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restum de Kyntor in Festo Sancti Clementis anno regnj nostrj Tricesimo tercio

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Carta Johannis de Botheuille de terra parci de Garqwolle. (A.D. 1370.) Dauid Dei gracia Rex Scottorum Omnibus probis hominibus tocius terre sue Salutem Sciatis nos dedisse dilecto consanguineo nostro Johanni de Botheuille totam terram nostram parci de Garqwolle cum pertinenciis infra vicecomitatum de Banffe Tenendam et habendam eidem Johanni pro toto tempore vite sue cum omnibus et singulis libertatibus commoditatibus aysiamentis et iustis pertinenciis quibuscunque ad dictam terram spectantibus etc libere quiete etc. Faciendo seruicium debitum et consuetum. In cuius rei etc. Testibus etc. Apud Edynburghe. xix. die Aprilis anno regni nostri Quadragesimo Primo..

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Decreit aganis Thomas Bard of Ordynhuff 2 (16 February 1490.) The lordis auditouris decrettis and deliueris that Thomas Bard of Ordynhuff sall content and pay to James Turing burges of Edinburghe as cessionare and assignay to Alexander Maister of Huntle as wes prefit be his assignatioun vnder his sele and subscriptioun manuale a last of salmonde of the mesure of Banf full rede and swet gude merchand ware for the quhilk the said Thomas wes bundin be his obligatioun vnder his sele schewin and producit before the lordis and ordinis that lettrez be writtin to distrenye him his landis and gudis thairfore and the said Thomas wes summond to this actioune oft tymmes callit and nocht comperit ·

Anent the landis of Dwrne (10 June 1493.)

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The lordis auditouris decrettis and deliueris that Alexander Berclay of Matheris sall infeft James Ogilby of Desfurde knycht in the landis of

1 [From the Registrvm Magni Sigilli Regvm Scotorvm, p. 75.

In a roll of missing charters by King David II., is "Carta to Ade Buttergask of the park of Gilchill in vicecomitatu de Banff." (Robertson's Index to the Charters, p. 54.)]

2 [From the Acta Dominorum Auditorum, p. 138; Robertson's Parliamentary Records of Scotland, pp. 397, 398.]

3 [From the Acta Dominorum Auditorum, p. 173; Robertson's Parliamentary Records of Scotland, p. 378.

On the twentieth of October, 1407, Robert Duke of Albany, governor of Scotland,

Dwrne liand withtin the schirefdome of Banff be charter and sesing to be haldin of William erle Merschell owrlord of the sammyn and get the said owrlordis confirmatioune tharapoun or ellis resigne the saidis landis of Dwrne in the said owrlordis handis be him self or his procuratouris and mak the expenss at the owrlordis handis apone the resignatioune or confirmatioune quhilkis sall emplese the said Schyr James efter the forme of the indenturis maid betuix thaim tharapoun subscriuit witht the said Alexandris Berclais hande schewin and producit before the lordis / And assignis to the said Schyr James the viij day of October nixt tocum witht continatioune of dais to preif his costis dampnage and scathtis and ordinis him to haf lettrez to summond his witnes and the partiis ar summond be thaim self and thair procuratouris apud acta ·

granted a charter confirming a grant by Alexander of Strathechine of Ledynturk to David Berclay of Dwrna, of an annuity of five merks from the lands of Pitgerwy in The Mearns. (Registrvm Magni Sigilli Regvm Scotorvm, p. 245; Collections for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, p. 605.)

In the year 1492, Durne seems to have been possessed by a family of the name of Currour. (Registrum Episcopatus Moraviensis, pp. 247, 248. Edinb. 1837. 4to.)

"Joannes Currar, sive Currerius, domo Banfiensis, sed insigni militari fortitudine Regi Wilhelmo carus. Cum recepisset Northumbriam Rex, Currerio data provinciae administratio; itaque ille regio nomine provinciam lustravit, ac circumiens in commentarios retulit vires civitatum, atque populorum qui bello inservire possent multitudinem, ut faceret quoddam veluti summarium aut breviarium regionis, ut vocat Suetonius in Augusto. Titulum operi fecit : De Septuaginta et octo monitis Castellis Northumbriae Comitatus lib. 1.; De possessoribus eorum continua serie lib. 1.; De officio Limitum Praefecti lib. I.; Epistolae ad Wilhelmum Regem lib. 1.' Floruit circa annum MCCLXX." (T. Dempsteri Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Scotorum, t. i., p. 162.)]

