Laid out below is an extract from the Third Statistical Account of Scotland. This excerpt, written in July 1951, and revised in May 1961, was published in 1966 for volume 18 of the accounts, this volume entitled "County of Stirling and County of Clackmannan". Dollar Parish, located within the County of Clackmannan, comes under the editorship of The Rev. T. Crouther Gordon, with overall organisation being carried out via Glasgow University.
The Third Statistical Account of Scotland – Volume 18, (1966)
Chapter 15
DOLLAR PARISH
(County of Clackmannan.)
By the Late Rev. Dr. Joseph Lynn, C.B.E. and the Rev. Andrew Hughes.
General Characteristics.
In this review the writers do not intend to traverse again most of the ground covered in the second or New Statistical Account in respect of the history, geographical features, flora and fauna of the parish. The main point which will be emphasised is the complete change in the population and their mode of life as a result of the development of John McNabb’s school (now called Dollar Academy) from a small foundation for the pupils of the parish of Dollar to its present position as one of the leading Scottish schools. One result of this has been the influx of large numbers of people, who purchase houses in order to secure cheap education for their children - such people coming from all parts of the world and introducing a cosmopolitan and often a cultural atmosphere into what would otherwise be a country village.
It should further be noted that as there is now no industry at all in the parish, a considerable number of people travel daily to the neighbouring industrial towns for work; but the bulk of the pupils at the Academy move away when their school days are over to other places and countries, with the result that there is a lack of young people residing here. This drift in and out is one of the salient features of life in this place, and one with which all those engaged in any religious, cultural or social activity have to cope.
In an atmosphere which is rather modern and sophisticated it is not to be expected that Old Customs, ways of speech, songs ballas or even superstitions should linger, though the use of the Doric is still observed even among those who can and do speak English correctly, when necessary.
One outstanding feature of local life is the loyalty which the School inspires in all former pupils. Several clubs have been formed, one locally, and others in Edinburgh, Glasgow, North of Scotland, North of England, and London. These Clubs not only support the school in various ways, but encourage members to revisit Dollar, especially at the Annual Commemoration Festival, at the end of June each year, and to send their Children to the school in due course. The local population share this view on the value of education and it is rare for them not to send their children on from the public school to the Academy, even if only for the ages of 10 to 15. The provision of free education under the Trust for those of the lower income groups makes this course easy.
It will be seen, then, that there are four main elements in the population:-
(a) The local people, many of whose forebears have also lived here;
(b) those who have settled for the purpose of educating their children;
(c) those who prefer to live in such pleasant surroundings, but work in neighbouring towns;
(d) retired people, many of whom are former pupils of the school, who have subsequently spent their working lives in countries abroad.
Boundaries and Population.
Since the second or New Statistical Account there has been no change in the boundaries N.W. by Blackford, N. by Glendevon in Perthshire, E. by Muckhart and Fossoway, S. by Clackmannan and W. by Tillicoultry. The area is some 4,795 acres.
The modern burgh (with a provost, 2 bailies and 6 councillors) comprises the bulk of the population, which has varied as follows :-
(1801), 693; (1851), 1,574; (1881), 2,500; (1901), 2,042; (1931), 1,804; (1951), 1603, of which 1,386 were in the burgh; and (1961), 1,955.
The, gradual decline in the population since 1881 has been due to the decay of industry, while the increase in the last ten years is due to the greater numbers in the Academy, now well over 700 pupils. Sheardale, mentioned in the second or New Statistical Account, has less than half a dozen houses, most of them condemned.
Public Services.
The water supply prior to 1876 was drawn from the Dollar burn by means of pumps in the streets, but in that year it was piped into the houses. Gas was introduced in 1892 and electricity in 1903.
The public health of the burgh is good. There is an adequate drainage system, street lighting, and refuse removal. There are three doctors and a nurse, but no hospital. Patients are sent to either Alloa or Stirling. Epidemics are rare, considering the high percentage of children, and infantile mortality is almost unknown. The most common ailment is rheumatism in its various forms, which may be due in part to the situation of the place under the shelter of the hills, inducing a certain amount of dampness. The subsoil is mainly gravel, which renders drainage easy.
Housing.
Dollar, like so many other villages in Scotland. has expanded in recent years by the addition of new houses (100 permanent brick houses and 10 prefabricated dwellings). These houses are grouped in five areas. The Upper Mains, lying to the west of the town parallel with the trunk road to Stirling, takes its name from the old manor house belonging to the family of Williamson, who were feuars of Castle Campbell Estate. Keeping up this connection the housing scheme, erected in 1936, is called the Manor House scheme. Another housing area to the east of the town, and on the first gradients of the foothills, is called Kirkstyle. Built in 1946 on the site of two old farms, known as Upper and Lower Kirkstyle, this consists of permanent five-apartment houses with 10 prefabricated houses built in a crescent at the east end of the scheme, and forming a pleasant area of well-kept dwellings. Part of the old parish church glebe was sold to the Burgh Council, and in 1937 a series of new houses in Argyll Street and Sorley's Brae was built on the the glebe land. In 1923 the road leading to the railway station was built up on either side, and in 1938 the West Burnside, comprising detached and semi-detached houses, was built.
