Place name scholars have proposed that this could be Saint Cuaca from Meath in Ireland. Alternative evidence suggests that this Saint is the sixth century Saint Machutus (who may have originally been named ''Mahagw'').


Geography

Kilmahog lies on the Garbh Uisge, also known as the "River Leny", at the junction of the Trossachs and
Lochearnhead Lochearnhead (Scottish Gaelic: Ceann Loch Èireann) is a village in Perthshire on the A84 road, A84 Stirling to Crianlarich road at the foot of Glen Ogle, north of the Highland Boundary Fault. It is situated at the western end of Loch Earn where ...
roads. The village today consists of a few houses and two woollen mill retail facilities (the Trossachs Woollen Mill and the Kilmahog Woollen Mill,) with farm land to the north and forestry to the south. One of the woollen mills retains a working loom. There is a local pub, near the site of the old chapel, called The Lade Inn, and the Scottish Real Ale shop, which aims to stock all bottled Scottish ales. The "
lade Líneas Aéreas del Estado (LADE, ) is an airline based in Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. It is owned by the government of Argentina and operated by the Argentine Air Force. It provides domestic scheduled services, mainly in Patagonia. Hist ...
" is a man-made diversion from the river that was used to power the
watermills A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...
. Nearby, Samson's Putting Stone sits precariously on Bochastle hill. Local legend has it that the stone came to be there as a result of a putting competition between a family of giants. The winner of the competition was Samson who lived on
Ben Ledi Ben Ledi (Beinn Leitir in Scottish Gaelic) is a mountain in Stirling, Scotland. It is high, and is therefore classified as a Corbett. It lies about northwest of Callander, near the village of Kilmahog. It is situated in the Trossachs, an ar ...
(other versions of the legend mention
Ben Lawers Ben Lawers () is the highest mountain in the Breadalbane, Scotland, Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands. It lies north of Loch Tay and is the highest peak of the 'Ben Lawers group', a ridge that includes six other Munros: Beinn Ghlas, Me ...
). A modern interpretation is that the stone is a
glacial erratic A glacial erratic is a glacially deposited rock (geology), rock differing from the type of country rock (geology), rock native to the area in which it rests. Erratics, which take their name from the Latin word ' ("to wander"), are carried by gla ...
carried from the
Glen Dochart Glen Dochart () in Perthshire, Scottish Highlands is a glen which runs from Crianlarich eastwards to Killin, following the course of the River Dochart as it flows through Loch Dochart and Loch Iubhair. It is met by Glen Ogle () at Lix Toll. Loc ...
region and left there when the ice retreated at the end of the last ice age.


History

South of Kilmahog the remains of an ancient
hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...
can be seen at Dunmore overlooking
Loch Venachar Loch Venachar (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Bheannchair) is a freshwater loch in Stirling (district), Stirling district, Scotland. Geography The loch is situated between Callander and Brig o' Turk. It lies approximately above sea level, and is lo ...
. The fort is semi-oval in shape and occupies a defensive position on a low hill. It was likely a large defended structure visible from some distance. Excavations have revealed a well in the inner area and signs of
vitrified Vitrification (, via French ') is the full or partial transformation of a substance into a glass, that is to say, a non- crystalline or amorphous solid. Glasses differ from liquids structurally and glasses possess a higher degree of connectivity ...
stonework. Although the fort remains undated it was likely to have been founded no later than the
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
and may have been in use until the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. Today only the remains of the ramparts are visible. Nearby, the remains of first century
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
ramparts attributed to the campaigns of
Agricola Agricola, the Latin word for farmer, may also refer to: People Cognomen or given name :''In chronological order'' * Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40–93), Roman governor of Britannia (AD 77–85) * Sextus Calpurnius Agricola, Roman governor of the m ...
can be seen at Bochastle in the fields to the east of the former railway. The fortification was constructed during the Flavian occupation in Scotland around 80 CE and it may have served as a northern fort of the
Gask Ridge The Gask Ridge is the modern name given to an early series of Castra, fortifications, built by the Roman Empire, Romans in Scotland, close to the Highland Boundary Fault, Highland Line. Modern excavation and interpretation has been pioneered by ...
frontier. It was situated to overlook the approach to
Loch Katrine Loch Katrine (; or ) is a freshwater loch in the Trossachs area of the Scottish Highlands, east of Loch Lomond within the Stirling (council area), Stirling council area. It mostly lies within the Shires of Scotland, historic and registration c ...
and the Pass of Leny. The fort was likely in use for a few years at most and only the earthworks are visible today. Kilmahog used to be the site of St. Chug's chapel, after which it is named. Ecclesiastical letters record a chapel at Kilmahog in 1239 as a mensal church of the
Bishop of Dunblane The Bishop of Dunblane or Bishop of Strathearn was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunblane or Strathearn, one of medieval Scotland's thirteen bishoprics. It was based at Dunblane Cathedral, now a parish church of the Church of Scotlan ...
. All that remains of the chapel is a small burial ground with stones dating back to the late 17th century. Kilmahog was the site of an early 19th-century toll house and later a tweed mill. The former
Callander and Oban Railway The Callander and Oban Railway company was established with the intention of linking the sea port of Oban to the railway network. This involved a long line from Callander through wild and thinly populated terrain, and shortage of money meant that ...
line passed through Kilmahog; the trackbed is now part of the
National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...
(route 7) and the
Rob Roy Way The Rob Roy Way is a Scotland, Scottish long distance footpath that runs from Drymen in Stirling (council area), Stirling to Pitlochry in Perth and Kinross. The path was created in 2002, and takes its name from Robert Roy MacGregor, Rob Roy MacG ...
. The village sits at the Northern point of a loop known as the Trossachs
Bird of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...
Trail.


Use in fiction

*Kilmahog was used as the inspiration for the main setting in the
novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
"Under the Mountain" by Sophie Cooke.


References


External links


Trossachs Scotland - Kilmahog
{{Stirling Towns & Villages Hamlets in Stirling (council area)