/
THE
VcPSJ-
t$tov£ antr ®ratrttton$
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS
IN ANGUS AND MEARNS,
WITH NOTICES OF ALYTH AND MEIGLE.
BY ANDREW JERYISE.
TO WHICH IS ADDED
AN APPENDIX
CONTAINING EXTRACTS FROM AN OLD RENTAL BOOK OF EDZELL AND LETHNOT ;
NOTICES OF THE RAVAGES OF THE MARQUIS OF MONTROSE IN ANGUS-SHIRE,
AND OTHER INTERESTING DOCUMENTS.
EDINBURGH:
SUTHERLAND & KNOX, GEORGE STREET.
1853.
ABERDEEN :
J'KINTED BY JOHN AVER Y.
I,' N ION S T R E E T.
TO T11E
RIGHT HONOURABLE
ALEXANDER-WILLIAM-CRAWFORD, LORD LINDSAY,
HEJR APPARENT TO THE EARLDOMS OP CRAWFORD AND BALCARRES,
AND TO THE BARONIES OF LINDSAY, WIGAN, &C. &(!.,
AUTHOR OF LIVES OF THE LINDSAYS, AND OTHER VALUABLE WORKS,
Volume,
ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE INTERESTING HISTORY AND TRADITIONS OF THE ESTATES
WHICH WERE SO LONG POSSESSED BY HIS NOBLE ANCESTORS,
IN THE COUNTIES OF ANGUS AND MEARNS,
IS, BY PERMISSION,
MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
PEEFACE.
It may be proper to remark that this volume is the first which
the Author has published—a fact which will perhaps account
for its numerous defects in composition and arrangement. The
Writer has devoted much of his leisure to the study of the
history and antiquities of his native district—has felt the greatest
pleasure'.in doing so—and has occasionally published scraps on
the subject in provincial newspapers. These notices (which were
all very defective) related chiefly to churchyard matters, and to
descriptions of remarkable antiquarian and historical peculiari¬
ties. In course of time, these not only gained provincial favour,
and the good opinion of several gentlemen of literary note at a
distance, but were so far useful, from the fact, that greater care
has been shewn for antiquarian relics since their publication, and
a marked improvement has taken place in the mode of keeping
many of the churchyards and tombstones in the district.* The
present volume owes its origin to the general interest which one
of these papers created at the time; and from the kindness and
courtesy of the Right Hon. Lord Lindsay, who was pleased to
remark, in reference to the notice referred to,—" I wish your
account of Glenesk had been published in time to have enabled
me to avail myself of it in the ' Lives.'"
No apology is necessary, it is presumed, for the title of this
volume. The Lands, of which it is intended to preserve the
History and Traditions, have been purposely selected, and were,
at one time or other, under the sway of the powerful family of
Lindsay-Crawford. Glenesk was the birth-place of the first Earl
* From the favour with which these notices were received, the Author
purposes, at some after period, to publish them in an enlarged and improved shape.
VI
F RE FACE.
—Finhaven and Edzell were the cherished abodes of the family
so long as its power survived; and its various members were
proprietors of important portions of the Mearns from a remote
to a late period. Although these estates have long since passed
to other hands, and the family is merely represented in its
fatherland by a collateral branch, it is pleasing to know that
the ancient title is still enjoyed by a lineal descendant of the
original stock, whose son and heir-apparent is the impartial and
elegant biographer of his illustrious progenitors.
Though traditions of the Lindsays are not so plentiful in the
district as they were of old, when the hills and dales and running
brooks were less or more associated with stories of their daring
and valour—enough remains to shew the almost unlimited
sway which the family maintained over the greater portion of
Angus, and a large part of Mearns-shire. Like the doings of
other families of antiquity, those of the Lindsays are mixed
with the fables of an illiterate age; and, though few redeem¬
ing qualities of the race are preserved in tradition, popular
story ascribes cruel and heartless actions to many of them. Still,
extravagant as some of these stories are, they have not been
omitted, any more than those relating to other persons and
families who fall within the scope of this volume; and, where
such can be refuted, either by reference to documentary or other
substantial authority, the opportunity has not been lost sight of.
The way in which erroneous ideas have been reiterated re¬
garding old families, and the transmission of their properties,
&c., has led to much confusion, the sad evils of which are
most apparent to those who attempt to frame a work of such
a nature as the present. From the Author's desire to correct
these errors, the book will, perhaps, have more claim to the title
of a collection of facts regarding the history and antiquities of the
Land of the Lindsays than to a work of originality and merit,
and may, therefore, be less popular in its style than most readers
P R E F A 0 E .
Vll
would desire; but this, it is hoped, lias been so far obviated by
the introduction of snatches regarding popular superstitions, and
a sprinkling of anecdote. Due advantage has been taken of the
most authentic works which bear on the history of the district,
for the use of the greater part of which, and for a vast deal of
valuable information, the Writer is particularly indebted to the
kindness of Patrick Chalmers, Esq., of Aldbar. He is also under
deep obligation to the Right Hon. Lord Lindsay, not only for
many important particulars which he has been pleased to com¬
municate regarding his family history, but for the great interest
he has taken in otherwise advancing the work.
In notices of pre-historic remains, the lover of antiquity
may find the volume rather meagre. This, the Writer is sorry
to remark, has arisen, in a great measure, from the penchant
which most discoverers have of breaking any valuable relics with
which they meet. For, although a change for the better has
recently taken place in the mind of the general public regard¬
ing antiquities, the peasantry, into whose hands those treasures
are most likely to fall, have still a sadly mistaken view of
their value; and, in the vain hope of being enriched by the
supposed wealth of their contents, they not infrequently de¬
prive themselves of remuneration altogether, but, in destroy¬
ing pieces of pottery-ware, metals, and similar articles, tear
so many leaves—so to speak—from the only volume which
belongs to the remote and unlettered past, and thus place the
attainment of some important particular regarding the history
of our forefathers—perhaps for ever—beyond the reach of en¬
quiry. The baneful law of treasure trove has much to account
for on this score; but, there is reason to believe, that the evil
might be so far modified, through an express understanding
between landlords and tenants, and tenants and servants.
The Appendix will be found to contain many interesting
and hitherto unpublished papers, particularly those illustrative of
Vlll
PREFACE.
tlie ravages of tlie Marquis of Montrose and liis soldiers in cer¬
tain parts of Angus. The old Rental Book of Edzell and Leth-
not, from which copious extracts have been taken, was lately
rescued from total destruction in a farm "bothie" in Lethnot.
Though a mere fragment, the portion preserved is important,
not only from its shewing the value and nature of the holdings
of the period, but from its handing down the names of many
families who are still represented in the district.
In thanking his numerous friends and subscribers for their
kind support, the Author feels that some apology is necessary for
the delay which has occurred in the publication. This has
arisen from two causes—mainly from a protracted indisposition
with which the Writer was seized soon after advertising the
volume; and, partly, from including in it the history of the
minor Lindsay properties in Angus, and of those in Mearns, &c.
—an object which was not originally contemplated. From the
latter cause the volume has necessarily swelled far beyond the
limits at first proposed; still, the Author does not feel himself
justified in increasing the price to subscribers, but the few re¬
maining copies of the impression will be sold to non-subscribers
at a slight advance. He begs also to express his deep obliga¬
tion to those who took charge of subscription lists, and so disin¬
terestedly and successfully exerted themselves in getting these
filled up, as well as to various Session-Clerks, and numerous
Correspondents, for their kindness in forwarding his enquiries.
ANDREW JERVISE.
Brechin, August, 1853.
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
CHAPTER I.
3Sir*eil.
" My travels are at liome ;
>li 3 3 3 #
And oft in spots with ruins o'erspread,
Like Lysons, use the antiquarian spade."
SECTION I.
The name of this parish, in old times, had a different ortho¬
graphy from that now in use. At the beginning of the
thirteenth century it was written " Edale," and " Adel" in the
ancient Taxatio, which was rated at a subsequent period.* In
both cases the word may he considered as essentially the same,
signifying "plain or meadow" ground, and quite descriptive of
the most valuable half of the parish, or that part which lies
without the boundary of Glenesk. In Rolt's Life of John, the
twentieth Earl of Crawford, it is written " EdgehiH," and so
pronounced at this day, by some old people, and believed by
many to be the true etymon, from the fact that the great bulk
of the arable land lies from the edge of the hill southward.")" In
all documents posterior to the date of the two first, however, the
orthography differs little from the present, and according to
the late venerable Minister, implies " the cleft or dividing of
the waters,"—a rendering which is also favoured by the physical
aspect of the parish, in so far as it is bounded on the south and
west by the West Water, and on the east by the North Esk,
both of which rivers unite at the south-east extremity.
S: Registrum da Aberbrothoc.—Bannatyne Club, Edin. 1818, pp. 7 48, 240.
t Perhaps the present spelling arose from s being often used for g in old writings.
b
2
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Etymologies at best are matter of conjecture, and although,
in many cases, conclusions are arrived at with much apparent
reason, they are constantly subjects of doubt, arising from
the obvious fact, that inferences are too often drawn from
the corrupted forms now in use, instead of from the original
and more ancient. It is agreed on all hands that modern
names are far from improvements on the originals, which
are ever descriptive of the situation, or other physical pecu¬
liarities of the soil; and, what is perhaps still more valuable,
they occasionally furnish a key to the status and particular
nature of the holdings and occupations of the tenants of the
remote past. In the neighbourhood of the site of the old Castle
of Dalbog, for instance, we have the " Serjan' Hill," or the
place where the old serjeant of the barony resided; while the
" temple lands" scattered over almost every part of Scotland
imply, not, as popularly believed, that the places were the sites of
temples in early times, but that the lands were held first under
the superiority of the old fraternity of Knights Templars, and
afterwards under those of St. John of Jerusalem, the latter of
whom flourished in Scotland until the first Reformation. In like
manner, the "kiln" and " sheeling" hills, shew the places where
corn wTas dried and unhusked prior to the introduction of ma¬
chinery; and " the sucken lands," are still well known in some
districts, though few, in comparison to the number of places so
called in more ancient times, and indicate that certain payments
in kind were made from them, to meal and barley millers, even
in later ages than those previously alluded to.
It must, therefore, be matter of regret that these important
aids to ancient history and the manners of our forefathers are
so generally beyond our reach, and that so little attention lias
been paid to their preservation; for even when found mentioned
in family charters and national records, the exact locality of a
^ ast number of them are altogether unknown, either from their
utter extinction, or the orthographical change which the names
have undergone. It is from a belief that etymons ought to be
drawn from the oldest spellings, that a preference is here given
to the meaning implied by Edale or Adel, as will be given
throughout the volume, to that implied by the most ancient
forms of orthography, so far as can be ascertained.
EDZELL—BELL OP ST. LAWKENCE.
3
In the times of Romanism, the Church of Edzell was attached
to the Archiepiscopal see of St. Andrews, and rated at the
small sum of twelve marks. It was also one of several de¬
pendencies whose revenues were appropriated for the repair of
the parent Cathedral after its conflagration in Bishop Landel's
time ;* but oddly enough, no mention is made of it in the
Register of Ministers for 1567, although in that of the Readers
for 1572, an Andro Spens appears to have held the important
office of " exhorter," with the trifling annual stipend of about
thirteen shillings and fourpence sterling.!
Like other districts which have never been dignified as the
seat of a Cathedral, Abbey, or Priory, the ecclesiastical history
of Edzell is meagre and uninteresting; and in these circumstances
we are compelled, like the drowning man, to grasp even at a
straw, if we think it can afford any advantage. Still, we
have great fears that our aims may be frustrated. Be that as
it may, the earliest parson of whom any trace exists bore the
name of Elwyno, and had been, doubtless, a man of considera¬
tion in his day, since he witnessed the grant of Warnabalde,
ancestor of the Earls of Glencairn, and his wife, Rechenda, the
daughter and heiress of Humphrey de Berkeley, when they
gifted their Mearns-shire estates to the Abbey of Arbroath 4
Beyond the solitary instance of 1378, already mentioned, we
are not aware that the revenues of the church were ever applied
either for the support of monasteries or altarages ; and the name
of the Saint to whom it was inscribed is lost in the dubious
mists of fable. Perhaps, however, from a confused tradition
regarding a bell belonging to the church, called the bell of St.
Lawrence, it is probable that that patient and worthy martyr,
whose feast is on the 10th of August, had been the parish
favourite. This instrument is said to have been specially rung
by the Durays of Durayhill, who, as will be fully shewn in a
subsequent part of this volume, were the hereditary doomsters,
or justiciaries, of the lairds of Edzell; and although it was only
brought to light, after a long lapse of years, by being acci¬
dentally dragged from the bottom of the old well of Durayhill
in the. early part of the present century, and lay in the old
* (a.d, 1378)—Lyon's History of St. Andrews, vol, ii, p. 312.
t Maitland Club Publication, 4to, Edin. 1830. t (AD- 1238.)—Reg. de Aberbrotboo, p. 143.
B 2
4
LAND OP THE LINDSAYS.
church down to the period of its demolition, it has since been
completely lost sight of.
The loss of this, which was, perhaps, the oldest parochial
relic, is much to be regretted, since all description proves it to
have been an instrument of the most primitive manufacture,
and might suggest a comparison with some of those described
and figured in Dr. Wilson's admirable work on the " Prehistoric
Annals of Scotland."* It was made of common sheet iron, of a
quadrangular form, about a foot high, and correspondingly "wide,
and narrowing a little towards the top. The handle was placed
horizontally on the side, and passing through the bell, formed
the axle of the clapper, which was suspended by an S- The
clapper wTas of wrought iron, shaped somewhat like a purring
iron, and is said to have been newer than the bell; but no
person remembers to have seen any trace of writing upon it.
Bells were used by the first christian settlers, and were ever
objects of great veneration, and as duly consecrated as the church
and pastor. St. Columbkill had one on the famous island of Ioua
(commonly, but erroneously, written Iona) ; and St. Ternan had
one presented to him by Pope Gregory the Great, which was
deposited beside his relics, and held in high veneration at the
kirk of Banchory Ternan, where he was buried. Prior to the
fashion of administering oaths over the Holy Bible, bells were
used instead ; and instances are on record of people holding
them as evidences of right and title to landed property. This
was the case with the bell of St. Meddan of Airlie. It was
resigned by its hereditary possessor, the Curate, to Sir John
Ogilvy, who gifted it to his lady, in virtue of which she had
possession of a house and toft near the kirk of Luntratken, and
had her infeftment completed, by being shut up in a house, and
receiving the feudal symbols of earth and stone.f They were
also believed to work many miracles, and, amongst others, to
frighten away the devil from the souls of departed christians,—
hence the origin of the " warning of the passing bell" at
funerals—a practice which, though one of the oldest and most
revered rites of the Roman Church, is yet used in some presby-
terian districts, and dealt out on the same pecuniary considera¬
tions as it was by our superstitious forefathers.
* Ellin., ISfil, p. 652, et sub. t (a.d. 1447)—Spalding Club Miscel., vol. iv., pp. 117,118.
EDZELL—OLD KlRKYAED.
We do not infer, however, although the " toll of the
dead bell" is still occasionally heard in Edzell and many neigh¬
bouring parishes, that the inhabitants place any faith in the
old belief; but, simply, retain the custom from respect to the
worthy people who have gone before them; indeed, the prac¬
tice is now so rare, that, when attempted to be used, the
sexton frequently rings " a merry peal," instead of the deep,
solemn, and imposing knell, which is so well calculated to strike
fear and alarm to the hearts of most listeners. The old kirkyard
of Edzell—whither it was customary for the sexton at no dis¬
tant date to precede almost all funeral processions, tolling the
unharmonious badge of his sad unenviable office—has now a
far more solitary situation than it had in days of yore. It
occupies the same site, it is true, by the side of the West
Water, but the church is removed, the huge castle is roofless
and untenanted, and the busy thriving village fully a mile
distant. The abrupt and varied heights of Dunlappie, and the
isolated hill of Drummore, raise their protecting and shadowy
crests on the north-east and south-west; but solitude reigns
around, and barring the thoughtful tread of the curious pilgrim,
or the hasty step of the busy merchantman—the ancient lords of
the district, and " the rude forefathers of the hamlet"—enjoy
an undisturbed and unvaried repose, well befitting the solemnity
and awfulness of death. It was different in old times: the
clack of the busy mill, and the undisguised laugh of innocent
childhood, reverberated within a few paces, and the sweet-
scented honeysuckle twined around the door of the miller's
cottage, and the healthy vegetable was fostered with all the
skill and care then known near the south-west corner of Stop-
bridge, where the foundations of long-since inhabited tenements,
and pieces of mill gear, are frequently found.
Drummore Hill, of late crowned with luxuriant crops of
whins and broom, now bearing its hundreds of bolls of yellow
corn, could also boast of many tenanted cottages and smiling
gardens in old times; and on the southern extremity, on a small
isolated hillock, which had been evidently surrounded by a
moat, the original castle of Edzell is presumed to have stood.
The spot is still called " the castle hillock," and old parishioners
have been told by their fathers, that they remembered of two
0
LAND OF TliF LINDSAYS.
arched chambers being erased from it, and a common blue bottle,
of antique manufacture, found in the crevices, filled with wine
or other liquid.
This castle, according to tradition, was originally demolished
by the ancient lords of Dunlappie,* who, having been engaged in
the wars of the Crusades, found, on their return home, that
the lords of Edzcll had taken forcible possession of their castle,
which stood on a bank immediately opposite, and commencing
a desperate reprisal, they demolished the castle, and pillaged
and burned the lands of their adversary. Such is the story—
whether true or false cannot now be said. But the antiquity of
the lands of Dunlappie are beyond all dispute, and, at the time
referred to, were in the hands of the great family of Abernethy; f
but, so far as we are aware, no trace of their castle of PoolbrigsJ
(for so their residence was called) has ever been discovered, and
the incident, and name of the castle, are both unknown in history.
It is, therefore, apparent, since traces of so many old dwell¬
ings have been found, not only on Drummore hill, but also on
that of Edzell, and in the still more immediate vicinity of the
burial place, that in old times the kirk had been rather con¬
veniently placed for the great mass of the people—particularly
since the east side of the parish was provided with a chapel at
Dalbog. But, as the feudal importance of the great house of
Edzell declined, the occupation of its numerous retainers, who
inhabited those dwellings, necessarily ceased, and several small
pendicles being thrown together, the stream of population natu¬
rally sought a place more convenient for mutual labour, and
more accessible to merchants and markets 5 and the hillside
becoming deserted, and the plain peopled, the village of Slateford
gradually increased until it assumed its present important and
burgli-like form, although the church was not removed thither
until the late period of 1818, when the old one was sacrificed to
furnish a few crazy materials to aid in its erection.
The old kirk and kirkyard were within the same delta as the
* Dun-laipach, i. e. " miry hillocks."—( Dun also means " a fort.")
t Duncan, the fifth Earl of Fife, and fourth in descent from the murderer of Macbeth,
exeamhied Dunloppie, and Balmadethy in Fearn, with Orem, the son of Hew of Abernethy, for
the lands of Balberny, in Fife, in Malcolm IV's time.—Douglas' Peerage.
^ The Gael. PuM-bruach (IVom its being so descriptive of the site of the reputed castle) is
perhaps, the true etymology of " I'oolbrigs," and means " a bank or precipice in a bog."
EDZELL OLD KIHK.
I
original castle, and, down to a late period, were difficult and often
of dangerous access; for, before the Stop-bridge was thrown over
the so-called old channel of the West Water, the inhabitants of
the village and other eastern parts had to ford the den on step¬
ping-stones and ladders, and as this mode of transit was ineffi¬
cient when the river was swollen, there was frequently no
sermon, because of " the watters being in spaitt."* In short,
the kirk latterly assumed altogether a very comfortless aspect,
the snow and rain found easy access through the roof, and the
floor being some inches lower than the surrounding ground, the
area was frequently inundated.
But of this crazy fane, where so many of the proud lords of
Edzell and their humble retainers bowed the knee, there is,
as before intimated, no prominent trace. The not inelegant
archway, which separated the kirk from the burial aisle, is built
up, and the old area used as a place of common sepulture ; and,
within these few years, the bell has been transferred to the new
kirk, and the belfrey allowed to fall into decay. Although an
object of no great antiquity, still the presence of the bell added
considerably to the romantic aspect of the place, and to the
convenience of the few scattered inhabitants who peopled the
south-west side of the parish ; and having, together with a hand
bell, been made from a mould constructed by an ingenious
villager, and cast in the woods of Edzell by a band of tinkers,
who had made good their quarters for a time, it may be said to
possess a more than ordinary local interest. It now lies as lumber
about the new church, and may soon, alike with its unfortunate
predecessor of St. Lawrence, be altogether lost sight of.j"
It is also worthy of notice that the old kirk was perhaps
amongst the earliest slated of our landward churches ; for so
early as 1641, we are not only informed that a payment was
made to " the sclaitter for poynting the kirke," but have a
glimpse at the extras or overpayments of the time, in the curious
item of "mair of drink siluer to hys boy, 6d."
Nothing is known of the state of religion in Edzell prior to
the date of the parochial register, which begins on the third of
* Par. Peg., Nov. 12,1(548, et sub.
t The kirk bell bears the . parisii . of . edzell . me. . iames . Thomson . minr. .
made . at . sclat . ford , by . i«HN . easton . 1720." Oil tl)0 hand bell " edzell . parish .
ioa , easton , fecit . 1720." The bell on the new kirk bears the (late of 1819,
s
LAND OP THE LINDSAYS.
January, 1641; but there is no reason to believe that "the new
doctrine" was introduced earlier here than in other parts of
the shire. It might be curious to know, though we are not
aware if it could be ascertained correctly, whether Edzell was
among those parishes which were supplied by one of the " manie
popishe preistis, unabill and of wicked life," whose conduct was
winked at by the Superintendent Erskine ;* but, it is certain
that Sir David of Edzell, who succeeded his father in 1558, as
well as his excellent brother, Lord Menmuir, espoused the re¬
formed doctrines, and that they were religiously cherished by all
their successors. Indeed, so attached was the grandfather of the
last laird to the cause of the Covenant, that he raised a regiment
in support of it, which was known by his own name ;f and, in
the Parliament of 1662, the Earl of Middleton fined him in the
large sum of three thousand pounds. Kirk-sessions were prohi¬
bited from being held in the parish from the time of " the blessed
restoratioun" until 1662, and on being resumed by order of the
Bishop and Presbytery, Mr. Dempster "begood the administra¬
tion of discipline," and from that time matters moved smoothly
on, till the abolition of episcopacy at the beginning of last cen¬
tury, when, under tire banner of " the last laird," the opposition
was carried to a higher pitch than, perhaps, in any neigh¬
bouring district.
It is true that the Earl of Southesk's factor forced the ad¬
joining parishioners of Stracathro, under pain of being carried
to the Pretender's camp at Perth, to meet him " at the head
of eighty men under arms, with beating drums, and flying
colours," and to join with him in a day of humiliation and
prayer, " for success to the Pretender's army,"J but it docs not
appeal* that so forcible means were employed there against the
introduction of the presbyterian minister, as at Edzell. Both by
fair and foul means, David Lindsay exerted himself to the very
utmost in his power for the maintenance and propagation of his
cause, and although prohibited by the Lords of Justiciary from
the use of the church, and forbidden to preach in the parish,
the minister, who was a namesake of the laird's, was encouraged
* Booke of the Universall Kirk of Scotland.—Bann. Club, p. 25.
1 " The minister told from the pulpit that he was appointed by the presbytery to attend
the lord of Egill's regiment for one month."—Jfenmvir 1'ar, Beg., Avg, 11, 1550.
I iStramthro J'nr. Beg., A'oe. 2, 1715.
EDZELL—EPISCOPAL RIOTS OF 1714.
0
and protected by him in every possible manner, and openly
taught his revolutionary principles—" prayed for the popish
pretender as King of those realms," and " preached in the great
hall of Edzell'' to assembled multitudes. In this manner they
not only held exhortations on Sabbaths, but took the manage¬
ment of all parochial business as "the Kirk-session of Edzell"
—relieved the poor of the parish, and elected a schoolmaster—
and until active measures were taken by Government for the
minister's removal, successfully maintained their position against
all and sundry.
In this state of matters, on the 26th of August, 1714, the
Presbytery ordained the Rev. Mr. Gray as Mr. Lindsay's suc¬
cessor, and it could scarcely be supposed that one of so bold and
impetuous a temperament as the laird would quietly submit to
have his power set aside, and the important adjunct of patron of
the parish summarily wrested out of his hands. It was, indeed
a fitting opportunity for a display of his determined character •
and, although aware that ere long he would require to bid the
lands of his sires adieu for ever, he resolved to support his feudal
title in all its bearings, so long as he held possession. Accord¬
ingly, on the Sabbath after Air. Gray's ordination, which the
Presbytery found necessary, for safety's sake, to conduct at
Brechin, " the doors of the church were shut [against him] by
order of the laird," and, for want of better accommodation, he
preached his first sermon in the open air.
For some reason or other not specified, but perhaps from the
laird's absence from the parish, Mr. Gray had admission to the
church on the two following Sundays, but on the third and
fourth thereafter, he and a Mr. Johnston were severally excluded,
together with their followers, "whom they had brought with them
from Brechin," all of whom " were most inhumanly and bar¬
barously treated" by the Jacobites. None abashed, however, the
presbyterians persevered in maintaining their ground; but on the
third of October the crisis was reached, and Mr. Gray and party
had no sooner arrived at the church, than they were violently
assaulted by a band of men and women, under the laird's
directions, who beat and maltreated them in every conceivable
way, by cutting their clothes, and stabbing and beating them with
" durks, and stones, and rungs," and forcing them to wade to and
10
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
iro iii the adjoining river, until some of them were nearly killed.*
It was only then that Mr. Gray abandoned his post, and claimed
protection from the civil authorities, and until the following
January, he did not reappear in the parish; but matters being
then amicably settled, he resumed his labours in peace, and the
Episcopalians delivered over to him the " communion vessells and
vestments," which they had all along retained and made use of.
During the disturbance of " forty-five," however, matters were
otherwise conducted, for then the kirk-session were declared to
have acted an exemplary part " in the late unnatural rebellion
and, with the exception of the dissent which occurred here, in
common with that in most other parts of the kingdom in 1843,
the parishioners may be said, ever since the notorious "rabble"
of 1714, to have moved quietly on " in the noiseless tenor of their
way."
None of the clergymen or schoolmasters, so far as we arc
aware, were famous for anything beyond their immediate sphere
of duties. They seem to have been good useful men in their
time, with the exception of one " heartless pedagogue who be¬
longed to the town of Cromarty." When scarcely a year in
office he was " detected privately in the night tyme treacherously
stealing of a pt of our Sessione records wherein was contained
baptisms and marriges," j* and, fearing the worst, he clandestinely
departed, and was never again seen in the district. But of all
his successors, the name of Mr. Bonnyman, who flourished to¬
wards the close- of last century, lives most vividly in the minds
of the parishioners.
Though best remembered in the rather unenviable charac¬
ter of a miser, to which, if tales are true, he had a pretty
legitimate claim, he had also the reputation of being a good
scholar, and prior to his settlement at Edzell, was tutor in the
noble family of Kintore. Loath to expend money on fire to
cook his food, or to warm himself in all but the severest frosts
of winter, he nightly lurked about the blazing hearths of the
villagers, and went daily from house to house with his " brose
cap" under his arm, and made choice of the " broo" of the
" fattest kail pot" to slake his scanty supply of meal l\ He was
* See Appendix, No. I. f Parish Reg. 1700.
I Prose is " a kind of pottago made by pouring water or broth on meal, which is stirred in
while the liquid is boiling,"—Jamieson's Scot. Diet, in voce.
ED2ELL-
.—SCHOOLMASTER AND MINISTER.
11
a big gruff man, and when in full Sunday habit, sported " a
three-nookit business," or sort of cocked hat, but when on his
brose-making excursions he wore a broad blue bonnet with
scarlet brim, an old-fashioned drab great coat thrown loosely
over his shoulders, and fastened at the neck with a big buckle—
presenting altogether more the appearance of a sturdy beggar
than the learned instructor of the parish, or the possessor, as
he was in reality, of some two or three thousand pounds.
As his contemporary, the minister, also gained a provincial
notoriety, it will, perhaps, excuse our noticing him. This
arose, however, not certainly from the penuriousness of his habits,
but from the awful and lamentable maimer in which he is
reported to have closed his career. It is admitted, on all hands,
that his learning was only surpassed by his eloquence as a
preacher, and by his gentlemanly bearing and generosity of
heart, for his ear was ever open to the tale of distress, and his
hand ever ready to afford relief. Unlike Mr. Bonnyman, he was
an enthusiastic gambler, and from his expertness in that respect,
and his kindly disposition, he was the courted of surrounding
landlords, and possessed more influence, perhaps, than any of his
brethren; but, with all these accomplishments, and admirable
mental qualities, the strange infatuation of his nature, and the
circumstances of his death, teach a sad lesson of human frailty,
and its certain consequences.
Dining at a neighbouring mansion with a large party of
gentlemen on one occasion, the game of hazard, as usual, was
their after dinner amusement, and the stakes being heavy, and
the minister fortunate, the fairness of his play was questioned,
and an angry altercation ensuing, one of the losing party, in the
heat of passion, lifted a candlestick from the table and felled the
minister to the floor. From the injuries thus inflicted, he is
said to have almost immediately expired; but the matter being
quietly managed, the circumstance ultimately became forgotten,
and all the parties concerned, and a generation or two to boot,
have now gone to their reckoning. Still, the generous character
of the minister, and the sad nature of his death, live in the
memories of the children of those to whom his goodness of heart
and other amiable qualities were known.
12
land of the lindsays.
SECTION II.
" See yonder hallow'd fane—the pious work
Of names once famed, now dubious or forgot,
And buried midst the wreck of things which were :
There lie interr'd the more illustrious dead.
• • * * «
Strange things, the neighbours say, have happen'd here:
Wild shrieks have issued from the hollow tombs :
Dead men have come agaiu, and walk'd about ;
And the great bell has toll'd, unrung, untouch'd."
Blair's Grave.
Tiie burial vault of the great barons of Edzell, which was
attached to the south side of the kirk, forming the old and im¬
portant adjunct of an aisle, is still entire. It is a plain, unos¬
tentatious mausoleum, rather incompatible with the wealth and
power of its noble founder; but in excellent keeping with his
solemn and benign character. It was erected about the middle
of the sixteenth century, by David Lindsay of Edzell, who
became the ninth Earl of Crawford ; and the kirk had, perhaps,
been rebuilt and slated at the same time.
The roof of the vault is covered with grey slates, and lias
recently been repaired, and the big window on the south is
guarded by heavy staunchels of iron, which, alike with the fine
grated door at Invermark castle, had probably been dug from
native mines, and smelted in the locality. Earl David was
buried here at his own request, as were his first spouse, Janet
Gray (who pre-deceased him, in 1549), and the most of their
successors. The aisle is entered by a small door on the north,
and a flight of steps, hewn of the soft red sandstone of the
locality, leads to the gloomy chamber. Internally, the vault is
only about nine feet square, and so crowded with rubbish and
bones, that 110 adequate idea can be had of its real height, The
sides and roof are of solid ashler, constructed with great care,
and the centre of the roof terminates in the mortuary semblance
of four skulls, cut by a bold and vigorous chisel. An iron ring
is fixed in the midst of these for suspending the lamp, which
was believed to light the souls of the departed through the
unknown maze to eternal bliss. But of all the powerful per¬
sonages here interred, no memorial exists to perpetuate their
individual characters, or even their names. It is true, that a
EDZELL 13UK1AL VAULT.
large slab, having a goodly sculpture of the Lindsay and Aber-
nethy arms, and a few stray words and letters, was thrown from
the aisle at the destruction of the old kirk, and now lies broken
in several pieces in the grave yard ; and, so far as can be judged
from the style of its carving—for it is very much mutilated and
effaced—it may be supposed to belong to about the beginning of
the seventeenth century.'95'
One tradition is only known regarding the family of Edzell
and this vault; and, as a matter of course, it is fraught with
much of the romance and improbability incident to the dream-
ings of a remote age. Divested, however, of its accustomed
minuteness, tradition has failed to preserve the name of the
heroine, but uniformly affirms that she was buried in a trance,
and so loaded with rich and valuable jewellery, that the sexton's
avariciousness became excited to the highest pitch, and, bent on
obtaining the treasure at all hazards, he stole under night to her
lonely sanctuary, and soon succeeded in putting himself in pos¬
session of the whole, except the massive rings which girded her
swollen fingers. These he eyed with great admiration, and
having failed to gain them by ordinary means, the idea of am¬
putation flashed across his relentless heart, and instantly the
fatal blade of his large knife made a deep unhallowed incision.
A slight movement of the body, and the faint exclamation of
" Alas !" soon staggered his valour—the knife dropped from his
guilty hand—he trembled from head to foot, and fell senseless on
the cold, damp floor, amidst crazy trestles and musty bones !
Meanwhile, the lady disentangling herself from her shroud,
snatched the glimmering taper in one hand, and, raising her
unexpected deliverer with the other, led him forth of the vault.
Restored to consciousness, he craved mercy on bended knees;
and although the lady assured him of a handsome reward from
her husband if he would accompany her to the castle, he anxiously
prayed that he might be allowed to fly from his native land; and
she, with a heart grateful for the restoration of life, kindly per-
" Besides sculptures of the family arms, the | " .
stone bears the initials "A. L." on the sinister in . vita
side, and " W. . . ." on the dexter. A per.
pendicular line, which runs about two-thirds
down the middle, bears these words " .
. . . vmine . tvo . lvne."—The following
are the only other words and letters decipher¬
able :—
ciiristvs
. nv .
hiec . ioanes . L
er . germanvs . o
oris . ergo . posvi
14
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
mitted liim to retain his sacrilegious spoil, and the wily sexton
was never more heard of!
This romantic story will remind the reader of the extra¬
ordinary ease of the lady's kinsman, Sir William Lindsay of
Covington, who, under like circumstances, was laid out for dead;
and, but that his young great grand-daughter observed " his
beard to wagg," he might, alike with the lady of Edzell, instead
of personally greeting the large assembly of relatives and friends
who had met to attend his funeral, undergone the sad ordeal of
premature burial.* Nor is it unworthy of notice, that cases of
protracted slumber were not confined to the direct members of
the great family of Lindsay, but were also common to some of
them, who walked in humble life, it being scarcely twenty
years since the grave closed on a poor female of the same
celebrated name, called Euphemia, or, more familiarly, "Sleepin'
Effie Lindsay." This singular creature belonged to the parish
of Guthrie, but latterly resided in Cortachy, and, on various
occasions, lay in a state of utter unconsciousness for a fortnight
or more at a time. These soporific attacks were periodical in
her case, and all attempts to arouse her from them were in vain ;
and after lying in that morbid condition for the long, and almost
incredible period of six weeks, she expired, unconscious, it is
believed, of her approaching end.
The ashes of a Major James Wood lie within the bounds of
the same cemetery as those of the great lords of Edzell, and his
history being intimately associated with the traditions of the
locality, some notice of him may not be inaptly classed under
this head. This well-known veteran (a cadet of the old house
of Balbegno), resided at Invereskandy, and is popularly said to
have been factor to the penultimate laird of Edzell. His old
dwelling still stands, though now converted into a barn, and the
thick walls and small windows, with cut lintels of rather superior
workmanship, certainly bear some trace of the consequence of
the place, and the status of its old occupant.
The Major is represented as a tall, robust, gruff person,
equally hard of heart as of feature, and, were tradition to receive
implicit credit, was destitute of all those qualities which ren-
" Lives of the Lindsays, by Lord Lindsay, vol. ii. p. 287, In all subsequent reference
to this delightful work, it will ba merely noticed us "Lives."
EDZELL MAJOR WOOD.
15
der one fellow-creature the cherished friend of another. Indeed,
the factorship has been emphatically characterised as being more
his pleasure, and the horrid vices of debauchery and seduction,
the business of his every day life. It is needless to say that he
was famed in the district, and looked upon as nothing short of
a demon in human form, and the fine ford in the immediate
neighbourhood of his house was only taken advantage of during
his absence, or the hours of his repose. One sweet and guileless
maiden, who unwarily crossed here when inviting some friends
to her approaching marriage, was pounced upon by him in a
lone dreary part of the muir, and after a severe struggle, suc¬
ceeded in extricating herself from his grasp. Running towards
the river, she sprung in her confusion from the high banks into
a deep pool, and falling a victim to the rolling waters, was
swept for ever from the earthly presence of her betrothed, and
her sorrowing relatives.
Such are some of the current stories relative to the Major,
who, like other mortals, came to his end ; but not rashly. Had
he done so, romance and popular story would have been deprived
of a favourite and fertile subject of sympathy and hatred, and
the reputed awfuhiess of his deathbed, which is now pro¬
verbial, would not have been witnessed, the common belief, in the
sad nature of which, may be gathered from the following, and
only remembered stanza of a large poem composed on the occa¬
sion, by an almost unlettered local bard, who lived towards the
close of last century :—
" An' when the Major was a-deein',
The de'il cam like a corbie fleein' ;
An' o'er his bed head he did lour,
Speerin's news, ye may be sure !"
In fact, it is popularly believed that the Major did not die, as
implied by the common sense of the term, but was literally suf¬
focated by having a quantity of daich, or dough, stuffed in his
mouth to check his blasphemous ravings ! He was buried close
to the north-west corner of the Lindsay vault, under a huge flag
stone, on which a blank shield, and the illegible remains of an
inscription still exist.
An incident equally characteristic of the credulity of the
period is related concerning the translation of his body to the
10
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
grave, which, while the company rested on their way to the
churchyard, became suddenly so very heavy, that it could not
be carried further. In this singular dilemma, the minister had
courage to crave the aid of Omnipotence, and fervently ex¬
claimed:—"Lord! whoever was at the beginning of this, let
him be at the end of it," when the corpse turned as marvellously
light as it was before heavy!
Still, though the Major and his evil deeds were hid from
mortal eyes, the parishoners were so prejudiced against the spot
where he lay, and the very spokes which bore him thither,
that none of them would allow their relations to be buried in
the former, or carried on the latter. Mr. Bonnyman, the old
eccentric schoolmaster already mentioned, is said to have been
the first to break down this barrier of superstition and credu¬
lity, by giving strict orders, on his approaching dissolution, that
his body should be carried on the rejected bearers, and laid in
the same grave with the Major; and, excited by curiosity, when
Mr. Bonnyman's grave was made, many persons went to view
the huge bones of the dreaded veteran, and even believed, that
amidst the clammy ashes of his once gigantic frame, they dis¬
covered remains of the very dough with which he is said to
have been hurried out of existence !
Such are a few of the traditions regarding this dreaded son
of Mars, which, if but half as true as reported, are quite re¬
volting enough. Doubting the existence of so heartless a mon¬
ster, except in the excitable minds of the superstitious, and de¬
sirous to find all positive trace of his life and transactions, we
have made considerable enquiry, but have failed to learn anything
of him until within the last ten years of his life. Happily for
his reputation, however, we have fallen upon so direct and
opposite proofs of the engagements and doings of his life during
that period, as compels us to believe that the demoniacal actions
imputed to him are purely imaginary, and have probably been
confounded with the well-known deeds of another, and certainly
justly notorious Major, the celebrated Weir (who was contem¬
poraneous with Wood), the account of whose "Damnable His-
torie" has been a source of considerable remuneration to un¬
principled printers and flying stationers, ever since its first
publication.
EDZELL—REV. GEORGE LOW.
17
Though the discipline of the church was very lax at the
period, and pecuniary donations had vast influence with her, it
cannot possibly he believed, if the character of Wood was fraught
even with a tithe of the ferocity with which the busy tongue of
tradition has enshrouded it, that he either would have been
invested with the responsible office of an elder of the parish, or
been recognised as a witness to the baptism of several children
of families of known respectability. Nor can it be presumed
that the partner of his bosom could for a moment have tolerated
such doings ; for in her—whom, by the way, tradition never so
much as once alludes to—we find, from the importance and
nature of her gifts to " hallie kirke," the beau ideal of a reli¬
gious and God-fearing woman; while the Major's provision for
her after his decease, and his handsome mortification to the poor,
shew a spirit of benignity and charity, as well as of conjugal love
and affection, equal to the holiest of mankind. These malignant
traditions concerning him, may, therefore, as a whole, be safely
set down among those in which truth and fiction are strangely
and unaccountably commingled.'55'
The old kirkyard of Edzell also contains the ashes of the
parents, and other near relatives of one who, in the midst of
incalculable disadvantages, rose to the highest eminence in the
laborious study of natural history, and could number amongst
his intimate friends no less celebrated men than Sir Joseph
Banks, Dr. Solander, and Mr. Pennant. This was George
Low, afterwards minister of Birsay and Harry, the industrious
author of "Fauna Orcadensis," and "Flora Orcadensis," and
translator of Torfseus' History of Orkney. He was born in
the village of Edzell, in March I747.f His mother's name was
Coupar, and his father, a small crofter, held the humble ap¬
pointment of kirk-officer, and died when George was only
• It appears from the Parish Register of Edzell, that on 15th of January, 1684, Major
James Wood was elected an elder, and on the 5th of January, 1685, he was present at the
baptism of a son of John Lyndsay in Dalbog. In July and August of the same year, his wife
mortified a mortcloth to the church, and a table cloth for the communion table ; and on the 6th
of October, 1695, " A band was given in by Mr. John Lindsay, factor to the Laird of Edzell, for
200 hundreth and fiftie marks, mortified to the poore of Edzell, by Major James Wood, only
payable after the decease of Margrat Jackson, his relick, by whom it is presented, and ane
receipt given by the minister and session to the said Margrat Jackson, acknowledging hir right
to the interest yof for the forsaid soume, during hir lyfetyme, according to the Letter will of
the defunct."
t Erroneously printed 1746 in all biographies.—" 1747, March 29; George Low, lawfull
son of John Low, kirk-officer, and Isabel Coupar his spouse, baptized."—Par. Reg. of Edzell.
C
18
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
thirteen years of age, leaving him and two daughters. The
daughters were married to respectable villagers of Edzell, of the
names of Thomson and Lindsay. The latter was an ingenious
self-taught mechanic, who, to his trade of general merchant,
added that of watch and clockmaker; and having had his shop
robbed on an Edzell market night, the peculiarity of the tools
with which he wrought led to the discovery of the felon,
a notorious provincial highwayman, who, for this crime, was
hanged on Balmashanner hill at Eorfar, in 1785, and is said
to have been the last person who suffered capital punishment
by the decree of any Sheriff in Scotland.
Low began his studies at Aberdeen, and afterwards went
to St. Andrews; and being taken to Orkney in 1766, by Mr.
Alison, then minister at Holme, he became tutor to the family of
Mr. Grahame, a wealthy merchant in Stromness, with whom he
remained six years. While there, he studied assiduously for the
ministry, and his divinity studies being incomplete, in order to pre¬
pare him for examination previous to license as a preacher, he
received "lessons," as was then usual in such cases, from some
of the ministers in the Presbytery.
On leaving the family of Mr. Grahame, he went to Shet¬
land, where he preached in various parts for two years, during
which time he became acquainted with Mr. Pennant, whom he
accompanied on his celebrated Shetland tour. From his great
botanical knowledge, he was of vast service to Mr. Pennant,
through whose influence, Sir Lawrence Dundas, then patron of
most of the churches of Orkney and Shetland, presented Mr. Low
to that of Birsay and Harry, where he was settled on the 14th
of December, 1774. Two years after, he married Helen, daughter
of his former benefactor, " the learned Mr. Tyrie, of Sandwich
but she died within sixteen months, after giving birth to a still
born child. Her husband survived until the 18th of March, 1795,
and dying at Birsay, was buried in the church, below the pulpit.
A correspondent informs us that " he latterly accustomed him¬
self to study in bed, which, on many occasions, was more like
the dormitory of the dead than of the living."
In addition to the works above noticed, Mr. Low left a
history of Orkney in manuscript, which fell into the hands of Mr.
Alison of Holme, who gave it to Dr. Barry, by whom " it was
EDZELL KIRK OF NEUDOS.
19
laid under heavy obligations in compiling his workand
although he was indebted to it for the greater part of the Ap¬
pendix, in which he treats of the natural history of Orkney, Barry
nowhere acknowledges his obligations to Mr. Low, whose manu¬
scripts, it is believed, are still in existence.
As a preacher, Mr. Low was good, plain, and practical; and
although he had the misfortune to lose his eyesight five years
before his death, his blindness, so far from disqualifying him from
preaching, improved him very much. He dispensed the sacra¬
ment three times during his incumbency, and intended a little
before his death to dispense it a fourth time. Dissent was un¬
known in the parish in his day ; and although there are now
seven or eight different places of worship, the standard of re¬
ligious knowledge and practice is said to have been higher
then than at any subsequent period.*
Apart from the old parish kirk, the district of Edzell can
boast of the remains of no fewer than three other ancient eccle¬
siastical establishments. These are Dalbog, Colmeallie, and
Neudos.f The first is mentioned in the ancient Taxatio, and the
printed Retours; the second is merely recorded as a so-called
Druidical circle, and as such, will be noticed in the subsequent
Chapter; and the third was a well-known separate parish down
to a comparatively late period. Unlike its fellows, Neudos lies
in the county of Kincardine, immediately north-east of the estate
of The Burn, and part of it anciently belonged to the wide-spread
and lucrative Regality of Torphichen, the principal preceptory of
the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who were superiors of
lands throughout all the counties of Scotland, with the exception
of the shires of Argyle, Bute, and Orkney.
The date of the grant of lands in the parish of Neudos
to the knights is unknown; but the parish was in the diocese
of St. Andrews, and paid an annual to that cathedral of four
marks Scots. The thick, closely cemented foundations of
* I am indebted for many of these interesting particulars regarding Mr. Low, to the kind¬
ness of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Traill, the present incumbent ofBirsay and Harry, whose informant,
Mr. George Louttit, late parochial schoolmaster, and now in his eighty-fifth year, " bears a kindly
recollection of Mr. Low, to whom he was greatly indebted for the education he received."
f The affix dos, means " a bush or thicketand patches of whins and broom are more
than ordinarily luxuriant in the district at this day. We are not aware of the meaning of
the prefix Neu,
v 2
20
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
the church, are still traceable in the kirkyard, which is yet
used for interments; and the baptismal font, of an octagonal
shape, is broken in twain, and used as grave marks. The latest
notice of Neudos as an independent cure, occurs in the Register
of Ministers for 1567, when, together with Fordoun and Fethir-
kairne, it was superintended by a clergyman named Peter
Bouncle, who had twenty-two pounds Scots for his labours,
" with the support of the Priour of St. Androis." The precise
time of its union with Edzell has not been ascertained ; but it
cannot be much short of two hundred years, since about that
time the first notice occurs of the inhabitants attending the kirk
of Edzell in this quaint, but satisfactory record :—" Given to
Androw, the minister's man, for putting ye people of Newdosk
over the watter in a coble, 20s."*
In a field called the " Piper's-shed," nearly a mile east of the
site of the old kirk, a copious fountain bears the name of " St.
Dristan," or St. Drostan, to whom, in all likelihood, the kirk
had been dedicated. Like all consecrated springs, this is said to
have wrought numerous and wonderful miracles; and, from the
waters proving so powerful a curative in all sorts of disease, the
Esculapian craft felt their occupation so much endangered, that
a few of the hardiest of them went to poiscn the fountain; but
the neighbours hearing of their intention, fell upon them with
sticks and stones, and killing the whole of them, had their car¬
cases buried around the well!
The farm adjoining the graveyard is called the Kirkton, and
" the manse field" lies on the west side of the burn, within
which an angular patch of land, of an acre in extent, is known
as " the glebe," and was perhaps the Temple lands of old. It
is certain, however, that this isolated acre is the only part of
the Panmure estates which lie in the county of Kincardine, and
is let to the farmer of Auchmull and Dooly, who sublets it to the
tenant of Kirkton, in the midst of whose ground it is situate.
Though now known as Balfour,f the whole district was an¬
ciently designed " the thanedome of Neudos," or as more re¬
cently written, Newdoskis, or Newdosk, holding in part, as already
seen, of the Knights of St. John. It acquired the name of
"thanage," or "thanedome," from having been anciently under
* Par. Reg., Jan, 1G02. t Bal-fuar, i. e. " cold town '—a not inapt name for the place.
EDZELL—CIIAPELKY OF DALBOG.
21
the management of thanes, or king's stewards ; for, down to tie
year 1329, no family is mentioned in a proprietary relation to it;
but, of that date, King David gave a grant of it to Sir Alexander
Lindsay of Crawford, the father of the first Lindsay of Glenesk,
consequently—next to the lands of Little Pert, and the thanedom
of Downie—Neudos was the first land held by that powerful
family in the districts of Angus and Mearns.
The Chapelry of Dalbog* was on the east side of the parish,
due west of Neudos. The time of its suppression is unknown ;
and though no vestige of any house remains, the site of the place
of worship is still called the "chapel kirk shed" by old people,
and, in the memory of an aged informant, a fine well and
hamlet of houses graced the spot. This field adjoins the hillock
of Turnacloch, or " the knoll of stones," which was probably so
named, from being topt in old times by a so-called Druidical
circle, the last of the boulders of which were only removed in
1840. Some of them decorate a gravel mound behind the
farm house ; and, on levelling the knoll on which they stood, a
small sepulchral chamber was discovered, about four feet below
the surface. The sides, ends, and bottom, were built of round
ordinary sized whinstones, cemented with clay, and the top com¬
posed of large rude flags. It was situate on the sunny side of
the knoll, within the range of the circle ; but was so filled with
gravel, that although carefully searched, no relics were found.
The building was about eighteen inches broad, and a foot high,
and nearly five feet long ; and, at the south end, amidst the
clammy earth which covered the bottom, an indentation was
observed resembling that which would be caused by the pressure
of a human head.
According to popular story, Conquhare, the famous thane of
Angus, who was butchered in cold blood by his own grandson,
Crathilinthus, the son of Finella, had his residence here ; but,
whatever truth may be in the story of his murder, and Finella's
well-known revenge on the person of King Kenneth, who had
ordered Crathilinthus to be executed, there is no reason for be¬
lieving that the unfortunate Conquhare abode in this quarter.
* Gael. Dail-bog, i. e. "the bog or miry valley." The " Dulbdok" in the Register of St.
Andrews, and " Dulbrothoc," in that of Arbroath, are one and the same, and supposed to be
Dalbog. The name is written " Devilbog," in an infeftment of 1518—(Craaf. Case, p. 158.)
22
land of the lindsays.
He was one of the old Earls of Angus—a predecessor of the great
Gilchrist—and their residence and heritage were in another and
more southern part of the shire ; but, of the existence of a castle
at Dalbog, there is not the least shadow of doubt, though,
perhaps, it cannot lay claim to the antiquity popularly assigned
to it.
A building, with very thick walls, lately erased at the east
end of the farm house of the Wood of Dalbog, was known by
the name of " the castle," and of this the " Wicked Master "
took forcible possession in the time of Earl David of Edzell, and
carried on his predatory and annihilating labours over the dis¬
trict and tenantry of Glenesk and neighbourhood. At an earlier
period, too, the lands of Dalbog were a part of the terce of the
Duchess of Montrose, of which Nicholas Fothringham of Powry
attempted to deprive her.* It was in this vicinity, also, that Sir
David of Edzell had smelting furnaces erected ; and although all
trace of these, and the enriching mineral which they were raised
to purify, together with the castle and mains of Dalbog, are now
gone, the house at the old mill, with the date 1681 (referring to
the occupancy of John Lindsay, who long held the office of factor
on the estates), is by no means an unimportant looking object.
SECTION III.
" He is past, he is gone, like the blast of the wind,
And has left but the fame of his exploits behind ;
And now wild is the sorrow and deep is the wail,
As it sweeps from Glenesk to the far Wauchopdale,
Bright star of the morning, that beamed on the brow
Of our chief of ten thousand, O where art thou now ?
The sword of our fathers is cankered with rust,
And the race of Clan Lindsay is bowed to the dust."
£akl Crawfobd's Coronach.
The properties of Edzell and Glenesk have been united together,
as they are at present, from the earliest record; and being both
known by the common name of the latter, not only gave the
surname of " Glenesk" to the most ancient owners, but also the
title to many of their followers. This is perhaps the reason why
the former district, which ultimately assumed the more important
* Acta Dominorum Concilii, Mar. 11,1192, <fcc.
EDZELL—-FAMILIES OF ADZELL AND ABBE.
23
position of the two, is so seldom mentioned in comparison
with the latter.
It is not, however, to be inferred, that although the ancient
lords of Glenesk had their name from thence, that the family of
Adzell, who survived in the lowland district till past the middle
of the fifteenth century, were lords of the lands from which tlicy
assumed their cognomen—it being not an infrequent custom for
the vassal to take his surname from the lands which he held
under some great lord, as in the case of Rossy, of which the Nor¬
man family of Malherbe were lords and granted charters to
their vassal, Rossy of that ilk.* In like manner the Adzells
who lived at Edzell, were dependent on the lords of Glenesk
—at least, they were so in the time of the Lindsays, and we
have not found them mentioned as holding of the crown,
and, in the capacity alluded to, " Johannes Adzell de eodem "
is the last of several of the Crawford vassals of Angus-shire,
who witnesses the laird of Dun's confirmation of the third
part of the lands of Baluely, which he granted to Alexander,
the Earl's natural son.f The latest, and only other notice of
them with which we have met, is that of Richard in 1467,|
on whose resignation the Earl of Crawford granted Edzell to his
uncle, Sir Walter Lindsay of Beaufort, who, as will be more
fully shewn in a subsequent page, was progenitor of all the
Lindsays of Edzell, and of the noble house of Balcarres and
Crawford.
There was, however, another set of noted residenters, who
bore the odd name of Abbe, one of whom, John, the son of
Malise, with consent of his son, Morgound, granted to the Abbots
of Arbroath a right to cut and burn charcoal in their wood of
" Edale," so early as the year 1204.11 Little is known of the
Abbes, and some believe that they were merely hereditary lay
Abbots. Be this as it may, although the name was not pe¬
culiar to this district, it seems to have been extremely
rare ; and whether assumed from their office, or otherwise, they
were of considerable importance in their time ; for, contempo¬
raneous with those of Edzell, a Doucnaldus Abbe de Brechin
also gifted the davoch of Balligilleground in Bolshan to the
* Reg. de Aberbrothoc, pp. 42, 1(53, &c. 1 (a.d. 1)51) -Spalding Club Miscel., vol. iv. p. 5.
j; Crawford Case, pp. 149-50. II Reg. Aberbrothoc, pp. 48, 49,
24
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Arbroath Monastery ; and a Maurice Abbe, who lived in the
time of Gilchrist, the great Earl of Angus, is designed " de
Abereloth," or Arbirlot.*
There is also good ground for believing that the ancient lords
of Brechin had an interest in Glenesk, since, on the execution
and forfeiture of David de Brechin for his connection with the
conspiracy of Lord Soulis against the life of The Bruce, the
lands of " Knocqy " were amongst those of Brechin's estates,")"
which were given by the king to his trusty friend, Sir David
Barclay, the future lord of Brechin, and brother-in-law of the
forfeited noble4 Knocqy lies in the immediate vicinity of
Edzell castle, and is now known as Knocknoy, and represented,
as said in the previous Section, by the large hillock beside the
farm-yard of the Mains, and had, in all probability, been
the moot hill of old, or the site of the baron's court. Within
these twenty years, a large rude stone lay at the foot of it, which
was said to have tumbled from the top, and had, doubtless, been
the " Stannin' Stane " which was ever an important adjunct to
the site of justice in the early ages.
But although the names of the lords of Brechin live in the
imperishable page of the historian, those of the Adzells and
Abbes are now, at least to the general reader, as if they had
never been known. Even the credulous tongue of tradition
is mute concerning them ; and, if their deeds had ever been
worthy of being preserved in the measured language of the rude
minstrel, or their names associated with the hills and dales of the
land of their adoption—sources not to be despised in the solution
of historical and genealogical difficulties—they have all been
faithless to their charge ; and, but for the slender records of the
grateful monks, the connection of the Abbes with the parish, and
even their name, would have been lost for ever.
The most ancient proprietors hitherto spoken of in connection
with Glenesk, were the family of Stirling ;|) and, although Nisbet
• Reg. de Aberbrothoe, p. 29, &e.
t In contrast to Drummore, or the "great ridge," west of the castle, this height on the
east, is called Knocqy, or the " little hill."
J Robertson's Index of Missing Charters, 1309—1473, Edin. 1798.
II A family of the name of Stirling were proprietors of Laurieston in the Mearns, in 1243.
and of that date Alexander de Strivelin gave the prior and canons of St. Andrews, the Chapel of
Laurenston, which was a dependency on the church of Ecclesgreig, and also bound himself and
heirs to pay yearly a pound of wax, according to the market price of Montrose.—AYg. Vrioraivs
S, Andrce—Bann, Club, p. 280,
EDZELL—DE GLENESK FAMILY.
25
says that the Johannes de Stryvelin, miles, who swore fealty to
Edward in 1296, was then lord of Glenesk, there is reason to
believe that Nisbet had confounded the name with that of de
Glenesk, which was the surname borne by the then proprietor.
Traces of the old family " de Glenesk " are, unfortunately,
alike with those of the Abbes and Adzells, extremely meagre;
but such as remain are found in equally authentic muniments,
and point to a knightly, and, no doubt, warlike race, who in¬
habited the banks of the North Esk, at least a century prior to
the powerful clan Lindsay. Nay, not so much from the fact of
their assuming the surname of Glenesk, as from the independent
part which they took in the important transactions of the times,
it may be presumed that they were the original landowners,
though the period of their first occupancy, or the cause of their
receiving the lands, are alike veiled in the mists of antiquity.
The first appearance of " John de Glenescli, miles," is in the
honourable and trustworthy capacity of a witness to a charter to
Walter de Rossy, about 1260 ;* and the same person, or his
son, next occurs in the interesting year, 1289, as subscribing
the celebrated letter of the community of Scotland to Edward,
consenting to the marriage of his son Prince Henry with our
Princess Margaret. Seven years later, while the English
conqueror was carrying his conquest into the very core of the
kingdom, and when " the spirit of Scotland had sunk into de¬
spondency," Sir John de Glenesk passed to Monros on the 10th of
July, 1296 (where Edward had abode from the 7th), and swore
fealty to that ambitious monarch; and again, in the parliament
held at Berwick-on-Tweed on the 28th of August of the same
year, Sir John de Glennysk, and Morgund de Glennesk, took
the oaths, with others of the county of Forfar.f
These are the only authentic notices of the ancient lords of
Glenesk; and the relation, if any, between Morgund and John,
is unfortunately not stated. There is reason to believe, however,
that he had been John's son, and from his bearing the odd
christian name of " Morgund," which, it will be seen, was borne
by the last recorded of the Abbes, the idea of supposing a rela¬
tionship between the families of Abbe and Glenesk may not be
altogether visionary; and, perhaps, in the absence of better
* Reg, de Aberbrotlioc, p. 336, t Ragman Rolls.-Bann. Club edit., pp. 03, 94, 126.
26
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
record, may be taken as indicative of the extinction of the
Abbes, and an alliance with the lords de Glenesk.
The surname of Stirling, or Striuelyn, as it is written in the
oldest deeds, had, in all probability, a territorial origin, and
been assumed from the old town of that name. The family aie
ancient and famous, and the laird of Keir is reckoned the chief,
and supposed to have descent from Walter de Striuelyn, who is
a witness to Prince Henry's charter of the church of Sprowistoun
to the Abbey of Kelso. It is probable that the Stirlings of
Glenesk were of this stock, from the similarity of their armorial
bearings; and, besides being lords of the well-known and ex¬
tensive properties of Glenesk, they were also possessed of large
estates in Inverness and Moray, and occasionally designed " de
Moravia." They are so titled in Ragman Rolls, where several
of the name are recorded as having sworn fealty to Edward at
same time with " de Glennesk "—a circumstance which perhaps
had led Nisbet to commit the error referred to.
The period of the death of the last Stirling of Glenesk is un¬
known ; but he left two daughters, who succeeded as co-heiresses.
One of them became the wife of Sir Alexander, third son of
Sir David Lindsay of Crawford, and the other married Robert
de Atliolia, grandson of Angus, lord of the Isles. Lindsay suc¬
ceeded to the Angus-shire portion of the Stirling estates, which
consisted of Edzell, Glenesk, and Lethnot; and Atholia inherited
the Inverness and Moray portion, and was ancestor, by a second
marriage, of the ancient house of Struan-Robertson, which
flourished in considerable pomp until about a century ago.
This mode of Lindsay's succession to Glenesk, though borne
out by substantial evidence, is too much matter of fact, and par¬
takes so little of the wonderful, that the insatiable craving for
romance which characterised the minds of our ancestors, is
exhibited in relation to it in some of its most striking features.
Co-heiresses are unknown to tradition ; and a son and only
daughter are the substitutes. They were left orphans, and the
former, small of stature and greatly deformed in body, was fa¬
miliarly known by the diminutive cognomen of Jackie Stirlin.
Although physically defective, he enjoyed excellent health, and
was neither impervious to the softer feelings of humanity, nor
too unseemly for the kindly eyes of women, by one of whom,
edzell jackie stiklin\
27
the lovely daughter of a neighbouring baron, his offer of mar¬
riage had been accepted. This was altogether contrary to the
wishes and expectations both of his sister and her lover, the
gallant Sir Alexander Lindsay, and all remonstrance having
failed to prevent the nuptials, they laid a deep and heartless
scheme for his overthrow; and one evening, while taking an
airing alone in the wooded defile, he was pounced upon by a
masked assailant, and summarily despatched at a place still
pointed out, a little to the north of the castle. He was buried
in the family sepulchre, and many old people believe, that amongst
the broken bones with which the vault is so profusely strewn,
they have often beheld the crooked remains of the poor luckless
knight!
It was under these circumstances, according to local story,
that Lindsay married the daughter of Sir John Stirling, and fell
heir to one of the largest districts in Angus, which, together with
the importance of his own family connection, made him so greatly
courted by his brother barons, that he had little leisure to reflect
on the enormity of his crime. But, as a day of retribution comes
sooner or later, his heart began latterly to fail, and, according to
the custom of the period, he determined to atone for the foul deed
of his youth by large gifts to the church and a pilgrimage to
Palestine. With a view to his safety, he rebuilt the church of
Finhaven, and gifted it to the cathedral of Brechin, where the
Prebendary had a stall in the choir, and said mass daily for his
safe conduct. These precautions were of little avail, however;
the avenging angel pursued him wherever he went, and he
breathed his last in a distant country, long ere he reached the
devoted haven of his penitential sojourn.
Of the genealogy of the great Scottish family of Lindsay, the
celebrated Prior of Lochleven, remarks, with a caution which
would have done credit to many writers of subsequent ages:—
" Of Ingland come the Lyndysay.
Mare of thame I can-nocht say."*
Notwithstanding this fine example of caution, future writers have
invested the origin of this family with all the romance and im¬
probability with which the early genealogies of other notables
abound. These need not be dwelt upon ; suffice it to say, that
* Wyntown's CronyUil, vol. ii, p. 68.
28
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
recent investigation shews them to have been a branch of the
Norman house of Limesay, and that the first known in England
was Randolph de Limesay, who came over with the Conqueror, to
whom he was nephew, and on the extinction of his male line,
the head of the Scottish Lindsays was selected to marry one of
the co-heiresses. The name is not of territorial origin, as
popularly believed, but assumed from the Norman " Lindes-eye,
or " Limes-eye," and Lindesay and Limesay being identical,
both imply " Isle of Limetrees," and, as shewn in the " Lives of
the Lindsays," have, from earliest to latest record, had no fewer
than eighty-six different spellings.*
But it was Walter de Lindsay, an Anglo-Norman, and
witness and juror in the celebrated Inquest of Prince David into
the possessions and rights of the See of Glasgow in 1116, who
was the earliest of the name in Scotland. He is supposed to have
settled in Cumbria; but it is not until the time of his grandson
William, who was designed of Erceldon and Luffness, and the
first of the family who possessed the old property of Crawford-
Lindsay in Clydesdale, that anything positive is known of them
as Scottish landowners. He was one of the great magnates of
the kingdom, and an hostage for the redemption of William
the Lion after his capture by Henry II. of England. He was
also High Justiciary of Lothian, and otherwise bore a promi¬
nent part in the leading transactions of the period; and from
him, through Sir David Lindsay of Crawford, Sir Alexander
(who married Catherine Stirling, the heiress of Glenesk, being
a second son), was the tenth in lineal descent. By the heiress
of Glenesk, he had Sir David, his successor, and Sir Alexander
of Kinneff, the former of whom succeeded his father when only
sixteen years of age ; and on the death of his uncle, Sir
James de Lindsay of Crawford, in 1397, without male issue,
he became chief of the family, and heir to their extensive
inheritances in Clydesdale and other places. He married the
Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Robert II., and had his estates
augmented by his royal father-in law, by a gift of the barony of
Strathnairn in Inverness-shire; and on the 21st of April, 1398,
he " was created Earl of Crawford, by solemn belting and inves¬
titure, in the parliament held at Perth that year—the Earldom
*■ Lives, vol. i, p. 2, an<l 413.
EDZELL—THE FIRST EARL OF CRAWFORD.
29
of Crawford being the third created since the extinction of the
Celtic dynasty, that of Douglas having been the second, and
Moray the first."*
It is not our intention to dwell on the valorous actions which
characterised the life of this celebrated nobleman—his overthrow
of Lord Welles at the famous tournament at London Bridge,
which took place on the feast of St. George, in 1395, in presence
of King Richard and "Good" Queen Anne—and his dreadful
onset with the natural son of the Wolf of Badenoch (his own
near relative, through his aunt's marriage with Robert de
Atholia), at Glenbrierachan, in the Stormont, when Ogilvy, the
Sheriff of Angus, and his uterine brother, Leighton of Ulis-
haven, and many other Angus barons, were slain, and from
which Sir David Lindsay and Sir Patrick Gray very narrowly
escaped with their lives—are so beautifully and effectively de¬
scribed by his noble kinsman, that the reader is respectfully re¬
ferred to Lord Lindsay's " Lives" for these particulars, as well
as for more important notices of the many great achievments
of the other illustrious members of the family, which can only
be briefly noticed in the following pages.
The brother of Sir David, or the first Earl of Crawford, and
second son of Catherine Stirling, was " Yowng Alysawndyr the
Lyndyssay," who, along with his cousin, Sir Thomas Erslcyne,
and several others, attacked the English, under the Duke of
Lancaster, near Queensferry, in the year 1384; and though
greatly inferior in numbers, by surprising them almost imme¬
diately on leaving their ships, they completely routed them in
the manner thus quaintly described by Wyntown:—
" Bot thai, that had his cummyn sene,
Tuk on thame the fiycht bedene,
And til the se thame sped in hy.
Bot Sehyr Thomas sa liastyly
Come on, and swa thame turnyd agayne,
That a gret part of thame war slayne.
Sum tane, and sum drownyd ware :
Few gat til thare schyppis thare.
Welle fourty hangyd on a rape,
Swa yharnyd thai for ethchape ;
Bot line, that wes in-til a hate,
Sri dowtand wes in that debate,
* Lives, vol. i, p. 97.
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
The cabil rape he strak in twa,
And gert them til the grownd than ga.
And qwhen the flud wes out, men fand
Bathe men and armowris wndyr sand
And thai, that than ethchapyd war,
Til thare schippis made thaim to fare,
And pressyd noucht mare for to tak land,
Qwhil that the Duk wes there bydand."*
Sir Alexander was designed from the lands of KinnefF, in
the Mearns; and had, perhaps, resided in one or other of the
numerous strongholds of which that interesting and romantic,
but dangerous and inhospitable coast, could at one time boast.
Along with his brother, the future Earl, he also swelled the
camp of " the lichtsome Lindsays," who joined the banner of their
chief, Sir James, at the famous engagement of Otterburn, against
the combined forces of the Percies and the Mowbrays; and,
although their chief unwarily fell into the hands of the enemy,
and was held prisoner for a time, Sir David of Glenesk, and his
brother, returned in safety, and the latter, many years after¬
wards, fell at the luckless battle of Yerneuil.
Prior to his death in 1407, the first Earl gave the lands or
thanedom of Neudos, together with an annual pension of forty
marks out of the customs of the burgh of Montrose, to his second
son David, who also held the baronies of the Aird and Strathnairn,
in Inverness-shire, which, at a later period, were possessed by
Sir Walter, younger brother of Earl Beardie. Beyond all others
of his clan, Sir Walter was perhaps the most avaricious, and, at
the same time, lacked nothing of the tyranny and oppression which
characterised some of his more notorious relatives. Having had
the sole management of his nephew, Earl David, from boyhood,
he succeeded in consummating his long cherished desire of
changing his residence in Inverness for one in his native county,
by excambing his northern estates with the Earl, for the barony
of Feme, to which were afterwards added, first the mill and lands
of Invereskandye,f and next the lands of Edzell and Knocknoy,j;
the former of which were possessed by vassals of the names of
* Wyntown's Cron., vol. ii, p. 320-21.
t Dye (Brit.) is said to be the old name of the West Water, and is synon. with the Gael.
dubh, " black;" but De (Brit.) which denotes "rapidity of motion," is perhaps more descriptive
of this river—hence, from these lands lying at the mouth or confluence of the rivers North Esh
and Dye, they are named Inver-esk-an-dye.
J (a.d. 1466-1467) — Crawford Case, pp. 149-50, <fec.
EDZELL—SIR WALTER OF BEAUFORT.
81
Annandale and Nuthrie ; and the latter, as previously intimated,
by the Adzells ; and the property of Fasky and Balfour, lying
close to Edzell, Sir Walter added these to his already extensive
domains, by purchase from George Lesley Lord Rothes, in the
year 1471.*
The danger to which Sir Walter was subjected in a quarter
so distant from those of his clansmen, was the real or feigned
plea which incited him to the change of his abode—a state of
matters which his own obdurate and aggrandising spirit tended
little to improve; and ere he had resided long hi the shire,
the disagreeable and tyrannising features of his character were
prominently displayed. Once in possession of the favour and
confidence of his illustrious nephew, backed in all by his own
mother, the notorious Countess Marjory, he was soon an ex¬
tensive and influential landowner; and gaining the ascendency
over the person and power of his cousin, the chief of the Ogilvys,
he found ample opportunity for the exercise of his supercilious
talents. The Sheriffship of Angus, of which Ogilvy was here¬
ditary holder, was clandestinely wrested from him, and made
the most of by Sir Walter, who, in addition to the large pos¬
sessions already noticed, was at sametime lord of Panbride and
Kinblethmont, over the former of which his summary exact-
ments of cattle and horses for unpaid teinds, and the destruc¬
tion of the fishings belonging to one Ramsay, gave rise to some
discussion, and although found to be legally warranted in his
spoliation, the matter is little calculated to give us a more favour¬
able view of his nature.f
It is indeed difficult to say, in those days when " might was
right," which party was the real aggressor; but Sir Walter's
whole character displays a mind so prone to oppression and
lording, that one is forced, in the absence of specified reasons, to
believe, that whatever attacks were made upon him had been
done to resent some injury or other. It was, perhaps, the re¬
sentment of some serious wrong which caused the laird of Drum
(who was match for him both in daring and cruelty, for he not
only basely mutilated his own chaplain, but also murdered the
young laird of Philorth), to attack him in his castle " vnder the
silence of nycht" at the head of sixty men " in fere of were
* Crawford Case, p. 150. f (Mar. 3,1471)—Acta Auditorum.
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
with bows and vther fensable wapins, on horse and fute." Sir
Walter, who, though from no leniency on Drum's part, appears to
have been more frightened than hurt on this occasion, succeeded
in having him deprived of the hereditary Sheriffship of Aber¬
deenshire.*
Sir Walter's reign, however, drew to a close, and in due
course, he was succeeded by his son, Sir David, who was the first
of the family to assume the style and designation " of Edzell."
Like his intolerant parent, he was not unknown at the bar of the
Lords of Council, where, for sundry misdemeanours, he was
frequently arraigned. Some of these offences consisted in his
having lifted no less than fourteen " nolt " from the " bischop of
Aberdeneis tennentis of the Birse "f—his witholding a certain
sum of money, and " a cop and a couer of siluer our gilt, and a
salt fut of siluer," which Fothringham of Powry " laid in wed " for
Sir David to Bishop Thomas of Aberdeen. He was prosecuted
at same time by his mother, Isabel of Levinston, for the
" widow's terce," or her share out of the lands of Fasky, of which
there is reason to believe he had attempted to deprive her4
Sir David's only son, Walter, a brave and courageous youth,
died before his father, having fallen along with his kinsman, the
Earl of Crawford, on the fatal field of Flodden. He was pre¬
viously married, and though leaving four sons, Sir David, with
a degree of injustice, not altogether at variance with the doings
of his early life, attempted to change the succession from them
to those of his own second marriage. James V., however, with
that love of justice, and impartiality which so endeared him to his
subjects, treated this attempt at disinheritance with just indigna¬
tion, and declared Sir Walter's eldest son "the rychteous
heritour," and added—in reference to the part which his father
bore at Flodden—" we havand in mynd to helpe and favour
thame that dyd gude service to our maist noble father." Sir
David of Edzell died an aged man in 1528, and his sons, Alex¬
ander and David, by his second wife, Elizabeth Spens, were
» (Mar. 2, 1471)—Acta Auditorum, p. 20.—This laird of Drum's second wife was the
daughter of a Fife gentleman, named Lindsay, who fled to the north in consequence of a
slaughter he had committed.—Inf. kindly communicated by A. F. Irvine, yr., Esq. of Drum.
t Acta Auditorum, Feb. 17, 1489.
t Acta Dom. Ccneil., July 12, 1480.—Fasky was alienated from Edzell in Sir David's time,
and given by James IV., in 1510, to the ex-Lord Bothwell, founder of the knightly house of
Balmain.
EDZELL—THE WICKED MASTER OF CRAWFORD.
33
respectively lairds of Yayne in Fearn, and Keithock near
Brechin,* while, in virtue of the decision of Royalty, he was suc¬
ceeded in the estate of Edzell and Glenesk by his grandson,
who ultimately became the ninth Earl of Crawford.
The elevation of Edzell to the peerage did not arise from any
failure in the male succession, for the eighth Earl had both a son
and grandson; but it arose from the unnatural conduct of the
former towards his venerable parent, to whom he acted the part
of all but an absolute parricide. In possession of the fee of the
earldom of Crawford, as future Earl, he had the barony of Glenesk
assigned to him, and having all but independent sway, he ex¬
ercised his power with the utmost unscrupulousness. He seized
the castle of Dalbog by force ; and, besides scouring the lands of
his relatives and neighbours in much the same manner as the
Rob Roy of a later period, it was found necessary to cite him
before the king as the heartless besieger of his father's castles—
as having imprisoned him in his own wards at Finhaven for the
space of twelve successive weeks, and as having carried him to
Brechin, and there confined him for fifteen days, during which
he pillaged his coffers and seized his rents.
This was the second time the old Earl had appealed to the
Crown for protection against his own son ; and as " the Wicked
Master " (for so he has been justly and emphatically dubbed by
tradition), pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against him, his
life was graciously spared ; but " he and his posterity were
solemnly excluded from the succession to the estates and honors
of the house of Crawford, and were blotted out as if they had
never existed."f Of the future career of this desperate and un¬
fortunate person, little has been preserved; but his last sad end
favours the idea, that however great his penitence at the time of
his merited deprivation, he had still persisted in his reckless and
unprincipled conduct, since the ungarnished and emphatic record
of his death bears, that " he was sticked by a souter of Dundee
for taking a stoup of drink from him."J
This occurred in the year 1542, and his father pre-deceased
him, a poor, broken-hearted, disappointed person. It was in
this unprecedented and disagreeable state of matters that David
of Edzell, unexpectedly became heir to the estates and titles of
* Lives, vol. i.. p. 438, 445. f (a.d. 1530-31)—Lives, vol. i, p. 195, &c. j Ibid, vol. i, p. 197.
D
34
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Crawford, which could only otherwise have occurred in default
of male issue. As may be supposed, he entered on these
with much opposition. David Lindsay, the son of the " Wicked
Master," was yet a minor, and the chief of the clan Ogilvy
having married his aunt, the castle of Finhaven was forcibly
possessed by them in name of the minor whom they had taken
under their charge, declaring him the rightful heir to the titles
and estates. The regent, Mary of Guise, being apprised of this,
immediately demanded the restoration of the castle to Edzell,
upon the pain of treason 5 and the demand being ultimately
complied with, the orphan son of the " Wicked Master " was
taken from his aunt, and reared, for a time at least, under the
eye of the worthy old Earl, who now resided betwixt his castles
of Finhaven, Edzell, and Invermark.
Notwithstanding that he had a numerous family of his own,
the Earl desired that the titles and honours should be restored to
the rightful heir, whom he deemed the son of the " Wicked
Master." He accordingly applied to Parliament, and having
had his wishes confirmed by royal consent, he generously re¬
linquished the titles and estates in his favour. This, however,
was done with a fear, on the part of the Earl, which will be
better imagined than expressed, when it is known that the way¬
ward disposition of the " Wicked Master " had already evinced
itself in the person of his son. Perhaps, it was partly from a
hope to subdue this erratic and violent spirit that Earl David
selected him as his successor, to the exclusion of his own family
—if so, it was certainly a high and holy aim. At all events,
it is certain that the young Master bound himself to resign all
claim to the estates and honours, and pay a penalty pf two
thousand pounds, " gif," as the deed bears, he " put violent
hands in the said Earl to his slaughter, dishonour, or down-
putting, or commit exorbitant reif or spulzie of his landis-tenants,
to the maist pairt of the rents thereof."*
Such a voluntary and disinterested display of kindliness as that
exhibited by the Earl towards the son of the u Wicked Master,"
has few, if any, parallels, and to all minds possessed of ordinary
feeling, would have been cherished with a life-long gratitude.
The Master's marriage with Margaret Beaton in April, and the
* Lives, vol. i, p. '200, and -103, where the bond is printed in full.
EDZELL—THE NINTH EARL OF CRAWFORD.
85
circumstances attending the murder of her father, in the follow¬
ing month, had perhaps impressed the Earl with the notion, that
the latter awful circumstance, in particular, might tend to soften
the asperities of his disposition, and make him settle quietly down
in life, and become an honourable and exemplary citizen of the
world. But, the ink with which he signed the above deed of
humble submission was scarcely dry, when, instead of retrieving
the evils he had already accomplished, or shewing signs of gra¬
titude for the dignified position which he had attained through
the Earl's generosity, he almost immediately joined with his old
friends the Ogilvys in " the spoilie " of the castle of his venerable
benefactor at Finhaven. As already hinted, his father's nature
had shewn itself in him some years before, when he harried the
lands of Glenesk ; but this the good Earl had forgiven and for¬
gotten, and was pleased to rely on his promises for future obe¬
dience. In these, however, he was woefully disappointed; and
although the young Master was declared to have forfeited all
claim to the privileges conferred upon him, he, nevertheless, suc¬
ceeded, as the tenth Earl of Crawford, to all the possessions of
his benefactor, excepting those of Edzell, Glenesk, and Feme:
and thus the Earldom of Crawford passed, by stratagem, it may
be said, from the house and family of Edzell.
David of Edzell, or the ninth Earl, was twice married—first
to the Dowager Lady Lovat, a daughter of the house of Gray,
and secondly to Catherine, daughter to Sir John Campbell of
Lorn, niece to the second Earl of Argyle. His first wife died issue¬
less ; but his second, who survived him for the space of twenty
years, had a family of five sons and two daughters. These
were Sir David, his successor in Edzell; John, afterwards Lord
Menmuir, and founder of the noble and illustrious line of Bal-
carres ; the third was Sir Walter of Balgavies, whose remark¬
able career and death will be noticed subsequently ; the fourth
was James, the amiable protestant rector of Fettercairn, who
died while on a mission to Geneva, and was celebrated by Andrew
Melville in a beautiful elegy, written to his memory ; and the fifth
and last was Robert, proprietor of Balhall, in Menmuir. The
daughters, Margaret and Elizabeth, were the wives of the Earl of
Athole, and of Patrick, third Lord Drummond.*
" Lives, vol i, pi> 327-28.
D 2
36
land of the lindsays.
SECTION IV.
Ninian.—How ? know you the towers of Edzell ?
Waldave I have heard of them.
Ninian.—Then have you heard a tale,
Which when he tells the peasant shakes his head,
And shuns the mouldering and deserted walls.
Macdcff's Cross, by Sir W. Scott.
The early life of Sir David of Edzell is a striking contrast to
that of his later years. Like the erratic spirits already noticed,
he had much of the hot-headed character of feudal times. It is
not believed, however, that he ever condescended to harrie the
fauld or extort black-mail from his vassals or the less power¬
ful of his brother barons; but his resentment of insult offered
either to himself or clan, seems, in some instances, to have been
satisfied only by the blood of the offender. This was pre¬
eminently the case in regard to the slaughter of the laird of
Lundie, in which his brother of Balhall, and kinsmen of Balqu-
hadlie and Keithock were concerned, and for which all of them
had a remission in 1583. This affray, which ended so fatally,
was not caused by the resentment of any injury which Lundie
had inflicted on Edzell personally, but arose from his having taken
part in the revenge of a real or supposed insult which Lundie had
offered to his chief, the Earl of Crawford. It was so also in the
quarrel betwixt his cousin of the Vayne, and the Bishop of the
Isles, in which, too, from the sheer love of clanship, he took a
leading part, right or wrong, as he did at the destruction of the
Earl of Montrose's cruives at Morphie.*
The aggrieved parties were all men of considerable influence,
and combined as one to curb the power of their haughty rival;
and, had Edzell been guided by the bent of his own wishes
merely, his interference in these matters might have proved ex¬
ceedingly disastrous, if not wholly inimical, to the interests of
his house. Submission, even in its most modified form, could
be ill brooked by him, and none, save his excellent brother,
Lord Menmuir, durst suggest an abandonment of his reckless
purposes. While residing at the Vayne, in the autumn of 1582,
this great man, and affectionate brother, apprized Edzell by
* Lives, vol. i, p. 329, et seq.
EDZELL—LORD EDZELL.
37
letter of the storm that was fast encircling him; and, although,
as already seen, a mere follower, and one who had done nothing
more than his opponents would if placed in the same position,
he was supposed, as is generally the case in such circumstances, to
have been a prime-mover in each and all of those affrays. " I
would request you to be better avisit," said Lord Menmuir, in the
admirable letter alluded to, " and to use counsel of your best
friends. Consider how troublesome is the world, how easily oney
man who is stronger nor ye at ane time may do you ane wrang,
and how little justice there is in the country for repairing thereof.
Therefore, I wald desire you above all things, to travail to
live in peace and concord with all men, other ways your life
and pairt of the world shall be very unpleasant, ever in fear,
danger, and trouble, whereof the maist pairt of them who calls
themselves your friends would be glad."*
This and a few similiar admonitions had the salutary effect
which Lord Menmuir so much desired; and, on being once con¬
vinced of the unenviable position he held in other than the society
of his own clansmen and relatives, it was easy to effect a reforma¬
tion in the mind of one whose failing lay more in the resentment
of the insults offered to his friends than to himself, particularly in
a mind so expansive and generally well assorted as Edzell's; for,
with all the asperities which characterized his nature, "he had
tastes and pursuits," as beautifully said by his elegant and im¬
partial biographer, " which mingled with his more feudal cha¬
racteristics in strange association; he was learned and accom¬
plished—the sword, the pen, and the pruning-hook, were equally
familiar to his hand; he even anticipated the geologist's hammer,
and had, at least, a taste for architecture and design."f
Examples of his qualifications in these varied acquirements
exist in some shape or other. Enough has been said to prove
his expertness as a swordsman; and his proficiency in literature
is alluded to in so unmistakeable language by the King on pre¬
senting him to the vacant office of a Lord of Session on his
brother's resignation, as to sufficiently guarantee the certainty
of his acquirement in that respect. His correspondence regard¬
ing the mines of Glenesk, which is fully brought under notice in
Lord Lindsay's "Lives of the Lindsays,"j: shews his aptitude in
* See Letter in " Lives," vol. i., p. "39. t Ibid, p, 339. f Ibid, p. 342, et sub.
38
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS,
the study of mineralogy; while the extensive additions which
he made to the work, so nobly begun by his father, in the ex¬
tension of his old paternal messuage, is still apparent in the
ruins of those gigantic and tasteful labours. It was he also who
" rebuilt the garden-wall in a style of architectural decoration, '
as his noble kinsman justly says, " unparalleled in those days
in Scotland,—the walls presenting the Lindsay fesse-chequde
and stars of Glenesk, flanked by small brackets for statues,
alternately with sculptures in alto-relievo, representing the
Theological and Cardinal Virtues, the Seven Sciences, the
planets, &c., in the allegorical style and manner of the followers
of Niccola and Andrea Pisano in the fourteenth century, "f
Nor were Sir David's energies wholly centred in the decora¬
tion of his own mansion. It was also his aim to advance the
importance and interests of his tenantry to the utmost of his
power, and, with this view, he planned a town at Edzell, with
cross and market placed and which, at a later period, was erected
into a burgh of barony. Thither the tenantry of Edzell, Glen¬
esk, and Lethnot, were bound to bring their dairy and other
marketable produce on the monthly fair-day ; and certain
arrangements were entered into betwixt Edzell and the magis¬
trates of Brechin, by which the stock reared by, and belonging to
the tenantry of Edzell and Glenesk were admitted, custom free,
to the groat Trinity Muir Fair, of which the magistrates of
Brechin are superiors. It was perhaps on occasion of this ami¬
cable arrangement that the laird of Edzell was admitted a free¬
man of the said burgh. j| Weighing apparatus, stances, and
other requisites for carrying out the object to its full extent, were
erected at the laird's expense, and the market is said to have
flourished for many years, with considerable success, even after
the body of its spirited projector was laid in the tomb beside his
kindred. " Auld Eagle's Market," as the August fair is locally
called, is perhaps the echo of the laird's noble institution, for
it is the oldest established of any fair now held at Edzell.
Such were the peaceful and praiseworthy labours which occu¬
pied the later years of Lord Edzell, by which title he had been
" Lives, vol. i, p. 3-12, el sub f Ibid, p. 346. J Ibid, p. 348.
U (July 26, 1580.) — Minutes of Bailie Court of Brechin, bound up with those of the Ilammcr-
man Incorporation, and in possession of that body. These are the oldest records belonging to
the city of Brechin, and date from 2nd February, 1579,
EDZELL—MURDER OF LORD SPYNIE.
39
known from his appointment as a Lord of Session; and being
honoured with knighthood in 1581, he was farther dignified in
the memorable 1603, when James ascended the throne of Eng¬
land, by being chosen a privy councillor. In the enjoyment of
all the blessings which extensive learning, and judiciously exer¬
cised power could impart, and in the full confidence of an enligh¬
tened sovereign, the sun of prosperity seemed to shine in full
glow upon him from all quarters, and he deemed nothing nigh
that could in any way disturb his quiet. Unfortunately, how¬
ever, in the midst of this tranquillity, his hopes were unex¬
pectedly blighted, and the evening of his life harassed, from the
occurrence of an untoward and sad event of riot and murder,
committed by his eldest son, for which Lord Edzell was harassed
all his life long.
Much of the daring and reckless character which marked
the career of his ancestors on both sides, unfortunately fell to
the lot of " Young Edzell," and almost the only points recorded
of him have reference to some lawless transaction. The first
outbreak in which he was concerned occurred in 1605, when he
and young Wishart of Pittarrow, with their followers, met in
the Saltron of Edinburgh, and fought a desperate battle, which
continued from nine to eleven o'clock in the evening, in which
" their wer sundrie hurt on both sydes, and ane Guthrie slaine,
which was Pittarrow's man," and who, in the language of the
quaint diarist Birrel, was " ane very prettie young man." For
these disturbances, the aggressors, and, as was the custom
of the period, their fathers also, had to stand trial, all of
whom were fined, and warded to certain of the state castles.
But the most unfortunate circumstance of young Edzell's life
was his inadvertent slaughter of Lord Spynie, on the same ill-
fated street. This affair ever preyed heavily on his mind, and,
as in the Pittarrow case, was the source of much vexation and
annoyance to his aged father. The circumstances relating to this
luckless affair are interesting, and may be briefly told.
David, master of Crawford, and eldest son of the eleventh Earl,
was, in every respect, a worthy disciple of his turbulent clans¬
men. Like the " Wicked Master," and his son, he scoured the
country at the head of a band of armed desperadoes, at whose
hands the life and property, even of their own immediate re-
40
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
latives, met with no feeling of regard ; and in these lawless ex¬
hibitions he attacked and slew his kinsman, Sir Walter of Bal-
gavies, on the 25th of October, 1605. The House of Edzell,
of whom Sir Walter, as already shewn, was an immediate rela¬
tive, determined on revenging the murder, and the " young
laird," with his brother of Canterland, watched an opportunity
for effecting that purpose. Accordingly, the brothers, with
several of their clansmen, assembled in Edinburgh, and on the
evening of the 5th of July, 1607, attacked the Master on his
way up the High Street, while accompanied by his uncle, Lord
Spynie, and Sir James Douglas. "It was dark so that 'they
could not know ane be (from) the other,' and, in the rapid ex¬
change of shots and sword-strokes, the three friends were all
wounded, the Master and Lord Spynie so desperately, that
though the former latterly recovered, ' Lord Spynie expired of
his wounds eleven days thereafter.' "*
Young Edzell fled from justice, and took up his abode in the
castles of Auchmull, Invermark, and Shanno, all situate in
Glenesk, and in points so difficult of access, particularly the
last mentioned, that he contrived to evade his pursuers for a
considerable period. His father was prohibited from sheltering
him under heavy penalties, and it was on his being hunted from
Auchmull and Invermark, that he erected the fortalice at Shanno
which is known synonimously as the " Castle" and "Auldha'," and
of which some foundations still remain on the hill side to the
west of the farm house.f
Accountable for the misdeeds of his son, Lord Edzell was so
greatly harassed by the Earl of Crawford, anent the unfortunate
murder of Spynie, that he found peace neither at home nor
abroad. No less than five of his servants were " shot with
pistols and hurt," and himself " not wundit only " as he quaintly
observes, " but banishit from my virtue." It was under these
painful circumstances that Lord Edzell found himself compelled
to write the king " craving ever to be try it of the unhappy
slaughter of my umquhill lord of Spynie," but it was not until a
second appeal was made to his majesty, setting forth the insecure
» Lives, vol. i., p. 386.
1 The ruins do not indicate a building of more than about twenty feet square, and are
about four feet thick and nearly the same height. A large old fashioned brandcr or gridiron
was found here about thirty years since,
EDZELL—OFFERIS FOR SFYNIE'S SLAUGHTER. 41
state in which his person and property stood with his overbearing
chief, that the trial of Edzell and his son of Canterland, " as
suspected connivers at the death of Lord Spynie," was permitted.
The trial was fixed for the 6th of September, 1607, but the
accusers failing to appear, the matter lay dormant for many
years, during which Lord Edzell died, and his son was so far
restored to favour as to be again received into the church, from
which he had been excommunicated.*
The murder of Spynie, however, was not allowed altogether to
rest. In the year 1616 the matter was agitated anew by Spynie's
eldest son and heir, who, acting for his sisters and other kin¬
dred, demanded a compensation for " the said slaughter." " Of-
feris," were accordingly made by Edzell " for himself and in
name of his followeris " to Lord Spynie, for the purpose of " re¬
moving of all grudge, haitred, and malice conceavit and borne be
them against him and his followeris for the onhappie and negli¬
gent and accidentarie slaughter " of the late Lord. As this
document of " olferis " is in itself curious, and not only shews
young Edzell's innocence of the matter, but the complete want
of intention on his part, and that of his accomplices to murder
Spynie, it is here given entire, and in its original orthography :—
" In the first, I attest the grytt god, quha knawis the secrettis of all
liairtis that it was never my intentione to hairm that Noble man, moire nor
I wald have done my awin hairt, Quhom at that tym and all tymis pre¬
ceding I ever lovit and respeckit as my Wncle, and wald ever have rather
liazsard my lyff, then have knawin him in any sik danger.
" Forder, I shall declair for myself and all thaie quha ar alyiff that
war present thereat, that We are innocent in thocht, word, and dead of that
fact, and it is off veritie that the committer thairoff died, for that evil dead
quhilk fell in his hand, wiolentlye, quhom I cold never patieutlie behold,
efter triall and confessione of sik onhappie creueltie, quhilk sail be maid
manifest and confirmed, be all testimonies requisit, under all hiest paynis.
Secondlie, for declaratione of my penitencie and the sorrowe of my
hairt for that onnaturall and onhappie fact, I offer to the said Noble Lord,
my Lord of Spynie and to his twa sisteris the sowme of Ten Thowsand Merks,
and forder at the discretione of freindis, to be chosin equalie betuixt ws.
" Lord Edzell died on the 18th of January 1611, and his first wife, a daughter of the Earl
of Crawford, and mother of all his family, predeceased him in 1570. His second wife was
Dame Isabella Forbes, and a shield bearing the Lindsay and Forbes arms impaled, still orna¬
ment the canopy of a door in the flower garden "1-4 gules, a fesse-cliequee argent and azure,
for Lindsay; 2-3, or, a lion rampant, gules, surmounted by a bendlet, sable, for Abernethy ; impal¬
ing, azure, three bears' heads and necks argent, muzzled gules, for Forbes.—" S.D.L." on dexter
and " D.I.F," on sinister side of shield, with date "1004."
42
LAND OF TIIE LINDSAYS.
" Thridlie, Becaus the rwinit and rent estait of my Hous may per¬
mit no forder offer off grytter sowmes, I offer to do sik Honour and Homage
to the said Noble Lord of Spynie iiis sisteris curators and freindis as thaye
shall crawe."
D. LYNDESAY."*
A contract was therefore entered into, by which Edzell agreed to
give the heirs of the late Spynie, the lands of Garlobank, in the
parish of Kirriemuir, in addition to the large sum of ten thou¬
sand marks, mentioned in the " offeris," and the affair was
finally set at rest in 1617, by the royal grant of a remission for
the murder, by " letters of Slains," under the Great Seal.
This unfortunate affair, as already noticed, constantly haunted
poor Edzell, and the payment of the ten thousand marks in the
" rwinit and rent estait" of his house, to which he so feelingly
alludes, had doubtless been a barrier to any extensive improve¬
ments which he might wish to make on his property, and deterred
him, if he had ever inclined, to follow in the wake of his tasteful
parent. He lived, however, to a good old age ; and besides
being harassed by heartless kinsmen, had the misfortune to see
his son and heir apparent laid in the tomb before him. He died
himself in 1648, and was succeeded by his nephew, John of
Canterland, who had retours of the lordship of Edzell and Glen-
esk in June of that year.
Soon after this John was elected an elder of the church and
parish of Edzell, and, as noticed in the first Section, he
was a staunch supporter of the covenant. He also held the
important office of Sheriff of Angus-shire, which, together with
his great influence as a landholder, rendered both himself and
the district objects of notoriety in those disturbed times. Mon¬
trose having entered Angus in his flight before the Parliamentary
faction, took refuge in Glenesk, which he harried and destroyed
so extensively, that thenceforward the house of Edzell, which
had partially overcome the extravagancies of previous lairds,
received a blow from which it never recovered. Indeed, the
laird found himself so embarrassed, that although the estate was
worth ten thousand pounds a-year in 1630, in less than twenty
years thereafter, he was necessitated to petition parliament " for
exemption to contributing to the new levies then raised,—' the
rebel army,' he says, ' having been for a long time encamped
* From a paper in the handwriting of David Lyndesay, from the charter room at Glamis,
hitherto unpublished, and kindly communicated by the Right Hon. Lord Lindsay.
EDZELL—LINDSAY OF CANTERLAND.
43
and quartered upon the lands of Edzell and Glenesk, to the utter
ruin and destruction of my lands and tenants, the whole corns
being burnt in the barnyards, and the whole store of cattle and
goods killed or driven away, whereby the haill lands of Glenesk,*
were worth of yearly revenue nine thousand merks, have ever
since been lying waste be reason the tenants have not been able
to labour the same, in so much that the particular amount of my
losses which was clearly instructit to the Committee of Common
Burdens, did amount to the sum of fourscore thousand merks or
thereby; besides great charges and expenses which I have
hitherto been forced to sustain for maintaining three several
garrisons for a long time to defend my tenants, whereof many,
in their own defence, were most cruelly and barbarously killed,
as likewise, ever since, a constant guard of forty men for de¬
fending my lands and tenants from the daily incursions of ene¬
mies and robbers.'"f
This spirited remonstrance had so far an effect. The laird
was exempted from contributing to the assessment complained
against; but neither received any part of a previous award of
twenty thousand pounds, nor was protected against farther in¬
roads ; for, although the great Montrose had expiated his manifold
ingenious and daring enterprises on the gibbet, there was still
much, perhaps even more, cause for fear, since those high prin¬
ciples of loyalty which animated Montrose's conduct were spurned
by his successors, and the government and army ruled by the
baneful sceptre of selfishness and hypocrisy ; The establishment of
Episcopacy had been insisted on without success; Naseby had
been fought and won by the daring Protector; the King had been
basely sold by his faithless countrymen, and died on the scaffold;
and the rightful heir to the throne had been defeated at Worcester;
and fearing that the ancient symbols of the nation's independence
would fall into the hands of the invaders, his friends had the
regalia and sword of state secretly translated to the impregnable
stronghold of Dunottar. It was accordingly in the year 1651,
when the soldiers of the Commonwealth were dispatched in search
of those precious symbols, that they made the parish of Edzell
their rendezvous, during which the district was laid so effectually
under their bann, that for the space of three or four weeks the
" Not including Edzell and other property."—Lives.
i Cited in Lives, vol. ii, p. '-'56.
44 LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
glad tidings of the blessed gospel were not allowed to be lieai d.
Of the circumstances attending their last visit, the sufficiently
brief, but unmistakable record of the period, affords a remarkable
instance, shewing alike the harassing state of the times and the
abandoned nature of those godless soldiery, who, on their arrival
one Sunday, went straightway to the church, and in the midst of
the sermon, " scattered all ye people to goe and provyd corn
and strae."f
John of Edzell, who, in all these ravages and exactments
over his lands (for we have already seen that he was heavily fined
by the Earl of Middleton) beheld, with regret, the irremediable
ruin of his house, died in 1671, and was succeeded by his son,
David, who (as the third and last Lord Spynie—the chief of the
Lindsays—had just died without male issue), became the head of
his important clan ; but, unfortunately, his disposition was of so
extravagant a character, that he rather tended to increase than
dispel the destructive cloud which enshrouded the family fortunes ;
and he, in turn, closed his vain-glorious career in 1698,J and
was succeeded by his still more reckless and abandoned son,
David, the last of the Lindsays of Edzell.
This laird had two sisters, Margaret and Janet, and their
mother, only daughter to James Grahame, brother to the laird
of Fintry, died while they were all young. The oldest daughter
married Watson of Aitherny, in Fife, and had the large dowry
of seven thousand marks ;|| and the younger (the lovelier of the
twain, whose melancholy history has formed the theme of more
poets than one), fell a victim to the heartless arts of a young
Scottish nobleman, and died in England in obscurity and shame ;
while her seducer (popularly, but erroneously, stated to be Lord
Spynie), fell at the battle of Almanza, in Spain, in 1707.§
* Par. Reg., Mar. 9, 1662. I Ibid, Sept. 25,1661.
J 1698.—"Upon this fyftiend day of Febervarij, the Right Noble Laird of Edzeell died
and was buried vpon the fyftaind day of March, and the minister [of] Edzeell, Mr. John
Balvaird, preached his funerall sermon the sam sd day."—Parish Reg. See Appendix No. II.
for excerpts from the Rental Book of this Laird.
\\ (Crawford Case, p. 201.)— The marriage of this lady is thus noticedThe Laird of
Edernie and his Ladie were laufullie proclaimed att particullar dyets : and was inaryed vpon
the 8th day of Debr. jai. vie, and nyntie two zears."—Edzell Par. Register.
§ The following is the baptismal entry of this unfortunate lady:—"1681; David Lindsay
off Edzell hade a daughter baptized upon ye 2d off Octobor, named Jannett, befor Mr, John
Lyndsay in Dalibog Mill, and Alexander Wishart in Scleetfood."—Par. Register. [Lord Edzell
also had a daughter named Jannet, who, according to a monument in Inverkeillor churchyard,
was married to Gardyne of Lawton in 1603.]
EDZELL'S—LADY AITHERNY'S VISIT.
45
The fate of Lady Janet need not be dwelt upon ; indeed,
beyond this sad, and too true incident, and the rather striking
tradition, that while she lived at Edzell, she was followed to the
church, and in all her walks, by a pretty white lamb—the em¬
blem of innocence and purity—nothing whatever is preserved of
her history; but the last visit of Lady Aitherny to the house of
her birth and her sires is so beautifully and touchingly told by
her noble biographer, and so true to current tradition, that we
shall give it entire:—" Year after year passed away, and the
castle fell to ruin,—the banner rotted on the keep—the roofs fell
in—the pleasance became a wilderness—the summer-house fell
to decay—the woods grew wild and tangled—the dogs died about
the place, and the name of the old proprietors was seldom men¬
tioned, when a lady one day arrived at Edzell, as it is still related,
in her own coach, and drove to the castle. She was tall and beau¬
tiful, and dressed in deep mourning. ' When she came near the
ancient burying-place,' says the same faint voice of the past,
' she alighted, and went into the chapel, for it was then open,—
the doors had been driven down, the stone figures and carved
work was all broken, and bones lay scattered about. The poor
lady went in, and sat down -amang it a', and wept sore at the
ruin of the house and the fate of her family, for no one doubted
of her being one of them, though no one knew who she was or
where she came from. After a while she came out, and was
driven in the coach up to the castle; she went through as much
of it as she could, for stairs had fallen down and roofs had fallen
in,—and in one room in particular she stayed a long while, weep¬
ing sadly. She said the place was very dear to her, though she
had now no right to it, and she carried some of the earth away
with her.'—It was Margaret of Edzell, the Lady of Aitherny, as
ascertained by an independent tradition derived from a venerable
lady of the House of Aitherny, who lived to a great age, and
always spoke of her with bitterness as ' the proud bird out of
the eagle's nest' who had ruined her family. ' She came once
to my father's house,' said she to my informant, ' with two of
her children. She was on her way to Edzell Castle. It was
years since it had passed away from her family. My father did
all he could to persuade her from so waefu' a journey, but go
she would; and one morning she set off alone, leaving her
46
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
children with us, to await her return. She was a sair changed
woman when she came back,—her haughty manner was gone,
and her proud look turned into sadness. She had found every¬
thing changed at Edzell since she left it, a gay lady, the bride of
Aitherny. For the noise and merriment of those days, she
found silence and sadness,—for the many going to fro, solitude
and mouldering walls,—for the plentiful board of her father, his
house only, roofless and deserted. When she looked out from
the windows, it was the same gay and smiling landscape, but all
within was ruin and desolation. She found her way to what had
been in former days her own room, and there, overcome with the
weight of sorrow, she sat down and wept for a long time,—she felt
herself the last of all her race, for her only brother was gone, no
one could tell where. She came back to Gardrum, the next day,
and she just lived to see the ruin of Aitherny, which her extra¬
vagance and folly had brought on, for the Laird was a good-
natured man and could deny her nothing. They both died,
leaving their family in penury.'—And such was the end of the
' proud house of Edzell.' "
Alike with the history of those unfortunate ladies, that of
their only brother, the last laird, is one of painful melancholy.
