The Eagle Stone

Nestling among the houses on a quiet hillside there is a small fenced off patch of grass, in the centre a modest standing stone with ancient carvings – this is the famous ‘Eagle Stone’, also known as the Clach an Tiompain or ‘Sounding Stone’

The stone is featured in one notable prophesy by the Brahan Seer – he foresaw a great tragedy that would befall the area should the stone topple over three times, over the years it has been known to have fallen twice and superstitious locals have ensured it moves no more by cementing it in place.

Local legends have claimed the stone was erected after a skirmish between the Clan Munro and the McDonalds of the Isles on the way to the battle of Harlaw in 1411 – a sort of practice friendly on the way to the knockout stages. Recent evidence has proven it to be much older though.

Although almost certainly Pictish in origin one famous folk tale links the stone again to Clan Munro, who’s crest symbol also depicts an eagle, the Eagle of Foulis.

On a high ridge on the other side of the valley lies the remains of an iron age fort known as Knockfarrel (literally ’stone fort’). The very first chief of Clan Munro lived here as the clan established its presence in the area. Around the fortification a small village or ‘clachan’ grew. The valley has lush farmland, ideal for grazing and growing all manner of crops, sheltered from the worst of the weather.

Knockfarrel is easily approached via a gently sloping trail up the side of the ridge but treacherous cliffs fall steeply away to one side – high on a rocky pinnacle in these cliffs a great eagle had made its nest. whether the Munro clan took their symbol from this eagle or it was just a remarkable coincidence we do not know but the clansmen saw the eagle as a good omen and were happy to share the valley with this magnificent creature. Even when the bird would lift a young lamb or goat kid they would take this as just an acceptable loss and the chief forbade anyone from doing harm to the eagle.

All was peaceful in the valley until one summers evening. It had been a beautiful day and the womenfolk worked preparing the evening meals and sewing. The children laughed and played between the small houses, outside one house towards the edge of the village one small boy sat, Lachlan, barely a toddler he rested on the grass and watched as his mother busied herself around him.

All at once a great dark shadow was cast across the valley and a terrible screeching was heard, In a blur of feathers and claws the huge eagle swooped down from its nest and caught the poor child in its massive talons. Before anyone could react he lifted the boy high into the air and carried him up the cliffside.

The cries of alarm went up throughout the village and the wailing of the grief stricken mother alerted young Hugh, the chieftain of the clan. When Hugh arrived at the scene he realised that he had to act and act quickly. He called for a length of rope and set off up the cliffside in pursuit. Not entirely sure what he would face when he reached the pinnacle.

Higher and higher Hugh clambered up the sheer face, as the village fell away below he heard a beating of wings and a rush of air – the great eagle was bearing down upon him. Holding onto the rope for dear life he tried to fend off the angry bird. The eagle soared away again and Hugh pressed on. In the fading light he caught a glimpse of a tangle of branches above him and with one last effort he hauled himself up and into the eagles nest.

Lying in the centre of the nest lay baby Lachlan. cooing away to himself as if nothing had happened. Hugh was relived that the boy despite his ordeal had barely a scratch on him but he realised that the hardest work lay ahead. No sooner had this thought crossed his mind than the huge eagle appeared again – even angrier than before. Hugh grabbed a large branch and swinging it like a club tried to fend it off, time and time again the eagle pecked and clawed and Hugh soon became exhausted. His clothes torn and his body bruised and bloody from the ferocious attack.

All this time little Lachlan laughed away thinking it no more than a silly game for his own amusement.

Munro Clan Crest

As the eagle made one more pass Hugh decided on an other tactic; he ducked under the thrashing wings and grabbed at the birds legs. Unsettling the creature just for a second he was able to pull it towards the nest and turn it over onto its back. With the advantage of surprise he reached up and got hold of the bird by the throat and squeezed with all his might.

Gradually the bird began to loose its grip on life, the struggle began to die and with one last effort Hugh squeezed the life from the mighty creature.