THE PARISH OF DESKFORD.1

A DESCRIPTION OF THE PARISH OF DESKFOORD.

BY MR. WILLIAM OGILVY.

(A.D. M.DCC.XXIV.) 2

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HE church of Deskfoord is situate about the midle of the parish, where stands the mansion house of Deskfoord, belonging to the Earle of Findlater; the church and house built together, (in old said to be a litle convent), standing on a burn, which, at Cullen, is called The Burn of Cullen, but here, The Burn of Deskford.

It hath the church of Cullen to the east, two myles; to the west, the church of Ruthven, three myles; to the south, the church of Grange, four miles; and, to the east, the church of Fordyce.

The Burn of Deskford runneth down the midle of the parish, which is well

1 [See Collections for a History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff, pp. 644.] 2 [From Macfarlane's Geographical Collections for Scotland, MSS. Adv. Bibl. "The parish of Deskford was originally a part of the parish of Fordyce, and was included in Cullen when that parish was disjoined from Fordyce; but the precise period when Deskford was erected into a separate parish from Cullen, is not distinctly known. It appears from a decreet of stipend for Fordyce, that the union subsisted in the year 1618." (The Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. iv., pp. 358, 359. Edinb. 1792.)]

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3 ["There is no date upon the church: one pew in it bears 1627, another 1630. by it is an old castle, called The Tower of Deskford, said to have been built by the Sinclairs, who were the immediate predecessors of the Ogilvies in the property of the lordship of Deskford. It appears to have been a pretty spacious building, in the form of a court; but there now remains only one room's length, vaulted below, with three storeys and a garret. Adjoining to this tower there was formerly a chapel, called St. John's Chapel, upon one of the walls of which there is an inscription, bearing the name of Alexander Ogilvie, with the Ogilvie's arms and motto, and the date of 1551. In an orchard adjoining, there is an ash-tree which measures in girth twenty-four feet five inches and a half: it is called St. John's Tree." (The Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. iv., pp. 361, 362.)

"The church is a very ancient building, and was evidently erected before the reformation. It is said to have been dedicated to St. John. Beside it, is St. John's Well, the spring or stream supplying which issues almost as it were from beneath the church. Close to St. John's Well is the once stately tree dedicated to the same saint, of which nothing now remains but a very small part of the trunk, hollowed, scathed, and withered, sending forth only one small solitary green branch. Close to the church is the ruin of an old castle, called The Tower of Deskford. The south wall of this building and the north wall of the

planted, and hath plenty of lymestone. There are great mosses on both sides of the parish.

About one myle from the church, to the north-east, is a dwelling house, call'd Airdoch, belonging to a vassel to the Earle of Findlater, of the name of Ogilvie.

South from the church one myle, on the said burn of Deskfoord, is a house called Skeith,' belonging in old to the name of Abercrumby, now to the Earle of Findlater.

The church is eight myles north-north-west from Banf, and two myles south from Cullen.2

church are in immediate contact, and there is reason to think, that there had been a door of communication between the two, and that the church had been the family chapel. The Tower was, till lately, a very prominent and interesting feature in the scenery; but, owing to the masonry having got into so loose and incohesive a state, as to occasion danger of its being blown down, and overwhelming the church, which it greatly overtopped, it was some years ago pulled down." (The New Statistical Account of Scotland, number xi., pp. 65, 66, 68. Edinb. 1836.)]

1 ["About a mile to the south of the church, stands the castle of Skeith, of late years become ruinous. It is delightfully situated upon an eminence rising from the burn, having a peep of the sea, and an extensive view of the strath. On each side are waterfalls from the hill, descending between rocks and fertile fields, beautifully interspersed with natural wood. This ruin is a striking object." (The Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. iv., p. 362.) "Of the Castle of Skeith, mentioned in the former Statistical Account, there is now no vestige." (The New Statistical Account, number xi., p. 68.)]

