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History of the Fetternear Estate

There is a very good brief history of Fetternear, produced by the Fetternear Trust, on the web. The notes below may also be of interest.

FETTERNEAR

The name Fetternear - or Fethyrneir, as it was originally called - is believed to be of Pictish origin, and to signify the western forest.

In early times, the district formed a small independent parish, which status it continued to enjoy, with all the usual parochial privileges, till considerably after the Reformation.

The church was dedicated to St Ninian. and - with its lands and pertinents - was granted to the See of Aberdeen. The donor was probably King Malcolm the Maiden, and confirmation was given by Pope Adrian IV. in 1157. (Reg. Epis. Aberd., I., pp. 5-7 and 84-86.) In 1242, Alexander II. erected the land of "Fethyrneir" - as also those of Brass (Birse) - into a free forest in favour of Bishop Ralph and his successors in office.

The names of several of the old parish priests and ministers have been preserved. In 1236, William was parson. with John as vicar. In 1487, Thomas Strachan was vicar. In 1504, James Chamer was rector. In 1529, Andrew Cullen was parson. He was the son of Andrew Cullen, Provost of Aberdeen, and, besides his appointment at Fetternear, he held the office of vicar of St Nicholas Church, Aberdeen. He died 7th July, 1560. The succeeding minister was Rev. Andrew Leslie. The date of his death and the appointments he held are thus recorded - "The VIII day of Aprill, the yeir of God 1571 yeris, Maister Andro Lesly, person of Fetterner and scherreife clark of Aberdein, depertit owit of this present lyfe." (Chronicle of Aberdeen.) ln 1586, Rev. Walter Gordon was parson and vicar; and in 1593, Rev. James Johnston was minister of Fetternear and Monymusk.

On 15th August, 1606, Rev. Alexander Paterson, minister of Logie-Durno, was collated to the benefice of Fetternear. Seven years before this, however, a new parish church for the united parishes of Logie-Durno and Fetternear was erected, where the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin of the Garioch had stood, and the new parish gradually assumed the present title of Chapel of Garioch. From 1599, therefore, Fetternear ceased to be an independent parish, although it was not till 1620 that its glebe was formally resigned in favour of the Chapel of Garioch minister.

LANDS

Fetternear lands, as already explained belonged to the See of Aberdeen, and the Bishop had a summer palace thereon. At the Reformation both lands and palace were bestowed by Bishop William Gordon, brother of the Earl of Huntly, upon William Leslie who was Sheriff-Depute of Aberdeen, and the ninth baron of Balquhain. With his retainers, he had assisted to preserve the Cathedral of Aberdeen from the fury of the Reformers of Angus, who advanced in a body over Tollohill to attack it. The disposition to Leslie was granted in 1566, and thirty-six years later James VI. gave confirmation to John Leslie, the Sheriff's son, who had the additional honour of being made "Constable of the place and chief messuage of the Bishopric of Aberdeen" with a rental of £120 to maintain the dignity of the appointment (Antiq., III., pp. 381-83.) He was Sheriff of Aberdeenshire for a considerable period, and lived in an extravagant and princely style. It is declared that he never rode out without a mounted escort of at least twenty retainers. The Privy Council Registers (Vol. V.. pp. 55 and 364-5, etc.) show that, although a law administrator he was also a lawbreaker in committing offences of fire-raising and inciting his servants to attack and injure to the danger of life certain officers of the law whom it was his paramount duty to protect. For these offences, he and his servants were summoned before the Privy Council and, not compearing, were ordered to be denounced as rebels.

On 15th June, 1625. John Leslie, eleventh baron of Balquhain, mortgaged Fetternear for 11.000 merks to his brother-in-law, Sir Alexander Hay of Delgaty, and to William Hay his son, from whom in 1627 Hector Abercromby of Westhall, second son of Alexander Abercromby of Birkenhog, acquired the mortgage title and rights. ln 1645, Abercromby was dechlared by Parliament to be a "malignant," amd warrant was granted for the uplifting of his rents (Acts of Parliament.)

