By the Same Author TRUE ROMANCES OF SCOTLAND (z"n collaboratz"on wz"th E. M. PATERSON) THE OLIPHANTS OF GASK THE CHILDREN OF FRANCE THE BEAUTIFUL MRS GRAHAM THE MAXTONES OF CULTOQUHEY CULTOQUHEY FROM THE SOUTH. THE MAXTONES OF CULTOQUHEY BY E. MAXTONE GRAHAM THE MORAY PRESS EDINBURGH & LONDON FIRST PUBLISHED I 935 THE MORAY PRESS 126 PRINCES STREET, EDINBURGH I82 HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON, w.c.1 PUBLISHED BY GRANT & MURRAY LIMITED I 26 PRINCES STREET, EDINBURGH PRINTED IN SCOTLAND BY THE RIVERSIDE PRESS, EDINBURGH BOUND BY WILLIAM HUNTER & SONS, EDINBURGH TO ALL DESCENDANTS OF THE OLD LAIRDS OF CULTOQ_UHEY NOW LIVING, AND TO THOSE WHO ARE TO COME Sen I have tane travail! and diligence to collect and gadder the historie and cronicle of thy House and surename •.. and to set furth the samin; quhilk culd nocht well! be done wythout pane and labour, as thow may know by the process and inspectioun of this !ytill Boke; quhilk I present to thee, willing· the samin to be thankful/le resavit, thocht it be of small valour. Accept my gude mynd for the rest. I desyr none uther recompense but that thou will follow thy maist honorable predecessouries, and flee and forbeir all vyce, and eschew all thingis contrair to thy }onour and gude conscience . .FR0:,1 " THE HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF S.l!:YTOUN/' 1559, BY SIR RICHARD MAITLAND OF LETHINGTON: KNJGHT. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE FIRST FIVE LAIRDS OF CuLTOQUHEY II. SCENES OF OLD PERTHSHIRE III. FIRST FAMILY LETTERS IV. MUNGO MAXTONE, THE IOTH LAIRD V. LINKS WITH AMERICA VI. THE FIVE y OUNG MEN VII. AT HOME AND ABROAD 120 VIII. QUIET YEARS I 75 IX. DAYS OF YESTERDAY 193 APPENDIX: INVENTORY OF CHARTERS OF THE MAXTONES OF CuLTOQUHEY 205 INVENTORY OF CHARTERS AND PAPERS BELONGING TO THE FAMILY OF GRAHAM OF BALGOWAN 220 INDEX 9 ILLUSTRATIONS I. CuL TOQUHEY FROM THE SouTH Frontispiece FACING PAGE 2. MAP BY TIMOTHY PONT 26 3. PRINCE CHARLES EDWARD STUART AS A CHILD. FROM A MINIATURE SENT TO CuLTOQUHEY c. 1730 58 4. JAMES MAXTONE, 11 TH LAIRD OF CULTOQUHEY, AND HIS WIFE, MARJORIE GRAEME OF BALGOWAN 80 5. HELEN MAXTONE, WIFE OF WILLIAM STEWART OF ARDVORLICH. (Stewart) 98 6. MARGARET MAXTONE, WIFE OF THOMAS RAMSAY OF BAMFF. (Hoppner) 120 7.- JoHN GRAEME OF EsKBANK AND HIS WIFE, MARY ScoTT OF UsAN. (Raeburn) 151 8. THOMAS GRAHAM OF BALGOWAN AND REDGORTON, LORD LYNEDOCH. (Hayter) 171 9. ANTHONY MAXTONE, 12TH LAIRD OF CuLTOQUHEY (Watson Gordon), AND HIS WrFE, ALEXINA GRAEME 180 IO. CHILDREN OF JAMES MAXTONE GRAHAM, 13TH LAIRD OF CuLTOQUHEY. (Leggatt) 196 II THE MAXTONES OF CUL TOQUHEY CHAPTER I THE FIRST FIVE LAIRDS OF CULTOQUHEY THE object of this book is to draw together the frail threads of the story of a simple Scottish family, recording as far as possible with the slight material available, for their descendants now living and for those who are to come, the lives and activities of the owners of Cultoquhey, who have lived upon the lands from father to son for more than five centuries. Neither historical background nor the prestige giving to some great families a dazzling appeal to the imagination can be claimed for the Maxtones of Cultoquhey. They belonged to a quiet but tenacious race. Little light can be thrown on the characters of the earlier lairds, for there remains only what can be gathered from the arid disclosures of charters, and other legal documents, bearing the signatures that form the only proof that they ever lived. Later traditions and legends lift the veil to some extent, till the great enlightenment of letters brings nearer the realization of life and personality. Unfortunately the Maxtones of the far past do not . emerge clearly into this light. Among the family papers there are no letters until late in the seventeenth century, and the few that are dated about that time reveal nothing of general interest. Like many such collections of all ages, the great events of the day are passed over without comment. Their only value lies in the occasional glimpses giving some aspect of old Scottish domestic life. But even these are few and far between. Through the early generations the Maxtones produced· no good letter-writer, and had few corre­ spondents, to throw a st~ong light on a family otherwise obscure. It will be realized from many gaps and unfinished episodes that much has been destroyed in the past and that the present record is not drawn from a wealth of material. Of the earlier lairds, it can only 13 14 MAXTONES OF CULTOQUHEY be said that they did certainly live, possess the estate, and die, leaving the inheritance to a son. Cultoquhey1 lies in Central