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HISTORIC
CASTLES AND FAMILIES OF THE NORTH
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Ackergill
Tower - the Keiths and Dunbars of
Hempriggs
by D B Miller (written in about 1976)
As
the reader may remember from the previous articles in this
series, (CFC Bulletin Vol. 1, 128, 1976), about half the county
of Caithness in the middle of the fourteenth century was owned
by the Cheyne family, the last of whom in the male line died in
1350. These lands they had inherited by marriage with an heiress
of the old Norse line of Jarls. It will be remembered too that
on his death his vast properties were divided between his two
daughters. The elder daughter Mariota, married first Sir John
Douglas with no issue, and secondly John de Keith, second son of
Sir Edward Keith hereditary Great Marischal of Scotland (In
Bulletin Vol. 1, 129, 1976, owing to a typographical error it
was erroneously stated that her husband was himself the Great
Marischal.)
The
Dating of Ackergill
Although Ackergill was listed among the properties of Sir
Reginald de Cheyne, it was only the "lands of Ackergill"
that were mentioned. There was no mention of a castle there at
that time, and certainly the present castle does not go back as
far as that, as the architecture is undoubtedly late fifteenth
century throughout. Not even a small part of the structure can
be said to be remnants of an early fortification. There are,
however, some puzzling aspects, such as the story of Helen Gunn,
the beauty of who having been abducted from her home in Braemore
on her wedding eve, was kept prisoner in the tower, the victim
of the brutal captain of the castle. Rather than submit to the
indignities of her situation she flung herself to her death from
the battlements. Her grave is believed to be somewhere close to
the tower, and her ghost, "the green lady", they say,
still haunts the place. This episode is known to have taken
place sometime prior to 1426. It is doubtful if the present
structure is as old as that, so perhaps an earlier castle on the
site may be suggested. The earliest recorded date is 1510 when
it was mentioned in a legal instrument, but there is
circumstantial evidence that its foundation goes back somewhat
beyond that of its near neighbour Girnigoe, known to have been
finished before 1494. William the second Earl of Caithness of
the Sinclair line, the builder of Girnigoe, who succeeded his
father in 1475, married Lady Mary Keith the daughter of his
neighbour Keith of Inverugie and Ackergill. 25 he left a grown
up family when he was killed at Flodden in 1513, it is clear
that the Keiths were firmly seated at Ackergill before Girnigoe
was completed.
The
Keiths
Regarding the genealogy of the Keiths, there is an ancient
tradition that they came to Scotland from the province of Hesse
in Germany, original home of the "Catti",
until they were conquered by the legions of Rome.. "Landing
in the north of Scotland, they gave the name of Caithness to the
territory they settled, land of the Catti. Their chief married
the daughter of the Pictish king Brude. Robert, the chief of the
Catti, in 1010 fought against the Norsemen and slew Comus, the
leader of the invaders, and thus gained a complete victory for
which Malcolm II gave the lands of Keith in East Lothian (Keith
- British "Caith", "confined" or a
"narrow", such as a channel hemmed in by steep banks)
from which they took their surname. How much of this is fact or
fiction one cannot say, but certain it is that a baron named
Herveius, believed to be a grandson of the above. Robert owned
the estate of Keith and also the island of Inchkeith in East
Lothian in the reign of David I, and his son Herveius de Keith
held the office of Kings Marischal under Malcolm IV which office
became hereditary in the family. There followed a long line of
marischals, variously known as Kings marischals, Great
marischals, Knight marischals and finally from 1457, Earl-Marischals.
