country on the north side of Loch Lomond. The reputed founder of
the clan was Anselan, son of O’Kyan, king of Ulster, in Ireland,
who is said to have been compelled to leave his native country
by the incursions of the Danes, and take refuge in Scotland. He
landed, with some attendants, on the northern coast of Argyleshire,
near the Lennox, about the year 1016, and having, according to the
family tradition, in all such cases made and provided, lent his
assistance to King Malcolm the Second in repelling his old enemies
the Danes, on two different occasions of their arrival in Scotland,
he received from that king for his services a grant of land in the
north of Scotland. The improbable character of this genealogy is
manifested by its farther stating that the aforesaid Anselan married
the heiress of the lands of Buchanan, a lady named Dennistoun; for
the Dennistouns deriving their name from lands given to a family of
the name of Danziel, who came into Scotland with Alan, the father
of the founder of the Abbey of Paisley, and the first _dapifer_,
seneschal, or steward of Scotland, no heiress of that name could have
been in Scotland until long after the period here referred to. It is
more probable that a portion of what afterwards became the estate
of Buchanan formed a part of some royal grant as being connected
with the estates of the Earls of Lennox, whom Skene and Napier
have established to have been remotely connected with the royal
family of the Canmore line, and to have been in the first instance
administrators, on the part of the crown, of the lands which were
afterwards bestowed upon them.
The name of Buchanan is territorial, and is now that of a parish
in Stirlingshire, which was anciently called Inchcaileoch (“old
woman’s island”), from an island of that name in Loch Lomond, on
which in earlier ages there was a nunnery, and latterly the parish
church for a century after the Reformation. In 1621 a detached part
of the parish of Luss, which comprehends the lands of the family of
Buchanan, was included in this parish, when the chapel of Buchanan
was used for the only place of worship, and gave the name to the
whole parish.
Anselan (in the family genealogies styled the third of that name)
the seventh laird of Buchanan, and the sixth in descent from the
above-named Irish prince, but not unlikely to be the first of the
name, which is Norman French, is dignified in the same records
with the magniloquent appellation of seneschal or chamberlain to
Malcolm the first Earl of Levenax (as Lennox was then called).
In 1225, this Anselan obtained from the same earl a charter of a
small island in Loch Lomond called Clareinch--witnesses Dougal,
Gilchrist, and Amalyn, the earl’s three brothers--the name of which
island afterwards became the rallying cry of the Buchanans. He had
three sons, viz., Methlen, said by Buchanan of Auchmar to have been
ancestor of the MacMillans; Colman, ancestor of the MacColmans; and
his successor Gilbert.
His eldest son, Gilbert, or Gillebrid, appears to have borne the
surname of Buchanan.
Sir Maurice Buchanan, grandson of Gilbert, and son of a chief of
the same name, received from Donald, Earl of Lennox, a charter
of the lands of Sallochy, with confirmation of the upper part of
the carrucate of Buchanan. Sir Maurice also obtained a charter of
confirmation of the lands of Buchanan from King David II. in the
beginning of his reign.
Sir Maurice de Buchanan the second, above mentioned, married a
daughter of Menteith of Rusky, and had a son, Walter de Buchanan,
who had a charter of confirmation of some of his lands of Buchanan
from Robert the Second, in which he is designed the king’s
“consanguineus,” or cousin. His eldest son, John, married Janet,
daughter and sole heiress of John Buchanan of Leny, fourth in descent
from Allan already noticed. John, who died before his father, had
three sons, viz., Sir Alexander, Walter, and John, who inherited the
lands of Leny, and carried on that family.
Sir Alexander died unmarried, and the second son, Sir Walter,
succeeded to the estate of Buchanan.
This Sir Walter de Buchanan married Isabel, daughter of Murdoch, Duke
of Albany, governor of Scotland, by Isabel, countess of Lennox, in
her own right. With a daughter, married to Gray of Foulis, ancestor
of Lord Gray, he had three sons, viz., Patrick, his successor;
Maurice, treasurer to the Princess Margaret, the daughter of King
James I., and Dauphiness of France, with whom he left Scotland; and
Thomas, founder of the Buchanans of Carbeth.
The eldest son, Patrick, acquired a part of Strathyre in 1455, and
had a charter under the great seal of his estate of Buchanan, dated
in 1460. He had two sons and a daughter, Anabella, married to her
cousin, James Stewart of Baldorrans, grandson of Murdoch, Duke of
Albany. Their younger son, Thomas Buchanan, was, in 1482, founder of
the house of Drumakill, whence, in the third generation, came the
celebrated George Buchanan. Patrick’s elder son, Walter Buchanan of
that ilk, married a daughter of Lord Graham, and by her had two sons,
Patrick and John, and two daughters, one of them married to the laird
of Lamond, and the other to the laird of Ardkinglass.
John Buchanan, the younger son, succeeded by testament to Menzies
of Arnprior, and was the facetious “King of Kippen,” and faithful
ally of James V. The way in which the laird of Arnprior got the name
of “King of Kippen” is thus related by a tradition which Sir Walter
Scott has introduced into his _Tales of a Grandfather_:--“When James
the Fifth travelled in disguise, he used a name which was known only
to some of his principal nobility and attendants. He was called the
Goodman (the tenant, that is) of Ballengeich. Ballengeich is a steep
pass which leads down behind the castle of Stirling. Once upon a
time when the court was feasting in Stirling, the king sent for some
venison from the neighbouring hills. The deer was killed and put
on horses’ backs to be transported to Stirling. Unluckily they had
to pass the castle gates of Arnprior, belonging to a chief of the
Buchanans, who chanced to have a considerable number of guests with
him. It was late, and the company were rather short of victuals,
though they had more than enough of liquor. The chief, seeing so
much fat venison passing his very door, seized on it, and to the
expostulations of the keepers, who told him it belonged to King
James, he answered insolently, that if James was king in Scotland,
he (Buchanan) was king in Kippen; being the name of the district in
which Arnprior lay. On hearing what had happened, the king got on
horseback, and rode instantly from Stirling to Buchanan’s house,
where he found a strong fierce-looking Highlander, with an axe on his
shoulder, standing sentinel at the door. This grim warder refused the
king admittance, saying that the laird of Arnprior was at dinner, and
would not be disturbed. ‘Yet go up to the company, my good friend,’
said the king, ‘and tell him that the Goodman of Ballengeich is come
to feast with the King of Kippen.’ The porter went grumbling into the
house, and told his master that there was a fellow with a red beard
at the gate, who called himself the Goodman of Ballengeich, who said
he was come to dine with the King of Kippen. As soon as Buchanan
heard these words, he knew that the king was come in person, and
hastened down to kneel at James’s feet, and to ask forgiveness for
his insolent behaviour. But the king, who only meant to give him a
fright, forgave him freely, and, going into the castle, feasted on
his own venison which Buchanan had intercepted. Buchanan of Arnprior
was ever afterwards called the King of Kippen.”[238] He was killed at
the battle of Pinkie in 1547.
The elder son, Patrick, who fell on Flodden field, during his
father’s lifetime, had married a daughter of the Earl of Argyll. She
bore to him two sons and two daughters. The younger son, Walter, in
1519, conveyed to his son Walter the lands of Spittal, and was thus
the founder of that house. On the 14th December of that year, he had
a charter from his father of the temple-lands of Easter-Catter.
