district of Garioch. That the extensive fort and the more modern tower within its area are extremely ancient there can be no doubt. All is conjecture as to the history of the former, and nothing beyond very vague tradition leads to a conclusion as to the date when the latter was constructed. The fort has evidently extended over the whole flat oval summit of the cone, its form, a parallelogram, curved at one extremity, and length about 170 feet by 70. From the state of the ruin it is impossible to ascertain the dimensions of the wall; but from existing appearances it must have been of considerable strength. The materials are vitrified, and lower down the hill is distinctly marked a line of circumvallation, similar to that, on a more extensive scale, upon the mountain of Noth in Strathbogie. The appearance of both is identical, and it is probable they were built about the same period, and formed part of a chain of forts constructed as places of refuge and security, when attacked, to the inhabitants of a then barbarous country. "Fordoun and other historians have recorded that Dunnideer was the residence of Gregory the Great, King of Scotland, and that he died there in 1393.1 Whether antecedent to the erection of the tower, of which a wall is now standing, or that it comprised part of his residence, is left in perfect obscurity. That it must have been for many centuries an uninhabited ruin, appears to be proved by the fact that, in more recent times, when other castles in its neighbourhood, now also fallen into decay, are mentioned in history as the scenes of many events during the troubles and wars carried on in the North of Scotland, no notice is ever taken of the inmates of Dunnideer, which could not have been the case had it been in the occupation of the proprietor during these times. It has been attempted to trace the erection of the tower to the reign of William the Lion, and to ascribe it to his brother, David, Earl of Huntingdon and Garioch, but this does not appear to be authenticated.

"In a ravine to the westward of the

1 This seems to be impossible.

castle formerly stood the 'Wardhouse' of Dunnideer, erected probably for a twofold purpose-that which its name denotes, and also as an outwork on the most assailable point, by which enemies in those days, passing to the Garioch from the north or west, were accustomed to travel. Nothing of the masonry of this fabric now remains, but the locality is strongly marked by the fosse which has surrounded it.

"The only remaining wall of the castle of Dunnideer is composed of the strongest masonry, and is likely for ages to withstand, as it has done, the gales that assail its elevated and perfectly unsheltered position. It is from fifty to sixty feet in height, and, perforated in its centre by the enlarged opening occasioned by ruined windows, it has a picturesque and striking effect."

Dunnideer is the property of Carlos Pedro Gordon, Esq., of Wardhouse and Kildrummie.

In the "View of the Diocese of Aberdeen" there are these notices of this interesting spot-"There is a tradition (which Boetius has taken notice of) that Dundore hill has gold ore under it, because the sheep's teeth that feed upon it turn yellow; he adds that their flesh and wool are also yellow; and that the name of the hill Doun d'or signifies The Golden Mount. However, it is still pronounced Dunnideer. Dundore Castle (on the top of a hill of that name) was built by King Gregory, who died there A.D. 1393. There is a tradition that this castle was supplied with water from Foudland Hill (three miles distant) by leaden pipes, which being at last cut, the castle was obliged to surrender from want of water, but when this happened it is not known."

There is a legend in the district that Dunnideer and the fort on Tap o' Noth, several miles distant, were inhabited by two giants who amused themselves with pitching rocks at each other. There is a huge boulder on the slope of Tap o' Noth, which tradition points out as one of these love-tokens sent by him of Dunnideer to his brother of Noth.

Dr. Davidson tells us that "whatever degree of historic light belongs to

Facing Dunnideer on the west, and rising with equal abruptness, is the hill of Christ's Kirk. Formerly there was a parish of Christ's Kirk lying round about the hill, which is supposed to

6

have been the scene of the well-known poem, Christ's Kirk on the Green,' ascribed to James I. of Scotland, but the parish is now joined to Kenneth mont." (Grant.) Some have supposed that King James's poem alludes not to this "Christ's Kirk,' but to a parish and hamlet near St. Andrews in Fife. In a volume, however, entitled "Poetical Remains of James the First, King of Scotland, printed for J. and E. Balfour, Edinburgh, 1783," we find this note: "The scene of action of this poem is traditionally said to have been a village of this name, within or near to the parish of Lesly in that part of the county of Aberdeen called the Garrioch. In its neighbourhood is the hill of Dunnideer, which rises like a pyramid in the midst of the plain of the Garrioch, on the top of which are the remains of a castle, said to have been a hunting seat of the Scottish kings. Allan Ramsay seems to have mistaken the above situation for Lesly in the county of Fife."

