History of Nairnshire

Front matter

HISTORY OF NAIRNSHIRE HISTORY OF NAIRNSHIRE BY GEORGE BAIN, f.s.a. scot. SECOND EDITION NAIRN "TELEGRAPH" OFFICE, io LEOPOLD STREET MCMXXVIII CONTENTS CHAPTER PACE I. Prehistoric Remains ------ i II. Early History ------- 25 III. The Kingdom of Moray 41 IV. Early Feudal Times ------ 55 V. The Time of Edward I. ----- 76 VI. Period of the Roman Catholic Church - - - 90 VII. The Times of the Bruces - - - - - 108 VIII. Nairnshire under the Earls of Ross - - -120 IX. Early Family History - - - - - - 129 X. The Reformation - - - - - - -171 XI. Clan Raids and Private Feuds - - - - 183 XII. Covenanting Times ------- 195 XIII. From the Revolution to the Rising of 1715 - - 225 XIV. The Burgh of Nairn ------ 243 XV. From the Rising to the Rebellion - 266 XVI. The Last Hereditary Sheriff - 289 XVII. Political History ------- 297 XVIII.

After the Rebellion of 1745 - - - 313 XIX. Lands and Landowners ------ 336 XX. Ecclesiastical History ------ 393 XXI. Burgh History — Conclusion - - - - - 428 XXII. General Features of the County - - - - 4.56 XXIII. Later Years -------- 476 Appendix I. -------- 479 Appendix II. -------- 482 Index - - - - - - - - -491

Preface

Although Nairnshire is one of the smaller counties of Scotland, it is in many respects a most interesting part of the country. Its prehistoric remains have proved a rich field for the antiquarian, whilst the charter-chests of Cawdor, Kilravock, and Brodie have furnished materials which have enriched the history of Scotland. It has been thought that a consecutive narrative of the events which have occurred within the county, with some account of the families and persons more prominently associated with its history, may not be uninteresting to the general reader, whilst it is believed that those who by birth or residence are connected with the county or its ancient royal burgh will welcome a work relating to scenes and places with which they are more or less familiar. The author has availed himself of the materials stored up in the family papers of the district, and has reproduced from the sheriff court books and burgh records such matters as appeared to be of interest.

It was intended to have given some original documents in an appendix, but the length to which the work has extended has precluded this being done, beyond a list of the provosts of Nairn. To the custodiers of the official records and to the gentlemen who gave him access to their books and papers, the author tenders his grateful thanks. Nairn, July, 1893.

PREFACE.

TO SECOND EDITION This new edition of the History of Nairnshire has been brought out to meet a wide public demand, the original edition having been out of print for some considerable time, and frequently asked for. Since the first edition was published in 1893 many changes have taken place, and another generation of actors in the affairs of the county has come upon the scene. It was Mr. Bain's intention to embody these changes in a new edition of his History, and for some time before his death part of his leisure was spent in editing and bringing the work up to date. The undertaking, however, had not been finished when he died during a holiday at Newton more in June 1926, and it has been left to other hands to complete the task. Naturally the additions and emendations are not so full as they would have been had the author lived to finish the History himself, but the salient facts have received attention, the family histories and other progressive matters have been extended, and a chapter has been added on recent outstanding events.

No attempt has been made to alter the original character of the work by " documenting " it, or otherwise. For the contemporary history of the county the author was himself the best authority; for earlier periods he has quoted his sources of information in the preface and with sufficient frequency in the text. Many of the facts — some of those connected with the Culbin Sands and Clava cairns and circles, for instance — were his own discoveries, printed for the first time ; and for the details of family history he had the use of family papers and first-hand help from the representatives of the families themselves. The " History of Nairnshire " is only one ofthe many services rendered to the community by its author. During all his long

PREFACE.

TO SECOND EDITION life Mr. Bain's whole interest was centred in Nairn, its existing institutions, and its historical associations. To his zeal and effort the town and county owe more of their present amenities and repute than they are ever likely to realize. Men and women find their pleasure in many ways. George Bain found his in his historical and antiquarian studies. For half a century he was recognised as the chief authority on all matters pertaining to the history of Nairnshire and of Nairn. Few noted personages visited Nairn without becoming indebted to the editor of " The Nairn shire Telegraph " for information regarding the district and an introduction at first hand to its interests, and he was in constant request in helping American citizens to trace their family con nection with the county.

