The Great Dundonachie
Among the many interesting people described in the publication "Blairgowrie Stormont and Strathmore Worthies", published in 1903, there can be few with as good a tale as Alexander Robertson, self-styled Chief of the Clan Donnachaidh. In the title of the chapter devoted to him, he is grandly described as "Demolisher of Pontages and Metaphysical Systems". The worthies in the book are mainly kenspeckle figures of eastern Perthshire in the nineteenth century and the book is to be found in the Local Studies section of the AK Bell Library.
Of Dundonnachie, the book says: "No one ever became the kilt better; the broad-brimmed, well-cocked, well-feathered Balmoral better; looked more to the manner born "Chief" of the proud Clan Donnachaidh that he claimed to be." He was born and raised in Dunkeld and spent much of his life there, eventually having built in Strathbraan the property from which he took his nickname. He had a spell in banking and accountancy before setting himself up in business, supplying lime, coal and wood to clients, the most famous of which was the Duke of Atholl himself. Away from business he was a keen philosopher and he had a "small volume" entitled The Laws of Thought published in 1864, which by all accounts sold well. Encouraged by this, he applied for the Chair of Moral Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. His letter of application must rank among the best, and read:
"I beg to request the favour of your placing my name on the list of applicants for the Chair of Moral Philosophy now vacant. I feel justified in taking this step, because:
- I am able to show that atheism and scepticism involve contradictions, and may therefore be negatived
- I can produce a mathematical demonstration of the existence of God. (The solution of this problem, which has hitherto baffled metaphysicians, will revolutionise philosophy)
- I can treat philosophy as an exact science. (At present it is taught merely as a rule of thumb, or according to the whim of each Professor)
Should the patrons desire evidence to support these qualifications - which no other candidate will pretend to - I shall gladly afford satisfactory proof of their validity."
Unfortunately he was not called for interview!
Having "demolished" metaphysical systems he then set about demolishing pontages. Pontages were the tolls levied on those crossing the bridge at Dunkeld. The bridge was opened in 1808 and had been built at the expense of the Duke of Atholl. Pontages were the means by which the Duke recouped the investment. The pontages were "a bawbee a head".
Some years later, the people felt that the cost must have been repaid and that to continue to have to pay was wrong. The Duke of Atholl had since gone elsewhere for his lime, coal and wood and some suspected that Dundonachie looked for a way to get back at him. The straw that broke the camel's back was the refusal by the Duke to receive a deputation from the Free Church who wanted free passage across the bridge on Sundays and a "public indignation meeting" was held at which Dundonachie was appointed Convener. A series of arguments and counter-arguments about the accounting for the bridge ensued before Dundonachie took the law into his own hands on 8 February 1868 by crossing and recrossing the bridge without payment. A legal process was begun before, on 13 February, a mob of 12 removed the toll-gate and lobbed it into the Tay from the bridge. It was later recovered at Caputh. A second gate was erected before it, too, was removed on 16 February. Arrests ensued.
After much more background wrangling and several public meetings, Dundonachie, fortified by whisky, made a personal attack on the bridge on 7 July "...with an axe in one hand and the Bridge Act in the other". His energy caused the head of his axe to fly off, but others finished the job he had begun the next evening. Another gate was erected, but smashed down as quickly as it went up. As a result, a whole detachment of the 42nd Light Infantry from Perth was sent to Dunkeld which "fairly put the people mad." On 14 July the entire populace of Dunkeld and Birnam assembled and, under the noses of the military, crossed and recrossed the bridge behind a piper and a brass band. The book observes: "Fortunately there was no interference offered." Dundonnachie was pursued round the land with the might of the law to no effect. The Hermitage was "blown up" on 6 September and Sir Robert Menzies was observed kicking the bridge toll collection box to pieces on the public road about this time. By 17 December, accountants were, remarkably, able to find a way of showing that the bridge had indeed been paid for, and free passage resulted.
The exertions did for Dundonachie however. Having slandered Sheriff Barclay and having assaulted Lord President Inglis, and pursued by the courts, he took up a form of exile in London, lived for a while in Edinburgh before ending his days in 1893 in Glasgow at the age of 68. He is, however, credited with being the source of the Roads and Bridges Act of 1878 which proposed the abolition of bridge tolls. Without Dundonachie, we might yet have been paying to cross the Tay at Dunkeld!