The elder son, George Buchanan of that ilk, succeeded his
grandfather, and was sheriff of Dumbartonshire at the critical epoch
of 1561. By Margaret, daughter of Edmonstone of Duntreath, he had a
son, John, who died before his father, leaving a son. By a second
lady, Janet, daughter of Cunninghame of Craigans, he had William,
founder of the now extinct house of Auchmar.
John Buchanan, above mentioned as dying before his father, George
Buchanan of that ilk, was twice married, first to the Lord
Livingston’s daughter, by whom he had one son, George, who succeeded
his grandfather. The son, Sir George Buchanan, married Mary Graham,
daughter of the Earl of Monteith, and had, with two daughters, a son,
Sir John Buchanan of that ilk. Sir John married Anabella Erskine,
daughter of Adam, commendator of Cambuskenneth, a son of the Master
of Mar. He had a son, George, his successor, and a daughter married
to Campbell of Rahein.
Sir George Buchanan the son married Elizabeth Preston, daughter
of the laird of Craigmillar. Sir George was taken prisoner at
Inverkeithing, in which state he died in the end of 1651, leaving,
with three daughters, one son, John, the last laird of Buchanan, who
was twice married, but had no male issue. By his second wife, Jean
Pringle, daughter of Mr Andrew Pringle, a minister, he had a daughter
Janet, married to Henry Buchanan of Leny. John, the last laird, died
in December 1682. His estate was sold by his creditors, and purchased
by the ancestor of the Duke of Montrose.
The barons or lairds of Buchanan built a castle in Stirlingshire,
where the present Buchanan house stands, formerly called the Peel
of Buchanan. Part of it exists, forming the charter-room. A more
modern house was built by these chiefs, adjoining the east side. This
mansion came into the possession of the first Duke of Montrose, who
made several additions to it, as did also subsequent dukes, and it is
now the chief seat of that ducal family in Scotland.
The principal line of the Buchanans becoming, as above shown, extinct
in 1682, the representation of the family devolved on Buchanan of
AUCHMAR. This line became, in its turn, extinct in 1816, and, in the
absence of other competitors, the late Dr Francis Hamilton-Buchanan
of Bardowie, Spittal, and Leny, as heir-male of Walter, first of the
family of Spittal, established in 1826 his claims as chief of the
clan.
The last lineal male descendant of the Buchanans of Leny was Henry
Buchanan, about 1723, whose daughter and heiress, Catherine, married
Thomas Buchanan of Spittal, an officer in the Dutch service, who took
for his second wife, Elizabeth, youngest daughter of John Hamilton
of Bardowie, the sole survivor of her family, and by her he had
four sons and two daughters. Their eldest son John, born in 1758,
succeeded to the estate of Bardowie, and assumed the additional name
of Hamilton, but dying without male issue, was succeeded by his
brother, the above named Dr Francis Hamilton-Buchanan.
There were at one time so many heritors of the name of Buchanan, that
it is said the laird of Buchanan could, in a summer’s day, call
fifty heritors of his own surname to his house, upon any occasion,
and all of them might with convenience return to their respective
residences before night, the most distant of their homes not being
above ten miles from Buchanan Castle.
COLQUHOUN.
[Illustration: BADGE--Bearberry.]
The territory of the COLQUHOUNS is in Dumbartonshire, and the
principal families of the name are Colquhoun of Colquhoun and Luss,
the chief of the clan, a baronet of Scotland and Nova Scotia, created
in 1704, and of Great Britain in 1786; Colquhoun of Killermont and
Garscadden; Colquhoun of Ardenconnel; and Colquhoun of Glenmillan.
There was likewise Colquhoun of Tilliquhoun, a baronet of Scotland
and Nova Scotia (1625), but this family is extinct.
The origin of the name is territorial. One tradition deduces the
descent of the first possessor from a younger son of the old Earls of
Lennox, because of the similarity of their armorial bearings. It is
certain that they were anciently vassals of that potent house.
The immediate ancestor of the family of Luss was Humphry de
Kilpatrick, who, in the reign of Alexander II., not later than 1246,
obtained from Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, a grant of the lands and
barony of Colquhoun, in the parish of Old or West Kilpatrick, _pro
servitio unius militis_, &c., and in consequence assumed the name of
Colquhoun, instead of his own.
His grandson, Ingelram, third Colquhoun, lived in the reign of
Alexander III.
His son, Humphry de Colquhoun, is witness in a charter of Malcolm,
fifth Earl of Lennox, in favour of Sir John de Luss,[239] between
the years 1292-1333. The following remarkable reference to the
construction of a house _ad opus Culquhanorum_, by order of King
Robert Bruce, is extracted from the _Compotum Constabularii de
Cardross_, vol. i., in the accounts of the Great Chamberlains of
Scotland, under date 30th July 1329, as quoted by Mr Tytler in the
appendix to the second volume of his History of Scotland: “Item, in
construccione cujusdam domus ad opus _Culquhanorum_ Domini Regis
ibidem, 10 solidi.” Mr Tytler in a note says that _Culquhanorum_
is “an obscure word, which occurs nowhere else--conjectured by a
learned friend to be ‘keepers of the dogs,’ from the Gaelic root
_Gillen-au-con_--abbreviated, _Gillecon_, Culquhoun.”
Sir Robert de Colquhoun, supposed by Mr Fraser, the family historian,
to be fifth in descent from the first Humphry, and son of a Humphry,
the fourth of Colquhoun, in the reign of David Bruce, married in or
previous to the year 1368 the daughter and sole heiress (known in the
family tradition as “The Fair Maid of Luss,”) of Godfrey de Luss,
lord of Luss, head or chief of an ancient family of that name, and
the sixth in a direct male line from Malduin, dean of Lennox, who, in
the beginning of the thirteenth century, received from Alwyn, second
Earl of Lennox, a charter of the lands of Luss. The Luss territories
lie in the mountainous but beautiful and picturesque district on the
margin of Loch Lomond. Sir Robert was designed “dominus de Colquhoun
and de Luss,” in a charter dated in 1368; since which time the family
have borne the designation of Colquhoun of Colquhoun and Luss. He
is also witness in a charter of the lands of Auchmar by Walter of
Faslane, Lord of Lennox, to Walter de Buchanan in 1373. He had four
sons, namely--Sir Humphry, his heir; Robert, first of the family
of Camstraddan, from whom several other families of the name of
Colquhoun in Dumbartonshire are descended; Robert mentioned in the
Camstraddan charter as “frater junior;” and Patrick, who is mentioned
in a charter from his brother Sir Humphry to his other brother
Robert.
The eldest son, Sir Humphry, sixth of Colquhoun, and eighth of Luss,
is a witness in three charters by Duncan, Earl of Lennox, in the
years 1393, 1394, and 1395. He died in 1406, and left three sons
and two daughters. Patrick, his youngest son, was ancestor of the
Colquhouns of Glennis, from whom the Colquhouns of Barrowfield,
Piemont, and others were descended. The second son, John, succeeded
his eldest brother. The eldest son, Sir Robert, died in 1408, and
was succeeded by his brother. Sir John Colquhoun was appointed
governor of the castle of Dumbarton, by King James I., for his
fidelity to that king during his imprisonment in England. From his
activity in punishing the depredations of the Highlanders, who often
committed great outrages in the low country of Dumbartonshire, he
rendered himself obnoxious to them, and a plot was formed for his
destruction. He received a civil message from some of their chiefs,
desiring a friendly conference, in order to accommodate all their
differences. Suspecting no treachery, he went out to meet them
but slightly attended, and was immediately attacked by a numerous
body of Islanders, under two noted robber-chiefs, Lachlan Maclean
and Murdoch Gibson, and slain in Inchmurren, on Loch Lomond, in
1439. By his wife, Jean, daughter of Robert, Lord Erskine, he
had a son, Malcolm, a youth of great promise. He died before his
father, leaving a son, John, who succeeded his grandfather in 1439.
