the parish-whose name (says the inscription) "will ever be handed down in connection with the great enterprise of the Church of Scotland for endowing her new chapels, with parishes annexed." There are several interesting inscriptions on tombstones in the churchyard.

The little town of Rosehearty is situated on the shore, about half a mile north of the Castle of Pitsligo; the name is supposed to be a compound of "Ross," a promontory, and "ard," a height, or "Ross-achdair" = promontory and anchor; anchorage ground near the promontory. It is said that, as early as the fourteenth century, a farm on this spot was divided into crofts, and that several huts were erected a little westward of the oldest part of the present town ; and that a party of Danes, either landing or being shipwrecked near the place, took up their residence among the inhabitants, and that, having been bred to the fishing in their own country, they instructed the .crofters in the art. Be this as it may, fishing has been prosecuted at Rosehearty for centuries, though, till about the middle of the sixteenth century, the village consisted of a number of small farms or crofts, the houses being built near each other. Two large houses were then erected, one of which was called the "Jam "--the date of its erection, 1573, is inscribed on a stone in the wall. The other was named "The Lodging-House," being built as a residence for a Dowager Lady Pitsligo. There was a stone above the entrance with a rose and heart and the inscription"Nunc Troia ubi Seges"-"Troy now stands where corn waved "- (see p. 96), and under this inversion of the classic line 1760 was inscribed-obviously put in place of the original date, which had been either worn out or

defaced. This interesting house has now disappeared a block of modern buildings having been built on its site in 1899. Rosehearty was created a burgh of barony by royal charter, dated 13 July, 1681, which was supplemented by a charter of date 1 October, 1684. The superiority of the burgh, originally granted to the second Lord Pitsligo, passed with the property of the burgh itself to the Dingwall-Fordyces of Brucklay; it has, however, as in the similar case of Fraserburgh, been considerably restricted by the passing of the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act of 1892.* The seal of the burgh consists of a rose and a heart, with the motto "Corde et Manu." The harbour, recently improved, is fairly commodious, and the herring fishery is prosecuted to some extent. There are two churches in the town- -a Free Church and a U.P. one. A granite fountain in the square was erected in 1897 in commemoration of the sixty years' reign of Queen Victoria: it occupies the site of the old Market Cross.

About two miles from Rosehearty is the Cave of Cowshaven, or, as it is more frequently called, Lord Pitsligo's Cave. It is on the farm of Ironhill, in the parish of Aberdour, and is almost inaccessible, being about midway down the face of the rock. The entrance is narrow. After passing through two smaller cavities, a large vaulted chamber is reached, in which is a spring of water issuing from a crevice in the

*See decision of Sheriff Brown in an action by Mr. Dingwall-Fordyce against the feuars, freemen, and burgesses, in relation to their respective rights under the ancient charters of the burgh, reported in Daily Free Press, 17 October, 1896.

rock, and falling into a cistern cut out by the hands of the last Lord Pitsligo, who was frequently compelled to resort to this dreary place of concealment.*

*See "Biographical Sketch of Alexander, Lord Pitsligo," by Lord Medwyn.

