circumstance is only recorded in the family muniments of Crawford, there being no mention of it among the criminal trials, or in any private diary of the period,—a fact, however, which is not much to be wondered at, since so very few of these cases have come down to us.

Sir John Lindsay was a son of the tenth Earl of Crawford, and, before acquiring Balinscho, was designed synonymously of Woodwray, in the parish of Aberlemno, and of Woodhead, near Balinscho. He had, perhaps, been twice married, as, according to the family genealogy,* his wife was Catherine, eldest daughter of Lord Menmuir; and according to a second authority, she was Margaret Keith, daughter of Lord Altrie,† to whom the sculpture of the Keith arms, and the initial "M" figured in the accompanying woodcut of Balinscho Castle, may refer.

Sir John had three sons, all of whom, with their chief, the Earl of Crawford, Lord Spynie, and other clansmen, left their native country in the hope of retrieving their decayed fortunes, and joined the cause of Gustavus Adolphus. The eldest son of Balinscho was dangerously wounded at the celebrated siege of Stralsund, ultimately rose to the rank of Colonel, and being with Tilly at the storming of Brandenburg, was mortally wounded, and died at the early age of twenty-eight. The second son, who was also a Colonel, fell in Bavaria soon after. The third, and youngest, was a youth of great bravery, and while an ensign, and mere boy, "lost a great part of his shoulder blade

Crawford Case, p. 124.

↑ Spalding Club Miscell., vol. iv., p. lxxvi.

by a cannon bullet," in covering the retreat of Gustavus from Wolgast in Pomerania, in 1628-was afterwards Captain in Gustavus's Life Regiment-ultimately rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel-was wounded and left for dead on the field of Lützen, in 1632, but recovering, died at Hamburgh seven years afterwards, leaving his property to his friends and kinsmen, and “ legacy of four hundred rix-dollars for his funeral."*

a

Such were the brave brothers of Balinscho. Like the castles of their more powerful ancestors in other parts of the country, theirs, too, is a roofless ruin, the part in the sketch being the only portion now remaining. A circular tower, and other buildings, stood at the north-east corner down to a late date; and the ruins of the more modern house, which was built by Fletcher (the reputed successor of the Lindsays), stands near by. Many fine old trees surround the Lindsay castle; and the orchard, which occupies an acre and a-half on the south side, is still enclosed and unploughed, and contains, among many other fruit trees, one of the largest walnuts that is perhaps to be found in the kingdom. It is introduced in the prefixed sketch.

Fletcher, who married the youngest daughter of young Ogilvy of Airlie, who fell at Inverlochy during the civil wars, was perhaps the first of his name in Balinscho. Though not of old standing in Scotland, the Fletchers were among the most ancient and reputable of the English barons, those of Salton and Inverpeffer (of whom Balinscho was a younger brother),† being direct descendants of Sir Bernard Fletcher of the county of York, where the family subsisted for many ages. Sir George Fletcher and his brother James, were proprietors of Rostinoth about the middle of the seventeenth century, and were patrons of the church of Forfar, which, together with the teinds, were purchased from them by the magistrates of that burgh about the year 1669; but whether of the Balinscho family, we are not aware. It was the penultimate Fletcher of Balinscho, who added the estate of Lindertis to his original patrimony, and rose to the rank of Major in the Indian Army. He was succeeded by his brother, who, in conjunction with the late Lord Panmure, enacted those youthful vagaries for which he is so well known in the district, and remembered as "the daft laird." The estates were

* Lives, vol. ii., pp. 52-56. t Douglas' Baronage.

Old Stat. Acct., vol. vi. p. 513.

sold at his death to Wedderburn, of the family of Balindean, who parted with them in the course of two or three years, to Gilbert Laing-Meason, brother to Malcolm Laing, the Historian of Scotland. The Balinscho portion now belongs to the Earl of Strathmore, and the Lindertis part to Sir Thomas Monro, son of the late eminent governor of Madras.

It may be interesting to mention, that Balinscho was anciently an independent ecclesiastical district. The church, or chapel, was dedicated to St. Ninian, and stood on the west of the turnpike road, and is still marked by the family burial enclosure of Kinloch of Kilrie. This, too, had perhaps been the last restingplace of the Lindsays of Balinscho; but no monument, either of them, their predecessors, or successors, ornament the walls. The "Stannin' Stane o' Benshie," which stood for unknown ages, and was the theme of inquiry and speculation to local antiquarians, and the dread of the credulous, was demolished by gunpowder about a dozen years ago, and the spot is now covered by luxuriant crops of corn. This rude monument of antiquity is supposed to have been of about twenty tons weight; and at a considerable depth below it, a large clay urn, measuring about three feet in height, and of corresponding circumference, was found containing a quantity of human bones and ashes. Alike with its rude protector, however, the urn was broken to pieces, and, beyond the mere fact of its discovery, nothing authentic, either as to the style of its manufacture, or the precise nature or state of its contents, is preserved.

