Blelack (, gd, Blàth Bholg) is a place in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, the location of Blelack House, a Scottish mansion house with origins in the seventeenth century. :''Dool Dool to Blelack, and Dool to Blelack's Heir, for Driving use fae the Seely Howe to the Cauld Hill O’ Fare'' So goes the apparent curse on the

Laird Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...

of Blelack House for instigating an exorcism on the "Fairies" resident in the Seely Howe (the location of Blelack House), 'howe' being a hollow or glen. The Cauld ('Cold') Hill O’ Fare is near

Banchory Banchory (, sco, Banchry, gd, Beannchar) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee. Prehistory and archaeology In 2009, a farmer discovered a short cist ...

, some miles further down the Dee Valley. Dool is the Doric dialect term roughly equivalent to 'Doom'. For a couple of centuries, the lairds did not seem to enjoy any particular good fortune, seemingly ending up always on the losing side. Blelack House is situated west of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, near the village of

Logie Coldstone Logie Coldstone ( gd, Lògaidh) is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The village lies north of the River Dee, near Tarland in the Cromar, a basin of land cut out of the Grampian foothills between Aboyne and Ballater. See also *Royal Deesi ...

, north of the River Dee in the

Cromar Cromar ( gd, Crò Mhàrr) is an area in Aberdeenshire, north east Scotland five miles inland from Aberdeen. It is also known as the Howe of Cromar. Surrounded by a sweep of hills, dominated by Morven 871m (2858 feet), this lower lying area ...

, a basin of agricultural land carved out of the Grampian foothills. Blelack is an anglicisation of 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 ...

Baile ailich meaning "village of the stone house". The prefix "Ble..." is found in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...

with regard to translations of Gaelic place names beginning Baile, in Ireland this would be "Bally..." . The

Royal Deeside The River Dee ( gd, Uisge Dhè) is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in ...

area was historically within the

Earldom of Mar There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. Th ...

, and the Blelack estate belonged to a branch of the powerful

Clan Gordon Clan Gordon is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The Gordon lands once spanned a large territory across the Highlands. Presently, Gordon is seated at Aboyne Castle, Aberdeenshire ...

. In 1620 an "Alexander Gordoune" of Blelack is referred to in "The Records of

Aboyne Aboyne ( sco, Abyne, gd, Abèidh) is a village on the edge of the Highlands in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, approximately west of Aberdeen. It has a swimming pool at Aboyne Academy, all-weather tennis courts, a bowling green and ...

", and the location is shown on a map of 1654. It is difficult to tell if the presence of a stone house here is earlier. Typical of such mansion houses, there is a nearby farm and a mill, both of similar age, and built of the distinctive local pink granite. There are, confusingly, two dates engraved onto the façade of the building, 1881 and 1892. There is some evidence that the current Blelack House is older, and these are renovation dates. Blelack House was burnt down in retribution after the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Franci ...

. The young laird, Charles Gordon, fought for

Bonnie Prince Charlie Bonnie, is a Scottish given name and is sometimes used as a descriptive reference, as in the Scottish folk song, My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean. It comes from the Scots language word "bonnie" (pretty, attractive), or the French bonne (good). That ...

, and was closely associated with several of the rebellion's leaders. The new mansion house was built on the present site in 1753. The building suffered an accidental fire later in 1868 and was rebuilt and remodelled the following year. We can only speculate on the extent of the changes to the house over the centuries; the current building seems to predate the Mock Baronial style of the later nineteenth century. During the Victorian era, Blelack ceased to be the laird's seat and was used as a shooting lodge. In World War II pupils from

Albyn School Albyn School is a coeducational independent day school, founded in 1867 in Aberdeen, Scotland. Albyn was originally an all-girls school before becoming co-educational in 2005. The school has a nursery, primary school and secondary school; pupi ...

for girls in Aberdeen were evacuated to the house. The building was split up into separate flats in 1976.

Images

Image:Blelak.jpg, Blelak or Blelack 1654 Image:Blelack1896.jpg, Blelack 1896 File:Blelack House.jpg, Summer 2006

References

* * *"The Records of Aboyne"

library {{coord , 57, 07, 12, N, 2, 55, 41, W, display=title Houses in Aberdeenshire