Gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

DOLLAR.
101
to found an institution in his native district,
for the education of young persons. A very
handsome edifice was consequently reared,
in 1819, and furnished with several good
masters, for teaching languages, plain branches
of education, and some of the more elegant
and useful arts. The branches at present
taught, are Latin, Greek, and Oriental lan-
guages, French and other modern languages,
Mathematics, and Natural Philosophy, Draw-
ing, English, Writing and Arithmetic, and
Geography. There are ten teachers, includ-
ing assistants. There is likewise a female
teacher, and a surgeon connected with the
institution. Much was anticipated at first
from this establishment ; but after a fair trial,
it does not seem to have accomplished anything
like what was expected from it. By a most
unfortunate and hopeless arrangement, the
" minister and kirk-session of Dollar" are the
constituted governors and patrons, which in
effect leaves the whole management in the
hands of a single clergyman. The erection of
the academy, has, however, attracted a great
number of residents to the place, which now
possesses many handsome villas. The acade-
my itself is a very elegant Grecian building,
and is connected with some pleasant garden-
ground for the use of the students. A library is
attached to the establishment, also for their use.
The village lies on the road to Stirling from
Kinross at the distance of thirteen miles from
each of these towns, and seven from Alloa. In
the neighbourhood is the remarkable ruin of
Castle Campbell, occupying the top of a
high and almost insulated rock, which as-
cends within a hollow in the bosom of the
Ochil Hills, with mountain rivulets brawling
on all sides around it. All around this mount,
and along the steeps opposite to it, are thick
bosky woods, which cast a perpetual gloom
over the scene. The only access to the castle
is by an isthmus connecting the mount with
the hill behind. Here some ancient and noble
sycamores, the remains of an avenue, add much
to the picturesque effect of the building. From
the very narrow area around it, the views are
fearfully sublime, while it is almost impossible
to quit its walls but for a few yards, without the
risk of being hurled into the unknown depths
of the surrounding valley. A frightful chasm
in the hill itself, guarded by an outwork, ap-
pears once to have served the purpose of giving
access to the waters below. It is called
Kemp's Score, and still bears some marks of a
staircase. This romantic castle is of great
antiquity. The date when the donjon-keep
or great square tower was built, is so far back
as to be beyond the research of the antiquary.
The buildings, even in their present ruinous
state, form a quadrangle, some parts of which
are of elegant workmanship. Originally the
castle is believed to have been in the hands of
the crown ; and the tradition is that the va-
rious melancholy names which still exist around
it, were given by a royal princess who was
there confined. The ancient name of the cas-
tle, says the traditionary account, was the
Castle of Gloom, and the hill immediately be-
hind it still retains the same appellation. The
mountain streams that flow on the different
sides, are still called the one the Water of Care
— the other the Burn of Sorrow; and after their
junction in front of the castle, they traverse
the parish or valley of Dollar or Dolour.
We believe it to be more likely that Chleume,
or Coch Leume, the original name of the cas-
tle, is Gaelic, and means the place of the Mad
Leap, that the Water of Care was the glen of
Caer or Castle, and that Dollar is Dal or, the
liigh field : the Burn of Sorrow might easily
be added by fancy — if not the Burn of Care
also. At what precise time the castle and
surrounding land came into the possession of
the Argyle family, is not certainly known ; but
it is conjectured that they were included in the
splendid grant which was made by King Ro-
bert Bruce to Sir Neil Campbell of Lochawe,
on his marriage with Lady Mary Bruce, the
sister of that monarch. In 1493 an act of
parliament was passed for changing the name
of " the Castle called the Gloume, pertain-
ing to our cousing Colin, Earl of Argyle,"
to " Castle Campbell," and it continued in
the possession of the Argyle family until the
year 1807, when it was sold to the present
proprietor. Castle Campbell was the scene of
several remarkable events, and it is said that it
was one of the first places where John Knox
openly dispensed the sacrament of the holy
communion, according to reformed practice. In
1645, as the Marquis of Montrose was passing
through this district towards Kilsyth, where he
achieved his greatest victory, the clan Maclean,
part of his army, insisted upon destroying this,
as well as every other part of the Campbell
property in the district, in revenge for the ra-
vages committed by that family on their own