Editing Callander (section)

== History ==
A [[Neolithic]] settlement situated south of the river was excavated in 2001 finding evidence of a timber building {{convert|25|m|ft|-1}} in length along with Neolithic pottery.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barclay |first1=Gordon |last2=Brophy |first2=Kenneth |last3=MacGregor |first3=Gavin |year=2002 |title=A Neolithic building at Claish Farm, near Callander, Stirling Council, Scotland, UK |journal=Antiquity |volume=76 |issue=291 |pages=23–24 |publisher=Antiquity Publications |doi= 10.1017/S0003598X00089675}}</ref> The Auchenlaich Cairn, a Neolithic chambered cairn which at {{convert|322|m|ft}} in length is the longest in Britain, is situated near Keltie Bridge just east of Callander.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Colleen |editor-last=Batey |title=Discovery and Excavation in Scotland: an annual survey of Scottish archaeological discoveries, excavation and fieldwork |publisher=Council for Scottish Archaeology |year=1991 |pages=9 |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/archiveDownload?t=arch-753-1/dissemination/pdf/1990/1991.pdf |isbn=090135211X |issn=0419-411X }}{{Dead link|date=September 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The remains of an ancient [[Hillforts in Scotland|hillfort]] can be seen at Dunmore overlooking [[Loch Venachar]], near [[Kilmahog]]. This fort was likely a large defended structure visible from some distance and excavations have revealed a well and signs of [[Vitrified fort|vitrified]] stonework.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://canmore.org.uk/site/24375|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland |work=CANMORE |title=Dunmore |access-date=26 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="castlesfortsbattles:dunmore_bochastle">{{cite web| url=http://www.castlesfortsbattles.co.uk/central_west_scotland/dunmore_hillfort_bochastle_roman_fort.html |title=Dunmore Hillfort and Bochastle Roman Fort |access-date=26 April 2018}}</ref> Nearby, the remains of [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] ramparts constructed during the campaigns of [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|Agricola]] in the first century AD are visible at Bochastle Farm.<ref name="castlesfortsbattles:dunmore_bochastle" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.incallander.co.uk/trossachshistory.htm |title=A History of Callander The Trossachs, Scotland |access-date=1 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926190316/http://www.incallander.co.uk/trossachshistory.htm | archive-date=26 September 2013}}</ref>

Saint [[Kessog]], a disciple of [[Columba]] of Iona, preached and taught in this area in the early sixth century. A small mound by the River Teith is named in pseudo-Gaelic as "Tom na Chessaig", meaning "the Hill of Kessog". This man-made mound is circular with a level top approximately {{convert|10|m|ft|-1}} in diameter. It is reputed to have been constructed as a memorial to the Saint or even to be the remains of Callander's original church (situated close to the old graveyard). The structure has actually been identified as a medieval [[motte]], although no excavation has confirmed this. Historians record that an annual market called "Feill ma Chessaig" (festival of Kessog) was held here until the early 19th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://canmore.org.uk/site/24331 |title=Tom Na Chisaig - Canmore |access-date=11 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="incallander_hist">{{cite web |url=http://www.incallander.co.uk/trossachshistory.htm |title=A History of Callander The Trossachs, Scotland |access-date=11 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926190316/http://www.incallander.co.uk/trossachshistory.htm |archive-date=26 September 2013}}</ref>

A medieval tower house, Callander Castle, once stood south of the river, which is said to have been "a square tower of considerable height". This belonged to the Livingstons of [[Callendar House]] near [[Falkirk]]. The only remains of the castle are some masonry and a possible [[datestone]] inscribed 1596, which is now incorporated within the old St Kessog's Manse on the same site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://canmore.org.uk/site/24376|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland |work=CANMORE |title=Callander Castle |access-date=26 April 2018}}</ref>

In 1645, during the campaigns of [[James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose|Montrose]], a battle was fought at Callander between the [[Clan Campbell|Campbells]] of [[Argyll]] and the Atholl men. The Campbells were harassing the [[Clan Gregor|McGregors]] and the [[Clan Macnab|McNabs]] for their allegiance to Montrose. While besieging Castle Ample, the news came of the advance of 700 Atholl men under Inchbrakie. A retreat was made southwards, but, as the Campbells were crossing a ford to the east of the village of Callander, they were overtaken and compelled to give battle. Inchbrakie, advancing part of his force to attack the defenders, quietly marched another detachment towards a ford higher up near the present bridge. A crossing was soon effected, and the Campbells, being unexpectedly attacked on the rear, broke and fled, leaving eighty of their men dead on the field.

