Forgive me for I am but a simple man…a man who loves Scottish history, dogs, and great bakeries. Therefore, if you can combine all those things into one town, it is pretty much guaranteed that I will find my way to such a place. Well, one of those towns is an ancient one dating back to the Romans- Forfar.
Before we get into our explorations of Forfar, I want to cover a bit of etymology about the name of this town situated in the county of Angus. Although it is still a bit of a mystery where the name Forfar comes from, I can say that one possibility comes from Scots Gaelic, more specifically from the words ‘fuar’ and ‘bhar’. ‘Fuar’ means cold, and ‘bhar’ means point or place. Put together, they would be pronounced ‘Forfar’ and mean ‘a cold place’. However, our experiences with Forfar, and more specifically with Forfarians over the years have been completely the opposite!
Forfar is a wonderful, warm and welcoming town, and the people are some of the friendliest around. So, may I suggest a potential name change for the town? I say, let’s scrap the ‘fuar’ and replace it with ‘blàth’, which means warm and pronounced – bla. So, instead of a cold place – Forfar- it could be a warm place – Blafar! Okay, it might need some work, but I stand by what I said about the town and its friendly people.
Our journey to Forfar dates to September of 2023, and that is why we are guided on this visit by our Angel-Golden Guide Sawyer. This was one of Walter’s first training missions as well, so you will see him a bit later as well as some other dogs. But let’s start with some history, and for that there is no better starting point than the Meffan Institute, now more commonly known as the Meffan Museum and Art Gallery.
Located right in the centre of the town, it is obvious that Meffan is more than just a museum for the town of Forfar, it is the meeting place for Forfarians of all ages, as well as a variety of clubs and groups. The institute itself dates to 1898, when it was gifted to the town by Miss Jane Meffan in memory of her father, Provost William Meffan, and her brother, Provost Patrick Meffan. Miss Meffan funded the public hall, the museum, and the library to the town of Forfar for the “moral and intellectual improvement of the community”.
As we step inside the Institute, we first start our journey of the “Story of Forfar” by exploring the two halls of the museum that are dedicated to the archaeology and the social history of the area. Then, we will further ‘explore and discover’ more about Forfar and Angus through the arts in the two halls of the Art Gallery.
As I briefly mentioned earlier, the history of Forfar and the surrounding area dates to Roman times, and that is because the Romans built a massive fort just North of Forfar in the first century. The fort, known as Battledykes, is believed to have been a camp for 50,000 to 60,000 Roman soldiers. The Museum has some archaeological artefacts on display that have been found in the area dating back nearly two thousand years, like the small statuette head of the Goddess Minerva from around 80-86 AD.
Aside from the Romans, Forfar and Angus, in general, are truly ‘Pictish country’. In fact, the Meffan is part of the Angus Pictish Trail, which, in fairness, has seen better days due to permanent closures of museums like the Pictavia in Brechin and the Gateway to the Glens Museum in Kirriemuir. However, we really hope to see some more efforts in revitalising the Pictish Trail because it is such an integral part of Scottish history. For example, in May of 685, the Picts defeated the Northumbrians in the decisive Battle of Dun Nechtain in the nearby village of Dunnichen. The Picts, led by their King Bridei Mac Bili, lured the Northumbrians into a trap in the glens by a fake retreat. In the battle that ensued, not only were the Northumbrian forces decimated, but even their King Ecgfrith was killed. This ultimately ended the Northumbrians’ presence in the North, meaning that if had not been for the victorious Picts in the seventh century, there most likely would never have been the Kingdom of Alba – nor Scotland!
In any case, there are still great places to visit along the Angus Pictish Trail, and we will be highlighting some of these places in the future; places like the Aberlemno Pictish Stones - one of them even depicts the battle scene from the aforementioned Battle of Dun Nechtain. Plus, there are still some other great museums and locations to cover. But, for now, let’s return to the Meffan.
Meffan Museums houses five Pictish stones discovered from the area of Kirriemuir in 1797. There are also fractions of numerous other stones found in the neigbouring town and villages. Perhaps the highlight of the collection is the Dunnichen Stone dating to the 7th century. The stone was previously housed in St Vigeans Museum near Arbroath, and then in the McManus Galleries in Dundee (two other location on the Angus Pictish Trail), but it is now in the Meffan on a long-term loan. By the way, pictured below is another highlight of the Meffan Museum behind the Dunnichen Stone – a log boat that dates to the 1090’s!
After studying all these historical artefacts, it is time for a wee walk through the history and story of Forfar, so please follow us to the Vennel!
First, just a quick sidenote explaining the big gap in the history of Forfar- all the original records of this Royal Burgh were destroyed by Oliver Cromwell and his invading army back in 1660. It is frustrating to fathom how much Scottish and Irish history was destroyed by one man! 😠
But, before I start to get too angry, let’s head into the Vennel (which is a word for a narrow lane or alley in Scotland). There, we will pick up some sweeties, visit a souter, a knockmaker, a webster, and a baxter!
Confused? Don’t worry – let me explain. First up, a ‘souter’ is a term for a shoemaker, and Forfar used to be famous for its shoes. At one point in the 1800’s, there were as many as fifteen shoemakers in Forfar, producing a variety of shoes from the high-end leather ‘brogues’, to lower leather quality ‘rullions’, and even wooden clogs.
