This next wee bit is about religion. Very few people actually stand up for what they believe in, with your job, your stipend (income), your house and your beliefs on the line. What happened in Scotland was unique, both ministers and congregations rebelled against their own church and the "God given" right of a land owner to appoint a minister of their choice

Quoting from "A Historical Guide to the County of Kinross."

"Some 3 miles south of Kinross on the B.966 road is an obelisk erected in 1883 to commemorate the formation in 1733 of the first Secession Church. Its members, who met in an inn or cottage close by, wanted to have the right to appoint their own ministers instead of having to accept the nominees of the local patrons or Lairds. Soldiers had been brought to Kinross Kirk to force the congregation to open up the church for the induction of the Patron's nominee. The Rev. Ebenezer Erskine, a famous preacher and freethinker, who had been minister at Portmoak Parish, came from Stirling to meet the protesters here at Gairneybridge, and together they formed the first Secession congregation. The Secession Movement for freedom in worship spread throughout Scotland, and by 1765 there were 120 churches with 100,000 members altogether."

The Gairney Bridge monument

Michael Bruce

A stones thrown from the monument, on the wall of a former farm building is a small plaque erected to perpetuate the memory of Michael Bruce, The Gentle Poet of Loch Leven, 1746 - 1767. Bruce, the son of a Kinnesswood weaver became a poet of note and died at an early age.

Michael Bruce taught school here

Surveyors Mark

I found this on the same wall as the Michael Bruce plaque, I have been passing this spot for years and never knew that this modern day surveyors benchmark plate was there. This type of plaque is usually found on the now defunct, white triangulation "trig" points that still dot the country side and skylines.

A "modern day" surveyors mark