Alexander Abercromby succeeded, and, on 20th September, 1670, secured a Papal Charter from Clement X. to Fetternear. He married Jean, daughter of John Seton, of Newark, and one of their Sons, Patrick, was an eminent Scottish antiquary and author, among his works being The Martial Achievements of the Scots Nation. The eldest son, Francis, succeeded to Fetternear and on his marriage, in 1685, to Anna, Baroness Sempill, he was created Lord Glassford, the title being restricted to his own lifetime. In 1690, he disposed of Fetternear to Patrick Leslie of Balquhain, and both estates have since continued Leslie property.

Balquhain Castle ceased to be occupied hay the Leslies in 1715, and it was fired by the Duke of Cumberland and his forces when marching through the Garioch in 1746. A plan and view of thue ruins, together with a descriptive report, are given in Macgibbon and Rose's Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland (Vol. I., p 304, etc.). (See also Sir Andrew Leith Hay's Castellated Architecture of Aberdeenshire. and C. S. Leslie's article in Castles of Aberdeenshire (1887).)

Further information regarding the Leslie family and their estates will be found in the Laurus Leslaeana, Burke's Landed Gentry; Colonel Leslie's Historical Records of the Fmily of Leslie (3 vols.) and Davidson's Inverurie and the Earldom of the Garioch.

OLD PARISH GRAVEYARD

The principal relic of the parish is the old churchyard on the left bank of the Don, about a mile below Kenmay bridge. All traces of the pre-Reformation church, which stood in it, have disappeared, a new private church, erected by the Leslie family, occupying its site. The graveyard itself has been levelled up, and is now seldom used for interments. This sequestered spot, surrounded by the murmuring Don and trees of patriarchal age, calls forth emotions consonant with its hallowed purpose and associations.

The oldest memorial is probably a defaced tablet fixed into a recess over the arch of the entrance gate. It is inscribed:
...Lord Elphinston hath in this year 17_9 repaired and built anew in memory of her dear husband George Lesley of Balquain (Wt. a Son) herein interred, who leaving behind him these children, James and Ernest, then infants, dyed at Fetterneir in the 34th year of his age, June 17, 1715.

The first portion of the above inscription is entirely removed, but it is known that the lady who originally erected the monument was the Hon. Margaret, second daughter of John, eighth Lord Elphinstone, who, in 1706, married George Leslie, sixteenth baron of Balquhain. About five years after Mr Leslie's death, his widow married Sir James Gordon of Park, and it is alleged that a son of this marriage, James Gordon - afterwards of Cobairdy - acquired considerable portions of land in Insch district, to the prejudice of the Leslie family.

A headstone is inscribed -
I.H.S. +Pray for the soul of The Rev. Thomas Chisholm, who died at Inverurie, 22 February, 1872. aet 65. And also for eight students, who died at Aquhorties from 1813 to 1827. R.I.P....

About 1796, the lands of Aquhorties, extending to nearly 800 acres, were secured under a 99 years' lease by Bishop Hay, Vicar-Apostolic of the Lowland district of Scotland. A Roman Catholic College was erected on it (the seminary at Scalan, Glenlivet, being closed), and it continued in operation till the opening of St Mary's College, Blairs, on 2nd June, 1829. The lease of Aquhorties was subsequently renounced.

A rough, unpolished headstone has the simple inscription -
This ston is set up here in memory of Margrat Mearns. 1777.

Another old stone bears the date and initials -
1781. A.H.

A headstone is inscribed -
In memory of James Laing, who died 16th January, 1809, aged 73 years. And of his spouse, Ann Scott, who died 29th January, 1832, aged 85 years.

A headstone commemorates Robert Laing, farmer, Overtown, Fetternear, who died 21st January, 1838, aged 56, and his wife, Mary Hill, who died 26th April, 1834, aged 46. Their son-in-law, Alexander Reid, who succeeded to Overtown, died 15th February, 1883, aged 79, while his wife Mary Laing, died 22nd April, 1875, aged 64.

