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Victory of Cromwell's army near Inverkeithing—Road to Aberdour—The Moray
family and estate—Inchcolm, Donibristle, and Dalgety—Village of Aberdour—Otterstone.
Passing through the east
extremity of the town, leaving first on our right the parish church, and
then, in descending the hill, the U.P. Church on our left, we find ourselves
on the Great North Road, which leads through the Crossgates and Kinross to
Perth. It is a quiet and silent highway to what it used to be forty years
ago, when it was traversed by the mail-coaches. On our left, trending away
to the north west behind Inverkeithing, is the valley or hollow where the
famous battle, which confirmed Cromwell's power in Scotland, was fought
between his troops and the Scottish forces on Sunday, 20th July 1651.
Cromwell does not seem to have personally taken part m the engagement, nor
even to have been present at the transporting of his armament across the
Forth, when his troops intrenched themselves on the summit of the Ferry
Hill. These, amounting to 10,000, were commanded by General Lambert, and
nearly quadrupled the Scottish forces, which only numbered about 2500, and
had moved to this point from Stirling under the direction of General
Holburne. The latter did not escape the allegation of treachery and
cowardice, though he was afterwards formally acquitted of the charge. The
losses on each side are said to have been nearly equal—about 800—but the
whole prestige of victory remained with the English, who afterwards marched
to Dunfermline and established themselves there for a time.
For some distance after
leaving Inverkeithing the road skirts on the right the estate of
Spencerfield, belonging to the Hon. R. P. Bruce, M.P., and bounded on the
south-east by the ridge of Letham Hill, covered with trees. A beautifully
wooded country opens itself directly to the east, with the crater-like
summit of Dun-earn Hill closing in the far distance; and nearer the
spectator the picturesquely rounded and tree-clad knoll overhanging the
beautiful loch of Otterston, the scenery enclosing which suggests the idea
of a fragment of Italy resting under Scottish skies.
The road from Inverkeithing
to Aberdour, a distance of four miles, branches off at the eastern extremity
of the town, and passes through the village of Hillend, at the north
extremity of Letham Hill. About half a mile beyond this a road to the right
leads down to the village and harbour of St David's, to which also a railway
is laid through the grounds of Fordel from the coalvvorks on that estate. A
little farther on, on the same side, is the west lodge of Donibristle, the
property of the Earl of Moray, whose beautiful domain extends along the
shores of the Forth from St David's to Aberdour. It is consequently skirted
on the north by the-Inverkeithing road during the whole of the intervening
distance, the opposite side of the highway being bordered for the greater
part by the Fordel and Otterston properties. Lord Moray owns, moreover, a
large tract of country extending north from Aberdour over the Cullalo Hills
and Moss Morran to Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly, a considerable portion of the
coal-field in which neighbourhood belongs to his lordship.
The lands of Dombnstle
belonged anciently to the Abbey of Inchcolm, the little island in the Firth
of Forth opposite Aberdour, which forms so prominent an object in looking
down the Firth from Queensferry. It was originally known by the name of
Emonia, but had its appellat on changed to that of Inchcolm, or the isle of
St Columba, in consequence of that saint having for a white made t his
residence. It was long tenanted by a succession of anchorites, or solitary
ecclesiastics, who occupied a small hermitage here, which is believed to be
still represented by the little stone roofed oratory to the west of the
present monastery ruins, and which used to serve the purposes of a cowhouse
or byre. The island enjoyed a high reputation as hallowed ground, and on the
occasion of the overthrow of the Danes by King Duncan in the eleventh
century, as recorded by Boece and referred to by Shakespeare, we find the
supplication of the vanquished granted to inter their dead n St Colme's
Inch.
The arrival in 1123 of King
Alexander I., who had narrowly escaped shipwreck, and with great difficulty
gained the friendly shelter of the island and its hermit occupant, changed
entirely the fortunes of the place. The grateful monarch vowed to bu 'Id to
the Virgin and St Columba a religious house on Inchcolm, which should serve
as a memorial of his preservation. The abbey thus founded was settled with a
colony of Augustine friars, became a rich and prosperous community, and
numbered among is abbots Walter Bowmaker or Bower, the continuer of Fordun's
' History of Scotland.' Numerous grants of territory on the mainland were
made to the monastery, and, among others, a tract of land near Aberdour was
bequeathed by Alan Mortimer, then lord of the place, on condition of his
body resting within the hallowed precincts of Inchcolm. The remains, so says
the story, were conveyed over at night in a stone coffin in an open boat,
and either through indifference and treachery on the part of the attendant
monks, or to lighten the bark when in peril from the violence of the waves,
were cast into the sea. The channel—a very deep one—between Inchcolm and the
Fife coast has since borne in consequence the title of " Mortimer's Deep."
