This widely-known
parish—especially on account of its venerable and princely
Castle—derives its name (according to Dr. Lyon) from glamm, “noise or
sound,” and iss, an affix signifying an obstruction ; on account of the
murmuring sound caused by the waterfall of the Bum, in a deep and rocky
gorge above the village; but Jervise thinks it is a corruption of the
Gaelic glamhus, “a wide, open country.” Strange, however, in the
earliest charter extant it is spelled Glampnes. In a very old map we
find it marked Glamms C.; but in Edward’s map Glams C. It is pronounced
as one syllable.
The parish lies in the
southern side of Strathmore, and is bounded on the west by Eassie and
Nevay; on the north by Airlie and Kirriemuir; on the east by Forfar and
Kinnettles; and on the south by Tealing, Auchterhouse, and Newtyle. It
is of an elliptical shape, being miles from north to south, and 5| miles
from east to west. The northern part is a gentle undulated surface, all
whose softly featured knolls are of nearly equal height. The Dean Water
divides this from the central portion, which gradually rises southward
till it heaves up in the lower ridge of the Sidlaws, to about 700 feet
above the level of the sea. South of this, three parallel ranges of hill
stretch away to the Denoon Glen and Glen Ogilvie ; and terminate about
1500 feet above sea-level. In the northern division the soil is of light
gravelly and sandy loams, with a few portions of clay and a considerable
area of moss; on the whole unexpectedly poor for the situation. The
central portion is of a deep alluvial brown loam of very productive
quality. A good sharp gravelly loam is in the dens of the south portion
; but the hills are moorish and covered with heath. The climate is now
much healthier since the swamps and mosses have been elaborately drained
; the prevailing ague and consumption, on account of the moist air,
being now little known.
The western end of the
Loch of Forfar is within the parish; but by drainage, it has been
reduced to an inconsiderable strip of water, forming the head of the
Dean, the principal stream in this quarter. The Dean is joined in the
parish by the Ball and Burn from Kirriemuir, the Kerbet Water from
Kinnettles, and the Glamis Burn from the Sidlaws; and below the parish
by the Denoon Burn. The united waters form a deep sluggish stream, with
much serpentine winding, confined to twenty or thirty feet in width by
embankments.
Sandstone of close
granulation is the prevailing mineral. There is a quarry close upon the
village of Glamis, famous for its millstones, which are fire-proof. The
slate-beds in the Sidlaws were formerly wrought for the roofing of
houses: but now, under the name of Arbroath pavement, they are
extensively wrought for flooring and paving purposes. A century ago, an
attempt was made to find out a lead mine near the village ; but the ore
obtained was not worth tho expense. The mosses contain marl; and large
quantities were taken from the drained part of the Loch for agricultural
purposes. Among the grey sandstone beds, impressions of plants and
scales of fish have been frequently discovered. In I831, a block taken
from a quarry at Thornton, from a depth of 30 feet of solid rock, was
split up; and a complete vertical section of a fish along the backbone
was exposed in the two fragments. Two years afterwards, an entire fossil
fish, was found in the breaking of a block in the Millstone
Quarry. Mr. Lyell of
Kinnordy sent this specimen to the famous geologist, M. Agassiz, who
gave it the name “Cephalaspis Lyelli.” In the moss very large antlers of
the red deer and tusks of the wild boar were at times found, as well as
shells of the pearl mussel.