There are several headstones to Crombies, of whom Thomas Crombie, late farmer, Middleton of Balquhain, died 15th January, 1820, in his 60th year. His wife, Isobel Nicol, died 4th June, 1826, aged 58. John Crombie died at Mill of Braco, 14th September, 1883, aged 76. Alexander Crombie, merchant, Aberdeen, died 4th January, 1809, aged 61, and his spouse, Jane Philip, died 1820. aged 71. Jean Crombie, spouse to Peter Middleton, farmer, Newton, Fetternear, died 12th January, 1826, aged 74, and the said Peter Middleton died 27th April, 1847, aged 98 years.

A tombstone bears -
Erected by Alexr. Skinner, in memory of Janet Grant, his laffull spouse, who died the 23rd of May, 1828, in the 30th year of hir age.
behold the dust which here doth ly
in peace with god and man did dy
they are gone to heaven the place of rest
where they shall be for ever blist
their glass is run and yours is running
beware of sin for judgment's coming.

A tombstone is inscribed -
Erected by his parents in memory of their son James Grant, late agent, G N.S.R., Kintore, who died 17th July, 1857 aged 21 years
0 parents dear, don't weep for me
I am not dead but sleeping here:
My mouldering dust doth cry to thee.
Prepare thyself to follow me.

His father, James Grant, died at Westertown , Fetternear, 29th March, 1879, aged 75 years. And his mother, Jean Reid, died 20th December, 1890, aged 89 years.

John A Henderson Aberdeenshire Epitaphs (1907)
See also Hector Davie's own notes.

Fetternear

CHARMINGLY situated on the banks of the Don, along which the main approach runs, the mansion-house of Fetternear has still greater charms by reason of the changes of fortune though which it has passed and which it has successfully weathered.

From the mention of the additions made to the house by Peter de Ramsay, ninth Bishop of Aberdeen, in 1256, it is clear that it existed anterior to that date. The fourth bishop in succession after Peter de Ramsay, namely, Alexander de Kyninmund, completed Fetternear as an episcopal residence. It is recorded (in the Historical Records of the Family of Leslie,, from which the following is in great part taken, by permission of Mr. Charles Duguid Leslie, of Balquhain and Auchinhove) of him that he spent the summers between 1329 to 1341 at Fetternear, and the spring, autumn, and winter of each year at his three other seats. The fourth bishop in succession from him, Adam Cunningham, while residing at Fetternear, is known to have absolved Robert, Adam Halde, Angus Faber, and William, the son of John, from the sentence of excommunication passed against them, as is described in the Registrum Epis. Aberd.

Between 1487 and 1514 Fetternear must frequently have been the residence of Bishop William Elphinstone, who held the see of Aberdeen during these years. Of this most eminent pre-Reformation Churchman the late Mr. Cosmo Innes writes: We know him in the history of the time as the zealous churchman, the learned lawyer, the wise statesman, one who never sacrificed his diocesan duties to mere secular cares, but knew how to make his political eminence serve the interests of his church; who with manners and temperance in his own person befitting the primitive ages of Christianity, threw around his cathedral and palace the taste and splendour that adorn religion; who found time amidst the cares of State and the pressure of daily duties to preserve the Christian antiquities of his diocese and collect the memories of those old servants of the truth, who had run a course similar to his own; to renovate his cathedral service, and to support and foster all good letters, while his economy of a slender revenue rendered it sufficient for the erection and support of sumptuous buildings, and the endowment of a famous university. Dom Jerome Pollard Urquhart, O.S.B., in the April and May numbers of St. Andrew's Cross for 1904, gave most interesting details of the life of this great bishop, conspicuous at once for his simple piety and deep learning, profound legal knowledge and great administrative abilities, of whom it is truly said that the noblest monuments to his memory are the beautiful buildings of the tower and chapel of King's College, Aberdeen, of which he was the founder..