Meanwhile far below the cliff the villagers looked up, not knowing if the poor boy or Hugh for that matter were alive or dead. They had heard the terrifying shrieks of the bird and feared the worst. Then suddenly the distant figure of Hugh appeared, holding the corpse of this massive Eagle in his hand. They cheered and shouted and Hugh tossed the bird down, A gust of wind caught the feathers and the eagle’s broken body wheeled and glided down to the valley below, coming to rest at the edge of the village. Where the eagle fell the villagers placed a stone – the Eagle stone in recognition of the brave deeds of their chief and from respect to the noble creature that was such a powerful symbol of their clan.

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The Storehouse of Foulis on the banks of the Cromarty Firth

Sitting on the banks of the Cromarty Firth between Evanton and Dingwall, the Storehouse of Foulis is a fully restored 18th Century building that once housed the rent paid in kind from the Munro estate. Once only visited by horse and cart, the Storehouse now sits alongside the busy A9 with cars zipping past on the main road in and out of the Northern Highlands.

Thought to have been completed around 1740, the Storehouse was built for the Munros of Foulis at a time when rent on the estate was largely paid in goods. The area surrounding Foulis provided good growing and farming conditions because of the rich soil and relatively mild temperatures. Oats and barley received from the tenants were stored here before being portioned out to farm workers and household staff as wages. Surplus goods were shipped off to markets further south via ferry. The Storehouse is positioned towards the sea on the gently sloping shore just above high-tide mark so boats could be safely beached to load goods, floating away on the next incoming tide.

Surviving documents show the export of grain and foods such as salt salmon as well as timber sent by sloop to Fort George in 1753. A letter from Sir Hugh Munro to his factor in October 1795 stated that tenants should be given a receipt for grain brought to the storehouse, bringing as much as they conveniently could at one time. On February 3rd 1796 at a time when oatmeal was scarce, a group over 150 people marched on the Storehouse. They believed it to hold stores of oats but, after threatening to break in to the building, a deputation was allowed in by the storekeeper. Finding only barley and wheat they refused to buy saying that they “… lived chiefly by oatmeal and they did not mind tho’ he should send away all the wheat and barley… provided he left the oats.”

The building is constructed of lime harled sandstone rubble masonry bonded by lime mortar with dressed stone margins around the openings and a Ballachullish slate roof – a fine example of vernacular architecture. All the windows are small with those on the ground floor mere slits to provide necessary ventilation for the grain, and to provide security for the goods stored inside.

By the early 19th Century most rents were being paid in money, but the Storehouse continued to be used to store bulky goods moving in and out of the estate by sea until well into the 20th Century. Today the wooden pillars, capitals and longbeams survive whilst the joists and planking date from the refurbishment in 1998. The building is now a visitor attraction run by Clan Munro, with the store house hosting information about the building’s history, the clan and the area’s wildlife. An accompanying restaurant and farm shop have been built next door, with fresh and local produce for sale. In 2010 Prince Charles visited the Storehouse as part of his role as founder of the North Highland Initiative, which aims to bring together the farm­ing community, local busi­nesses and the tourism industry to promote the economic development by creating and mar­keting a powerful North Highland brand.

Photos taken from The Storehouse of Foulis

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Hector Munro outside Foulis Castle

Following unseasonable snowy conditions a week earlier, Hector had been working around the clock to get his Spring barley crop in the ground while the weather was cooperating. “I am really just a land manager who happens for historic reasons to be the head of an enlarged family group known as a Clan. I work for my living like anyone else – that living happens to be farming.” The majority of the Munro farm at Foulis is made up of malting barley, which when harvested goes to a cooperative shared by farmers in the area. The barley is sorted, batched and sold to maltsters to the order of local whisky distilleries including Glen Ord, Glenmorangie, Highland Park and The Macallan.

