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 The village
of Methven lies 8km west of Perth amidst the rolling farmland of lowland
Perthshire.
In 1306 Robert I (Robert the Bruce)
was defeated at Methven by the Earl of Pembroke during his long campaign
to have himself recognised as rightful king of Scotland and to ensure full
and lasting Scottish independence.
In 1433 a college was founded by the
Earl of Atholl in the existing church. In 1444 the original Methven Castle
was besieged.
Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII
of England, lived in Methven Castle from 1526-41. In 1503 she had married
James IV but he died at the disasterous Battle of Flodden in 1514. Margaret
married her 3rd husband Henry Stewart (later Lord Methven) in 1526.
The present castle just east of the
village, built by the Duke of Lennox, dates from the mid 17thC and is one
of the last traditional tower house style castles to be built in Scotland.
In has been recently restored.
In 1644 the Battle of Tibbermore took
place just south of Methven. The was Montrose's first victory in his campaign
in Scotland (concurrent with the English Civil War) in support of Charles
I. The aftermath of the battle is marked by particularly severe slaughter.
Around 2500 died, the same number as were killed at Culloden.
The area, in common with the rest of
lowland Perthshire, was a centre of flax growing and homebased linen weaving
by the end of the 18thC with almost half the village's population employed
in the industry.
Robert Stirling was born in Methven
in 1790. Despite no formal engineering education he invented a highly efficient
external combustion engine in 1816 - The Stirling Engine. |
