THE KIRK bell at Tillicoultry Parish Church, formerly St Serf’s, was cast by Cornelis Ouderogge, one of the sons of Jan Ouderogge, who was a renowned cannon and bell maker from Rotterdam in The Netherlands.

When their father died, Cornelis and his brother Dirk carried on the family business, and it is thought the Tillicoultry bell was one of the last, if not the last, bell ever cast by Cornelis before his death in early June 1672.

In May 1676, the Reverend Robert Kirk, the then minister at Balquidder, officially admitted the new minister to Tillicoultry, Robert Keith M.A., although in his 1929 history of the kirk, the Rev George Lyall names him as Alexander Keith, at the old kirk at the top of the town.

Kirk is known as the Fairy Minister, thanks to his deep interest in the wee folk, with whom, he claimed, he conversed.

Steeped in Gaelic folklore, and believing he was gifted with the second sight, his encounters with the fairies led to his work The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies compiled between 1691 and 1692.

It was not uncommon for ministers to believe in fairies and the like at that time, as it was seen as being in line with the belief in God.

Keith had come from Wiston in Lanarkshire and was presented to Tillicoultry by Sir John Nicolson of Carnock who owned the Tillicoultry Estate.

He had taken up the position on 27th February that year. Kirk presented the new minister with a Bible, a bell rope, meaning the Ouderogge bell was already at the church, and the keys for the church. He also handed over soil and stone from Tillicoultry glebe.

Although no records exist regarding the purchase of the bell, it is known it was cast in 1670, as the inscription in Latin states ‘Soli Deo Gloria Cornelis Ovderogge Fecit Rotterdam 1670’ which translates as ‘Glory to God alone. Cornelis Ouderogge. Made Rotterdam 1670.’

It measures roughly 19 ½ inches wide by 16 ½ inches to the upper lugs. It was transferred to the newly built parish church in 1773 and again was reinstated in the current church, which opened in 1829. It is still used to call parishioners to the church to this day.

The Tillicoultry church bell is one of only a few bells imported to the country from the Ouderogge works.

Others included the bells at the churches of Dunning and Forteviot in Perthshire, Culross Abbey in Fife, and the Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling.