Gight castle (2 of 5) front door
(Continued from previous photo) The Keith feud was still going on merrily in April 1597, when the magistrates of Aberdeen thought it judicious to send the Bishop of the diocese to the castles of Gight and Inverugie near Perterhead, in an effort to secure peace between the families. The Bishop’s efforts seem to have been in vain, because in December of that year, George Keith the Earl Marischal and James Hogg of Ballyedrie complained to the Scottish Privy Council that one Alexander Keith and accomplices had stolen a gray horse belonging to the earl’s wife, and two mares belonging to Hog. Horse theft was an extremely serious crime in those days, often punished more severely than murder, and frequently by hanging. Perhaps because the culprit was a Keith, or more likely because the horses had still not been recovered, Alexander was not immediately hung, but was locked up in Inverugie Castle, however before a suitable punishment could be devised, he managed to escape.
Thereafter, the “complainants” carried out a diligent and methodical search, both for the escaped Alexander Keith, and also for the missing horse flesh, which latter they eventually found – “in the possession of Gordon of Gight and certain of his tenants”! The complainants claimed their horses and also demanded suitable restitution. William Gordon however (who was by now laird of Gight, his father having died earlier that year) not only refused but “most maliciously and cruelly” and accompanied by his brothers and “divers other men, all armed with hagbuts, pistolets, jacks, steelbonnets, swords, gauntlets and other weapons”, pursued the said Hogg, and others with him, and “wounded them in divers parts of their bodies”!
The Privy Council also heard, that ever since his escape, the thief, Alexander Keith had been “resettled and maintained” by Gordon of Gight. The court found that Gordon of Gight, for failing to appear, was “to be denounced rebel”.
During the years that the Keith feud dragged on, William Gordon was involved in other unsavory affairs. In 1591, he took part in one of the more celebrated murders in Scottish history, that of James, the “Bonny” Earl of Murray.
As so often, the cause of the problem lay in a feud involving property, that grew in size until the protagonists had no doubt forgotten the original cause, and the original protagonists had been replaced by their feudal superiors.
When the Grant laird of Ballindalloch died, his son was “tutored” by John Grant, and the “Tutor of Ballindalloch” started to take more from his young charge’s estate than the boy’s mother considered he should. It was the normal arrangement in those days for a Tutor to be appointed to educate the under-age heirs of landed estates if their fathers had died prematurely, and it was not uncommon for these Tutors to severely run down the estates that they had charge of, to their own benefit, before the son and heir was old enough to take charge of his own affairs. The ‘Widow of Ballindalloch’ however, was a Gordon, and in 1590 she sought the assistance of her own family, to protect her son’s inheritance. Legally, Grant was entitled, as Tutor, to do as he liked at Ballindalloch, so to strengthen their cause, the Gordons proposed that the widow of Ballindalloch should marry John Gordon, the brother of Sir Thomas Gordon of Cluny.
John Grant resented the idea that “anyone of the name of Gordon should reside at Ballindalloch” and as the situation deteriorated, an incident occurred in which he shot and killed one of John Gordon’s servants. To the Gordons of course, this was exactly the excuse they were looking for, and they had Grant declared “outlaw”, which in turn gave them the right, particularly by virtue of the fact that George, 6th Earl of Huntly was Sheriff of the county, to “pursue him”. Huntly himself arrived in force and besieged Ballindalloch castle, but John Grant escaped. The dispute now widened, as the Earls of Moray (Huntly’s hereditary enemy) and of Athole, together with Mackintosh of Mackintosh, the Captain of Clan Chattan, joined in on the side of the Grants.
Believing that Moray and Athole were forming a faction against him, Huntly pursued them, besieging Murray in his castle of Darnaway. Huntly sent the recently married John Gordon to take a closer look at the castle, and he, “approaching the house more hardily than warily, was shot and slain from the house by one of the Earl of Murray’s servants”.
The earl of Huntly then hastened to court, and obtained a “commission” against the Earl of Moray from Chancellor Maitland (who disliked both Huntly and Moray, and cared little about what became of either of them!), which effectively gave him the right to pursue and arrest Moray.
The year of 1591 saw various punitive raids against Clan Chattan and the Grants. According to the records: “Huntly sent Allan Macdonuill-Duibh into Badenoch against the Clan Chattan, where after a sharp skirmish, the Clan Chattan were chased off, and above fifty of them slain. Then Huntly sent MacRonald against the Grants, whom MacRonald invaded in Strathspey, killing eighteen of them, and wasting all Ballindalloch's lands”.
