Gight is the name of an estate in the parish of

Fyvie Fyvie is a village in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Geography Fyvie lies alongside the River Ythan and is on the A947 road. Architecture What in 1990, at least, was a Clydesdale Bank was built in 1866 by James Matthews. The ...

in the

Formartine Formartine ( gd, Fearann Mhàrtainn meaning "Martin's land") is a committee area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This district extends north from the River Don to the River Ythan. It has a population of 36,478 (2001 Census). The committee area was ...

area of

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, United Kingdom. It is best known as the location of the 16th-century Gight (or Formartine) Castle, ancestral home of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

Gight Castle

Gight Castle is about miles east of Fyvie, just north of the

River Ythan The Ythan is a river in the north-east of Scotland rising at Wells of Ythan near the village of Ythanwells and flowing south-eastwards through the towns of Fyvie, Methlick and Ellon before flowing into the North Sea near Newburgh, in Formartine ...

, and mile south of Cottown.Coventry, Martin (1997) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p.188 The castle was built to an L-shaped plan, probably in the 1570s by George Gordon, the second laird. Ranges of outbuildings were built later. The tower has a vaulted

basement A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...

, and a

turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powers ...

stair at the end of a long passage. There was a

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gr ...

on the first floor. George Gordon had no children, and the property passed to his brother, James Gordon of Cairnbannoch and Gight. His son Alexander married Agnes Beaton, daughter of

David Beaton David Beaton (also Beton or Bethune; 29 May 1546) was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scotland, Scottish Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal prior to the Scottish Reformation, Reformation. Career Cardinal Beaton was the sixth and youngest ...

Archbishop of St Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews ( gd, Easbaig Chill Rìmhinn, sco, Beeshop o Saunt Andras) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews ( gd, Àrd-easbaig ...

. Alexander was killed at Dundee in 1579, and his daughter Elizabeth married

George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar, KG, PC (ca. 155620 January 1611) was, in the last decade of his life, the most prominent and most influential Scotsman in England. His work lay in the King's Household and in the control of the State Affairs of ...

in 1590. It was later occupied by Catherine Gordon Byron, the mother of Lord Byron, but she sold it in 1787 to

George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen (19 June 1722 – 13 August 1801), styled Lord Haddo until 1745, was a Scottish peer. He sat in the House of Lords as a Scottish Representative Peer from 1747 to 1761, and from 1774 to 1790. He was against Willi ...

to pay off her debts. It was then occupied by the Earl's son,

George Gordon, Lord Haddo George Gordon, Lord Haddo (28 January 1764 – 2 October 1791) was a Scottish Freemason and the eldest son of George Gordon, 3rd Earl of Aberdeen. Cites: On 18 June 1782, Haddo married Charlotte Baird (d. 8 October 1795) a sister of Sir David ...

, until the latter's early death in 1791, since when it has been uninhabited. It was designated a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

in 1965. The Gight Woods is a protected natural forest.

Folklore

It is said that the ruins are haunted by a piper who disappeared while exploring an underground passageway. There is a local legend that Gight Castle was cursed by Scottish prophet

Thomas the Rhymer Sir Thomas de Ercildoun, better remembered as Thomas the Rhymer (fl. c. 1220 – 1298), also known as Thomas Learmont or True Thomas, was a Scottish laird and reputed prophet from Earlston (then called "Erceldoune") in the Borders. Thomas ...

who proclaimed ''“At Gight three men by sudden death shall dee, And after that the land shall lie in lea”.'' Almost 500 years later, three men were killed and the prophecy fulfilled. The nearby river below the ruins is said to contain a treasure hidden by the 7th Laird and guarded by the Devil.

References

{{authority control Villages in Aberdeenshire Castles in Aberdeenshire Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Aberdeenshire