of Moray, the proprietorship of Fowlis Castle would have passed to
that family; but after Cromwell’s invasion the fines he levied on the
Royalists told so heavily upon the Gray family that the Castle and
grounds had to be sold in 1669 to Sir William Murray of Ochtertyre,
Baronet. The family of the Murrays of Ochtertyre could claim a very
respectable antiquity. The first of the name died in 1476, and the
third holder of the title is enumerated amongst the slain on Flodden
Field. It will thus be seen that the new inhabitants of Fowlis were
not mere “new rich” people, elevated to unwonted dignity by successful
speculation, but had been connected with Perthshire for a considerable
period. Originally the family name had been “Moray,” and they claimed
descent from Sir David Moray of Tullibardine, one of the ancestors of
the Atholl family; but that Sir William who purchased Fowlis Castle
changed the spelling of the surname to “Murray.” He was created a
Baronet of Nova Scotia, and was succeeded by his son, Sir Patrick, who
largely added to the family possessions. By prudence and economy he had
amassed a considerable fortune, which he expended in acquiring land.
There were not wanting those who whispered that his employment by King
William III. to subsidise the Highland Chieftains had been one of his
most profitable speculations. Though in possession of several seats, he
selected Fowlis Castle as his residence, and beneath its roof-tree his
eleven children were born. He reached the patriarchal age of 80 years,
and was succeeded in 1735 by his eldest son, William.
This nobleman had made an unfortunate matrimonial alliance with a
daughter of Hugh, eleventh Lord Lovat, which involved him in the
troubles of the 1715 Jacobite Rising; and though he escaped immediate
punishment, his prospects of success under the Hanoverian Government
were completely blighted. The parsimony of his father, who had at least
the sense to choose the successful party, had plunged Sir William into
debt; and though he only survived his parent four years, that could
not be a happy period. His widow died at Fowlis Castle in 1771, having
reached the age of 81 years, during which she had been intimately
connected with the two great Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1745, and
had buried her husband and her son, had witnessed the marriage of
her grandson, and the birth of her great-grandson, each of whom held
the title of “Murray of Ochtertyre.” She had herself borne nineteen
children, several of whom now sleep with her in the old Kirk of Fowlis
beside the Castle.
With her death a considerable alteration took place in the dignity
of Fowlis Castle. Her grandson, Sir William, had married one of the
daughters of the unfortunate Earl of Cromartie, who endured sentence
of death for his concern in the Jacobite Risings. The matrimonial
alliances which the family had lately made had developed an increase
of the thirsted-for position which often accompanies wealth; and Sir
William, no longer content with Fowlis Castle, set about building the
House of Ochtertyre, which soon eclipsed by its magnificence the older
structure. The Castle was thus abandoned, and the seat of the family
was transferred to its territorial locality near Crieff. His son, Sir
Patrick, afterwards sixth Baronet, was born at Ochtertyre, and the
Murrays have resided there since about 1770. The present (1927) holder
of the title is Captain Sir William Keith Murray of Ochtertyre, who, on
the death of his father in 1921, became ninth Baronet.
And so the Castle of Fowlis, with all its honourable memories and
dishonourable recollections, falls out of the regard of existing
dilletantism.
“’Tis thus the mighty falls.
There is the moral of all human tales;
’Tis but the same rehearsal of the past,
First freedom, and then glory--when that fails,
Wealth, vice, corruption--barbarism at last,
And History, with all her volumes vast,
Hath but one page.”
XXII
MAINS CASTLE--FORFARSHIRE
Though the great events in Scottish history have usually occurred in
connection with the principal rivers, because, as a rule, the largest
cities were constructed upon the chief water-ways, yet many memorable
incidents took place upon inconsiderable streams. Bannockburn is a mere
rivulet; Sauchie Burn, where James III. was assassinated, is even less
important; and the Till near Flodden Field is an unimportant tributary
of the Tweed. There were, nevertheless, historical characters and
events connected with all these streamlets; and that is particularly
striking with reference to Mains Castle, Forfarshire, which is near
Dundee, and was recently acquired, with the lands, by a wealthy
citizen, and presented to the city as the site of a public park.
