Fingask Castle is a country house in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is perched above

Rait Rait () is a small village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It lies northwest of Errol, in the Gowrie area west of Dundee, on a minor road crossing the Sidlaw Hills through the Glen of Rait. The village is mainly residential with stone cottage ...

, three miles (5 km) north-east of Errol, in the Braes of the Carse, on the fringes of the

Sidlaw Hills The Sidlaws are a range of hills in the counties of Perthshire and Angus in Scotland that extend for 30 miles (45 km) from Kinnoull Hill, near Perth, northeast to Forfar. A continuation of the Ochils, they separate the valley of Str ...

. Thus it overlooks both the

Carse of Gowrie The Carse of Gowrie is a stretch of low-lying country in the southern part of Gowrie, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It stretches for about along the north shore of the Firth of Tay between Perth and Dundee. The area offers high-quality agricultu ...

and the

Firth of Tay The Firth of Tay (; gd, Linne Tatha) is a firth on the east coast of Scotland, into which the River Tay (Scotland's largest river in terms of flow) empties. The firth is surrounded by four council areas: Fife, Perth and Kinross, City of Dun ...

and beyond into the Kingdom of Fife. The name derives from Gaelic ''fionn-gasg'': a white or light-coloured appendage. Fingask was once an explicitly holy place, a convenient and

numinous Numinous () is a term derived from the Latin ''numen'', meaning "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring."Collins English Dictionary -7th ed. - 2005 The term was given its present sense by the German theologian and ph ...

stop-off between the abbeys at Falkirk and

Scone A scone is a baked good, usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component ...

. It was later held by the Bruce family, and then by the Threiplands. In the eighteenth century it was owned by

Jacobites Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...

and was forfeited. The castle is a Category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, and the estate is included on the ''Inventory of Historic Gardens and Designed Landscapes'', the national register of significant gardens. Fingaskletterhead

Visual architectural history

Neale(1827) p4.228 - Fingask Castle, Perthshire.jpg,

John Preston Neale John Preston Neale (1780–1847) was an English architectural and landscape draughtsman. Much of his work was drawn, although he produced the occasional watercolour or oil painting. His drawings were used on a regular basis by engravers. A major w ...

, 1824. Copper-plate engraving of Fingask Castle, Perthshire. Engraved by John Greig after Henry Gastineau. c. 1830.jpg, Copper-plate engraving, John Greig after a drawing by Henry Gastineau, c. 1830. Engraving of Fingask Castle, Tayside, by Alexander Carse. Published by James Knox, Edinburgh, 1831.jpg, Fingask, from the south, drawn and engraved by

Alexander Carse Alexander Carse (c. 1770 – February 1843) was a Scottish painter known for his scenes of Scottish life. His works include a large canvas of George IV's visit to Leith and three early paintings of football matches. Life Carse was born in Inne ...

, c. 1831. Post card of Fingask Castle, sent from Errol to Oxford, franked 15 August 1910.jpg, Post card of Fingask Castle, N.B., sent from Errol to Oxford, franked 15 August 1910. FingaskC19thBlack&Whitefromsouth.jpg, Castle from the south south east showing lost 19th-century embellishments. FingaskCastlefromSouthWest.jpg, Showing pre-1920s and post-1830 state of castle and garden, from south-west. Fingask old postcard.jpg, Postcard, pre-1920, view from the south-south-west.

History

There are mentions of the lands of Fingask in the Foundation Charter of the Abbey of Scone by

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...

. The date of the charter is said to be 1114 or 1115. The

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...

family owned the lands of

, including Fingask, from the 15th century. The Bruces were descended from the senior line of the Bruces of

Clackmannan Clackmannan ( ; gd, Clach Mhanainn, perhaps meaning "Stone of Manau"), is a small town and civil parish set in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Situated within the Forth Valley, Clackmannan is south-east of Alloa and south of Tillicoultry. ...

, which included Sir David Bruce who married Janet, daughter of Sir William Stirling of Keir. Their son, Robert Bruce held charter of Rate (Rait) in 1484, confirmed 1488, and his son David resigned his right to Clackmannan to his uncle in February 1506/7. At the time when Patrick Bruce was laird, a stone was set into the house showing the date 1594. A tombstone near the ruined church of Rait reveals: Around 1660 the mercat cross ( market cross) from nearby Perth was relocated to the grounds of Fingask. The last of the Bruce lairds of Fingask was Laurence Bruce, whose "pecuniary involvements necessitated the sale of the estate for the behoof of his creditors in the year 1671".

