Dollar, Clackmannanshire
Encyclopedia
- This page is about the Scottish town. For information about the dollar as currency, see DollarDollarThe dollar is the name of the official currency of many countries, including Australia, Belize, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States.-Etymology:...
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Dollar is a small town in Clackmannanshire
Clackmannanshire
Clackmannanshire, often abbreviated to Clacks is a local government council area in Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife.As Scotland's smallest historic county, it is often nicknamed 'The Wee County'....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It is one of the Hillfoots Villages
Hillfoots Villages
The Hillfoots Villages are the villages and small towns which lie at the base of the southern scarp face of the Ochil Hills, formed by the Ochil Fault, in Stirlingshire and Clackmannanshire in central Scotland....
, situated between the Ochil Hills
Ochil Hills
The Ochil Hills is a range of hills in Scotland north of the Forth valley bordered by the towns of Stirling, Alloa, Kinross and Perth. The only major roads crossing the hills pass through Glen Devon/Glen Eagles and Glenfarg, the latter now largely replaced except for local traffic by the M90...
range to the north and the River Devon to the south. Dollar is on the A91 road
A91 road
The A91 is a major road in Scotland, United Kingdom. It runs from St Andrews to Bannockburn, via Cupar. Along the way, the road runs adjacent to parts of the St. Andrews Old Course and Jubilee golf courses into Guardbridge. Past Guardbridge is Clayton Caravan Park. Further towards Cupar is the Eden...
, which runs from Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
to St. Andrews. The town is around 3 miles east of Tillicoultry
Tillicoultry
Tillicoultry...
. The parish of Muckhart
Muckhart
Muckhart commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Pool of Muckhart and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated on the A91 around 3 miles north-east of Dollar...
extends right up to the eastern edge of Dollar, despite Muckhart's much smaller size. This encompassed Dollar Mine and Pitgober.
The town
The major attraction in Dollar is the five hundred year-old Castle CampbellCastle Campbell
Castle Campbell is a mediæval castle situated above the town of Dollar, Clackmannanshire in central Scotland. It was the seat of the Earls and Dukes of Argyll, chiefs of Clan Campbell.- History :...
, lowland seat of the Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll is a title, created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The Earls, Marquesses, and Dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, noble family in Scotland...
, where Mary, Queen of Scots, once lived in the 16th century. The residence was chosen for its proximity to the court in Edinburgh and Clackmannan Tower, Alloa, Stirling Castle and Linlithgow Palace.
The walk to the castle is a vigorous ascent by a spectacular series of paths, bridges and walkways within the deep gorges of the glen and its tributaries. Unfortunately, the most spectacular section has had to be closed due to the risk of landslip (a part of which was re-opened Summer 2007), but alternative routes are available. There is also a road, accessible by car, to the castle for the less energetic.
At the foot of Dollar Glen there is The Mill Green. Here there is also a small museum which is run by volunteers, which contains an interesting collection of local items, and much information about the former Devon Valley Railway, which closed to passengers in 1964. There are plenty of sports facilities, including an 18-hole golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
course (notable for its steep inclines and lack of bunkers), a tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
club, a squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
club, a bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
club, and a cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
club. The Ochil Hills that overlook Dollar provide opportunity for mountain biking. The nearby River Devon is used seasonally for trout fishing (by permit). There are three churches, one Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
, one Scottish Episcopal Church
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Scottish Episcopal Church is a Christian church in Scotland, consisting of seven dioceses. Since the 17th century, it has had an identity distinct from the presbyterian Church of Scotland....
and Ochil Hills Community Church which meets in the Civic Centre.
Dollar is now mainly residential; however, for a long time it was known for its industries. Attempts were made to mine lead and copper in Dollar Glen from the 18th century and possibly earlier, but these were of no economic significance. Coal mining in the area began around the same time and, until 1973, supplied the Kincardine Power Station
Kincardine power station
Kincardine power station was a large coal-fired power station on the shores of the upper Firth of Forth by Kincardine on Forth, Fife, Scotland....
, and later, the Longannet Power Station
Longannet power station
Longannet power station is a large coal-fired power station in Fife capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, near Kincardine on Forth. Its generating capacity of 2,400 megawatts is the highest of any power station in...
with coal from the Upper Hirst
Upper Hirst
The Upper Hirst is a coal seam in central Scotland that was mined in the 1950s through to 2002, mainly to supply Kincardine Power Station, and later, Longannet Power Station, in Fife....
seam. A tiny private non-NCB coal mine operated from the Harviestoun estate from the mid 1970s, partly filling the gap that the closed NCB left, whilst there was still local demand for coal.
