"he latterly accustomed himself to study in bed, which, on many occasions, was more like the dormitory of the dead than of the living." In addition to the works above noticed, Mr. Low left a History of Orkney in manuscript, which fell into the hands of Mr. Alison of Holm, who gave it to Dr. Barry, by whom "it was laid under heavy obligations in compiling his work;" and although he was indebted to it for the greater part of the Appendix, in which he treats of the natural history of Orkney, Barry nowhere acknowledges his obligations to Mr. Low, whose manuscript is still in existence.1 As a preacher, Mr. Low was good, plain, and practical, and although he had the misfortune to lose his eyesight five years before his death, his blindness, so far from disqualifying him for preaching, made his addresses all the more effective. He dispensed the sacrament only three times during his incumbency, and intended, a little before his death, to dispense it a fourth time. Dissent was unknown in the parish in his day, and, although there are now seven or eight different places of worship, the standard of religious knowledge and practice is said to have been higher then than at any subsequent period.2 Besides the old parish church, the district of Edzell contains the remains of three other ecclesiastical establishments. These are at Dalbog, Colmeallie, and Neudos. The first is mentioned in the ancient Taxatio and the printed Retours; the second is merely referred to as a so-called Druidical circle, and as such will be noticed in a subsequent chapter; while the third was a well-known separate parish down to a comparatively recent date. Unlike its fellows, Neudos lies in the county of Kin 1 Mr. Low's Tour through Orkney and Shetland, in 1774, was published at Kirkwall in 1879, with an introduction by Mr. Joseph Anderson, in which is given an account of Mr. Low, and of the fate of his manuscripts, so far as known. 2 The public are indebted for many of these interesting particulars regarding Mr. Low to the kindness of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Traill, who was incumbent of Birsay and Harray, and is now Professor of Systematic Theology in the University of Aberdeen. Of his informant, the late Mr. George Louttit, parochial schoolmaster, Dr. Traill could say that he, when in his eighty-fifth year, "bears a kindly recollection of Mr. Low, to whom he was greatly indebted for the education he received." cardine, immediately north-east of the estate of The Burn, and part of it anciently belonged to the widespread and wealthy regality of Torphichen, the principal preceptory of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who were superiors of lands throughout all the counties of Scotland, with the exception of Argyll, Bute, and Orkney. The date of the first grant of lands in the parish of Neudos to the Knights is unknown, but the parish was in the diocese of St. Andrews, and paid an annual to that cathedral of four marks Scots. The thick, closely cemented foundations of the church are traceable in the kirkyard, which is still used for interments, and the baptismal font, of an octagonal shape, is broken in two pieces, which are used as grave-marks. In the beginning of the thirteenth century, Bricius was "persona de Neudonase," and in that of the sixteenth, David Ogilvy was "rector de Newdosk." "2 The latest notice of Neudos as an independent cure occurs in the Register of Ministers for 1567, when, together with Fordoun and Fettercairn (Fethirkairne), it was superintended by a clergyman named Peter Bouncle, who had twenty-two pounds Scots for his labours, "with the support of the Priour of St. Androis." The precise time of its union with Edzell has not been ascertained, but it must be considerably more than two hundred years ago, as prior to that time the first notice occurs of the inhabitants attending the kirk of Edzell, in this quaint but satisfactory record:-" Given to Androw, the minister's man, for putting ye people of Newdosk over the watter in a coble, 20s.” 3 In a field called "Piper's-shade,” nearly a mile east of the site of the old kirk, a copious fountain still bears the name of "St. Dristan," or St. Drostan, to whom, in all likelihood, the kirk had been dedicated. Like most other sacred springs, this is said to have wrought many miraculous cures; and, from the 1 Misc. Sp. Club, v. p. 213. 2 Reg. Episc. Brech. ii. p. 165. 3 Edzell Par. Reg. Jan. 1662. Scott, Fasti, vi. p. 827, says it was united to Edzell before 5th August 1658, and the church was ruinous in 1610. waters proving remedial in all sorts of disease, the Esculapian craft felt their occupation so much endangered that a few of the hardiest of them went to poison the fountain; but the neighbours, hearing of their intention, fell upon them with sticks and stones, and killing the whole of them, had their carcases buried around the well! The farm adjoining the graveyard is called Kirkton, and on the west side of the burn lies "the manse field," within which an angular patch of land, of an acre in extent, is known as the glebe," and was perhaps of old the temple lands. It is certain that this isolated acre is the only part of the Panmure estates that lies in the county of Kincardine, and it is let to the farmer of Auchmull and Dooly, who sublets it to