The streams and dens
afford plenty of interesting study for the botanist. In the Den of
Glamis may be found the rather rare Marjoram (with its aromatic purple
flowers, distinguished by the long bracts); the Wood Bitter-Vetch, very
rare in Strathmore, though more plentiful at the Reeky Linn on the Isla;
the rare variety of Herb-Bennet (with the semi-double flowers); the rare
specimen of Speedwell (with white instead of blue flowers) ; the rare
white Stone-crop (without the ordinary red spots on the flowers); the
well-marked Bugle (with its solitary tapering stalk of blue flowers);
the bitter Wood-Sage (with greenish-yellow flowers); the Broad-leaved
Garlic (easily distinguished from the Lily of the Valley by its
intolerable stench); and the favourite Woodruff, whose beautiful
star-like leaves are pressed between the pages of a book for the sweet
perfume. The Dog’s Mercury should be better known b}r herds and
cattlemen; for in the village of Arneyfoul several cows had their milk
coagulated in the udder, without any apparent cause; but on visiting the
Den, where the cattle had been browsing, it was found that they had
cropped much of this plant, concealed among the herbage in the early
spring, when they were especially anxious for a “bite;” and this had
contracted the disease. On the banks of the Dean may be seen the yellow
Water-Lily (nearly globose and smelling like brandy) ; but most
conspicuously the attractive Myrrh, often taken home by the labourer and
planted at his door, or under his window, suggesting to us the beautiful
lines:—
“Oft by the peasant’s cot,
the humble myrrh,
His meet companion, cloth unfold its wives
Of pleasant green, and umbels of fair flowers
That through his casement, and around his door,
Shed richest fragrance, sweetening those few hours
That toil allows him home born joys to share.”
The present incumbent of
Glamis (the Reverend John Stevenson) has gathered 1265 specimens of
Fungi in the parish, out of 2256 in Scotland and 4000 in Great Britain.
Ecclesiastically we can
trace the parish back to the time of William the Lion. From the
liegistrum vetus de Aberhrothec we find that in 1178, this King (at
Dunfermline), granted the Church of Glampnes, with its chapels and lands
and tithes, to the Abbey of Arbroath. This charter was continued, in
1178, by Hugh, Bishop of St. Andrews, and in 1182, by Pope Lueius. The
confirmation of Bishop Roger, in 1198, was homologated, in 1200, by Pope
Innocent. It was also confirmed by the successive bishops, William in
1202, and David, in 1233; and by the Chapter of St. Andrews, in 1204. In
1249, Bishop David gave orders that tho viear of Glamnes would require
to plant the Chapel in Cloveth (Clova), and give to the monks of
Arbroath annually the sum ot one hundred shillings. Two years
afterwards, the Bishop allowed the viear twenty shillings for the
sacramental and other expenses at Clova; because it is so far distant
from the Mother Church. In the Taxatio of 1275, the parish is assessed
at 56 merks. In 1322, King Robert the Bruce confirmed by charter (at
Forfar) the gift of Glammes to the Abbey of Arbroath; and, in 1375,
John, Abbot of Arbroath, drew out a charter of the locality of Glammes.
In 1486, David, Abbot of Arbroath, let the lands of the Chapel of Clowa
(annexed to our Church at Glannnys), to James Rivok, burgess of Dundee,
and his heirs, for 9 years; and, in tho following year, let the lands of
the Church to Lord John Lyoun of Glammes, for 5 years, at £90 Scots
annually for the first three years and £83 6s. 8d. Scots for the last
two years. In 1501, James, Archbishop of St. Andrews, presented William
Preston to the perpetual vicarage of Glammys. In 1518, James,
Commendator of Arbroath Abbey, let the tithes of Glammes to the Marquis
of Huntly (then Lord Gordon) for 5 years, at £100 Scots. In 1528, the
Abbot let for 19 years to Mr. Alex. Lyon, Chanter of Murray, brother and
executor of the deceased John, Lord Glammys, the teind sheaves and
fruits of the parsonage of the Kirk of Glammys, for £100 Scots yearly.
In 1560, a reader was appointed for Clova, under the vicar of Glammes,
at 50 merks yearly. The teinds belonged to the first Marquis of
Hamilton, as Commendator of the Abbey of Arbroath ; and subsequently to
the Earl of Panmure, down to their forfeiture in 1716—the Laird of Clova
being tacksman of the whole vicarage, which (being thirds) amounted to
£40 Scots. In 1542, according to the rental of the Monastery of St.
Marie of Cupar, property formerly belonging to Lord Glammes paid 33s.
