Arbuthnott House, Kincardineshire H Gordon Slade*
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Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 110, 1978-80, 432-74 Arbuthnott House, Kincardineshire H Gordon Slade* The present house, an eighteenth-century enlargement of a seventeenth-century house, which in turn grew out of periods of development in the fifteenth century of a thirteenth-century courtyard house, seatthe is of John Campbell Arbuthnott, 16th Viscount 33rdand Laird Arbuthnott.of The lands have been in the possession of the family of Arbuthnott since the late twelfth century. To the connoisseur of family history or genealogy the contemplation of the Arbuthnott descent mussourca e b tf intens eo e gratification. Ther worde canth e h ef Misn i o s, s Nancy Mitford, 'linger with obvious enjoyment over so genuine an object as this family, unspoilt by ambiguitiee th femalf so e lindeed ean d poll'. Fro firse time mth tth f eHugo Aberbothenote hd h to the present Viscount the lands have passed in the male line from father to son, and from brother to brother on all but three occasions, when cousins have succeeded. e 12tEarlth hn yi centur e Crowyth n land f Arbuthnoto s beed ha tn conferre onen do , Osbert Oliphant. Osbert having dienepher o d - abroan w succeede- s Walte so s dwa hi ry db Oliphant. Walter had no male heir, and some time before 1206 had granted the lands to Hugo Swintone d . Tradition account thir marryiny sfo sb g Hug eitheo t r Walter Oliphant's daughter r sistero othethers o n A . s ei r apparent reaso explaio nt n Hugo's sudden appearance tradition is probably right. Hug styles owa d both Lair d Thandan e (tha s dominusi t d thanus)an f Aberbothenoth,o pita s anyi t thadi lattee th t r titlfalles eha n into disuse. Hugo' Duncan sso designates nwa d de Aberbuthenoth 120n i 6 whe ndisputea beed whicn i , ha ne hinvolveh d wit Bishoe ht th S f po Andrews over the Kirkton of Arbuthnott, was decided by a general Synod at Perth. probabls wa t I y Duncan' Hugn so sAberbuthenoth,e hd buildee th s f Lairdro wa d o 3r wh , the first stone house on the site, the remains of which are still incorporated in the outbuildings presene ofth t mansion parise Th . h kir Arbuthnottf ko , whic consecrates hwa 124n di Bishoy 2b p mucBernhae ow Hugh'o h t y mma s generosity t certainl;i y owed masonsmucs hi o ht ' work. whole th famile n th e O y histor s frei y e from those blood drenche melodramatid dan c horrors usually only to be found in the pages of Scotch family histories and Gothick novels, and it was possibly the fact that his mother was a Douglas which accounts for the gruesome lapse on the part of Hugh Arbuthnott, the 9th Laird. In 1420 John Melville of Glenbervie was Sheriff of the Mearns, and according to tradition had incensed his neighbours by his tyranny. Probabl interfered faul s ha thas yhi e h wa t exercise muco dth to n h i particulaf thein eo ow r r tyrannies representationn O . s being Regentmade th o et , Murdoch Duk f Albanyeo , that worthy commented 'Sorrow gin that that Sheriff were sodden and supped in broo\ With this somewhat dubious authority five lairds, Arbuthnott amongst them, invited the Sheriff to a hunting party in the Forest of Garvock. Once there he was knocked on the head, and his body thrown into a * 15 Southbourne Gardens, London SE12 SLADE: ARBUTHNOTT HOUSE, KINCARDINESHIR3 43 | E convenient cauldron. Having simmered this grisly mess for a while each of the friends downed a spoonfu resultine th f o l g soup. Arbuthnots A prime th tt ewas no move f i , thin ri s outrage, Glenbervie's nearest neighbour expectes wa t i d tha e firswoule h feeto th e Melvilleswrate t t th e th l d b f h o e hous s Th . ewa substantial but not strong enough to 'debait the Invasion of Enemy es'; measures were quickly take strengthedeeo e nt th dd whican threatened t ni hha d Hugh with ruin gavinsteam ehi da greatly improved house, and considerably enhanced the standing of the family; the latter apparently, accordin Principao gt l Arbuthnott, bein formerge resula th f o t . Hugh, like his father, had married a daughter of the great house of Keith, and on four further occasion Lairde sth f Arbuthnotso t wer seeo et k alliances wit familEarle e hth th f syo Marischal. Margare husband'r diet d howevethe Keitno ha n e