The Moodie Book

THE MOODIE BOOK. The BOOK-PLATE of Major JAMES MOODIE, Ninth of Melsetter. THE MOODIE BOOK Being an Account of the Families of MELSETTER, MUIR, COCKLAW, BLAIRHILL, BRYANTON, GILCHORN, PITMUIES, ARBEKIE, MASTERTON, ETC., ETC. BY THE MARQUIS OF RUVIGNY AND RAINEVAL Author of "The Blood Eotal of Britain," " The Jacobite Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage/ "The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Botal," etc. .-<$* PRIVATELY PRINTED 1906 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from National Library of Scotland http://www.archive.org/details/moodiebookbeingOOruvi PREFACE. In the present little Memoir an attempt has been made to trace the genealogy and history of the principal branches of the Moodie or Mudie family, and the author feels that whatever merit the work may possess is due to the valuable assistance he has received from Mr J. G. F. Moodie Heddle, lately younger of Melsetter. When the author found that he had not time to continue the search he had commenced among the Scottish Records in the Edinburgh Register House, Mr Heddle most kindly undertook the work, and pos- sessing, as he does, an intimate knowledge of the history, genealogy, and traditions of Orkney and the Orcadians, his assistance proved invaluable. He has also to thank Mr Middlemore, the present Laird of Melsetter, for very kindly offering him permission to inspect the Melsetter Charters, which permission only great stress of work, which rendered a journey to the north impossible, prevented his availing himself of. Nor must he omit to record his thanks to the late Mr J. B. Mercer, of Edinburgh, to whom he is indebted for extracts from the Muir, Cocklaw, and Blairhill Charters. The only previously printed Mudie pedigree is that of the Forfarshire line, which was drawn up, December 16, 1824, by George Paton, of Montrose, and inscribed to his kinsman, James Mudie of Pitmuies. This, which was reprinted in Burke's " Landed Gentry " until the extinction of the Pitmuies family, is referred to in the present work as " The Family Tree." This Pedigree, owing doubtless to the compiler not being able in those days to obtain access to the original records, is quite unreliable, a mistake even being made as to the grandfather of the gentleman to whom it is inscribed ; while the Arbekie family, who really formed a branch of their own, are cut up and fitted into the Gilchorn- Pitmuies line without the least regard for dates. No pedigree of the Orkney or Fifeshire lines has, so far as the author knows, been previously printed, and the present account is still, doubtless, iv Preface. very incomplete ; for there must be papers in the Sheriff Clerk's Office in Kirkwall and in private hands from which much farther information might be gleaned. The nineteenth century, however, saw the last acre of Scottish land pass from the family, and the representatives of the two surviving lines of Melsetter and Cocklaw are now dispersed in new homes throughout Africa and America. If this little Memoir of their common ancestry forms a link to bind the scattered members of the family together and to keep alive the memory of their Scottish fatherland, then the task of the writer will have been amply rewarded. Chektsey, 24th March 1906. Only one hundred and fifty copies of this Memoir have been printed, of which this is No. .'~-T:.... — INDEX. Table showing the Descent of the Moodies op Melsetter and the Moodies of Cocklaw from the Royal House of Stdart and King Robert the Bruce. Introduction Page 1 Moodie of Melsetter 60 Moodie, Cadet of Melsetter, now of South Africa 68 now of Groot Vaders Bosch 70 now of Westfield 72 now of Natal .... 74 now Pigot-Moodie of Westbrooke 82 now of Canada .... 83 Mudie of Muir 89 Moodie of Cocklaw .... 