Plagues were a fairly common event in daily life in the old days and they took a tragic toll. No-one was exempt. In Ochtertyre the victims were cloistered in huts at the west end of Ochteryre Loch where they lived amongst themselves and were waited upon by attendants called cleansers. In 1645 an Act of Parliament directed that public contributions be taken up for the benefit of the plague-stricken in the parishes of Crieff, Monzievaird and Comrie. The Keeper of the Public Magazine in Perth was instructed to provide four-score bolls of meal for the use in these Parishes. Many, however, died and their remains were placed in burial mounds which can still be traced.