4d. annually. According to the rental of the lands belonging to the
Priory of Rostinoth, the lands of Glamys contributed 40 shillings
annually. The first minister after the Reformation (Robert Boyd) had
only £5 11s. 1d. for stipend. In 1685, George Middleton became Principal
of King’s College Aberdeen. His widow lived to 100 years of age. In
1780, Dr. James Lyon was ordained minister of Glamis ; in 1790, he wrote
the “Old Statistical Account” of the parish; and in 1836, he wrote the
“New Statistical Account ”—a most remarkable, and, as far as we know,
unique instance of one minister writing both Accounts. In 1838, Dr.
Crawford became minister; but six years afterwards, he was translated to
St. Andrew’s Church, Edinburgh; from which he was appointed Professor of
Divinity in the University of Edinburgh and Moderator of the General
Assembly. The Parish Church was built in 1793—a plain, commodious
building, with a spire. The walls of the original part of the present
Manse were built in 1788. The earliest Parochial register bears the date
of the year 1634. Glamis Castle still pays a feu of 19s. 2d. to the
College of St Andrews. According to the Parliamentary Return of last
year, the unexhausted teind amounts to £20.
The ancient Castle of
Glamis is acknowledged to be one of the noblest and most interesting
baronial residences of feudal times that have lasted to our day. The
time when, and the person by whom, it was erected are alike unknown. It
is situated upon an extensive plain, instead of a rocky eminence, which
Nature suggested. But, according to a legend, when the builder attempted
to begin his work upon the northern slope of one of the Sidlaws, lie was
horror-stricken to find that what lie built by day was demolished by
night Watching one night, lie heard a scpulclnal voice thus warn him:—
“Build the castle in a
bog,
Where ’twill neither shak’ nor shog.”
Accordingly, he abandoned
the hilly site and chose that in the plain. It is truly an imposing and
romantic building. Surrounded by dusky woods, and approached by mile
avenues, this ancient pile rears its tall gaunt form with stately
dignity. The central part of the Castle, which is the oldest, rises to
the height of 100 feet. Two wings extend at right angles to each other,
and a quarter-circle tower contains the staircase which affords access
to these divisions. The door-way at the base of this tower is flanked by
pilasters with richly carved floral capitals. The building conveys no
distinct impression of any particular age; but has assimilated the
successive styles of Scottish baronial architecture. The massive round
roofed vaults and thick walls, with narrow light-slits, speak of the
castellated masonry of the Norman period; the upper apartments bear
traces of the fifteenth century; and the clusters of turrets and round
tower stair-case belong to the French School of the seventeenth century.
The building is still in excellent preservation.
There was a royal
residence at Glamis from a very remote date—a dwelling “whose birth
tradition notes not". That keen antiquarian, Sir James Dalrymple.
speaking of the laws of Malcolm II. (1003-1033), says:—“Albeit, it be
said that the King gave all away, yet it is not to be thought but that
he retained, with his royal dignity, his castles and other places of
residence, as at Fort-teviot, Glames, and Kincardin.” Fordun tells us,
that in the neighbourhood, on one of his royal visits, Malcolm was
attacked and mortally wounded in the winter of 1033; and that his
assassins perished in attempting to cross the Loch of Forfar, only
half-frozen. Tradition says, that he was murdered in the Castle, and
even in a room, which is still pointed out, in the centre of the old
tower, as “King Malcolm s Room.” According to Skene, in his “Celtic
Scotland" we have no authentic history of Glamis before the year 1264.
In this year the return of rent received from the royal manor for
Alexander III. was 13 (sic) cows, and 74 bolls of barley meal for
feeding seven whelps and their dam for purposes of the chase; besides
cheese, butter, hens, and malt. In the same year, a payment of 16 merks
to the Thane of Glamiswas made from the lands of Clofer and Cossenys. In
1038, after the followers of The Bruce had to destroy the “Castell off
Forfayr," which, according to Barbour, was “stuffit all with Inglismen,”
the Court made Glamis their principal residence when visiting the
district. In 1363, John de Logy (probably the father of Margaret Logy,
queen of David II.) had the reversion of the thanedom of Glamis from his
son-in-law, the reddendo being a red falcon to be delivered yearly at
the feast of Pentecost. Thanes were originally stewards over kings
lands, but ultimately became hereditary tenants of the king, and the
title and lands descended accordingly, after the premium of one hundred
cows was duly paid to the king.
