Шотландиядағы Мукхарт ауылдары

Two villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland

Muckhart (Muc Àird) commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Pool of Muckhart (Poll Mhuc Àird) and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated on the A91 around 3 mile (5 km) northeast of Dollar. The Gaelic name, Muc àird, comes from muc ("pig") + àird ("height"), and may derive from the fact that the surrounding fields may once have been used for pig farming. Previously Muckhart, together with Glendevon, formed the southernmost tip of Perthshire. It was transferred to Clackmannanshire in a reorganisation of boundaries in 1971. The parish boundary is somewhat eccentric and extends to the outer edge of Dollar, some 3 mile (5 km) west. Due to this fact, the primary school is somewhat oddly located (the 1876 Act required the school to be at the centre of the parish) and lies over west of the outer edge of the main village. It is also some considerable distance from the main road. This can be explained in that it lies on the old coach road to Dollar. This is now just a dirt track to the school (locally known as the Cinder Path). West of the school the old coach route is very hard to follow. The famed, historic Rumbling Bridge across Rumbling Bridge Gorge of the River Devon in Kinrosshire is about south of the Muckhart Golf Course on the A823.

Muckhart Golf Club lies on the School Road (Drumbum Road) south of the village. Set on a series of low rocky hills it includes several challenging holes. There are three nine hole courses, named Arndean, Cowden, and Naemoor. The nine hole Cowden course was opened by Miss Ella Christie, who provided of land, on 28 May 1908. The course fell into disrepair during World War II, when it was used for the grazing of sheep. The course was restored after the war. A second nine hole course, the Ardean course was added in the late 1960s on land leased from Colonel (later Sir) Robert Christie Stewart, then Lord Lieutenant of the county. A third nine hole course named Naemoor was opened on 25 July 1998.

This hamlet lies around further east of Pool of Muckhart. A tollhouse was established here in the early 19th century on a road used by cattle drovers and coaches. Yett is a Scots word for "gate", also used in reference to hill passes. For various reasons, the name of this hamlet causes some amusement. Its name comes up in several comedy programmes, supposedly used for "comic effect", notably Channel 4's production Absolutely.

Not always recognised as the third and final part of the village group, this area is now in single use as a farm. It lies just west of Muckhart Primary School on the old coach road to Dollar (the southern section of this road is barely discernible).

Somewhat depleted in size, this small hamlet on the main road west of the Pool of Muckhart now has only two houses. It has lost several buildings but was previously a small industrial centre. Of interest, the sheds still attaching the eastern building were built as a blacksmith's c. 1700. The building to the west was a carpenter's, but most of its sheds are now gone. The buildings on the south side of the road were removed when the main road was straightened c.1970. Also obliterated by this roadworks, the village curling pond stood some further west.

The Cowden estate lies just to the south of the higher ground known as the Ochil Hills, The Bruces of Clackmannanshire owned the estate from 1758.

