the Gardynes and their neighbour and rival, Guthrie of that ilk. In 1578, Patrick Gardyne of that ilk, fell by the hand of William Guthrie. Ten years afterwards, doubtless out of revenge for the death of their chief, the Gardynes attacked and killed the head of the family of Guthrie; and according to the charge preferred against them, the deed was committed "beside the place of Innerpeffer, vponne sett purpois provisioune, auld feid and foirthocht fellony." These disastrous feuds became so serious, that the king was called upon to interpose his authority between them; and not long thereafter, the estates of both families were reduced and broken up, those of Guthrie passing into the hands of Bishop Guthrie of Moray, who was descended from John Guthrie of Hilltown, fourth son of Sir Alexander Guthrie.

Guthrie anciently spelt Guthery, Guthre, and Guthry— has been a name of distinction in Scotland as far back as the records of the country extend. It is believed that the family of Guthrie is the most ancient of the County of Angus. It is matter of undoubted fact, that they were men of rank and property long before the time of James II. of Scotland, and that many of the house were distinguished by their talents, enterprise and valour. Sir Alexander Guthrie, with one of his sons and three brothers-in-law, fell at Flodden Field. It is true Sir David Guthrie of Kincaldrum acquired the lands of Guthrie in 1465, but the family, as will afterwards appear, were men of eminence and distinction centuries before that era. The Kincaldrum, or more properly the Brigton Guthries, where the ancestors of the writer have resided for centuries, are the most ancient of the clan, all the other direct or collateral branches having originally sprung from this the most ancient stock of which we have any record.

Guthrie Castle, the principal residence of the chief of the family of that name is of great antiquity. Sir David Guthrie, already mentioned, obtained warrant under the great seal to build the present Castle in 1468, but the old Castle was in existence centuries before that period. It is still in good preservation

and must formerly, when surrounded by water, have been a place of considerable strength. The fact has already been alluded to, that, in 1299, when Sir William Wallace had resigned the guardianship of Scotland and retired to France, the Northern lairds of Scotland sent Squire Guthrie to request his return, in order to assist in opposing the English.

The Castle of Guthrie to which the present laird has added a spire and other castellated embellishments viewed from the south, with the gently undulating hill of Guthrie as a fitting back-ground to the pleasant picture, has a very grand and imposing appearance. Although the antique towers are only seen at a distance, uprearing their lofty pinnacles above the umbrageous woods, the effect produced on the mind is pleasing and classical in the extreme. The castellated gateway is one of the most magnificent in the country. It is a fine gothic structure composed of a graceful arch, flanked with towers and bearing a fine sculpture of the family arms. Guthrie Junction is now one of the most important stations on the great line of railway from London to Aberdeen. In the southern division of the parish, is a Roman Camp, situate about five miles southeast from Forfar. It is one of the most entire of any of the Roman temporary camps that have been discovered. Its length is about 2280 feet by 1080, close to the south-east angle is an enclosure, situated on the highest ground, whence all the rest of the camp is seen. Its gate is covered with a straight traverse, like that of the camp. This camp, on the Polybian system, would hold, it is supposed, 10,000 men.

The church and manse are very pleasantly situated, being on the verge of a declivity, sloping down into the valley through which the Lunan flows peacefully on its course to the sea. The Guthrie arms surmount the gateway of the churchyard, with the initials and date-"G: B. G: 1637." There are some curious mottos on the graveyard stones, not the least curious being the following over the burying ground of a family named Spence :

"Beside this stone lyes many Spences,
Who in their life did no offences;

And where they lived, if that ye speir,

In Guthrie's ground four hundred year."

Under the head "Brigton," I have given the legend of Sir David Guthrie and Ladye Douglas, and alluded to the fine memorial window erected in the Episcopal church of Forfar by the present esteemed laird of Guthrie, in memory of his father and mother, Joannis Gvthrie de Gvthrie, and Annæ Douglas de Brigton.

Dr Jamieson gives Guthrie as a Pictish name, and shews its affinity to some Icelandic and Danish names. This derivation of the name is borne out by other authorities, who aver that the Guthries are descended from Guthrum, a royal prince of Denmark, who came to, and settled in Scotland in the earliest era of her history. The oldest spelling of the name is "Guthryn," and the Gaelic Gath-erran, means "a dart-shaped division," being singularly expressive of the form of the parish.