No one could tell a tale of the olden days more effectively, as may be seen in his charming account of a Nairn lady ofthe ancient regime printed as a brochure with the title " The Last of her Race." Among countless other local services he was one of the founders of Nairn Literary Institute, and he was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. It has often, indeed, been a matter of marvel that his achievements as an antiquarian and historian were never recognised by any ofthe Scottish universities. Among Mr. Bain's other literary works of permanent value, perhaps the most notable is his volume on " The River Findhorn," published in 191 1, which enjoys a wide circulation, and is likely to remain a standard in its own field of literature. It was his intention to produce a companion volume on " The River Nairn," which certainly could not have failed to prove of equal value and interest.

In his personal character George Bain had the saving virtues of modesty and humour, and a fine appreciation of " the tender grace of a day that is dead," combined with an unselfish instinct to help the public good of his own day and generation. George Eyre-Todd. HISTORY OF NAIRNSHIRE

Chapter I Prehistoric Remains

About three miles south of the town of Nairn, a round-shaped hill rises to the height of some 600 feet and occupies an area of several square miles. It is known as the Hill ofthe Ord (" Ord " in Gaelic meaning the " Round Height.") At its northerly base there is a platform of granite, but the hill itself consists mainly of a mass of gneiss, the surface of which is very much broken, while the ground is strewn with fragments of rocks and travelled boulders. Its aspect is softened to some extent by the thick firwood that crowns its heights, but it still presents conditions typical of a favourite haunt for wild animals, in its numerous rocky retreats and grassy ravines. Near the foot of one of its easterly slopes lies the small farm of Slagachorrie — a Gaelic name meaning " Hollow of the Corrie," which very accurately describes its situation.

Many relics of prehistoric times have been found there. Stone axes and manufactured flints have been picked up in considerable number. Some of the axes are finely shaped and beautifully polished, and the flints, in the form of arrow-heads, saws, and scrapers, exhibit a very high degree of finish. One of these flints, now in the Nairn Museum, has a finely serrated edge of thirty teeth in the space of one inch. It is sliced on the back to enable the worker to hold it firmly between the thumb and forefinger. A hollow in the neighbourhood is known as the " Flint Pit," from the number of flint chips taken out of it. The ground in which B.H.N. A FLINT IMPLEMENTS 2 it occurs is now planted, but it used to be a common for the adjacent properties. Until recently, remains of small cairns and circles formed of gneiss and conglomerate blocks studded the fields, and one boulder on the slope retains the name of " The Cromlech."

The evidence unmistakably points to the spot having been a hunter's settlement at a time when men cut down the trees with stone axes, tipped their arrows with sharpened flints, and dressed their articles of common use with flint tools. Slagachorrie is but an illustrative example of settlements common to the district in early times. The dwellers in the district who used stone implements were not confined to this particular spot, but roamed over hill and dale, settling on the rising ground, and leaving behind them traces of their presence in the shape of these celts and arrow-heads on almost every field and hillside. Unfortunately no collection worthy of the name has been made of these relics of the Stone Period in the district, but the specimens preserved show a considerable variety in their colour and form.

One arrow-head found at Broomhill, Cawdor, is of pure white cherty rock, whilst examples have been found of almost jet black flint. A vast number — many thousands — of chipped flints in various forms have been found at the Culbin Sands, a region on the seaboard a few miles beyond the eastern boundary of the county of Nairn. They have been derived mostly from a spot to which the name of " The Armoury " has in consequence been given, and the question has been raised whether the manufactory at that locality supplied the adjacent districts. The Culbin flints have certain prevalent characteristics which render them recognisable as a class, but the specimens found on the lands to the west of that region do not appear to have been derived from that source. Each tribe in each locality probably manufactured its own flint implements.

Flint cores found in the district bear the exact outline of an arrow-head on their surface, showing that the flint workers knew how to remove the flint flake from the nodule nearly in the shape required. These flint implements in their manufacture show a considerable amount of skill and taste on the part of the artificers, and in them we have probably the first and earliest examples of handicraft in prehistoric times. MOYNESS STONE CIRCLE A remarkable feature of the district is the abundance of cairns and stone circles. Many of these interesting memorials have been cleared away by the cultivation of the land, but examples exist, or recently existed, at Moyness, Auldearn, Urchany, Ballinrait, Dal cross, Croy, Clava, Daviot, and the upper reaches of the river Nairn. In the valley ofthe Nairn some thirty sites of circles are known, and the former existence of many others is preserved in the place-names.