Since the end of the second world war more building has been undertaken in the Kirkstyle and Argyll Street area, while a very few private bungalows have also been erected. The houses so far mentioned are all modern ones built since the first world war, but the main building in the town took place during and after the middle of the nineteenth century with the opening of the trunk road from Stirling to Milnathort, which passes through through the lower level of the Devon valley. Thus the stage-coach road through the upper reaches of the Ochil hills fell into disuse and the centre of the town moved from the north to the trunk road. Along this road from boundary to boundary were built stone houses, as in the side streets leading from this main road.
The total number of houses at present is 597.
Agriculture and other occupations.
The following statistics have been furnished by the Department of Agriculture for Scotland: tillage, 279 acres; rotation grass, 153 acres; permanent grass, 796 acres; rough grazings, 3,234 acres.
There are 6 full-time farms and 2 part and spare time. They are engaged in mixed dairying, stock and sheep rearing, and cropping. The principal landowner, the late Ernest Kerr of Harviestoun Castle, was a famous breeder of cattle. Modern methods of farming are in full use, and this is made easier by the fact that most of the land in the river valley is level. A large nursery garden supplies much of the fresh vegetables consumed. Apart from farming there is an entire lack of industry.
The former small coal mines are no longer worked, though a new mine has been opened in Perthshire, just outside the eastern boundary of the parish which may draw coal from under the parish lands, and render certain ground unusable for building purposes. To remedy this, the Burgh Council are applying to extend the western boundary of the burgh in order to secure more ground for future building expansion. The former bleach green was closed in 1893, and is now used as a sawmill. There is the usual variety of shops of all kinds, with the exception of a watchmaker and jeweller.
There is also a branch of the Clydesdale and North of Scotland bank,
Education.
The staff of Dollar Academy comprises a Rector, Second Master and 42 other Masters and Mistresses. The school roll at present is 712, including 3 Preparatory School numbering over 100.
Owing to lack of funds the school was transferred by the Governors in 1920 to the Clackmannan County Education Authority, but through the generosity of former pupils, sufficient funds were raised to secure its re-transfer to the present Board of Governors in 1934.
The composition of the present Board is 16, with Lieut-Col. Alan Wilson, a former pupil, as their chairman*.
* Now succeeded by Mr. Mark Kitson.
These governors represent various local and academic interests, while five represent clubs of former pupils, one the local churches five the County Education Committee and in addition there are 5 advisory governors.
The original building, designed by Playfair, still serves as the main school building, but various additions have been made, and still more are in contemplation. Unfortunately a serious fire destroyed the interior of the Playfair structure on 24 February, 1961, but plans are already made for its complete restoration and improvement*.
* By October 1963 the building has been reoccupied, enlarged and enhanced.
There are 10 boarding houses under the control of a private limited company, and housing over 200 boys and girls. The remainder of the pupils either reside in the parish or come by public transport daily from the Counties of Clackmannan and Kinross, and occasionally from neighbouring parishes in Perthshire and Fife. Certain restrictions have had to be imposed on entry - owing to the keen competition to attend the school - and there are usually long waiting lists. There is also a public school with 104 pupils and a staff of four teachers.
The Churches.
The parish church was rebuilt in 1841 on a new site and has since been enlarged. The Free church was built in 1859 to replace a building formerly occupied by a small congregation of the United Original Seceders, and has since been enlarged. A United Presbyterian church was built towards the end of the nineteenth century, but was closed in 1910 on union and is now a church hall.
The Episcopal church was built on its present site in 1879. The nearest Roman Catholic churches are in Alva and Alloa. The outstanding feature of church life in the latter part of the last century was the long simultaneous ministries of Dr. Gunn in the parish (now St. Columba) church, and Mr. Paul in the former Free (now West) church. Both left their mark on the life of the church and community.
The church statistics are as follows :-
St. Columba (Church of Scotland): 628 members, average attendance 350-400 including young people (evening 60-100); Sunday School, 148; Bible Class, 77; Woman’s Guild, 110.
West Church (Church of Scotland): 262 members. average attendance 250 (evening 25-30); Sunday School, 80: Bible Class, 65; Woman’s Guild, 48.
St. James (Episcopal): 284 (115 communicants). average attendance, 150.
