The old castle of Airlie is supposed to have belonged to the same age as those of Redcastle, and Castle Guthrie, the latter being the seat of Guthrie of Guthrie, the most ancient family in the County of Angus. It occupied a commanding site on the rocky promontory at the confluence of the Melgum and the Isla. A building of great strength, both as regards position and masonry, it ranked as one of the noblest and most formidable baronial residences in the country, and previous to the introduction of artillery, must have been almost impregnable. In its original state it had the form of an oblong quadrangle, and occupied nearly the whole summit of the promontory. The massive wall which protected the castle on the eastern and most accessible side, together with the portcullis entry, still remain in connexion with the modern mansion of Airlie. The fosse also continues distinct, although now partially filled up to suit the questionable ideas of modern improvement. And these few remains are all that is left of the "Bonnie House o' Airlie!" Byron says "Not that I love man the less, but Nature more," which, to be in full accordance with my own feelings, I should alter thus-Not that I love Nature less, but mankind before. Intensely as I adore and love Nature in all her varied moods of sunshine and storm, sublime magnificence and golden beauty, I still more intensely adore and love the human heart, with all its warm affections, tender emotions, its deep-seated, holy, unchangeable love. Hence, I never feel my landscapes to be complete, without the voices of children mingling in the diapason of song. There may be the choral melody of birds, the sweet murmuring of streams, the mystic music of the distant sea, but all is to me comparatively a world of silence without human interest being manifested in the scene, and human voices blending with Nature's far resounding hymn of universal joy. So, as when at Craighall, our thoughts at first reverted to the mythical baron of Bradwardine, they converged in the end on that recent catastrophe, by which a young and blooming maiden was suddenly bereft of life, just because of its human interest, and having in it that "touch of nature which makes the whole world kin;" we now leave the recital of the barbarous cruelties of Argyll, and the cruel wrongs of Airlie, and fix our thoughts on the sad and sudden death of the young Cambridge student, at the very moment the prize of his ambition seemed to be within his reach. Mr Andrew Craik, M.A., and fourth wrangler at Cambridge, was born and brought up on the Braes of Airlie, where his father has a small pendicle. From his boyhood, he evinced great aptitude for learning, displaying more than ordinary talents in mastering the elements of classical and general literature. From the parish school of Airlie, he went to the University of Aberdeen, where he was a distinguished student. The bursaries and prizes which he gained at Aberdeen and in Glasgow, amounted to £500, which enabled him to pursue his studies without requiring any assistance from his friends. At Cambridge, he at once gained a scholarship, and was appointed by the University to lecture in some of the principal towns in England. Had he lived a few days longer, he would have got his Fellowship. A good classical scholar, and a distinguished mathematician, his whole career was one of splendid success. He died, after a few hours' illness, at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, on the 2d June 1874, at the early age of twenty-seven. His early death has caused wide-spread regret. His winning, unassuming manners endeared him to the poor; his gentlemanly bearing and well-stored mind, made him a welcome guest at the tables of the higher classes. The Earl of Airlie, with his accustomed discernment and generosity of heart, took an early interest in his welfare, and encouraged him to proceed bravely on in his literary career; while a letter from the countess, congratulating him on his Cambridge successes, was one of the earliest received, as it was amongst the most highly prized by his mother. Only a few days before his death, he wrote home that he had secured a lectureship, and that he had a hope almost reaching to assurance, that he was soon to receive a Fellowship of considerable value. He expressed himself as longing for home; that, rich as were the English landscapes which daily met his eye, no fields were so green, nor woods so beautiful as those of Airlie. THE BONNIE BRAES O' AIRLIE.* Bonnie sing the birds in the bright English valleys, Winding flows the Cam, but it's no my ain loved Isla, Thirsting for a name, I left my native mountains, Yonder gleams the prize for which I've aye been longing— * Set to music by Alfred Stella. CHAPTER XLIII. KIRRIEMUIR. "Kirriemuir bears the gree." Drummond. PROCEEDING eastward, and passing by the dark woods and castellated Mansion of Lindertis, the next parish we reach is Kirriemuir, anciently Kil-marie, a burgh or barony, of which the old Earls of Angus were superiors. It skirts the north side of the valley of Strathmore, and its locality is discernable from a great distance, the hill of Kirriemuir rising abruptly to a great height immediately to the north of the town. The name is supposed to be compounded of two words, Corrie-mor, the large hollow or den. The situation of the town on the side of a ravine or den, fully bears out the derivation. Nothing authentic is known respecting the early history of Kirriemuir. Tradition is silent, and history only records some miniature battles between the Ogilvys and Lindsays in 1447. The noble family of Airlie connected with this parish, can trace their genealogy as far back as the reign of William the Lion, who succeeded to the crown of Scotland in 1165, being descended from Gilbert, third son of Gillebride, second Earl of Angus. King William conferred on Gilbert the lands of Powrie, and those of Ogilvy in the parish of Glamis. From the last named, the surname of Ogilvy was assumed. Sir James Ogilvy was created a peer by King James IV., by the title of Lord Ogilvy of Airlie, and sat in his Parliament in 1491. The title of Earl was conferred on the eighth Lord Ogilvy in 1639, by King Charles I. After the rebellion in 1745, in which Lord Ogilvy was engaged, the title was for sometime in abeyance, but was restored in 1826, to David, the late Earl, and father to the present nobleman who so worthily bears the titles and honours of this ancient house. The The Ogilvys of Inverquharity trace their descent from Walter Ogilvy of Auchterhouse, and had conferred on them the lands and barony of Inverquharity in 1420. The members of this family have generally distinguished themselves, and have held, in different reigns, the highest military and civil appointments. Captain Ogilvy, son of Sir David Ogilvy of Inverquharity, is said to have been the author of the once popular song "It was a' for our rightful King." present representative of this ancient family is Sir John Ogilvy of Baldovan, who ably represented Dundee in Parliament, from 1857 to 1874. Sir John, by his dignified and courteous bearing, combined with continuous assiduity in the discharge of his parliamentary duties, was always regarded by his constituents with the highest respect and esteem, and general regret was felt at the unexpected result of the late election, by which the union which had so long subsisted between him and the community, was so suddenly dissolved. The Kirriemuirians, if undistinguished by their martial prowess in the field of battle, were noted for the fervour with which they pursued their inglorious feuds with the Souters of Forfar. There is a tradition or legend, that Drummond of Hawthornden visited Forfar in the summer of 1645, while on a tour through the north of Scotland, and that he was inhospitably refused shelter for the night. The plague was then raging in many parts of Scotland, and this might have been the reason of their uncourteous and unfriendly treatment of the sensitive bard. Stung by such ungenerous treatment, the poet disdainfully shook the dust from off his feet, and betook himself to the neighbouring town of Kirriemuir, where he at once received a hearty welcome. Having become acquainted with the pending feud betwixt the inhabitants of the two places, respecting a piece of ground called the Muir Moss, which was claimed by both parishes, Drummond resolved |