The Moyness stone circle has been dismantled, but it was unique in one respect. One of the boulders of which the circle was composed was said to have been a rocking stone or loggan, and according to traditionary belief was used as an ordeal stone for determining the innocence or guilt of a person accused of crime. If the stone rocked when the person was placed upon it, guilt was established ; if it remained unmoved, innocence was declared. Considerable sanctity, as may be supposed, attached to this tell-tale stone, with its mysterious movements, but the school children of later times, with irreverent familiarity, were wont to play upon it. A mason one night took his hammer and struck at the supports underneath, and the stone lost its poise in consequence. It was subsequently broken up. Mr. Stables, at the request of the Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, examined the " rocking stone " in the year 1856, after the circle had been par tially dismantled, and he reported that the supposed rocking stone consisted of one of the upright pillars which had fallen over some smaller ones, leaving an end unsupported, and by jumping on this a heavy man could just move it.

This prosaic explanation does not, however, accord with the traditions of the countryside. It appears that in 1825 a Mr. Aeneas Falconer, residing at Blackhills, contributed to the Northern Institution, a literary society in Inverness now defunct, an " account of a Stone Coffin, Druidical Circle, and Rocking Stone," but the MS. is not now known to exist. The centre cairn of the Moyness circle, on being opened about the year 1860, was found to contain an urn and ashes, but the pick that disclosed the urn unfortunately smashed it. The Moyness standing stone is the only one in the district with which any popular beliefs were associated. They stand apart from STONE CIRCLE AT BALLINRAIT the traditions and history ofthe country — a proof probably of their great antiquity. The solitary pillar ofthe circle at Ballinrait is said to have served the purpose of a sun dial, just as a tree or post in the same neighbourhood was the clock of the clachan.

The other stones of the circle were broken up about the year 1840. It is related that one old man used every morning to walk round the circle three times before beginning work, from the belief that his so doing would bring him good luck. A mound — without, however, any cairn or circle — in the neighbourhood of Clunas, Cawdor, is called " Dun deasil," preserving the memory of the same old custom of going round with the sun. But these are the only instances of these circles having been in any way connected with the ordinary life of the community within the historical period. The highest development of these structures is attained in the group of chambered cairns and stone circles at Clava on the south bank of the river Nairn, nearly opposite Culloden moor. The river flows softly and sweetly in the valley between its favourite fringes of alders, and a hundred yards to the south, in a piece of uncultivated ground, are these remarkable memorials of remote times.

They consist of three very large cairns, the hearts of which have been dug out, having been opened from the top ; also the remains of some smaller cairns ; and a number of standing stones ranged in circles more or less complete — the huge stones standing like gaunt sentinels round the iron-grey cairns. The western cairn has in its centre the remains of a stone-built chamber of circular form, 12Jfeet in diameter — the stones laid vertically for a few feet from the foundation, and then built on the concentric ring in courses inclining inwards ; that is to say, each course projects a little beyond the one below it, and thus, as the building is carried up, it assumes the form of a dome, which when complete must have given the chamber the height of an ordinary sized room, some 10 or 12 feet. The top of the dome is now removed, having been taken down when the cairn was opened in the year 1828.

The builders of the chamber, of course, never intended that access should be gained to the interior by the top, for they had provided a regularly-built entrance, from 2 to 3 feet wide and 4 to 5 feet high, from the south-west. This entrance or opening was concealed by the mass of stones heaped over the chamber, and was only disclosed when the top had been demolished. Miss Campbell, of Corsica, residing at the time at Kilravock, who was at the opening of it, states that the explorers found two urns. One was smashed, but the other contained a quantity of burnt bones, and similar ashes were found about it, no doubt the contents of the broken urn. The urns were found exactly in the centre of the chamber, enclosed in a little bed of clay, whilst the remainder of the floor was strewn with gravel.

The description of the vase is that of a rude cinerary urn, and there is no reason to doubt the accuracy of the details as noted by Miss Campbell at the time. The urn is figured in Sir Thomas Dick Lauder's " Moray Floods." The next point of interest is the concentric circle of standing stones round the base of the cairn. These stones are placed close together, and are very much ofthe same character as the ring foundation of the chamber. The ring itself is 53 feet in diameter. The outer ring is also concentric. It is double the diameter ofthe inter mediate ring, with two feet to spare. The exact measurement is 108 feet. The stones form a circle of twelve pillars, or eleven and a vacant space. They stand apart from each other, nearly, but not quite, at regular intervals. The height of these pillars varies from 6 to 1 2 feet, the tallest being on the south side, and their size gradually diminishes towards the north.

