Memorial details

Memorial type
Cairn
District
Perth And Kinross
Town
Dunkeld
County
Tayside
Country
Scotland
Commemoration
First World War (1914-1918), Second World War (1939-1945), Northern Ireland Conflict; The Troubles (1969-1998)
Ceremony
  • Unveiled
    Date: 16 October 1921
    Attended by: Duke Of Atholl KT
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
13342

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Current location

On top of a hill
Crossing the River Tay from Dunkeld into Birnam
in front of you
adjacent to the A9
Dunkeld
Perth And Kinross
Tayside
PH8 0AB
Scotland

OS Grid Ref: NO 02679 42118
Denomination: Undefined

View location on Google Maps
Description
Very tall tapering cairn of unworked stone blocks set in a circular paved area. Inset name plaques on front face
Inscription
WW1 Plaque- Dunkeld TO GOD BE THE GLORY Little Dunkeld/ 1914 - 1919/ (names in 3 columns)/ YE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS, WHO REST TRIUMPHANT, UNFORGOTTEN WW2 Plaque-1939-1945/[names in 3 columns] NI Plaque-NORTHERN IRELAND/[name]
Inscription legible?
yes
Names on memorial
Allan, Donald
Allan, John
Anderson, Hunter
Anderson, William
Annad, William
Brown, T D
Cameron, David
Campbell, Donald
Cesari, Sydney
Cumming, James
See details for all 98 names
Commemorations
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 74
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 74
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: surname, rank, regiment, forenames, decorations
    Order of information: surname
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 24
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 24
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: surname, forenames, rank, service
    Order of information: surname
  • Northern Ireland Conflict; The Troubles (1969-1998)
    Total names on memorial: 1
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 1
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: surname, initials of forenames, rank, regiment, date of death
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Plaque
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Metal
  • Second World War memorial
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Bronze
  • First World War memorial
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Bronze
  • Cairn
    Measurements: height 60FT
    Materials: Stone
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Reference
  • THE DEAD HEROES OF DUNKELD PICTURESQUE MEMORIAL UNVEILED DUKE OF ATHOLL AND SELFISHNESS Erected upon a high knoll at the junction of the Dunkeld and Strathbraan roads, as can be seen anywhere in the county, as can be seen anywhere in the country, the memorial to the men of the parishes of Dunkeld and Little Dunked - a thirty foot cairn of rough native stone from Craig Barns Hill - was unveiled and dedicated in a simple but impressive manner on Saturday afternoon. During the ceremony heavy showers of rain fell, in keeping with the sorrow and pain in the hearts of the bereaved ones, but afterwards the sun shone out in all its brilliancy, bringing with it hope and comfort and peace. On a bronze tablet, set in the face of the cairn are inscribed the names of the 74 fallen men, over the inscription, ‘Ye are more than conquerors, who rest triumphantly unforgotten’, viz:- SGT. MAJ. DONALD ALLAN, D.C.M., BLACK WATCH, SGT. HUNTER ANDERSON, A. & S. HIGHLANDERS, L.-CPL. WILLIAM ANNAND, SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS, PTE. DAVID CAMERON, SCOTS GUARDS, PTE. DONALD CAMPBELL, CAMERON HIGHLANDERS, CAPT. SYDNEY CESARI, M.C., R.A.M.C., PTE. MCLAREN CUTHBERT, GORDON HIGHLANDERS, CPL. JAMES DAVIDSON, BLACK WATCH, PTE. PETER DONALDSON, CANADIAN E.F., PTE. GEORGE DOW, BLACK WATCH, PTE. CHARLES DUFF, BLACK WATCH, PTE. WILLIAM S. DUFF, EAST KENT REGIMENT, PTE. JAMES EDWARDS, EAST YORK REGIMENT, CPL. ANGUS FINLAYSON, ROYAL SCOTS, PTE. THOMAS FITZGERALD, CAMERON HIGHLANDERS, PTE. JOHN FITZGERALD, BLACK WATCH, PTE. EDWARDS FITZGERLAD, NOTTS. & DERBY REGIMENT, CPL. JAMES FOTHERINGHAM, BLACK WATCH, CPL. GEORGE GLASS, BLACK WATCH, PTE. JAMES GOW, BLACK WATCH, PTE. ALEXANDER GREIG, SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS, PTE. JOHN ALEXANDER HALL, SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS, PTE. ROBERT HENDERSON, BLACK WATCH, CPL. JAMES HISLOP, ROYAL SCOTS PIPER CPL. ARTHUR J. C. HORNE, SCOTTISH