following
fifteen parishes, viz.:--Auchterarder, Blackford, Comrie, Crieff,
Dunning, Fossoway, Foulis-Wester, Gask, Glendevon, Madderty, Monzie,
Monzievaird, Muckhart, Muthill, and Trinity-Gask. Beginning on the
shores of Loch Earn, it followed on both banks the river of that name
for more than twenty miles, stretching upwards on either side to the
surrounding hills. Northwards it reached even the banks of the Almond,
while southwards it found its way into the uplands of Strathallan, and,
breaking by the pass of Gleneagles into the Ochils, it went right
through them to the level ground beyond, following the windings of the
Devon. As a background, rose the mighty peaks of the Grampians; in the
foreground lay the gentler, greener, rounded heights of the Ochil
range. The seat of the Presbytery was Auchterarder, a long, straggling
village, built along the crest of a rising ground; a mile or two
distant from the south bank of the Earn, and at the same time not far
from the top of Strathallan. Towards the close of the sixteenth
century we have to think of the various parishes above named as being
duly supplied with Protestant pastors, who met regularly in
Auchterardour for the "weekly exercise," and to dispose of any church
business that came before them. Most of these first members of the
Presbytery seem to have been cadets of the leading families of the
district, and, amongst them, Drummond, Graeme, Murray or Moray were
common names. The Presbytery of Auchterarder first begins to take a
prominent part in public affairs during the religious troubles of
Charles I. The Jenny Geddes riot in St Giles has just taken place, and
petitions are pouring in from all quarters against the ill-fated
service-book. The Privy Council is at its wits' end as between a king
resolved on innovations and a nation that will have none of them. It
sends up to London specimens of the petitions received--one from the
nobility, one from the gentry, one from the burghs, and a fourth from
the clergy. The clerical petition thus honoured was that from the
"Presbytrie of Auchtererdoch." The petition of this Presbytery was
probably selected not on account of the zealous character of the
opposition of its members, but on account of their known loyalty. The
impression to be produced on the King's mind was that, if even
Auchterarder opposed his designs, his projects were hopeless. The
Covenant was sworn, but Auchterarder was not zealous for the Cove