Fintry, or (as it is more generally called) Mains Castle occupies
a pleasant situation upon the south side of the tributary stream
known as Gelly Burn, which flows into the Dichty River through
the Den of Mains. The Dichty rises in the Sidlaw Hills, and flows
through the Howe of Strathmartine to join the sea at Monifieth. Its
course is more fantastic than imposing, and nowhere does it attain
dimensions entitling it to a higher dignity than that of a rivulet.
Though it receives the drainage of the Strath, the burns which are
its tributaries are so much the creation of the rainy season that
frequently its rugged bed is nearly dry, and Dichty, like
“Kedron at our feet its scanty waters
Distils from atone to stone with gentle motion.”
The many reservoirs which the commercial enterprise of the locality has
formed upon its banks assist greatly in bringing about this result; and
the stream which in remote times may have run red with the gore of our
heroic forefathers, now combines with chloride of lime and soda-ash to
aid the progress of civilization by peacefully bleaching yarns upon its
verdant banks.
Yet though thus in itself so inconsiderable, this little Dichty river
flows through a historic country. The Lairds of Auchterhouse, of
Strathmartine, of Claverhouse, and of Fintry have figured prominently
in general as well as county history. And if the Dichty cannot boast of
any of the glorious battle-fields of Scotland, it has not been without
its influence in the development of the varied fortunes of the Scottish
nation. The land through which it meanders is now highly cultivated;
the people who inhabit its valley study the arts which “make for
peace”; and only those who examine the occult causes at work to produce
history can have any idea of the power exercised upon the outer world
by the quiescent attractions of its streamlet. The Castles which
have been built near its course have been erected rather as rural
retreats than as strongholds, and thus exhibit the home-life of those
who have passed their time amid busier scenes. But this aspect of
existence is not without instruction to the student of humanity.
[Illustration: MAINS CASTLE _Valentine & Sons, Ltd._]
The Gelly Burn, which flows past the Castle, is never of any great
volume, and is unworthy of attention until it reaches the site of that
building; but here the ground suddenly alters. The level banks rise
upon each side of the stream with precipitate abruptness to a height
of about 50 feet above the water, and the pastoral verdure which to
this point had fringed its surface is intermingled with oak, beech, and
elm trees for the remainder of its course. This marked topographical
contrast is chiefly noticeable from the bridge which leads across Gelly
Burn to the Castle. Westward the scene presents little to attract the
eye of the beholder, showing merely an uninteresting burn wandering
between its grassy banks; but eastward the sudden declivity, the
darksome foliage, and the half-concealed thread of rippling water far
below, give to the spot the salient characteristics of a miniature
glen or deep defile. The left bank is crowned by the ancient graveyard
of Mains, and was formerly the site of the old kirk of the district;
whilst immediately opposite to it stand the picturesque ruins of Mains
or Fintry Castle.
Originally this building has been of considerable extent, and the
style of the masonry and the elegance of the design show that it
has been erected in a civilized period, and by a wealthy proprietor.
The large square tower, with dressed corner-stones, which forms the
distinctive feature in castle-architecture of the sixteenth century,
is of unusually spacious dimensions, and is still (1927) in good
preservation. The outer west wall, enclosing the courtyard, and
having the main entrance gateway, has suffered severely by the hand
of Time, and gives evidence by the misplaced lintels of some of the
window embrasures of an injudicious attempt at restoration. A very
elegant ornamented window may be seen near the door. Above the gateway
a circular turret has risen, the lower portion of which is visible,
and in the projecting base may be seen the orifice through which
the keepers of the Castle could defend the doorway without exposing
themselves to attack. Turrets have probably been erected also at the
corners of the north wall; and it is likely that the courtyard had an
entry from the south as well as from the west side.
It is not now possible to tell with accuracy how high this outer
wall rose, for the finished mason-work of the tower does not afford
any absolute indication of this. Doubtless the northern and eastern
portions of the Castle were reserved for the apartments of the
residents, whilst the southern part of the building was devoted to the
accommodation of the menials and retainers, and the western served for
purposes of defence. The most striking view of the Castle is to be
obtained from the western side, although the height of the tower and
the low elevation of the remains of the outer wall give the building
rather “a lean and hungry look.”