Threipland baronets

In 1672 Patrick Threipland purchased the estate, which was erected into a barony the same year. He renovated the building and laid out the gardens, and in 1674 he added the neighbouring Braes of the Carse tower house and estate of Kinnaird to his realm. The same year he was knighted for his diligence in the suppression of conventiclers, and in 1687 he was created a

baronet of Nova Scotia This is a list of baronetcies in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia. These were first created in 1624, and were replaced by the Baronetage of Great Britain in 1707. This page lists baronetcies, whether extant, extinct, dormant (D), unproven (U), ...

, although he died a prisoner at Stirling Castle for adherence to the ousted

King James VII James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Gloriou ...

, in 1689. His son David, 2nd Baronet, (c.1670–1746) joined the

Jacobite rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts. At Braemar, Aberdeenshire ...

, and fought with the

Earl 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. T ...

against the government at the Battle of Sheriffmuir. When the rising failed, the baronetcy was attainted by act of parliament and Fingask and its estate was forfeited. Fingask was purchased for £9,606 6s 4.5d by the

York Buildings Company The York Buildings Company was an English company in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Waterworks The full name of the company was The Governor and Company for raising the Thames Water at York Buildings. The undertaking was established in ...

, an English waterworks company which had begun to specialise in forfeited land. The company held the property until 1783, meanwhile leasing it to Dame Katherine (Kattrin) Threipland, "the lass of Gowrie" (d. 18 March 1762), daughter of the 2nd baronet. Fingask Castle was badly damaged in 1745 by government troops, as the Threiplands once more supported the Jacobites in the second Jacobite rising. David Threipland (1694–1745), son of the 2nd baronet, was killed at the

Battle of Prestonpans The Battle of Prestonpans, also known as the Battle of Gladsmuir, was fought on 21 September 1745, near Prestonpans, in East Lothian, the first significant engagement of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Jacobite forces, led by the Stuart exile C ...

. His half-brother Dr. Stuart Threipland (1716–1805), repurchased Fingask in 1783 at a sale of forfeited land, for £12,207. He married firstly at St. Paul's, Edinburgh, in 1753, Jannet, daughter of David Sinclair of Southdun, Caithness, and secondly at St. Paul's Edinburgh, in 1761, Jannet daughter of Richard Murray of Pennyland, heiress of her cousin Grizel Budge (d. 1798) of Dale & Toftingall, Halkirk, Caithness. His sister Miss Euphame ("Aunt Effie") Threipland (1713- ) is said to have run the estate in his absence. Dr Threipland was President of the

Royal Medical Society The Royal Medical Society (RMS) is a society run by students at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, Scotland. It claims to be the oldest medical society in the United Kingdom although this claim is also made by the earlier London-based ...

from 1766. PeterThreipland1699Book

In 1826, the attainder of 1715 was repealed by Act of Parliament, and Sir Patrick (aka Peter) Budge Murray Threipland (1762–1837), an advocate, was restored to the dignity of a baronet. He later served as Deputy Lieutenant for Perthshire and Caithness. In 1792 he married his first cousin once-removed Jessy (d. 1855), daughter of William Scott Kerr of Chatto or Thirlestane. Her grandmother was a daughter of Sir David Threipland, 2nd Bt., by his first wife. Between 1828 and 1831 Sir Patrick added to the front west part of the house. Embellishment and building onto the south front continued until 1840. Sir Patrick-Murray (aka Peter) Threipland, 5th Bt (1800–1882), was educated in Edinburgh and Paris. He served as a major in the Perth militia, retiring in 1843, and was a Commissioner for Supply for the counties of Perth and Caithness. He was also a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant of Perth and Caithness. Before and after his mother died in 1855 he lived at Fingask with his three elder sisters. The

UK Census Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 (during the Second World War), Ireland in 1921/Northern Ireland in 1931,https://www.nisra.gov. ...

