Breadalbane Folklore Centre can be visited by school parties and educational groups at all times when the Centre is normally open. The limited size of the centre means that it is best suited to small groups, of up to 25 pupils or students.

Booking Your Visit

Advance reservations are essential for educational groups visiting The Centre - to ensure that your party can arrive at a time which enables them to enjoy their visit to the full.

To make your reservation, call The Centre on (01567) 820254. To assist in making your reservation, please have the following information available:

• The name and address of your school (including the post code), and contact details (telephone/fax numbers, and e-mail address)
• The name (and contact details, if different) for the teacher who is organising or leading the visit
• The preferred date and time for your visit
• The number of pupils, teachers, and other accompanying adults in the group
• Details of any special needs or requirements (e.g. pupils with special physical needs, etc.)

Helpful Notes

- to ensure that your group has a safe and enjoyable visit to The Centre:

• You should plan for a minimum period of 1 hour for a visit to The Centre - allowing time for visiting the exhibition areas, the Audio Visual Theatre, and the Souvenir, Gift and Book Shop.
  
  
• To accommodate larger groups - it may be necessary to split your party into smaller groups, each of which will undertake a different activity simultaneously. One group can visit the exhibition areas before seeing the Audio Visual presentation, whilst the other group can start their visit in the theatre area, then visit the exhibition floor. Each group must be accompanied by at least one adult or teacher.
  
  
• A Public Toilet facility is available close to The Centre
  
  
• The Centre is located close to The Falls of Dochart, and teachers and group leaders are advised to take appropriate safety precautions especially when children are entering and leaving the building.

The personnel at The Centre will do all they can to make sure that everyone in your group enjoys their visit, and they will be happy to deal with any enquiries, either beforehand or during your visit.

Notes for Teachers and Group Leaders

Breadalbane Folklore Centre - Historical Cornerstones and Themes

Saint Fillan was born into an Irish noble family, and as an early Christian missionary he arrived at Iona in Scotland with St. Columba in 563 AD. He eventually settled in Killin, where he is reputed to have carried out many miraculous deeds. St. Fillan is credited with having united through religion the two great power centres in Scotland - the Scots and the Picts.

'The Mill at Dochart', or St. Fillan's Mill was originally a meal mill, and was built in 1840 on the site of an earlier mill, said to have been established by St. Fillan. It eventually became a woollen mill, and tweed was woven there until 1939.

St. Fillan's legendary 'Healing Stones' have been kept at The Mill since they were left in the care of the miller by St. Fillan himself. The stones are said to have mystical healing powers and are still used by believers as a cure for a variety of ills. Each year the stones are bedded in fresh river wrack and straw in keeping with an ancient tradition.

Replicas of St. Fillan's Quigrich (the head of his crozier or crook) and St. Fillan's bell are kept in The Centre. (The original relics are held in The National Museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh).

On the eve of The Battle of Bannockburn, King Robert the Bruce carried with him a silver case from which St. Fillan's 'Mayne' or arm bone had been removed for safe keeping. As he knelt in prayer with the empty case by his side, he heard a sound coming from the case. He opened it, and St. Fillan's 'Mayne' lay before him.. News of the miracle fired the Scots as they went into battle the next day.

A burial stone and mound behind the Killin school is believed to be the last resting place of Fingal, leader of the Fiann, a band of giant-killing heroic age warriors, who features in one of The Centre's stories.

Killin's oldest clan are the MacNabs, descended from the Abbots of Glendochart and related to other local clans of MacGregor and MacNaughton. The seat of the MacNabs was at Kinnell near the stone circle. The burial ground of the MacNabs lies near The Centre in the middle of the Dochart River, on the island of Inch Buidh.