In common with the other Hillfoots Villages, the textiles industry played an important part in the town's development. The Harviestoun Brewery was established west of Dollar in 1985, before its move to Alva
Alva
- People :*A. Shanker Alva , Indian politician and lawyer*Bartolomé de Alva , Novohispanic mestizo secular priest and Nahuatl translator*Jeevaraj Alva , Indian politician...
. The town is now largely a dormitory community for people who work in Stirling and further afield — e.g. Glasgow and Edinburgh. Because of the success of its fee-paying school Dollar Academy
Dollar Academy
Dollar Academy was founded in 1818, which makes it the oldest co-educational day and boarding school in the world. The open campus occupies a site in the centre of the thriving town of Dollar in Central Scotland, less than 40 minutes drive from the two main Scottish cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh...
and its tranquil environment, the town draws young and reasonably well-off families, giving it a slightly different character from the other Hillfoots Villages.
The town has two separate war memorials, one for each world war. In the grounds of the Academy a fine bronze figure with outstretched hands faces westwards and commemorates the fallen of the First World War. This also has names added for Northern Ireland. The dead were largely from the Academy, two non-Academy deaths (the Archibald brothers) are indicated by the word "parish" against their names. The Second World War has a far more modest memorial, in the small public garden on the main road, where the road suddenly twists, at is most visible when driving briefly southwards towards the pocket park, as part of the overall west-to-east route. Both memorials are by local sculptor George Henry Paulin
George Henry Paulin
George Henry Paulin, often called Harry Paulin, or 'GHP' was a Scottish sculptor and artist of great note in the early 20th century....
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Dollar is home of the Dollar Glen Football Club.
Dollar is twinned with the French town of La Ville Aux Dames, which lies just outside Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
in the Loire Valley
Loire Valley
The Loire Valley , spanning , is located in the middle stretch of the Loire River in central France. Its area comprises approximately . It is referred to as the Cradle of the French Language, and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, and artichoke, asparagus, and...
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Origin of name
Possible interpretations are that Dollar is derived from Doilleir, an Irish and Scots Gaelic word meaning dark and gloomy, or from various words in Pictish: 'Dol' (field) + 'Ar' (arable) or Dol (valley) + Ar (high). Another derivation is from Dolar, ‘haugh place’ (cf Welsh dôl ‘meadow’. This word was borrowed from British or Pictish into Scottish Gaelic as dail ‘water-meadow, haugh’).Notable people
- According to the Pictish ChroniclePictish ChronicleThe Pictish Chronicle is a name often given by historians to a list of the kings of the Picts beginning many thousand years before history was recorded in Pictavia and ending after Pictavia had been enveloped by Scotland...
, Amlaíb ConungAmlaíb ConungAmlaíb Conung was a Norse or Norse-Gael leader in Ireland and Scotland in the years after 850. Together with his brothers Ímar and Auisle he appears frequently in the Irish annals....
the first Norse king of Dublin was killed in a battle fought at Dollar around 874, when Constantine IConstantine I of ScotlandCausantín or Constantín mac Cináeda was a king of the Picts. He is often known as Constantine I, in reference to his place in modern lists of kings of Scots, though contemporary sources described Causantín only as a Pictish king...
was the king of Scotland. - Robert BurnsRobert BurnsRobert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
visited Dollar in 1787, staying on the Harviestoun estate. There he was inspired to write the song "The Banks of Devon" - Dollar was the home town of Scottish sinologistSinologySinology in general use is the study of China and things related to China, but, especially in the American academic context, refers more strictly to the study of classical language and literature, and the philological approach...
James LeggeJames LeggeJames Legge was a noted Scottish sinologist, a Scottish Congregationalist, representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong , and first professor of Chinese at Oxford University...
, the translator of The Chinese Classics, who invited Wang Tao to live in Dollar from 1870-1872 where he wrote two travel notes: Wondering in the Rambling Park and Touring the Mountain in Dollar, later published in Jottings from Carefree Travel, the very first travel book about Europe by a Chinese scholar. - Dollar Academy was founded in 1818 by a bequest from a Dollar native, Captain John McNabb, who had allegedly made his fortune in the slave trade. Amongst the many notable pupils at the Academy include James DewarJames DewarSir James Dewar FRS was a Scottish chemist and physicist. He is probably best-known today for his invention of the Dewar flask, which he used in conjunction with extensive research into the liquefaction of gases...
, the inventor of the vacuum flaskVacuum flaskA vacuum flask is an insulating storage vessel which keeps its contents hotter or cooler than its surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewar in 1892, the vacuum flask consists of two flasks, placed one within the other and joined at the neck...