Perthshire, in the parish of Fowlis Wester, three miles east of Crieff and fifteen westward from Perth. A small property between the range of the Ochil hills to the south and the Grampians to the north, it has always been surrounded by larger estates. The Morays of Abercairny, the Campbells of Monzie, the Murrays ofDollerie, the Keith Murrays of Ochtertyre, the Drummonds of Concraig, the owners of Ferntower and Balgowan, were the nearest neighbours, and for the most part were established families before the date of the earliest Maxtone charters. The interests of all these landowners were a threat to the small undefended property. Possibly safety lay in the fact that all alike looked with desire on the nestling fields and woods of Cultoquhey and kept a jealous eye on one another; but there must have been kindly friendship too, for the Cultoquhey estate, though often threatened, was never dismembered. The house which sheltered so many generations was built on the site of some earlier long-vanished stronghold, first mentioned in a charter of 1545 as a "Fortalice and Tower." A relic of this strong­ hold remains to-day in the great stone dug out of the foundations when the old house was demolished, and which bears a modern inscription notifying that it marks the exact situation of the dwelling­ place that must have replaced the "Fortalice and Tower." According to the only picture that has been found, this was a small compact house with wings, to modern ideas far too small for the families that were reared within its walls; but until recently the standards of comfort in Scotland were primitive. Privacy was little considered and rules of health unknown. The household staff would be crowded into a couple of attics, and the children packed like sardines in small bedrooms at night. All the lesser Scottish houses were overcrowded ; but, in spite of this drawback, hospitality was one of the first rules of country life. There must always be room for guests at bed and board, and besides, shelter was given as a matter of course to certain members of the older generation. As each laird and lady succeeded to the estate, one or two unmarried Maxtone ladies were left, as the tide of life receded, cast on the shore, to be protected and cared for by the younger people. With the unfailing arrival of the new family group, it must often have been a tight squeeze in the old house of Cultoquhey. 1 The name Cultoquhey is the anglicized form of the Gaelic Cuilt a' Chadha, meaning "Nook of the Path." A cadha is a hollow path in a hill face. In the old form the original would have been Guilt a' choi. (Information given by Professor W. J. WATSON.) THE FIRST FIVE LAIRDS OF CULTOQUHEY r5 The outlook from the new house, now more than a hundred years old, is practically the same, as it stands only a few yards to the west of the ancient site, looking out over the wide coloured strath to the Ochil range of hil_ls. The house its.elf r~mai_ns just a~ it was designed by Sir Robert Smirke, a noted architect_ m his day, wi_th no changes or additions but the present grounds with the groupmg of fine trees and terra~es and the wooded approach from Gilmerton village were laid out long after by James Maxtone Graham, the 13th laird, about 1860. There is an earlier history of Cultoquhey, for it came within the scope of the Roman occupation in the days of Agricola. Urns and ashes have been dug up in the mounds and ditches of a small camp on the estate, probably connected with a great camp at Fendoch, an important stronghold of the Roman legions in the Sma' Glen. Possibly further research might unearth valuable relics, but in the meantime the story of the occupation remains in the realms of surmise, supported by plain indications that the Romans were certainly there. The legendary origin: of the family name is set forth here as a matter of interest, but the statements gathered from vague sources are merely scraps of tradition, handed down without any foundation in historical record. It is an established fact that there lived a man Maccus in the reign of David I., between I II 6 and 1147, who was a landowner of some note in his day. His manor was called Maccus-ton, and lay on the left bank of the Tweed in Roxburghshire. The village of Maxton is still in existence on the spot. It is claimed by some genealogical writers that the Maxtones came northwards from thence, and being of Saxon origin had nothing to do with the migration of knights from the south. The reason of the change from Roxburghshire to Perthshire is all conjecture. Possibly the family groups were carried northward in the tide of seekers after land in the train of some Norman conqueror.