of 31 March 1851 records a staff of seven at Fingask: Housekeeper (Jean Oswald); Ladies Maid (Mary Gray); Cook (Margaret Stewart); Sir Peter's House Maid (Mary McLagan); Butler (David Chalmers); Footman (John Bertram); and Coachman (Andrew David). Mrs Drummond of Megginch Castle described the family: When Miss Jessie died in May 1871, Mrs Drummond reported that the "life of the old house went out". On the death of Sir Patrick in 1882, the Threipland Baronetcy became dormant. Fingask was left to his first cousin's second son, William Scott Kerr, who subsequently changed his name to

William Murray Threipland Colonel William Murray Threipland, (1866 – 24 June 1942) was a British Army officer. He was appointed the founding colonel commanding of the Welsh Guards in February 1915, and was the regiment's Colonel from March 1937. He was born William Scot ...

. In 1915 he was appointed to command the newly raised

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WG; cy, Gwarchodlu Cymreig), part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the First World War, by Royal Warrant of George V. ...

, and became Colonel of the regiment in 1937.

Other owners

The castle passed out of the Threipland family again in 1917, when it was bought by whisky merchant Sir John Henderson Stewart, 1st Baronet. In 1917 the Fingask estate was made up of . This comprised arable , hill , and woods . The rental of the Fingask, and those of the much smaller estates of Kinnaird, and Inchmichael (which he had added), had given Sir John an annual rental return of £4,000. Sir John became heavily indebted due to the Prohibition of alcohol in the United States, and committed suicide at Fingask on 6 February 1924. The estate was bought by H. B. Gilroy of Ballumbie in 1925. The house was saved from ruin but wholly re-modelled, all spiral staircases removed and nineteenth-century frontal additions demolished.

Return to the Threipland family

In 1969 the estate returned to the Threipland family, when it was bought by Mark Stepney Murray Threipland, grandson of Colonel William Murray Threipland. He was the son of Patrick Murray Threipland and Marged Howard Stepney (a descendant of the 2nd Lord De Tabley and Jerome de Salis, amongst many others). By this time the estate had been reduced to . In 1996 Fingask was bought by Andrew Murray Threipland, son of Patrick Murray Threipland and Leslie McNair Scott. In 2020, Threipland revealed plans to transform part of the estate known as Witches Knowe into a barrow cemetery, with over one thousand burial plots, as well as creating a semi-underground candle-lit chamber in which relatives can deposit the ashes of their relatives.

Portraits of people associated with Fingask, and the Threipland shield in 1880

File:SirDavidThreipland.jpg, Sir David Threipland (1666–1746), 2nd Bart., as a boy File:LassofGowrie.jpg, Dame Katherine (c. 1679–1762), daughter of David Smythe of Barnhill, and second wife to Sir David Threipland File:Stuart Threipland after the Battle of Culloden, by William Delacour.jpg, Dr. (Sir) Stuart Threipland File:CharlesSpenceTheCarsePoet.jpg,

Charles Spence Charles Spence is an experimental psychology, experimental psychologist at the University of Oxford. He is the head of the Crossmodal Research group which specializes in the research about the integration of information across different sensory m ...

(1779–1869); the Bard of Gowrie, the Poet of the Carse, footman and mason to the Threiplands File:JessyScott_Kerr.jpg, Jessy Scott Kerr married her cousin Sir Patrick Threipland in 1792. She bore him four children and died in 1855. File:ElizaThreipland.jpg, Eliza Threipland File:JessieThreipland.jpg, Jessie Threipland

The castle

The castle itself is dated 1592, and was built around a 12th-century structure. Between 1828 and 1840 additions were made to the south and west of the castle. Sir Patrick Threipland, 4th Baronet (1762–1837) laid out the park, and his son planted the topiary gardens and installed statuary.

Gardens

The garden is renowned for its

topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

, but also features ''The Pavilion'', a picturesque venue for things such as colloquia and wedding parties. There are statues by David Anderson, sculptor, of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

, of characters from Scots literature. Works depicted include Alexander Wilson's ''Watty and Meg'', Burns' ''Willie Brew’d a Peck o’ Maut, And Rab and Allan cam’ tae Pree'', Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

's '' Last Minstrel/ Ossian'', and Burns' Tam O' Shanter and Kate. By other sculptors are also to be found the naked black figure of

Doryphoros The ''Doryphoros'' (Greek Δορυφόρος Classical Greek , "Spear-Bearer"; Latinised as ''Doryphorus'') of Polykleitos is one of the best known Greek sculptures of Classical antiquity, depicting a solidly built, muscular, standing warrior, o ...