Inchcolm may be easily
visited from Aberdour, and the traveller, by inquiry at Greig's hotel there,
can procure the services of a boatman to ferry him over. The island is long,
narrow, and rocky, and the eastern extremity, separated by a low sandy
isthmus, is almost cut off at high water. Of the conventual buildings, some
of them have disappeared, and a considerable portion built into the house
and offices of the tacksman or tenant of the island. The one structure that
remains complete is the chapter-house and its surmounting tower, which
presents in the distance the special characteristic of Inchcolm. The
interior is in good preservation, and the apartment itself, with its
encircling row of stone seats, constitutes a very interesting relic. To the
south of the conventual buildings is an ancient garden, which has long been
famous for its early vegetables. The cell or oratory to the west already
referred to is built of and roofed with stone, and has in the interior a
length of 16, a breadth of 5, and a height of 8 feet. The island affords
pasturage for a few sheep and cows, and though of small extent, is well
worthy of a visit. The house is occasionally let for summer quarters.
From its situation the
monastery of Inchcolm was readily exposed to the hostile attacks of invaders
by sea; and accordingly, in 1547, the year of the battle of Pinkie, we find
the Bishop of Dunkeld and other churchmen interponing their authority in the
Scottish Privy Council for the payment by the Abbot of Inchcolm to the
Scottish Regent of the sum of ^500, to be employed in hiring soldiers to
recover the island from "our auld yncmeis of Ingland,'' into whose hands it
had fallen. It s also ordered that the abbot and monks who had thus been
compelled for a time to abandon their house, should receive meanwhile the
hospitality of some other religious house, such as the Abbey of Dunfermline,
Lindores, Cambuskenneth, &c.
The temporalities of Inchcolm
had, however, already in a manner passed away from the Church and become the
spirit of a layman. In 1543, James Stewart, a son of Sir James Stewart of
Bealh (who was captain of the castle of Doune under James V., and died in
1547), was «n the lifetime of his father made coinmendator of the Abbey of
St Colme on a resignation by Abbot Richard in the hands of the Pope. The
abbot reserves his liferent of the rents and tithes of the monastery, and
engages to pay therefor to the said James Stewart annually the sum of £100
Scots. The considerations stated for this conveyance are the offer of James
Stewart to repair the monastery, which had been burned in the month of
October by the English, and the promise both of himself and his kindred to
defend the island against such attacks for the future.
In January 1563 the same Sir
James Stewart was wedded to Lady Margaret Campbell, daughter of Archibald,
fourth Earl of Argyll. The marriage was celebrated at Castle Campbell, and
Queen Mary made a special journey there from Edinburgh to attend the
nuptials. In 1581, Sir James was raised to the peerage by James VI., with
the title of Lord Doune, and the Abbey of St Colme was erected into a
temporal lordship in his favour. He had two sons, the elder of whom, James,
married the daughter and heiress of the celebrated Regent Moray, and had
conferred on him the earldom held by the latter. He was remarkably handsome
in person, and was consequently known as the " Bonnie Earl of Moray," an
epithet which has come down with additional interest to posterity on account
of his tragical death at the hands of the Earl of Huntly. His younger
brother Henry had the newly erected lordship of St Colme bestowed on him by
their father, Lord Doune, who died in 1590.
It was alleged that Anne of
Denmark, queen of James VI., had formed an attachment to the Bonnie Earl,
and thereby excited the jealousy of her husband, who is said, moreover, to
have regarded him otherwise with feelings of enmity. At all events, on the
representation of Moray's mortal foe, the Earl of Huntly, James seems to
have granted the latter some warrant or authority for apprehending Moray,
which Huntly interpreted in a more liberal fashion. Accompanied by a retinue
of armed followers, he attacked the Earl's house at Doni-bristle and set it
on fire. Moray endeavoured to make his escape, but the tassel in his cap
caught fire from the burning mansion as he made his exit. He was recognised,
followed to the rocks near the seashore, and there cruelly shot down and
hacked by Huntly, to whom he exclaimed with the last effort of expiring
nature, " You have spoilt a bonnier face than your own ! " The foul deed was
perpetrated in February 1592, and the place where it was enacted is st'll
pointed out on the seashore at a little distance from Donibristle House.
Great popular odium was
excited against the king, who was strongly suspected of complicity in the
act. The Earl's mother caused a portrait to be taken of her son as he lay
disfigured after death, and presented it to James, with an earnest
supplication for justice on her son's murderers. She also caused his body to
be conveyed to Leith, where it remained for a long time un-buried, with the
idea, it is said, of paving it exposed at the market-cross of Edinburgh to
the gaze of the populace. But to this the king interposed his veto, as he
did also to any active prosecution of Huntly, who was arrested and
imprisoned for a time, but ultimately liberated without tr; al. A story is
told by Wodrow in his ' Analecta' that "Gordon of Huntly," having been
refused admission to the presence of Charles I. after the ktter's accession
to the throne, on account of his share in the murder of the Earl of Mora)',
urged his suit with so much pertinacity that the king at last granted his
request. Charles reproached him severely for the foul deed, whereupon Huntly
drew from his bosom a warrant signed by the king's father for what had taken
place. "My lord," said Charles, "this was wrong given and worse executed."