The poem opens

"Wes nevir in Scotland hard nor sene
Sic dansing nor deray,
Nowther at Falkland on the grene,
Nor Pebilis at the Play;

с

As wes of wowaris, as I wene,

At Christis Kirk on ane day:
Thair came our Kitties weshen clene,
In their new kirtilis of gray,
Full gay

At Christis Kirk of the grene that day."

three stanzas to describe very graphiThe poem goes on through twentycally the rough play of a fair. Allan Ramsay has added two cantos, "in which he has, with a great deal of fancy and humour, carried on the story from the end of the fray where the humours of a country wedding, with king breaks off, by entering into the the frolic usual on such occasional festivals. He adopts most of the characters introduced by the king in his poem, and it must be owned that he has carried them through with much mirth and drollery, though often not with decency. His humour, though different from the fine arch vein of highly comic and natural, is, however, pleasantry which flows through the king's poem."

Some have attributed this poem to tion of Scottish Poems prior to 1568, James V. In Bannatyne's MS. collecthe date of the MS., it is inserted as first in point of antiquity, and at the end of it bears this signature, "Quod James I."

A small station, built specially for Mr. Gordon of Wardhouse, whose mansion lies upon the hill to the right, and is seen soon after passing the station embosomed among pines. At the second bridge north of this station is the summit-level of the line. Till now all the waters have been flowing

southward into the Gadie-the Gadie into the Ury, the Ury into the Don, the Don into the sea at Old Aberdeen. Henceforth they flow the other wayinto the Bogie, the Bogie into the Deveron, the Deveron into the sea at Banff.

The property of Wardhouse extends on both sides of the line at this point. The mansion-house was erected during last century by Charles Gordon, Esq.

tradition are silent as to the origin or | purpose of these great works; and in a country where events are traced back either from fact or imagination to the remotest times, not even a surmise exists as to what race of men were the constructors and the occupiers of these most formidable places of defence.

"On a plain of some extent at the north and north-western base of the hill, are still distinctly marked the cairns or tumuli said to have contained the slain in the battle in which Lulach, the son of Macbeth, lost his life in 1057. Upwards of one hundred of these are still to be distinctly recognised, but whether this plain was the great cemetery of the mountain fort, whether the graves are those of the victims of many fights, or whether the above tradition is authentic, it is impossible to determine. It is called Mildewne (the grave of a thousand). The author of this notice opened five of these cairns in different parts of the field. The first, and apparently the most important from its magnitude, contained a stone coffin of very rude construction, but still of such a description as to render doubt with regard to its original purpose out of the question. On removing the stones and earth to the depth of about 3 feet a large flagstone placed upright appeared at the western extremity of the excavation, and at the eastern, at the distance of about six feet, a similar one was discovered of lesser size, but standing in exactly the same position; on the earth being still further cleared, a flat layer of stones was observed; these were placed so close that it appeared to be one entire slab, but on being removed proved to be small portions of a flat stone of the same description and quality in those previously discovered, but differing in shape and consistency from any found in the rest of the cairns opened, and unlike any other, either in the plain or on the mountain. In the four other tumuli inspected on the same occasion nothing whatever was discovered, from which it may be fairly conjectured that in those barbarous times the rights of sepulture were not attended with much ceremony or refinement, and that it was only in the

case of a person of superior rank that even the rough and apparently disjoined stone receptacle was provided. The flat stones above mentioned were laid upon a flat clay substance, to which the excavation had at first been made; the earth above appeared mixed, as if thrown in by the hand of man, and covered by the growth of ages."

Beyond the Tap o' Noth, to the westward and south are to be seen the Auchindoir and Cabrach hills. Conspicuous among these is the Buck of the Cabrach, some 2734 feet in height above the level of the sea. It is said that "the summit of the Buck is seen far and wide over the country, and ten leagues at sea, from which it is thirty miles distant." Among these hills rises the river Bogie, a very famous trouting stream, which, winding northwards through Rhynie and Gartly, joins the Deveron in the park of Huntly Lodge, half a mile below Huntly.

