Loch Pityoulish.
Visit
“This is a fantastically beautiful and not visited by many people for some reason but it is well worth a visit any time of the year. It is extremely tranquil and the walk around it is beautiful. Very close to Aviemore and easily accessible. Definitely a great spot for quiet picnic and away from the crowds.“
The Kelpie
The Water Kelpie, a horse-like creature was rumoured to haunt Scottish lochs and rivers and lure unsuspecting humans to catastrophe in the cold waters. Loch Pityoulish, near Aviemore, was thought to have been a haunt of the shape-shifting kelpie. It was here that a kelpie was said to have carried off and drowned nine children, who were attracted by the ‘pretty pony’. And the moral of the story? “Things are not always what they appear”.
History
Pityoulish abounds with early archaeological remains and whilst the Pictish language has been lost, the prefix Pit- indicating a portion of land, betrays the early Pictish origins of the property.
Later, during the clan period, one of the Westernmost estates of the powerful Dukes of Gordon, Pityoulish was sold between the two World Wars when the vast Richmond & Gordon estates were broken up, eventually coming into the ownership of Sir Herbert Ogilvy of Inverquharity, who after the accidental death of his adopted son, a keen mountaineer, whilst climbing in the Cairngorms, left it in 1956 to his distant relation, the present owners (grand)father.
There are a number of beautiful lochs in the area surrounding Aviemore, including this one next to the River Spey. Its unusual name translates to -
‘The Loch of the Settlement of the Bright Place’.
“I’ve never seen this crannog myself, even in times of low water, but I like the link between the loch dwelling and the Pictish fort, the spirit of place it implies. On the other side of the loch is the site of a late 14th-century battle where some Cummings were treacherously slain by the Shaws but, happily, this Creag Chaisteal is nowadays a peaceful corner, dressed beautifully in birch and pine, its rocky hollows holding pools of rainwater. Another peaceful corner, around drystone dyke on a hill at the end of the loch, recalls a recent sorrow. The dyke encircles a tiny graveyard, overgrown with heather. Here lie the remains of the wife of Sir Herbert Ogilvy, 19th Baronet of Inverquharity who died on September 20, 1940. Eleven days after her death, their son, Henry Iain Ogilvy of Pityoulish and his girlfriend, Lucy Scott Robson, were killed while climbing Sgoran Dubh Mor, the same Sgoran Dubh Mor which can be clearly seen from the graveside, raising its head into the clouds away beyond the loch and the forest of Rothiemurchus. Their epitaph reads: “They all loved Pityoulish and Pityoulish loved them.””
Pityoulish mention in the Houses of Commons - 27 February 1939
The Richmond & Gordon Estates of which Pityoulish was once a part, was bought by the Government see the answer to a question in the House of Commons in 1939 below.
“RICHMOND AND GORDON ESTATES (CROWN LAND COMMISSIONERS).
HC Deb 27 February 1939 vol 344 cc901-2901
§61. Mr. Maxton
asked the Minister of Agriculture whether the purchase of the Richmond and Gordon estates, in the counties of Moray and Banff, by the Crown Land Commissioners, has been completed; whether he can state the reasons for this purchase; what was the price paid; and to what uses is it pro posed to put the property?
§Sir R. Dorman-Smith
The purchase to which the hon. Member refers has been completed. The property was acquired in the ordinary way of business under the Crown Lands Acts, which provide that capital which would otherwise be held by the Commissioners in stocks and shares shall be invested in land as and when suitable opportunities occur. The purchase price paid, for about 90,000 acres of land, including Gordon Castle, six villages, and valuable fishing and sporting rights, was £525,000. Like other Crown 902estates, this estate was bought for investment purposes and will no doubt continue, generally speaking, to be used for much the same purposes as in the past, the net annual revenue being paid into the Exchequer.
Mr. Davidson
Does that reply mean that those estates are to be used primarily for sporting purposes?
§Sir R. Dorman-Smith
Primarily they will be used as they are being used at the present time.
§Mr. J. Morgan
As this amounts to a virtual nationalisation of land, may I ask how the purchase money, some £500,000, was secured? Was it handed over in some form of securities or cash?
§Sir R. Dorman-Smith
Under the Crown Lands Acts capital which is held by the Commissioners in stocks and shares has to be invested in land as occasion arises, and this was a good occasion for investment in land.
§Mr. Morgan
You mean that you handed over stocks and shares?
§Mr. Maxton
Can the Minister say what were the circumstances which made the purchase of this estate a more suitable investment than another?
§Sir R. Dorman-Smith
It was just one of the opportunities which occur. The Crown Lands Commissioners are always looking out for opportunities for investing in land.
§Mr. Maxton
To what purpose will Gordon Castle be put?
§Sir R. Dorman-Smith
I should require notice of that question.
§Mr. T. Williams
Are we to understand from the Minister's reply that the Government have no opposition to the nationalising of land?
§Sir P. Harris
Will the land be used for purposes like the post-war agricultural settlements?”