LANDS AND LAIRDS LARBERT AND DUNIPACE PARISHES LANDS AND LAIKDS LAEBERT AND DUNIPACE PARISHES JOHN C. GIBSON With Illustrations GLASGOW: HUGH HOPKINS I 908 PREFACE. THE idea of the following work was suggested to me some years ago by Mr. George Sherriff of Carronvale, who is a considerable heritor in the parish of Larbert. It had long been a wish of his to have a history written of the principal lands and their owners in his own parish, and in the neighbouring one of Dunipace. 1 35S I 33 Mr. Sherriff has been most assiduous in his endeavours to collect local information and traditions. He has also read the proofs, and has taken special trouble in connexion with the article on the Carron Company. It is right to mention here that he has also generously taken the risk of the publication on himself; indeed, but for him, the work would never have been attempted. I take this opportunity of recording my best thanks to Miss Sherriff for her beautiful and artistic sketches, which have been so admirably reproduced by Messrs. T. and R. Annan and Sons of Glasgow. I also wish to express my thanks to all who have in any way helped me in my work. I feel specially indebted to Dr. Maitland Thomson, the late Curator, and the Rev. John Anderson, the present Curator of the Historical Department of the Register House ; Sir James B. Paul, Lyon King of Arms, and Mr. Francis J. Grant, Lyon Clerk ; Mr. David Morris, Town Clerk of Stirling, for his courtesy in showing me the Stirling Records ; my friend, Mr. J. B. Douglas, and my brother, Mr. J. A. Gibson, for their kind help in reading the proofs ; to the printers of the book, Messrs. Cook and Wylie of Stirling, for the pains they have taken to carry out my wishes; and to Mr. W. B. Cook personally, for help and information of various kinds. J. C. G. North Berwick, July, igoS. I much regret to have to record the death of Mr. George Sherriff of Carronvale, who had been in bad health for some time. He died in Glasgow on Tuesday, loth November, 1908, and was buried in the family burying-ground at Larbert on the following Friday. While Mr. Sherriff has been denied the satisfaction of seeing the publication of the book in which he took so deep an interest, he lived to know that all the copies had been subscribed for. The book, with the exception of the index, had been printed off before his death. J. C. G. igth November, igo8. CONTENTS. Preface, Introduction, LARBERT PARISH. Larbert, Stenhouse, Kinnaird, Carron Hall (formerly Quarrell), Skaithmure, Glenbervie (formerly WoODSIDE), Carronvale (formerly Broomage), North Broomage, DUNIPACE PARISH. Dunipace, ... TORWOOD, . 130 Denovan, ... 160 Herbertshire, 167 Carbrook, ... 187 Quarter, ... 189 Lands and Heritors in Dunipace Parish not separately treated. 192 The Carron Company, .. 193 Index, 207 ILLUSTRATIONS. Larbert Parish Church, from a drawing by Miss Sherriff, Carronvale, Frontispiece Larbert House, from a drawing by Miss Sherriff, Carronvale, Facing p. i Stenhouse (old part), „ „ „ „ 14 Stenhouse, „ „ „ „ 20 Sundial at Stenhouse, „ „ „ „ 26 Kinnaird House (present mansion house), „ „ 29 Tombstone (Mr. Robert Bruce), „ „ „ 36 Kinnaird House, drawn by Miss Sherriff from a photo- graph taken by Mr. George Sherriff of Carronvale, „ 38 James Bruce of Kinnaird (traveller), from the painting by Pompeo Battoni, in the Scottish National Por- trait Gallery, Edinburgh, by permission, „ 41 Carron Hall (formerly Quarrell), from a drawing by Miss Sherriff, Carronvale, „ 43 Sundial at Carron Hall, from a drawing by Miss Sherriff, Carronvale, „ 47 Glenbervie House, from a drawing by Miss Sherriff, Carron- vale „ 58 Woodside House, drawn by Miss Sherriff from a sketch in the possession of James Aitken, Esq., of Glen- bervie, „ 65 Carronvale House, from a drawing by Miss Sherriff, Carron- vale „ 76 X Illustrations. Dunipace House, from a drawing by Miss Sherriff, Carronvale, Facing p. 84 Sir Archibald Primrose, Bart, of Dalmeny, Lord Clerk Register, &c., from the portrait in Barnbougle Castle (said to be by John Scougal), by permission of the Right Hon. the Earl of Rosebery, „ 99 Sir Archibald Foulis-Primrose, Bart, of Dunipace, from the portrait in Barnbougle Castle (artist unknown), by permission of the Right Hon. the Earl of Rosebery, „ 107 Tor^vood Castle, ruins of, from a drawing by Miss Sherriff, Carronvale, „ 130 Herbertshire Castle, from a drawing by Miss Sherriff, Carronvale, „ 167 Carbrook House, from a drawing by Miss Sherriff, Carronvale, „ 187 Quarter House, from a drawing by Miss Sherriff, Carron- vale „ 189 Carved Stones in wall of Old Stenhouse ;— (i) dated 1635, with initials of Sir William Bruce, seventh, and Dame Helen Douglas, his wife (See p. 21) ; (2) dated 1710, Sir William Bruce, ninth, and Dame Margaret Boyd, his wife (See p. 23). Lintel Stone with arms of Lords Forrester, now at Carron Hall, formerly at