The office was similar to that held by the Dukes of Norfolk
hereditary Earl-Marshals of England, Marischal being the
Scottish spelling for Marshal. Their duty being the arranging of
the state ceremonial occasions, the most important of which was
the coronation of the Scottish sovereigns. So great was the
prestige of the Keith family that on several occasions they
married daughters of Scottish kings. The tenth Great Marischal,
Sir Edward Keith, who succeeded in 1346, in the reign of David
II had two sons, William, his heir and John who as already
indicated, married Mariota Cheyne, and with her he obtained the
barony of Inverugie in Aberdeenshire as well as all her lands in
Caithness. Sir John Keith and his wife had at least two
children, a son, Andrew Keith their heir, and a daughter whose
Christian name cannot now be traced. Andrew succeeded to all the
family estates with the exception of Forse Castle and its lands
in the parish of Latheron, Caithness, which was bestowed by
Mariota in her lifetime, with Andrew’s consent, on her
daughter on the occasion of her marriage to Kenneth, second son
of William, fifth Earl of Sutherland and grand-nephew of Nicolas
Sutherland of Duffus, husband of Marjory Cheyne, Mariota’s
sister.
It
is clear that the Keiths of Inverugie and Ackergill spent little
of their time in Caithness; Ackergill being administered by
Captains, often of their own surname of Keith, and these were
often referred to as if they were the lairds, thus causing some
confusion. However there were exceptions to this rule for in
1510 the legal instrument already referred to, mentions Gilbert
Mowat of Brabister Myer (Brabstermire) as "captain of the
house of Ackergill".
On
Flodden field - the greatest disaster that ever struck Scotland
- Sir William Keith of Inverugie and Ackergill fell, along with
the two elder sons of his Chief the Earl Marischal. And then
happened one of the genealogical twists that are so baffling in
tracing lineage - the heiress of the junior Invorugie branch of
the Keith who had continued in direct descent from John Keith
and Mariota Cheyne for seven or eight generations, married the
heir to the senior branch of the future fourth Earl Marischal.
Thus was combined in one person the large possessions of both
branches. The principal seat of the Earl-Marischals was the
famed impregnable fortress of Dunnottar Castle Kincardineshire
held to be the strongest in all Scotland. At this time the
Keiths enjoyed the zenith of their power and prestige and
wealth, second to none of the noble families of Scotland. It was
said the time of George the fifth Earl Marischal, the founder of
Marischal college, that his estates were so extensive that he
could travel from Berwick to the far north of Scotland without
requiring ever to take a meal or a night’s rest other than in
his own house.
The
Misfortunes of Ackergill
It obviously became increasingly difficult for the Earl
Marischals to maintain and safeguard their remote stronghold in
the far north. In 1547 Queen Mary granted a remission to George,
Earl of Caithness, and numerous dependants for treasonably
taking and holding the castle, and for taking Alexander Keith
the captain and John Skarlet his servitor, and detaining them
against their will in the place of Girnigoe, Browall, (Brawl)
and other places.
In
1592-3 a complaint was made to the Privy Council by George Earl
Marischal, that Robert Keith the earl’s brother had taken his
house of Ackergill with the intention of molesting the
neighbourhood, with the result that Keith was pronounced a
rebel.
In
1598 the Earl again laid a complaint before the Lords that John
Keith in Sibster and his two sons, with other persons came by
night "and ledderit the walls of his place of Ackergill"
and entered and spoiled the castle, wounded his servants and now
"keeps the place". It is not surprising that shortly
after this in the year 1612 the Earl Marischal disposed of
Ackergill and his Caithness estates to George fifth Earl of
Caithness who had long coveted this stronghold on his doorstep.
The next notice of Ackergill came with the expedition of Sir
Robert Gordon armed with the King’s commission leading a force
to chastise the fifth earl for his misdeeds, real and imaginary.