Although it is not known when the area was first settled, Callander is mentioned in parish records since at least the 15th century. The Medieval Parish of Callander was a patchwork of estates, settlements and farms and some of these survive in the present street names, such as Murdiestoun, Balgibbon and East Mains. The area around Callander was cleared for sheep before 1800 as part of the early phases of the [[Highland Clearances]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Alexander |title=The Grampians desolate: a poem |date=1804 |publisher=Edinburgh, J. Moir |url=https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_rJMgAAAAMAAJ/bub_gb_rJMgAAAAMAAJ_djvu.txt|access-date=25 November 2017|pages=210–211}}</ref>

[[Scottish Gaelic]] was once widely spoken. In 1803, [[William Wordsworth]] and his sister, [[Dorothy Wordsworth|Dorothy]], visited Callander and the Trossachs and recorded everyday encounters with Gaelic language and culture.<ref name="Wordsworth1803">{{cite book |last=Wordsworth |first=Dorothy |date=1997 |title=Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=0300071558}}</ref> In the 1840s sermons were delivered in both Gaelic and English, and Gaelic was taught in at least two schools in the area. By the 1880s most locals were speaking a mixture of Gaelic, [[Scots language|Scots]] and English. In the 1900s, Celtic scholar, [[William J. Watson]], documented, "four Gaelic-speaking men born near Callander, two of whom were over 80 and had excellent knowledge of the place-names." However, one 19th century writer (Alexander MacGibbon) took objection to the local dialect, stating, "The true Gaelic is a noble language, worthy of the fire of Ossian, and wonderfully adapted to the genius of a warlike nation; but the contemptible language of the people about Callander, and to the east, is quite incapable of communicating a noble idea."<ref name="McNiven"/><ref>Newton, Michael.(2010). ''Bho Chluaidh Gu Calasraid - from the Clyde to Callander: Gaelic Songs, Poetry, Tales and Traditions of the Lennox and Menteith in Gaelic with English Translations'', p. 285. The Grimsay Press  {{ISBN|1845300688}}.</ref>
[[File:Callander.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|Post Office]]
Callander was served by rail from 1 July 1858 as the terminus of a [[branch line]] from [[Dunblane]].<ref name="thomas"/>  A second [[Callander railway station]] was opened about {{convert|1/2|mi|m|sigfig=1}} to the west, behind the Dreadnought Hotel, on 1 June 1870 when the railway was extended to [[Killin]] en route to [[Oban]], and closed on 5 November 1965. Sections of this former [[Callander and Oban Railway]] line, between Callander and [[Strathyre]] and between [[Balquhidder]] and Killin Junction, are now part of the [[National Cycle Network]] (route 7)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sustrans.com/default.asp?sID=1089651611859 |title=National Cycle Network |access-date=26 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928032011/http://www.sustrans.com/default.asp?sID=1089651611859 |archive-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the [[Rob Roy Way]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.robroyway.com/|title=Rob Roy Way Home|website=Rob Roy Way Official Site}}</ref> Track from the dismantled Callander and Oban Railway was used in the construction of the transit system for the [[1968 Summer Olympics]] in [[Mexico City]].<ref name="thomas">{{cite book |first=John |last=Thomas |title=The Callander & Oban railway | series=The history of the railways of the Scottish Highlands |edition=2 |volume=4 |publisher=David St John Thomas |year=1990 |isbn=9780946537464}}</ref>

The noted Scottish landscape artist [[Archibald Kay]] RSW RSA chose Callander as his home from 1904 and he became a noted resident of the town. A member of the [[Glasgow Art Club,]] [[The Paisley Art Institute]] and a close associate of fellow artist [[George Houston (painter)|George Houston]], Kay painted all around the River Leny and the hills of the Trossachs National Park and Kay is noted especially for his views of Ben Ledi overlooking Callander. Elected a member of the Scottish Royal Society of Arts, Kay was elected a member of the school board for [[McLaren High School]] in 1911 and was commissioned by Callander town council to design the war memorial to honour the fallen from the town and this was erected in Ancaster Square. Kay died in 1935 and is buried in Callander alongside his twelve-year-old son Archie, who drowned in a boating accident in 1907, and Archibald Kay's cousin George Whitelaw who also drowned trying to save him. Kay's second wife Mary also rests in the impressive Georgian style monument in the Stirling Road Cemetery.