Setting the scene

Most Scots have heard of the two valleys, Glenalmond and Strathearn, that stretch from west to east across southern Perthshire (now Perth and Kinross). As their names imply they are different types of valley: the Glen of Glenalmond suggesting its mountain origin in the hills of Breadalbane and the tumbling, rocky course of the River Almond as it gradually falls down to join the mighty Tay itself, Scotland largest river, a few kilometres north of the City of Perth; the Strath of Strathearn recalling the wide valley across which the River Earn winds majestically (at least for its final stretch from Crieff to Bridge of Earn), also to reach the Tay but a few kilometres south of Perth.

What is less known is the through-valley that lies between and connects these two west-east corridors, joining the Earn just below Crieff at its west-south-west end and, at the east-north-east end, the Almond near its outflow into the Tay. This through-valley is wide and flat and so has a temdency to bogginess, and if has any name at all, is sometimes called Powside.

Does its water flow east into the Almond, as one might expect, or west into the Earn? The answer is - both! There's a marsh part-way along it called Methven Moss, and water oozes out of this bog into two streams or drainage ditches, one flowing east-north-each to join the River Almond at Huntingtower and the other flowing in the opposite direction to find it's way to the Earn near the ancient settlement of Innerpeffray. These opoosite flowing rivers both bear the name Pow although the west-flowing one is generally called the Water of Pow and the other, smaller one simply Powburn or, officially, East Pow Burn.

It is indeed a peaceful valley though it has seen its share of violence in past times, times of which we shall tell. It is bounded by low, nameless ridges which separate it from Glenalmond to the north and Strathearn to the south. The northern ridge is irregular in shape and its highest point is about 220 metres above sea level. The southern ridge reaches a maximum height of about 180 metres and is marked, though not very clearly today, by a line of Roman signal stations, about eight of them on my map, spaced evenly at one mile (1.6 km) intervals. (Remember that a mile comes from the Latin mille passuum meaning a thousand paces - the Roman army counted a pace as two strides.) I assume this marked the most northerly limit of the Romans' control of Scotland.

The slopes from both ridges to the Water of Pow and Powburn are quite gentle, the southerly one more so, and the valley bottom is very flat, giving rise to the once extensive marshes. Drainage by the monks of Inchaffrey and later through a scheme involving the riparian owners has converted most of the valley into rich arable land, leaving only the square kilometre or so of Methven Moss as a Special Area of Conservation.

Much of the valley is divided between the two parishes of Methven to the north and Tibbermuir to the south. The latter is also adjacent to the city of Perth.

John of Cree, fl. 1459-62

Apart from surnames like Kref and Creigh which might or might not be precursors of the surname Cree, the first records that we can state with a degree of certainty to be a Cree variant show that John of Cre attended as a member of the Perth Guild court on 7 September 1459 and again on 15 October 1462.

The Guild court was the equivalent of the modern city council. It was elected by the Merchant Guild and later also by the Craft Guilds and concerned itself with trading standards, admissions to the Guildry and similar matters, and of course in rigorously protecting the interests of the merchant and later the craftsmen of the burgh. John of Cre must have been a merchant because, in the mid-15th Century the Guild court only admitted members of the Merchant Guild to its number. In view of the known merchant status of later Crees we can, in spite of the 150-year gap, be fairly certain that John was either their ancestor or related to their ancestors.

The surname Cree first occurs in Perth, Scotland, in 1459, with the spelling Cre. The first genealogies start around 1600-1620 and there are some continuous lines from that period onwards. It seems likely that all Scottish Cree lines are descended from a single family in Perth not long before the 1450s.

Here's a bare list of Scottish Cree lines that we have some information on. We intend eventually that each line will link to a separate page of information about the genealogy of that line. This is not an exhaustive list and we welcome comments and additions. All the Scottish Cree lines known to us are now included in our Cree On-line Genealogy Database

Click on links shown in Gold in the list below to read the family histories of those lines. Lines in Green have not yet been written up but you can search for them under Scottish county names in the Cree On-line Genealogy Database.

Cree lines in Scotland

Perthshire

John of Cre merchant in Perth 1459, 1462.

John Crie in Cultmalindie (b <1547)

Maltmen in Perth

Weavers in Perth

The Five Brothers of Perth

James Cree in Methven (b c1670)

George Cree in Methven (b c1674) and Agnes Miller

Angus (Forfarshire) and Aberdeenshire)

Chree (Aberdeenshire)

John Cree in Brechin