The Earl had discreetly retired to Orkney and the keys of the
three castles of Girnigoe, Ackergill and Keiss were delivered to
Sir Robert who returned them to Lord Berriedale the Earl’s
eldest son. Just before this incident Ackergill had been
strengthened and provisioned by the Earl. The fifth earl was
succeeded by his great-grandson George, sixth earl who built
himself a new castle at Thurso-east, the result being that
Ackergill was neglected partly owing to its proximity to
Girnigoe and also because as the years passed the earl suffered
serious financial embarrassment as a result of the civil wars
and the unsettled conditions of that time. He had complained
that his castles had been occupied by the military, suffered
much damage as a consequence and had received no compensation
whatsoever Cromwellian troops garrisoned Ackergill Tower in 1651
and an interesting letter from one of the troopers is, or was,
preserved at the tower. The weak Earl George, because of his
financial trouble had got himself involved in debt to the
unscrupulous Campbell of Glenorchy who prevailed upon him, as he
had no children to will his title and estates in his favour in
lieu of payment. On the death of the earl in 1676 Glenorchy took
possession of the lands of the Earldom including Ackergill
Tower. The long struggle of the rightful heir to the Earldom
need not be told here. Suffice to say that the title was
restored to him but not the estates which remained with
Glenorchy. However the people of Caithness so harassed his
factors and generally made the administration of his estates
impossible that eventually the properties were put up for sale.
In 1699 Ackergill Tower and its lands were purchased by Sir
William Dunbar of Hempriggs, Baronet. Thus after a break of
eighty-seven years the descendants of Sir Reginald de Cheyne
once again reigned at Ackergill. Sir William had in 1691
purchased Telstane three miles south of Wick, built a new
mansion there, and renamed it Hempriggs after their original
estate in Morayshire. Within a few years this branch of the
ancient family of Dunbar became the largest landowner in the
east of Caithness.
The
Dunbars
The descent of the Dunbars is very well authenticated, being
directly descended from the old Royal line of Scotland. King
Duncan I had a younger brother Maldred whose son Gospatrick was
confirmed in the Earldom of Northumbria by "William the
Conqueror" in 1067, but was deprived of it in 1072.
Fleeing to Scotland he was given the Earldom of Dunbar by his
first cousin Malcolm III, and from the earldom they took the
surname. From that time the name of Dunbar featured in most of
the stirring episodes of Scottish history, but eventually James
I in 1435 thinking that the family had got too powerful,
forfeited their earldom with the person of George the eleventh
earl. The family then moved to Morayshire where they acquired
that Earldom by marriage with an heiress of the Randolphs but it
too passed from them after being held by two heiresses.
Hempriggs House taken by
Donald
Sinclair in 1999. It is now a Pensioners' Home.
(See Donald's message in Sinclair-Digest V1#77).
Double-click on the thumbnail to enlarge.
The
Dunbars of Hempriggs are directly descended from these lordly
lines. Sir William Dunbar was created first Baronet of Hempriggs
in 1700 with remainder restricted to heirs-male, but on later
reflection, as he had an only daughter Elizabeth but no son, and
as he wished her and the children of her second marriage to
succeed to his new acquired possessions, he executed an entail
of his lairds in her favour and also asked Queen Anne for a new
baronetcy in favour of his son-in-law. Elizabeth had married Sir
Robert Gordon of Gordonstone, grandson of the historian, by whom
she had seven children. After his death she married the Hon.
James Sutherland, advocate, second son of the second Lord Duffus.
As the children of the first marriage were already well provided
for, Sir William wished the landless heirs of the second
marriage to come into the succession. Accordingly, on Sir
William’s death, his son-in-law was created Sir James
Sutherland Dunbar of Hempriggs with remained to heirs-general.
The first baronetcy passed to Sir William’s brother Robert,
and still exists although now known as Northfield. Sir James
Dunbar (previously Sutherland) was succeeded by his son and heir
Sir William Dunbar (the couple had six children). During the
lairdship of Sir William a writer in 1726 says Ackergill Tower
was then "a strong tower and yet in repair and betwixt it
and the sea is a good new house lately built". Bishop
Forbes visited the tower in 1762; He mentions that the vaulted
chamber on the ground floor was ‘then used as a kitchen and
that Sir William Dunbar had cut out some large windows and was
doing up the tower in a very pretty and elegant manner’.
It
is possible that it was during these renovations that the
ancient cap-house and battlements were removed and a flat roof
substituted, perhaps as they were cracking up and were unsafe.
