.

The Tosachs, from the Gaelic word meaning "first" or "chief," were the
old proprietors of Monzievaird. Their first residence was not at the
old castle at Greenend, but at Balmuick, on the estate of Lawers, then
called Fordie, and the foundation of the house was traceable at the
close of last century. The chief of Monzievaird was accustomed to
execute a man on the first day of every month, and this celebration of
the almanac at Tom-an-Tosach was apparently designed to prevent the
feudal rights of pit and gallows from falling into desuetude. The
story runs that the last chief held nightly interviews with a fairy, a
proceeding which aroused his wife's jealousy. She tracked him by a
ball of worsted attached to his button, and, discovering him in
conclave with the fairy, demanded her immediate destruction. Thereupon
the fairy fled, and the power of the Tosach departed also. The
inhabitants rose against him, and he had to seek refuge abroad.

Castle Cluggy, which stands on the peninsula on the north side of the
Loch of Monzievaird, is undoubtedly very old, but how old no one can
tell. A square tower, about 17 feet by 18 feet, with walls five or six
feet thick, of tremendous strength, is all that now remains. It is
said to have been a seat of the "Red Cumin," the rival of Robert the
Bruce for the throne of Scotland, slain at Dumfries before the high
altar. The prison is sometimes said to have been on the island in the
loch, but really the dungeon must be sought under the foundations of
the tower. In the charter giving Ochtertyre to the Murrays, in the
year 1467, it is even then described as an "ancient fortalice." The
key of the tower was found about fifty years ago on the east side of
the building. The old church of Monzievaird, now converted into a
mausoleum, was the scene of a dreadful tragedy, characteristic of the
spirit of feudal times. The Murrays and the Drummonds were but ill
neighbours in the days of James IV. The collision between them in this
instance has been ascribed to the levying of tithes, but without
historic grounds; and the law of retaliation is even older than that of
teinds, and far more widely practised. In a foray which began near
Knock Mary the Murrays or their retainers were overpowered and driven
westward. They kept up a running fight round the western base of
Tomachastel, and an obstinate struggle took place in the hollow between
Westerton and the Loch, where many men fell. The