Proc Soc Antiq Scot, 121 (1991), 369-390 The House of Pitsligo Charles McKean* ABSTRACT 1990,In authorthe commissioned castlemodela the Houseor of Pitsligoof (Buchan) from Simon Montgomery RIAS/Edinburghthe for International Festival exhibition, entitled The Architecture of the Scottish Renaissance.1 This paper outlines the background to the choice Pitsligo,of assumptionsthe reconstructionmadethe in ruina of whose dilapidation,in some cases, left only fragmentary remains, and how those assumptions were tested. It led to a voyage discoveryof typologiesthe of 16th- of 17th-century and Scots chateaux. INTRODUCTION e RIA undertakes Th Sha programmna f illustrateo e d architectural guide Scotlando st 2 during the gestation of which unexpected patterns of buildings have emerged. During the preparation of volume 7 The District of Moray,3 the author had been puzzled by the asymmetrical round tower at the end of the Atholl Lodging at Balvenie Castle (c 1555) which seemed inconsistent both with the military rectangularity of the older fortress and customary assumptions abou residentia w fore th ne t m a l building should roune taketh f t I .d toweno s wa r necessar r militaryfo t ytheri purposess t allea wa , y puttinwh , g everythin f balancegof e ?Th 1799 drawing by J C Nattes in the National Library of Scotland and, to a different degree, the 1847 drawinBillingW R y gsb indicate dlavishnessa t sumptuousnessno f i , r beyonfa , d thaf o t thDouglaeW s Simpson conjectural reconstructio displan no y withi walls indeer nit o s- e dth description of it in the guide-book.4 The array of oriel windows lining the second floor (there is an unusual quantity of Renaissance oriel in the chateaux of Moray) was proof of deliberate architectonic quality in the Atholl Lodging. That round tower, therefore, had to be a componen Renaissanca n i t e architectural languag t dimlye s yea perceived. A similar if smaller round tower at Edzell is taken by the guide-book5 to reveal defensive tendencies. Durin e preparatioth g e subsequenth f o n t Landmark/RIAS volume, Banff& Buchan, roune th 6 d tower, large unmilitary windows, grandeu f scal applieo rd ean d heraldry appeared agaistupendoue th n ni s chateau Inverugief xo , Peterhead (now largely demolished), the seat of the Earls Marischal. The form was codified in the Palace of Huntly. Between 1540 and 1640, successive Earls of Huntly rank as Scotland's richest men. Magnates like them, or the Keiths, the Murrays and the Lindsays, would not have trapped themselves within an anachronisti d inconvenienan c t quasi-military building form. Only those believing that 16th-century Scotland remained barbaric by comparative standards on the Continent could have countenance ideae dth . Their buildings form a distinct type: tall rectangular structures containing two or more * The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, 15 Rutland Square, Edinburgh 370 SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND, 1991 ILLUS 1 Pitsligo from the west before consolidation (McKean). apartment r threo o e tw room f so buildinge widte th sth f ho , endin bedrooa n gi m contained within a private tower identified by its own private mural staircase.7 The primary purpose of those towers was less to offer enfilade fire along the walls as to act as a bedroom stack whose private staircase would eas progrese eth maritaf so l relations othee Th . r cornecorpse th f ro de logis would, not infrequently, display the principal stair tower. In homage to its grandest exempla t Huntlya r tere th ,m 'palace-block bees ha ' n use describo dt . eit PITSLIGO There had seemed little at Pitsligo, set in a sheltered and sunny spot on the northern Buchan slopes immediately above the idyllic bay of Rosehearty, worth a detailed examination: solely what MacGibbon & Ross had dismissed as labourers' dwellings surrounding a tower in a stat picturesquf eo e annihilatio n- ver y ruinous verd yan , pretty fro maie mth n road (illuA . s1) chance photograph, however, of the interior of the staircase tower (illus 2) transformed that perception e qualits stoneworit Th . f o yd vaultinan k g seemed strangelye th clos o t e outstanding French-inspired processional staircase (1605) at Fyvie. Consolidation of the tower and clearance work in the courtyard and the pleasance, commissioned from Douglas Forrest Associate Malcoly b s m Forbe memorn (i s f Bertio y e Forbes, founder of Forbes Magazine, who had been born in nearby Whitehills, New Deer) revealed that Pitsligo was much more than a tower with a barmkin. The flanking tower terminatin eastere gth n courtyard e winth f go , which MacGibbo Ros n& classified sha a s da 'round towe f defence', o re largth ed windowsha 