Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

New sculpture commemorates burning of Perthshire village at the hands of retreating Jacobite forces

The sculpture in Dunning.
The sculpture in Dunning.

The acrid smell of smoke hung heavy in the air above Perthshire as the people of villages and towns in the east of the region watched their homes and businesses burn.

They had been put to the torch by men whose cause, mere days earlier, they may have supported and even aided.

The dark deed was carried out in 1715 by Jacobite forces retreating from the Battle of Sheriffmuir, by the order of the Earl of Mar.

He had met highly organised Government forces and though he may have proclaimed his army held the field they were in fact forced to retreat in disarray to Perth.

As they did so, he ordered his men to deny the Royal troops food and shelter, with Lord George Murray, the Earl of Mar’s military commander, carrying out those orders.

He razed six communities to the ground as he passed, among them Dunning, whose residents had never forgotten the burning, nor the pillaging that accompanied it.

Now a stunning new sculpture has been erected to commemorate the heinous act, specially commissioned from Forteviot sculptor Robert McFadzean.

Local historian Jane Young said: “The Wicker Woman golfer sculpture placed in the flower bed on Dunning’s War Memorial Green for the Ryder Cup had suffered the ravages of time and winter storms.

“With a replacement required a group of local people came up with the idea of commemorating the burning of Dunkeld by Lord George Murray.

“Thanks to the generosity of local groups, businesses and individuals in Dunning, we have been able to unveil Robert McFadzean’s sculpture.

“It depicts the flames that devoured our village on that cold, snowy night in January 1716, a little over 300 years ago.”

The village has marked its burning – the only one of the six destroyed to do so – since April of 1716, with its “Thorntree”.

The original was a wild hawthorn transplanted from Dunning Den, which stood in the village for 220 years until it was blown down in a gale in 1936.

A number of other trees have since taken its place, with the latest standing proudly in Thorntree Square.

The site of the Battle of Sheriffmuir, where more than 1,400 fighting men were killed or were wounded, is currently the focus of a new conflict.

Proposals have been put forward that would see thousands of trees planted on the battlefield, which is visited by thousands of people each year.

The plan has been met with a storm of protest and campaigners are urging people to make their objections know to the Forestry Commission Scotland by December 15.