It is true that between the large dowry to Mrs. Watson, and
other liabilities, the estate was greatly burdened ; still, by pru¬
dent management, it might have been soon redeemed, and
Edzell restored to the independence and influence of his ances¬
tors. But having been thwarted in love by his cousin, Jean
Maria Lindsay,f he cared not to set his affections upon another,
and losing all respect for himself, and the dignity of his house,
he soon effected its total overthrow. Down to the time of his
leaving the parish, however, he was preceded to the kirk on
Sundays by a guard of strong hardy retainers, clothed in the
family tartan, and, like his father and grandfather, he enjoyed an
eldership, in which capacity he assumed those extraordinary
powers, and had recourse to those arbitrary measures, already
alluded to. Not content with designing himself in the ordinary
form of a mere member of session, when attesting the minutes,
he appears in the dignified character of " principall and chief
elder;" and, in the spirit of true feudalism, the Kirk-session
* Lives, vol, ii., pp. 261-5.
t Lives, vol. ii., p. 259,
EDZELL THE LAST LAIRD.
47
is recorded, oil more than one occasion, to have " mett at the lious
of Edzell as the Laird appointed
Having this important body so thoroughly under his command,
he had no difficulty in subjecting the people to his will,—his
power was never questioned for an instant, and, considering his
opinion as that of the nation, most of his tenantry believed that
neither sovereign nor parliament could rule without his concur¬
rence. Still, though haughty to strangers, and those who of¬
fended him, his heart was full of the milk of human kindness,
and so warmly attached was he to his domestics and vassals,
that he often devoted his best interests towards the soothing
of their misfortunes, and the bettering of their condition. The
last hitchie, or " hall boy," who died towards the close of last
century, at the great age of nearly a hundred years, had a dis¬
tinct and vivid recollection of this extraordinary person ; and
although he loved to speak of his many daring and wonderful
exploits, he ever bore testimony to his warm-heartedness and
generosity. And it is a remarkable coincidence, that alike with
those of poor Edzell, the latter days of the " kitchie boy," were
sadly darkened, and his last end was not altogether unlike that of
his old master; for while Edzell may be said to have died in a
horse's manger, the other was also doomed, through intemperance
and dissipation, to close his patriarchal life in the very kennel
of the village with which he had been familiar from childhood !
It has been already seen that Edzell's extraordinary opposition
to presbyterianism was the last prominent act, and indeed the
last appearance of him in the district. A proud spirited and
determined baron, he scorned all manner of advice, and the aid of
his kinsmen, some of whom offered to discharge his liabilities on
the best and most friendly terms, and to restore him in the course
of a few years to the full and free possession of the long-inherited
and extensive domains of his ancestors. But all remonstrance
was in vain ; he had resolved to follow in defence of the luck¬
less house of Stuart, and, with a view of raising a company of
followers, sold his patrimony, and found a ready purchaser in
the person of the fourth Earl of Panmure; he accordingly left
the district—the place of his birth, and the property which his
forefathers had held for nearly four hundred years—a poor land¬
less outcast! The tragedy did not terminate here, however;
4-8
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
after spending a few years on the small property of Newgate in
Fifesliire, " he removed to Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands,
where he died in the capacity of an hostler at an inn about the
middle of last century; or, as stated by Earl James in his Me¬
moirs, in 1744, aged about eighty years—a landless outcast, yet
unquestionably dejure ' Lord de Lyndesay.' "*
The life of this remarkable man is certainly not without a
moral; and perhaps, his extraordinary and chequered career
cannot be more appropriately closed than by a repetition of the
circumstances of his " flittin," which are thus given in the simple,
but impressive language of local tradition :—" The Laird, like
his father," as quoted in the interesting " Lives of the Lindsays,"
so often referred to, " had been a wild and wasteful man, and
had been long awa' ; he was deeply engaged with the unsuc¬
cessful party of the Stuarts, and the rumours of their defeat
were still occupying the minds of all the country side. One
afternoon the poor Baron, with a sad and sorrowful countenance
and heavy heart, and followed by only one of a' his company,
both on horseback, came to the castle, almost unnoticed by any.
Everything was silent—he ga'ed into his great big house, a
solitary man—there was no wife and child to gi'e him welcome,
for he had never been married. The castle was almost deserted;
a few old servants had been the only inhabitants for many
months. Neither the Laird nor his faithful follower took any
rest that night. Lindsay, the broken-hearted ruined man, sat
all that night in the large hall, sadly occupied—destroying
papers sometimes, reading papers sometimes, sometimes writing,
sometimes sitting mournfully silent—unable to fix his thoughts
on the present or to contemplate the future. In the course of
the following day he left the castle in the same manner in which
he had come; he saw none of his people or tenants : his one
attendant only accompanied him : they rode away, taking with
* Lives, vol. ii. p 280.—The sale of the property of Edzell and Glen sk, was completed on the
25th ot August, 1715; and the purchase money amounted to the then large sum of £192,502 Scots,
or nearly £16,012 stg. The laird's feelings regarding the Stewart interest may be inferred from the
following extract from a letter addressed by him to Colin, Earl of Balcarres, on the loth of May,
1712, in which the daring and luckless transaction is hinted at in obscure, but unmistakable terms :
—"I spoke to my Lord Dun [David Erskine of Dun], who told me ho would write iramediatelv,
but thought it better to delay it till he went to Edinburgh, and procured a letter from ye Justice
Clerk [James Erskine of Grange] to his brother, the Earl of Marr, to go along wyth his oun ; he
is very frank for ye project, and says ho will write wyt all concern and care of it ."—Crawford
Case, pp. 201, <£c.
EDZELL—THE TREASURE SEEKER.
49
tliem as much of what was valuable or useful as they could con¬
veniently carry. And, turning round to take a last look of the
old towers, he drew a last long sigh, and wept. He was never
seen here again."*
Although the fact of " Edzell's" embarrassment was generally
known, and but " ower true a tale," some thought otherwise, and
gave ready credence to the local story of a treasure being hid
about the castle walls ; and so convinced was a recently deceased
worthy of this, that he set out one dark Saturday evening for
the purpose of seizing the pose, the precise locality of which his
knowing had placed beyond a doubt. With mattock over his
shoulder, he hastened solus from his dreary clay-built tenement
in the moss of Arnhal, and, with hardy step, and unquivering lip,
bade defiance to all the ghaists that hovered around the Chapelton
burying-ground, and the fiery spirits which now and then lent
their blue or scarlet gleam to guide his path through the marshy
grounds which he had unavoidably to pass. He stayed not at
the heart-rending cries of mercy, which fell upon his ear, as the
phantom of the courageous bride plunged into the river, to avert
a " fate worse than death itself," at the hands of Major Wood ;
nor did he list to the loud victorious laugh of the Spirit of Lin-
martin, as he rose on the opposite bank of the Esk, and grinned
over his ruthless plunder. But on he hied along the narrow
plank which crossed the deep gully at the Snecks, and held the
tenor of his way to the California of Edzell.
The high round tower on the north side of the building was
the " gold seeker's " haven. Here, at the extreme point, was
a triangular stone, small in size, and of a different colour from
its fellows. To this elevated and isolated part he had to worm
his way through thorny cattle-fences, over heaps of mouldered
turrets, through bat-inhabited chambers, riven and slimy arch¬
ways, to a flight of irregular steps, many of which were so far
worn away, as scarcely to afford footing for a crow. Still, to
our hero—who felt conscious of finding the long-hidden trea¬
sure—these, even at the dark hour of midnight, were no
obstacles. On the contrary, step by step he groped his way
to the pinnacle of his ambition; and having satisfied himself
where to direct the aims of his mattock, commenced operations.
* Lives, vol ii. p. 204,
E
50
land of the lindsays.
The rain fell apaee—the heavens seemed to frown in wrathful
indignation upon his unhallowed searches, and the feathery in¬
habitants of the ruins, and the wild warning notes from the
murdered minstrel's pibroch, which echoed from the arch of the
Piper's Brig—and the branches of the neighbouring giant trees,
joined in the spirit of nature's discontent. Still, these fell as
nothing on the ear of the industrious miner : sparks of fire followed
the successive and increased strokes of the mattock, while his
anxiety and joy kindled as at last he felt the " keystane " shake
under his determined aims. Another stroke, and he thought the
treasure would be disclosed, and undividedly his own; but alas!
the blow was given, and down fell the luckless whin, or ragstone,
and a neighbouring part of the wall, carrying with it half the
rickety stair of the turret, on the pinnacle and only secure part of
which the old farmer of the Mains, when he looked from his win¬
dow on Sabbath morning, beheld the solitary and sorry "gold
seeker" drenched with rain, and weeping as the hero of old, over
the ruins of his ambition !
SECTION V.
" A spectre of departed days
Yon castle gleams upon the gaze.
And saddens o'er the scene so fair,
And tells that ruin hath been there ;
And wberesoe'er my glance is cast,
It meets pale footprints of the past;
And from these high and hoary walls,
All mournfully, the shadow fulls,
Dark'ning, amidst the garden bowers,
The farewell of the fading flouers,
Which seem for gentle hands to sigh,
That tended them in days gone by,"
J. Malcolm.
The castle of Edzell lies in a hollow, about a mile west of the
village, and within a gun-shot of the West Water. In old
times this river was augmented by a considerable streamlet which
flowed through the little den in front of the castle, and although
this channel is now partly under tillage, perhaps the most ro¬
mantic portion yet remains in the shape of an irreclaimable
marsh. Towards the northern extremity of this, under an arid
and almost perpendicular point of Drummore hill, the fatal " pit"
EDZELL—HEREDITARY DEMPSTER.
51
of the ancient lords was situated, and its twin-brother the " fal¬
lows," stood about a mile south-east, in the muir or wood of
Edzell.
Both those feudal appendages are still represented, although
from natural deposit, and the exuberance of brushwood, the
former is barely traceable ; but the site of the latter raises its
conical head considerably above the adjacent ground, and is a
prominent object in the landscape. The " pit and gallows"
were used for the punishment of felons in almost all countries
from remotest antiquity, and were not only employed for
avenging the misdemeanours of vassals, but for the execution of
princes and kings. They appear to have been first used in
Scotland in Malcolm Canmore's time ; for his council ordained
" that fre baronis sail mak jebbattis and draw wellis for punition
of criminabyl personis." In old writings they are respectively
known by the names of furca and fossa ; and the former was
generally used for the punishment of men, the latter, of women
convicted of theft.*
Unlike most other barons, however, those of Edzell vied with
Parliament in the possession of an hereditary dempster, or doom-
ster, whose duty lay in repeating the doom or sentence awarded
by the judge ; and, from time immemorial, was held by a family
of the name of Duray, who had certain emoluments from the pro¬
prietor and his tenants. From each principal tenant they had two
pecks, and from each sub-tenant a bassyful, of oat meal annually,!
while the laird gave them the free grant of eleven acres of fertile
land, on the banks of the North Esk, called Duray hill, from which
the family designed themselves " of that Ilk." To these per¬
quisites, according to tradition, were added the farcical privileges of
fishing in the almost waterless burn of Whishop, and of hunting
on the hill of Wirran with a hawk blind of an eye, and a hound
crippled of a leg ! Besides, as they had four pennies Scots for
ringing the bell of St. Lawrence on high occasions—such as at the
births and funerals of the lords and ladies of Edzell—they may be
supposed, in addition to the office of dempster, to have enjoyed
that of master beadle.j:
* See Dr. Jatnieson's Scottish Dictionary, in voce.
t The Bassies, or wooden bowls, for lifting meal from the girnal, are of various sizes, but
rarely hold more than half a peek.
t See Appendix No. III. for some notice of the Durays.
E 2
52
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
But to return; some are of opinion—indeed, it is generally
believed—that the den in which the " pit" lay, was the original
channel of the West Water. It is, perhaps, more probable, as
already hinted, that it had merely been the course towards the
main stream for the waters which accumulated in the marshes
on the hill of Edzell; and, for the purpose of forming a pond or
moat round the original castle (which stood on an isolated
mound in the broadest part of the den), this streamlet may have
been dammed up or confined on the southern parts. This theory
has, at least, plausibility in its favour; and waiving the consider¬
ation of the many thousands of years which the West Water would
have taken to form its present rugged course, the circumstance
that the " castle hillock " has all the appearance of having been
moated—that the level of the den at the northern extremity is
twenty or thirty feet above that of the West Water, and that
the remains of a great natural fosse or ditch may still be traced
running from the hill of Edzell to the top of the den—con¬
tributes to favour this notion.
As already intimated, no trace of this castle exists, but the
ruins of its successor, or rather those now standing, are the
largest, and, taken as a whole, the most magnificent of any in the
shires of Angus and Mearns, except those of Dunottar, which
rival them only in point of extent. The donjon, or " Stirling
Tower," as it is called, is yet an imposing, and, so far as relates
to the outer wall and ground floor, a pretty entire structure. It
stands about sixty feet high, is the most carefully executed part
of the whole building, and, for beauty and solidity of workman¬
ship, will bear comparison with any of modern times. It is
popularly believed to have been erected by the old family of
Stirling, but beyond its bearing their name, no other evidence
exists; and although "mason-marks" are discernible on most of
the principal stones, it is not supposed that they afford a criterion
for fixing its date.
Down to the great hurricane on the 12th of October 1838,
the battlements could be reached, and walked upon with perfect
safety; but on that awful night, when most of the thatched
cottages in the village, and other parts of the district, were almost
instantaneously unroofed, the upper part of the stair was so
EDZELL—THE CASTLE.
greatly injured that the top cannot now be gained without
danger. The walls of the Keep are from four to six feet thick;
and, apart from the regular window lights, are here and there
perforated by circular and oblong loopholes. A cluster of these
guard the main entrance at all points, and afford a striking and
incontestable proof of the sad insecurity of life and property, and
of the intestine commotions which then rended the nation asunder,
retarded the progress of the peaceful arts, and destroyed the
soothing influence of domestic harmony.
The base floor of the Tower consists of two damp gloomy
vaults, to which a faint glimmer of light is admitted through
small apertures. These are popularly believed to have been
wards or prisons for holding condemned criminals in days of old,
while in reality they were merely cellars used for the preserva¬
tion of choice liquors and viands, which we have the best of all
authority for knowing, were far from strangers at the boards of
ancient lords and barons. Apart from the entrance doors in the
main lobby, these cellars communicate with each other, and also
with the dining room by a narrow stair. Their arched roofs form
the floor of that room (which is the only remaining floor in the
Keep), and occupying nearly the whole length and breadth of the
tower, it had indeed been a spacious apartment, quite commen¬
surate with the reputed power and influence of its owners, while
the elevated roof and large windows may be considered as antici¬
pations of our recently improved household ventilation. Seats
of polished freestone are raised on the inside of eacli window
that overlooks the flower garden and the fine old castle green,
on which, in the hey-day of Edzell—
" The deer and the roe bounded lightly together."
The old castle is not presumed to have been of much greater
extent than as now indicated by the Stirling Tower; but of this,
as of its date, no positive trace can be obtained. The new part,
or the long range of building which stretches from the Keep
northward, was the work of David of Edzell, before his succession
as ninth Earl of Crawford; and though comparatively recent,
is the most ruinous part of the whole, and, with the exception
of a solitary base stone of the entrance door of the great hall
LAM) OF TJ1E LINDSAYS.
(where the Episcopalians met in the last laird's time), no traee
of the ornamental part of this section of the castle is supposed
to exist; but from the beauty of this remain—which consists
of three pilasters and a fine cable ornament on the inner
margin, all beautifully proportioned—some idea may be had of
the former elegance of the place, and the advanced state of
native sculpture.*'
Nay, although niches for three various coats armorial are
still over the front of the outer entrance, the sculptures are all
gone—even that which is said to have lately existed bearing the
impaled arms of the ninth Earl and those of his lady of Lorn.
It ought to have been mentioned before, that during the widow¬
hood of this amiable lady and while her family were all young,
the castle of Edzell was honoured with the presence of the unfor¬
tunate Queen Mary. This occurred on the 25th of August, 1562,
while Her Majesty was on her well-known northern expedition
to quell the Huntly rebellion, on returning from which, accom¬
panied by Lords Murray, Maitland, and Lindsay (the last of
whom afterwards forced her to resign the crown at Lochleven),
she held a Council and remained for the night, from which time
the room in which she slept, though its locality is now unknown,
was ever after called the Queen's Chamber.
The outer walls of the castle, however, so far as had been
completed, are still pretty entire; but the inner have suffered
sadly, as have most of the vaults, which had been carried
around the whole; and, instead of being strewed with rushes, or
decorated with tapestry, as in the olden time, the acrid nettle,
and other indigenous weeds, luxuriate on the floors and crumbling
walls, and the screech owl and raven nestle in the crevices. The
outer court was equally spacious as the castle, measuring, as may
yet be traced from the foundations of the walls, about one hundred
by seventy feet. Ochterlony, writing from personal observation,
(circa 1682), says that " it was so large and levell, that of old
when they used that sport, they used to play at the foot ball there,
and there are still four great growing trees which were the
debts."f But, as is the ease with most of the monuments of its
# This fragment is figured in corner of Frontispiece,
t Spottiswoode Miscellany, vol. i. p. 33fi.
EDZELL—FLOWER GARDEN.
social and domestic grandeur, tlie " dobts " too, are only traceable
in their large wasting roots ; and, together with the chapel and
great kitchen, fell, as did the most of what has now disappeared,
by the reckless hands of despoiling utilitarians.
From the magnificent style in which cookery was conducted
at Edzell, and the liberality of its owners to the poor, it was
familiarly known by the enviable title of " the kitchen of Angus."
Oxen were roasted whole, and everything conducted in a
correspondingly sumptuous style ; and daily, after the family
had dined, the poor of the parish congregated in the court yard,
and taking their seats on the stone benches, (which still remain 011
both sides of the outer entrance passage), they received their
quota of beef and beer from the fair hands of the lady or daughters
of " the proud house of Edzell."
Such is one of the pleasing, among the many painful, traditions
which still live regarding this truly great race, whose character,
if taken into account with the chivalric period in which they
flourished, and their all but princely power and influence, pre¬
sents, as a whole, some of the holiest and happiest traits of
human kindness. He who could exercise but a tithe of forbear¬
ance in the unlettered past, or overlook a single inadvertent
insult to his lordly dignity, or treat his menials with condescen¬
sion and affability, exhibited a degree of wisdom and charity
which, even in our own enlightened age, would add laurels to
the brow of many of the nobly born and the religiously educated ;
and even in the last laird, who was proverbial for extravagance
and haughtiness of disposition, traits of those admirable qualities
were not awanting;.
©
It is, however, in the gorgeous embellishments of the flower
garden that the classical taste of the family, and the proficiencv
to which native sculpture had then attained, are most apparent.
It contains nearly half a Scotch acre, and is still filled with
gooseberry and other bushes; and many of the old apple and
pear trees, from which the favourite fruit was pulled in days of
yore, are in full bearing ; but scarcely a fragrant flower raises
its tiny and variegated head within the whole expanse* The
magnificent wall, and the fine sculpture with which it is pro-
* The space occupied by the castle, including the flower and kitchen garden, is fully two
acres Scutch. The kitchen garden has been partly ploughed for some years past, and also con¬
tains some fine old fruit trees.
LAND OF TIIE LINDSAYS.
fuscly decorated,* and the summer house with beautiful turrets
and ceiling of hewn freestone, together with the old part of the
house of the Mains (which bore the date 1602), were, as already
shewn, the work of the later years of Lord Edzell, with whom, it
may be said, the truly mental energy and superior taste of the
main line of this great house failed. Not so, certainly, with that
of Balcarres: as the paternal house degenerated, the fraternal
branch advanced, until by the achievements of many successive
members, not only in the senate and battle field, it has now at¬
tained to that ancient dignity from which it was so long and
wrongfully excluded; and many of its members have been, and
some of them still are, as famous in the quiet instructive walks of
literature, as the majority of their old representatives were in the
exciting arenas of chivalry and warfare.
While the forfeited estates of Panmure were possessed by the
York Buildings' Company, the venerable house and plantings of
Edzell received the first dilapidating blow.f During that time,
in the memorable " forty-six," the Argyle highlanders, who were
then persecuting and purging the country of Jacobites, took up
their quarters here, and contributed greatly, by all manner of
extravagance and outrage, to pollute its time-honoured walls,
and despoil its princely grandeur. Common report says that those
soldiers were brought thither by the solicitations of the minister
of Glcnesk, who was a stern enemy to Episcopacy. It may have
been so ; but it is more probable that they had been dispatched
to check the daring exploits which an old Jacobite smuggler, of
the name of Ferrier, was ever and anon performing in the dis¬
trict. This bold individual mustered upwards of three hundred
men in the rebel cause from Glcnesk and Prosen alone, and taking
*> For detail of these see Appendix No. IV.
I The York Buildings' Company was first a private speculation; but incorporated by
Royal Charter in 1(190, for the purpose of raising the water in York Buildings to supply the
inhabitants of London. Its objects were extended in 171D, and £1,201,000 were raised as a joint
stock subscription for the purchase of the forfeited and other estates, and for granting annuities
and life assurances. These speculations proved unfortunate; and, instead of having the free
rental of £14,000, on which annuities were secured by infeftment, the Parliamentary enquiry of
1733 shewed that the receipts were only £10,500. The Company was therefore declared insolvent ;
and from 1732 the forfeited estates were held by trustees for behoof of annuitants, and being
exposed to sale at Edinburgh, on the 20th of February, 1761, the lands were purchased by most
of the disinherited families, amongst which were those of Panmure, which were sold to the last
Earl for the gross sum of £10,157 18s. 4d. sterling. Of this sum £6,245 13s. 4d. were paid for the
lordships of Brccliin and Navar, and £11,951 8s. 9d. for Glcnesk, Edzell, and Lethnot. The
Company purchased the Panmure estates from Government in 1719, for £52,824 15s. 8|d. sterling.
EDZELL—DILAPIDATION OF THE CASTLE.
57
up his abode at the mouth of the former pass, carried off horses
and arms with impunity, from the country betwixt it and
Brechin.*
Major de Yoisel was at the head of the Argyle highlanders,
which were of about an equal number to that of Ferrier's followers,
and through Voisel's superior leadership and training, the soldiers
soon succeeded in checking the ravages of their opponents. But,
it is painful to know, that even during the most rigid stage of
feudalism, the inhabitants of those parts never experienced so
much tyranny and oppression—not to speak of the utter laxity
of all sorts of moral rectitude—as was then exhibited towards
them by those legalised marauders, under the guise of Royalty.
As the common attendant of a selfish general and reckless army,
infamy and crime, in its most revolting shape, stalked su¬
premely over the land for a brief period, and while the Epis¬
copal churches fell under the devouring element, the gleam
was prolonged by the mattresses of the worthy pastor and his
faithful adherents; and their wives and daughters became the
hapless victims of the base and vitiated habits of their heartless
persecutors.
Although much of the fine carved oak work of the Castle
was burned, and otherwise destroyed during these revelries, the
whole roof and the gilded vane on the Tower were entire for a
considerable period after the din and noise of the soldiers had
passed away; but all were ultimately brought to the hammer,
and sold for behoof of the Company's creditors, and most of the
oaken rafters being purchased by Dundee manufacturers, they
were afterwards converted into lays for weavers' looms. In
short, from the payment of debts, and by wholesale pillaging,
every vestige of human comfort and affluence soon disappeared ;
and, not only the vaults, but the dining and drawing rooms,
were made dens of thieves and robbers, and a common rendez¬
vous and protection for traffickers in all sorts of illicit goods. Even
the iron staunchels of the windows were forcibly wrested from
their sockets, and carried off by the blacksmiths of the district,
one of whom, a muscular fugitive of the " forty-five," lifted the
immense grated door from its hinges, but being unable to trans¬
port it farther at one attempt than the so-called old water track,
" Struther's Hist, of Scot., from the Union, vol. ii., p. 350.
o8
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
lie hid it amongst the brushwood, when an envious brother
Vulcan tumbled it into a deep pool, where it is believed still
to remain.
Such was the barbarous manner in which the Castle of Edzell
was denuded of its ancient grandeur. The fine approach of
majestic trees, which stretched southward from the castle to the
old church, forming a beautiful arboreal vault, and, indeed, the
whole mass of growing timber—which had doubtless been more
valuable for decorative than useful purposes—was brought under
the axe at nearly the same time; and from one wanton act
and another, more than anything which the iron tooth of Time
could have effected, this once magnificent place, the cherished
abode of a long race of the most potent barons of the kingdom,
has been reduced to its present lowly, and, it may be said,
inglorious position.
" 'Tis now the raven's bleak abode :
'Tis now the apartment of the toad ;
And there the fox securely feeds ;
And there the pois'nous adder breeds,
Concealed in ruins, moss, and weeds ;
"While, ever and anon, there falls
Huge heaps of hoary moulder'd walls."
Nor did a better fate await the Castle of Auchmull, but its
destruction is not to be ascribed to the same party as that of
Edzell.—So far, indeed, from its being so, the York Buildings'
Company declared that the tenant should " have no concern
with the stone house, commonly called the Castle of Auchmull,
except in so far as he shall damage it by his use, or neglect of
it," in which case he was bound to repair all injury the same as
if it had been a part of the mill or farm steading.* It was occu¬
pied by the farmer down to 1772-3, about which time he found it
so inconvenient, that he offered to bear the cost of a new house,
provided the proprietor would allow him the wood and iron
and other materials of the castle with which to erect it. Un¬
fortunately this was acceded to, and ere long the famous re¬
fuge of the murderer of Lord Spynie was sadly mutilated ; and,
* Tack—Mr, Francis Grant to Pavid Lindsay, llth Feb., 1756, in possession of liis grandson,
the present tenant.
EDZELL—AUC'HMULL CASTLE.
59
the work of destruction once begun, had only its limit in the
complete annihilation of the stronghold, for although, after
building the farm house originally stipulated for, a goodly fabric,
in the form of a square tower, similar to that of Invermark, graced
the high banks of the romantic rivulet, yet that, too, was de¬
molished for the purpose of building fences and filling drains, and
only a small part of the foundations are now traceable. Truly,
it may be said, that "heartless man," together with
" [Old] Time, hath done his work of ill
On statues, fount, and hall ;
Ruin'd, and lone, they year by year,
Fragment, by fragment fall."
OI-iD KTRELYA.RD OF EDZELL,
CHAPTER II.
Cletusfc.
" The little churchyard by the lonely lake,
All shaded round by heath-clad mountains hoar;
With ruined fane in which the pious met,
And raised the supplicating prayer of yore.
Here sleeps the Poet who tuned his magic lyre
And sung the curious freaks of days gone by ;
Here, too, lie those who tilled the lazy soil.
And filled the cots which now in ruins lie."
SECTION I.
Though the church of Glenesk, or Lochlee,* as this fine pastoral
district is now indiscriminately termed, is one of the oldest esta¬
blished in the county, little is known of its history beyond the
interesting facts of the name of its founder and the period of his
settlement. St. Drostan, a saint of the blood royal of Scotland,
and Abbot of Donegall in Ireland, was the first who took an
interest in the eternal welfare of its inhabitants. On return¬
ing from the sister country, in the eighth century, he took up his
abode here, and proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation to the
scattered population during the remainder of his long life. He
died in the year 809, and his feast is held on the lltli of July.
Though Hrostan's relics, like those of most of the Saints, sur¬
vived his decease for many ages, and probably survive and work
miracles in some obscure corner to this day, it is not to be supposed
that the church, of which the ruins still remain, though said to be
of unknown antiquity, was the theatre of his ministry. The
little wooden cell in which he dwelt, and every fragment of the
rude cross which he raised, have long since passed away—even
their exact sites have become unknown. And no great wonder ;
'tis only remarkable that his name should exist in the district
even in its present sadly metamorphosed state ; for, it will be
perceived that more than a thousand years have rolled past since
his fervent and supplicating prayers resounded amongst these
mountains, and since the long and mournful train of grateful
* Glecmn-uisge, i. e. "the glen of water,"—Loch-le, i. e. "the smooth lake."
GLENESK—ST. DEOSTAN'S CHUECH.
61
converts and holy brethren bore his meagre relics across the
hills, and had them deposited in a stone chest which was pre¬
pared for them at the church of Aberdour, in Aberdeenshire, of
which he was patron.*
From the site of the present manse of Glenesk being called
" Droustie," and a fountain near by "Droustie's well," it may be
inferred that these are corruptions of the name of St. Drostan,
and point to the site of his ancient residence and church.
" Droustie's Meadow" is also the name of a piece of ground
near the parsonage at Tarfside, which, with the exception of
the St. Drostan's well already alluded to near the old church of
Neudos, are the only places in the district bearing similar designa¬
tions. Though now annexed to Edzell, the parish of Netidos
was, from early times a separate cure, and, so far as known, had
never any connection with Glenesk; in fact, the situation of the
old kirk, and more particularly that of the well (both of which
lie considerably east of the glen), are favourable to this idea,
and, as previously hinted, the presence of the fountain is only to
be taken as implying that the church was dedicated to St.
Drostan, whilst Droustie in Glenesk may be considered as the
principal place of his residence and ministry.
The old kirk, which stands by the side of the Loch, is also
sometimes called the " kirk of Droustieand a deep pool in the
river Lee, immediately south of the farmhouse of Kirkton, and
now used principally for sheep-washing, has, time out of memory,
borne the significant appellation of the " Monk's Pool," and so
termed, it is said, from the monks having had a right to fish for
salmon there during the flesh-proscribed season of Lent; five
fine large fish were taken out of it some years ago.
From the time of St. Drostan, down to the year 1723, when
the district was erected into an independent parish, very little is
known of its ecclesiastical history. There is no record of it be¬
fore the time of the Reformation, and, instead of its having any
cliaplainries connected with it, it was of itself merely a chap-
lainry of the adjoining parish of Lethnot.f About the time of
the Reformation, however, a Mr. Hay was appointed reader,
with the scanty salary of twenty-four merks a-year, or about
• Collections on Aberdeenshire, p. 442,—Spalding Club; Butler's Lives of the Saints.
t (a. d, 1640)—Crawford Case, p. 187,
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
twenty-six shillings and ninepence sterling, for which he had to
exhort the people in the absence of the minister, who only
preached here once every three weeks, " weather permitting
and in a district so extensive (for the parish embraces an area ot
more than a hundred miles square), and far removed from the
residence of the clergyman, the office of reader, if we are to
suppose that matters stood then as they did at a later period, had
been onerous in the extreme. An augmentation, however, was
afterwards made to his salary, by the laird of Edzell, to the
extent of two bolls of oatmeal, two crofts of land adjoining the
church, and pasture for a horse and cow, and twenty sheep*—
items which still augment the coffers of the teacher of Glenesk
beyond those of most of his lowland brethren, and tend to com¬
pensate, partially at least, for his lonely abode and meagre
attendance of pupils.
By decreet of 1717, the gross amount of the minister's stipend
was one thousand and fifty pounds Scots ; but in 1723, when
the parish was erected, and Navar annexed to Lethnot in its
stead, an additional nine hundred and fifty pounds Scots were
given, together with a large arable and pasture glebe, and com¬
modious manse.f
Erected into a separate parish in 1723, the first clergyman
was Mr. Garden, a relative to the factor of the York Buildings'
Company, and there being no manse until the year 1750, he and
his successors occupied a part of the Castle of Invermark down
to that time. Mr. Garden was succeeded by the Be v. Mr. Blair
in 1731, who only remained two years, when he was translated
to the first charge of the parish of Brechin, and there, in 1760,
he established a Sabbath evening school, which is said to have
been the first opened in Scotland.:}: Mr. Blair's successor, Mr.
Scott, as will be immediately shewn, bore a prominent part in
the Episcopal expulsion which followed the great political move¬
ments of the rebellion. Betwixt his death in 1758, and Mr.
Inglis' appointment in 1807, the cure was filled by Messrs. Boss
and Pirie, the latter of whom wrote the first Statistical Account
of the parish.
Begisters of the various parochial incidents were commenced
* Copy—Settlement by John Lindsay of Edzeil, Aug. 22, 1G59, in Schoolmaster's possession.
1 Old Statistical Acet., vol. v.
J Mr. lllair married Christian Doig, heiress of Cooltston and Unthank, near Brechin.
GLENESK—PAROCHIAL REGISTER. <53
in 1730, and, while in the keeping of the pains-taking and in¬
genious Mr. Alexander Ross (who was settled here in 1732),
they are most interesting and ample regarding all matters touched
upon. The inestimable value of baptismal and other registrations
were so apparent to him, and the pains which he took to ascer¬
tain particulars so assiduous, as to be worthy the imitation of
many of his brethern of the present time ; while the manner in
which he deplores the disregard with which his efforts were
treated by those whom they were most calculated to benefit,
shews the simplicity of his character, and the superiority of his
mind, in one of its most benign and single-hearted aspects.—" I
designed," he writes, evidently in a tone of unmingled regret,
" to have kept a regular accompt of the baptisms in this parish
during my incumbency as Session-Clerk, and Precentor; but
no man, whether attending kirk or meeting-house \i. e. Episcopal
Chapel], ever once desired me to do that office for him, or ever
gave me the dues for enrolling their children, except David
Christison in Auchrony, that paid me for recording his eldest son,
John ; and even the few that are recorded were done by inform¬
ing myself of their names and the time of their baptism the best
way I could, so that I hope the world will excuse me when
the register is found deficient as to this particular."*
When erected into a separate parish, all the inhabitants
here, as in Edzell and Lethnot, were either Episcopalians or
Roman Catholics, but mainly the former; and owing to the
favour with which Episcopacy has always been received in the
district, it has flourished here with unabated success ever since
its establishment in Scotland. As matter of course, Jacobitism
ran high during the rebellion; but the Hanoverian interest had
also its friends; and the thanksgiving for "the late victory ob¬
tained at Culloden against the rebels " was religiously observed
in the parish church ; and when the elders and kirk session were
examined by the committee appointed for investigating these
matters, it was found they " had behaved themselves very well
during the unnatural rebellion," and that they were well affected
to the reigning king and government.
The first Episcopal clergyman of which any record exists,
was David Rose, father of the late Right Honourable George
* Par. Reg., Sept. 21, 1745.
64 LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Rose, who figured so prominently in political controversy during
the latter part of the last century, and the beginning of the pre¬
sent. Little is known of Mr. Rose or his family ; but both he
and his wife, who bore the same name, are supposed to have been
natives of the parish of Birse. He preached on alternate Sundays
at Glenesk and Lethnot, and in various neighbouring districts
during the week, and was alike remarkable for his zeal in the
cause of Episcopacy as for the forbearance and judgment which
he displayed in one of the most trying and critical periods of his
churchs' history. The time of his settlement in the district is
unknown ; but it must have been sometime before the year 1728,
as he gifted a hand bell to the chapel bearing that date, which,
although now rarely rung either at kirk or burial, is worthily
preserved at the Parsonage.* His principal residence was at
Woodside, in the Dunlappie part of the parish of Stracathro,
where his distinguished son, George, was born on the 17th of
January, I744.j" Mr. Rose died in the month of October, 1758,
and was buried within the parish church of Lethnot,\ and his
widow spent her latter years in Montrose.
In the parochial records, Mr. Rose is always spoken of in the
derogatory capacity of " the illegal meeting-house keeper but,
from the success which attended his laborious and exemplary
ministry, his contemporary, Mr. Scott of the parish church, seems
to have felt his cause endangered, and tried in every possible
manner to render Mr. Rose and his doctrine obnoxious. He
demanded, but never returned, the " marriage pledges" of
Episcopalians, except to such as apostatised and became mem¬
bers of his church, and had, besides, the credit of informing
against the rebel laird of Balnamoon, who long sculked among
the fastnesses of Glenesk after the defeat at Culloden. He was
also said to have been instrumental in bringing the Argyle high-
landers to the district, and of having the first attempt made to
prohibit the wearing of the highland garb.|| These, however,
* This bell bears : " mr. david rose gift to glenesk, 1728."
t In all biographies, Rose, is erroneously stated to have been born at Brechin, and, on the
llt/i of June. The baptismal register of Stracathro bears "George, lawful son toMr. David
Rose, Episcopal minister in Woodside, was born on 17th, and baptised on 18th January, 1744."
t " To grave room in the kirk, to Mr. Da. Rose, £2."—Lethnot Par. Reg., Dec. 18, 1758.
II "1748, Dec. 24; This day read an order prohibiting the wearing that part of the high¬
land dress called the plaid, filibeg, or little kilt, after the 25th curt."—"1749, July 30 ; This day
read from the Latron an order from the Sherrifi'of Forfar, discharging every part of the high¬
land dress from being worn after the 1st of August next."—Par. Reg,
GLENESK—EPISCOPACY.
65
were government orders, and are thus, perhaps, wrongfully
ascribed to him; but it is certain that soon after these occur¬
rences Mr. Scott came suddenly by his death, when passing near
the ruins of the Episcopal chapel on the Rowan (which had been
burned to the ground by the army), by being thrown from his
horse and killed on the spot.*
This fatal accident, perhaps from the peculiar place of its
occurrence, was viewed by the Jacobite party in the light of
retributive justice ; and notwithstanding that Mr. Rose was long
obliged to preach to his adherents at the Faulds of Milton in
the open air after the burning of his chapel, the cause was
rather strengthened than diminished: but death putting a
period to his arduous labours, several years elapsed before the
appointment of a successor. With the fall of Mr. Rose, the then
parochial clergyman, who seems to have had as intolerant a spirit
as his predecessor, expected the cause also to fall; but, instead
of that, matters went from bad to worse, and as the Episcopa¬
lians had little faith to place in the ministry of those from whom
they had experienced so unmitigated oppression, they rather
inclined to cherish the Roman Catholic belief, which appeared to
some of them, in the circumstances, the least of two evils ; and,
accordingly, a "popish priest" was invited from Deeside, and
planted his chapel almost at the very door of the parish
church.f This decided movement on the part of the Episcopa¬
lians was, perhaps, hastened by the oppressive actions of the
parish minister, one of which was his absolute refusal to allow
the marriage banns of a worthy couple to be proclaimed, for no
other reason than that the woman was " a papist," and would
not apostatize and become a member of his church4
Ultimately, however, another Episcopal clergyman came to
the district, and soon succeeded, by easy persuasives and winning
manners, to effect that which his neighbour had failed to ac¬
complish by intolerant enmity, and another humble church was
erected, and raised, Phoenix like, from the ashes of its prede¬
cessor. It was here that Mr. Brown, father of the learned Pre¬
sident of the Linnean Society in London, conducted worship
during the whole time of his residence in Glenesk, as did his
« "Mr. John Scott, minr. here, died suddenly, near Tarfside, on his way to the presbyterie
in Brechine."—Par. Reg., Jan. 24,1758.
t Ibid. July IS, 1760. I Ibid. September 17 and 23,1750.
E
66
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
successor, Mr. Davidson, and the late minister, Mr. Jolly,
for several years. Thenceforward matters rolled on smoothly,
and when the late Rev. David Inglis was inducted to the parish
church, the banner of toleration was freely unfurled, and, instead
of bickerings and heartburnings, which marked the times of his
illiberal predecessors, he and Mr. Jolly met as brethren, and re¬
solved everything for the best where the affairs of individual
members of their congregations required ; and exchanged visits on
the most friendly and conciliatory terms, living here below as
they hoped to live hereafter.
Thus, the aspect of Christianity was totally changed in the
district, and two years after Mr. Inglis' settlement, the Episco¬
palians, who had long found the inconvenience and comfortless
nature of the old chapel on the Rowan, set on foot a subscription
for erecting a new edifice, which had been hitherto delayed by
the opposition of contemporary parish ministers. An appeal
to the public was made for this purpose, and being descriptive
of the state of the old church and the peculiar manner of its
erection (not to speak of its bearing the full stamp of the cha¬
racteristic simplicity of the good worthy pastor who issued it), it
is here printed in full:—" In appealing to the benevolence of the
public for aid to rebuild the chapel in Glenesk," writes Mr.
Jolly, u it may not be improper to remark that the walls of the
present one, which is upwards of seventy feet by fourteen feet,
were built by the hands of the congregation in the course of one
week, nearly fifty years ago. Of consequence, it cannot be sup¬
posed that a house so hastily built can be now comfortable ; in¬
deed, it is so much the reverse, that the congregation are obliged
literally to stand amongst the snow that finds its way at times
through the wall during the time of public worship; besides, the
roof does not now defend from rain:—it's of heath, and has lasted
about thirty years."*
Issued in October 1809, this " appeal " had the desired effect;
and, in the course of the following year the chapel was erected,
and the present neat parsonage built in the following season,
towards the latter of which the late Sir George Rose contributed
the handsome sum of fifty pounds. Matters now progressed to the
best of the minister's wishes—the fortnightly meeting at Lethnot
* Kindly communicated by the Rev. Alex. Simpson, the present Incumbent.
GLENESK—OLD KIEK.
67
was abolished, and the Episcopalians of that district and of Feme,
and many from the parishes of Clova and Birse, made Glenesk
their regular place of worship, and after the long period of fifty-
seven years' service their pastor was gathered to his fathers,
leaving the congregation in a most flourishing state. It has
always continued so, and during the ministry of his successor,
the present incumbent, and mainly through his exertions, a school
has recently been erected in connection with the chapel.
Such is a brief view of the history and progress of Episcopacy
in Glenesk. The circumstances attending the foundation of the
parish have already been alluded to, and nothing of any note is
recorded in connexion with it from then till now, except at the
memorable disruption of 1843, when, as in other parishes, a
number of the members seceded and joined the Free Church.
As yet that body have no church, properly so called, but have a
settled minister who conducts worship in a spacious sheep cot near
Tarfside, where they have also a school.
The old parish kirk is situated at the north-east corner of
of the Loch, and was thatched with heath down to the year 1784,
when it was covered with grey slates. The walls are thick and
strongly built, and a loft graced the east or oriel end, which had
a special entrance from the graveyard. Although said to be of
" unknown antiquity," it is not likely that these walls are older,
if so old, as the days of the Marquis of Montrose, for all story
agrees that, while he and his soldiers took refuge here in 1645,
they burned the church to the ground—and, in all probability,
these are the remains of the kirk which was erected after that
circumstance.
There is certainly nothing inviting about the mode of its
architecture ; it being quite of the common barn form which
characterises most of our landward churches ; but, from its pecu¬
liarly romantic situation, it possesses many picturesque attrac¬
tions which render it interesting beyond most of its fellows.
Perhaps the most remarkable of these features is its proximity
to the Loch (which is a fine sheet of water, stretching more
than a mile to the north-west, with an average breadth of
about a quarter of a mile), to which it lies so close, that in
stormy weather the ruins and graveyard are frequently washed
by its waters, and covered by the white foaming spray; while.
68
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
with the exception of a few ash trees which break the sad, but in
this case not unpleasant monotony of desolation and solitude,
the neighbourhood, like the whole expanse of the glen north¬
ward, is solely decorated by
" The desert mountains and lone sky."
Within the precincts of this lone cemetery, which has been
the favourite resting-place of the hardy natives from time imme¬
morial, lie the remains of the late Reverend Mr. Jolly, of whom
we have had occasion to speak so favourably in a preceding page;
and, apart from the attractions which we shall shortly see it
presents to the lover of Scottish poetry, to us, at least, it has
other charms, which, although of a melancholy nature, are far
from destitute of interest, and may not be without a moral to
others. Near the south-east corner of this enclosure stands a
leafless, and almost branchless, tree, battered by the storms, and
blighted by the lightnings of several ages. Beside this hoary
guard lie the remains of one of the earliest and most interesting
acquaintances of our school-boy days. His father and mother died
while he was young, and his inclination having led him to follow the
ministry, he came to the lowlands for his education, preparatory to
entering college. Apt at learning, fond of literary pursuits, and
gifted with an extraordinary memory, he seemed, not only from the
vast extent of his scripture knowledge, but from a natural gift of
oratory, and facility of composition, the best calculated of any to
shine in the sacred calling which he was designed to follow.
He left school with the highest and fondest hopes of his
master and his friends, who expected to behold in him at no
distant day a popular labourer in the church, and an ornament
to his native district. Years after he went to college, the same
opinion was entertained of him by his professors ; but from some
untoward and melancholy cause, not now definable, he came
to neglect his studies—his evenings were spent in the taproom
instead of the closet, and his pen was employed in the service of
a scurrilous journal; and he himself, originally of a weakly con¬
stitution, fell a victim to those baneful orgies at the early and
interesting age of twenty. He died at a distance, but his
anxious relatives gathered his remains to the tomb of his fathers,
where he now reposes, disturbed only by the dash of the waves
CLENESK—ROSS THE POET.
69
of the lake which lulled him asleep in his childhood, around whose
peehled shores his little footsteps wandered in the guileless days
of infancy and boyhood ; and where, perhaps, amidst the solemn
grandeur of surrounding hills, he felt the first impulse of those
decidedly extraordinary and premature acquirements which led
all to hope so much and so highly of his future life.
But, as already hinted, to the lover of Scottish poetry the
" auld kirk yard of Lochlee," must ever be dear, as containing
the ashes of the ingenious author of " Helenore, or the Fortunate
Shepherdess," and its vicinity as the place where he spent the
greater part of his valuable and unostentatious life. The humble
head-stone, which he placed at the grave of his wife, Jean
Cattanach, faces the pilgrim as he enters the hallowed spot; and
there, too, though unrecorded, the corpse of her eminent husband,
who taught the " noisy mansion " of the parish for the long period
of fifty-two years, was laid on the 26th of May 1784, at the ripe
age of eighty-five.* He died at Buskhead, in the house of a
relative, where he had gone to reside after the death of his wife,
whom he survived for the space of five years, during which time
he had these lines engraved on her tombstone :—
" What's mortal here ! Death in his right would have it ;
The spiritual part returns to God that gave it ;
While both at parting did their hopes retain
That they in glory would unite again,
To reap the harvest of their Faith and Love,
And join the song of the Redeem'd above."
The place of the poet's residence is still represented by the
rude walls of his cottage and school-house, which are preserved
with a commendable reverence for genius and worth. They are
just a park breadth north of the kirkyard; and in their present
roofless condition, have more the appearance of " sheep buglits "
than that of once inhabited tenements. The little west window,
from which an excellent view of the loch and its rugged barriers
had been obtained, is now built up ; but the narrow door by
which he passed and repassed times out of number, and the
hearth of the east, or school-room end, where he sat so many
dreary winters hearing the lessons of his youthful charge, are
still in existence, as is also the garden plot behind the house,
* "26th May, 1784 ; Mr. Alexander Ross, Schoolmaster at Lochlee was hurried,"—Rar. Reg.
70 LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
which, though now uncultivated, bears a singularly fertile aspect,
and had been correspondingly small to the bard's residence.
Still, though his accommodation was limited and his abode
dreary (there being thirty days in winter that the neighbouring
mountains kept the sun from enlivening his dwelling), he unex¬
pectedly achieved an imperishable fame in Scottish literature. He
also reared a large family, and his daughter, Helen, was mother of
the late Rev. Mr. Thomson of Lintrathen, who wrote the best
biography of his grandfather, and published the best edition of his
poems at Dundee, in 1812.* Apart from the romantic descrip¬
tion of the rural life and manners of the early part of last century,
with which the poem of " Helenore " abounds, and which are
familiar to all lovers of national poetry, Mr. Thomson's life of
the author, though less generally known, also preserves some of
the still later peculiarities of " the leal and ae-fauld herding life,'
particularly as relates to Lochlee, in a manner little short of that
given in the poem itself.
As the biography of Ross is familiar to most readers, and
little can be added to that written by his grandson, we shall
simply remark that he was born in the parish of Kincardine
O'Neil, in Aberdeenshire, and was nearly seventy years of age
before he published his poems. Besides his large poem of
" Helenore," he wrote the popular songs of " The rock an' the
wee pickle tow," " To the beggin' we will go," " Woo'd and
married an' a'," and many others, all of which are remarkable
for their natural humour, force of language, and the striking
pictures which they convey of the manners and customs of
the past, and are frequently quoted by the great Scottish
lexicographer, Dr. Jamieson, in illustration of many abstruse
terms. As these poems have been long a valuable part of the
classics of the peasantry, and equally familiar to those, at least,
between the Tay and the Spey, as are the works of Burns, none
of them require to be repeated here; but a transcript of the
mortuary poetry, from some of the old gravestones at Lochlee?
reputed to be Ross' compositions, may not be unacceptable. The
* These parochial entries may be interesting :—" 1734, Sept. 9 ; Mr. Alexander Ross, school¬
master here, had a daughter baptised by Mr. John Scott, minister here [named] Helen." And
on 28th October, 1753, " George Thomson, schoolmaster in Glenmuick and Helen Ross, eldest
daughter to Mr. Alexander Ross, schoolmaster here, proclaimed in order to marriage Io and
on 8th Nov. following, they were " married in the church of Lochlee by William M'Kenzie,
minr. of Glenmuick."
ULENESK—OLD KIKKYARD.
71
first of these was erected in 1751, to the memory of a youth,
who perished amongst a quantity of heather which accidentally
took fire around him ; and, it will be perceived, that the conclu¬
sions drawn from the melancholy circumstance are fully as quaint
in conception as in expression :—
" From what befalls us here below,
Let none from thence conclude,
Our lot shall aftertime be so—
The young man's life was good.
Yet, heavenly wisdom thought it fit,
In its all sovereign way,
The flames to kill him to permit,
And so to close his day."
The next was written on Mr. Charles Garden of Bellastreen,
in Aboyne, a relative of the family of Garden of Troup, who were
tacksmen or factors for the Panmure and Southesk portions of the
forfeited estates. This gentleman, who appears from his motto
to have been everything that could be wished, died at the patri¬
archal age of ninety in 1761, and the epitaph is decidedly the
best specimen of the author's powers in this way with which we
have met:—
" Entomb'd hero lies what's mortal of the man,
Who fill'd with honour Life's extended span ;
Of stature handsome, front erect and fair,
Of dauntless brow, yet mild and debonair.
The camp engaged his youth, and would his age,
Had cares domestic not recall'd his stage,
By claim of blood, to represent a line,
That but for him was ready to decline.
He was the Husband, Father, Neighbour, Friend,
And all their special properties sustained.
Of prudent conduct, and of morals sound,
And who, at last, with length of days was crown'd."
The other, which is ascribed to Ross, and bearing the same
date as Mr. Garden's, is altogether so unworthy of his mind, and
unlike his style of composition, that we forbear giving it, being
convinced that it is the work of another and worthless rhymester.
These two epitaphs now cited, with that written on the death of
his wife, are, so far as we know, the amount of Ross' work in
that line, though we cannot help thinking that Garden's epitaph
72 LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
savours more of Dr. Beattie's manner than of anything which we
have ever seen by Boss. Be this as it may, we have also in this
lonely churchyard, and engraved upon a stone of date 1801, this
couplet from the quaint and celebrated epitaph which is said to
have graced the tomb of Theodore, the unfortunate King of
Corsica:—
" The Grave, great Teacher, to one level brings,
Heroes, and Beggars, Galley Slaves, and Kings."*
Although the period of the erection of the old church is
matter of uncertainty, the age of the kirk bell is well authenti¬
cated, for towards the close of the year 1752, the records state
" that there never was a bell upon the church of Lochlee, but an
old hand bell without a tongue,'1'1 and the session accordingly re¬
solved to purchase one at the least possible expense. For obtain¬
ing this, a collection was made throughout the parish ; but being
short of the required amount, " some of the old ash timber
that was growing about the church," and " an old stithy" which
belonged to the poor of the parish, and the tongueless bell to
boot, were sold, for the purpose of purchasing the present bell,
which, at the erection of the new kirk in 1803, was translated
thither.
The present church and manse were both erected in the same
year, and the late Bev. Mr. Inglis' mother, who died in 1808,
was the first interred in the new burial-place. Since then, with
the exception of old residenters, who still have a natural desire
to lie beside their kindred, the new kirkyard has become the
common place of sepulture, and contains some respectable monu¬
ments. Perhaps the most generally interesting of these is the
neat tablet of Aberdeen granite which was erected by subscription,
some years ago, in honour of Boss the Poet. Though pleasing
to find respect paid to the memory of departed worth, it certainly
seems odd that the stone should be raised at this place, for, apart
from its being fully a mile from the real sanctuary of the bard,
scarcely one in twenty pilgrims visit this who visit the old burial
ground, and many leave the district with the impression that this
* (Frobisher's Epitaphs, Lond. p. 50.)—The oldest monument in Lochlee is a mural table*
with Latin motto. It is considerably effaced, and was erected some years before the oldest above
quoted, by the Rev. .Robert Garden of St. Fergus, in memory of his parents, John Garden of
Midstratb, in the parish of Birse, and Catherine Farquharson, both of whom died at Inver.
marlt, the former in the year 1745, and the latter in 1735.
glenesiv—new kirkyard.
73
markable poet (who has delineated so faithfully the manners and
customs of an age which has passed comparatively unrecorded)?
lies without any tangible tribute to his worth and genius. The
following is the motto, and perhaps it is not yet too late to have the
evil remedied, by removing the monument to its proper place:—
"erected
to the memory
op
ALEXANDER ROSS, A.M.,
schoolmaster of lochlee,
author of 'lindy and noby : or
the fortunate shepherdess,'
and other poems in the scottish dialect.
born, april 1699.
died, may 1781.
how finely nature aye he paintit,
o' sense in rhyme he ne'er was stintit,
an' to the heart he always sent it
' wl' might an' main ;'
an no ae line he e'er inventit
need ane offen'! "
It is worthy of notice that some of the tablets in this grave¬
yard bear more than an ordinary interest, arising from the cir¬
cumstances of a premature and painful nature, which attended the
death of those to whom they are erected. One marks the grave
of a youth from Aberdeen who perished amongst the snow in
1810 ; and another, the melancholy death of two brothers who
fell over the wild precipice of Gripdyke in Glenmark, while col¬
lecting their father's sheep. This sad occurrence is recorded on
their tombstone in elegant Latinity, which was written under
the direction of their brother, the He v. John Whyte, present
minister of Lethnot, by whom the following observations and
accompanying translation, have been kindly communicated
" I have little to remark regarding the sad accident," says
Mr. Whyte. " The two brothers had, but a few days before,
left their usual residence in Glenbervie, for the purpose of as¬
sisting in collecting and assorting the flock of sheep intended for
sale at the ensuing Cullew Market," purposing to return after
accomplishing that object. The fatal spot has from time imme¬
morial been known under the name of the Gripdyke, from the
* Cullew Fait' is lield in the parish of Cortachy, on the Monday before the 13th Oct., annually.
u
74
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
circumstance of a dyke, or wall, having in former times been
reared there, with a view to prevent the flocks of highland black
cattle, then customarily grazed in the glen during the summer
and autumnal months, from coming down upon the inland pas¬
tures and cultivated lands. The place where they intended to
cross the Mark is so narrow that almost any person might easily
effect the leap ; but the rocks are sloping on the opposite side,
and when wet with the spray of the swollen stream are extremely
slippery, and demand some care and dexterity on the part of the
pedestrian. The shepherds were quite in the habit of crossing
there, and Archibald, being agile and good at leaping, could
have had no difficulty in clearing the distance ; but it is said, that
from over confidence perhaps, he made the effort carelessly, with
his hands in his pockets ; and thus losing his equilibrium, fell
back into the rapid torrent, and was speedily carried over the
fall into the gulf below—a black boiling abyss, or pot, where the
chafed waters wheel in circling eddies round the sides of their
rocky barriers. The distance from the spot where he fell in to
the edge of the precipice is so short, that David, had he reflected,
could have had no hope of saving his life ; but, the impulse of
affection disdaining cold calculation, he flung himself into the
foaming stream, and shared the fate of his beloved brother !"—
The following is the translation of the epitaph referred to :—
" In memory of David Wiiyte, aged 28, and of his younger brother,
Archibald Wiiyte, aged 18.
"As the two brothers were proceeding to leap across at a spot where
the Mark, contracted by craggy rocks on either side into a narrow and rapid
torrent, anon pours headlong over a high precipice into a deep eddying
abyss, when the elder, having already crossed with facility, perceived that
his brother had fallen into the impetuous stream, urged by the impulse of
holy affection and by the vain hope of saving his life, rushed in heedlessly
after him, and both lamentably perished together, on the 27th of October,
1820, in the glen (or valley) of Mark, parish of Lochlee, and county of Forfar.
"To commemorate the premature death, as well as the illustrious ex¬
ample of mutual affection, the talents, the piety, and other excellent endow¬
ments which adorned the hapless brothers—Alas ! so suddenly snatched
away from their weeping relatives !—this monument was erected by their
bereaved and disconsolate father, James Wiiyte."
The ashes of the late worthy Mr. Inglis, already referred to,
also repose here, covered with a tablet and suitable inscrip-
GLENESK—:
NEW KIKKYAKD.
7.1
tion. To a benign and conciliatory disposition he added those
of charity and benevolence ; and, when the wanderings of the
disciples of Edie Ochiltree were rather encouraged than prohi¬
bited, his house was a well known and welcome resting place
" to all the vagrant train," being situate at the south side of the
great highland pass by Mount Keen to Deeside. Perhaps 110
minister ever approached closer to the beautiful description which
Goldsmith has left of his father than the late Mr. Inglis; and,
although he enjoyed, in reality, more than " forty pounds a-
year," it is questionable, when his many charities are taken into
account, whether he had much more to defray the expenses of
a large family; but, alike with the hero of that inimitable poem—
" Remote from towns he run his godly race,
Nor e'er had chang'd, nor wish'd to change, his place.
Unskilful he to fawn, or seek for power,
By doctrines fashion'd to the varying hour :
Far other aims his heart had learn'd to prize,
More bent to raise the wretched than to rise."
Nor was it alone the homeless wanderer, or " ruined spend¬
thrift," who had their claims so often and so liberally allowed by
Mr. Inglis, whose kindness gave so largely and generally, that
his manse has been likened more to an inn than to a private resid¬
ence. He used to tell an amusing story of a gentleman who had
come over the hill one day on horseback, when several pleasure
parties were in the glen. The vehicles were, as usual, ensconsed
around the manse, and the minister was amusing himself alone
in the garden. Believing it to be a bona fide inn, and Mr. Inglis
the landlord, the traveller leapt from his nag, and called on his
reverence to stable it up! No sooner said than done ; Mr. Inglis,
who was as fond of a joke as he was generous of heart, led the
animal to the stable 5 and the rider having seen his horse " all
right," entered the house and called for a dram. The minister,
still acting as " mine host," brought the glass and big-bellied
bottle, and good humouredly supplied the demand; nor was it
until the hour of his departure, when the bill was sought, that the
stranger discovered his mistake, when his surprise may be better
conceived than expressed! M any similar traits are told of the
hospitality of this worthy man, who died in January 1837, and,
76
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
in the emphatic language of many of his parishioners, " the glen
has never been like the same place since."
Mr. Inglis1 tomb also intimates the death of a youth who
resided with him for some time, and who had spent a few of his
earlier years in the navy. He was the son of General Hart of
Doe-castle, Kilderry, Ireland, and died in 1836, at the early age
of twenty-five.. His brother and sister had made a journey to
visit him in Glenesk, and while resting at the Gannochy Bridge
on their way thither, they accidentally received the melancholy in¬
telligence of his death. On this sad occurrence, his brother wrote
the subjoined verses, the first of which is engraved on the tomb.
Since then, the affectionate hand which wrote the monody has
also been gathered to its fathers, and, barring the kindly recollec¬
tion which many of the mountaineers have of him here lamented,
nothing more is known of the family in the district:—
" Far from his Father's home he rests,
Cut off in early bloom ;
Trusting to God, and his behests,
He sank into the Tomb.
Best tlice, my Brother, death is sweet,
When hope to us may be,
That friends on earth, in Heaven meet,
For blest eternity.
Thy earth to mother earth is gone,
Best then, my Brother dear ;
Thy soul to blest abodes is flown,
And left us weeping here.
Farewell ! farewell ! ye mountains wild,
Which compass him around ;
Farewell, each spot on which ho smil'd ;
Farewell, yon streamlet's sound !"
GLENESK—IN YEItMAltK CASTLE.
77
SECTION II.
" The high wa's o' Lord Lindsay's tower
Are sadly ruin'd an' lane;
An' the birks that twined liis lady's bower
For ever too are gane.
But, though his power has left thae glens,
An' ither lords dwell there,
The Lindsay's warlike deeds an' name
Will live for evermair."
Old Ballad.
Down to about the beginning of this century, the fine baronial
remain of Invermark Castle was in much the same state of pre¬
servation as during the palmy days of the Lindsays, being entered
by a huge draw bridge, one end of which rested on the door sill
of the second floor of the castle, and the other on the top of a
strong isolated erection of freestone, which stood about twelve
feet south of the front of the tower. This was ascended on the
east and west by a flight of steps, and the bridge being moved
by machinery, the house was rendered inaccessible at the will
of the occupant.
At the time alluded to, it was surrounded by the old offices,
which were tenanted by shepherds, while the main building was
occupied by two maiden ladies, daughters of the last of the
Gardens, who were sub-tacksmen of the estates while in the hands
of the trustees of the York Buildings' Company. Subsequently
to the year 1723, the castle, as before said, was jointly occupied
by Mr. Garden and the parish minister until a manse was
erected, after which, the former and his heirs were the sole
tenants; but when the present church and manse were reared
in 1803, the offices were torn down, and the tower completely
gutted to assist in their erection.
The foundations of many of the outhouses are yet traceable;
and, however much the dilapidations of 1803 are to be deplored,
the main tower, though roofless and sadly spoiled, is still a massive
and imposing square structure of four stories in height. It
stands on a rising ground on the banks of the Lee, distant from
any tree or other protective feature, and, with the exception ot
the lintels of the door and windows, is wholly built ot rough
native granite, having the monotony of its architecture nicely
relieved bv a few well-proportioned windows of various sizes,
78
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
together with a circular doorway, and fine turret, which projects
from the south-east corner.
The heavy door of grated iron, remarkable alike for its
strength and simplicity of workmanship, still graces the entrance,
which is now reached by a flight of crazy stones. This gate is
quite analogous in construction to that of Inverquharity (which
Alexander Ogilvy had special license from James VI. to erect in
the year 1573), and, together with the remaining iron work, is
said to have been dug from the mines in the neighbourhood,
and smelted at a place on the farm of Tarfside, known by the
name of Bonny Katie, where Lord Edzell had a smelting fur¬
nace. The only floor in the building is that formed by the roof of
the vault; and the hearth of the drawing room, and some of the
lesser fire places, with pieces of joists projecting here and
there from the walls, are the only traces of old furnishings. The
dark comfortless dungeon below, enlivened only by a faint
glimmer of light which peers through a few of those loop-holes
common to the baronial remains of the period, is reached by a
shattered stair, but presents nothing worthy of note.
The tower derives its name from its proximity to the mouth of
the river Mark,* to which, from existing traces of an old water
track, it had once been closer ; and, from the remains of a fosse
on the west side of the hillock on which the castle stands, it is
probable that it had once been moated.
The real era of its erection is as much a matter of doubt
as that of the Stirling Tower of Edzell, and nothing can be
gathered from the manner of its architecture that tends in any
way to unravel the mystery. Some suppose it to have been
built in the sixteenth century, and the late minister fixes the
year 1526 as the period, but does not cite any authority. Per¬
haps, however, this was the same building in which the ninth
Earl of Crawford died: it certainly, at a later period, was one
of the resorts of his unfortunate grandson, when skulking from
the pursuit of justice, for his inadvertant slaughter of Lord
Spynie, and it is probable that its site had been that of previous
strongholds, from the fact that it commands the important pass
by Mount Keen to Deeside,f which, although unfitted for wheeled
* Slark is the Norse word for " forest"—hence Glenmark means "the forest glen."
t " The cheitfe passages from the river Tay to the river Dee through the mountans, a lso
GLENE8K—THE CATERAN.
79
conveyances of any sort, was a pretty safe and convenient means
of transit for the pillaging Cateran, who, as is well known, sub¬
sisted by the practice of
" the good old plan—
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can."
Although the garrison of Invermark had tended greatly to
diminish the number of these desperate invasions, it does not
appear to have been altogether effectual, as yet attested both by
record and tradition. In one of these inroads the Cateran is said
to have carried off in triumph about the half of the cattle and
sheep in the glen; and, in attempting to regain them, no fewer
than five of the Glenesk men fell in the struggle, while about a
dozen were taken prisoners and carried to the distant home of the
reaver, and only restored to their friends on the payment of heavy
ransoms.
The lawless outrages of the son of the " Wicked Master," and
of the Marquis of Montrose in these glens, and the sad results
arising therefrom, have already been noticed; and, although
the inhabitants, according to two credible writers of the
seventeenth century,* were a set of " weill armed pretty men,"
who mustered so strongly, and fought so bravely, when the
Cateran made their unwelcome visits, that " they seldom suffered
any prey to goe out of their bounds unrecovered"—this does
not appear to have been always the case, for when the Laird
of Edzell mortified a grant to the reader or schoolmaster in 1659,
he bound himself " that if it shall come to pass that ther be a
general vastation of the said paroche of Loghlie be Hielanders
or otherwise, that ther, and in that case," the Laird and his
heirs were " obliigst to pay to the said reader the whole stipend
year or ycaries as the sam vastatione sail endure, "f
from Aberdeinc to the heado of Dee, are elewin. The nynthe is Mounthe Keine, wich layes from
Innermarkie to Canakyle, oil Deeside, and containes ten myles of monthe."—Sir James Bal¬
four's M.S., 1630-57, Adv. Lib., Coll. Aberd. and Banff, p. 77.
* Edward's Description of Angus in 1678, and Ochterlony's Acct., c. 1682.—" The Angusians,
especially those who inhabit the Grampians, are, even at this day (1678), fond of going abroad
armed; insomuch, that they seldom go out without the ornament, or rather burden, of a bow,
quiver, shield, sword, or pistol; and they always have with them a kind of hook, to knock down or
catch wild beasts or birds, as occasion may offer."
t Document, quoted ut sup, p. 62.
80
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Some of these disasters were recorded in the measured strains
of rude local minstrelsy, but all recollection of the verses have
long since died away, and the following was written by a modern
poet on hearing one of these traditions related:—
Mountbattock, how dark is the cloud on thy brow,
How grateful its gloom to the valley below ;
For the hand of the reaver has smitten so sore,
The days of our mourning will never be o'er.
He came in the night—he has taken aud slain
The wale of our flocks, and the flower of our men ;
The maidens, the widows, and orphans deplore,
And the hollow wind murmurs—Lochaber no more.
The fold now is silent, the shieling is still,
No herd in the valley, no flock on the hill ;
No gay singing maiden a-milking the cows,
No blithe whistling shepherd a-bughting the ewes.
The sward of Gleneflock is shining in red ;
The down of the thistle with crimson is dyed ;
The bloom of the heather is steeping in gore,
And the wild bee is humming—Lochaber no more !*
But, according to the best historians, this district was asso¬
ciated with other and more creditable transactions than the
forays of Montrose and the Cateran. During the wars of the
Scottish Independence, while Bruce was retiring southward with
his army, after the capture of the castle of Inverness and other
northern fortresses, his progress was intercepted here by Comyn,
Earl of Buchan, on the 25th of December 1307. Tytler takes
no notice of this circumstance, beyond the fact of Comyn being
aided in his rising by the king's nephew, Sir David de Brechin,
and Sir John Mowbray; but Buchanan says that " when Bruce
was come to the forest through which the river Esk falls down
into the plains of Merns, Cumin overtook him at a place called
Glenesk. Bruce, perceiving that the narrowness of the passages
was advantageous to his men, being few in number, stood ready
to fight, expecting his enemy. Cumin drew out his army
at length, imagining that Bruce would be astonished at the sight
of such a multitude; but when he saw that he stirred not from
the place, and being also conscious of the weakness of his men,
he durst not draw them forth into a place of greater disad-
* Laing's Wajside Flowers, p. 52, second edition.
LlLEXEfciK—(JOMYX AXD JHiUCE.
M
vantage." Comyn, accordingly, found it advisable to sue for a
truce, which was granted to him on the faith of his retiring
from the contest and becoming an obedient subject; while others
affirm, that on the approach of Bruce, Buchan's troops imme¬
diately fled.*
These warriors are locally said to have fought-a bloody battle
here, and the artificial-looking cairns which lie scattered along
the south-east side of llowan hill are called the graves of the
slain ; and the name of the mountain is said to have had its ori¬
gin in the adventure of that day, when, as the tradition runs, the
king rallied his forces by calling out Bow-in ! f In the midst of
these cairns, by the side of the old road across the hill, a
large whinstone, with the rudely incised figure of a cross,
is pointed out, as that on which Bruce planted his standard; j
and another stone among the birks at Ardoch, bearing a few
oblique lines, as that on which he sharpened his sioord after
the engagement!
It is not improbable that the stone bearing a cross upon
it may have been here in the days of Bruce, and long before,
and may have been connected with St. Drostan's religious esta¬
blishment, for " Droustie's Meadow " is at no great distance
from the spot; and as the stone has been removed from another
part of the hill and placed in its present position within the
memory of old inhabitants, it may have been brought originally
from the " Meadow," or, perhaps, from the more distant site of the
supposed primitive church at Droustie. About the time of Bruce
and Comyn's alleged meeting here, the former was so seriously
indisposed, that his life was despaired of, and on all occasions he
avoided battle: for, instead of being able to mount a prancing
charger, ho was so weak that his soldiers had to carry him on
a litter, and he continued in that state down to the battle of Old
Meldrum, which was fought on the 22nd of May in the following
year, when he defeated Buchan with great slaughter, and harried
his possessions. Thus, every circumstance combines to sIioav
that the idea of Bruce having fought here has 110 foundation ;
* Palrymple's Annals of Scot., vol. ii.p.20, edit. 1797; Tytlcr's Ilist. of Scot., vol. i. p. 202 ; *
Ruclianan, vol. i. p. 225, edit. 1799 ; llolinsliead's Chronicle, vol. i. p. 433, edit. 1805.
t i. e. " Uall in." Gael. Voinn, means a "point," and is quite descriptive of Rowan Hill,
which lias more of a pointed character than any ot its fellows.
} Figured in wood-cut at end of this Chapter.
II
82
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
and although elf-shot or flint arrow heads, and other remains
of early warfare, have occasionally been found buried in these
cairns, they must have belonged to heroes of earlier times than
those of Bruce, and to conflicts unrecorded.
Next to these historical incidents, those relating to the
" minerals of gold, silver, brass, and tin," which were first dis¬
covered in the time of Sir David Lindsay, are the most remark¬
able. Both Sir David and his brother Lord Menmuir, were
anxious to ascertain the extent of these, and entered so eagerly
upon the work, that miners were brought from Germany and
other places, with the view of working them. Smelting houses
were erected in various parts of the district, and the work was
carried on with great spirit by a German of the pugilistic name
of Fechtenburg, whom Lord Menmuir strongly recommended to
his brother as being "perfyt in kenning of ground and discovering
of metals."* This happened in 1593-4, and it would appear that
the work had been remunerative, for on the 12th of October
1602, Sir David let to Hans Ziegler " and his companions all and
sundry the mines of gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, tin, and
lead, and all other minerals (except iron and marmor) within all
the bounds of the barony of Edzell and Glenesk " for the space
of twenty-five years, for which they were "thankfully to pay and
deliver the fifth part of all and sundry the saide metals of gold,
silver, &c., whilk the said Hans, his partners, shall happen to dig,
hoik, work, and win out of the said mines ;"f and from that period
down to the close of the seventeenth century, they were steadily
wrought, with, at least, partial success; for, after the lead was
extracted, and the metal properly refined, some portions were
found to yield a sixty-fourth part of silver.}:
These mines appear, however, though their fame had become
so great that they were noticed in all topographical books of the
* Lives, vol. i. p. 343, where Lord Menmuir's letter is printed in full. ] Ibid. p. 345.
J Mr. Edwards, in his Description of Angus in 1678, says " The great-grandfather of the
present proprietor of Edzell [Sir David Lindsay, who was knighted, 1581] discovered a mine of
iron at the wood of Dalbog, and built a smelting house for preparing the metal. This gentle¬
man's grandson [John of Edzell] found some lead ore near Innermark, which he refined.
The son of this latter [David, the penultimate laird] found a very rich mine of lead on the banks
of the Mark, about a mile up the valley from the castle of Innermark. In a mountain of hard
rock, where eighteen miners are digging deeper every day, they have come to a large vein of
ore, which, when the lead is extracted and properly refined, yields a sixty-fourth part of silver.
This vein seems to be inexhaustible." The mine last alluded to is that of Craig Bristaeh, or
"the rock of fissures." The lead is yet quite visible, and is contained in a vertical seam of quartz
from eighteen inches to two feet in thickness, and runs into compact gneiss rock.
glenesk—minerals.
83
period, to have fallen into disuse during the time of the last
laird, and were not again wrought until 1728, when the South
Sea Company tried to find silver in the mine at Craig Soales,
but the overseer of the work being bribed, as the common tra¬
dition runs, the work was given over, as an irremunerative con¬
cern, and neither gold nor silver, nor mineral of any sort, save
lime, has since been tried for. According to some accounts, silver is
also to be found near the castle of Invennark ; and the still more
precious metal of gold is said to abound in the Tarf, particularly
at Grade's Linn (a place so called from a person of that name
having been drowned there), where it is said to have been so
plentiful at one time, that a lucky lad, in passing the ford,
gathered his pockets full of it! Iron also is said to abound here,
as well as at Dalbog, and a vein of copper is said to be in an old
quarry at Dalbrack,—yet, with all these temptations, and in the
present rage for gold digging, even some of the inhabitants of
Glenesk have shewn a preference for the distant mines of Aus¬
tralia, and it is not now likely, without the revival of some such
" bubble " as that of the South Sea, that those of Glenesk will
again be wrought.
SECTION III.
" The mouldering cell,
Where erst the sons of Superstition trod,
Tottering upon the verdant meadows, tell—
We better know, but less adore our God."
ClIATTERTON.
The historical and traditionary peculiarities of the beautiful
valley of Glenmark, though few, are not unworthy of notice. One
of these belongs to the history of the unfortunate young Edzell, to
whom we have so often had occasion to allude, and who, while
lurking among the fastnesses in this quarter, was unwarily sur¬
prised one day by his heartless relative, the Earl of Crawford,
and a band of followers. Being unarmed, he bounded from his
pursuers with the speed of a roe, and making a desperate leap
over a wild rocky chasm of the Mark, landed safe on the opposite
side, and got within his castle long before his enemies could make
up with him, some of whom, in their eagerness to catch him, are
84
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
said to have missed footing, and been dashed to pieces over the
precipice. Ever since the time of this adventure, the place has
been known by the name of " Eagil's Loup."
This glen was as serviceable to some of the proscribed
Jacobite leaders of the " forty-five," as it was to young Edzcll.
Near the foot of Curmaud Hill, a large natural cavity, with a
small opening, is still known as " Bonnymune's Cave," and here
the rebel laird of that title long contrived to evade his pursuers.
The neighbouring farmer, and many of the inhabitants, not only
knew that Balnamoon resided there, but made him their welcome
guest on all safe occasions, and, notwithstanding heavy bribes,
and the vigilance of spies, the place of his resort was never
divulged.
The then parish clergyman, however, who we have seen
was the sworn enemy of Episcopacy, was useful to the reigning
powers even in the degrading capacity of a public informer, and
by his hcartlessness, it is said, the enemy were put on the scent
of this famous fugitive. One cold rainy day, when he had gone
to the farm house to warm himself, and while sitting by the wide
chimney of the kitchen, a party of soldiers entered the house
in search of him, and the farmer, urging them to partake of his
hospitality, gruffly ordered Balnamoon, who was in the guise
of a poor hind, and frightened to move from the spot, to go
and clean the byres, and give place to the strangers. The hint
was sufficient: Balnamoon moved from the kitchen as he best
could, and betaking himself to his cave, was once more without
their reach. He was ultimately arrested, however, but being set
at liberty in consequence of " a misnomer," he retired to his
family seat; and, as long as he lived, shewed his gratitude to the
worthy farmer of Glenmark, by making him his familiar guest
on all occasions when he came to the low country.
" Johnny Kidd's Hole," in the same glen, is mainly remark¬
able as a natural curiosity, and is so exactly described by the
industrious Mr. Edward of Murroes, that, although nearly two
hundred years have elapsed, the description is yet good, and
may be safely adopted.—" In the valley of the Mark," he
writes, " four miles west from Innermarkie, there is a cave with a
roof of stone, from the chinks of which there drops some water,
which petrifies into a substance resembling crystal, of the form
(i LEXE.SK—LOCKING STONE OF GILFUMMAN.
85
ot diamonds, with three, four, and six sides." It is not known
why this hole received the homely name it now bears,—some say
it arose from being the resort of a freebooter, and others, of a
shepherd, who bore the name. Be that as it may, however, in
the same vicinity, and within the recollection of some living in¬
habitants, the rocking stone of Gilfumman was an entire and
interesting object. There is no trace of any so-called Druidical
temple in this glen, but being near Droustie, the rocking stone
may have had some effect, in those days when Christianity was
seen through an indistinct and narrow haze, of inducing St.
Drostan to settle in Glenesk. The stone was well known in the
neighbourhood, and long considered an infallible discloser of
future events ; but some mischievous idlers having removed it
from its magic pivot, it now lies a large unheeded block, at the
foot of the mountains.
Of all so-called Druidical remains the rocking stones are by
far the most wonderful. They are found in sequestered dells,
and in the beds of rivers, but mostly on the tops or sides of
mountains, and are so exactly poised on two or three lesser
stones, and about three or four feet from the ground, that a
touch with the finger, or a breath of wind, sets them in motion.
Such were the celebrated rocks of Gygonia and Ilarpassa, men¬
tioned by Pliny and Ptolemy, both of which could be made to
vibrate with the stalk of an asphodel, but could not be moved
from their position by the combined force of many individuals.
"No evidences of ancient skill or of primitive superstitious rites,"
says the learned Dr. Daniel Wilson, " are more calculated to
awaken our astonishment and admiration of their singular con¬
structors. There is so strange a mixture of extreme rudeness
and great mechanical skill in these memorials of the remote past,
that they excite greater wonder and awe in the thoughtful mind
than even the imposing masses inclosing the sacred area of Stonc-
henge or the circle of Stennis."*
Specimens of those extraordinary memorials are found in
almost every known country, and uniformly bear names indi¬
cative of this singular property. In Phoenicia they are called
Ba'ty-lia, i. e. " the moving or animated stones," and are attri¬
buted to the special fabrication of Ouranos, or Heaven. Tn Tro-
f rrchLtnric Annals of Scotland, p. 117.
86
LAND OF T1IE LINDSAYS.
land, where eight of them are known to exist, they arc called
cloch-chriolhir, or "trembling stones;"*' while in England, and
some parts of Scotland, they are denominated logan-stones, to
which the Scottish word " shogin " (the act of shaking backward
and forward) seems to be a synonym. Some good specimens are
still in various parts of Scotland—such as those at Kells, Beith,
Kirkmichael, and Dron; and, until the year 1843, the county of
Angus possessed two excellent examples in addition to that of
Gilfumman. These were in the parish of Kirriemuir, on the
small estate of Ilillhead, and, as may be supposed, were the com¬
mon resort of plodding antiquarians, and all lovers of national
curiosities, while the inhabitants of the district looked upon
them with all the veneration and wonder which the remains of a
remote age involuntarily inspire; but, unfortunately, those time-
honoured monoliths are now no more, having been blown to pieces
by gunpowder, and employed in building dykes and drains, at the
late period above noticed !f
There are many conjectures as to the use of these singular
monuments; but the general belief is, that they were used for
purposes of ordeal; and Toland remarks, that the priests made
the people believe that they only could move them, and that
by a miracle, by which they condemned or acquitted the ac¬
cused, and often brought criminals to confess what in no other
way could be extorted from them 4 Mason, in his excellent
tragedy of " Caractacus," where many of the prominent rites of
Druidism are beautifully detailed, remarks, in reference to the
supposed power of the rocking stone—
" It moves obsequious to the gentlest touch
Of him whose breast is pure ; but to a traitor,
" Windele's Notices of Cork, p. 271.
t These stones are thus described in the New Statistical Account of Forfarshire (p. 119):
"One of them is a block of whinstone, nearly oval, and is three feet three inches iu height, nine
feet in length, and four feet ten inches in breadth. The other, of Lintrathen porphyry, is two
feet in height, eight feet in length, and five feet in breadth."
} Iluddleston's edit.—Toland, who was born in 1670, is principally known as a deistical
writer ; but his History of the Druids, which was written in a series of letters to Lord Molcsworth,
is considered the best authority on the subject which has hitherto appeared. Robert Iluddleston,
the learned editor of this edition, was a native of the parish of Closeburn, Dumfries-shire, and
educated first at the Wallaceliall Seminary there, and subsequently at the University of Edin¬
burgh, where he took the degree of A.M. Ho was sometime employed as a teacher at Kirk¬
michael, and was appointed Parochial Schoolmaster of Luuan, in Forfarshire, on the 27th of
August 1789. He was an industrious writer on antiquities, and large contributor to the Scots
Magazine of the time, and died on the 27th of February 1821, aged 53, leaving a widow and
large family, some of whom still survive,
GLENESK—STANDING STONES OF COLMEALLIE.
87
Though e'en a giant's prowess nerved his arm,
It stands as fixed as Snowdon."
But, the most tangible prehistoric remains in the district are
the " Stannin' Stanes," or, as they are more frequently termed,
the Druidical circles of Colmeallie. Stonchenge, in Wilts, is
well known to be the most magnificent of those vestigia in Great
Britain, there being no fewer than ninety-seven enormous stones
ranged in circles, covering an area of nearly a hundred acres.
All such relics have been long indiscriminately called temples, or
places of heathen worship ; but from human remains being found
within many of them, modern antiquarians suppose that they
were rather used as primitive places of sepulture—an idea which
the finding of stone cists within the now obsolete circles at
Dalbog and at Ballownie tends greatly to strengthen.* Still,
it is probable that such places may have been used for both
purposes ; and this appears the more likely from the fact, that
in the early ages cemeteries gave rise to temples in other coun¬
tries, for Clemens observes that the tombs of the Athenians were
the origin of all their churches, and that the first place of worship
in the Acropolis of Athens was the sepulchre of Cecrops.
A want of uniformity in the size and construction of these
circles is also urged against the idea of their having been temples;
but this scarcely seems tenable, for, apart from the obvious
fact, that churches had been constructed in early times as they
are at present to suit the tastes and number of the population,
Socrates of Constantinople, the continuator of Eusebius' church
history, shews that the primitive christians were less fastidious
in the rearing of their churches than modern writers would have
us believe, for he says that even the altar of the great church
of Antioch was placed, not in the east end of the fane, as was
then usual, but in the western parts.f And, that these circles,
have, in some instances, been places of worship, is so far
favoured by the name, and the associations of that under review.
Colmeallie seems a corruption of the Gaelic Kilmeallie, which
means " the kirk or cell on a small eminence," an idea which is
corroborated by " the kirk shank," " the kirk hill," and " the kirk
burn "—names which the hill on the north, and the site of the
stones, and the neighbouring rivulet still bear; but no sepulchral
* New Stat. Acct. of Forfar?, par. Stracathro ; see also p. 21 of this vol. f Fib. v., c. 22.
LAND OF TL1E LINDSAYS.
remains, sucli as those which were found at Dalbog and Ballownie
so far as we can learn, have ever been found within them. In
the hollow ground, however, on the east side, a circular patch
of from four to six yards in breadth, was accidently discovered
some years ago in the middle of a gravel hillock, and found to
contain a quantity of black earth to the depth of about four feet.
This deposit was artificial, and being found useful in improving
the thin soil on the farm, the tenant had the whole of it carried
away for top dressing, and near the bottom of the pit some
vestiges of charcoal were found; but there was no trace of human
bones, either calcined or otherwise, or of any sort of building.
The circles of Colmeallie are of the common concentric kind,
and the outer encloses an area of forty-five by thirty-six feet,
and consists in all of from fifteen to twenty stones, including
three large slabs in the centre, which are supposed to have
formed the altar. Some of the boulders are of great size and
weight, and, with the exception of three, arc all prostrated or
mutilated. Those standing are each pretty nearly five feet four
inches above ground; one of them is three feet nine broad,
another two feet three, and the third about one foot eight
inches. At thickest, they are respectively thirteen, fourteen, and
twenty inches. The largest lies on the ground, and is nine feet
five inches long, by seven feet five broad. Others of nearly equal
dimensions with the erect stones are built into the adjoining
dyke, and another is so high and strong as to form the centre-
support or pillar of a cart shed. Although these circles are
erroneously described in the New Statistical Account (where they
are stated as being almost complete), many old people remember
of them being more entire than they are now; but the late
tenant was one of too many who saw no use in going a little
distance for building materials when he could get them at his
door, however revered or valuable ; and, as his Gothicism was
either unknown to, or unheeded by his landlord, one stone after
another disappeared in whole, or was blown to pieces, as circum¬
stances required.
It is worthy of remark, that on the opposite side of the river,
nearly cqui-distant from the sites of the circles of Colmeallie and
Dalbog, a farm still bears the significant cognomen of the
Ronnncich or Ranach, which literally means u a songster or re-
OLEXESK—PliEHISTORIC REMAINS.
citer." The bard is well-known to have been an important
personage in Druidical establishments, and whether the Bannach
had been named from being the residence of an Ossian, or from
any similar reason, it is a curious coincidence that a place of this
name should occur near two so-called Druidical circles, and in a
district where the appellations are almost uniformly traceable to
natural causes.
About the year 1830, while the tenant of Fernybank was
levelling a hillock in the haugh betwixt the farm house and the
Powpot Bridge (about two miles north-west of Colmeallie), he
removed a number of stones varying in height and breadth from
eighteen to twenty-four inches. They were ranged singly and in
a circle at short distances from one another, and enclosed an area
of about twelve feet in diameter. On trenching down the knoll,
the encircled part (unlike the rest of the haugh, which was of a
gravelly soil), was found to be composed of tine black earth, but
on removing several cart loads, operations were obstructed by
a mass of stones, which occupied much the same space and
form as the layer of earth. Curiosity prompted the farmer to
continue his labours farther; but after digging to the depth of
three or four feet and finding stones only, he abandoned the work
in despair, without finding anything worthy of notice. Since
then, several pieces of old warlike instruments, both in the
shape of flint arrow heads and stone hatchets have been found
in the same haugh, and so late as 1851, a spear head made of
iron, and about fifteen inches long, was also discovered. Had
this cairn been thoroughly searched (it being of a similar con¬
struction as that of Balrownie, which will be noticed in a sub¬
sequent Chapter), it is probable that some traces of sepulture
might have been %md. It is also worthy of notice—whether as
relating to the use of the circles at Colmeallie, or to other cir¬
cumstances—that a passage across the river, near the site of this
hillock, is called "the Kilford," or Kirkford, and " the Kilford
Pool" is also near by.
A hillock close to Fernybank, on the south-east side of the
Modlach hill, is yet known as " the Coort-hill" (perhaps an
abbreviated form of the meaning of the large hill of Mcdlngh,
i. e. " the law, or hill of the court of justice "), and may have
been so named from the baron's court having assembled there.
l
90
LAXD OF THE LIN OS A VS.
A little to the northward, near the present mill-dam of Auclieen,
a stone coffin was found nearly thirty years ago. It was about
four feet long, composed of rude slabs at the top, sides, and ends,
hut contained no tangible trace of human remains. A bronze
celt, ornamented with the herring-bone pattern, was got in the
summer of 1849 in the well at Colmeallie ; and some years ago,
in the kiln hillock of Dalforth, in the same vicinity, at the depth
of three or four feet in the gravel, human remains were dis¬
covered, with the skull and thigh bones pretty entire ; but minus
all trace of stone or other coffin. The thigh bones were carried
off by some of the over curious, and the skull, to which some hair
adhered at the time we saw it, is still preserved in the locality.
Elfshot, or flint arrow heads, are found in great plenty
throughout the whole district, particularly in the neighbourhood
of the " Monk's Poolbut stone hatchets or " thunderbolts,"
as they are popularly termed, are rare. Still, during the summer
of 1852, a fine specimen of these was turned up in the East
Ward field on Mains of Edzell. It is made of a tough bluish-
grey stone, has never been much used, is rather thicker than
usual, and about six inches long, and coated with a whitish
substance not unlike pure size-colour. An earthenware pot was
also found on this farm a few years ago, containing an immense
quantity of coins, principally of silver and copper, and wholly
belonging to the mints of Mary and James.
A great many fragments of querns, or handmills, have been
found in almost all parts of Edzell and Glenesk, but those
which have been gathered on the farm of Mains of Edzell
are by far the finest, and perhaps the largest specimens yet
found. No fewer than nine of these curious relics have been pre¬
served by Mr. Wyllie, the tenant of Mains, some of which are
in the best and most advanced state of manufacture, while others
are of the rudest or most primitive sort. These were principally
gathered on the hill of Drummore (which has already been
alluded to as presenting evidence of having been peopled in old
times), and vary in size from about seventeen to twenty inches in
diameter; and one of them, which is of native granite, had
been, at least, two feet when in its original state, for although
broken, it is yet about two feet by nineteen inches. With few
exceptions they are pretty entire, and mostly all contain, not only
G LEN GSK—QIT E ENS.
91
the hole for inserting the pin by which the stone was moved, but
also that into which the corn was dropped. The last-men¬
tioned specimen is perhaps peculiar in this respect, as the centre
hole bears evidence, on the under side, of having been protected
by a piece of wood or iron with four tongues. It need scarcely
be said that querns are considered the most ancient of all domestic
pieces of furniture, and were made of stone, even in the time of
the Patriarchs. Dr. Wilson is of opinion that in our own country,
prior to the introduction of stone for the grinding of corn, that
the mill had been fashioned of oak,*' but no example of this sort,
so far as we are aware, has ever been found in our district.
SECTION IV.
" I stood in a romantic pass,
Near which swept many streams;
The ancient mountains pale and far
Lay like a land of dreams."
C. Swain.
Now that the leading features of the ancient history of Glenesk
and Edzell have been shewn, a brief epitome of some of the
topographical peculiarities of the North Esk, from its source to
the Gannochy Bridge, may not be unacceptable, since that river
runs through the whole length of these parishes.
Notwithstanding that more than a century and a half has
elapsed since the great family of Lindsay ceased to own these
important districts, their name, as we have seen, is yet fa¬
miliarly associated with both, and, although the physical aspects
of the country have perhaps undergone greater change within
these hundred years than during the half thousand they were
under the Lindsay sway, there is no reason to believe that
the course of the river has been materially altered since the
times when the ancient lords and ladies of Glenesk and Edzell
bounded along its banks in chase of " the deer and the roe."
Nothing is more striking in the general aspect of Glenesk
than the scantiness of sylvan adornment. With the exception
of several indigenous patches of birks, and a few cultivated
* Prehistoric Annuls, p. 15'.'.
02
LAX I) OF THE LINDSAYS.
strips of firs, scattered here and there, the whole stretch of the
Glen, from the woods of The Burn northward, may be said to
owe its entire beauty to the grandeur and magnificence of lofty
heath-clad mountains. Towards the close of the seventeenth
century, however, the scene was more inviting, for then the
forest was large, and the whole Glen abounded with " great
plentie of wood."* Nay, even a century later, the hills around
the venerable tower of Invermark were covered with oaks and
pines, and the castle had fine approaches shaded by stately
beeches.| While, on the south-east side of the hill of Drum,|
which once bore abundant crops of corn, the ridges are barely
discernible, and, beyond the occasional presence of the careful
shepherd and forester, and the fleecy flocks, which luxuriate
over an ample pasturage, little signs of human industry are
perceptible.
But it is pleasing to know, that these wilds will soon
present something of the stirring and lively aspect which they
bore in the palmy days of the Lindsays, a spacious shooting
lodge, composed of rough native rock, being about to be reared
by the present worthy representative of the house of Panmure,
whose ancestors (exclusive of the long and fatal interregnum
which followed the luckless forfeiture of " sixteen"), have been
lords of this large and interesting Glen for nearly a century.
The building, which is just about to be commenced, is in the
fine picturesque and pointed style of old English architecture;
and, while harmonising beautifully with the huge piles of sur¬
rounding cliffs, will also form a pleasing contrast to the fine
towering ruin of Invermark Castle, in whose immediate vici-
nitv the lodge is to be erected. The whole of the north-
* Ochterlony's Acct., c, 1082. t Old Statistical Acct., vol. 5.
J A gamekeeper has long resided on this hill. The exact elevation of his house above the
sea has not been ascertained, but the Uev. Dr. Muir of St. Vigeans (who has made a barome¬
trical survey of some of the neighbouring hills), kindly informs us, that the site of Invermark
Castle is about 1000 feet above the sea, and that he guesses the gamekeeper's house to be about
250 feet higher—thus making it one of the highest inhabited places in Scotland, since the
mining village of Leadhills in Lanarkshire, which is not more than 1,300 feet high, is said by
all writers to he the highest inhabited of any place in the kingdom. The same learned gentle¬
man says, that the hill of Craigmaskeldie is about 1,820 feet high; Mount-keen, 2,866-3;
and the Braid Cairn, 2,706-5. He also remarks, that "the most striking features of Glenesk
a*-e the clear instances of glaciers once pervading that valley. From the Loch to Edzell,
morraines occur continually—one at Invermark two miles long, and the terminal one at The
Burn, adjacent to the Dooly Tmver, is very conspicuous—all exhibiting marks of a much
colder climate than the present."
GLEXESK—HAMLET OF GLEN LEE.
93
western part of the Glen is also to be thrown into a deer forest,
which will unite with the extensive preserves of his Royal High¬
ness Prince Albert and the Earl of Airlie on the north and west,
and with those of the Marquis of Huntly on the north-east,
thereby forming one of the finest and most extensive sporting
fields in Great Britain.
As a matter of course, these alterations will tend greatly to
depopulate the Glen, the number of whose inhabitants, within
these fifty years, has decreased with great rapidity. Glenlee
and the Bridge of Lee, for instance, which, together with Glen-
effock, were deemed so valuable in old times as to form a part of
the terce of the Duchess of Montrose,* are now places of apparent
insignificance, and almost wholly used for the pasture of sheep.
At a much later period than that referred to, however, more
than ten families lived on each of these places for one that has
done so for many years past, as evinced by the ruins of cot¬
tages, and of many fertile patches
" where once the garden smil'd,
And still, where many a garden flow'r grows wild."
The old hamlet of Glenlee is now only traceable in its
scattered ruins, and the last of its inhabitants, who was known
by the familiar name of Johnnie Gordon, and died during the
summer of 1852 (although of little more than half a century's
standing in Glenesk), remembered the time when Glenlee
was the largest clachan in the parish. It was from the decline
of the population of this, or the upper part of the Glen, that the
parish church was removed to its present site ; and now, although
fifty years have only elapsed, the population has been so reduced
in the district of Invermark, that both the church and school are
as inconveniently situated for the great mass of the people as
they were of old, when they stood more than a mile to the
northward.
But, notwithstanding that the face of nature has been so
materially changed here, both as regards its agricultural and
populated features—though the place which knew a long race
of humble retainers now knows them no more, and many of the
farms which lay along the banks of the river are so completely
* Acta Pom. enncil.. Mar 1, 1 iS*>.
94
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
incorporated with others, that their very names are only traceable
in the national records, and the repositories of their noble owner,
—still, as previously said, the course of the North Esk, so far as
known, has undergone but little change. This, the giant river of
Angus and Mearns is exclusively a stream of the former county,
both by birth and affiliation, so to speak, until it enters the woods
at The Burn, from which point until its efflux into the German
ocean, it forms the boundary betwixt those shires.
It rises amongst the mountains of Lochlee, and the Unicli
and the Lee are its original tributaries. The former, rising seven
or eight miles south-west of the Loch, and the latter from four
to five miles north-west, are both united immediately under the
northernmost ridge of the fine picturesque mountain of Craig-
maskeldie and are known from thence, for a distance of nearly
four miles, by the common name of The Lee.
The Unich, as its name implies, has a hurried, bustling
motion ; and the most of its course, from the Falls northward, is
peculiarly wild and rocky. The Falls are from forty to fifty
feet in height, and form a pretty highland cataract; but, like
other parts of the Glen, they are destitute of sylvan accessories,
and so completely removed from all human dwellings, and shut
out from the view of every thing, save the blue canopy of heaven,
by high terrific mountains, that the locality seems, as it were,
the extreme of Creation's boundless architecture.
The track of the Lee has a more friendly aspect than that of
the Unich, and, as it tumbles from the north-east shoulder of
the Eagle Craig into the green valley, presents many pretty
cascades. A little below the junction of these rivers, on the
south, and about four hundred feet above their channel, the
immense bason-shaped cavity, scooped from the very heart of
Craigmaskeldie, is a natural curiosity of some interest, particu¬
larly to the angler, from its abounding with a scarce sort of trout
called char, similar to those found in the lake of Winander-Mere
in Westmoreland, and which, in Walton's time, were supposed to
be peculiar to the latter place. This is the site of Carlochy, whose
beautiful little lake sleeps, as it were, in the bosom of this immense
and rugged mountain, in much the same way as that of the
more famous Lochnagar ; and although the grandeur of Carlochy
has been unsung, and the cliffs less elevated than those of Loch-
glenesk—garloghy, the mark, and north esk. 95
nagar, it is not altogether destitute of romantic associations.
Here, if the curious traveller has courage to encounter the glis¬
tening adder, and patience to scramble over huge tablets of rock,
he may stumble upon the narrow entrance to a dark recess,
called Gryp's Chamber, where a notorious reaver of that name is
said to have dwelt for many years, carrying on a system of law¬
less and nocturnal plunder. It is a long, dark, and gloomy
cavern, with a large stone in the middle, which was used by the
infatuated occupant as a table. Another ill-fated spot bears the
name of the Bride's Bed, and so called, it is said, because of a
young and bloomiug bride having lost her life there in crossing
the hills from Clova—whether by unfair or accidental means has
not been recorded;
" But still, at the darksome hour of night
When lurid phantoms fly,
A hapless bride in weeds of white
Illumes the lake and sky !"
Passing Inchgrundle, the Loch, the old kirk, and the Monk's
Pool, the fine mountain torrents of the Mark and the Branny*
unite with the Lee a little below the new parish church, and
form the head of the North Esk, by which appellation the
stream is henceforth known for the .whole length of its course.
The river Mark, which has its principal rise from the Black
hill of that name, is by far the finest specimen of a mountain
torrent within the whole boundary of the parish, and traverses a
distance of ten or twelve miles through a singularly romantic
valley, which presents, in many places, a terrific wildness scarcely
surpassable, and in others, flat and undulating swards of the
richest grass. This valley, as already seen, is also worthy of
note, on account of its historical and traditional associations 5 and
about the time that the district was erected into an independent
parish, the bridge near the old castle " was built 011 general
contributions, chiefly by the parishioners,"f and is yet a good
substantial and rather picturesque fabric. Droustie, the sup¬
posed site of St. Drostan's ministry, now occupied by the
minister's house, is, withal, a snug and finely situated place;
* Gael. Bran-ie, i e. "small mountain stream."
•j Inscription ou Bridge, now nearly obliterated.
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
but once upon a time—indeed down to the era of the erection of
the present manse—it was the busy, and, to the weary traveller
betwixt and Deeside, the welcome scene of an alehouse, which
occasionally furnished a little business for the parochial courts,
as, in more cases than one, instances are recorded of several
members of both sexes having been admonished and fined by the
minister for dipping too deep in the nut brown ale.* Whether
the celebrated bard of u The Minstrel" had ever partaken of
the good things of the place, cannot be affirmed ; but in his
poetical address to his old friend Moss, after complimenting him
on the superiority of his poem of " Helenore," Beattie takes
occasion to speak of the inn in the following manner :—
" But ilka Mearns and Angus bairn
Thy tales and sangs by heart shall learn ;
And chiels shall come frae yont the Cairn-
o'-Mount, right vousty,
If Ross will be so kind as share in
Their pint at Drousty
The Effock, which tumbles down a beautiful glen on the south
side of the river, about a mile below the head of the North Esk,
is the only tributary of that stream until it receives the copious
waters of the Tarf. The Tarf, apart from Mark, is the most con¬
siderable river in the Glen, and rising from the hill of Cat, skirts
the Mowan on the east, and is augmented in its descent by the
burn of Tennet, by which glen there is a good pass to Charleton
of Aboyne.f Tarf is quite a mountain stream, and from the
rapidity with which it swells, is perhaps the most dangerous in
the parish; and it is believed, from the frequency of the floods,
that much, if not all, the precious metal, for which it is said to
have been so famous at one time, has been swept away. During
the celebrated deluge of 1829, it rose so high that the stone
bridge, which (according to the quaint entry by Mr. Moss in the
Parish Megister) was erected for the purpose of allowing the
poor " to pass and repass in quest of their living," and for
people " coming and going to and from the church," being neither
capacious enough to allow the water free exit, nor sufficiently
* Par. Reg., April 18, 17G6, <fcc.
t The "Eghte"passage from the river Tay to Deeside across the mountains, "is Mounthe
Gammell [i. e. Gennat] wich lyes from Glenesk to Glentanner, one Dee syde, and contains sex
myles of mounthe."—Sir J. Balfour's M.S., quoted ut sup.
GLENESK—TARFSIDE.