In 1372, King Robert II.
created it into a Barony; and by charter gave “our lands of the Thainage
of Glammis!’ to Sir John Lyon, who married the King’s daughter, Princess
Jane, and was allowed to carry the double treasure of the royal arms on
his shield. From being secretary to the King, Lyon became Great
Chamberlain; and in his success forgot Sir James Lindsay, Chief Justice
of Scotland, who had once recommended him to the royal notice; and
treating his former patron too cavalierly, he had to accept a challenge
for a duel on horseback, in which he was killed in the year 1382. Lyon’s
body was buried at Scone among the ancient kings; and his son, then a
boy of thirteen years of age, was educated under his Majesty’s especial
care. In 1445, his grandson was created Lord Glammiss. In 1463, his
successor received the castle of Kinghorn from Queen Mary, mother of
James III. In 1537, Lady Glammiss was barbarously burned on the Castle
Hill, Edinburgh, for the alleged crime of witchcraft, in so far as she
used spells and incantations against the life of James V.; and the
estates were confiscated, though afterwards restored. Her son, “the bold
Baron,” used the famous expression, referring to James VI., when, on
account of his youth, the king wept during his detention at Ruthven
House in 1582 :—“Better that bairns should weep than bearded men.” The
Lord Treasurer made a payment of £40, for the “reipar of the Glammys and
Baky,” as the residences of the King and Court.
In 1577, David, Earl of
Crawford, “ane princely man but a sad spendthrift/’ son of the “ wicked
master,” murdered Lord Glamis at Stirling; and by way of reprisal for
this murder, the tutor of Glamis killed the Earl's man, for which he had
to pay blood-money. About 1603, Lord Spynie married Jean Lyon of the
noble house of Glamis —her third marriage. James VI., when in Denmark,
thus jocularly wrote to Spynie about her considerable fortune and
widowhood :—“ Sandie, we are going on here in the auld way, and very
merry. I’ll not forget you when I come home—you shall be a lord. But
mind Jean Lyon, for her auld tout will make you a new horn.”
In 1606, Patrick was
created Earl of Kinghorn. In honour of this, there is a tradition that a
lofty building was erected on an eminence near the centre of the town of
Kinghorn called the tower of Glamis, at the close of last century. Grose
states that it had been in use as a land mark; but, becoming ruinous, a
pillar was put instead with this inscription—“Here stood Glamis Tower.”
He seems to have been the first of the family who attempted to extend
the Castle ; for he built the side staircase which now leads to the
oldest part, and added the wings, under the direction of Inigo Jones. He
also bought Castle Huntly (in Longforgan) for a summer residence. On his
death, in 1615, his son set about repairing the newer domicile and
borrowed money on Glamis for that purpose; he also completed the ceiling
of the drawing-room in 1621. Quite recently, while some alterations were
being executed in this apartment, the workmen came upon a complete
fireplace with chimney; the existence of which was unknown for nearly
three centuries.
