Armorial
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The Earls of Mansfield, owners until 2017.
Brady Brim-DeForest, owner since 2017. [9]
The Lordship and Barony of Balvaird is a Scottish feudal lordship (a feudal barony of higher degree). The caput of the Lordship and Barony of Balvaird is Balvaird Castle, in the County of Perthshire in Scotland. One of the borders of the Barony was at one time the River Farg. [1] The Barony was originally granted by a Crown Charter of Confirmation in favour of Lord Andrew Murray "of the lands and Barony of Balvaird" dated 16 March 1624. The Barony is described in Latin in the crown grant as "terrarum et baronie de Balvaird". [2] The spelling of the name of the Lordship & Barony has many variations, including Balverd, Balverde, Balward, Balwaird [3] and Baleward. [4]
In 1673, a Crown Charter of Erection of the Lordship of Balvaird was granted in favour of David Murray, 5th Viscount of Stormont. The subjects of the charter are narrated in English as "all and whole various lands incorporated into the Lordship and Barony of Balvaird, together with the tower, fortalice and manor place of Balvaird.” [5]
The Barony of Balvaird is one of several Scottish feudal Crown baronies. The previous Lord of Balvaird was Alexander Murray, 9th Earl of Mansfield. He had inherited the title from his father William Murray, 8th Earl of Mansfield, who died in 2015. [6] The title passed by deed of assignation [7] to the present Lord of Balvaird, American Brady Brim-DeForest, in 2017. [8] Brim-DeForest owns both the castle of Balvaird and separately the titular feudal barony of Balvaird. [9]
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Perthshire, officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south; it borders the counties of Inverness-shire and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus to the east, Fife, Kinross-shire, Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire to the south and Argyllshire to the west. It was a local government county from 1890 to 1930.
The shires of Scotland, or counties of Scotland, are historic subdivisions of Scotland established in the Middle Ages and used as administrative divisions until 1975. Originally established for judicial purposes, from the 17th century they started to be used for local administration purposes as well. The areas used for judicial functions (sheriffdoms) came to diverge from the shires, which ceased to be used for local government purposes after 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.
The title Earl of Morton was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith. Along with it, the title Lord Aberdour was granted. This latter title is the courtesy title for the eldest son and heir to the Earl of Morton.
Earl of Mansfield, in the County of Nottingham, and Earl of Mansfield, in the County of Middlesex, are two titles in the Peerage of Great Britain that have been united under a single holder since 1843.
Viscount of Stormont is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1621 by James VI for his friend and helper Sir David Murray who had saved him from the attack of the Earl of Gowrie in 1600. Murray had already been created Lord Scone, also in the Peerage of Scotland in 1605. The peerages were created with remainder to 1) Sir Mungo Murray, fourth son of John Murray, 1st Earl of Tullibardine, failing which to 2) John Murray, who was created Earl of Annandale in 1625, and failing which to 3) Sir Andrew Murray, who was created Lord Balvaird in 1641. Lord Stormont died childless and was succeeded according to the special remainder by the aforementioned Mungo Murray, the second Viscount. He died without male issue and was succeeded according to the special remainder by James Murray, 2nd Earl of Annandale, who now also became the third Viscount Stormont. He was the son of the aforementioned John Murray, 1st Earl of Annandale. He was also childless and on his death in 1658 the earldom became extinct.
Sir Patrick Hepburn of Dunsyre, 1st Lord Hailes was the feudal lord of Hailes and its castle in East Lothian and a Lord of Parliament.
In Scotland, a baron or baroness is the head of a feudal barony, also known as a prescriptive barony. This used to be attached to a particular piece of land on which was situated the caput or essence of the barony, normally a building, such as a castle or manor house. Accordingly, the owner of the piece of land containing the caput was called a baron or baroness. According to Grant, there were around 350 identifiable local baronies in Scotland by the early fifteenth century and these could mostly be mapped against local parish boundaries. The term baron was in general use from the thirteenth century to describe what would have been known in England as a knight of the shire.
William David Mungo James Murray, 8th Earl of Mansfield, 7th Earl of Mansfield,, styled Lord Scone until 1970, was a British nobleman and Conservative politician.