The next laird was Sir William’s son, Sir Benjamin Dunbar, and
with his a new genealogical twist appears. The main line of the
ancient family of Duffus was forfeited by the actions of Kenneth
the third Lord Duffus, eldest brother of James Sutherland,
husband of Elizabeth, when he took the wrong side in the
Jacobite rebellion of 1715. He was the lord of the famous
portrait by Richard Waitt in the Scottish National Portrait
gallery, where he is depicted in full Highland dress of that
period. His son Eric de jure fourth baron, married his first
cousin Elizabeth, daughter of his Uncle Sir James, and
thereafter lived at Ackergill Tower. His son James was restored
to the title but riot the estates in 1326 but died unmarried the
following year. Sir Benjamin Dunbar then became heir-male of the
ancient Duffus line and became the sixth baron, although there
were doubts as to whether or not the remainder was to
heirs-male. The Rev. Eric Rudd, a nephew of the last lord Duffus
claimed the title also, but was not successful. Benjamin, Lord
Duffus married in 1785 Janet lackay, eldest daughter of George
Mackay of Bighouse, and a story is still well known in the Wick
area that on the night of their wedding they spent the night in
a thatched cottage, the ruins of which can still be seen near
the Lochshell-Georgemas road on the farm of Winless Mains on the
Ackergill estate. The bridal couple were making their way from
the bride1s home of Bighouse to spend their honeymoon at
Hempriggs House, almost certainly journeying on horseback when
at Sibster they found the River Wick in spate and the ford there
impassable. As darkness was falling they sought and found
shelter in the cottage. Lord Duffus died in 1843 and was
succeeded by his elder son Sir George Sutherland Dunbar fourth
Baronet who never used the title of Lord Duffus contenting
himself with the lesser Hempriggs Baronetcy. It was Sir George
who carried out great improvements on his estates, creating all
the well-built and finely laid out farms one sees all around the
Sinclair bay area. Ackergill Tower, with the help of well known
Edinburgh architect David Bryce, he turned into one of the first
gentleman’s seats in the north of Scotland. The ancient
medieval tower was modernised and an extension which includes
fine state rooms and other quarters attached to the south side
and round to the back, or sea side, but the old tower still
stands out to the front, its caphouse and battlements restored
to it, its grandeur and character undiminished. Sir George died
unmarried in 1876. He was predeceased by his only brother Capt.
the Hon. Robert Dunbar of Latheronwheel and the next heir to the
baronetcy under the remainder was his nephew, the son of his
sister, Mrs. Duff of Hatton, Aberdeenshire. He was Captain
Benjamin Duff, who before he succeeded had become a recluse,
retiring from the world. He would have nothing to do with either
the title or estates. The former remained in abeyance during his
lifetime and the estates were passed on to his son Garden Duff
who took possession under the name and arms of Duff-Dunbar of
Hempriggs. Garden Duff-Dunbar Predeceased his father leaving two
young sons, George, afterwards Sir George Duff-Sutherland-Dunbar
sixth Baronet, and Lt. Cdr. Kenneth Duff-Dunbar who fell in the
first world war and whose only son Capt. Kenneth Duff-Dunbar
fell in the second world war. Lt. Cdr. Kenneth Duff-Dunbar’s
widow still resides at Hempriggs House. The widow of Garden
Duff-Dunbar, Mrs. Louise Duff-Dunbar during a long lifetime
spent at Ackergill administered the estates and became a much
loved and venerated figure in the county. She was, among other
things, keenly interested in archaeology on a world scale and
travelled extensively in pursuit of it. She died just after the
second world war. Her eldest son, Sir George, succeeded as sixth
Baronet on his grandfather’s death (Benjamin Duff) about 1898,
but took no part in the administration of the estates spending
most of his life in India as an administrator, where he became
well known as one of that vast country’s greatest historians.
His "History of India" is a standard work. On his
death his only son Sir George Gospatrick Duff-Sutherland-Dunbar
who had been a barrister in London for some years succeeded as
seventh Baronet. He died comparatively young and unmarried in
1963. His first cousin and heir Capt. Kenneth Duff-Dunbar had,
as already indicated, fallen in the Second World War, and in
terms of the remainder his second cousin, a lady, Maureen Daisy
Helen Blake, great grand-daughter of the aforesaid Capt.