In 1549 William Gordon, Bishop of Aberdeen, probably to secure his estate from spoliation, granted to his brother George, Earl of Huntly, Chancellor of Scotland and Lieutenant of the North, a lease for thirteen years of the barony and shire of Fetternear, the rent payable being seventeen pounds, sixteen shillings and eight pence, usual money of Scotland; three chalders, eight bolls of bere, with a peck to every boll; one mouton, thirteen dozens of poultry, one barrel of salmon for the fishing, or three pounds in money, &c., &c. Eighteen months later a similar lease on the same terms was granted to John Leslie, eighth Baron of Balquhain, of this same barony of Fetternear.

The next Baron of Balquhain afforded the Bishop of Aberdeen so much assistance in protecting his cathedral from the ravages of the reformers that the good bishop, as a mark of his gratitude, bestowed on him the barony of Fetternear, with the palace, the fortalice, and the tower, together with the fishing in the river Don. The charter conveying this gift is dated 8th June 1566.

This charter was confirmed by royal authority in 1602, and in 1670 by papal authority, Pope Clement X. granting a charter to Alexander Abercrombie, who at that time held the barony of Fetternear in wadsett, and this latter charter was reconfirmed by Pope Pius IX. in 1868.

In 1640 Fetternear was the scene of active hostilities, the loopholes in the walls being put to such good use that the party of seventy soldiers retired, leaving one of their number dead on the field. The stone cannon balls then used are still kept as trophies, whilst the loopholes remain visible on the inside of the house, though many have been built up on the outside. The action is thus described in Spalding's memorials of the troubles in Scotland:-

Sunday 17 Junii, Doctor Scrogie preichit in Old Aberdeen, and celebrat the communion; bot thor was scarss 4 burdes of communicantis in respect of their trubles.

The same Sunday, about 11 houris at even, thair came out of New Aberdein about 200 soldiouris with their commanderis. At the brig of Done thay divydit in three pairtes, quhairof one went towardis Fetterneir.... Those who went to Fetterneir fand the yetis keipit cloiss, the laird himself being within, sad began to persew the entress yet, quhilik was weill defendit, and ane of their soldiouris schot out thairat, quhairof he deit scortlie thairefter. The rest leaves the persute, and thair hurt soldiour behind thame, and returnis to Aberdein without moir ado. The Laird feiring sum truble to follow, displenishes the place, left nothing tursabill within, cloissis wp the yattis, and took his wyf, children, and servandis with him to sum uthir pairt. But schortlie thair cum fra Abirdein another pairtie of soldiouris to the same place, brak up the yettis and durris, enterit the housis and chalmeris, brak doun wyndois, bedis, burdis, and left no kynd of plenishing on hewin doun, quhilk did thame little good, albeit skaithful to the owner. Sic as thay culd carie with thame thay took, syne retumit bak to Abirdein; bot the Laird fled the cuntrie, and to Berwick goes he, suffering this gryt skaith.

A page further on there is an entry which proves the cause of this attack to have been no other than religious antagonism. Thomas Crombie being absent in England, his place of Kemnay - one mile from Fetternear - is taken in, his girnellis broken up, and store of victuallis pairtit amongst the soldiouris. Thus all sort of peopie who wold not sueir and subscrive the covenant, and contribute to the good cause, was grevouslie overrun and oppreasit, without law or auchtoritie of His Majestie.

Fetternear House next suffered, still more severely, from the disputes regarding succession, though these also were not without their religious colouring. In 1762 the claim of Peter Leslie Grant to Fetternear, on the ground that Count Antony Leslie was a Papist and an alien, was granted by a decision of the House of Lords. It is, however, worthy of note that the petitioner was himself in the Dutch service, so that there is strong probability that the former of the two reasons assigned had the larger share in the decision.

Thirteen years later the new laird died, and the estates passed to his cousin, Patrick Duguid, son of Robert Duguid, ninth Baron of Auchinhove, by his wife Teresa Leslie, daughter of fifteenth Baron of Balquhain. On succeeding to the estates Patrick Duguid assumed the name of Leslie. Another long litigation ensued, during which the mortgagee, David Orme, who had been granted a lease of five times nineteen years, allowed the house and grounds to fall into decay. When the rightful proprietor at length became possessed of the house, the two wings running south from the old main building had to be removed, being past repair.

