Gight | |
---|---|
Gight Castle | |
Location within Aberdeenshire | |
OS grid reference | NJ825401 |
Council area | |
Lieutenancy area | |
Country | Scotland |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | ELLON |
Postcode district | AB41 |
Dialling code | 01651 |
Police | Scotland |
Fire | Scottish |
Ambulance | Scottish |
UK Parliament | |
Scottish Parliament | |
Gight is the name of an estate in the parish of Fyvie in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is best known as the location of the 16th-century Gight (or Formartine) Castle, [1] ancestral home of Lord Byron.
Gight Castle is about 4 miles (6.4 km) miles east of Fyvie, just north of the River Ythan, and 1 mile (1.6 km) mile south of Cottown. [2]
The castle was built to an L-shaped plan, [3] probably in the 1570s [2] by George Gordon, the second laird. Ranges of outbuildings were built later. [2]
The tower has a vaulted basement, and a turnpike stair at the end of a long passage. There was a hall on the first floor. [2]
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, Archbishop of St Andrews. Alexander was killed at Dundee in 1579, and his daughter Elizabeth married George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar in 1590. [4]
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 to pay off her debts. It was then occupied by the Earl's son, George Gordon, Lord Haddo, until the latter's early death in 1791, since when it has been uninhabited. It was designated a scheduled ancient monument in 1965. [3]
The Gight Woods is a protected natural forest. [5]
It is said that the ruins are haunted by a piper who disappeared while exploring an underground passageway. [6]
There is a local legend that Gight Castle was cursed by Scottish prophet Thomas the Rhymer [7] 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. [7]
Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair, in the County of Aberdeen, in the County of Meath and in the County of Argyll, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 4 January 1916 for John Hamilton-Gordon, 7th Earl of Aberdeen.
George Gordon, 2nd Marquess of Huntly, styled Earl of Enzie from 1599 to 1636, eldest son of George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly by Lady Henrietta Stewart, daughter of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, born at Huntly Castle, Huntly, Aberdeenshire, in Scotland was brought up in England as a Protestant, and later created Viscount Aboyne by Charles I.
Fyvie Castle is a castle in the village of Fyvie, near Turriff in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Ellon is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately 16 miles north of Aberdeen, lying on the River Ythan, which has one of the few undeveloped river estuaries on the eastern coast of Scotland. It is in the ancient region of Formartine. Its name is believed to derive from the Gaelic term Eilean, an island, on account of the presence of an island in the River Ythan, which offered a convenient fording point. In 1707 it was made a burgh of barony for the Earl of Buchan. It is home to a unique collection of ancient yew trees.
Fyvie is a village in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Aberdeenshire or the County of Aberdeen is a historic county in Scotland. The county gives its name to the modern Aberdeenshire council area, which covers a larger area than the historic county. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975, but its boundaries are still used for certain functions, being a registration county. The area of the historic county excluding the Aberdeen City council area is also a lieutenancy area.
Clan Gordon is a Highland Scottish clan, historically one of the most powerful Scottish clans. The Gordon lands once spanned a large territory across the Highlands. Presently, Gordon is seated at Aboyne Castle, Aberdeenshire. The Chief of the clan is the Earl of Huntly, later the Marquess of Huntly.
Formartine 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.
William Gordon, 2nd Earl of Aberdeen, known between c. 1691 and 1720 as Lord Haddo, was a Scottish landowner and Tory politician who sat in the British House of Commons briefly from 1708 to 1709 when he was declared ineligible, being the eldest son of a Scottish peer. He showed some Jacobite sympathies, but took no part in the rebellions.
Methlick is a village in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, situated on the River Ythan 11.2 kilometres (7.0 mi) north-west of Ellon.
The Battle of Glenlivet was a Scottish clan battle fought on 3 October 1594 near Glenlivet, Moray, Scotland. It was fought between Protestant forces loyal to King James VI of Scotland who were commanded by Archibald Campbell, 7th Earl of Argyll, against Catholic forces who were commanded by George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly, and Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll. The Catholics won a decisive victory in the battle, but in the aftermath were subdued by King James.
Clan Leask is a Scottish clan.
Alexander Fraser, 11th Lord Saltoun, was a Scottish peer and the 10th Laird of Philorth.
Maryculter House is a historic house in the village of Maryculter, or Kirkton of Maryculter, in the Lower Deeside area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Clan Forbes is a Highland Scottish clan from Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Elizabeth Keith, Countess of Huntly, was a Scottish noblewoman and the wife of George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, Scotland's leading Catholic magnate during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. In 1562, Elizabeth encouraged her husband to raise forces against Queen Mary which led to his being outlawed, and after his death, his titles forfeited to the Crown. Elizabeth's son Sir John Gordon was executed for having taken part in his father's rebellion.
Formartine United Football Club are a Scottish senior association football club from Pitmedden, Aberdeenshire currently playing in the Highland Football League. They joined the Highland League for the 2009–10 season, having been accepted into the League on 25 February 2009.
The Murrays of Aberscross were a minor noble Scottish family who were seated at Aberscross Castle, in the county of Sutherland, Scotland. The Murrays in Sutherland are recorded specifically as a clan in two acts of the Scottish Parliament of the 16th century.
Patrick Gordon of Auchindoun (1538–1594) was a Scottish landowner and rebel.
James Crichton of Frendraught or Frendraucht (1599-1667) was a Scottish landowner and survivor of the Fire of Frendraught in October 1630. Several of his guests were killed at Frendraught Castle and arson was suspected, though the facts of the case were widely disputed and remain unresolved.