97
strong to withstand its pressure—bent and fell in twain before
the torrent, as if it had been a frail wooden fabric. Prior
to the yielding of the bridge, the lower floor of the parsonage
and the fields in the neighbourhood were inundated to a con¬
siderable depth, and here, as in other quarters, the damage done
to property was immense.
At Tarfside, now the only hamlet in the parish, are situate the
Episcopal chapel, school, and parsonage, all of which are remark¬
able for their neat and tidy appearance. The parsonage is
surrounded by thriving belts of firs; the nicely kept garden
contains many choice and valuable specimens of floral riches, and
the place seems altogether a paradise of peace and comfort. T^lie
school, which was established here by the Society for the Propa¬
gation of Christian Knowledge so early as the year 1760, is also
at this place, as is that belonging to the Free Church. It is
also the seat of the merchant, the shoemaker, the tailor, and
innkeeper, and the haven of the weekly carrier to and from
Brechin. But the most considerable building here is that of the
Mason Lodge—a house of two stories, in the under flat of which
the Society's school is taught. This branch of the ancient
fraternity of free masons is known as St. Andrew's Lodge, and
was constituted in due masonic style by a deputation from St.
James' Lodge of Brechin, with the late Lord Panmure at their
head, on the 22nd of June 1821. In honour of this institution,
a square tower of about twenty feet in height was erected on
the top of Modlach hill, to which the brethren walk in a body
on the annual feast of their patron saint.
A little to the eastward of the hamlet of Tarfside, an interest¬
ing and beautiful range of indigenous wood, called the Birks of
Ardoch, form a pleasing contrast to the general bareness of the
scene, amongst which a few neat cottages are perched. The
most attractive of these is the lately erected Retreat, or summer
residence, of Rear-Admiral Wemyss. From this point to Mill-
den the road becomes pretty steep, particularly as it approaches
the latter place ; but within these twenty years it was still more
so, for instead of winding alongst the side of the Modlach, it led
directly over the top of it, as it did over that of Rowan, on both
of which many unfortunate travellers lost their lives in snow
storms. It was mainly with the laudable view of lessening the
K
98
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
number of these calamities that the masonic body erected " St.
Andrew's Tower," and had recesses formed at the base ot it,
where benighted or storm-bound travellers could rest in com¬
parative safety. The knowledge of such a shelter, and an
attempt to gain it soon after the erection of the tower, occasioned
one of the most melancholy of the many sad occurrences of
which the Glen has too often been the theatre.
The incident referred to, which happened on the 27th of
January, 1827, was this:—the late Rev. Mr. Jolly, accompanied
by Miss Catherine Douglas, a daughter of the laird of Brigton,
went to celebrate a wedding at Mill of Aucheen, distant four or
five miles. It was a fine placid day wThen the minister and his
companion left the parsonage for the house of joy and merriment,
and danger seemed far away. After the ceremony was per¬
formed, however, the sky suddenly assumed a threatening aspect,
and the minister and Miss Douglas took their departure home.
As they proceeded, the snow, which had been only a partial drift
before, soon fell so thick and fast that their path became covered,
and the unfortunate pair got bewildered.—Sometimes they
fancied they heard the merry strains of the violin in the house
which they had long before left; at other times they could
descry faint gleams of light peering from some lonely cottage
window; and, in their anxiety to grasp at the least shadow of
hope, they wandered on
" From hill to dale, till more and more astray
and the lady, becoming quite fatigued, and benumbed with biting-
cold, fell senseless on the snow, and ere long became
" a stiffen'd corse !
Strctch'd out, and bleaching in the northern blast."
She expired in the arms of her venerable friend, who continued
to feel her pulse until it ceased to beat, and, when discovered
by the people who had gone in search of them, Mr. Jolly was so
enfeebled by cold and exhaustion that he could not possibly have
survived much longer.
The long dreary mountain of Modlach is skirted on the
south-east by the water of Turret, which has its source in the
springs of Mount Battock, or " the hill of groves." This stream
GLENESK—ANECDOTE OF LORD PAN MURE. 5)0
lias much of the rugged peculiarities of the rivers already noticed,
and is the boundary line of the parishes of Lochlee and Edzcll.
On the east, or Edzell side of the Turret, between the bridge
and the Esk, the plain comfortable shooting lodge which was
built by the late Lord Panmure stands on a rising ground, sur¬
rounded by some thriving trees, and here his late Lordship de¬
lighted to spend the summers of his later years, and converse with
his tenantry, as he did of yore, when he wandered incog. through
his princely possessions. Of those wanderings many humorous
stories are told, but of these a single incident may suffice. One
cold and rainy evening, habited as a gaberlunzie, he entered a
cottage and begged for quarters, and having a homely welcome
from the tenant, a lone old woman, who sat spinning at a crazy
wheel, he seated himself by the side of her ill-furnished ingle,
and soon made himself acquainted with her circumstances, which
he found to be far from affluent. He then began to grumble
about the " weeness of the fire," at which the good dame, aware
of the old proverb, that " beggars shouldna be choosers," was a
little surprised, and assured her guest that she had no more fuel
in the house. On this he grew wroth, and seizing the spinning
wheel, exclaimed, " I'll soon make fuel," when, in spite of all
her exertions and entreaties, he stuffed " the rock an1 wee pickle
tow" into the flame, and heaping the broken body and limbs of
the wheel over all, spread a degree of light and warmth through¬
out the cottage to which it had been a stranger for many a long
year. The poor woman, as may be supposed, was in great
distraction at the loss of her " bread-winner," but when her guest
had warmed himself to his heart's content, and become tired of
listening to her lamentable vociferations, he succeeded in turning
her vituperation into praise, and her mischievous guest was
ever after the theme of her grateful heart.
The so-called Druidical remains of Colmeallie have already
been described, as well as the historical associations of the castle
of Auchmull. It may, however, be observed, that though the
foundations of this fortallice are barely traceable, the picturesque
situation of the white-washed farm house—the rugged channel of
the stream—the nice garden stretching towards the burn—the
bridge and old roofless mill—arc objects of peculiar interest and
beauty. Before the erection of the bridge which now spans
100
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS,
the burn of Auchmull, the Glenesk road lay near the North
Esk—indeed, it almost skirted its banks at this part, and much
skirmishing passed between the laird of The Burn and the
people in the Glen before the old track was changed, part of
which went through what are now The Burn policies.
Mr. Shand, the then proprietor, attempted to effect his pur¬
pose without consulting the Glenesk folks, who, of course, were
deeply interested in the matter; and, by way of reprisal, they
no sooner saw one week's work completed than they went under
night and destroyed it, so that before he could make progress
with his improvement, he had to agree to defray the greater part
of the expenses of the new road and bridge, to which he had
previously refused to contribute.* Opposite the burn of Auch¬
mull, but almost lost to the view of the traveller on the north
side of the river, are the bridge and burn of Murran, the vicinity
of which is, perhaps, the most romantic part of the whole North
Esk, not even excepting the locality of the Gannochy Bridge.
Nothing can surpass the grandeur of the massive rocks at this
place, which, apart from the surrounding birks of Carneskcorn,
are shaded by a cluster of other trees of great effulgence and
beauty, while a roofless cot-house near the end of the bridge
greatly enriches the scene, and unconsciously suggests the pre¬
sence of some " auld Mause,"
" that for sma' price
Can cast her cantrips an' gi'e sage advice,
Can overcast the night, an' cloud the moon,
An' mak' the de'ils obedient to her croon !"
Within a mile-and-a-lialf of Auchmull, the North Esk enters
the woods of The Burn, and, as before said, becomes the boundary
betwixt the counties of Angus and Mearns. It has hitherto
traversed solely the property of Lord Panmure, and, as it now
divides these shires, so does it the possessions of that nobleman
on the west, from those of Major M'Inroy on the east, and
sweeps along a course of several miles, which, for extent of
rugged wildness and sylvan beauty, surpasses anything betwixt
and the famous Hall of Ossian. It would be idle to attempt a
* The bridge bears this inscription:—"1820; Built by the Honourable William Maole
of Panmure, M.P., and John Shand of The Burn, Esq.—Mr. Shand having contributed to this
Bridge and Road one hundred guineas, as a mark of his Friendship for his Neighbours in the
Waterside and Glenesk.—Q. P.B.; J, A. /Edit."
GLENESK—THE BU11N.
101
description of " the dread magnificence " of the scene ; but we
cannot help observing, that of all its points, apart from the
above, none is perhaps more strikingly romantic than that at its
entrance of the woods a little above the Dooly Tower, and just
below the burn of Murran. Here the water is confined into a
very narrow space, by a great mass of clay slate rock, to which
the ceaseless action of the river has imparted so fantastic and
picturesque forms that they seem to grow, as it were, out of the
channel, in a flat-sided, conical form, with sharp sword-like
points, rising from thirty to forty feet above the river, and in
snowy frosty weather have quite the appearance of so many ice¬
bergs in miniature. One of the cliffs, on the west side, is
enriched by a fine vein of jasper, which stretches down the whole
depth of the cliff, varying from about one to twelve inches
in breadth.*
The North Esk is believed to have overflowed the lands of
The Burn in ancient times, and evidences yet remain, both in the
quality of the soil and in the appearance of the neighbouring
lands, to prove the truth of this. Down to about the year 1780,
when Lord Adam Gordon bought The Burn, the now beautifully
ornamented and wooded banks of the Esk, together with the
lands, were almost destitute of trees or shrubs and of all sort of
cultivation. No sooner, however, had his Lordship acquired
possession, than the work of improvement began to manifest it¬
self—the barren heath was removed, and means employed to
render it available for the production of crops. A fine spacious
mansion-house was reared, and excellent gardens and extensive
plantations laid out. Nay, the hill and banks on the opposite side
(the property of Lord Panmure), were made available by Lord
Adam for beautifying purposes, and these he covered with planta¬
tions to the extent of about ninety acres, from which, of course, he
was never to reap the slightest pecuniary advantage. It has in¬
deed been well said, that " there is perhaps not another instance of
such a disinterested disposition to ornament a country as this by
Lord Adam Gordon," who, in less than a score of years " cre¬
ated a desert into an Arcadian grove !"|
* For a lengthened and minute description of the geological varieties of the channel of the
North Esk, &c., see Colonel Iinrie's paper in vol. G of the Transactions of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh.
t Robertson's Agricultural Survey of Kincardineshire.
102
LAND OF T1IE LINDSAYS.
The road by the Gannochy Bridge divides the properties of
The Burn and Arnhall, both of which, under the designation of the
latter, formed a barony belonging the noble house of Soutliesk
down to a comparatively recent date, and some mementoes of
the occupancy of that family are yet visible on a sculptured stone
at the Chapelt on of Arnhall, as well as in some parts of the
old mansion house.* It was from the grandfather of the pre¬
sent baronet of Soutliesk that Lord Adam Gordon and Mr.
Brodie purchased The Burn and Arnhall; and, on the death
of his Lordship in 1801 Mr. Brodie added The Burn lands to
Arnhall, and continued the improvement so ably begun by his
brave and illustrious predecessor. Since then, both estates
have been under one proprietor, and Mr. Brodie was succeeded by
his only child, the Duchess of Gordon, who disposed of her patri¬
mony in 1814 to Mr. Shand, a West India merchant, from whose
trustees the estates were purchased by Major M'Inroy.
The vicinity of the Gannochy Bridge (on the Edzcll side of
which a fine shooting lodge is now being erected), has long been
an object of admiration to the lovers of sublime and romantic
scenery, the picturesque vista from which, both up and down the
river, particularly after rains, can scarcely be overrated ; and
here the language of Thomson is peculiarly applicable—
" Nor cau the tortured wave here fiud repose :
But, raging still amid the shaggy rocks,
Now flashes o'er the scattered fragments, now
Aslant the hollowed channel rapid darts ;
And falling fast from gradual slope to slope,
With wild infracted course, and lessen'd roar,
It gains a safer bed, and steals, at last,
Along the mazes of the quiet vale."
The Bridge was originally built of only half its present width,
in the year 1732, and at the sole expense of James Black, then
* These relics of the Southesk family consist of a stone, built into the wall of a cottage at
Chapelton, bearing an erroneous sculpture of the family arms, for the spread eagle, instead
of being single is doii&te-headed. These initials and dates, which refer to the second and fifth
Earls, are also upon it" Anno . 1GG8 . E . I: E . I. S . 1704;" and, within the house of Arnhall,
but now plastered over, are the dates 1GG9 and 1709. In 1691, this Barony consisted of the fol¬
lowing farms :—Mayns, Milne Eye of Disclune, and Milne Lands, Inch, Chapeltoune and Hill of
Dillidyes, Bogge-side, Moss-end, Dean-Strath, Steill-Strath, Tillytogles, Burne, Satyre, and
Wood-myres. The number of tenants on these were nearly seventy ; and the gross rental
amounted to 185 bolls, 2firlots, 2 pecks, and Slippies, bear; 29G bolls, 3 pecks, meal ;£90G 0s. 8d.
Scots ; 74J capons, G5 hens, and 440 pultry.—Southesk Rental Book, from 1G91 to 1710 inclusive,
iri possession of Sir James Carnegie of Southesk, Bart.
GLENESK—GANNOCIiY BRIDGE.
tenant of the adjoining farm of Wood of Edzell; and in
1795, it was widened by the late Lords Adam Gordon and Pan-
mure. The traditional origin of this remarkable Bridge, as pre¬
served by Black's relatives, is nearly as romantic as the site of
the Bridge itself. This worthy man, who had no family, was
understood to be wealthy, and, as his neighbours had often ex¬
perienced the inconvenience of round-about roads, and the dan¬
gerous fords of the North Esk, and were aware at the samctime
of his weak side and heavy purse, they adopted the wily scheme
of monkish invention, which induced the farmer to confer this
great and lasting boon upon the district. During the winter
of 1731, when several lives were lost in the river, the spirit of
one of those unfortunate individuals is said to have called upon
him three successive nights, and implored him to erect the Bridge,
and save farther loss of life! Unable to find peace of mind, or
to withstand the injunction of his nocturnal visitor, his humanity
gave way, and he set to his pious work, and had the Bridge
erected at the very spot which the spirit pointed out!
INV1BMAKK CASTLE.
CHAPTER 111.
Hetljnot atib Nabar.
" Lone Navar's church-deserted tombs."
" Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-trees shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."
SECTION I.
As shewn in the previous Chapter, the districts of Lethnot and
Glenesk were served of old by one clergyman, who preached twice
at the former place for every once that he did so at the latter;
but in 1723, when Glenesk, or Lochlee, was erected into a
separate charge, the parish of Navar was joined to Lethnot in
its stead. The road by which the minister went to Glenesk by
the Clash of Wirran, still bears the name of the Priest's Road,
and is the nearest, though certainly the most lonely and steep
way, from Brechin to Lochlee.
Navar was only divided from Lethnot by the West Water,
and the churches lay within a mile of each other. Both were
attached to the bishoprick of Brechin, and, for some time after
the Reformation, were under the superintendence of one min¬
ister, for in the year 1567 James Foullartoun had a stipend
from both of some twenty-six pounds Scots, while each had
its own reader, with salaries of twenty pounds a-piece.*
The church of Lethnot was erected into a prebend of the
cathedral of Brechin in 1384, by Sir David Lindsay of Glenesk,
afterwards Earl of Crawford, and large mortifications were
made out of some of the lands—such as from Drumcairn and
* The etymology of Lethnot seems doubtful, and "Lethnoth" is the spelling in the
ancient Taxatio ; but some suppose that Levenach was the original name. The Brit. Neth-var
(and " Netheuer " is the oldest spelling of Navar), means " whirling streams," and is not inap¬
plicable to the motion of the burns which run through the district.
LETHNOT—THE KIKK.
105
Finnoch*—both to the parent cathedral and to the monastery
of the Greyfriars in Dundee, not only by the first Earl and the
Countess Marjory, but also by " a rycht noble and mychtie
prince David, Duk of Montrose, and Erie of Craufurde," who
endowed a religious service from these lands, for the safety of
his own soul and those of his progenitors and successors, as also
for that of his benefactor, the unfortunate James III., for all of
whom a daily mass was to be said, and requiem sung, at the altar
of Our Lady by the whole convent, which was to be " opinly
callit the Duk's mess of Montross."f Drumcairn lies adjacent
to the kirk of Lethnot, and its rental, with that of Clocliie and
Mill of Lethnot, was enjoyed by Lord Menmuir, as lay parson
of the parish, during a part of the subsequent century.
The first Prebendary of Lethnot was John de Inverpeffer.
He was succeeded by John de Angus, and persons bearing the
names of Adam de Inrepeffre, and Eue de Anegos, both of the
shire of Forfar, swore fealty to Edward in 1296J and to these
families both Prebendaries may have been related. || William
Wrycht succeeded Angus in the kirk of Lethnot, on whose
decease in the year 1410, the second Earl of Crawford pre¬
sented his beloved cousin, Andrew Ogilvy, clerk of the diocese
of Dunkeld, and son of Sir Alexander de Ogilvy, Sheriff of
Forfar. In 1435, the then Prebendary David Ogilvy (who was
of the same family as Andrew) was charged with the nonpay¬
ment of an annual from Lethnot to the cathedral of Brechin, and,
from the fact that the debt was found to have been partly paid
to Bishop Patrick—in so far as in his time a large white horse
was given, together with the use of a cart and horse to lead stones
to the building of the campanile or belfry of the church of
Brechin in 1354-84 — when Sir Henry de Lichton was the
renter of the church (i. e. of the teinds), pretty substantial proof
is afforded regarding the time of the erection of the steeple or
spire of that cathedral.
It is unknown to what particular Saint the church of Navar
was dedicated, but the Virgin was patron of Lethnot, and during
* Drum-cairn, i. e. "the ridge of hillocks."—Fion-ach, i. e. " a sloping field."
t Crawford Case, p. 45 ; and Original Dukedom, of Montrose Case, p. 15.
t Ragman Rolls, p. 126.
II From Reg. de Aberbrothoc, p. 165, it appears that Walkelyn, the king's brewer, was the
first of the Inverpeffer family. He had a grant of the lands of Inverpeffer, near Arbroath, from
William the Lion, about a.d. 1200, and assumed his surname from thence,
L
100
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
the incumbency of the late Mr. Symers, several votive offerings,
consisting of pieces of silver money, were found in the fountain
near the church, which still hears the name of St. Mary's Well;
and the once revered baptismal font, which is a plain circular
stone basin, has long served the humble purpose of a water
trough at the manse.
Here, as in Glenesk, Episcopacy was held in great esteem,
and the chapel, which stood at the Clochie, was also burned to
the ground in 1746, and it is traditionally preserved that the
soldiers forced the farmer, who was a keen Jacobite, to carry
burning peats from his own hearth and straw from his own barn,
and with drawn swords over and around him, made him set fire
to his own beloved Zion. This, however, had not the effect
desired; for though the nest was destroyed, the rooks still
lingered around their native haunts, and profited as much by the
exhortation of their laborious pastor in the fields, as they had done
before under the roof; and, at a subsequent period (as before
noticed), the remains of Mr. Rose were laid within the walls of
this church, distant only a short way from one of the luckless scenes
of his labours. It was perhaps, from the reverence in which Epis¬
copacy was held here that the prayer of the Navarians, to be
exempted from compliance with the terms of the Disarming Act
of 1748, was refused; for although they insisted that they
were out guarding the district against the rebels, they were all
denuded of their swords and guns. The same cause may have
retarded the formation of a kirk session, it not being until
the late period of 1749 (a lapse of nearly thirty years from
the disjunction of Lethnot and Lochlee, and the union of the
former with Navar), that a parochial court was formed.
The foundation of the present church of Lethnot was laid on
the 5th of July 1827, " in due masonic order" (as related by a
contemporary newspaper), "in presence of a number of the
brethren of the mystic tie and surrounding tenantry." Some of
the early repairs of former edifices, if not the time of their
erection, are preserved by two stones which form the base of the
belfry, and bear respectively, " —1672* N," and " 17* J*R* 42."
The first date refers to the incumbency of a Mr. ISTorie, of whom,
beyond the name, little is known in the district; but the memory
of Mr. John Row, to whom the latter belongs, is still gratefully
LETIINOT THE KIKKYAKD.
107
remembered. He was schoolmaster of Lethnot, and subse¬
quently appointed to the church of Navar; and, on the death of
the minister of Lethnot in 1723, he succeeded to the charge of
the united parishes, the duties of which, in a time of great trial
and danger, he performed with all the assiduity and disinterested¬
ness of a faithful minister, looking as carefully after the temporal
as after the spiritual interest of his flock—travelling con¬
stantly through his parish, teaching the poor cattle herds the
rudimentary part of education, and instructing the older in
Bible knowledge and moral rectitude. At his death he left
many important benefactions to the parish, such as a mortification
of ten pounds for the support of the bridge of Lethnot, which was
erected in 1725, mainly through his pecuniary assistance. As
was the custom of the time, he was buried within the church,
and a tablet, bearing the following inscription, commemorates
his " good works —
" 1747,—Here lies what was mortal of the late Reverend Mr. John
Row, minister of the Gospel in the united parishes of Navar and Lethnot,
who discharged the sacred office with unwearied diligence in the first of
these parishes alone for 5 years, and afterwards in both together for 22
years, and whose labours, through the blessing of God, produced such
effects as convinced all who observed them that he had neither run unseut,
nor spent his strength in vain. He died upon the 21 day of Dec1"- 171-5,
while the Nation was distracted with civil wars, but had the pleasure to see
his People adhering to their religion and liberties, while many others had
joined those who wanted to overturn both ; and soon after Affairs had
taken such a turn as he had foretold, both in public and private, the dis¬
turbers of our peace being dispersed by ye glorious Duke of Cumberland.
His spouse, Elizabeth Young, who had lived 13 years married with him,
died upon the 8 day of Sept1' 1710, and was interred beside him."
The above monument to Mr. Row, and another erected by the
Rev. Mr. Davidson, in memory of two of his sons, are within
the church, and the only mottos in the graveyard worthy of par¬
ticular notice, are two. One of them is curious as being taken
from the gravestone of the philanthropic founder of the Gan-
nocliy Bridge; and the other (apart from the painful occurrence
which it commemorates) is valuable, particularly to the admirers
of mortuary poetry, as the composition of Dr. Beattie, the bard
of " The Minstrel." These tombs are both of the chest form,
and that of Mr. Black presents various implements of husbandry,
108
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
and boldly executed figures of the sower and the reaper of the
parable. This tomb is superior to any contemporary erection
in the district, and bears evidence of the influence which the
sculpture in Edzell garden had exercised on the minds of the
thoughtful:—
" This stone was erected by James Black, tenant in Wood in the parish
of Edzell in memory of his spouse Jannet Wallis, who died the 6 of June
1715 aged 65 years, and sd James Black was of age 68 years.
Ah, Sin ! Hence momentary Life, Hence Breath,
Sighs for ye silent grave and pants for Death ;
What meaus ye warning of ye passing Bell ?
A soul just gone to Paradise or Hell.
To darkness tends ye broad but slippry way—
O, frightful gloom, deny'd each cheering Ray ;
While, sueh as walk in paths divinely bright,
Shall shine within ye Courts of endless light.
James Black, Born at Mill of Lethnot, dy'd Oct 24, 1750, at Wood of
Dalbog. Chiefly built the Bridge of Gannochie, and doted for the support
of it 50 merks Scots : Besides 1000 merks for other Bridges and pious uses :
viz. 500 merks for a Schoolmr. at Tillibardin : and 300 merks toward build¬
ing a Bridge at Balrownie, with 200 merks to the poor of Fettercairn.
No Bridge on Earth can be a Pass for Heav'n
To generous deeds Let yet due Praise be given."*
The melancholy occurrence, lamented in the following epi¬
taph, took place before the erection of a bridge at Stonnyford.
The water was greatly swollen at the time, and the two brothers
having but one horse between them, mounted together with the
view of crossing the river, and being unacquainted with the
proper fords, fell victims to the flood:—
" To this grave is committed all that the grave can claim of two
Brothers, David and John Leitch, who, on the 7th Oct. 1753, both
unfortunately perished in the West Water, aged 23 and 21 years. Erected
by their disconsolate father, John Leitch, tenant, Bonningtou, to the
memory of these amiable youths, whose early virtues promised uncommon
comfort to his declining years, and singular emolument to Society.
O thou, whose reverential footsteps tread,
These lone dominions of the silent Dead,
On this sad stone a pious look bestow,
Nor uninstructed read this tale of woo ;
And while the sigh of sorrow heaves thy breast,
Let each rebellious murmur be suppress'd.
* This stone, which had latterly suffered from neglect, has been recently repaired by Mr,
Wvllie, at Mains of Edzell, who is a maternal descendant of Mr, Black.
LET1INOT—DUBKAC1I GRANT.
109
Heaven's hidden ways to trace for Thee how vain ;
Heaven's just decrees how impious to arraign—
Pure from the stains of a polluted age,
In early bloom of life they left this stage ;
Not dooin'd in ling'ring woe to waste their breath—
One moment snatched them from the power of death :
They liv'd united, and united dy'd—
Happy the Friends whom Death cannot divide."
Here, also, but unmarked by any stone, lie the remains of
Mary Cumming and Ann Grant, the wife and daughter of the
once locally popular rebel veteran, Peter Grant, or Dubrach, as
he was generally termed, from his having rented a small farm of
that name in Braemar. He is buried in the cemetery of Inver-
cauld, near the Castleton, and the following inscription, cut on a
large flag of granite, points out his grave :—
" + Erected to the memory of Peter Grant, some time farmer in Du¬
brach, who died at Auchendryne, the 11th of Feb. 1824, aged 110 years.
His wife, Mart Cumming, died at Westside, parish of Lethnot, in Forfar
Shire, on the 4th Feby. 1811, aged 65 years, and lies interred in the church¬
yard of Lethnot."
—Although the name of Mary Cumming is now scarcely re¬
membered in Lethnot, many reminiscences are recorded of the
life of her husband, Dubrach. He was a staunch supporter of
" the Stuart race," and fought manfully in their cause, as a ser-
jeant-major at Culloden, where he was taken prisoner, and carried
to Carlisle, but succeeded in making his escape, by scaling the
walls. He returned to his native mountains of Braemar in
1746, and, pursuing his original trade of a tailor, made the cap
in which his future wife was christened, and was present at
her baptism ! Prior to, and long after his arrival in Navar,
where he and a son rented a small farm, he was comparatively
an unknown " citizen of the world but, a pleasing incident
occurred which added much to the comfort of his latter days.
In the summer of 1820, while two gentlemen from London
were rambling in Lethnot, they chanced to meet with Dubrach,
who was then in the 106th year of his age. Astonished to see
one who had weathered more than five score winters still en¬
joying good health and strength, they got into conversation with
him, and were invited to enter his cottage, when he " tauld
some o' his queerest stories," as he was wont to call them,
110
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
recited the events of his youth, and waxed eloquent in detail¬
ing the romantic incidents which befel him in " the forty-five."
The days of his youth seemed to return, and his smiling eye was
filled with renewed gleams of delight, when, to illustrate the
mode of Highland warfare, he put several boys through the
broadsword exercise ! Interested in the patriarch, one of the
gentlemen (Mr. George Smart, now in Montrose), waited on the
parish minister, and suggested that something might be done for
the comfort of Grant, were his history laid before the King.
The suggestion was cordially received, and a petition, containing
an epitome of his history, was immediately drawn up and signed
by Grant himself, as " His Majesty's oldest enemy," and by
the parish minister and elders, and being presented to George
IV., he was graciously pleased to command that a pension of a
guinea a-week should be immediately given to old Grant during
the remainder of his life, remarking, in reference to DubracJis
great age, " that there was no time to lose in the matter." But,
as was to be expected, the gift did not in the least abate his
Jacobite ardour, and, to the latest hour of his life, he expressed
his partiality for the luckless Stuarts, and his willingness, if he
had youth upon his side, and his aid been required, to " fecht
Culloden ower agen!"
Dubrach latterly left Navar and went to his native district,
where he died in little more than a year, and intercession being
made for his unmarried daughter, Annie (who was then above
sixty, and solely dependent on the hospitality of her kind neigh¬
bours in Navar, where she still dwelt), she succeeded in getting
her father's pension continued to her. About this time, also,
the late Lord Panmure (then the Hon. William Maule), had
a neat cottage built for her near the bridge of Lethnot, where
she died in 1840. Among the many curious stories remembered
of her, one is told, so highly characteristic of " hieland pride,"
that we cannot forbear repeating it:—Living entirely on the
charity of her fellow parishioners previous to the above lucky
circumstance, Lady Anne, as she now termed herself, was at a loss
to find companions suitable to her station !—" There's nae body,"
she said on her removal to the new cottage, " but the minister's
folk near me that's worth mindin'; an' although it be sair against
my wull, I doubt I'll hae to mak' them a kind o' cronies /"
NAVAR THE KIRK YARD AND BELL.
Ill
The site of the kirk of Navar is about a mile due west from
that of Lethnot, on the sunny side of the hill, and in the corner
of an arable field, surrounded by a rude stone dyke and row of
ash trees. The limits of the church are scarcely traceable, but
the highest part of the enclosure is topt by a square erection,
about twenty feet high, built of solid freestone, to which a slab
of Turin pavement is fixed, bearing the following inscription:—
"Ann Wyllie in Westside omitted
" This bell-house was built in the year 1773, at the expense of the
following persons and their interest—
Mr. Alex.. Gold Tenant in Argeith*
James Cobb in Ledbreakie
Frances Stewart in Nathrow*
James Molison in Craigendowy*
Ja. Lighton in Drumcairn*
John Molison in Oldtown
Alexr. Jolly in Witton
Will. Speid in Blarno*
Thos. Gordon in Lightney*
Da. W yllie in Tilliearblet*
Jon. & Andr. Cobbs in Tilliebirnie
George Cobb in Achfearcy
John Cobb in Room, 'f
—The bell was domiciled in the upper third of the belfry, and,
as was then a pretty general custom throughout Scotland, and
not yet altogether abolished, the beadle had a pair of shoes
annually for warning the good people on Sundays, fastdays, and
at funerals. Prior to the middle of the seventeenth century,
however, when Mr. John Fyfe came to the church of Navar, there
being no bell in either parish, many of the inhabitants gave the
want of it as an excuse, not only for non-attendance at church, but
for the committal of many more heinous and sacrilegious offences.
It is told, that one Sunday morning while Mr. Fyfe was pre¬
paring for church, his ear caught the dull grating sound of a
barley mill busy at work, and, hastening to the spot to enquire
the cause of so extraordinary a breach of the holy commandment,
the miller pleaded his ignorance of its being the Sabbath. The
minister, determined to prevent the recurrence of so untoward a
circumstance, immediately procured a bell at his own cost, and
t Descendants of those marked thus * still occupy the same farms.
112
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
gifted it, as shewn by the following legend, for the exclusive use
of the parish of Navar :—
" SOLI . DF.O . GLORIA . C. OVDEROCCE . FECIT . ROTTERDAM . 1655.
Mr. Fyfus . pastor . Navarensis . dono . dedit."
The first part of this inscription is in raised characters, and
had been cast with the bell, but the latter has been rudely cut
with a punch or chisel, perhaps, by the parish blacksmith. Prior
to the erection of the belfry, the bell hung on the trunk of an old
tree in the corner of the graveyard, and unfortunately proved as
fatal an engine as its noted fellow St. Proculus of Italy. The
accident at Navar did not arise, as that of St. Proculus, by the
bell falling down and killing the donor, but by the imprudence
of a ploughman, who attempted to ring it on a funeral occasion,
when the tongue or clapper, starting from its axle, and falling on
the head of a boy who was standing near by, killed him on the
spot. This, of course, was considered an ominous circumstance,
and, so far as the fate of the bell was concerned, it certainly
proved so.
When the church of Lethnot was rebuilt, the late Lord
Panmure proposed, as there was a very indifferent bell there,
to have that of Navar removed thither; but, unwilling to part
with this esteemed relic, the Navarians took it from the belfry
and had it hid so securely that it baffled all vigilance to discover
its whereabouts. Being convinced that some of the parishioners
knew its hiding place, his Lordship watched a fitting oppor¬
tunity to find it out, and, as the suspected ringleader in the
movement required a renewal of the lease of his farm some years
after, it was denied him until he should produce the bell, or give
a satisfactory account of it. The farmer long resisted compli¬
ance with the request, however, and, but for a friendly hint from
Mr. Black, the town-clerk of Brechin, who, when at the farmer's
house one day, jocularly remarked to him, that if he would fill
an old box with cheese, or hells, he (Mr. Black) would be glad to
have a present of it—the farmer would have been thrust from
his holding, and the bell, perhaps, been entirely lost. But,
instead of this, on the restitution of the instrument (which was
effected in this rather unique manner), Lord Panmure not only
instructed Mr. Black to renew the farmer's lease on favourable
NAVAR—JONATHAN DUNCAN.
113
terms, but also desired him to procure another bell for the kirk
of Lethnot.
This interesting parochial relic has never yet been returned to
Navar, but graces the church of Arbirlot, of which parish Lord
Panmure is sole heritor. It is hoped, however, that it may soon
be restored to its legitimate abode; for, although deprived of
the kirk, the Navarians tenaciously adhere to the old place of
sepulture, and the belfry is still a strong substantial erection.
The headstones are few, and the oldest bears the recent date of
1771. Although the mottos are of no general interest, it
may be worthy of notice, that the late Jonathan Duncan, who
was long Governor of the Presidency of Bombay, drew his first
breath, and sported in his earliest years, within a few paces of
this enclosure.
Born on the farm of Blairno in 1756* which his parents
rented prior to their removal to the "Wards near Montrose (at
the schools of which town he was educated), he joined a maternal
uncle in India when only eighteen years of age, and began life
as a writer in the Bengal establishment. From his aptitude in
the knowledge of the languages, the laws, and the manners of
the East, he was appointed, at the early age of thirty, to the
government of the Province of Benares, where he exercised the
confidence reposed in him during a period of unprecedented diffi¬
culty, with a success which has been rarely surpassed.
" Among the many blessings which flowed from his adminis¬
tration at Benares " (says Sir James Macintosh, who was judge
at Bombay at the time of Duncan's death, and from whose
official record of his career we glean these particulars),j" "the
reform which he effected in the barbarous and cruel practice of
female infanticide among the chieftains of the Eastern part of
the Company's possessions in that province, as it is peculiarly
illustrative of the humanity of his disposition, is the more worthy
of particular commemoration, since he ever contemplated the
success that attended his laudable efforts in the accomplishment
of so beneficent an object, as one of the happiest incidents of his
life—and with equal ardour and solicitude has he been engaged
• " 1756, Hay 16 ; James Duncan and Jean Meiky, tenants in Blairno, had a son baptised
named Jonathan."—Lethnot Par. Reg.
t Bombay Courier, Aug. 17, 1811.—Kindly communicated, with other information, by Dr.
James Burnes, K.H., late Ph. Gen. at Bombay.
M
114
land of the lindsays.
iii prevailing on the chieftains of Kattywur and of Cuteh to re¬
nounce that inhuman custom, the existence of which, in these pro¬
vinces, had recently become known to the government."
Mr. Duncan was removed from the government of Benares
to that of Bombay and its Dependencies in December 1795, and
in that still more elevated position, dispensed justice with marked
success and benevolence, and with the unequivocal approval of
the British legislature, the Court of Directors, and the inhabitants
in general, down to the time of his death, which occurred on
the 11th of August, 1811, when he had only attained his fifty-
eighth year. He was buried at the public expense, in the
cathedral of Bombay, with all the pomp and honour becoming
the high position which he held so long and so honourably. A
magnificent monument was erected to his memory, on which
the place of his birth is mis-stated, as being at Wardhouse,
near Montrose—an error which had probably arisen from his
having purchased that property, on which he spent his boyhood,
and where perhaps, he contemplated spending his latter years.
SECTION II.
"In truth they were as bold a race,
As ever mounted steed."
It has been shewn in a previous Chapter, that the property, or
parish of Lethnot, came to the Lindsay family at the same time,
and in the same manner, as their great Grlenesk estate, namely,
through the marriage of Sir Alexander with the co-heiress of
Sir John Stirling; but the district of Navar, from earliest
record, has been conjoined with the Lordship of Brechin. In
addition to other payments made from Navar to the church,
Walter Stuart, Earl of Athole, who married the only child and
heiress of Barclay, Lord of Brechin, gave an annual of forty
pounds to that cathedral from his lands of Cortachy, " and fail¬
ing thereof, through war, poverty, or other cause," the sum was
to be paid from the lands of the Lordship of Brechin, of which
Navar formed a part.
NAVAR—DE BRECHIN FAMILY.
115
Before entering upon a notice of the various persons who
have borne the ancient title of Lord of Brechin and Navar, it
may be observed, that subsequent to the time of the Reforma¬
tion, Na throw (which has long formed a part of the estate of
Careston), and the neighbouring lands of Tilliquhillie were held
by a family of the name of Douglas (cadets of the ancient house
of Tillwhilly in Kincardineshire), while at a subsequent period
Nathrow belonged to the second Earl of Panmure, and after¬
wards to a Charles Robertson, who was sometime tenant in
Trusto.* Easter and Wester Tillyarblet, which were possessed
by descendants of Erskine of Dun, also belong to Careston,
as does the grazing farm of Tillybirnie, which was described
by Ochterlony as being " well accommodate in grass parks
and meadows;" but, with these exceptions, the whole district
of Navar has been owned by the family of Panmure since the
year 1634.
As regards the ancient Lords of Brechin and Navar, the first
was David, Earl of Huntingdon and the Garioch, founder of the
church of the Virgin Mary at Dundee, and brother to William
the Lion. Earl David had a natural son, Henry, to whom he
gave this Lordship, and from the district of Brechin he assumed
his surname. Sir William de Brechin, the son of this Henry,
founded the Domus Dei or Maison Dieu of that city in 1264,
and was one of the most illustrious barons in the time of Alex¬
ander III., having been one of the guardians of Scotland in the
English interest during the minority of that king.f His only
child, David, married to a sister of the Bruce, swore fealty to
Edward in 1296, and supported the English with great ardour
until 1308, when the Scots gained the battle of Inverury. On
this he fled to his castle at Brechin, but being besieged by the
Earl of Athole, he joined Bruce's standard, and ever after
espoused his cause. His son was the fourth and last of the male
line of the ancient family of de Brechin, and one of the great
barons who signed the celebrated letter to the Pope at Arbroath,
in 1320, asserting the Independence of Scotland; but being-
privy to the conspiracy of Lord Soulis, he and some of the other
traitors were executed.
Sir David Barclay, who, throughout the whole war of the
* rrintcd Uetours, 1617-62-97, &e. t Tjtlcr's Ilist. of Scot., vol. i. p. 12.
116
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Independence continued Brace's unflinching supporter, married
Margaret de Brechin, the only sister of the forfeited noble ;
and now that the male line of the family was for ever swept
away, Bruce conferred the Lordship of Brechin and Navar on
her husband, in recompense for his many services ; but this brave
knight was unfortunately slain at Aberdeen, in 1350, by John
St. Michael of Mundurnah. By Margaret de Brechin (the
niece of Bruce), Barclay left an only son and daughter,—the
latter married Fleming of Biggar, and her only surviving child,
Marion, became the wife of William Maule of Panmure. The last
mentioned David Barclay, who served in the Prussian wars, and
died sometime after the year 1364, left an only daughter, who
married Walter, second son of Robert II., by Euphemia Ross,
and he, in right of his wife, assumed the estates and titles of
Brechin ; but having participated in the murder of his nephew,
James I., he was executed as a traitor in 1437, and in a still
more ignominious and revolting manner than his predecessor de
Brechin, for his death was protracted over three days.
Athole's wife having predeceased him, he was allowed
" simply by the courtesy of the kingdom of Scotland," to retain
her lands during the remainder of his life, so that, although his
own estates were forfeited at the time of his execution, the
Lordship of Brechin should of right have passed to Sir Thomas
Maule of Panmure as nearest heir to the Countess of Athole, by
descent from Marion Fleming of Biggar, but under pretence
of forfeiture, was annexed to the Crown by Act of Parlia¬
ment in 1438, and was afterwards granted, in life-rent or
in fee, to various persons. This Sir Thomas died between
1442 and 1450; and, although admitted judicially to be heir
to the Countess of Athole, justice was not done to him and his
successors, who found " Chancellour Crightoun and the King's
Councill partys too hard for them to deal with. However,
Sir Thomas's heirs got Leuchlands, Hatherwick, Claleck, Jack-
ston, and Stadockmore, which were formerly parts of the estate
of Bricliine."'*
The question of Maule's right of succession is said to have
been raised from time to time, and a judgment in favour of the
* Registrum de Panmure, vol. 1. pp. 204-5—a MS, of two vol15#, folio (written in 1738), be¬
longing to the liight Hon, Lord ibmtnure.
NAVAR—DUKE OF ROSS, AND SIR THOMAS ERSKINE. 117
family to have been obtained in the reign of Queen Mary ; but
it was not until after the death of the seventh Earl of Mar, in
1634, that Patrick Maule acquired by purchase the Lordship of
Brechin which, with the title, ought to have descended to him
by inheritance.
Among others, Janet, or Jane, Countess of the eighth and
unfortunate Earl of Douglas, whom James slew in Stirling
Castle, had, in 1472-3, " the life-rent of the king's lands of
Petpullock, &c., the Lordships of Brechin and Navar in full
satisfaction of her terce."* This lady, however, held these
lands for a very limited period, since, in the same year, King
James is recorded to have given a life-rent lease of them to
David, fourth Earl of Crawford, afterwards Duke of Montrose,f
to which lands he maintained a right (notwithstanding that
they were gifted to the Duke of Ross in 1480), until the year
1488, when, on the complaint of the King, " the Lordis decretis
and deliveris that the said David, Erie of Crawfurd dois wrang
in the occupatioune and manuring of the said landis of the lord-
schipis of Brechin and Neware," which he is accordingly ordered
" to devoid and rede " to James, Duke of Ross, who was second
son of James III., and who assumed his secondary title of Lord
of Brechin and Navar from this Lordship 4
The Duke of Ross, who was ultimately Archbishop of St.
Andrews, died in 1504, at the early age of thirty-three, when
the Lordships of Brechin and Navar again fell into the King's
hands, at whose disposal it had perhaps remained until 1527,
when it was given to Thomas Erskine, a cadet of the family
of Dun, and uncle to the Superintendent. He had a charter of
the lands of Kincraig, in the previous year, and was Secretary
to James Y. from that time until March 1543. He was
knighted, and soon after appointed a Lord of Session, and subse¬
quently an ambassador to France to conclude the treaty of the in¬
tended marriage between the King and Mary of Bourbon—an al¬
liance which was never completed. In 1541, he had a royal grant
of the office of Constable of the burgh of Montrose, which he after¬
wards conveyed to his nephew of Dun, and which continued in
that family until the abolition of heritable jurisdictions in 1748.
« Wood's Doug. Fecrnge, vol. i.—Dove/las. f Lives, vol. i. p. 153,
% Acta Dom. Aud., p, 123.
118
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
On 20th June, 1545, Sir Thomas Erskine gave a charter of the
lands of Lychtonhill, Pettyndreiche and Nathrow,* to John
Erskine of Dun, and in 1550-1 he excambed the Lordship of
Brechin and Navar with John, fourth Lord Erskine, for the
lands of Pittroddy and Balhagardy, in Aberdeenshire.
In 1620, the seventh Earl of Mar, the tutor of Prince Henry,
had influence enough to get such parts as he possessed of Brechin
and Navar erected into a part of the lordship of Mar ; but, as
before stated, on his death, Brechin andNavar fell to Sir Patrick
Maule of Panmure by purchase ; and, on being elevated to the
peerage in 1646, he was dignified by the title of Earl Pan-
mure, Lord Brechin and Navar.
Waiving the unfounded assertions of Boethius and others,
that the first of the Maules who settled in Scotland came from
Hungary with the queen of Malcolm Canmore, and afterwards
received charters of the lands of Panmure from Edgar in
the early part of his reign—we shall limit our brief notice of
them to the indisputable evidence afforded by records. Suffice
it to say, that they are of the Maules of the Lordship of Maule,f
in the Duchy of Normandy, and bear quite the same arms.
One of these, Ansold, Sire de Maule, and Hersende, his wife,
are recorded as benefactors to the Priory of St. Martin-in-the-
Fields at Paris, about the year 1015, and nine generations are
traced from them, chiefly through gifts to the church.
Guarin de Maule, who came to England with the Conqueror
in 1066, is the first recorded of the name in Britain. He settled
in Yorkshire, and had a son Robert, who came to Scotland with
David I., from whom he had various grants of land in the
Lothians. This Robert had a son William, who, for his bravery
at the battle of the Standard in 1138, obtained the lands of
Easter Fowlis in Perthshire, and left two daughters, one of whom
married Roger de Mortimer, and, from a daughter of a successor
of Roger the present Lord Gray is descended, and thus inherits
the lands and barony of Fowlis.
The direct ancestor of the present Maule of Panmure was
Sir Peter, grandnephew to William of Fowlis, who, about 1224,
* Dun Charters ; Spalding Club, vol. iv.
t This Lordship was at a later date erected into a Marquisate, and in the fifteenth cen¬
tury the titlos and estatos were carried by an heiress into the family of the Marquises of Morain-
villiers.
tfAVAK—THE MAULES OF PANMUKE.
119
married the heiress of Sir William de Valoniis, Lord of Panmure,
and Great Chamberlain of Scotland. This was the time and
manner in which the Maules became proprietors of Panmure,
Benvie, Balruthrie, and other estates of the family of de Ya¬
loniis, who had a gift of these possessions from William the
Lion. This Sir Peter Maule died in 1254, leaving two sons.
The second was the brave governor, Sir Thomas, who defended
the Castle of Brechin against Edward in 1303, in which noble
action he was unfortunately killed by a stone thrown from the
enemy's engine. But it must not be inferred from this fact, as
is popularly the case, that the family of Maule were then Lords
of Brechin, or had any interest in it, the titles and estates being
then in the family of de Brechin, from which, however, they are
lineally descended, and of which the Marquis of Dalhousie is the
true heir of line, though the title and estates have passed to the
younger branch of his family.
As the genealogy of the Maules of Panmure is correctly
traced in the principal heraldic books, it will be superfluous to go
into the history of those who flourished betwixt the time of Sir
Peter Maule's death in 1254, and the ennobling of Sir Patrick in
1646. It is enough to say, that most of them were actively
engaged in the important transactions of the periods in which
they lived, and that Sir Patrick's elevation to the peerage arose
from his attachment to the person of Charles I., whom he fol¬
lowed in all his enterprises, and waited upon personally, until
prohibited by order of Cromwell, who afterwards imposed the
enormous fine of £12500 on him and his son Henry, £5000 of
which only were exacted. Earl Patrick's fidelity to the King-
lias been questioned by modern historians, who are inclined to
think, from the fact that he made extracts from Charles' pri¬
vate correspondence, which he forwarded to the leaders of the
Covenant in Scotland, that he had been guilty of a breach of
trust.* It is most probable, however, from the King's well
known double dealing in these matters, that the Earl had not
only acted with the connivance, but perhaps at the instigation of
his Master; for though opposed to Archbishop Laud, he was a
strong Episcopalian in the time of King James, and there is rea¬
son to believe that he continued so all his life. Indeed, James
* Gordon's Scots Affairs; Lord Ilaile's Collections, &c,
120
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
was so " tiilly satisfied of Mr. Maulers affection in tliat Way, and
of his umblemished Integrity in the Protestant Religion [that he]
gave his Royal Consent and Approbation to the Transaction
which passed between him and the Marquis of Hamilton, by
which he purchased the Abbacy of Arbroath, which was erected
to him with the Right of Patronage of the Churches of Arbroath'1'1
(and thirty-two others), " all formerly belonging to the dissolved
Monastery of Arbroath, which, besides the old Patronages of his
own Family, made him among the greatest Patrons of any in
Scotland A*
Earl Patrick died in 1661, and had four successors in the earl¬
dom—his son, grandson,great-grandson, and great-grandnephew.
All made considerable figure during the civil commotions of their
respective days ; and James, the fourth Earl, who added the
magnificent properties of Edzell and Glenesk to his paternal
estate in 1714, forfeited these and the rest of his patrimony in
the year thereafter, for his adherence to the house of Stuart.
The rental of the Panmure estates (though little more than a
tenth of their present value), amounted at that time to the large
sum of £3437, besides services, being the most valuable of all the
confiscated lordships of 1716. Earl James's nephew, William
(son to Harry Maule of Kelly, who was also on the rebel side
at Sheriffmuir, and rescued his brother from the enemy), was
granduncle to the late Lord Panmure, and recovered these
possessions by purchase in 1764, and added others to them. He
was a General in the army, and sat for forty-seven years as
Member of Parliament for Forfarshire; and, in 1743, was cre¬
ated an Irish Peer, by the titles of Earl Panmure of Forth, and
Viscount Maule of Whitechurch, with remainder to heirs male
of his own body and to those of his brother, John, but both
failing, the title became extinct.
His surviving sister married George, Lord Ramsay, eldest
son to the sixth Earl of Dalhousie. He predeceased his father,
but left two sons by Lady Jane Maule, who became the seventh
and eighth Earls respectively. The latter was father to the
late Lord Panmure; and Earl William being a bachelor, made
* Crawford's Peerage—Panmure. The patronage of all these churches, with the superiority
ofBenvie and Balruthrie, were forfeited by the attainder of 1716, and the kirk of Monifieth is
the ouly one now in the gift of the family.
NAVAK—THE MAULES OF PANMURE.
121
a settlement in favour of the eighth Earl of Dalliousie, and
his second and other sons, through which his late Lordship
succeeded on the death of his father in 1782. During his late
Lordship's lifetime, Earl William's settlement was challenged
in some points by Lieutenant Thomas Maule of the Irish
branch (a direct male descendant of Thomas, second brother of
the first Earl), but by decision of the Lords of Council and
Session, he failed, with some trifling exceptions, to establish his
claim. The late Lord was raised to the British Peerage in
1831, by the title of Baron Panmure of Brechin and Navar.
He was the twenty-first in succession from the first Sir Peter
Maule of Panmure and his wife Christian de Valoniis, and is
believed to have been longer in possession of the property than
any of his predecessors, having held it for the almost unpre¬
cedented period of sixty-four years.
Although he never shone as a public orator, he is uniformly
represented by those who knew him during his parliamentary
life, to have been a gentleman of shrewd and discerning parts,
and one who not only could discuss the politics of the day in
private circles with ability and judgment, but possessed a more
than ordinary share of active business habits. Still, it is not on
his political acquirements that his fame is to depend; but as the
liberal landlord—the munificent supporter of the public institu¬
tions of Forfarshire—the friend of the poor—and the encourager
of genius—he will be known to posterity. It was he who first
lent a helping hand to the widow and family of the immortal
Burns, to whom he gave fifty pounds a-year, until her eldest son
was enabled to provide for her; and also contributed a hand¬
some annuity to the widow of his great prototype, Fox. Niel
Gow, and other men of genius, who are long since numbered
with their fathers, shared largely of his bounty; and several
artists, now in Edinburgh and London, owe their early suc¬
cess almost entirely to him, as do many others who have been,
and are yet conspicuous, in the various departments of our
civil and military service at home and abroad, and some who are
now flourishing in the wide world of commerce.*
His Lordship died on the 13th of April, 1852, in the eighty¬
's For a detail of the late Lord Fanmure's numerous charities, see the local newspapers
published at the time of his death.
N
122
land of the lindsays.
second year of his age. By his second wife, who survives, he
had no issue ; hut by the first, who pre-deceased him in 1821,
he had a family of three sons and seven daughters. Of the
latter, four only survive, and his eldest son, the present peer,
was horn in 1801. Retiring from the army, he married, in
1831, the Honourable Montague, grand-daughter of Sir Ralph
Abercromby, and at the general election of 1835, was re¬
turned to Parliament for the county of Perth. He sat for the
Elgin district of Burghs from 1838 to 1841, when the electors
of the city of Perth invited him to stand as their representative,
whom he continued to serve honourably and worthily down to
the time of his elevation to the peerage.
He has been long a member of Privy Council, and held the
important offices of Under Secretary for the Home Department,
and Secretary-at-War, and was also, for a short period, President
of the Board of Control. On the death of the Earl of Airlie in
1849, he was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of Forfarshire, and has
ever since taken the deepest interest in the affairs of the county.
His second brother, the Honourable Lauderdale, was Colonel of
the 79th Highlanders, but on being elected Member of Parlia¬
ment for his native county at the general election in 1852, he
retired from the army, and fills the important office of Surveyor-
General of the Ordnance in the present administration; while
the youngest brother, the Honourable William Maule, resides
on his property in Forfarshire, and is designed, from his
principal estate, of Ferne.
SECTION III.
" a deeper import
Lurks in the legend told my infant years
Than lies upon that truth we live to learn."
Schiller.
Although Lethnot and Navar are less favoured than Glenesk
on the score of extent, and the imposing topographical particular
of lofty and rugged mountains, the general aspect of the whole
is equally highland, and when travelled in a fine summer day,
or viewed from the old British Fort of Caterthun, it has a
NAVAR—STORY OF THE MELDER SIFTER.
123
singularly sweet and inviting aspect. This is peculiarly the case
when seen from the latter position, which embraces an extent
of four or five miles, hut, like Grlcnesk, it is almost destitute of
trees, for with the exception of the plantation on Natlirow, and a
patch of firs at Balfield, there is very little wood, either indi¬
genous or cultivated. Still, the church-deserted tombs of Navar,
on the sunny and sloping side of Blairno hill, shaded by a few
meagre ashes—the old fashioned half-moon-shaped bridge of
Lethnot, with the teacher's " noisy mansion," and other tidy
cottages—the kirk and manse—the hamlet of Balfield, where
the laborious matron fits her little charge for the varied domestic
duties of after life, and where the parish wright and blacksmith
drive their useful trades—are the main objects which enliven
the natural barrenness of the prospect.
The long imposing hill of Wirran,* which bounds the nor¬
thern parts, was used in the dark ages of credulity and fanaticism
as the burial place of infatuated suicides, and on the very ridge
or eerie of the hill numerous grave-shaped hillocks point out the
resting places of those luckless beings; and, at no distant date,
when a suicide was found dead on one of the farms in the neigh¬
bourhood, the farmer, rather than allow the body to be con¬
veyed in at the barn door, had a hole struck out of the front
wall for that purpose, and although the hole was built up " ower
an' ower again," says our informant, " the biggin' wudna bide,
but aye fell out!"
A kettle filled with silver is said to lie in the Craig of Stony-
ford, on the west side of the mountain, and when the sun shines
in full lustre, the bow of the kettle, and its precious contents, are
often seen to glitter! Many attempts have been made to secure
the pose, hut the "seekers" have all been too sacriligious to bo
successful; but, if the legend is correct, they have little cause to
complain, for alike with the finder of the kettle of gold which is
said to be secreted in the well on the hill of Caterthun, the
reward is instant removal from this sublunary sphere—constant
labour until the world ends—and perpetual wailing thereafter !
The mill of Glascorry lies still farther to the west of the hill,
and is famous in local story, as the scene of a poor " mclder
sifter's" toil on the day of her luckless attack by an wolf. The
* Gael. Fuaran, " a spring,"—hence " tlie hill of springs."
124
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
tradition may be briefly told : While the system of thirlage was
in its zenith, and no better plan thought of, a servant girl was
one day sent to this mill to sift a melder, or grinding of corn.
The melder being large, she had a long and hard day's work,
and was so overpowered by fatigue, that on her way home she
lay down on a bank to rest herself, and soon fell asleep.
She continued to rest soundly until daybreak, when, to her inex¬
pressible surprise and horror, she found a huge shaggy wolf
lying on part of her garment, and perceiving her danger, she
quietly extricated herself from the part on which the monster
lay, and stealthily fled. On relating her wonderful adventure at
home, the alarmed neighbourhood turned out in pursuit of the
wolf, whose life had been long sought after because of the destruc¬
tion which he had committed amongst the flocks in all parts of
the glen. He had fled from the place where the girl left him,
and the part of her apparel on which he had wreaked his ven¬
geance was found torn to shreds; but chase being given, he was
found nestled on the West Shank of Wirran, and almost instan¬
taneously shot by Kobertson of Nathrow. This was the last wolf
seen in the district—provincial story says in Scotland; and
whether in imitation of comedy or from fact cannot now be
affirmed, but it is said that the adventurous laird of Nathrow
ultimately led the poor melder sifter to the hymeneal altar!
The antiquarian peculiarities of Lethnot, and indeed of the
united parish, are few and unimportant, and the whole district is
equally meagre in traditions regarding the Lindsays and other
old proprietors. In the vicinity of Craigendowie, however,
among the mass of artificial-looking cairns (which are said to be
the graves of warriors), there is a small circle, composed of a
quantity of stones about the same size, and ranged in the same
manner, as those at Fernybank. Unlike the latter, however,
this circle has never been explored, and if as old as prehistoric
times, may have been a place of sepulture. Craigendowie has,
perhaps, its true etymon in the Gaelic Graig-an-dudh, i. e. " the
black rock," for the craig is an immense black rock close by
the river side ; but, according to popular story, it implies the
" craig of battle or mischief," and, if any reliance can be had on
the fatal doings of the Kelpie in the dark pool beside it, or the
LETHNOT—COBB'S HEUGH.
125
story of warriors having fallen in the neighbourhood,—the latter
rendering may not he altogether inapt!
Some twenty years ago, a good specimen of concentric
circles stood on the farm of Newbigging, about a mile north of
the house, on an elevated part of the mountain; but, of the
twenty or thirty large stones which enclosed an area of from
fifty to sixty feet, only one remains, the rest having been carried
away for various utilitarian purposes. This boulder, which is
about eight feet high, is sometimes called the Druidical, but
commonly the " Stannin' Stane of Newbiggin','' and many flint
arrow heads have been found in its vicinity. When demolished,
the middle of the area of the inner circle was found to be filled
with small stones to the depth of about three feet, under which
lay a quantity of black clammy earth, mixed with pieces of
charcoal, while a track about two feet broad, composed of loose
red sandstone, laid to the depth of a few inches, ran directly
through the clammy earth and pebbles, from side to side of the
outer circle. This site is about two miles north of the channel of
the West Water, which is the nearest bed of the old red sand¬
stone.
At a short distance from this stone, are the foundations of
a square building called the castle of Dennyferne, and traces of
several dwellings have from time to time been uprooted in its
vicinity, while evidences of ancient tillage are quite distinct in
numerous ridge marks. It is said to have been a residence of
the Lindsays, and the surrounding cottages to have been occu¬
pied by their retainers.
In a place called the Taberan Loan, a large stone, from its
peculiar shape, and the tradition that the ladies of Edzell used to
rest on it when accompanying their lords on piscatory expedi¬
tions, is known as " Lady Eagil's Chair." It is destitute of all
traditionary associations; but Cobb's Heugh, a fine romantic
part of the West Water (mainly formed by the track of the
Burn of Margie), is not so meagre in this respect, being asso¬
ciated with a story regarding an ancestor of Black, the founder
of the Gannochy Bridge. This family long tenanted the Mill of
Lethnot, and the occupant of the period was a strong athletic
person, fully as austere and turbulent in temperament as he was
powerful in body; and he and the laird of Edzell having quar-
126
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
relied about the rent of tbe farm, whieh Black is said to have
been dilatory in paying, the laird was so annoyed at him, that he
determined to rid himself of the turbulent miller in the most
summary manner. Black was accordingly summoned on some
pretence to Edzell castle one winter night, and the laird having
previously arranged with a person of the name of Cobb to waylay
and attack him at the most dangerous part of the road, Black was
pounced upon on returning home, when a desperate struggle
ensued betwixt him and his antagonist. After much parrying,
Black proved victorious, and threw Cobb over the cliff into a
deep pool, where his body was found some days after. From
this incident the place has been associated with the names of both
parties, the high cliff being known as Cobb's Heugh, and the
pool as Black's Pot. The fate of Black is not recorded : per¬
haps he henceforth lived a life of peace, and a " feared " man,
as it is certain that his descendants held the same farm for
several generations after the time referred to.
Although the springs of Wirran contribute largely to the
augmentation of the West Water, by numerous small and seem¬
ingly inconsiderable rivulets, its parent stream, and by far the
most important of its tributaries, is the Water of Saughs. It
arises from the Stoney Loch, on the confines of the parish of
Clova, within a mile or two of Loch Wharral, and traverses a
rugged and romantic bed, rich in cliffs and grand in desolation,
and famous as the scene of the battle between the men of Feme
and the Cateran, which will be noticed in a subsequent Chapter.
Saughs has a number of tributaries, but the burn of Dunscarney
is the largest, and, besides, is an important landmark or bound¬
ary, being the march for the glen pasture of the Water of
Saughs, from which point westward the parish ministers and
tenants of Lethnot, Lochlce, and Edzell, have a common right
to pasture a certain number of black cattle.* At the union of
Saughs with Dunscarney, the river becomes known southward
by the common name of the West Water.
From Waterhead this river is augmented by the burns of
Calletar and Nathrow, Diffcran and Paphry, all 011 the Navar
side, and remarkable for the rugged eddying nature of their
channels. The associations of none of these burns are worthy
* Decreet Arbitral, recorded in the Probative Writs of Brechin, 17th Oct., 1813.
LETIINOT—POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
127
of notice, except those of the Calletar, and these mainly for
the superstitions connected with it,* it being remarkable for
haying possessed an adder stone from time immemorial down to
a late period. It is described as being of a greyish colour, pure
as marble, with a hole in the centre as big as would freely admit
a man's arm, and, in fine sunny days, the white adder sported
through and through the hole, followed by a long train of
his glistening family or subjects ! Adder stones are well known
to all " charmers " as a sure preventative against the ill which
follows the exercise of supernatural agency, and as never failing
curatives for bewitched persons and cattle; while the antiquary
and collector of curious relics prize them merely as a species of
water-worn perforated stones, and from their resemblance to
that of Odin, in the Orkneys,! which was held in so high esteem
that a promise made beside it, whether of matrimony or of any
common business transaction, was considered as binding on the
parties promising as had they given their oath.
Nor was the white adder less an object of superstition in
old times than the perforated stone. Such an animal is said to
have been rare ; and as his qualities fell little short of those
anticipated from the discovery of the philosopher's stone, his
acquisition repaid tenfold any toil or trouble which the lucky
possessor had undergone in catching him—his great and unique
property being the conferring of no less a power than taibJise,
or the second sight!
The wonderful gift of seeing into the firmly sealed volume of
futurity was supposed to be innate in some person; but the " broo "
or broth of the white adder had the same magical effect 011 the
partaker, as if he had been born heir to the gift. This
was the manner in which Brochdarg, the celebrated Prophet
of the North, was endowed with the marvellous power of div¬
ing into futurity, and of knowing the persons who " cast ill "
* Leadbeakie, a farm situated on the banks of Nathrow burn, lias so secluded a position,
that it has given rise to a rhythmical saying—
" Nae wonder though the maidens o' Leadbeakie are dun,
For three months o' the year they never liae the sun."
f Only one example of this singular sort of memorial has come under our notice. It is
the well known boulder called " Kelpie's Needle," which stands in the river Dee, near Dee
Castle. It is about four feet above the ordinary rise of the river, and tallies in appearance
with the description given of the " Odin Stone," and is named from the resemblance which the
perforation bears to the eye of a needle, and from an old superstition, that the river fiend took
shelter behind it during Hoods, and eyed his drowning victims through the orifice !
128
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
011 their neighbours. Going to the Continent in youth as the
servant of a second Sidrophel, he got a white adder from his master
to boil one day, and was admonished on the pain of his existence
not to let a drop of the " broo " touch his tongue. On scalding
his fingers, however, he inadvertently thrust them into his mouth
as a soothing balm, when he instantly beheld the awful future
stretched out before him. Fearing the ire of his master, he fled
from his service, and domiciling himself among his native moun¬
tains in Aberdeenshire, was consulted by all the bewitched
and love-sick swains and maidens far and near, and died an
old wealthy carle about eighty years ago !
Another party in the same district, who lived within these
forty years, obtained the second sight also from partaking of the
" broo" of a ivhite adder. This person was much sought after, and
on one occasion visited a farm in Lethnot, where many cattle had
died in a singularly unaccountable manner, and procuring a
white basin full of spring water, he took a round ball, pure and
clear as polished steel, which he carried about with him, and
dipping it three times into the basin in the name of the Trinity,
discovered the likeness of the evil one to the astonished farmer,
who in the bewitching jade, beheld the physiognomy of one of
his own cottar women ! This witch is still remembered by some
old residenters, and one respectable person assures us that she
was as thorough a witch as ever stept, for he himself, for calling
her " a witch," one day, while driving one of his father's carts,
had a cart full of lime upset three several times within the short
space of a mile, and in sight of the weird's residence!
But it would seem, if tradition can be relied upon, that, about
the beginning of last century (during the incumbency of the
Rev. Mr. Thomson), man's great adversary had enjoyed a
kind of respite from his thousand years' captivity, and taken up
his abode in the quiet glen of the West Water. 'Twere idle to
relate a tithe of the stories yet told of his perambulations, and
the various shapes in which he appeared to the minister, as
well as to many of his less educated neighbours; but an in¬
stance or two will sufficiently shew the credulity both of the
pastor and his flock.
One of these stories is based on a quarrel which took place
between the farmer of Wilton and a fellow parishioner. Witton
LETIINOT—POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
129
had long a craving to he revenged on his neighbour, and on
learning one evening that the object of his hatred was from home,
and would not return until a late hour, he went away to meet
him. Before departing on his unhallowed expedition, however, his
excited appearance, and the unusually late hour, so alarmed his
wife, that she tried every means to dissuade him from his journey,
and all protestation having failed, she enquired, as a last resort,
and in a piteous tone, Who was to bear her company during
his absence? To this he answered gruffly, and in a frantic
manner—" The devil if he likes/"—and immediately went forth
on his errand of revenge. So, sure enough, in the course of an
hour or two, his Satanic majesty rose from the middle of the
earthen floor of the chamber where the poor disconsolate woman
sat, and presented himself to her astonished gaze ! Whether he
attempted to do her any injury is not related ; but having had
presence of mind to put her son, a mere boy, out at a back
window for the minister, his reverence and the boy, with some
of the neighbours, made way for the house. When within a
short distance of it, Mr. Thomson, supposing that he felt the
odour of " brimstane smeik,'' was so impressed with the belief
of the bona fide presence of Beelzebub, that he retraced his steps
to the manse, and arrayed himself in his black gown and linen
bands, and taking the Bible in his hand, went boldly forth to
vanquish the master fiend ! On entering the ill-fated chamber,
he charged the intruder with the Spirit of the Word, when, in
the midst of a volume of smoke, and uttering a hideous yell, he
shrunk aghast, and passed from view in much the same mys¬
terious way as he had appeared; and an indentation in the
ground floor of the farm house was long pointed out as having
been caused by the descent of Satan !
Nor had the sanctity of the manse any effect in deterring this
prowling and tormenting emissary. Even there, poor Mr. Thom¬
son was annoyed out of all patience : if he sat down of an evening
to write or read, his book or paper soon became a darkened and
unseemly mass, and the candle burnt so faintly before him, that
he could barely see from one end of his little chamber to the
other ; and so bent was his enemy to do him injury, that his last
interview with him was attended with disastrous and serious con¬
sequences. It was on a dark winter evening—the storm howled
o
130
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
apace—and the snow had previously fallen so plentifully, that
great wreaths were blown against the manse and church, and the
minister was sitting by the fire writing, when a tremendous gust
of wind suddenly shook the house from top to bottom—a peculiar
sound was heard in the chimney—and amidst much din and con¬
fusion, his tormentor entered the minister's sanctum sanctorum in
the shape of a large black cat! How he found his way, none
could divine, for the minister didn't see him enter, and saw nothing
of him save his long hairy fangs, which suddenly extinguished
the candle ! Running in pursuit, however, he saw him clear
the steep and narrow stair which led to the lower flat of the
house, and falling from head to foot of it himself, Mr. Thomson
was so greatly injured from bruises and fright, that he never
fully recovered! *
The facts of such sorry displays of ignorance and credulity
as these now told, though absurd in themselves, ought not to be
overlooked entirely in delineating the history of a district or a
people. They formed at one time a great and permanent part
of the belief of the old inhabitants, and were as intimately asso¬
ciated with their nature, as were their domestic customs ; and
shew as vividly and unmistakeably the ruling passions, and throw
as much light on the society of the period, as do the prehistoric
remains, and the curious tenures by which old charters shew
landed property to have been held.
But apart from these superstitions, the district had also to do
with those times
" When tooming faulds, 01* scouring o' a glen,
Was ever deemed the deed o' pretty men."
An ancestor of the present tenant of Craigendowie (whose
forefathers have farmed the same place for upwards of a hundred
and seventy years), was reported to be worth money; and the
Cateran, believing that the money was stored up in the house,
* Although uniformly ascribed to Mr. Thomson, these stories are scarcely in accordance
with his real character, and perhaps belong rightly to some of his weaker-minded predecessors.
He was the last Episcopal minister of Lethnot, and being a determined supporter of the re¬
bellion, was deposed, by order of the Government, for praying "for the heads and patriots of
the Rebel Army, and that God might cover their heads in the day of battell." lie also prayed
" for his Noble Patron the Earle of Panmure, that the Lord might preserve him now when he
was Exposed to Danger," and thanked God for " King James the Eight's safe Landing into
these his native bounds," and that "the Army Appearing against Marr's Army might be de¬
feat," &c.—Records of the Presbytery of Brechin, March 7, 171G.
NAVAR—STORY OF THE CATERAN.
131
paid the family a visit on one occasion about midnight. Being
refused admittance, they deliberately cut a large tree which
grew near the house, and using it as a battering ram, soon
succeeded in bursting open the door and walked boldly through
the house. They had previously emptied the mill of meal and
corn, and laded the farmer's own horses with it, and des¬
patching them and some of his kye, they insisted on having his
money. This he peremptorily refused; and with a view to force
compliance they set his bare feet over a blazing fire; but
finding this as unsuccessful as threats, they seized his wife,
and rode off with her at full speed. As the farmer made no
resistance, and the gudewife perhaps proved a drag on their
progress, they dismissed her at Stony ford, when she returned to
Craigendowie with much less injury than had befallen the feet
of her inflexible partner !
CHAPTER IV.
jftnijabeit attb 0atf)lato.
SECTION I.
" Here they lie had realms and lands,
Who now want strength to stir their hands."
Beacmont.
The districts of Finhaven and Oathlaw, are divided from eacli
other by the copious burn of Lemno,* and the kirk stood in
the south-east corner of a rising ground, about a mile east
of the castle, near the junction of the Lemno and South Esk,
and was frequently called the " kirk of Aikenhatt." This
name is, perhaps, a corruption of the Gaelic Achain-ait, which
means "the place of prayer or supplication;" while Finhaven,
according to the oldest spelling, which is " Fothnevyn," may
have its origin in the same language, since Fodha-fainn (the
Gaelic dh and English th being synonymous), signifies a place
lying " under a hill or height." The topographical position
and aspect, both of the church and district, accord with these
renderings; for the old kirk stood immediately under the
highest part of the hill, and the whole of the arable land of
Finhaven proper lies along the foot of it.
There has been a kirk at Finhaven from the earliest record,
it having been rebuilt and erected into a Prebend of the
Cathedral of Brechin by Sir Alexander Lindsay of Glenesk, in
1380, but the Saint to whom it was dedicated is matter of doubt.
A fountain called " Nine-well " is situate on the hill above the
old kirk, and some believe this to be a corruption of the name
of St. Ninian, who was a favourite over all Scotland ; but, as
the Nine " virgin dochters of S. Donewalde who lived as in a
<! Lemno (vulg. pron. Lcmla) is perhaps from the Gael. Leum-na, i. e. " the small limping
or leaping stream," which quite corresponds with the bounding peculiarity of its motion. Zcvev-
ach, however, is an old spelling.
FINHAVEN THE OLD KIKK.
133
hermitage in the Glen of Ogilvy at Glamis " were canonised as
the " Nine Maidens," perhaps the fountain and kirk had been
inscribed to them. Like most of the primitive saints, they were
remarkable for industry and humility, and are said to have
laboured the ground with their own hands, and to have eaten
only once a day, " and then but barley bread and water."
Their father died while they were in the Glen of Ogilvy, on which
they retired to Abernethy, the Pictish capital, where they had
an oratory and some lands assigned them, and were visited in
their retirement by Eugen VII. of Scotland, who made them
large presents. Their feast is on the 15th of June; and,
dying at Abernethy in the early part of the eighth century, they
were buried at the foot of a large oak, which was much fre¬
quented by pilgrims till the Reformation.*
The walls of the old kirkyard of Finhaven were in existence
within these fifty years, as were also a number of tombstones.
These have all disappeared, however; but in 1849, when the
farmer trenched the graveyard, the floor of the church was laid
open, and two ancient monuments were found at a considerable
depth. The floor, like those of the cathedral of Kirkwall,
and the church of the Holy Trinity at Edinburgh,f was paved
with plain square glazed tiles of the three primary colours of
red, blue, and yellow, each of them being about six inches
square, and one inch thick, and placed in the common dia¬
mond form, and had doubtless been the flooring of the church,
which was erected in 1380. One of the monuments, which is
about three feet high, bears the incised figures of a sword and
dagger, resembling those on a stone at the church of Kingoldrum,|
and the other, which measures five-and-a-half by three feet, bears
the rudely incised effigy of a robed ecclesiastic, with his hands
in a devotional attitude, and these words engraved around the
side of the stone—" i)(c. tacet. bonorabtlte . bit = = = rec&crb' . bet
= = = = btcartbs . tie. ftnaebait . qbi. obitt. z° . tie "—Here the in¬
scription abruptly terminates.
The time of the erection of the last kirk of Aikenhatt is un¬
known, but the plan included a transept and aisle. The aisle
was on the north, and had likely been used for the burial of the
* Coll. on Aberdeenshire, vol. i. p. 595-6. t Wilson's Prehistoric Annals, p. 652,
t Seo Tlato XX, of Mr. Chalmers' Sculptured Monuments of Angus, &c,
134
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
clergy, or of collateral members of the Lindsay family, for both
the monuments alluded to were found within its limits. The
manse or rectory, of which traces are occasionally found when
tilling the field of Aikenhatt, stood a little south of the kirk; and
the first rector with whom we have met, was Dominus Johannes
de Monte Alto, brother to the lord of Feme, and, as " rector
ecclesise de Fothynevyn" he witnesses his brother's resignation
of Brichty in favour of Sir Alexander Lindsay of Glenesk,*
on the 20th of December 1379, and in all probability he had
been rector at the time of the rebuilding of the church, and
the founding of the prebend. From then until the beginning of
the sixteenth century his successors are unknown; but at that
time the office was held by Henry White, who was also Dean
of Brechin ; and, in 1532, when the College of Justice was esta¬
blished by King James, he was " ane of the first that wes chosin"
to fill the onerous duties of a Lord of Session. He was far
advanced in life at the time of his appointment, and had been an
active supporter of James IV., for within six years after his in¬
stallation the King, because " he is of age, and subdite to infir¬
mities," and from his having "done leill and trow seruice to
our fader of gude mynde," and to " ws in our tyme," relieved
him from his duties, and desired that he should "joiss all priui-
lege in persoune and gudis and pencioune" as the rest of the
coimcil "for lyftyme, sic like as he war dayly present as of
before, "f
The next parson of Finhaven with whom we have met, was
David Lindsay of Pittairlie, who appears soon after the Refor¬
mation, as holding both this cure and that of Inverarity. He
was a relative of the family of Lindsay-Crawford (in whom the
patronage of both churches was long vested), and not only
having an ample stipend, but being also tacksman of the teinds of
both parishes, he bound himself to supply a reader at each place ;
and from this period (1576) we have found no mention of Fin-
haven as a separate parish, nor, as already said, are we aware
of the time of its suppression, or of the removal of the church
to.Oathlaw.
It is supposed that Oathlaw, which is perhaps a corruption of
* Information kindly communicated hy Lord Lindsay,
t Haigf and Hruriton's Acct. of the Senators of the Coll. of Justice, p. 12.
OATHLAW—THE K1RKYARD.
135
the Gaelic Auch-law, or the "field of cairns," was a chaplainry of
the church of Finhaven ; but it does not appear in that or in any
other character in the ancient Taxatio ; but since a well in the
neighbourhood bears the significant appellation of " St. Mary,"
it is probable that a kirk or chapel, dedicated to the Virgin, had
been there in old times. In the absence of better authority, it
may perhaps not be amiss to date the transference of the kirk of
Finhaven to Oathlaw at about the beginning of the seventeenth
century, since the oldest tombstone in the graveyard, which be¬
longs to a family of the name of " Fode " or Faddie, bears the
date of " 25 Maii 1616." There is no doubt of Oathlaw being
the only church in the parish in 1635 ; for at that time, when
Lord Kinnoul was retoured in the barony of Finhaven, it was
with " advocatione ecclesias de Phinhaven, vocatce Oathlaw,"
and although there is no village or hamlet in the parish, it is
possible that the church had been removed to suit the conveni¬
ence of the bulk of the parishioners ; for the old place of worship
was so inconveniently situated, that it lay close on the north¬
west boundary of Aberlemno parish. The old bell bears the
common laudatory motto—" SOLI DEO GLORIA," and the date
and initials " 1618 . I. M." but to what pastor these refer, all
enquiry has been fruitless, and the bell itself is now estranged
from the parish, having been taken to the schoolhouse of Careston,
where it is used (though cracked) for assembling the scholars.
The family burial aisle of Finhaven stood on the east side of
the old kirk, which was pulled down in 1815 to make way for
the present commodious house; and as Earl Henry of Crawford,
who died in 1622, is the only person of the title who is recorded
to have been buried here, it is probable that the aisle was erected
at, or soon after, the time of his death ; but, the only direct
notice of an interment within it is that of the first lady of Car-
negy, the murderer of the Earl of Strathmore. She was a
daughter of Lundie of that Ilk, and regarding her burial the
Parish Pegistcr bears, that " the ladie of Finhaven dyed on
Sabbath morning, the 20th August 1738, and was buried on
Friday thereafter in the Isle."
But the aisle is now gone, and no monumental traces, either
of the Lindsays or Carnegys, are visible in the graveyard. The
gravestones, though numerous, present few peculiar or generally
136
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
interesting mottos, excepting that raised by the late Mr. Raiker
(writer of the first Statistical Account of the parish), who, in
lamenting the death of his wife, thus transforms the pointed
language which " Rare Ben Johnson " uses in his famous monody
on the death of the Countess of Pembroke—
" Before Mankind a better Wife shall see,
Time, O Death, will throw a Dart at thee."
Mr. llaiker, who was sixty years minister of the parish, sur¬
vived his wife five years, and according to his epitaph, he pos¬
sessed the good qualities of being " a singular and zealous ser¬
vant of his Divine Master, and attentive to Ms own concerns."
—The stone also bears these lines :—
" Rests before this stone the mortal clay
Of Thomas Raiker, till that awful day
When Christ shall send his angel through the skies,
And to the dead proclaim, Ye sleepers, Rise !
Then may the Saviour to this servant say,
Enjoy a crown through an eternal day."
Mr. Raiker died in 1803, and was succeeded by Messrs. Little-
john, Cromar, and Stuart the present incumbent; and Raiker's
predecessors, so far as ascertained, were Messrs. Allan, Straiton,
Grub, Anderson, and Martin. It was not, however, until the
time of Mr. Anderson that the Parochial Register was begun,
and he soon held a conspicuous part in it himself; for, notwith¬
standing that the then laird had the credit of being a rebel, the
minister seems to have supported the Crown, and to have been
almost killed for his loyalty by a band of Jacobite women be¬
longing to his own parish. Whether incited by the laird, as
were the rioters at Edzell, is unknown ; but five of them fearlessly
attacked him one Sunday, and " pulled him out of the pulpit in a
violent manner, and forced him to leave off worship and to go
out of the church, which he was not allowed to enter again till
the rebellion was over."
The matter was investigated by the minister of Ferne and
his elder, the famous Ledenhendrie, as a committee for the
Presbytery, and the rebellious females having pled guilty, were
all ordered to compear before the congregation " covered with
white sheets, beginning their compearance at the church door,
finhaven—forest of plater. lo7
and to continue tliere till the third bell be rung, and worship
begun and prayer ended, and thereafter to come into the church
and to stand before the pulpit where they attacked the minister,
and pulled him out of the pulpit."* This appears to have had the
effect of quelling the people ; for during the subsequent out¬
break of " forty-five," nothing is said of the disloyalty of the
parish either in tradition or record.
SECTION II.
" A race renovvn'd of old,
Whose war-cry oft has waked the battle-swell."
Scott's Don Roderick.
If the value or consequence of ancient lands can be judged of
from the noble birth of their possessors, or from the part which
their old owners enacted in the affairs of the kingdom, those of
Finhaven had been of marked consideration, for the whole of its
old proprietors were not only men of warlike and intrepid cha¬
racter, but of the highest family connection.
Before noticing its proprietory history, however, it may be
observed that a great part of Finhaven was occupied by the
Forest of Plater, which was one of the extensive primitive woods
that partially survived the hatchet and faggot of a long line
of destructive invaders. Apart from the havoc made by the
common enemy, these immense tracts of natural wood, which
mostly consisted of oaks, were also greatly reduced in old times,
from the extent and number of the presents and gifts of timber
which Royalty made from them by way of payment and favour,
both for warlike services, and for the necessities of religious
houses.—The Prior and Canons of Rostinoth, for example,
had power from Robert the Bruce to cut wood here at all con¬
venient seasons ;f and while Edward held the temporary sway
of the kingdom, he directed the keeper of the Forest of Selkirk
to deliver, amongst other articles of its produce, 110 less than
sixty oaks to the Bishop of Glasgow,\ by which means, and sub¬
sequently through agricultural improvements, the most of those
* Par. Peg., 171G. f (a.d. 1317)—Robertson's Index. £ (a.d. 1291)— Rotuli Scotiee, vol. i.
1'
138
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
extensive forests were dilapidated. The only other known
royal forests in Angus-sliire, besides Plater, were those of
Kingenny in Monifieth; Kilgerry, in Menmuir, and a part of
that of Alyth; and Drymie, in Rescobie, where a royal castle
once stood, and where Donald Bane is said to have died. Mon-
treuthmont, of which the Tullochs were made hereditary keepers
by Robert I., was also a royal forest,* and several others are
supposed to have lain along the Sidlaws.
The extent of none of these forests is now ascertainable, but,
according to tradition, that of Plater extended from the South
Esk at Finhaven to the hill of Kirriemuir—a distance of at least
seven miles as the crow flies, and was so dense, that the wild cat
could leap from tree to tree. It also included the hill of Fin-
haven, and perhaps stretched eastward as far as the river Noran,
since the lands which lie betwixt that stream and Finhaven are
called Mark-house, which, according to the northern dialects,
means " the castle in the forest." The name of Plater is of
doubtful origin, and sometimes written Platone and Platon ; and,
it may be noticed that the Prior and Canons of Rostinoth, in the
time of Alexander III. (long prior to the date of Bruce's grant),
had a right to the tenth of the hay grown in the meadows of this
forest.f Four oxengates of arable land, or about fifty-two acres,
were also given out of it by David II. to Murdoch del Rhynd,
for a reddendo or payment to the Crown of a pair of white
gloves and two pennies of silver annually; t and as this land is
described as next adjoining Casse, or Carse, which lies on the
south side of Finhaven Hill, it not only shews that Hill to have
formed part of the Forest of Plater, but also proves, that amidst
those great plantations, and at this early date, agricultural
enterprise was not wholly unknown.
Like that of other royal forests, its keepership was an ap¬
pointment of much importance ; and the ruins of what are called
the Forester's House, or sometimes " Lindsay's Hall," were
traceable about the middle of the muir towards the beginning of
* Original Charter in possession of P. Chalmers, Esq., of Aldbar.
t Chalmers' Caledonia, vol. i. p. 791.
j (a.d. 139(5)—Robertson's Index. It is said that during the guardianship of the king¬
dom by Sir Andrew Murray, that he and the Earls of Fife and March abode here for a
limited period during the winter of 1336-7, and passing from this to the neighbourhood of
Panmure, they routed Lord Montfort, and slew about 4000 of his followers. —We are not aware
that either of these circumstances are authenticated.
FINHAVEN—THE FORESTERS OF PLATER.
139
this century ; and the office, as we shall shortly see, was held,
prior to the time of the Lindsays, by some of the most illustrious
noblemen of the kingdom.
The first Forester of Plater, of whom any record exists, was
Alexander Comyn, the brave Earl of Buchan, who slew Gilles-
cope and his sons for the murder of Thomas of Thirlstane, and
who, about 1250, mortified an annual of two silver marks, or
nearly two shillings and three pence sterling, out of the lands
of Fothnewyn to the monastery of Arbroath.* It is unknown
whether the Earl held the lands before this date, nor' doesAt ap¬
pear whether he was proprietor at the time of his death, which
happened in 1288-9.f The next person associated with it is
" Philip the Forester," through whose boldness Bruce gained
admission to the Castle of Forfar in 1308, while it was strongly
garrisoned by the English.:}; This capture was effected by Philip
making an escalade under night, when he succeeded in letting
down the bridges, and making a passage for the Scots, who put
most of the inmates to the sword, while others, in making their
escape, were drowned in the loch which surrounded the castle.
It was, perhaps, on the death of Philip, that Bruce gave a
grant of Finhaven, and the adjoining lands of Carsegownie, to
his natural son Sir Robert,|| who was slain at the battle of Dup-
plin in 1332 ; but in little more than two years from the date
of Sir Robert's entry, these estates were again in other hands,
having been granted to one Hew Polayne,§ of the doings of
whom, or the history of his family, all record is silent.
William, the famous Earl of Ross, is the next proprietor ;
and, for some cause now unknown, a forced resignation of the
church and lands was obtained from him, but receiving them
back in 1369,he made a free-will resignation during the follow¬
ing year, not only of Finhaven, but of the rest of his propertv,
and was followed in the former by Sir David de Anandia, who re¬
signed his right in 1375. It was at that period, after the lands
and Forestership of Finhaven had passed through those various
proprietors, that they fell to the family of Lindsay, and, under
charter of that date, granted at Scoon by King Robert II., Sir
Reg. de Aberbrotlioe, p. 2GG.
J Tytler's Hist, of Scot., vol. i. p. 231,
§ (a.d.
1 Dalrymple's Annals, vol. i. p. 203.
h (a.d. 1322) —Robci tsou's Index.
H Reg. Mag. Sigill., p. GG5, No. 215,
140
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Alexander Lindsay of Glenesk had the patronage of the church,
together with the office of Forester of the Forest of Plater.*
The surname of Polayne, or Paulin, has not occurred to us
in our reading as connected with the shire before the time above
noticed; but, the Annands were a serviceable and worthy race,
and of considerable local standing even before the days of Bruce,
for a William de Anaund occurs among the Angus-shire barons,
who swore fealty to Edward at Berwick in 1296.f Perhaps the
Sir David de Annand who clove the steel-clad English knight
and his horse through on the streets of Edinburgh with one fell
blow of his ponderous battle axe,]; was the son of this William,
and the immediate progenitor of Sir David of Finhaven. It is
certain, however, that whether of the same stock or not, a family
of the same name held property in the shire in the following
century ; for a Patrick Annand is designed of Melgund in the
neighbouring parish of Aberlemno in 1478,1! and the surname is
still common in the district.
Whether the Earl of Buchan's grant to the monks of Ar¬
broath was confirmed by subsequent proprietors does not appear;
but in 1380, and immediately before Sir Alexander Lindsay went
on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he rebuilt the church, as before
intimated, and assembled his family and friends to witness its
consecration by Stephen, bishop of the diocese of Brechin, when
he erected it into a prebend of that cathedral, where the Hector
had a stall in the choir, and said mass for the safe conduct of the
noble donor.
It is unknown whether Sir Alexander Lindsay, or any of
his predecessors in Finhaven, had a castle or residence there ;
for no notice of such occurs until after the ennobling of his son,
Sir David, who is supposed to have built the first castle ; and,
so long as the great Glenesk branch of the family existed, this
was their principal country residence, and here, or in their
palace at Dundee, the " Tiger " Earl, and his son the original
Duke of Montrose, and most of the other Earls of the Glenesk
line of Crawford, first saw the light.
The town residence, or " Lodging," of the Earls of Crawford
was situated in Nethergate Street of Dundee, and was so cx-
- Hog. Mil}?. Sigill., p. 188, No. oa.
t (A,P. n1!.")—TytliTs' Ilir.t. o] Soot., vol, ii, ]», 12,
t Ragman Rolls, p. 120.
II Acta Auilitorum, Juno 4.
F1NHAVEN—THE CRAWFORD BURIAL PLACE. 141
tensive, that it stretched from thence south to the river Tay, and
being entered by a massive gateway, on which there was a battle¬
ment bearing the legend—"SUa&t'D Sort) JUnfcgag, liarl of ©rafoforh"
—it had altogether a fine princely appearance.* It is probable
that the property on which this palace stood was owned by
the first Earl's uncle, " the good Sir James," as he founded a
Convent in Dundee for the ransom of Christian Captives from
Turkish slavery, which ultimately assumed the character of an
hospital, and its revenues, originally " princely magnificent,"
were enlarged by a gift of the church of Kettins, near Cupar in
Angus, from Robert III.
The attachment of the Earls of Crawford to Dundee as a
burial place, may have arisen from the circumstance of Sir
James' favour for it, or from the interest which they had in the
great customs or revenues of the burgh; or, it may have been
from the foundation of a church and tower on the rock of Saint
Nicholas by the first Earl on his return from the overthrow of
Lord Welles at the famous tournament at London Bridge. This
rock is said to have been the site of the original church of
Dundee, or of that which was founded by the Earl of Huntingdon
in fulfilment of a vow which he made while his life was en¬
dangered in the crazy prow which landed him here 011 his return
from the holy wars ; but all trace of this, as well as of Craw¬
ford's church and tower, are gone, and the rock itself is sorrily
represented by a mere fragment. This, however, was not the
place of the Crawford sepulture, it being within the church of
the Greyfriars, which stood in the Houff,\ or old burial place;
and, from the time of the first Earl, down to that of the
demolition of their tombs by the fanatics of the sixteenth
century, it was the last cold home of most of the Lords and
Ladies of Crawford, including the renowned Earl Beardie, and
his son the Duke of Montrose. But, from the period of the
sacrilegious breaking down of the fine stone effigies, and Gothic
archways and columns, and the scattering of the bones of their
ancestors, their future place of interment was within the fine
church of St. Mary in the same town, which was completely
destroyed by the conflagration of 1841,t and no trace cither
* Lives, vol. i. p. 110.
t Vide Thomson's History of Dundee for an account of this burning?, and for ecclesiastical
and other antiquities.
142
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
of the Lindsay residence or burial is now to be found within
the bounds of this important and thriving burgh.
The principal incidents of the life of Earl David, the founder
of the church and "Lodging" at Dundee, have already been
alluded to; and it only requires to be observed, that after enact¬
ing those chivalrous feats for which he is so famous in story,
and mortifying large sums to various churches, he closed his
valorous career in his princely residence of Finhaven, in the
month of February 1407, at the early age of forty-one, and, as
before noticed, was buried in the family vault at Dundee, beside
his royal spouse, Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Robert II.
Little is recorded of his successor beyond the fact of his being
a negociator in the affairs of the sister kingdom—a commissioner
for the release of James I., and one of the hostages for his ran¬
som in 1423, at which time his annual revenue was estimated at
a thousand merks, being far beyond that of any other of the
Scottish nobles, with the single exception of the Earl of Moray,
whose income and Crawford's were equal.* By his wife, the
daughter and heiress of Dunbar of Cockburn, he left a son, whose
career, and that of his successor, were perhaps the most remark¬
able of any other of the representatives of the noble house to
which they belonged.
Succeeding his father in 1439, the third Earl became asso¬
ciated with the Earl of Douglas in the well-known league of
defence against the allies of the King, and was also the means
of ousting Chancellor Crichton and Livingstone; and although
the selfishness of the purposes of Crawford and Douglas were
apparent to most of their fellow barons, none dared to oppose
them, even in the lawless course of plunder and bloodshed which
characterised their doings. Bishop Kennedy of St. Andrews,
however, had watched the whole proceedings with a scrutinizing
dread and patience worthy a patriot and man. of genius; and
using his influence in behalf of the injured Chancellor, soon in¬
curred the displeasure of Crawford and his followers, who, at
the head of a band of reckless vassals and kinsmen harried his
lands and burned his granges, and being deaf to all remonstrance,
Crawford was excommunicated " with mitre and staff, bell,
book, and candle, for a year."f This he treated with contempt;
* Rymer's Fcedcra, vol. x. p. 3A7. t Lives, vol. i. p. 127.
FINHAVEN—BATTLE OF ARBROATH. 143
but, as his biographer says, " the sacrilege met with its reward,
and within a twelvemonth." This was in the bloody feud which
occurred at Arbroath on Sunday, the 13th* of January 1445-6,
when Alexander Ogilvy of Inverquharity was chosen by the
chapter of the convent to act as chief Justiciar, or judge in civil
affairs throughout their regality, in place of the Master of Craw¬
ford, whose extravagance had rendered a change necessary.
Crawford determind upon retaining his influential office, and
the Ogilvys, equally bent on asserting their right, determined
to settle the contest by arms ; and " there can be little doubt,"
says Mr. Tytler, " that the Ogilvys must have sunk under this
threatened attack, but that accident gave them a powerful ally in
Sir Alexander Seton of Gordon, afterwards Earl of Huntly, who,
as he returned from court, happened to lodge for the night at the
Castle of Ogilvy, at the moment when this baron was mustering
his forces against the meditated assault of Crawford. Seton,
although in no way personally interested in the quarrel, found
himself, it is said, compelled to assist the Ogilvys, by a rude but
ancient custom, which bound the guest to take common part
with his host in all dangers which might occur so long as the food
eaten under his roof remained in his stomach. With the small
train of attendants and friends who accompanied him, he joined
the forces of Inverquharity, and proceeding to the town of
Arbroath, found the opposite party drawn up in great strength
on the outside of the gates. The families thus opposed in mortal
defiance to each other, could number among their adherents
many of the bravest and most opulent gentlemen in the county,
and the two armies exhibited an imposing appearance of armed
knights, barbed horses, and embroidered banners. As the com-
batents, however, approached each other, the Earl of Crawford,
who had received information of the intended combat, being
anxious to avert it, suddenly appeared on the field, and gallop¬
ing up between the two lines, was mortally wounded by a
soldier, who was enraged at his interference, and ignorant of his
rank. The event naturally increased the bitterness of hostility,
and the Crawfords, who were assisted by a large party of the
vassals of Douglas, infuriated at the loss of their chief, attacked
the Ogilvies with a desperation which soon broke their ranks,
* [So given in " Lives." Perhaps the battle was on the 9th, to which the " obitus " of the
Earl's death (giving the 17th) nearly agrees with the " week of lingering torture."]
144
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
and reduced them to irreclaimable disorder. Such, however,
was the gallantry of their resistance, that they were almost en¬
tirely cut to pieces; and five hundred men, including many noble
barons in Forfar and Angus, were left dead upon the field.
Seton himself had nearly paid with his life the penalty of his
adherence to the rude usages of the times; and John Forbes of
Pitsligo, one of his followers, was slain ; nor was the loss which
the Ogilvies sustained in the field their worst misfortune; for
Lindsay, with his characteristic ferocity, and protected by the
authority of Douglas, let loose his army upon their estates; and the
flames of their castles, the slaughter of their vassals, the plunder
of their property, and the captivity of their wives and children,
taught the remotest adherents of the Justiciar of Arbroath how
terrible was the vengeance which they had provoked."*
It is also worthy of remark, that from the part borne by a
younger brother of the unfortunate Inverquharity in this matter,
the house of Clova had its origin. This arose from the fact of
Thomas Ogilvy having not only deserted his clan on the occa¬
sion, and fought on the Lindsay side, but from his having taken
part at an after period in the destruction of the castle of his
birth. For this he had a grant of the lands of Clova from
Crawford, who was then possessor of them, and thus founded
the Clova branch of the Ogilvys, who subsisted in a direct line
from the first Thomas for many generations.
Earl David died at Finhaven " after a week of lingering
torture," and the sentence of excommunication never having
been removed, "no man durst earth him" until it was withdrawn
by order of the Bishop who pronounced it. The laird of Inver¬
quharity was taken prisoner and carried to the castle of his anta¬
gonist, where he also died of his wounds, or, according to tra¬
dition, where he was smothered with a down pillow by his own
sister, the Countess of Crawford, out of revenge for the loss of
her husband.f It is, perhaps, in reference to this foul transac¬
tion, and to the popularity of the Lindsays at the time, that
the following couplet refers—
" Ugly you lived, and Ugly you die,
And now in an Ugly place you lie."|
* Tytler's Hist, of Scot., vol. iv. p. 49, Ac. f Lives, vol. i. p. 130.
t Ugly, or Ogly, which means frightful or abominable, is a well-known pun on the noble
surname of Ogilvy. The unfortunate baron of Inverquharity is said to have been buried in
FINHAVEN—BATTLE OF BRECHIN1. 145
The Lindsay party burned the Conventual church of Ar¬
broath before they left the town, and tradition points out a
patch of ground to the north of the Abbey, as " the yettis of
Arbrotlie," or the place where the battle began ; while the
tumuli in the neighbourhood are supposed to mark the graves of
those who fell on the occasion. The melee was not wholly con¬
fined to this point, however, for a detachment of the Ogilvys
flying in the direction of Leys, in the parish of Inverkeillor,
was surprised by the Lindsays, when the affray was re¬
sumed with great violence. The remembrance of this battle
was long preserved in the measured strains of rude minstrelsy ;
but all trace of the rhyme is lost, with the exception of this soli¬
tary couplet, which evidently refers to the latter part of the
engagement:—
" At the Loan o' the Leys the play began,
An' the Lindsays o'er the Ogilvys ran."
On succeeding to the Earldom, the extravagant Justiciary was
ever after known as " The Tiger," and " Earl Beardie," because
of the ferocity of his temper, and the exuberance of his beard.
The league betwixt Douglas and Boss being still in force,
was religiously adhered to by all parties ; and as the King found
that he had unwarily given Douglas too much power, he took
the opportunity of his short absence at the court of Borne, and
superseded him in his office of Lieutenant-General of the king¬
dom—burned his castle, and otherwise wasted his lands.
Being apprised of these matters, Douglas hastened his return
from Italy, and he and his friends not only determined on resist¬
ing all the King's attempts to suppress their influence, but entered
into a conspiracy with the English rebels for his overthrow, and
the usurpation of the government. Aware of these proceedings,
and determined if possible to bring them to a close, the King
invited Douglas to supper at Stirling Castle on the evening of the
13th of February 1452, whither he went on the faith of a safe con¬
duct under the Great Seal. His Majesty led Douglas to a side
apartment after supper, and remonstrating with him on his law-
the aisle, on the south side of the kirk of Kinnell, the Lords Ogilvy of Airlie having held the
lands of Balishan in that parish (or "the town of the hill," as the descriptive Gaelic etymon Bal-
chien implies), from the Abbey of Arbroath as Bailies thereof. The walls of the aisle were long
adorned by the reputed boot and spur of the luckless knight, but the former rotted away, and
the latter, which is of great size and has a rowel as big as a crown piece and toothed like a saw,
is carefully preserved in the manse, and is perhaps the largest spur ever seen in the locality.
Q
146
LAND OF TIIE LINDSAYS.
less intrigue, urged him to break the covenant which he held
with Crawford and Koss. Though disarmed, and in the midst
of his foes, Douglas determinedly refused to comply with James'
request, and the King, exclaiming with an oath—"If yon will
not break this league, I shall!"—struck him to the heart with a
dagger. On this Sir Patrick Gray, and several others who were
secreted near the fatal chamber, rushed on the unfortunate Earl,
and finishing the cold-blooded act of royalty, threw the carcase
out at the window into the palace garden, from which time the
aperture has been called " Douglas1 Window." This murder
was signal for open rebellion on the part of Douglas' adherents.
His brothers, stung with horror and indignation, proclaimed the
King a traitor and a liar at the very gates of his palace, and had
the Earl's safe conduct ignominiously dragged at the tail of a
horse through the streets of Stirling, and afterwards set the
town on fire.
Meanwhile, Crawford was far from unemployed. No sooner
had the news of Douglas' murder reached him, than he summoned
his kinsmen and vassals throughout Angus, and prepared for a
dreadful onset; and the King learning the precarious state of
matters, and desirous to cut off all communication betwixt the
armies of Douglas and Crawford, commanded Huntly to march
southward, while he himself led a powerful army to the north
for the purpose of joining him. Crawford, 011 the other hand,
equally anxious to check the progress of the new Lieutenant-
General, marshalled a great body of vassals and kinsmen; and,
when barely ten miles from his own castle, met his antagonist
full in the face, for
"Just as he reach'd the fatal plaiu,
Where Baliol lost his sway ;*
Lord Huntly and the royal train
Appear'd in full array."
Although greatly outnumbered by his opponents, Crawford
was undaunted, and the contest began on both sides with the
utmost determination. The skill and valour displayed by the
rebels were so great, that for long the issue was doubtful, and
might have terminated favourably for Crawford, had he not
* This alludes to Baliol's penance, which took place in the kirkyard of Stracathro, 011 the
7th of July, 1296. He resigned the Crown at Brechin Castle, on the 10th of the same month.—
1'rynne.
FIN1IAVEN—EARL BEARDIE'S DEFEAT. 147
incautiously refused to comply with some demands made by
Collace of Balnamoon on the battle field.* Collace, who com¬
manded three hundred of the most efficient and best equipped of
the rebel forces, immediately threw his whole weight into the
balance of royalty, and ere long decided the contest, which, ac¬
cording to all historians, could not otherwise have been accom¬
plished. The fate of the rebels was now sealed—a breach had
been made in their ranks ; and, unable to withstand the deadly
shocks which they were every moment receiving from their an¬
tagonists, they fled in dismay. Earl Beardie lost his brother,
Sir John of Brechin, the laird of Pitairlie, and several other
clansmen and follpwers ; and he himself, flying from the scene
of action, reached Finhaven Castle, and calling for a cup of wine,
gave utterance to the extraordinary exclamation, that rather
than have lost the day, " he wud be content to hang seven years
in hell by the breers (eyelashes) o' the e'e!"