d i s e housse w hsh wa o srt ne s ea 1419 the year before it was built. Hugh died in 1446 with the new house still unfinished, and work was not resumed until the succession of his great-grandson, Robert, as 12th Laird in 1470. Sir Robert had married, as his first wife, Margaret Wishart, and in 1475 he married a second time. His wife, who was to survive him was Mariota Scrymegour of Dudhope, and it was probably following on this marriage that the house was worked on again. Sir Robert, according to his grandson, Principal Arbuthnott, completed Hugh's wor f 142 ko added 0an d further building owns hi wels f A extendin.s so a l g and improving his own house he added to the Kirk of Arbuthnott, building the aisle of that name ,bel d enlarginan l towerd en nav e wels gth a ,W providin s ela w witne ha endowmenn ga t maintenancefos it r translatioe th n I . englischit r Principal'e o nth - f o - s latirecordes i t ni d that aislw s 'Veryne ewa e th gorgious both materiallis',d craftn i an 'Thatd an this work e michtth e b better exceptid of God he diligentlie forsaw that this costlie building in no wayis suld be hurtful to his puir tenantis sua he carrit the stonis, lyme and all the rest of the materiallis with his avid horses and wald tak no help off his tennantis as the custom was.' Bot wifs Roberr hi hSi e d werparticularla an tf eo y pious turn werd an , e greatly attached to the Franciscans of the Observatine reform, who had first been established in Scotland in the mid 1450s. Apart from contribution crusadcosa e 148Holn e f sth i o tth o 2t yo e t Land , being grante e privilegedth e Ordeth f n 148i o rs 7 (presumably neither chastit r povertyno y being amongst these rebuildind an ) g parise mucth f ho kir f Arbuthnottko , they obtaine dlicenca e in 1491 to have a portable altar for the celebration of Mass and other divine services. This suggests two things: either they were both restless and constant travellers and seldom near settled places of worship, or - and this seems far more likely - that in the rebuilding of Arbuthnott there had been no provision made for a formal chapel. Certainly none is mentioned in the Principal's description. The most enduring memorials to their piety are however no longer at Arbuthnott. These three th ee booksar , Missal, Prayer Boo Psalted kan r written between r 148Si d 149 y 2an 1 b James Sibbald Vicae th , Arbuthnottf ro Psaltee Th .Prayed ran r Book earlie e whicth e rhar were writter Robert'Missae Si th r usen d nfo l an ,sow writte 149n ndedicatei s 1wa Service th o dt e of the Altar of St Ternan and was probably designed as a gift, to mark the completion of the churche worth n ko . These remarkable survivals remaine possessioe th n familde i th f nyo until 1897 when they were sold followin Coatee th n 10te deati e sgth th hw f ho Viscountno e ar d an , Museu Librard man t Paisleyya . house r Robert'th spitn Si e I e f se t livecompletedo o no et s d effortdi e s Principah sa , l Arbuthnott records thae Forth t e Towe s finishes nepothi wa r y b d'th e presente heath f do family'. Thi t firssa t errorn appeara e b ; o moderst n usage nepote tend se s nephew. a o st e Th old use of it as meaning 'grandson' is however confirmed by the translation in which nepot is | PROCEEDING 4 43 THF SO E SOCIETY, 1978-80 rendere s oye.da James Arbuthnott, 13th n Laird deats so die d hi s t 1520-ha n h,hi di a d 1an could not have been more than 12 years old, so the completion of the Fore Tower dated from minoritys yeare hi th f so , 1520-9. Robert' Andrewson s 15tthe , h Laird, added some further building courtyarthe in s din expenditurs e 1580shi th t bu , e must have been curtaile demande th y db s mads hi ey b upo m nhi needy sovereign, althoug n 1581hi , when before Royalty became importunate, Andred wha been unsuccessful in an application for a loan to the Earl Marischal - His lordship regretted havm hi unables t 'sickthale wa e o et h t silverwreitt'.e y s a Presumably the small building dated 1588 had been finished when, in November of that year, Andrew was summoned to Holyroodhouse to assist in putting 'sum spedie ardour to the reformation f sindreo thingis that or amiss bayth religiounn i politic'. d e followinan th y B g April the King was less confident about wholesale reformation; his tone was distinctly tremulous.