Perched among the sown-fields of Foulis sits the striking Foulis Castle, seat of Clan Munro for at least 800 years. “We don’t know the very early history of the castle because there was a terrible family row in the mid-1800s and a lot of documents were burnt and destroyed. As far as we can make out a Munro chief acquired Foulis in about 1350 by swapping some land that he already had on the Black Isle. So we know the land has been in the family since then, possibly longer.” Keyhole gun ports were recently discovered in the base of what seems to have been a corner tower on a defensive outer wall of the castle. “They can be positively dated to between 1450 and 1550, so we know there’s been a castle here since at least then.”

The castle suffered a plundering by Jacobites during the 1745 Rising, as the Munros were ardent Presbyterians and Whigs by political persuasion. “One of my fore-bearers attended the Reformation Parliament in Edinburgh in 1560, voting for reformation. The last thing the Munros wanted was a Catholic King on the throne, so we were staunchly anti-Jacobite.” When the rebellion broke out, 200 Munros marched straight to Inverness to provide aid to the besieged General Sir John Cope, later escorting him to Aberdeen and acting as his scouts. The Munros attempted to hold the North for the Government, but in the end were forced to retreat into Sutherland leaving Foulis open for plundering. The chief at the time, Sir Robert Munro, died commanding an English battalion at the Battle of Falkirk, alongside his brother Dr Duncan Munro who was also killed. At the end of the Rising, Robert’s son returned to Foulis to find it a ruin. “Eventually the Government paid compensation, eight years after Culloden, which allowed him to restore the castle. And by that time I think he realised there was no longer the need for a defensive tower so he incorporated the old parts of the castle into what’s really a modern Georgian mansion. So that’s why today it looks more like a mansion then a castle. The sad thing is that no pictures of the castle (before the mid 1800s) survive, as they were destroyed during the family row over succession.”

Foulis Castle in the distance, surrounded by farmland.

Once an estate of 36,000 acres, the lands today have been reduced to 2,500 and is a mixture of let grazing, barley and forestry. “Sadly there’s very, very few clan chiefs who still are lucky enough to have their original property. And I think it’s the fact that very few areas of the highlands are actually economically viable. Tax, death duties and service to the country has bought about the demise of most of the clan seats, so yes I consider myself very lucky that we’re still at Foulis.”

Clan Munro has a very close affiliation with the Seaforth Highlanders, with ties that go back almost two hundred years. During the Second World War, Hector’s father and uncle were captured at St Valery in 1940 while providing cover for the British Expeditionary Force to escape. “I think it was probably 10,000 men from the Highlands who were captured there in one go. They spent the next four years and 11 months in a POW camp, in which time Foulis became thoroughly run down. The Highland soldiers were always considered the crack troops of the British Army, and as a result they tended to be pushed to the front lines to deal with the trouble spots. I think the Scots probably lost more per head of population than any other allied force in the Second World War.”

Hector began running Foulis in 1974, and became chief in 1995 following the death of his father, Captain Patrick Munro. “I don’t think the role of chief twigged properly until much later, I just took it for granted when I was younger. The fact that my Granny lived in a castle that leaked like a sieve; it didn’t really occur to me that there was any significance. The family have always been in the military so there were lots of swords and spears from great uncle so-and-so who brought them back from Africa. Granny used to allow us to play with these swords as kids, and how we never cut each others heads off, I don’t know, but it was great fun. When my father returned from the war first and foremost he had to work the farm, and secondly try and preserve the castle. In 1958 we got a grant from the Historic Buildings Council for Scotland (now Historic Scotland) and they helped with a grant to put a new roof on the castle.”

Foulis Castle as it stands today

Clan Munro gatherings are held at Foulis every 5-10 years, with the next happening in 2014 to coincide with the 700th anniversary of Bannockburn and Homecoming 2014. “There will be all sorts of activities going on, including some for younger people who will be able to climb Ben Wyvis which is the Munro* out the back here.” The last gathering in 2007 was attended by Munros from America, Canada, Australia, England and even a band of French descendents who came from a Munro who escaped the Battle of Worcester in 1651. “At the head of the French branch of the family is a man called Donald Munro. He can’t speak a word of English yet he’s got a Scottish name – 350 years since his fore-bearers left Scotland. The French Munros were all wearing kilts and wearing their Highland bonnets a bit like a beret – so the tradition carries on.”

