SOME KEY DATES IN THE HISTORY OF KINGUSSIE 

Prior to the 18^th Century the land which is now Kingussie lay at the head of an immense pine forest, hence the name Kingussie (pronounced King-you-sea derived from the Gaelic Ceann á Ghuibhsaich which means the head of the pine wood). During the last 200 years the forest has been progressively destroyed. 

The original and main site of settlement in this area was at Ruthven on the opposite bank of the river Spey to Kingussie. In the 13^th Century the Comyn Earls of Badenoch had a stronghold commanding the crossing of the Spey on a moraine mound left by ice age glaciers. This mound was further reinforced with timber and raised in height to form a castle; burnt down in 1689 during the first Jacobite rising. On this site in 1719 a barracks was built, one of four built after the 1715 Jacobite uprising by General Wade to control the roads and thus the Highland Clans.  This was later extended in 1734 to accommodate 30 dragoons (mounted infantry).  In 1745 Sergeant Malloy with12 men successfully defended the barracks against 300 Jacobites. The following year they returned with cannon and forced the barracks to surrender.  After the defeat of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s army at Culloden in April 1746, the barracks were the rallying point of the remaining Jacobite forces and it was here that they received the order to disperse. The barracks were burnt down to prevent them being reoccupied by the Government’s forces. Colonel, later General, Wolfe did establish a new camp at Ruthven and made several unsuccessful attempts to capture Cluny Macpherson, one of the Clan Leaders in the ’45.  He was sheltered in the area by his Clan for ten years after Culloden.  Today the ruins are floodlit at night.

 A wooden bridge was built across the river Spey at Ralia in 1765 at the direction of the Duke of Gordon.  This was replaced by a stone bridge in 1820.  Until this time a traveller making use of the Drumochter Pass to make a journey between Perth and Inverness would have used General Wade’s road to Ruthven and then used the ferry at Ruthven or forded the river. The new route via Newtonmore and Kingussie now by-passed Ruthven and thus led to the decline of the settlement.

 The Industrial Revolution in the British Isles encouraged many landowners to establish new model villages and towns to exploit the rise in commercial activity; Highland examples are Inveraray and Grantown-on-Spey. The Duke of Gordon decided to build a new village at Kingussie near the Parish church of St Columba built in 1792 to replace one at Ruthven . “The Duke of Gordon. ……will give every degree of encouragement to Tradesmen, Manufacturers and Shop-keepers who may be inclined to settle there.” ran an advertisement in four issues of the Aberdeen Journal from 21^st of January 1799 to 11th February 1799. Attempts were made to establish tweed and linen textile Manufacture making use of the local waterpower.  The industrial and agricultural recession after the Napoleonic War prevented successful development of these Industries.

The Industrial Revolution also led to the application of new “Scientific Methods” of farming. These methods although leading to higher productivity and quality in arable and animal husbandry in the main farming areas of Scotland and the rest of the British Isles were a disaster when applied to the subsistence farming communities of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.  Around Kingussie various crofting communities were cleared and replaced by sheep. These crofters often had little security of tenure and no written documentation detailing their legal rights.  The alternatives for these displaced communities were bleak, insecure employment on the large estates created with tied living accommodation, casual labour, emigration to the new industrial towns of Central Scotland or Northern England, emigration overseas or for the young men, service with the colours. The clearances began around Kingussie in the 1790s and continued to the 1850s.

In 1820 the present Court House was built, originally as assembly rooms to be used for social occasions and then for a time as an infant school and, until 1986, it was the headquarters of the Badenoch and Strathspey District Council.  Today the Court and Area Council meetings are still held here.

After passing through the village of Kingussie in October 1861, Queen Victoria recorded in her diary that they travelled ‘…………close below the ruined Castle of Ruthven and on a long wooden bridge over the Spey to an Inn at Kingussie – a very straggling place with few cottages………and a small curious, chattering crowd of people’.

