I often wondered how the township of Killin got it’s name —
A visit to the nearby and previously unknown to me – Finlarig castle at the head of Loch Tay opened my eyes on that score —
A stronghold of Clan Campbell for quite a few centuries – the garrisons of Finglarig castle were never defeated and it even had it’s own beheading pit for the job of decapitating the vanquished enemies —
The ‘good guys’ – or government sympathisers were incarcerated in the mausoleum while the unfortunate headless characters were fed to Clan Campbell’s pigs —
or used as fertiliser on the neighbouring farmland —
The hangman’s tree on the adjacent knoll was also kept busy in the name of order and religion during those turbulent times — the Campbell’s motto – ‘to conquer and remain conquessit’ was well earned 🥺
givitsum-from-a-distance 