Like the Ogilvy followers at the battle of Arbroath, those of
the Lindsays on this occasion were mostly habited in green-
coloured uniform, and to this circumstance Beardie is said to
have attributed the loss of this field, as the Ogilvys did of
Arbroath. From the time of these respective engagements, both
families conceived a great dislike to that colour, and the Lindsays
considered it so very ominous, that they vowed henceforth, that
" A Lindsay with green
Should never be seen."
In the bustle and confusion consequent on Beardie's defeat
and flight from the battle field, one of the royalists became so en¬
tangled in the train of the fugitive, that he could not possibly
extricate himself, and seeing his danger, followed his adver¬
sary to his castle. This courageous person was a son of Donald,
the thane of Cawdor, who, according to another account, had
* A curious coincidence is told respecting Uuntly on the morning of the battle, which
contrasts singularly with the story of Ueardie and Collace. The victorious Earl, it will be
remembered, was himself a Seton by birth, and only succeeded to the estates and titles of
Huntly on marrying Elizabeth Gordon, the heiress. In appointing his commanding officers on
the morning of the battle of Brechin, he placed his second son, of Gycht, at the head of the
Gordon clan, when the laird of Pitlurg, as chief of the Gordons, claimed the leadership.
Iluntly refused his request, and Pitlurg, drawing himself aside, and taking his black bonnet
off his head, waved it aloft, exclaiming,—"A' that's come o' me, follow me !"—when the whole
elan deserted Iluntly, and rallied round Pitlurg. The Earl immediately submitted, and good
humouredly said, "Gentlemen, you have overcome me—I yield it to you! Pitlurg, command
the Gordons ! And now that you have got the better of me, let me see that you beat Crawford !"
— Old Ptat. .feet., vol. xi. p. '.'03.
148
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
stolen iiFdisguise to the camp of Earl Beardie, as a spy. All
agree, however, that
" A silver cup he from the table bore
and that before the battle of Brechin he had shewn such a
want of bravery that he was branded and stigmatised as a
coward ; and, determined to wipe the foul spot from his scut¬
cheon, he performed those prominent and daring exploits which
history has ascribed to him. While quaffing the " blood red
wine," the Tiger and his party were aroused by an alarm of the
advance of Huntly, and in the hustle and confusion which fol¬
lowed, Calder succeeded in carrying off the silver drinking
cup. This he presented to his chief, as an evidence of his
courage in bearding, as it were, the "Tiger" in his den, and
received an augmentation to his patrimony of Assuanlee, or
favours of a similar sort.'55'
This celebrated cup, which is here figured, measures, ex¬
clusive of the figure at the top,f about fifteen inches in height,
holds a Scotch pint and two gills. It is
now in possession of Mrs. Alexander Gor¬
don, only surviving child of the late Sir
Ernest Gordon of Park and Cobairdy, and
the history of its acquirement by Sir
Ernest's father is equally curious as the
romantic manner in which it is said to
have been originally come by:—"Some
years after the ' forty-five,' a party of
gentlemen, Jacobites, and all more or less
under the ban of Government, ventured
to hold a meeting at a small hostelry in
Morayshire, between Elgin and Forres.
In the course of their sederunt, one of their
number, Gordon of Cobairdy, got up to
mend the fire, and, in doing so saw some¬
thing at the bottom of the peat-bunker,
or box for holding the peats, which seemed to glitter. He
* " Assuanlee was granted to the Calders twelve years before the battle of Brechin."—
laves, vol. i. p. 13S.
t The figure on the top is the crest of Gordon of Cobairdy. The woodcut is after a sketch
by C. Elphinstone Palryniplo, Esq., kindly communicated by Lord Lindsay.
FINHAVEN—BATTLE FIELD OF BRECHIN.
149
fished the object out, and found that it was a large and hand¬
some old cup, but perfectly flattened. On enquiry, it turned
out that this was the celebrated Cup of Assuanlee, which had
been pledged to the landlord of the inn by the Laird, a drink¬
ing spendthrift, in security for a debt. Cobairdy, who was a
man of considerable taste and a collector of rarities, never lost
sight of the cup, but, when opportunity offered, got it into his
possession, though he and his family had to pay more than one
sum of money which had been raised by Assuanlee .011 the
security of his little-cared-for heir loom. Having passed into
Cobairdy's possession, he had it perfectly restored to shape.
There are no arms upon it, though one account says that the
arms of the Earl of Crawford were upon it, but there is this in¬
scription in the centre of the lid :—' Titubantem firmavit Hunt-
leus—Breichen, Maii 20 (or 28) 1453,'—but in characters appa¬
rently of the seventeenth century."*
The battle of Brechin was fought at the Haercairn, about
two miles north-east of the city, on the 18th of May 1452. The
battle field lies on the confines of the parishes of Brechin and
Stracathro, and, although a place of chance selection, was pecu¬
liarly adapted for the purpose. Including the flats of Leighton-
hill on the south, and those of Pert and Dun on the east, it could
not embrace much less than a square of three or four miles ; and
was in full view of the steeples and mysterious Bound Tower of
Brechin, and, according to tradition, had been used as a battle
field at an earlier date. It may be observed, that the effects
of the battle of Brechin, though not immediately decisive in
favour of the young King, were ultimately productive of the
best consequences to him and his successors.
The place where one of the standards was unfurled is the
highest point of the rising ground on the north side of the battle
field, where a large rude oblong stone still lies, which is indis¬
criminately called " Huntly " and "Earl Beardie's Stone," and
here, it is said, one or other of the chiefs planted his banner.
The whole of this height is known by the name of " Huntly
Hill," (so called, doubtless, in honour of the victorious captain),
and commands one of the finest views of the lands of Edzell, and
of the mountains of Glcnesk and Lethnot. Crawford's chagrin is
• Lives, vol. i. p. 138.
150
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
not, therefore, to be wondered at, for although the lands on which
the battle was fought were under the superiority of the Bishop
of Brechin, Crawford was virtually lord of the whole, being
hereditary Constable of that city and Sheriff of Angus ; and,
besides, wherever he turned his eyes, the lands of his numerous
vassals and kinsmen were always before him.
Still, much as Crawford felt the defeat, it was far from re¬
straining his revengeful arm, which was dealing destruction on
all sides; for he and his rebellious followers burned Walter
Carnegie's Castle of Kinnaird*—ravaged the lands of the traitor
Collace—and those of the other Angus barons who had borne
arms against him. He was now a denounced, and virtually, a
landless outcast—" his lands, life, and goods " were confiscated
—his armorial bearings " scraipit out of the book of arms for
ever"—and the important Lordship of Brechin, and the heredi¬
tary office of Sheriff of Aberdeen, were given to Huntly.
His accomplices, the Earls of Douglas, Murray, and Orrnond,
were also carrying on like depredations in their districts, and
although all of them were summoned before the Parliament at
Edinburgh for their murderous and pillaging transactions, the
summons was treated so contemptuously, that the King despatched
an army to bring them under submission. Douglas, who lacked
the determination of purpose, which were the leading charac¬
teristics of most of his ancestors, was soon subdued; and, on
succeeding thus far, the King made a journey northward in per¬
son, accompanied by Bishop Kennedy, the Earl of Huntly, and
other advisers, for the purpose of quelling Crawford. The de¬
termined spirit which Crawford had shewn in the matter, incited
the King so much against him that he not only vowed to disin¬
herit him, but to make the highest stone of his castle the lowest!
On being informed of Douglas' submission, however, Crawford
finding himself deserted by all save his friends in Angus, wisely
relinquished the vain contest, and submitting himself to the royal
clemency, was restored to his estates and titles, and henceforth
became an attached and steady supporter of the monarchy.
The place where this remarkable scene occurred lies about a
mile west of the castle, and has ever since borne the name of
Kcvcl Green, and the stone which the King threw from the
" Crawford's Peerage.
FINIIAVEN—EARL BEARDIE's SUBMISSION. 151
battlements was long fixed to the foot of the keep by an iron
chain. It is also related, that on the occasion of Beardie's submis¬
sion, which was made in presence of his fellow rebels of Angus,
he made so long and impressive a speech, that in the quaint
language of the chronicler, " They held up their hands to the
King maist dolorously, crying ' Mercy !' while [till] their sobbing
and sighing cuttit their words that almaist their prayers could
not be understood ; through the whilk their raise sic ruth and
pity amang the company, that nane amaist could contain them¬
selves with tears."* The substance of Earl Beardie's long speech
on this occasion is thus briiefly summed up in an unpublished local
rhyme :—
" But now his pride a humbling figure shews,
And pale, and sad, in sackcloth forth he goes ;
Bends on his knees, and with repentant eyes,
For James' smile, the Tiger Earl cries—
Recounts the time his first of title threw
Lord Welles down, in Richard's kingly view !
Talk'd of the royal blood that filled his veins,
And begg'd in tears his lost and wide domains !—
Soon were they gi'en, and soon the royal host
Join'd Crawford's banquet—drank to Crawford's toast !
But James, still mindful of the vow he made,
(When Crawford's power the rebel force array'd ;)
That his own hand the loftiest stone would throw
Of proud Finhaven to the earth below ;—
And, bounding nimbly to the highest tower,
Where Beardie wont to pass his leisure hour—
Down to the lawn a crazy stone he threw,
And, smiling cried—" Behold, my promise true !"
Providence, however, permitted Earl Beardie to survive the
restitution of his house only for a limited period, for in six
months thereafter " he tuik the hot fever, and died in the year
of God ane thousand, four hundredth, fifty-four years, and was
buried with great triumph in the Grey Friars of Dundee, in his
forbears' [ancestors'] sepulchre."
« Lindsay of Pitscottie's Chronicle of Scotland, quoted in Lives, vol. i. p. 142, &c. A
curious account of the Battle of Brechin will also be found in a pamphlet entitled " Don, a
l'ocm," first printed in 1655; it has been often reprinted.
152 land uf the lindsays.
SECTION III.
" They rose to power, to wealth, to fame ;
They gain'd a proud, a deathless name,—
First in the field—first in the state-
But, ah ! the giddy tide of fate
Reflow'd, and swept them from their throne,
And thus they 'came Misfortune's own 1"
" 'Twixt truce and war, such sudden change
Was not infrequent, nor held strange."
Earl Beardie left two sons, David and Alexander—the first
succeeded as fifth Earl of Crawford, and the latter was the first
designed Lindsay of Auchtermonzie, which he inherited through
his mother. Earl David being a minor at the decease of his
father, was brought up, as before intimated, under the guardian¬
ship of his uncle, Sir Walter of Beaufort; and when only
eighteen years of age (it being customary to marry young in
those days), he formed a matrimonial alliance with Elizabeth,
daughter of the noble house of Hamilton. During the minority
of James III., and while the Boyd faction were in power, Craw¬
ford was among the earliest to denounce their tyranny towards
the King, and to take active steps for his release. In these cir¬
cumstances, various royal favours were conferred upon him—
such as the Keepership of the castle of Berwick—the life-rent of
the important Lordship of Brechin and Navar—and the Sheriff¬
ship of Angus, with the possession of the stronghold of Broughty
at the mouth of the Tay. These were well merited by the Earl,
for he ever continued the steady and unflinching supporter of
his King; and, when the sceptre was attempted to be wrested
from his hand by his own rebellious son and ambitious accom¬
plices, Crawford raised a regiment of six thousand horsemen,
which, together with other two thousand which his influence
secured from his kinsman, Lord Lindsay of the Byres, greatly
contributed to rout the insurrectionists at the fatal rising at
Blackness. For this signal service, he was raised to the dignity
of a Duke on the 18th of May, 1488, " to be entitled and de¬
signated, in perpetual future times, Duke, hereditary of Mon¬
trose, and was the first instance of the rank of Duke having
been conferred upon a Scottish subject not of the royal family."
FINIIAYEX—THE DUKE OF MONTROSE.
153
This title was assumed from the borough of Montrose, which,
with its castle, customs, and fisheries, and the Lordship of Kin-
clevin in Perthshire, were erected and incorporated into a regality
to be called the Duchy of Montrose, and were held on the
tenure of the Duke rendering therefrom a red rose yearly, on the
feast of St. John the Baptist.*
Although the newly made Duke lived in princely splendour—
having his squires, armour-bearers, chamberlains, chaplains, and
a herald (the privileged appendage of royalty)—he was not so
intoxicated by the high position which he held as to be unmind¬
ful of the interests of his King and country; and, with as great
alacrity as before, he raised and commanded a large force of
horse and foot at the fatal battle of Sauchieburn, where he was
wounded and taken prisoner, and where the King was treacher¬
ously killed in a miller's barn by a pretended priest, while lying
there wounded by a fall from his horse.f The forfeiture of estates
and titles with which the followers of James III. were visited,
was very partial in the case of the Duke of Montrose; for,
unlike the others, he had no part in the intrigue with the Court
of England, and in consequence had his power only curtailed by
the loss of the hereditary sheriffship of Forfarshire and the Castle
of Broughty, which were given to Lord Gray ; while his title of
Duke, in terms of the general Rescissory Act of 17tli October
1488, was suspended only for a limited period, being restored to
him on the 19th of September thereafter.
Although from the time of the King's luckless death, the Duke
took little part in the affairs of the kingdom, he became nearly as
great a favourite with James IV. as he had been with his father,
and is mentioned in the most respectful and honourable manner
* From this time the Duke charged his paternal coat of arms with a red rose in chief,
which is still the cognisance of the royal burgh of Montrose. In contradistinction to the Lindsay,
or original Dukedom of Montrose, the title of the noble family of Graham (the present Duke) is
assumed from "Aid Monros " in the parish of Maryton, which the Grahams had originally from
Robert I, and from which they long designed themselves. The patent of the Original Dukedom
of Montrose is printed in full in vol. i. p. 458 of " Lives," and the pleas on which the Earl of
Crawford and Balcarres (the heir male of the Duke) founds his Claim to the Dukedom (which is
now pending before the House of Lords), are—(1.) That the original patent of 18th May, 1488, still
exists, and was in no wise affected by the Act Rescissory of October of that year ; (2.) That the
Duke was never attainted; and (3.) That the second patent of 19th September, 1489, was a
grant de novo in terms of the original one.—Orig. Dukedom, of Montrose Case, p. 56, <Ste.
f See Lindsay of Pitscottie's interesting account of the King's murder. It is quoted at
pp. 106-63 of vol. i. of " Lives," as from the best and unpublished MS. in possession of Captain
Wemyss of Wemyss Castle.
R
154
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
by him in the grant de novo of his title ;* and, closing his splendid
career in peace and honour at his castle of Finhaven in 1495,
he was succeeded by his second son John.
Though blest with earthly honour and power greatly beyond
any of his predecessors or compeers, the Duke's domestic peace
was far from undisturbed, for both his sons were reckless and un¬
principled, and sworn enemies to each other ; and the elder is said
to have fallen by the sword of the younger in a broil which hap¬
pened betwixt them in 1489,j* a circumstance which will be more
particularly noticed in a subsequent Chapter. This painful matter
lay dormant for the long period of twenty years, and was revived
by some of Earl John's enemies, when a re-issue of letters were
made " to search the Earl of Crawford for the slaughter of
Alexander, Master of Crawford, his brother," and, as neither the
Earl nor any of his accomplices attended the " Justice ayre" to
which they were summoned, they were all denounced rebels; but
in the course of three months, while leading an important divi¬
sion of native horsemen at the bloody field of Flodden, as one of
" Two Earls of an antique race,"
he, and his valiant kinsman, young Walter of Edzell, and many
other friends, fell in the rash enterprise of their Sovereign, and
thus, by his sudden death, all proceedings were closed against
him.
His non-assumption of the title of Duke of Montrose is be¬
lieved to have arisen from a fear of being charged with the
crime of fratricide, for the advancement of his father to the Duke¬
dom had excited the jealousy of most of the nobles, particularly
the Douglases; and, thus aware that its re-assumption would
be the signal for his impeachment and conviction, he contented
himself with the older title of Earl of Crawford; and, besides, hav¬
ing no surviving issue, he was still less interested.^ Unfortun¬
ately, also, his uncle and successor, Sir Alexander of Auchter-
monzie, was placed in much the same position, for, like his brother,
the Duke of Montrose, his peace of mind was sadly broken by
the almost unparalleled prodigality of his only son, the enormity
of whose misdeeds, as already seen, gained him the remarkable
sobriquet of the " Wicked" or " Evil Master," and for which he
and his issue were excluded from all participation in the titles
* Orig. Dukedom of Montrose Case, p. 5. I Ibid., p. 31. { Ibid., p. 32.
F1NHAVEN—THE ELEVENTH EARL OF CRAWFORD. 155
and estates of Crawford, and were blotted from the record as if
they had never existed.
Under these sad circumstances, as already more fully nar¬
rated, the titles and estates of Crawford passed to Sir David
Lindsay of Edzell, who subsequently, through the most disin¬
terested and praiseworthy motives, had them restored to the dis¬
inherited son of the " Wicked Master," who accordingly suc¬
ceeded, and married a daughter of Cardinal Beaton.* The
marriage was celebrated in the Castle of Finhaven in April
1546 (just a month before the Cardinal's assassination), and her
dowery, which amounted to the great sum of four thousand marks,
is said to have been the largest ever bestowed on any bride at the
period. The Earl, after following a far from commendable
course of life (in which his ingratitude to his benefactor, Edzell,
is amongst the most glaring and heartless), died in 1574, and
was succeeded by his eldest son, David, who was " ane princely
man, but a sad spendthrift."
In this Earl, the impetuosity and recklessness of his ancestors
seemed to have revived with more than ordinary force ; for be¬
sides being singularly selfish and proud, he was so utterly desti¬
tute of conjugal and parental affection, that although his first
wife (who was a daughter of Lord Drummond), brought him
the enormous " tocher " of ten thousand marks, he wrongfully
impugned her character, and returned her to her family in dis¬
grace, and even denied his own offspring the necessaries of food
and raiment. Being accessory to the murder of Lord Glamis
at Stirling, if not the actual perpetrator, he was committed to
prison and arraigned, but for lack of proof was set free ; and
it is curious to notice, notwithstanding the wildness of his life,
that "as he returned through Angus, the inhabitants congra¬
tulated him on his freedom." By way of reprisal for this murder,
which occurred on the 17th of March 1577-8, the tutor of Glamis,
at an after period, killed " the Earl of Crawford's man," for
which he had to pay a great fine by way of manbot, or blood
money.
Earl David, with his relative Sir Walter Lindsay of Bal-
* Her mother was Mariot Ogilvy (daughter of the first Lord Ogilvy of Airlie), who re.
sided latterly at Melgund Castle, which was built by the Cardinal. He acquired the estate iu
1542, and his initials and arms are carved on the lintel of one of the windows; as are those of
Mariot on the corbel of the stair in the west tower, and over the west window.
156
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
gavies, and other popish friends, bore so conspicuous a part in
the Spanish faction of 1588, that he engaged to assist the King
of Spain to make himself master of Scotland, for which, with the
Earls of Huntly, Errol, and Bothwell, he was tried, and being
found guilty of conspiracy, was laid in prison; but a general
amnesty being granted to all state prisoners on the marriage of
the King with Anne of Denmark, Crawford was set at liberty
with the rest, and died soon after. And it is worthy of notice,
that he is the only one of his long and noble line of ancestors
of whom any trace exists about the old castle of Finhaven.*
Little was to be hoped from Earl David's successor, since
the welfare neither of his body nor his soul was matter of any
concern to his father; for while he was attending College at St.
Andrew's, his "pedagogue" informs the amiable Lord Men-
muir that it is " three years since the Master gat any clothing,
saif one stand (suit) at the King's beand in our town. I have
supplyit thir defects as my poverty and credit could serve,—there
is no hope of redress, but either to steal of the town, or sell our
insight (furniture), or get some extraordinar help, gif it were
possible. Haifing therefore used your Lordship's mediation,
[I] thought guid to crave your counsel in this straitness—as it
were betwix shame and despair. The Master, beand now become
ane man in stature and knowledge, takes this heavily, but
patiently, because he is, with this strait handling, in small ac-
compts with his marrows,—yet, praisit be God! above all his
equals in learning. We have usit," he adds, " since your Lord¬
ship's beand in St. Andrew's, all possible moyen, in all reverence
(as we ought) and humility," in dealing with the Earl, " but
little or nothing mendit."f
Left an orphan by his mother, and so little cared for by his
father, had this Earl been other than reckless, it might well have
been deemed a marvel; and, thus, under the guise of extirpating
crime, while, in reality, he had the resentment of private animo¬
sity and the gratification of a vicious appetite only in view, he
joined a band of unprincipled clansmen, who harried the lands
and slew the nearest of their kin. It was he who murdered his
* This is a broken stone slab which was picked from the ruins of the castle, and built into
the wall of an adjoining house. It bears a shield, charged with the initials and date—"E,D.
L, 1593," with the ring, or corunala, of the coronet overtopping the whole.
t Lives, vol. ii. p. 50.
FINHAVEN—EARL HENRY OF CRAWFORD.
157
uncle of Balgavies and persecuted Sir David of Edzell, and
sought the life of his unfortunate son; and, amongst other wild
transactions, tried to complete the ruin of his family by breaking
down the estates.
A succession of desperate and improvident proceedings, how¬
ever, were happily found good ground for apprehending him,
and, by the intervention of his own relations, he was imprisoned
in the Castle of Edinburgh, where he closed his miserable life in
1621. From these circumstances, he is designed " The Prodigal,"
and " Comes Incarceratusand dying without male issue,
was succeeded by his grand uncle, Sir Henry of Kinfauns and
Careston. He left an only child, however, Lady Jean, " an or¬
phan destitute and uncared for, and fated to still deeper debase¬
ment, having run away with a common 'jockey with the horn' or
public herald, and lived latterly by mendicancy—' a sturdy
beggar,' though mindful still of the sphere from which she had
fallen, and ' bitterly ashamed.' Shortly after the Restoration,
Charles II. granted her a pension of one hundred a-year, ' in con¬
sideration of her eminent birth and necessitous condition,' and
this probably secured her comfort during the evening of her
days."*
On succeeding to the Crawford estates, Earl Henry sold Kin¬
fauns and Charteris Hall (which he had acquired through
marriage), with the view, it is said, of paying off the debts in¬
curred on his estates ; but his design never appears to have been
put in execution. Like his enlightened contemporary, Sir
David of Edzell, he had a peculiar taste for architectural em¬
bellishment, and of this the remaining part of the old castle of
Careston, which he erected, is an admirable specimen.
Sir Henry only enjoyed the Earldom for two years, having
died in 1623, leaving three surviving sons, George, Alexander,
and Ludovick—all of whom succeeded as fourteenth, fifteenth,
and sixteenth Earls of Crawford. On the death of Earl Ludovick,
the titles passed by a new patent obtained in 1644 (through the
influence of John Lindsay of the Byres, and to the exclusion of
the preferable branches of Spynie, Edzell, and Balcarres), to the
Byres family, of which were the seventeenth, eighteenth, nine¬
teenth, twentieth, twenty-first, and twenty-second Earls. On
Lives, vol. ii. p. 51.
158
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
the death of the last in 1808, the title devolved on Alexander,
sixth Earl of Balcarres, as twenty-third Earl of Crawford, whose
son is now the head and representative of the Lindsays of Craw¬
ford and Glenesk, and the nearest heir male to the original
Duke of Montrose.
But of all these the family of Earl Henry only falls within
our range, being the last Earl of Crawford who held lands in
Angus.* Like many of his relations, Earl George (the eldest
son of Earl Henry), joined in the thirty years' war in Germany,
and rose to the rank of a Colonel, where he was killed in cold
blood in 1633, by a Lieutenant of his own regiment, who, al¬
though acquitted by the German Council of War, was arrested
by Major-General Leslie, the Governor of Stettin, who had him
immediately " shot at a post." Leaving no male issue, the suc¬
cession devolved on his second brother, also a Colonel, and
he having unfortunately become insane, or " frantic," died in
close confinement, in 1639,t and was succeeded by his third
and youngest brother, Ludovick—the great friend of Charles I.,
and companion in arms of Montrose, to whom his bravery and
generalship was barely second.
Being matter of history, however, a simple enumeration of
the principal adventures of Earl Ludovick's life, will only be
noticed here—the reader being in this case, as in the others, re¬
ferred to the interesting notice of him in the " Lives." It was
in the Spanish wars that he first exhibited that genius for
military tactics which distinguished him through life, having
risen to the rank of Colonel; and on succeeding to the Earl-
f By way of connecting the genealogy of the family of Lindsay-Crawford, however, it may
be observed, that so far from John Lindsay of the Byres having legitimate claim to the Earldom
of Crawford, he was descended from a younger brother of Sir Alexander of Glenesk, the latter of
whose direct male descendants were all represented at the time of the Byres succession by the
houses of Spynie, Edzell, and Balcarres. When the Byres branch failed in the death of George,
the twenty-second Earl of Crawford ia 1808, his estates were owned by his sister, Lady Mary
Lindsay, on whose death in 1834, the fourth Earl of Glasgow (in right of his descent from
Margaret, daughter of Earl Patrick of the Byres) succeeded to the estates as eldest heir general*
The ancient title of the Earldom of Crawford was then claimed by the sixth Earl of Balcarres
(the representative of the disinherited line) and was awarded to his son, the present Earl, on the
11th of August 1848, he being, in consequence, the twenty-fourth Earl of Crawford, and the
Premier Earl on the Union Roll, and heir male and claimant for the dignity and title of the
original Dukedom of Montrose. But for a full account of the interesting houses of Balcarres,
the Byres, and other branches of the Lindsays, the first of which, as we have seen, was founded
by Lord Menmuir, brother to Sir David of Edzell, the reader is referred to the " Lives of the
Lindsays," written by the Right Honourable Lord Lindsay, eldest son and heir apparent to the
Earldom of Crawford and Balcarres,
f Lives, vol. ii. p. 5G.
F1NHAVEN—THE FALL OF THE CRAWFORDS. 1-59
dom, he became the staunch supporter of his own unfortunate
King, throughout the whole of his difficulties. It is believed
that " the incident," as it is called in history, was the joint con¬
coction of him and the Marquis of Montrose, by which it was
proposed to seize Lords Hamilton, Lanark, and Argyle, and
set them on board of ship in Leith harbour, and then to take
Edinburgh Castle and set Montrose free—he being a prisoner
there at the time. The plot was discovered, however, and
Crawford arrested; and it was only through the influence of
John of the Byres, on Ludovick consenting to change the suc¬
cession to the Earldom in his favour, that he obtained bis
release. This foul transaction was completed on the 15th of
January 1642, and in the subsequent August, the Earl joined
the royal standard at Nottingham, with a large troop of cavalry
which he raised for the King's service. He fought at Edgehill
in October thereafter, as also at Lansdown in July 1643, and
defeated General Weller while on his way to Oxford. He was
also at Newbury and Reading, and cutting his way out of Poole,
where he was betrayed, invaded Sussex, and took the castle of
Arundel.
Although the royal cause was generally unsuccessful, Craw¬
ford's individual exertions were not so; but, being defeated, in
common with his fellow royalists, at Marston Moor on the 2nd of
July 1644, the excommunication which was passed upon him by
the Estates in the previous April, was followed by the forfeiture
of his title to Lord Lindsay of the Byres by the illegal Parliament
of that period; and, to crown his disappointment, while bravely
defending Newcastle in October thereafter, he was taken prisoner,
and carried to Edinburgh Castle. Here he remained until the
decisive battle of Kilsyth on the 15th of August, when he and
other prisoners were released by their leader Montrose,—just in
time, however, to witness their total defeat at Philiphaugh.
From that period until the 31st of July 1646, when their
army was dissolved at Rattray, near Blairgowrie, Earl Ludovick
and his horsemen were frequently quartered in Angus, and com¬
mitted many serious ravages in the county. Escaping to the
Continent, he entered his old service in Spain, and was at
Badajoz in June 1649, and two years later was engaged in the
tumult of the Fronde at Paris. All subsequent trace of him is
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
lost, however, " where he ended his career—when or how—
there is no authentic evidence; he is said to have died in France
in 1652, and it is very probable, for Cardinal de Retz, in men¬
tioning his Scottish allies in that year, makes no mention of
their gallant commander ; but nothing is certain except the fact
that he was dead, and without issue, in 1663—the last of the
old original line of the Earls of Crawford."*
Such are a few of the leading characteristics of the lives of
the great Earls of Crawford, of the old Glenesk line. Their
fall, it will be seen, was mainly owing to the misdoings of the
" Prodigal Earl," who had laid the axe so effectually to the root
of the noble house which he so unworthily represented, that only
three years after his incarceration, his uncle, Earl Henry, was
compelled to mortgage the lands to a large amount, which was
done, however, with power of redemption to the grantees on pay¬
ment of the sums advanced.f In 1625, three years after Earl
Henry's death, these bonds were uplifted by Lord Spynie (who
had been fortunate in the German wars), besides which he gave
a sum of fourteen thousand marks to Earl George for the castle,
and the " heretabil richt of ye landis and baronie of Phinhewin,"
of all of which he had possession in the month of April 16304
He only held them, however, for the short space of five years,
when they passed for ever from the hands of the Lindsays, being
granted by Spynie to his brother-in-law, the second Earl of Ivin-
noul,|| who was followed by the Earl of Northesk, who dis¬
poned them in favour of his second son, the Honourable James
Carnegy, on the 22nd of May 1672.
Having thus traced the history of this interesting Lordship and
its owners, from the earliest period to the decline of the ancient
family of Lindsay, we shall now take a view of it from the suc¬
cession of Carnegy down to the present time, which will em¬
brace altogether a period of more than six hundred years.
The wife of the first designed Carnegy of Finhaven was
Anna Lundin, daughter of Robert Maitland, brother german to
John the great Duke of Lauderdale, by his wife Dame Margaret
Lundin of the ancient family of that Ilk. Carnegy sat in the Par-
* Lives, vol. ii. p. 79. t Crawford Case. p. 85. J Ibid,, p. 88. || Printed Uetours,
FINHAVEN—THE " FALSE " CARNEGY OF 1715. 1G1
liament of 1703, and, unlike his nephew of Northesk, was a strong-
opponent of the Union. He had a family of sons and daughters ;
one of the latter was married to Lyon of Auchterhouse, a cadet
of the noble family of Strathmore, and another to Sir John
Ogilvy of Inverquharity. Of the eldest son, Charles, we have
learned nothing; but the youngest succeeded his father, with
consent of his brother, and had charters of the barony of Fin-
haven in 1710, and bore a conspicuous, though far from com¬
mendable, part in the stirring movements of " the fifteen."
He was at one time an ardent supporter of the Stuarts,
and, although admitted as a confidant in their cause, afterwards
sided with the Hanoverians, and thus gained so unenviable a
notoriety that his conduct has formed the theme of more deroga¬
tory Jacobite ditties than one. In the ballad of Sheriffmuir he
is represented as " the best flyer" from the field, and is openly
impeached in the song which follows as having been bought over
by the Government. The latter verse refers to the ejection of
the Rev. Mr. Grub, the last Episcopalian minister of Oathlaw;
and, since it is recorded that he was " never admitted to the
parish by any Church judicatory," it is probable, from the pointed
allusion in the ballad, that he had been originally of Carnegy's
choice, though he supported the subsequent induction of Mr.
Anderson, a Royalist. The song is quaintly entitled
if?c fotnna 6c 6g J&e.
0 heavens, he's ill to be guidit,
His colleagues and he are dividit,
Wi' the court of Hanover he's sidit—
He winna be guidit by me.
They ca'd him their joy and their darling,
Till he took their penny of arling ;
But he'll prove as false as Macfarlane :—
He winna be guidit by me.
He was brought south by a merling,
Got a hundred and fifty pounds sterling,
Which will make him bestow the auld carlin :—
He winna be guidit by me.
He's anger'd his goodson and Fiutry,
By selling his king and his country,
And put a deep stain on the gentry :—
He'll never be guidit by me.
S
162
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
He's join'd the rebellious club, too,
That endeavours our peace to disturb, too ;
He's cheated poor Mr. John Grub, too,
And he's guilty of simony,
lie broke his promise before, too,
To Fintry, Auchterhouse, and Strathmore, too ;
God send him a heavy glengore, too,
For that is the death he will die.
But the circumstance for which Carnegy is best known, is
the murder of the Earl of Strathmore. This unfortunate affair
evidently arose, as will be seen by a perusal of the trial,* from
the taunts and gibes which he received from Lyon of Brigton
anent his ungentlemanly conduct in the cause of the Chevalier.
The circumstances attending this murder are briefly these:—
On Thursday, the 9th of May 1728, several county gentlemen
assembled at Forfar to attend the funeral of a daughter of
Carnegy of Lour. After dinner, according to the custom of
the times, the company adjourned to an inn, where they liberally
regaled themselves until the dusk of the evening. Among these
were Charles, the sixth Earl of Strathmore, his kinsman of
Brigton, and Carnegy of Finliaven. Being all intoxicated,
Brigton first insulted Carnegy by his talk within doors, and on
coming to the street, thrust him into the common kennel.
Enraged at these proceedings, Carnegy, on recovering himself,
ran up to his companions, and making a thrust at Brigton with a
drawn sword, it accidentally passed through the body of Strath¬
more, who was attempting to reconcile the parties, and the wound
being fatal, the Earl died on the following Saturday.
Arraigned before the High Court of Justiciary " for the crime
of wilful and premeditate murder," Carnegy secured the services
of Dundas of Arniston, the future Lord President, and, notwith¬
standing the able pleading for the Crown by the celebrated
Duncan Forbes, who was then Lord Advocate, Dundas suc¬
ceeded in obtaining a verdict of not guilty for his client. This
case is further remarkable as being the first in Scotland in which
the power of a jury was established according to ancient practice,
which was then questioned, of returning a general verdict of
guilt or innocence of the accused, and not merely of determining
whether the facts in the indictment were proved or not.
* See the Trial, as given in Arnot's Criminal Trials, 4to, Edin. 1785, pp. 178-191.
FINHAVEN—MODERN PROPRIETORS.
163
In early life, Carnegy married Margaret, daughter of Sir
William Bennet of Grubett, by whom be had several daughters—
his refusing to consent to the marriage of one of whom with Lord
Bosehill, was given by him as the main cause of his quarrel
with Brigton. His first wife died in 1738, and he subsequently
married Violet Nasmyth, by whom he had his son and heir, and
a daughter " called Babie," or Barbara, who was married to
Dr. Sir Alexander Douglas of Glenbervie, son of the compiler
of the Scottish Peerage and Baronage.
Carnegy died in 1765, and, with the exception of his son,
who died issueless at Lisbon ten years afterwards, he was the
last of his race of Finliaveu, when the succession devolved on his
daughter, Lady Douglas, who, to meet the demands of her
brother's creditors, had the lands sold in 1779. They were pur¬
chased by the fourth Earl of Aboyne, by whose frugality and
industry the ruined estate of his ancestors was restored to its old
and important standing, and in 1781 he resigned Finhaven in
favour of his son by his second wife, the Honourable Douglas
Gordon Ilallyburton, who sat long in Parliament for Forfarshire.
Ilallyburton sold Finhaven in the year 1804, to James Ford,
an extensive manufacturer in Montrose. Ford's circumstances
having become embarrassed, he went abroad and followed the
laborious calling of a teacher, and the estate being exposed for sale
in 1817, was bought by the present venerable Marquis of Iluntly,
then Lord Aboyne, at the price of £65,000, being an advance
of no less than £26,000 over the purchase money paid for it
by his father in 1779.
Like the affairs of his predecessor, those of the Marquis also
became embarrassed, and in the year 1843, Finhaven was pur¬
chased from his trustees by those of the late Thomas Gardyne of
Middlcton, in terms of whose testamentary deed it is now held
by his maternal nephew, James Carnegy, W.S., who is designed
of Finhaven and Nor an side, and who, in the failure of male
issue, will be succeeded by his cousin, David Greenhill of
Craignathro.
Thomas Gardyne was the last male descendant of the ancient
family of Gardyne of that Ilk, who were proprietors in Angus
from a remote period, one of whom was married to Lady Janet,
daughter of Sir David Lindsay of Edzell. Mr. Carnegy, the
164
land of the lindsays.
present proprietor, is the great great-grand-nephew of David
Carnegy, minister of Farnell and Dean of Brechin, by Helen,
daughter of Bishop Lindsay, at whom Jeanie Geddes threw the
stool in the High Kirk of Edinburgh, when he was about to
read the collects of the Church of England. The Dean was
the first Carnegy of Craigo, and descended from Alexander of
Cookstone and Unthank,* near Brechin, and was uncle to the
first Earls of Southesk and Northesk, so that the present laird
of Finhaven is not only related to the old Carnegys of that place,
but (Bishop Lindsay being a cadet of the house of Edzell) is also
connected with the more ancient and powerful lords of the district
—the Earls of Crawford.f
SECTION IV.
" Those stately towers, those heights sublime,
That mocked the growing tooth of time,
Ilow fair and firm they once did seem,
How fleeting thou, inconstant stream !
Yet time has spared thy changeful tide.
Though ruin wait on all beside."
Percy.
Like the other Castles of the Lindsays in Angus-shire, that of
Finhaven is a total ruin, and no idea can now be formed either
of the style of its architecture, or of its original extent. In its
palmiest days it was a much larger place than Edzell; for thick
and continuous foundations of houses are yet found at a distance
of two and three hundred yards west and south of the castle ;
but there are no remains of sculpture having any pretension to
the elegance of that at Edzell or Careston. Indeed, with the
exception of the turret on the north-east corner, and a few lintels
near the centre of the building—which present some simple, but
not inelegant, mouldings—no trace of ornamental masonry is now
to be seen.
The only initials and date, as already noticed, are those which
refer to the eleventh Earl, the father of " the Prodigal," who
had perhaps added to, or altered the castle in some way ; and we
* Southesk Family Tree, in possession of Sir James Carnegie, Bart., according to which
Hercules C. of Cookstone is a misprint in " Doug. Peerage" for Alexander.
+ The facts regarding the transmission of the lands of Finhaven from 1672, were obligingly
gleaned from the title deeds, and communicated by the present proprietor.
FINHAVEN—DESTRUCTION OF THE CASTLE.
165
are not aware that any drawing was made of it when entire, or
that any description of it exists before that by Mr. Ochterlony,
who calls it (circa 1682) " a great old house; but now by the In¬
dustrie of the present laird [the first Carnegy] is made a most
excellent house; fine roomes and good furniture, good yards,
excellent planting, and enclosures, and avenues." It fell to ruin
during the time of the last Carnegy, and the circumstances at¬
tending its dilapidation, though seemingly vague, are uniformly
attested as fact.
In opposition to the stories of the old proprietors of Edzell,
Melgund, and the Vayne, who are all said to have departed
mysteriously one dark evening after supper, leaving the empty
dishes on the table, and the lamps in full blaze—the castle of
Finhaven, instead of the people, was the first to give way, and
that while the sun was at his meridian. One fine summer day,
when Carnegy was from home, his lady had the table spread
with the choicest viands awaiting his arrival, and, accompanied
by her lap dog, she went along the avenue to meet him; but
just as the laird approached the gate, the walls of that part of
the house where the table was spread bent in twain, and falling
to the ground, threw everything into utter ruin. The event was
long supposed to be unaccountable, and, as a matter of course,
attributed to supernatural causes; but on the rubbish being
cleared away, the catastrophe was found to have arisen from a
ground slip, caused by the inundation of the Lemno. Apart from
the miraculous escape of the lady, it is said that no lives were
lost, save that of her favourite dog, who, being attracted to
the spot by the noise, was buried among the ruins.
For military purposes, the position of the castle had been
chosen with considerable discernment, being situated in the
valley of Strathmore, at the point where that magnificent strath
begins to expand, and guards the passes of the highlands through
the valleys of the Isla, the Prosen, and the Esk. The site of
the castle, however, presents no striking peculiarity. It stands
on a rising ground at the junction of the Esk and Lemno, and
in old times had been protected on the south by water, as it is at
present on the north. From this moat, which rises only twenty
feet above the Lemno, the remains of the castle, embracing five
stories (including the cellar, or vault), rise to a mean elevation
166
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
of eighty-six feet. The north wall is yet entire, but the south
one is rent through about two-thirds the length of the building,
and on some frosty morning, at no distant date, will inevitably
crumble to ashes, whether the latter part of the prophecy of the
famous Knight of Erceldon, to whom the following couplet is
attributed, be fulfilled or not:—
" When Finliaven Castle rins to sand,
The warld's end is near at hand !"
The north wall is still a substantial and beautiful piece of ma¬
sonry, and stands as perpendicular as at the period of its erec¬
tion ; and its apparent strength may, perhaps, have given rise to
the above rhyme. A vault or ward occupies the whole length
and breadth of the groundfloor of the Keep, to which, like those of
Edzell and Invermark, the light is admitted by a few loopholes ;
and the old oaken door, filled with big broad-headed nails, is yet
entire. The turret, or gunner's room (as the peasantry call it),
forms a fine termination to the tall unbroken character of the
north-east corner; and, a strong projecting iron hook near the
top of south-east wall, is said to have been the place from
which Earl Beardie suspended refractory vassals!
This is the only piece of iron work now remaining, and, as
the legend runs, Beardie hanged an unfortunate minstrel upon it
for predicting the murder of Earl Douglas, and his own defeat
at Brechin. In his wanderings, this harper had got within the
private demesne of Finhaven, and in discoursing his mournful
tale to the winds, was overheard by Lady Crawford while walk¬
ing along the banks of the Lemno. Being attracted by his
extraordinary rehearsal, she led him into the presence of Beardie,
who, on being foretold of the murder of Douglas by the King,
and his own defeat, rose in great wrath, and, according to the
ballad, exclaimed—
" ' No more of thy tale I shall hear ;
But high on Finhaven thy grey head and lyre
Shall bleach on the point of the spear !'
The Ladie craved pity ; but nane wad he gi'e—
The poor aged minstrel must die ;
And Crawford's ain hand plac'd the grey head and lyre,
On the spikes of the turret sae high."
FIXIIAVEX—BEARDIE'S TREE, AND JOCK BAREFOOT. 1G7
The famous Spanish Chesnut, or " Earl Beardie's Tree," as
it was commonly termed, is said to have been employed by that
notorious personage in a manner similar to that of the iron
spikes. It grew in the court-yard of the castle, and was one of
the largest trees ever known in the kingdom; and so remarkable
alike for the beauty of its grain and its great size, that tables
and chairs, and even snuff boxes, made of the wood were in so
great demand, that, with the exception of a very small portion
still lying at the castle, none of this monster tree remains.
This was the " covin-tree " under which the Earls met their
visitors, and drank the " stirrup-cup," and was in full bearing
down to 1740, when the severe frosts of that year killed it,—
still, it withstood the blasts of twenty more winters, but was
then levelled to the ground.* Its age is unknown ; but tradition
affirms that it grew from a chesnut dropped by a Iloman soldier ;
and, on a messenger or gillie being sent from Careston to the
Castle of Finhaven, he cut a walking stick from it, and the Earl
was so enraged at the sacrilege that he had the offender hanged on
a branch of it! The ghost of this luckless person still wanders
betwixt Finkaven and Careston, and is the constant attendant of
benighted travellers, by some of whom he is minutely described
as a lad of about sixteen years of age, without bonnet or shoes,
and is known as J ode Barefoot! His freaks are curious,
and withal inoffensive, and on reaching a certain burn on the
road he vanishes from view in a blaze of fire ! As if to confirm
the story of Beardie still living in the secret chamber of Glamis,
—where he is doomed to play cards until the day of judgment,—
it is an old prophetic saying, that
" Earl Beardie ne'er will dee
Nor puir Jock Barefoot be set free,
As lang's there grows a chesnut tree !"
It was in the dungeons of Finhaven, as more fully noticed
before, that the " Wicked Master " confined his father, the eighth
Earl, for the space of thirteen weeks ; and from this once magni¬
ficent residence most of the family charters were dated, in
presence of " a council"—the Earls Crawford, Douglas, and a
few other great chiefs, having, alike with monarchy, privy
* The circumference of this tree near the ground was forty-two feet, eight; of the top
thirty-five feet, nine; ot' one of the largest branches, tweuty.three feot.—Pennant's Tow.
168
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
councils for deliberating over the affairs of their extensive do¬
mains. Among the councillors of Crawford were the heads of
some of the most ancient and honourable families of Angus—such
as Ogilvy of Clova, Fothringham of Powrie, Durham of
Grange, Gardyne of that Ilk, Balbirny of Inverichty, and the
ancient family of Lour of that Ilk. These, with Lindsay of
the ITalch of Tannadyce, the hereditary constable of Finhaven
Castle, and Auchenleck of that Ilk, the hereditary armour-
bearer, with a Canon of the cathedral of Brechin as chamberlain,
and the clergymen of various parishes as their chaplains and
clerks—composed the councils of the Earls of Crawford for
several successive generations. "Of these consisted the society
of the castle, with the Earl and his immediate family—any
guests that might be resident with him—the ladies attendant
upon his wife and daughters—the pages, of noble or gentle
birth, trained up in the castle under his eye as aspirants for
chivalry—his own domestic officers, most of them gentlemen of
quality.
" The inner life of the family, especially at Finhaven, was of
a uniform but enjoyable character—martial exercises, the chase,
and the baronial banquet, enlivened by the songs of the minstrel
and the quips of the jester, occupied the day ; and the evening
was whiled away in 4 the playing of the chess, at the tables, in
reading of romances, in singing and piping, in harping, and
other honest solaces of great pleasance and disport,'—the ladies
mingling in the scene throughout, whether in the sports and
festivities of the morning, or the pastimes of the evening—though
a portion of the day was always spent in their 1 bowers,' with
their attendant maidens, spinning or weaving tapestry. Occa¬
sionally, indeed, a higher responsibility devolved upon them—
during the absence of the Earl, whether in attendance on the
Parliament, or in warfare public or private, his wife became the
chatelaine, or keeper of his castle, with full authority to rule his
vassals, guide his affairs, and defend his stronghold, if attacked
at disadvantage during his absence."*
It was perhaps with the view of guarding against these sur¬
prises that some of the trustiest of their vassals were located in
the immediate neighbourhood of the Castle. The nearest resident
* Lives, vol. i. p. 113, 114.
FINHAVEN—LINDSAYS OF BARNYARDS, AND MARKHOUSE. 161)
of these were the Lindsays of the Iiaugh of Tannadice, or Barn¬
yards, who, at least from the time of the second Earl down to
the middle of the sixteenth century, when David Lindsay died,
seized " de tends de Hauch, cum custodia et officio consta-
bularii castri et manerii nostri de Fynnewyne," were designed
constables of Finhaven. Of this family, which failed in Patrick
Lindsay, in 1692, were descended, the Lindsays of Little
Coull, and those of Glenqueich. The castle of Barnzaird (as it
is termed in Monipennie's "Briefe Description of Scotland")
stood within two miles, as the crow flies, of the castle of Fin-
haven, and towards the close of last century was represented
by two archways in the Haugh, a little north-west of the
present farm house, which was built from its ruins. As con¬
stables of the castle of Finhaven, the Lindsays of the Haugh
witnessed many of the charters of their chief, and " Philip Lin-
dissay de le Halche " was one of Crawford's council, by whose
avisement he renewed the marches and bounds of the lands of the
old family of Auchenleck of that Bk, and was also present at the
perambulation of the marches of Ochterlony in 1459.*
The lands of Markhouse, which adjoin those of Finhaven 011
the east, are supposed to have been a portion of the Foi'est of
Plater, and to have come to the Lindsays in the same manner as
the lands of Finhaven. Whether this be the fact or not, it is
certain that "Johannes Lindsay de Markhous," who witnesses a
resignation of the barony of Finhaven by Earl David of Craw¬
ford, to his eldest son, on the 24th of December 1563, is the
first proprietor of these lands with whom we have met; and the
same person, or perhaps his son " John Lindsay of M'khous,
notarpublic," appears in a paper in the Southesk charter chest,
of date 1595.f
The site of the old house, or castle, of Markhouse, is still
pointed out near the south-east side of the estate; and although
nothing tangible exists, either in tradition or record, regarding
the Lindsays of Markhouse individually, the lands had once on a
time been the scene of some important events, since traces of
ancient sepulture have been gathered from various parts of them.
At a place called the Haercairn, in the Howmuir wood (almost
directly north of the present gate), and at Haerland Faulds,
* Information from Lord Lindsay. f Ibid.
T
170
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
several rude stone coffins and urns, containing liuman bones,
were found about twenty years ago. The urns, which were
found at Haerland Faulds, were filled with pieces of charred hones,
and although the coffins were carefully built of rude slabs, and
of about the ordinary length, and the bottoms laid with baked
clay, no trace of bones were found apart from those in the urns.
At the Haercairn again, there were no urns, and the remains
were confined to the coffins, which were of the same construction
as those at the Haerland Faulds. These places are barely three
miles east of the camp of Battledylces, and are popularly ascribed
to the time of the defeat of the Danes at Aberlemno, and as one
of the coffins at the Haercairn was found to be a little longer
than any of its fellows, the peasantry soon identified it as that of
one of the Deuchars of Feme, who is said to have been killed at
this place by the Danes. This luckless person was of gigantic
stature, and is said to have had the rather unique gift of six
fingers on each hand and as many toes on each foot!
Apart from the Lindsays of Barnyards and Markhouse on
the north side of the Esk, those of Blairiefeddan, Woodwray,
Balgavies, and Pitscandlie, were domiciled on the south. The
Blairiefeddan family, who subsisted from the time of John
Lindsay (who was a party to the slaughter of Sir John Ogilvy
of Inverquharity about 1535-9), till about the middle of the
seventeenth century, do not appear to have shone very pro¬
minently in any transaction, more than their neighbours and
relations of Pitscandlie, who were proprietors of that estate down
to the first quarter of last century.* The burial place of both
these families was at Rescobie, and a monument belonging to
the former is built into the outer wall of the church."]*
The first recorded Lindsay of Woodwra, or Woodwrayth,
(which was previously held by a family of the name of Wellem,
or Volume, who paid teinds to the Priory of Restinoth,:]:) was Sir
John, a son of the tenth Earl of Crawford, and also proprietor
of Balinshoe. His " castle " of Woodwray, which was in the im¬
mediate vicinity of that of Finhaven, stood a little to the east of
the farm house, and was only removed about thirty years ago ;
but, with the exception of the old dove-cot, nothing of an inde-
* John Lindsay of Pitscandly, an elder —Par. Pep. of Pesaobie, Feb. 2, 1718.
t See Appendix, No. V. I Acta Don). Coneilli, Oct. 23, 1488.
FIN HAVEN—SIR WALTER OF BALGAVIES.
171
pendent feudal character is now traceable on the property. In
clearing out the foundations of this " castle," two sculptured
stones were found about six feet in height, and similar to
those at Aberlemno, but were removed from the locality, and
sent to decorate the grounds of the late " Great Unknown," at
Abbotsford. The " grave hill," a little to the east of the site of
the castle, is a curious prehistoric remain, similar to those of
Fernybank and Colmeallie, in Glenesk, being composed of a ring
of rude stones, about a foot in size, surrounding a pit of black
earth, from which pieces of old warlike weapons, and burned
bones and charcoal, have been gathered.
But, of all the Lindsays of the district, none, perhaps, took a
more prominent lead in the affairs of the times, or has so re¬
markable a history, as Sir Walter of Balgavies. He was third
son of David of Edzell, the ninth Earl of Crawford, and, com¬
mencing life as a steady friend and supporter of the young King,
was appointed a gentleman of the bedchamber, and defended
James VI. against the enmity which he had raised to himself
through his unfortunate adoption of the Earls of Lennox and
Arran as his councillors, in which enterprise Sir Walter was one
" of ane voluntary band of young gentlemen who lies subscrivit
ane band to serve the king the time of his weirs (wars) upon
their awin expenses."* He soon changed his tactics, however,
and becoming a convert to Catholicism, became one of the most-
zealous and daring confessors of his time ; and, with the aid of an
English Jesuit, whom he kept in his castle of Balgavies, he con¬
firmed the Earls of Huntly, Errol, and Angus in " the faith."
It is highly probable that the treasonable correspondence with
the Court of Spain was concocted within his castle, and partly
carried out—a circumstance which long embittered the reign of
James, and induced him to undertake his subjugating journey
to the north in 1593, during which he wreaked his vengeance
on Sir Walter, by almost wholly razing his residence to the
foundation.
This castle, which had been moated in old times, was never
rebuilt, and the ruins of two of the vaults still top a hillock in
the corner of a field; and, with the exception of a mutilated
sculpture of the family arms in the manse garden at Aberlemno,
Lives, vol, i, p, 3?,fi.
172
land of the lindsays.
initialed " B," with the motto, " dum spiko speko," these ruins
are the only traces of this adventurous haron, or his descendants,
in the district, and the armorial tablet may have graced their
burial place, which had probably been at this church.
Like other of his noble relatives, Sir Walter fell by the hand
of one of his own kinsmen, the young and erratic Master of
Crawford, in 1605—a circumstance, as has already been shewn,
which was the root of a series of bad consequences to the house
of Edzell. It may be noticed, that Sir Walter's landed interest
was not confined to the lands of Balgavies, or even to the
barony, in which were included the Hilton of Guthrie, Lang-
lands, and Innerdovat; but embraced Little Markhouse, and the
Haughs, and Cunningair, and other parts of Finhaven, and also
Carlungie and Balhungie in the barony of Downie, as well as the
barony of Inverarity and the patronage of the church.* In all
these he was succeeded by his son David, who died in 1615,
from whose son and successor, Walter, the lands passed to other
hands in 1630, from which period the Lindsays entirely ceased
to have any connection with Balgavies.
It is likely that Sir Walter acquired Balgavies about 1571,
as in that year he had a charter from his father of the adjoining
property of Kempshill, in the parish of Guthrie; but this pro¬
perty is not to be confounded with the Kemp or Camp Castle,
which tradition speaks of as having topt the neighbouring hill of
Turin, which is reported to have come to the Lindsays by their
taking forcible possession of it from the owner, who is said to
have borne the name of Kemp.j" This story at best is confused
and improbable, and may have arisen from the fact of Sir
Walter having been possessor of Balgavies and Kemphill at the
same time. Perhaps, however, although all record has been lost,
both Balgavies and Kemphill had been places of consideration
in old times, and had something to do with the disastrous engage¬
ment which occurred here betwixt the Picts and Scots, or during
the invasion of the Danes at a later period. At least, the Gaelic
origin of the names would imply something of this sort, for Bal-
gaise means " the town of bravery and valour," and the name of
Kemp is associated with that of a Northern deity, remarkable for
gigantic stature, and for prowess and valour.
* I'rinted Rctours, 1001, 160G, Ac. 1 Neu Stat. Acct. of Forfars., p. GOT.
FINHAVEN—THE VIT1UFIED SITE.
173
SECTION V.
" Time like an arrow flies, with rapid course,
And states, and empires, 'neath it roll awayl
But thou, rare treasure, long hast stood its test,
To please the curious of a modern age."
Anon.
Such were the Lindsays of Finhaven, and those who dwelt in
the immediate vicinity of the Castle ; but of these in other and
more distant parts of the shire we shall speak subsequently,
and will sum up this Chapter by a brief notice of the pre¬
historic peculiarities of the district of Finhaven, which are the
only points remaining to be noticed.
These consist of the so-called "vitrified fort"—the well-
known Roman Camp of Battledykes, and traces of ancient sepul¬
ture. Of all these the vitrified fort, or site (as it is now more
generally termed by archaeologists, situated on the highest part
of the range known as Finhaven Hills, and nearly equi-distant
from Brechin and Forfar by the old road), is the most remark¬
able. The highest point of the hill, on which the site stands, is
five hundred and seventy-three feet above the level of the South
Esk at the castle of Finhaven,* and embraces an extensive range
of country on all sides, being well adapted for defensive pur¬
poses, or for signal or Beil fires. It also commands a view of
the so-called vitrified sites at Greencairn, near Fettercairn, the
hill of Garvock in the Mearns, and that of Dunoon in Auchter-
house parish—on all of which traces of vitrification have been
observed.
The site of Finhaven is a parallelogram, and the southern
wall stands within a hundred feet of the perpendicular side of the
mountain, j" The mean length from the middle part of the east, to
that of the west dyke (including the space occupied by the well,
which is from seventy to eighty feet across), is from three hun-
* Given in both Stat. Accounts as 1500 feet above the river. For the exact measurement
of this hill, and the height of the Castle walls, I am indebted to Mr. G. Stuart, parochial school¬
master of Oathlaw, who kindly made the measurements for me by the theodolite.
t To prevent all misunderstanding, the reader is requested to bear in mind, that this de¬
scription of the vitrified site is solely referable to it's present appearance, as no idea can now be
formed of its original state. This is owing to the fact that thousands of cart loads of stones
were quarried out of it, and driven away for making roads, and filling drains, <5ic., and the whole
structure might have been cleared away, but for the laudable interference of the late, and present,
Mr. Chalmers of Aldbar. It was also quarried towards the close of last century for Pozzuolana
which is said to have been obtained in good quality.
174
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
dred and seventy to eighty feet, and about one hundred and
twelve feet at broadest. The well, which was once supposed to
be the mouth of a volcano (from which the whole vitrified
appearances were then said to have originated), together with an
entrance, is at the south-west corner, and the whole is sur¬
rounded by a wall varying in height from three to ten feet, and
not more than twenty feet at broadest.
Unlike the area of the circle of Caterthun, that of Finhaven is
very unequal, and seems to have been divided into three compart¬
ments, the most westerly of which is exclusively occupied by the
well ;* while the eastern third slopes suddenly from the east to the
depth of from six to eight feet, leaving the middle, or largest third,
the highest part of the whole. About fifty feet east, and running
parallel with the northern dyke of this site, there is another artifi¬
cial looking work scooped from the side of the mountain. This is
divided into two compartments by a low dyke; and, like its fellow,
has also a hollow on the west side, having much the appearance
of the mouth of a well. The mean breadth of this work from
east to west is nearly one hundred and forty feet; and, whether
natural or artificial, no traces of vitrification are visible, and its
extent from south to north cannot now be defined. The space
between the vitrified site and this eastern work is the highest
peak of the mountain, and, though now planted, appears to have
been artificially levelled.
Some attribute the origin of vitrified sites to the Picts, but
examples of them are found throughout all Scotland. So far as
yet known, however, they are peculiar to North Britain, and
may have formed a curious feature in the domestic or warlike
economy of the ancient inhabitants. They were first brought
under notice in the year 1777, by Mr. Williams, the mineral
surveyor and engineer of the forfeited estates of Scotland, who
published a book on the subject, and at once pronounced them
" vitrified forts," and threw out this theory as to their probable
construction :—" After the walls were raised to a proper height,
and the interstices filled with sand or gravel, great quantities of
wood or bog turf, mixed with brushwood, were piled within and
* There is now no water in this well, the shaft having been filled with stones by the late
tenant of Bogardo, several of whose sheep were lost by being drowned in it. It is said to have
been constructed something like a spiral stair ; and was popularly believed to be a subter¬
raneous passage to the old kirk.
FINHAVEN—THE VITRIFIED SITE.
175
without the fort, and over the top of the walls. Upon these
combustables being set on fire, the intense heat would soon pro¬
duce that vitreous effect upon the trap rock now to be noticed in
the ruins of those erections ; and the stones would not only be
firmly cemented, but have all the appearance of a solid mass."
Since Mr. Williams' time, speculation regarding the origin
of these remarkable works have been plentiful, but an epitome
of the various theories may suffice. Mr. Anderson of Monksmill
supposes that the stones had been piled together, and then
cemented by means of pouring a vitrified matter upon the wall.
Lord Woodhouselee attributes the vitrified appearance, not to the
mode of the erecting of the sites, but to their having been de¬
stroyed by fire. But the idea to which most credit is attached,
is that of Sir George Mackenzie, who concludes that the vitreous
effects had arisen from the frequent lighting of beacon fires upon
the same spot; and argues that vitrification is only traceable
upon the tops of insulated and connected chains of mountains,
and because these signs have all more the appearance of an
accidental than an intentional effect.*
This latter remark is peculiarly applicable to the site of Fin-
haven, where the vitreous traces are all partial, there being
sometimes patches to the extent of one, two, three, and even six
feet, where no traces of fire are visible; and though rarely found
at the lower part of the wall, vitrification is evident throughout
many parts of the heart of it, but particularly on the top and
sides, to the depth of twelve or more inches. Nor are these con¬
fined to the walls or boundary dykes only, but extend to the area
of the work, which presents throughout the same partial effects
of vitrification. Charred and uncharred pieces of wood are said
to have been found in many parts of the scoriae, a fact which
is still proven by the peculiar appearance of the vacuums where
pieces of wood have fallen out by accident or otherwise. In
one piece of scoriae lately found there was discovered firmly
encased the grinder of an animal, which may have been slain,
either as a sacrifice to Beil, or to satiate the appetites of the old
inhabitants.
The Hill of Finhaven is of the conglomerate, or plumb-
pudding species of rock, which is the most fusible of any; but
* Areliocologia St'otieoe, vol. iv.
176
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
the vitrified walls, though mostly composed of that, contains
many traces of free and other kinds of stone, not common to
the district; and, as observed by Dr. Jamieson, the stones
appear in some instances to have been laid in regular courses,
and banded together. The Rev. Mr. White of Selborne* was
among the first to notice that heat caused sand to flux, and
thereby furnished a key to the various theories regarding the
causes of vitrification on mountains. But, the most elaborate
notices on the fusible nature of stone, and of the probable origin
of these sites, is by Dr. Wilson,f who agrees with Sir George
Mackenzie in believing the vitreous effects to have been caused
by the frequent lighting of beacon fires on the same spot.
The value of enquiring into the origin of these remarkable
structures is, obviously, the light which the discovery of their for¬
mation and use would throw on the ancient manners of our fore¬
fathers. As yet, however, these are as mysterious as ever to
archaeologists, though the inexhaustible treasury of popular tradi¬
tion asserts that this " fort " is merely the ruins of the original
castle of Finhaven, which never reached beyond the foundations,
because of a demoniacal power overturning at night what was
erected during the day ! A nocturnal watch was accordingly set
to detect the felon; but the watches were almost frightened to
death, when, about midnight, a fiendish voice exclaimed, from
amidst the din of tumbling walls—
" Found-even down into the hog,
Where 'twill neither shake nor shog !"
The hint was taken—operations were instantly stopped on the
hill and commenced in the valley, and the luckless foundations
left to puzzle the curious; and the couplet (double-headed as
such affairs generally are), also conferred the distinctive name
on the district!
The boundary of the Roman Camp at Battledykes is not
now traceable ; but it was so in the time of Maitland,f and for long
after, and measured two thousand nine hundred and seventy feet
by one thousand eight hundred and fifty; and, apart from the
Camp of Redykes at Fetteresso, in the Mearns (where General Roy
« Natural Hist, of Selborne, Letter IV. t Prehistoric Annals, p. 413, &c.
t William Maitland, author of a History of Scotland, and other works, was the first to
discover Roman traces north of the Tay. He was born at Brechin in 1693, and died at Mon¬
trose in 1757, leaving a fortune of £10,000.
FINHAVEN—CAMP OF BATTLE-DYKES.
177
supposes the battle of the Grampians to have been fought),
that of Battle-dykes is not only the largest in the district, but
nearly two-thirds greater than that of Ardoch in Perthshire. It
is believed that this camp was employed by Agricola in the year
81, and connected with those of Ardoch and Grassy-walls by a
Roman road, which passed through the south-eastern part of
Angus-shire, and from thence to Rae-dykes, by the camps of
Keithock, near Brechin, and Fordoun in the Mearns. In cor¬
roboration of this, when General Roy made his survey of the
Roman camps throughout Scotland, he says, in reference to
that of Battle-dykes:—" It appears to me to be one of the
most entire of the kind hitherto discovered; at the same time
that the similarity of its figure and dimensions prove indisputably
that it held the same army formerly encamped at Arcloch and
Grassy-walls.' '*
It is also worthy of remark, that the names of some of the
the places in the district of Finhaven are curious. These are
the King's Palace, the King's Seat, and the King's Bourne—
all of which are on the farm of Battle-dykes, and within the
limits of the Roman Camp, and, perhaps, refers to the time
when the lands were in the hands of royalty. At the King's
Palace, six clay urns were found about twenty years ago, but
nothing is preserved of the style of their manufacture. At the
same place, about six hundred cart loads of stones were taken
away for building purposes, and it is supposed that nearly
as many more are still there; and as stones are comparatively
scarce on the adjoining ground, it is probable that those which
composed the " palace " had been gathered from these parts.
Stone coffins with human remains have been found through¬
out the whole district. Three of these were exhumed some
years ago in the hillock adjoining the dove-cot, and were all
composed of rude stone flags, and about four feet and a half
long, with the heads lying towards the east, while one of them
contained the additional and interesting relic of a large iron
spur, which was unfortunately carried off by the workmen, and
* In reference to the Camp of Rae-dykes, General Roy says, " In this neighbourhood we
are to look for the scene of the celebrated battle \_Mons Grampius]; for, the nature of the country
seems to point out that the Caledonians would take post on the Grampian Mountains towards
their eastern extremity, where the plain becomes narrow, from the near approach of that lofty
range to the sea ."—Military Antiquities, pp. 85, 86, 87.
U
178
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
lost. But the most important of these discoveries was that of a
solitary coffin, found near the Grallow path-road, in the neigh¬
bourhood of St. Mary's Well in Oathlaw, in which, along with
human remains, there was a large gold ring or chain, which,
from its position in the coffin, is supposed to have been the
necklace of the person interred.* Although all enquiry has
been fruitless regarding the custodier of this ring, it is said to be
still in the district, and, being described as a thin twisted hoop,
is perhaps of a construction and age similar to the Largo and
Bannach Armilla.t
* Information from Mr. George Stuart, Parochial Schoolmaster.
f See Wilson's Prehistoric Annals, pp. 321, 324.
iTNH AVKN CASTLE.
CHAPTER V.
erne.
SECTION I.
" The kirk an' kirkyard on the hillock sne green,
Where friends an' gude neebors on Sundays convene."
" The district is further remarkable as the birthplace of men of genius."
The church of Feme was situate within the diocese of Dunk eld,
but history is silent as to the name of its donor and the period
of its gift. A piece of land, consisting of about five acres Scots
measurement, a little east of the kirk, is called " Dunkeld rigs,"
and sometimes abbreviated into Duns rigs. There is no foun¬
tain in the immediate vicinity of the kirk bearing the name of
any saint; but at Wellford, about a mile to the south-west, a
spring is called St. Inner?s, which is probably a corruption of
the name of St. Ninian, the apostle of the Picts, to whom, in
Romish times, the kirk may have been inscribed, for no field or
knoll near Wellford bears any name which would lead one to
suppose that a chapel had ever stood there, though within the
last half century there were two or three large rude boulders
near by, which were called Druidical stones.
The first parson of Feme of whom we have found any
record, was Thomas Hamilton, who officiated towards the close
of the fifteenth century, and having his stipend very irregu¬
larly paid by the tacksmen of the teinds, he raised an action
against them before the Lords of Council, who were pleased to
ratify his claim. As the names of the renters of the teinds, and
the amount paid from certain of the lands are given in detail,
the facts may be quoted for the purpose of shewing the amount
of these at the early period referred to.—John of Fothringham
was charged " xii merkis and thre wedderis " for Auchinlochy,
and the third part of Bochquharne ; Johne of Feme, " iv merkis,
or ellis half a chalder of vitale," for the Mill of Fernc ; and David
180
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Lindesay, and Paule of Fentonne (? of Ogil), " viii merkis, ii wed-
deris, and a Scottis bow, the price of the bow x s, for the teyndis
of Duchre."*
The parishes of Feme, Menmnir, and Kinnell, were under
the charge of one minister after the Reformation, for the serving
of all of which he had little more than eleven pounds sterling.
The minister of the period was James Melville (fifth brother
of the celebrated Andrew), whose father was laird of the small
estate of Dysart, near Montrose, and had in all nine sons, of
whom Andrew was the youngest, j" Thomas Schevand, the con¬
temporary reader of Feme with Mr. Melville, had a yearly
salary of about thirty-three shillings sterling; but, at a subse¬
quent period (the exact date of which is unknown) the reader's
stipend was augmented by a " Lady Lindsay" to the extent of
eight bolls of meal, which was converted into money about the
beginning of this century ; and, not unmindful of the poor, the
same charitable person also mortified an annual of two-and-a-
half bolls of meal to them.
A Mr. Cramond was minister in Ochterlony's time; and his
successor, Mr. James Watson, the last Episcopal minister, taking
part with the Earl of Southesk in the rebellion of " fifteen,"
was deposed " for praying for the Pretender under the name
of King James the Eighth," and for keeping " the fast and
thanksgiving appointed by the rebellsand his coadjutor, the
schoolmaster, joining in the same cause, was also deposed about
the same time. The old part of the present manse was erected
daring Mr. Watson's incumbency, and a stone dated 1702, and
initialed " E.I.S." (Earl James of Southesk), is still in the wall.
Mr. George Wemys, a determined friend to the Hanoverian
family, supplanted Mr. Watson, and was followed in turn by his
son, who, being translated to Errol, in Perthshire, was succeeded
by Mr. George Tytler, a native of Aberdeenshire. And, it may
be remarked, that although little attention has been paid for
* Acta Dom. Concil., Oct. 25, 1488.
t This eminent reformer is commonly called a son of Richard Melville of Baldovie, and
one of nine brothers who followed the ministry. This, however, is a mistake, his father being
John Melville of Dysart, and the Richard alluded to his second brother. Besides Richard and
Andrew, John's other sons were, Thomas, " seeretar deput of Scotland Walter, burgess and
bailie of Montrose; Roger, burgess of Dundee; James, minister, first at Feme, and then at
Arbroath; John, the contemporary reader at Mary ton with his brother Richard, who was
minister there ; and Robert and David, who were both " craftsmen ."—See James Melville's Piary,
FERNE—JAMES, AND DR. H. W. TYTLER. 181
long to parochial registrations, it appears from a curious dispute
which occurred between Mr. Tytler and John Dildarg, or Dun-
das (the schoolmaster pro tempore), that at and before the year
1778, these were better attended to, since the keeping of these
was one of the reasons which induced Mr. Tytler to employ
Dildarg.
Still, these Registers throw extremely little light either on
the history of Mr. Tytler, or his predecessors; but as the
father of James and Dr. Henry William, both of whom were
famous in literature, Mr. Tytler's name has a more than ordinary
interest. But, it may be inferred, from the curious dispute
which arose betwixt him and Dildarg about " the unlawfulness
of blood-eating," that, although men of learning and genius,
both sons inherited much of the eccentricity of their parent.*
The eldest, James, was compiler of the greater part of the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, and many other works of acknow¬
ledged merit; but being an unsuccessful rival of Montgolfier
and Lunardi, he is best known by the sobriquet of Balloon.
In addition to his scientific writings, he was author of the
well-known Scottish songs of " The Bonnie Bruiket Lassie,"
"Loch Erroch-side," "I canna come ilka day to woo," and several
others. He married young, and being ill-requited for his literary
labours, his life was a continued struggle with poverty. Na¬
turally liberal in politics, and fond of novelty, he joined in the
reforming movement of the times, and made himself so con¬
spicuous by his pen and otherwise, that but for the prompt inter¬
ference of his friends, who sent him to America, he might have
had a like fate as Baird and Hardie. Tytler died in the town
of Salem, New England, in 1805, where he had conducted a
newspaper from the time of his arrival there.f
His brother, who is famous as the first Scotsman who pub¬
lished a translation of the Greek classics, was bred a surgeon,
and married a sister of the historian Gillies. He began life as a
practitioner in Brechin, but finding little encouragement there, he
went to India, and on his return, published some original poems,
amongst which was a " Voyage from the Cape of Good Hope,"
and died at Edinburgh in 1808. He was known as an author
* See Appendix No. VI., for an epitome of the dispute alluded to.
t For many interesting particulars of the checquered life of this extraordinary person, see
a biographical notice of him, published at Edinburgh, in 1805.
182
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
long previous to the publication of these poems, however, for,
while labouring under severe mental distress (and not after
his death, as several biographers state), Dr. John Gillies, his
brother-in-law, superintended " Callimachus" through the press,
and the book appeared in 1793, with a preface by the Earl of
Buchan, in which that nobleman compares himself to Sir Philip
Sidney, " in whom every compatriot of extraordinary merit found
a friend without hire, and a common rendezvous of worth" !
Happily the cloud which hung over Tytler's mind was merely
temporary, and about four years after the publication of " Calli¬
machus," he issued " Paedotrophia, or the Art of Nursing and
Bearing Children," from the Latin of Scevole de St. Marthe,
enriched with valuable medical and historical notes. In the
poetical dedication of this book (which extends over thirty-five
pages), he thus feelingly alludes to the Earl of Buchan's kind¬
ness to him during his illness, and -to his own pre-eminent
position as the first Scottish translator of the Greek poets :—
" With health, with ease, with sacred friendship blest,
The friendship of a virtuous heart, and good,
More dear to mine than treasures of the proud,
Let me attempt the heights desir'd before,
Unlock now ancient, now the modern lore,
And happy that the first of Scotian swains
I taught a Grecian poet English strains,
Still court the Nine, secure of lasting praise,
If Buchan favour and approve my lays."
Apart from the interesting fact of the Manse of Ferne being
the birthplace of those two eminent men, the vicinity has other
attractions, in so far as the kirk is beautifully situated on an
isolated hillock in the middle of a romantic den, which, although
now rendered lovely by the attention which the present vener¬
able minister and his family have bestowed upon it, was an un¬
cultivated wild at the beginning of this century, shaded only
with brushwood, among which the hazel and the arn, or alder,
predominated. The latter still abounds throughout the parish,
particularly on the banks of the Noran ; and as fern is the
Gaelic name of " the alder," perhaps the cognomen of the parish
was assumed from the plentifulness of that tree in the district.
The old church stood more in the middle of the graveyard
than the present, which was built in 1806 ; and, as if to support
FERNE—THE KIRK BELL, AND KIRK YARD. 183
the story of Cardinal Beaton's connection with the castle of the
Vayne (which will be fully noticed in a subsequent Section), it
has long been reported that he not only presented the bell to the
church, but that it bore his name and the year of his birth ; and
having had two bells made in Holland at the same time, he
gifted the other to the church of Aberlemno, in which parish,
his castle of Melgund was situated ! So far, however, from
these stories being veritable, the date of the Feme bell, it will be
seen, refers to a period of twelve years later than that of Beaton's
birth, and merely to the era of its fabrication, at which time the
barony was in the hands of the Lindsays of Edzell, as vassals of
the Earls of Crawford. The following is the legend :—
" IC BEN GHEGOTEN INT IAE8 MCCCCCVI."*
The gravestones in the churchyard are numerous, and al¬
though some of them bear " uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculp¬
tures," few are so peculiarly interesting as to warrant their
being quoted. The following, however, which appears on a stone
erected to the memory of a farmer who died within the last ten
years, may be cited as an example of the way in which the
peculiarities of worldly employments are rendered subservient
to the caprice of mortuary rhymsters :—
" Death daily walks his active round,
On Time's uncertain stage ;
He breaks up every fallow ground—
Spares neither sex nor age."
The best monument is a fine granite slab which marks the
grave of the late Thomas Binny, proprietor of Feme, who died
on the 5th of March 1845. The burial place of the family
of Hall, who were some time proprietors of the small estate of
Auchnacree ; and that of Deuchar of that Ilk (which records
the decease of the penultimate laird and lady of that name,
who died respectively in the years 1802 and 1823), are also
pointed out by respectable freestone memorials; but of the
graves of the families of de Montealto and Lindsay—the ancient
superiors of the whole district—no trace is now visible.
* i. <?. " I was made in the year 1506." [Nothing is known of an older bell at Aberlemno
than the present, though there had doubtless been one. That now in use bears " the . bell .
OP . ABERLEMNO . RoBERTVS . maxwell . ME , FECIT . EDR. 1728."]
184
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
SECTION II.
*' Though in their day a violent hand
As ever waved the deadly brand ;
And good to kirk as well as king,
They're now a lost, forgotten thing."
No record of any proprietor of the barony or lands of Feme is
known prior to the time of William the Lion, by whom they
were gifted to a family hearing the surname of Montealto, now
metamorphosed into that of Mowat—a name by no means un¬
common in Angus at the present time, though not in a pro¬
prietory relation. Mention of the family first occurs during the
reign of David I., when Robert de Montealto witnesses several
of that king's charters; but they were first settled in the south,
and assumed their surname from a place in Flintshire.* William
de Montealto, knight, gave an annual of a stone of wax, and four
shillings to the monks of Coupar from his lordship of Ferne,j"
and is a witness to the celebrated perambulation of marches
which took place betwixt the Abbey lands of Arbroath and those
of Kiiiblethmont.J
Besides the lordship of Feme, the Montealtos were proprietors
of Both, in the parish of Carmyllie, and Abbot Adam of Ar¬
broath became hound to William de Montealto, the son of Michael,
to support a chaplain at the chapel of Both ; || or, in other words,
became patron of that church, which was afterwards given by
William Maule of Panmure to the cathedral of Brechin.§
Michael de Montealto was one of the Justiciaries of Scotland
proper in 1242, and his son Bernard, and Abbot William of
Balmerino, were among the many persons of distinction who were
drowned on returning from the court of Norway in 1281, after
witnessing the celebration of the nuptials of Margaret, daughter
of Alexander III., with King Ericlj—a catastrophe which gave
rise to the fine old ballad of " Sir Patrick Spens "—
" Half ower, half ower to Aberdour,
Full fifty fathoms deep,
There lies the gude Sir Patrick Spens,
And the Scots lords at his feet."
* Chalmers' Caledonia, vol. i. t Ibid. t (a.d. 1219)—Reg. de Aberbrothoc, p. 162.
II (a.d. 1250)— Ibid., p. 189, § Robertson's Index. H Tytler's Hist, of Scot., vol. i. p. 48.
FEliNE—L>E MONTEALTO FAMILY.
185
William de Montcalto was present at the celebrated conven¬
tion held within the monastry of Arbroath, 011 the 6th of April
1320, and subscribed the spirited remonstrance to Pope John
XXII, which is supposed to have been framed by Abbot Bernard,
asserting the Independence of Scotland. In 1322, William de
Montealto of Kinblethmont, gave a charter of the lands of
Brechin to Sir Gilbert de Ilaya of Errol ;* and on the resigna¬
tion of John de Hay a, Dominus de Tulybothevyle, de Montalto
had charters of the lands of Brichty, in the parish of Murrocs,
which were given by Richard de Montealto in the year 1379 to
Sir Alexander Lindsay of Glenesk.f This Richard Avas Chan-
cell or of the Cathedralof Brechin ; and, in the same year, re¬
signed the barony of Inverlunan in favour of Alexander Stuart,
the King's son by Marion de Cardny—a resignation Avhich took
place at Dundee, from the customs of which burgh, Montealto at
the same period had a pension of twenty pounds.^
Two years prior to this date, however, Richard resigned all
claim to the barony of Feme in favour of his son, William,
whose charters of the lands were confirmed at the Abbey of
Coupar, by Robert II.,§ and, as before noticed, a younger son
Avas rector of the kirk of Finhaven, in the lifetime of Sir Alex¬
ander of Glenesk, and a witness to the charter of Brichty.
Richard was alive in 1383, as his surname (changed for the first
time into the modern form of Movat, or Mowat) recurs in con¬
nection with the barony of Lunan.|| John is the last of the
Mowats Avhom Ave have found connected with Ferne, he having
had charters of Sandyford (now Shandford) from Robert III.
and from this period until about 1450, there is a hiatus in the
proprietary history of Feme which Ave are unable to supply.
The surname of this once powerful family is noAv unknown
in the district; but it is curious to observe, that a place still
called " Mowat's Seat," or " Mowat's Cairn," is situate on the
hill of Bruff Shank ; and, although popularly associated with the
deeds of a Cateran of the name of Mowat, there is good reason
to conclude that it refers exclusively to the ancient lords of the
district, and is the only positive evidence of their occupancy
in the parish.
" Robertson's Index. t Information by Lord Lindsay. t Robertson's Index.
§ ltegistrum Mag. Sigilli. II Robertson's Index. 11 Ibid.
X
186
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Perhaps the barony of Feme had been resigned to Lindsay
of Glenesk at the same time as Brichty, to whose descendants
Sandyford may have fallen on the death of John Mowat. Be
this as it may, these lands were in possession of the Earls of
Crawford sometime before 1450 ; for in that year Sir Walter of
Beaufort obtained them from his nephew, the fifth Earl, after¬
wards Duke of Montrose, in exchange for his patrimony of
Strathnairn in Inverness-shire, which the first Earl acquired
by marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Robert II.
From the period of Montealto's resignation of Feme, it was
always held under the superiority of the Earls of Crawford, al¬
though, at the time of Sir Walter of Edzell's succession, and that
of his son Sir David, it formed part of the Edzell barony, and,
along with Yayne, was given to Sir Walter's second son, Alex¬
ander, by his second wife, by whose descendants the lesser estates
of Balquhadlie and Balquharn were subsequently held ; and the
Lindsays of both places were concerned with their cousin,
Sir David of Edzell, in the slaughter of Campbell of Lundy.
North of the church, on the hill of Drummore, a place is still
pointed out as that where a " Lady Lindsay " (perhaps the
Countess of the ninth Earl of Crawford) met her tenants and
collected her rents, and some earthen benches are pointed out
as those on which the tenantry sat on these occasions.
The estate of Deuchar was also under the superiority of the
lords of Feme, as was the whole parish; and from earliest re¬
cord, this small property was occupied by a family who designed
themselves " of that Ilk " down to the late period of 1815, when
their male representative became insolvent, and selling the lands,
left this country for Australia. Although merely vassals, the
Deuchars were considered the oldest family in the shire; and
tradition says that the first of them had a gift of Deuchar so
early as the commencement of the eleventh century, for killing a
wild boar at the pass across the Noran, now known as Coortford,
or Coorthill Bridge; and from this tradition, in all probability,
the sword and boar's head were assumed as family bearings.
This origin of the Deuchars is quite in accordance with that
related of the Hays and the Keiths, and many other old
families ; and, as the story is referable to a period anterior to
the date of our national records, it is probable, if documentary
FEKNE—
DEUCHAR OF T1IAT ILK.
187
evidence could be brought to bear on the point, that the killing
of the wild boar at Coortford would have as little foundation in
fact as the vanquishing of the Danes by the Hays, and the gift
of Errol for their trouble—all of which have been satisfactorily
proven, by recent investigation, to be based on mere fancy, not¬
withstanding that the coat-armorial of Hay, as that of Deuchar,
preserves the salient points of the tradition.*
It is also said that Deuchar of that Ilk was a companion in
arms with Keith at the battle of Barry in 1010 ; and, although
a person of gigantic form, and endowed with almost supernatural
strength (having had six fingers on each hand, and as many
toes on each foot!) he fell by the SAvord of some of the Northmen,
of whom he had gone in pursuit. Another representative of the
family named William (who married a daughter of " the stalwart
laird of Lawriestoun"), was among the minor barons who fell at
Ilai'law in 1410. Unlike his father-in-law, neither his name
nor fate have been specially preserved in general history; but
family tradition records that when his attendant found him on
the battle field, his hand was so firmly clasped in his sword hilt
that it could not be wrested from it; and "knowing that the sword
was an old relic in the family and in high esteem, the servant
cut the hand off by the wrist, and brought all home with him,"
as the too true evidence of his master's fate, and the unmis¬
takable signs of his valour.
The sword was long preserved in the family archives, but a
feud breaking out between the old lords of Ogil and a de¬
scendant of the hero of ITarlaw, the latter brought the " family
relic" to his service; but, instead of its achieving the victory
which he anticipated, he Avas o\TerpoAvered, and the conqueror
taking the weapon from him, had it curtailed some inches to suit
his own diminutive stature ! It was ultimately restored to
the family on certain submissive grounds, and is reputed to be
the same weapon which " cut off the boar's head," at Coortford,
and committed so great slaughter at Harlaw. Apart from these
stories, however, the folloAving inscription (which is cut upon it
in comparatively modern characters), imparts the additional par-
* The first of the Hays came from Normandy with William the Conqui ror, and a do.
sccndant, William de Haya, was the first of the family who had Errol, of which he had charters
betwixt 1178 and 1188—160 years, at least, subsequent to the time ascribed by tradition.—Pottfi-
las Prerage, by Wood.—Ebiiol.
188 LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
ticular of its having been employed in the wars of the Inde¬
pendence :—
" Da . Detxjbfrgre . ftts . gfo«rt)e .
. 33aimockt>urn . 5 . gcvbetJ . tl)e ♦ 33rbs .
<55f . qb&Uft . t|)e . Jhigltg . ftaD . na . tggg."*
Such are the traditions relative to the old family of Deuchar,
or of the " black fort," as the Gaelic Du-caer literally signifies.f
Their private genealogy traces their origin from a second son of
Gilchrist, the great Earl of Angus ; but no documentary proof of
them exists until the year 1369 [? 1379], when Sir Alexander
Lindsay of Glenesk granted a charter of the lands to William
Deuhqwhyr of that Ilk, as heir to his father. It is therefore
evident that the Deuchars were vassals of the Lindsays at that
period, and, in all probability, they had also been those of the
Montealtos, from whom the feudal superiority had most likely
passed with the ownership of the barony of Feme in 1379. In
farther corroboration of this, it is said that the Deuchars paid an
annual of a pair of white gloves to the Lindsays, which was by
no means a singular reddendo for lands in old times, for Robert
do Camera, ancestor of Chalmers of Aldbar, held the lands of
Balnacraig, in Aberdeenshire, in the early part of the same
century, on precisely the same terms, under his superior, Andrew
de Garrioch.J
If the appearance of old families as assisers, and witnesses to
charters, is any criterion to judge of their influence or status in
society, one is forced to the conclusion (from the rare occurrence
of the Deuchars in these capacities), that they had always had
• This sword is now in possession of Oapt. Patrick Deuchar, R.N., Edinburgh, a de¬
scendant of a younger son of Deuchar of that Ilk. He is also custodier of a great many of the
family papers, to which he kindly gave us access. These were collected by his late brother,
the well-known seal engraver; and the words above, within quotations, are from a bundle
titled "Deuchar Vouchers." From these and other sources we have gleaned the following
various spellings of the name, which may interest the curious
Dequhar. Deughar. Dewchare. Dowehar.
Deuchair. Deugher. Dewquhar, Dowgar.
Deuchar. Deuhqwhyr. Doeher. Duehar,
Deuchars. Deuquhair. Docker. Duchir.
Deucharys. Deuquhar. Doker. Duchre.
Deucher. Deuquhare. Doucher, Ductor.
Deuclior. Deuquhyre. Doughar. Duquhar.
Deuchquhyr. Dewchar. Douquhar, Duquhare.
t The following are other places in Scotland bearing similar names, viz.Dewchrasyde
in Cuningham ; Duchrays in Dumfries ; Deuchar in Kttrick ; and Over and Nether Duchries in
Banff, t Nisbett's Heraldry, vol, ii.
FERNE DEUCHAR OF THAT ILK.
189
an inconsiderable, though respectable standing. We have
not met with them at all in the latter relation, and the only
instances in which we have found them in the former, are
" Patrik Ducliir of that Ilk," who is one of several county
gentlemen who were charged with giving a wrong decision
in reference to the property of Ogilvy of Owres and, whether
a member of the same ancient family we are uncertain, but
a "Robert of Duchir" was similarly charged at an earlier
datef in reference to the property of Scrimgeor of Lillok, in
Dundee. It may also be noticed that about this time " James
of Duchir," a residenter in Dundee, was found guilty of de¬
nying his own handwriting, which appeared at an obligation he
made in favour of a foreigner. For this he was punished in a
style exceedingly characteristic of the times, being ordered to
be taken by the magistrates 011 the market day " to the market
corse of the said burgh in the heiest tyme of the market quhen
maist multitude of folk ar present, and gar ane official* stryke
him throw the hand that wrate the said write, in excmple of
punitione of sic lyke cryme in tyme toeum."} This severe re¬
prehension, however, did not prevent James from re-appearing
before Justice, for in two years thereafter he was cited as a
debtor of fifty shillings to a brother burgess.§
These are the principal notices of the Deuchars which have
come under our observation. It has been already shewn that
they were merely vassals of the Crawford Lindsays; and, from
a deed of 1642, it also appears that the estate was a free blench
holding under the Earls of Southesk ;|| and, from at least 1691 to
1710, they paid an annual of nearly fifteen shillings and nine-
pence sterling to the Carnegies as superiors,while, at a later
period, as a part of the forfeited estates of Southesk, the lands
of Deucliar were held in seizin under the trustees of the York
Buildings' Company.**
Nor, as is popularly said, did the estate of Deuchar pass un¬
interruptedly from father to son, for in several instances the
grandfather was succeeded by his grandchild, and the uncle by
his nephew. And, it may be observed, that after the barony
of Ferne fell to the Southesk family, various of the Deuchars
« Acta Auditorum, June 4, 1478. f Ibid., July C, 1476. t Ibid., July 5, 1176.
5 Ibid., Mar. 17,1478. II Dcuchar Voucher?, quoted vt sup., p. 188.
1 Old Rental Hook- of Southesk, quoted ut sup, p. 102. ** I\uchar Vouchers,
190
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
migrated to the parishes of Farnell and Kinnell, where they
held considerable farms, and where, it is believed, some of their
descendants live at the present time. The first Deuchar, the
seal engraver of Edinburgh (father of the last seal engraver of
that name), was of the Balishan branch, and born on that farm
in 1743 ; and, in default of male issue by George Deuchar of Aus¬
tralia, and his brother in Aberdeenshire, the first seal engraver's
grandson, now of Morningside, near Edinburgh, will succeed as
chief of the family of " Deuchar of that Ilk."
The estate of Deuchar consists of little more than two hundred
acres arable land ; but, according to tradition, the family had an
interest in the lands of Windsor (which, as the name implies, is
the most easterly rising ground in the parish), of which they are
said to have had every fourth fur, or ridge. We have seen no
voucher for this; and, perhaps the story of their being portioners of
Windsor, has been confounded by tradition with the fact of their
having once possessed the fourth part of Waterstone. Be this as
it may, both these farms were under the superiority of Ferne, and
the seventh Earl of Crawford is specially mentioned as pro¬
prietor of Wyndesour; while, between the years 1165 and 1189,
Walter de Windesoure is witness to Walter de Berkeley's
charter of the lands of Newton, near Inverkeillor,* and although
there is no positive evidence of any family having assumed a
surname from this Windsor, it is probable that Walter had
done so, and been a vassal of the de Montealtos.
Waterstone, or Walterstown (a farm now divided betwixt
Ferne and Careston, but wholly a part of the former parish
until the erection of the latter into a separate parochial district) ,
was anciently an independent property, and gave name to an
old family who designed themselves " of that Ilk," and who, in
all probability, had also been vassals of the Lindsays and older
lords of Ferne. Alike with the name of Deuchar, records are
aw an ting to shew the time when that of Waterstone was
assumed ; but it is probable that the lands had been so called
from Walter, the uncle and tutor of Dempster, one of the heirs-
portioners of the lordship of Menmuir.f The earliest charter of
the property belongs to the regency of the Duke of Albany ; but
the family had enjoyed the estate at least a generation or two
Keg, do Aherhrnthoc, p- 0. t Sec Chap, VI., Sec, II., of this vol.
FERXE—WATERSTON OF THAT ILK—BALM AD IT Y. 191
before that, for the grant of the half lands is given to David,
son and heir of John de Walterjstoun, together with eight
marks of annual rent out of the farms of the thanedom of Tanna-
dice.* This charter was granted at Falkland in 1407, and in
1450, David Walterstoun of that Ilk was one of an assize chosen
to perambulate the marches of Brechin and Balzeordy,j" and
Ilew of Walterstoun—perhaps a son of David—was one of the
referees in the ease of the Owrcs property already mentioned.
The last time we have met with the name is in 1585, when
David, portioner of the lands of Waterstoun, with Dempster of
Careston, Deuchar of that Ilk, Fenton of Ogil, and other ad¬
joining proprietors, were charged by the Bishop and Chapter of
Brechin with having riven out, tilled, and sawin, and built houses
upon a part of the commonty of that city, which had been used
by them and the citizens as a common peatery, " past memory of
man." In this process the defenders were found in fault, and
Lord Gray, then Sheriff of the county, declared " the whole
muir to be a commonty to the said reverend father (the Bishop),
Dean, Chapter, and citizens of Brechin."j: This " commonty "
was of great extent, and well worth claiming, having extended
over a large part of the parishes of Brechin, Menmuir, Careston,
and Feme—its extreme boundary on the east being the Gallows
Hill of Keithock, and that on the west the Gallows, or Law
of Feme—being an average length of not less than eight miles,
and in breadth nearly one-and-a-half. It is on this commonty
that Little Brechin, and many other hamlets are situated, all of
which are subject to the superiority of the city of Brechin on
the payment of certain feu-duties.
But, of all the lands in Ferne, or, indeed, in any other part of
the district comprised in this volume, those of Bahnadity are
the oldest on record. In ancient times, this small property be¬
longed to the great Macduffs of Fife, and so early as the reign
of Malcolm IV., Duncan, Earl of Fife, excambed " Balmadethy
and Dunloppie," with Orme, the son of Hugh of Abernethy, for
the lands of Balbernie in Fife,|| and in 1362 it was granted by
the heiress, Margaret Abernethy, Countess of Angus, to William
de Fassingtoun,§ of whom or his name, nothing is known be-
" Reg. Mag. Sig.
U Douglas' Peerage.
f Ilist. of Brechin, p. 19.
§ Reg. Mag. Sigill.
t Ibid., p. 21.
192
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
yond the fact that a William de Fasington, of the county of
Edinburgh, swore fealty to Edward I. in 1296* We are un¬
acquainted with the subsequent history of this estate; suffice it
to say, that it has formed a portion of the barony of Ferne for
many centuries.
SECTION III.
" The brave Carnegie, wha but he—
The Piper o' Dundee."
Jacobite Ballad.
As already shewn, the family of Lindsay were designed " of
Vayne " till nearly the middle of last century, but were succeeded
in the barony of Ferne by Carnegie of Southesk between 1593
and 1595,f and falling under the attainder of 1716, was part of
the forfeited estates of Southesk which were repurchased by Sir
James Carnegie of Pittarrow, by whose trustees in 1766, the
lands were sold to John Mill of Philpot Lane, London. He was
succeeded by his son, who, after building the mansion house of
Noranside, and otherwise improving the property, alienated the
whole, with the exception of the Noranside part. This was
purchased from a descendant by the trustees of the late Thomas
Gardyne of Middleton, and in virtue of his testamentary deed,
is now possessed by his nephew, James Carnegy of Finhaven.
The portion sold by John Mill was that now belonging to the
Hon. William Maule, third son of the late Lord Panmure, to
whom it came by marriage with the daughter of the late
Thomas Binny of Maulesden, who purchased the barony in 1836
from the trustees of Alexander Greenhill, whose father acquired
the property from Mill in 17974
Of the families of Mill and Greenhill little is known. Robert,
the first of the former, was provost of Montrose, and amassing a
respectable fortune by trading, bought the lands of Balwyllo in
the parish of Hun, sometime before the beginning of last century,§
and those of Balhall in Menmuir soon after. || He was father of
* Ragman Roll, p. 131. t Deuchar Vouchers, fol. 11, quoted ut sup. p. 188.
| Inventory of the Title Deeds of Feme, kindly communicated by the Hon. William Maule,
§ Douglas'Baronage. II Inv, of the Title Deeds of Balliall.
FEHNE—MODERN PlioPKlETOKS.
193
the first Mill of Feme, whose brother was proprietor of Old
Montrose, to a portion of whose wealth his nephew of Noran-
side succeeded. In 1786, and while a mere youth, Mill of
Noranside married an Irish lady of the name of Ivy, widow of the
Hon. George Falconer, fifth son of David Lord Halkerton. This
turned out an unhappy union, and Mill dying issueless in 1822,
the Noranside part of Feme devolved on Major James Mill, a
hero of Waterloo, by whom it was sold as above.
Charles Greenhill, who bought the greater part of the barony
of Feme from Mill, belonged to the neighbourhood of Glamis.
He was of humble parentage, and being bred to the law, was
much employed as trustee on bankrupt estates, and was factor to
the Southesk family for upwards of forty years. He married a
sister of the late Thomas Gardyne of Middleton, by whom he
had a family of sons and daughters, of the former of whom,
David Greenhill of Craignathro, of the East India Company's
Civil Service, is the only survivor, and heir of entail to his
cousin, James Carnegy, in the estates of Finhaven and Noranside.
The genealogy of the present honourable proprietor of the
barony of Feme has already been traced.* It only now re¬
mains to give a brief outline of the noble house of Southesk,
whose family and fortunes were linked with these lands for
upwards of a century and a-half.
We have already seen that the Lindsays were succeeded in
the barony of Feme by the Carnegies towards the close of the
sixteenth century. The surname of this noble family was origi¬
nally de Balinhardi and is commonly said to have been assumed
from a small property in the parish of Arbirlot. Martin of
Clermont says that the first of them was constable of the Castle
of Kincardine, in William the Lion's time ;f but the earliest
genuine notice regarding them occurs about the year 1230, when
Gocelynus de Balindard witnesses several deeds betwixt the
Abbeys of Arbroath and Balmerino.j From the fact of Jocely-
nus witnessing charters relating to Fifeshire only (for, so far as
known, he does not occur in any as an Angus-shire baron), it
might be inferred that he was settled in Fife at the date of
those deeds, and instead of Balinhard in Arbirlot giving the
* Ut sup, pp. 117, &c. 1 Doug. Peerage, vol. ii.
} 11 eg. de Aberbrothoe, et S. Andree.
Y
in
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
surname to tlie family, a descendant of Jocelynus may liave con¬
ferred the name on the lands.
As Jocelynus is a common Norman name, it is probable
that his progenitors had been among the Norman settlers in
David's time ; but, the real ancestor of the Southesk branch was
John de Balinhard, who died about 1280, and his first known
property of Balinhard, which lay in the middle of the lordship of
Panmure, was exchanged, or otherwise parted with, by his great-
grandson for the lands of Carnegie, in the parish of Carmyllie,
which he had from Sir Walter Maule about 1350.* From these
lands the progenitors of Carnegy of Kinnaird assumed their
surname and title of " Carnegie of that Ilk."
Duthaeus de Carnegie, second son to the first " of that Ilk,"
was the first of Kinnaird, having in 1401 purchased a part of these
lands from Richard Air.f This, in all probability, was the
western half, which is called Kukystone, or Quygstone; for, on
his marriage with Mariota de Kinnaird in 1409, (by which he
acquired the other half of the lands and town of Kinnaird, with
the superiority of the brew-house), he is called " Duthac Car¬
negie of Kukyston."| Mariota was one of three co-heiresses, and
the other sisters were severally married to Panter of Newmans-
walls, and Cramond of Aldbar, all of whom were, for a time at
least, joint lairds of Kinnaird.§
Duthac, however, was not doomed to enjoy either his newly
acquired possession, or the society of his wife, for any length of
* A copy of the charter is in the British Museum, and runs thus " David II.: "Sciatis
nos approbasse et hac presenti carta confirmasse donationem iilam et eoncessionem quam
quondam Walterus de Mauiea fecit et concessit Joanni (filio) et heredi quondam Joannis filii
Christini, filii Joannis de Balinhard de terra de Carrynegii cum pertinen. in Baronia de Pan.
raur infra Vicecoinitatum de Porfa. tenend. et habend. eidem Joanni de Carnagii filio," &c. " et
heredibus in feodo," &c. [I am indebted to the kindness of Sir James Carnegie for the copy of
this charter, the perusal of his Family Tree, <fcc.]
t Crawford's Peerage. [The surname of Air subsisted in the parish of Farnell until the late
period of 1851, when the last of the name (an unmarried female) died at an advanced age.]
t Reg. Mag. Sigil.
§ The barony of Kinnaird was held by the ancient tenure of keeping the King's ale cellar
whenever the Court should have residence in Forfarshire, and the seal of John Carnegy of Kin¬
naird, Bailie-Depute of the Abbey of Arbroath, is appended to a sasine given by him in his
character of Bailie (pro hac vice) of the lands of Balishan in favour of Lord Ogilvy of Airly, who
was the Chief Bailie of the Abbey. The sasine is dated 13th of October, 1489. The seal bears an
eagle displayed standing on a butt, or tun. There appears to be a mullet in the sinister chief for
difference, but the bearing of the ale-tun must have had reference to the tenure of the barony of
Kinnaird, and not to the name of Carnegy. The first Earl bore the heraldic charge of a cup on
the eagle's breast, which may have been substituted for the ale-tun, or sign of territorial office,
either in consequence of the bearing of the cup being derived from the tenure, by which some
other lands than those of Kinnaird were held, or from the family being royal cup-bearers—an
office w hich they are popularly believed to have enjoyed under the Kings of Scotland.
FERXE—THE CARXEGIES OF SOUT1IESK.
195
time; for, when the unfortunate dispute arose betwixt Donald
of the Isles and Regent Albany regarding the succession to the
Earldom of Ross, Duthac joined in that dreadful enterprise,
and was left dead on the field. Walter, his only son, fought
against Earl Beardie at the battle of Brechin in 1452, for
which he had his castle burnt down, wherein, says Crawford,
" all his writs and evidents were miserably consumed."
David, Earl of Crawford, afterwards Duke of Montrose, gave
John, the son of this Walter (whom he styles his cousin), a life¬
rent out of the lands of Glenesk, and dying in 1505, he was
succeeded by his son, also John, who fell with his King and many
kinsmen at Flodden. It was not, however, until the time of Sir
Robert, the fourth in descent from Duthac, that the family rose
to importance.* He is supposed to have been author of a book
on Scots Law, cited as Liber Carnegii, and was appointed a
Lord of Session in 1547, but for this he was to have no remune¬
ration, " quhil there vaiked a place of one of the Lords Tem¬
poral, who had profit thereof before."! He was also employed in
many important national transactions, and added the properties
of Little Carcary, Fithie, Arrat, Cookstone, Athie, and the barony
of Panbride in Angus, and others in Perth, Fife, and the East
and West Lothians, to his paternal estate. He died in 1565,
and by Margaret, daughter to Guthrie of Lunan, left a
family of seven sons and seven daughters. The oldest of the
former, Sir John, was so much the confidant of the unfortunate
Queen Mary, that in 1570, she is said to have written a letter
craving Sir John's advice how to act in her difficulties.