The opening of the Highland Railway in 1863 transformed Kingussie from a small hamlet into a prosperous town that steadily gained a reputation as a healthy, holiday resort.  In 1867 the village became a Police Burgh, thus creating the only town in Badenoch.

Historically the Town had, and still does, enjoy a fine reputation for children’s education.  Kingussie Public School (now known as the Primary School) was opened in 1875 and extended in 1907. In the early part of the last century before there was senior secondary education in the islands many pupils came to the Kingussie Secondary School so good was its reputation for academic excellence. In 1970 the Kingussie High School was opened, now educating approximately 400 pupils drawn from Glenmore to Dalwhinnie.

1896 saw the construction of the Speyside Distillery which produced whisky for only 10 years, 30 men were employed and there was a railway siding crossing the A86 by Taits Brae. The Distillery was not popular with the local people because of the smell and the smoke. The business failed, possibly due to bad management, control of the water quality and a failure to realise that Moray barley, though ideal for single malt production, requires a great deal of skill to achieve a satisfactory blend. The Distillery was demolished in 1926 and much of the stone was used for the foundations and bridges of the new A9 trunk road. The Speyside Distillery name was revived in 1991.  A new Distillery was built at Drumguish to the south of  Kingussie by the river Tromie which flows into the river Spey.  The whisky is sold under the names of Glentromie and Drumguish, these single malts are rare but may be purchased in the local hostelries and grocers.

At the beginning of the 20^th century Kingussie produced its own newspaper, The Kingussie Record, later encompassing news from the entire Badenoch region and changing its name to The Badenoch Record and Advertiser.  In 1964 the paper merged with The Strathspey Herald and today is commonly known as The Strathy. 

To commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, and to accommodate public meetings, the Victoria Hall was built in 1887, but sadly destroyed by fire in 1999.

1909 saw the construction of the United Free Church – the time when there was a breakaway movement from the Free Church and in 1932 the Catholic Church and house were built.  1909 also saw the opening of the Kingussie Post Office on Spey Street (it is now housed on High Street) and the Parish Church Hall (now the Iona Gallery).

Much has been written about the benefits of the clean, healthy Highland air and in 1901 a Swiss doctor, already working in Kingussie, opened the Grampian Sanatorium, the only private sanatorium in Britain for the treatment of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. This impressive building was bought by The Sisters of Charity of the Order of St Vincent de Paul in 1934 who continued treating TB patients until the application of antibiotics in the 1950s provided a respite from this scourge.  Today, it is run by the Highland Health Board NHS Trust as a caring, community hospital for the elderly.

In 1911 two lasting memorials were gifted to the Town by local residents; the Mackenzie Fountain (erected at the entrance to the railway station) by Peter Mackenzie, the Count de Serra Largo, and The Town Clock on East Terrace and clearly visible from the High Street, by Mr John D. MacGruer.

1924 saw the introduction of a trunk telephone system and in 1926 electricity was provided by the Grampian Electricity Company.

No history of Kingussie would be complete without a mention of Am Fasgadh , the Highland  Folk Museum. It is one of the most important of its kind in Scotland.  Founded in Iona by Dr I F Grant who had with great foresight started a collection of  artefacts used by our forebears,  it was transferred to its present building in Kingussie and has been constantly added to ever since. www.highlandfolk.com

The first and second World Wars cost the Kingussie community 60 and 23 dead respectively.  To this must be added the permanently disabled and seriously wounded at least doubling the figures. This was from a total male population of approximately 500, the able bodied young men were not decimated but annihilated. These figures were no higher than the rest of the Highlands and Islands as the many War Memorials bear witness and are the most significant factor in the continued decline of the Highlands in the 20th Century.

1980 saw the opening of the A9 trunk road bypass relieving Kingussie Town of the noise and danger of ever increasing passing traffic.  Today Kingussie is a relaxed small Highland Town, it’s residents and visitors being able to go about their daily life in relative safety.

Further Reading:

  **  Kingussie Caught in the Light and Kingussie and the Caman are no longer available.