, as were the grandsons of Haile Selassie I of EthiopiaHaile Selassie I of EthiopiaHaile Selassie I , born Tafari Makonnen, was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974...
, second Presiding OfficerPresiding Officer of the Scottish ParliamentThe Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament is the speaker of the Scottish Parliament, elected by the Members of the Scottish Parliament, by means of an exhaustive ballot. He or she also heads the Corporate Body of the Scottish Parliament and as such is viewed as a figurehead for the entire...
(SpeakerSpeaker (politics)The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
) of the Scottish ParliamentScottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
, George ReidGeorge Reid (Scottish politician)George Newlands Reid, PC , is a Scottish politician. From February 1974 to 1979 he served as a Scottish National Party Member of Parliament for Clackmannan and East Stirlingshire. He was elected in 1999 as a Member of the newly established Scottish Parliament as a regional MSP for Mid Scotland and...
, BBC Gaza correspondent Alan JohnstonAlan JohnstonAlan Graham Johnston is a British journalist working for the BBC. He has been the BBC's correspondent in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and the Gaza Strip, and is currently the correspondent in Rome...
and political journalist for The ScotsmanThe ScotsmanThe Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, the News of the WorldNews of the WorldThe News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
and The SpectatorThe SpectatorThe Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
magazines, Fraser NelsonFraser NelsonFraser Nelson is a British political journalist and editor of The Spectator magazine.-Early life:Educated at Nairn Academy and Dollar Academy, Nelson went on to study History at the University of Glasgow and Journalism at City University, London....
. - Lavinia Malcolm, ProvostProvost (civil)A provost is the ceremonial head of many Scottish local authorities, and under the name prévôt was a governmental position of varying importance in Ancien Regime France.-History:...
of Dollar between 1913-1919, was both the first lady provost and first lady town councilor in Scotland (see http://www.dollarcommunity.org.uk/DollarTownCouncil.asp). - The painter J. M. W. TurnerJ. M. W. TurnerJoseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
visited Dollar and made sketches in the glen. - In the late 1990s, Michael KulasMichael KulasMichael Kulas is a Canadian singer, songwriter and music producer who was a member of the English rock band James between 1997 and 2001.- Personal details :...
and Saul Davies, musicians in the English rock group JamesJames (band)James are a British rock band from Manchester, England. They formed in 1982 and were active throughout the 1980s, but most successful during the 1990s. Their hit singles include "Come Home", "Sit Down", and "She's a Star" as well as their American College Radio hit "Laid"...
also resided and worked out of the old Tea House Cottage, now known as Brewlands, next to Castle CampbellCastle CampbellCastle Campbell is a mediæval castle situated above the town of Dollar, Clackmannanshire in central Scotland. It was the seat of the Earls and Dukes of Argyll, chiefs of Clan Campbell.- History :...
. - The Scottish author Iain BanksIain BanksIain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies...
studied at the nearby University of StirlingUniversity of StirlingThe University of Stirling is a campus university founded by Royal charter in 1967, on the Airthrey Estate in Stirling, Scotland.-History and campus development:...
and, in an interview for The South Bank ShowThe South Bank ShowThe South Bank Show was a television arts magazine show, originally made by London Weekend Television , presented by Melvyn Bragg, broadcast on ITV and seen in over 60 countries worldwide — including Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States...
in 1997, spoke about using the landscape above Dollar as inspiration for his novels (in particular A Song of StoneA Song of Stone-Plot introduction:A novel about an aristocrat's experience of civil war.-Plot summary:Abel and Morgan live in a small castle in an indeterminate place and time of civil war. They decide to abandon their home and join the refugees seeking safety. A group of irregulars led by "The Lieutenant" stops...
). - The noted EsperantistEsperantistAn Esperantist is a person who speaks or uses Esperanto. Etymologically, an Esperantist is someone who hopes...
William AuldWilliam AuldWilliam Auld was a Scottish poet, author, translator and magazine editor who wrote chiefly in Esperanto. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999, 2004, and 2006 making him the first and only person to be nominated for works in Esperanto...
, nominated three times for the Nobel Prize in LiteratureNobel Prize in LiteratureSince 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
, lived in Dollar until his death in 2006. - The biologist Alan GrafenAlan GrafenAlan Grafen is a Scottish ethologist and evolutionary biologist. He currently teaches and undertakes research at St John's College, Oxford. Along with regular contributions to scientific journals, Grafen is known publicly for his work as co-editor of the 2006 festschrift Richard Dawkins: How a...
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