Brig o' Turk from Glen Finglass Forest - geograph

Brig o' Turk ( gd, Àird Cheannchnocain) is a small rural village historically in Perthshire and today within the council area of

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, Scotland. It is situated in the

Trossachs The Trossachs (; gd, Na Tròiseachan) generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at t ...

, a range of hills on the A821 road.

Features

Brig o' Turk has a rare 1930s wooden tea room, which featured in the 1959 remake of ''The 39 Steps''. Brig o' Turk also features a village hall which hosts many craft fairs, dances and other events, a small primary school (Trossachs Primary of 1875) serving the village and the surrounding areas, a small post office (located in someone's house) and a pub-restaurant, called The Byre Inn, which is made to look like the cow barn attached to the large neighbouring house, Dundarroch. The Bicycle Tree, located half a mile north of the village, is a local landmark and tourist attraction.

Trossachs Parish Church

The

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, called the

Parish Church, is located to the west of the village overlooking

Loch Achray Loch Achray is a small freshwater loch west of Callander in Stirling district, Scotland. The loch lies between Loch Katrine and Loch Venachar in the heart of the Trossachs and has an average depth of . History Loch Achray was for a time the ...

. It was built in 1849 in the early Gothic style, to cater for tourists visiting the area. It contains a

memorial plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

to Major-General

David Limond Major-General David Limond C.B. (5 April 1831 – 10 July 1895) was a British soldier of the Royal Engineers (Bengal) and a member of a family with a strong tradition of military service. Military career Early in his career, Limond was with th ...

C.B. (1831–1895), a veteran of the Siege of Lucknow in the Indian Mutiny. The church, together with the graveyard and boundary wall, is a Category C(S)

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

Etymology

The village is named after the ''Brig o'Turk'' bridge over the River Turk. The bridge was built in 1796 and lies to the west of the village, although bridges have crossed the river since 1451.

Jacobite insurgency

In 1708, Brig o' Turk was the venue for a gathering of prominent Jacobite

laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

s in support of the expected invasion by James Stuart, the "Old Pretender". In the event, the commander of the French fleet of 30 ships carrying James's 6,000-strong force withdrew rather than risk an action with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

; however, the gathering later was used as evidence of treason against the participants.

Ruskin

In the mid nineteenth century the village was the location of a famous Victorian love triangle involving

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and pol ...

, his wife

Effie Gray Euphemia Chalmers Millais, Lady Millais (''née'' Gray; 7 May 1828 – 23 December 1897) was a Scottish artists' model and the wife of Pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais. She had previously been married to the art critic John Ruskin ...

, and protégé

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

Community

There are a number of community groups based in the area such as the Trossachs Welfare association, Trossachs Community Council and Trossachs Community Trust.

References

External links

*
Brig o' Turk on "Destination Loch Lomond"

Brig o' Turk on "Trossachs" website
{{Stirling Towns & Villages Populated places in Stirling (council area) Trossachs