Benjamin Duff de jure fifth Baronet, by the only one of his
daughters to leave issue, succeeded to the honours and estates
under the title of Lady Dunbar of Hempriggs. She is the present
owner.
The
Castle Today
A 1km long private drive leading from the A9, about 2km north of
Wick leads to Ackergill Tower which stands close to the sea on
the low shore of Sinclair bay. Typically Scottish baronial in
style, it towers to five storeys in height, a total of 26m to
the top of the chimneys. The walls throughout are from 2.5 to 3m
thick, and the medieval building, almost square in form,
measures on the outside 14.5m by 10.5m.
Originally,
it is thought the building would have been protected by a series
of walls, and at one time a moat with water flowing in from the
sea surrounded it.
The
early doorway, like that of the old Caithness coastal castles,
faced the sea, but during the first of two major
reconstruction’s of the tower it was brought round to the
land-ward side by cutting through the 3m thick wall into what
was the original vaulted kitchen, under the floor of which was
the 7.5m deep castle well still containing water. Sir William
Dunbar, during his renovations, was the first to build some
additions to the seaward side covering up the original doorway.
The original stone stair to the great hall on the first floor
was removed. Nowadays one proceeds upwards by means of a fine
modern stairway in the new addition, returning into the medieval
vaulted hall at the top. The great hall is twice the height of a
normal room being 7m high to the roof and covers the whole
extent of the tower. There is a fireplace at each end, and
halfway up the wall is a minstrel’s gallery approached by a
stone stairway. The room is now beautifully panelled - the work,
as was the whole of the second great renovation iii Sir George
the fourth baronet1s time, of David Bryce, R.S.A., the well
known Edinburgh architect. above the great hall there are two
more storeys with two rooms in each and here, all around, there
are arched intramural passages and closets. These storeys are
approached by intramural stairs spiralling up the centre of the
wall. On the walls of one of these upper bedrooms the wallpaper
put there during the Davie’ Bryce reconstruction well over a
hundred years ago is still in excellent conditi6n, perhaps the
oldest wallpaper known. The rooms in this part are still
furnished in mid-Victorian fashion. As already mentioned, the
cap-house and battlements approached by a continuation of the
spiral turret stair through the walls of the upper storey was
restored to the castle by David Bryce.
Two
dove-cots of early eighteenth century style are in the grounds,
possibly put there in the time of Sir William Dunbar second
baronet.
The
house is full of interesting heirlooms, pictures and family
treasures, and altogether is one of the most entrancing homes in
the north of Scotland. It is not open to the public, but Lady
Dunbar is extremely kind to those who have a genuine interest
in, and love, these historic places.
The
general public, even yet, does not seem to be aware that places
like Ackergill Tower are in deadly jeopardy. The criminally
penal taxation done in our name is bringing their complete
destruction nearer every day. Already, in Britain, over a
thousand stately homes have been demolished and their priceless
contents scattered to the four winds - mostly abroad. Many more
are simply falling into decay and ruins the capital from the
estates surrounding them is viciously drained away.
REFERENCES
Anderson - The Scottish Nation (3 vol.) - Methuen 1867
McGibbon & Ross - The Castellated and Domestic Architecture
of Scotland – Douglas 1889
Mackenzie - The Mediaeval Castle in Scotland Methuen
Innes of Learney - Tartans of the Clans and Families of Scotland
– Johnston 1938
Munro Kinsmen and Clansmen - Johnston & Bacon 1971
Curle - Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Caithness HMSO
1911
More
Ackergill/Hempriggs Links
CCWS - A to Z
of Caithness Places - Index
Ackergill History
The Lost Lordship of
Duffus and its parent site
Clan
Duffus
The
Clan Dunbar or
alternatively
Roll
of Honour 1914-1919:Navy:Anderson - Webster:Highland Archives
The
Stack of Hempriggs, Caithness
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