The Tower and House of Drum, Aberdeenshire Gordoh N Slade*
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Proc Antiqc So Scot, (1985)5 11 , 297-356 The Tower and House of Drum, Aberdeenshire GordoH n Slade* ABSTRACT mileswest10 the to of and Aberdeennorththe Dee Tower the On Housesidethe lie and of of Drum. nearestThe great ofthe houses county city,ofthe was,the it to from 1323 until 1975, whenwas it left to the National Trust for Scotland, the home of the Irvines of Drum. FAMILE TH Y (illu) s1 The family first appears historically at the end of the 13th century in Ayrshire in the district around Irvine, where they held lands fro Brucese mth , Lord f Annandaleo s foundee e Th . th f o r Aberdeen Williaf branco famile n th so Irewinf m e believehe s o yd i th e Bonshawb f eo o dt least a r ,to of that branc famile th f ho y whic settles hwa Bonshawt da . Tradition varie thisn so Dumfriesshirn ;i et i is held that William's home was Woodhouse Tower, but in Aberdeenshire it has always been claimed that Bonshaw was the family home. And from one of these, William de Irewine's eldest son, also William, was in 1306 to follow Robert Bruce on the path which brought freedom to Scotland and Drum eventually to the Irvines. William is said to have acted as Bruce's armour-bearer and secretary during the years of his rise rewar powere loyalts o t th hi r d dyfo an , cam Februar1 n eo y 1323 when, accordin chartee th o gt r still preserve grantecastles e th wa t Foresde e a ,dh th Drumf to , whic shortls hwa y afterwards erected into a free barony in a charter of 4 October in the same year. There had only been one slight difficulty. The overly generous monarch had already granted the Forest to Alexander Burnards of Leys, from whom the family of Burnett of Leys and Crathes descends. This oversight was rectified by a charter of 28 March 1324 giving Irvine, amongst other things righte ,th pasturagf so lowee th n ei r Fores Drumf to . This in time led to a certain amount of litigation but, and this is curious given the temper of the next four centuries, to little violence. It is sometimes suggested that the tradition that William acted as the king's secretary is unlikely to be true given the general standard of literacy of the landed classes at the time, and without some supporting proo woult fi d seem implausible. However, ther soms ei e circumstantial evidence 132n i ; 8 a William de Irvynne was appointed Clerk of the Rolls, an office he held until 1331. There was also a Robert de Irwyn who was Clerk of the Wardrobe 1329-31. It is possible that these men were brothers, and were appointed by the king at the end of his life in order that his small son should have officers whosn abouo m e hi t loyalt dyine yth g king coul t entireld no relys i t yI . accidental tharecorde th t s suggest that these appointments terminate 133n di 1 wit invasioe hth Scotlanf nusurpatioo e th d dan n of the crown by Edward Balliol. The accounts of the family are, for the first 200 years, to a certain extent confusing. The various *15 Southbourne Gardens, London SE12 8 29 SOCIET ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1985 manuscript sources diffe moso rtw twidely e seriouth d an ,s writer subjecte l Jonathath Co n so t L , n Forbes Andrer Leslie Si vert d no y w,an e muc Leitar y h matter he betterHa ar r .sNo mad clearey ean r by the custom in the family of naming the eldest son Alexander and the second son Robert, with, however unwrittee th , n proviso that shoul before eldese di dth n e so tinheritin estatee d gth an s- indeed sometimes after inheriting them - his successor should assume the name of Alexander. This custom deatendee th Alexandef n ho do r Forbes Irvine, 20th laird bee1892d n i ,eldes s ha nHi .n so t five-year-ols christenehi x si f o e dd ag Alexander brothedeats e hi th t been hd a o rha d n givean , e nth name in addition to the three he had already received at his baptism. When he in his turn died at the 1875n i lase 4 2 ,th t f survivino e ag g brother quite sensibly refuse continuo dt custoea m whics hi n hi case would have been absurd althougd ,an h furthethera s ewa r opportunit revivo yt s 192n i wa t ei t 2 i allowed to lapse. An additional factor that further complicated the story was the habit of marrying into the family of Keith, the Earls Marischal, and at the same time maintaining a bitter feud with that family. The worst case of this confusion