Again in 1818 extensive alterations and additions were made, the very characteristic little house which stood on the top of the east tower, and the peaked roof which surmounted the west tower, were taken down and were replaced by battlements. The net result is that after three hundred and fifty years the outside has undergone considerable change, but within the house many portions remain which saw the laird of 1566, the defender oi Bishop Gordon, and which formed part of the episcopal palace, where that bishop and his predecessors spent the long days of summer, recreating mind and body with the sport afforded by the picturesque river which flows past the house at a distance of 200 yards.

The old house offered many a hiding-place, and it is narrated how on one occasion a troop of cavalry rode up to the door. The male portion of the inhabitants were safely stowed away into the various recesses, when the lady of the house boldly went to the door and protested against soldiers entering. It were a shame, said she, to enter by force a house where there were but a few lone women. The confidence she displayed deceived the officer in charge, who departed only to hear later that all the men he sought had been within the house at the time of his visit.

Interesting are the vestments, preserved at Fetternear, which were made out of cloth of gold and cloth of silver, taken from the Turks after the siege of Vienna in 1683. At this period several of the family had attained high rank in the Imperial service. Walter Leslie, who as field-marshal, was sent by the emperor to be his ambassador to the sultan, distinguished himself by the magnificence of his cortège, which caused the grand signor himself to say that in all his life he had never seen so splendid a show. Having become possessed of great wealth, he remitted large sums to his brother, the Baron of Balquhain, to assist him to retrieve his estates. James Leslie, nephew of the aforesaid Walter, also a field-marshal in the Austrian service, was conspicuous for his gallantry at the siege of Vienna. On 11th September 1683 he broke through the Turkish army, and conveyed into the beleaguered city a large force of men and store of provisions, which came as a most seasonable assistance, and greatly contributed to the success of the imperialists and the rout of the Turks, who were completely defeated on the following day. Part of the spoil which fell to the lot of Count James Leslie was a quantity of cloth of silver and cloth of gold, which, in the form of vestments, are a most memorable trophy of the success of the Christian arms over the Turks.

Both the above-mentioned counts are buried in the Leslie chapel of the Scotch Benedictine Abbey in Vienna, which they had liberally supported. There is also mention of an annual provision left by Count James Leslie to the Scotch Benedictine Abbey of Ratisbon, for the education of young Scotch gentlemen of small fortune.

How the above-mentioned vestments found their way back to Fetternear is not told, but of their danger of destruction we learn from evidence given by Hon. Mary Elphinstone, who stated that her sister Margaret married George Leslie of Balquhain in 1706; that George Leslie and his sisters were all bigoted Papists; that she knew there was a popish chapel in their house and a popish priest always kept at Fetternear; that when her brother-in-law, Count George Leslie, died in 1715, his widow, her sister, sent for the popish priest and desired him to pack up all the popish trinkets, vestments, baubles, and many popish books and to convey them away, which he accordingly did; and that she was resolved to bring up her children, James and Ernest, and to educate them as Protestants, which she did. It is remarked in the Historical Records of the Family of Leslie that of five Barons of Balquhain, who at different times were Protestants, all, including the above-mentioned James and Ernest, died childless.

Mention has already been made of the Duguids, Lairds of Auchinhove. This family was also staunch in their support of the Stuarts, being out in 1715 and again in 1745. In the latter insurrection especially, Auchinhove raised large numbers of men at his own expense. He was present at the action of Inverurie, where Lord Lewis Gordon with 1100 men attacked and put to flight the Laird of M`Leod and his 1500 men. After the suppression of the rebellion, the Laid of Auchinhove was exempted from the general pardon granted by the Government of King George, on account of the active and bold part which he had taken in the rebellion. Nor could he return to his own house, for Auchinhove was watched by Captain Hardy and a body of the King's troops. His sufferings are well told in the Historical Records: He was obliged to skulk about the country. Being a most resolute man, he determined to sell his life as dearly as possible, particularly as Captain Hardy had sworn and declared in the most brutal boasting manner, that if Auchinhove were out of Hell he would take him dead or alive. Patrick Leslie Duguid got a guard for his safety and protection; a band of six faithful old followers and companions in arms, who were well armed, and remained constantly with him in the various places to which he resorted for security, in the fastnesses of Coul and the neighbouring hills and mountains, where he concealed himself and dexterously evaded every attempt of the King's troops to surprise or take him.