A ‘knockmaker’ is a clockmaker. There were four clockmakers in Forfar, one of them was Samuel Ritchie. His watches and clocks became quite popular, but they were very expensive in the early 19th century. That’s why a majority of people still relied on telling the time from larger public clocks in towns and churches.
Next, a ‘webster’ is not a term for a Scottish superhero with the abilities of Spiderman- although I think it should be. Rather, it is a term for a weaver. Like many towns and villages near the city of Dundee (Forfar is 13 miles away from Dundee), Forfar became heavily involved in the weaving industry. For a while, Dundee was the world capital for producing jute fabric, but we will get into that industry in more detail with our future post on the Verdant Works Museum in Dundee. As for Forfar, the weavers also produced fabric called Osnaburg from the flax plant. The impact of the weaving industry is still visible in the architecture of Forfar, but also in its street names – just check the photo below.
Now a ‘baxter’ is finally getting us a bit closer to the other reason for our visit to Forfar. You see, baxter means baker. Here in the Vennel, we find a weary baker turning out famous Forfar Bridies, the horseshoe shaped beef pastries that date back to the 1820’s. However, we don’t just want to watch them being made, we want to taste them ourselves. And, that will happen, but let’s first finish our visit to the Meffan.
Last, but certainly not least, let’s pick up some of those sweeties that I mentioned earlier from the famous shop of Peter Reid, Confectioner. We need something sweet like humbugs, rock sticks, and maybe some tablet too (types of old traditional candies from Scotland) because the next bit gets quite dark and gruesome…
Witchcraft! The unfortunate reality is that the witch-hunts are one of the darkest chapters in Scottish history, and even a lovely Angus burgh like Forfar didn’t escape from this madness. As mentioned earlier, Oliver Cromwell disgustingly destroyed all the town records in 1660, which means that there are no records about the witch trials prior to that date. However, we can be certain that they did exist because some of the gruesome tools of torture used on suspected witches that predate 1660 have survived- items like the ‘Forfar Branks’ from the 1620’s.
I don’t want to ruin our lunch, so I will leave it at that for the most horrifying details regarding tortures, trials, and executions, and just mention that numerous witches were still executed after 1660 as well. The Museum depicts the trial of one of Forfar Witches, Helen Guthrie, but you can also find a mural in town honouring the known executed Forfar Witches. We just hope that all the innocent women and men who were lost during these insane witch hunts are at least now resting in peace.
Changing gears to something a bit happier, we next move on to the Galleries section of the Meffan. The two galleries host changing exhibitions throughout the years, while highlighting both up-and-coming local artists as well as nationally known artists.
During our visit, one of the galleries had an exhibition called: “Innate: Niall Campbell”. For copyright reasons we were not allowed to take photos of the bright and colourful journey through the artist’s vision. But I can tell you that it was a very welcomed respite after all the dark history of witch hunts.
At the time of our visit, the second gallery exhibited a fascinating collection of memorabilia commemorating the coronations of Kings George V, George VI, Edward VII, and Queen Elizabeth. Below are a few photos from that exhibit.
As of the writing of this post, the two exhibitions running are: “Art Unlimited – Wellbraehead Art Group” and “Props for An Imagined Life – Jeni Reid”. We highly recommend visiting the following websites to learn more about the exhibitions on offer at Meffan Museum and Galleries- Which Museum orAngus Alive.
Lastly, we want to mention that Meffan is a dog-friendly museum, so your fur babies can enjoy it as well.
Speaking of dogs, let’s step back outside into the town, because there is a beautiful mural that we want to share with you. See, Forfar is the home for Scotland’s National Guide Dogs Centre. That is why there is a beautiful four-piece mural honouring the four stages of all guide dogs' lives- puppyhood, training, working, and retirement. Pictured below is our Angel-guide Sawyer who honoured the service of all working canines when he visited the mural. Even our current trainee, Walter, made an appearance as a puppy in front of the puppy mural.
Now I don’t know about you but these dog walks and visits to the Museum and Galleries have made me hungry! So, it is finally time to try the famous Forfar Bridies. While in the Museum, I mentioned that the bridies date back to the 1820’s, but, in fact, they may be a bit older. According to one legend, it was Lady Bridie of Glamis who first brought her pastries to the Forfar market in the early 1800’s, and that is why they then became known as bridies. In any case, bridies can now be found in just about every supermarket in Scotland, but we wanted to go directly to the source so that we could sample the best.
For over a century now, the town of Forfar has been divided into two camps when it comes to bridies- McLarens and Saddlers! These two bakeries both date to the 1890’s. McLaren Bakers was founded in 1893 and then Saddlers of Forfar was founded in 1897. They both have their passionate fans, so we decided to go all in and try both!
Well, let me tell you, I would like to volunteer to be a referee in this debate on permanent basis, because both bakeries are INCREDIBLE! To be honest, we didn’t just stop at the bridies, because they both make so many delicious pies and pastries (savory and sweet) that we decided to stock up for a few days!
I know that you are probably all waiting for our verdict in this centuries old bridie bake-off between McLarens and Saddlers. Well, for us, it’s a tie, and we will just have to continue to conduct research into both bakeries for years to come. If that disappoints you, we urge you to try them both out for yourselves.
Wait! What is this? There seems to be a new entry in this debate because Sawyer spotted The Wee Bake Shop! Oh boy, I think that this bake-off is going to go into overtime now. 😉
Safe (and tasty) travels!
Until next time- Explore & Discover!