This Sir John Colquhoun was one of the most distinguished men of
his age in Scotland, and highly esteemed by King James III., from
whom he got a charter in 1457 of the lands of Luss, Colquhoun, and
Garscube, in Dumbartonshire, and of the lands of Glyn and Sauchie,
in Stirlingshire, incorporating the whole into a free barony, to be
called the Barony of Luss; and in the following year he obtained
from the king a charter erecting into a free forest the lands of
Rossdhu and Glenmachome. From 1465 to 1469 he held the high office
of comptroller of the Exchequer, and was subsequently appointed
sheriff principal of Dumbartonshire. In 1645 he got a grant of the
lands of Kilmardinny, and in 1473 and in 1474, of Roseneath, Strone,
&c. In 1474 he was appointed lord high chamberlain of Scotland,
and immediately thereafter was nominated one of the ambassadors
extraordinary to the Court of England, to negotiate a marriage
between the Prince Royal of Scotland and the Princess Cicily,
daughter of King Edward IV. By a royal charter dated 17th September
1477, he was constituted governor of the castle of Dumbarton for
life. He was killed by a cannon-ball at the siege of Dumbarton
Castle, probably in 1478. By his wife, daughter of Thomas, Lord Boyd,
he had two sons and one daughter. His second son, Robert, was bred to
the church, and was first rector of Kippen and Luss, and afterwards
bishop of Argyle from 1473 to 1499. The daughter, Margaret, married
Sir William Murray, seventh baron of Tullibardine (ancestor of the
Dukes of Athole), and bore to him seventeen sons.
His eldest son, Sir Humphry Colquhoun, died in 1493, and was
succeeded by his son, Sir John Colquhoun, who received the honour
of knighthood from King James IV., and obtained a charter under the
great seal of sundry lands and baronies in Dumbartonshire, dated 4th
December 1506. On 11th July 1526 he and Patrick Colquhoun his son
received a respite for assisting John, Earl of Lennox, in treasonably
besieging, taking, and holding the castle of Dumbarton. He died
before 16th August 1536. By his first wife, Elizabeth Stewart,
daughter of John, Earl of Lennox, Sir John Colquhoun had four sons
and four daughters; and by his second wife, Margaret, daughter of
William Cunningham of Craigends, he had two sons and two daughters.
His eldest son, Sir Humphry Colquhoun, married Lady Catherine Graham,
daughter of William, first Earl of Montrose, and died in 1537. By
her he had three sons and two daughters. His son James, designated
of Garscube, ancestor of the Colquhouns of Garscube, Adam, and
Patrick.[240] His eldest son, Sir John Colquhoun, married, first,
Christian Erskine, daughter of Robert, Lord Erskine; and secondly,
Agnes, daughter of the fourth Lord Boyd, ancestor of the Earls of
Kilmarnock. He died in 1575.
His eldest son, Humphry, acquired the heritable coronership of the
county of Dumbarton, from Robert Graham of Knockdollian, which was
ratified and confirmed by a charter under the great seal in 1583.
In July 1592, some of the Macgregors and Macfarlanes came down upon
the low country of Dumbartonshire, and committed vast ravages,
especially upon the territory of the Colquhouns. At the head of
his vassals, and accompanied by several of the gentlemen of the
neighbourhood, Sir Humphry Colquhoun attacked the invaders, and after
a bloody conflict, which was only put an end to at nightfall, he
was overpowered by his assailants, and forced to retreat. To quote
from Mr Fraser’s _Chiefs of the Colquhouns_--“He betook himself to
the castle of Bannachra, a stronghold which had been erected by the
Colquhouns at the foot of the north side of the hill of Bennibuie,
in the parish of Luss. A party of the Macfarlanes and Macgregors
pursued him, and laid siege to his castle. One of the servants who
attended the knight was of the same surname as himself. He had been
tampered with by the assailants of his master, and treacherously
made him their victim. The servant, while conducting his master to
his room up a winding stair of the castle, made him by preconcert
a mark for the arrows of the clan who pursued him by throwing the
glare of a paper torch upon his person when opposite a loophole. A
winged arrow, darted from its string with a steady aim, pierced the
unhappy knight to the heart, and he fell dead on the spot. The fatal
loophole is still pointed out, but the stair, like its unfortunate
lord, has crumbled into dust.” Sir Humphry married, first, Lady Jean
Cunningham, daughter of Alexander, fifth Earl of Glencairn, widow of
the Earl of Argyll, by whom he had no children, and secondly, Jean,
daughter of John, Lord Hamilton, by whom he had a daughter. Having no
male issue, he was succeeded by his younger brother, Alexander.
In Sir Alexander’s time occurred the raid of Glenfinlas, and the
bloody clan conflict of Glenfruin, between the Colquhouns and
Macgregors, in December 1602 and February 1603, regarding which the
popular accounts are much at variance with the historical facts.
The Colquhouns had taken part in the execution of the letters of
fire and sword issued by the crown against the Macgregors some years
before, and the feud between them had been greatly aggravated by
various acts of violence and aggression on both sides.
In 1602, the Macgregors made a regular raid on the laird of Luss’s
lands in Glenfinlas, and carried off a number of sheep and cattle,
as well as slew several of the tenants. Alexander Colquhoun, who had
before complained to the privy council against the Earl of Argyll for
not repressing the clan Gregor, but who had failed in obtaining any
redress, now adopted a tragic method in order to excite the sympathy
of the king. He appeared before his majesty at Stirling, accompanied
by a number of females, the relatives of those who had been killed or
wounded at Glenfinlas, each carrying the bloody shirt of her killed
or wounded relative, to implore his majesty to avenge the wrongs done
them. The ruse had the desired effect upon the king, who, from a
sensitiveness of constitutional temperament, which made him shudder
even at the sight of blood, was extremely susceptible to impressions
from scenes of this description, and he immediately granted a
commission of lieutenancy to the laird of Luss, investing him with
power to repress similar crimes, and to apprehend the perpetrators.
“This commission granted to their enemy appears to have roused the
lawless rage of the Macgregors, who rose in strong force to defy
the laird of Luss; and Glenfruin, with its disasters and sanguinary
defeat of the Colquhouns, and its ultimate terrible consequences to
the victorious clan themselves, was the result.”
In the beginning of the year 1603, Allaster Macgregor of Glenstrae,
followed by four hundred men chiefly of his own clan, but
including also some of the clans Cameron and Anverich, armed with
“halberschois, powaixes, twa-handit swordis, bowis and arrowis, and
with hagbutis and pistoletis,” advanced into the territory of Luss.
Colquhoun, acting under his royal commission, had raised a force
which has been stated by some writers as having amounted to 300 horse
and 500 foot. This is probably an exaggeration, but even if it is
not, the disasters which befell them may be explained from the trap
into which they fell, and from the nature of the ground on which they
encountered the enemy. This divested them of all the advantages which
they might have derived from superiority of numbers and from their
horse.
