Duror
Duror (, meaning hard water), occasionally Duror of Appin, is a small, remote coastal village that sits at the base of Glen Duror, in district of Appin, in the Scottish West Highlands, within the council area of Argyll and Bute in Scotland. Duror is known for the first building of the Telford Parliamentary churches by the Scottish civil engineer, architect and stonemason, Thomas Telford, from 1826, the first in a series of 32, built in Scotland. William Thomson was the architect. Duror is the location of the famous Appin Murder. Although no direct evidence for this connection exists, the murder event and the kidnap of James Annesley, supposedly provided the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson writing the novel Kidnapped. History of Duror Prehistory Duror is a very ancient settlement, at least 5000 years old, when the Achara stone, described below, was placed close to the shore of Loch Linnhe and was likely a religious meeting place for pagan Iron Age settlers, who worshiped a pantheon of Gods and Goddesses, with religious ceremonies conducted by Druids who spoke a form of a Celtic language. Sea levels were some higher, during that time in pre-history, indicating the Achara stone may have been sited next to the seashore. This can be explicitly seen in the Clach Thoull - The Holed Stone, which was considered the mythical entrance to the nether regions under the sea, and where the hole in the stone has been created by sea erosion. During that time, there were many more islands in Cuil Bay. The Ballachulish figure was discovered in November 1880, buried in peat, at Alltshellach in North Ballachulish. The figure is on display in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Traces of wicker suggest the remains of a wooden shrine. Her identity was unknown, but was possibly an early example of a Celtic nature goddess. One Celtic deity, whose cult originated in Gaul, was the warrior-god Camulus, whose worship spread to the British Isles by the 1st century AD, with religious ceremonies conducted by Druids and who spoke a form of Celtic language. Mini Ice Age Around 1300BC, the climate changed dramatically, with temperatures dropping and rainfall levels doubling within 10 years. Evidence indicated this caused the whole population of the Scottish Highlands, to move to the Central Belt, with the tree line dropping from about 750 metres to 500 metres, equivalent to a temperature drop of 1.5°, which was also seen in England as a reduction in elm growth. Gradually the climate became more suitable and settlers returned to the Scottish Highlands, around between 100 and 600AD. Dál Riata and Viking kingdoms From the 6th century AD to the 8th century AD, Duror was part of the kingdom of Dál Riata, specifically part of the Loarn mac Eirc, the Kingdom of Lorne, which was one of the four main northerly clans or kindreds of Dál Riata. The Dál Riatas, people who were called the Scoti, who were Irish immigrants, introduced the Gaelic language and Christianity