Sir John died issueless, and was succeeded by his next bro¬
ther, Sir David, who married Elizabeth Ramsay, heiress of Col-
luthie and Leuchars. He held many high offices in the state,
and was so particularly beloved by the King, that he visited him
at Kinnaird in 1617, during which time his Highness amused
himself hunting in the adjoining forest of Montreuthmont; and
* This Sir Robert had a natural son, John (ch. 330, lib."35, Reg. Mag. Sigil.), who bought
the lands of Carnegie, and was designated John Carnegie of that Ilk, in 1581 (ch. 404, lib. 35,
wherein Catherine Fothringham is mentioned as his spouse) —Macfarlane's MS. Notes on Geo.
Crawford's Peerage of Scotland. This John Carnegie bought the lands from Sir James Carnegie
of that Ilk, who was head of the family in 1500 ; and Sir David of Kinnaird, the first of heuchars,
bought the same lands from Sir Robert's natural son or grandson. They passed to the l'an-
muro family by exeatnhion.
t Ilaig and Jlrunton's Ilist. Arcf, Senators Doll, of Justice, p. 00.
196 LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
for the convenience of " leading his Majesty's provision " while
he resided at Kinnaird, the bridge over the Pow, betwixt and Old
Montrose, was first erected.* Charles I. and II. were also at
Kinnaird ;f and the Chevalier passed some nights there while on
his perilous enterprise, and remains of his bed-curtains are still
preserved in the house.
Sir David was raised to the Peerage, by the title of Lord
Carnegie, the year before King James's visit to Kinnaird; and
in 1633, he received the still higher honour of Earl of South-
esk from Charles I.| He was also Sheriff of Forfarshire, and
by Cromwell's Act of Grace and Pardon, was fined in the large
sum of three thousand pounds. His excellencies are thus
summed up in Arthur Johnston's " Musae Aulicae —
" Nee numero clauduntur opes, nee limite rum,
O.rnegi : servat mens tamcn alta modum."
His wife was a daughter of Sir David Lindsay of Edzell; and
a beautifully embroidered silk velvet cloth at Kinnaird Castle
bears the Carnegie arms impaled with those of Lindsay. He
died in 1658, and left three sons and three daughters. The
eldest son succeeded to the Earldom; the second, Sir John, had
charters of Craig and Ulishaven in 1618, and the year following
had the barony of Ferne, and was the first Carnegie designed
therefrom ; while the third son, Alexander, was the first of Pitt-
arrow. The daughters all married peers, the husband of the
youngest, Magdalene, being no less a personage than the cele¬
brated Marquis of Montrose,§ who, when on his way a prisoner
to Edinburgh, shortly before his execution, took farewell of his
wife and infant son at Kinnaird.
It is a tradition in the family that Lord Ogilvy of Airlie was
to have married Lady Magdalene, but his horse refusing to cross
the river while on his way to propose marriage, he thought it a
bad omen, and immediately returned. On learning this, Lady
Magdalene was sorely grieved, and her father soothed her by
* Session Records of Brechin. t Ochterlony, c. 1G82.
t His second brother John, was created Lord Lour in 1G39, and Earl of Ethie (now Northeslc)
in 1G47. The other two brothers were Sir Robert of Dunichen and Sir Alexander of Balnamoon
and Careston. Portraits of these four brothers, by Jamieson of Aberdeen, are among the
magnificent c ollection of British and Foreign paintings at Kinnaird.
§ It is a curious coincidence, that two cousins should have been so closely allied to the two
greatest warriors of their time—Lady Jane Carnegie, youngest daughter of the first Earl of
Northesk, having been the mother of Graham, the hero of Killiecrankie.
FERNE—THE CARNEGIES OF SOUTHESK.
197
advising her " Not to mind, as he would soon find her a better
husband than Airlie !" It was also in the first Earl's lifetime,
just after the Earldom had been created, that the Kinnaird
division of Farnell was made a separate parish. This was sup¬
pressed, however, and re-united to Farnell, in 1787.*
The first Earl was succeeded by his second son, James (the
eldest son, David, having died in his father's lifetime without male
issue), and because of his dark swarthy complexion, he is known
in the family genealogy as " the Black Earl." He waited long
on Charles II. while an exile in Holland, was a commissioner at the
English Parliament of 1652, and present at Cromwell's procla¬
mation at Edinburgh in '57. He was one of the best swordsmen
of his time, and killed the Master of Gray in a duel, near London,
in the memorable 1660, and died a privy councillor nine years
afterwards. Educated at Padua in Italy, he had the credit of
being a magician, and is said not only to have given his shadow to
the devil, but to have departed to him bodily, having been lost
with his coach and four, one dark stormy night, in the Star-
ney-Bucket Well, which lay in the DeviVs Den, immediately
* " Parish of Kynnard, in the Diocese of St. Andrews, and Regality of Rescobie."—
Charter of Mid. Drums, die. The Kinnaird church of the first Earl'3 time was erected in the
park in front of the castle, where its foundations and several tombstones are yet visible. One
of the stones (dated 16-0), presents this quaint couplet
" We doo this for no other end,
Bvt that ovr bvrrell may be kend."
The Farnell division, where the parish church is now situated, is said to have belonged to
the Ogilvys of Airlie; but this is merely a popular error.it having, from time immemorial,
belonged to the Cathedral of Brechin, to which the church was attached, and where the
•Bishops had a grange or residence. A good part of the Castle is still entire, and two small
shields on the corner of the gable walls bear respectively a crowned heart (the armorial ensignia
of Douglas), and a monogram, or date.
Duncan de Ferneval (one of the perambulators of the Arbroath and Kinblethmont
marches in 1219, and witness to Maleoine, Earl of Angus in 1225), had probably been a vassal
of the Bishop; and it is worthy of notice that Edward I. stopped here on Friday the 6th of July,
1296, when on his subjugating expedition through the kingdom. At the Reformation, the
lands of Farnell became the property of the Earl of Argyle; and in 1508, Catherine Campbell,
Countess of Crawford, and near relative of Argyle, gave, among other properties, "the demesne
lands of Fern well" to her younger sons.—Crawford Case, p. 219. It was the first Earl of
Southesk (whose wife was grand-daughter to this Countess of Crawford) that was the first
Carnegie of Farnell.
The church is rather a tasteful erection, built during the minority of the late baronet, and
beautifully situated on a rising ground on the side of the Pow. Perhaps the district is named
from the abundance of am, or alder trees in this water course, for Fern-'n-ald, or alt, in Gael,
means "the stream of arns." The kirk was, perhaps, dedicated to Saint Rumon or Ru-
mold, as a knoll, about a mile north of the church, is called Rome's Cross, and a fine sculp¬
tured stone bearing an ornamental cross and other carving (figured in Plate XXI. of Mr.
Chalmers' Sculptured Monuments of Angus), was lately found in the churchyard, but whether
the gravestone of an old ecclesiastic, it is difficult to determine. The bell on the church
bears " iuhannes . bveoerhvts , me . fecit , anno . 1662."
198
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
south of the family burial vault!—Still, at no distant date, he
was believed to haunt the district, and amuse himself by driving
a coach along the lawns, with the horses beautifully plumed, and
decorated with innumerable blue lights'!
The Black Earl was succeeded by his only son, Robert,
captain of a company of Scots Guards to Louis XIV.; but he is
best known in history as the husband of Lady Ann Hamilton,
whose conduct in connection with the Court of the " merry
monarch" form prominent features in the Memoirs of Count
Grammont. It was in this Earl's time that the Castle of the
Vayne underwent those important repairs which will be noticed
hereafter, and also that Ochterlony described Kinnaird as being
" without competition the fynest place, taking altogether, in the
shyre ; a great house, excellent gardens, parks with fallow deer,
orchards, hay meadows, wherein are extraordinare quantities of
hay, very much planting, ane excellent breed of horse, cattle,
and sheep, extraordinare good land."*
Earl Robert, whose disposition is said to have been so
austere, that even on his death-bed no one durst disobey him,
was succeeded by his son, Charles. He was a man of great taste,
and planted most of the fine old trees which shadow the avenue
to the vault, on which (according to a quaint inscription under
the family arms at the gateway), he and his Countess, Lady
Mary Maitland, of the house of Lauderdale, " put up thir coats,
and built this gate, in the year 1704."f
* The castle was mostly rebuilt about the beginning of this century, and is still one of
the finest in the shire, whether as regards its imposing exterior, or internal decorations. The
breed of "fallow deer,", which number about 400, is the same as they were in Ouynd's time;
but the deer park of that period, which has never been ploughed, is now the cow park ; and the
present deer park—an enclosure of 400 acres, which lies in front of the castle—was partly made
in 1821, when the walls were built round it. It is now being greatly improved and enlarged,
and when completed, its extent will be more than doubled. Many of the trees at Kinnaird are of
great size and beauty, and to those fond of such matters, it may be briefly mentioned that some
of the Beech Trees girth upwards of 14 feet; Ash, from 18 to 11J f. ; Elm, 13 to 11 f.;
Oak, 13 to 9 f.; a Silver Fir upwards of 11 f. ; Lime, from 18 to 9 f.; Sycamore, from 17 to 10 f. ;
Horse Chesnut, 11 f. ; Scots Fir, about 8 f. 5 in.; Thorn, 7 f.; Guin, from upwards of 9 to 8 f. 3
in,; Birch, nearly 7 f. These measurements are taken at heights varying from 3 to 4 f. from
the ground, and their detail is a mere epitome of the information kindly communicated on the
subject by Sir James Carnegie, Bart., whose taste in landscape gardening is daily manifesting
itself in the improvements which he is effecting over the whole of his large estate.
f In 1091, during tho time of Earl Charles of Southesk, the barony of Feme (apart from
the estates of Deuchar and Auclinacree,* which were held under the superiority of the lord of
Feme), consisted of the following farms:—Mayns, Ballmaditie, Easter Balquhadlie, Wester
* In 1691 et sub., tho proprietor of Auehnacrec paid although I am told that there are titles of it by the
an annual feu-duty of £20 Scots to tho Earls of South- 1 Earls of Crawford and Southesk. for upwards of three
osk. Tiiis is the only fact worthy of notice which I hundred years,
have bpen able to ascertain regarding this property, ■
FEKNE—THE CARXEUIES OF SOUTHESK. 199
Earl James, who figured so conspicuously in the unfortunate
transactions of " the fifteen," for which he was forfeited, was
the only son of Earl Charles. He was at the battle of Sherifr-
muir, and in the enumeration of the heroes of that field, is termed
" Brave generous Southesk," and was the hero of the fine Jaco¬
bite ballad of u The Piper o' Dundee."* After the defeat of his
party, he escaped to France, where he died in 1729, and his
only son, a mere boy, having pre-deceased him, the representa¬
tion of the family devolved on the Pittarrow branch, as descen¬
dants of the fourth son of the first Earl. The Southesk estates
were the third largest of those forfeited, and were scattered over
no fewer than seven counties, and estimated at the annual rent of
£3,271, 10s., besides services; but the value of property in Scot¬
land has increased so much since then, that these and most other
estates are worth seven or eight times the rental here stated.
On the insolvency of the York Buildings' Company, in the
year 1764, they were re-purchased by Sir James Carnegie of
Pittarrow, the great-grandfather of the present baronet, for
£36,870, 14s. 2d. Long prior to this, hoAvever, he had pro¬
cured an assignation to a lease of Kinnaird, and making it
his residence, he improved the lands to a \Tast extent, without
any positive idea of their ever becoming his own; and it was
mainly by his enterprise that the general sale of the forfeited
estates of Scotland was effected. In early life he served in
the Flemish Avars, and married Christian, daughter of David
Doig of Cookston, who survived him for the long period of
fifty-five years, dying in 1820, at the great age of ninety-one.
His son, Sir David, disposed of the barony of Arnhall in the
Mearns, and Leuchars in Fife, and purchased the fine estate of
Old Montrose, adjoining Kinnaird, in 1791, from Sir James
Stirling, Lord Provost of Edinburgh.!
Balquhadlie, Brucetoun, Shan-foord, New-milne, Old-milne, Wak-milne, Balquharn and Cor-
nablews, Fermertown, Kirk-den, Boggie, Reid-foord, Dubbytown and Court-foord, Cathro-seat,
AVaterstown, Milne of Waterstown, Easter Hiltown, AVindsour, Ladinhendry, Auchlochie, and
Trustoe. The number of tenants in these farms were fifty-two ; and the gross rental amounted
to 388 bolls, 1$ firlot, 3 pecks, and J lippie, bear ; 565 bolls, J firlot, 2 peeks, and 1J lippie, meal ;
£1538 Is. money Scots ; 18 capons ; 30 poultry; and 5 swine.—Old Rental Book of Southesk,
quoted ut sup. p. 102.
* In " Jacobite Minstrelsy," Glasgow edit., 21mo, p. 118, Carnegy of Finhaven is erro¬
neously said to be the subject of this popular ballad.
f This wag the ancient patrimony and messuage of the noble family of Graham, from
which they were designed " Dominus de Aid Munros," so early as 1360. It was also the birth¬
place of " the Great Marquis," whose portrait, in his wedding dress, is at Kinnaird Castle.
200
land of the lindsays.
During the lifetime of the late baronet, son of Sir David, the
fine highland estate of Strachan in Mearns-shire was purchased ;
and on the death of Sir Thomas Burnet of Leys, the present
baronet of Southesk was appointed Lord-Lieutenant of that
county. In 1850, he married the Lady Catherine Noel, second
daughter of the Earl of Gainsborough, by whom he has issue ;
and, in consequence of his direct descent from the fourth son
of the first Peer (whose younger brother was ancestor of the
Earls of Northesk), he is the lineal representative of the Earls
of Southesk, and chief of the family of Carnegie.
SECTION IV.
" Ilis castle stood in a lonely glen,
By the side of a rocky stream ;
An' there full mony a deed was done
% Whilk nae ane dared to name."
" All is bot gaistis, and elrische fantasyis,
Of brownyis and of bogillis full this buke."
6awin douglas.
Populae tradition ascribes the erection of the Castle of Vayne,
or the old Manor-House of Ferne, to Cardinal Beaton, whither
he is said to have resorted " for less consistent purposes than the
fulfilment of his vow of celibacy," and a deep black pool in the
Noran near the castle is called Tammy s Tot, from a story that
one of his sons, whom he had by a Lady Vayne, fell over the
precipice and was drowned there. Such is the tale ; but, as
shewn in tracing the history of the transmission of the barony
of Ferne, Beaton never had any proprietary interest in the
parish ; and if he had ever resided there, nothing exists even
to prove that particular,—although tradition farther corroborates
the story, by asserting that when he and his suite appeared at a
certain point of the road, on their way to the church on Sundays,
it was signal for ringing the bell! In short, the whole story, like
that of his gifting the bell to the church, is a mere fable, and
framed, no doubt, from the peculiarly secluded site of the castle ;
for at no distant date, not only the most of the obscure retreats
and fortalices in Angus were said to have been tenanted by him
FERNE—CARDINAL BEATON, AND VAYNE CASTLE. 201
and his paramours, hut almost everything bad and disreputable
was ascribed to him.
Be that as it may; it is to him that we are indebted for
the preservation of some of the most valuable remains of our
monastic literature; and, when the collections of old family
charters are completed (which are now being made by im¬
partial antiquarians), the character of Cardinal Beaton may, per¬
haps, require to be looked upon more favourably than hitherto;
for, since so much light has been thrown by these investi¬
gations on the private character of John Knox, and Erskine of
Dun*—who knows but the record of many redeeming points in
Beaton's history may yet be discovered. Kay, it is probable,
despite the coarse allusions and assertion of party historians, that
he was allied to Mariota Ogilvy (the mother of all his children),
"by that sort of morganatic marriage frequent among church¬
men of that period, "f
The Castle of the Vayne is situated on the north bank of the
Koran, at the most rocky and precipitous part of the stream,
betwixt and which there is a natural terrace-walk along the top
of the rocks, where the lords and ladies of other days could muse
unseen amidst a mass of wild and imposing scenery. It was
originally three stories high, with a circular tower or staircase in
the south-west corner, and built of the soft red sandstone of the
district. The workmanship has been very indifferent, and al¬
though a total ruin, its old extent is mostly traceable ; but the
only part presenting the original height, is the gable-wall on the
east. In the time of Earl Bobert of Southesk, it was greatly im¬
proved, and immediately subsequent to these alterations, Ochter-
lony described it as "a very good house, called the Waird, well
planted, good yards, the house presently repaired by him [the
Earl of Southesk], and well furnished within ; it hath ane ex¬
cellent fine large great park called the Waird."
Many of Earl Robert's repairs, which had been made with a
stone superior to that employed in the original building, are yet
visible about the place, and the doors and windows were orna¬
mented with Iloratian and other maxims. Three of these are still
in existence, having been removed from the castle and built into
* Tytler's Uist. of Scot., 2nd edit., vol. vii. pp. 21, and 355; Spalding Club Miscellany, vol.
iv, ; Booke of the Univ. Kirk of Scot., p. 25, et sub.
t Arcliaeoiogia, vol. xxxiv. p. 35.
Z
202
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
various parts of the walls of the adjoining farm-steading. One
is more elegant than the rest; and bears an Earl's coronet, and
other sculpture, in high relief, and the monogram initials of Earl
Robert (R.E.S), together with the following legend, which may
have had reference to the merry disposition of his spouse:—
"DISCE . MEO . EXEMPLA[o] . FORMOSIS . POSSE . CARERE."
The second stone, which is over the garden door, runs thus:—
" —VS . PLACITI8 . ABSTINVISSE . BONIS
—NNO . DOM. 1678
and the third presents this quaint observation :—
" NON . SIMALE . NVNC . ET
SIC . ERAT
ANNO . DOM. 1678."*
Like most of our old uninhabited castles, that of the Yayne
fell a victim to the Gothicism of despoiling utilitarians, a part
of it having been blown down with gunpowder by a tenant
farmer, and the stones used for building dykes and similar pur¬
poses. The cellar or vault, forming the ground floor of the
east wing, has still its arched roof, and is the only roofed part of
the building, and a deep dungeon is said to be below, into
which the family, before taking their final departure, threw all
their treasure of money and plate ! This chamber has been often
sought for, and only one person is believed ever to have found it.
When about to descend in search of the valuables, however, he
was forcibly thrust from the mouth of the yawning gulf by an
uncouth monster in the shape of a horned ox, who departed in
a blaze of fire through a big hole in the wall (still pointed
out!) and, before the terrified treasure-seeker could recover him¬
self, the chasm which he had wrought so hard to discover, was
again shut from his view !
The doings of Satan at this place are proverbial, and the
umbrageous rocky ravine through which the Nor an tumbles its
pellucid waters, is the very place which imagination would
picture as his abode, and here, in all conceivable phases he
reigned of old, and perhaps reigns still; for, according to pro¬
vincial rhyme, this locality was his favourite place of residence—
" There'3 the Brownie o' Ba'quharn,
An' the Ghaist o' Brandieden ;
But of a' the places i' the parish,
The deil burns up the Yayne !"
* "Non, si male nunc, et olim sic erit,"—Horace.
FEENE—POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
203
A little east of the castle, close by the side of the Noran, a
large sandstone has lain from time immemorial, bearing a deep
indentation resembling the hoof of a colossal horse with the im¬
press of one of the caulkers of the heel. This has been evidently
fashioned by the falling out of a large pebble embedded in the
stone, though at first glance it looks like an artificial work. It
is popularly called the Kelpie's Footmark, and was believed to
have been occasioned by his step while bounding among the
rocks, some of the largest of which he not only amused himself
overturning when the water was swollen ; but, as if conscious of
his own unbridled power, boldly seated himself on others, and
called lustily for help, in the feigned voice of a drowning person,
so that he might lure his victim to the river.
The good people of Waterstone were much annoyed in this
way, arising, it is said, from the deceptive nature of the ad¬
joining ford, which is much deeper than the clearness of the
water would lead one to suppose ; and, with a view to deceive
the neighbours, when any real case of drowning occurred, Kelpie
ever and anon called out—
" A' the men o' Waterstone !—Come here ! come here !"
Almost opposite Yayne Castle, on the lands of Markhouse,
there is a spot of ground called " the Deil's Hows," where the
notorious personage from which the place is named has made
some wonderful manifestations of his presence, in even later
times than those of our grandfathers; and from this place, which
is a small hollow in the middle of a muir, large lumps of earth
have been thrown to a great distance without any visible
cause.* The stone bearing Kelpie's footmark is of the con¬
glomerate sort, and the earth of the Deil's How, at a little depth,
is a stratum of a yellowish colour, mixed with small stones,
containing in themselves no sulphur, but merely a composite of
argillaceous earth and iron, the calcined substance of which
forms a good red ochre.
But of all the sjririts of this locality, the Broicnie and the
Ghaisi are by far the most popular ; and are considered by some
as one and the same. In other quarters, however, the Brownie
was an independent and entirely different being, and but for the
wonderful ghost stories connected with Fcrne, he might also
<■ Old Stat. Account, vol. xi.v., p. 375.
204
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
have figured in the same way there. From the similarity of
his disposition to the Lav Familiaris of the ancients, some be¬
lieve that he was descended from them. Brownies existed in all
countries and ages—not only under the lucid skies of Greece
and Italy, but under the dark wintry clouds of Scandinavia; and,
as the name of the " fairies " originated from the clearness of
their habit, and their aerial abode, that of the Brownie was as¬
sumed from their dark swarthy complexion, and their partiality
for the remote chambers of ruined houses and the secluded banks
of rivers.
Their habits were the same over the whole globe, except
those of the Shetland Brownie, who assumed " all the cove-
tousness of the most interested hireling," instead of performing
the laborious and self-imposed services which characterized his
fellows in other quarters.* These particulars, and their aversion
to the receipt of remuneration, are described in the following
exquisite lines of Mr. Erskine's Supplemental Stanzas to Collins'
Ode on the Highland Superstitions :—
" Hail, from thy wanderings long, my much-loved sprite !
Thou friend, thou lover of the lowly, hail 1
Tell, in what realms thou sport'st thy merry night,
Trail'st the long mop, or whirl'st the mimic flail.
Where dost thou deck the much-disorder'd hall,
While the tired damsel in Elysium sleeps,
With early voice to drowsy workmen call,
Or lull the dame while mirth his vigils keeps ?
'Twas thus in Caledonia's domes, 'tis said,
Thou plyedst the kindly task in years of yore :
At last, in luckless hour, some erring maid
Spread in thy nightly cell of viands store :—
Ne'er was thy form beheld among their mountains more."
At no distant date almost every farmer in Shetland pos¬
sessed one of these mysterious beings ; but from their opposite
conduct there, they wrere considered rather in the light of evil
spirits ; and, it is a singular fact, that in all localities famous as
their haunts, the same reasons are assigned for their disappear¬
ance, and the same stories are told of their services to the gude-
wife of the farm houses where they took up their abode. This
is peculiarly the case with the Brownie of Bodsbeck in Ettrick
* Sec Javiksou's -Scottish Diet,, in voce.
FERNE—THE BROWNIE, OR GHAIST.
205
Forest, and those of Feme, and Claypots near Dundee. In all
those instances the Tweed, the Noran, and the Dichty waters
were forded when at their highest, and the sage femme landed
safely at the door of the sick wife !
Such were the leading characteristics of Brownies in gene¬
ral. But that of Ferne, in addition to those servicable qualities,
was connected with, and had his origin in, a scene of cruelty and
bloodshed, not uncharacteristic of the age to which tradition
ascribes it, and, as before hinted, stamps the Brownie and the
Ghaist of Ferne as one and the same; and the GTiaist's Stane, or
the piece of rock to which that worthy was chained, is in
the vicinity of the kirk ! In Brandyden (the great hollow be¬
twixt the kirk and Noranside), there were, within these fifty
years, the foundations of a house, said to have been an old for-
talice of the lords of Ferne—perhaps belonging to the de Monte-
altos—though of the site of the most ancient house of Ferne, no
conjecture can be formed; but, in all probability, as was the custom
of feudal times, it had been nearer the church than the present
castle, which is about a mile to the south. The situation of
Brandyden is equally secluded as that of Vayne, and, accord¬
ing to tradition, the occupant was a sort of Bluebeard, who
punished his vassals with the utmost impunity.
One of these offended him so greviously at one time, that,
although an influential person, he was doomed to die the igno¬
minious death of a traitor, and being thrown into a dungeon to
await his execution, he fortunately breathed his last before the
hour arrived, and his body was buried in a secluded spot be¬
twixt the castle and Balquharn. From that luckless day, the
laird's peace was broken, and no servant would stay with him
—the doors and windows of his house flew open of their own
accord, not only in the cold stormy nights of winter, but in
those of the quiet inviting summer, and hideous yells rever¬
berated throughout the dwelling at all hours, and the laird, fall¬
ing into a state of despondency, died suddenly and mysteriously !
But this had no effect in stopping the wanderings of the vassals'
spirit; so far from that, it was the means of inciting him to useful¬
ness, it being only after the laird's death that he assumed the
character of a menial, and made himself so very acceptable to
the servants, and performed that piece of service to the gude-
206 LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
wife of the farm house, for which he is most remarkable in
district. Although, as already seen, this occurrence was
from unique, it was wedded to verse by some old local bard,
the following rude effusion of
®I)e (Eljatgt o' dF«nc=ten.
There liv'd a farmer in the North
(I canna tell you when),
But just he had a famous farm
Nae far frae Ferne-den.
I doubtna, sirs, ye a' ha'e heard,
Baith women folks an' men,
About a muckle, fearfu' Ghaist—
The Ghaist o' Ferne-den !
The muckle Ghaist, the fearfu' Ghaist,
The Ghaist o' Ferne-den ;
He wad ha'e wrought as muckle wark
As four-an'-twenty men !
Gin there was ony strae to thrash,
Or ony byres to clean,
He never thocht it muckle fash
O' workin' late at e'en !
Although the nicht was ne'er sae dark,
He scuddit through the glen,
An' ran an errand in a crack—
The Ghaist o' Ferne-den!
Ae nicht the mistress o' the house
Fell sick an' like to dee,—
" 0 ! for a canny wily wife !"
Wi' micht an' main cried she !
The nicht was dark, an' no a spark
Wad venture through the glen,
For fear that they wad meet the Ghaist—
The Ghaist o' Ferne-den!
But Ghaistie stood ahiut the door,
An' bearin' a' the strife,
He saw though they had men a score,
They soon wad tyne the wife !
A If to the stable then he goes,
An' saddles the auld mare,
An' through the splash an' slash he ran
As fast as ony hare !
FEENE—THE GHAIST OF FEKNE-DEN.
207
He chappit at the Mammy's door—
Says he—" Mak haste an' rise ;
Put on your claise an' come wi' me,
An' tak ye nae surprise !"
" Where am I gaun ?" quo' the wife,
" Nae far, but through the glen—
Ye're wantit to a farmer's wife,
No far frae Ferne-den !"
He's ta'en the Mammy by the hand,
An' set her on the pad,
Got on afore her an' set aff
As though they baith were mad !
They climb'd the braes—they lap the burns—
An' through the glush did plash :
They never minded stock nor stane,
Nor ony kind o' trash !
As they were near their journey's end,
An' scuddin' through the glen :
" Oh !" says the Mammy to the Ghaist,
" Are we come near the Den ?
For, oh ! I'm fear'd we meet the Ghaist!"
" Tush, weesht, ye fool !" quo' he ;
" For waur than ye ha'e i' your arms,
This nicbt ye winna see !"
When they cam to the farmer's door
He set the Mammy down :—
" I've left the house but ae half hour—>
I am a clever loon !
But step ye in an' mind the wife
An' see that a' gae richt,
An' I will tak ye hame again
At twal o'clock at nicht!"
" What maks yer feet sae braid ?" quo' she,
" What maks yer e'en sae sair ?"
Said he—" I've wander'd mony a road
Without a horse or mare !
But gin they speir, Wha brought you here,
'Cause they were scarce o' men ;
Just tell them that ye rade ahint
The Ghaist o' Ferne-den !"*
* I am indebted to the Rev. Mr. Harris of Feme for this ballad, who had it from the late
Rev. Dr. Lyon of Glamis about 1812-13. There are, perhaps, more poetic versions of the tale,
but this is preferred in consequence of being the oldest.
208
land of the lindsays.
Long after this timeous service to the gudewife, however,
Brownie continued his monotonous wanderings as a ghost, to the
fear and dread of all guilty hearts; and, in his serviceable ca¬
pacity to the industrious and eident, who were ever thankful of
his visits. Tradition, with its accustomed minuteness, points out
the gudewife of Farmerton as the person in whose welfare
he felt so interested, and a male child was the issue. This
youth ultimately became remarkable for courage and valour in
various ways, and although, from time to time, many stalwart
persons had encountered the spirit of the murdered vassal, none
had sufficient courage to " speak," and allay him. After Far-
merton's son had reached manhood, however, and when return¬
ing home one dark night, he accidentally met this spirit, and,
determined to know the cause of his wanderings,
" About himsell wi' hazell staff,
He made ane roundlie score ;
And said, ' My lad, in name o' Gude,
What doe you wander for ?' "
On this the gliaist disclosed his woeful tale, confessed the
offences of his life, and making a summary exit from the view of
his interrogator, was never again seen !—Some say that he was
never heard of from the time he landed the " mammy wife,"
whose impertinent remarks regarding the peculiarities of his
form, are supposed to have caused his departure ! Be this as it
may, the one story is, doubtless, as authentic as the other, and
both versions still live in popular tradition.
SECTION V.
" Calm was the morn, and close the mist
Hung o'er St. Arnold's Seat,
As Ferna's sons gaed out to Sauglis,
M'Gregor there to meet."
Kaid o' Feakn.
The most important historical tradition of Feme is that which
relates to the Baid, or Battle Saughs. This transaction be¬
longing to "those days when might was right," and connected
with Feme only in regard that the parishioners were the actors ;
for " the battle field " lies within the confines ,-of the parish of
FERNE—THE RAID OF SAUCtHS.
209
Letlmot, near the head of the Water of Saughs. Although
little more than a century has elapsed since " the cold red earth "
closed over some of the principal heroes, the accounts of the trans¬
action are as various, and the year in which it occurred as uncer¬
tain, as though it had belonged to prehistoric times—furnishing
another convincing proof of the value of registering all incidents
which in any way affect the civil or religious history of a district.
One writer says that the affray took place " about the middle of the
seventeenth century." Others fix the years 1703, 1708, 1709,
and 1711 as the dates, but all on mere hearsay; and the ac¬
counts of the details of the action are as various as the dates.
Still, as little can be added with accuracy to that already before
the public, this notice will be mainly framed from these sources ;
for it would be worse than absurd to arrogate, in the absence of
documentary evidence, anything more authentic than that which
has been gleaned from the living chronicles of, at least, an age
prior to our own.
It may be remarked, however, that as tradition is uniform in
stating the age of the leader of the Feme men (whose name was
Macintosh, the son of a farmer in the parish), and that of all his
followers, as being about twenty at the time, instead of fixing the
period of the engagement at any of these dates, it ought, accord¬
ing to the age of James Winter (who was another of the actors), to
be fixed somewhere about the year 1680, he being born in 1660.
If Winter's age was an exception to that of the rest of his com¬
peers (and from the great execution which he is said to have done
with his Andrea Ferara* there is reason to believe that he was
older), the fixing of the date somewhere betwixt 1690 and 1700,
when Winter was in the prime of life, may approach nearer
the real period than any of the above. This notion is strength¬
ened from the fact, that young Macintosh succeeded his father in
the farm of Ledenhendrie in the year 1699,f and all story agrees
that his father was alive at the time of the engagement.
The Raid of Saughs is attributed to a comparatively trivial
matter belonging to a previous year, when, through the intre¬
pidity of young Macintosh, the cattle of the farmer of the Dubb
* This sword is a genuine Andrea Ferara, and is three feet and a-half long, including the
handle. It is in possession of Mr. Dickson of the Stamp and Tax Office, Kirriemuir, who had
it from Winter's grand-nephew.
t Southesk Rental Book, quoted ut sup, p. 102.
2 A
210
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
of Ferae were rescued from a party of three freebooters. Per¬
haps from a determination to revenge this insult, a gang of
thirteen Cateran, headed by the Hawhit Stiric* made a summary
descent 011 the district during the following spring. They
stole in unperceived on the evening of a Sunday, and conducting
their predatory labours during the silence of night, not only
succeeded in clearing the stalls of horses and cattle before
the domestics were astir, but were far over the mountains with
their booty.
Infuriated by constant and disastrous incursions, and the
general loss which the parish sustained on that particular oc¬
casion, the inhabitants were assembled on Monday morning,
among the tombs of their fathers, by the ringing of the kirk
bell. Being anxious to regain their stolen property, the day
was spent in discussing the practicability of taking the proper
course for doing so ; but fearing the superior strength of their
antagonists, courage forsook many of them, and the pursuit
would have been wholly abandoned, and the reavers allowed
to go with impunity, but for young Mackintosh, who felt so
enraged at the cowardice of his fellow-parishioners, that he
sprung to an eminence apart from them, and calling out at
the top of his voice—" Let those who wish to chase the Cateran
follow me !"—Eighteen young men left the multitude and rallied
round him, and after making some hasty preparations for their
perilous enterprise, they darted off in search of the reavers,
having chosen Macintosh as their leader. The journey was long
and arduous; but being well acquainted with the mountain
tracks, and following the trodden path of their enemy through
bogs and fens, they succeeded about daybreak in discovering the
thieves, who were crowded round a blazing fire, on which they
were quietly cooking a young cow for breakfast.
* The name of the Hawhit Stirh was given to this Cateran chief, from a supposition that
he was the same person who was laid down, when an infant, at the farm-house door of Muir
Pearsie, in the parish of Cortachy, and from the gudewife desiring her husband to rise from bed
about midnight to see the cause of the bleating cries which she heard ; but having a pet calf
that was in the habit of prowling about under night, her husband lay still, insisting that the
noise was merely the croon 0' the hawhit stirh ! Hearing a continuation of the same piteous
moan, the gudewife rose herself and found a male child, of a few weeks old, lying on the sill of
the door, carefully rolled in flannel, and other warm coverings, and, taking it under her charge,
brought it up as one of her own family. Nothing of the foundling or his parents were ever posi¬
tively known ; but when about sixteen years of age, he departed clandestinely from Muir Pearsie,
and from the resemblance of the leader of this herscliip to him, they are said to have been
one and the same individual. His name is variously given as M'Gregor and Cameron.
FEENE—THE RAID OF SAUGHS.
211
The place was a perfect wilderness—a boundless expanse of
moss and moor—intersected by natural cairns of flinty rocks
and the rugged channels of rivulets, without the remotest sign
of shelter. By wary steps, the Ferne men succeeded in reaching
within a hundred yards of the freebooters, who thought that a
few sharp and aimless shots would frighten them away. This
they were the more convinced of, since one of the party, throw¬
ing his " lang gun" from him, fled from the contest; but
the main body remaining firm, the leader of the herschip
stept forward and ironically requested to know, Which of them
was the leader ? Macintosh boldly acknowledged the honour;
and the Cateran's doubts being set at rest on that particular,
it was mutually agreed to determine the matter by single
combat. The chief, smiling, no doubt, at the idea of Macintosh's
boldness, pictured the misery and death which were likely to
follow a pitched engagement, and playfully cutting two or
three buttons from the breast of the young farmer's coat with
the blade of his sword—telling him at same time that he could
as easily deprive him of life, as take away those trifling appen¬
dages—he urged the propriety of the pursuers retiring in peace.
Matters remained in this undecided state for some time; but,
either wilfully or accidentally, some of the Cateran fired, and the
ball taking effect, killed one of the Ferne men. This was the
signal for a general onset, and the chief and Macintosh closed in
desperate and deadly combat, as did the rest; and the powerful
hand of the Cateran, though resisted with wonderful tact by his
unequal opponent, would soon have prevailed, but for the assist¬
ance of James Winter, who ran to the aid of Macintosh, and
stealing behind the chief, hamstrung him unawares, and brought
him to the ground, when, like brave Witherington of Chevy
Chase, and fair Lilliard of Ancrum,
" his leggs being smitten off,
He fought upon his stumps !"
Fully aware of the defenceless state in which he lay, the
wounded chieftain made several desperate aims at Macintosh,
(for by this time Winter had been re-assailed), but all attempts to
mow Macintosh down having failed, and the Cateran's sword
breaking on a stone, he solicited, as a dying request, that Macin¬
tosh would bid him farewell. This was frankly assented to, and
212
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
while the Cateran grasped his unsuspecting victim with one
hand, he secretly drew a dagger from his side with the other.
Macintosh being timeously apprised by some of his followers of
this, hastily relinquished his hold, and thrusting his sword into the
breast of the wily chief, finished what had been so tragically
begun by Winter.
Seeing their chief overpowered, and several of their clansmen
weltering in gore, the surviving Cateran fled in dismay; but
none are supposed to have escaped. One of them, named
Donald Young, was so severely wounded, that though able to fly
a short distance, he ultimately fell and expired at a hill east of
" the battle field," which has ever since been called " Donald
Young's Shank." Only one of the pursuers was killed, and
two or three wounded: all the dead were buried where they
fell; and, about forty years ago, when the banks of Saughs were
broken by a flood, some of their bones were exposed to view.
The cattle and other spoils were collected together by the
victors, who proceeded slowly on their homeward march. Mean¬
while the dissentient part of the parishioners, reflecting over the
risk which the gallant handful had hazarded, assembled in con¬
siderable number, and proceeded to their assistance; but they
were barely beyond the bounds of their own parish, when they
beheld their friends and the lowing herschip returning home.
The boldness of Macintosh and Winter was the talk of sur¬
rounding districts ; and the former, being the leader, and the
one above all others on whom the friends of the vanquished
would wreak their vengeance, his landlord, the Earl of South-
esk, is said to have been so pleased with his achievements, that
he erected a strongly fortified dwelling for him, and made him
Captain of the parish, which office had been long held by
Ogilvy, tenant of Trusto,* who, on this occasion, was one of
the party who declined to follow the Cateran.
These precautions of the Earl were not without their use ; for
on more than one occasion, Ledenhendrie was assaulted by his old
enemies, under whose attacks he might have fallen but for the
security of his dwelling. It is related, that on spending an hour
one evening with Ogilvy, who ever bore him hatred, the latter
* David Ogilvy was tenant of Trusto from 1691 to 1709.—His uarnc does not appear in
the rent roll of 1710,
FERNE—THE RAID OF SAUGHS.
213
thrice called at the top of his voice—" Gude-nicht Ledenhen-
drie !"—when parting with him at the door of Trusto. Macintosh,
suspecting no harm, proceeded leisurely on his way home, but on
reaching a solitary part of the road he discovered the diabolical
meaning of Trusto's vociferations, and, ere he had time to bethink
himself, was surprised by a party who lay in wait for him. He
was, unfortunately, unarmed, and accompanied by a favourite
dog; but, luckily, the night was dark, and being well ac¬
quainted with the route, he contrived by his agile step to gain
the crevice of a rock in the den of Trusto, into which he and his
dog got safely ensconced. As if instinctively aware of his
master's jeopardy (although the pursuers were so near that Led-
enhendrie could distinctly hear their conversation), his trusty
companion remained, as he did himself, in breathless silence
until daybreak, when both reached home.—This niche has ever
since been known as " Ledenhendrie's chair."
Trusto's perfidy was not lost on the subsequent conduct of
Ledenhendrie's life, though it tended greatly to increase his
uneasiness of mind ; for from that night to the day of his death
he went neither to kirk nor fair without weapons of defence.
Even in church, he no sooner entered his pew (which was
placed so as to command the door, and evade any assault from
the windows), than he laid his unsheathed sword and loaded
pistols on the desk before him ; but it is not known that he
ever had a fair opportunity of calling them into use, although
several clandestine attempts were made on his life—more, it is
believed, through Trusto's emissaries, than those of the reavers.
As might have been anticipated, Macintosh and Winter were
bosom friends ever after, and, in the true spirit of attached clans¬
men, they agreed that whoever died first, the survivor should con¬
duct the funeral, and have it attended with a bag-piper, and other
warlike accompaniments, consonant to the times. Winter was
the first to drop, and Ledenhendrie religiously performed the last
sad duties, and had the coronach, or dirge, played over his grave.
A handsome monument, of the old table fashion, was imme¬
diately raised to his memory, bearing the sculpture of a sword
and buckler on a shield, with this inscription:—
"I. W. 1732.—This stone was erected by Alexander Winter, tennent
in the Doaf [FDoal] in memory of James Winter, his father's brother,
214
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
who died on Peathaugh, in the parish of Glenisla, the 3d January 1732,
aged 72.
Here lyes .Tames Vinter, who died in Peathaugh,
Who fought most valointly at ye Water of Saughs,
Along Ledenhendry, who did command ye day—
They Vanquis the Enemy and made them runn away."
This tombstone is yet entire, near the south-east corner of the
kirk of Cortachy, and has recently been revised by some rude hut
grateful hand. Ledenhendrie was buried within the church
of Feme, but no memorial points out the spot of his repose.—
So far from this, his reputed targe, which hung on the church
wall near his grave was cast forth at the rebuilding of the
present edifice, and trodden under foot—his fortified residence
erased, and the very stone which bore his initials, " I. M." and
the date " 1708," thrown aside and lost!
The want of a monument to Ledenhendrie is the more to be
regretted, since a similar notice as that over Winter not only
would have told a tale of gratitude and respect, which the circum¬
stances demanded, but would have settled the era of the engage¬
ment, as all agree that he was not less than eighteen nor above
nineteen years of age at the period. As it is, the whole affair
appears to have much the air of romance, and is so destitute
of authentic details, that the humble tomb of Winter is the
only genuine record of it in existence.*
The district of Ferne, so far as known, has little to boast of
in the way of prehistoric traces, though a few warlike remains,
and the old names of places, would favour the supposition of the
parish having been the scene of some unrecorded engagement.
The discovery of stone coffins and urns in various parts, par¬
ticularly at a place called Drumcuthlaw, or the " law of the
battle ridge and the existence of large rude stones at Haerpit-
haugh (7. e. " the boundary haugh of the pit or grave), having
much the appearance of bound or march stones, would imply
something of this sort. It is certain that nothing has been found
on the Law of Windsor, or Ferne (as the conspicuous knoll on
the farm of Hilton is indiscriminately called), within the last half
* The various accounts of " the Battle of Saughs," are the Kev. Mr. Harris' " Ledenhen¬
drie Mr. Alex. Laing's (of Stracathro) ballad " The Raid of Fearn ; " and some anonymous
articles in Chambers' Edinr, Journal, and the Montrose Review, &c.
FERNE—PREHISTORIC REMAINS.
215
century, which in any way relates to prehistoric times, though
the appearance of the place seems not only to indicate an arti¬
ficial origin, but has much of the peculiarity of the conical-shaped
barrow. These ancient sepulchral tumuli are rare, and according
to Catullus, appertain to females.*
Primitive dwellings are said to have been found in different
parts of the parish, and, according to the writer of the New Sta¬
tistical Account, consist of a circle of moderately sized stones,
enclosing an area of from nine to twenty feet, and upwards, with
the exterior packed by earth and stones to the breadth of three
or four feet, and the interior, or floor, laid with clay or mortar,
mixed sometimes with stones. Traces of the action of fire were
found at the middle of these enclosures, and on some of the largest
stones. The fragment of a quern was dug from one, and a stone
coffin found in the vicinity of another.
These primitive dwellings are believed to have been the
abode of the aborigines of Caledonia, and some of them were
found in the upper parts of Lethnot, near Waterhead, but dif¬
fering from those of Feme in so far as they were scooped out
of the mountain side, and the entrance levelled to the adjacent
ground. These, however, are popularly believed to have been
made by shepherds as shelters from the storm. Perhaps they
were so ; but it is worthy of notice, that they are of the same
form as the so-called " primitive dwellings " in distant parts of
Scotland, which are found singly and in clusters, as the lone
shepherd's cot, and the highland clachan or village. They
are most plentiful in tracts of spongy moss and arid heath, and in
solitudes where the plough has never penetrated ; but as ages
have elapsed since they were the scene of busy life, the richness
of the soil has so greatly fostered vegetation, that it is matter of
great difficulty to discover their sites, and, but for their hard-
crusted burnt-like floors, they can scarcely be distinguished from
bothies or illicit distilleries, or, as already mentioned, from shep¬
herds' sheltering places.
* Fosbroke's En eye. of Antiquities, p. 5H.
CHAPTER VI.
OTarattistotte, or OTaregton.
SECTION I.
" Sir Alexander Carnegy built a very fyne little church, and a fyne minister's manse, upon
his own expenses, and doted a stipend, and gave a gleib thereto, out of his own estate."—
ochterlont.
" Blest be the man that spares these stones,
Aud curst be he that moves my bones."
On Shakspere's Tomb at Stratford.
There are various theories as to the origin of the name of
Caraldstone, or Careston. In the old Statistical Account, it is
derived from the Ossianic hero, Carril, who is said to have been
killed in the neighbourhood, and to have had a monument erected
to him, which was represented by three large rude stones to¬
wards the close of last century. These stood on a hillock about
a mile south-east of the church, near the farm-house of Nether
Careston, but being destroyed many years ago, the site is barely
traceable, though the story of the fall of Carril (who has been
metamorphosed into the leader of a band of Danish fugitives), still
lingers in the neighbourhood.* It is also said that Careston was
known at one time by the name of Fuirdstone. This is assumed
from a decreet of valuation of the teinds in 1758, in which the
expression occurs of " the lands and barony of Caraldstone, for¬
merly called Fuirdstone, with the tower, fortalice, manor place,"
&c. But according to Lord Spynie's charter of the lands in
1606, this passage admits of a different and more likely inter¬
pretation, and merely signifies that a part of the lands of Cares¬
ton were so called. j~
In the Preface to the Registrum de Aberbrothoc, attention is
directed to a different and more probable source :—" A person
of the name of Bricius occurs in very early charters as 'judex '
of Angus, probably holding his office under the great Earls. In
1219, Adam was 'judex ' of the Earls' court. Some years later
" New Stat. Acct. of Forfars. t Orig. Dukedom of Montrose Case, p. 218.
CARESTON—ERECTION OF THE PARISH.
217
he became 'judex ' of the King's court, and his brother Keraldus
succeeded to his office in the court of the Earl; for in the year
1227, we find the brothers acting together, and styled re¬
spectively 'judex' of Angus, and 'judex' of our Lord the
King. The dwelling of Keraldus received the name of ' Ker-
aldiston,' now Caraldstoun; and the office of 'judex ' becoming
heritable, and taking its Scotch title of ' Dempster,' gave name to
the family who for many generations held the lands of Caraldstoun
and performed the office of Dempster to the Parliaments of
Scotland."
The parish of Careston is of recent origin, and formed a part
of that of Brechin down to a late period. The site of the kirk is
said to have been a place of family interment from a remote
age ; and, although a church was built here in 1636, the act
for erecting the district into a separate parish was not obtained
until the year 1641, when, on Sir Alexander Carnegy of Bal-
namoon (who was sole heritor, holding under the superiority
of Maule of Panmure, as proprietor of the Lordship of Brechin
and Navar), " takand christeanlie to his consideration the igno¬
rance of his tennentis, and seriowslie pondering with him selff,
fynding the case, cause, and occasion thereof to proceid frome
the distance of thair dwelling to thair paroche kirk of Brechine,
and that be consent of the ministers of Brechine, it
was thought expedient that the said lands of Carrestoun et Pit-
forkie should be disjoynted from the said paroche of Brechine,
and erected into ane severell and distinct paroche be it selff."*"
The erection of the parish was strongly opposed by Sir
Patrick Maule, the minister of Navar, and the Commissioner of
Brechin, in name of that burgh and parish ; still, the General
Assembly " appoints and ordanes the inhabitants of the saids
lands, with the pertinents, to repair to the Newe kirk, built be
the said Sir Alexander vpon the saids lands of Carrestoun, as
thair paroche kirk in all tyme thairefter, for divine service, re-
ceaveing of the sacraments, and to vse the kirkyard thereof for
buriell of thair dead."f Carnegy reserved the patronage of the
kirk to himself, and the stipend was paid out of the teind sheaves
of Careston, Pitforkie, and Balnabreich, and amounted to forty-
five bolls, two firlots, victual, two parts meal, and third part
* Acts of Parliament, a.d, 1641. t Ibid.
2 B
218
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
bear, and forty-five pounds Scots money, " as the samene are
and hes been in vse to pay yeirlie to the late pretendit Bishope
of Brechine "*
The " fyne little church," as Ochterlony calls it, of 1636, is
still a substantial plain building of one storey, and is composed
of a transept, with an aisle on the north side. The aisle has
a special entrance from the west, is the pew of the laird's
family and domestics, and immediately in front of the pulpit,
elevated about two feet above the floor of the transept, from
which it is separated by a plain oaken front. A twisted
pillar of painted wood rises on each side, and forms the sup¬
port of the roof of the church at its junction with that of the
aisle. The burial vault, which is below the aisle, is entered from
the transept by a flight of steps.
Although of recent foundation, we are unable-to give the
names of the early clergymen of Careston, for, although the
Presbytery Becord begins on the 1st of August 1662, there is no
mention of this parish until the 11th of January 1666, when the
Presbytery appointed certain of its members to preach in the
" kirk of Carrotston, now vaiccand by absence of the minister."
This minister was, perhaps, Mr. Alexander Carnegie, for in
October 1681, a clergyman of that name was translated from
Careston "to a kirk in the south," and was succeeded by Mr.
John Murray in March 1682. This gentleman, and his assistant,
Mr. Alexander Lindsay, were among the "Jacobite intruders"
who caused their brethern considerable annoyance on the aboli¬
tion of Episcopacy.
As Careston is the least of any parish in Angus-shire, both as
regards extent and population, and the fifth least in the kingdom,
the kirk and graveyard are correspondingly small. Still, the
tombstones were once numerous, and manifested as much regard
for the memory of departed relatives, as that shewn in more
extensive localities ; but George Skene, the late proprietor, with
a very questionable taste, had the whole of them thrown from the
graveyard, and in course of time they were mostly broken to
pieces, or used for drain covers! The few now remaining were
taken from the common heap, and set up in their present position
after the laird's death. One of these (erected in 1755), as if anti-
* Acts of Pari., Ratification of Mortification, Nov. 2, 1641.
CARESTON—THE KIRKYARD.
219
cipating Skene's sacrilegious doings, bears this unambiguous
request, which will remind the reader of the lines on the tomb¬
stone of Shakspere, quoted at the head of this Chapter :—
" This stone doth hold these corps of mine,
While I ly buried here ;
None shal molest nor wrong this stone,
Except my freinds that near.
My flesh and bones lyes in Earth's womb,
Wntill Judgment do appear,
And then I shall be raised again
To meet my Saviour dear."
The discarded tombs were supplanted by small stones which
were built round the walls of the graveyard, containing merely
the names of the various farms in the parish. The present in¬
cumbent says, that these were executed by the laird himself, and
polished by his son, David, who was a druggist by profession.
Perhaps the most generally interesting memorial now left, how¬
ever, is the following simple record of the Reverend John Gillies,
who was the first minister of the parish after the final abolition
of Episcopacy:—
"In memory of Mr. John Gillies, who was ordained minister of Car-
raldston Sept 1716, died 1st March 1753, aged 72, and of six of his children "
[here named] " his spouse, Mary Watson, survives him, as also five of his
children, viz1- John, minister of Glasgow, Robert, merchant in Brechin,
and Mary, Isabel, and Janet Gillies's."
Mr. Gillies was a native of the west country, and the first of
his race, for seven generations (as he told an old parishioner),
who forsook the needle and the bodkin. He was a licentiate of
the Presbytery of Wigton, where he taught a school for some
time ;* and, on the removal of the parochial teacher of Feme
in 1716, " for his accession to the late rebellion," Mr. Gillies
succeeded him on the recommendation of Professor Hamilton of
Edinburgh, having shewn himself qualified to the Presbytery,
and acceptable to " the heritors of his parish who are not fled
from the Rebellion."f He only remained at Feme about six
months, when, on the people of Careston promising to "be pas¬
sive," and refusing to have any hand in calling a minister, though
they had been without one for seven or eight years, the Presby-
* rrctbytcry Rec. of Brechin, May 30, 1716. f Ibid.
220
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
tery elected Mr. Gillies to that charge on the 29th of August,
where he was ordained 011 the 18th of the following month.
It was many years after his induction, however, until the
parish could boast either of a kirk session or schoolhouse ; for the
church served the double purpose of kirk and school until
1738, and the parochial affairs were managed by the minister
and a committee of the Presbytery until 1733, when elders and
office-bearers were chosen for the first time. This had, perhaps,
been hastened by the refusal of Lord Menzies to pay the Lady of
Balnamoon's mortification to the poor, until a kirk session was
chosen. This mortification was made so far back as 1704, and
became payable from the lands on Mrs. Carnegy's death ; but
Stewart of Grandtully, Carnegy's successor in the property, re¬
fused to do so until compelled by law in 1733.
The want of a session, however, had perhaps arisen mainly
from the strong feeling in favour of the proscribed faith, which
long lingered in the district; for although Mr. Gillies was ad¬
mitted to the parish church without any disturbance, an Episco¬
pal meeting was regularly held at Whiteside down to past the
middle of last century. It is pleasing to observe, however, that
while Mr. Gillies and his colleagues were liberal to their own
party—such as the ill-starred " relict of the late Mr. Buchan,
minister of St. Kilda,"—an old veteran recommended by the
Assembly, who had spent his time in the army, from the Be-
storation to the peace of Utrecht—a poor stranger who had been
reduced to frailty and want, and " suffered much from his good
affection to the church and state,"—they were also mindful of
their opponents, the Episcopal clergymen and highland gentle¬
men, several of whom had their claims allowed from the poor's
box, as had also " Hugh Douglas, son to the late Earl of Morton,"
who had a "recommend from one as having lost much at sea."*
All these exhibit, in simple, but expressive language, the sad
distress into which the persecutions of the times had thrown, not
only the Episcopal clergy of the period, but many others whose
feelings could ill brook the sad reverses which forced them to
crave charity from the hand of strangers.
* [Parish Reg., 1720-21-23, &c.] This Hugh Douglas may have been a natural son, or, per¬
haps, an impostor, there being uo legitimate son of Morton, so named at the time referred to,
nor for several generations before that. The eleventh, or "late Earl," died unmarried inl7ir>.
CARESTON THE GILLIES FAMILY.
221
But, to return: The above stone to the memory of Mr.
Gillies has greater claim to our notice, and is more generally in¬
teresting, than may at first sight appear. Though known for
little individually, farther than discharging the duties of his re¬
sponsible office with acceptance to his parishioners during a time
of great difficulty, he is remarkable as the founder of a race who
have become popular in the higher walks of literature and other
dignified studies. A brief notice of some of these men may not
be unacceptable to the reader.
The tombstone records the birth of eleven children, of whom
two sons and three daughters only arrived at puberty; and
the initials and date " TG : M*W* 1716," rudely cut on the
outside of the minister's pew, is, perhaps, an essay at carving by the
hand of his eldest son, John, the future Doctor of Divinity. This
eminent divine, who wrote the " Life of George Whitfield," and
" Historical Collections of the Success of the Gospel," was born
two years before the time his father's settlement in Angus,
and was probably a native of Wigton. He was ordained to the
South Parish of Glasgow in 1742, where he continued for the
long period of forty-four years, and had a numerous family, one
of whom was minister of Paisley, and his only child by his
second wife, married the Hon. Colonel Leslie, second son of
the Earl of Leven.
But, it is to the family of his brother Robert, merchant in
Brechin, and ultimately proprietor of Little Keithock, and the
mill lands adjoining, that the name of Gillies owes its celebrity.
His wife was Margaret Smith, the daughter of a merchant of the
same city, by whom he had a large family of sons and daughters.
John, the eldest, was the well-known historian of Greece, and
author of many other works. On completing the rudimentary
part of his education at Brechin, he went to Glasgow, resided
with his uncle during the University Session, and spent his sum¬
mers at home, " studying in his father's garret," being rarely
seen either by his own family or others, save in the evenings,
when he took an airing in the neighbouring fields. This ex¬
cessive application had its reward ; and before reaching his twen¬
tieth year, he attained such proficiency in the Greek language,
that he was appointed teacher of the University class during
Professor Moore's last illness, and would have succeeded to that
222
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
chair on Moore's death, but for his preferring a journey to the
Continent, whither he went as guardian to the sons of the Earl
of Hopetoun ;—the Earl being much pleased with Mr. Gillies'
conduct towards them, settled a handsome annuity on him for
life. Being thus placed beyond the remotest view of pecuniary
want, he thenceforward prosecuted his studies in ease and com¬
parative affluence, and devoted himself entirely to literary
pursuits. The most popular of his numerous works was the
" History of Ancient Greece and on the death of Dr. Robert¬
son, he was appointed Historiographer Royal for Scotland, and
died in 1836, at the advanced age of ninety.
Though his pursuits were of a classical, and historical charac¬
ter, he had a clear perception of the ludicrous, and entertained his
friends with couplets descriptive of the peculiarities of the more
singular characters of his native town. These, unfortunately,
have been altogether lost with the exception of that undernoted:
The party here epitaphized (who was alive when the couplet was
written), was bred a shoemaker, but being " a lazy sutor," he
preferred the more exhilarating avocation of a courier, and other
out-of-door exercises, to his immediate calling, and was a ma¬
ternal relative of the Doctor's. The following is the epitaph
referred to:—
" Here lies John Smith, shoemaker by trade, •
Who wore more shoes than erer he made !"
Dr. Gillies' youngest brother, Adam, was called to the bar
in 1787, appointed Sheriff of Kincardineshire in 1806, and,
though a Whig, was raised to the bench in 1811, during the
administration of the unfortunate Mr. Perceval. He had a grave
austere demeanour, and was considered a judge of high au¬
thority—of few words, and terse argumentation ; and, unlike
his learned predecessors, who loved to use the broad Scotch dia¬
lect, he affected an ignorance of it, and assumed the more digni¬
fied English vernacular. While on the circuit on one occasion,
a case came before him, in which some of the witnesses examined
were natives of Brechin. In course of the evidence, one of them,
an old man who had known Gillies from his infancy, happened to
give the name of the article hat, the sharp provincial accentua¬
tion of hit. His lordship immediately interrogated the deponent
CARESTON—THE GILLIES FAMILY.
223
—" What do you mean by a het, Sir?" " I thoeht," said the
unabashed witness, " that yer honour had been lang enuch
aboot Brechin to ken what a het was !"
Mr. Gillies was counsel for some of the political martyrs of
the early part of this century, and by the distinguished and able
manner in which he conducted the defence, he established that
reputation for talent which eventually led to his promotion to
the bench. He held office until within a few weeks of his death,
which occurred at Leamington, in 1842, whither he had gone for
the benefit of his health, and his body was conveyed to Edin¬
burgh, and buried in the Greyfriars' Churchyard.
Though by no means a lover of the place of his nativity,
which perhaps arose from the misfortunes which subsequently
attended an elder brother, he was the steady and unflinching
benefactor of his less opulent relatives, and at the time of his
death, left a respectable annuity to his nephew, Robert Pearce
Gillies, of literary notoriety.
His brother, Colin, was the most enterprising provincial flour
and corn dealer of his time, and, in his hey-day had, perhaps,
more influence than any individual trader connected with Forfar
or Kincardine-shire ever enjoyed. Throughout both of these
counties he had extensive spinning, bleaching, and weaving
factories, and farmed a large extent of land, besides being pro¬
prietor of Murlingden, near Brechin, and of house property
to a great amount in most of the towns of Angus and Mearns.
He was also projector of the porter brewery at Brechin, in
itself a lucrative concern; and he contributed the valuable
statistics of the linen trade of Angus to Sir John Sinclair's
gigantic and useful work; and, for several years, enjoyed the
office of chief magistrate of his native city. Matters, however,
were suddenly reversed, and his failure, which occurred in the year
1811, sank the north-eastern and western portions of the shires of
Angus and Mearns into a state of ruin, which has never been
thoroughly overcome. Under the judicious management of
Mr. Greenhill of Feme, who was the principal creditor, Mr.
Gillies's estate yielded a little more than half payment, which
was beyond all anticipation ; and although Lord Gillies was per¬
sonally involved to a large amount, he felt so sensible of the
value of Mr. Greenliill's services, and the loss he sustained be-
224
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
yond other creditors, that he pledged himself to remunerate him
to some extent if ever he had it in his power. On the death of
Mrs. Hay Mudie of Newton and Pitforthy, many years after¬
wards, Lord Gillies being left a handsome legacy, an oppor¬
tunity was afforded of fulfilling his promise, and, with a nobleness
of heart, and honour worthy of all praise, he immediately for¬
warded a thousand pounds, begging the favour of Mr. Green-
hill's acceptance of it in fulfilment of his promise !
Thomas, who was bred a surgeon, and went to India, was
the father of Robert Pearce Gillies, now so well known in litera¬
ture. IPe amassed a large fortune, and on returning home pur¬
chased the estate, and built the mansion-house, of Balmakewan
in the Mearns, which property his son sold, on coming of age.
Dr. Thomas Gillies was a man of great benevolence, but
singularly eccentric habits, and in honour of his son, or, perhaps,
of Colonel Pearce (an intimate acquaintance in the Indian army),
he named a part of Brechin, where he held considerable property,
" Pearce Street," by which name it is still known.
While residing in his town house in Brechin one winter, a
band of strolling players located themselves in the Mason Lodge,
which was immediately opposite his residence, and thither he
went one evening to while away the time ; but having placed
himself close to the stage, the master of the ceremonies was re¬
luctantly compelled to request him to retire. This was insisted
upon without success ; and after a good deal of altercation, the
Doctor, raising himself on tip-toe, gruffly enquired of his anta¬
gonist, " Don't you know who I am, Sir?—Dm Doctor Gillies
from Bengal I" " Though you were Doctor Faustus from the
devil," rejoined the humble representative of Thespis, giving
him a shove to the front seats, " you shan't stand there !" Of
his eminent son, little can be added to the interesting and un¬
varnished statement which he gives of his own chequered and
unfortunate career. He was born at Brechin in 1789, called to
the Scotch bar in 1812, and subsequently adopted literature as a
profession—his after history is told by himself in his late curious
work of the " Memoirs of a Literary Veteran," to which the
reader is referred.
Thus, it will be seen, " the mantle " has descended on the
Gillies family to an almost incredible extent. Another brother,
careston—the dempster family.
225
William, who was engaged with Colin in porter brewing, was
father to Misses Margaret and Mary Gillies of London—the one
is known as a successful miniature painter, and the other as a
contributor to the periodical press. While of the female branch,
one married Henry William Tytler, translator of " Callimachus,"
and another was mother to Colvin Smith, portrait painter in
Edinburgh, whose father (a cousin of his mother) was sometime
a merchant and bailie in Brechin, and long held the office of
postmaster there. Still, strange to say, notwithstanding the
former opulence and importance of the Gillieses, the very sur¬
name is now unknown in the district.
SECTION II.
" Of known renown, and Chieftains of their name."
Don, a Poem.
The surname of " Dempster," as before mentioned, originated
from the office of " judex," or Dempster to the Parliament; but
it is uncertain at what period it was first assumed. Haldan de
Emester, or Demester, of the county of Perth, swore fealty to Ed¬
ward in 1296,* and this is the earliest instance of the surname with
which we have met. It was assumed by the lairds of Careston (in
its present form) before 1360, when they and the Collaces became
portioners of Menmuir.f In 1370, David Dempster of Care¬
ston was a perambulator of marches near Arbroath, and bound
himself to the Abbot of that Monastery, of which he was jus¬
ticiary, to provide a qualified deputy. On the resignation of this
office by his grandson, it was conferred on the Earl of Crawford,
whose extravagance prompted the Convent to supplant him,
and appoint Ogilvy of Inverquharity—a circumstance which gave
rise to the battle between the Ogilvys and Lindsays at Arbroath,
already noticed.
The office of heritable Dempster to the Parliaments was con¬
firmed to Andrew Dempster of Careston by Robert II. in 1379,|
and from the irregularity with which the fees attached thereto were
paid, a glimpse is afforded of the sources from which the payments
were derived. This action was raised before the Lords Auditors
* Ragman Rolls, p. 128. t Reg. Mag. Sig. { Baronage.
2 c
226
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
by David Dempster, who claimed " (tene pundis) amerciament
of fee ilk parliament," and the like sum, it is presumed, " of ilk
Justice Are" held in Forfarshire, and "amerciament zerely of
the extrect of the Sheref's Court of the sammyn," which the
" lordis Auditoris thinkis that he suld he pait efter the forme of
his infeftment, maid he King Robert vnder the gret sele schawin
et producit."*
The father of the last mentioned David, was the first of the
name who acquired the lands of Pitforthy, near Brechin, which
he held by charter from James II. in 1450.f This, with the ad¬
joining farms of Ardo, Bothers (now Cairnbank), and Adecat,
were anciently church lands, and formed part of those which
were alienated from the Cathedral of Brechin by peculating
officials; but James III., in his determination to restore the
church's property, had Dempster cited before the Lords of
Council in 1464, as the wrongous possessor of these lands, all of
which he was ordered to reconvey to the church. To this he
agreed in the humiliating posture of bended knee, and having
his hands closed within those of the Bishop4
Although thus penitent, and reinstated in part, if not in the
whole of these lands, for the payment of a life-rent feu duty,
Dempster seems to have had little love either for the kirk or the
Bishop, for soon after this, in 1467, he was again summoned by
"the Reverend Fader," for the " spoliacioune of iiij xx nolt"
from the lands of Ardo, and a horse from those of Pitforthy, over
which it would appear (from the fact that a deliverance was given
against Dempster with costs), the Bishop had retained the privi¬
lege of grazing.
Ever and anon this lording spirit was manifesting itself in
Dempster's character, whether in the oppression of the widow or
other heartless outrages ; and he and his brother, joining in the
mischievous and daring enterprises of the profligate sons of the
Duke of Montrose, were of the sacrilegious party who carried
off " twa monkis " and some horses, belonging to the Abbey of
Cupar; and, for this " hurting of the priuilege and fredome of
hali kirk," they were both ordered to place themselves in ward
in the respective castles of Dunbarton and Berwick. Perhaps
the aid which Dempster of Careston and his brother afforded
* Acta Auditorum, July 18, 1176, p. 53. t Baronage, p. 351. t Hist, of Brechin, p; 22.
CARESTON—EARL HENRY OF CRAWFORD.
227
the young Crawfords in their lawlessness and rapine, induced
their father to thrust Dempster out of the farms of Glen-
effock and Pettintoscall,* of which he was life-renter, and to
take forcible possession of a number of his oxen and kye;
but, so far from the Duke succeeding in this, his adversary was
ordained to " broek and joise the tak all the day is of his life,"
without vexation or trouble.f
Emboldened with success, Dempster now directed his energies
to the annoyance of the Duke and the summary ejection of his
tenantry; and, among others, he turned John Guthrie out of
" the tak and maling of the landis of Petpowoks," in the lordship
of Brechin. In this the Dempsters were found at fault, and
ordered to reinstate Guthrie in his possession, of which he pro¬
duced a tack signed by the Duke4
This polemical laird, who was fifth in descent from David
first named, added largely to his possessions in the north, having
had charters of the lordship of Muiresk and other parts from
James III. in 1481, from which period the family were promiscu¬
ously designed of Auchterless and Muiresk.§ He was succeeded
by his son William, who is the last designed " of Caroldstoun,"
of which he had charters in 1529, as also of the lands and mill of
Pitmois, in the regality of Kirriemuir. || He died soon after,
and although the last of the name specially designed of Careston,
the family had an interest in the locality down to a much later
period; for among the charters belonging to the city of Brechin,
David Dempster " fiar of Peathill," appears as a witness under
date 1597.11
We are not aware of the precise time that the barony of
Careston fell to the Lindsays, but it is certain that Sir Henry
Lindsay of Kinfauns, afterwards thirteenth Earl of Crawford,
* Perhaps this is the Pentaskall of a later period, which lay in old times in the lordship of
Brechin, and was subsequently part of the barony of Kinnaird, In 1691, etsub., there was a place
there called " Bantascall," and the burn which flows from Forebank through the deer park, the
wood, and cow park, and joins another stream near the garden of Kinnaird, is named " the burn
of Pintassle."
t Acta Dom. Concilli, June 20,1493, and July 1, 1494. J Ibid., Dec, 9, 1494.
§ Baronage, p 532. || Ibid.
f Thomas Dempster, the celebrated author of " Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum,"
&c., was of the Muiresk family, and commonly, but apparently erroneously, said to have been
born at Brechin. The real place of his birth was the mansion house of Cliftbog, in Aberdeen¬
shire. He was the twenty-fourth out of twenty-nine children, which his mother, a daughter of
Lesly of Balquhain, bore to his father.—Irving's Lives of Scottish Writers, p. 317. Dempster
of Duniclien and Skibo, is also said to be descended from a younger son of Muiresk.
228
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
was in possession before the close of the sixteenth century, since
on the 17th of January 1600, Janet Forrester, with consent of
her son, granted an annual of forty-five merks out of a part of
the lands of Balnabreithe to Henry Lindsay de Carraldstoun, and
his heirs.* Only eight years thereafter, Sir Henry resigned
Careston, Nether Careston, and Balnabreich, and the barony
and lordship of Kinfauns, in favour of his eldest son Sir John,
Knight of the Bath, as fiar, but under his father's life-rent.j" Sir
John predeceased his father about 1615, and leaving no male
issue, the property reverted to him ; and, in 1618, he obtained a
bond of reversion over Careston and Finhaven from William
Forbes of Craigievar.J About 1630, the lands of Shielhill, in
the parish of Kirriemuir, and Easter Balnabreich were sold by
Earl George (Earl Henry's son) to John Bamsay,§ who had
been laird of the western part of the last named property for
some time before. Lord Spynie relieved Craigievar's bond at
the same period, and thus became proprietor of Careston and
Finhaven at much the same time.
Long before this, however, in 1595, Sir Alexander Carnegy,
uncle to the first Earl of Southesk, afterwards proprietor of
Balnamoon, had a charter of half the lands of Balnabreich ;|| and
being a lawyer of eminence, is said to have received the barony
of Careston in lieu of the expenses of a lawsuit which he is re¬
presented to have carried on in behalf of the Lindsays.
Sir John Stewart of Grandtully and Murtlily, succeeded the
Carnegys in Careston by purchase, in 1707. His arms, with
the date 1714, still decorate the front of the castle ; and during
the proprietorship of this family, much of the carved work was
added to the house. They were descended, through a daughter
of Lord Bute, from a second son of Alexander, the Lord High
Steward of Scotland in the time of Alexander II. and III., his
eldest brother, the seventh Lord High Steward, being the illus¬
trious personage from whom " the Loyal Stuart " deduced their
descent. Grandtully was acquired in the reign of James I. The
first baronet was a senator of the College of Justice, and, by the
marriage of his grandson with Lady Jane Douglas, only daughter
of the penultimate Duke of Douglas, the famous "Douglas Cause"
arose, whereby her son, Archibald, succeeded to the immense
* Crawford Case, p. 82. f Ibid., p. 8t. J Ibid., p. 84, § Ibid., p. 91,
|| Douglas' Peerage. 1[ New Stat. Acct., Forfars.
CARESTON—THE SKENE FAMILY.
229
estates of the Duke of Douglas—the title of Duke having merged
into that of Hamilton. He was created Baron Douglas in 1790,
however, was long Lord-Lieutenant of Forfarshire, and father
to the present Baron.
Careston again changed hands in 1720, and became, by pur¬
chase, the property of Major Skene, a cadet of the old family of
that Bk. This family enjoyed the estate of Skene from father
to son in nearly uninterrupted succession, for more than six
hundred years, down to the late period of 1828, when the last
direct male descendant died. The first who bore the surname
is said to have been a younger son of Donald of the Isles,
who, according to tradition, saved Malcolm II. from being torn
to pieces by an enraged wolf that chased him from the forest
of Kilblein in Marr to the burn of Broadtach, now within the
boundary of the town of Aberdeen. At this point, the wolf
came up with the King, and was just about to spring upon
him, when the gallant youth, " wrapping his plaid about his
left arm, and rushing in betwixt the king and the wolf, thrust
his left arm into the wolf's mouth, and drawing his slcene—which
in the Gaelic language signifies a dirk or knife—struck it to the
wolf's heart, and then cut off its head and presented it to King-
Malcolm."* For this meritorious service he had a large grant
of land in Aberdeenshire, including the parish of Skene, and took
his surname from the dirk or knife. This lucky instrument, it is
said, is still preserved among the family muniments.
This tradition, though strengthened, as are those of other
ancient families, by armorial insignia, is as incredible as it is
romantic. The first genuine notice of the race occurs in the
time of the disputed monarchy, during which, in 1290, " Jo-
hanes Skene " was an arbitrator between Bruce and Baliol; and
in 1296, the same person and " Patrik de Skene " (probably a
son, for they were both of Aberdeenshire), were among the
barons who swore fealty to Edward.j" So far from the whole
property of Skene having continued in the family from the time
of Malcolm, it appears, from a roll of missing charters by
Robert I., that he gave " Alexander Frazer of Cluny the lands
of Cardnye, with the fishing of the Loch of Skene,"J which had,
doubtless, formed part of the estate. At all events, " the great
+ flaronage, p. 555. f Ragman Rolls, p. 154. J Robertson's Index, p. 16.
230
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
loch of Skene" is a portion of the traditionary grant of
Malcolm. This charter of the fishing to Frazer is dateless; but
was given sometime before 1318, as in that year the same
patriotic prince made a grant to Robert de Skene for his service
and homage, of " omnes et singulas terras de Skene et lacum
ejusdem," proving that this was the period that the family had
their charter of the lands and loch of Skene, and the first
time, so far as known, that they received a royal acknowledge¬
ment of their services; although, from the designation de
Skene, they must either have been vassals, or portioners of the
lordship, prior to the year 1290.
The first of the race, who figured in the subsequent achieve¬
ments of the kingdom, was Adam de Skene, who married a
daughter of Keith Marischal. He raised a force against the in¬
vasion of Donald of the Isles at Harlaw, and fell there ; and the
heads of the family shared the same fate at the subsequent battles
of Flodden and Pinkie. James Skene, who succeeded his father
in 1634, was a staunch loyalist, and, like others of his exiled
countrymen, served in the ten years' war under Gustavus
Adolphus.—His second son joined the Covenanters, was taken
prisoner at Rutherglen, and executed at the Grassmarket of
Edinburgh on the 1st of December 1680.*
It was George Skene, grand-nephew of the last-mentioned
James, an office!" of distinction during the wars of Queen Anne,
who purchased the estate of Careston from the Grandtully
family. He had two daughters, one of them married the laird
of Skene, her own cousin-german, the other Sir John Forbes
of Foveran; and both being married at the same time, their
father willed that his estate of Careston should pass to the
daughter who bore the first son.j" Airs. Skene was the successful
party, and her eldest son consequently succeeded to Careston,
and on the death of his father became chief of the ancient family
of Skene of that Ilk, being the twenty-first in succession from
Robert Skene of 1318. He married a daughter of Forbes of
Alford, and had five sons and two daughters, and as all the
former died issueless, the succession devolved on their eldest
sister, who had married Alexander, third Earl of Fife. She was
mother of the present Earl and the late General Sir Alexander
* Douglas' Baronngp.
f Now Stat. Acct. Forfarshire.
(JARESTON—THE LAST OE THE SlvENES.
231
Duff, whose eldest son is now proprietor of Careston, and heir-
apparent to the Earldom of Fife.
The eldest son of Miss Forbes of Afford was bred a lawyer,
but having a desire for military service, entered the army, and
rose to the rank of Captain. He was long quartered in Ire¬
land, and, in allusion to the English interpretation of his name,
was familiarly known there as Captain Knife, and left the service
on the death of his father. Taking part with the late Lord
Panmure in the reforming movements of the period, he bore a
conspicuous part in that momentous crisis, and was one of the
party whom Napoleon arrested, soon after his elevation to the
First Consulship, for openly drinking to his overthrow at a public
banquet in Paris. The fines which were imposed on them, and
the bribes they paid for their escape, were so heavy, that, though
both had large incomes, and were long lived, they were embar¬
rassed in consequence—to some extent at least—all their days.
Captain Skene died unmarried, and was succeeded by his
youngest surviving brother, Alexander, who, with another
brother, was deaf and dumb ; and, with a view of enabling them
to employ their time usefully, they were both apprenticed in
early life to the watchmaking trade in Montrose to a Mr. Pobb,
—a person of provincial eminence in his line. '
None of the family, however, were so popular in Angus-shire
as the father of these youths—the eldest son of Miss Skene—of
whose bacchanalian adventures and natural eccentricities many
singular anecdotes are preserved. Contemporary with " the rebel
laird " of Balnamoon, and resident within a short distance of each
other, the stories of their well-known carousals are so mixed
up with each other that they are almost inseparable. Though
reputed to be a man of greater learning, and perhaps more exten¬
sive general knowledge, Skene is said to have been much more of
the bacchanal than Carnegy. He had travelled much on the
Continent, and being naturally of a musical turn, was believed by
the vulgar, not only to have the power of making his favourite
instrument, the bag-pipe, play in the castle while he strolled
among the fields, but, like the Black Earl of Southesk, it was
also understood that
" lie Icarn'd the art that none may name
In Padua, beyond the sea."
232
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
The story of " there being nae wile o' wigs," when the
laird fell from his Rosinante into the Southesk at Blaikiemill
ford, when his drunken servant placed a wet faggot on his head
instead of his wig !—of his falling over his horse's ears into a
burn, and crying to his man, " Is that a man fa'en i' the water,
Harry ? I thocht I Iieard a plash !"—of his being set past in
his carriage, in the shed, and forgot for hours—and a host of
kindred anecdotes, are printed in almost all jest books, and need
not be repeated. They are, however, generally understood in
the locality as having occurred between Skene and his man
Harry Walker; but the first of these belongs properly to the
contemporary laird of Balnamoon, who falls to be noticed in
next Chapter.
Such were the proprietors of Careston from the earliest to the
present time ; and, as a family called Mitchell still occupy the
farm of Nether Careston, which their progenitors have held from
at least the time of Earl Henry of Crawford (the present tenant
having held leases to his forefathers by Earl Henry, until they
were lately called up by the Earl of Fife), some notice of them,
as still preserved in the district, may not be inaptly given under
this head. Having always been affluent, they were foremost in
all sorts of agricultural improvement, and, among other advances,
were the first in the north-eastern district of the county to erect
thrashing mills, and adopt the use of fanners. As a matter of
course, they had much to contend with in so doing, since the won¬
derful power of the latter machine in separating the grain from
the chaff was attributed to supernatural agency, and called the
Devil1 s Wincl! It is also said, that the prejudice was so strong
against their use, that Mitchell and his family were compelled
to work them personally, and scarcely a housewife would allow
a particle of the meal that was made from the corn which
passed through them to enter her house. Still, the farmer per¬
severed, and their advantage became so apparent, that even
during his own lifetime, no meal could be found that had not
undergone the process of being chaffed by the heretical wind.
Nor was it alone in their farming operations that this family
were a-head of their neighbours ; for, while other tenants had
merely the glow of the fire, and splinters of wood to aid them
careston—fuirdstone, or balnabreich castle. 233
in their domestic duties in the evenings, and only the cold
earthen floor under their feet, they had white tallow candles for
enlivening the gloom, and the floor of the hen, or inner apartment
of their house, laid with green turf, or strewn with rushes, taken
from the banks of the Nor an. These, it is said, were deemed so
extravagant by the laird at the time, that Mitchell incurred
his enmity to such a degree, that he threatened to turn him out
of his holding, if he persevered in their adoption. Mitchell was
invincible, however—the threat went for nothing, and he con¬
tinued to augment the comfort of his house by steady steps;
and, as already said, was followed in Nether Careston by suc¬
cessive descendants, one of whom occupies it to this day.
SECTION III.
" Forsaken stood the hall,
Worms ate the floors, the tap'stry fled the wall:
No fire the kitchen's cheerless grate display'd,
No cheerful light the long-clos'd sash convey'd."
Crabbe.
" 0, the name of gallant Grahame —
Alderne, Kilsythe, and Tibber, own'd its fame,
Tutnmell's rude pass can of its terrors tell."
Scott.
It has been already shewn, that a portion of the estate of Care¬
ston was known by the name of Fuirdstone, and could boast in
old times of a tower or fortalice, so-called. This stronghold is
mentioned by Monipennie in 1612, as the castle or tower of
" Bannabreich." The ruins of a large house, called " the castle
of Fuirdstone," were erased from a field west of the farm house of
Balnabreich, about the beginning of this century, and, to this
day, the plough turns up ruins of old buildings near the same
place. The name had, doubtless, originated from the more than
ordinary number of fords which are at this part of the river, for
that adjoining the site of the old castle (which is the safest of
the whole) is only one of several which lie within a short distance
of each other. Perhaps, as the Gaelic Bal-na-breith implies " the
town of judgment, or sentence," this may have been the place
where Keraldus, or other early barons, dispensed feudal justice.
2 D
234
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
The necessary adjunct, the Law, or cairn, stood 011 an adjoin¬
ing field, called the Law-shed, where many rude coffins and urns
were found on reducing the cairn, which lay nearly due south
of the site of the reputed monument of Carril.
It is not probable that Fuirdstone Tower (as popularly be¬
lieved) was the original castle of Careston, for, as previously in¬
timated, there was a residence here, and the district had its name
from being the abode of Keraldus: while, as shewn by Moni-
pennie, Careston was a contemporary house with Fuirdstone.
The present castle of Careston has been added to, and orna¬
mented by various lairds. The latest erected, or back part,
however, with its turrets and battlements, particulary when seen
from the Ferne road, has the most castellated appearance of the
whole fabric, and the best view of the front is obtained from the
Hill of Angus, on the opposite side of the Esk. The front consists
of a main part of three storeys, and two gable wings of four,
which project about twenty feet from the centre or old part, and
connected together by a lead-covered lobby of one storey, and
metal railing, giving the whole a solid massive effect.—A fine
cable moulding runs along the top of the wall, and round many
of the window lintels, of the old portion of the house.
The centre, as before said, is the oldest portion of the castle,
and, including the general appearance of the place, is thus de¬
scribed by Ochterlony: "A great and most delicat house, well
built, brave lights, and of a most excellent contrivance, without
debait the best gentleman's house in the shyre; extraordinare
much planting, delicate yards and gardens with stone walls, ane
excellent avenue with ane range of ash-trees on every syde, ane
excellent arbour, for length and breadth, none in the countrey
lyke it. The house built by Sir Harry Lindsay of Kinfaines,
after[wards] earl of Crawfourd."
Though two centuries have nearly elapsed since Guynd gave
this expressive account of the castle of Careston, had the house
not been long tenantless and uncared for—the excellent avenue,
which extended from the river at Gateside to the front of the
castle, destroyed, and other large trees cut down—the arbour
allowed to fall into disrepair, and much of the elaborate sculp¬
ture carried off to decorate a distant mansion—Careston, even
at the present day, might have worthily borne the appellation of
CARESTON—THE CASTLE.
2 35
being the best gentleman's place in the shire, for its internal
carvings, though fast going to ruin, are still among the richest
of their kind in the district.
It was tenanted within these twenty years, but since that
time has been little cared for ; and the finest garden ornament,
which consisted of a magnificently carved vase of fruits and
flowers, went to pieces in the hands of the workmen who were
employed to take it down. All trace of ancient refinement,
for which this place was once so remarkable, is not completely
gone, however:—The inhabitants of the Mains still receive
water from the gaping mouth of a well-sculptured dolphin, and
other tasteful carvings grace the well in the outer court of the
castle, and the now waterless pond in the middle of the kitchen
garden.
But it is by the internal decorations of Careston that the
genius of the sculptor, and the taste of the erector, are to be
fully estimated. These consist mostly in heraldic bearings, with
which, and a good deal of grotesque ornament, the landing of
the old staircase and five of the bed-rooms, are profusely deco¬
rated ; and, from the Carnegy arms holding a chief place in the
staircase, this armorial group had probably been set up by Sir
Alexander.* In the dining and drawing-rooms, allegorical repre¬
sentations predominate. The fire-place of the former is flanked
by male and female satyrs, and the mantle-piece embellished
with the Airlie arms and motto, guarded on each side by two
naked figures holding urns, from each of which a serpent, em¬
blematical of life, issue their curling forms, and unite together
at the top.
The mantle-piece of the old drawing-room bears a fine sculp¬
ture of the Royal arms of Scotland, surrounded by military
trophies, consisting of banners, shields, and lances, with two nude
human figures riding on lamas. These are flanked on each
side by a man and woman nearly life-size, also naked, holding
cornucopias in their hands, beautifully festooned, and united in the
middle by a Pan's head. Immediately under the Royal arms, a
plain tablet bears the following incentive motto, in allusion,
perhaps, to the valorous character and high position of the first
* Besides tlve armorial bearings of Carnegie, whieli are in the centre, this cluster also
comprises that of the families of Wemyss of that Ilk; Blair of Balthyoek; Hallyburton ol
Biteur; Foulis of Oolington ; Ear 1 of Gowrie; Earl of Haddington ; and Earl of Airlie.
236
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Earl of Crawford, and his marriage with the daughter of King
Kobert the Second:—
" THIS • HONORIS * SINGE
AND ' FIGVRIT • TROPHE • BOR
SVLD • PVSE • ASPYRING • SPRE
1TIS • AND ' MARTIAL * MYND"
TO * THRYST • YAIR • FORTVNE
FWRTH • & * IN ' HIR • SCORNE
BELEIVE • IN • FAITHE
OYR • FAIT • GOD * HES • ASSINGD"
Three of the bed-rooms contain respectively the Gowrie, Had¬
dington, and Balthyock arms, the first of which has robed and
mailed figures on each side. Instead of armorial insignia, another
bed-room contains a vigorous carving of a Highlander play¬
ing on the bag-pipes; while a fifth presents the figures of two
peasants dressed in short tunics, each bearing a flail, with sheaves
of corn, rakes, and forks beside them.
Such is a brief epitome of the history of the castle of Cares-
ton and its sculptures, to which could have been added, until the
year 1843, the armorial bearings of the Carnegys, which scaled
off and fell to pieces at that time,* and it need scarcely be said that
both externally and internally, evidences of dilapidation meet the
eye at all corners. It is true that the fine walk which leads
from the castle to the church has still much of the beauty it had
of old; but the grove, from the north gate by Waterston, which
was guarded on both sides by spreading trees, whose branches
united like the roof of a vaulted chamber, is now a coarse and
uninviting thoroughfare ; and though many of the large trees in
the neighbourhood of the castle (which are said to have been
planted while the lands were in possession of the Grandtully
family) were pleasing accessories to the old baronial mansion,
they, together with the large plantation which stretched along
the turnpike, are nearly gone, and without something be done
to rescue the mansion from destruction, it will soon become
a total ruin.
The principal traditions of Carcston are those concerning
Jock Barefoot, already noticed, and a White Lady, who was wont
'' These are said to have been thus impaled :—" Ermine, three bars, gules, each charged
with a round buclile, or," willi the mottos, "deed god," and "be it fast."
CARESTON—RETREAT OF MONTROSE.
237
to perambulate the district when the woods were dense. But
these need not be dwelt upon, since so much space has been taken
up in the notice of similar incidents belonging to other quarters ;
and, of prehistoric traces and historical peculiarities, the district,
unfortunately, is extremely meagre.* The first of these, so far
as known to us, have already been noticed; and, perhaps, the
greatest historical event connected with the district of Careston,
was the lodgement of the Marquis of Montrose and his followers
in front of the castle, on the 5th of April 1645, after the storming
of the town of Dundee. As this was the only rest which the
Royalists enjoyed after their long and celebrated retreat from
General Baillie and the covenanting army, a brief retrospect of
that dexterous achievement may not be inaptly classed under the
present head.
As the cause of the wars of Montrose, and his many won¬
derful exploits, are familiar to all readers, we shall confine
our notice to an epitome of this " retreat," which is charac¬
terised on all hands as the most dexterous specimen of general¬
ship which the warlike annals of almost any country can pro¬
duce.—After the total defeat of the Earl of Argyle at Inver-
lochy, on the 2nd of February 1645, Montrose had his forces
strengthened by a vast number of the highland chiefs and
their followers, whose inclination to support the royal cause was
hitherto thwarted by the power of Argyle. Thus reinforced,
he marched southward in triumph, and after firing several
towns, villages, and estates, whose proprietors, or inhabitants,
refused compliance with his demands (among which were
those of Dunottar, Cowie, Ury, and Drumlithie), he pitched his
camp at the village of Fettercairn, where he stopt a few days to
refresh his army, during which his soldiers laid waste the neigh¬
bouring lands, and killed the father of the future Earl of
Middleton and Clermont, while sitting in his chair in the castle
of Caldhame.
While here, Montrose's soldiers met with their first repulse
from the time they left Inverlocliy,—a detachment of Hurry's
troops, who were sent as scouts from the main camp of the
Covenanters, which was then stationed at Brechin, falling upon
* Some writers say that (ad Esioam) the pass of the Romans in a.o. 81, was at the junction
of the Noran and Southesk.in the parish of Careston ; but it is generally supposed to have been
at Montrose, or some place thereabout.
238
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
them by surprise at the woods of Halkerton. They were soon
repulsed, however, and leaving Fettercairn, Montrose crossed the
North Esk and West Water, and passed along the braes of
Menmuir and Feme, with the intention of crossing the Tay at
Dunkeld ; but observing Baillie's army lingering on his flank,
he halted two days on the north side of the Isla, while Baillie
lay on the south. As Baillie declined to fight, both armies con¬
tinued their southward march, and Montrose being informed that
his antagonist had gone to intercept his progress at the main
fords of the Forth, determined to retrace his steps.
Aware of the unprotected state of the North, he immediately
fell back on the town of Dundee, which, from its wealth and
population, afforded considerable inducements ; and, about night¬
fall on the 3rd of April, having previously despatched his baggage
and weakest soldiers to Brechin, he marched at the head of a
hundred and sixty horse, and six hundred chosen musketeers, and
reached Dundee early next forenoon.
He encamped on the Law, and despatched a trumpeter to
offer terms to the Magistrates; but instead of returning with an
answer, as anticipated, the messenger was cast into prison. This
formed good grounds for Montrose wreaking his vengenance on
the town, to which he bore considerable enmity (because of the in¬
habitants refusing to lodge his forces after the victory of Tipper-
muir), and his army were accordingly directed to storm the town
at three different places, when a fearful scene of bloodshed,
drunkenness, and debauchery ensued. The doors of the churches,
chapels, and wine-cellars were torn from their hinges, and the
town fired in two places—that part called the Bonnet Hill being
nearly consumed ; and, but for the alarm and cry of the enemy
being at hand, the sack might have ended in the complete de¬
struction of the town and shipping.
Instead of going to protect the fords of the Forth, as was
rumoured, the Covenanters had only gone to Perth; and intelli¬
gence of Montrose's work being speedily conveyed to them, they
were close at his heels before he well knew his danger,—indeed,
the last of his army was only retreating from Dundee by the
cast, when the Covenanters were entering by the west.
There was 110 time to lose; and being a case of untoward
emergency, Montrose asked advice of his staff. Some advised that
CARESTON—RETREAT OF MONTROSE.
239
the horse should ride off, and leave the foot to their own shifts ;
others, that they should stand firm, and meet Baillie face to face.
Montrose rejected both propositions—the one as unfair, the other
as imprudent; and resolved on a march toward the hills by a cir¬
cuitous route. Collecting the whole of his army of foot and
horse, he marshalled the weakest and most inebriated of his men
in the centre, and had the sides and rear guarded by the horse and
strongest musketeers, and departed towards Arbroath, a distance
of seventeen miles, which he reached about midnight, notwith¬
standing that they had had much skirmishing with a detachment
of the Covenanters, who only gave up the pursuit when evening
closed upon them.
Montrose's army had now marched about fifty miles, had
been engaged in the dreadful work of storming Dundee, and
had no sleep for two successive nights ! Nevertheless, with the
fear of the ocean on one side, into which the superior force of the
Covenanters could easily have driven them, and their principal
detachment being at Brechin, where they could as easily have
been cut up—instead of allowing his men to rest, or holding
further to the north by the coast road, he cut directly through
Angus-shire in a north-westerly line, and crossing the South Esk
at Careston, landed there in the grey of the morning.
This was now the 5th of April. From about sunset on the
3rd, the army had been on constant march and duty of the most
arduous and fatiguing character, without a moment's repose.
Montrose, well acquainted with the roads of his native county,
and knowing that, besides having the Grampians at his back, he
had a relative by affinity, though opposite in politics, in Sir
Alexander Carnegy, the proprietor of Careston, he landed his
troops there, when they instantly squatted themselves on the ex¬
tensive lawn in front of the castle.
Meanwhile, General Baillie, who was quartered at Forfar,
little dreaming of Montrose's dexterous movements, and conclud¬
ing that, between his own army and that of Hurry, he had his
enemy simply for the cutting up, was so greatly mortified to find
Montrose had marched round about him, that he set off with
all speed in pursuit. On hearing of his approach, Montrose, ever
mindful of his family motto, Woubliez, had his men again on the
move: this, however, was not so easily obtained as on former oc-
240
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
casions, for nature was so completely exhausted, that the sen¬
tinels had to prick many of the soldiers with their swords before
they would awaken. The fastnesses of Glenesk (where they had
been domiciled on previous occasions) were again their haven, and
thither they retreated with all speed, and once more bade defiance
to the superior force of their pursuers.
So ended "the celebrated retreat of the Marquis of Montrose,"
which was followed by a succession of marvellous victories down
to his defeat at Philiphaugh, on the 13th of September following.
The rest of his history is well known: flying to the Continent,
he re-appeared, for the first time thereafter, in arms for Charles
II., and was defeated at Inchcarron, by Colonel Strachan, in
March 1650. Afraid of detection, he threw his military cloak,
and the star and ribbon which he so much cherished as the ap¬
proving gift of his late sovereign, to the winds,—exchanged
his warlike habit with a peasant whom he met in the fields, and
seeking shelter from his enemies, was betrayed by M'Leod
of Assynt, who was one of his old followers ! He was taken to
Edinburgh in the mean habit in which he was found—hanged
on a gibbet in the Grassmarket, with a copy of Bishop Wishart's
" Memoirs " of his exploits hung around his neck—his body
afterwards quartered, and sent to grace the gates of the principal
towns in Scotland ! So died Montrose, at the early age of thirty-
eight—the most accomplished general, and devoted Royalist of
his own, or perhaps of any age—a sacrifice to public indignity
and private hatred.
CHAPTER VII.
f&enmuir.
SECTION I.
" The family tomb, to whose devouring mouth
Descended sire and son, age after age,
In long unbroken hereditary line."
Pollock's Cockse of Time.
The church of Menmuir was in the diocese of Dunkeld, and
dedicated to St. Aidan, bishop of Lindisfarne, whose feast is held
on the 31st of August. A fountain near the church, now lost by
drainage, long preserved his name in the metamorphosed form
of St. Iten, and was believed to perform miraculous cures on such
as were afflicted with asthma and cutaneous diseases.
The church occupies a prominent position in the upland part
of the parish, and in old times was surrounded by a marsh, hence,
as Moine-more in Gaelic implies " a great moss," the name of the
district is supposed to have originated. Nothing is known of the
clergymen of the parish prior to about the middle of the six¬
teenth century, at which time " Robert Schaw, clerk, then in
bis eighteenth year, suffering the defect of birth as soluta geni-
had a dispensation granted by the Pope, as successor to
James Hamilton in the canonry of Menmuir, with the condition
that " he do not celebrate the service of the altar along with
his father, nor succeed him in his benefices —his father being
also a canon of the parent church of Dunkeld.* According to
the Register of Ministers, Mr. James Melville was minister of
the parish soon after the Reformation, and, for his joint services
here, and at Feme and Kinnell, had a stipend of little more
than eleven pounds sterling.f Mr. Andro Elder, the contem¬
porary reader of Menmuir, had " the thyrd of the vicarage,"
extending to about fifteen shillings and fourpence sterling.
v (a,d. 1550)—Book of the Official of St. Andrews, Pref., p. xxix. f Ut sup., p. 180,
2 e
242
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
It is only when we approach the interesting era of the Co¬
venant that much is known of the state of religion in Menmuir ;
and from the distinct records which exist regarding it at that
period, the Covenant appears to have been so highly esteemed,
that on the 6th of May 1638, the " Confession of Faith and
Covenant with our God [was] openlie read, subscryvit and sworne
unto be the haille congregatioune.'n It is in this stirring movement
that the first record of the family of Carnegy occurs in connection
with the history of the parish, Sir Alexander having been elected
in the following September to represent the kirk session in the
General Assembly at Glasgow, on the 21st November 1638.
From this period, and indeed throughout the whole course of
the civil wars, the parish, from its proximity to the Gram¬
pians, suffered great annoyance ; and, like the people of Edzell
at a later time, the inhabitants were oftener than once surprised
on Sabbaths while at their devotions, by the presence of the
soldiers. An idea of the sadly unsettled state of affairs may
be had from the following notices in the Parochial Register,
which, from the regularity with which it has been kept, is among
the most interesting in the district.
Soon after the renewal of the Covenant, and on the 23rd of
March 1644, it appears that there was " no conventioun becaus
of ye troubles and on the 13th of the following February, ' no
conventioun again until ye 17 of August, becaus ye enemie was
still in ye fields, so that the minister durst not be seen in ye
parish." But on the 17th of August matters bore even a more
formidable aspect than before; and just two days after Kilsyth
had been won through the skilfulness of the Marquis of Mon¬
trose, it is recorded " that upon ye intelligence of the approach
of ye enemie, the people fled out of ye kirk in the midst of the
sermon." On the 17th of November 1645, after the total defeat
of the Royalists, and while they were skirmishing here and there
before their final breaking up, the presence of the sixteenth Earl of
Crawford and his army in the parish on a Sabbath, spread terror
over the whole district, and is thus mentioned by the registrar,
in the true dignity of a friend of the Parliament:—" No preach¬
ing, because ane partie of the enemies horse, coming throw the
shyre, under Ludowiek Lindsay, were in the parish."
After this visit of Earl Lodovick, however, matters assumed
MENMUIK—THE TIMES OF THE COVENANT.
243
a comparatively tranquil aspect :—the " declaration against the
traiterous band wer read " in April 1646 ; and on 17th Decem¬
ber 1648, the Covenant was again read in presence of the con¬
gregation, and " subscrived by the minister, and all whilk could
subscrive." Two years later,* after Montrose's unsuccessful
attempt to restore Charles II., the thanksgiving was held " for
the victorie in the north," or the decisive battle of Invercarron,
in Ross-shire, where the champion of royalty was defeated
by Colonel Strachan, and afterwards taken prisoner, and hanged
at Edinburgh. A few months later, j" the minister " was ap-
poynted by the Presbytery to attend the Lord of Egill's regi¬
ment for a month,"—he, alike with his noble relative of Bal-
carres, being a staunch supporter of the Covenant. Towards
the close of the same year two fasts were kept, the one " for the
sinnes of the King's familie," and the other " for taking the
rebels ;"§ as was also a fast, ten years later, for " the King's
happy restauratioune."
During the rebellious movements of the early part of the fol¬
lowing century, when the Chevalier de St. George attempted to
establish his right to the throne, the cherished faith which had
been so dearly bought by the blood of our ancestors, was sus¬
pended in the parish for a short time, the minister being " oblig¬
ed to retere," and the church and pulpit taken summary posses¬
sion of by " curats and rebellious intruders but, on the happy
conclusion of hostilities, the ejected pastor resumed his labours,
and the schoolmaster and several farmers, who had aided and
abetted the treasonable doings of the times, were rebuked for
countenancing those " who prayed for a popish Pretender, and
for success to the rebels against our protestant soveraign King
George."§
The kirk, which was the scene of those unseemly, but in¬
teresting historical events, stood on the site of the present com¬
modious edifice, and was pulled down only in 1832. It was
in much the same style of building as the* existing church at
Careston, and had an aisle on the south side, and lofts in the
east and west ends. Tho Collace burial-aisle, which stood on
the east side of the church, was demolished when the present
" ravish Reg., May 20,1650,
I Ibid., Dec. 22, 1650.
t / bid, Aug. 11, 1650.
S Ibid., Feb. 18, and April 18. 1716.
244
LAND OP THE LINDSAYS.
building was erected, and " a skull was found with a band, or fillet,
of silver-lace around it, with stripes of the same covering from
the fillet to the crown of the head. The silver is supposed to be
the remains of a skull-cap, and appeared to have been plaited
with hair. In the progress of decay, it had come to adhere
closely to the bone."*
There is no monument, however, either belonging to the
Collaces, the Lindsays of Balhall, the Symerses of Balzordie, or
the Livingstons of Balrownie, all of whom were long proprietors
in the parish; but the following quaint lines for the tombstone
of John Symers, were written by a local Latin poet of the name
of Leech, who will be noticed shortly :—
" Joannis Simmer (quod cestatem Anglice sonat) a Balyordie, tumulus.
Regnat hyems, sostas fuerat; miracula non sunt,
iEstas si bruma iam subeunte, perit."f
The burial place of the Carnegys, who succeeded the Col¬
laces in Balnamoon, is attached to the north side of the church,
and enclosed by a high wall, with a massive moulding round the
top. On the left of the door, there is a beautiful sculpture of the
armorial bearings of the first laird of the name, Sir Alexander,
impaled with those of his lady, Dame Giles, eldest daughter of
Alexander Blair of Balthyock, with the date 1639, and their
respective initials, " S. A. C: D. G. B." As Sir Alexander
survived long after this period, the date, perhaps, refers to the
time of his lady's death, and the erection of the aisle.
Though no monument marks the graves of the Carnegys,
(except a marble recently raised to the memory of three of the
present laird's family), the graveyard contains an abundance of
mortuary memorials, but few of these possess any general in¬
terest. Perhaps the most remarkable (taking into account the
humble position in life from which the erector has risen to
eminence), is that raised by " Colonel David Leigliton, C.B.,
Adjutant-General a*t the Presidency of Bombay, in memory of
his parents, Thomas Leighton and Ann Fairweather." Since
the erection of this in 1825, the Colonel has risen to the rank of
Lieutenant-General; and, for his meritorious services in India,
where he was esteemed for the justice and impartiality of his
* Mr. Chalmers' Sculptured Monuments of Angus, p. 13. t Ppigrammata, p. 59,
MENMUIR—THE KIRKYARD.