Strange tales are told by the credulous natives as to the age of
these ruins, and even some grave historians have been sufficiently
deceived by their pertinacity to assert that the Castle was built in
1311. It is almost needless to say that the style of the architecture
conclusively proves that the Castle belongs to a much later date; and
though there _may_ have been a Fort of some kind on the site at that
time, it certainly was not that one whose ruins now remain. And even
the indirect evidence thus afforded is supplemented by the dates still
to be found on the building. The keystone of the western gateway bears
the date “1562,” and the lintel of a door in the east portion which
opens into the courtyard has a carved Latin motto with the further date
of “1582,” so that it may be concluded that the Castle was begun and
finished between these years. With this clue it is easy to trace the
history of the building. Before examining details it might be advisable
to narrate the earlier history of the locality.
It is supposed that the Earls of Angus in olden times had a residence
somewhere in the Strath of Dichty, although its exact site has never
been determined. This notion is founded upon the fact that in all
ancient documents which refer to the lands these are described in Latin
as “Strath-Dichty Comitis,” and in Scottish as “Earl’s Stradichty.” It
is well to remember that the County of Angus, or Forfarshire, formed
one of the ancient kingdoms into which Pictish Scotland--north of
Forth and Clyde--and extended from the Tay on the south, the Isla on
the west, the North Esk on the north, and the North Sea on the east.
When the kingdom was consolidated under the Celtic Kings, about 1005
A.D., in the time of Malcolm II., the various divisions were ruled by
Mormaers, and that name was maintained till the reign of Alexander
I., 1106 till 1124 being the date of his occupancy of the throne. The
Mormaers, however, began to be superseded by Earls, a dignity borrowed
from England.
The first Earl of Angus recorded was Gillebride or Gilchrist, whose
father, of the same name and title, fought under David I. in 1138 at
the Battle of the Standard. The fifth Earl in succession was Malcolm,
who died in 1242, leaving no son, but an only daughter, who was
Matilda, Countess of Angus in her own right. Her first husband was
John Comyn, titular Earl of Angus, who died in 1242 in France; in the
following year the Countess married Sir Gilbert Umfraville, a powerful
Northumberland Baron, who became a prominent figure in Scotland as
Earl of Angus until his death in 1245, while the Countess died in
the succeeding year. The Earls that bore the name Umfraville may be
briefly noticed, especially as they were anti-patriotic to Scotland,
one of them being appointed Governor of Dundee during the War of
Independence. The third Earl of this line died in 1325, and was a
marked man because of his support of Edward II. after Bannockburn.
In 1329 Robert the Bruce conferred the Earldom upon Sir John Stewart
of Boncle, who was descended from his own original--the High Steward
of Scotland. This was the first Stewart, Earl of Angus, and these
continued in succession from 1329 until 1402, the date of the
death of the second Earl. His widow, the Countess Margaret, had a
son by William, Earl of Douglas, while she stayed with him (her
brother-in-law) at Tantallon Castle, about 1376, and this son, George
Douglas, became the first Douglas, Earl of Angus. From this line the
titles of “Earl of Angus and Marquess of Angus,” as well as Duke of
Douglas, were continued till the death in 1761 of the first Duke of
Douglas.
During all this long period the Earls of Angus seem to have controlled
the whole district of Strath-Dichty; and occasionally there are records
of donations from the property to the Monastery of Arbroath, and other
numerous philanthropic objects, from the lands of Strath-Dichty.
Whether there was a Keep or Castle for the successive Earls at or
near the site of Mains Castle cannot be absolutely asserted, though
it is extremely probable. In any case, these researches show that
Strath-Dichty as a title stretches far back into remote times. Even
the present (1927) Earl of Strathmore is described in his Patent of
Nobility as “Baron Glamis, Tannadyce, Sidlaw, and Stradichtie,” and
that was when the new mills were opened. Besides, it is extremely
likely that Earls of Douglas should have a castle near “Lumbtithen,
which was a jointure house of the Scottish Queens at the place near
Dundee, now known as Linlathen, of which one part belonged to the
Earl of Angus.” No trace of a very early Castle has been found in the
vicinity. Fortunately the history of the existing ruins can be settled
historically.
In proof of the proprietary interest of the Earl of Angus in
Strathdichty, the following documents are authentic and valuable. By
a Sasine dated “14 April 1425, proceeding upon a Precept of William
Douglas, Earl of Angus, the lands of Kirktoun of Strathdighty, in the
Regality of Kirrymuir,” are apportioned to “Thomas Clerk, Burgess
of Dundee.” A Bond by the Earl of Angus, signed 20th January 1444,
obliges that nobleman to receive “James Scrimzeour, his cousin, to be
the tenant in the said lands.” On the 6th of March 1450, “Thomas Clerk
executed an assignation to John Scrimzeour, son of James Scrimzeour of
Dudhope, of the foresaid lands,” and they remained in the family for
a considerable time. Matilda, the sister of this John Scrimzeour, was
married to John Graham of Balargus, and thus indirectly brought the
latter family to the locality.