Francis Guthrie of Gaigie married his cousin, Berthia Guthrie, only child of Bishop Guthrie. This Francis Guthrie being a grandson of Alexander Guthrie of Guthrie, thus, as the direct lineal descendant of the Guthries of Guthrie, reinstated the direct line of the family in their ancient possessions. The provincial couplet still applies to the properties alluded to:

"Guthrie of Guthrie,

And Guthrie of Gaigie,
Guthrie of Taybank,

And Guthrie of Craigie."

The Guthries are connected by marriage with some of the noblest families in the county, including those of Panmure, Southesk, Strathmore, and Airlie.

GUTHRIE ARMS-Quarterly: 1st and 4th or, a lion, rampant, gu., armed and langued, az. ; 2d and 3d az, a garb, or.

CREST-A dexter arm, issuing, holding a drawn sword, ppr.

SUPPORTERS-Two knights, armed at all points, with batons in their dexter hands, and the vizors of their helmets up, all ppr.

MOTTO (Above the Crest)-Sto Pro Veritate.

CHAPTER XXIV.

ABERLEMNO.

There's not a cairn or mossy stone,
But hath some legend of its own.

BIDDING adieu for the present to the classic precincts and beautiful surroundings of Castle Guthrie, we shall now leisurely wend our way over the eastern shoulder of Turin hill, casting an admiring gaze, on our way, at the beautiful Loch of Rescobie, whence the Lunan takes its rise, on our left, with the glorious Howe stretching far away to the west in all its golden loveliness and unparalleled beauty.

We are now approaching the far-famed "Cross Stones of Aberlemno," all the more interesting because of the mythical halo which still encompasses with uncertainty their original design and meaning.

The parish derives its name from the small river Lemno, which has its origin in a spring near the house of Carsegownie. This stream falls into the South Esk near the ruins of the ancient castle of Finhaven. Aberlemno signifies at the mouth of the Lemno. Close to the source of the Lemno the outlines of an ancient church are still visible, but whether this was the original church of Aberlemno or only a chapel attached to the neighbouring Castle of Finhaven, is very doubtful.

A charter of infeftment of the Thanedom of Aberlenoche, or Aberlemno, was granted by Robert the Bruce to William Blunt, a cadet of an old Dumfriesshire family. (Robertson's Index, 18). Adam, of Anand, a canon of Dunkeld, rector of the church of Monimail, in Fife, 1254-71, appears to have been the proprietor, at that time, of the lands of Melgund in

the parish of Aberlemno. The family held these lands until the year 1542, when the heiress, Janet of Anand, with consent of her second husband, Balfour of Baledmouth, sold them to Cardinal Beaton, who built the Castle of which the ruins still remain. The estate of Aberlemno was acquired in 1845, by Patrick Hunter Thoms, Esq., of the Crescent, Dundee. Melgund Castle was a favourite country residence of Cardinal Beaton, to which, tradition saith, he frequently resorted for other purposes less creditable to the prelate's character, and less consistent with his vow of celibacy than a mere love of retirement or of relaxation from the fatigues of public business. The remains of this castle are still extensive, such as the spacious banquetting hall and other portions of the building which indicate it to have originally been a place of great strength and magnificence.

Tradition avers that Melgund Castle was, for some considerable time, the prison-residence of one of Cardinal Beaton's Mistresses. On one of the landing-places of the stair, which leads to the tower in which she was confined, are still to be seen, in antique characters, the initials M. O. which refer, it is said, to Mary Ogilvy, daughter of one of the most ancient houses in Angus. Her violent death is shrouded in mystery.

Another legend commonly associated with the supposed attempt to build Melgund Castle on a neighbouring hill, and its ultimate erection in its present low, damp situation, in which invisible agencies had the principal share in the demolition of the mythical building, is, in reality, a mere counterpart of the tradition, already related as "Legend of the First Castle of Glamis."

A subterraneous passage at the bottom of one of the towers of Melgund, although now closed up in consequence, it is said, of a cow having fallen into it some years ago, forms still a subject of mysterious conjecture, in as much as it is believed to be the depository of prodigious treasures of untold value. The fabulous wealth it was believed to contain, induced an adventurous youth to explore some time ago its mysterious