Torwood, described pp. 43-4, from drawings by Miss Sherriff, Carronvale, » 192 T/ie illustrations of the houses are not drawn to scale. CHARTS. Table showing descent of main line of Bruces of Stenhouse, ... p. 28 Pedigree Chart* of Livingstones of Dunipace, Facing p. 88 „ „ Foulis-PrimroseofDunipace (See explana- tion, p. 128), „ 128 „ „ Forresters of Torwood, „ 156 „ „ Forresters of Denovan „ 164 * Chart pedigrees of families are given only where, to the best of ruy knowledge, these have not been already printed. INTRODUCTION. THE following work is an attempt to write a history of the more important heritors and of their lands in the parishes of Larbert and Dunipace, and to trace, link by link, the different families who have owned the lands. While my main object has been to enumerate the immediate possessors of the lands, I have also done my best to gain as much information as possible about their families, especially where pedigrees of these families have not hitherto appeared in print. I have also given what information I could about cadets, especially about those holding lands in or near the district. Wherever there are notable antiquarian remains on the various estates, I have endeavoured to get the best and latest information from those competent to give an opinion, and have given as succinctly as possible a description of them. The " Broch " at Torwood, the " Mounds " at Dunipace, and " Arthur's Oon," which once stood on Stenhouse, are never-ending subjects of interest to the antiquary. I do not profess any special antiquarian or archaeological knowledge, and fear if I had indulged any views of my own I would have had to submit to many humiliations, such as the worthy Laird of Monkbarns suffered at the hands of that "wily, do-little deevil, Johnnie Howie," or the "provoking scoundrel " who, with a memory as powerful as dynamite, blew up the " Praetorian," leaving only " a bit bourock " on the " heathery knowe." xiv Introduction. Students of architecture will find in Messrs. M'Gibbon and Ross's book interesting notices of several of the old houses and castles in the parishes. Fielding, in one of his novels, prefixes an " introduction to the work or bill of fare to the feast." The chief item of the bill of fare which I have to offer is human nature. There is much to interest the student of history, law, philology, genealogy, and social life and customs. We have a panorama wherein are seen the rise and fall of families, factions, treacheries, favouritism, villainy in high places, dark plots, love, hate, revenge, murders, blood feuds, oppressions, tyranny, high intellectual attainments and refinement existing side by side with gross barbarism. Vivid and exciting scenes of quarrels and brawls, both in country and town, are hinted at or depicted, and we see not a few men from the district distinguishing themselves in law and science, in the Church, State, and army. In religion and politics all sides are represented, sometimes in the same family. We find a Forrester being burned on the Castle hill of Edinburgh, " be ye papists for ye reformation," and his father leaving money for masses to be said for his wife's soul. The Court was often in close touch with various families in this area, small as it is, the joint parishes only covering a space of about eight square miles. Old surnames such as Quarrell, Salter, Moreham, Argent, take us back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries ; most of them, however, passed away before the fifteenth century, when other families began to settle down and take a hold on the land, some of them lasting till quite recently, but most breaking up during the seventeenth century. The Livingstones, Forresters, and Bruces, for instance, held their lands for a good many generations ; the other estates changed hands much more frequently. A rapid glance may be taken Introduction. xv through the centuries. In the latter part of the fifteenth century, the Forrester family, which, for more than a hundred years, had been gradually acquiring power and land, was much in Court favour, and prominent both in the town and county of Stirling. Sir Duncan Forrester of Torwood was Keeper of Stirling Castle, Provost of the Burgh, and Comptroller to Queen Margaret, wife of James IV., who " hunted in the forest of Torwood and amused herself as best she could." Sir Duncan played at cards with the King, and his son played at a game called " the caich." James IV., " hufe Duncan Forrester's sonis barne," which, being translated, means he stood godfather to Duncan's grandchild, and held him at the font. Then came the fatal Battle of Flodden, and, among others, the Laird of Stenhouse fell there with the King. The Stenhouse family, although a very old one, is an example of the difficulty of making family history interesting unless the families them- selves produce the matter.