Then in February 1592, Huntly received news in Edinburgh, that Moray had recently arrived at his castle of Donnibristle in Fife. Huntly at once set out “with forty gentlemen”, among whom were William Gordon of Gight, his brother Captain John Gordon and Thomas Gordon of Cluny, whose brother had been slain at Darnaway. (Continued next photo)
Gight castle (2 of 5) front door
(Continued from previous photo) The Keith feud was still going on merrily in April 1597, when the magistrates of Aberdeen thought it judicious to send the Bishop of the diocese to the castles of Gight and Inverugie near Perterhead, in an effort to secure peace between the families. The Bishop’s efforts seem to have been in vain, because in December of that year, George Keith the Earl Marischal and James Hogg of Ballyedrie complained to the Scottish Privy Council that one Alexander Keith and accomplices had stolen a gray horse belonging to the earl’s wife, and two mares belonging to Hog. Horse theft was an extremely serious crime in those days, often punished more severely than murder, and frequently by hanging. Perhaps because the culprit was a Keith, or more likely because the horses had still not been recovered, Alexander was not immediately hung, but was locked up in Inverugie Castle, however before a suitable punishment could be devised, he managed to escape.
Thereafter, the “complainants” carried out a diligent and methodical search, both for the escaped Alexander Keith, and also for the missing horse flesh, which latter they eventually found – “in the possession of Gordon of Gight and certain of his tenants”! The complainants claimed their horses and also demanded suitable restitution. William Gordon however (who was by now laird of Gight, his father having died earlier that year) not only refused but “most maliciously and cruelly” and accompanied by his brothers and “divers other men, all armed with hagbuts, pistolets, jacks, steelbonnets, swords, gauntlets and other weapons”, pursued the said Hogg, and others with him, and “wounded them in divers parts of their bodies”!
The Privy Council also heard, that ever since his escape, the thief, Alexander Keith had been “resettled and maintained” by Gordon of Gight. The court found that Gordon of Gight, for failing to appear, was “to be denounced rebel”.
During the years that the Keith feud dragged on, William Gordon was involved in other unsavory affairs. In 1591, he took part in one of the more celebrated murders in Scottish history, that of James, the “Bonny” Earl of Murray.
As so often, the cause of the problem lay in a feud involving property, that grew in size until the protagonists had no doubt forgotten the original cause, and the original protagonists had been replaced by their feudal superiors.
When the Grant laird of Ballindalloch died, his son was “tutored” by John Grant, and the “Tutor of Ballindalloch” started to take more from his young charge’s estate than the boy’s mother considered he should. It was the normal arrangement in those days for a Tutor to be appointed to educate the under-age heirs of landed estates if their fathers had died prematurely, and it was not uncommon for these Tutors to severely run down the estates that they had charge of, to their own benefit, before the son and heir was old enough to take charge of his own affairs. The ‘Widow of Ballindalloch’ however, was a Gordon, and in 1590 she sought the assistance of her own family, to protect her son’s inheritance. Legally, Grant was entitled, as Tutor, to do as he liked at Ballindalloch, so to strengthen their cause, the Gordons proposed that the widow of Ballindalloch should marry John Gordon, the brother of Sir Thomas Gordon of Cluny.
John Grant resented the idea that “anyone of the name of Gordon should reside at Ballindalloch” and as the situation deteriorated, an incident occurred in which he shot and killed one of John Gordon’s servants. To the Gordons of course, this was exactly the excuse they were looking for, and they had Grant declared “outlaw”, which in turn gave them the right, particularly by virtue of the fact that George, 6th Earl of Huntly was Sheriff of the county, to “pursue him”. Huntly himself arrived in force and besieged Ballindalloch castle, but John Grant escaped. The dispute now widened, as the Earls of Moray (Huntly’s hereditary enemy) and of Athole, together with Mackintosh of Mackintosh, the Captain of Clan Chattan, joined in on the side of the Grants.
Believing that Moray and Athole were forming a faction against him, Huntly pursued them, besieging Murray in his castle of Darnaway. Huntly sent the recently married John Gordon to take a closer look at the castle, and he, “approaching the house more hardily than warily, was shot and slain from the house by one of the Earl of Murray’s servants”.
The earl of Huntly then hastened to court, and obtained a “commission” against the Earl of Moray from Chancellor Maitland (who disliked both Huntly and Moray, and cared little about what became of either of them!), which effectively gave him the right to pursue and arrest Moray.
The year of 1591 saw various punitive raids against Clan Chattan and the Grants. According to the records: “Huntly sent Allan Macdonuill-Duibh into Badenoch against the Clan Chattan, where after a sharp skirmish, the Clan Chattan were chased off, and above fifty of them slain. Then Huntly sent MacRonald against the Grants, whom MacRonald invaded in Strathspey, killing eighteen of them, and wasting all Ballindalloch's lands”.
Then in February 1592, Huntly received news in Edinburgh, that Moray had recently arrived at his castle of Donnibristle in Fife. Huntly at once set out “with forty gentlemen”, among whom were William Gordon of Gight, his brother Captain John Gordon and Thomas Gordon of Cluny, whose brother had been slain at Darnaway. (Continued next photo)