THE MURRAYS OF ATHOLE.
MILE MIIRRAYS or MORAYS have a pedigree resting on charter 1 evidence, which traces their descent from a Fleming of the name of FRESKLN, who obtained from David I. the lands of Strathbrock, in West Lothian, and soon after the insurrection of the Gaelic Moray-men in 1130 acquired from the same prince some of the most fertile districts of the Lowlands of Mona.. From his line sprang the Earls of Sutherland and the Morays, Lords of Bothwell, who terminated with an heiress, Jean, who carried the lordship, with the armorial bearing of the three stars of Moray, to her husband, Archibald the Grim, Lord of Galloway, and third Earl of Douglas. In the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth centuries, contemporary with William, ancestor of this Bothwell line, and younger son of William, son of Freskin, we find a Sir Joan. DE MORAY, or De Moravia, who was settled in Perthshire, and is supposed by Chalmers and others to have been a younger brother of this William, and consequently also a. grandson of Freskin, the original Flemish settler in Moray. It is unfortunate that charter evidence should fail ns in determining the exact relationship of this Sir John to William de Moray or Fres- kin—for the former is the undoubted ancestor of the House of Athole. He was sheriff of Perth in the beginning of the reign of Alexander II., and had a brother Gilbert, who was Bishop of Caith- ness in 1222, and he is supposed to have died about the year 1225- His son, Sir Malcolm de Moravia, is witness to charters of the years 1236 and 1285, in the latter of which he is designated " Vicecomes de Perth." He married the daughter and heiress of Sir Gilbert de Gask, and obtained with her the lands of Gash, in Perthshire. The line of his elder son, Sir John, can be traced no further than his son William. His yowzger son, Sir William, had a charter from his father, before the year 1244, of the lands of Lamabude, and from his brother, Sir John, a charter of the lands of Aldy. By his marriage with Adds, daughter of Mane, Seneschal of Strathern, as appears from charters of the years 1282 and 1284, he obtained the lands of TULLIBA.RDINE. He joined the party of John Ballo', and swore fealty to Edward I. in 1292. His son and successor, Andrew Murray, of Tullibar- dine, on December 16, 1331, gave for the welfare of his soul, in pure and perpetual alms, to the monks of Iuchaff ray, a certain annuity out of part of his lands of Tullibardine, which had formerly been in dispute betwixt him and that monastery. He followed his father's example in supporting the cause of the Baliols, and when Edward Ballot invaded Scotland in 1332 he contributed greatly to the victory gained by hint at Duplin, August 12, by fixing a stake in a ford in the river Earn, through which Baliol's army passed, and attacked the Scots. On this account, when Murray fell into the hands of Bruce's party at Perth on the 7th of October following, he was executed, but no forfeiture took place, Adda, his mother, being still the legal owner of the estate of Tullibardine. Mason, Sir William Murray, before the year 1333, obtained, on the resignation of his grandmother, a new charter of Tullibardine from Malin, Earl of Strathern, the superior. His successor, Sir John Murray, had a grant from Sir Alexander de Abernethy of the lands of Pekerlyngi (Pitcairly), in the barony of Ballynbrech, in Fifeshire. Walter Murray of Tullibardine succeeded him, and obtained at Elgin, December 7, 1361, from David II., a confirmation of a dona- tionto him from Robert, Steward of Scotland and Earl of Strathern, of the barony of Tullibardine, Petvet, Aldy, Dundovan, Glendo- vane, Glencoty, Nethergasky, and Dalrivach, in the earldom of • Strathern, as well as of Sir Alexander de Abernethy's donation. He gave to the monks of St. Servan, in Cuhess, in 1362, the lands of Aldoun, Pethwer, Cuthildaran, and Castlebeg, for the welfare of his soul, and that of his wife Margaret, &e., and this dona- tion was confirmed by Robert Ill., in the first year of his reign. He died in 1390, leaving by this Margaret Le Baird (of the Le Bairds in Lanarkshire) a son and successor, Sir David Murray, who is designated "of Gash" in a charter of the year 1414. He was knighted by James I. at his coronation in 1424, had a charter from James II., January 26, 1446, erecting Tullibardine and other lands in Strathern into a free barony, and in the same year founded and endowed the collegiate church of Tullibardine for a provost and four prebendaries. He died the same year, and was buried in that church, where his arms, impaling those of his wife, according to Douglas, are still to be seen. This wife was Isabel, second daughter of Sir John Stewart, of Innermeath and Lora. Their third son, Patrick, is the ancestor of the pre- sent Sir Patrick Keith Murray, Baronet, of Ochtertyre, in Perth- shire, who holds (derived from his mother) the hereditary office of Knight-Alarischal of Scotland. William Murray, the eldest bro- ther of Patrick Murray, succeeded at Tullibardine, and was sheriff of Perthshire, and sat frequently in Parliament. He was one of the Lords named for the administration of justice who were of the King's daily council, 1438, and one of the Commissioners to treat for a prolongation of the truce with the English the same year. He greatly enlarged the collegiate church of Tullibardine founded by his father. