Memorial details

Memorial type
Cross
District
Perth And Kinross
Town
Aberuthven
County
Tayside
Country
Scotland
Commemoration
First World War (1914-1918), Second World War (1939-1945)
Ceremony
  • Unveiled
    Date: October 1919
    Attended by: Duke of Atholl
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
82366

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Current location

Main Street
Aberuthven
Perth And Kinross
Tayside
PH3 1EY
Scotland

OS Grid Ref: NN 977153
Denomination: Undefined

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Description
Celtic style cross on a tapered plinth, base and 3 staged base. There is a modern plaque for WW1 which replaced previously carved names that had weathered away, and WW2 names carved on the rear face. Reference to the unveiling report shows that the modern plaque omitted the previously carved name of Private Donald Archibald, S/5078 11th Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, died 20 April 1917.
Inscription
Front face plaque-IN HONOURED/MEMORY OF THE/OFFICER, N.C.O. & MEN OF/ABERUTHVEN WHP FELL/IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918/[names] 12 o'clock face- 1939-1945/[names]
Inscription legible?
yes
Names on memorial
Archibald, Donald
Archibald, James
Barnett, John
Brown, James
Brown, John
Cairns, William
Graeme, L
Law, A
Lennon, J M
Mckenzie, Charles
See details for all 16 names
Commemorations
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 11
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 11
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: surname, forenames, rank, regiment, additional
    Order of information: rank THEN surname
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 5
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 5
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: surname, forenames, rank, service
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Base
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Granite - Red
  • Cross
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Granite - Red
  • Plinth
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Granite - Red
  • First World War memorial
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Metal
  • Steps
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone
Condition
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Reference
  • warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=285&mforum=warmemscot
  • www.lostancestors.eu/memwar/A/Aberuthen.htm
  • THE STRATHEARN HERALD: 25.10.1919 UNVEILING WAR MEMORIAL AT ABERUTHVEN THE DUKE OF ATHOLL AT CEREMONY To the village of Aberuthven, some two miles from Auchterarder, falls the honour of being the first community in the county of Perth to erect an outdoor memorial to the men of the district who fell in the war. The work of raising funds for the memorial was undertaken by a committee, with Mr Thos. L. Anderson of Damside as Convenor; the Rev. Jas. MacMillan, Aberuthven, as Vice-Convenor; and Mr Thos. Campbell, Schoolhouse, as Secretary; and so gratifying was the response to the appeal that in the village and district a sum of £451 was soon collected. It was decided that the memorial should take the form of a Celtic cross, and it was arranged that the surplus money, after meeting the expense of the execution and erection of the memorial, should be allocated among the seven men of the village and district who had been disabled in the fighting. The Celtic Cross, which is of red granite, and designed by Mr A. D. Hislop, architect, Glasgow, occupies a site in the centre of the village facing the main roadway, and on the cross is the following inscription:- “In honoured memory of the officer, n.c.o.’s, and men of Aberuthven, who fell in the Great War, 1914-1918 - Lieut.-Col. Graeme, C.M.G., 1st Cameron Highlanders; Corp. James Scott, 1st Seaforth Highlanders; Pte. Donald Archibald, 11th A. & S. Highlanders; Pte. James Archibald, 6th Royal Highlanders; Pte. John Barnett, 2nd Scots Guards; Pte. John Brown, 2nd Gordon Highlanders; Pte. James Brown, 1st Royal Highlanders; Pte. William Cairns, 6th Royal Highlanders; Pte. Charles M’Kenzie, 6th Royal Highlanders; Pte. Andrew Wylie; 12th Royal Scots; Pte. James Wylie, 3rd Australian Imperial Infantry. Their names liveth forevermore”. THE UNVEILING CEREMONY Mr T. L. Anderson, of Damside presided at the unveiling ceremony, and the large company included the Duke of Atholl, K.T.; Lady Wilson of Kippen; Sir William Haldane of Fosswell, Lady Haldane and Miss Haldane; Col. Graeme of Garvock; Captain Graeme, Seaforth Highlanders, Fort George; the Misses Graeme, Aberuthven Lodge; Mrs Drummond Forbes of Millearne; Mr George Buchanan of Gask; Mrs Anderson and Misses Anderson, Damside; Mrs Young and party, Belvidere; Rev. James MacMillan, Aberuthven; Rev. Robt. Gardiner and Mrs Gardiner, Auchterarder; Mr John Cairns, Belhie; Mr Robert Carmichael, Mr and Mrs peter Carmichael, Kirklands; Mr R. Whitehead, Drumtogle; Mr and Mrs T. Campbell, Schoolhouse; Mr and Mrs Fletcher, North Strathy; Mr and Mrs David Allardice; Mr William Drummond, Broadleys; Mrs Barclay, Aberuthven; Mrs Morris, Laigh of Rossie; Miss Straiton; Mr and Mrs James Stewart, Ochilview; Mr and Mrs John M’Ewan, &c. The Chairman (Mr Anderson) said it must be a unique day in the history of their village. They were met to do honour to those very brave men from among them who were killed in the war, and on the Cross which would shortly be unveiled they would find the names of these heroes engraved. He was sure that all who lived there and all who passed them by would regard it as a sacred trust to preserve that Cross and its surroundings from harm for all time. They were met for one other purpose, closely allied to the first. There were some amongst them who, though very fortunately able to be there that day, had suffered grievously from wounds and other causes, and to these equally brave men they decided to make presentations, which, however inadequate he was sure they would accept as a token of sincere gratitude for what they had done and suffered for their country. (Applause) The Duke of Atholl said they saw these monuments being erected all over the country. The idea of erecting them sprang from a spontaneous feeling everywhere. Perhaps he took a different view from some people with regard to these monuments, when he felt they were not altogether monuments to the memory of those who fell, but rather remembrances to future generations of what the present generation thought of the men who had fallen in the fighting. That, to his mind, was a far nobler thing than merely commemorating the names of the men. The present generation did not require to put up a monument to remember the men of their own generation, and for what they did for them, and for all that the sacrifice of their lives meant. They were not putting up a monument for that, but surely, he thought, they were really putting up these monuments as a token of gratitude and appreciation of what the men had done for the country. (Applause) The ceremony of then unveiling the cross was then performed by Miss Louisa Graeme, and a peculiarly impressive touch was imparted to the proceedings by the playing of the ‘Flowers of the Forest’ on the bagpipes by Pipe-Major Alexander Stewart and Corporal Robert Imrie, both from Blair castle. From the village schoolchildren came a tribute in the form of a laurel wreath, which was laid at the base of the cross by Maisie M’Lean, the youngest pupil in the school, while another wreath was placed in position by Miss Emily Graeme “In glorious memory of the brave men who died for their country”. A short and impressive dedication service followed, and was conducted by the rev. Jas. MacMillan and the Rev. Robert Gardiner. Thereafter the presentation to the disabled soldiers took place. The Duke of Atholl spoke a few kindly words to the heroes and Mrs Anderson, Damside, handed over the gift of money to each of the men. The recipients were Samuel Hutton, Wm. M’Kinnon, Nicol Stewart, Peter Johnston, Peter Hutton, John Cameron and John Fletcher. Votes of thanks were proposed by the Duke of Atholl, Captain Graeme and the Rev. Mr MacMillan, the last-named acknowledging the great kindness shown in the memorial movement by Mr Anderson, Damside; and the proceedings terminated with the playing of the pipers of ‘The Highland Laddie” and ‘The Atholl March”.

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

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