On the 7th February 1603, the Macgregors were in Glenfruin “in two
divisions,” writes Mr Fraser--“One of them at the head of the glen,
and the other in ambuscade near the farm of Strone, at a hollow or
ravine called the Crate. The Colquhouns came into Glenfruin from the
Luss side, which is opposite Strone--probably by Glen Luss and Glen
Mackurn. Alexander Colquhoun pushed on his forces in order to get
through the glen before encountering the Macgregors; but, aware of
his approach, Allaster Macgregor also pushed forward one division of
his forces and entered at the head of the glen in time to prevent
his enemy from emerging from the upper end of the glen, whilst his
brother, John Macgregor, with the division of his clan, which lay
in ambuscade, by a detour, took the rear of the Colquhouns, which
prevented their retreat down the glen without fighting their way
through that section of the Macgregors who had got in their rear. The
success of the stratagem by which the Colquhouns were thus placed
between two fires seems to be the only way of accounting for the
terrible slaughter of the Colquhouns and the much less loss of the
Macgregors.
“The Colquhouns soon became unable to maintain their ground, and,
falling into a moss at the farm of Auchingaich, they were thrown
into disorder, and made a hasty and disorderly retreat, which proved
even more disastrous than the conflict, for they had to force their
way through the men led by John Macgregor, whilst they were pressed
behind by Allaster, who, reuniting the two divisions of his army,
continued the pursuit.”
All who fell into the hands of the victors were at once put to death,
and the chief of the Colquhouns barely escaped with his life after
his horse had been killed under him. One hundred and forty of the
Colquhouns were slaughtered, and many more were wounded, among whom
were several women and children. When the pursuit ended, the work
of spoliation and devastation commenced. Large numbers of horses,
cattle, sheep, and goats were carried off, and many of the houses and
steadings of the tenantry were burned to the ground. Their triumph
the Macgregors were not allowed long to enjoy. The government took
instant and severe measures against them. A price was put upon the
heads of seventy or eighty of them by name, and upon a number of
their confederates of other clans:--“Before any judicial inquiry
was made,” says Mr Fraser, “on 3d April 1603, only two days before
James VI. left Scotland for England to take possession of the English
throne, an Act of Privy Council was passed, by which the name of
Gregor or Macgregor was for ever abolished. All of this surname were
commanded, under the penalty of death, to change it for another; and
the same penalty was denounced against those who should give food
or shelter to any of the clan. All who had been at the conflict of
Glenfruin, and at the spoliation and burning of the lands of the
Laird of Luss, were prohibited, under the penalty of death, from
carrying any weapon except a pointless knife to eat their meat.”
Thirty-five of the clan Gregor were executed after trial between
the 20th May 1603 and the 2d March 1604. Amongst these was Allaster
Macgregor, who surrendered himself to the Earl of Argyll.
By his wife Helen, daughter of Sir George Buchanan of that ilk,
Alexander had one son and five daughters. He died in 1617.
The eldest son, Sir John, in his father’s lifetime, got a charter
under the great seal of the ten pound land of Dunnerbuck, dated 20th
February 1602, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia by patent dated
the last day of August 1625. He married Lady Lillias Graham, daughter
of the fourth Earl of Montrose, brother of the great Marquis, by whom
he had three sons and three daughters. His two eldest sons succeeded
to the baronetcy. From Alexander, the third son, the Colquhouns of
Tillyquhoun were descended. He died in 1647.
Sir John, the second baronet of Luss, married Margaret, daughter
and sole heiress of Sir Gideon Baillie of Lochend, in the county of
Haddington, and had two sons, and seven daughters. He adhered firmly
to the royal cause during all the time of the civil wars, on which
account he suffered many hardships, and, in 1654, was by Cromwell
fined two thousand pounds sterling. He was succeeded in 1676 by his
younger son, Sir James--the elder having predeceased him--third
baronet of Luss, who held the estates only four years, and being a
minor, unmarried, left no issue. He was succeeded in 1680 by his
uncle, Sir James, who married Penuel, daughter of William Cunningham
of Balleichan, in Ireland. He had, with one daughter, two sons, Sir
Humphry, fifth baronet, and James. The former was a member of the
last Scottish Parliament, and strenuously opposed and voted against
every article of the treaty of union. By his wife Margaret, daughter
of Sir Patrick Houston of that ilk, baronet, he had an only daughter,
Anne Colquhoun, his sole heiress, who, in 1702, married James Grant
of Pluscardine, second son of Ludovick Grant of Grant, immediate
younger brother of Brigadier Alexander Grant, heir apparent of the
said Ludovick.
Having no male issue, Sir Humphry, with the design that his daughter
and her husband should succeed him in his whole estate and honours,
in 1704 resigned his baronetcy into the hands of her majesty Queen
Anne, for a new patent to himself in liferent, and his son-in-law
and his heirs therein named in fee, but with this express limitation
that he and his heirs so succeeding to that estate and title should
be obliged to bear the name and arms of Colquhoun of Luss, &c. It was
also specially provided that the estates of Grant and Luss should not
be conjoined.
Sir Humphry died in 1718, and was succeeded in his estate and honours
by James Grant, his son-in-law, under the name and designation of Sir
James Colquhoun of Luss. He enjoyed that estate and title till the
death of his elder brother, Brigadier Alexander Grant, in 1719, when,
succeeding to the estate of Grant, he relinquished the name and title
of Colquhoun of Luss, and resumed his own, retaining the baronetcy,
it being by the last patent vested in his person. He died in 1747.
By the said Anne, his wife, he had a numerous family. His eldest
son, Humphry Colquhoun, subsequently Humphry Grant of Grant, died
unmarried in 1732. The second son, Ludovick, became Sir Ludovick
Grant of Grant, baronet, while the fourth son James succeeded as Sir
James Colquhoun of Luss, the third son having died in infancy. He is
the amiable and very polite gentleman described by Smollett in his
novel of Humphry Clinker, under the name of “Sir George Colquhoun,
a colonel in the Dutch service.” He married Lady Helen Sutherland,
daughter of William Lord Strathnaver, son of the Earl of Sutherland,
and by her he had three sons and five daughters. In 1777 he founded
the town of Helensburgh on the frith of Clyde, and named it after his
wife. To put an end to some disputes which had arisen with regard
to the destination of the old patent of the Nova Scotia baronetcy,
(John Colquhoun of Tillyquhoun, as the eldest cadet, having, on the
death of his cousin-german, Sir Humphry Colquhoun, in 1718, assumed
the title as heir male of his grandfather, the patentee), Sir James
was, in 1786, created a baronet of Great Britain. His second youngest
daughter, Margaret, married William Baillie, a lord of session,
under the title of Lord Polkemmet, and was the mother of Sir William
Baillie, baronet. Sir James died in November 1786.
His eldest son, Sir James Colquhoun, second baronet under the new
patent, sheriff-depute of Dumbartonshire, was one of the principal
clerks of session. By his wife, Mary, daughter and co-heir of James
Falconer, Esq. of Monktown, he had seven sons and four daughters.
