ClacksWeb - Clackmannanshire Council Online

This silver soup tureen is a rare item of memorabilia from one of the great houses in the county. The lid is engraved with a scene of Castle Campbell, a local landmark near the town of Dollar. The tureen is inscribed with a dedication to Craufurd Tait of Harviestoun, to whom it was presented on 20th July 1811.

The inscription reads:

By the Clackmannanshire Yeomanry Cavalry
to Captain Crauford Tait
In Testimony of the grateful sense they entertain of his Zeal, Ability and Exertions as an officer,
And of their high respect for
and warm attachment to him as a gentleman 20th July 1811

It was made in 1810 in Edinburgh, probably by J Mackay, who worked there in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Crauford Tait was a member of one of the most influential families in Clackmannanshire. He inherited the estate of Harviestoun near Tillicoultry from his father John Tait in 1800. He rebuilt the mansion house in the latest Italianate style, constructed a splendid new home farm, coach house and walled garden, and even moved the main road to Dollar half a mile to the south so that visitors could admire the parkland. He also invented a number of ingenious labour-saving agricultural and domestic devices.

He led the Clackmannanshire Yeomanry Cavalry, a regiment formed to protect Britain against invasion during the Napoleonic Wars, in exercises, and also kept a caravan prepared so that he could evacuate his large family in the event of a French invasion.

By 1822, however, Craufurd Tait was in financial difficulty; he placed Harviestoun on the market, but it remained unsold. He died in 1832 and was buried in the private family graveyard, now known as Tait’s Tomb, which lies to the south of the road to Dollar. Harviestoun Castle was eventually demolished in 1970, though the gate lodges, home farm and stables have survived.

This soup tureen is a typical example of the silverware presented by volunteer regiments to their members; the shape and design are, however, quite unusual.

The tureen was purchased with the assistance of the National Fund for Acquisitions administered with Government funds by the National Museums of Scotland, the National Art Collections Fund and the Friends of Clackmannanshire Museum and Heritage Service.

Mus Accn No 902 642