Cloba.

The earliest proprietary notice of this beautiful and interesting glen (which the discoveries of the late ingenious Messrs. Don and Gardner have rendered famous for botanical investigation), occurs during the reign of Bruce, who gave charters of Clova and other lands to his nephew Donald, the twelfth Earl of Marr, in the year 1324.* Marr gave a John Johnston an annual out of these lands soon after, and they continued in the hands of the Marr family until the time of Countess Isabella (the wife of the Wolf of Badenoch), who resigned them in favour of

Robertson's Index.

Sir David Lindsay of Glenesk, the newly-created Earl of Crawford, in the year 1398.* In 1445, when Thomas Ogilvy, a younger brother of the laird of Inverquharity, joined the Lindsays against his own clan at the battle of Arbroath, Earl Beardie gave Clova over to him, reserving the superiority to his own family. It continued in this way till at least posterior to 1513-14, for of that date the seventh Earl of Crawford was infeft in the barony of Clova as heir to his nephew the previous Earl.†

As might be expected, the conduct of young Inverquharity at Arbroath was a signal for family hostility and revenge, and a series of desperate feuds was speedily commenced betwixt the houses of Clova and Inverquharity, and the former being backed by the Lindsays, ever proved successful; but, an arrangement being made in the time of the fourth baron of Inverquharity, these hostilities were brought to an end. This agreement was made in the true spirit of feudalism, by written indenture "at the water side of Prossyn," on the 26th of March 1524, in presence of various kinsmen and other witnesses, whereby the lairds of Inverquharity and Clova, under heavy pains and penalties, "remits the rancour of their hearts to others (each other), and shall live in concord and perfite charity, and sic-like efter the said sentence be given, as guid Christian men and tender friends should do, under the pain of eternal damnation of their souls, because that is the precepte law of God." In strict fulfilment of the conditions of the "Indenture," the laird of Clova, now weaned over to the side of his kinsmen, conspired against the noble-hearted Edzell, on his advancement to the peerage, when the Earldom was cancelled in the person of the "Wicked Master"-joined the Ogilvys in besieging the Castle of Finhaven, harried Crawford's lands, and otherwise tried to prevent his succession—a proceeding which, as already seen, was only prohibited by the peremptory mandate of royalty.

The band had thus the desired effect, and the descendants of Thomas Ogilvy, the family traitor of 1445, continued lords of Clova and Cortachy till towards the close of the sixteenth century, when the former was given to Sir David, third son of the first Earl of Airly, who, like his older brother that fell at

‡ Lives, vol. i., p. 447, et sub., where the Indenture is printed nearly in full,

Inverlochy, bore a prominent part in the great civil commotions of his time. He erected a mansion at the Millton of Clova, several of the hewn stones of which are built into the walls of adjoining cottages, and the remaining initials and date “ D · O · ◊) · I· G-1684," refer to him and his wife Jean

Guthrie.

The boundary of the old garden is yet traceable, but the foundations of the house are completely erased. Not so with those of the previous Castle or Peel, which is still a prominent and imposing object, situated on the west side of Benread (a comparatively smooth or tame mountain, as the name implies), which rises to the north of the Millton. The Peel commands an extensive and delightful view of the Glen, and consists of a fragment about twenty feet in height, with walls fully four feet thick. It is traditionally attributed to the time of the Lindsays, and the occupant, says the same authority, having rendered himself obnoxious to his brother barons, a party marched against him under night and set his castle on fire. Amidst the confusion and smoke attendant on the burning, the luckless baron fled to the adjoining mountain, and took shelter, first under a large piece of rock still called "the Laird's Stane," and afterwards in the Hole of Weems, a well-known cave in the face of a hill near Braedownie. Others ascribe the destruction of the Peel to the soldiers of Cromwell and Montrose; but, perhaps, the real cause and time was in 1591, when, "vnder silence of night," five hundred "brokin men and sornaris houndit oute be the Erll of Ergyle and his freindis," entered Glen-Clova in September, "invadit the inhabitants, and murthourit," and slew "three or foure innocent men and women, and reft and took away ane grit pray of guidis." It is also worthy of note, that when Charles II. duped his keepers at Perth in 1650, he rode to Clova, in the hope of meeting Lord Ogilvy, and some of his other friends; but, "finding very few to attend upon him, and very bad entertainment,” he returned to his captivity on the following day.† This circumstance is known in history as "the Start," but whether the King passed the night in the mansion of David Ogilvy at Millton, or where, is now unknown.

Clova was long an independent parochial district, but united

Pitcairn's Crim. Trials, vol. i. pp. 263-4.

↑ Autobiog, of R. Blair, by Row, p. 243.