The son of this marriage obtained a Charter under the Great Seal of an
Annual Rent out of the lands of Kirktoun of Strathdichty, dated 14th
March 1529-30. He purchased the estate of Claverhouse in the immediate
neighbourhood, which afterwards gave his heirs their territorial title,
one of them being the famous John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount
Dundee. The marriage of John Graham of Balargus with a daughter of
the house of Beaton of Balfour, and his connection with the family of
Graham, afterwards Dukes of Montrose, gave him some importance in the
county. He derived his descent from that branch of the Grahams which
had settled at Fintry in Stirlingshire; and when Sir David Graham, the
head of that sept, had converted the “Annual Rent” of Kirktoun and
the lands of Lumlethan (now Linlathen) into a safe proprietary, it is
probable that he began to build the edifice, the ruins of which remain,
and called it by the name of “Fintry Castle” in remembrance of the
estate from which his family had come.
The acquisition of the lands of Claverhouse had the effect of bringing
two families of the name of Graham into Strathdichty--the branch which
retained the designation of Graham of Fintry and resided in the Castle
of Mains, and the heirs of John Graham of Balargus, who adopted the
title of Claverhouse from their new estate. It is likely that the first
John Graham of Claverhouse built a residential Castle upon his estate,
which lies a little to the west of Mains Castle, on the other side of
the Dichty, although there is now no trace of it remaining; and nothing
marks the supposed site which it may have occupied save a quasi-Gothic
structure in form of a dove-cot, erected from the ruins of the original
Castle in 1850, near the ancient village of Trottick, and visible from
the main road to Baldovan. But the inhabitants of the Castle of Mains
or Fintry still retained their territorial title, and thus the latter
erection became associated with the elder portion of the family. The
double connection of this branch of the Grahams is not generally known.
Genealogical writing is not always attractive to the reader, though
this will serve to show how closely the Grahams have been associated
with Forfarshire for a very long period.
William, Lord Graham of Kincardine, had as his second wife the Lady
Mary Stewart, second daughter of Robert III., who was a much married
lady. In 1397 she married George Douglas, first Earl of Angus of
that family. Her second husband was Sir James Kennedy of Dunure, in
Ayrshire. Sir William Graham was her third husband, and after his
decease she wedded Sir William Edmonston of Duntreath. There were
several things to attract her to Strathdichty. The jointure-house
of her mother, Queen Annabella Drummond, was there. Her first
husband, Earl of Angus, was the superior of all the property, and
so she persuaded her third husband, William, Lord Graham, to take
up a residence in that district. Lady Mary’s eldest son was Sir
Robert Graham of Strathcarron and Fintry. Sir Robert’s second wife
was a daughter of the Earl of Angus, thus forming another tie with
Strathdichty. By her he became ancestor of the Grahams of Claverhouse.
His great-grandson first assumed the latter territorial title, and was
contemporary with that Sir David Graham who built Mains Castle.
Although there are no very notable acts recorded of Sir David Graham,
there is ample evidence that his interests had been largely transferred
from Stirlingshire and Dumbartonshire to the district of Angus. The
fate of Sir David Graham, the builder of Mains Castle, was a strange
one. Throughout the alternations of the religious professions of the
Scottish nobility during the reign of Mary, the Grahams of Fintry
remained steadfastly attached to the Romish Church. They thus retained
the friendship of many of the northern nobles who still adhered to the
old religion, and were frequently engaged in the conspiracies which
foreign ecclesiastics encouraged for its establishment in Scotland. But
after the Reformation faith had gained a footing in Scotland--largely
because of bribes of the confiscated Church lands--this tampering
with superior forces brought retribution upon them. The story of the
conspiracy known to history as “the Spanish Blanks” gives a melancholy
interest to Mains Castle.