occurred with the death of Sir Alexander Irvine, third of Drum, who was killed on 29" July 1411 at the battle of Harlaw, when the levies of Angus, the Mearns, Mar, Garioche th Buchad ,an n together wit citizene hth Aberdeef so n defeate verda y much larger forcf eo Highlanders and Islanders under Donald. Lord of the Isles. Sir Alexander certainly had a brother, Robert supposes i d sonso ,an havtw o d,t d alseha o Alexande Robertd ran . Both Alexander saide sar , by different traditions havo t , e been contracte Elizabeto dt h Keith, daughte Roberr Si f ro t Keith, Earl Marischal similarld an , y both Robert Alexandere th s- s having been kille Harlat da sai e dar w - havo t e changed their name Alexandero st married an , ladye dth . This stor assumptioe bases yi th n do n that although Elizabeth Keit eithes hwa r contracter do marrie o Alexandet d r (fathe r son o e marriagr th ) neved ha e r been consumated d thar an Si ,t Alexander fearing his own and his eldest son's death had arranged for her to marry either his own brother or his second son. There is almost certainly a basis of truth in the tradition. Earlier histories and genealogies suppor viee tth w tha fourte tth h Sir Alexande renamee th s rwa d brothe thire th df ro laird, whilst later writers ten thino dt thire kth dtha f fourt e o laird tth n so h ; a lair others dwa s simply confuse them all. On balance it would seem that it was a son of the third laird who succeeded and who married Elizabeth Keith, since ther marriaga s ei e contract betweeAlexanded an r nhe r Irvinf eo Drum date Octobe1 d1 r 1411, three months afte battlee th rbot d an ,h names appeaDrue th mn ro bras Nicholat S n si s Kirk, Aberdeen. This doe howevet sno r throquestioe lighth y wn an to whicf no h son he was. Probably tradition is right on this point and it was Robert who changed his name to 'Alexander', possibly for legal reasons (it would have saved rewriting the settlements and marriage contract started )an famile dth y custo laire th df m o alway s bearing that name. fourte Th h lairappointes dwa 1439-4n di 0 Captai Governod nan Aberdeenf o r officn a , e h e numbehela r dfo yearsf ro whicd neves an , hwa r afterwards revived consolidatee .H fortunee dth f so famile th variouy yb s means, including obtainin lande ggrana th Forglef f so to n fro Abboe mth d an t Abbey of Arbroath, a grant which carried with it responsibility of commanding the Abbey's vassals under the sacred reliquary of St Columba - the Brecbannoch. In the affairs of state he was of sufficient weigh ambassadorappointee e b th f o t to 142n e i do 3on werswh e sen Englano t negotiato dt e eth release of James I. That monarch, with the gratitude for which his house was famous, caused Sir Alexander two years later to be arrested with many others of the principal barons, and he was not released unti e kind accomplisheth l gha e destructiodth e Duke familth th f Albanyf f eo no o y . Possibly it was felt that the Laird of Drum might not have been complaisant at such wholesale slaughte royae th f lro house. Shortly befor endowed d deats eha hi e hh 1456n ,i chantre ,th Niniaaltat d greaS e yf an rth o n ti Nicholat KirS f ko Aberdeenn ssouti e th n hi transeptd ,an , still know Drue th s mna Aisle build ,ha ta SLADE: THE TOWER AND HOUSE OF DRUM, ABERDEENSHIRE | 299 monumen wifehimsels o tt hi ,d consistinfan effigieo canopietw a f gn o si d wall recess together witn ha inscribed memorial brass. The brass, which is still in the church, was ordered with the inscription but without the date, apart from the century, of his death. This was to be put on when that event occurred, tasa k neglecte descendantss hi y db course th n f timeI .eo , destructio restoratiod nan tome nth b canopy was taken down. The stones were rescued and removed to the chapel at Drum in the last century, and in 1951 the canopy was re-erected there. havinn so s gHi die Alexander dSi succeedes rwa grandsons 145n dhi i y 7b , Alexander Irvine, fift Drumf o h .unexactin e Eveth y nb g standard timee th muse f sh o consideree b t particularla f do y ferocious disposition s firsHi .t wife Mariota r Mariono , , Forbes, daughte f Loro r d Forbesd ha , arouse suspicions dhi conducr he y sb t wit chaplaie hth Edwarr nsi d MacDowell laire e Th .d th feln o l wretched man and treated him with such savagery that a Royal Pardon was necessary - for the laird, not the chaplain, who by then was past help.