During this unhappy period, his wife, Lady Auchinhove, as she was usually called, remained with her three infant children at the Castle of Auchinhove, and was kept in a state of continual alarm and anxiety, not only with regard to her husband's safety, but also of her own, and on account of the continual intrusion of the soldiers into her privacy under the pretence of searching for her husband. One day Captain Hardy abruptly entered her room, and, hearing some noise in an adjoining closet, in which her son James, then a child of only five years, usually slept, he thought that it was perhaps the Laird, who might have got secretly into the Castle, and was concealed there. He rushed in great haste to examine the closet, when to his great mortification he found only the little fellow. Captain Hardy was not a little abashed, but, to conceal his chagrin, he flourished his gay cocked hat and feathers, and told the child that he would give it to him if he would cry 'Hurrah for King George!' To his surprise the laddie smartly answered, 'Na, na; I'm a Prince's man.'

Some time afterwards Captain Hardy, finding that he had little chance of succeeding in apprehending the Laird of Auchinhove, and becoming enraged at being baffled in his attempts, cruelly ordered the Castle to be burned, without giving any notice or warning of any kind to the unfortunate lady or her family. At the hour of midnight, he barbarously gave the order to set fire to the Castle. After it was in a blaze, Lady Auchinliove made her escape with her infant children by a window, and retired to the top of a neighbouring hill, where they sat shivering in the cold, mournfully looking on until the Castle and all its valuables were reduced to ashes. She took refuge afterwards in a gardener's house. The Laird witnessed the heart-rending scene of his ancient Castle in flames from a spot on the Hill of Coul, which is still pointed out by the country people.

Captain Hardy's action is the more reprehensible as he acknowledged later to Lady Auchinhove that had he known that she was a relative of his commanding officer, General Irvine, he would not have done it. No punishment was, however, inflicted on the perpetrator of the barbarous act, and no redress was obtained. When reading this account one is reminded of the lines in Smollett's charming poem, The Team of Scotland:-

It is interesting to note that the little hero of the cupboard incident entered the Society of Jesus abroad. He received Holy Orders and returned to Scotland in 1777, and died in 1816 at Stockeld, in Yorksbire, where he was chaplain. He was buried at Spofforth. His brother Charles, also a Jesuit, in 1793 built the church at Oxford, where he died in 1806. Being in holy orders these two elder brothers were excluded from the succession, which passed to the third brother John. He married at Terreglee Castle, near Dumfries, Violet, daughter of John Dalzell, of Barncrosh. It was their daughter, Amelia, who by her marriage with Mr. Alexander Fraser, of Strichen, restored that family to the Catholic faith. The only son of this latter marriage was Thomas Alexander, to whom the title of Lord Lovat was restored in 1857.

Mrs. Violet Leslie died in 1836 at the age of eighty-six. She retained all her faculties to the last; and as she possessed a peculiarly retentive memory, her conversation was most interesting, especially when she related stories of 1715 and 1745, which she had heard from her relations and friends, many of whom had suffered in the Stuart cause. She used to tell how she and her sisters dressed themselves up in the cloak and gown of the brave Countess of Nithsdale, in which her husband the Earl effected his escape from the Tower of London. She used also to tell how, when she was at school at the convent at York, the head of her grandfather, Lord Kenmure, still remained at the Michaelgate Bar, and when it was taken down by order of the Government all the people congratulated her.