the tenant of Kirkton, in the midst of whose ground it is situated. At some distance to the eastward from the kirk there was a sheet of water called "The Cardinal's Pool," and on the farm of Bonharry there stood the "Auld Ha'," while one of the fields is still called the " Dookit Park." Though now known as Balfour,1 the whole district was anciently designed "the thanedome of Neudos," or, as more recently written, Newdoskis, or Newdosk, holding in part, as already seen, of the Knights of St. John. It acquired the name of "thanage," or "thanedome," from having been anciently under the management of thanes, or king's stewards; for, down to the year 1365, no family is mentioned in a proprietary relation to it, though Ronald Cheyne had already a charter for the thanedom. But, of that date, King David gave two charters with a grant of" all the king's lands in the thanedom of Newdosk,"2 to Sir Alexander Lindsay of Crawford, father of the first Lindsay designated" of Glenesk." In the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Lindsays of Edzell held the office of bailie of the temple-lands of Newdosk and regality of Torphichen within their bounds.3 1 Bal-fuar, "cold town"- -a not inapt name for the place. Robertson, Ind. pp. 33. 37; 34. 15; 79. 130. 3 Inquis. Spec., Forfar. Nos. 71, 82. EDZELL-DALBOG-FINELLA. 25 The Chapelry of Dalbog1 was on the east side of the parish, due west of Neudos, and in the ancient Taxatio "Dulbdok or Dulbrothoc" was rated at 10s. The time of the suppression of the chapel is unknown, but though no vestige of any house remains, the site of the place of worship is still called the "chapel kirk shade" by old people; and at no very distant date, a fine well, and hamlet of houses, graced the spot. The site adjoins the hillock of Tornacloch, or "the knoll of stones," which was probably so named, from being topt in old times by a so-called Druidical circle, the last of the stones of which were removed only in 1840. Some of them are placed on a gravel mound behind the farm-house, but, on levelling the knoll on which they had stood, a small sepulchral chamber was discovered, about four feet below the surface. The sides, ends, and bottom were built of round ordinary-sized whinstones, cemented with clay, and the top composed of large rude flags. It was situated on the sunny side of the knoll, within the range of the circle, but was so filled with gravel, that although it was carefully searched, no relics were found. The building was about eighteen inches broad, a foot high, and nearly five feet long, and, at the south end, amidst the clammy earth that covered the bottom, an indentation was observed resembling that which would be caused by the pressure of a human head. According to popular story, Conquhare, the famous thane of Angus, who was butchered in cold blood by his own grandson, Crathilinthus the son of Finella, had his residence here. But, whatever truth may be in the story of his murder and Finella's well-known revenge on the person of King Kenneth, who had ordered Crathilinthus to be executed, there is no reason for believing that the unfortunate Conquhare abode in this quarter. He was one of the old Maormors of Angus-a predecessor of the great Gilchrist-and their residence and 1 Gael. Dail-bog, "the flat or plain of the bog." The "Dulbdok" in the Register of St. Andrews, and "Dulbrothoc," in that of Arbroath, are one and the same, and supposed to be Dalbog. The name is written "Devilbog," in an infeftment of 1518. Crawford Case, p. 158; Reg. Prior. S. Andr. p. 36; Reg. Vet. Aberbr. p. 240.) heritage were in another and more southern part of the shire, near Dundee; but, of the existence of a castle at Dalbog, there is not the least shadow of doubt, though, perhaps, it cannot lay claim to the antiquity popularly assigned to it. A building, with very thick walls, lately erased at the east end of the farm-house of the Wood of Dalbog, was known by the name of "the castle." The "Wicked Master" took forcible possession of this stronghold in the time of Earl David of Edzell, and from it carried on his predatory raids over the district and tenantry of Glenesk and neighbourhood. At an earlier period, too, the lands of Dalbog were a part of the terce of the Duchess of Montrose, of which Nicholas Fothringham of Powry attempted to deprive her. It was in this vicinity, also, that Sir David of Edzell had smelting furnaces erected. Although all trace of these, and the mineral they were raised to purify, together with the castle and mains of Dalbog, are now gone, the house at the old mill, with the date 1681 (referring to the occupancy of John Lindsay, who was long factor on the estates), still bears an air of importance. SECTION III. He is past, he is gone, like the blast of the wind, EARL CRAWFORD'S CORONACH. Families of Adzell and Abbe-Knocquy Hill-De Glenesk family-De StrivelynMarriage of Sir Alexander Lindsay with Catherine Stirling - Story of Jackie Stirlin'-Origin of the name and family of Lindsay-David, first Earl of Crawford-Sir Alexander Lindsay of Kinneff-Sir Walter Lindsay of Edzell-Sir David, ninth Earl of Crawford-The " Wicked Master"-His son. THE properties of Edzell and Glenesk have been joined together, as they are at present, from the earliest record; and 1 Acta Dom. Conc. Mar. 14, 1492, sq. |