In 1653, part of the army
of the Commonwealth were for a time located about the Castle; on which
occasion the Forfar bakers had to provide the soldiers with “fower
dussen of wheate breade” daily, and the butchers “beefe, mutton or lambe
each Monday and Wednesday,” under pain of the same being forcibly
exacted. In the same year, the Earl of Pan mu re acquired by purchase
the whole lands of the estate of t he Earl of Kinghom, on the condition
that the Earl of Kinghom or his heirs should receive back the lands “how
soon the whole shall be redeemed by him or them;” which was accomplished
ten years afterwards. In 1654, the Earl was fined £1000, because his
father had refused to give up King Charles to the English. In 1677,
Patrick, his son, was created Earl of Strathmore, to whom the task of
completing the restoration of the Castle fell. When the Stuarts were
driven into exile, he retired from public life in semi-political
despondency, to improve his estates and encourage the fine arts. In a
most interesting MS., the “Book of Record,” he has described with
minuteness his life work there. When he succeeded to the estates, they
were very much impoverished—“nothing remaining but the bare walls.” The
whole plantation round the Castle, consisting of old shattered and
decayed trees, was about five acres in extent, bounded by a low
dry-stone dyke. The one entrance was from the south-east, with an outer
gate —recessed erection—and inner gate with low wall at the court,
“where there was a bridge with a pend over a mightie broad and deep
ditch which surrounded the house, upon the inner brink whereof there was
a high wall, a gate forenent the bridge, and over the gate a little
lodge for the porter.” No remains of these are visible, except the two
circular towers, standing at a short distance from the entrance. How
different are his views from those of Sir Walter Seott! Soured at the
disgrace of the Stuarts, Patrick declared “that there is no man more
against these fashions of tours and castles than I am;” and to carry out
his convictions ho transformed the feudal keep into a residential
palace. But hear Sir Walter’s comment after visiting the Castle in 1794,
as given in his “Essay on Landscape Gardening:”—“The huge old tower once
showed its lordly head above seven circles of defensive boundaries,
through which the friendly guest was admitted, and at each of which a
suspicious person was unquestionably put to his answer. A disciple of
Kent had the cruelty to render this splendid old mansion more parkish;
to raze all those exterior defences, and to bring his mean and paltry
gravel walk up to the very door from which, deluded by the name, we
might have imagined Lady Macbeth issuing forth to receive King Duncan!”
In his “Record,” Earl
Patrick has this entry:—“There is in the gardin a fine dyal erected, and
there is a designe for a fountain in the boulin-green. Another of the
gates is adorned with two gladiators.” The fountain has disappeared ;
the gladiators are now well marked with the missiles of school-boys; but
the Lyon dial still presents its eighty faces to the sun. According to
Grose, in “The Antiquities of Scotland” (1797), there were in the court
four brazen statues, bigger than life, on pedestals, viz., James VI. in
his stole, Charles I. in his spurs and sword, Charles II. in a Roman
dress, and James II. as at Whitehall! He also built the Chapel at the
Castle, the most interesting apartment in that ancient structure. It is
80 feet by 18; and the panels of the walls and roof were filled with
paintings of Biblical subjects by the artist, J. de Witt, who is noted
for giving all the Kings in Holyrood Gallery the nose of the same model.
It was dedicated to St. Michael in 1688. The windows have lately been
filled with some exquisitely painted panels of stained glass from the
studio of Mr. Kempe, London. He put up the fine iron railing round the
top of the centre tower in 1682, from which Billings gives a fine
description of the Strath in his “Baronial and Ecclesiastical
Antiquities of Scotland.” The Rev. Mr. Edward of Murroes, his
contemporary, thus speaks of him:—"As he is of royal descent, so he
adorns that high pedigree by a noble genius and generous disposition.”
A story is told of this
Earl which must be cautiously interpreted, though it recounts a strange
coincidence. One day, in presence of his four sons, when speaking to an
old tenant, he said, “Are not these four pretty boys?” “Yes,” said the
old man; “but they will all be Earls, my Lord, and God help the poor
when the youngest of the four will be Earl.” This was literally
verified, and during the life of the last, in 1740, the poor perished in
thousands from the want of the commonest necessaries of life, on account
of a famine produced by intense frost.
In 1715, the first
Pretender slept a night in the Castle previous to his mock coronation at
Scone; on which occasion no fewer than 88 beds were made up for his
retinue. On the 9th of May, Charles, Earl of Strathmore, was
endeavouring to reconcile his kinsman of Brigton and Carnegy of Finhaven
in a drunken brawl at Forfar, when Carnegy, who had been hurled by
Brigton into the common kennel, recovering himself, made a thrust at
Brigton with a drawn sword, which accidentally passed through the Earl
and killed him. In 1746, the Duke of Cumberland’s army rested at Glamis,
when the Forfarians displayed their favour for the exiled Stuarts by
cutting the girths of the horses under night, so that the Duke’s
progress northward to Culloden might be retarded as much as possible.