All school boarders attend church and thus encourage others. There is a high percentage of nominal church members who join for the privileges - Procuring testimonials and financial aid, but in this latter respect the Church can no longer compete with the welfare state. Some attend only to keep ‘in good standing,’ but on the whole there is evident a healthy atmosphere of worship, more especially marked among the middle classes, who form a larger element in this parish than in the mill towns of the Hillfoots of the Ochils.
Voluntary Organisations.
As might be expected, local societies and clubs abound, comprising church guilds, a Co-operative Women's Guild, Masonic Order, British Legion, each with their own hall, Red Cross, Youth Clubs (with separate premises for boys and girls, and playing field adjoining), country dancing, Dramatic Society, clubs for bridge, badminton, golf, tennis bowling and curling. In Addition the Academy has clubs and societies of all kinds for its pupils. There is a good library at the school, to which the local inhabitants have access, and which also houses a branch of the county library. Ample facilities for sport are provided for the pupils in the school grounds, and these are being increased. Pupils have access to the adjoining golf links. There is no cinema in the town, but the British Legion Hall is used for public entertainments of various kinds.
Castle Campbell.
High above Dollar at the apex of a steep natural glen in the foothills of the Ochils is the ancient seat of the Argyle family, Castle Campbell. (It is fully described and illustrated in the Report on the Counties of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan (1933) of the Royal Commission on the Ancient Monuments of Scotland, pp. 321-5.)
On 26 May 1865 a footpath from Dollar to this ancient landmark was opened at a cost of £300, raised by public subscription from the people of Dollar. This winding path is 3,254 yards long, and the bridges erected at the side ravines and gulleys total 165 feet in length. Throughout the years this beauty spot afforded great pleasure to the people with their uninterrupted right of way through the glen to the vantage view point at the Castle itself, and the further walks over the rolling hills into Glendevon. Slowly these bridges suffered the wear and tear of time and weather, until ultimately it became impossible without feats of daring to walk up the Glen as far as the Castle. In 1950 the Castle was given over to the care of the Ministry of Works by its owner, the late Mr. Kerr of Harviestoun Castle, the chief landowner in the parish, and the Glen was entrusted by the same donor to the National Trust for Scotland.
The proposal was put to the people of Dollar that if they were to raise a sufficient sum of money for the replacement of the Glen bridges, the National Trust would maintain the Glen, while the Ministry of Works would repair and preserve the Castle. That same year at a cost of £1,134 the Glen and Castle were again opened to the public.
Way of Life.
The manner of life of the people has changed in many respects during the past hundred years.
Two important factors were developments in transport. In 1869 the railway station of Dollar was opened, linking Dollar with Stirling, Alloa and the growing industrial areas of Menstrie and Tillicoultry to the west, and with Dunfermline and Kinross to the east. In 1922 the first internal combustion solid tyre omnibus belonging to the General Omnibus Company conveyed the relatively static-minded people to the bigger towns. In 1926 the established bus service was taken over by Messrs. Alexander and Company of Falkirk with a fleet of increasingly fast and comfortable buses. Thus this small township was linked with the industrial centres. Transport by road and rail has undoubtedly been a major factor in bringing the people into the main stream of modern life and in solving the problem of how to bring farm products from the place of production to the centres of sale with speed and ease.
Dollar has thus remained neither a farming nor an industrial community, but rather a consumer. Economic reasons account for the closing down of such industry as prevailed a century ago, as coal power replaced water power, and industry tended to gather together in areas which were particularly suitable. The appeal of higher wages in the industrial areas and the modern ease of travel from door to door have brought about a feature which prevails to this day - a travelling working-class community, working in the neighbouring industrial towns and spending their hours of leisure and recreation at home. Apart from school teachers, shopkeepers and doctors and clergy, the population either earns its living elsewhere, or lives on investments and pensions.
As emphasised throughout this brief survey, the factor which binds the town into one is centred on the activity and interests of the Academy. It colours and emphasises the whole tone of life in the town. It is a common saying that 'The School is Dollar and Dollar is the school.' This has given rise to its title of 'The Classic Burgh.'
Owing to the departure of the school's pupils to spend their active years elsewhere, this is a community of young and old, in which the age group 20-40 is largely missing. There is also a constant movement of households in and out, with one result, that houses command an abnormally high price, and another that many people do not settle down when they know that their stay will only be for a few years.
In conclusion, the life of the people, which once revolved round the farms and small self-contained industries, has now entered a wider orbit. It is commonplace to hear people speak quietly and naturally of all the far-off corners of the earth. Education is not a mere formal matter of 'book-learning' but is enlarged by illustrations from the book of life.
The native beauty of the town's environment enhances this sense of life-values. It is, then, to John McNabb, a poor boy from a local farm, who made his fortune by trading to the ends of the earth, and left it for the benefit of succeeding generations, that Dollar owes its fame and its place in the life of Scotland, and its unique unique position in the hearts of so many who here laid the foundations of their lives.
Written, July, 1951.
Revised, May, 1961.