Kinnaird Castle
Brechin, Angus

Where a unique opportunity in castle accommodation  awaits you...

History

"The history of the Carnegie family and Kinnaird Castle have been intertwined for over 600 years."

The Carnegie family were originally Norman and originally took the name of de Balinhard from a place near Arbroath. It is thought that they arrived in Angus at the end of the 12th century but only reached Kinnaird in1400 when Duthac Carnegie married Mariota of Kinnaird.  The Castle is presumed to date, in part, from that time. The early history is vague because all the old records were lost in 1452 when the castle was burnt down after the battle of Brechin.  The Carnegies were for once on the winning side supporting the King.  However, after the royalist forces withdrew, the Earl of Crawford took revenge on those who had fought against him.

The family then kept a relatively low profile until the end of the 16th century, although one predecessor was killed at Flodden along with most of the Scottish nobles. Then two consecutive generations managed to enrich themselves through the law and service to the crown. As a result they gained estates and titles (Lord Carnegie 1616, Earl of Southesk 1633).

It all went wrong when the 5th Earl made the mistake of supporting the Old Pretender (who spent one of his last nights in Scotland here) in 1715 before leaving from the port of Montrose, after the failure of his rebellion. As a result the Earl had his titles and lands confiscated.

The estate was bought back by the closest living descendant in 1764 and the Castle transformed by the architect, James Playfair in 1791 into a large but handsome house. The family titles were regained in 1855 and at that time the 9th Earl employed David Bryce to remodel the house in high Victorian baronial style.  Only seventy years later, in 1921, it was largely burnt to the ground. The fire started at the south end and burnt right through the Hall. The decision was taken to rebuild, although the southern end was only roofed over and the rooms lost their original, Victorian richness. The remarkable thing is how many of the contents were saved.

The Castle’s most famous resident was James, Marquis of Montrose. He married Magdalene, daughter of the 1st Earl, in 1629 and they spent the first 3 years of their married life living there. He achieved great fame by leading the Royal army in the Civil War in the 1640’s, winning numerous victories usually against larger armies. Eventually he was betrayed and captured. He was then taken to Edinburgh where he was hung, drawn and quartered by his great adversary the Earl of Argyll.

The question of names in the family is rather confusing. The reason for the confusion is that the present Earl’s father, as The Duke of Fife, inherited his title from his aunt who went by the unlikely name of Princess Arthur of Connaught. She was, however, also the Duchess of Fife in her own right. The Dukedom was relatively new, created when the Earl of Fife married the Princess Royal, daughter of King Edward VII, and it was recreated so that it could pass through the female line when it became clear that there would be no male heir. On the death of the first Duke it passed, therefore, to his eldest daughter (later Princess Arthur). The Duff family came from the Moray/Banff area.  Three generations amassed vast wealth through trade and finance in the 17th and the 18th centuries. It held huge estates throughout that area, (200,00 acres in 1900) but poor management depleted the position considerably and although the present Duke got the titles he inherited no land; what remained went to a cousin on another side of the family.

Now the Southesk estate comprises an in-hand farming enterprise of 3,700 acres, a forestry department managing 2,500 acres of trees, a fish farm producing 190 tonnes of rainbow trout, 62 let houses, salmon fishing, pheasant and rough shooting and roe deer stalking.  A total of 21 people are employed.