Another domain closely associated with Fetternear is Balquhain Castle, where the family resided previous to the gift by the Bishop of Aberdeen of the domain of Fetternear, and from which they still take the name of Barons of Balquhain. It was at Balquhain Castle that Mary Queen of Scots spent the first night after leaving Aberdeen on her progress to the north in 1562. It was on this occasion that the Earl of Huntly designed to make away with his rival, the newly created Earl of Murray, Lord James Stuart, the Queen's natural brother, who was one of the guests. But William Leslie would not on any account consent that his house should be the scene of such a deed, and by his influence he dissuaded the Earl of Huntly from the design. On 10th September Queen Mary, leaving Balquhain Castle, passed the collegiate church of Our Lady of the Garrioch, where she heard mass, the last mass ever celebrated in that once fair and beautiful chapel. In her train was probably Dr. John Leslie, later Bishop of Ross, and her most faithful supporter. He was a scion of the family of Leslie, of Cults, a junior branch of that of Balquhain.

Being selected by the Catholic party, and especially by the Earls of Huntly and Athol, Dr. Leslie went to France to invite Queen Mary home to Scotland, and accompanied her on her journey north, which she commenced in August 1561.

In 1565 he was appointed Bishop of Ross. It is largely to his energy that is due the credit of the first impression of the Laws of Scotland, which were first collected and printed in Edinburgh in 1566. Bishop Leslie defended Queen Mary against the calumnies of her rebellious subjects; he remonstrated with Elizabeth on the treatment to which she subjected the Scottish Queen; he was most urgent in soliciting the assistance of the kings of France and Spain, as well as the Pope, in behalf of his Sovereign, in vindication of whom he published several treatises. After a life spent in devoted service of the unfortunate Mary, it is said that he was so greatly affected by the circumstances and the inhumanity of her untimely end, that he retired to the monastery of Canons-regular at Gertrudenburg, where he spent the remainder of his days in great devotion. The beautiful inscription on his monument records his great labours on behalf of the Catholic faith and in defence of his rightful Queen.

Whilst Fetternear was still the summer residence of the bishops of Aberdeen, the parish church was within the cemetery of St. Ninian, half a mile distant. This ancient chapel dates from 1150, but the well, at the foot of the brae, and which from time immemorial has been known as St. Ninian's well, is one of a series which mark the progress of that Saint along the banks of the Don, as he passed down the river in his apostolic mission. A few miles distant is the well of St. Apollinarius of the same date. The persona de Fetternear occurs in numerous charters.

An ancient will of the sixteenth century directs that the testator be buried within the church of St. Ninian at Fetternear. An old plan, dated 1769, shows St. Ninian's church within the cemetery, and as late as fifty years ago the walls of this building were still four feet high. In 1848 a new chapel was built, but not on the correct site of the old one. This error was corrected in 1878, when a second chapel was built alongside the first. This latter building follows the exact foundations of that of 1150. It is here that lie the remains of the venerable Bishop Hay; whilst in the cemetery outside are buried the bodies of the students who died between 1797 and 1811 at Aquhorties.

The College of Aquhorties, distant about two miles from Fetternear, of which estate it forms a part, was leased by Bishop Hay. Hitherto the seminary for the priesthood had been at Scalan, where the building still remains, being at present used as a farmhouse. Until recently, perhaps even at the present time, there were visible on the whitewashed walls the round marks, which are probably the only marks left by the students, and were the result of the weary scholars resting their heads against the wall at their back. Scalan was the seminary from 1712 to 1797. During that period it saw many scenes of interest to the Catholics of the past two centuries. Bishop Hugh Macdonald was there educated for the priesthood, which he received in 1725. He was bishop of the Highland District from 1731 to 1773, no less a period than forty-two years. It was at Scalan that Bishop Hay was consecrated, 21st May 1769, and here he wrote a great part of his works. He too was blessed with a pontificate of over forty years.

Bishop Alexander Macdonald was consecrated at Scalan in 1780, which the future bishops - Alexander Cameron had entered in 1760, Alexander Paterson in 1780, and Andrew Scott in 1785. Its situation in the Braes of Glenlivet is justly described as most secluded, accessible only by a bridal path, hardly known but to a few shepherds, or the wandering sportsman. After Culloden it was visited by Cumberland's soldiers, who burned down the house and dispersed its inmates.

