248 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 11, 1938. II. TOLQUHON S BUILDERCASTLIT D EAN . BDOUGLAYW S SIMPSON, M.A., D.LITT., F.S.A.ScoT. I. The Castle of Tolquhon, one of the most interesting of the sixteenth century baronial mansion whicn si h Aberdeenshir richo s situates s i e,i d in the parish of Tarves, in the eastern part of the ancient Thanage of Formartine. Of this eastern part it formed the chief messuage, as Fyvie was of the western; and when the Prestons, lords of Formartine, failed in the main line, the Thanage was divided between the husbands o co-heiresses—Tolquhotw e oth f n thus being acquire r JohSi ny b d Forbe brothea ( e firss th tf o Lorr d Forbes)n 142 i d marrieo 0ha wh , d Marjorie, second daughte deceasee th f o rr Henr dSi y Preston.1 Whether "Preston's Tower"—so r baccallefa s 173a ks a d 2 2— which form e oldesth s e tcastle th par f o t, really dates bac beforo kt e Tolquhon becam eseparata e property unde Forbesese th r t wouli , e db hard to say: but there is nothing about its architectural features at all inconsistent with a date about the end of the fourteenth or early in the fifteenth century, and the traditional name of the tower may therefore perhaps be accepted as genuine. At Fyvie there is also a Preston Tower. The "towe fortaliced an r Tolquhof "o mentionee nar chartea n di r dated 2nd Decembe rl event al 1536. t A s 3 this "auld tour," with whatever barmkin wall d "laican s h bigging havy ma "e adjoinedeemes wa , it d sufficien neede s ownerth it r f so fo t s unti n 1584—i l inscribes (a 9 s it n do walls) the castle was greatly enlarged by William Forbes, the seventh laird. Notices extant about this gentleman revea rathea l r remarkable and attractive personality, cultured and enlightened beyond the average Aberdeenshir eperiods lairhi foundee f do H . endowed an d dhospitaa l n connectioi n wit e paristh h h churc f Tarveso h , "for four poon me r who were to eat and lye here and to have each a peck of meal and three shillings, a penny and two-sixths of a penny Scots weekly; also some malt, peats, etc." * An inquest held on 15th February 1717 tells us how this charitable beques manages wa t t thaa d foun s t wa time dt I . 1 Collections on the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, pp. 352-3. 2 View Diocese e oth f of Aberdeen, Collections,n i ut supra, . 330p . 3 Op. cit., p. 333. 4 Collections, ut supra, p. 330. TOLQUHON CASTLE AND ITS BUILDER. 249 that "the Beidmen had pennie0 pece 4 f meaan eko d san le eacth n hi week d hade grean ,an e Martinmasy on gow e a Coad th nd an t an s Breeches the other, and that the tenants of Meikle Ythsey were as much bound to winn and lead peats to them as they were to pay their farmes;" also that they hade "ane hid Bede r Shoes.th efo en I hous ""s a ewa 1 big chest with four lock lidd r thei fo d an fous ran r . mea Bed. l s saie foth dr Beidmen." Beidmee "Th t theina r entry.had eChesta , Bed, Bedcloaths, pot and pan, and cloaths once in two years." Fifteen years laterecordes i t ri d that whil fune eth manages di d "very carefully, mortifier,confore wilth e f th o l m o t house th " "gons ei Ruine.o et n I " the same year (1732) we read that "the meal and money they still have; t theibu r house, whic slateds hi neglectes i , quitd dan en o waste. d An " 25th June 1735 the minister reports a2 melancholy state of affairs. The Beidmen were originally provided wit hhousa e "which kepe useb to dt in good repair, sufficient furniture, and a large kail yard, and punctual payments of their money: but now the house is ruinous, the roof off, the furnitur yare e th goneth d d e knowse misapplieh ar an , s r a no r ; fa o ds payments mad propeo et r objects satisfactio e t leasa ,th o Kirt e th kf no Session." 