He died in 1805. His eldest son, Sir James, third baronet, was for
some time M.P. for Dumbartonshire. He married, on 13th June 1799, his
cousin Janet, daughter of Sir John Sinclair, baronet, and had three
sons and two daughters. Of this lady, who died October 21, 1846, and
who was distinguished for her piety and benevolence, a memoir exists
by the late Rev. James Hamilton, D.D., London.
[Illustration: Old Rossdhu Castle, from the _Chiefs of the
Colquhouns_.]
“Some time after Sir James’ succession,” says Mr Fraser, to whose
book on the Colquhouns we have been much indebted in this account,
“significant testimony was given that the ancient feud between his
family and that of the Macgregors, which had frequently led to such
disastrous results to both, had given place to feelings of hearty
goodwill and friendship. On an invitation from Sir James and
Lady Colquhoun, Sir John Murray Macgregor and Lady Macgregor came
on a visit to Rossdhu. The two baronets visited Glenfruin. They
were accompanied by Lady Colquhoun and Misses Helen and Catherine
Colquhoun. After the battlefield had been carefully inspected by
the descendants of the combatants, Sir J. M. Macgregor insisted on
shaking hands with Sir James Colquhoun and the whole party on the
spot where it was supposed that the battle had been hottest. On the
occasion of the same visit to Rossdhu, the party ascended Ben Lomond,
which dominates so grandly over Loch Lomond. On the summit of this
lofty mountain, Sir John M. Macgregor danced a Highland reel with
Miss Catherine Colquhoun, afterwards Mrs Millar of Earnoch. Sir John
was then fully eighty years of age.”
His eldest son, Sir James Colquhoun, the fourth baronet of the new
creation, and the eighth of the old patent, succeeded on his father’s
death, 3d Feb. 1836; chief of the Colquhouns of Luss; Lord-lieutenant
of Dumbartonshire, and M.P. for that county from 1837 to 1841. He
married in June 1843, Jane, daughter of Sir Robert Abercromby of
Birkenbog. She died 3d May 1844, leaving one son, James, born in 1844.
The family mansion, Rossdhu, is situated on a beautiful peninsula.
To the possessions of the family of Colquhoun was added in 1852 the
estate of Ardincaple, purchased from the Duchess Dowager of Argyll.
According to Mr Fraser, the three baronets of Luss, before Sir James,
purchased up no less than fourteen lairdships.
Robert, a younger son of Sir Robert Colquhoun of that ilk, who
married the heiress of Luss, was the first of the Colquhouns of
Camstrodden, which estate, with the lands of Achirgahan, he obtained
by charter, dated 4th July 1395, from his brother Sir Humphry. Sir
James Colquhoun, third baronet, purchased in 1826 that estate from
the hereditary proprietor, and re-annexed it to the estate of Luss.
The Killermont line, originally of Garscadden, is a scion of the
Camstrodden branch.
FORBES.
[Illustration: BADGE--Broom.]
Although there is great doubt as to the Celtic or at least Gaelic
origin of the FORBES clan, still, as it was one of the most powerful
and influential of the northern clans, it may claim a notice here.
“The Forbes Family and following,” says Smibert, “ranked early among
the strongest on the north-eastern coast of Scotland; and no one can
reasonably doubt but that the ancient Pictish Gael of the region in
question constituted a large proportion (if not of the Forbeses, at
least) of the followers of the house.”
The traditions regarding the origin of the surname of Forbes are
various; and some of them very fanciful. The principal of these,
referred to by Sir Samuel Forbes in his “View of the diocese of
Aberdeen” (MS. quoted by the Statistical Account of Scotland, art.
Tullynessle and Forbes), states that this name was first assumed by
one Ochonchar, from Ireland, who having slain a ferocious bear in
that district, took the name of Forbear, now spelled and pronounced
Forbes, in two syllables; although the English, in pronunciation,
make it only one. In consequence of this feat the Forbeses carry in
their arms three bears’ heads. A variation of this story says that
the actor in this daring exploit was desirous of exhibiting his
courage to the young and beautiful heiress of the adjacent castle,
whose name being Bess, he, on receiving her hand as his reward,
assumed it to commemorate his having killed the bear for “Bess.”
Another tradition states that the name of the founder of the family
was originally Bois, a follower of an early Scottish king, and that
on granting him certain lands for some extraordinary service, his
majesty observed that they were “for Boice.” The surname, however, is
territorial, and said to be Celtic, from the Gaelic word Ferbash or
Ferbasach, a bold man.
[Illustration: FORBES. (Tartan)]
“On the whole,” says Smibert, “the traditions of the family, as
well as other authorities, countenance with unusual strength, the
belief, that the heads of the Forbeses belonged really to the Irish
branch, and were among those strangers of that race whom the Lowland
kings planted in the north and north-east of Scotland to overawe the
remaining primary population of Gaelic Picts.”
According to Skene, in his treatise _De Verborum Significatione_,
Duncan Forbois got from King Alexander (but which of the three kings
of that name is not mentioned) a charter of the lands and heritage
of Forbois in Aberdeenshire, whence the surname. In the reign of
King William the Lion, John de Forbes possessed the lands of that
name. His son, Fergus de Forbes, had a charter of the same from
Alexander, Earl of Buchan, about 1236. Next of this race are Duncan
de Forbes, his son, 1262, and Alexander de Forbes, grandson, governor
of Urquhart Castle in Moray, which he bravely defended for a long
time, in 1304, against Edward I. of England; but on its surrender
all within the castle were put to the sword, except the wife of
the governor, who escaped to Ireland, and was there delivered of
a posthumous son. This son, Sir Alexander de Forbes, the only one
of his family remaining, came to Scotland in the reign of Robert
the Bruce, and his patrimonial inheritance of Forbes having been
bestowed upon others, he obtained a grant of other lands instead. He
was killed at the battle of Duplin, in 1332, fighting valiantly on
the side of King David, the son of Bruce. From his son, Sir John de
Forbes, 1373, all the numerous families in Scotland who bear the name
and their offshoots, trace their descent.[241]
Sir John’s son, Sir Alexander de Forbes (curiously said to be
posthumous like the above Alexander), acquired from Thomas, Earl of
Mar, several lands in Aberdeenshire, the grant of which King Robert
II. ratified by charter in the third year of his reign. By King
Robert III. he was appointed justiciary of Aberdeen, and coroner of
that county. He died in 1405. By his wife, a daughter of Kennedy
of Dunure, he had four sons, namely--Sir Alexander, his successor,
the first Lord Forbes; Sir William, ancestor of the Lords Pitsligo;
Sir John, who obtained the thanedom of Formartine (which now gives
the title of viscount to the Earl of Aberdeen) and the lands of
Tolquhoun, by his marriage with Marjory, daughter and heiress of Sir
Henry Preston of Formartine, knight (of the Dingwall family), and was
ancestor of the Forbeses of Tolquhoun, Foveran, Watertoun, Culloden,
and others of the name; and Alexander, founder of the family of Brux,
and others.
Alexander, the elder son, was created a peer of parliament sometime
after 1436. The precise date of creation is not known, but in a
precept, directed by James II. to the lords of the exchequer, dated
12th July 1442, he is styled Lord Forbes. He died in 1448. By his
wife, Lady Elizabeth (sometimes called Lady Mary) Douglas, only
daughter of George, Earl of Angus, and grand-daughter of King Robert
II, he had two sons and three daughters.
