Manau Observer doesn’t have same ring about it
Manau
The Stirling Observer’s circulation area stretches as far north as Tyndrum, taking in an area of the old Perthshire; for example Doune and Callander are in both Perthshire and also the Stirling Council district.
The earliest reference to the Shire of Stirling is from a charter of Alexander I who died in the castle in 1124. The shire or soke, was land directly controlled by the royal family and stretched to Falkirk. Remember Alexander’s dad, Malcolm III was the king who likely added Stirling to Scotland, so it’s likely that they wanted direct control of the Forth crossing.
However, Stirling sat in the middle of an older place, perhaps even once an independent kingdom - Manau. The “man”- of Manau - is probably Gaelic for“projecting high ground”and refers to The Ochils.
The name survives in four placenames two of which you probably know - Clackmannan (the stone of Manau) and Slamannan (the moor of Manau). The other two you probably don’t know, Cromennane (boundary of Manau) near Balfron and Rodmannan (the fort of Manau) in Fife. All of which suggests that Manau stretched from East Fife westwards to Loch Lomond along the Forth Valley, with of course the jewel in its crown … the crossing at Stirling.
Manau is first mentioned by the
Romans around AD 300, presumably somewhere their spies kept an eye on. Later on we find references to it being raided and bits hived off. It basically got squeezed between bigger players: first other local kingdoms, the Goddodin from East Lothian, then the Angles (yes, Stirling was part of Northumbria for a wee while), then the Picts from the North and finally the
Scots!
So perhaps this wonderful wee paper should be renamed as the Manau Observer? Hmmm it’s not quite as catchy is it!