The main points in the structure and form of this western circle are found almost exactly reproduced in the third or eastern circle. There is no authentic account of the opening of this third cairn — this took place somewhere about the year 1850 — but it is said to have con tained " a few bones " — the mere mention of that circumstance affording a presumption that the contents were similar to those of the western circle. The middle circle differs in some points from the other two. The chamber is larger, being 22 feet in diameter, but its interior is in so much disorder from the falling-in of the stones that it is difficult to arrive at any certainty as to its structure — whether it was built similarly to or differently from the others. Mr. James Fraser, C.E., who took measurements, found that its separate rings were not true concentrics ; it appeared to him that the builders had slightly lost the true centre in the course of the construction.

The most remarkable feature is three causeways of small stones, 7 feet in width, which lead from the pillars in the outer ring to the stones of the intermediate ring which goes round the base ofthe cairn. One of these points to E. 10 deg. S., another to S. 10. deg. E., and the third to W. 25 deg. N. From these details some conclusions may be arrived at in regard to the purpose of the cairns. In the first place, there is evidence ofthe burning ofthe bodies — proof of the practice of cremation. In the second place, there is clear evidence that the people who built these cairns were no rude barbarians. They had, it is apparent, some knowledge of the potter's art, as is shown in the manufacture of the urn. They had acquired some little skill in masonry, and could design and execute a vaulted chamber and dome roof.

The concentric circle was familiar to them. Further, they were capable of taking accurate measurements — if not to mathematical exactitude, at least to re markable precision. They knew something of the cardinal points of astronomy or of direction, as is shown by the similarity of the two built entrances and the position of the taller pillars in the outer row. Why was there the expenditure of all this skill, labour, and knowledge ? Unquestionably, all was done in honour of the ashes enclosed in the heart of the cairn — the remains enshrined in the urn, like something very precious in a costly casket. Dr. Joseph Anderson, from this point of view, aptly describes the circles of pillars as stone-settings to the cairns. The evidence considered in detail, and the design of the structure viewed as a whole, lead to the conclusion that we have embodied here the one great idea of reverence for, and exaltation of, the dead, passing, it may be, into its higher phase of ancestral worship.

These are the tombs of " the mighty dead of a past age " — the burial-places of their kings or chiefs. But whilst burial and a species of ancestral or hero-worship was the main purpose of these circles, that statement of their primary use does not exhaust their interest or significance. It has been noticed that they are circular in form. The circle or ring has, among ancient peoples, been regarded as a sacred symbol — some times as an emblem of the Deity, a symbol of eternity, a sign of completeness and of unity, and a figure of the Sun, the great Ruler of Nature. It as truly and distinctively marks the pre-Christian period in any country as the cross does the Christian era. Here we have the whole structure pervaded by the ring prin ciple — not one ring only, but a series of rings, one of these not a mechanical ring but an ideal ring, and all of them as nearly as may be concentric circles, that is, having a common centre.

It is impossible to overlook this fact in the examination of these remains, and the inference may be drawn from it that the circular form was intended to embody and express some definite idea. The inter mediate ring of stones might doubtless have served to keep the stones ofthe cairn together, just as a row of stones placed around an earth mound keeps the soil from being scattered. But it is quite clear that the outer row of pillars, standing some distance apart, could answer no such purpose. The whole controversy, indeed, is practically narrowed to the question, " What mean these outer standing stones ? " The de scription of them as the " stone-settings of the cairns " is appro priate enough in one sense, but it does not cover the whole ground. Are they to be regarded as purely ornamental, like ordinary settings ?

It has been suggested that they may have served the further purpose of marking the boundary ofthe burial ground. But if that object had been all that was in view, the end could have been accom plished by simpler means. There is one feature which none of these theories explains. In these three circles and in every similar circle in the district the tallest pillars are placed to the south, the range diminishing in height towards the north, where the pillars are smallest. They are put there clearly of design, and at the expenditure of much labour and care. And they never could have been placed at the different sites in such a position without some observation and knowledge of the sun's course. It must have been necessary for the men who set up these huge stones to watch and note the sun's shadow most carefully ere they could determine their position.

These tall pillars do not, it is true, point due south in all the circles scattered over the district. They often vary several degrees east or west from the true point. But the amount of variation is so trifling as compared with the extent of their accuracy, that, if for no other reason, it may be due to the comparative defect of the builders' observations and not to a want of intention, which certainly appears to have been to have these tall stones pointing in a southerly direction. This being the case, another fact is ascertained — that, in placing these large stones to the south, the builders intended some reference to the sun's course. The question arises — Had the other stones of the ring a similar reference to the sun's course ? Unfortunately, several of the pillars in each of the three circles are awanting, and it is doubtful whether some of those remaining are standing in their original position, while others are plainly out of position in the ring.

