Ochtertyre Mausoleum

THE mausoleum at Ochtertyre was erected by the Murrays in 1809 to commemorate their murdered ancestors who died at the hands of the Drummonds in 1511.

A long-standing feud existed between the Murrays and the Drummonds, which was intensified at this time when a party of Murrays made a raid on Drummond soil. A lengthy battle ensued at Knock Mary as the Drummonds defended themselves but they were soon vanquished.

However, as the Murrays returned home with their spoils Campbell of Dunstaffnage and his men, who had come looking for the Murrays to avenge the deaths of some of their fellow clansmen, happened upon the Drummonds still licking their wounds.

The clans joined forces and thus strengthened pursued the Murrays, who took refuge in the church along with their wives and children. Their enemies would not have known they were there if a Murray had not given away their hiding place by firing a musket shot at a Drummond who passed nearby.

Before long the church was surrounded but the Murrays defiantly refused to surrender.

The Drummonds reacted by setting fire to the heather-thatched roof and it is said that 160 men and their families were burned to death, with only one escaping.

The atrocity did not go unpunished. The Master of Drummond and several of his followers were brought to trial and, on being found guilty of the massacre, were condemned and executed at Stirling.