The present Earl, Claude Bowes Lyon, who succeeded his brother in 1865,
is a Representative Peer and the Lord Lieutenant of Forfarshire. The
eulogium of Sir Walter Scott in “Don Roderick” is not inapplicable to
the family of Lyons—
“A race renown’d of old,
Whose war-cry oft hath waked the battle-swell.”
Great alterations have
been made on the Castle and grounds since Patrick, the first Earl of
Strathmore, spent his life on what he considered improvements. Though in
a great measure dismantled, a few relics of the possessions of its
lordly owners still possess historical interest. From the notes to
Waverley we find that Sir Walter Scott got the idea for the drinking-cup
of the valiant Baron of Bradwardine—the Blessed Bear—from the Lion at
Glamis. This is a massive beaker of silver, doublegilt, moulded into the
shape of a lion (alluding to the family name). When exhibited, this cup
must be emptied to the Earl’s health. Among the other relics—rich
memorials of ancient times—which Sir Walter took notice of, was the
clothes-chest (now in the billiard-room), containing some Court dresses
of the seventeenth century, along with the motley raiment of the family
fool, very handsome and ornamented with many bells, which suggested the
“Innocent” of Waverley, whom David Gellatley thought to be “more rogue
than fool.” In the Great Hall are several valuable portraits. Some
specimens of old armour (both chain and plate, less or more entire), and
several other warlike remains, including swords, battle-axes, and bronze
celts, as also a bronze cabinet ornament, which were found at various
times in the drained parts of the Loch and the mosses, are there also
arranged. About forty years ago, when the workmen were repairing the
floor of one of the rooms of the Castle, a stone spiral staircase was
discovered cut out of the solid walls, which vary from eleven feet to
six feet in thickness. This was examined with more than ordinary
interest, as it was considered to be the mode of entrance to the secret
chamber, said by well-known tradition to be only known to three persons
at one time —the Earl, the heir-apparent, and the factor on the estate
—although it is only a myth that “Beardie,” the fourth Earl of Crawford,
was confined in it, in 1454, to play dice till the day of judgment; for
he “wis buried with great triumph in the Greyfriars of Dundee.” On one
side of the servants’ corridor a concealed well was discovered a few
years ago, apparently intended as a secret water-supply for refugees in
the upper chambers.
DeFoe,in his “Tour
through Scotland in l726,” remarked that “Glammis was one of the finest
old built palaces in Scotland, and by far the largest; that, when seen
at a distance, the piles of turrets and lofty buildings, spires and
towers, make it look like a town.” In 1765, the poet Gray, in a letter
to Wharton, remarked that “from its height, the greatness of its mass,
the many towers a-top, the spread of its wings, the Castle has really a
very singular and striking appearance—like nothing I ever saw.” But when
Sir Walter Scott slept a night in the Castle, in 1794, he was strangely
entranced by the weird associations, the legendary stories of the Thane
of Glamis pressing hard on his historical conclusions ; for he wrote, in
his “Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft:”—“In spite of the truth of
history, the whole night-scene in Macbeth’s Castle rushed at once upon
me, and struck my mind more forcibly than ever, when I have seen its
terrors represented by John Kemble and his inimitable sister (Mrs.
Siddons).”
There are also some
stones which tradition clothes with a mystic spell. Within a few yards
of the Manse stands an obelisk of rude design, which is supposed to be
in memory of Malcolm’s murder. On one side are the figures of two men,
who seem to be making up the bloody plot, which is represented by a lion
and a centaur right above there. On the reverse side appear fish of
various kinds, as a symbolical representation of the Loch of Forfar, in
which the assassins were drowned. The same facts are represented on a
similar obelisk, of smaller size, in a neighbouring field. At a mile’s
distance from the Castle, at a place called Cossans, is a third obelisk,
commonly called Sir Orland’s Stone, even more curious than the others.
One side bears the marks of a rudely-flowered and chequered cross. The
reverse side represents four men on horseback at full speed, the horse
of one trampling on a wild boar; and below an animal like a dragon.
These also have been conjectured to be in keeping with the current
tradition of the officers of justice in pursuit of the King’s murderers.