66

For detailed accounts of the Forbeses of Pitsligo reference may be made to Anderson's "Scottish Nation" and Jervise's "Epitaphs and Inscriptions," vol. ii. ; see also "The Family of Pitsligo in Aberdeen Daily Free Press, 21, 22, and 28 January, 1884. References to the more modern family of the Forbeses and to Sir John Stuart-Forbes and his descendants will be found in "The History of Fettercairn " by Dr. Archibald C. Cameron (1899). The woodwork in the aisle of Pitsligo Church is described in the 'Edinburgh Architectural Association Sketch-Book, 1883-1886," vol. i., New Series ; the Building News, 24 June, 1887; and Scottish Notes and Queries, ii., 65. A notice of the new church by Rev. Thomas P. Milne, Paisley, appears in "Transactions of the Aberdeen Ecclesiological Society, M.DCCC.XCI." Fuller particulars regarding Andrew Cant will be found in Gordon's "History of Scots Affairs," Spalding's 'History of the Troubles in Scotland," Jervise's "Epitaphs," and "The Lights of the North" by James Stark, D.D.; see also Scottish Notes and Queries, iii., 72, 84. The Castle of Pittulie, as well as that of Pitsligo and Pitsligo Church, are described in Macgibbon & Ross's "Castellated Architecture." References to the Covenanting tendencies of "my Lord of Pitsligo " (Alexander, the second Lord Pitsligo), and the "Lairds of Philorth" will be found in the "Records of the Meeting of the Exercise of Alford," edited by Rev. Thomas Bell (New Spalding Club, 1897), p. 32 and Note 18, p. 409; also references to collections for building the harbour of Rosehearty, pp. 336, 343. A chapter of J. T. Findlay's "Secession in the North" is devoted to "The Church of Rosehearty and its Ministers," a Secession church having been built here in 1787-8, so unecclesiastical-looking an edifice as to have been likened by Dr. James Brown, of Paisley, to "an auld wife's tea-caddy." "A Historical Sketch of the United Presbyterian Congregation of Rosehearty" by Rev. William Paton Ogilvie was published in 1881.

CHAPTER XVII.

ABERDOUR AND PENNAN.

ABOUT a mile westward of Lord Pitsligo's Cave

are the scanty remains of the Castle of Dundarg (or Dundargue), situated on a high peninsular rock of red sandstone: Dundarg= dun, fortress, and dearg, red. Vestiges of a large court and buildings may still be traced. A strong arched gateway that had guarded the entrance remained entire until July 1873 or 1874, when it was destroyed by lightning. Near the neck that joins the rock to the mainland are a triple ditch and ramparts of considerable extent. The Old Statistical Account, describing "the entry" of the Castle, says "The whole breadth of the front is only 12 feet; the door

is

4 feet 2 inches wide, 6 feet high, and is arched; the height of the walls, 12 feet 7 inches; the length of the side walls, still standing, is 10 feet 6 inches; there are no other remains of the walls except the inside of the foundation, the outside having fallen down, owing to the mouldering away of the rock on which it was built. There is a fine level green, where the outworks have been." The castle was a stronghold of the Comyns, Earls of Buchan, and, after the defeat of John, the third Earl, by Bruce, in 1308, it was held by

Henry Beaumont (or de Beaumont), who had married a niece of the Earl of Buchan, and claimed the Earldom of Buchan in right of his wife. Beaumont figures prominently in the turbulent history of the time, having co-operated with the disaffected nobles, sided with Edward Baliol, and supported Edward II. He was ultimately besieged in Dundarg Castle in 1334, by Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell, then Regent of Scotland, and was compelled to surrender, the stronghold being reduced-so the tradition goes-by cutting the underground pipes that supplied the garrison with water. The castle was afterwards owned by the Cheynes of Esslemont, and subsequently (along with the barony of Aberdour), by the Frasers of Philorth, and then by the Forbeses of Pitsligo. It is now the property of Mr. DingwallFordyce of Brucklay.

Westward from Dundarg are the ruins of the old church of Aberdour, standing on a sort of ledge within 150 yards of the shore. A deep glen or ravine skirts the churchyard on the west, through which flows a small stream, the Daur or Dour, which, it is conjectured, gave the name to the parish, Aberdour meaning the mouth of the Dour. The spot is a picturesque one, the braes of Auchmedden stretching away inland, while huge rugged rocks of red sandstone rise from the pebbled beach, the clear blue sea filling up the distance in this lovely picture. The red sandstone terminates abruptly at the burn of Aberdour, the rocks on the Auchmedden (or west) side being slaty in formation. The church was one of the oldest in the north of Scotland, and was dedicated to St. Drostan, the disciple and companion of St. Columba