1700 – Kellas Acquired by the Earl of Fife
The estate of Kellas which had been detached from Elgin in 1661 was acquired by the ancestors of the duke of Fife. The estate had been the heritage of the Farquharsons of Kellas for about 100 years but that family had died out.
1745 – Rebellion
The rebels of the 1745 rebellion found their way to Dallas and district in search of supplies and did not miss Rhiniver house (as Dallas lodge was called at the time). The rebels broke open the door and carried away and destroyed several things within the house. They also stole 5 mares with a foal and 2 horses. In addition they killed and carried away a large sow.
They also kidnapped a herdsman and kept him prisoner until a cow had been drowned.
1752 – Acquisition of Craigmill Estate
The estate of craigmill or Elchies was acquired by H A Grant of Wester Elchies.
1755 – Severe Gale
Margaret Cumming of Craigtown was buried on the 15th of April 1755 and it is recorded in Kirk Session records that “there was such a hurricane of wind time she was buried that at once it left the fourth part of the Kirk without a thatch.”It was ill before, but now worse.”
It is evident from such records as these that the Dallas house of prayer was not a mansion of beauty and order but it must have then got some considerable repair for it was not until 1793 that the new church was built.
1763 – The Church Minister Disposed
Mr Dalrymple, the minister of Dallas, was charged with a faux pas with his housekeeper. After a word of trouble to the presbytery of Forres and Synod of Moray, he was deposed by a General Assembly in May 1763.
1775 – Catechisable Population of Dallas
Shaws “History of Moray” published in 1775 reckoned the catechisable persons to be about 500. Dr Webster’s statement about 40 or 50 years earlier (1749 -1759) had given the figure as 700.
1778 – Parish Statistics
The number of people in the Parish in July and August 1778 was 917 of who 84 were under the age of 6. 434 were males and 462 females. (this makes one wonder what the other 21 were!)
Statics
annual number of baptism 1770 – 1789 25
annual average of marriages 1774 – 1782 8
annual average of deaths 1774 – 1782 15
One couple who died and had been married for 63 years. The husband was aged 90 and his wife was 93.
There had been only about six or eight empty houses at most since 1778. very few houses had been built since 1778 but there had been lots before that date.
1782 – The Erection of a New Manse
A new manse was built in 1782. However, this was replaced in 1905 by the present building.
1782 – Substantial Flooding
There were substantial floods in the area in 1782 and again in 1786 and 1789. However, there are no further details of the extent of these or of the damage caused.
1784 – Emigration from Dallas
Between 1778 and 1784 (but particularly in 1783 and 1784) there were a number of families and single people who went into the neighbouring towns in search of work. Some went further afield to the south of scotland and a few down to England. In addition there were more than 20 young men who emigrated to America and further foreign parts.
1793 – Erection of the New Church
In 1793 the walls and roof of the existing church were declared to be incapable of repair and a new Church was erected. This was said to be a handsome, commodious building built of stone and lime and roofed with stone slates found in the upper reaches of the River Lossie. The old Tollbooth and court house at Elgin built in 1602 had a roof so that it is probable that centuries ago Dallas was the slate district of Moray.
There was a door in the centre of the west gable into the church below the pulpit with a door to the right and left with no vestry. The seats were arranged in three rows with a passage on each side of the central row. The eastern entrance was also in the centre and going up a few stone steps entered beneath the gallery. The pulpit was placed in the centre of the western end where it now stands. The choir was seated immediately in front of the pulpit.
The ministers pew was on the right of the pulpit which also enclosed and may in fact have occupied the exact site of the ‘dask’ in the kirk claimed by Mrs Crockat, late ministers widow, as her property which she sold, with seat, to Reverend Robert Dalrymple, the succeeding incumbent on 16th April 1749.
The gallery was at the east end of the church in front of the pulpit and contained the seats of the land owners. It was entered by outside stone stairs.
The new church did duty for a century until extensive reconstruction was carried out about 1904. The church was said to be a central situation and big enough for the public ordinances of religion. The fee of the session clerk was only £1 per year.
The minister’s stipend, including the allowance for the communism, was £58. 6s. 4d. sterling, of which about, £11 sterling was drawn from the vicarage funds of the parish of Auldearn. This seems to have been by an arrangement which continued from the establishment of the church of Rome.
The glebe extend to both sides of the lossie and comprised about 14 acres. It continued some natural wood on the banks of the river (which was presumably convenient for firewood but did not prove any profit.)
The whole people appertaining to the national church, amount to 888.
1798 – Establishment of Dallas School
In 1798 reference was made to the recent establishment of Dallas parish school where there was a salary £5. The school, however, could accommodate only a small proportion of a parish such a size. The parish was also intersected by many streams which were often impassable when it rained, no matter what time of year. (it is interesting to compare the salary with the minister’s stipend some five years earlier of over £58!)
Dallas School 2004
A petition was transmitted from the inhabitants of Kellas to the Honorable Society of Edinburgh requesting a Society be built in Kellas since they lay at a great distance from the parish school.
1793 – Dallas parish church
The patron saint of the parish church is St Michael and, in addition to the church ‘the church name has been applied to appall in the river Lossie near the church. (now commonly referred to as the “mukcle pow”) and to a well in the rock on the opposite side of the river.
A weather-beating effigy of Saint Michael, the patron saint, once stood near the top of the eastern gable. This effigy was reported as being four feet high but does not seem to have been replaced when the church was rebuilt. It is understood that it was buried somewhere in the middle of the church yard, close to the Mercat cross.