"Drumminor," already mentioned, "like most of the property in the district, was an ancient seat of the Cummings, to whom it was granted by Alexander III., but it is known to have been in the possession of the Forbes family as early as 1332. It, indeed, at one time was the principal residence of the latter family, a circumstance which gave it the name of Castle Forbes. The more ancient portion of the existing house was built in 1577 by the Forbeses, and a portion still standing—a fine hall

was once the scene of a notable catastrophe. The Forbeses were long at feud with the Gordons, but a peace having been effected, a party of the latter clan, numbering fifteen, went to Drumminor to an entertainment, at which some conditions were to be arranged. Jealous of treachery, the chief of the Forbeses had instructed his retainers to seat themselves, every man, beside a Gordon, and if they saw him (the chief) stroke his beard, they were to conclude that there was treachery at work, and were to stab each their man. Matters went on smoothly, the two chiefs conversing agreeably together, till the Forbes, raising, and as he afterwards confessed, inadvertently, his hand to his chin, his followers plunged their dirks into the

whole of the fifteen Gordons. The tragical event excited a great sensation in the country.'

The same story, or one very similar, is told at Craig Castle, the victims in this case being Forbeses, and a room is shown surrounded by sliding panels, which conceal a secret passage. The story then goes that on Gordon pulling his beard, the sliding panels fell, and every Forbes had a dirk sticking out The sliding

from below his chair. panels still exist at Craig.

The present family of Drumminor are Grants, who came from Strathspey, and into whose possession the estate came about the end of last century.

Craig Castle lies at some distance from the line, and is most easily reached from Gartly. It is beautifully situated on the edge of a deep and narrow gorge, called the Den of Craig, through which the Burn of Craig, coming down from the eastern flanks of the Buck of the Cabrach, flows in a series of beautiful cataracts to join the Bogie. The original tower was founded in 1510, by Patrick Gordon, the first of Craig, who fell at Flodden in 1513; it was completed by his son in 1518. It stands on the very verge of the cliff, inaccessible on that side, and it presented almost unpierced walls of immense strength to the only assailable sides. In the lower story is a strongly defended door, and an arched apartment where may still be seen the "cleek" or hook, by which, in the old hard age, victorious Gordons hanged their foes, when they got them into their power. It now serves the more peaceable purpose of hanging the lamp, this old prison being now the servants' hall. From one of the upper floors a narrow dark passage is said to terminate in a well, having an outlet down in the den, and tradition tells that this was a handy way of getting rid of tale-telling bodies of slain men. One room was long observed to be much lower in the roof than the other rooms on the same floor, and the present proprietor, sounding over it, found it sounded hollow over an oriel window. Tearing down the modern plaster, he discovered a trapdoor which led to a concealed chamber,

and this chamber was largely filled with decaying human remains. What tales, could they give voice to them, would these old "cleeks," and wells, and concealed charnel rooms have to tell! By the gateway are two stones from the old Castle of Lesmore, and these were the heading or "beheading" stones on which Lesmore executed summary punishment on his foes or on his rebellious vassals. The late Mr. Gordon of Craig was the last of his line. His family having all predeceased him, the estate was inherited by the present proprietor James Sherriffs Lumsden Gordon, Esq., son of an old friend of Craig's, under his settlements. He adopts the name of Lumsden in right of his wife, the heiress of Knoussie, and Gordon as heir of Craig. an interesting and beautiful spot, and visitors who wish to examine the remains on "Tap o' Noth," could easily extend their ramble to Craig Castle.

16. Gartly.

It is

8 miles from Kennethmont. 35", Aberdeen. We are now in the famous district of Strathbogie-so called after the name of the stream, the Bogie, that flows through it. The Bogie rises about the base of the Buck of the Cabrach, flows in a deep and beautifully wooded ravine past the fine old and interesting Castle of Craig (John Sherriffs Gordon, Esq.), past the base of the Tap o' Noth, through the parishes of Rhynie and Gartly, and falls into the Deveron, a little below Huntly. Regarding Strathbogie, Grant says"The district of Strathbogie, which is partly in Aberdeen and partly in Banff, was anciently a Lordship or Thanedom. The first Lords of Strathbogie, of whom I have read, were the Cumyns. In the wars of Scottish independence, the Cumyns sided with the English against Robert the Bruce; and that monarch confiscated the lands of David Cumyn, Lord of Athole and Strathbogie, and bestowed them on Sir Adam Gordon, his valiant and faithful follower. The descendants of this same Sir Adam Gordon subsequently became Lords of Huntly, Marquises of Huntly, and Dukes of Gordon, and were, for many