245
conduct, and for his military attainments, was made K.C.B.
in 1837. His relatives are traceable in the Parish Register
so far back as 1698, when his direct progenitors, " David
Leighton and Jean Mathers, were married." Sir David, how¬
ever, was not a native of Menmuir, but of the parish of Brechin,
and the clay-built cottage in which he was born in the year
1774, still remains on the farm of Cookstone, where his father
carried on the trade of a wheelwright. In early youth, Sir
David was a banker's clerk in Montrose, but having a penchant
for military service, through the influence of his uncle (the late
Mr. Leighton of Bearehill's father), he received a cadetship in
the East India service, on 20th January 1797, and rose step by
step until he attained his present important position.
The following, though remarkable neither for sublimity of
thought nor orthographical accuracy, is worthy of transcription,
as pointing out the burial place of a family surnamed Guthrie,
one or other of the members of which have borne an active part*
in the management of the municipal affairs of the city of Brechin,
as councillors and chief magistrates, for the past seventy years.
As a family, they are still the most considerable traders of that
city, and the present Provost, and the Rev. Dr. Thomas Guthrie
of Edinburgh, famous as the advocate of ragged schools, are
sons of the late chief magistrate. The principal farms of Men¬
muir were once tenanted wholly by Guthries, and the small estate
of Burnside was owned by one of them;—still, the name (save
in the female line) is now almost unknown in the parish. The
tablet, from which these lines are copied, was erected in 1795,
and is profusely decorated with mortuary emblems :—
" All passhengers as you go by,
And chance to view this stone,
To mind you of Mortality,
Behold the scull and bone :
Likewise the darte, that wounds the hart,
And syath that cuts the Threed
Of life, and coffin for to hold,
The bodie when its dead."
At Tigerton, the only hamlet in the parish, the Episco¬
palians had a meeting house down to a late date, in which the
service was conducted by the minister of the Brechin chapel.
246
land of the lindsays.
Though not so extensive as in old times, this village is still the
site of the wright, blacksmith, shoemaker, and grocer ; and is
remarkable in history as the spot on which the Earl of Crawford
and his merciless followers rested, when wreaking their ven¬
geance over the lands of Collace of Balnamoon, through whose
treachery Crawford lost the battle of Brechin ; and, from the
fact that the Earl bore the singular sobriquet of the " Tiger," the
name of Tigertown was conferred upon this particular place.
SECTION II.
" Of the antient lordis and laydies gaye,
Quha livit in thir landis full manie a daye,
Thoch I doe wryte, little guid I can say."
Old Poem.
Down to about the middle of the fourteenth century, the lands
of Menmuir were in possession of the Crown, under the super¬
intendence of thanes, and the rents drawn by the sheriffs;
during which period the poverty of the inhabitants and the value
of the rents are well authenticated. David de Betun, sheriff of
Forfar in 1290, claims deduction in his accounts for that year for
lxvi lb xiijs. iiijd., rent of the land of Menmoryth, which could in
no way be recovered on account of the poverty of the husbandmen
of the said land, as the chamberlain and whole country witnesseth,
and which rent was increased by fifty marks yearly, to the op¬
pression of the said husbandmen, by Sir Hugh de Abirnethy,
knight,'* who had perhaps been thane or chamberlain of Men¬
muir. In 1359, the rents of assise of this parish are charged in
the sheriff's account at 13s. 4d. for three years, or one-third of a
mark yearly; and, in 1390, they had increased to half-a-mark.
Though no ruins have been found here in the memory of
the oldest inhabitant, a Royal Residence once ornamented the
now comparatively bleak landscape, and is supposed to have
stood on the rising ground, a little south-west of the kirk. It
was in full pomp during the time of Alexander III., for, in the
Chamberlain Rolls of that period, Eda Montealto, sheriff of the
county, takes credit for the payment of one mark, or thirteen
<■ Chamberlain Koils, vol. i, p. 79,
MENMUIR—FOREST OF KILGERY, PETER DE SPALDING. 247
shillings and fourpence sterling, to the King's gardener at Men-
moreth.* The time of its destruction is unknown ; but it may-
have been occupied down to the time of Bruce—it being in his
reign that the lands were first apportioned to deserving sub¬
jects. It was, perhaps, the valuable sport which the Forest of
Kilgery afforded that led royalty to have a seat here. This
forest, of which, as of the King's residence, all remains are now
lost, had likely covered the hills of Caterthun and Lundie, and
the adjoining valley ; but the Garry, or Geary burn, which rises
in the little glen of Lundie, is the only trace of the name. Al¬
though this rivulet is the boundary betwixt the parishes of
Menmuir and Dunlappie, it is probable that the forest had ex¬
tended to the margin of the West Water.f
The name of Kilgerre occurs in the earliest known charters
of Menmuir, the first of which is dated on the 1st of May 1319,
and the circumstances under which this grant was made, however
beneficial to the interests of the kingdom, were far from credit¬
able to the holder. The facts were these :—Peter de Spalding,
a burgess of the town of Berwick (whose wife was a Scots¬
woman), became so disgusted with the tyranny of the English,
who had possessed the castle and town for the long period of
twenty years, that he resolved, in hopes that the government of
the Scots would be more lenient, to deliver Berwick by stratagem
hito the hands of Bruce. Accordingly, on the night of the 2nd
of April 1318, it being Spalding's turn to take part in the watch
rounds, he assisted the Scots in an escalade, when they suc¬
ceeded in taking that important position.:}:
Spalding's life was no longer safe on the Border, and in
the hope of being more secure in the inland part of the king¬
dom, he excambed certain tenements in the town of Berwick
with Bruce, for which he had a royal charter of the lands of
Ballourthy and Pitmachy (Balzordie and Pitmudie), with the
office of Keeper of the Forest of Kilgery, and right to half the
foggage. This, as before intimated, occurred the year after the
taking of Berwick, and the name of Spalding does not recur in
any future historical transaction. His end, however, was only
* Chamberlain Rolls, a.d. 1263.
f In Gael, Kil-gearr-ie means " the kirk of the little short hill." so named, perhaps, from the
chapel having stood under Lundie hill, which is the lowest and shortest of adjacent mountains.
J Tytler's History of Scotland, vol. i. p. 303.
248
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
such as was to be expected ; for although lie evaded the sword
of his own countrymen, he fell by that of the Scots. His be¬
trayal of Berwick, and summary death, are thus narrated by
the old chronicler :—
" The castell then of Berwyke and the towne,
Kynge Robert gatte, after stronge and greate defence,
By treaty with [peace Spaldyng] and treason,
The Wednesdye before Easter's reuerence,
When that traitour, without long suspence,
Betrayed the towne, and into Scotland went :
By Scottes slain, as to a traytour appent."*
The place of Spalding's murder is not stated; it probably
occurred in the vicinity of Menmuir, however, though no cairn
in the parish bears the significant name of Spalding. But, in the
adjoining parish of Feme, places called Spalding's Stables, and
Spalding's Loan, on the road betwixt Shandford and Balquharn,
and on the Bruff Shank hill are well known, and popularly be¬
lieved to have originated from the capture of the spoils of a
Cateran so-named; but, most probably, these have reference in
some way to Spalding, if not to the place of his murder.
In 1445, Hugh Cumming, hermit of Kilgery, sold the office
of Hermit of the hermitage of the chapel of the blessed Virgin
Mary of the forest of Ivilgerre,f with the hermitage of the same,
with the green, and three acres of land annexed thereto, to John
Smith, citizen of Brechin J In 1461, John Smith sold the same
to William Somyr of Balzordie, for one mark of yearly rent
out of a tenement in Brechin,§ from which date Somyr's de¬
scendants were designed of Balzordie, and considered " chief of
the name," down to about the middle of last century, when the
male branch failed, and the estate was annexed, by purchase, to
that of Balnamoon.
In 1470, half of Balzordie, held of Sir James Ogilvy of
Findlater, who, on the 27th of November of that year granted
precept of sasine for infefting George, son to William Somyr,
* Hardyng's Chronicle, by Ellis, p. 308.
t This old chaplainry stood in a field near the farm-house of Chapelton of Dunlappie.
The stones of the chapel were taken to build the farm steading, and a fine spring, about a
hundred and fifty yards south-east of the site of the chapel, still bears the name of Ladywell, in
honour of the Virgin. It must be borne in mind, that this was quite a separate establishment
from the adjoining kirk of Dunlappie, which stood on the margin of the West Water.
X Miscell. Aldbarensia, MS, § Ibid.
MENMUIR—TIIE SOMYRS' OF BALZORDIE.
249
as heir to his father deceased, in the above half. Besides the por¬
tion here noticed, the Somyrs' also acquired the western half of
Balzordie, Chapeltoun, and the foggage of Kilgery ; the lands
of Brako and East Cruok, with the mill of the same ; the Her¬
mitage of Kilgery, and the cemetery belonging thereto; the
Chymmess lands of Kirktoun of Menmuir; the fourth parts of
the lands of Balfour, Balconwell, Pitmudy, and the Brewlands
of Menmuir.*
Thomas, grandson of the first-named William, who succeeded
his brother John before the year 1488, died previous to 1494, as
in that year his widow, Cristiane Guthrie, pursued Dempster of
Careston " for the wrangws vptaking and withhalding fra hir
of the teynd schaiffis " of Balrownie, and for similar injuries and
outrages committed over her property of Burnetoune of Bal-
zordie.j"
History and tradition preserves little regarding the do¬
mestic and public doings of the Somyrs'; but from casual
notices of several of them in various ways, there is reason to
believe that they had borne an important part in the leading
transactions of the times. In the year- 1478, George Somyr,
along with Luvall of Ballumbie, and several other county
gentlemen, was chosen by the sheriff-depute of Forfar, " to in¬
quire and knaw vppone the landis and gudis pertaining to
Walter Ogilvy of Owres."J In 1580, the laird of Balzordie,
also George, was Chancellor of Assize when Lord Oliphant was
tried for the slaughter of Stewart of Schuttingleis.§ It is
also worthy of remark, that Robert, the son of the laird of
the period, was beheaded at the cross of Edinburgh for the
slaughter of the son of Grahame of Leuchland, which was
committed " vpon the llauch of Inch near the mekill mylne
of Brechin, be streking him throw the body with ane rapper-
suord," on the 29th of April 1616.|| The next mention of
the family is, happily, in a more peaceful cause, since, in the
event of Sir Alexander Carnegy's absence from the celebrated
Glasgow Assembly of 1638, one of them was appointed to re¬
present his native kirk session and, in 1662, his successor was
* Misoell Aldbarensia, MS. t Acta Auditor., Dec. 1G, 1494, t Ibid., June 4,1478.
§ Pitcairn's Crira. Trials, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 90. || Ibid., vol. iii. p. 437.
IT [Session Records.] It was to this laird that Moncreiff of Tippermaloch (author of a
curious book entitled, " The Poor Man's Physician "), prescribed the following cure for a head
2 F
250
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
fined in the sum of six hundred pounds, by the Karl of Middle-
ton, for his opposition to the introduction of Episcopacy.* From
this period until 1715, when the Presbytery and Parish Pecords
teem with the indiscreet amours of Magdalene Campbell, the
widow of George Somyr, and the son of the Pev. Sylvester
Lyon of Kirriemuir, nothing is recorded of the family. As
previously mentioned, the male line failed before the middle of
last century in the person of Colin, whose sister married David
Doig, sometime a merchant and chief magistrate of Brechin. He
sold the property to Carnegy of Balnamoon, and was father of
Christian Doig, the wife of Sir James Carnegie of Pittarrow,
who, on the extinction of the male line of the noble house of
Southesk in 1729, became the representative and head of that
ancient family.f
We have already seen that Menmuir was anciently superin¬
tended by thanes, who acted as stewards or factors for the King.
This order of matters probably continued down to 1360, as, on
the 8th of October of that year, a charter of the lands of Menmuir
was granted at Kinnell castle by David II., to Andrew Demp¬
ster of Auchterless and Careston, and to Findlay, the son of
William, and John de Cullas. It would appear from this that
Dempster and the Collaces were portioners, and in this charter
they confirm a grant, originally made in 1347, to the canons of
the Priory of " Bestynot," of four pounds, by way of the tenth
penny, to which charter, among other notables, " David de
Grahame dominus de Aldmonros " appears as a witness.^ Such
were the first Collaces of Balnamoon, or Menmuir, whose name
was of territorial origin, and had perhaps been assumed from the
estate or parish of Collace, in Perthshire.
ache" Menmoii, 1 Feb., [16]35. Rt. honobl.—The receat, or cure, prescrived by Tipper,
malloe for the laird of Balzordie's pain in his head was this :—As much barlie meall as you will
hold in your sticked hand, and oill of Roses, winegar of the Best, and a Woman's milk, a like
quantity of every one of them, and of them all as much as will drake the barlie meall and make
like a plaister ; then spread it upon a piece of lether, and the liaire being taken off, apply it to
the part affected, and when it dries, lay to a fresh plaister. This was prescrived for the aich in
the head of the Laird of Balzordie, and he never made use of it but it gave him ease, and pat the
paine away. I have no more to adde but my most humble service to yourself, your lady, your
sonne, and his lady. I shall ever remaine."—Copied from a paper among the Findourie Titles, by
P. Chalmers, Esq., of Aldbar.
* Wodrow's Hist, of the Church of Scot., Dr. Burns' edit,, vol. i. p. 276. t Ut sup., p. 199
t [Reg, Mag. Sig., No. 118]. In 1391, Walter Stuart, Earl of Athole and Caithness, who
succeeded to the title and estates of Brechin on marrying Margaret Barclay, the heiress, had six
shillings and eightpence annually from Menmuir, as superior of the lands.—Rob. Index.
MENMUIR—THE COLLAGES OF BALNAMOON.
251
The possessions of this family seem to have been mostly
confined to Menmuir, and the traitor of the battle of Brechin
and his son were the most conspicuous of their race; for, on
the 17th of May 1488, Thomas de Collace, had a grant of
half the foggage, with the vert and venison of the forest of
Kilgery, for his faithful services at Blackness, when the life
of James III. was threatened by the rebellious faction which
held the sway over his misguided son.* Apart from these two
historical incidents, little else is known of the family beyond
the frequent skirmishes which they had with the inhabitants
of Brechin. In 1450, when a perambulation of the boundaries
of the lands of Balnamoon and the Common Muir, or those be¬
longing to the Cathedral of that city was made, Collace, wroth
at the portion assigned to him, pulled down the cross and up¬
lifted the march stones which the Bishop had placed by order of
an assize of county gentlemen, j" These skirmishes were of
long duration, and for more than a century after this date,
Bobert Collace, and fifty-two of his tenants and servants, found
caution to " underly the law " for convocating about a hundred
persons " boddin in feir of war," and coming " vnder sylence
of nycht to the Burrow Budis of the citie of Brechin," where
they " frechit and focht certane inhabitants thereof for thair
slauchteris, and destroyit the turris (torrs or cairns) beand
upon the said muir."| By way of reprisal, perhaps, Harry
Hepburn, and eighty-seven other citizens of Brechin, made
an incursion on the lands of Balnamoon a few months after,
and summarily attacked three persons of the surname of
Downy, servants to Collace, whose houses they " keist down,"
and " cuttit and destroyit thair plewis and harrowis, and schaine-
fullie hocht and slew thair gudis and scheip to gret quanti-
tie."§ It was a daughter of the above Bobert Collace who
married James Bollo of Duncrub, and was maternal ancestor
of the noble family of Bollo. A still more remote ancestor of the
family, Sir David Bollo, had a proprietary interest in Ballichie
and Menmuir in the time of James II.||
Latterly, the family fortunes of the Collaces became so greatly
reduced, that in 1632, John, the last known male descendant
4 Dukedom of Montrose Case, p. 08. t Ilist. ISreohin, p, 19, 'JO.
t 1'itcairn's Crim. Trials, vol. i. pt. i. p; 431. § Ibid. H Doug. Peerage—Hollo.
252
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
of the family of Balnamoon, sold the lands to Sir Alexander Car-
negy, brother-german to the first Earls of Southesk and North-
esk, and thus the family ceased to have connection with the
parish. A stone built into the present mansion house of Balna¬
moon, bearing the initials and date, " I. C. 1584," is the only
visible trace of them now in the district;—nay, their very sur¬
name, unlike that of most old barons, is almost unknown, and
unassociated with any prominent action, barring the instances of
John's treachery at Brechin, and Thomas' services at Blackness ;
and the only mention of the name in the Parish Register is the
solitary and humiliating notice, that " Patrick Collace was ad¬
mitted beddell!"
The family, however, were not altogether devoid of a literary
taste. William Collace, who is presumed to have been of the
Balnamoon branch, was Professor of Latin in St. Andrews, and
preceptor of the illustrious James Melville; and one of the
daughters was mother of John Leech, a writer of Latin poems,
under the Latinised cognomen of Johannes Leochseus. He spent
his early years under the roof of his maternal ancestors, and
according to the title of one of his poems, was a native of Mon¬
trose, and educated at the Grammar school there, under David
Lindsay, who was afterwards Bishop of Brechin. Leech is sup¬
posed to have graduated at Aberdeen in 1614, but nothing cer¬
tain is known of his father. A burgess family in Montrose bore
the same name, and he is believed to have been descended of
them. He went abroad for three years, and on leaving Balna¬
moon in May 1617, wrote the lines of which the following are
a translation :—
" Collis ! serene in years, of fair renown,
Whose manly virtues Mars and Themis crown ;
And thou, my home !—three hundred years thy date,
Firm hast thou stood, though oft the sport of fate.
Here first a grandsire's, mother's care I knew ;
In thy fair field from infancy I grew.
Farewell ! dear to the Poet's memory ye shall be,
And thy remembrance fondly dwell on me.
If the bright laurel wreath reward my lays,
To you be due the merit and the praise."*
* Leech s Fueins, London, 1(320, ]>. 61. This excellent translation is by a young Lady.
MENMUIR—THE CARNEGYS OF BALNAMOON.
253
The first Carnegy of Balnamoon and Careston, as before
noticed, was Sir Alexander,* brother-german to the first Earls of
Southesk and Northesk, and to Sir Robert of Dunichen. He
married Giles, daughter of Blair of Balthyock, who died in or
before the year 1639, leaving two sons, David and Sir John, both
of whom succeeded to the estates; and the latter dying issueless,
was followed by his nephew James, who had Retours of the lands
in November 1662. He married Jean Fothringham of the house
of Powrie, and was succeeded in 1700 by his son Alexander,
who sold the Careston part of the lordship to Stewart of Grand-
tully, in 1707.f His wife was a daughter of Graham of Bal-
gowan (ancestor of the brave Lord Lyndoch), and was mother
of James Carnegy, who figured so conspicuously in the rebellion
of 1745. James married Margaret Arbuthnott in 1734, by
whom the fine estate of Findowrie was brought to the Balnamoon
family, in virtue of which they assume the additional patronymic
of " Arbuthnott."! This gentleman also added by purchase
the lands of Balzordie§ and Balrownie to his paternal estate,
and dying in 1791, was succeeded by his eldest son, who died
unmarried in 1810, when his nephew, James Knox, son to the
proprietor of Keithock and Markhouse, came to the property.
By his wife, daughter of David Hunter of Blackness, the latter
has surviving issue.
Of all these lairds, the most conspicuous was he who married
the heiress of Findowrie, and who, with a company of vassals,
* In the following Presbyterian Licence to eat flesh on forbidden days (which is copied
from the Arbuthnott papers), the name of this laird and his contemporary of Findowrie occurs :
—" The Lords of Councell gives full licence and libertie to Rot. Vicecownt of Arbuthnott, Sr Jon
Carnegy of Craig Sir Alex. Carnegie of Balnamone William Rait of Halgrein and Robert Ar-
buthnot of Fyndowrie and such as shalbe in eache of yair Companies To eat and feed vpou
flescho during this forbidden tyme of Lentron viz. frome the day of to the
day of nxt thairefter. And als vpon Wednisdayes, frydayes, and
Satterdayes, for the space of a yeir after ye dait heirof And that withowt any cryme quarrell
skaithe or danger to be sustinet be them or ony of thame in thair persons goods or geir Not¬
withstanding of quliatsumevir act of parliament statute or proclamacion made in the contrare
whairanent and all paynes therein contenit The saids Lords dispensis simpliciter Given at
Ednr. the day of Marche 1642 yeares. (Signed)—Loudon Canrius, Argyll, Morton, Eg-
lintoon, Socthesk, Sr Thomas Hop, J. Carmichaell, Gibsone of Durie, Robert Innes of
that Ilk."
f See Appendix, No. VII., for a curious letter to this Laird from Sir David Carnegie of
l'itarrow.
J The first Arbuthnott of Findowrie, was Robert, son of Arbuthnott of that Ilk, who died
In 1579. The laird of the period was fined £2,400 by the Earl of Middleton for his opposition to
Episcopacy. They were also proprietors of Markhouse, Caldhame, <fcc. See Appendix No. VIII.
} The small farm of Pipcrton, at the extreme S.E. of the parish, belonged to the barony
of Balzordie. According to tradition, the progenitors of a family surnamed Bean, who tenant
Pipcrton to this day, have been there for the long period of upwards of 560 years!
254
LAND OP THE LINDSAYS.
bore a prominent part at the battles of Preston, Falkirk, and
Culloden. He was governor of Forfarshire in behalf of the
Prince, and the person in whose name the Hazard sloop of war
was captured at Montrose by Captain James Erskine (brother
of Lord Dun), and Ferrier, the notorious rebel leader of Angus.
Carnegy, being hunted by the Loyalists from his own house,
found shelter for some time in the guise of a hireling among his
own tenants, and ultimately took refuge among the mountains
of Glenesk, where the place of his retreat is still known as
" Bonnymune's Cave," and from being of kindred politics with
most of the inhabitants, he long lurked there in safety.*
Although "the rebel laird" was remarkable for humour
and conviviality, which were then fashionable, it is not to be con¬
cluded that he was either the sottish old bachelor described in
the " Story-teller of last century,"f or the illiterate Goth, who
cut the fine old books of his ancestors to fit the crazy wooden
shelves.:): It has been shewn, that he not only was married and
left a family, but that he also augmented his patrimony by pur¬
chase, to a considerable extent. And although it cannot be said
on any authentic grounds that he was the author of the popular
old song of " Low down in the broom " (which is generally as¬
cribed to him), the intelligence which was requisite to conduct
the important and trustworthy office which he held during " the
forty-five," ill agrees with the buffoon-like and illiterate character
which the above writers would lead the public to infer were his
leading peculiarities.
By way of authenticating the story of Mr. Carnegy sawing
his books, and parting with the original edition of Shakspere as
a work of which he knew nothing—of the valuable library lying
as lumber in a damp room at the house of Balnamoon, Mr. Gillies
speaks as from personal intimacy with the laird, and knowledge
of the library. These assertions, however, must appear rather
problematical, when it is known that, apart from the presumption
to the contrary above noticed, Mr. Gillies was barely two and-
a-half years old at the time of Mr. Carnegy's death—the former
being born on the 9th of November 1789, and the latter dying
sometime previous to Whitsunday 1791. While, so far from the
* Ut sup., p.84. f Chambers's Edin. Journal, New Series, No. 30.
J Gillies's Memoirs of a Literary Veteran, vol. i. p. 23.
menmuir—the old lairds op balhall.
255
fine old tomes, which he says were so shamefully mutilated by
the laird, being at the house of Balnamoon, they came to the
family by Miss Arbuthnott, and were never at Balnamoon at all,
but were preserved in a substantial building at Findowrie, about
two miles distant, and " were all delivered over in good order
and unmutilated," shortly before 1810, to the late Alexander
Gibson Hunter of Blackness, then a partner in the firm of Con¬
stable, the great publishers in Edinburgh.*
SECTION III.
" Alas for routlie ! what thouche his mynde were goode,
His corage manly, yet ther he shed his bloode."
Tehct's Ballads.
" Although the age and use of this mysterious work
Have baffled Wisdom's self, provineial lore unravels all."
Anon.
Little is known regarding the proprietary history of Balhall,
until shortly before the year 1440. At, and for some time
previous to that period, it was possessed by Sir John Glen of
Inchmartin, in the barony of Longforgan, which the family of
de Inchmartin held from an early date. The first of these who
figured conspicuously was John, one of the ten barons selected
to make the peace of Scotland with Edward I. in 1305 ; and, on
the first appointment of sheriffs in that year, he was chosen for
the county of Perth.f In the following year, his son Sir David,
who had been one of the original followers of Bruce, was hanged,
along with several other patriots, by order of Edward. His suc¬
cessor—perhaps a son—had a charter from Bruce of the lands of
his sires; and about 1376, Sir Allan de Erslcyne of Wemyss
succeeded to the estates on marrying the heiress. Sir Allan died
in 1401, leaving an only daughter, who married Sir John Glen,
" If Mr. Gillies and the " Story-teller," have confounded " the rebel laird " with his son
and successor, who died a bachelor (and perhaps they have done so), he was remarkable beyond
most men of his age for quiet, sober, and exemplary conduct ; and the following satisfactory
note from the present laird, will shew the care which he took of the books in question :—" I
am a witness myself," writes Mr. Cainegy Arbuthnott, " that the books were never here [at
Balnamoon] at all. I remember them at Findowrie, in a small building separate from the
house, at the foot of the garden, where I have seen them repeatedly in the time of my uncle,
who succeeded his father, and have assisted in dusting and keeping them in order down to the
time of the late Alexander Gibson Hunter of Blackness, to whom they were all delivered in
good order and unmutilated." t Dalrymple's Annals, vol. i. p. 314.
256
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
and the estate of Inchmartin devolved on that knight. He
also left co-lieiresses, one of whom married Sir Walter de
Ogilvy, who succeeded to the half of Inchmartin, and other pro¬
perties belonging to Glen, of which " Balhalwell " (Balhall),
formed a part.*
It is not improbable, since Menmuir was wholly at the royal
disposal in Bruce's time, that Balhall had formed part of the
grant which he made, or rather renewed, to the successor of his
unfortunate friend Inchmartin. Be that as it may, subsequent to
Ogilvy's succession, the name of Sir John Wemyss of Wemyss
occurs in a proprietary relation with Balhall,f whether through
pecuniary advances or how, does not appear. It has perhaps
only reference to the half of it, however, for in 1527, Sir Alexan¬
der Ogilvy of Deskford, had a charter of half these lands, and
another for the fourth part of Menmuir, which were erected into
a free barony, called the barony of Ogilvy4 But in 1555, the
Ogilvys ceased to have connection with Balhall, and other parts
of Menmuir—their interest having been purchased in that year
by David Lindsay of Edzell, the ninth Earl of Crawford.
The patronage of the church of Menmuir had long gone with
the lands of Balhall; and John, second son of the said ninth Earl,
was lay parson at one and the same time, of Menmuir, Lethnot,
and Lochlee,§ and assumed his judicial title of Lord Menmuir
from the first place. But, apart from certain ecclesiastical
emoluments which he drew during life from this and neighbour¬
ing parts, he had no heritable or other claim on Menmuir, his
youngest brother Robert, having succeeded to Balhall and the
other Lindsay temporalities about 1572, when he also gave his
mother a discharge of his " bairnes pairt of guid," in return for
certain monies advanced to him by her.|| This Robert was one
of several of his name, who had a remission for the slaughter of
the laird of Lundie in 1583, barring which incident nothing par¬
ticular is known of him. He died in 1598, leaving a son John,
who survived for the short space of four years, when his sister
Katherine, who married Robertson of Dalkbane, was served
* [Crawford's Peerage—Wemyss.] His descendant, Sir Patrick of Inchmartin, married the
eldest daughter of James, second Lord Ogilvy of Deskford : and, in virtue of the new patent,
obtained by the first Earl of Findlater in 1611,he succeeded, on the death of his father-in-law, to
the estates and titles of Findlater and Deskford.
t Doug. Peerage. { Crawford's Peerage. § Crawford Case, p. 218. II Ibid.
MENMUIR—MODERN PROPRIETORS OF BALHALL. 257
heir-portioner to her father and brother in 1603. Immediately
on the back of this, or rather a few months before the date of the
Ketour, she and her husband resigned Balhall and the patronage
of the kirk to Sir David of Edzell.* This is the last mention
of the family which we have found in a proprietary relation to
the district; and, sometime before 1623, Balhall was in other
hands—perhaps, in those of a person named Carnegie—for a
sculptured stone bearing that date, and the initials " H*C:A*G."
with the Carnegie and Gardyne arms impaled, is built into a
wall at the farm offices of Balhall.
In 1646, a Hercules Cramond (perhaps a descendant of the
old lairds of Aldbar and Melgund), is designed younger of Bal¬
hall ; f and being the last name with which we have met betwixt
and circa 1682, when the estate and advowson of the kirk were
in the hands of Patrick Lyell (who was followed by his son
William of Dysart and Bonington), it is probable that Lyell
had succeeded Cramond. In Lyell's time, the estate was greatly
enlarged out of the Common Muir of Brechin, which portion is
still held in feu from the magistrates of that city; but during
Patrick's time the family fell into pecuniary difficulties, and the
property passed in 1721 to Mill of Balwyllo, who in the course
of a year re-sold it to David Erskine of Dun.
Some notice has already been given of the Mills,:{;—of the
families of Cramond and Lyell we have gleaned little. Suffice
it to say, that the Cramonds of Angus-shire, were of the same
stock as those of Lothian, and were proprietors of Aldbar in the
time of Edward I.—the then laird (Laurence de Cramound)
having sworn fealty to that King in 1296.§ The Lyells of Bal¬
hall were related to Thomas Lyell of Dysart, near Montrose,
who married Jean Maria Lindsay, of whom the venerable minister
of Careston is a great-grandson.
The Erskines, however, have a more distinct lineage than
their immediate predecessors in Balhall, the first proprietor of
the name being the Hon. .David Erskine, or Lord Dun, who be¬
came heir to his paternal estate, and chief of his family, on the
death of his eldest brother. Their remote progenitor in Dun was
* Printed Retours.— Inventory of Balhall Title Deeds, communicated by Messrs. Speid <Ss
Will, writers, Brechin. f Parish Records. J Ut sap. p. 132.
§ [Ragman Rolls, p. 1G2.] The Cramonds owned Aldbar down to about 1570.
2 G
258 LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
John, second son of Sir Robert of that Ilk in Renfrewshire, whom
Barbour and other writers extol for his fidelity to Robert II.,
and who, according to Wyntoun, was the main instrument in
bringing the Stuarts to the throne:—
" Robert Stewart was made king
Specially throw the helping
Of gude Schir Robert Erskiug."
Lord Dun, or the first Erskine of Balhall, was admitted ad¬
vocate in 1696, and, after serving forty-three years as a judge,
resigned office in 1753. He retired to his residence of Dun, and
employed his leisure in writing a small volume of moral and
political " Advices," which he published in 1754, the year before
his death. He married a daughter of Riddell of Haining, by
whom he had a son and daughter, and resigned his estate of
Balhall in fee to the former in the year 1732. This son suc¬
ceeded to Dun and Balhall on his father's death in 1755, and
died in 1787, leaving two sons, John and David. The last-men¬
tioned pre-deceased his father without issue, and the former left
a son and two daughters; and this only son, William-John, being
killed in Ireland in the attack on the rebels at Kilcullen Bridge,
in 1798,* was succeeded by his sisters. The elder of these
died unmarried in 1824, and the younger married the Earl of
Cassillis, afterwards first Marquis of Ailsa. Her second son, the
Hon. John Kennedy Erskine, succeeded to the estate of Dun, in
right of his mother and aunt, and, dying in 1831, left by his
wife, Lady Augusta Fitzclarence, daughter of William IV., the
present proprietor, the Hon. William Kennedy Erskine.
Balhall continued in the Dun family until the time of the
last-mentioned John, who sold the lands and patronage of the
church of Menmuir to the present proprietor, Alexander Erskine,
grand-nephew of Lord Dun, by his lordship's youngest brother
« " The story of Mr. or Capt. Erskine's death was always the theme of conversation among
the men of a cavalry regiment on passing the scene of it, which they used frequently to do, on
the line of march between Naas and Carlow. As 1 have heard it told, a body of rebels was
strongly posted in a churchyard on rising ground, and surrounded by a strong stone-and-lime
wall. General Francis Dundas ordered Captain Erskine to dislodge them, but the dragoons
could not get their horses to leap the wall. After ineffectual attempts, and being galled by the
enemy's fire, Captain Erskine reported to the General that it was useless to attempt the duty
with cavalry.—• Are you afraid Sir?' asked the General. 'No! I am not afraid!' replied
the other, and turning his horse round, he rode over the wall, and was immediately killed. It
was always added that the General, who was no favourite, never forgave himself for this sacri¬
fice of a promising officer."—Kindly communicated by P. Chalmers, Esq,, of Aldbar.
menmuik—Lindsay's murder of lyon of glamis. 259
Alexander, a merchant in Montrose. He is heir male and chief
of the Erskines of Dun.*
The Moss of Balhall, which is now partly under the plough,
and partly under wood, was a great marsh in old times, stretch¬
ing at least from Lochty on the east to Bedford on the west,
being a space of several miles. It was in this place, in the year
1382, that Sir James, then chief of the Lindsays of Crawford,
and High Justiciary of Scotland, accidentally, or wilfully, met
Sir John Lyon, the founder of the noble house of Strathmore,
when they engaged in single combat; and, being one of the most
accomplished horsemen and expert swordsmen of his time, Lind¬
say proved the victor and slew Lyon on the spot. The origin
of their quarrel is now a mystery; but it is believed to have
arisen from jealousy on the part of Lindsay (by whom Lyon
was recommended to the notice of his Majesty), who, in his own
late secretary, beheld the greatest favourite of the court of
Bobert II., and one, through whose influence he had been de¬
nied several favours. From Secretary to the King, Lyon be¬
came Great Chamberlain—was employed in various impor¬
tant negotiations at home and abroad, and, in addition to the
original dowry of Glamis, which he had by his royal consort, his
estate was augmented by the gift of various other possessions.
Thus favoured by Boyalty, perhaps Lyon treated his former
benefactor somewhat cavalierly; for it is certain that Lindsay
was impelled by the feeling of having sustained some real or
imaginary insult, which he determined to resent, and which ter¬
minated, as above seen, in the slaughter of the laird of Glamis.
Lyon's body was buried at Scone among the ancient Kings, and
his son, then a boy of thirteen years of age, was educated under
his Majesty's especial care. Lindsay " fled into voluntary exile
still, it is curious to know, that he always held the office of High
Justiciary, and on making a penitential pilgrimage to the shrine of
St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury, was recalled and pardoned.j"
It was also on the lands of Balhall, but on the northern con¬
fines of the property, that an unfortunate hind, of the name of
Beattie, expiated the crime of perjury in true feudalic manner.
Whether the affair occurred during the time of the Ogilvys, the
Lindsays, or whom, is not recorded ; but the tradition has coun-
* Family Tree, kindly communicated by A. Erskine, Esq. of Balhall, | Lives, vol. i., p. 72.
2 GO
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
tenance from the fact of a barrow and patch of ground still ex¬
isting, known by the names of Beanie's Cairn, and the Mis-
sworn Rig. It is said that the circumstance arose from two
lairds quarrelling about the marches of their lands in this quarter,
and witnesses being brought to identify the boundary, the evi¬
dence of one of them went to prove that the laird of Balhall had no
right to the portion to which he laid claim. Infuriated at this,
and convinced in his own mind that the witness had perjured
himself, the laird of Balhall drew a dagger from his belt, and
despatched the man on the spot. On examining the body, the
fact of the perjury was discovered, it being found that, to save
his conscience, the cunning Ananias had his shoes filled with
earth brought from the laird's land, in whose favour he was en¬
listed, and on whose property he swore he stood at the time he
gave his oath!
This, however, was not the only cairn which the people of
Menmuir were the means of raising to commemorate unprin-
principled acts of villany. From eighty to a hundred years
ago Donald M'Arthur, the shoemaker at Tigerton, being about
to get married, went to Brechin a few days before to make
some purchases. While in town, he unfortunately quarrelled
with several parties well known for their proud resentful spirit,
and who in this case were more than ordinarily anxious to have
their itch for secret revenge gratified in the most cowardly and
fatal manner. Knowing the secluded path by which the bride¬
groom had to return home, they went and concealed themselves
in the then dense and extensive wood of Findowrie, which
bounded the road. It was dark by the time Donald reached
the wood, and nothing, save the wind rustling among the trees,
broke the silence of night. On coming to the fatal spot, he
was furiously attacked and almost killed by those who lay in
wait for him; but, before finishing their diabolical business, they
heard the sound of footsteps, and fearing detection, simultane¬
ously pounced on the passenger, whom they at once recognised
as a provincial highwayman, who was in every way a fit accom¬
plice in their dreadful enterprise. On receipt of a paltry sum
of money, he completed the murder of poor Donald, and swore
a secrecy which he held inviolate, until about to suffer the ex¬
treme penalty of the law for another crime. By that time, all
MENMUIR—PREHISTORIC REMAINS.
261
the murderers, save one (who was raving mad, and died a
maniac), had gone to give an account of their transactions to
the Omnipotent Judge of all. In commemoration of this blood¬
thirsty act, a cairn of stones was raised on the spot where the
body of the bridegroom was found, and a solitary bush of
weebo, or ragwort, long grew from the middle of it; and, as
few travellers passed the road without contributing a stone to
Donald''s Cairn, as it was called, it ultimately assumed a great
size; but was removed several years ago to make way for agri¬
cultural improvements. The bride died of grief soon after the
murder of her lover, and the peasantry were often alarmed by
mingled cries of distress from the weird of the unfortunate shoe¬
maker, while the fairy form of his betrothed hovered nightly
around the cairn, so long as any stones remained !
The cluster of so-called barrows near the church of Men-
muir are commonly attributed to the Picts and Danes; and the
sculptured stones bearing equestrian and other figures,* which
were found in the foundation of the old church, are also ascribed
to the genius of the latter people. These ideas may have ori¬
ginated in the vague notion which pervades the district, of the
Danes having fought a battle here. It is certain that these bar¬
rows have an artificial look, but, perhaps this is the amount of the
matter, and we are not aware that they have ever been opened,
or that any warlike or domestic remains relating to prehistoric
times have been found in their vicinity. It is true, that on dis¬
interring a stone coffin a few years ago in the Cotton Muir, at
a short distance from these barrows, a flint spear head was
found in it as large as a man's hand. This relic was, perhaps,
peculiar, not only from its great size, but also from its having
a hole in the end, in which a piece of the wooden handle was
firmly fixed. The workmen, anxious to discover the kind of
stuff of which it was made, broke it into several pieces, and
thus destroyed it. A thin bronze hatchet was also found near
the same spot.
There is no record of any engagement having occurred at
this particular place; but the facts now mentioned, together with
the finding of numerous rude stone cists, containing urns, in the
* Chalmers' Sculptured Monuments of Angus, plate XVIT,, figs. 2 & 3,
262
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
adjoining mosses of Findowrie and neighbourhood, tend to cor¬
roborate the tradition. These places are in the vicinity of a
large rude stone called the Killievair Stone, and, according to
the provincial couplet—
" 'Tween the Blawart Lap and Killievair Stanes,
There lie mony bluidy banes."
The Blawart Lap lies about a mile due north of the Killievair
Stone, on the farm of Longhaugh ; and, as all historians agree
that Angus, Earl of Moray, and five thousand followers were
repulsed and routed by David I., in 1130, in the contiguous
parish of Stracathro,* it is probable that the melee had extended
as far west as " 'tween the Blawart Lap and Killievair Stanes,"
and the sepulchral traces which have been found in this quarter
may belong to that engagement.
It is worthy of notice, that the most important of these
were found only about two years ago, and in the vicinity of
the Blawart Lap, of which the discoverer gives this account:—
" While engaged improving a piece of waste land," he writes,
" including a grassy mound, called by the old people in the
district, the Gallows, or Law of Balrownie (where, it is said,
the lairds dispensed feudal justice), it was found, on excavating
this mound, that it had been originally raised as a monument
and place of sepulchre. A dike or circle of rough stones, ap¬
parently gathered from the adjacent muir, was arranged round
the bottom. This circle was one hundred and twenty feet in
circumference. Within, it was filled with earth, brought from the
banks of Cruik Water (distant about one hundred yards), and
raised about six feet above the surrounding surface. It con¬
tained a stone coffin, constructed with two long pavement-like
* [Dalrymple's Annals, vol. i., p. 76.] " Strathcatherach," is the oldest spelling of Straca-
tliro, and, according to the Gaelic, Strath-cath-re means "the field of the battle of kings."
Sepulchral remains are found in great quantity throughout the whole flat of the parish : and
on opening the Be or Bye Hillock, near the church, a few years ago, a carefully-constructed stone
coffin was found on the top about two feet below the surface. It contained human remains, and
the figure of a fish, which the peasantry say was "made of gold, and about a finger length."
This interesting relic, which was carried off by the workmen and lost, had, perhaps, been part
of the armorial ensigns of the person interred ; and, as the Earl of Moray was killed here, this
may have been the place of his burial. King's Ford, the reputed passage of the Romans
across the North Esk in a.d. 81, is in this neighbourhood. Tytler says that Kenneth III. also
came by his death here; and tradition affirms that three Danish chiefs, or sea Kings, were buried
at the north-east corner of the kirk. It was also here that Baliol did penance to Edward in
1296. The church anciently belonged to the Chapter and Cathedral of Brechin, and St. Braul's
Well is in a field adjoining the church, to whom (though nothing is now known of him), the
kirk had likely been dedicated.
MENMUIR—THE FOliTS OF CATERTHUN.
263
stones on each side, and a half-round one at the head—the whole
covered by a heavy slab of whinstone. From the inroads of
vermin and insects, the coffin was completely filled with mould,
mixed with small particles of bones, none of which could be dis¬
tinguished from another, excepting a small portion of the skull.
The head was placed exactly in the centre of the mound, and
the body laid due south."
The verity of the couplet above quoted, is, therefore, so far
strengthened, though the etymon of neither the Blawart Lap
nor the Killievair Stone have any reference to a battle, but
rather refer to the rites of Druidical worship. Bioadh-art-lajoah in
Gaelic means " the marsh where the priest cried or shouted and
Kil-leacJi-vair, the " kirk or cell, and altar of thunder." Calle-
och also means an old woman or priestess,—hence, it may be in¬
ferred, with some degree of plausibility, that the now solitary
representative of the so-called Druidical altar at Killievair, is the
remains of the temple of the priestess of thunder. Old people
in the district remember when three or four of these stones stood
on the same elevated spot, but no record exists of the circle
ever having been complete, though there is reason to believe
that it had once been so. The stone is about four feet above
ground, upwards of eight feet in circumference, and tops a
knoll north-west of the farm house of Barrelwell, in the parish
of Brechin. A stone coffin with an urn inside, was found adja¬
cent to it, about the beginning of this century.
The most remarkable antiquarian features of Menmuir, how¬
ever, are the mountain forts of White and Brown Caterthun.
These hills are of the same class as Duneval and Dunjardel, in
Inverness and Nairnshires; but that of White Caterthun is ac¬
counted the most remarkable of any in the kingdom. Huddleston
calls White Caterthun a Druidical erection; but other writers,
on perhaps better grounds, suppose both ramparts to have a
native origin, coeval with British posts, and raised for the pro¬
tection and retreat of the wives and children of the ancient in¬
habitants, during the repeated invasions of their country; and,
instead of assuming the name to signify " Camp town" or " City
Fort," according to Pennant, take it from the likelier source of
Cadcr-dun, a hill fort."
* Chalmers' Caled., vol. i., p. 89 ; and Prof. Stuart's Essays, p. 87.
264
LAND OF T11E LINDSAYS.
The rampart and intrenchments of Brown or Black Caterthun
are nearly circular, and entirely composed of earth—hence its dis¬
tinctive name. It occupies a lower site, and less space than its
fellow, from which it lies about a mile east, commanding an
extensive view of the eastern and southern portions of the
valley of Strathmore; while White Caterthun, which is about
three hundred feet high, commands the western parts of the
Strath, and a great part of its southern and northern boundaries.
The former has been formed by the levelling down of the top of
the mountain, which, in a physical aspect, is altogether dif¬
ferent from its fellow; for while stones abound on all parts of
White Caterthun, comparatively few are to be found on the
Brown—so that whether the stones had been carried from the
latter to erect the former, or whether, by scooping out the trenches,
White Caterthun had afforded materials for its own rearing—or
whether, according to tradition, the stones were brought from
the West Water, or from the still more distant hill of Wirran
(to which provincial geologists say the stones of this fort are
peculiar), are all matters of uncertainty.
Caterthun has been frequently engraved and described, par¬
ticularly in Boy's Military Antiquities,* and is agreed on all
hands to have been singularly well constructed for purposes of se¬
curity and defence. The fort was not, however, as some descrip¬
tions of it would lead the stranger to believe, an erection which
had been held together by mortar, or other cement, but was com¬
posed entirely of loose stones, which have fallen from their original
position, and the breadth of the wall is presumed to measure about
a hundred feet at the base, and between twenty and thirty feet at
the top. It rises little more than five feet above the inner area,
which is of an oval form, measuring about five hundred and
thirty-four feet in length, by two hundred in breadth. The
well is within eighty feet of the south-west corner, and although
much filled up, is still represented by a pit of about eight
feet in depth, and forty feet in diameter at the top. Beyond,
and surrounding the whole citadel, there are a succession of
strong ramparts and ditches, mainly composed of earth, and
stretching far down the mountain. Although now much filled
up, these trenches vary in depth from eighteen to twenty-four
* Plates 47, 48.
MENMUIR—POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS. 205
inches, and the whole structure, as has been frequently remarked,
is one of the most extensive and elaborate ancient citadels in
Great Britain.
Alike with the vitrified fort of Finhaven, the real history
of Caterthun is veiled in mystery ; but, perhaps, since the place
has never been properly investigated, something may yet be
found among its ruins, to throw light on the manners of its
possessors, or the purposes of its erection. It was visited by an
anonymous writer about eighty years ago, who speaks of having
found stones upon it with hieroglyphic characters, bits of broken
statues, and old coins ; but none of these having been seen or
heard of, save through the columns of a contemporary magazine,*
the assertion is generally questioned. Mr. Black, author of the
History of Brechin, with a laudable curiosity which cannot be
too much commended, cut through a portion of the wall some
years ago, but found only a few remains of charred wood, and
burned human and animal bones.
But, as may be expected, though the learned of every age
have failed to satisfy themselves anent the use or gathering
together of these stones, local tradition at once solves the mys¬
tery, and says, that the place was merely the abode of fairies,
and that a brawny witch carried the whole one morning from
the channel of the West Water to the summit of the hill, and
would have increased the quantity (there is no saying to what
extent), but for the ominous circumstance of her apron string
breaking, while carrying one of the largest!—This stone was
allowed to lie where it fell, and is pointed out to this day on
the north-east slope of the mountain ! This tradition, it may be
remarked, however outre, is curious from its analogy to that
concerning the Castles of Mulgrave and Pickering in Yorkshire,
the extensive causeways of which are said to have been paved
by genii named Wada and his wife Bell, the latter, like the
amazonian builder of Caterthun, having carried the stones from
a great distance in her apron !f
Perhaps the fabled occupancy of Caterthun by fairies had
the effect of preserving credulity both in Menmuir and Leth-
not. We have already seen its effects in the latter place;
and it is a notorious fact, that at no distant period demonology
* Ruddiman's Mag,, Aug, 31, 1775. t Ord's Ilist. of the Antiquities of Cleveland, &c,
2 H
206
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
and witchcraft survived also in Menmuir with much of its ori¬
ginal vigour. Nay, apart from tradition, it is recorded that in
the memorable 1649, when upwards of four thousand native
Scots were burnt for witchcraft, the then clergyman was pre¬
vented from preaching the Word of God to his parishioners upon
the 2d and 23d of December, because he had to attend " the
committee appoynted by the provincial assemblie ybr the tryal of
witches and charmers.'1'1 What the pastor of Menmuir and others
began, their brethren of Tannadice and Cortachy appear to have
finished, for both were absent from their parochial duties on
certain Sundays, because of having to attend the burning of " ane
witche !" Such cases, however, were far from rare ; even Knox,
one of the most enlightened men of his time, not only attended
the execution of these martyrs to popular ignorance and super¬
stition, but actually preached on one of those occasions ; for
Melville says, that the first execution he ever beheld was that of
" a witche in St. Androis, against wliilk Mr. Knox delt from
pulpit, she being set upe at a pillar before him !"* And, it is
needless to say, that in much later times than those alluded to,
" witchfinders" were imported from Scotland to the south at a
very considerable expence.f
But the barbarous doings of old times are not so much to be
wondered at, for many of the " living chronicles," even in
the district under notice, remember of burning peats being
dropt through the infant's first shift, to counteract the power of
diabolical agency—of the husband's unmentionables being laid
at the feet of the labouring wife, and the fairy club athwart the
door sill, to prevent her being carried away by those tiny
elves. Nor, even at this day, has the " deid licht " ceased to
flutter, and throw its ominous gleams across the marshy patches
of the East and West Lucks-o'-Pagan !
Threescore years have barely passed away since a humble
couple, who resided at Tigerton, were blest with a son. At his
birth, and for some time after, the boy throve as do other healthy
children ; but his constitution underwent a sudden change, and
the thriving infant became a decrepit and rickety child. This
marvellous reverse occupied the attention of the gossips, and
various causes were alleged—amongst others, that the boy or his
* Dinry, p. 5S. f See Atprndix, No. IX,
MENMUIR—POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.
267
mother was bewitched, or, that the rickety child was a substitute
for the healthy one, whom the fairies had carried away by
stealth to their invisible chambers about the hill of Caterthun !
The learned in such matters were anxious to find the truth of
these ideas by experiment. If the boy was really of fairy origin,
he would, on being placed over a blaze of whins, fly from thence
to his native region—if an heir of mortality, he would withstand
the fire, and receive, at worst, a slight burn, or scaum!
The Tigerton Hecate was well aware that it would revolt
the feelings of the parents to have their child undergo such an
ordeal, and the mother giving her ailing child in charge of a
neighbour on leaving home for a day, Hecate prevailed on the
nurse pro tempore, to allow her to test the boy's human or
supernatural being. The experiment was of the highest pos¬
sible interest. Harvey was not more anxious to discover the
circulation of the blood than were those hags the pro or con of
their irrational surmises. A favoured few were collected to
witness the result, and the scene took place in the ben of a low
thatched cottage. The door was carefully secured, the small
window covered up, and the ceremony conducted by whis¬
perings, so that 110 human eye beheld, nor ear heard, the un¬
hallowed communings. A bundle of whins was lighted; and,
stript to the skin, the poor child was placed upon the tongs,
and held over the flame by two of the learned conclave. He
screamed and yelled, as older people would do in like circum¬
stances ; but, as he never attempted to fly out at the chimney,
he was declared by the devilish hags, in council assembled, to
be merely a human creature after all!!
CHAPTER VIIT.
Jftisrdlaneflits 3Lantig of tlje Hintrsagg.
" His lands, X ween, streteh'd far an' wide—
Frae liieland hill, to ocean's side."
Ballad.
Now that the history of the Parishes has been given, over which
the great family of Lindsay of Glenesk once held almost supreme
sway, their minor estates in other parts of Angus, and those
which they owned on the confines of Perthshire, and in Mearns
or Kincardineshire, will have our attention. The notices of
these must be necessarily brief, in consequence of the volume
having already reached beyond its proposed limits ; and our ob¬
servations will, therefore, be mainly confined to such facts and tra¬
ditions as are preserved regarding the Lindsays, and to some of the
less generally known historical incidents of the various districts.
For the furtherance of our plan, this, the concluding Chapter,
will be divided into three Sections—the first of these will em¬
brace such of the Lindsay properties as lie in the Highland or
North- Western parts of Angus, and on the East of Perthshire ;
the second, the Southern portions, or those on the south of the
Valley of Stratlnnore in Angus ; and the third, such of their
lands as lay in the Mearns.
SECTION I.
LINDSAY PEOPEETIES IN THE NOETH-WESTEEN PAETS OF ANGUS,
AND ON THE EAST OF PEETHSHIEE.
<B«clnn, lUttljocfc, anli Hittle ilhrt.
The Lindsay interest in the district of Brechin is of old date,
has been of a varied and important nature, and, from the time of
the first settlement of the family in Angus-shire, they shewed
great favour for the Cathedral of that city. Sir Alexander of
Glenesk, as before shewn, erected the kirk of Finhaven into a
prebend of that church; and his son, the first Earl of Craw-
THE LINDSAYS OF BEECH IN.
209
ford, endowed a chaplainry in its chapel of St. Ternan, to the
revenues of which his descendant, the Duke of Montrose, also
added considerably shortly before his death. It was during the
time of the Duke, however, when the Lindsays attained the
meridian of their power, that they had most interest in the
locality, a circumstance which arose from the Duke having the
life-rent of the Lordship of Brechin and Navar from the King, in
acknowledgment of his services at the rising at Blackness.
But the earliest notice of them as land-owners in Brechin,
occurs in 1427, when Richard Lindsay owned the house and land
called the Forket Acre, the rent of which, with other properties,
was mortified to the Cathedral by James I.* This place is de¬
scribed in the charter of resignation of 1511, as lying on the
west side of the city, and is still known to some old people as
part of the property called the Bank of Brechin, near the south¬
west part of the Latch Road, on the north side. It was re¬
signed at the above date, as " le Forket Aker," by Alexander
Lindsay, " communi fabre in Brechin," to David Lyon of
Kinnell-t This Alexander Lindsay was one of a long line of
hereditary blacksmiths of the same name, who, for the making
and mending of ploughs and sheep shears, had certain annual
payments in meal and wool from various farms in the lordship,
and the pasture of two cows and a horse at Haughmuir.J It is
probable that they continued to enjoy the office of common
blacksmith down to at least the year 1616, at which period the
name occurs for the last time in the minute book of the Hammer¬
men,! in the council of which craft one or other of them acted
from the earliest date, as they had done in the municipal courts
of the burgh. Perhaps the Brechin Lindsays failed in females
in 1672, for at that time Craighead of Finhaven was in the
hands of the " co-heiresses of John Lindsay in Brechin."||
Sir John, the uncle of Earl Beardie, and one of his unfortu¬
nate kinsmen who fell at the battle of Brechin, was designed of
Brechin and Pitairlie; but whether he had a residence in the city,
or why so titled, is unknown to us. It is true that the Earls
* Hist, of Brechin, p. 14. t Information from Lord Lindsay.
J The farms which were bound to pay these dues, were Balnabreiche, Kindrokwood
[Kintrockat], Petpullox, Pitendreich, Haueh de Brechin [Haughmuir], Buttergill [Burghill],
Pentaskall [wf sup.* n., p. 227], Balbirnie, and the Mill thereof, Kineraig, and Lewchlands,
—Inquisitiones Speciales (Forfarshire.)
§ Quoted ut sup., p. 38. || Printed Retours,
270
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
of Crawford are traditionally said to have had a residence there,
and an old large tliree-story house on the north side of the street
called the Nether Wynd (near the Cathedral), is pointed out as
the spot. A well on the property has borne from time imme¬
morial the name of IJeardies Well, and the rental of this pro¬
perty is said to have been given by him to the Cathedral, for
saying mass for the soul of his mother. It is probable, how¬
ever, if the family did not reside here, that it had been the site
of their granary, or the place where their vassals or tenants de¬
posited their meal, of which, and other payments in kind, ancient
rentals were mostly composed.
It was in the early part of the sixteenth century, that David,
third son of Sir David of Edzell, became proprietor of the lands
of Keithock, which lie in the immediate neighbourhood of the
town, and were then under the superiority of the Bishop of
Brechin, and partly under that of the Knights of St. John. From
that period, David and his descendants were designed of Keithock
until 1617, when the succession passed to a female, who dis¬
posed of this property, but retained that of Cairn in Tannadicc
down to 1655.*
Little is recorded either of the public or private transactions of
the Lindsays of Keithock. The last laird, in his father's lifetime,
was a partisan in the famous melee, which occurred between
young Edzell and Wishart of Pittarrow in 1606; and, it is
probable, from the name of Carnegie of Kinnaird being con¬
nected with the lands in a proprietary relation in 1593,f that the
general embarrassment which the Lindsays were then labouring
under had extended to Keithock, and, like their chief and others
of the clan, they had been forced to mortgage their property.
On the sale of Keithock by the Lindsays, a younger son
of the old family of Edgar of Wadderlie, became proprietor.
David Edgar of Keithock, who bought the property from his
cousin Thomas (the father of John of Poland), had a large
family, among whom were John and James, who bore prominent
parts during the rebellion of 1715. The former died a prisoner
in Stirling Castle, and the hitter, escaping to Italy, became the
well known private secretary of the Chevalier, and died at Pome
in September 1762, where "he was buried by a Protestant
* Printed Retours. t Douglas' Peerage,
THE EDGARS OF KEITHOCK.
271
clergyman, according to the rites of the Church of England."
He was a person of great worth, and, as appears not only by the
letters of the Chevalier and his son Prince Charles, but by those
of the fugitive nobles, was one in whom all had the most implicit
confidence. His fidelity to the cause of his exiled master was un¬
impeachable, as the following anecdote by his great-grand-niece
amply illustrates. "Some considerable time after the "fifteen,'
the British Government had reason to believe that another at¬
tempt was to be made for the exiled family. Sir Bobert Wal-
pole directed his spies to learn who was most in King James'
confidence, and what were the character and circumstances of
the individual. He was told that the King's private secretary
was the younger son of a Scotch laird of small fortune ; that he
was of a generous, hospitable turn, fond of entertaining his
countrymen when at Borne; and that he had but a small salary.
This was just what Sir Bobert wanted, and he wrote to Edgar,
offering a handsome sum if he would betray the intentions of his
master. Edgar put the letter into the fire, and returned no
answer. Several other epistles, bearing advanced offers, met
the same fate. Sir Bobert, thinking he had not yet come up to
the secretary's price, then wrote (and this time without making
any conditions), that he had placed ten thousand pounds in the
bank of Venice in the name of Mr. Edgar. The secretary then
consulted his master, and, after a brief interval, returned for
answer that he had received Sir Bobert's letter. He thanked
him for the ten thousand pounds, which he had lost no time in
drawing from the bank, and had just laid at the feet of his royal
master, who had the best title to gold that came, as this had
done, from England."*
Secretary Edgar's eldest brother, Alexander, succeeded to
the estate of Keithock. A younger brother, Henry, was the
third and last Bishop of Fife, and for thirty-six years pastor of
the Episcopal church in Arbroath, where he died (as intimated
by his tombstone in the Abbey burial-ground), on the 21st of
August 1765, in the seventy-first year of his age.f
* Quoted at p. 419, 6th edit, of Mr. R. Chambers' Hist, of Rebellion, 1745-6.
t Perhaps Bishop Edgar's age is misstated on the tombstone. The following is his bap¬
tismal entry in the Brechin records" April 2, 1698; David Edgar of Keythick, husband to
Elizabeth Guthrie, had a son baptised, named Hetidrie. Witnesses, Hendrio Maull of ICellie,
Hendrie Graham of Menorgan, Hetidrie Guthrie.'"
272 LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Alexander, the penultimate laird of Keitliock, died about
1768, and was succeeded by his son John, who, like his
uncles, was a staunch supporter of the Stuarts, and joined their
cause at the age of nineteen. He fled to France on the final
defeat of the rebels at Culloden, and served under Lord Ogilvy
until the passing of the Act of Indemnity, in 1756, when he re¬
turned to Scotland. He married a daughter of Mr. Ogilvy,
minister of Tannadice, and, down to his latest breath, when quaff¬
ing the goblet of wine or ale, he indulged in the rather equivocal
toast of drinking—" To the King o' er the ivater ! " Keithock
being greatly mortgaged at the time of John's succession, it was
sold in 1790 (two years after his death); and, although the family
has passed from the district of Brechin, numerous descendants
survive in America and various parts of Great Britain.*
Although Little Pert was one of the earliest acquired of the
Lindsay properties in Angus, little is known concerning it beyond
the fact noted in the " Lives,"f where it is stated to have been
gifted by Sir Alexander to the Abbey of Cupar so early as 1308.
It is said to have been held in later times by the Erskines of Bun,
one of whom (the Superintendent, it is believed), erected the
Upper North Water Bridge at his own expense.j: An almost
effaced sculpture of the Erskine arms is yet visible upon it; and,
it is worthy of remark, that when the Covenanters were being
conveyed to their prison at Dunottar, they were placed for the
night in the middle of the bridge, which was guarded at both
ends by the soldiers, to prevent their escaping.§
These estates, so far as the writer is aware, constitute the
sum of the detached Lindsay properties in the eastern parts of
Angus—those of Woodwray, Balgavies, Markhouse, and Barn¬
yards, having been already noticed.[| The first of those parts
which lie on the north-west of the shire are the lands of
CSlenijueicf) anb iiHemug.
The first designed Lindsay of these places was James, son to
the first Lindsay of Little Coull, one of whose descendants, Robert,
* I am indebted for much of this information to Miss Watson (daughter of the late Bishop
Watson ofDunkeld), through the courtesy of Wm. Baillie, Esq., Edinburgh—botli great-grand¬
children of Alexander Edgar of Keithock. t Vol. i., p. 42.
| James Mill, author of the History of British India, &c., was born in a cottage near the
Angus end of the North Water Bridge, on 6th of April, 1773. He died at London, on 23rd of
June 1836, and was buried in Kensington Cemetery. § Wodrow. || Ut sup., pp. 168-72,
THE LINDSAYS OF GLENQUEICH.
273
was served heir to the eldest, brother of his grandfather in Barn¬
yards, on 19th September 1692. The Lindsays subsisted in Glen-
queich until about the middle of last century, and failed in the
Rev. David Lindsay, Episcopal minister of St. Andrews. They
were all staunch Jacobites, and the last landed proprietors of the
surname in Angus. Robert, who was served heir to his father
hi 1664, " expected to his dying day the happy hour to arrive
when the Prince should ascend his father's throne; and gave
himself great uneasiness about matters of court etiquette, fearing
lest during the interval which had elapsed his manners might
have become rusty, and he should not cut a good figure when
presented to his Sovereign after the Restoration!" When he
died, his son insisted on his being buried openly with the pro¬
scribed Episcopal service, and the timorous clergyman declining
to officiate, the young man said—" Fear nothing, I am re¬
solved it shall be so ; I will stand over you with my drawn
sword, and we will see who dare molest you!" This youth
was the father of the venerable clergyman of St. Andrews,
whose reverential appearance struck Dr. Johnson so forcibly
when in Scotland, that he stopped and inquired of a person who
he was—" Only a poor Episcopal clergyman," replied his (for
the moment) oblivious cicerone. "Sir!" replied Johnson, "I
honour him !"*
The predecessors of the Lindsays in Glenqueich and Memusf
were, perhaps, the Stuarts, Earls of Buchan, who acquired most
of their Angus-shire lands, and the Sheriffship of that county, by
marriage with the heiress of Ogilvy of Auchterhouse, about
1491—a circumstance which, doubtless, had given rise to the
popular notion of this locality having been the scene of the
tragedy commemorated in the ballad of " Sir James the Rose."
Here, as at Auchterhouse, an old thorn tree was long pointed
out as the spot where the " furious Grahame " and the " brave
Rose " fell in deadly combat, and where the " fair Matilda," with
" The sword, yet warm from his left side,
With frantic hand she drew :—
' I come, Sir James the Rose,' she cried,
* I come to follow you !' "
* Lives, vol. ii., p. 282.
t These properties lie in the parishof Tannadiee, It was anciently a thanedome, and
John de Logy and his heirs had a gift of it and Glatnis in 1363, for tlie reddendo of a red falcou
2 I
274
LAND OF T1IE LINDSAYS.
S&lel&fll,
in the immediate neighbourhood, was also Lindsay property
from an early date, down to 1629, when it was sold by George,
Earl of Crawford, to John Ramsay of Balnabreich, near Cares-
ton.* The castle stood on the top of a romantic rock which
overhangs the Esk, on the north side of the river, and one of the
proprietors is said to have married a daughter of Deuchar of that
Ilk. Part of the castle forms the walls of the cottages which
now occupy its place. These are about three feet thick, the door
and window lintels are of old hewn ashler, and one of them is
dated 1686. A chapel is also said to have been here in old
times; and a fountain, at a little distance, is known by the name
of St. Colm, to whom the chapel may have been inscribed.
In exact correspondence with the old rythmical saying, and
a little south-west of Shielhill,
" The Waters o' Prosen, Esk, an' Carity,
Meet at the birken bush o' Inverquharity,"t
rolling their united waters to the ocean, through a rugged and
romantic channel, fringed on all sides by clustering and umbra¬
geous trees of various kinds and sizes. The bridge of Shielhill
(dated 1769-1770), is famous as the place where the celebrated
Scottish Lexicographer, the late Dr. Jamieson (whose wife was a
daughter of Mr. Watson of Shielhill), laid the scene of his ad¬
mirable ballad of the " Water Kelpie," in which he thus takes
so marked advantage of the story of Kelpie bringing the stones
to build the bridge, and the bold sculpture of the head of a
Gorgon, which forms the base of a sun-dial.
" Yon bonny brig quhan folk wald big,
To gar my stream look braw ;
A sair-toil'd wicht was I benicht ;
I did mair than them aw.
An' weel thai kent quhat help I lent,
For thai yon image fram't,
Aboon the pond, whilk I defend ;
An' it thai kelpie nam't."
for the first, and a sparrow-hawk for the second, to be delivered yearly at the feast of Pentecost.
—(Reg. Mag. Sigill., lib. i., p. 32, No. 7G). Both thanedomes were afterwards given to Sir John
Lyon in dowry with his wife, Princess Jane, daughter of Robert II.
* Crawford Case, p. 91. t Erroneously printed Tnverarity in Chambers'" Popular Rhymes,"
THE LINDSAYS, AND OGILVYS OF INVERQUHARITY. 275
which adjoins the lands of Shielhill, was anciently under the
superiority of the Earls of Angus; and Margaret, Countess of
Angus, aunt to Sir Alexander Lindsay of Glenesk, gave her
brother-in-law, Sir Alexander of Crawford, charters of Inver-
quharity, in 1329 ;* and about 1390, the first Earl of Crawford
resigned the Newton in favour of a John Dolas.j" Inverquharity
proper, however, seems to have been alienated from the Lindsays
to a John Allardis, sometime before 1405 ; for in that year Al-
lardis resigned the lands in favour of Sir Walter Ogilvy of Car-
cary,:}: who was then Lord High Treasurer of the kingdom.
On the 3rd of June, 1420, Sir Walter conveyed the lands to
his brother Sir John, who, in consequence, became founder of
the house of Inverquharity, which, from the respective seniority
of Walter of Lentrathen (founder of the house of Airlie), and
that of this Sir John being doubtful,§ both, with some degree of
plausibility, can lay claim to the chieftainship of their clan.||
The third baron of Inverquharity was appointed Justiciary
of the Abbey of Arbroath in the room of Earl Beardie, and
being wounded at the battle of Arbroath, was taken prisoner to
Finhaven, where he is said to have been smothered by his sister,
the Countess of Crawford. His brother Thomas, it will be re¬
's Robertson's Index. t Ibid. f Ibid.
5 [Lives, vol. i,, p. 133,] Sir Walter Ogilvy acquired Lentrathen by marriage with Isabella,
daughter and heiress of Sir Allan Durward.—(Doug. Peerage.) He married, secondly, the heiress
of Sir John Glen of Inchmartin, and thus came by that property.—(Spald. Club Miscell. vol iv.)
lie died in 1140 ; but during his lifetime (1426) the patronage of the church of Lunderthin (Len¬
trathen) belonged to the Earls of Crawford.— {Crawford Case, p. 43.)
|| The real progenitor of the Ogilvys of Airlie and Inverquharity was Gilbert, younger son
of Gilibrcde, Earl of Angus, who obtained charters from William the Lion of "terrarum de
Pourin, Ogilvin, et Kyneithin." lie assumed his surname from the lands of Ogilvy, in the
parish of Glamis, is witness to a charter of donation by his brother, Gilchrist, Earl of Angus, of
the church of Monyfode (Monifieth), to the Abbey of Arbroath, c. 1207.—(Reg. de Aberbrothoc.) The
traditionary origin of the Ogilvys is thisEarl Gilchrist was married to a sister of William the
Lion, by whom he had three sons. Their mother's fidelity had long been suspected, and on re¬
turning home from the chase one day, they found her in the presence of her paramour, and
raising their daggers, despatched both on the spot. On learning the circumstance, the King
declared vengeance against all the Gilchrists, and seized their lands. They fled to the
forests for safety, and remained among them several years. One day his Majesty was out
hunting, and getting detached from his party, was set upon by banditti. The proscribed Gil¬
christs who were lurking near by, ran to his rescue, and on learning their name he restored
them to their old possessions, and added that of the Glen of Ogilvy, in Glamis, where he had
been beset and rescued, but on the reservation, of tlnir assuming any other name than that
of Gilchrist, though, in truth, Cilchrist never was the surname of the Earls of Angus. In honour
of the place where they saved their Monarch's life, they took the name of Oottw, which has
been so long and so worthily borne by their descendants.
276
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
membered, sided with the Lindsays oil that occasion, and in con¬
sequence,had a gift from "Beardie" of Clova,Wateresk, and Cor-
tachy. The eighth baron was created a baronet of Nova Scotia
in 1626, of whom Sir John, the present baronet, is the eighth in
succession.
But, although the title and family have descended in a long
uninterrupted line, their ancient patrimony, with the exception
of the family messuage and surrounding park, has passed to other
hands; and the castle, which is yet one of the finest and most
entire baronial buildings in the shire, stands
" now forhow't,
And left the howlat's prey."*
ISaltngcfro, or Ikngifie.
The earliest proprietor of Balinscho, of whom we have any
record, was Scrymzeour, a bailie of Dundee, and one of the
Dudhope family, who owned both Balinscho and Glaswell during
the sixteenth century. He was either father or brother to Henry
Scrymzeour, the grammarian, and professor at Geneva, who
died about 1572.t
It is probable that the Ogilvys succeeded Scrymzeour, for
about 1595, by way of revenge, perhaps, for Inverquharity's
slaughter of Lindsay of Blairiefeddan, Sir John Lindsay of
Woodwray is said to have killed Ogilvy of Balinscho, and thus
forcibly possessed himself of the lands. | So far as known, this
* The castle of Inverqubarity is in much the same style of architecture and masonry as
that of Auchenleck, and, perhaps, belongs to the latter part of the sixteenth, or beginning of the
seventeenth century. The heavy door of grated iron, which is similar to that of Invermark,
is in fine preservation; and, whatever difficulty may arise regarding the age of the building, the
time of the erection of the gate is satisfactorily accounted for by the following royal " Licence."
For the use of this curious document I am obliged to the courtesy of the present Baronet. It
runs thus " Bex—Licence be the King to Al. Ogilvy of Inercarity to fortifie his house & put
ane Iron yet therin. James be the grace of God Kinge of Scottis To all and sindry oure liegies
& subdits to qwhais knawlage thir oure Llez (letters) sail cum gretinge Wit yhe vs to haue
gevin ande grauntit full fredome facultez and spele licence to oure loued familiare sqwier Alex
of Ogilby of lnnerquharady for to fortifie his house and to strenthit with ane Irne yhet Quhar-
for we straitly bid and commaunds that naman take on hande to make him impediment stoppinge
ma distroublace in the maltinge Raising liynginge and vpsettinge of the saide yhet in his said
house vndir all payne and charge at eftir may folow Gevin vndir oure signet at Streviline the
xxv° day of September ande of oure Rcgne the sevint yhere " [September 25, 1573.]
f His sister, Margaret, married John Young, father of Sir Peter Young of Easter Seatoun,
the joint tutor with Buchanan of James VI. Another sister, Isabella, married Richard Melville
of Baldovie, and was mother of Master James Melville.—Papers on the Young family, collected by
P. Chalmers, Esq., of Aldbar. j Lives, vol. i., p. 314.
THE LINDSAYS OF BALINSCHO.
277
circumstance is only recorded in the family muniments of Craw¬
ford, there being no mention of it among the criminal trials, or
in any private diary of the period,—a fact, however, which is not
much to he wondered at, since so very few of these cases have
come down to us.
Sir John Lindsay was a son of the tenth Earl of Crawford,
and, before acquiring Balinscho, was designed synonymously of
Woodwray, in the parish of Aberlemno, and of Woodhtead, near
Balinscho. He had, perhaps, been twice married, as, according
to the family genealogy,* his wife was Catherine, eldest daughter
of Lord Menmuir; and according to a second authority, she was
Margaret Keith, daughter of Lord Altrie,j" to whom the sculp¬
ture of the Keith arms, and the initial " M" figured in the ac¬
companying woodcut of Balinscho Castle, may refer.
Sir John had three sons, all of whom, with their chief, the
Earl of Crawford, Lord Spynie, and other clansmen, left their
native country in the hope of retrieving their decayed fortunes,
and joined the cause of Gustavus Adolphus. The eldest son of
Balinscho was dangerously wounded at the celebrated siege of
Stralsund, ultimately rose to the rank of Colonel, and being with
Tilly at the storming of Brandenburg, was mortally wounded,
and died at the early age of twenty-eight. The second son,
who was also a Colonel, fell in Bavaria soon after. The third,
and youngest, was a youth of great bravery, and while an
ensign, and mere boy, " lost a great part of his shoulder blade
* Crawford Case, p. 124. 1 Spalrling Club Miscell,, vol. iv„ p. lxxvi.
278
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
by a cannon bullet," in covering the retreat of Gustavus from
Wolgast in Pomerania, in 1628—was afterwards Captain in Gus¬
tavus's Life Regiment—ultimately rose to the rank of Lieutenant
Colonel—was wounded and left for dead on the field of Ltitzen,
in 1632, but recovering, died at Hamburgh seven years after¬
wards, leaving his property to his friends and kinsmen, and " a
legacy of four hundred rix-dollars for his funeral."*
Such were the brave brothers of Balinscho. Like the castles
of their more powerful ancestors in other parts of the country,
theirs, too, is a roofless ruin, the part in the sketch being the only
portion now remaining. A circular tower, and other buildings,
stood at the north-east corner down to a late date ; and the
ruins of the more modern house, which was built by Fletcher
(the reputed successor of the Lindsays), stands near by. Many
fine old trees surround the Lindsay castle; and the orchard,
which occupies an acre and a-half on the south side, is still en¬
closed and unploughed, and contains, among many other fruit
trees, one of the largest walnuts that is perhaps to be found in
the kingdom. It is introduced in the prefixed sketch.
Fletcher, who married the youngest daughter of young
Ogilvy of Airlie, who fell at Inverlochy during the civil wars,
was perhaps the first of his name in Balinscho. Though not
of old standing in Scotland, the Fletchers were among the most
ancient and reputable of the English barons, those of Salton
and Inverpeffer (of whom Balinscho was a younger brother),"!"
being direct descendants of Sir Bernard Fletcher of the county
of York, where the family subsisted for many ages. Sir George
Fletcher and his brother James, were proprietors of Bostinoth
about the middle of the seventeenth century, and were patrons of
the church of Forfar, which, together with the teinds, were pur¬
chased from them by the magistrates of that burgh about the year
1669 but whether of the Balinscho family, we are not aware.
It was the penultimate Fletcher of Balinscho, who added the
estate of Lindertis to his original patrimony, and rose to the
rank of Major in the Indian Army. He was succeeded by his
brother, who, in conjunction with the late Lord Panmure, enacted
those youthful vagaries for which he is so well known in the dis¬
trict, and remembered as " the daft laird." The estates were
:: Lives, vol. iipp. 52.5fi f Douglas' Baronage, i Olfl Stat. A Oct., vol. vi. p. 513.
STANDING STONE OF BALINSCHO—CLOVA.
279
sold at his death to Wedderburn, of the family of Balindean, who
parted with them in the course of two or three years, to Gilbert
Laing-Meason, brother to Malcolm Laing, the Historian of Scot¬
land. The Balinscho portion now belongs to the Earl of Strath-
more, and the Lindertis part to Sir Thomas Monro, son of the
late eminent governor of Madras.
It may be interesting to mention, that Balinscho was anciently
an independent ecclesiastical district. The church, or chapel,
was dedicated to St. Ninian, and stood on the west of the turn¬
pike road, and is still marked by the family burial enclosure of
Kinloch of Kilrie. This, too, had perhaps been the last resting-
place of the Lindsays of Balinscho; but no monument, either
of them, their predecessors, or successors, ornament the walls.
The " Stannin' Stane o' Benshie," which stood for unknown
ages, and was the theme of inquiry and speculation to local
antiquarians, and the dread of the credulous, was demolished
by gunpowder about a dozen years ago, and the spot is now
covered by luxuriant crops of corn. This rude monument
of antiquity is supposed to have been of about twenty tons
weight; and at a considerable depth below it, a large clay urn,
measuring about three feet in height, and of corresponding cir¬
cumference, was found containing a quantity of human bones
and ashes. Alike with its rude protector, however, the urn was
broken to pieces, and, beyond the mere fact of its discovery,
nothing authentic, either as to the style of its manufacture, or
the precise nature or state of its contents, is preserved.
@loba.
The earliest proprietary notice of this beautiful and interest¬
ing glen (which the discoveries of the late ingenious Messrs,
Don and Gardner have rendered famous for botanical investiga¬
tion), occurs during the reign of Bruce, who gave charters of
Clova and other lands to his nephew Donald, the twelfth Earl
of Marr, in the year 1324.* Marr gave a John Johnston an
annual out of these lands soon after, and they continued in the
hands of the Marr family until the time of Countess Isabella (the
wife of the Wolf of Badenoch), who resigned them in favour of
* Robertson's Index.
280
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Sir David Lindsay of Glenesk, the newly-created Earl of Craw¬
ford, in the year 1398.* In 1445, when Thomas Ogilvy, a
younger brother of the laird of Inverquharity, joined the Lind¬
says against his own clan at the battle of Arbroath, Earl Beardie
gave Clova over to him, reserving the superiority to his own
family. It continued in this way till at least posterior to 1513-14,
for of that date the seventh Earl of Crawford was infeft in the
barony of Clova as heir to his nephew the previous Earl.j"
As might be expected, the conduct of young Inverquharity
at Arbroath was a signal for family hostility and revenge, and
a series of desperate feuds was speedily commenced betwixt the
houses of Clova and Inverquharity, and the former being backed
by the Lindsays, ever proved successful; but, an arrangement
being made in the time of the fourth baron of Inverquharity,
these hostilities were brought to an end. This agreement was
made in the true spirit of feudalism, by written indenture " at
the water side of Prossyn," on the 26th of March 1524, in pre¬
sence of various kinsmen and other witnesses, whereby the lairds
of Inverquharity and Clova, under heavy pains and penalties,
" remits the rancour of their hearts to others (each other), and
shall live in concord and perfite charity, and sic-like efter the
said sentence be given, as guid Christian men and tender friends
should do, under the pain of eternal damnation of their souls,
because that is the precepte law of God."j; In strict fulfilment
of the conditions of the " Indenture," the laird of Clova, now
weaned over to the side of his kinsmen, conspired against the
noble-hearted Edzell, on his advancement to the peerage, when
the Earldom was cancelled in the person of the " Wicked
Master"—joined the Ogilvys in besieging the Castle of Fin-
haven, harried Crawford's lands, and otherwise tried to prevent
his succession—a proceeding which, as already seen, was only
prohibited by the peremptory mandate of royalty.
The band had thus the desired effect, and the descendants of
Thomas Ogilvy, the family traitor of 1445, continued lords
of Clova and Cortachy till towards the close of the sixteenth
century, when the former was given to Sir David, third son of
the first Earl of Airly, who, like his older brother that fell at
* Robertson's Index. f Dukedom of Montrose Case, p. 222.
I Lives, vol. i., p. 447, et sub., where the Indenture is printed nearly in full.
CLOY A'—THE PEEL.
281
Inverlochy, bore a prominent part in the great civil commo¬
tions of his time. He erected a mansion at the Millton of
Clova, several of the hewn stones of which are built into the
walls of adjoining cottages, and the remaining initials and date
" D • O * Q9 • I" G*—1684," refer to him and his wife Jean
Guthrie.
The boundary of the old garden is yet traceable, but the
foundations of the house are completely erased. Not so with
those of the previous Castle or Peel, which is still a prominent
and imposing object, situated on the west side of Benread (a
comparatively smooth or tame mountain, as the name implies),
which rises to the north of the Millton. The Peel commands an
extensive and delightful view of the Glen, and consists of a frag¬
ment about twenty feet in height, with walls fully four feet
thick. It is traditionally attributed to the time of the Lind¬
says, and the occupant, says the same authority, having ren¬
dered himself obnoxious to his brother barons, a party marched
against him under night and set his castle on fire. Amidst the
confusion and smoke attendant on the burning, the luckless baron
fled to the adjoining mountain, and took shelter, first under a large
piece of rock still called "the Laird's Stane," and afterwards in
the Hole of Weems, a well-known cave in the face of a hill near
Braedownie. Others ascribe the destruction of the Peel to the
soldiers of Cromwell and Montrose ; but, perhaps, the real cause
and time was in 1591, when, " vnder silence of night," five
hundred " brokin men and sornaris houndit oute be the Erll of
Ergyle and his freindis," entered Glen-Clova in September,
" invadit the inhabitants, and murthourit," and slew "three or
foure innocent men and women, and reft and took away ane grit
pray of guidis."* It is also worthy of note, that when Charles
II. duped his keepers at Perth in 1650, he rode to Clova, in the
hope of meeting Lord Ogilvy, and some of his other friends ; but,
" finding very few to attend upon him, and very bad entertain¬
ment," he returned to his captivity on the following day.f This
circumstance is known in history as " the Start," but whether
the King passed the night in the mansion of David Ogilvy at
Millton, or where, is now unknown.
Clova was long an independent parochial district, but united
* Pitcairn's Crim. Trials, vol. i. pp. 283-4. t Autobiog. of R. Blair, by Row, p. 213.
2 K
282
LAND OF T1IE LINDSAYS.
to the parish of Oortaehy in 1608, on condition that the minister
should receive the teinds of both, and preach every two Sabbaths
at Cortachy, and the third at Clova. From this period the paro¬
chial matters of both districts were managed conjointly ; and the
records, which begin in the year 1659, exhibit some curious
glimpses of the local customs of the age,—such, for example, as
when parties went to church on the first Sabbath after marriage,
they were accompanied by the inspiring strains of the Highland
bagpipe and, in 1662, there was no sermon at Cortachy be¬
cause of the minister being in Clova, at " the executione of Mar¬
garet Adamson, who was burnt there for ane witch, "f
Clova was anciently dependent on the Abbey of Arbroath,
and a pendicle of Glamis, by the clergymen of which parish, after
the Reformation, it was occasionally served, but oftener by a
reader, who had fifty marks yearly, for his services there and at
Cortachy. The teinds belonged to the first Marquis of Hamilton,
as commendator of the Abbey of Arbroath, and subsequently to the
Earls of Panmure, down to their forfeiture in 1716—the laird of
Clova being tacksman of the whole vicarage, which amounted to
forty pounds Scots. The church, which is a very sorry fabric, has
a pleasant site on a knoll by the river side, and the oldest of the
few monuments is dated 1787. A chapel is said to have stood
at a place called Lethnot, a little south of the kirk of Clova ;
but, beyond the mere tradition, that when the workmen were
employed in building it, such part as was erected during the day
was constantly thrown down under night by some diabolical
agency, nothing whatever is known of it.
Glaslet, in this district, was Lindsay property, till about
the beginning of the seventeenth century. The small estates of
Rottall, Easter and "Wester Lethnot, Gella, and Braeminzeon,
were also in the same family, down to at least the year 1717,
about which period, or soon thereafter, they became by purchase
a part of the extensive lordship of Airlie. Although in the
midst of the parish of Cortachy proper, these lands were always
considered a part of Clova, and there is reason to believe that it
was from these Lethnots, and not from that adjoining Edzell,
that David Lindsay, who married Margaret, co-heiress of Lord
4 " The minister and elders discharge that barbarous custome, of bringing a piper along
to the kirk with married persons."—rar. Reg., Nov., 20,1659. t Ibid., June 8, 1692.
THE CASTLE OF BAKIE.
Fenton of Bakie, was designed so early as 1458. As Lind¬
says of these places are accounted for in the family history,
down to at least 1666* it is probable that the lairds of the
eighteenth century were descended of these. Indeed so con¬
vinced were the descendants of the Lindsays of Rotall, Gella,
and the Lethnots, of their being the nearest heirs to the Glenesk
branch of the family, that steps were taken by some of them, on
the death of Lady Mary Lindsay, to lay claim to the titles of
the old Earls of Crawford.
©astlc of 13a&h
was situate in the parish of Airlie,f within an hour's ride of Clova,
and stood on a rising ground near the west end of a great moss.
It was moated in old times, reached by a draw-bridge, and
part of the ruins of the castle and causeway were visible towards
the close of last century.^ David Lindsay, the son of Margaret
Fenton, and bailiff of the Earls of Crawford for several years,
was designed " of Lethnot and Bakie," and charged as an ac¬
complice with the Earl's son and heir apparent, in the sacrile¬
gious outrage on " twa monkis " belonging to the Abbey of
Cupar. He is the last designed Lindsay of Bakie, and it is
likely that the estate had passed from the family in the time of
his successor, for the third Lord Glamis had charters of it in
1489.§ After the execution of the unfortunate Countess of
Strathmore for the alleged crime of witchcraft, the accounts of
the Lord High Treasurer shew that a payment of forty pounds
was made for the " reipar of the Glammys and Baky,"|| so that
it is probable, since the King lived a good deal at Glamis during
the proscription of the Lyons, that some of his court may have
resided at Bakie.
The old chapel of Bakie stood in the kirk-shed near Lin-
dertis; and in 1329, William de Fenton enriched it with a gift
of the adjoining lands of Lunros.^j This family, whose name is
still preserved in the district by a hillock which bears the dis-
" Lives vol. i,, p. 4-10.
t The kirk of Airlie was dedicated to St. Madan (vulg. Meaden), A fine spring in the
neighbourhood, and a small hamlet, bears his name. A finely sculptured ambry, and a figure
in mailed armour, is built into the kirk wall.
t Old Stat. Account, vol. xi. § Doug. Toerage—Strathmore.
i| ritcairn's Crim, Trials, vol. i,, p. 29n, if Robertson's Index.
284
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
tinctive cognomen of " Fenton-hill," subsisted in considerable
pomp down to the middle of the fifteenth century, when they failed
in co-heiresses, who were married respectively to David Lindsay,
and to William, second son of David de Halket of Pitfirran.*
IBtmfceng,
in the adjoining parish of Essie, is worthy of notice, mainly from
the fact Of its having been owned by Bishop David Lindsay, a
son of Edzell. This celebrated prelate was first teacher of the
Grammar School of Montrose, afterwards minister of Dundee,
and on the death of Bishop Lamb of Brechin in 1619, was
raised to that See. He was a man of great learning, an eloquent
orator, and author of several important works, and was trans¬
lated to the See of Edinburgh in 1634, where, in his attempt to
read the Collects in the High Church, on the 23rd of July 1637,
the well-known circumstance occurred of Jeanie Geddes throwing
her stool at his head, and exclaiming—" Dei'l collickye!—will ye
say mass at my lug?" He was excommunicated by the Glasgow
Assembly of the following year, and withdrawing into England,
died sometime betwixt that and the year 1640, as, of that date,
his son John, was served heir to him in the estate of Dunkeny.f
This son only survived till 1643, when his sisters succeeded as
heirs-portioners, one of whom, Helen, married David Carnegie,
minister of Farnell and Dean of Brechin, the founder of the
present family of Craigo.j; The Lindsays were followed in
Dunkeny, sometime before 1661, by Peter Blair; § and, in Och-
terlony's day, it was possessed by John Lammie, ancestor of the
present proprietor, one of whose name, also John "Lamby," was
designed therefrom in 1542.[I
Mutftben, anti
are conterminous districts; the first lies in Angus, and the two
latter in Perthshire. They were among the earliest acquired
of the northern estates of the Crawford family, Alexander de
Lindsay, having, so early as 1329,^ received a grant of the lands
* Doug. Baronage. f Lives, vol. i., p, 435. t bTS sup., p. 163, el Appendix, No. V.
§ Acts of Pari. II Spalrl. Club Miscell., vol. iv. If Robertson's Index.
RUTHVEN, QUEICH, AND ALYTII.
285
of Rothven, and Balwyndoloch from Thomas, Earl of Marr. Sir
Alexander Lindsay of Grlenesk succeeded to the whole of them
in 1369* and they continued in the Crawford family until about
1510, when Alexander Crichton, of the noble house of Dumfries,
became proprietor by purchase.
It is commonly said that the parish of Ruthven originally
formed a portion of Alyth, and was erected into a separate cure
by an Earl of Crawford for the accommodation of his vassals,
several of whom were killed in a conflict with the Rollos of
Ballach, while on their way to the church of Alyth.f So far,
however, from this being the fact, there was a kirk at Ruthven
at least a century and a half before the Lindsays had anything
to do with the district; for so early as the year 1180, Robert de
Lundres, natural son to William the Lion, gave the patron¬
age and tithes of the church of Ruthven to the monastery of
Arbroath4 All subsequent history of the church is lost.
The kirk of Alyth was inscribed to St. Moloc, whose feast is
on the 26th of June, and its chapel was dedicated to St. Ninian.§
Among the clergy and others who swore fealty to Edward at
Berwick, was William de Dunde, parson of the kirk of Alyth ;||
and, although he is given in the Index to Ragman Rolls as
" del counte de Abirden," there is reason to believe that he
was pastor of this church, there being no old kirk of that name
in Aberdeenshire.
The Lindsays had two castles in this locality—one at Corb,
on the north-west of the Forest of Alyth, and another at Queich,
near the kirk of Ruthven. Ruins of both are still visible;
and the site of the latter is, perhaps, the most romantic and
picturesque of the many old Lindsay castles in the district. It
stands on a rocky delta, formed by the river Isla and the Burn
of Alyth, at the south-east corner of that parish. The rock is
quite perpendicular, from forty to fifty feet high, and in old
times, when surrounded by vast tracts of forests, and almost
secluded from view, had been a meet scene for enacting those
dark tragedies which tradition ascribes to it. The only part
remaining is a portion of the east wall, which stands on the
verge of the precipice. It is fully five feet thick, covered with ivy,
4 llcg, Mag. Sigill, f New Stat. Acct. of Forfarsli. J Reg. de Aberbrothoc, p. 41,
5 Ragman Rolls, p. Ifi4. y New Stat. Acct. of Ferthsh.
286
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
is little more than thirty feet high, and about the same length—
the rest of the building having been demolished and carried away
for rearing the adjoining farm-house and offices, throughout the
whole of which carved door and window lintels are profusely
scattered. It is said that a subterraneous passage communicated
with the castle of Queich, and the celebrated fort of Barryhill,
which is about two miles north, and traditionally said to have
been the prison of Guinevra, the faithless Queen of Prince
Arthur.*
The first mention of the castle of Inverqueich occurs in
Edward the First's time, it being there that he rested on the 2nd
of July, when on his subjugating expedition in 1296. It is
known in that prince's itinerary as " Entrekoyt chastel,"f and
had then been entire, though it was a ruin when Robert II.
granted it to his nephew James de Lindsay in 13944 At the
latter date it is called " the king's castle of Inu'cuyth," and the
Forest of Alyth being a royal sporting field in old times, the
castles of Inverqueich and Corb had probably been used as
hunting seats by the Scottish kings. A person of the surname
of Menzies (perhaps a descendant of the old family of Durrisdeer
in Nithsdale), was Royal Forester in the first year of David the
Second's reign ;§ and, during the subsequent reign of Robert,
John de Roos held the office of Justiciary of the Forests of Alyth
and Cluny.||
It was about this time that the Forest, and indeed almost all
the parish of Alyth, with the exception of the property of Bamff,
(which was granted by Alexander II. in 1232, to Nessus de
Ramsay his physician,^ and ancestor of the present baronet),
fell to the Lindsays, and from the rents of the Forest, and
other parts adjoining, the dowager Countesses of Crawford re¬
ceived part of their terce, as verified by a process raised for the
same by Countess Margaret against her own sons.** All history
and tradition concerning the castle of Corb is lost, but those of
Inverqueich are strangely interwoven with the history of the
* This ancient fortress is described in Old Stat. Acct., vols. i,, v. and vi.; and Cale¬
donia, vol. i. pp. 90-91.
t Ragman Rolls, p. 178. t Reg. Mag. Sigill. § Robertson's Index.
II Edward stopped several days in Cluny Castle, and went from thence to Inverqueich.—
Ragman Rolls, p. 134. Cluny was the birth-place of the Admirable Crichton. It is now the
property of the Earl of Arlie, and is still a picturesque ruin.
IT Ooug. Baronage. ** Acta Rom. Concil,, Mar. 1, 1489.
I NYERQUER'II—LOUD LINDSAY'S MURDEK. 287
Crawfords, to the Master, or heir apparent to the Earldom of
which, it seems to have been given as an especial residence. It
was so in the time of the Duke of Montrose, whose eldest son long
possessed it. This was the desperate person who renewed the
family feuds with the house of Glamis—took part against his
father in his struggle for James III., and also became the leader
of a band of lawless followers, who ravaged the lands, both of
their friends and foes. In one of these rambles he came in con¬
tact with his youngest brother John, who was equally un¬
principled as himself, and joining in single combat, the youngest
stabbed the eldest fatally. He was removed to the castle of
Inverqueich, and is said to have died there from his wounds; or,
as more popularly believed, and indeed recorded at the period,
" he was smothered in his bed at Inverqueich, and, as was
thought, not without knowledge of his wife."*
This painful occurrence, not unparalled in the family annals,
took place in the autumn of 1489, f and the Countess was Janet
Gordon, of the Huntly family, grand-daughter to James I.
Soon after the death of her husband, she married Patrick Gray,
son and heir apparent of the lord of that name, who had succeed¬
ed to the influential offices of Sheriff of Angus and Keeper of
Broughty Castle, of which the Duke of Montrose was deprived
by the parliament of James IV., for his services to the late King
at Sauchieburn. Although Janet Gordon had no family by Lord
Lindsay, she tried to assert her right to the castle of Inverqueich,
and persisted in collecting the " fermes, proffitis, and dewities,"
of several lands in the vicinity, notwithstanding that the Duke
had resigned them by charter to Adam Crichtoun of Ivippenda-
vie.j" These circumstances gave rise to much discussion, and dur¬
ing the time of the dispute, the house of Inverqueich was ordered
to be " frely deliverit in keping to Johne Erskin of Dovne," who
held it for some time in behalf of the crown.§
But, according to tradition, the murder of Lord Lindsay was
not altogether unrevenged. Though differing in the mode of
telling, the story of the locality is ostensibly linked with the fate
and mysterious conduct of Countess Janet, and the suffering of
her penitent spirit; for, although she had other two husbands,
and survived both, her soul sought the hoary mansion of Inver-
" Lives, vol. i., p. 171. t Ibid., p.169. t Acta Aud , Dec.6, 1419. § Acta Dom., Mar. 9,1491.
288
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
queich, where her nightly lamentations and sorrowful waitings
prevailed for ages. Here the ghostly form of her and her lord
met the eyes of the credulons at all hours of the night, perched on
the narrow cliff between the river and the castle, where, 011
bended knee, and clad in snowy weeds, the guilty supplicant
craved forgiveness. Tired of her supplications at Inverqueich,
Lord Lindsay is said to have doomed her latterly to live out
her penance to the end of all time in the bosom of Craig Liach,
or the Eagle's Hock, in the water of Ericht, in the delightful glen
of Craighall, near Blairgowrie, where ruins still exist called Lady
Lindsay's Castle. Here, though the unfortunate lady has a cir¬
cumscribed abode, she is not allowed to sleep or idle away her
time, being doomed to spin a long* unbroken thread—sufficiently
long to reach from the remotest parts of her rocky habitation up
to the heavens, by which, when accomplished, she is to be per¬
mitted to mount to the spheres, and enjoy for ever the society of
her injured lord !
Such are the traditions of this singular event. But Inver¬
queich Castle was inhabited at a much later period than the time
to which this dark story is referable, and, strange enough, by a
person of equal recklessness and daring—perhaps of much less
heart—than the unfortunate son of Montrose. This was the son
of the " Wicked Master," the husband of Cardinal Beaton's
daughter, and the persecutor of his greatest benefactor, Sir
David of Edzell, the ninth Earl. The circumstances attendant
on his and his father's unhappy career are noticed before, and
need not be repeated,—suffice it to say, that in his time, caused
by his extravagance and imprudence, the interesting properties
of Ruthven and Alyth passed from the family of Lindsay, and
since then, have frequently changed hands.
iHdgle.
We have been unable to ascertain either the extent of the
connection which the Lindsays had with the interesting dis¬
trict of Meigle, 01* the period of their entry. It is certain, how¬
ever, that the first Earl of Crawford, in founding the choirs of
Our Lady of Victory and St. George at Dundee, gave an annual
of twelve marks out of the lands of Balmyle, then called Aber-
ME1GLE—THE LINDSAYS, AND DE MEIGLES.
289
bothrie.* Meigle was also a part of the lordship of Crawford,
which the scape-grace, Lord Lindsay, overran and uplifted the
rents from in the time of his father, who was compelled to crave
Parliament to protect him in the circumstances. The council
granted the Duke's prayer, and laid the turbulent offender
under heavy pains and penalties, ordaining that he should restore
the stolen property, and remedy the evils which the lands of
" Megill and Rothuen" had sustained through his interference, j"
It is also worthy of notice, that shortly before the death of the
Duke, he mortified certain lands to the church of Meigle in
honour of his benefactor James III.J
The earliest recorded lords of Meigle were a family who as¬
sumed their surname from thence. They perhaps had the lands
from William the Lion; for in his time Simon de Meigle gifted
the advocation of the kirk, and an adjoining chapel, to the Prior
and Canons of St. Andrews.§ This occurred between 1178-88,
and the last notice of the surname with which we have met is
that of Rogier de Miggel, who, along with other Perthshire
barons, swore fealty to Edward in 1296.||
We know nothing of the name of the saints to whom the
kirk and chapel were inscribed; but Kirkhill (now Belmont,
where the late Lord Privy Seal Mackenzie erected a fine man¬
sion) was a residence of the Bishops of Dunkeld, two of whom
—Robert Nicolson, once parson of Meigle, and William Lindsay
of the family of Dowhill—are buried at the kirk. When the
Knights Templars were in pomp, they had considerable in¬
terest here, the lands on which the kirk and kirkyard are situated,
and others in the neighbourhood, being still known as Temple
lands ; and some writers suppose that the so-called Guinevra
monuments are those of certain Knights, who died here after
returning from the Crusades.^f
* Thomson's History of Dundee, p. 286. f Acta Au Jitorum, Feb. 19, 1487.
t Lives, vol. i., p. 155. § Lyon's History of St. Andrews, vol. ii., p. 305.
h Ragman Rolls, p. 128.
f [New Stat. Acct, of Alyth,]—These remarkable stones are figured and described in
Chalmers' Sculptured Monuments of Angus, &c.
2 L
290
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS,
SECTION II.
miscellaneous lindsay properties in the southern
parts oe angus-shire.
HUnfiUtljmont.
The founder of the Kinblethnxont branch of the family of Lind¬
say (who are now the only remaining proprietors in Angus-shire,
lineally descended of the great Earls of Crawford), was Alexander,
youngest son of the tenth Earl, by his wife Margaret Beaton.
He inherited much of the active habits of his ancestors, had
more of a conciliatory disposition than most of them ; and James
VI. esteemed him so highly, that he chose him Yice-Chancellor ;
and, on his marriage with Princess Anne of Denmark, also se¬
lected him, along with Chancellor Maitland, and his relative Mr.
David Lindsay, minister of Leith, to accompany him to Denmark
on his matrimonial expedition.
At this important period, the royal exchequer was so inade¬
quate to meet the necessary demands upon it, that the Yice-
Chancellor advanced the large sum of a thousand gold crowns
towards defraying the expenses of the King's journey ; but while
in Germany, became so seriously indisposed that he was unable
to proceed farther. During the stay of the Court at Croneburg,
however, the King, desirous to alleviate, as far as possible,
Lindsay's disappointment in not being able to accompany him
the whole way, sent him the following familiar notification of the
honour he had in store for him :—
" Sandie,
" Quhill (till) youre goode happe furneis me sum bettir
occasion to recompence youre honest and faithfull seruice, utterid
be youre diligent and cairfull attendance upon me, speciallie at
this tyme, lett this assure you, in the inviolabill worde of youre
awin Prince and Maister, that quhen Godd randeris me in Skot-
lande, I sail irreuocablie, and with consent of Parliament, erect
you the temporalitie of Murraye in a temporal lordshipp, with all
KINBLETHMONT—LORD SPYNIE.
291
honouris thairto apparteining.—Lett this seme for cure to youre
present disease.
" From the Castell of Croneburg, quhaire we are drinking
and dryuing our (rattling away) in the auld maner.
J. h. '''
As soon as the King set foot within his palace of Holyrood,
he fulfilled his promise to Lindsay, gave him a grant of the tem¬
poralities of the See of Moray in lieu of his ten thousand crowns,
and conferred the title of Lord Spynie on him and his heirs.
But with the exception of the patronage of about fifty livings,
in various parts of Elgin, Banff, Aberdeen, Nairn, and Inver¬
ness-shires, which the Lindsays long retained, the King repur¬
chased the rental of these lands in 1605, and restored them to the
church. The proprietary interest of the family in the district, is
now limited to the advowson of the kirk of New Spynie, which
was bought by the present proprietor of Kinblethmont from the
late Duke of Gordon.
Lord Spynie married Jean Lyon, of the noble house of
Glamis. She had been previously married to the Master of
Morton, and to the Earl of Angus. Her alliance with Spynie is
said to have been mainly effected through his Majesty's inter¬
vention, anent which, while in Denmark, and at a later date
than the above, he reiterated his promise, and thus jocularly
wrote to Lindsay, in allusion to the Lady's double widowhood,
and considerable fortune :—" Sandie : We are going on here in
the auld way, and very merry. I'll not forget you when I come
home,—you shall be a Lord. But mind (remember) Jean Lyon,
for her auld tout will make you a new horn."f Lindsay and
"Jean Lyon" were accordingly married, and she bore him two
sons, the youngest of whom died in childhood. And, unfortu¬
nately, only a few years thereafter Lord Spynie came suddenly
by his death in the riot which occurred betwixt young Edzell and
the Master of Crawford, 011 the High Street of Edinburgh, on
the 5th of July 16074
Towards the close of his life the friendship which subsisted
betwixt the King and Spynie became much abated—the latter
having joined in the Popish and other treasonable movements
of the period. He was also engaged in a tulzie with the Ogilvy
* Lives, vol. i., p. 319. f Ibid., p. 3-J3. { VI sup., p. 39, el sub.