8 , fireplaces d privatan , e staircasa f o e residential tower, and the remainder of that wing the characteristics of a palace-block. Perhaps Pitsligo had once been a gracious Renaissance equivalent of a chateau, schloss or herregaard. The Forbes family was consequently persuaded to fund a model of a conjectural restoration. McKEAN HOUSE TH : P1TSLIGF EO O 371 FORBEE TH PITSLIGF SO O The Forbes of Pitsligo formed the earliest cadet branch of the House of Forbes. Sir William Forbes, younger son of Sir John Forbes of the Black Lip, received a Charter of the land f 'Petslegahso 'Achmacludyd an ' 1428n i ' , confirme yearo tw d s later. Accordine on o gt source9 these Charters legalized the arrival of these lands in the dowry of Mary Fraser of Philorth who had married Sir William in 1423. It is thought that the great tower house of Pitsligo lowee th n ro , slope f Peathillso erectes wa , d (much, accordin 173a o gt 2 commentator, 'afte e manneth r f Castlo r e Forbes' t 10thia ) s time . 0 yearDurin20 se thath g t Pitsligo developed e historth , f thiyo s family reveals intermarriage with other Buchan families with ILLUS 2 The interior of the great stair. The magnificent dressed stone would have been offset against plaster, thus highlighting the sunk carvings. 2 37 SOCIET ANTIQUARIEF YO SCOTLANDF SO , 1991 whose seats Pitsligo can now be seen to have had some similarities: Sir William had married int house oth f Philortheo Johr Si ; n (1484-1556) married Jean Keith, daughte Williar Si f o r m Keit f Inverugieho Eare th , l Marischal family secondlyd an , widoe th , w Meldru f Fyviemo s hi ; grandson Sir Alexander, who succeeded in 1566, married Alison Anderson, daughter of the Lord Provos f Edinburgho t widod an , f Alexandewo r Forbe f Tolquhonso abous wa t tI . this period that bot famile hth f familPitslige yo th f Tolquhod yo oan n bega builo nt d extensively, possibly with money receive e Forbeth y db s clan fro e Gordonsmth Alison O . n Anderson's death, Sir Alexander married Barbara, daughter of the 4th Earl Marischal, and his son Sir John marrie t Lore 1s daughte th dde th Ogilvi f o r f Deskfordo e s daughterhi ; s married, respectively, Lord Forbes, Forbe Tolquhonf so , Ogilvi Boynef eo Frased an , Strichenf ro e Th . Sir Alexande inheriteo wh r 162n di 9 married Joanna, daughte f anotheo r r Earl Marischan i l 1632, and was ennobled at Edinburgh on Charles Fs progress to Scotland the following year. 1 In architectural terms, these are names to conjure with. Philorth (now Cairnbulg) was 1 a great, early medieval keep extended by a 16th-century palace block ending in the customary round tower; Fyvie; Tolquhon extended from an old tower into a complete courtyard with two long galleries; Deskford - a tower likewise extended into a palatial courtyard; Boyne - an unusual Renaissance building, begun from scratch to a quadrangular plan, round towers at each extremity, and flanking the entrance (an almost exact replica of that described by Pitscotti erectes ea Eare th Atholf o ly d b Jamer fo l progresss sV' believew no , havo dt e taken place in 1531, and also of the Chateau de Bury by Orleans); Strichen - a tall house seemingly flanke talley db r tower eacn si h corner simila Glasshaugo t r h (both replaced late classicay b r l mansions) d finallyan ; e palatiath , l Inverugie e Keit, th sea f ho t Earl Marischals f whoso , e gigantic palace, double courtyard and walled garden with statuary only the ground floor of its palace block, a desultory fireplace and gateway survived its Victorian demolition by gunpowder (illus 3). Nearby Pittullie was begun by Ogilvie of Boyne in 1631, who was married to Mary, sister of Sir Alexander Forbes of Pitsligo. r wer e ForbeNo eth f Pitsligso o minor Buchan peae lairds th f thei ko t A .r prosperity, from probably the mid-16th to the 17th century, the Pitsligos amassed substantial geir by dynastic marriag occasionad ean l goo Greae dbeed th fortune ha n ni t ti Halr Pitsligof Fo .o l n i , 1556, that Mar f Guise'yo s Commissioners cam enquiro et e afte spoile th r s fro wrece mth f ko the Edward Bonaventure which had foundered on the Buchan coast en route from Russia to Englise th h Court, laden with ambassado lavisd ran h giftsambassadoe Th . r reached London: the commissioners had been dispatched to seek the gifts. Si monumentum requiris, circum- spice, Pitsligo might hav ealss saidowa t abouI . t this time tha Pitsliga t o daughter marriee dth Danish Collecto f Tollo r t SounBalticse a th n di . The estate appears to have been debilitated during the minority of the 2nd Lord Pitsligo who had inherited as infant in 1636, possibly only one year old if the 1656 datestone commemorates his coming of age.