RIFLES, PTE. JAMES HUNTER, ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS, PTE. DUNCAN HUTTON, ROYAL SCOTS, CPL. WILLIAM INNES, CAMERON HIGHLANDERS, SAPR. DAVID PATON JACKSON, ROYAL ENGINEERS, LIEUT. ARTHUR LESLIE JENKS, DORSET REGIMENT, CPL. DUNCAN LAWSON, BLACK WATCH, PTE. JAMES LITTLE, ROYAL SCOTS, PTE. WILLIAM LOW, SCOTS GUARDS, GNR. JOHN LOW, ROYAL FIELD ARTILLERY, LIEUT. GEORGE LOW, ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS, PTE. DONALD M'DIARMID, GORDON HIGHLANDERS, PTE. ALEXANDER M'DOUGALL, BLACK WATCH, CAPT. MALCOLM M'GILLEWIE, ROYAL GARRISON ARTILLERY, LIEUT. NIGEL M'GILLEWIE, K.OS.B., PTE. GEORGE M'INTOSH, H.L.I. PTE. EWEN M'KAY, CAMERON HIGHLANDERS, TROOPER LACHLAN M'KECHNIE, SCOTTISH HORSE, TROOPER JOHN MACRAE M'LEOD, SCOTS GREYS, SGT. JOHN M'ROSTIE, LONDON SCOTTISH, PTE. ARCHIBALD M'PHERSON, BLACK WATCH, PTE. JAMES MALCOLM, ROYAL SCOTS, LIEUT. DAVID MARTIN, OXFORD & BUCKS. REGIMENT, CPL. DUNCAN MURRAY, MACHINE GUN CORPS, PTE. IAN MACNAUGHTON PILKINGTON, BLACK WATCH, LIEUT. PETER ROBERTSON PURDIE, ROYAL GARRISON ARTILLERY LIEUT. W. A. RAE, BLACK WATCH, SGT. DAVID REID, SOUTH AFRICAN INFANTRY, PTE. THOMAS A. RICHARDSON, BLACK WATCH, PTE. PETER RITCHIE, CAN. CAMERON HIGHLANDERS, PTE. DAVID ROBERTSON, SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS, PTE. DONALD ROBERTSON, BLACK WATCH, PTE. ROBERT ROBERTSON, BLACK WATCH, CAPT. ROBERT C. ROGER, R.A.M.C., PTE. HUGH Y. ROGER, BLACK WATCH, PTE. DRUMMOND K. ROGER, BLACK WATCH, PTE. ALISTAIR SCOTT, SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS, PTE. JAMES LOW SCOTT, BLACK WATCH, PTE. DANIEL SIM, BLACK WATCH, PTE. JAMES R. SMEATON, CAMERON HIGHLANDERS, SGT. WILLIAM SMITH, BLACK WATCH, CPL. JOHN M'GREGOR SMITH, BLACK WATCH, MAJOR LORD GEORGE STEWART-MURRAY, BLACK WATCH, PTE. DAVID STEWART, BLACK WATCH, CPL. ALEXANDER STEWART, S. HORSE R.A.M.C., RIFLEMAN ATHOLL STEWART, L.P.O. RIFLES, CPL. JOHN STEWART, INNISKILLINGS, CPL. DONALD TURNBULL, BLACK WATCH, PTE. JOHN GEORGE WALLACE, GORDON HIGHLANDERS. His Grace, The Duke of Atholl, who performed the unveiling ceremony, stood in the midst of his own people and his own county and there was no master of ceremony, in the shape of a chairman. Several hundreds of spectators, including a guard of honour of ex-servicemen, under the command of Mr Robertson, Brae Street, stood around the cairn, the Duke being accompanied by her Grace, the Duchess, Lord James Stewart Murray, Mr D. A. Tod and Lady Helen Tod, Colonel Steuart Fotheringham, Mr W. A. Rae, Capt. Heaven, Dr Mathers, Capt. K. Anderson, M.C., and Mrs Anderson, Baron Baillie Watson, President of the Memorial Committee, Mr A. Harris, Secretary, and other members of the Committee, viz: Mr George Stewart, Joint Secretary, Mr J. Sim, Mr J. M’Rosty, Mr D. Keir, Mrs E. Miller, and Mr Hugh Robertson. The devotional part of the service was conducted by the Rev. C. M. Robertson, Little Dunkeld, Rev. J. M. Hamilton, Dunkeld U.F. Church, Rev. John M’Ainsh, and the Rev. W. Gwyther, St. Mary’s Church, Birnam. Following upon the singing of the hymn, ‘Our God our help in ages past’, and the Prayer and Scripture lesson, the Duke drew aside the Union Jack which veiled the tablet and in doing so said:- “Ye are more than conquerors, who rest triumphantly unforgotten“. Those were the words penned by a Birnam boy, who willingly gave up his life, as did all his other comrades whose names are recorded on this monument, in order that his fellow countrymen might live secure. It must surely be very rare that a man unconsciously writes his own epitaph, and that it should be so suitable, and inscribed on a public memorial with his own name, within the time of his own generation. The words, I think, give us the keynote of the feeling that imbued our lads when they went forth to the front. They were not out for conquest, as we understood the word before the recent war. The mere physical lust for conquest was not part of the ‘drive’ that imbued them. They had to win, and they realised that victory meant much more than merely conquering a foe - it had to be the full triumph of right over wrong, and the ethics of Christianity over the work of the devil. They won, and they rest triumphant. These words convey to us that if they had failed, there could hardly have been rest for them beyond the grave, but their spirits rest now, their swords sheathed, their souls triumphant, and their deeds will