Frendraught CastleCoventry, Martin (1997) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p.184 or House is a 17th-century house, about east of

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlemen ...

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 ...

, and west of Largue, on the site of a 13th-century castle.

History

The original castle was burnt in 1630; the present house was built in 1656, but remodelled in 1753, and extended in 1790. It probably incorporates part of the original castle. The house, which was restored in 1974, is still occupied. The Crichtons held the property, which

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of James IV of Sco ...

visited in 1535, but it passed to the

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...

in 1690. The burning of 1630 was during a feud with the Gordons. The Lord of

Rothiemay Milltown of Rothiemay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ràth a' Mhuigh'') is a small inland village, built mostly of granite, in the north-east of Scotland and is within the Moray council area bordering neighbouring Aberdeenshire across the river to the sou ...

, Lord Aboyne, and four others, were killed in the burning, but the Crichton laird and his people escaped.

James Crichton of Frendraught James Crichton of Frendraught or Frendraucht was a Scottish landowner involved in a fire on 18 October 1630. Eight guests were killed at Frendraught Castle and arson was suspected. The facts of the case were widely disputed. Family backgroun ...

was charged with but acquitted of their murder; but one of his servants, John Meldrum, was executed. This event was celebrated in the ballad, ‘'The Fire of Frendraught’’, ballad

196 Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita ...

in the

Child Ballads The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as ''T ...

.Buchan, John (1928) ''Montrose''.

Thomas Nelson (publisher) Thomas Nelson is a publishing firm that began in West Bow, Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1798, as the namesake of its founder. It is a subsidiary of HarperCollins, the publishing unit of News Corp. It describes itself as a "world leading publisher a ...

p.201 The Gordons gathered the 'ashes and brynt bones' of the victims and buried them at the Kirk of

Gartly Gartly ( sco, Gairtlie, gd, Gartaidh) is an inland hamlet in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is several miles south of the town of Huntly, and sits on the River Bogie, a tributary of the River Deveron. The parish in which it is located also takes i ...

. His son,

James Crichton James Crichton, known as the Admirable Crichton (19 August 1560 – 3 July 1582), was a Scottish polymath noted for his extraordinary accomplishments in languages, the arts, and sciences before he was murdered at the age of 21. Ear ...

, was created Viscount Frendraught in 1642. He fought against

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612 – 21 May 1650) was a Scottish nobleman, poet and soldier, Lord Lieutenant, lord lieutenant and later viceroy and captain general of Scotland. Montrose initially joined the Covenanters in the Wa ...

at the battle of Aberdeen, and with him in 1650 at the

battle of Carbisdale The Battle of Carbisdale (also known as Invercarron) took place close to the village of Culrain, Sutherland, Scotland on 27 April 1650 and was part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It was fought by the Royalist leader James Graham, 1st Marq ...

, where he was wounded and gave his horse to Montrose to allow his escape. While it is said that he was captured and died soon after,

John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. After a brief legal career ...

says that he lived until 1664 or 1665, and that another story, that he committed suicide after the battle, although accepted by the

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, is without foundation.Buchan, p. 201

Structure

The present structure has been described as an extended house of considerable complexity and charm. Cellars in the west wing probably belong to the original building, while two small

chamfered A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fur ...

windows in the west gable seem to be the oldest features. There are fragments of the adjacent tower, which was demolished in 1947, adhering to the east elevation. The rebuilding in the 17th century consists of an imposing seven-window

harled Harling is a roughcast, rough-cast wall finish consisting of lime and aggregate, known for its rough texture. Many castles and other buildings in Scotland and Ulster have walls finished with harling. It is also used on contemporary buildings, w ...

front with an

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

-faced three window centre, which is topped by a

semicircular In mathematics (and more specifically geometry), a semicircle is a one-dimensional locus of points that forms half of a circle. The full arc of a semicircle always measures 180° (equivalently, radians, or a half-turn). It has only one line of ...

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

, slightly advanced. The porch, which has a 1688

datestone A datestone is typically an embedded stone with the date of engraving and other information carved into it. They are not considered a very reliable source for dating a house, as instances of old houses being destroyed and rebuilt (with the old da ...

, was added when the angle tower was embellished with

battlements A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

and

bartizans A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging, wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of late medieval and early-modern fortifications from the ...

, about 1832. There are crow-stepped offices to the north of the court, which have now been converted; this structure dates from the 18th century or earlier.

Tradition

The ghost of Lady Elizabeth Crichton, who died in the 17th century, who may have been involved in the burning, is said to haunt the castle. Sightings were reported during the 20th century. *

Castles in Great Britain and Ireland Castles have played an important military, economic and social role in Great Britain and Ireland since their introduction following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Although a small number of castles had been built in England in the 10 ...

List of castles in Scotland This is a list of castles in Scotland. A castle is a type of fortified structure built primarily during the Middle Ages. Scholars debate the scope of the word "castle", but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or ...

References

External links

* {{coord , 57.4651, N, 2.6335, W, display=title Castles in Aberdeenshire