Balvaird Castle in Perthshire is a traditional late medieval Scottish tower house. It is located in the Ochil Hills, around 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Abernethy. The name Balvaird is from Baile a' Bhàird, 'Township of the Bard' in Gaelic. Balvaird Castle is a scheduled monument, and is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. The spelling of its name has many variations, including Balverd, Balverde, Balward, Balwaird and Baleward.
Clan Murray is a Highland Scottish clan. The chief of the Clan Murray holds the title of Duke of Atholl. Their ancestors were the Morays of Bothwell who established the family in Scotland in the 12th century. In the 16th century, descendants of the Morays of Bothwell, the Murrays of Tullibardine, secured the chiefship of the clan and were created Earls of Tullibardine in 1606. The first Earl of Tullibardine married the heiress to the Stewart earldom of Atholl and Atholl therefore became a Murray earldom in 1626. The Murray Earl of Atholl was created Marquess of Atholl in 1676 and in 1703 it became a dukedom. The marquess of Tullibardine title has continued as a subsidiary title, being bestowed on elder sons of the chief until they succeed him as Duke of Atholl.
William David Murray, 4th Earl of Mansfield, 3rd Earl of Mansfield, KT, DL was a British Conservative politician.
The title of Lord Pittenweem is a Scottish title of nobility. It was created by James VI as a barony in 1609 for Frederick Stewart, son of William Stewart, Commendator of Pittenweem. Fredrick Stewart assigned the title and lands of the Lordship and Barony to Thomas Erskine, Viscount Fenton, later 1st Earl of Kellie, in 1614. Between 1631 and 1672 the Lordship and Barony was held by the Crown. It was held "in place of the late lords" so that when the Barony and Lordship later passed to the 3rd Earl of Kellie it was not as a new creation but by an assignation of the Lordship and Barony.
Lord Balvaird is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1641 for Sir Andrew Murray, who was at that time also the feudal Lord of Balvaird. His son, the second Lord, succeeded as fourth Viscount Stormont in 1658 according to a special remainder in the letters patent.
James Murray, Earl of Dunbar was a Scottish Tory politician who became a Jacobite agent and courtier. He served as the Jacobite Secretary of State in exile in Rome from 1727 to 1747.
The Lordship and Barony of Hailes is a Scottish feudal lordship.
David Murray, 1st Viscount of Stormont was a Scottish courtier, comptroller of Scotland and captain of the king's guard, known as Sir David Murray of Gospertie, then Lord Scone, and afterwards Viscount Stormont. He is known for his zeal in carrying out the ecclesiastical policy of James VI and I, in which he was effective if crude.
Sir Andrew Murray, 1st Lord Balvaird (1597?–1644) was a Scottish minister of Abdie in Fife, and the only minister of the Church of Scotland on whom a knighthood or peerage was conferred.
The Barony of Glengarnock is a Scottish feudal barony in the county of Ayrshire in Scotland.
The feudal barony of Dirleton was a feudal barony with its caput baroniae originally at Castle Tarbet, Elbottle Castle and later at Dirleton Castle in East Lothian, Scotland. The Lordship & Barony of Dirleton lay in East Lothian a few miles west of North Berwick, the land comprising the Caput of the Barony is today only a little over 40 acres, including the Island of Lamb, North and South Dogs in the east coast of Scotland. Its ruined castle, two triangular greens and the buildings are grouped in the traditional style of a medieval township. Dirleton Castle was built in the middle of the twelfth century by a branch of the Anglo-Norman family of De Vaux, a family with its origins in Rouen, Normandy, which had settled in Dirleton during the reign of King Malcolm IV (1153‒1165). The original castle was modelled on contemporary French castles, in particular Coucy la Chateaux north of Paris. Dirleton Castle was defended against the invading army of Edward I of England in June 1298, but eventually fell to Anthony Beck, the fighting Bishop of Durham. In 1311 the castle was recaptured by the Scots and Robert the Bruce ordered that it be reduced (ruined) to eliminate the possibility of it being occupied by the English in the future. Dirleton was in the hands of the De Vaux family for about two centuries.
The Barony of Muirton is a Scottish feudal barony near Forres along the Findhorn River in Moray.