Alexander Menzies; the harper of Logierait

Among the many harpers who can be found in the various Perthshire estate and public records Alexander Menzies, who died in 1705, stands out for several reasons, not least for his wealth. He held an acre of land in the township of Ballinearn, or Miltown of Dalcapon, now shown on modern maps as Moulinearn, on the east side of the river Tummel and about two miles north of Logierait. He does not seem to have had a specific 'Laird' unless the superior of his land is nominated as such, although since that superiority seems to have changed hands on at least two occasions the clue to his patrons comes from his geographical locality close to Logierait.

Today Logierait is a very small settlement on what is almost a promontory formed by the junction of the rivers Tay and Tummel. The main north-south A 9 road runs up the east side of the Tay and then continues to follow the east side of the Tummel northwards at the junction of the two rivers. A road west leaves the A9 crosses the Tummel Bridge and the traffic passes through Logierait almost before it is noticed that the place is actually there. However, this rather belies the former importance of Logierait and the large parish to which it also gives its name; before it was squeezed by Dunkeld some eight miles to the south and more drastically by the foundation and growth, (post 1871) of Pitlochry only five miles further north.

The former strategic importance of Logierait was indicated by the establishment of a castle there by Robert III, which was the background to its name, lag an rath, or the hollow of the castle. After the castle had fallen out of use Logierait became the seat of an Atholl Regality Court with an impressive galleried hall some 70 feet long, a gallows hill and a prison in which Rob Roy MacGregor was famously briefly imprisoned before escaping in 1717. It therefore had among its community representatives of a number of the professional classes, lawyers ('notars' in Scots terminology) and clerks, not to mention the Minister and sufficient tradesmen to service the Earls then Marquises and by the time of the harper Dukes of Atholl, when stopping there on route between their castle at Blair Atholl further north and their estate of Tullibardine nearer to Perth in the south.

Apart from being a rest stop for the Atholl family or any of their visitors, Logierait was also midway between the Robertson estates of Lude and Inchmagranichan while running west along both sides of the river Tay were many other estates. Indeed Strathtay was very well populated with a mixture of estates both large and small, including Ballechin, Pitcastle, Edradynate, Cluny and Grandtully; many of them like the latter in the hands of Stewarts, before reaching the principle Menzies seat at Weem and just a few miles further the main residence of the Campbell of Breadalbane family at Taymouth Castle.

Logierait and its immediate surroundings was therefore a very suitable place for a harper who rather than depending on one principle patron was effectively able to be the servant of many. Indeed the furthest he seems to have travelled from his base was into Breadalbane, and even there where he appears among the Campbell of Breadalbane papers in 1687 it was in connection with Shian in Glen Quaich, a property held by one of the Menzies Lairds.^[1] Apart from this reference which was in a list of 'rests' or money owed to Shian's account by numerous people, in the harpers case for the purchase of cheese and butter, all the other references to the harper relate to either his financial dealings while alive and the winding up of his estate after his death.

Normally he was described in these documents as a harper, although in one case he was described as a musician^[2] and in another still actually kept in Latin and known as the Register of Retours, in which his brother James was recorded as his heir; Alexander Menzies was described as a Lyricen, the scribe clearly using 'Lyre' as the Latin equivalent for harp.^[3] No information has yet been found regarding his birth or the early years of his life but as his surviving brother James and sister Janet were described as living in Duntyme while the other brother Thomas was in Rotmell then the harper may have been connected to one of those places.^[4]

Although there is some evidence of earlier lending by the harper it was mainly the large debt owed to him by Donald Robertson of Killichangie, and still outstanding at the time of Alexander Menzies death; which resulted in his testament. Robertson seems to have been in severe financial distress and in June 1698 had borrowed One Thousand Pounds Scots from Alexander Menzies harper in Kilichangie. By the time of the loan Robertson of Killichangie was receiving help to sort out his finances from Robertson of Fascally, and it is in the papers of the latter that the details of the arrangement can be found. There were two documents, one an instrument of Sasine registered at Perth on the 28 June 1698 and the other a heritable bond by Donald Robertson to Alexander Menzies back referring to Martinmas 1697.

The heritable bond was straightforward detailing the sum borrowed along with the 'rent' to be repaid in two parts. Five hundred in Martinmas 1698 and another five hundred in Martinmas 1699. The precept of Sasine following on the bond, was apparently securing the debt against Killichangie's lands, more specifically 'Mylinearn otherwise called Mylntown of Dalcaben', without being an actual 'Wadset'. This seems to be confirmed by two further lists among the Fascally papers itemising the debts affecting the lands of Dalcabone. The first list is undated although the entry notes the harper as being owed £1066, which appears to include two years rent as well as the principle suggesting nothing had in fact been repaid. The debt to the harper occurs in the first part of the list described as 'Sasines' although only one of them from Killichangie to Robertson of Cultalonie is described as a wadset.^[5]

The second list is dated 15 October 1705 and is an inventor of such writs affecting the lands of Dalcabone acquired by Alexander Robertson of Fascally from Donald Robertson of Killichangie. The lands of Dalcabone (modern Dalcapon) and others, had been bought by Donald Robertson from the Dean of Dunkeld in 1671.^[6] The writs are covered in more detail than the first list and the full amount loaned by Alexander Menzies, harper is given as one thousand pounds, indicating that the original repayment dates had been missed and with the implication that the harper was still alive. If so, then as his testament in which the date of his death is left blank, was recorded in Dunkeld on the 20th December 1705 it means he must have died shortly after the list was compiled.

The testament had been raised by his brothers and sister, James Menzies in Duntyme, Thomas Menzies in Rotmell and Janet Menzies in Duntyme. Subsequently on the 7 June 1706 James Menzies, presumably acting for all the family was retoured heir to 'Alexander Meinzies Lyricen in Mullinarne'.^[7] The use of 'lyre' rather than 'Cithera' may suggest the scribe was attempting to distinguish between the wire strung clarsach and gut strung harp. This was followed by an entry in the General Register of Sasines for the 29th July 1706 recording that on the 4th July, James Menzies in Duntyme had compared personally on the lands of Killichangie and been retoured heir to the deceased Alexander Menzies, harper.^[8]

The harper and his surviving siblings appear to have been of interest to the genealogist, the Rev A. T Grant and there are several of his transcripts and some original documents relating to that family now in the collections of John MacGregor. Mostly they concern the financial dealings following on from the harper's death including details of the expenses incurred by James Menzies taking over the Killichangie bond. The various dealings often involved Captain James Menzies, son of Sir Alexander Menzies of that ilk, indicating some fairly high connections. The Rev Grant also attempted to construct a family genealogy albeit limited in scope. It starts with the harper and his brothers and sister but the following generation is limited to the sons of James Menzies in Duntyme named as Alexander, Robert and William, followed by Alexander's son James described as 'a minor' in 1717 and afterwards shoemaker in the Potterrow, Edinburgh in 1746.^[9]

There is no evidence that any of Alexander Menzies relatives played the harp or continued with the instrument after the harper's death in 1705. He was though not the last harper in that part of Perthshire and at Lude, John Robertson, the Laird himself played the harp until his death in 1729/30. However, the signs that the harp was being replaced by the violin were growing. A testament for a Charles Robertson in Killichangie recorded in 1716 includes a 'fiddle worth £3'^[10] and by 1723 the Duke of Atholl's violer Patrick MacFarlane was established with a Tack in Logierait and a salary of £13 6sh 8d per year.^[11] Even Alexander Robertson of Faskally who had been involved in assuming the Killichangie debts, including that due to Alexander Menzies the harper, according to his testament in 1732 owned both a violin and bass valued at £24.^[12]