292
LAND OP THE LINDSAYS.
family, when " Reid John," and "Black John" Ogilvy were
charged with " bering, wering, and schuting of hagbutis and
pistolettis, and for hurting of Alexander, Lord Spynie."* To
counterbalance this charge, and in the true spirit of the times,
Spynie and a number of his kinsmen were charged only a
few days thereafter, as " art and part of slauchteris" of two
of the Ogilvy clan, when Spynie maintained that he and his
followers were summarily attacked by them on the " hei-way
beside the place of Leyis, as they vere rydand in sober and
quyet maner furth of his duelling place of Kinbrakmonth [Kin-
blethmont], to the place of Gairdyn," when they "hurt and
deidlie woundit the said nobill lord in the heid, and left him lyand
for deid," and shot one of his servants.f Ogilvy and Spynie
were both fined in large sums for those crimes, and warded to
certain parts of the South, to abide his Majesty's pleasure.^;
Lord Spynie's son and successor was an active officer in the
service of Gustavus Adolphus, and amassed such an amount of
wealth, that he uplifted the mortgages which were over Fin-
haven and Careston, and even purchased the tombs of his an¬
cestors in Dundee, from his cousin, the Earl of Crawford. lie
left two sons, in both of whom the male succession failed, when
it devolved on their eldest sister, Margaret, who married William
Fullarton of Fullarton, near Meigle. Their only son married a
daughter of Carnegie of Boysack near Arbroath, and was grand¬
father of Colonel William Fullarton of Spynie, who married his
own cousin, Miss Carnegie, heiress of Boysack. Their son, in
right of his mother, and according to the deed of entail, assumed
the name and title of Lindsay-Carnegie of Spynie and Boysack ;
and by his wife, who was descended of the old family of Strachan
of Thornton, he had a considerable family. James, his eldest
son and heir, died while distinguishing himself in his professional
duty on the shores of North America in 1814 ; and their second
son, William, the present proprietor, Convener of the Free¬
holders of Forfarshire, and heir of line and representative of the
Lords of Spynie, served honourably as an officer of artillery in
the West Indies and Portugal, and married a daughter of the
Earl of Northesk. The other surviving members of this family
arc John Mackenzie, and Donald Lindsay, Esquires.
* {Julj 26, 1660)—Pitcairn's Trials, vol. ii., p. 134. t 166, J Ibid., p. 146.
K1NBLETHM0NT—CAPTAIN LINDSAY-CAUNEGIE.
293
The eldest son, James, already mentioned, was a brave and
active officer—as remarkable for the amiableness of his dis¬
position, as for his spirit and gallantry, and preferred the haz¬
ardous service of his country to the peaceable possession of a fine
estate. He served as Lieutenant with his relative, Admiral
Lord Northesk, at the memorable engagement of Trafalgar, and
was in other severe actions with honour. He rose to the rank
of Commander in the Navy, and when relieved of duty by being
thus promoted, his thirst for active service induced him to act
as volunteer. In this capacity he went with Admiral Griffith in
his expedition to the Penobscot river; where he contracted a
fatal marsh fever from long exposure in the boats.
In the public dispatch, forwarded by Admiral Griffith re¬
garding the transaction at Penobscot, he says that he was " most
particularly indebted to the active and zealous exertions of
Lieutenant Carnegie, who was a volunteer on this occasion."
Nor, in those sent by Colonel John after the engagement at
Hamden, is his brave and disinterested conduct less honourably
mentioned. " Captain Carnegie of the Royal Navy," he writes,
" who most handsomely volunteered his services with this ex¬
pedition, was in action with the troops at Hamden; and I feel
most particularly indebted to him for his exertions, and the as¬
sistance he afforded me on this occasion."
It is not to be inferred, however, that Lord Spynie was the
first Lindsay proprietor of Kinblethmont, it being, in part at least,
in the hands of the Earls of Crawford so early as the middle of
the fifteenth century, and was owned by them down to the time of
the eleventh Earl, who gave his brother, the first Lord Spynie,
charters of the Mains on the 19th of June 158-. In 1634, the
Earls of Kinnoul and Kinghorn, and the second Lord Spynie,
as joint proprietors, conveyed the lands and Templelands of Kin¬
blethmont to Sir John Carnegie of Ethie in life-rent, and his son
David in fee, from whom, as seen above, the lands of Boysack
have descended by marriage to the present proprietor of Kin¬
blethmont.
The name of Kinblethmont is said to be derived from a popu¬
lar belief that William the Lion had a hunting seat there, which
was called King's blythe mount,"* but its true etymon is, per-
* OH Stat, Acct., vol. iii.
294
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
liaps, in the Gaelic Kin-bladh-mount, or " the head of the smooth
hill." This, at least, is quite descriptive of the site of the place,
and in conformity with the oldest orthography — Kynblath-
mund. Richard de Melville, of the Glenbervie family, is the
most ancient proprietor with whom we have met. He gave the
monks of Arbroath certain parts of the lands, and the patronage
of the chapel, which was dedicated to St. Lawrence the martyr,*
and stood near the Temple lands of Kinblethmont. It is known
as Qhytefield Chapel, and now used as the family burial-place;
but " no storied urn or animated bust," perpetuates the memory
of any of those buried within.
About a century subsequent to Melville's grant, Welandus
de Seynclau is designed " Dominus de Kynblatmund,"f but to
what family he belonged has not been ascertained. He was
probably followed by a branch of the old family of Montealto of
Feme, who had considerable property in the southern, as well
as in the northern, parts of the shire ; and as Richard de Mon¬
tealto occurs in connection, both with this lordship and Ferae in
13794 ^ '1S probable tliey are one and the same person ; and that
Sir Alexander Lindsay of Glenesk had succeeded him in both
estates. Guthries were designed of Kinblethmont from, at least,
the year 1470,§ till 1594.|| They were of the family of Colliston,
and sold Kinblethmont to Master Peter Young (afterwards Sir
Peter), about 1582, who held the lands for sometime thereafter
—perhaps under the superiority of the Crown.*[
* (a.d. 1189)—Reg. de Aberbrothoc, p. 99, f Reg. de Aberbrothoc, p. 271.
J Reg. Mag. Sig. § Acta Auditorum, p. G8.
|J Thomas Guthrie de Kinblethmont witnesses the excambion of Cookston for Ardovie,
betwixt Sir R, Carnegie of Kinnaird, and Geo. Speid, ancestor of the present laird of Ardovie,—
Ardovie Charters.
The lands of Bandoch, west of the kirk of Inverkeillor, was also Lindsay property so late
as 1G06 CDoug. Peerage), and had probably been obtained from Lord Innermeath, a previous
proprietor.—{Reg. Mag. Sig.) The church of Inverkeillor, in the diocese of St. Andrews, was
gifted to the Abbey of Arbioath by de Berkeley of Redcastle, and dedicated to St. Macconnoc.
(Peg. de Aberbrothoc, p. 38.) The old church ofAthyn, and its chapel of St. Murdoch, which stands
near the Redhead, east of Ethie castle, were given to the same Abbey by William the Lion
(Peg. de Aberbrothoc), and are now united to Inverkeillor. The church of Inverkeillor is an old
antiquated fabric, and the sides of the windows are covered with long scriptural quotations in
Greek and Hebrew—note nearly obliterated by whitewashing ! The burial aisle of the Earls of
Northesk is attached to the west end of the kirk; and Gardyne of Lawton and Middleton (at
sup, § n., p, 41), and Rait of Anniston, also bury here.
THE LLNDSAYS. AND GUTHRIE OF GUTHRIE.
295
(£utl?rie, ant) ©arfiulitio.
The early history of the lands of Guthrie is obscure : they
were probably Crown property when William the Lion granted
the church and its patronage to the Abbey of Arbroath.* The
next notice of them is in the Chamberlain Lolls in 1359, when
the Sheriff of Forfar returns that there is nothing to be charged
against him out of the ward of Baldowry, nor out of the propart
of the lands of Sir Henry de Lamesay, within the barony of
Guthery, because they (the wards of these lands) were sold by
Thomas Earl of Marr, the Lord Chamberlain, as appears by his
letters patent charging himself with fifty-three shillings and four
pence sterling for the propart of Guthery.f From this it ap¬
pears, that Sir Henry Lamsay was then a portioner of the
barony of Guthry : how he came to be so, there is nothing to
show. In 1398, the Earl of Crawford had a confirmation charter
of the barony of Guthrie ; in 1450, Walter Carnegy of Guthrie
is one of an inquest to inquire into the marches of the Bishop's
Common of Brechin. But in 1440, a George Guthry, who de¬
signates himself of that Ilk, grants to Sir John Ogilvy of Lun-
trathen his half of the lands of Eroly (Airlie) which he holds of
Sir John as superior of these.:}: Be this as it may, David Guthry,
who was an esquire to the Earl of Crawford, and who seems to
have combined in his person a sort of mixture of soldier, church¬
man, and lawyer, and who was knighted in England by the
English King, purchased the barony of Guthry about 1465.§
He also purchased the patronage and church of Guthrie from
the Abbey of Arbroath, and erected it into a collegiate church
with a Provost and three canons, to which number his son added
five. The church of Guthrie was an ancient prebend of the
Cathedral of Brechin, and its history is much complicated by
these transactions with the Abbey and the collegiate church.
The surname of Guthrie does not appear in the first volume of
the Legister of Arbroath, although the Abbey was so closely
connected with the lands.||
* Reg. de Aberbrothoc. t Chamb. Rolls, vol. i., p. 3D. J Airly Charters.
§ Mr, Harry Maule of Kelly writes—" Sir David Guthrie of that Ilk [was] designed first.
Captain of the King's Guard, afterwards Comptroller, then Register, and afterwards Lord
Treasurer, and last of all Justiee-General, as is to be seen in the charters of King James the
third in the Public Records."—Information by P. Chalmers, Esq., of Aldbar, || Ibid.
296
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Sir David was the son of Alexander Guthrie, laird of Kin¬
caldrum,*' and is said to have been brother to Abbot Diehard of
Arbroath5 and, as eldest son, succeeded to Kincaldrum, which
he owned in 1463,f from which estate Guthries were designed
down to 1674-764 This knight is the first laird of Guthry
who appears as a witness to Crown charters, and so far as known,
was the most illustrious of his family, having, at various periods,
filled the important offices of Lord Degister, and Lord High
Treasurer, and died Lord Chief-Justice of Scotland.
He was succeeded by his son, Alexander, above noticed, who,
along with his eldest son and three brothers-in-law, fell at Flod-
den : his grandson, also Alexander, was killed in a feud with the
Gardens of Legiston, in October 1587, of which murder Garden
had a remission under the Great Seal.§ Garden had, perhaps,
been thus leniently dealt with from the fact that William Guthrie
of Davensbie, son of this unfortunate laird, murdered both Garden
of that Ilk and Garden of Tulloes on the high way betwixt Bre¬
chin and Dundee, in 1578,|| and the assault on old Guthrie may
have been committed by Garden out of revenge for the death of
his relatives. Be that as it may, James, the son of the laird of
Guthrie who fell by Legiston, shared the fate of his father in
June 1599,U being murdered by the hands of several of his own
near relations. The succeeding laird of Guthrie bore the same
name as his father, and was the parent of James Guthrie,
the famous martyr, who was executed at the Grassmarket of
Edinburgh in 1651.
Owing to the difficulties into which the family were thrown
about this memorable period, James' brother—perhaps Patrick
(at least there was a Patrick Guthrie, who designed himself in
1655, as " sometime, of that IW)**—sold the estates to Mr. John
Guthrie, Bishop of Moray, on which the original stock and line
of " Guthrie of that Ilk," ceased to have connection with the lands
which bore their name, the Bishop being remotely, if at all, related
to the family of that Ilk. We have been unable to ascertain the
exact date of the Bishop's purchase ; but it must have been
* Sir David's father had been the first or second Guthrie of Ivincaldrura, as it belonged to
Sir John de Wemyss so late as 1393.—Robertson's Index. t Crawford's Officers of State.
J Genealogical MS. belonging to Lord Panmure. [The Bowers possessed Kincaldrum in
1G78.— Edwards' Descrip. of Angus.] § Piteairn's Trials, vol. i, pt. 2, p. 372; vol. ii, p. 103,
II Ibid., vol. ii., p. 528 ; iii., pp, 77, 80. If Ibid., vol. ii., p. 101.
*• Services of Heirs in Chancery Office, vol. vi., fol, 90.
THE GUTHRIES OF GUTHRIE.
297
sometime before 1640, as (on being deprived of his living, and
forced out of his official residence of Spynie Castle), he re¬
tired in that year " to his own estate of Guthrie, in the county of
Angus," where "he died during the course of the grand re¬
bellion."* Bishop Guthrie's daughter married her cousin,
Guthrie of Gaigie, and thus became maternal ancestor of the
present laird of Guthrie and Gaigie, who succeeded his father
in 1845. But, although the direct descendants of Sir David
have now passed from the position of landowners, the present
family claims collateral descent through the Gaigie line, and the
surname is still plentiful throughout Angus-shire.f At no dis¬
tant date the following provincial couplet was applicable to four
Angus-shire freeholders of the surname of Guthrie, who possessed
the various properties here named:—
" Guthrie of Guthrie,
And Guthrie of» Gaigie,
Guthrie of Taybank,
And Guthrie of Craigie."J
The old part of the castle (which was perhaps built in
1468, when Sir David Guthrie obtained warrant under the
Great Seal to erect a stronghold here),§ is a place of great strength,
with a square tower of sixty feet in height, and walls nearly ten
feet thick, to which the present laird has added a spire and other
castellated embellishments. The gateway is a Gothic erection
of considerable elegance, being composed of a graceful arch,
flanked with towers, and bearing a fine sculpture of the family
* Keith's Catal. of Scotch Bishops, p. 152.
t Mr. Harry Maule of Kelly writes " This family of Guthrie [of that IlkJ ended in the
time of King Charles the first, and the Barony of Guthrie [was] sold to John Guthrie, Bishop of
Murray, who left it to his daughter, whose posterity does now (1733), enjoy it," and it is still
(1853) with her descendants. This Bishop Guthrie was of the Guthries of Colliston, in which
family there was a Nova Scotia baronetcy, which seems to have become soon extinct.— Information
by P. Chalmers, Esq., of Aldbar.
J Guthries were lairds of Pitforthy, near Brechin, before and subsequent to 1G20. They
may have been related to the family of that Ilk. The famous William Guthrie, minister of Pen-
wick, author of the " Christian's Saving Interest," was a son of Pitforthy ; and William Guthrie,
the historian of a later date, was a member of the same family. The traditionary origin of the
family name of Guthrie, is well known One of the Kings of Scotland being driven on Bervie
Brow, a rock on the Mearns-shire coast, found a solitary fisherwoman on the shore, and being
hungry, he asked her to gut twa fish for him ! " I'll prut three said the loyal dame. " Well,"
replied the King, " Gut-three for ever shalt thou be! " Dr. Jamieson (Scot. Diet., Pref. p. xi.) gives
Guthrie as a Pictish name, and shews its affinity to some Icelandic and Danish names. It is
curious to remark, however, that the oldest spelling of the name of the parish is " Guthryn," and
that the Gaelic Gath-erran, means " a dart-shaped division and, by comparing the form of
the parish of Guthrie with that of old flint arrow heads, the resemblance will be found singu¬
larly striking. § Crawford's Officers of State.
2 M
298
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
arms. This was erected by the Arbroath and Forfar Railway
Company, whose line of traffic passes over the archway.
The church, for which Sir David Guthrie and his son shewed
so much favour, stood on the same site as the present kirk and
family burial vault. The Guthrie arms surmount the gateway of
the churchyard, with the initials and date, " — G : B • G : 1637."
Other fragments bear "1629," " G. 1747," and "M • H • G."
Some of the mottos in the graveyard are curious; but the fol¬
lowing, from a stone raised by Robert Spence to "his fore¬
fathers" in 1774, is the most singular:—
" Beside this stone lyes many Spences,
Who in their life did no offences ;
And where they liv'd, if that ye speir,
In Guthrie's ground four hundred year."*
Like the church of Guthrie, that of Carbuddo, or the south¬
ern division of the parish^ was in the diocese of Brechin, and a
rectory belonging to the church of Guthrie; but the time of
its suppression is unknown, and the graveyard only remains.f
The family of Guthrie never had a proprietary connection with
Carbuddo. The oldest known superiors were the Earls of
Angus, from whom, in all likelihood, it had passed to the Earls
of Crawford, for, the Lindsays were also lords of Carbuddo from
at least about the middle of the fifteenth century, down to the
early part of the following, when it became the property of Sir
Thomas Erskine of Brechin. In 1543, however, Sir Thomas
resigned it in favour of his nephew, Superintendent Erskine of
Dun, \ in the hands of whose descendants it has ever continued,
the present proprietor being maternally related to the late
Colonel Erskine, whom he succeeded in 1830.
Enberarftg, anfc JHeatl)U=2lour.
It will, however, be perceived, that although the Earls of
Crawford had a long and important interest in Guthrie, there
* The following, from a stone to the same family at Aberlemno, is dated 1756 :—
" Here lyes an honest old race,
Who in Ballgavies land had a place
Of residence, as may be seen,
Full years three hundred and eighteen."
t " Crebyauch,"is the oldest orthography of Carbuddo ; the Gael. Cri.ba.ith, means "clay
and birk wood," both of which are plentiful, not only in the neighbourhoood of the kirk, but
throughout the district. t Spalding Club Miscel., vol. iv., p. 44,
THE LANDS OF INVERARITY, AND MEATHIE-LOUR. 299
was no separate house founded in the district by any collateral or
immediate branch of the family. It was so also in the parish of
Inverarity, though the Kirktown and Hilltown, with other lands
in the district, were in their possession from the year 1395, out
of which the first Earl gave ten marks for the endowment of a
chaplain in the parish church of Dundee.* Though Alexander
Burnet of Leys was in possession of the village of Inverarity in
1500,"|" Sir David of Edzell was lord of the properties which his
ancestors held in the parish, and also patron of the kirk, as was
Sir Walter of Balgavies, and his son, so late as 1606.
But of the ancient lords of Inverarity there is now no trace,
either in ruined castles or legends,—nay, even the Kirktown
or village of the days of the Lindsays has disappeared, having
been supplanted by the mansion house of Fothringham, which
was so named from the present proprietor, and erected on the
site of the old Kirktown4 An archway or door of the old kirk
was remaining at a late date, and the old burial ground is re¬
presented by a mound planted with shrubs, opposite the west
window of Fothringham House. The rivulets Airity (anciently
Arith), and Denburn unite here, from which circumstance the
parish was named. To the original parish of Inverarity, the ad¬
joining district of Meathie-Lour was added about two hundred
years ago. Both were in the diocese of St. Andrews, and, after
the Beformation, were served by one and the same minister ;§
and the kirk of Meathie was "ruinous and decayed" even in
Guynd's time.
The etymology of Meathie-Lour is doubtful, and is written
" Mathi-Lur " in the ancient Taxatio. The oldest proprietors
of Lour with whom we have met, are the Abernethys, one oi
* Robertson's Index. f Doug. Baronage;
J The modern surname of Fothringham is a corruption of the ancient Fothringhay, and
assumed its present form from the resemblance of ay to m in old writings. Henry de Fodrin"-
hay swore fealty to Edward in 129G ; but they were a family of consideration long before then,
being witnesses to some important charters, and bearing arms (ermine, three bars), in the time
of William the Lion. Their first known estates were in Tweedale, and their first Angus-shire
property was Baluny, in the parish of Stracathro (?] of which Thomas, the son of Henry, had
charters in 1378.—(Nisbet.) Powrie was acquired during the subsequent century. Through
the marriage of the late laird with the heiress of Scrimgeour of Tealing, this ancient family
became allied with the Dudhope race, whose remote prbgenitor, Sir Alexander Carron,
saved the life of Alexander III. when attacked by rebels in his castle at Invergowrie in 1107.
Nisbet says he is the first knight read of in history, and had his name changed to Scrimgeour,
i. e. " a sharp fighter," for his bravery on the above occasion. The family were hereditary stan¬
dard bearers of Scotland, and bore a conspicuous part in old times in all the notable transac¬
tions of the kingdom. § Register of Ministers, 1007.
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
whom, Sir Hugh, was Chamberlain of Menmuir about 1290;
and the male line of this old family failing in co-heiresses,
their extensive possessions passed by marriage to the several
families of Lindsays, Stewart, and Lesly. Lesly's wife was
heiress of the Lour portion, of which Norman de Lesly had char¬
ters in 1390.* At some previous time a family here held under
the Abernethys, and took the name of Lur of that Ilk, and had,
doubtless, been of considerable influence in their time, since they
were councillors of the Earls of Crawford; f—they had also been
vassals of theirs, for the lands and teinds were in possession of
the Duke of Montrose, in the year 14924 Subsequent to this,
however, there is a hiatus in the history of these lands which we
are unable to supply.—It is certain they were owned in the early
part of the seventeenth century by the Carnegies, as, on being
elevated to the peerage in 1639, Sir John Carnegie of Ethie
assumed the title of Lord Lour. The lands were afterwards
given by the second Earl of Northeslc to his third son, from
whom the present Carnegys of Lour and Turin are descended.
Although the estate of Kinnettles was much later in falling'
into the hands of the Lindsays, than those of Guthrie and In-
verarity, a branch of the family settled here about the year
1511, and flourished in considerable repute for nearly a century
and a half. Robert, a cadet of the knightly house of Evelick,
and descended from a younger brother of the third Earl of Craw¬
ford, was the first Lindsay of Kinnettles. Marjory Lindsay, the
wife of the minister of Rescobie (mentioned on the tombstone
at that church) 11 was, perhaps, a daughter of the last Lindsay of
Kinnettles, and aunt to Dr. Thomas Lindsay of Armagh. This
* Robertson's Index. t Lives, vol. i., p. 117. t Acta Dom. Concil., Jan 15.
§ The kirk of Kinnettles was in the diocese of St. Andrews, and is rated tn the ancient
Taxatio, at IS merks. The name of the parish is misprinted " Kynathes" in Ragman Rolls (p.
161), from which it appears that Nicol de Merton, the parson of the period, swore fealty to
Edward I. Kinnettles, Inverarity, and Meathie, were served by one clergyman, a Mr. James
Fothringham, in 1567, who had a stipend of £100 Scots. Mr. Alexander Tailor, the minister
(circa 1682), was a poet of considerable imagination, and, when going to Edinburgh with many
of his brethren, for the purpose of taking the oaths required by the Test Act, he encountered so
great a storm, that he wrote a long poem upon it. Col. William Patterson, who rose from
humble birth to the dignified office of Lieutenant-Governor of New South Wales, was born here
Hi 175.5. He died in 1810.
ii See Appendix, No. Y.
THE LINDSAYS OF KINNETTLES, AND EYELICK. 301
eminent divine, however, was born in England, whether his
father went in early life and became rector of Blandford in Dor¬
setshire. He was the friend and contemporary of Dean Swift,
and rose to the important position of Archbishop of Armagh,
and Primate of all Ireland,* and, dying in 1713, was the last
male descendant of the Lindsays of Kinnettles.
Still, although on the death of the Archbishop, all trace of
the male descendants of the house of Kinnettles, as well as
of Evelick, passed away, collateral descendants of the latter
branch not only survive in Perthshire, but also in Angus, two
daughters having been united in marriage to influential barons
of the latter county. These were Elizabeth and Margaret Lind¬
say, daughters of Sir Alexander of Evelick, and sisters to the
unfortunate youth who was slaughtered in cold blood by his
step-brother, James Douglas, in the year 1682.j" The former
of these ladies was married to John Ochterlony, of the ancient
family of that Ilk, author of the interesting and valuable " Ac¬
count of the Shyre of Forfar," so repeatedly quoted in this
volume ; and the latter was first the wife of Arbuthnott of Fin-
dowrie,! and afterwards that of Pierson of Balmadies, to whom
she bore seven sons. From these ladies, both maternally and
paternally, the present Mr. Pierson of the Guynd is the fourth
generation in descent.
It may not therefore be improper to give a brief outline of
the house of Evelick, since it has given sons and daughters
to other families of provincial note and importance, and is in
itself still represented, though not in the direct male line.
Descended from a younger brother of Sir Walter, the first
of Edzell, Alexander Lindsay of Evelick (father of the ladies
of Ochterlony and Balmadies), was created a baronet in 1666.
Besides the son who came by his death in the painful manner
already noticed, he had his successor, Sir Alexander, whose son,
also Alexander, married Amelia, sister of the celebrated Lord
Mansfield, by whom he had three sons and two daughters. All
the sons rose to eminence in the service of their country, as
did the family of both daughters : Sir David, the eldest, was a
General; the second, William, an officer of repute, died in the
East Indies ; and the youngest, John, for his gallantry during
Lives, vol. ii., 283. t Scott. Jour., vol, i. p. 280. t See Appendix, No. V.
302
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
the attack on the Havannah, &c., was created a Knight of the
Bath, rose to the high rank of Bear-Admiral of the Bed, and,
dying in 1788, was buried in Westminster Abbey. General
Sir David Lindsay left two sons and two daughters: the eldest
son was ambassador to Venice, and predeceased his father—the
youngest, who succeeded to the title and estates in 1762, was
a signal officer at the battle of St. Vincent, and commander of
the Daphne, and lost his life at Demerara, by the upsetting of
a boat in 1799, being the last direct male descendant, and
baronet of Eveliclc.
The succession now devolved on his eldest sister Charlotte
Amelia (wife of the Bight Honourable Thomas Steele), and the
estates of Evelick passed to her son, a Colonel in the Guards,
who married a daughter of the Duke of Manchester, by whom he
had the present laird, Captain Thomas Steele of the Coldstream
Guards, and other children. The sisters of General Sir David of
Evelick, were respectively married to Allan Bamsay, the dis¬
tinguished portrait painter and son of the poet, and to Alex¬
ander Murray, afterwards Lord Henderland. The eldest was
mother of General John Bamsay, and several daughters, all of
whom died issueless. The General's estate was inherited by his
cousin, William Murray, now of Henderland; and he and his
brother, Sir John Archibald Murray, Knight, Lord of Session,
are the nearest representatives, through a female, of the old
houses of Evelick and Kinnettles.
®rforoatD, 9Macfclafo, ant) ^an&rt&e.
The cause of the battle of Arbroath, which was fought between
the Lindsays and Ogilvys in 1445-6, and the fatal result of it to
the latter clan, have already been fully noticed ; and, if it were
not that the proprietary interest of the Lindsays of Edzell sur¬
vived longer here than in any other part of Angus-shire, the
extent of their holding would barely warrant our taking notice
of these. Their wealth in this quarter consisted mainly in
dwelling houses, and other burgal and arable lands. Among
these were Lady-Bank and its chapel (which were erased about
a century ago to make way for the old harbour) ; the croft of
ARBROATH—THE BARONY OP PANBRIDE. 303
Darngate, or the postern gate, at the south-east corner of the
monastery; the Grinter, or granary croft, situate at the north
corner of the burial ground, where the corn and meal belonging
to the Abbey was kept; and, St. Ninian's Heuch, among the
famous cliffs and caves, east of the harbour.* Though small,
these properties gave the family an influence in the town of Ar¬
broath, and, as before noticed, were the last portions of the family
inheritance that David, the last laird of Edzell, parted with, it not
being until the year 1725,t (ten years after the sale of Edzell),
that these were disposed of. Since then, as above noticed, Lady-
Bank and its chapel have been swept away ; and the other pro¬
perties have passed through various hands.
Nor, from the small portion which the Lindsays owned in
Kinnell, will our space admit of detailing the historical peculi¬
arities of that interesting parish,—suffice it to say that the farm of
Blacklaw near Braikie, of which the seventh Earl of Crawford
was possessed in 1535-6,J was their only property.§ But the
more extensive lordship, or barony of Panbride, which Sir
Walter Lindsay of Edzell held for forty years from 1463, has
greater claims to our attention.
The church was in the diocese of Brechin, dedicated to St.
Bride or Bridget, and gifted to the Abbey of Arbroath by
William the Lion. The first recorded proprietors of this barony
were a Norman family, named Morham, who had a gift of it also
from King William. || They had, perhaps, survived as pro¬
prietors of the district until the year 1309, when Robert the
Bruce gave a grant of it to his brother-in-law, Sir Alexander
Frazer.^[ He fell at Dupplin in 1332, from which period, until
1341, when David II. returned from France, and, it is said,
gave the barony to the ancestors of Boethius, the historian, we
know nothing of the proprietors.
The origin of Boethius' family, as given by himself, is suffi¬
ciently romantic, and not much credited; but it is certain,
* For an interesting account of the Abbey, and of the fine scenery of the Cliffs and Caves,
see Bremner's Popular Guide-Books. t Crawford Case, p. 203. J Doug. Peerage.
§ Kinnell Kirk was in the diocese of St. Andrews, and, with its chapel, which stood at
Balishan, is rated at 20 merks. The kirk had perhaps been dedicated to St Madoc, as a
fountain near the church bears the familiar name of Maidie's Well. Ut sup., pp. lt-t-5.
II [Chalmers• Caledonia, vol. i., p. 591.] The surname of Morham survived long in the dis¬
trict. A tombstone, belonging to a "l)avid Moram," dated 1650, is in the adjoining kirkyard of
Monikie. If Robertson's Index,
304
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
whether his ancestors came to Panbride at the above date or not,
that a family named Boyis or Boyce was designed therefrom in
the subsequent century, and that a person of the name of
Bamsay married the heiress. This occurred in 1495, and one of
their descendants, Isabella Bamsay, was the wife of Thomas Maule
of Panmure, by which means the Boyce portion of Panbride
was united to the larger part of Panmure. At that time, and
for long after, this barony appears to have been divided among
several parties, and to have frequently changed hands, for con¬
temporary with the Boyces were the Earl of Huntly,* Sir
Walter Lindsay of Edzell, and the Bamsays. Crichton of San¬
quhar was possessor in 1507 ;f Scrimgeour of Dundee in 1511
and Carnegie of Southesk from 1552 § down to the period of the
forfeiture.il On the sale of the forfeited estates in 1765, Earl
William of Panmure purchased the whole barony, and the Maules
have been sole proprietors of the parish ever since. Their family
burial aisle is at the church, and their principal messuage, Pan¬
mure House, which is now being remoddled in an elegant and
superb manner, is also in the parish.
During the occupancy of Panbride by Sir Walter of Edzell,
who was joint Sheriff of the southern parts of Angus with Monor-
gund of that Ilk, Archibald Bamsay " of Panbride " was greatly
harassed by them for the non-payment of certain teinds, in lieu
of which his lands and fishings were destroyed, and his heritage
otherwise so greatly injured that he was forced to appeal to a
higher court. Although Sir Walter was found legally justi¬
fied in his actions, his conduct goes little to raise him in public
esteem, or to belie his general character for severity.The
lands of Scryne, which passed through the de Yaloniis and
Maules, were also in possession of Walter Lindsay, a descendant
of Evelick, in 1516.*®
* (a. d. 1449-50) — Doug. Peerage—Huntly.
t Ibid— Crichton. J Ibid.—Dundee. § Ibid.-Southesk.
II In 1691, when the barony of Panbride was in the hands of the Earls of Southesk, it con¬
sisted of the teinds of Balmachie, and the following farms :—Kirktoune, Barne-zeards, Bowdens-
Acre, Mill and Milne Lands, Fisherland, on which there was a boat. There were seventeen
tenants who paid a gross rental of 18 bolls, 2 firlots, 1 peck, and 1 lippie wheat; 108 bolls, 2
lippies bear; 61 bolls, 2 firlots meal; £195 10s. lOd. Scots money ; 74 capons ; 112 hens ; 68J
chickens. " The other halt of Panbride, life-rented be Mr. James Martine," embraced eight
tenants and one boat, and the gross rental of this half amounted to 20 bolls, 1 firlot, 2 pecks
wheat; 149 bolls, 2 firlots bear ; 40 bolls, 3 firlots meal; £65 6s. 8d. Scots money; 60 capons; 144
hens ; and 104 chickens. — Southesk Rental Book, quoted ut svp., p. 102,
T Acta Auditorum, Nov. 29, 1469, and March 3, 1471. ** Lives, vol. i, p. 447.
THE TIIANEDOME OF DOWN IE.
305
JHonlfele, Dofonte, IBunfinD, SUofontefeen, anl) ^ttatrUe.
Next to the lands of Little Pert, near Montrose,'* the thane-
dome or barony of Downie was the earliest acquired of the Lindsay
possessions in Angus-shire. As was customary in early times, a
family assumed their surname from thence, one of whom, Duncan
de Dunny, appears as a perambulator of the boundaries between
the lands of Tulloch (Tulloes) and Conon, in 1254 ;f and to this
family or place, the surname of Downie or Downey, which is
still common in Angus-shire, may owe its origin. The family
of de Dunny had probably been vassals of some lord of greater
influence than themselves—perhaps of the lords of Abernethy ;
for, excepting this Duncan, we have met with no other person
named de Dunny. When the male line of the Abernethys failed,
the Lindsays succeeded to this property through the marriage of
Sir David of Crawford with one of the three co-heiresses.;]:
Sir Alexander, the first Lindsay of Glenesk, was the third
son of Sir David Lindsay of Crawford, to whom, sometime before
1333, this thanedome was resigned, as of that date he mortified a
small sum from thence to the Canons of the Priory of Rosti-
noth ;§ and, at a later period, his son the Earl of Crawford gave
an annual of twelve marks from the same lands to the altar of
Our Lady at Dundee, for the purpose of having mass celebrated
for the souls of his predecessors, and his own prospectively.
Through some cause now unknown, the name of the Earl of
Sutherland occurs in connection with Downie, in 1371 ; but,
in the course of two years, it was again in possession of Lindsay
of Glenesk, who not only succeeded to the lands, but according
to the charter,11 to the bondagia, or services payable by bondi
or husbandmen. He was also owner of the nativi or serfs
of the district, and of the sequele or their children, who, at the
period alluded to, were as much the born slaves of the pro¬
prietors of Caledonia, and as subject to be trafficked among, as
the negroes in America at the present time ; and, it is need¬
less to observe, that in these customs, so analagous to those of
• Ut sup., p. 272. f Reg. de Aberbrothoc, p. 325.
t [Ut sup.,p. 300.] In consequence of this alliance, the first Earl of Crawford quartered
his paternal arms with those of Abernethy, which is said to have been one of the earliest in¬
stances of quartering arms in Scotland.—Borthwick's Remarks on British Antiquities, p. 75.
§ Reg. Mag. Sigill, || Lives, vol. i. p. 114,
2 N
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
uncivilized states, the same innate wants, and common practices
of all nations are as striking as in the affinity of tlieir warlike and
domestic implements.
The thanedome of Downie included the lands of Dunfind and
Downieken, which, when coupled with those of Pitairlie and
Auchenleck, comprehended nearly the whole of the extensive
parish of Monikie, at all of which places there were towers or for-
talices. No trace of the castle of Dunfind* is now visible: that
of Downieken was in existence when Monipennie wrote, about
the beginning of the seventeenth century; and the foundations
of DoAvnie castle are yet to be seen on a mound at Old Downie.
Of the castle of Pitairlie, a stone, bearing the initials and date,
<e A * L : I • C * 1631," is built into a wall at the farm offices.
A great part of the castle of Monikie was standing at a recent
date; but like Pitairlie, only one stone of it is now traceable,
bearing, " D • L : B • E • 1587," which shew the Lindsays to
have occupied Monikie at a later period than is generally as¬
signed to them.j" The subterraneous vaults or cellars of the
castle are said still to exist; and the farmer who pulled down
the walls, only began to thrive at that time, having come on a
secret pose of gold and silver, which the Lindsays concealed in
the Avails before they took their summary departure !
The eastle of Auchenleck, or Affleck, is still a fine ruin, of
a similar construction, and perhaps age, to that of Inverquharity.
This property-Avas also under the superiority of the Lindsays,
the Earl of Crawford having reneAved the marches of Auchen¬
leck in 14594 The family, who designed themselves of that
Ilk, were hereditary armour-bearers to the Crawfords.§
* Dun-JUm, "the slope of the hills." Dun also means a castle. Dunfind (vulg. Denflnd) is
popularly believed to signify the Fiend's Den ; and the " briggant" who was burnt at Dundee in
1140, for having " ane execrable faschion to tali all young men and children and eat them" (as
told by Pitscottie, vol. i., p. 164), is said to have lived here " with his wayffs and bairnis."
t The kirk of Monikie, in the diocese of Brechin, was early given by William the Lion to
the Monastery of Arbroath, and is rated in the ancient Taxatio at forty pounds. No fountain
near the church bears the name of any saint, but Kane's Weill? St. Keyna), adjoins the site
of the old chapel of Ardestie. Three sculptured stones were dug from this place some time ago:
Two of these bear " t1 PI'S." and a human heart pierced by three nails, &c.—the other, "M'A'R."
with a human heart pierced by a sword and three nails, &c. The finest of these was found in
course of agricultural improvements by the present tenant, Mr. Fullerton, in the spring of 1852.
The Earls of Panmure resided at Ardestie atone time, and the last Earl was born there. A door
lintel in one of the cottages bears, " C • I • C ■ P : 1C88 " (Countess Jean Campbell of Panmure.)
" D • I • A • 1G25," is on another stone, surmounted by a fleur-de-lis. J Ut sup., p. 169.
§ The predecessors of the Auchenlecks in this property had, perhaps, been a family sur"
named Napier, for in 1296 " Matheu le Naper, de Aghelek," of the county of Forfar, swore fealty
to Edward I.—Bagman Dolls.
THE CROSS OF CAMUS. 307
The Lindsays of all these places, however, it may be men¬
tioned, are supposed to have descended from Sir John of Pit-
airlie, who fell at the battle of Brechin in 1452. The family
subsisted in Pitairlie till 1639 ; and David, who designed him¬
self of that place, was minister of Finliaven and Inverarity in
1576.* In his son the representation of the family of Pitairlie
had perhaps ended, and passed to the Lindsays of Cairn in Tanna-
dice, who survived down to the early part of last century. Car-
lungie and Balhungie were owned by Lindsay of Balgavies down
to at least 1606 ; but the barony of Dunfind became the property
of Durham of Grange in 1544.f The thanedome of Downie,
the lands of Monikie and Pitairlie, passed at various periods to
the family of Panmure, who are still proprietors of them.
The antiquarian peculiarities of this district are interesting,
and have been often described ; but of these the Cross of Camus,
and the story of the battle of Barry, are the most prominent.
It is uniformly said that the Danes, who landed on this shore
in 1010, were repulsed by the Scots with so great slaughter at
this place, that the adjoining burn of Lochty ran with human
blood for the space of three days ! According to tradition most
of the great barons of the kingdom were engaged in this
affray, among whom were the Hays of Errol, the Keiths of
Dunottar, and the Hassas of Glenbervie in the Mearns. Two
brothers of the last-named family are recorded to have fallen in
the engagement, and being the last male descendants of a race
of landowners, who (as recorded on a curious monument in Glen¬
bervie burial vault), flourished in that parish from A.D. 730, their
only sister Helen became heiress, and marrying Oliphard, the
hereditary Sheriff of Mearns-shire, was maternal progenitor of
the noble family of Arbuthnott.
The Hays and Keiths are commonly said to have gained
* Reg. of Ministers, et ut sup., p. 134.
t [Douglas' Baronage.] The Durhams of Grange, now represented by those of Largs in
Fifeshire, were a family of considerable importance in old times, having had a gift of Pitkerro
in the parish of Monifieth, from Robert I. They were also councillors of the Earls of Crawford ;
and their burial place was at the church of Monifieth. A superb monument, bearing fine
sculptures of the armorials of the families to whom they were allied, was erected there by the
cashier to James VI. It was demolished long ago, and the stones built into various parts of the
church one of these bears—" Hie. sitvs . sepvlchrum . hoc , sibi. posterisqve. svis. extrvendvin
cvravit . vir . clarvs . pivs . ac . probv . . . Dvkhame . de . Pitcarr . Argentarivs . qvondani . h
lac . VI. sempiternal . memor . cvivs . maiores . eadem . hsec . nomen . et. armia . geretes
hac . in . Parochina . regno . Ro . R . I»i° . seso . dcin . posvervnt . vbi . exinde . live . vsqvu
clarvcrvnt."
308
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
their laurels at Barry, and the death of the Danish chief,
popularly named Camus, is attributed to the hand of the latter
baron, who is said to have killed him in single combat, at or
near to the place where the Cross now stands. It has already
been seen that the story of the rise of the Hays is entirely fanciful.
So also is that of the Keiths: originally Normans, their remote
progenitor was Hervei, the son of Warin, who came thither with
David I., from whom he had charters of the lands of Keith in East
Lothian, by which circumstance alone, he and his descendants
assumed their surname.* With regard to their possessions in
the Mearns, it may be added, that it was only when Sir William
Keith married the daughter and heiress of Sir John Frazer of
Cowie that the family acquired property there.f
But, although the stories of the rise of these old families
are groundless, and no satisfactory origin can be ascribed to
the Cross of Camus, there is every evidence of the neighbourhood
having been the scene of at least one, if not a series, of dreadful
conflicts, whether arising from the invasion of the Danes or
otherwise. Sepulchral tumuli are scattered over the whole dis¬
trict—stone coffins are found in clusters throughout the farm of
Carlungie, and skulls and other parts of human skeletons are
frequently turned up by the plough.
But, it would appear, notwithstanding that the story of
Camus' murder is generally considered fabulous, that the Cross
had been raised as a sepulchral monument to some person ; for, on
the ground being investigated by Sir Patrick Maule, in presence
of several county gentlemen, about the year 1620, a skeleton in
good preservation, and of large dimensions, was found buried he-
low the stone, minus only a small part of the skull4 Camuston,
the name of the place where the Cross stands, is the name of
many other places throughout Scotland, and " Cambestowne "
is the old, and even present, orthography of the place in ques¬
tion. It had probably been the residence of the old lairds of
Downie, as " the word seems to be the same as Chemmyss and
Karnes, and means the chief residence of a proprietor ; hut is to
he distinguished from Kaim, the crest of a hill."§
* Chalmers' Caled., vol.i., p. 518. t Doug. Peerage—Mabischal.
t Keith is sai d to ha ve carried off a part of the skull with his sabre, and so killed the chief!
§ See Chalmers' Sculptured Monuments of Angus (p. 13), in which Camus Cross is figured,
and everything correctly given that is worthy of being preserved anent it. The well known
BROUGHTY CASTLE, AND BRICHTY.
309
1Et&(d>eaton, 33roug5tg ©agtlc, an!) ISdcfjtg.
The property of Ethiebeaton, which lies in the parish of
Monifieth, and within two miles of the barony of Downie, also
came to the Lindsays at an early date, having been given by
Thomas, Earl of Angus, to Sir David of Crawford, in the
year 1329.* His son of Glenesk succeeded, through whom it
passed to the Earls of Crawford, who continued to hold it
from that period until the close of the sixteenth century,f with
the exception of a short time about 15804 that Bruce of Earls-
hill had connection with it, perhaps through pecuniary loans.
The Gallow Law, or hill, where the lords of the district are
provincially believed to have executed offenders in feudal times, is
still a prominent object on the south side of the turnpike ; and,
like many other mounds of the same sort, had most probably
been the site of the baron's court. It is also a popular notion,
that this place belonged to Cardinal Beaton at one time, and
so acquired the distinguishing appellation of Beaton. So far from
this being the fact, however, it was so called more than two
hundred years before the Cardinal's birth, and his name does not
occur in connection with it at any time whatever.
It is true that an early lay proprietor, if not the first, bore
the famous surname of Beaton. He was Sheriff of Forfarshire
in 1290, and, swearing fealty to Edward in 1296, held so stead¬
fastly by his oath, that Robert the Bruce confiscated his lands,
and gave them to Alexander Sennescalle,§ from whom they
passed to the Earls of Angus. In both of Sennescalle's charters,
the name is variously spelled " Archebeatoun," and '' Auchykil-
bichan," and the name is commonly pronounced Effiebeaton.||
The Lindsay connection with the stronghold of Broughty, at
the mouth of the Tay, was of short duration, it being only
granted by James III. to the Duke of Montrose, at the time he
"Panmure Testimonial"—a column of 105 feet in height, which the tenantry of Tanmure erected
to commemorate the liberality of the late Lord Panmure, has a prominent position on Downie
Hills, a short distance west of Camus Cross. It commands the view of five or six counties ; but,
contrary to most descriptions, contains neither a bust of Lord Panmure, nor any inscription
setting forth the object of its erection. " Reg. Mag. Sigill.
t Lives, vol. i., p. 447. t Baronage. § (a.d. 1309)—Robertson's Index.
|| There was once an old chapel near by, and as Auoh in Gael, means " afield," and a
canonized saint being named Becan—" Auchy-kil-beclian " (the y and ie being dims.), perhaps
signifies the small field of Becan's kirk.
310
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
was made Sheriff of Angus, and again taken from him, along
with his Sheriffship, by James IV. It was then given to Lord
Gray, who sided with that prince against his unfortunate father at
Blackness, and at the still more fatal rencounter of Sauchieburn.*
The origin of the name of Broughty is variously accounted for,
but Portincraig (though now confined to the opposite headland
in Fifeshire), was the oldest name of it, as appears from a
description of the boundaries of certain lands and fishings, be¬
queathed by Gillebrede, Earl of Angus, for the founding of an
hospital at this place.f After the forfeiture of Umphraville,
the grandson of Countess Maud, the estates of the Earls of
Angus were given by Bruce to William de Lindsay, then High
Chamberlain ; but neither his name, nor that of any of his
family, with the exception of the Duke of Montrose above noticed,
appears in connection with Broughty.
The Lindsays, however, were old proprietors of the lands and
mill of Brichty, in the adjoining parish of Murroes, which have
been often confounded with their ownership of Broughty Castle.
The lands of Brichty, from our earliest notice of them, belonged
to John de Hay of Tillybothwell, who resigned them to the
Montealtos of Ferne, from one of whom, Richard, Chancellor
of the Cathedral of Brechin, they were acquired by Sir Alex¬
ander Lindsay of Glenesk, in 13794 They continued long in
the family, and Euphemia, sister of the first Earl of Crawford,
had a life-rent therefrom in 1412.§ The Lindsays were perhaps
followed in this property by the Arbuthnotts; as Hugh, the son
of Robert Arbuthnott of that Ilk, who married the heiress of
Balmakewan, was designed of Brychtie,|| about the middle of the
fifteenth century.
* The noble family of Gray were proprietors down to the time that Patrick Lord Gray
resigned Broughty Castle and conterminous lands in favour of Fothringham of Powrie, ancestor
of the present proprietor.—(Ut sup., p. 290.)
t Keg de Abcrbrothoc, p. 37. J information from Lord Lindsay. § ltobertson's Index.
II Nisbet, vol. ii., App. p. 89.
meaens-shiee—fasky, and f11esd0.
311
SECTION III.
the lindsay properties in mearns, or kincardineshire.
Compared with the possessions of the Lindsays in Angus, those
in Mearns-shire were very limited, both as regards their extent
and the time they were in the hands of the family. Still, many of
these estates were of great importance, both on account of their
value and local position ; and some of them were owned by the
Lindsays at a remote date, while their historical associations
(though not immediately connected with the name of Lindsay),
are interesting to all lovers of national history. The most pro¬
minent of these transactions—such as the defence of Lunottar,
and the secreting of the Regalia in the kirk of Kinneff—are well-
known by the writings of many popular authors, and need not
be repeated. Our observations will, therefore, be confined to such
points of these lands as relate to their possession by the Lindsays,
and to a few of the less generally understood facts regarding their
old proprietary history. The district of Neudos, though situated
in the Mearns, being part of the parish of Edzell, necessarily fell
under that head, where it has been noticed;*—we shall, there¬
fore, commence with the neighbouring lands of
dfagkg, ant)
The first of these estates lie in the parish of Fettercairn, and
the latter in Fordoun. The Wittons, now part of the estate of
The Burn (to which they were added by the late Lord Adam
Gordon), and the fine property of Fasky, were portions of the
lordship of Edzell from an old date. We are not aware when
the first of these were acquired; but that of Fasky, including
Balfour, was purchased by Sir Walter of Beaufort, in 1471,f
from George Lord Lesly of Rothes; and, perhaps, as the Wittons
lie contiguous, they had come to the family at the same time.
The Easter and Westertown of Balfour, and the lands of Miln-
deulie (Dooly) are mentioned as Edzell property in the Retours
* Ut sup., p. 19. t Crawford Case, p. 150.
312
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
of 1699, wlien the last laird succeeded his father; but Fasky
was alienated from Edzell about 1510, and given by James
IV. to Sir John Ramsay, the ex-Lord Bothwell, in lieu of his
south country estates, of which he was deprived for his adherence
to the cause of James III. Ramsay had the lands of Bahnain at
same time, and his descendants were proprietors, and designed
baronets therefrom, till 1-806, when the family failed in the sixth
baronet.* The fine property, and mansion house of Fasky,
were purchased in the year 1829, by Sir John Gladstone,
father of the present Chancellor of the Exchequer.
At a later date, Sir John Gladstone bought the lands of
Pliesdo, Auchcairnie, and Pitnamoon; but with the latter
of these, which belonged to the Earls of Ross, the Lindsays
never had any connection. All these lands lie in the immediate
vicinity of the old Palace of Kincardine; and soon after Bruce
ascended the throne, he gave six acres of arable land in the
tenement of Auchcairnie, " adjoining to our manor of Kincar¬
dine, "f to his faithful follower, Sir Alexander Frazer of Cowie
and Kinnell. Phesdo, or as anciently written Fas-daucJie, [i. e.,
" the arable land, or davoclr, in the forest ") lies close to the
palace, and, about the same time as Frazer acquired the acres
alluded to, Bruce gave the temporalities of Phesdo to the Abbey
of Arbroath.j Alexander, a descendant of John Lindsay, who
acquired the adjoining estate of Broadland about the middle of
the fifteenth century, is the first of the name, and, indeed, the
first lay proprietor of any name, with which we have met in
connection with Phesdo. He married Elizabeth, daughter of
Falconer of Halkerton, and owned Phesdo and Auchcairnie, the
former of which, and perhaps both, was held by his family down
to about the beginning of the seventeenth century. The old
manor house of Phesdo stood on a rising ground adjoining the
Auchcairnie lands, and commanded a fine prospect of thq Howe
of the Mearns.
No record, or even tradition, of the Lindsays lives in this
district; but the following incident (which is preserved in the
" He was succeeded in the estates by his nephew, Alexander Burnet of the house of Leys,
who assumed the name of llamsay, and was created a baronet of the United Kingdom in 1806.
lie was followed by his son, who died in 1852, whose son now enjoys the title and remaining
portion of the family estates.
t [Reg. Mag. Sigill,] See Appendix No. X. for a brief notice of this Palace.
t Robertson's Index.
THE LINDSAYS OF FIIESDO.
313
family) regarding their confiscation of the property, is neither
devoid of interest, nor, it may be presumed, awanting on the
score of authenticity. The last Lindsay of Phesdo, "and another
gentleman being out sporting near Montrose, the one with his
greyhound the other with his hawk, the greyhound of the one
killed the hawk of the other, £ which presently,' says the Rev.
William Lindsay, his great-grandson, £ occasioning a fray among
the servants, it ran through the whole clan on both sides, which
used to be pretty numerous on such-like occasions. A baillie,
which is a magistrate of good authority in Scotland, rushing too
hastily in, to appease it, had his arm cut off by John Lindsay,
who was in the heat of the quarrel—for which he took advantage
of law and confiscated his estate.' "* The representative of the
Phesdo family is Captain Ignace Lindsay, who fought in all the
wars of Poland from 1791 to 1830, and was resident in France,
an exile, in 1849. According to this veteran's account, his great¬
grandfather was the first emigrant from Scotland to America,
and the rank of nobility was secured to his descendants in Poland,
by the diet of I764.f
It is probable that Phesdo, after its confiscation from Lind¬
say, came into the possession of the Keiths, for about 1612,
Robert Stuart of Inchbreck, is said to have married a daughter
of Sir Alexander Keith of Phesdo.\ The Keiths had probably
been followed by Archibald, second son of Sir Alexander Fal¬
coner of Ilalkerton, ancestor of the unfortunate Sir John, who,
on being charged with malversation in his office of Warden of
the Mint, committed felo de se at his residence of Phesdo in
1682.§ His son, James, was a lawyer of great eminence—" one
of the privy council of King William and Queen Anne, and one
of the first treaters for an Union."|| He died in 1705, at the
age of fifty-seven, and in an elegy on his death it is said
" that he came almost,
Astrea like, for to enlight dark dayes
Of vices all, with his clear shyning rayes."
Lord Phesdo's last surviving son died in 1764, and his estates
passed to Captain George Falconer, (fifth son of the fifth Lord
Halkerton), who was long in the Royal Navy. He died Com-
• Lives, vol. ii., p. 280. t Ibid., p. 281. J Prof. Stuart's Antiq. Essays, p. is,
§ Ilaig and Brunton's Acct. of Sen. Coll. of Justice, p. 445.
Epitaph in Old Greyfriars, Edinburgh.
2 o
314
LAMD OF THE LINDSAYS.
mandcr of'the ik Invincible" man-of-war, in 1780, and bis widow
became the wife of John Mill of Feme.*'
I&tnneff, a nil 23arrag.
The parish of Kinneff (the old chnrch of which is famous
as the place where the Regalia of Scotland was concealed during
the civil broils of the seventeenth century) contributed largely
at one time towards the maintenance of the house of Crawford.
The brave " young Alysawnder the Lyndyssay," youngest son
of Sir Alexander of Glenesk, was designed of Kinneff, and, as
before-mentioned, bore arms at the battle of Otterburnc, routed
the Duke of Lancaster near Queensferry, and died on the field of
Verneuil in 1424.f The castle of Herbertsheil, of which no re¬
mains are now traceable, is said to have been tenanted by Lind¬
says, and may have been the residence of the hero of Verneuil.
Besides this castle, however, there were several others in the
parish but of all these a mere fragment of Whistleberry only
remains. Apart from Herbertsheil, the Fishertown, and other
lands in Kinneff, the Lindsays were also possessed of Barras
before the beginning of the seventeenth century, and had per¬
haps been followed therein by Douglas, a cadet of the noble
house of Angus; for in 1640, it was sold by Sir John Douglas
to his brother-in-law, George Ogilvy of Lumgair, the future
defender of Dunottar and preserver of the Regalia.§
Kinneff. was originally granted by William the Lion to a
Norman lord named John de Montfort,|| who was a considerable
* Ut sup., p. 193. t Ut sup., p. 29, the.
{ See Old Stat. Acct. of Kinneff, vol. vi , which is more than ordinarily interesting in
historical points. Though bearing the minister's name, it was framed by the then school¬
master, Mr. Niddrie, who came to the parish about 1750.
§ There are several interesting monuments within the church of Kinneff—one to the
memory of Governor Sir George Ogilvy of Barras and his Lady, and another of old date to Mr.
and Mrs. Granger, who aided Mrs. Ogilvy in preserving the Regalia. The oldest, however, belongs
to Graham of Largie and Morphie, who died in 1597. Another to the memory of a family sur-
liamed Iloney man, who were ministers of the parish for four generations, from 16G3 to 1781. The
first of these was brother to Andrew, Bishop of Orkney, who received the shot of the fanatic
Mitchell in his arm, which was intended for Archbishop Sharpe, whom he was accompanying to
his carriage at the head of Blackfriars' Wynd, Edinburgh, in July, 1CGS. The following " reff,"
from the kirk of Kinneff, is worth noting:—In Acta Dom. Concilii, Nov. 12, 1195, Alexander
Stratoun of the Knox (of Benliolm) had a remission, "for art et part of the reff of ane horse
out of Lovnane, et for the reff of ane ehalisse out of the kirk of Kynncff, et for the stouthe reff of
certane gudis pertening to the King et the merchandis of Edinburghe of the bark et scliippis,
quhilk brek beside Ivy nneff, et for arte [et parte of the said action J is alauerly," &c.
|| Chalmers' Caled., vol. p, 591.
kinneff—the lindsays, and ogilvies. '51.5
benefactor to the Abbey of Arbroath, and a relation—perhaps a
brother—was parson of Kinneff, and witnesses one of John's
grants from his lands of Glaskcler (f Glaslaw), in the same
neighbourhood, in 1211-14.*" The Montforts, who were first
settled in the Lothians, survived in the Mearns till about the
middle of the fourteenth century, as in 1361, Christian, the relic
of " John de Montcforti," gave the lands of Kinneff, Slains,
Fausyde, and llicarton, to a person bearing the rather odd name
of Simon Scliaklok.f This charter was granted at Montrose by
David II., but whether Schaklok was followed by John Dolas is
matter of doubt. It is certain, however, that in 1398, the first
Earl of Crawford had, at least, the Kinneff portion from Dolas;
and, although the Earl granted a wadset of that to Gilbert Gra¬
ham of Morphie, it continued under the superiority of the Lind¬
says down to the time of Andrew Gray's succession in 14464
The Barras portion of Kinneff, however, had perhaps come to the
Lindsays from Sir Alexander Auchcnlock of that Ilk, to whom
that property was resigned by the co-heiresses of Melville of
Glcnbcrvie towards the close of the fifteenth century.§
The name of Kinneff is said to have arisen from one of
the Kenneths having had a hunting seat in the parish, and the
kirk is sometimes called the " church of Saint Kenneth." || The
remains of an old house near the kirk were known, towards the
end of last century, as St. Arnty, or St. Arnold's Kill, and pre¬
vious to the Deformation, the church of Bervie was a pendicle of
Kinneff. Kinneff was in the diocese of St. Andrews, but the kirks
of Katerin (Katerline) and Kingornie were in that of Brechin.
Both were early gifted to the Abbey of Arbroath—the first by
William the Lion, and the latter by Bishop Turpin of Brechin.^
The church of Katerline is gone, but the graveyard is still used
as a place of interment; and the ambry of the old kirk, with
the fragment of a stone bearing the rudely incised figures of a
cross and sword, are preserved in the substantial wall which en¬
closes the burial place. The oldest tombstone (unfortunately
dateless and much mutilated, bears: " tvmvlvs ' metellane
livingstone * sronse * qvondam * roberti * dovglasii " )
is remarkable as belonging to the parents of the adventurous
* Reg. do Aborbrothoo, p. 4G. I Reg. Mag. Sigill.
J Robertson's Index. § Acta Rom. Conril., Jan. 21, 1122,
|| Wodrow's Ring. Coll., vol. i., p. 2"L 1 Reg. do Aborbrotlioc, p, 5.
316 LAND OF TIIE LINDSAYS.
Lady of Governor Sir George Ogilvy, through whose well-
known and ingenious scheme the ancient symbols of Scottish
royalty were so effectively preserved from the grasp of Crom¬
well's soldiers.
Both Kingornie and Katerline are places of considerable note.
The " chapel well" is still in the neighbourhood of the first,
and the church is said to have been originally founded by David
II., in gratitude for being landed here in safety with his consort
Johanna in May 1341.* About the time of the Revolution, the
small property of Kingornie belonged to the father of the cele¬
brated Dr. Arbuthnott, who, on being ejected from his living at
the parish church of Arbuthnott, took up his abode on his paternal
estate, and here his illustrious son spent his earliest years; but
there is now no trace of the old kirk, and its name does not
occur in the Register of Ministers for 1567. The earliest pro¬
prietors of Katerline were the Fitz-Bernards, ancestors of the
Sibbalds of Kair, one of whom, about the year 1206, gave the
green cove of the Rath, and mill of Katerline, to the monks of
Arbroath.f The site of the Rath, or fort, is still known as
" Rath field," and situate near a small inlet of the sea, called
Breidin's Bay4
Dunottar, ffilrte, anD 2umgair.
The interesting property of Dunottar and its castle, with
which the name and valorous actions of the ancient family of
Keith-Marisehal were indissolubly linked for nearly four cen¬
turies, fell into the hands of Sir William Lindsay of the Byres,
as the dowry of his wife, Christina, daughter of Sir William
Keith, by Margaret Frazer, the heiress of the thanedome of Cowie
and other possessions. Lindsay's occupancy of Dunottar, how¬
ever, was very short; for between the years 1382 and 1397,§ he
exchanged it with his father-in-law for the lands of Struthers,
in Fife. From the brevity of their ownership of Dunottar, no
* Dalrymple's Annals, vol. ii. p. 228 ; et utsup., p. 297. t Reg. de Aberbrothoc, p: 44, &c.
J The kirk of Katerline was, perhaps, dedicated to one of the SS. Katherine. It is also
supposed that there was a chapel at Barras in old times, dedicated to St. John. There is no
evidence for this, however; and as it is certain that a portion of the property belonged to the
Knights of St. John, perhaps the name of a hill in the neighbourhood and the idea of the chapel
has been gathered from that circumstance, and from the Temple lauds.
§ Lives, vol. i., pp. 52, 412.
DUNOTTAE CASTLE.
317
traditions of the Lindsays exist here or at Uris, of which, and
Lumgair, it will be shortly seen, they were lords at an early
period.
During the ownership of Lindsay, and down to the year
1390, there was no castle here, although tradition points to an
aperture in the existing Keep, by which Wallace is said to have
entered and massacred the English, by whom the rock was then
occupied. The building on the rock at that time was simply a
church, within which the invaders took refuge, and the parson,
Walter de Keryngton, swore fealty to Edward at Berwick-on-
Tweed in 1296.* The storming of the kirk by Wallace, which
occurred about 1297, is thus described by Blind Harry :—
" Ye Byschop yan began tretty to ma,
Y air lyffs to get out off ye land to ga.
Bot yai war rad, and durst nocht weyll affy :
Wallace in fyr gert set all haistely,
JBrynt up ye JcyrJc, and all yat was yarin,
Atour ye rock ye laiff ran with gret dyn ;
Sum hang on craggs rycht dulfully to de,
Sutn lap, sum fell, sum flotyret in ye se,
Na Sothroune on lyff was lewyt it yat hauld,
And yaim within yai brynt in powder cauld."
The kirk was rebuilt, but again burned down by Edward III.,
the rock being then occupied by the Scots. At that period, and
sometime previously, the " craig " of Dunottar, as the rock was
then termed, belonged in property to the old Earls of Suther¬
land, the third of whom owned Dunottar at the time of Ed¬
ward's seige, was a great friend of David II., and fell at the
battle of Halidon in 1333.f
The Sutherlands were succeeded in Dunottar by Matthew de
Glocsster—of whom or his family we have been unable to learn
anything beyond the fact that, through disloyalty, he latterly
forfeited the Uris part of his property. Long prior to this, how¬
ever, in 1341, he resigned Dunottar into the hands of Thomas
Rait, who, about this time, became a large proprietor in the
Mearns—a fact which proves the family to have been settled in
the district at least half-a-century before the time ascribed to
them by Nisbet. He says that the name was originally brought
to the district in Robert III.'s time, by a fugitive knight, who
* Ragman Roll, p. 109. t Chalmers' Caled., vol. i., p. G27.
318
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
had killed the Thane of Caldar, and fled for protection to Keitli-
Marischal, and his son marrying the heiress of Halgreen, his de¬
scendants subsisted there down to the close of the seventeenth
century.*
It was not, therefore, until the resignation of Rait, which
occurred during the last half of the fourteenth century, that the
Keiths had connection with Dunottar. Sir William Keith, father-
in-law of Sir William Lindsay, married Margaret Frazer,
daughter of the Thane of Cowie, and thus became a Mearns-
shire baron ; and until about 1394, when he demolished the chapel
which stood on the craig, or rock, of Dunottar, and erected the
castle, he is supposed to have resided at Cowie, in the immediate
neighbourhood, where the site of a castle is pointed out on the
top of a rock by the sea-side.f
The summary manner in which the kirk was supplanted by
the castle, threatened the overthrow of Keith, who was excom¬
municated by the Archbishop of St. Andrews for his sacrilegious
conduct, and only restored by the Pope's bull on making various
penitential grants, and erecting another place of worship. This
was the origin of the present parochial church, which, though
now inconveniently situated for the town of Stonehaven, stands
on a delightful mound on the banks of the Carron, and is
reached by a beautiful avenue of fine old trees. It was dedicated
to St. Bridget, and contains a plain but interesting monument,
raised to the memory of the martyrs of the Covenant, a hundred
and sixty or seventy of whom were confined in a narrow damp
cell of the castle, since then called the "Whig's Vault.";};
It was in the year 1390, soon after the forfeiture of Matthew
* The same industrious and generally exact author, says that the family of Rait came
from the country of Rhetia in Germany, from which they assumed their name, and had their
first possessions in Caledonia, in the county of Nairn, from Malcolm IV, (Heraldry, vol. i.j
Several of the name swore fealty to Edward in 1296, and some of ;them migrated into Angus-
shire, where they became small proprietors and clergymen during the seventeenth century.
Major Rait of Anniston, near Inverkeillor, is supposed to be the representative of the latter
branch.
t The church of " Eethiressach " and chapel, or the kirk of Cowie, were in the diocese of
St. Andrews, and rated at twenty marks in the ancient Taxatio. The kirk was inscribed to
St. Caran, and the chapel to the Virgin Mary. The latter was given to Marischal College, Aber¬
deen, by Earl George, the founder of that University, and the ruins, which stand on a cliff by
the sea-side, are exceedingly picturesque. The old kirk of Feteresso is also a ruin. In vol. i.,
pp. 287-91, of Spottiswoode Miscellany, the reader will find some Latin verses, by a hitherto un¬
known poet, of the name of Andrew Stephens, or Stephenson, who was schoolmaster at Fetter-
esso. The poems are in praise of Bishop Forbes of Edinburgh, dedicated to Archbishop Spottis¬
woode, and dated Fetteresso, April 16, 1631.
t Sec a popular account of Dunottar Castle, &c., by the Rev. Mr. Longmuir.
THE LINDSAYS OF UIUS, AND LUMGAIlt.
319
tie Gloccster, that Sir Alexander de Lindsay of Kinneff, younger
son of Catherine Stirling of Glenesk, came into possession of
the lands of Uris, Lumgair, and others in the neighbourhood.*
The first of these, which passed from Duncan de Walays of
Barras, and Matthew de Eychles, portioners of the same, was
subsequently resigned by Lindsay to Oliphant of Aberdagie, and
Ogilvy of Auchterhouse, it being only at the close of the fifteenth
century that Keith Marischal had any interest in Uris . and,
whether by mortgage or otherwise, during the possession of the
third Earl Marischal, Patrick Crichton of Cranstown Riddell
had retours of that barony. It again fell to the Keiths, how¬
ever, and was given in wadset in 1672 to the father of the
celebrated Robert Keith, Bishop of Caithness and Orkney, author
of the Lives of the Scottish Bishops and other meritorious books.
The Bishop was born here on the 7tli of February 1681, and was
lineally descended of Alexander, the youngest son of the third
Earl Marischal4
Besides being an early acquired part of the Lindsay property,
Lumgair is farther remarkable as the first Mearns-shire estate
of the Ogilvys of Barras, the first of whom, William, second and
only surviving son of Ogilvy of Balnagarrow and Chapelton
(a cadet of the house of Inverquharity), sold his patrimony in
Angus and had a wadset right of Lumgair from Earl Marischal,
who was then superior. He married a niece of Strachan of
Thornton, by whom he had the brave governor of Dunottar
Castle. He and his wife were buried at Dunottar, and the
following inscription is on their grave-stone :—" Heir lyes a
famovs and worthy gentillman William Ogilvy of Lumger and
Catlierin Straquhan his spovs he being 76 ycirs of age he
departed this lyfe in peace 3 Jany 1650 and slice being 89
ycirs of age departed hir lyfe the 28 of Febr 1651." The
first of the Falconers is said to have had charters of Lonkyir
(Lumgair) from David I. ;§ but the earliest authentic notice of
that family only occurs in the time of William the Lion, when
William de Auccps, or William the Falconer, granted certain
lands to the kirk of Marington, or Marykirk.||
* Robertson's Index. t Reg. Mag. Sigill.
X [Keith's Catalog., p. xx.] A farm called Chapelton lies about a mile and a half west of
Uris; and from Ragman Rolls (p. 1(55), it appears that John Vicar de Urres, swore fealty to
Edward in 12fld. § Chalmers' Gnlod., vol. i. p. 541. || Reg. de Aberbrothoc.
320
LAND OF TIIE LINDSAYS.
aSen&olm.
The lands of Benholm were anciently held by a family who
designed themselves de Benham, from at least the beginning of
the thirteenth century, till towards the close of the fourteenth,
when the family of Hew failed in a female, who became the wife
of Alexander Lundie,* a cadet of the old family of that name,
branches of which settled in Fife and Angus-shire, during the
reigns of Malcolme IY. and William I.f The kirk was in the
diocese of St. Andrews; and during the time of Lundie, the
monks of Arbroath had a gift of a chalder of victual furth of
these lands. This occurred in 1398, but towards the middle of the
fifteenth century, the Lundies ended, perhaps in Andrew, who is
the last designed of the Benholme line.j; It is certain that Sir
John Lindsay of Woodwray and Balinscho,§ held the estate for
several years subsequently until 1587,11 when he resigned it in
favour of Robert, Lord Altrie, second son of the fourth Earl
Marischal, whose daughter, Margaret Keith, became his second
wifc.^j After the death of Altrie, who left no issue, John Gor¬
don possessed Benholm for a few years; but it again fell to
Keith Marischal, who held it until about the middle of the seven¬
teenth century, when it was purchased by Sir James Ramsay.**
It was bought from his heirs by Robert Scott, ancestor of the
lairds of Brotherton, but passed recently from that family to the
noble house of Cranstoun.ff
SBlariumutr, 2$almafafoan, J&orpijh, ant) ©antcrlant).
These, so far as we are aware, are the only other Lands
of the Lindsays in Mearns-shire, and none were held by the
family for any length of time. Blackiemuir, which is of limited
extent, and could boast at a late date of a bleaching and print
field, lies on the banks of the Luther, in the parish of Con-
* Reg. Mag. Sigill. f Caledonia, vol. i., p. 533.
J Spald. Club. Miscel., vol. iv., p. 38, § Doug. Peer. || Crawford's Peerage, p. 31.
IT Ut sup., p. 277. ** (A.d. 1661)—Acts of Pari.
ft The tower or old manor house of Benholm, which was probably built by Lord Altrie,
is much in the style of Auchenleck and Inverquharity; is about 80 feet high, and the walls
about five and a-half feet thick. The battlement is broad and massive, with turrets at each
corner, overtopt by a pent house. In Syrnson's preface to Frazer of Coil's Discourse on the
Second Sight, the eldest son of the laird of Nether Benholm is quoted as an authority to shew
its existence.
BLACKIEMUIR, BALMAKEWAN, AND MORPIIIE. 321
veth or Laurencekirk, and was acquired by the first Earl of
Crawford in 1390 ;* but the term of its occupancy by the family
is unknown to us. It had been held either under the superiority
of the Abbot of Arbroath or the Prior of St. Andrews, the greater
part of the district having been given to the former establishment
at an early date,f the lesser part being gifted to the latter by
Poger de Wyrfaud, who had the " territory of Cunveth " from
Pechenda, daughter and heiress of Wyrfaud de Berkeley^:—hence,
perhaps, the origin of the name of Gonveth, which, according to
Skene, means " duty paid to an ecclesiastical superior. "§
The lands of Balmakewan lie in the parish of Marykirk.
They were possessed by Allan Fawsyde from at least 1329 to
1371, about which time, perhaps, they were acquired by a family
who designed themselves de Balmaquin. This race failed in the
male line about 1450, when Hugh Arbuthnott, second son of
Pobert of that Ilk, married the heiress, and thus came to the
estate.|| It probably continued in the Arbuthnott family till the
time of its acquirement by Lord Menmuir, the first Lindsay of
Balcarres, who was proprietor of it in 1580. A son of Barclay
of Johnstone was designed of Balmakewan at a later date.
The lands of Morphie and Canterland, in the parish of St.
Cyrus,were also in the family for a limited time. The first
of these was acquired by Sir David Lindsay of Edzell in 1588,**
and is called Morphyfraser, from the fact of their having been
granted to Frazer of Cowie, the trusty follower and relative of
* Reg. Mag, Sigill.
t The Wisharts of Pitarrow held the lands of Mill of Conveth, Hilton, and Scotstown,
from Abbot Adam of Arbroath, A.D. 1242.— Reg. de Aberbrothoo.
t Lyon's Hist, of St. Andrews, vol. ii., pp. 2S9-90.
§ Laurencekirk, the present name of the parish, was assumed from the old kirk of Con.
veth having been dedicated to St. Laurence. This church stood about a mile east of the
town of Laurencekirk, which owes its existence to the late Lord Gardenstone, a Lord of Session,
who obtained a charterfor erecting it into a free burgh of barony in 1779. Ruddiman, thegram-
marian, taught the parish school here for some time ; as did Ross, the author of " Lindy and
Nory," at a later date. Dr. Beattie, author of "The Minstrel," was born here in 1735. This
place is also famous for the manufactory of a speeics of snutf boxes, similar to those of Cum¬
nock in Ayrshire. || Nisbet's Heraldry, vol. ii., App., p. 89.
U The church of St, Cyrus, or Eeclesgrig (i. e. St. Gregory's Church), was dedicated to
St. Cyr, whose remains were interred in the old churchyard by the sea side. The church
was given to St. Andrews by Bishop Richard (T!cg. de S. And. p. 13S), and the chapel, which was
inscribed to St. Laurence, and stood at Chapeltown of Laurieston, was in the same diocese (utsup.,
n. p. 24). David Herd, the well-known collector of old Scotch Ballads, was born here in 1731 ; and
George Beattie, author of the popular local poem of " John o' Arnha'," was also a native of the
parish, and lies buried in the Nether churchyard where some admirers of his genius erected a
monument to him. Sir Joseph Straton, of Kirkside, K.C.B., who died in 1840, aged 63, is also
interred in the same romantic burial place. lie bore a prominent part in the wars of the Pen-
insula and at Waterloo. *"> Reg, Mag. Sigill.
2 i'
322
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Bruce. Margaret Bruce, Frazer's spouse, and the King's sister,
is designed therefrom in 1329 ;* and the Stewarts of Evandale
held the lands from about 1469 to 1493.f Sir Thomas Erskine
of Brechin was proprietor of Morphyfraser at an after period ; for
in 1537 he granted these lands to Forester of CorstorphincJ from
whom, perhaps, they had passed to the Lindsays.
The adjoining property of Canterland, in the same parish, also
belonged to Sir David of Edzell. It was long in the hands
of a family surnamed Ramsay, who held under the superiority
of the Cathedral of Brechin, to which six chalders of meal
was paid annually.§ It was afterwards possessed by a collateral
member of the Keiths, from which family it perhaps passed to the
Lindsays. John, nephew of the reputed murderer of Lord
Spynie, was the last Lindsay of Canterland; and the laird of
Edzell and Glenesk having died in 1648 without male issue, he
was succeeded in these estates by John of Canterland. This
laird was Sheriff of Angus-shire, a friend of the Covenant, and
otherwise a person of great worth; but despite his anxious en¬
deavour to redeem the fallen state of his house, and retrieve the
fortunes of his family, the losses which he sustained through the
quartering of Montrose's soldiers on his lands, the heavy fine
imposed upon him for his adherence to the Covenant, and
many other serious inflictions, already alluded to, completely
baffled his efforts. He died in 1671, a much harrassed and
disappointed person, and had two successors in Edzell—his son
and grandson—from the latter of whom, the family possessions
of Edzell and Glenesk passed to the Earl of Panmure in 1714;
and the once powerful race of the Lindsays of Glenesk is now
represented as landed proprietors in their native shire by the
family of Kinblethmont only, who, as before seen, are sprung
from a sister of the last Lord Spynie.
* Robertson's Index. f Acta Aud„ pp. 8,179. J Reg. Mag. Sigill. § Acta Aud., p. 34.
END OF THE LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
No. I.—Page 10.
Extract from the Parish Register of Eclzell concerning the Jacobite Rdble of 1714.
" October 31, 1714.—This day Mr. Gray came to preach, hut he no sooner
advanced towards the church than he was interrupted and stopt in his passage
by a great many persons outhounded and hired by David Lyndesay of Edzell to
mob and rable him, and those that-were with him, who did violently beat severals
of those who came with Mr. Gray to join in divine worship with big staves to the
effusion of their blood, and thrust at the breasts of others of them with naked
knives and durks, and violently beat them, and did strik them with stones and
rungs, and bruised them to that degree that some of them fainted, others lay as
dead on the ground for some time, and others of them they drove into the West
Watter running by the church, which was very deep by reasone of much rain that
had fallen the night befor and that morning, and forced them to wade and pas
hither and thither in the said watter until they were almost drouned, and, having
suffered them to come out of the water, they cut their cloaths and struck them
severely upon the head, so that they had not there health for many monetlis there¬
after. They also forced Mr. Gray's servent, after having dispersed his hearers, to
flee with his horse, so that Mr. Gray himself was oblidged to wade the water with
the hazard of his life in his return to the place of his residence for the time : All
this the said rablers did, to the great scandale of Religion and profanation of the
Lord's day; and to engage them to this day's work the said David Lindesay of
Edzell, to his Eternal disgrace, gave the rablers money with ale and brandie to in¬
toxicate them that morning befor they came down from the house of Edzell; and
after the said rablers (to wit, John Balfour, Frances Low, Thomas Cowie, David
Findlay, all domestick servants to the said Laird of Edzell; William Brechin in
Strouan, John Dury in Duryhill, John Kinninment, piper, James Stewart, servant to
Thomas Bx-own in Mains of Edzell, Jannet Buchan and Katharine Bcattie, als his ser-
vitrixe ; Magdalen Shuan, daughter to Robert Shuan in Hilsyd of Edzell; Agnes
Mathers, daughter to James Mathers in Sleatfoord; Isabel Mathers, spouse to the
forsaid John Kinninmint; James Davidson, taylor in Sleatfoord; John Low, younger,
maltman there ; William Low, merchard, there; James Stewart cotterman to
William Bellie, in Bonhard; James Smith, servant to David Smith, in Dalfouper),
i-eturned to the house of Edzell, and had given an account to the said David Lind¬
say of Edzell and some others in company there mett, of their expedition, tliey
were much aplauded by that company; which maltreatment the said Mr. Gray-
having laid before the Presbytery of Brechine, they ordered him to raise criminal
letters against the said David Lindesay and the foresaid rablers, and prosecute
them befor the Justiciary Court at Edinburgh; but, befor the day of comperance,
the said Laird of Edzell agreed the whole matter with the said Mr. Gray, whereby
former differences were compounded, and the said Mr. Gray entered peaceably to
discharge his ministerial functions in the parish of Edzell on the 30 day of January
1715," when the Episcopalians delivered over to him the "communion vessells and
vestments" which they had all along retained and made use of.
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
No. II.—PAGE 44.
Extracts from Rental Rook of Edzell and Lethnot for 1672, and 1609, mostly in
the handwriting of David, the penultimate Lindsay of Edzell.
James Bellio payes yearlie 22 merks, 8 chickens, and 4 poultrie.
William Estinc, lOlib for poutrie duetie and tind money, &c., and payed of me for all
fees; received a rix dollerare in Ion from me June 15, '99 : also a boll of meall not
compted for.
George Will
John Moleson, 8lib 6s. 8d. and chickens.
John Finlaw, 10 merks, and 6 chickens.
Alexander Davidsone, lOlib for duetie, and all oyr things.
John Low, smith, for his land 201ib and 6 chickens, 81ib of smiddie rent.
George Mathers.
Isabcll Donaldson and Margaret Watt, the first vjs. 4d., the other 1 lib.
James Christie, in Hillsyde of Ballinoe, lOlib, and 6 poutrie.
David Forsyth, yr. 51ib and poutrie.
IIoll of Sclaitfoord, possessed he James Hutcheon, 12 bolls of meall,* 401ib of
silver duetie, 10 merks of tind money, 12 poutrie, 6 capons.
[One or more leaves are awanting here, but the following six entries evidently refer to feuars
of Slateford, now Edzell village.]
That part possessed be John Lyell, 121ib, and 6 chickens.
(Ihul.)—John Livingstoune, 22 merks, 4 putrie, and 8 chickens.
(Ibid.)—John McKye, 5 bolls of meal, and i boll of bear; 2 merks of tind silver, and
6 putrie.
(Ibid.)—Alexr. Low, 6 bols of meal; 40s. tind silver, 81ib for the smiddie, 8 putrie,
for Findly's land, 261ib vjs. 4d., and 21ib tind silver, 6 putrie.
(Ibid.)—David Buchane 10 merks, or a hook in harvest, and 6 chickens.
(Ibid.)—Robert Anandail.
Wood of Dalbogg, possessed be John Burnett, payes yearlie 300 merks allenerlie, to¬
gether with 801ib for the salmond fishing.—Not a: This room is forhand duetie.
Mill of Dalbogg—Tho. Donne, 28 bols meal, and 12 bols bear; 81ib of tind
silver, 12 capons, and oblig to uphold the mill, and a swine yearlie.
Means of Dalbogg—Geo. Will, 16 hols meal, and 8 bols bear ; 81ib of tind silver,
12 poutrie, and a swine.
Denhead—John Burne, 6 bols meall, 2 bols bear; 5 merks tind silver, 8 putrie, ane
quarter of butter.
Bonsagard—Walter Lindsay, 8 bols of victual qrof 10 firlots bear, and 5 bols and
a half of meal; 8 putrie, and 8 pund of butter ; five merks tind silver.
Alexr. Mill, 3 bols of meal, and 1 bol of be^ir; 2 merks and a half of
tind silver, 4 putrie.
* The Fiars' prices of Forfarshire are not recorded before the year 17S0 ; but the following
is a statement of the value of various kinds of victual, according to the Fiars of Fifeshire
1672. Scots, Ster,
Whytt, per boll . £5 0 0 £0 8 4
Bear . . . 4 6 8 0 7 2}
Aits and Meall . 3 13 4 0 6 l.j
1'eas and Beans . 4 13 4 0 7 !q
By . . . 400 068
1699. Scots. Ster.
Wheat . . . £12 0 0 £10 0
Bear . . . 9 13 4 0 16
Oats&Meal p. meas.«SiRye7 13 4 0 12 9j
Meal by weight . 8 6 8 0 13 101
I'easc and Beans . 10 0 0 0 16 8
Mali ... 5 6 8 0 8 ]Oy Malt . . . 10 0 0 O 16
APPENDIX.—No. II.
327
Oowiehill—Jolin Will, 10 Lois meal, 5 Lois Lear; 10HL of tind silver, and 12
putrie and ane coustom wadder.
Litl Tullo—James Dargyie, 5 Lois, 2 firlots of meal, 10 firlots Lear; 5 merks of
find silver, and 20 merks of silver duetie, and quarter of Lutter, 6 putrie.
(Ibid.J—The other prt possessed be James Hodden alias Cliristison, 3 Lois 2
firlots of meal, of Lear 6 firlott; 5 merk of find silver, 6 putrie, and a quarter of
Lutter.
Muickell Tullo—David Walker, 14 Lois of meal, 6 Lois of Lear; lOlib of silver
dutie, lOlib of tind silver, 8 putrie.
Meegyie—Androw Smart, 1201ib duties, 81iL tind silver, 12 putrie, 6 capons, and
qr butter.—N~ota: Tak renewed for 5 years (1674) payes 801ib of grassum, and
lOOlibs of wach money.
—John Christison, sliipheird in Mergie, 5 merks money.
Blaikiiead—James Lyndesay, 401iL of dutie, 8 putrie, and of Lutter 8lib.
Sheerstripes Cotter Land—George Will, and James Lyndsay tlier, ilk on of them
4Kb of money.
Parociiine of Newdosk payes yearly of tind silver 261ib.—Nota: Att Wittsunday
I [i. e. the Laird of Edzell] sett a year's tak to Mr. Thomas Smart of the
finds of this parociiine for 600 marks.
PAROCHINE OF LETHNOTT.
Clociiie possessed he Da: Toshe payes yearlie 20 hols of meal, 5 Lois of Lear; Glib of
tind silver, 401ib of silver dutie, 8 putrie.
(Ibid.J—Androw Smart tlier, 20 Lois meal, 5 Lois Lear; Glib of tind silver, 50
marks of dutie, 8 putrie.
Drum Carne—Alexr. Davidsone, 8 scor and ten merks ; 16 putrie, and ane quarter
of Lutter.
(Ibid.J—that part possessed be James Smart, 6 Lois Lear, 3 Lois of oats ; 41ib of
tind silver, and 8 putrie—pays a mark of wach money.
(Ibid.)—James Gold, 8 hols Lear; 41ib of tind silver, 8 poutrie.
Mill of Lethnot—James Black, 28 Lois meal, and 2 Lois of bear; 12 capons.—
The taksman his option to pay 50 merks for 8 of the hols of meal.
Tilliuivie—John Will, 17 hols meal, 3 hols Lear; 6 hols of tind silver, 8 putrie.
Argeith, part of—George Bellie, 40 merks of dutie, 8 putrie, 21ib of Lutter.
(Ibid.J—Andrew Dirra, 40 merks, 8 putrie, and a quarter of Lutter.
(Ibid. J—John Low, 20 merks of dutie, 4 putrie, and 21ib of Lutter.
(Ibid.)—Thomas Smart, elder, 20 merks, 8 putrie, 21ib of Lutter.
(Ibid.)—Thomas Smart, younger, 20 merks, 8 putrie, and 2Kb of Lutter.
Bogytoune—Alexr. Mertyne, 401ib of silver dutie, 8 putrie, and half a ston of butter.
Oldtoune—Robert Gibb, 401ib of silver dutie, 8 putrie, and half a stone of Lutter.
Wixtoune—Walter Mitchell, 9 bols and a half of meal, and 4 hols and a half of
Lear; 7 merks of tind silver, 8 putrie.
(Ibid.) the other part—Andrew Smart, 9 hols and ane half of meall, and 4 Lolls
and a half of Lear ; 7 marks tind silver, and 8 putrie.
Brocklaw—David Mertyne, 431ib of tind silver dutie, 8 putrie, and 41 ib. of Lutter.
(Ibid.) other part—Da. Gattnes, eldir, 21 merks 6s. and 8d.; 4 putrie, and 1 lib 8
ounce Lutter.
328
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
Edzdl, January the tenth day jmvi° and nynti nyn years.
Bonhard—Isobell Fyfe (reliq to John Donaldson), thirtie hols of meale, five hols
hear, ten markcs tind monij; two hols horse corne, eight poutrie fowls, six
capones.
Priestoune—John Carnegie and John Wohster in Mille of Dillappie, payed yearlie
of old twelve hols of meal, six hols of heare, ten marks of tind silver, eight
poutrie, six capons, and should have hleitched all the Linnin cloath maid in the
house. Nota: now set to the above named men for sixteen hols of meals, and
eiglitein hols the fiyft year of tliir tak.
Coattertoune of Edzell—ilk Coatter payes yearlie two marks tind silver, 41ib of
butter for ilk cow, and twelve chickens—Gleorg Chirstison, Georg Duncan,
Alexander Dirrow, Georg McKeye, James Watt, John Croll, William Hall.
Westsyd and Achry—James Aucliinfleck, yor, eighteen hols meal, six hols hear,
three hols horse corne, three cairtful of straw, tuo spindell and ane half of yarne ;
ten libs of tind silver, fourtein poutrie, and nyne cajmnes.
Sandihillocik—James Presock, 12 hols meale, 6 hols bear, 2 hols of horse corne, 2
cairtfull of straw, qch is 48 bottle—ten marks of tind silver, 8 poutrie, 6 capons ;
60 heirs of yarne.
Burnroot—Alexander Smart, 12 bolls meale, and 6 hols hear; and for a pairt of
another tak, 6 hols meal and on hoi bear, 3 bols horse corn, 3 cairtful of stra; ten
lib of tind money, 8 poutrie, 6 capons ; 60 heirs of yarne.
Struine and Invereskendie, both rooms possessed be John Will—24 bols meal,
12 bols bear, wlierof ther is 8 bols converted to 50 marks of money, 20 marks of
tind money; 16 poutrie, 6 capons ; 120 heirs of yarne ; 3 bols hors corne, 3 cairt
full of strae.
(Ibid)—Cornmill, Walkmill, Camell, Feickstoune—James Auchinfleck, 51
(bolls) meal, 15 bolls bear ; 40 libs mony dutie,18libs. 6s. 8d. tind silver; 4 dozen
and a half of capones, 4 dozen and a half of poutrj, or 20 merk ; 60 heirs of tind
yarne.
Mergue—Androw Smart, 1201ib money rent; 18 poutrie, 2 stones of buter, a wedder
under the wool; and lOOlib for ilk 5 years tacks of Grassum.—Nota: He payes so
much more for Title to be cleared by his tacks.
Newdosic payes of Yiccarradge yearlie, 26lib.
PAEIOCHIN OF LETHNOT.
Clociiie (Whole)—John Lowson, 20 bols of meall, 10s boll hear; 731ib. 6s. 8d. of
silver duetie, 121ib of tind money ; 2 wedders, 16 poutrie.
Drumcairn—David Gibb, 1201ib of silver duetie, 16 poutrie, 41ib of butter, 2 wed¬
ders under the wool.—Nota: he payes 100 merks of Grassum for 5 years tack.
(Ibid.J Upper—the Minister, 8 bolls of bear, 41ib of tind money ; 8 poutrie, and a
wedder.—Nota: Ilk undelyvered boll is 10 merks of pryse.
(Ibid.) the other part—James Smart, 6 bols of bear, 3 bolls of oats, 41ib of tind
money; 8 poutrie and ane wedder.—Nota: Ilk undelyvered boll is 51ib of pryse ;
he payes also cess and watch money.
Milne of Lethnot—James Black, 28 bolls of meall, 2 bolls of bear, 12 capons.—
Nota: lie is liberty to pay 33lib 6s. 8d. for 8 bolls of meall.
arrendix.—no. iii.
329
Tillidivie—Jolin Archebald, 17 bolls of meall, 3 bolls of bear; Glib of find money, 8
poutrie, and ane wedder.
Argyth—David Smart, 261ib 13s and 4d ; 8 poutrie, 41ib of butter, at 2 terms and
Grassum cess and watch money.—Nota: the cess is one merk of each 20, and
ye watch money 6s.
(Ibid.J—Androw Dirroc, 261ib 13s 4d; 8 poutrie, 24s of tind money at 2 terms, wt
Grassum, cess, and watch money.
Newbiggeng and Drumfuries—John Smart, 53lib 6s 8d ; 12 poutrie, 4;ib of buter,
his sheep to he cleared by his tack, 2 wedders ; and Grassum, cess, and watch
money.
Bogtoune—Alexr. Martin, 401ib of money; 81ib of butter, 8 putrie, and ane wedder ;
Grassum, cess, and watch money.
Oldtoune—David Tosh, 401ib of money, 8Kb of butter, 8 poutrie, and ane wedder ;
Grassum, cess, and watch money, 251ib. 8s. 6d.
Wittoune—Walter Mitchell, 9 bolls 2 fir. of meall, 4 bolls 2 fir. of bear; 41ib 13s
4d of tind money ; 8 poutrie, and a wedder ; cess and watch money, of Grassum,
81ib for 3 years.
(Ibid.J—James Will, 9 bolls 2 fir. of meall, 4 bolls 2 fir. of bear; 4Iib 13s 4d of
tind money; 8 poutrie, and ane wedder; 20 merks of Grassum for 5 years tack.
Brocklaw—David Martin, 431ib of silver duetie ; 8 poutrie, 41ib of butter, ane wed¬
der under the wooll; 401ib for ilk 5 years tack of Grassum.
(Ibid.J—John Durro, 141ib 6s. 8d., 4 poutrie, and ane pound and half butter; 2
wedders in the 5 years tack, and Grassum, ane years duety in the tacks.
No. III.—Page 51.
The Durciys of that Ilh, Dempsters to the Lairds of Edzell.
The small farm of Durayliill, with several other parts of the parish, were
church lands belonging to St. Andrews, situated in the regality of Rescobie,* and
the family of Duray, dempsters of the Lairds of Edzell, long occupied these, and
designed themselves " of that Ilk." It was then a separate farm, but is now
held in lease along with the farm of Upper Dalfouper.f
The origin of the Durays or dempsters of Edzell is unknown. Their name
occurs for the first time in the Parochial Register of 22d December 1644, when
"John Dirrow of Dirrowliill was appointed to goe to the presbiterie for ....
competent knowledge to go to the Generall Assemblie which is to be liolden at Edin¬
burgh, ye 22d Jan. 1645." The last time any of them acted along with a Laird of
Edzell was at the memorable "rable" of 1714; and, in disposing of the lands of
Edzell, David Lindsay gave Duray right to " a desk in the church, upon the east
side of the Lindsay's isle." Owing, perhaps, to the prominent lead which Duray
took in this rable, the kirk-session were led to challenge his right to the pew ; and,
notwithstanding that he produced a document confirming the grant from the last
o Retours of Edzell, June 2, 1618.
t " Duray looks like a corruption of Durtvard (a porter or door-ward), or of Deracti, con.
stable. The Duray Lea at Aldbar was the piece of grass set apart lor the Durward's cow."—
JS'ote by P. Chalmers, Esq. of Aldbar.
2 Q
330
land of the lindsays.
laird's " brother-gcrman," he was found to have usurped the same, and was there¬
upon turned out of it.
This dispute occurred in 1734, and the decision was so fatal to the family, that
they left the district soon after, and there is reason to believe that this person
was the last resident of them in Edzell. Though the circumstance is not re¬
corded, they may have been expelled therefrom by the York Buildings' Company,
who had no desire to harbour those in their lands who were friendly to the exiled
Stuarts. This cause of Duray's removal is inferred from the fact, that some of
their distant relatives believe they "left the district and settled about Stonehaven
which is so far confirmed by a John Durie being there during the stirring move¬
ments of "the forty-five." This person was a merchant, and so determined a
supporter of the Stuarts, that he appeared in the parish church of Dunottar with a
guard of armed men, and read some treasonable papers before the congregation.*
But whether this rebel was of the Durays of that Ilk, we have no means of
ascertaining. It is certain that the old stock is now completely out of the dis¬
trict, and a tombstone in the kirk-yard still bears this record of their feudatory
holding:—"Here lyes James Duray, son to John Duray of that Ilk, who de¬
parted this Life, February 13th 1743, aged 36.
Remember, passenger, as you go by,
This gravestone under which I ly,
Read, and remember what I tell,
That in the Cold Grave thou must duel,
The worms to be thy company,
Till the Last Trumpet set you free."
No. IV.—Page 56.
list of Sculptures in the Floioer Garden of Edzell.
[This garden has already been described. It is about an acre in extent, and
the walls are of polished ashler. Compartments representing the fesse chequee of the
Lindsays, and the three stars of the Stirlings of Glenesk, are placed betwixt each
of the figures under noticed. Engravings of certain parts of the wall are in Mr.
Billings' Baronial Views of Scotland, vol. II.]
THE EAST WALL
contains allegorical representations of the following Celestial Deities, sculptured on
oval pannels in low relief, and about eighteen inches in height.
Saturn is represented in Roman Costume, with a sword by his side, and a scythe in
his right hand. He holds a boy up in his left, emblematical of his having de¬
voured his own legitimate issue as soon as born, with a view that his kingdom
might revert to the Titans, from whom it was taken, and given to him. He
wears a chain round his neck, in allusion to his captivity by Titan, from
which he was released by his son Jupiter. The figure of a goat, perhaps that of
Amalthea, by whose milk Jupiter is said to have been suckled, is at the feet of
Saturn. This figure is represented with a wooden leg, a circumstance which
* Dunottar Session Record, Sep. 21, 1746,
APPENDIX.—No. IV.
331
has led some to suppose that it represents Vulcan, who, 011 falling from the
heavens on the Isle of Lemnos with great violence, hroke his leg, and was thus
rendered lame for life. The sign p>, and other accessories, are those of Saturn.
Jupiter, fp. in Roman Costume, hut without a heard, has a sword in his right
hand ; the left rests on a shield, charged with a fine carving of Cupid shooting
an arrow from a cross bow, &c.
Mars, cT also in Roman costume, bears a sceptre in left hand, and an oval shield on
right arm, with a dog at his feet.
The Sun O wears an antique crown and Roman dress. Right hand rests on a
shield charged with the Sun, in full splendour. The shield rests on the head of
a lion. The left hand holds a sceptre.
Venus <J> holds a dart over left shoulder, and a burning heart in right hand. A
lamb lies at her feet. Two nude figures are dancing in the back-ground on
the right, and a clothed female holds up her right arm on the left, in a beck¬
oning attitude.
Mercury with the sign ^ and usual accompaniments of winged caduceus in right
hand, and helmet and sandals.
The Moon, or Luna and Diana, as this goddess is variously termed, is represented
by a female figure holding a lance in her right hand, and the characteristic sign
of a crescent (o) in her left. Her feet rest 011 a fish. This figure is over the
entrance door to the summer house—so placed, perhaps, from the fact that the
ancients supposed her to have the care of all houses and doors during night.
She was the daughter of Jupiter by Latona.
SOUTH AY ALL.
[The Sculptures on this wall represent the Sciences only, with the exception
of the Theological Virtue " Charity," which was misplaced during recent re¬
pairs. These carvings are in bold relief, and the finest of any in the garden,
and from the occasional introduction of objects in the distance, suggest a com¬
parison with the famous gates of the Baptistry of Florence, which acquired Lorenzo
Ghiberti so much deserved fame. The Sciences are in square pannels with
circular tops, and measure about two by three feet.]
" Geometria," is represented by a female, with a castellated crown and flowing
robes. She is describing a globe. A square, compass, and books lie at her feet.
" Mvsica."—Female figure (head and neck broken off) playing on a guitar. A harp
and other musical instruments lie beside her; and her left foot rests on books.
" Arithmetica."—Female figuring on a Slate. Two nude figures in back-ground.
" Dxalectica."—A seated female in the act of reasoning. Two frogs at her feet,
a dove on her head, and a serpent twisted round her right arm. There is also
a small figure in the back-ground.
" Rhetorica."—A seated female, holds a caduceus in the right hand, and a roll in
the left, with several volumes at her feet.
AYE ST WALL.
[The Sculptures on this wall represent the Theological and Cardinal A'irtucs.
They are about the same size as the Sciences, but inferior in execution.!
". . . e ." (Faith), with cup in right hand, wrapt in a massive flowing dress, and a
serpent at her feet.
332
land of the lindsays.
" SrES "—Female figure standing erect, with right hand at breast, and left out¬
stretched. An anchor and antique spade lie at her feet.
"Caeitas" (misplaced on south wall) represented in the common manner, by a
female with a child in each arm, and one at each knee.
". . . titia" (Justice), with sword, balance and scales.
" I'kudex. . ." (Prudence), examining her face in a mirror, with a serpent coiled
round the left hand.
" Fortitvdo " pulling down an ornamental column, with the capital of it lying at
her feet.
" Tempekatttia " pours water from a jug into a glass. An antique jar stands on
each side of the figure.
No. V.—Pages 170, 164, 284.
Epitaphs, relating to the Lindsays, in various Churchyards in Angus-shire.
A good monument of native freestone, to the memory of a family of the name of
Lindsay, is built in the south wall of the church of Rescobie. Like the fine marble
tablets to the same race at Maryton and Lunan, this is upheld from an annuity
payable by the town of Arbroath, which was especially granted for the purpose.
The canopy is supported by two pillars, with these bearings:—" Gules, a fesse
chequee arg. and az.; in chief a mullet; in base waves proper"
" Monumentum hoc, in memoriam suorum parentum Mr David Lindsay
Pastor de Mary-Toune: Extruendum curavit. Juxta hunc lapidem depositee
sunt reliquiae Dom : Henrici Lindsay quondam de Blairifedden qui obiit anno Dom :
. . aetat. 72. Et uxoris ejus Alison Scrimseur familise Scrimseur de Glasswal
quae obiit anno Dom. 1651 aetat. . . necnon filii eorum dom. Davidis Lindsay
Pastoris de Rescobie qui obiit anno Dom. 1677 aetat. 62 & ejusdem duarum conju-
gum Marjorae Lindsay hike Lindsay de Kinnettles & Beatricis Ogilvy filim. . . .
Ogilvy de Carsbank, quae obiit anno Dom. 1716 aetat. suae 89. Ibidem loci quoque
scpulti sunt nonnulli ejusdem Davidis liberi quorum nomina coeli injuria & prioris
cippi vetustate perierunt.—Hoc monumentum positum fuit anno , & instau-
ratum anno 1752."
A superb marble tablet in the church of Maryton, bears the Dowliill family
arms and motto, and a long inscription to " David Lyndesius ex prisca Lyndesorum
familia de Dowliill," who was thirty-three years minister of the church of Maryton,
and the last Episcopal incumbent. He died on the 16th of September 1706, in the
sixty-second year of his age. It is also worthy of remark, that a marble tablet at
the church of Lunan is analagous in design to that at Maryton. It is erected to
the memory of Mr. Alexander Pedey, the last Episcopal clergyman of that parish,
and his wife Marjory Lindsay, who may have been a near relative—perhaps a sister
—to the parson at Maryton.
Inscription from a freestone tablet in Farnell churchyard, to the memory of
Dean Carnegy, founder of the family of Craigo, and his wife Helen, daughter of
Bishop Lindsay of Edinburgh.—(Ut sup., pp. 164, 284.):—
" Sepulehrum Mstri Davidis Carnegy de Craigo Decani Brichinen: Reetoris
hujus Ecclesife qui primo fuit Ecclesiastes Brichinen annos 2 postea hujus ecclesias
pastor fidclisimus annos 36 qui placide ac pie in Domino obdormivit anno Dom.
appendix. No. vi.
333
1672 tefatis suae 77. In hac Urna siniul cum eo recubant prior ejus Uxor Helena
Lindesay ac decern eorum liberi placuit liic inscribcre anagramma a Seipso coni-
positum
Magistro Davidi Carnegy
anagramma
Grandis Jesu due me gratia
disticbon
Dum digo in terris expectans Gaudia coeli
Me ducat semper tua Gratia Grandis Jesu."