Still, if it could be shown in any one instance that they were set up on such a principle as indicated, it may safely be concluded, from their similarity of feature, that the same idea dominated the whole group, either actively or conventionally. Now an examination of the outer circle of the middle cairn has brought out some remarkable results. Some six or seven out of the nine stones are apparently in their original positions, and the diagram prepared by Mr. Fraser tested in this connection gives the following results : i. The Southern Causeway. — The stone at this point marks noon each day, subject of course to ordinary equation of time. The true line strikes on the inner edge of the causeway, cutting the exact centre of the cairn, and the arc between the stone A and the causeway exactly measures the sun's variation. 2.

The point E (stone restored) is as near as may be to the first point of Aries — the point at which the sun departs from the Equator towards the North, and which we call the Spring Equinox. 3. The Eastern Causeway marks the sun's entrance into Libra on 2 ist September. 4. A point midway between stones A and B would mark the south limit ofthe setting sun on December 21, the shortest day ofthe year, or winter solstice. There is no stone at this point, but, as the ring was evidently composed of ten or twelve stones, and only nine are shown, it may have been one of those removed. This is supported by the circumstance that stone D stands almost opposite the point where it would have stood if so placed. 5. The stone standing between G and F gives the bearing ofthe sun as it rises on 22nd September. 6.

The Western Causeway gives the bearing of the sun as it sets on 2 1st April and 21st August. As these dates do not correspond to any change in the sun's course, it is probable they may stand for some division of the seasons. These are precisely the facts which could, by mere observation ofthe sun's shadow alone, be observed and recorded, and it is almost beyond belief that these stones could have been set up in that order by mere accident, giving, as they do, noon time, the solstices, and the equinoxes. The several conclusions arrived at from an examination of the Clava circles are (1) that these cairns and circles were primarily intended for, and used as, sepulchres, and were raised in honour of men of rank ; (2) that, by their form they were intended to express some religious idea, probably of homage to the sun ; (3) that the outer ring probably served the purpose of a sun-circle.

The next question is, " Who built them ? " They are evidently of great antiquity. There is no mark of hammer or chisel on the stones, and no particle of iron has been found connected with them. The bronze articles and the character of the pottery associated with similar structures over the country, and also the form of burial, have led to the conclusion that they belong to the Bronze Age — that is, before iron came into use and after stone implements ceased to be exclusively used. The Clava cairns and circles have now been taken over by the Government Department concerned with the Preservation of Ancient Monuments in Scotland and are to be put into a condition favourable for further examination. In the Kinsteary parks, at Auldearn, are several gravel ridges or kames, in which from time to time cist graves have been found.

So numerous are the burial remains that the old workmen about the place when requiring gravel for the walks are said to avoid taking it from certain of the ridges, from their knowledge that they would come upon and disturb these interments, of which they have a superstitious dread. These graves were formed of three slabs, and almost invariably an urn was found at one end ofthe bed. In THE KINSTEARY REMAINS 10 one cist opened in the year 1888, a very finely ornamented urn or vase (now at Cluny Castle) was discovered, and along with it a necklace of glass beads, or " bugles " as they are locally called from their tubular shape. The custom of burying grave goods, such as ornaments, weapons, and implements, marks off all such graves as belonging to prehistoric or pagan times. A cairn with a " pointer " exists at Kinsteary.

It was opened in the year 1894 by some members ofthe Nairn Literary Institute, who pierced it to the centre, but found nothing of a noteworthy character. It appeared to them that it had been opened before, but a pretty long time ago. The roots of the trees growing on the cairn had found their way down through the stones. A few weeks after the Institute's exploration Mr. Hugh W. Young of Burghead made a more thorough investigation and stated : " There is an avenue of one row of six large standing stones proceeding from the circle round cairn ; the stones are 7 feet high and 27 feet apart, with one missing. At one time there had been very likely two rows, but in common with many other circles in Scotland the stones had been removed and broken up for building or road-making purposes. The mound has a ditch or vallum round about it.

It is worth observing that the second and third stones on the line are in their original positions quite erect, and isa straight line is taken over the tops of these two stones to the cist it will strike the centre of the grave. This would seem to show that the row of standing stones served as a pointer to the place of interment. We cut right through the centre of the mound and found it to consist largely of round stones artificially thrown together, but part ofthe mound was a natural sandbank. It was in the sand, slightly off the centre, that we came upon the cist, 2 feet 5 inches long by I foot 6 inches wide. It had been a very carefully constructed grave, but unfortunately the stones were of a very brittle nature and the cover broke in two before the photo graph was taken, and a small corner stone was defaced.