Henry Stewart, younger
brother of the Bonnie Earl, was created a peer in i6ir, with the title of
Lord St Colme. He died the following year, and was succeeded by a son James,
on whose death the St Colme peerage became extinct, and the estates attached
to it were inherited by the Earl of Moray.
The house of Donbristle, thus
set on fire with such disastrous results, has been long s;nce replaced by a
modern mansion, which aga:n, in its turn, had about twenty years ago to
succumb to a similar fate, and has never been rebuilt. It stands a
melancholy ruin in a most beautiful situation by the seashore. The gardens
at a lutlc distance used to be regarded as the finest in this part of the
country; and though of late years they were somewhat eclipsed by those of
Fordel, they are still very beautiful and well kept. As regards the park and
grounds generally of Donibristle, nothing can surpass them along the whole
shores of the Forth from Stirling to St Abb's. Both nature and art have
contributed to adorn the locality, which from St David's to Aberdour
presents a charming and ever varied succession of woodland and water, of
bays and promontories, of long vistas of trees, and views of the Forth and
its opposite shore. In a secluded nook by the seaside stands the old parish
church of Dalgety, a most picturesque ruin, and having an interesting
history in connection with the monastery of Inchcolm, of which it was a
dependency. It was dismantled upwards of fifty years ago, and a new church
and manse erected just outside the park of Donibristle, about a mile to the
north. The old church is very small, and has at the west end a curious
gallery or upper floor, to which access is gained by a turnpike stair on the
north side. Attached to the gallery on the south side is a tolerably large
chamber, which used to serve as a session-house, and in which it is said
that Andrew Donaldson, the well-known Covenanting minister of Dalgety, who
had been ejected for nonconformity, was allowed after his expulsion to
reside by the connivance of his Episcopal successor. After the Revolution he
was restored to his ministerial charge.
It is said that Edward
Irving, whilst on a visit in this neighbourhood, was almost the last
minister who preached in old Dalgety church. The last incumbent ordained
here was the Rev. Mr Watt, who was inducted to the charge in 1830, the Rev.
Mr Gilston of Carnock officiating. It was certainly high time for a new
church to be built, seeing that the woodwork had become so rotten that the
clergyman in getting into the pulpit one Sunday morning suddenly
disappeared, to the consternation of his flock, the floor of the rostrum
having given way !
In a vault adjoining the
church are deposited the remains of the Setons, Earls of Dunfermline. They
owned the estate of Dalgety, which the first Earl purchased in 1593, and
transmitted to his descendants. The mansion which they occupied was situated
at a little distance from the church, and a portion of it is still standing,
along with the old garden-wall. The property afterwards passed to the
Tweeddale family, who succeeded the Setons in their heritable privileges
connected with the regality of Dunfermline. It is now all incorporated with
the Donibristle estate.
The park of Donibristle abuts
on the village of Aberdour, which is charmingly situated in a warm and
well-sheltered recess by the seashore, and has long been a favourite summer
resort, not only for people in Dunfermline and other Fife towns, but
likewise for the inhabitants of Edinburgh and Leith. The place is divided
into Easter and Wester Aberdour, the former being the more ancient, and
containing the ruins of the old parish church. The feudal superior is the
Earl of Morton, whose ancestors have possessed the Aberdour estate since at
least the time of David II. Anciently it had belonged to the Viponts, and in
the twelfth century passed into the hands of the Mortimers, the benefaction
of one of whom to the monks of Inchcolm was so ill requited.
Aberdour House is a mansion
of the last century, pleasantly situated in its park immediately adjoining
the village, but has not for a long time been occupied by the Morton family,
whose chief residence is at Dalmahoy, on the opposite side of the Forth. Not
far from it are the ruins of the castle of Aberdour, the ancient abode of
the lords of the estate. The Earls of Morton and the Douglases of Loch Leven
were of the same family, and so closely connected that the Kinross-shire
property came into the possession of the former, who, after holding it for a
considerable period, disposed of it in the latter half of the seventeenth
century to Sir William Bruce.
A highway runs northward from
Aberdour over the west shoulder of the Cullalo Hills and joins the
Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy road at Mossgreen, a little to the east of the
Crossgates. Reference has already been made to Otterston, which, with the
adjoining estate of Cockairny, belonging to the same proprietor (Captain
Moubray), borders on the north a considerable part of the road between
Aberdour and Inverkeithing. For each of these properties there is a mansion,
that of Otterston being charmingly situated on the bank of the beautiful
little loch of that name, whilst the house of Cockairny is at a very little
distance, on the opposite side of the public road. This branches off the
road already mentioned from Aberdour to Mossgreen, and leads down a very
steep hill between the two mansions along the shore of Otterston Loch to the
highway between Inverkeithing and Aberdour. Nothing can be more beautiful
than a portion of this route, which resembles more nearly a way through
romantic pleasure-grounds than a public thoroughfare. The contrast likewise
between the cold moorland country about Mossgreen and the soft and Italian
scenery at Otterston is exceedingly striking. |