; a full length statue of

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

, and some small pieces by

. Off the drive, in a sheltered glen, is the Well of St. Peter with the ''Linn-ma-Gray'' flowing beside it. On a stone above the well are the appropriate lines:

Drink, weary pilgrim, drink and pray
And bless St. Peter's well,
Unscathed by sun or scorching ray,
Or frost or thawing swell

A mercat cross, which formerly stood in nearby

(see

Perth mercat cross Perth mercat cross is located on King Edward Street in the Scottish city of Perth, Perth and Kinross. Erected in 1913, in memory of Edward VII, it stands immediately to the west of Perth City Hall, which was completed a year later, between it an ...

) and was the hub of the four routes of the Perth Corporation Tramways, was moved to the grounds of the castle after being deemed an obstruction to street traffic.''Official Guide to Perth and Its Neighbourhood by the Tramway Car Routes'' – Perth Town Council (1907), p. 6

Views of the garden at Fingask

File:FingaskStatuaryC19detail.jpg, Statuary, by

, in nineteenth-century formation. File:OldFingaskBadCrop.jpg, Statues looking south towards Fife. File:FingaskOldphotoAlexanderWilson.jpg, From the north. Tam O'Shanter, and his cronies drinking at Kirkton Jean's: ''... While we sit bousing at the nappy, An' getting fou and unco happy,...'' File:Oldviewfingaskcastle2.jpg, Wilson's ''Meg and Watty'', by

, seen from the north looking towards Fife. File:Mercat Cross (geograph 7105929).jpg, The old

References

Sources

* Robert Chambers, ''The Threiplands of Fingask'', Edinburgh, 1880. * Rev. James M'Turk Strachan, BD, FRSA (Scot), ''From the Braes of the Carse, Charles Spence's Poems and Songs'', 1898. (48 years minister at

Kilspindie Kilspindie is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is situated on the Kilspindie burn, approximately northwest of Errol, west of Dundee centre and east of Perth. The village has an area of of which are arable land and are woodlan ...

& died 1936). * Melville, Lawrence, ''The Fair Land of Gowrie'', William Culross & Son, Coupar Angus, 1939 (reprinted 1975), (chapter 27). * ''Country Life'', 18 July 1936. * Christie's, ''Fingask Castle, Rait, by Perth'', April 1993. * David Chalmers, ''The Butler's Day Book 1849–1855, Everyday Life in a Scottish Castle'', ed. Andrew Threipland, Perth, 1999. * ''Country Life'', 10 October 2006. * Burke's ''Peerage'', 1851. * Burke's Landed Gentry, ''The Kingdom of Scotland'', 19th edition, Delaware, USA, 2001.
Friends of Perth & Kinross Council archive
newsletter no. 20. * Jack Prout, '' Black Bob'' ''

The Dandy ''The Dandy'' was a British children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after '' Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 O ...

Wonder Dog'', D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. & John Leng & Co. Ltd., London, Glasgow, Manchester, Dundee, 1950. (castle is illustrated on pages 71 & 75, within the story: ''Clever Bob, The Dog Detective''). * Hunter, Thomas. (1883) ''Woods, Forests, and Estates of Perthshire with sketches of the principal families of the County''. Perth. (pp. 490–492). * '' The Courier and Advertiser'', Dundee, 26 April 2008, page 5. (photo of Ivan Govorkov & pupils at Fingask). * Galbraith, Antoinette. ''

Scotland on Sunday ''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate '' The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 20 ...

'', 28 January 2007. * Patterson, Vicky Jardine. "Fun with the Fingask Follies". ''Scottish Field'', June 2008, pp. 64–68.

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.fingaskcastle.com/
Fingask Follies
Perth and Kinross Council Archives. The collection comprises over 31,000 items. Country houses in Perth and Kinross Castles in Perth and Kinross Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Category B listed buildings in Perth and Kinross Listed castles in Scotland Fingask Murals in the United Kingdom Tourist attractions in Perth and Kinross Music festivals in Scotland