For antiquities one has to take the road which turns south, at the Bailie Nicol Jarvie. Here is the ancient, hump-backed and famous bridge over the infant Forth, leading to the Kirkton--site of a notable affray in 1671, when, at a christening of all things, the Grahams of nearby Duchray came to blows with followers of their far-out kinsman, the Earl of Airth, in typical Highland feuding fashion. The old parish church, where the christening took place, is a little farther on, and though now a ruin, still retains its belfry. How old it was is uncertain, for it was rebuilt in 1744 and repaired in 1839. It was an appendage of Inchmahome Priory. At the door still are two heavy mort-safes, in the shape of iron coffins, to foil body-snatchers of the Burke and Hare type; and there are many old gravestones, including one, dated 1692, for the Reverend Robert Kirk, who translated the Psalms into Gaelic verse--as well as distinguishing himself in more esoteric ways. In this connection it is interesting to note that, as late as the 1842 Gazetteer, it is declared that "everybody (in the district) understands English, though the Gaelic is chiefly in use . One wonders how many Gaelic-speakers there are in Aberfoyle today?

The road past the kirk is a cul-de-sac, ending in a number of woodland tracks through the great planted Loch Ard Forest which clothes all the foothills to the south--for this area is greatly invaded by the Forestry Commission. Half a mile along, near the fork, on rising ground now used for Forestry housing, is the site of a good stone circle, which had ten stones, with a larger one in the middle. To the east of the Kirkton rises the large modern Covenanters' Inn, a well-known hotel whose name refers to the 20th, not 17th century Covenanters, who met here and drew up the wording of their Scottish Covenant on self-government which attracted over two million signatures, in 1949. Now, this is a great place for pony-trekking--indeed everywhere you go in Aberfoyle area, Highland garrons are in evidence.