never be forgotten so long as history can hand down to future generations the account of how a million of men of British stock died that all that makes life worth living in a Christian country might be preserved for those that come after them. They died in absolute faith that we should not forget them - not so much themselves, perhaps, but the heritage they left us. We often used to say that war was unthinkable between two great European nations - we were wrong; but it would be unspeakable - none of us would be able to look the other in the face if, after all that had passed, we were not to do everything in our power to make good at the present time. We should be false to the memories of our comrades, we should be cheats to each other, if we were content to sit down now, and not pull our weight in this country. It is not given to everyone to pull the same weight, but all of us according to our strength and ability can help the ship of State along, and those who do not do their utmost, who tamper with the morale of the crew, who advise the members to take it easy during the storm which we are battling against at the present moment, are not only giving more work to those who are trimming the sails, and hanging onto the sheets, but are false to the memory of those who died, and are endangering not only the ship, but the lives of every man on board it. We are passing through difficult times - we are going tom pass through still more difficult. We shall have difficulties of finance, we shall have unemployment, and all its attendant consequences of hunger and unrest. Such times can only be negotiated successfully if everyone tries to help his neighbour, asks for less for himself, denies himself, and tries to put himself a little more in the place of the other man. During the war we had a great united thought - we had one goal - we had a great spirit of comradeship, but we also had great enthusiasm and uplift in the face of a common danger which was apparent to us all. Our difficulties today are far more prosaic, but nonetheless real. We live in a time of apathy, and the trumpets of war do not drown the whisper of those who wish ill to the State, as they did when they were face to face with an enemy whom we could see and appreciate - all of which means there is just as much danger to the State as there was during the war, though if we are wilfully deaf, and patently blind, we shall not realise it until it may be too late. May this cairn standing here in the midst of our own little circle serve to remind us of our duty to one another - lest we forget. I now unveil this memorial to the Glory of God, who gave us the victory, and to the memory of these gallant men of these parishes who died in the defence of their country and the cause of honour and liberty. Thereafter, the Paraphrase ‘How bright these glorious spirits shine’, was sung by all present, and the benediction pronounced. Then, in the midst of an impressive silence four of the Duke’s pipers, played the lament, ‘Lochaber No More’, and when this ceased, the Duke formally intimated that it was his intention to present the ground upon which the memorial stood to the Parishes of Dunkeld and Little Dunkeld for all time coming, and the rev. Mr Robertson, on behalf of the parish Council, in a word accepted the custody of the memorial and ground. A large number of wreaths were afterwards placed at the foot of the cairn, one in particular that from Inver, being outstanding in that it contained flowers from every garden in the village. Mr Godfrey Shepherd, Dundee, gave his services gratuitously as architect of the cairn, while the actual work was carried out by Mr James Kennedy. Some idea of the substantial character of the monument may be gathered from the fact that a considerable number of the stones comprising it weigh over two tons, the crowning stone being 5 cwts, over that figure. The words referred to by the Duke of Atholl were penned by Lieut. Peter R. Purdie, son of Mr Purdie, late headmaster, Birnam, and now headmaster, Auchterarder.
  • Carter Postcard Collection
  • warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=277&mforum=warmemscot
  • Dundee Courier - Wednesday 26 August 1992 Another cased of neglect Letter about the state of the Dunkeld and Killin War Memorials. Killin - "there is even a tree growing on the figure near the top"

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