John Christie FRSE (b. 4 July 1822, d. 19 August 1902) was the only son of Alexander Christie (born 1789, died 1859) and Isabella Robertson (b. about 1792) of Struan and the nephew of Mrs Isabella Christie (Hill). Alexander Christie was laird of Milnwood in Lanarkshire, where he operated three coal mines, and possessed of a considerable fortune from industry, which descended to John Christie. In addition, John Christie had two collieries in Edinburghshire. John Christie purchased Cowden (then known as Castleton), which contained about , in 1865. Mrs. Bruce sold the Cowden estate, a property of about , which contained a large three storey, rambling, sandstone house, to Mr. John Christie in 1866 who renamed the property "Cowden Castle". Mr. Christie collected a wide variety of artefacts during his many trips to the European continent. He filled Cowden Castle with many unrelated objects, which resulted in a very eclectic style. John married Alison Philp (b. about 1817), daughter of Alison Coldwells and William Philp, of Stobsmills, Midlothian (the home of her uncle John Coldwells) on 27 April 1859. John and Alison Philp Christie had three children. The first, a boy, John Coldwells Christie, (born 1860) died before he was twelve. Isabella (Ella) Robertson Christie was born 21 April 1861 at Millbank, Cockpen, Edinburgh (John Christie's home near Edinburgh). The third born child was Alice Margaret Christie (b. about 1863). The girls' mother, Alison Philp Christie, was in poor health and Isabella Thornburn, an elderly woman, was their nurse. Later Miss Townsend served as the governess of the two teenage girls. John Christie believed that travel was the best education for girls so he took the girls on many trips to Europe. Ella was taken to Paris at the age of twelve. In 1893 the castle was extended by the prodigious Glasgow architects Honeyman and Keppie, probably at the request of Ella, given her father's health. Mr Christie founded Christie Homes (later Lothian Homes Trust) in 1889, a charity which opened several orphanages for girls in and around East Lothian. A Christie Home was opened at Portobello in 1892. Tenterfield, in Haddington, was opened in 1898. Mr Christie caused an orphanage to be created at Catlaw Head. now in Perth and Kinross, Glenfarg and Easterton in Perthshire, and Carnbo in the county of Kinross, in addition to his estate at Cowden. and gave his expert opinion that pernicious anæmia adversely affected the brain. succeeded her father as laird of the Cowden Castle estate. She then preferred to be known as "Miss Christie of Cowden". Miss Christie travelled in China and Japan in 1907. a cadet who fainted while on parade during her visit. Miss Christie returned home on the Mauretania in June 1914, just in time for the World War. in 1925. Miss Christie and her sister, Lady Alice Christie King Stewart, published a reminiscence of their lives entitled A Long Look at Life by Two Victorians in 1940. Miss Christie died of leucæmia in Edinburgh on 29 January 1949 at the age of 87 years. on Wednesday, 2 February. Miss Christie was the last surviving Christie. She is buried in the family plot, to the east of the church. The estate passed to her great nephew, Colonel Stewart of Arndean.

Cowden Castle, burned in 1950 and was pulled down in 1952. Much of the valuables from the house survived and were removed to Arndean. Many items of furniture were distributed among the many estate houses. Thereafter the estate was merged into the Arndean Estate, the seat of the Stewart family. (Ardean lies about 1 mile (2 km) southwest of the Cowden estate.) Still surviving are Cowden's stables and the east and west lodges (the east lodge is now off the main road due to the straightening). A faded dollar sign painted on a wall near the lodge marks a humorous direction sign to the town of Dollar to the west, but due to the road moving now serves no function. Of great interest, the estate sawmill buildings still survive amid the woods. These date from the mid 18th century. They had adjacent ponds to float larger logs into the saws to cleverly avoid weight problems. Several modern houses have been built within the estate, many hidden in its wooded grounds. The Japanese Garden was rebuilt and reopened in 2019. It bears little resemblance to the original garden but is located around the same pond. It is open to the public.

Richard Elmhirst married Morna (nee Gillespie, widow of Stephen Haggard) and had 3 children, Eloise, Francis & Alice with stepsons Piers Haggard and Mark Haggard. Richard & Morna launched the converted Mill buildings as a guest house and children's holiday centre in 1966. Alan Elmhirst married Marion Aitchison and helped his parents manage the home until they died within the year (buried in Muckhart Cemetery) and Alan died in 1978 at the age of 30 from a tractor accident.

Adjacent to the mill lies Muckhart Mill Farmhouse, a category B listed property described as a house of "single storey and attic with swept dormers dated (17)80; later wooden porch: steading single storey, partly with loft, pantiled and white washed". Muckhart Mill was a children's holiday home and the owners often get visitors who used to stay here over the summer, riding ponies and swimming in the river. YouTube has some old film footage from the 1960s of the Forth Valley Pony club and other clips which contain shots of The Mill.