Hector would like to see the clans used as a tool to promote the Highlands. “Really the clans are about the Highlands, not Edinburgh. People will go to Edinburgh anyway when they come to visit Scotland, but they won’t necessarily go to the Highlands to look for the clans.” Foulis Castle receives around 6-700 visitors per year from all over the world – appointments can be made by getting in touch through the Clan Munro website. “It’s such a unique selling point for Scotland – where else in the world, just by knowing your surname, can you go to a place and know your fore-bearers came from that spot. Clan territories are very distinct like that.”

Hector’s role as clan chief involves chairing Clan Munro Association meetings, upholding the clans history and traditions, meeting with visiting Munros and dealing with inquiries from all over the world. Outside of being a chief three grandchildren occupy his time when he’s not working on the farm (he says his wife would call him a workaholic). “I suppose the role of clan chief is secondary to being a farmer. I think people tend to have this romantic image of the clans for which Sir Walter Scott probably has much to answer for. The truth is however no less interesting and if we can educate people to take excessive tartantry and dreamt up ceremonials with a pinch of salt, and search out the actual historical facts, then that is far healthier.”

Upon leaving Foulis I walked down the hill towards the clan museum at the old Munro Storehouse. Along the way I passed many relics of the clan’s past, including an ancient burial cairn and disused bridge emblazoned with an eagle – the Munro clan badge. How amazing that for over 800 years the Munro family have worked, fought and lived on the same land, carrying on histories and traditions to this very day.

The Munro Bridge near Foulis Castle

Eagle badge on the bridge

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* = A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over 3,000 ft (914.4 m). Munros are named after Sir Hugh Munro of Clan Munro (1856–1919), who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891.

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Clachnaharry Monument overlooking the Beauly Firth

Perched atop a hill overlooking the Beauly Firth in Inverness, the Clachnaharry Monument commemorates a particularly fierce battle between Clan Munro and Clan Chattan that occurred in 1454. After a day of sunbathing (in April) in the Highlands, I decided to take advantage of the unusually warm evening and take a walk out to the monument.

Clachnaharry is situated about 2 miles from Inverness and was once a bustling fishing village. The village takes its name from the Gaelic Clach na h-Aire (Stone of the Watch), referring to an irregular stone at the top of the hill used as a look out post to spot approaching unfriendly clans from the north. Just past the high street a little path leads through some woods and up a hill to where the monument is located, also providing a spectacular view of the Beauly Firth, the bottom of the Black Isle and Ben Wyvis.

Largely thought to have occurred in 1454, the battle came about when the Munros were returning home to Easter Ross through Chattan territory following a cattle raid in Perthshire. The Munros were led by John Munro Tutor of Foulis who refused to pay the customary tax on their plunder. This safe passage fee, or ‘road collop’ was often paid in the form of a number of cattle. A dispute broke out over the amount and when no agreement could be reached the Chattans gravely insulted the Munros by cutting the tails off of their horses. The Munros left to travel north, having sent their spoils ahead, but the Chattans caught up and ambushed them at Clachnaharry.

In the fight which followed many died including the chief of Clan Chattan. John Munro was left for dead on the battlefield, but was found by an old woman of the Fraser clan who nursed him back to health. Lord Lovat, chief of the Frasers, returned John to Foulis, however his hand was mutilated in the battle. He became known as Iain Bac-lambach (John the Lame-Handed). This act signaled the start of an enduring friendship between the Munro and Fraser clans.

The monument in better days

The monument was built in 1821 by Major Hugh Robert Duff of Muirtown and originally included a figure on top of a 8m column. Unfortunately the figure fell off in a gale in 1934 and the column was blown down during a severe storm in 1954, leaving only the stump that remains today. Each side of the monument reads the two clan names, facing their respective territories. The Latin inscription is thought to read “Between these high, red rocks their bones are collected”. In recent years the monument was refurbished after it was vandalised and overgrown with foliage.

