Perthshire's Mysterious Sites -------------Hauntings------------ Ashintully Castle Ballechin House Huntingtower Castle Killiecrankie Newton Castle Meggernie Castle ---------------Major Sites----------- Doon Hill Schiehallion ---------------Folklore----------- St Fillan's Chair ---------------Ancient Sites----------- Cleaven Dyke Inchmahome Priory Home Site Map Perthshire Map England Map Scotland Map Wales Map Doon Hill and Aberfoyle Old Kirk Doon Hill is the fairy hill within which Robert Kirk (1641-1692) is said to be imprisoned. Kirk was a minister at nearby Aberfoyle; he wrote a book in 1691 called 'The Secret Commonwealth' in which he described the denizens of the otherworld - the fairies - and the fairy belief of his parishioners. He collapsed and died during his daily stroll up the fairy hill, and rumour had it he had been secretly abducted by the fairies. The full tale of how he was trapped in fairyland, and his failure to escape, appears in Sir Walter Scott's 'Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft'. For years afterwards it was said that if a child was born and christened at the manse, and someone stuck an iron knife into kirks old chair during the christening, then he would be released from his prison. On the hilltop there is a large pine tree known as the Minister's Pine, in some tales Robert Kirk's spirit is imprisoned within this tree. Visitors to the site have left the area festooned with coloured rags, on which votive messages are written. This practice is also carried out at holy wells such as the one at Munlochy, or the one on Culloden Moor. Map ref: Doon Hill NN 52 00 The Old Kirk NN 518 005 Directions: The Old Kirk is reached by crossing the Bridge over the river Forth from Aberfoyle car park. Doon Hill is reached by following the road further to a forestry track to Gartmore, which is marked as the Fairy Trail.