Argaty is a farm estate located just over a mile northeast of Doune, Stirling, Scotland. The present Argaty House dates from the 19th century with baronial additions in the 1860s and 1920s, but was largely destroyed by fire in April 2011. Argaty farm is host to central Scotland's only red kite feeding station where visitors can come and watch the birds, recently reintroduced to their former natural habitat through a program managed by the

RSPB The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...

and Scottish Natural Heritage. In 1982 ownership of Argaty House and the farm estate were separated.

History

Origins

Argaty (aka "Ardgaty"), derives from the

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

words ''aird'', meaning "height", and ''gaoth'', meaning "wind" and therefore translates as "windy height".

Medieval era

Argaty was originally part of the Doune estate, property of the

Dukes of Albany Duke of Albany is a peerage title that has occasionally been bestowed on the younger sons in the Scottish and later the British royal family, particularly in the Houses of Stuart and Hanover. History The Dukedom of Albany was first grante ...

, ancestors of the Clan Stewart of Balquhidder. When Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany was executed for treason by King James I of Scotland in 1425, the Stewart lands were forfeited to the Crown, and Argaty was among the forfeited properties. After the forfeiture the Crown granted the lands of Argaty to one John Sinclair, Esquire to the King's Chamber. The property then passed to Sinclair's younger daughter who married Patrick Home (also spelled "Hume") of Polworth, and Argaty thus came into the possession of the Home family.

17th Century

The house was remodelled by

Tobias Bauchop Tobias Bauchop or Baccup (c.1665 – 1710) was a 17th-century Scottish master mason responsible for several architctural masterpieces, mainly working as contractor to the eminent architect William Bruce (architect), Sir William Bruce. Life He was ...

of Alloa in 1687.

18th Century

Around 150 years later the property was again inherited by a daughter, one Mary Hume, who married George Stewart (also spelled "Steuart") of Ballachallan. George Stewart was a descendant of Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany and, by this marriage, the ownership of Argaty returned to the descendants of the very same Stewarts who had forfeited it some three centuries earlier.Stewarts of Balquhidder webpage
/ref> In 1758 Argaty was inherited by the Maryland planter and Loyalist politician George Hume Steuart of

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

, Maryland, second son of George Steuart and Mary Hume. Steuart also held extensive lands in Maryland and, at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1775, he was forced to leave America and return to Scotland, dividing his estates among his family. His son, also named George Hume Steuart (1747–1788), inherited Argaty estate in his turn, changing his name to

George Steuart Hume George Steuart Hume, also known as ''George Home'', (1747 – 1787/1788) was a Maryland physician and landowner who emigrated to Scotland before the American Revolutionary War. Born George Hume Steuart in Maryland, he left for Scotland in 1758, w ...

. On Hume's death in 1788, Argaty passed to George Steuart Hume's infant daughter Sophia. Hume's younger brothers Charles and James Steuart, by now citizens of the fledgling United States of America, brought a claim against their infant niece Sophia for the inheritance of Argaty, but were not successful.

19th Century

Sophia Hume married her cousin, David Monro Binning of Softlaw, a barrister, and by the early Nineteenth century the house and estate were in the possession of the Binning-Home family. Later in the 19th Century the house was extensively re-modelled. A shorthorn bull named Alban, raised by Mr G. H. M. Binning-Home of Argaty and calved in 1868, appears in ''Coate's Herd Book, Volume 19'', the publication of the Shorthorn Society of the United Kingdom. At this time the estate acquired something of a name for breeding shorthorn cattle.History of Argaty at Fraiser Raitts Webspace
Retrieved March 2012

20th Century

In the 20th century ownership of the estate passed through a number of hands. Mr and Mrs Henderson bought Argaty in 1916. Their daughter and son-in-law, Mr D.C. Bowser and Mrs M. Bowser, eventually inherited and ran the estate. From 1947 to 1986 the estate was run by a Capt. D. Bowser. In 1982 ownership of Argaty House and the estate were separated.

Argaty today

Today Mr Niall Bowser and his wife Lynn run the estate from Lerrocks Farm. Argaty farm is host to central Scotland's only red kite feeding station where visitors can come and watch the birds, recently reintroduced to their former natural habitat through a program managed by the

and Scottish Natural Heritage. Administratively Doune is today under the control of Stirling Council. On 30 April 2011 a fire broke out in Argaty House, almost completely gutting it. The Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service estimated the next day that 90% of the building was totally destroyed.BBC News online, 1 May 2011
Retrieved 6 May 2011.stv news 1 May 2011
Retrieved March 2012

References

* Barty, Alexander B, "Argaty, its Lairds and its Barony", A. Learmonth, Scotland (1929).
Burke, Sir Bernard, ''Index to Burke's dictionary of the landed gentry of Great Britain & Ireland''
Retrieved March 2012 * Nekler, Gladys P, The Clan Steuart, Genealogical Publishing, 1970
National Register of Archives (Scotland) ''Argaty Muniments'', Volume 233 of NRA (Scotland), Publisher NRAS (1966)
Retrieved March 2012

Notes

External links

Retrieved March 2012
Argaty red kite conservation
Retrieved March 2012

Retrieved March 2012

Retrieved March 2012
Scottish National Archives, ''Papers of the Home Family of Argaty''
Retrieved March 2012 {{Authority control Country estates in Scotland Scottish baronial architecture Farms in Scotland Ruins in Stirling (council area) Houses in Stirling (council area) Nature reserves in Scotland Kilmadock