James, the elder son, second Lord Forbes, was knighted by King
James III. He died soon after 1460. By his wife, Lady Egidia Keith,
second daughter of the first Earl Marischal, he had three sons
and a daughter, namely--William, third Lord Forbes; Duncan, of
Corsindae, ancestor (by his second son) of the Forbeses of Monymusk;
and Patrick, the first of the family of Corse, progenitor of the
Forbeses, baronets, of Craigievar, and of the Irish Earls of Granard.
The daughter, Egidia, became the wife of Malcolm Forbes of Tolquhoun.
William, third Lord Forbes, married Lady Christian Gordon, third
daughter of Alexander, first Earl of Huntly, and had, with a
daughter, three sons, Alexander, fourth lord; Arthur, fifth lord; and
John, sixth lord.
Alexander, fourth lord, died, while yet young, before 16th May 1491.
Arthur, fifth Lord Forbes, succeeded his brother, and being under
age at the time, he was placed as one of the king’s wards, under the
guardianship of John, Lord Glammis, whose daughter he had married,
but he died soon after his accession to the title, without children.
His next brother, John, became sixth Lord Forbes, before 30th October
1496, at which date he is witness to a charter. The sixth lord died
in 1547. He was thrice married, first, to Lady Catherine Stewart,
second daughter of John, Earl of Athole, uterine brother of King
James II., and by her he had a son John, who died young, and a
daughter, Elizabeth, married to John Grant of Grant; secondly, to
Christian, daughter of Sir John Lundin of that ilk, by whom he had
two sons and four daughters; and, thirdly, to Elizabeth Barlow or
Barclay, relict of the first Lord Elphinstone, killed at Flodden
in 1513, by whom he had a son, Arthur Forbes of Putachie, and a
daughter, Janet, who was also thrice married.
The elder son of the second marriage, John, the Master of Forbes
above mentioned, is stated to have been a young man of great courage
and good education, but of a bold and turbulent spirit. He was
beheaded for treason, on the 17th of July 1537.
After the execution of the Master, the king (James V.) seems to have
been anxious to compensate the family for his severity towards them,
by admitting his next brother, William, into his favour. He restored
to him his brother’s honours and estates, and in 1539, appointed him
one of the gentlemen of his bedchamber. This William succeeded his
father in 1547, as seventh Lord Forbes, and died in 1593. He had
married Elizabeth Keith, daughter and coheiress, with her sister,
Margaret, Countess Marischal, of Sir William Keith of Inverugie, and
had by her six sons and eight daughters. The sons were, John, eighth
Lord Forbes; William, of Foderhouse; James, of Lethendy: Robert,
prior of Monymusk; Arthur of Logie, called from his complexion,
“Black Arthur;” and Abraham, of Blacktoun.
John, eighth Lord Forbes, was one of the five noblemen appointed by
commission from the king, dated 25th July 1594, lieutenants of the
northern counties, for the suppression of the rebellion of the popish
Earls of Huntly and Errol. His lordship was served heir to his mother
13th November 1604, and died soon afterwards. He had married, while
still Master of Forbes, Lady Margaret Gordon, eldest daughter of
George, fourth Earl of Huntly, and had, with a daughter named Jean,
a son, John, who, being educated in the faith of his mother, entered
a religious order on the continent, and died without succession.
This lady Lord Forbes repudiated, and in consequence a sanguinary
contest took place in 1572, in the parish of Clatt, Aberdeenshire,
between the two rival clans of Forbes and Gordon. The latter, under
the command of two of the earl’s brothers, attacked the Forbeses,
within a rude intrenchment which they had formed on the white hill
of Tillyangus, in the south-western extremity of the parish, and
after a severe contest the Gordons prevailed, having carried the
intrenchment, and slain the Master’s brother, “Black Arthur.” The
pursuit of the Forbeses was continued to the very gates of Druminner,
the seat of their chief. A number of cairns are still pointed out
where those slain on this occasion are said to have been buried. The
eighth Lord Forbes took for his second wife, Janet, daughter of James
Seton of Touch, and had, besides Arthur, ninth lord, another son, and
a daughter.
Arthur, ninth lord, married on 1st February 1600, Jean, second
daughter of Alexander, fourth Lord Elphinstone. He was succeeded by
his only surviving son, Alexander, tenth Lord Forbes, who fought
against the imperialists under the banner of the lion of the
north, the renowned Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, in whose service
he attained the rank of lieutenant-general, and won for himself a
high military reputation. On his return home, he had a considerable
command in the army sent from Scotland to suppress the Irish
rebellion in 1643. He afterwards retired to Germany, where he spent
the remainder of his days. He was twice married--first, to Anne,
eldest daughter of Sir John Forbes of Pitsligo, by whom he had,
besides several children, who died young, a son, William, eleventh
Lord Forbes; and secondly, to Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Forbes of
Rires, in Fife, and by her had a large family.
William, eleventh Lord Forbes, died in 1691. He was thrice married,
but had issue only by his first wife, Jean, a daughter of Sir John
Campbell of Calder.
His eldest son, William, twelfth Lord Forbes, was a zealous supporter
of the revolution. In 1689 he was sworn a privy councillor to King
William. He died in July 1716. By his wife, Anne, daughter of James
Brodie of Brodie, he had three sons and one daughter.
William, the eldest son, thirteenth Lord Forbes, married, in
September 1720, Dorothy, daughter of William Dale, Esq. of Covent
Garden, Westminster. He died at Edinburgh 26th June 1730. He had
a son, Francis, fourteenth lord, who died in August 1734, in the
thirteenth year of his age, and four daughters, one of whom, Jean,
was married to James Dundas of Dundas, and another, the youngest,
Elizabeth, married John Gregory, M.D., professor of the practice of
medicine in the university of Edinburgh, and was the mother of the
celebrated Dr James Gregory.
James, second son of the twelfth lord, succeeded his nephew, as
fifteenth Lord Forbes, and died at Putachie, 20th February 1761,
in the 73d year of his age. He married, first, Mary, daughter of
the third Lord Pitsligo, widow of John Forbes of Monymusk, and
grandmother of the celebrated Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo,
baronet, and had a son, James, sixteenth Lord Forbes, and three
daughters; secondly, in July 1741, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James
Gordon of Park, baronet.
James, sixteenth lord, died at Edinburgh 29th July 1804, in the 80th
year of his age. By his wife Catherine, only daughter of Sir Robert
Innes, baronet, of Orton and Balvenie, he had four sons and two
daughters.
James Ochoncar Forbes, seventeenth lord, the eldest son, born 7th
March 1765, entered the army in 1781, as ensign in the Coldstream
regiment of foot guards, in which he was an officer for twenty-six
years, holding important positions, and doing good service for his
country. He died 4th May 1843. By his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and
heiress of Walter Hunter of Polmood, Peeblesshire, and Crailing,
Roxburghshire, he had six sons and four daughters. The estate of
Polmood had been the subject of litigation for nearly fifty years
in the Court of Session and House of Lords, but it was ultimately
decided that an old man named Adam Hunter, who laid claim to it,
had not established his pedigree. It consequently came into the
possession of Lady Forbes. His lordship’s eldest son, James, a
lieutenant-colonel in the Coldstream guards, predeceased his father
in 1835.
Walter, the second son, born 29th May 1798, became eighteenth Lord
Forbes, on his father’s death in 1843. He was twice married, and had
in all eight sons and one daughter. He died in May 1868, and was
succeeded by his eldest son, Horace Courtenay, born in 1829.