Had King James VI. been suffered to decide for himself in religious
matters his conduct makes it probable that he would have chosen rather
the Romish than the Protestant form of worship. But his early years
were directed by those who had risen into power entirely because
of their opposition to Romanism, and whilst his mother, Queen Mary,
lived, he dared not disobey them. During her long confinement in
England, however, his support of the new religion had rendered it
almost impossible for him to retract; and as the great body of the
people had by this time been incited to oppose the old Church, he found
it impossible to withstand them. Some of the more powerful nobles in
the north had still maintained their respect for the Church of their
fathers, and nursed a spirit of discontent amongst themselves secretly.
Tn 1592 these secret communings had at last developed into a definite
plot. The Earls of Huntly, Errol, and Angus, with the Lairds of
Auchindoun and Fintry, had organized a distinct plan of procedure,
and a prominent Roman Catholic, Dr. George Kerr, brother of the Abbot
of Newbattle, was employed as their agent. It was their intention to
summon His Most Catholic Majesty of Spain to aid them in reconverting
Scotland; and these nobles had signed a number of blank sheets of
paper, which Kerr was to carry with him to Spain, and to have completed
by writing the terms of their treaty over the signatures. From this
peculiarity in the method adopted the plot was afterwards known as “the
Spanish Blanks.” The vigilance of one of the Protestant clergymen,
however, defeated this project, and Kerr was apprehended on board the
vessel that was to convey him to Spain, with the Spanish Blanks in his
possession. Having been put to the torture, Kerr confessed the whole
conspiracy, implicating some of the most powerful noblemen in Scotland.
The plan was a very bold one. The King of Spain was to land an army of
thirty thousand men upon the west coast of Scotland, and, when joined
by the insurgent Lords, purposed to divide his army, sending fifteen
thousand of his soldiers over the Border, and subjugating Scotland with
the remainder.
The action taken by King James makes it probable that he sympathised
with this project. It was with extreme unwillingness that he proceeded
against the nobles; and though the Council had imprisoned the Earl of
Angus, who had fallen into their hands, he contrived to escape from
Edinburgh Castle--a feat which would have been impossible but for the
connivance of his custodians. Compelled to take measures against the
rebels, James led his army victoriously to the north, and skilfully
succeeded in evading an engagement. Before setting out on this
expedition, however, he deemed it necessary to vindicate himself from
the charge of sympathy with the rebels, and he did so by apprehending
Graham of Fintry, bringing him to trial, and procuring his execution at
the Cross of Edinburgh. The Lord of Mains Castle was beheaded in 1593,
and thus made the scapegoat for the sins of nobler traitors whom the
King could not dismiss from his Court.
From this period the Grahams of Fintry seldom appear in history, and
the minor branch of the family which had settled at Claverhouse soon
overtopped them. John Graham of Fintry married a daughter of James
Scrymgeoure, second Viscount of Dudhope, and probably took part in
the Parliamentarian Wars with Charles I. But the fame of John Graham
of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee, in the following reign has quite
overshadowed any distinction which he may have gained.
The family of the Grahams of Fintry retained the lands until early
in the nineteenth century. The last holder of them was that Robert
Graham of Fintry who was the friend of Robert Burns, and to whom the
poet addressed two of his poetical epistles. Having fallen upon evil
days, Robert Graham sold the lands of Fintry to David Erskine, W.S.,
Edinburgh, indirectly the ancestor of the last recently deceased
Erskine of Linlathen. But Graham made the curious stipulation that his
descendants should retain the territorial title of “Graham of Fintry,”
and that the older name of Lumlathen (now Linlathen) should be resumed
for the estate. That condition has since been faithfully followed. The
Grahams went to the Cape of Good Hope in a military capacity during the
Kaffir Wars, and they founded the settlement of “Grahamstown,” near
Port Alfred, in South Africa, and married into some of the wealthy Boer
families, and the name is thus preserved.
The estate of Linlathen, at least that part including the ruins of
Mains Castle, were sold by the last Erskine of Linlathen to a wealthy
Dundee citizen, Sir James Caird, Bart., LL.D., in 1913, and the whole
of the purchase was handed over by Sir James to the Town Council, to
be used as a public recreation ground to be called “Caird Park.” The
grounds have been laid out as a golf course, an artificial pond with
cascades, and other appropriate purposes. It was opened to the public
when completed in November 1923 by Mrs Marryat, half-sister of the late
Sir James Caird, Bart, the generous donor.
XXIII
BOTHWELL CASTLE