3 The Bede house r rathero , s moderit , n successor, still e existth o t s south-east of the village, and contains a stone with a much defaced Latin inscriptio reliefn ni , commemoratin s foundatiogit Williay b n m Forbes of Tolquhon.4 In addition to founding this hospital, our laird erected for himself a stately tomb in the south aisle of the parish church of Tarves. This monument (fig. 1) is a remarkable example of the bastard Gothic of the period. Its general design remains thoroughly medieval, but much of the detail is pseudo-classical in character. This is particularly seen arcade onth tomb-cheste fronbalustere n eth i th f o tn i eithen d so an , r side. The grotesque animals on the extrados of the tomb-arch are quite in the whimsical and vigorous style so often found in sculptured work of this period in the north-east of Scotland ; while the "niort's head" on the tomb-chest represents the incoming5 of a degraded taste that reachefollowino tw s climae dit th g n xi centuries dextee th n rO . spandrel is a shield of florid design, showing the Forbes arms, with an esquire's helmet and the motto SALUS PER CHRISTUM, while on either laird'se shiele th sidth e f dear o initial belod date sth an ewt i 1589n O . 1 I.e. rents. cit.,. 330p Op 2 . T. Mair, Narratives and Extracts from the Records of the Presbytery of Ellon, pp. 298-300. r a> Fo partia 3 l deciphermen e inscriptionth f o t. Jervis A e se ,, Epitaphs Inscriptionsd an e th n i North-East4 of Scotland, . 351volp . .ii . 5 See Proceedings, vol. Ixiv. p. 93; vol. Ixv. pp. 152-3. 250 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH F O S , APRI , 193811 L . e sinisteth r spandre similaa l r shield, havin a crest r ga man'fo , t ha s bear s wifee armhi th s f , so Elizabeth Gordo f Lesmoirno , impaled with thos Forbesf eo , together wit superscriptioinitiale r hth he d san n DOCHTER Pig Tolquhoe . 1Th . n Monumen Tarven i t s Kirkyard. TO LESMOR. Portrait statuette s ladhi e lair yd th suppor df an o s e th t tracery on either side. The total height of the monument, to the top e heavoth f y battlemented cornice fee7 s inchesover-al6 s it ti , d an , l breadt fee8 inches8 s hti . A curious licence, date Februarh d8t y 1582 grantes wa , Williao dt m Forbes by James VI, relieving him from all military duties because he was suffering from "ane dolour and diseaiss in his ene, proceiding be TOLQUHON CASTLE AND ITS BUILDER. 251 ane distillatiou e held, th furthed f o an " t r nou permittin "tt m oei ghi flesche with thri fourr eo ecompanin i wit forbiddem e hhi th n ei n tyme. 'n His fame is commemorated in elegiac strains by the Latin poet, Arthur Johnston f Caskiebeno e , whose language seem o implt s y that King James had visited the castle—a circumstance which might account for the interest he displayed in the laird. The poem was evidently designed inscribee b o t d upo toms nhi Tarves:n bi — 2 "DE GULI ELMO FORBESIO TOLCHONO. Auxisset cum prole domum Tolchonus et arvis Confectus senio sponte reliquit humum. Condidit hunc tumulum condiiurquo ipse, supremum Expectans animo metuentenil diem. Hunc prope pauperibus devotos aspicis agros Tectaque mortali non violanda manu. Nee procul his domini surgunt palatia, regis semelNon hospitio nobilitata sui. terrisHas monimenta dedit Tolchonus, interet operumHas moles crescere vidit opes. Quantulus, exuvias spectassi corporis, alti Si pensas animi munera, quantus homo est." The reference to the Bede House at Tarves—"tectaque mortali non violanda manu"—has now an ironic ring in view of its recorded history have asw e summarise t abovedi . The most interesting monumen laird s lefttol ha d tha e behinth t d him is undoubtedly the very considerable extension which he built to his castle, converting the cramped "auld tour" into a spacious mansion laid out upon a design much more ambitious than was usual among the houses of Aberdeenshire country gentlemen of the period. And a mortification of his property, dated 3rd December 1589 3—six weeks after the work of building was finished—makes it clear that the castle was furnished in keeping with its architectural pretensions; for in the s effect hi includede lisf ar o st y hail"m l: siluer wark, buikis, bedding, tapestrie, neprie, timmer wark, artalyerie, wther furniture insychd an t plenising quhatsumewer." Elsewhere in the same inventory he dwells, with what seems a touch of pardonable pride, upon the ample accom- modatio mansionnw providene s hi , y enumeratindb g "withi wallie nth s 1 Collections, ut supra, . 353-4pp . 2 Epigrammata Arturi lonstoni, Scoti, Medici Regii, Abredoniae, excudebat Edvardus Rabanus, cum Privilegio, 1632, p. 21. The poem must have been written a considerable while after the laird died in 1596, for at that time Johnstone was only eight years old. The allusions make it clear that it is to the seventh laird, and not to his sou, who was also called William, that the poet refers.