Lord Forbes is the premier baron of Scotland, being the first on the
union roll. He is also a baronet of Nova Scotia, the date of creation
being 1628.
The Forbeses of TOLQUHOUN, ancient cadets of this family, one of whom
fell at the battle of Pinkie, 10th September 1547, are descended from
Sir John Forbes, third son of Sir John Forbes, justiciary of Aberdeen
in the reign of Robert III., are now represented by James Forbes
Leith, Esq. of Whitehaugh, in the same county.
[Illustration: Craigievar Castle.]
The Forbeses of CRAIGIEVAR (also in Aberdeenshire), who possess
a baronetcy, descend from the Hon. Patrick Forbes of Corse,
armour-bearer to King James III., and third son, as already stated,
of James, second Lord Forbes. The lands of Corse, which formed part
of the barony of Coul and O’Nele or O’Neil, were in 1476 bestowed on
this Patrick, for his services, by that monarch, and on 10th October
1482 he had a charter of confirmation under the great seal, of the
barony of O’Neil, namely, the lands of Coule, Kincraigy, and le
Corss. In 1510 his son and successor, David, called “Trail the Axe,”
had a charter of the lands of O’Nele, Cors, Kincraigy, le Mureton,
with the mill and alehouse thereof (the lands of Coul being now
disjoined therefrom), and uniting and incorporating them into a haill
and free barony, “cum furca, fossa, pitt et gallous,” &c., to be
called the barony of O’Neil in all time coming. He married Elizabeth,
sister of Panter of Newmanswells, near Montrose, secretary of state
to James IV., and had a son, Patrick of O’Neil Corse, infeft in 1554.
Patrick’s eldest son, William, infeft in January 1567, by his wife
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Alexander Strachan of Thornton, had six
sons and five daughters.
His eldest son, Patrick Forbes of Corse and O’Neil, was bishop of
Aberdeen for seventeen years, and died in 1635. The bishop’s male
line failing with his grandchildren, the family estates devolved on
the descendants of his next brother, William Forbes of Craigievar,
the first of that branch.
His eldest son, William, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia, 20th
April 1630, with a grant of sixteen thousand acres in New Brunswick,
erected into a free barony and regality, to be called New Craigievar.
Sir William’s son, Sir John, second baronet, married Margaret, a
daughter of Young of Auldbar, and had six sons and three daughters.
His grandson, Sir Arthur, fourth baronet, represented the county of
Aberdeen in parliament from 1727 to 1747. Sir Arthur was the bosom
friend of Sir Andrew Mitchell, British ambassador to Frederick the
Great of Prussia, who left to Sir Arthur the bulk of his property,
including his valuable library, and his estate of Thainston.
His son, Sir William, fifth baronet, born in 1753, by his wife, the
Hon. Sarah Sempill, daughter of the twelfth Lord Sempill, had four
sons and seven daughters.
His son, Sir Arthur, sixth baronet, was for some time an officer in
the 7th hussars. He died unmarried in 1823, and was succeeded by his
brother, Sir John, seventh baronet, born in 1785. He was a judge in
the Hon. East India company’s service, and married in September 1825,
the Hon. Charlotte Elizabeth, daughter of the 17th Lord Forbes, and
had two sons and six daughters. He died 16th February 1846.
The elder son, Sir William, born May 20, 1836, succeeded as eighth
baronet. In 1858 he married the only daughter of Sir Charles Forbes,
Bart., of Newe and Edinglassie. He married, secondly, in November
1862, Frances Emily, youngest daughter of the late Sir George
Abercromby, Bart. of Birkenbog, and has issue several sons.
The family of Forbes of PITSLIGO and FETTERCAIRN, which possesses a
baronetcy, is descended from Hon. Duncan Forbes of Corsindae, second
son of the second Lord Forbes.
The family of Forbes of NEWE and EDINGLASSIE, which also possesses
a baronetcy, is descended from William Forbes of Dauch and Newe,
younger son of Sir John Forbes, knight, who obtained a charter of
the barony of Pitsligo and Kinnaldie, 10th October 1476, and whose
elder son, Sir John Forbes, was the progenitor of Alexander Forbes,
created Lord Forbes of Pitsligo, 24th June 1633, a title attainted in
the person of Alexander, fourth lord, for his participation in the
rebellion of 1745. John Forbes of Bellabeg, the direct descendant of
the said William of Dauch, was born at Bellabeg in September 1743. In
early life he went to Bombay, and engaging in mercantile pursuits,
became one of the most extensive and distinguished merchants in
India. Having realised a large fortune he repurchased Newe, the
estate of his ancestors, besides other lands in Strathdon, and the
whole of his rental was laid out in improvements. He died 20th June
1821, and was succeeded by his nephew, Sir Charles Forbes, eldest son
of the Rev. George Forbes of Lochell, by his wife, Katharine, only
daughter of Gordon Stewart of Inveraurie. He was created a baronet,
4th November 1823. He sat in parliament for upwards of twenty years.
In 1833 he was served nearest male heir in general to Alexander,
third Lord Pitsligo, by a jury at Aberdeen, and the same year he
obtained the authority of the Lord Lyon to use the Pitsligo arms and
supporters. He died 20th November 1849, and was succeeded by his
grandson, Sir Charles, second baronet, born 15th July 1832, on whose
death, unmarried, 23d May 1852, the title devolved on his uncle, Sir
Charles Forbes, third baronet, born at Bombay 21st September 1803,
and educated at Harrow school.
The first of the Forbeses of CULLODEN,[242] Inverness-shire, was
Duncan Forbes, great-grandfather of the celebrated Lord President
Forbes, descended from the noble family of Forbes through that
of Tolquhoun, and by the mother’s side from that of Keith, Earl
Marischal. He was M.P. and provost of Inverness, and purchased the
estate of Culloden from the laird of Mackintosh in 1626. He died in
1654, aged 82.
Duncan Forbes, the first of Culloden, married Janet, eldest daughter
of James Forbes of Corsindae, also descended from the noble family
at the head of the clan, and had, with two daughters, three sons,
namely, John, his heir, Captain James Forbes of Caithness, and
Captain Duncan Forbes of Assynt.
John Forbes of Culloden, the eldest son, was also provost of
Inverness. He was the friend and supporter of the Marquis of Argyll,
and from his strong support of Presbyterian principles he suffered
much in the reign of Charles II. and his brother James. About the
year 1670, his landed estate was doubled by the purchase of the
barony of Ferintosh and the estate of Bunchrew. As a compensation for
the loss which the family had sustained during the revolution, his
eldest son and successor, Duncan Forbes, third of Culloden, received
from the Scots parliament the privilege of distilling into spirits
the grain of the barony of Ferintosh, at a nominal composition of the
duty, which remained the same, after the spirits distilled in other
parts of the country were subjected to a comparatively heavy excise;
hence Ferintosh became renowned for its whisky. The privilege was
taken away in 1785. By his wife, Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Innes,
of Innes, in Morayshire, baronet, he had two sons, John, and Duncan,
Lord President, and several daughters.