On the removal to Aquhorties, Bishop Hay set to work to improve the property. He built the large house which stands unaltered to the present day, and improved the land, which is described as in a miserable condition when he acquired it. His efforts were most successful. The hitherto waste land was brought under cultivation, and the grounds round the house were laid out in a style which showed his good taste. In the centre of a pretty little lake he built an artificial island, and this, together with the water conduits, still exists intact.

As one stands facing the house, the window on the extreme right on the first floor is the room where he spent his last fourteen years and where he passed to another life. There has been inserted in the wall of this room a brass tablet bearing the inscription: Here the Venerable Bishop Hay received his eternal reward, 15 Oct. 1811, æt. 83. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints.

Bishop Hay was buried, as has been stated above, in the church of St. Ninian. The present proprietor of Fetternear has erected over the grave a handsome stone monument, upon which will be placed a brass commemorative of the holy bishop. Within this church is also the altar, so often used by him at Aquhorties; whilst at Fetternear are preserved his chalice, altar stone, and altar cards, breviary, and missal.

(It had been the sincere wish of the writer to say Mass in St. Ninian's Church, beside the body of the venerable prelate, and to use so much of his altar furniture, a desire which he still hopes to see realised. Indeed, all Catholic Scotland will unite with him in the hope that the tomb of the saintly writer and most apostolic Prelate, who did so much to restore Catbolicity in Scotland, together with the church within which the tomb is, will be completed at an early date, so that the work already happily begun may be worthy of the celebration of his centenary five years hence (1911).

There still stands in front of the house at Aquhorties the good Bishop's sun-dial. Of this an anecdote is told to the effect that the Bishop, desiring to know the hour of day, called to one of the maid-servants to go and see what time it was by the dial. The good lassie, whose muscular powers exceeded her intellectual, not knowing how to read the dial and unwilling not to comply with her master's request, took up the heavy stone upon which the dial was fixed and carried it bodily to the Bishop that he might read the time for himself. The kind old man well knew how to see the ludicrous side of the incident.

The house at Aquhorties is little altered since the Bishop's time, except that in one or two cases the farmer, desiring to avoid as much as possible of the window tax, succeeded in uniting the windows on the basement and first and second floors, thus making one of what had previously been three windows. In one case this aperture measures twenty-two and a half feet from top to bottom.

Great as must have been the change from Scalan to Aquhorties, the difference between that and the present College of Blairs is still more striking. From 1829, however, till 1899 the buildings were much less sumptuous, and there was well grounded complaint of their inconvenience. If the old Laird of Pitfodels could have foreseen to what a successful issue his proposal of the transfer of the College to his estate of Blairs was ultimately to lead, the worthy benefactor to the Church in Scotland would have had good reason to be proud of his gift. No one can visit the present College of St. Mary without being struck by the completeness and grandeur of the ensemble. Besides the general effect of the fine situation from the outside, the interior leaves little to be desired; the library and the church especially should contribute to convey to the students as lofty an ideal of the dignity of the vocation for which they are being educated as could be expected from many a learned discourse on the subject. In the principal reception room are the celebrated pictures of Mary Queen of Scots, Cardinal Beaton, and James III., the old Pretender; but to most minds the most striking portrait is the beautiful likeness of Bishop Hay, whose kind old face bespeaks the virtues which fully justify the chaffingly proposed epitaph: Here lies a sincere and pious and devout Christian.

(An allusion to his spiritual treatises, The Sincere Christian, The Devout Christian, The Pious Christian. The merit of these works, which may still be read with great profit, gained for their author a world-wide reputation.)

With the names of Bishop Hay, the most eminent of the Catholic bishops of Scotland since the Reformation, and that of St. Mary's College, Blairs, these pages may fitly close, in the hope that the new College may produce many learned and apostolic men, who will labour in his spirit to maintain the traditions of sincerity and of religion, which their predecessors did so much to foster in the Ancient Catholic Homes of Scotland.

Odo Blundell OSB Ancient Catholic Homes of Scotland (1907)