The monument is also conveniently located across the road from the Clachnaharry Inn, which provided the perfect cure (in cool, refreshing pint form) to the sunburn I received earlier in the day. You can click any of the pictures below to enlarge.

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Left to right Hector Munro of Foulis, Major General Seymour Monro and Lt Col Patrick Gascoigne with two of the swords from the vast collection of artifacts.

Clan Munro has helped to bring a Highland military museum fundraising campaign one step closer to victory.

Hector Munro of Foulis, Chief of Clan Munro, has donated £15,000 on behalf of the clan and wider family to the Highlander’s Museum fundraising appeal. The Highlanders are the descendents of Scottish Regiments originally raised from the clans and communities of the Highlands and Islands in the late 1700′s.

Major General Seymour Monro, museum and appeal chairman said: “All three of our original regiments – Seaforths, Camerons and Lovat Scouts – were raised by the Clan Chief or their close relative – and there has always been a strong and natural link between the regiments and the clans which continues today.”

“This enduring link is a fundamental element of the heritage of the Highlands and Islands. We are delighted and grateful that the Clan Munro, led by its Chief, Hector Munro and his wider family, has been to the fore in contributing to this museum project. As a member of the clan, I am doubly proud!”

Hector Munro of Foulis, Clan Chief, said: “A clan was an extended family group formed into an elaborate web of relationships by intermarriage and set up for mutual protection and benefit. The destruction of the old clan system was the price of Jacobite failure but it was a simple transition for the natural warrior instinct of the clans to seamlessly reappear in the Highland regiments.

“In the last two hundred years many Munros and twenty-seven of my immediate family have served with distinction in The Seaforth Highlanders and their successor regiments. I am particularly grateful to my relatives, descended from Stirling and Gascoigne marriages for contributing so magnificently to The Highlanders’ Museum Appeal.”

The Highlander’s Museum covers three floors of Fort George’s former Lieutenant Governors’ House. The museum has roughly 20,000 artifacts and an estimated 10,000 documents and photographs. The Development Project is set to take three years to complete, transforming the museum into a facility where visitors will be inspired by the history of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland as told through the Region’s Army regiments.

The appeal has raised £2.78 million so far with £100,000 still to go. Information on how to donate can be found at www.thehighlandersmuseum.com

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The Fyrish Monument

On a hill overlooking the Cromarty Firth is a striking, most un-highland monument. It is a replica of the gates of Negapatam, a port in Madras (now Chennai) in South East India. Negapatam was originally a Dutch colony, but it was won by the British in 1781.

Responsible for this success was Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar (1726 – 1805) who won fame and fortune as a British Army Officer in India. When he retired to Scotland in 1782 he found that in the midst of the Highland Clearances many Munros and others in the area were unemployed and hungry, so he paid them all to carry stones to the top of Cnoc Fyrish (land the Munros obtained from the Keiths in 1589) where the monument to celebrate his triumph was erected. There is a myth that Sir Hector, desperate to be able to provide more work for these people, that he took all the stones back down the hill in order to be able to pay the men to do the job again.

Tragically, Sir Hector’s two sons were both killed in India, one by a tiger and one by a shark in the Bay of Bengal and the estate passed to his daughter whose descendants still own it.

Sir Hector’s nephew, Hugh Anderson Johnstone Munro of Novar was one of the most notable art collectors of his day and a close friend of the English artist J. M. W. Turner. Munro eventually owned fifteen oil paintings by Turner and one hundred and nine of his water colours. One of his favourites, ‘Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino’ was sold by Munro’s heirs in 1878 to Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Roseberry (and future Prime Minister) for the astonishing price (at that time) of 4,450 guineas. It later went under the hammer recently for the second time in a Sotheby’s sale in London with an estimate of £12-18 million.

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