Besides Glamis Castle,
there were at one time three other castles within the parish, but they
are now entirely demolished. One was at Cossans, another in the Glen of
Ogilvy, and the third in the Glen of Denoon, on the summit of an
isolated hill, two miles from Glamis village. A circular wall, supposed
to have been 27 feet high, 30 feet broad, and 1020 feet in
circumference, encloses faint, though evident, traces of buildings in
the intermediate space. This was considered to be a safe retreat in time
of danger. On the top of Hayston Hill, an arm of the Sidlaws on the east
side of the parish, are remains very like the circular moat of a Roman
observing station.
In the Glen of Ogilvy the
earliest legends fix the dwelling-place of the nine virgin daughters of
St. Donewalde, at the beginning of the eighth century. These were
remarkable for their industry and humility, having laboured the ground
with their own hands, and partaken only once a day of the humble fare of
barley-bread and water. Their father died when they were in this glen,
on which they retired to Abemethy, the Pictish capital.
Where they were visited
by King Eugen VII. of Scotland; and when buried under a large oak’s
shade, pilgrims, till the Reformation, made their yearly visit on the
15th of June. A century ago, the rental of the Glen was £200 ; but by
draining and fencing the value has very materially increased to £2954.
It was anciently the property of the Ogilvies of Powrie; it then fell to
Graham of Claver-liouse, and at the battle of Killiecrankie (1G89), it
was forfeited, and reverted to the Douglas family, the superiors; and it
is now in the possession of the Earl of Strathmore. The Den of Ogilvy is
now traversed by the public road from Glamis to Dundee, and forms a very
romantic five miles’ drive. With the exception of the feus off the
Glamis estate and the farm of Brigton (which belongs to the trustees of
William Charles Douglas), the whole parish belongs to the Earl of
Strathmore, the assessed property being close on £14,000, whereas in
183G it was £92G2.
Markets are held at
Glamis on the first Wednesday of April and May, the first Wednesday
after the 26th of May, the second Saturday of October, and the fourth
Wednesday of November. Formerly these were more frequent, as in the
quaint notice of Ochterlony two and a-half centuries ago:—“Glammis is a
burgh of Barronie, hath two great fairs in it yearly, and a weekly
mercat. There is a Cunnigare within the parks and dovecoat at the
bum—Mr. Lyon, minister thereof.” (Sic !)
The population of tho
parish in 1755 was 1780; in 1790, 2040; in 1836, 2150; and now, 1631. It
contains the villages of Charleston, Newton, Milton, Thornton,
Grasshouses of Thornton, Druingley, and Arneyfoul. About 1730, the
people wero sunk in sloth and apathy; but towards the end of the century
things were very much improved; though Dr. Lyon remarked that the six
alehouses and one inn—even then much reduced in number—“have always been
found to have a very bad effect on the morals of the people.” In 1806, a
mill—16 horse-power—Tor spinning flax was built on the Glamis Burn. In
1820, a steam-engine of 10 H.P. was added, which produced 4000 pieces of
brown linen annually for the Dundee market. At the same time 7500 pieces
of Osnaburgs were annually manufactured by private individuals in the
parish, which accounts for the difference of the population. The tenants
are now most industrious, and the progress of improvement has been much
encouraged by the liberality of the Earls. For a very considerable time
Glamis has been noted for the high class of fat cattle it sends to the
English markets. The Earl is a keen breeder of the Angus cattle and
Shropshire Down sheep, as shown by the Herd-Books, and prizes taken at
County-Shows. There is a very excellent public school in the village. In
several parishes the “New Statistical Account” bears the name of Mr.
Blackadder, civil engineer, Glamis, as contributing the geological
sections. The Caledonian Railway crosses the northern part of the
parish, and has a station on it, near which is a natural encamping
ground occasionally used for a week by the Volunteers of Dundee.
The name will be known so
long as the world reverences Shakespeare’s master-mind in his famous
historic notice of it as the thanedom of the usurper Macbeth—
“All hail, Macbeth! hail
to thee, thane of Glamis!” |