2 ["On the farm of Inalterie, there are the remains of a very old strong massive building, in one part of which is a deep circular hole, about the diameter of an ordinary draw-well, inclosed by a wall of masonry, rising to a considerable height in the building. Close to it, there is a vault. In the immediate vicinity of this ruin, there was, till lately, a conical artificial eminence, called The Law Hillock, supposed to have been at one time the seat from which justice was distributed it is now demolished. On the other side of the burn of Deskford, within view of the former, and about half a mile from it, is another hillock, rising to the height of twenty feet, with regularly sloping sides, and flat upon the top, which is of an elliptical shape, about thirty feet by eighteen feet. It is surrounded at the base by a ditch, one part of which forms the bed of a small stream which runs past it, and is called The Ha' Burn, as the hillock is called The Ha' Hillock. There was found, about twenty years ago, on the confines of a farm called Liechestown, the resemblance of a swine's head in brass, of the ordinary size, with a wooden tongue moveable by springs. It was found at a depth of about six feet, in a mossy and knolly piece of ground, upon a bed of clay." (The New Statistical Account of Scotland, number xi., pp. 66, 67, 68.) ]

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(A.D. 1382.)

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Carta pro Alexandro Senescalli comite Buchanie1 Robertus Dei gracia Rex Scottorum. Omnibus etc. Sciatis nos dedisse concessisse et hac presenti carta nostra confirmasse dilecto filio nostro Alexandro Senescalli comiti Buchanie et Eufamie domine de Rosse baronias siue dominia de Sky et de Lewes omnes illas terras in Cathania et Suthirlandia . omnes illas terras infra vicecomitatum de Narne infra vicecomitatum de Inuirnys omnes illas terras infra metas Atholie infra vicecomitatum de Perthe baroniam de Fythkille cum pertinenciis infra vicecomitatum de Fyffe omnes terras infra Galwydiam terras de Forgrundtheny et Kynfawnys infra vicecomitatum de Perthe ac eciam thanagium de Glendovachy et terras de Deskford infra vicecomitatum de Banffe. que fuerunt dicte Eufamie iure hereditarie et quas eadem Eufamia [etc.] mera et spontanea voluntate sua nobis [etc.] simpliciter resignauit [etc.] Tenendas et habendas eisdem Alexandro et Eufamie et eorum diucius viuenti / heredibusque inter ipsos legitime procreandis quibus forsan deficientibus heredibus dicte Eufamie legitimis quibuscunque de nobis et heredibus nostris in feodo et hereditate [etc.] Faciendo inde seruicia debita et consueta. In cuius rei [etc.] Apud Inuernys xxv die Julij · Anno regni nostri duodecimo.

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1 [From the Registrvm Magni Sigilli Regvm Scotorvm, p. 165.

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In a roll of missing charters by King Robert I. are "Carta Christino de Ard, militi, the third part lands of Derskfoord, in vicecomitatu de Banff;" "Carta Christino de Ard, militi, the third part of the lands of Ardache, and third part of Skeith, in the barony of Deskford." (Robertson's Index to the Charters, p. 16.) "There are many other Charters I have seen granted by King Robert I. in which Sir Alexander Fraser is stiled Chamberlain of Scotland, particularly in a Grant by that Monarch Christino de Forbes, militi, tertiam partem davatae de Ardach, et tertiam partem davatae de Skeeth, in baronia de Deskford, etc. Testibus Bernardo abbate de Arbroath cancellario nostro; Thoma Ranulphi comite Moraviae, domino Vallis Anandiae et Manniae nepote nostro; Hugone comite de Ross; Waltero senescallo Scotiae; Jacobo domino de Douglass; Alexandro Fraser camerario nostro Scotiae; 27. March, anno regni nostri,' says the King, vicesimo' [1325]." (Crawfurd's Lives of the Officers of State, p. 275.)

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In a roll of missing charters by King David II. are "Carta to Ade Buthergask, and his spouse, of the barony of Desforde, Ardache, Skeythis, in vicecomitatu de Banff;" "Carta to John Dun, of the lands of Ardache, and Skeithis, in vicecomitatu de Banf.” (Robertson's Index to the Charters, pp. 45, 32, 60, 68.)

"Jhon Syncler lorde of Deskforde" is one of the witnesses to a deed which records that "on Fryday the sextende day of the moneth of August the yher of our Lorde a thowsande

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