John, the fourth laird of Culloden, took an active part on the side
of government on the breaking out of the rebellion of 1715, and,
with the afterwards celebrated Lord Lovat, narrowly escaped being
apprehended at Aberdeen by Lord Saltoun, in command of the Jacobite
forces there. Both he and his brother Duncan were engaged in putting
down the insurrection in Inverness-shire. In those convivial times
he so much excelled most of his friends in the quantity of claret
that he could drink, that he was distinguished by the name of
Bumper John. Dying without issue in 1734, he was succeeded by his
only brother, Duncan,[243] the celebrated Lord President, whose only
child, John Forbes, the sixth of Culloden, showed, when young, says
Mr Burton, “the convivial spirit of his race, without their energy
and perseverance.” He lived retired at Stradishall, in Suffolk, and
by economy and judicious management succeeded in some measure in
retrieving the losses which his father had sustained in the public
service, and which, with the utmost ingratitude, the government,
which his exertions and outlay had mainly helped to establish,
refused to acknowledge or compensate. John Forbes died 26th September
1772. He was twice married--first to Jane, daughter of Sir Arthur
Forbes of Craigievar, baronet, by whom he had two sons, Duncan, who
died before him, and Arthur, his successor; and, secondly, Jane,
daughter of Captain Forbes of Newe, without issue.
Arthur, seventh laird, died 26th May 1803, and was succeeded by his
only son, Duncan George, who died 3d November 1827, when his eldest
son, Arthur, born 25th January 1819, became the ninth laird of
Culloden.
There are many other families of this name, but want of space forbids
us entering into further details.
URQUHART.
[Illustration: BADGE--Wall-flower.]
URQUHART, or URCHARD, is the name of a minor clan (_Urachdun_),
originally settled in Cromarty (badge, the wallflower), a branch of
the clan Forbes. Nisbet says,--“A brother of Ochonchar, who slew the
bear, and was predecessor of the Lords Forbes, having in keeping the
castle of Urquhart, took his surname from the place.” This castle
stood on the south side of Loch Ness, and was in ancient times a
place of great strength and importance, as is apparent from its
extensive and magnificent ruins. In that fabulous work, “The true
pedigree and lineal descent of the most ancient and honourable family
of Urquhart, since the creation of the world, by Sir Thomas Urquhart,
Knight of Cromartie,” the origin of the family and name is ascribed
to _Ourqhartus_, that is, “fortunate and well-beloved,” the familiar
name of Esormon, of whom the eccentric author describes himself as
the 128th descendant. He traces his pedigree, in a direct line,
even up to Adam and Eve, and somewhat inconsistently makes the word
_Urquhart_ have the same meaning as _Adam_, namely, _red earth_.
The family of Urquhart is one of great antiquity. In Hailes’
_Annals_, it is mentioned that Edward I. of England, during the time
of the competition for the Scottish crown, ordered a list of the
sheriffs in Scotland to be made out. Among them appears the name of
William Urquhart of Cromartie, heritable sheriff of the county. He
married a daughter of Hugh, Earl of Ross, and his son Adam obtained
charters of various lands. A descendant of his, Thomas Urquhart
of Cromartie, who lived in the 16th century, is said to have been
father of 11 daughters and 25 sons. Seven of the latter fell at the
battle of Pinkie in 1547, and from another descended the Urquharts of
Newhall, Monteagle, Kinbeachie, and Braelangwell.
The eldest son, Alexander Urquhart of Cromartie, had a charter from
James V. of the lands of Inch Rory and others, in the shires of Ross
and Inverness, dated March 7, 1532. He had two sons. The younger son,
John Urquhart, born in 1547, became tutor to his grand-nephew, Sir
Thomas Urquhart, and was well known afterwards by the designation of
the “Tutor of Cromartie.” He died November 8, 1631, aged 84.
[Illustration: CASTLE URQUHART, (LOCH NESS)
GRANTED BY CHARTER 1509 TO THE FAMILY OF GRANT OF GRANT NOW EARLS OF
SEAFIELD.
A. Fullerton & C^o London & Edinburgh.]
Sir Thomas, the family genealogist, is chiefly known as the
translator of _Rabelais_. He appears to have at one period travelled
much on the continent. He afterwards became a cavalier officer,
and was knighted by Charles I. at Whitehall. After that monarch’s
decapitation, he accompanied Charles II. in his march into England,
and was taken prisoner at the battle of Worcester in 1651, when his
estates were forfeited by Cromwell. He wrote several elaborate works,
but the most creditable is his translation of _Rabelais_. Such,
notwithstanding, was the universality of his attainments, that he
deemed himself capable of enlightening the world on many things never
“dreamed of in the philosophy” of ordinary mortals. “Had I not,” he
says, “been pluck’d away by the importunity of my creditors, I would
have emitted to public view above five hundred several treatises on
inventions, never hitherto thought upon by any.” The time and place
of his death are unknown. There is a tradition that he died of an
inordinate fit of laughter, on hearing of the restoration of Charles
II. The male line ended in Colonel James Urquhart, an officer of
much distinction, who died in 1741. The representation of the family
devolved on the Urquharts of Braelangwell, which was sold (with the
exception of a small portion, which is strictly entailed) by Charles
Gordon Urquhart, Esq., an officer in the Scots Greys. The Urquharts
of Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, obtained that estate through the marriage,
in 1610, of their ancestor, John Urquhart of Craigfintry, tutor of
Cromarty, with Elizabeth Seton, heiress of Meldrum. The Urquharts
of Craigston, and a few more families of the name, still possess
estates in the north of Scotland; and persons of this surname are
still numerous in the counties of Ross and Cromarty. In Ross-shire,
Inverness-shire, and Morayshire, there are parishes of the name of
Urquhart.
FOOTNOTES:
[228] _Highlands of Scotland_, p. 288.
[229] For portrait of General Hugh Mackay, _vide_ vol. i. p. 361.
[230] _Skene’s Highlanders_, vol ii. p. 301.
[231] See p. 61, vol. i.
[232] See p. 60, vol. i.
[233] For view of old Dunrobin Castle, _vide_ vol. i. p. 83.
[234] Details of these feuds will be found in vol. i.
[235] For the circumstances attending this unnatural murder, which
the Earl of Caithness is said to have instigated, see vol. i. p. 90.
[236] In reference to this, we extract the following from the
_Scotsman_, Feb. 12, 1869:--“Within the last few days a handsome
monument from the granite works of Messrs Macdonald, Field, &
Co., Aberdeen, has been erected in the churchyard of Balquhidder,
bearing the following inscription:--‘In memoriam of the Clan Laurin,
anciently the allodian inhabitants of Balquhidder and Strathearn,
the chief of whom, in the decrepitude of old age, together with his
aged and infirm adherents, their wives and children, the widows of
their departed kindred--all were destroyed in the silent midnight
hour by fire and sword, by the hands of a banditti of incendiarists
from Glendochart, A.D. 1558. Erected by Daniel Maclaurin, Esq. of St
John’s Wood, London, author of a short history of his own clan, and
for the use of his clansmen only.--October 1868.’”
[237] For the information here given, we are mainly indebted to the
MS. above referred to.
[238] _History of Scotland._
[239] Fraser’s _Chiefs of Colquhoun_.
[240] Fraser’s _Chiefs of Colquhoun_.
[241] Low’s _Scot. Heroes, App._
[242] See view of Culloden House, vol. i. p. 657.
[243] See portrait, vol. i. p. 679. Details concerning this true
patriot and upright judge will be found in the account of the
rebellion of 1745.