Tablets bearing the following inscriptions are in tbe family burial-place of
Balmadies. Tliis Cemetery is near the Aldbar Railway Station, is called
Chapel-yard, and the door lintel bears "ANO. MDCLXIX." From this period,
till 1849, a complete record of the lairds and ladies of Balmadies can be gleaned
from the tombstones :—
" Mrs Margaret Lindsay daughter to Sir Alexander Lindsay of Evliek first
married to the laird of Findourie and thereafter to James Piersone of Balmadies to
whom she bore seven sons she died about the 56 year of her age on the 11 or 12 of
May 1714 and here interred on the 18 a virtueus and religious lady—Me mento
mori."
"Mrs Elizabeth Arbuthnot sister German to the present laird of Findourie
died of a deceiy about the 18 year of her age a beautiful virtuous and religious
young lady and was here interred some years before her mothers death—Me mento
mori."*
No. VI.—Page 181.
Extracts from Petition and Complaint of Mr. George Tytler, Minister of Feme, to
the Heritors of the Parish, against John Dildarg, Schoolmaster.—January
15, 1778.
It appears that John Dildarg was appointed schoolmaster of Feme, pro tem¬
pore, abodt 1763-4. According to Mr. Tytler's complaint, he was so unqualified for
the office of precentor that " singing psalms was like to wear out of the church,"
and he became so turbulent that no person would " entertain him as a lodger." He
also intermeddled with the minister's affairs, and threatened " law processes against
him "—tried to detract from his character, and " weaken his hands in the exercise
of his ministry," &c. But the more immediate cause of the quarrel betwixt him and
the minister, which will be sufficiently explained by the following curious extracts,
arose from Dildarg propagating the doctrine of the " unlawfulness of eating blood."
" Lifted up," as the Complaint bears, " with a conceit of his own knowledge," the
schoolmaster wrote a discourse on the subject of blood-eating, and tried to make
proselytes of all and sundry. The complaint proceeds thus :—
" That he carried the point of blood-eating so far, that he attempted, not in a
private, but in a very public manner, even in the presence of minister, elders, and
communicants (among which last he thought he had formed a party), anent admis¬
sion to the Lord's Table, to get it enacted that none should be received into com-
* There is an account of the expenses of this young lady's funeral among the Findowrie
Papers. It contains many curious items well worthy preservation, but want of space compels
us to omit it. The total cost amounted to £332 10s. 4d. Scots, or £27 14s. 2£d.
334
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
munion that did not, or would not promise to abstain from eating blood, and because
his proposal was rejected, he has not joined in communion here these four or five
years at least; but that this is no real matter of conscience with him, as he pretends,
may, without breach of charity, be alleged, because he scruples not to join with
other congregations, particularly with that of Brechin, where, considering the many
butchers, there will be more blood eaten in a week than in Fern in a twelvemonth.
" That over and above what is mentioned, that he (Dildarg) began many
years ago to set up conventicles in private houses, and more publicly in the school-
house, on Sabbath-days and other days, when he could get a conveniendum, where
he preached and prayed, and expounded the Scriptures; and it was the ordinary
way, as I have been credibly informed, to tell them—' Thus, the minister says, but
that is what I say !'
» *• * *■ * That towards the end of last year my wife sending a portion
of blood and puddings to a poor cripple old woman in the parish, Dildarg, either
following or overtaking the servant on the way, and finding it was blood, said that
my wife or I might as well sent some lewd person to commit fornication or adultery
with her, as send her blood to eat, and in the most serious manner exhorted her to
throw it out (as he has persuaded some in the parish to do), and for this purpose
lectured over to her the 17th of Leviticus. At the same time also he took occasion
to detract from the character of a certain gentlewoman, and to magnify a common
dame whose reputation in this countryside is none of the finest.
" That upon hearing this, your complainer wrote to Dildarg on a slip of paper,
whether he had said such things—not in expectation of his returning me an answer,
but to let him understand that I knew what he had said.
" That he returned me (this) written answer, of date December 13th last (1777):
—' I am surprised at a line which you have sent me, wherein you require me to give
you an answer thereto. I am, Sir, under no obligation to answer this line ; for, if I
have spoken any evil of you or your wife, it was your business to prove it. You
are no Roman Inquisitor, and therefore you cannot oblige me to become my own
accuser, and if you had not insinuated that I scandalized a woman of quality, I should
not have taken the least notice of it. Whoever told you this, told you a manifest
falsehood. Seeing you have, Sir, copied after the infallible church in your expiscat-
ing questions in order to make me my own accuser, I hope you will not be offended
at me for copying after you. I have two or three questions to propose, and I hope
you will give a plain and direct answer to them.—1st. Did you say to any of the
parishioners in the summer harvest 1776, that I did nail my cat to to the wall of
my house in order that I might show the nature of a sacrifice ? If you did, I desire
you will inform me who the hellish person was who invented such a lie ; for all the
devils in hell could not have contrived a greater falsehood.—2nd. Did you hear
your wife about the same time call me a rascal and villain, or words to the same
import, to any person ?—3rd. If your wife did give me such names, tell me if her
character is agreeable to the character of a bishop or deacon's wife, 1 Tim. i. 11.
"I did aver to Jean Lyal that the eating of blood was as sinful in the sight of
God as either adultery or fornication, and I affirm the same thing again, Sir; for
you nor no man shall intimidate me from maintaining the truth, and I have as
good reason to judge what is truth as you or any other man; and I will oppose
every error which I hear broached and propagated, be the consequence what will.
It is my duty to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the
saints, and to oppose every error that is subversive of this faith.' "
APPENDIX—Nos. VII. AND VIII.
335
No. VII.—Page 253.
Letter from, Sir David Carnegie, of Pittarrow, Bart., to Alexander Carnegy, Esq.
of Balnamoon.
[The laird of Balnamoon, to whom the following curious letter was addressed,
was lather of the "rebel laird" of 1745. The writer was the second Baronet of
Pittarrow, father of Margaret Carnegie, wife of the patriotic Fletcher of Saltoun,
and mother of Lord Million, an eminent Scotch lawyer. Carnegie's grandson, Sir
James, succeeded to the Southesk estates on the death of the last Earl in 1729,
from whom the present baronet of Southesk is the fourth in succession.]
" To the much honoured the Laird of Ballnamoon.—These
Sir,
As I hear that in absence of the Earle of Northeske yow manage all sea
wrack to the best advantage for him And being certantly informed that the Sea has
cast in severall casks not only of the best of Brandie, which they that have teasted
of; doe assure me: And which brandy does nowayes belong to ye ships seawrackt
at Montrose. And also being told that severall casks of ye best ffrench wyne of the
same nature were lykewayes cast ashore and seased by you for ye Earles use. Sir
my sade sicknes these four moneths bygone and yet continuing (having weakened
me extremely beyond expression); my body craves for its support ye best of Liquors
indispenseable ; I doe earnestly intreat I may have two gallons of the best brandie
and als much of the best ffrench wyne at ye current pryce ye rest of ye best shall be
sold at; This Sir as I know my Lord will be heartely satesfied with ; so when with
you I plead ye benefite of blood relation It saves me the pains of farther persuasives.
Only you will friendly consider the great need I presently stand in ; for my present
subsistance and Life; And qch sir from you will be ye most seasonable kyndnes you
can express to me ; So your answer by this bearer is expected by
Sir,
Your Affectionat humble servant
Pittarrow 12 Apryle 1708." D. Carnegie.
No. VIII.—Page 253.
Notice of the family of Arhuthnott of Findowrie.—From Notes from Findowrie
Papers, by P. Chalmers, Esq., of Aldbar.
Robert Arhuthnott* of that Ilk, third of the name, was the immediate pro¬
genitor of the family of Findowrie. He succeeded his father James, and was thrice
married: first to Elizabeth Carnegie, Kinnaird's daughter, by whom he had three
sons and one daughter; secondly, to Margaret Pringle of Gallowsliiels, by whom
he had no issue ; and, thirdly, to Helen Clephane, daughter of the laird of Cars-
'ogie, who bore him four sons and four daughters. On the 14th of February, 1574,
Robert of that Ilk, and his third wife, had charters of the lands of Findowrie,
in conjunct fee and life-rent, and to David Arhuthnott, their eldest son in fee, from
Robert Cullaiss of Balnamoon. Robert Arhuthnott of that Ilk was succeeded in
Arhuthnott by his son, great-grandson, and great-great-grandson. The last of these
* The reader is referred to Douglas' Peerage, vol. i., article, Arbuthnott, for the ancient
history of this family, also at sup., p. 307.
336
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
was son to James Arbuthnott of Arrat, near Brecliin, and father of the first Viscount
of Arbuthnott.
In 1616, Robert, the son of David of Findowrie, married Margaret Graham,
daughter of Sir William Graham of Claverhouse, and widow of George Somyr,
younger of Balzeordie.* This laird was an early acquaintance of the future
Marquis of Montrose, who addressed the following friendly note to him, many years
before he embarked in those perilous enterprises for which his name is now so
famous:—
" To my loueinge frende the larde of findoury.
Loueing frende—I wreatte to you some tyme since to heave keipet ane apoynt-
ment but I harde ye wer from home Wherfor I must intreet you now to take the
peans to meite me at auld Montrois upon monday about thrie houres efternone. In
doing whych ye shall obliege me to remaine
Yr louing frende
At Kinarde, the 17 of Sepber, 1631."f Montrose.
Circumstances, however, cooled Montrose's friendship towards Arbuthnott; for
it appears from the subjoined statement of " Losses " which the latter sustained
through him and his soldiers, that his lands and tenants were not only harried to a
large extent, but his private residence was also burned and pillaged.
The son and grandson of the last-mentioned laird were also staunch supporters
of the Covenant, and fined by the Earl of Middleton in the large sum of £2,400;
and, as appears by a letter from the Earl of Strathmore, commander of the Angus
regiment, while located in Strathblain, on the 18th of June 1685, the laird of the
period was a person of so great consequence, that he was chosen by the Earl to
command a company of horsemen during that stirring period. J
This laird was succeeded by his son Alexander, who died before the 18th of
September 1707, as of that date his son, by a daughter of Lindsay of Evelick, was
served liis heir. On the death of the son of the last mentioned Alexander, the
male succession failed, and the estates were carried to the family of Balnamoon,
through the marriage of the heiress with James Carnegy " the rebel laird," in the
hands of whose descendants Findowrie still continues.
Statement of Losses sustained by the Laird of Findowrie and his Tenants, through
the Marquis of Montrose, in 1646.—(From the Findowrie Papers.J
At Brechine the sextein day of October the year of god I"1 vjc and fourtie sex
vearis. In presence of James Guthrie of Pitforthie, John Simmer fiear of Bra-
thinsch, David Livingstoune in Dunleppie, James Ross in Dalbog, George Straton
in Achdovie, and Johne Lyone in Aldbar, as ane quorum of the Commissioneris
appointit bo the Committee of the moneyis and process for the north conforme to
the Commissione grantit to them for uptakinge of the Losses conteinit in the said
Commissione, Of the qlk quorum the said David Livingstoune wes electit preses.
Compeirit personallie Robert Arbuthnot tier of Findawrie and his fatheris tenantis
* Several carved stones, bearing the initials and arms of this laird and lady, are built into
the walls of the farm steading, dated 1G38.
t The body of this letter, and the superscription, written by Montrose's servant—the
signature his own.
t A stone built into the wall of the farm house of Findowrie belongs to this laird's time.
It bears the following quaint observation " hic • arqvs • non • briari' ■ esto • mat • 12
1681 • R • A : E • R."
APPENDIX.—No. VIII.
337
and servandis and his, and gave in thar particular Losses qlk they suffered be the
commone enemie be burning out, spuiling and robbing, as wes provin sum by Wit¬
nesses and sum by oath of pairties, as foleows
Item compeirit Jon Brown in Findawrie and gave in his particular Losses quliair-
upon being Dewlie sworne deponit, qlkis Losses extendis to . £1409 0 8
Item Jon Williamsone in Muriehillock deponit and gave in his Losses
being dewlie sworne qlk extendis to
704
4
0
Item David Williamsone in Markcus gave his oath and gave in his
Losses qlk extends to .......
368
3
4
Item James Sym at the myln of Markous gave his aitli and gave in his
Losses qlk extends to
24
0
0
Item the said David Williamsone compeirit for David* Williamsone
his brother being seik and gave in his Losses (qlk be his gryt aitli
he declarit that he knew to be of veritie) qlks Losses extends to
32
0
0
Item compeirit Thomas Cothill cotter in Muiriehillook and gave in
his losses and thairupon gave his aith qlk extends to
32
0
0
Item Martha Aikenheid in Muriehillock gave in hir losses and gave
hir aith thairupon qlk extends to
25
0
0
Item Isobell Findlie tliair gave in hir losses and gave hir oath yrupon
qlk extends to .........
41
10
O
Item Thomas Skair in Litill Markous compeirit and gave in his losses
and gave his oath yrupon qlk extends to ....
68
19
4
Item John Allane in Findawrie compeirit and gave in his losses qur-
upon he gave his oath qlk extends to .....
191
3
4
Item David Myller thair gave in his losses qlk extends to
22
6
8
Item Joline Cramond thair compeirit and gave in his losses qlk extends to
70
13
4
Summa Lateris is . . £3059
0
8
Jhone Lyone David Levingstoune
T. Lindsay notar Geokge Stkaton J. Goutiikie
clerk heirto J. Boss Jiione Symmek
Followes the Losses susteinit be the said Robert Arbuthnot himself by burning of
his place of Findowrie, barnes byres office housses and comes in his barne and
barneyard, and by burning of his Fudging in Brechine (victual housses and stabillis)
and by destroying of his cornes upon the ground, Robbing and Spulzes of his Nolt
scheip horss and uther gudis and geir comittit be the comone enemie and his com¬
plices, as wes judiciallie provin concerning the fulrack of the houss be trasdcsmen
and such as wes not provin the said Robert Arbuthnot fiear of Findawrie gave his
aitli thairupon.
That the Losses above specifiet according to the particularis given be them ex¬
tends to the soume of ........ £3984 8 8
Item mair he deponit that he had of cunycit money qlk wes taken
from him be the said enemie out of his lious .... 2000 0 0
Forder we to quhome this Commission wes grantit and undersubscryv-
ained Declairis that according to oure knowledge and so far as we
could have informatione, that he lost be the forsaid enemie of Insicht
plenishing with sum Jewellis and silver wark worth the soume off 2000 0 0
Sumnia Lateris is . £7984 8 8
Smnma totalis . 11043 9 4
* Sic in oris.
2 R
338
land of the lindsays.
We undersubscryvand testifie that we liaue takin the oatliis of the pairties and
witnesses ahove writ-tin concerning the particularis of the losses given in he the
foirsaid persones.
George Straton David Levingstoune
T. Lindsay notar Jhone Lyone J. Goutiirie
clerk heirto J. Ross Jhone Symmer
The folloiving is the deliverance on the above:
" Aherdene 19 October 1646.
The Comitttee of moneyis and process for the north considering the conditione of
Robert Arbutlinott of Findawrie in the burning and wasting of his liaill landis within
the sclirefdome of fforfar done and occasioned by the rebells, doe thairfor suspend
all payt of maintenance for the saidis landis of the said schyre, Whill order be
gevine be parliament or tliair coniitties respecte. for uplifting thairof, Inhibiting and
discharging in the mean tymo, the collectors of the maintenance within the said
schyre frome all troubling or molesting of the said Robert Arbutlinott or his tenents
thairfor
J. Burghly, I. P. D. Com."
Letter from Mr. J. Bait, Aberluthnot (Maryhirh) to the laird of Findoivrie, on
sup-plying a Vacancy in the Church of Menmuir in 1642.
" Riclit Ilonoble Sir
I heir the kirk of Menmuir is vacand If ye think it expedient my sone Mr.
Wm. wold offer his trevellis ther. He lies an inclination to come furth and
fears if we get not him setled besyde ws at home he be drawn furth to setill in the
north pairtes qlk I wold not desyr for monie causes Alwyis Sr if ye think it a
thing liklie ye may use yor moyen (interest) I know ze have a straik (sway) of
all ye parocliineris Quhan ye come to ye Mearnis I wold wis ze cam yis way and
wisit me qn we shall confer at griter lynth Committing yow and all yours to ye
tuition of God almiclitie Remenis
Yor assured cussing to serve yow
Aberluthnot, Aprilis 1642. Ma. J. Rait."
No. IX.—Page 266.
Expense of Burning a Witch, a.d. 1649, from Arnot's Criminal Trials, p. 392.—
This account, which is printed here merely to shew the great expense, which was
incurred by the burning of witches, is a voucher of a payment made by Alex.
Louddon, factor on the estate of Burncastle, the proprietor being then a minor
and infant. It is entered in the factor s boohs thus :—
' Mair for Margarit Dunhome the time sclie was in prison, and was put to death,
065 : 14 : 4.'
Count gifin out be Alexander Louddon in Lylstoun, in ye yeir of God 1649, yeiris,
for Margrit Dolhnoune in Burncastell.
Item, in the first to Wm. Currie and Andrew Gray for the watch¬
ing of hir ye space of 30 days, inde ilk day xxx sh. inde . xlv lib Scotts
Item mair to Jon Kinked for brodding of her vi lib Scotts
APPENDIX No. X.
339
Mair for meat and drink and wyne to him and his man . . iiij lib Scotts
Mair for cloth to liir iij lib Scotts
Mair for twa tare treis xl sh Scotts
Item mair for twa treis, and ye making of them, to ye warkmen . iij lib Scotts
Item to ye hangman in Hadingtoun, and fetchin of him, thrie
dollores for his pens, is -iiij lib xiiii sh
Item mair for meit and drink and wyne for his intertinge . . iii lib Scotts
Item mair fcr ane man and two hors, for ye fetcheing of him, and
taking of him hame aganc xl sh Scotts
Mair to liir for meit and drink ilk ane day, iiij sh the space of xxx
dayes, is vi lib Scotts
Item mair to ye twa officers for yr fie ilk day sex sliilline aught
pennes, is x lib Scotts
Summa is iiij scoir xii lib xiiij sh
Gkilbert Lauder.
Um. Lauder Bilzuars.
Takin of this above written soume twentie-seaven pundis Scotis qlk the said umq
Margrit Dinham had of her ain.
92 : 14 : —
27 : — : —
65 : — : —
No. X.—Page 312.
Notice of the Palace of Kincardine,
The ruins of the Palace, or Castle, of Kincardine stand on an wooded eminence
which rises about thirty feet above the level of the adjoining lands, at the foot
of the Cairn-o'-Mount road. The walls are composed of chisel hewn, but mostly
hammer-dressed stones, and no part is more than eight feet high—they are of
great strength, being constructed on the same sloping principle as harbours and
military fortifications. The ground plan is still traceable, and it appears, that,
independent of the foundations of the strong gateway and tower (which project
twenty or thirty feet from the main building, and a surrounding ditch and de¬
fensive outworks), the size of the Palace had been fully five hundred yards in
circumference, with an inner court of about two hundred feet. It was inhabited
on all sides except the west, which is composed merely of a wall, in which
there is an entrance of great width leading to the court; but the principal
entrance was on the south. There was also a door on the north, about five feet
broad, and two spacious apartments measuring about fourteen by fifty feet, and
fourteen by thirty-five feet, are on each side of it. Two other apartments on the
east are twenty-two by sixty, and twenty-two by fourteen feet in size. The front
wall, though mostly composed of the watch-towers, embrace several variously sized
apartments. The outer walls vary from eight to ten feet in thickness—the inner
are about three, and some parts of the front so much as twelve feet.
The time of the foundation of this Palace is unknown. Tradition asserts
that it was in existence in the time of Kenneth III., and some writers call it the
scene of his murder. It was certainly of note in William the Lion's time, and was
340
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
the residence of Edward I., both on his going and returning from the North in 1296,
and the scroll of Baliol's resignation was prepared therein. Perhaps the last
charter dated therefrom is one to Thomas Rait, by Robert II., in 1383, when he had
certain portions of Lumgair from that king.
Kincardine was the seat of the County Courts down to James YI.'s time. It
was then a place of considerable importance, with a church and market. The
churchyard is still preserved; and the fair, which was removed to Fettercairn at the
transference of the Courts to Stonehaven, is known by the name of St. Marie, to
whom the old kirk of Kincardine may have been dedicated. A cross of hewn stone,
gifted to Kincardine by the Earl of Middleton, hearing his arms and initials,
" E; I: M,"and date " 1670," is still at Fettercairn. It ought to he mentioned, that
the preservation of the ruins of the Palace and the old kirk is owing to the praise¬
worthy conduct of the present Sir John Stuart Forbes of Fettercairn, who, on
hearing of stones being taken from the Palace to fill drains, put an immediate and
effectual stop to the sacrilegious proceeding.
ADDENDA TO THE APPENDIX.
INVENTORY OF FURNITURE IN THE CASTLE OF FINHAVEN IN 1712.
The following Inventory of the Furniture in the Castle of Finliaven, in the time
of the "false Carnegy" (ut step., pp. 161-2),) was printed in the Dundee
Advertiser of June 6, 1851 (minus interpolations J, as from the original in
possession of the late John Wedderburne, Esq., Auchterhouse. It gives a good
idea of the comforts and luxuries of the landed gentlemen of the period:—
Octo. 27, 1712. Ane inventar of ye ffurniture of ye Houss of Phinhaven as
follows.
Imp. In ye skool chamber two bedsteads and a bairns table.
2 It. In ye rid roume a standing bed wt rid hangings, a straw palliace [mat¬
tress], a ffether bed, a holster, three pair of blankets, a pillow, on chamber pott of
pewter, a chamber box, six rid chairs, a table.
3 It. In ye pentted roume a bedstead wt green hangings, a straw palliace, a
fetlier bed, a holster, two old down pillows, three pair of blankets, a green cloath
upon the bed, a peuter chamber pott, six green chairs, a table and green cloath
upon it, the roume hung wt green hennings, a box and a pan.
4 It. In ye gold collured roume a bed hung wt gold coullered hanngins, a tuar-
delie, a straw palliace, a ffether bed, a holster, tuo pillous, a quilt above the ffether,
bed, four pair of blankets, a silk quilt, tuo learn [earthenware ?J chamber pots, seven
gold coullered chairs, a glass, a table and tuo stands, the roume hung wt gold coul_
lered hangins, ane jorn chumlow, wt toaings, chuffle [tongs and shovel], and purring
jorn [poker].
5 It. In ye closet a bed wt yellow hangins, a ffether bed, a holster, a pillow,
tuo pair of blankets, a yeellow cowring, a carpit chair, a box and a pan in ye closet,
and hung wt yeallow hangings.
6 It. In ye great roume a bed, a straw palliace, a ffether bed, a bolster, a silk
quilt, a lame chamber pott, two pillowes, three pair of blankets, seven green chairs.
APPENDIX—INVENTORY OF FURNITURE IN FINHAVEN. 341
a glass, a table and stands, ye roume liung wt arras, a skreinge wt a box and a pan.
a quilt above ye ffether bed, a chimlow, toaings, chuffle, and purring jorn.
7 It. Ye closet bed hung wt green hannings, a ffether bed, a bolster, a pillow,
tuo pair of blankets, a green cloath upon ye bed, a peuter chamber pott, a table wt
a green cloath, three carpit chairs, ye closet hung wt green, and an old arm chair.
8 It. The busting [fustian cloth?] roume wt a busting bed shewed wt green,
wt a turdilue, straw palliace, a ffether bed, a quilt above the bed, a bolster, tuo
doun pillows, three pair of blankits, a holland quilt, a chamber pott of lame, the
roume hung wt arras, a glass indented, wt table and stands, an olive wood cabinet,
wt nyne carpit chairs and ane armed ane and eighteen pictures on ye chimblow
pease, and eleven big ones in ye roume, a chimblow, toaings, chufifel, and purring
jorn, a pan and chamber box.
9 It. In ye high dyning roume, the roume hung wt guilded leather,* twelve
kean [cane] chairs, a cloak, a big table, a little skringe, a broad before ye chimblow
wt chimblow, toaings, chuffle, and purring jorn, wt a pictur on ye wall.
10 It. In ye drawing room, ye roume hung wt arras, a guilded glass, wt fyfteen
carpit chairs, six picturs on ye wall, three bottels and tuo picturs on ye braise
[chimney piece], a chimlow broad, wt a chimlow, toaings, chuffle, and purring jom,
11 It. In ye ffyne roume, hung wt arras, a japanned cabinet, table, glass, and
stands, wt a little japanned dressing glass and dressing box, tuo pouder boxes, tuo
patch boxes, tuo big brusshes, tuo little brusshes, and a little japanned box, a big
pictur and tuo lesser on ye walls, seven chairs.
12 It. In ye closet hung wt blew and whyte hangins, a ffether bed, a bolster,
a pillow, tuo pair of blankits, a stool, and a pan.
13 It. In ye nurssrie, Mrs. Annes bed,f a caff bed, a ffether bolster, four pair
of blankits. It. in Peggies]; bed, a caff bed, a ffether bolster, four pair of blankits
and a cowring. It. in ye Ladys womans bed a ffether bed and bolster and pillow,
three pair of blankits. It. in Agnis Ogilvies bed a ffether bed, bolster, four pair of
blankits, and a couring; a big press, tuo stools, whereof on carpit, and a chair, tuo
big chists and a littel one, a bairns chair and a bairns pan, tuo chamber potts, and
a dressing jorn.
14 It. In ye loa dynning roume hung wt arras hannings, a big table and two
littel ons, and a by table, tuelve Russia leather chairs, eight picturs on ye wall, a
chimlow, toaings, cliuffel, and purring jorn.
15 It. In ye Laird and Ladys roume, a bed wt blew shewed hanngins, a straw
palliace, tuo ffether beds, a boughting [cradle] blankit, a bolster, tuo pillous, four
pair of blankits, a lioland quilt, a green cloath above ye bed, tuo peuter chamber
potts, a cabinet and a chest of drawers, tuo tables, five chairs, a bairns chair and a
kein stooll, ten big picturs, and tuentie peaper ons, tuo big glasses and ane littel
one, three picturs on ye brease, a clock, wt chimlow, toaings, chuffel, and purring
jorn, a broad for ye chimlow.
« A small portion of these hangings are in possession of the Rev. Mr. Harry Stuart of
Oathlaw. The leather was beautifully embossed with figures and landscapes ; the part remaining
shews representations of Ceres, Pan, and other heathen Deity. Mr. S. has also a chest of
drawers, which was part of the Finhaveu furniture. They are called Earl Beardie's Drawers,
but are of much later manufacture than his time.
f Afterwards Lord Ogilvy of Inverquharity.
J i. e. Margaret. She was afterwards the wife of Lyon of Auchterhousc. It was on
leaving her residence in Forfar that her brother of Finhaven stabbed the Earl of Strathmore,
aud took refuge from justice in her " peat-house." Ut sup., pp. 161-2.
342
LAND OF THE LINDSAYS.
16 It. In ye kitchen tuo big potts and a littel one of coper, three hrass pans,
tuo sause pans, a couer, tuo girdles [cake toasters], tuo brainders [gridirons], a drop-
ing pan, a standirt, five spitts, a scummer, a laidle [divider], a hacking [mincing]
knife, five candlesticks, tuo gullies [large knives], and ane ess [N shaped] gullie, a
ffrying pan, a pair of toangs, a mortar and pistell, a hand bell, two pair of snuffers
and nync pleats, eight asshits, ane doussing [dozen] and ane half of broth trunchers
[soup plates], four dusing of plain trunchers, three baisons, and ane pynt stoup, a
sowing* sidish [drainer], a coll riddle and tuo backits, a stooll, tuo raxis [frames
for holding plates], a copar kettel.
17 It. In ye woman house a bed wt a caff bed ane bolster, ane old chist and
ane new on, wt ye standirts of a table, a woull [wool] baskit.
18 It. In ye milk house three kirns, six milk cougs, three chessers [cheese-pres¬
ses?] a big table, a reaming dish and sidish, three washing cuidds [tubs] and a big on.
19 It. In ye brew huss three gallon trees,f on eighteen gallon tree, seven five
gallon trees, tuo tuentie pynt rubbers, two guill fatts [fermenting tun], a masking
[mashing] fatt, and a caldring [copper for boiling worts], a barm stop, a tumill, a
skimmer, a toun cog [round wooden vessel, with a long handle, used in fermenting
beer], a wirt dissli, a wirt skeel [a cooler, or square shallow sort of tub used in
cooling worts].
20 It. The roume oposite to John Straclians, a bed, a ffether bed, bolster and
pillow, tuo pair of blankets and a couring, and a caff bolster at ye futt, a table.
21 It. In ye servants roume a bed wt a caff bed and ffettlier bolster and tuo
pair of blankits; in ye other a caff bed and caff bolster, and tuo pair of blankits, a
table and a chair.
22 It. Ye porters roume, a bed wt tuo pair of blankits and a caff bed and a
bolster, a table and a chair and a couring.
23 It. In ye bottle house tuo bufe toubs [beef casks], tuo butter toubs wt covers.
24 It. In ye seller tuo hearing trees [bottle brushes ?] wt ane other a big chist,
a souing toub.
25 It. In ye cupboord, delivered as follows—tuo silver servers, a silver tanker,
four silver salts, sheugar box, tuo spise boxes of silver, tuo silver cadel cups, two
silver brandie disshes, a silver pottanger, tuo silver juggs, tuo silver tumblers, tuelve
silver hefted [handled] knives, eighteen silver fforks, forteen silver spoons and a big
silver one, thirtie-tuo glasses in ye cupboord, and three leam dishes standing high,
tuo glass dicanters, ane oyle glass and a vinegar glass, four christall salts, four
drinking glasses, tuo leam trunchers, a peuter dicauntor, a big queech [a drinking
cup with two or four ears or handles].
26 Novr. ye 3th 1712. It. of chopen bottles twentie three doussing and three.
27 Ane particular account of qt linnings my lady liase delivered to Mrs.
Adam at her entree, Novr. ye 22d, 1712.
Impr. Off linning sheets forteen pair, and four pair of ffyne sheets.
It. Of course sheets eighteen pair.
It. Of pillavers [pillowslips ?] fortie eight.
It. Of bed sheet tuo.
It. Of neapons thirteen doussing and seven, whereof 5 doussing and seven ffyne.
It. Of toualls [towels] ffyfteen.
It. Of table cloaths tuelve.
* " Soivevs—flummery made of dust of oatmeal remaining among the seeds, steeped and
.soured."—(Jamieson.) f <lanlrcss, or stand for holding barrels.
addenda—muetiiill.
143
It. Three pair of old sheets for mending the rest, qcli she is to compt for.
It. Two cupboard table cloaths.
In another but incomplete inventory, dated 1st November 1709, the first and
second entries give a detail, but imperfectly, owing to the manuscript being con.
siderably defaced, of wearing apparel, thus:—
ten fyne schirts wt . . course shirts . . seven pair of stockens, with
. . pair of silk ones and a pair of cotton ones.
my ladies cloaths, eight fyne shirts, eight course ones, eight hand kircbiffs, six
aprons and tua tueeling ones, four busten west coats, six soot [suits] of night-
cloaths, six soot of piners and a combing cloath, three hoods .
ADDENDA TO THE TENT.
JUturtl) til.—(To follow page 273.J
This property, which lies in the parish of Tannadice,* was also
owned by Lindsays at an early period. The omission of Murthill
in its proper place arose from our inability to identify it at the
time with any lands in the county. This was owing to the
metamorphosed form in which it appears both in Robertson's
Index and in the Great Seal, where it is severally written
" Murletyre," and " Murlettre." Since printing the sheet in
which the account of this estate should have appeared, the writer
has been favoured with an extract from a notice of it which
occurs in the Harleian MSS. in the British Museum, where it
bears the less obscure form of " Murethlyn."
According to the Great Seal Register, Sir John Lindsay of
Thuirstown acquired this property from John Wallays of Ricar-
ton in the Mearns, in the year 1329. It was held under the
superiority of the Crown; and Lindsay's charters being among
those which were destroyed by the conflagration of the monastery
of Fale, he had these renewed according to the following finding
of the assise :—" At a sheriff's court of the King's tenants of
Forfarshire, held at Perth on the 21st July, in the thirty-first of
David II. (1360), it was found by an assise that the writs which
Sir John Lindsay, Knight, had of the lands of Murethlyn, in
the sheriffdom of Forfar, were totally burned in the sudden fire
of the monastery of Fale ; and that the said Sir John held these
lands of the King in capite for the service of one bowman in the
® In abounding charter of the Ferne writs, among the Caraldstone papers, the hill of
St. Arnold's Seat, in this parish, (ut sup., n. p. t'73) is named " St. Ennand's Seit,"
344
ADDENDA—FYFE MORTIFICATION.
King's army, and three suits yearly at the Court of the Sheriff of
Forfar; and that, on that finding, the King renewed his charters."*
Murtliill had passed from the Lindsays some time before
1377, for of that date Malcome de Kamsay of Auchterhouse,
gave charters of Morthyll, and the tenement of Kinalty to Hew
Lyell,t in which family Murtliill continued till at least Guynd's
time, circa 1G82.
dfgfc iHorttfication.—(Page 112.4
Besides gifting a bell to Navar, Mr. John Fyfe, Minister of
that parish, also mortified the sum of a thousand marks Scots,
or about £55 lis. l^d. sterling, " for the maintenance of ane
student at the Theologic Colledge of St. Andrews; and whensoever
that occasion could not be hade of a student standing in need yrof,
he appointed the said annuel rent to be employed for helping
sum poor mens' children to be educat at the gramer sclioole of
Brechin; and in speciall, that if any of his freinds and relationes
stood in need yrof, these to be preferred before any vther."|
The first person whom we have found taking advantage of
this excellent mortification, was the Bev. Mr. Robert Noray of
Lethnot, who, on shewing " his mean condition and inabilitie to
educat his two sones at school and colledge," had a grant of
the life-rent of the money, by consent of the Bishop and minis¬
ters^ This occurred in 1663, and his example was followed, for
a long time, by many others; but by some oversight, the grant
fell into disuitude, till revived a few years ago.
Note to page 186, line 15.
The wife of Alexander Lindsay of the Yayne, was named Elizabeth Bethune, as
appears from charters of the lands of Skyne (Scryne), and Yayne, dated respectively
31st Aug. 1547, and 1st April 1550.—(Information received from Lord Lindsay
since the notice of Feme was printedJ. Perhaps Elizabeth was a daughter of
Cardinal Beaton, and sister to Margaret Beaton, who was married to the son of the
" \Vicked Master" of Crawford.
* Bibl. Harl, 4628, MSS. Brit. Mus.—Copied by P. Chalmers, Esq., of Aldbar.
t Robertson's Index. | Presby. Itcc. of Brechin, fol. 58. § Ibid., fol. 9.
GENERAL INDEX.
GENERAL INDEX.
Abbes of Edzell and Brechin, 23; of Aber-
eloth, 24.
Aberbothrie lands, 288.
Aberbrothoc. See Arbroath.
Aberdeen, Bishop of, 32.
Abemethy, Family of, 191 ; Arms, 13 ;
Sir Hugh, Chamberlain of Menmuir,
246 ; of Lour, 300 ; Town of, 133.
Aboyne, Charleton of, 96 ; Earl, 163.
Adecat, Lands of, 226.
Adder Stones. See Superstitions.
Adzell, Family of de, 23, 31.
Affleck, and Aghelek. See Auchenleck.
Aikenhatt church, 132-34.
Air, Richard, of Kuikstone, 194.
Aird, Lands of the, 30.
Airlie church, 283; Lands of (Eroly), 295.
Allardis, John of Inverquharity, 275.
Aldbar, Chalmers of, 188 ; Cramond of,
194, 257 ; Lyon of, 336. See Chal¬
mers.
Altrie, Lord, Founder of Benholm Castle,
320 ; Margaret, daughter of, 277.
Alyth Forest, 138; Lands and Forest,
284; Church, Chapel, Parson, Town,
&c., 283.
Annandale of Invereskandy, 31.
Anandia, Sir David de, 139, 140; Wil¬
liam de, and Patrick of Melgund, 140.
Anderson, Eev. Mr. of Oathlaw, pulled
out of the pulpit, 136.
Angus Highlanders, Description of, 79.
Conquhare, Earl of, 21 ; Gilchrist,
188 ; Tradition concerning, 275 ;
Male., 197 ; Thos., 309 ; Gilliebrede,
and Umphraville, 310 ; Countess Mar¬
garet, 191, 275 ; Maud, 310.
Keraldus "Judex" of, 216-17-98;
Bricius, 216.
John de, Parson of Lethnot, 105.
Antioeh, Church of, noticed, 87.
Arrat, Lands of, 226; Arbuthnott of, 336.
Arbirlot, Abbe of, 24; Kirk-bell, 113.
Arbroath, Battle of, 143 ; Rhymes re¬
garding, 144-5 ; noticed, 225, 275,
280, 302 ; Lindsay properties in town
of, 302-3.
Arbuthnott of Findowrie, Licenced to Eat
Flesh, &c., 253; Fined by E. Mid-
dleton, 253, 301 ; Notice regarding
Family of, 335 ; Losses sustained
through M. of Montrose, 336 ; Curi¬
ous Letter to, regarding Vacancy in
the Kirk of Menmuir, 338 ; Hugh of
Brichty, 310 ; of Balmakewan, 321;
Dr. John, 316.
Ardestie Chapel, 366.
Ardo, Lands of, 226.
Ardovie, George Speid of, 294.
Argyle Highlanders in Edzell, 56-7;
Earl of, Proprietor of Farnell; Gift
of F. to the Countess of Crawford,
197 ; his Ravages in Clova, 281.
Arnhall, Old Rental of, and Relics of
Soutliesk family, 101; Barony of, 199.
Arnold's Seat. See St. Ennand.
Assuanlee Cup, 148.
Atliolia, Robert de, 26.
Athole, Stuart, Earl of, marriage with
heiress of Brechin, 116 ; his Execu¬
tion, 116; Annual Rent from Men¬
muir, 250.
Athyn. See Etliie.
Auceps, Win. de. See Falconer.
Auclicairnie, Lands of, 312.
Aucheen, Stone Coffin at, 90.
Auchenleck of that Ilk, 306; Armour
Bearers to the Earls of Crawford, 168 ;
of Barras, 315 ; le Napier of, and
Lands and Castle of, 306.
Auchmull Castle, Residence of Young
Edzell, 40 ; its Destruction, 58; Farm
House, 99 ; Bridge, 100.
Auchterhouse, Lyon of, 161 ; Buchan,
272; Ogilvy, 319; Ramsay, 323,344.
Aucliterless, Dempster of, 227.
Auchtermonzie, Lindsay of, 152, 154.
Auchinlochy Teinds, 179.
Auchnaoree, 130 ; Lands of, 198.
Badenoch, Wolf of, 29, 285.
Bakie, Heiress of, 282 ; Castle and
Chapel, 283.
Ballach, Story of Rollos of, 285.
us
GENERAL
INDEX.
Balberny, Lands of, 6, 191.
Balbirny of Inverichty, 1G8.
Balbirney and Mill, 269.
Balcarres, House of, 23, 56 ; Earl Colin,
48 ; Seventh Earl restored to the
titles of Crawford-Lindsay ; his claim
to the Dukedom of Monti'ose, 158.
Balconwell, Lands of, 249.
Baldovie, Melville of, 180.
Baldowry, Ward of, 295.
Balfield, Hamlet of, 123.
Balfour, in Edzell, 311; in Menmuir, 249.
Balgavies, Sir Walter L. of, 35; Destruc¬
tion of his Castle, 171 ; his Murder,
172.
Balhall, Lindsay of, 35, 36, 256; Various
Lairds of, 257-8 ; Death of Lord
Glamis at Moss of, 259.
Balhungie, Lands of, 171, 307.
Ballicliie, Rollo of, 251.
Balligillegronnd, Davocli of, 23.
Balinscho, Lands of, 276; Scrimzeour,
Ogilvy, Lindsay of; Murder of Ogilvy
by Lindsay, 276 ; Sir John L. and
Family of, Castle of, 277 ; Standing
Stone, and Chapel of, 279.
Balinhard, Gocelynus de, 193 ; Christian
and John de, 194; Lands of, 194.
See Carnegie.
Baliol's Penance at Stracathro, 146, 262 ;
Resignation of Crown at Brechin, 146.
Balmadies, Pierson of, 301, 333.
Balmadethy, Lands of, 6, 191.
Balmain, Ramsay of, 32, 312.
Balmakewan, Lands, and Family of, 321.
Balmashanner Hill, 18.
Balmcrino, Abbot of, 184.
Bahnyle. See Aberbothrie.
Balnabreich Lands, 217,228; Tower, 233.
Balnacraig, Chalmers of, 188.
Balnamoon, Family of Carnegy of, 253 ;
Rebel Laird of, 64, 254; his Cave
in Glenesk, 84, 232 ; Story of his
Sawing his Books to fit the shelves
refuted, 254-5; Sir Alexander of,
196, 252 ; of Careston, 217.
Balquliadly, L. of, 36, 186.
Balrownie Bridge, 108 ; Livingston of,
244; Lands of, 249, 253 ; Law of, 262.
Balumbie, Luvall of, 249.
Baluny, Lands of, 299.
Balruthric, Hands of, 119.
Baluly (Balwyllo), 23, 192.
Balwyndolloch (Ballindalach), Lands of,
284.
Balzordy, Lands of, 191, 247-50-53 ; ac¬
quired by Carnegy, 253. See Somyr.
Bandoch, Lands of, 294.
Bane's (Donald) Death at Rescobie, 138.
Bannockburn, Battle of, 188.
Barras, Lands of 314.
Barclay, Sir D., of Brechin, 24 ; Murder
of, 116; Heiress of, 114; of Balma¬
kewan, 321.
Barnyards, Castle of, 169.
Barry, Battle of, 187,307-8; Hill at Alyth,
Story of, 286.
Battledykes, Roman Camp of, 176.
Beardie's (Earl) Tree, 167 ; Well, 270.
See Crawford (4) Earl.
Beattie's Cairn, Story of, 259.
Beattie, George, Poet, 321; Dr. James,
72, 96, 321; Epitaph by, 108.
Beaton, Cardinal, 34, 155 ; Fables re¬
garding, 183, 200, 201, 309; David
de, Sheriff of Forfar, 246; of Etliie-
beaton, 309; Margt., 34; her Marriage
with E. of Crawf., 155 ; Eliz., 344.
Beaufort. See Lindsay, Sir Walter.
Bei... Richard, Vicar of Finhaven, 133.
Bells, Ancient Veneration for, 4 ; of St.
Lawrence at Edzell, 7 ; Chapel-bell of
Glenesk, 64 ; Church-bell of G., 72 ;
Bell of Navar at Arbirlot, 113 ; of
Oathlaw, 135; Feme, 183; Aber-
lemno, 183 ; Farnell, 197.
Bennet, Margaret of Grubbett, 163.
Benliam, Hew de, 320.
Benliolm Lands and Castle, 320.
Benread Hill, 281.
Ben vie, Lands of, 119.
Berkeley, Humprey de, and Rechenda, 3;
Wyrfaud 321; of Redcastle, 294.
Bervie, Church of, 315.
Berwick Castle taken by Bruce, 226.
Black, Jas., Founder of Gannocliy Bridge,
103 ; his Epitaph, 108 ; D. D., Esq.,
Brechin, 112, 265.
Black's Pot, Story of, 126.
Black Hill of Mark, 95.
Blackiemuir, Lands of, 320.
Blacklaw, Lands of 303.
Blackness, Rising at, 152, 251, 269, 310.
Blacksmith, L. Heredit. of Brechin, 269.
Blawart Lap, Tradition of, 262.
Blood-eating, Dispute regarding the Un¬
lawfulness of, 333.
Binny, Thos. ofFerne, 183.
Birse, Tenants of, 32 ; Episcopalians in,
64, 67.
Bochquharne Teinds, 179, 186.
Boetliius (Boyce, or Boyis), of Panbride,
303-4.
Bonington, Lyell of, 257.
Bonny Katie, Smelting Furnaces at, 78.
Bonnyman, Mr., Schoolmaster of Edzell,
10, 11, 16.
Both, Chapel of, 183.
Bothers (Cairnbank), Lands of, 226.
Bouncle, Peter, Minister of Neudos, 20.
Bower of Kincaldrum, 296.
Boysack, Heiress of, 292.
GENERAL INDEX.
349
Braedownie, Hill of, 281.
Braeminzeon, Lindsays of, 282.
Braidcairn, Height of, 92.
Brako, Lands of, 249.
Branny River, 95.
Brechin : Cathedral, 105, 226, 262, 268 ;
Spire of, 105 ; Bishops of, 191, 284,
251, 218, 226, 822 ; Grange of, at
Farnell, 197; Maisondieu of, 115;
Castle Defended, 119 ; City of, 227 ;
Hauch of Inch, 249 ; Riot of Citizens
with Collace of Balnamoon, 251;
Findowrie's Lodging in, burned, 337 ;
Battle, 147, 195; Battlefield, 149,
269; Muir of, 191, 251 ; Village of
Little B., 191.
David de, 24, 80; his Execution,
115; and Navar, Lords of, 115, 122.
Lindsays, Hereditary Blacksmiths
of, 269 ; Sir John L. of, 269.
Breidin's Bay, 316.
Brichty, Lands of, 134, 185, 187, 310.
Bricius, "Judex" of Angus, 216.
Bride's Bed, 95.
Brigton, Death of Miss Douglas of, 98.
Broadlands, Lands of, 312.
Brochdarg, a famous Prophet, 127.
Broughty Castle, 152; 309-10.
Brown, Mr. (Epis. Minister of Glenesk),
and his Son, 65.
Brownie, or Ghaist of Ferne, 203-8.
Bruce and Comyn in Glenesk, 80.
Bruce, Margt. of Morphie, 322.
Buchan, Comyn, Earl of, and his Grant
to Arbroath from Finhaven, 139 ;
Stuart, Earl of, 273 ; Mrs. of St.
Kilda, Relieved, 220.
Burn, The, 92 ; Description of, 101.
Burnet of Leys, 200, 299.
Buttergill (Burgliill), 269.
Cairn, Lands of, 270.
Calder, Bravery of Young, at Finh., 147.
Caldhame, Arbuthnott of, 253.
Canterland, 322. See Lindsay of.
Calletar burn, 126 ; Tradition of, 127.
Cambestown, 308 ; Story of Cross, 307-8.
Carbuddo, Church and Lands of, 298.
Carcary, Lands of (Little), 195.
Cardinal Virtues at Edzell, 332.
Careston, Dempster of, 191, 231 ; Name
of, 216; Erection of Parish, 217;
Burial Vault, 218 ; Kirk Session,
220; Clergymen of, 218, et Errata;
Description of Castle, 234.
Carlocliy, 94.
Carlungie, Lands of, 172, 307-8.
Carnegie, Lands of, 194.
of that Ilk, 194-95; of Kinnaird,
Genealogy of, 192-200, 270. See
Southcsk, Earl of.
Carnegie of Pit arrow, 192, 250 ; Curious
Letter by Sir David of, concerning
wine and brandy, 335.
Careston and Balnamoon, Family
of, 253-54.
Finhaven, 160-1 ; his Murder of
Earl of Strathmore, 162 ; Barbara,
Lady Douglas, 163 ; of Cookston and
Craigo, 163 ; of Guthrie, 295.
Carneskcorn, Birks of, 100.
Carsgownie, Lands of, 139.
Cattanach, Jean, Epitaph on, 69.
Cateran, Ravages of the, in Glenesk, 79 ;
at Craigendowie, 130; at Ferne, 185,
209-14.
Caterthun, Forts of, 263; Traditions of,
265; noticed, 122-23.
Celestial Deities at Edzell, 330.
Chalmers, Pat., Esq., of Aldhar, 173,
250, 258, 295, 297, 335, 344.
Charles II. in Clova, 281.
Clochie, 105 ; Chapel Burned, 106.
Claleck, Lands of, 116.
Clova, 67, 126 ; Gifted to E. of Crawford,
279 ; to Young Ogilvy of Inverqu-
harity; Feud betwixt Clova and
Inverquharity; Indenture of Agree¬
ment, 280 ; Kirk, and Union of Cor-
tachy, 281; Castle, or Peel of, 281.
Cluny Castle, 286.
Cobb's Heugh, Story of, 125.
Coins of Mary and James, 90.
Cookstone, Carnegie of, 164; Lands of,
195, 245 ; Blair of, 62 ; Doig of, 199.
Collace of Balnamoon, 147; Lands Harried,
150, 225; Burial Place, 244; Family
of, 251 ; Riots with Citizens of Bre¬
chin, 251 ; Fall of the family, 252 ;
Patrick "beddell," 252.
Colliston, Guthries, Baronets of, 297,
Colmeallie Circle, 87—figured in Map.
Colluthie, Lands of, 195.
Conon, Lands of, 305.
Conquhare, Earl of Angus, 21.
Convetli. See Laurencekirk.
Coortford Bridge, 186.
Corb Castle, 285.
Cortacliy, Lands of, 114.
Covenant, Notices regarding the, 8, 42,
237-40, 242-43, 250, 272.
Cowie, Thane and Chapel of, 318.
Craig, Carnegie of, 196, 253.
Craigendowie, Traditions of, 124; the
Cateran at, 130.
Craigie, Guthrie of, 297.
Craigo, Dean Carnegy of, 164, 284 ; his
Epitaph, 332.
Craigmaskeldie, Height of, 92.
Cramond of Aldbar, 194, 257 ; Jas., Vicar
of Ferne, 180.
Crathilinthus, Earl of the Mearns, 21.
350
GENERAL
INDEX.
Crawford-Lindsay,"Genealogy and Origin
of, 27, 28.
Earldom, created, 28, 235, 268, 280;
(1) Earl's Tournament, 29, 104.
(2) E., 105, 142.
(3) E.'s League with Douglas,
142 ; his Death at Arbroath, 143.
(4) E. " Beardie " succeeded, 145 ;
his Defeat at Brechin, and Flight
to Finhaven, 147; his Forfeiture,
150 ;• Restoration, 151 ; Death and
Burial, 151; Traditions of, 166-67,195.
(5) E. See Montrose, Duke of.
(6) His Slaughter of his Brother,
and Death at Flodden, 154.
(7) Alex, of Auchtermonzie, 154.
(8) David, 154 (see Errata).
(9) E. See Edzell, (2) Da. of.
(10) E., 33-35 ; his Ingratitude,
155; Marriage with Margt. Beaton,
155, 289.
(11) E., Slaughter of Lord Glamis,
155; Unnatural conduct to his Fa¬
mily, 156.
(12) or " Prodigal Earl," 156 ; his
Death in Prison, 157.
(13) E. H., his Succession to the
Earldom, and Taste in Building at
Careston, 157, 227, 228, 232; Buried
at Finhaven, 135.
(14) E. and his Death in Ger¬
many, 158.
(15) E. died "frantic," 158.
(16) E. Ludovick, 158 ; his History
and Forfeiture, 159; in Menmuir,
242 ; his Death, 160.
(22) E., Death of, 158.
Princess Elizabeth, Countess of,
28, 142.
Countess Marjory, 31, 105, 275.
(9) Countess Cath., 35, 186, 197.
Countess Margt.'s Murder of Lord
Lindsay, &c., 281.
Earldom of Crawford-Lindsay re¬
stored to the Glenesk Branch, 158.
• Councillors of the Earls of, 168.
Crebyauch. See Carbuddo.
Cricliton of Euthven, 285, 287 ; of Uris,
319.
Cruik, Mill of, 249.
Cromwell's Soldiers at Edzell, 43 ; in
Parish Church, 44.
Cumming, Mary, 109 ; Hugh, Hermit of
Kilgery, 248.
Cupar, Grant to Abbey of, 184 ; Outrage
on, 226, 272, 283.
Dalbog (Devilbog, Dulbdok, Dulbrotlioc)
Chapelry, 2, 6, 21 ; Castle, 2, 22, 33 ;
Iron Mine, 82.
Dalforth, Human Skeleton at, 90.
Dalhousie, Marquis of, 119.
Dalrymple, C. Elpliinston, Esq., 148.
Danish Invaders, 170,187,216,262,307-8.
Darngate, Croft of, at Arbroath, 303.
David I.'s Battle at Stracathro, 262.
Davidson, Rev. Mr., of Glenesk, 66 ; of
Lethnot, 107.
Dee Castle, Kelpie's Needle at, 127.
Deities, Celestial, at Edzell, 330.
Dempster of Careston, 191 ; Family of,
225—27 ; of Dunichen, 227 ; of Men¬
muir, 250; Thomas, Ecclesiastical
Historian, 227; Rev. Mr., of Edzell, 8.
Dempsters, or Doomsters of Edzell. See
Duray.
Denliome, Margaret, Expenses for Burn¬
ing her as a Witch, 338.
Dennyferne Castle, 125.
Deucliar of that Ilk, slain by the Danes,
170, 183 ; Traditions of, 186-7 ;
Family History, 188 ; Jas. of Dundee
punished for falsehood, 189 ; Capt.,
R.N., 188; Alex.. Seal Engraver,
190 ; of Morningside, 190.
Teinds, 180 ; Lands, 186.
Devil, The. See Superstitions.
Differan Burn, 126.
Dildarg, John, Dispute with Minister of
Feme, 181, 333.
Dooly Tower, 101 ; Milldulie, 311.
Doig of Cookstone, 62, 199.
Dolas, John, of Newton of Inverquliarity,
275 ; of Kinneff, 315.
Donald's Cairn, Story of, 260.
Douglas, Earl's League with Crawford,
145 ; Murdered by K. James, 146 ;
Countess Janet, 117 ; Sir Alex, of
Glenbervie, 163; Sir John and Rob. of
Barras, 314-15 ; of Nathrow and
Tilliquhillie, 115 ; Hugh, son of E.
Morton, a Pauper, 220 ; Miss, of
Brigton, lost among the Snow, 98.
Dowhill, Lindsays of, 289, 332.
Downy, Thanedom of, 305 ; Castle, 306.
Drostan. See St. Drostan.
Droustie Well, Meadows, Kirk, 61, 81 ;
Inn, 96. See St. Drostan.
Druidical Stones. See Prehistoric Re¬
mains.
Drum, Height of Hill of, 92.
Drum, Irvine of, 31, 32.
Drumcairn, Lands of, 104.
Drumcuthlaw, Stone Coffins at, 214.
Drummore Hill (Edzell), 5, 6, 50, 90 ;
(Feme), 186.
Drymie, Forest of, 138.
Dubrach. See Grant, Peter.
Duff, Gen. Sir Alex., of Careston, 230.
Dumbarton, Castle of, 226.
Dun. See Erskine.
Duncan, Gov., of Bombay, notice of, 113.
GENERAL INDEX.
351
Dundas of Arniston, 1G2.
Dundee, Crawford Lodging in, 140; Con¬
vent for Christian Captives in, 141;
Monastery of Greyfriars, 105, 141.
William de, Parson of Alytli, 285.
Dunfind Castle, and Traditions of, 306.
Dunkeld, Bishops Nicolson and Lindsay
of, 289.
Dunkeny, Lindsay, Blair, Lamhy of, 284.
Dunlappie Lands, 6, 191; Woodside of,
64.
Dunoon, Vitrified Site of, 173.
Dunottar, Kirk and Castle of, 316-17.
Dunscarny Burn, 126.
Dunny, Duncan de, 305.
Duray of Durayhill, 3; their Fees as
Dempsters of Edzell, 51; Notice of
Family, 329 ; Epitaph on, 330.
Durham of Grange family, 168, 307.
Durward, Sir Allan of Lentrathen, 275.
Dysart, Melville of, 180 ; Lyell of, 257.
Easter Fowlis, Maules and Mortimers
of, 118.
Easton, John, 7.
Edgar of Keithock, family of, 270 ; anec¬
dote of Secretary, and notice of Bishop
E., 271.
Edinburgh, Greyfriars' Churchyard, 223 ;
Lord Phesdo's Epitaph in, 313.
Edzell (Edale, Adel, Edgehill), 1 ; Old
Kirk, 3, 7; Kirkyard, 5; Burial
Vault, 12; Traditions of, 13; El-
wyno, Parson, 3; Remarkable Death
of the Minister, 11; Story of the
Schoolmaster, 10; New Kirk, 6;
Session Records Destroyed, 10.
Lands of, 30; Hill, 52; Ancient
Proprietors, 6, 23, &c.; Old Rental
of, 326-29. See Lindsays of.
Original Castle, 5, 52.
Present Castle : Stirling Tower, 52,
78 ; Queen Mary's Bed-chamber, 54 ;
Kitchen and Court, 55 ; Dilapidation
of, 56-7 ; Iron Gate, 57 ; Great Hall,
9, 54; Death of " Kitchie Boy," 47 ;
Story of the Gold-seeker, 49.
Flower Garden, 38 ; List of Sculp¬
tures in, 330.
Village Planned, and Market In¬
stituted, 38.
Young Eagle's Loup, 83; Lady
Eagle's Chair, 125.
Effock Water, and Glen, 96.
Elwyno, Parson of Edzell, 3.
Episcopalians, Persecution of, 57, 64, 65,
106, 220.
Epitaphs:—at Edzell, 13, 330 ; at Glen-
esk, 69, 71, 72, 73, 74, 76; at Leth-
not, 107-8; at Invercauld, 109; at
Finhaven, 133; at Oathlaw, 135,
136; at Feme, 183; at Ivinnaird,
197 ; at Cortachy, 213 ; at Careston,
219; by Dr. Gillies, 222; at Mcn-
muir, 244-45; at Guthrie, and Aber-
lemno, 298; atKaterline, 315; at Dun¬
ottar, 319 ; atRescobie, Maryton, Lu-
nan, Farnell, and Balmadies, 332-33.
Ericht Water, 288.
Errol, Sir Gilbert de Hay of, 185.
Erskine, David, Lord Dun, 48, 257;
Notice of Family, 258 ; Death of Last
Laird, 298; John, 8; Built North-
water Bridge, 272 ; Keeper of Inver-
queich Castle, 287 ; Sir Thomas of
Brechin and Navar, 29, 117 ; of Car-
buddo, 298; of Morphie, 322 ; James
of Grange, 48.
Esk (North.) See Northesk.
Esk (South.) See Southeslc.
Ethie, Lands of, 195; Carnegie of, 293,
300; Church of, 294.
Ethiebeaton, Lands of, 309.
Eychles, Mat. de, of Barras and Uris, 319.
Fairies. See Superstitions.
Falconer, Wm. de, 319; Lord Plicsdo,
313 ; Hon. George, 193, 313.
Fale, Burning of the Monastery of, 343.
Farnell, Kirk and Castle, Duncan de ;
Edward I. at; Rume's Cross; Monu¬
mental Stone at, 197.
Fassington, William de, of Balmadethy,
191, 192.
Fasky, Lands of, 31, 32, 311-12.
Fausyde, Lands of, 315.
Fawside, Allan de, of Balmakewan, 321.
Fenton of Bakie, 282-83; Fentonhill, 284.
Fentoune, Paul of, 180; ofOgil, 191.
Fcnwick, William Guthrie of, 297.
Ferne, John of, 179.
Kirk, 182 ; Bell, 183; Teinds of,
179 ; Barony of, 196 ; Old Rental of,
198 ; Mill of, 179 ; the Law, 191,214 ;
Primitive Dwellings, 215; Ancient
and Modern Proprietors, 184-92.
Ferneden, Brownie or Ghaist of, 203-8.
Ferny bank Haugh, Spear Head and
Cairn in, 89.
Ferrier, a Jacobite Leader, 56, 57.
Fettercaim, Jas. L., Rector of, 35 ;
Black's Legacy to the Poor of, 108.
Fetteresso Church, 318.
Fife, Duncan, E. of, 6,191; Duff, 230,232.
Findowrie, Old Inscription at, 336. See
Arbuthnott.
Finhaven, Foundation of Church, 27, 34,
35, 132, 268 ; Floor of Glazed Tiles,
133 ; Burial Aisle, 135; Parsons of,
133-34.
Kirk of Oathlaw, 132 ; Ministers,
133, 161.
^52
GENERAL INDEX.
Finliaven, Barony, and Ancient Proprie¬
tors, 139, &c.; Modern, 160, &c.;
Ilaugh and Cunningair, 172.
Castle, 164; Inventory of Furni¬
ture in, 340 ; Demolition of, 165;
Traditions of, 166; ChesnutTree, 167.
Vitrified Fort or Site, 173-76.
Finnocli, Lands of, 105.
Fithie, Lands of, 195.
Fitz-Bernard of Katerline, 316.
Fletchers of Rostinoth, Balinscho, 278.
Flodden, Battle of, 32, 195, 230, 296.
Forbes, Isabella, of Edzell, 41; John, of
Pitsligo, killed at Brechin, 144 ; Dun¬
can, 162 ; of Craigievar, 228 ; of Fo-
veran, 230; of Alford, 231.
Fordoun, 20; Roman Camp, 177.
Ford, James, of Finhaven, 163.
Forester of Morphie, 322 ; Janet, of Bal-
nabreich, 228.
Forfar Castle taken by Bruce, 139.
Forket Acre, the, 269.
Fothringham, House and Family of, 299 ;
John of, 179; Catherine, 195; Nichol,
&c., of Powry, 22, 32, 168, 310.
Fox, the Hon. C. James, 121.
Frazer, Sir Alex., of Panbride, 303.
Free Church of Glenesk, 67.
Fyfe, Rev. Mr., of Navar, 111-12 ; his
Mortification to poor scholars, 345.
Fuirdstone Tower, 216, 233.
Fullarton, Mr., of Lethnot. &c., 104.
Gaigie, Guthrie of, 297.
Gainsborough, Earl of, 200.
Gall of Auchnacree, 183.
Gannochy Bridge, 91; Foundation, 102.
Garrioch, Andrew de, 188.
Garvock, Vitrified Site of, 173.
Garden ofBellastreen, Epitaph on, 71; of
Troup, 71; of Midstrath, 72 ; Factor
for York Buildings Co., 77 ; of Legi-
ston and Tulloes, 296.
Gardenstone, Lord, Founder of Burgh of
Laurencekirk, 321.
Gardyne of that Ilk, 163, 168, 193; of
Middleton, 163; Burial-place, 294.
Garlobank, Lands of, 42.
Geddes, Jeanie, 164, 284.
Geary Burn, 247. See Kilgery.
Gella, Lindsays of, 283.
Ghaist o' Ferneden, Ballad of, 206.
Gilfumman, Rocking Stone of, 85.
Gillies, Dr. John, Historian, 182 ; Notice
of, 221; Epitaph by, 222 ; John, Mi¬
nister of Careston, 219; Dr. John
of Glasgow, 221; Lord Adam, 222-3 ;
Colin, 223; Thos. of Balmakewan,
224; Robert Pearce, 223-4 ; his Story
of Balnamoon refuted, 254.
Gladstone, Sir John, ofFasky, 312.
Glamis, Thanedom of, 259, 273 ; Castle,
283 ; Murder of Lyon of, 259 ; Exe¬
cution of Countess noticed, 283,
Glascorry Mill, Story of " Melder Sifter"
at, 124.
Glaskeler (Glaslaw ?), Lands of, 315.
Glen, Sir J., of Inchmartin, 255, 275.
Glenbrierachan, Battle of, 29.
Glencairn, Warnabald, E. of, noticed, 3.
Gleneffock, Lands of, 227.
Glenesk, Kirk Founded, 60 ; a Chapelry
of Lethnot, 61; Erected into a Parish,
62 ; Kirk Burned by Montrose, 67;
Old Kirkyard, 67-8 ; Kirk Bell, 72 ;
New Kirkyard, 72 ; Ministers, 62-75;
Episcopal Chapel Burned by Cum¬
berland, 65 ; Rebuilt, 66 ; Ministers
of, 63, &c.
Family of de, 25; Stirlings of, 26.
Bruce and Comyn in, 80 ; Minerals
of, 82-83.
Glenlee, Hamlet of, 93.
Glenmark, 73, 83, 84, 85.
Glenmuick, Schoolmaster of, 70.
Glenqueicli, Lands of, 272.
Glentanner, Pass by, to Deeside, 96.
Glocester, Matthew de, of Dunottar,
317-18.
Gordon, Lord Adam, of The Burn, 101 ;
Anecdote of Gordon of Pitlurg, 147 ;
Janet, Countess of Crawford, her
Murder of her Husband, 287.
Graham of Old Montrose, 196, 199, 250 ;
of Largie and Morphie, 314-15.
Grainger, Minister of Kinneff, 314.
Grandtully, Stewart of, 220.
Grant, Peter, Epitaph, and Notice of,
109 ; Anecdote of his Daughter, 110.
Grassywalls Roman Camp, 177.
Gray, Lord, Sheriff of Angus, 153, 191,
287, 310 ; Lady Janet, 12 ; Sir Pat.,
29 ; Master of, Killed in a Duel, 179.
Greencairn, Vitrihed Site of, 173.
Greenhill, Charles, of Feme, 193, 223 ;
David, of Craignathro, 163, 193.
Gray, Rev. Mr., of Edzell, Opposition to,
9, 10, 325.
Grinter Croft of Arbroath, 303.
Gryp Dyke, 73 ; Gryp's Chamber, 95.
Guinevra Monuments at Meigle, 289.
Guthrie, Lands, Kirk, and Family of
that Ilk, 295-98; of Kinblethmont,
294 ; of Lunan, 195 ; of Kincal-
drum ; Richard, Abbot of Arbroath;
of Ravensbie ; James, the Martyr,
296; Bishop of Moray, 296-97; Castle
of, 297 ; Hilton of, 172; William, his¬
torian, 297 ; of Brechin, 245 ; Tradi¬
tion of name of, 297; John of Pit-
powoks, 227.
Guthryn. See Guthrie.
GENERAL INDEX.
IIaercairn of Stracathro, 149; Stone Oof-
fins at Markliouse, 170.
Haerpithaugh, Ancient Traces at, 214.
Halkett of Pitfirran, 284.
Hallyburton, Lord D. Gordon, 163.
Hamilton, Mr. Thomas, Minister of
Feme, 179 ; Lady Ann, Countess of
Southesk, 198; James, Minister of
Menmuir, 241.
Harlaw, Battle of, 187, 195, 230.
Hart, Edward, Elegy on, 76.
Hassa of Glenbervie, 307.
Haugh of Brechin (Haughmuir), 269.
" Hawkit Stirk," Story of the, 210.
Ilay of Errol, 185, 307 ; Tradition of
Origin, 187; of Tillybothwell, 185,
310; Mr., Eeader of Glenesk, 61.
Headache, Curious Prescription for, 249.
Heatherwick, Lands of, 116.
Hepburn, Harry, attacks Collace's Ser¬
vants, 251.
Herbertsliiel Castle, 314.
Herd, David, Ballad Collector, 321.
Highland Dress Prohibited, 64.
Hole of Weems in Clova, 281.
Honeyman, Minister of Kinneff, 314.
Hopetoun, Earl of, 222.
Huddleston, R., Antiquary, noticed, 86.
Hunter, J. G., of Blackness, 253.
Huntingdon, Earl of, 115.
Huntly, Earl of, 143 ; Anecdote of, before
the Battle of Brechin, 147.
Inciigrundi.e, 95.
Innerdovat, Lands of, 172.
Innerineath, Lord, of Bandoch, 294.
Inglis, Rev. Mr., of Loclilee, 66; Anec¬
dote of, 75.
Inverarity, Kirk of, 134 ; Hilton, 298.
Invereskandy, Lands of, 14, 30.
Inverkeillor Kirk and de Berkeley of, 294.
Invermark Castle, noticed, 34, 40, 92;
described, 77; its destruction, 77;
Iron Gate, 78; New Lodge at, 92;
Deer Forest, 93.
Inverpeffer, John de, Parson of Lethnot,
and Family of, 105.
Invcrqueich Castle, Romantic Site, 285 ;
Edward I.'s stay at, Gifted to Jas.
de L., 286 ; Story of Lord L.'s Mur¬
der, 287-8.
Inverquharity Castle noticed, 78; Li¬
cense by Jas. I. to erect a Gate in,
276. See Ogilvy of Inverquharity.
Irvine of Drum Surprises Sir Walter L.
of Edzell, 31.
Isla River, 285.
Jackston, Marg., Wife of Maj. Wood, 17.
Jackston, Lands of, 116.
James III., Death of, 153.
Jamieson, John, Dr., 274.
Jerusalem, Sir Alex. L.'s Pilgrimage to,
27, 140.
Jock Barefoot, Story of, 167, 236.
Johnstone, Rev. Mr., of Brechin, 9.
Jolly, Mr., Episcopal Minister of Glenesk,
66, 98.
Ivaterline, Kirk and Lands of, 315-16.
Keith of Dunottar, Real and Fabulous
History of, 186-7, 307-8 ; of Ben-
holm, 320 ; of Canterland, 322 ; of
Phesdo, 313; of Uris, 319; Bishop
K., 319. _
Keithock, Lindsay of, 33; Roman Camp,
177 ; Gallows Hill, 191 ; Little K.,
233. See Edgar.
Kelpie. See Superstitions.
Kemphill, Lands of, and Story of Kemp-
castle, 172.
Kenneth III., Murder of, 262, 340.
Keraldus, "Judex" of the Earls of An¬
gus, 217, 233.
Keryngton, Walter de, Parson of Dun¬
ottar, 317.
Kettins Church, 141.
Killievair Stone, Tradition of, 262.
Kilford in Glenesk, 89.
Kilgery Forest, 138, 247, 251; Chapel,
247; Cemetery, 249; Hermitage, 249.
Kincaldrum, Guthrie, AVemyss, and
Bower of, 296.
Kinnaird, Mariota de, 194; Richard Air
of, 194; Kirk of, 197.
Castle, Burned by Earl Bcardie,
150, 195; King James VI., Charles
1. and II., and Chevalier at, 196;
Large Trees and Park, 198.
Kinblethmont, Barony of, 31, 184, 185,
290 ; Lindsays of, 290-93 ; Melville,
Seynclau, Montealto, Guthrie, and
Young of, 294.
Kincardine, Palace of, 312, 339 ; Church,
340.
Ivincraig, Lands of, 117, 269.
Kindrokwood (Ivintrockat), 269.
Kinneff, Kirk and Lands of, 314 ; Sir A.
L., of, 29, 30.
Ivinnell Kirk, 303.
Kinncttles, Kirk and Lands of, 300.
Kinnoull, Lord, 135, 160.
Kinfauns, Lordship of, 227-8.
King's Ford, 262; Palace, Seat, and
Bourne, 177.
Kingenny Forest, 138.
Kingornie Chapel, 314-15; Landing-
place of David II., 316.
Kinloch of Kilrie Burial-place, 279.
Kirriemuir, Regality of, 227.
Knights of St. John, 2, 19; Templars,
2, 289, 316.
T
354
GENERAL INDEX.
Knocknoy (Knocqy), 24, 30.
Knox, John, Preaches to a Witch, 26(3.
Kukyston, Duthuc de Carnegie of, 194.
Lady Bank of Arbroath, 302.
Lancaster, Duke of, Routed, 29.
Lang-lands, Lands of, 172.
Lauriston, Laird of, Slain, 187.
Laurencekirk, burgh of, 321.
Lee, the River, 77, 94,; Loch and Falls,
94.
Leech, J., Latin Poet, Epigram by, 244;
Notice of, and Ode by, 252.
Leadbeakie, Rhyme concerning, 127.
Ledenhendrie, Macintosh of, 136 ; Battle
with the Cateran, 209, 214.
Legiston, Gardens of, 296.
Leighton of Ulishaven, 29 ; Notice of
Sir David, K.C.B., 244.
Leitch, Epitaph on two Brothers, 108.
Lemno Water, 132.
Lesley ot Rothes, 31 ; of Balquhain, 227 ;
of Lour, 300.
Lethnot, Church and Old Clergy of,
104-5 ; United to Navar, 104 ; Cha-
pelry of in Glenesk, 61 ; Old Rental
of, 326-29 ; Bridge, 107, 123.
Lands of in Clova, and Story of
Chapel, 282.
Leuchars, Lands of, 195, 199.
Leuchland, Lands of, 116, 269 ; Murder
of Young Graham of, 249.
Levinston, Isabel, Lady, of Edzell, 32.
Leys, Burnet of, 200, 299, 312.
Lichton, Sir Henry de, 105.
Lindsay, Genealogy and Name of, 27-28 ;
Arms, 13 ; Aversion to the Colour of
Green, 147.
Lord, Author of "Lives," 42, 134,
148, 158, 169, &c.
Sir Alex., of Glenesk, 26, 27,
114, 132, 134; his Death, 27, 140,
188, 268, 275, 285.
Sir Alex., of Crawford, 20, 284.
Sir Alex., of Kinneff, Routes Eng.
at Queensferry, 29; his Death at
Yerneuil, 30, 314.
A., of Yayne, 33, 36,186,192,344.
Alex., of Auchtermonzie, 152.
Sir David, of Crawford, '20.
(1) Sir David, of Glenesk, 29. See
Crawford, (1) Earl of.
Sir D„ of Edzell (1), 32.
(2) D. of, 9tli Earl of Crawford, 12,
QQ aq qa 7s
(3) Sir D. Lord Edzell, 8, 35, 36 ;
his Character, &c., 37, 82, 78, 163,
186, 196, 256, 299.
(4), D. or "Young Edzell," Riots
in Edinburgh, and Slaughter of Lord
Spynie, 39-42 ; " Offeirs" for, by, 41.
Lindsay, (5) David of E., 44.
(6) David, the last Laird, opposition
to Preby., 9, 44, 325 ; Traditions of,
46, 47 ; his Death, 48.
David, of Dunkeny, Bishop of Edin¬
burgh, 164, 284.
of Keithock, 33, 270.
David, of Pitairlie, 134.
Sir Jas., Murder of L. Glamis, 259.
of Brechin, 269.
James, Parson of Fettercairn, 35.
John. See Menmuir, Lord.
Sir John, of Woodwray, 170, 320.
Sir John, of Careston, 228.
John, of Blairiefeddan, 170.
John, of Canterland, 40, 41 ; his
Succession to Edzell, 42; Augments
Stipend of the Reader of Glenesk, 62,
322.
John, of Markhouse, 169.
Robert, of Balhall, 35, 36, 244;
Family of, 256.
Sir Walter, of Beaufort and Edzell,
'23, 30; his Character, and Tulzie
with Laird of Drum, 31; his Guar¬
dianship of the fifth Earl, 152 ; of
Feme, 186, 301; of Panhride, 304.
Sir Walter, of Balgavies, 35, 155 ;
his Murder, 172, 299.
Sir Wm., of Covington, Story of, 14.
of Balmakewan, 321.
Barras, 314.
—:— Benholm, 320.
Blackiemuir, 321.
Byres, .152-9.
Carbuddo, 298.
Craighead, 269.
Dunottar, 316.
Evelick, 301-2.
Glenqueich, 272.
Guthrie, 295.
Halch or Barnyards of Tannadice,
168.
Inverarity, 298.
Inverquharity, 295.
Kinhlethmont, 290-1; Capt. James
of, 293.
Kinnettles, 300.
Little Coull, 272.
Meathie Lour, 300.
Meigle, 289.
Murtliill, 343.
Phesdo and Broadlands, 313.
Uris and Lumgair, 319.
David, 180.
Dr. Thos., of Armagh, 300.
Lady, Augments Reader's Stipend
of Feme, 180, 186.
Lady, Castle in Ericht Water,
288. _
Elizabeth, Lady Drummond, 35.
GENERAL INDEX. 355
Lindsay, Lady Jane, absconds with a
"Jockey with the Horn," 157.
Mary, 203.
Margaret, Countess of Athol, 35.
"William de, 310.
Janet, of Edzell, 44, 45.
Jean Maria, 46.
Margaret, Lady Aitherny's Marri¬
age, 44 ; her Visit to Edzell, 45.
Helen, Wife of Dean Carnegy, 164.
Rev. Mr., of Edzell, 9 ; of Careston,
218.
John, in Dalbog, 17.
" Sleepin' Effie," Story of, 14.
Lintrathen, 4 ; Church of (Lunderthin),
275 ; Durward, and Ogilvy of, 275.
Little Pert, Lands of, 272.
Livingstone of Balrownie, 244.
Lochlee. See Glenesk.
Logy, John de, of Glamis and Tanna-
dice, 273.
London Bridge Tournament, 29.
Low, Rev. George, of Birsay, 17.
Lour, or Lur of that Ilk, 300.
Lumgair, Lands of, 319.
Lunan (Invcrlunan), Montealto of, 185;
Guthrie of, 195 ; Theft of a Horse
from, 314.
Lundie, Slaughter of Laird of, 36, 186,
256 ; of Benholm, 320; Dame Mar¬
garet of that Ilk, 160.
Lundres, Robert de, 285.
Lunross, Lands of, 282.
Luvell of Balumhie, 249.
Lychtonhill, Lands of, 118.
Lyell, Hew, of Murthill, 344.
Lyon of Aucliterhouse, 161 ; David, of
Kinnell, 269. See Glamis.
M'Ixroy, Major, of The Burn, 100.
Maidie's Well, 303.
Maitland, Anna Lundin, 160 ; Wm., his¬
torian, noticed, 176.
Malherbe of Rossy, 23.
Manchester, Duke of, 302.
Mansfield, Lord, 301.
Marr, Earl of, Lord of Brechin, 117 ;
E. Donald, and Countess Is., 279 ;
E. Thos., 285.
Mark, The River, 78 ; Bridge, 95.
Markliouse, Ravages of Montrose over the
Lands of, 336-8; Lindsay of, 138,169,
203; Arbutlinott, and Knox of, 253.
Marykirk Church, 319 ; Letter by Min¬
ister of (Aberluthnot), 338.
Maule ofPanmure, Genealogy of, 118-22;
House, and Burial-place, 304 ; Wm.,
and Patrick of Fowlis, 118; Sir Thos.
deprived of the Lordship of Brechin,
116; Sir Pat. ennobled, 118; Sir
Thomas'Defence of Brechin Castle,
119; Sir Walter's Grant of Car¬
negie to de Balinhanl, 194; Sir
Harry of Kelly, 120, 295, 297. See
Panmure.
Meathie-Lour, Kirk and Lands of, 299.
Meigle Lands, 288-9 ; Family of De,
289 ; Nicolson, Parson of, 289; Tem¬
ple Lands, and Guinevra Monu¬
ments, 289.
" Melder Sifter," Story of, 124.
Melville of Barras, 315; Richard, of Kin-
blethmont, 294; Andrew, the re¬
former, 35; James, Minister of Feme,
180, 241, 276 ; Family of, 180.
Mclgund, Patrick Annand of, 140; Castle,
155, 183.
Memus, Lands of, 272.
Menmuir Kirk, and old Clergy of, 241 ;
Graveyard, 243-45 ; Royal Residence,
and Poverty of the Husbandmen,
246; Ancient and Modern Proprietors,
247-58 ; Ivirkton, Brewlands, and
Chymmess Lands noticed, 249.
Lord, 8, 35, 36, 37, 156, 256 ; Ca¬
therine, Daughter of, 277.
Menzies, Forester of Alyth, 286.
Merton,Nicol de, Parson ofKinnettles,300.
Middieton, E. of, 8; his Father killed by
Montrose's Soldiers, 237.
Mill, Jn., of Ferne, 314; of Balwyllo, Old
Montrose, Balhall, 192-3; Jas., author
of Hist, of British India, 272.
Millton of Clova, House at, 281.
Minerals of Glenesk, 82-3.
Minstrel, Story of the, at Finhaven, 166.
Mitchell of Nether Careston, 232.
Modlach Hill, 89, 98.
Monifieth Kirk, 275.
Monikie Castle, 306.
Monks' Pool in Glenesk, 61, 90.
Mons Grampius, Battle of, 177.
Montfort of Kinneff, 314-15.
Montreuthmont Forest, 138, 195.
Montrose, Town of, 252.
David Lindsay created Duke of,
152 ; Sheriff of Angus and Keeper of
Broughty Castle, 152 ; Forfeiture and
Restoration of Dukedom, 153 ; his
Death, 154; noticed, 105, 117, 154,
186, 195, 227, 269, 300, 309 ; Duch¬
ess of, 22, 93 ; Claim for Restoration
of Title by the E. of Crawford and
Balcarres, 153.
Marquis of, his Marriage, 196;
Birth-place, and Portrait, 199; his
Soldiers in Edzell, 43 ; in Glenesk,
67, 240 ; in Kincardineshire, 237 ;
in Dundee, 238; his Retreat, 237-
40; his Betrayal and Execution, 240 ;
Letter by, to Arbutlinott of Fin-
dowrie, 336.
356
GENERAL INDEX.
Morraine in Eclzell and Glenosk, 92.
Morainvilliers, Family of, 118.
Moray, Angus Earl of Killed, 262 ;
Bishop Guthrie of 296-7.
Morliam of Panbride, 303.
Morphyfraser, Lands of 322.
Mortification, the Fyfe, 344.
Mortimer, Roger de, of Easter Fowl is, 118.
Mount Battock, 98.
Mount Keen, Pass of 78 ; Height of 92.
Mowat's Seat, 185. See Montealto.
Mowbray, Sir John, 80.
Muir, Rev. Mr., of St. Vigeans, 92.
Murran, Bridge of 100.
Murray of Henderland, 302 ; John, Min¬
ister of Careston, 218.
Murtliill, Lands of, 343.
Mulgrave Castle, tradition of, 265.
Murlingden, noticed, 223.
Muiresk, Dempster of, 227.
Montcalto, Richard do, of Kinbletlimont,
294 ; Family of Feme, 183 ; of
Briclity, 310; John de, Parson of
Finhaven, 134, 185; Eda, Sheriff of
Forfar, 246.
Natier, Matheu le, of Aglielek, 306.
Naysmyth, Violet, 163.
Nathrow, Lands of, 115, 118, 124; Burn
of 126.
Navar, Belfry and Inscription on, Origin
and Loss of Bell, 111-12; Churchyard,
123 ; Fyfe's Mortification, 344. See
Brechin and Navar.
Neudos, Kirk, 19 ; Thanedom, 20, 30 ;
Dristan's Well, and Kirkton, 20.
Newbigging, Standing Stone at, 125.
Newmanswalls, Panter of, 194.
Newton of Stracathro, 224.
Nine Virgins, or Nine Maidens, 133.
Ninewell of Finhaven, 132.
Noran Water, 182, 186, 200.
Noranside, Carnegy of 193.
Noray, Rev. R., of Lcthnot, 344.
North Esk, noticed, 1, 51,91; its Source,
95; The Burn, 101 ; Bridge built by
Erskine of Dun, 272.
Northesk, Earls of, noticed, 160, 196,
200, 293-94, 300.
Nutlirie of Invereskandy, 31.
Oatiilaw. See Finhaven.
Ocliterlony of the Guynd, 301.
Odin Stone, tradition of the, 127.
Ogil, Lairds of, 187, 191.
Ogilvy, Glen of, 133; Story of William
the Lion in, 275.
Sir John of Lintrathen, 4, 295 ;
Sir Walter,- 275, 295 ; at Battle of
Glenbrierachan, 29 ; Real and Tra¬
ditionary Origin of the Family, 275 ;
noticed, 31, 34, 35; Story of Lord
Airlie, 196 ; E. of Findlater, 248.
of Inverquharity, Justiciary of Ar¬
broath, 143; his Death and Burial-
place, 144; Family of, 275; noticed,
78, 161.
Thomas, of Clova, his Treachery to
his Clan, and Grant of Clova to by
E. Crawford, 144, 168, 275.
of Lumgair and Barras, 314, 319.
Andrew, and David, Parsons of
Lethnot, 105.
—•— of Owris, 189, 319.
(Marion), Residence of, 155.
Old Montrose, Lands of, 196 ; (Aid Mun-
ros), 199, 250.
Oliphant, Lord, Trial of, for Murder, 249 ;
of Uris, 319.
Olipliard, Sheriff of the Mearns, 307.
Owris. See Uris.
Palestine. See Jerusalem.
Panbride, Church, 303; Barony of, 31,
195, 303; Old Rental of, 304.
Panmure, (1) Earl of, bought Brechin
and Navar, 117; his Friendship for
Charles I., and Elevation to the Peer¬
age, 119; (4) E. bought Glenesk, 47,
56; Forfeited, 120 ; (5) Earl restored
to the Titles, and re-purchased his
Family Estates, 120.
Lord, Anecdote of the late, 99;
noticed, 278, 100, 110, 112, 113; his
Death, 121 ; Testimonial, 309; Fox,
122. See Maule.
Panter of Newmanswalls, 194.
Paphry Burn, 126.
Patterson, Col., Wm., 300.
Patrick, Bishop of Brechin, 105.
Peel of Clova, Destruction of the, 281.
Petpullocks, Lands of, 117, 227, 269.
Pettintoscall (Bantascall, Pantascall,
Pantassle), Lands of, and Burn, 227,
269.
Pettyndreich, Lands of, 118, 269.
Phesdo, Lands of, 312.
Philorth, Young Laird of, Murdered, 31.
Pierson of the Guynd. See Balmadies.
Pinkie, Battle of, 230.
" Piper o' Dundee," Hero of Song of, 199.
" Pit and Gallows " of Edzcll, 51.
Pitarrow, Carnegie of, 199; Wishart, 321.
Pitairlie, Sir John L. of, 269, 307;
Castle, 306.
Pitforthy, Mrs. Hay Mudie of, 224;
Lands of, 226 ; Guthrie of, 297.
Pitforkie, Lands of, 217.
Pitkerro, Lands of, 307.
Pitmois, Mill of, 227.
Pitmudie, Lands of, 249. Sec Spalding
Pitmimoon, Lands of, 312,
GENERAL
INDEX.
357
Plater Forest, Grant of Timber from, 137;
Hay and Arable Land in, 138 ; Lind¬
say's Hall, 138; Foresters of, 138,160.
Poolbrigs Castle, 6.
Polayne, Hew, of Finhaven, 139.
Popish Movements, 156, 171.
Port-on-Craig, 310.
Pow Water and Bridge, 196-7.
Prehistoric Remains—
Rocking Stones of Gilfumman, 85;
of Kells, Beith, Kirkmichael, Dron,
Kirriemuir, 86. Standing Stones of
Colmeallie, 87; Newbigging, 125;
Killievair, 262; Balinscho, 279. Law
at Balrownie, 262. Circle at Ferny-
bank, 89; at Craigendowie, 124.
Spear and Flint Arrow Heads in
Glenesk, 89; Stone Celts, Querns,
and Coins at Edzell, 90. Sepulchral
Traces at Auclieen, 90 ; Colmeallie,
87; Dalbog, 21; Dalforth, 90 ; Ferne,
214 ; Finliaven, 177 ; Haercairn and
Haerland Faulds of Markhouse, 170 ;
Menmuir, 261; Stracathro, 262;
Woodwray, 171.
Presbyterian License to Eat Flesh, 253.
Prodigal Earl of Crawford, 156-57, 164.
Queich. See Inverqueicli.
Queen Mary's Visit to Edzell, 54.
Queensferry, English routed at, 29.
Querns, 90.
Raedykes, Roman Camp of, 176.
Raiker, Epitaph on the Rev. Mr., of Fin-
haven, 136.
Rait of Hallgreen Licensed to Eat Flesh,
253; Burial-place of Rait of Annis-
ton, 294 ; Thomas of Dunottar, 317-
18 ; Letter from Mr. J. of Aberluthnot
to Laird of Findowrie, 338.
Ramsay, Sir Mai. do, of Auchterliouse,
t 344: Nessus de, of Bamff, 286 ; John,
of Balnabreich and Shielhill, 228,
274; Sir James, of Bcnholm, 320 ; of
Canterland, 322; of Balmain, and
Fasky, 32, 312; Sir Henry de, of
Guthrie, 295 ; of Panbride, 304 ;
Elizabeth, of Colluthie and Leucliars,
195 ; Allan, Portrait Painter, 302.
Rath, and Mill of Katerline, 316.
Ravensbie, Guthrie of, 296.
Rebellion, notices regarding the, in Ed¬
zell, 8, 10, 47, 48, 56, 57; in Glen¬
esk, 63, 84; in Lethnot, 106-7-9,
120, 130; in Oathlaw, 136, 161; in
Ferne, 180, 199, 219; in Careston,
218-19; in Menmuir, 243; Laird of
Balnamoon, 254; of Keithock, 270-
72; of Glenqueich, 273.
Regalia, Preservation of, 314-16,
Re-hillock, Coffin and " Gold Fish " in,
262.
Rental Book of Edzell and Lethnot,
326-29.
Rescobie Castle, 138; Kirk, 170; Re¬
gality of, 197, 329.
Resteunet. See Rostinoth.
Retreat of the M. of Montrose, 237-40.
Revel Green of Finhaven, 150.
Rhynd, Murdoch del, of Carse, 138.
Ricarton, Lands of, 315.
Richard II., King, 29.
Robertson of Nathrow, 115, 124; of
Dalkbane, 256.
Rocking Stones of Gilfumman, &c., 85-6.
Rollo of Duncrub, and Sir David, 251.
Roman Catholics in Glenesk, 65.
Ronnacli (the), or Rannoch, 88.
Roos, Justiciary of Alytli, and Cluny
Forests, 286.
Rose, Mr. David, Episcopal Minister, 63;
his Death, 64; Sir Geo., 64, 66.
Rose, Story of Sir James the, 273.
Ross, Duke of, Lord of Brechin and Na-
var, 117; Earl of, 139.
Ross, Alex., Schoolmaster and Poet, 63 ;
notice of, 69; Epitaphs by, 71, 321.
Rossy of that Ilk, 23.
Rostinoth Priory, Grant by Bruce to,
137 ; by Alex. III., 138 ; Teinds Paid
from Woodwray, 170 ; Grant from
Menmuir, 250; from Downie, 305;
Fletchers of, 278.
Rottall, Lindsay of, 282.
Rothes, Lesly, Lord, 31.
Row, Rev. Mr., of Lethnot, 106; his
Epitaph, 107.
Rowan Hill, Traditions and Cross of, 81.
Royal Licence to Eat Flesh, 253.
Roy's Military Antiquities, 176, 177.
Ruddiman, the Grammarian, 321.
Rume's Cross at Farnell, 197.
Ruthven, Lands and Church of, 285.
Sabbath School, First in Scotland, 62.
Saints—Aidan's Well at Menmuir, 241 ;
Andrew's Tower in Glenesk, 98;
Arnold's Kill at Kinneff, 315; Seat
—See Ennand; Bccan, 399 ; Braul's
Well at Stracathro, 262 ; Bridget of
Panbride, 318 ; Caran of Fetteresso,
318; Colm's Bell, 4; Well at Shiel¬
hill, 274; Cyr's Burial-place, 321;
Drostan's Well at Neudos, 20 ; Foun¬
der of the Kirk of Glenesk, 60;
noticed, 85; Ennand's Seat in Tan-
nadice, 343 ; Gregory's Church, 321;
John of Jerusalem—See Knights;
Kane's Well at Ardestie, 306; Lau¬
rence's Bell at Edzell, 4,7,51; Chapel
at Kinblethmont, 294; at Lauries-
358
GENERAL INDEX.
ton, 321; at Convetli, 321; Macconoc
of Inverkeillor, 294; Madoc of Kin-
liell, 303; Mark's Fair at Kincardine,
340 ; Mary's Church of Dundee, 141 ;
Well at Kilgery, 248; at Lethnot,
106; at Oathlaw, 195; Medan's
Bell at Airlie, 4; Well, 283; Moloc
of Alyth, 285; Murdoch's Chapel of
Ethie, 294 ; Nine Maidens of Glen of
Ogilvy, Well at Finhaven, 133;
Ninian's Well of Feme, 179; ofBa-
linsoho, 279 ; of Alyth, 285 ; Heugh
of Arbroath, 303; Rumon, or Bum-
old, of Farnell,l97; Ternan's Bell,
4; Chapel at Brechin, 269.
Sauchieburn, Battle of, 153.
Saughs Water, 126 ; Story of the Raid
of, 208-14.
Schaklok Simon de, of Kinneff, 315.
Schaw, R., Minister of Menmuir, 241.
Sciences, Carvings of the, at Edzell
Castle, 331.
Scott of Benholm, 320.
Scrimgeour of Dudhop Family, 299.
Scryne, Lands of, 304.
Second Sight. See Superstitions.
Selkirk, Forest of, noticed, 137.
Sennescalle, de, of Ethiebeaton, 309.
Serjeant Hill of Dalbog, 2.
Seynclau, de, of Kinblethmont, 294.
Shand, Jolm, Esq., of the Burn, 100.
Shandford(Sandyford) Lands of, 185,187.
Shanno, Castle of, 40.
Sheriffmuir, Battle of, 120, 199.
Shielhill, Lands of, 228 ; Castle, Chapel,
and Bridge, 274.
Sibbald of Kair, 316.
Simpson, Rev. Mr., Parsonage, Lochlee,
66.
Skene, Lands and Loch of, 229-30.
Skene, Geo., of Careston, 218; Anec¬
dotes of, 231-32 ; Family of that Ilk,
229.
Slains, Lands of, 315.
Slateford. See Edzell Village.
Smart, George, Esq., Montrose, 110.
Smith, Margaret, 221 ; Epitaph on
John, 222; Colvin, 225; John of
Balzordie, 248.
Somyr of Balzordie, Epitaph on John,
244; Family of, 248-50; of Bratli-
inch, 336.
Soutliesk, Earl of, 8; of Feme, 189; the
Black Earl, 197. See Carnegy of
Kinnaird.
Spalding, Peter de, betrays Berwick,
receives Balzordie and Pitmudie, 247 ;
his Murder, 248.
Spence, Epitaphs on Family of, 298.
Spens, Elizabeth, of Edzell, 32; " Sir
Patrick," 184.
Spynie, Death of Lord, 39, 291 ; King
James' Letters to, 290; Feud with
Ogilvys, 292.
Stadockmore, Lands of, 116.
Standing Stones of Colmeallie, 87.
Starney-Bucket Well, Story of, 197.
Stephen, Bishop of Brechin, 140.
Stephens, Andrew, Latin Poet, 318.
Steele of Evelick, 302.
Stewart of Grandtully and Careston,
Family of, 220, 228 ; of Schutting-
less, 249.
Stewart of Morpliie, 322.
Stirling of Glenesk and Moray, 26-7 ;
Marriage of Catherine with Sir Alex¬
ander Lindsay, 26; noticed, 28, 29,
114; Tradition and Murder of Jackie,
26 ; Alex, de of Laurieston, 24 ; Sir
James of Old Montrose, 199.
Stirling Tower. See Edzell Castle.
Stone Cist at Dalbog, 21.
Stonyford, 108, 103; Loch, 126.
Stopbridge, 7.
Stracathro, Kirkyard, and Battle of, 146 ;
Earl of Moray and Kenneth III.
killed, Re-hillock and Stone Coffin,
King's Ford, Danes Buried, Baliol's
Penance, St. Braul's Well, 262;
Jacobitism in, 8.
Strachan, Lands of, 200.
Strathmore, Earl of, killed, 162.
Strathnairn, Lands of, 28, 30, 186.
Straiton, Sir Jos., of Kirkside, 321; Alex,
of Knox, "reff of ane chalisse," &c.,
314.
Straquhan, Catlierin, of Lumgair, 319.
Struan-Robertson, House of, 26.
Struthers, Lands of, 316.
Stuart, Walter, Earl of Atliole, executed,
116; of Inclibreck, 363; Mr. G., of
Oathlaw, 173; Rev. Harry, 341.
Superstitions, Popular:—Concerning Sui¬
cides, 123; the White Adder and its
power of conferring the Second Sight,
127; the Devil's How, 203; the
Devil's Wind, 232; the Devil at
Vayne Castle, 202; at Witt on, 129;
at Manse of Lethnot, 130. Fairies
at Cathefthun, 265; at Menmuir,
266. Ghaist of Feme, 203—8; of
Jock Barefoot at Finhaven, 167, 236 ;
White Lady at Careston, 236; Kel¬
pie in Noran, 203; at Shielhill
Bridge, 274; in the Dee, 127. Witch¬
craft in Menmuir, &c., 266; in Clova,
282 ; Expenses of Burning a Witch,
338.
Sutherland, Earl of, 305, 317.
Symers, Rev. Mr., of Lethnot, 106. See
Somyr.
GENERAL INDEX.
Tailor, A., Minister of Kinnettles, 300.
Tammy's Pot, Story of, 200.
Tannadice, Thanedom of, 191, 271, 273;
Castle of Barnyards or Haleli of, 168.
Tarf River, and Destruction of Bridge, 97.
Tarfside noticed, 67, 78; Hamlet of, 97.
Taybank, Guthrie of, 297.
Templars. See Knights.
Tennct Burn, 96.
Turret Water, 99.
Theological Virtues at Edzell, 331.
Thompson, Rev. James, of Edzell, 7 ;
of Lintrathen, 70 ; of Letlmot, Su¬
perstitious Stories concerning, 128;
his Deposition for Adherence to the
Stuarts, 130.
Tigcrton, Tradition of the Hamlet of,
_ 245-6, 267.
Tillibardin, School Endowed at, 108.
Tilliquhillie, Lands of, 115.
Tillyarblet, Lands of, 115.
Tillybirnie, Lands of, 115.
Toland, Mr., the Antiquary, noticed, 86.
Torpliiclien, Regality of, 19.
Tournament at London Bridge, 29,141.
Traill, Dr. S., of Birsay, 19.
Trinity Muir Market, 38.
Tullochs, Eorcsters of Montreuthmont
Muir, 138.
Tulloes, Lands of. 305; Garden of, 296.
Turpin, Bishop of Brechin, 315.
Tytler, Mr., Min. of Ferne, 180; Dispute
with Schoolm. 181 ; Jas., and Dr.
H. W., noticed, 181-2, 225.
Ulisiiaven, Leighton of, 29; Carnegie
of, 196.
Unich River and Falls, 94.
Uris, Lands of, 319 ; Ogilvy of, 189, 191.
Vayne, Proprietors of, 186, 192 ; Castle,
198 ; Traditions of, 200-202.
Valoniis, Lords of Panmure, 119; Chris¬
tian de, 121. See Panmure.
Verneuil, Battle of, 30.
Virtues, Theological, and Cardinal, at
Edzell, 331-2.
Vitrified Fort of Finhaven, 173-76.
Voisel, Major de, in Glenesk, 57.
Volumes, or Wellems, ofWoodwray, 170.
Wallace's Storming of Dunottar, 317.
Walays, Duncan de, of Barras and Uris,
319; John, of Mnrthill, 343.
Wallis, Janet, Epitaph on, 108.
Walpole, Sir Robert, duped by Secre¬
tary Edgar, 271.
Walterstoun of that Ilk, and Lands of,
190-91.
Waterliead, Primitive Dwellings at, 215.
Waterston. See Walterstoun.
Watson, Mr., Minister of Ferne, 180.
Welles, Lord, Tournament with Earl of
Crawford, 29, 141.
Wellford Bridge, 179.
Wemyss of Wemyss, 256; Sir John of
Kincaldrum, 296; " Retreat," of Rear-
Admiral, 79; James, Minister of
Ferne, 136, &c.
West Water, 1, 5, 7, 30, 50, 52, 108 ;
Course of, 126, 265.
Whishop, Burn of, at Edzell, 51.
Whistleberry Castle, 314.
White, Mr. H., Parson of Finhaven, 134.
Whyte, Rev. Mr., of Lethnot, Account
of the Death of his Brothers, and
their Epitaph, 73-4.
"Wicked Master" of Crawford noticed,
22, 33, 34, 154.
Wigton Presbytery, 219, 221.
Windsour, Lands of, and Walter de,
190 ; Law of, 214.
Winter, James, "a hero of Saughs,"
209-14 ; his Epitaph, 213.
Wirran, Hill of, 51, 123.
Wishart of Pitarrow, Riot with, 39,
noticed, 270, 321.
Witchcraft. See Superstitions.
Wittons (in Edzell), Lands of, 311.
Wood, Maj., Traditions, and Death of, 14;
his Mortification to the Poor of Ed¬
zell, 17.
Woodwray, Sir John Lindsay of, 170;
Castle, Sculptured Monument, and
" Grave Hill," 171 ; Volumes of, 170.
Wrycht, William, Parson of Lethnot, 105.
York Buildings' Company, Account of,
56; noticed, 58, 62, 77, 189.
Young, Sir Peter, of E. Seatoun, 276;
of Kinbletlnnont, 294.
ERRATA.
Page.
Line.
2
8
from foot read localities.
3
6
from foot, delete or justiciaries.
13
3
for lu-n'f, read lumen.
14
9
after funeral insert have. .
15
5
for north read south.
16
8
from foot read compel.
64
4
delete who, then read and are supposed.
68
6-9
delete all mention of the Rev. Mr. Jolly. He was buried at Brechin.
73
1
read remarkable.
92
19
from foot, for picturesque pointed style of old English architecture,
read picturesque style of English cottage architecture, with a fancy
tower on the east front.
100
17
The pension of a guinea a-week was given by Geo. IY. to Dubracli for
life, and to his daughter, should she survive him.
117
25
read Lordship.
127
16
from foot, for person read persons.
130
6
delete minister's.
133
8
delete blank after (lit and insert frttg*
138
4
from foot delete that; last line, for are read is.
145
24
for superseded him in read deprived him of.
153
2
from foot for 106 read 160.
154
7
from foot after Auchtermonzie insert, who only lived till 1517, when
he was succeeded by his son David, who was placed in much the
same position as his uncle the Duke, &c.
186
14
for Sir Walter's read Sir David's.
222
6
delete a in exemplo.
208
4
from foot, read battle of Saughs; line 3, read belongs and is connected.
220
2
read and ordained him.
254
6
from foot, for two read one; line 18, for conduct read fulfil.
283
14
delete of the castle.
294
11
from foot, for was read were.
299
9
for Stracathro read Kettins, and delete (?).
311
7
from foot, for was read were.
314
5
for was read were.
315
19
for close read beginning.
336
18
for Montkose read Montrois.
Addenda.—Page 218, line 15.
The name of the first clergyman of Careston is unknown ; hut on the 26th of
March 1663, Mr. Thomas Skinner, master of the Grammar School of Brechin, was
inducted to the charge. He wTas translated to some other church in 1666, for in
December of that year, he was succeeded by Mr. Gilbert Skein, master of the Gram¬
mar School of Montrose. In June 1679, Mr. William Camegy was admitted
minister, and being "translated to a kirk in the south," was succeeded by John
Murray, the last Episcopal incumbent, in October 1681.
THE END.
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