93 101 ,, of Blairhill .... Mudie of Bryanton .... 105 „ OF GlLCHORN .... 108 OF Pitmuiks 110 ,, .... of Balkelie 112 ,, .... „ OF KlNNETTLES .... 113 „ OF SCOTSTOUN .... 115 „ OF COURTHILL .... 116 ,, OF Arbekie 117 Moodie of Masterton, &c. 120 APPENDIX I.—The Mudies in Dundee 123 „ II. Miscellaneous Notes 129 ERRATA. Page 7, line 10. The Moodie tombs here referred to as in the Sinclair vault at Thurso, are in reality in the old Sinclair vault at Ulbster. Ulbster belonged to Gunns (Crownars) before coming to Sinclairs, and the old Crownar connection probably explains the Moodie tombs there. Page 49, line 1, delete "second daughter," to the end of paragraph, and insert "daughter of Donald Sinclair, third of Olrigg and Bilbster, by his wife Fenella, daughter and heiress of Charles Sinclair of Bilbster." Page 53, line 15, for " eleventh " read " tenth." Page 99, line 21, for " Thelford " read " Tilford." Page 122, line 8, for " 1761 " read " 1671." ILLUSTRATIONS. i. Fac-simile of the Book-Plate of Major James Moodie of Melsetter Frontispiece. ii. Melsetter House to face p. 10 in. Captain James Moodie of Melsetter, R.N „ 34 IV. Fac-simile of the Autograph Letter from the Emperor Charles VI. „ 36 V. The Sword and Marshal's Baton, Presented to Captain Moodie by the Emperor Charles VI ,,38 VI. Another of Captain James Moodie of Melsetter, R.N. ... ,,40 VII. Christian Crawford, Lady Melsetter ,,42 VIII. Captain Benjamin Moodie, Eighth of Melsetter ,, 46 IX. Major James Moodie, Ninth of Melsetter ,,52 Moodie, of Melsetter X. Captain Benjamin Tenth ..... ,, 54 XI. Mrs Heddle of Melsetter, ne'e Moodie ,,56 XII. Groot Vaders Bosch ,,70 XIII. Donald Moodie, Esq., R.N ,,74 XIV. Westbrooke .'.'.... ,, 80 XV George Pigot-Moodie, Esq., J.P. „ 82 XVI. Major J. W. Dunbar Moodie ,, 84 XVII. The Old House of Cocklaw . ,,94 XVIII. George Moodie of Cocklaw ,, 96 Mrs George Moodie of Cocklaw ,,96 Margaret Melville, Marchioness of Ruvigny, nie Moodie ... ,, 96 XIX. Major John Douglas Moodie of Cocklaw ,,98 XX. Monogram on Mudie Monument in Dundee page 123 1 i I 1 : - 1 H w >=§.2iJ H p-8 6 s o W % 5 <A -a 1* 3 . ^ m ^ TO* Q3 03 u CO O J?M ^h 1-1 £-» CO ^ CO-S CO CD a h — ^3 CD O ni'S o ~ t- CO o o 00 opq W J3 -a a H- co "an « a c oq t- 03 £ri P CO CO CO *^ t cS=w^^ 5 M>60 t- o o .a § . c o o °\3 3 ^ OS o 60 ""^ • 3 o fe °0 J3 00 : eg' ' ?S C w •••^ <N '. 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CO ° 1 o 00 <pq I H mil S 00 i2 a 2 gss S O CO The Aoodie Book. jrdhTHE family of Moodie or Mudie, as the name is variously spelt, is one of £j^? great antiquity in Scotland, and, according to tradition, is derived from Jl Harald Mac Mudah, one of the last of the old Norse Jarls (Earls) of Orkney, and is so descended in the direct male line from the Royal House of Scotland, and in the female line from the Kings of Norway. Whether this descent is correct or not cannot now be proved, and must remain a matter of tradition ; but a search of the Scottish Records proves that the old idea that Orkney was the home of the family from Norse days, and that the various Forfarshire and Fifeshire families of the name were founded by cadets who came south during the sixteenth century, is quite erroneous, and points to Forfarshire as the Moodie country. 1 It is in Forfarshire that the first mention of the name is found, and the registers of the various Forfarshire parishes from the commencement contain scores of entries relating to the name. From Forfarshire they gradually spread over the borders into Fifeshire, and to a less extent into Perthshire ; and, as will be seen, a branch, after a probably short residence in Ayrshire, passed north into Caithness, eventually settling in Orkney.

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