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir John Colquhoun of LIM, Great Chamberlain of Scotland, by whom, according to tradition, he had seventeen sons, from whom a great many of the families of the name of Murray descend. Be this strictly accurate or not, it is certain that no family in the whole Scottish Peerage has ramified more widely from one stock than the Murrays. We are compelled to confine ourselves to the main line, and those collaterals which have risen to a prominent position in the State. Sir William Murray, the eldest son of this numerous family, who succeeded at Tullibardine, had on the 18th of February, 1483, a letter granting to him the offices of steward, forester, and coroner within the earldom of Strathern and lordship of Bonquhidder for life. This grant was ratified by Parliament in 1492. He sat frequently in Parliament, and was one of the Com- missioners for a treaty with the English in 1495. In 1507 James IV., in consider ation of his great age, granted him an exoneration front coming to Courts or to the King's military gatherings. On the 17th of April, 1506, and the 31st of May, 1508, he obtained charters under the Great Seal of the lands of Travrin, the lake and island of Dryiale, &e., in Strathern, and on the 24th of May, 1510, of the lands of Gask, in Perthshire. He is said to have died about the year 1511. Nothing, however, can be more meagre than our knowledge of these ancestors of the House of Murray. They were high enough indeed in the social scale to appear in charters and commissions not unfrequently, but their distinctive actions and personal characters are buried in obscurity, and do not seetu at any rate to have been remarkable enough to raise them above the great mass of Scottish gentry, who were swayed hither and thither in the civil convulsions of the times by the more powerful influences of the families which had already
attained and maintained the superiority in the guidance of public affairs. This renders the earlier history of the Murrays com- paratively unimportant, nor have the family, as far as we are aware, given anything from private archives or traditions to supply the place of the deficient political interest. But we are now entering on the century the close of which was to give to the Murrays of Tullibardine a more distinguished place in the annals of their country. They threw off an offshoot, too, at this very time to which we were ultimately to be indebted for one of the most distinguished of our English judges. Sir Andrew Murray, third son of this last-named Sir William Murray, of Tullibardine, was the ancestor of the Viscounts Stornont and of the Earl of Mansfield, in which higher title the viscounty is now merged. But we must first pursue the fortunes of the elder or Tullibar- dine line.
William Murray, eldest brother of Sir Andrew, had, on the 8th of July, 1490, a charter of the lands of Drumdewan, in Perthshire, and two others on the 24th of May, 1510, and 4th of February, 1511, of other lands in Perthshire, and he had also charters in 1528 and 1532. He married Lady Margaret Stewart, seventh daughter of John, first Earl of Athole. These intermarriages of the Murrays with the Stewarts were, we shall see, several times repeated, and ended in a match which laid the foundations of the family fortunes. Sir William Murray, of Tullibardine, eldest son and successor, had on the 2nd of April, 1538, charters to himself and Catherine Camp- bell, his wife, of the lands of Solisgirth, Blairingone, &c., in Perthshire, and of Drumsyn in Strathern, December 5, 1558. He made, September 7, 1512, a settlement of the barony of Glencoy, including many lands in Perthshire, to himself in life-rent, and in fee to William his son and apparent heir, and the heirs male of his body, whom failing, to his other sons and his brothers respectively in like manner, and the cadet houses of Awlitt, Oochtertyre, Strowan, and Wallacetoun respectively in like manner. He had charters of many other lands, and died in 1562. His wife was a Campbell of Glenurchy (the Breadalbane branch of the Campbells), and his eldest daughter, Arabella, became the wife of John, Earl of Marr, Regent of Scotland. Sir William Murray, the eldest son, was a great promoter of the Reformation in Scotland, entertained Queen Mary several times at Tullibardine, and was sworn a Privy Coimeillor and made Comptroller of Scotland in 1565. He entered into the association in behalf of James VI. in 1567, and was on the Privy Council of the succeeding Regents. On the death of his brother-in-law, the Earl of Marr, in 1572, he and Sir Alexander Erskine of Gogar were appointed Governors to the young King, and joint keepers of the castle of Stirling, where the King resided, and he filled this office till 1578. During this period he eagerly joined in the first conspiracy against the Regent Morton, which for the time suc- ceeded, and shared the downfall of the conspirators on Morton regaining possession of the King's person and the Government. After Morton's final fall Sir William was sworn a Privy Council- lor to the King, and died March 15, 1583. His political course was doubtless in some degree regulated by the connection with the Stewarts of Athole. He had a charter in 1562 of the lands of
Lochlane, in Perthshire, and another on the 5th of December, 1577, to himself in life-rent, and his third son, Alexander, in fee of the lands and castle of Mouyviard. He married in 1517 Lady Agnes Graham, third dau,glitm of William, second Earl of Montrose. His eldest son and successor at Tullibardine, Sir John Murray, was high in favour with Jamse VI., with whom he had been in familiar intercourse during childhood, owing to the position held by his father. In 1592 he was constituted Master of the King's House- hold, was sworn a Privy Councillor, and knighted, and on the 25th of April, 1601, raised to the peerage as Lord Murray of Tullibardine. He had a charter lathe same year of the lands of Letter-bannachie,
in life-rent to himself and in fee to his several sons successively, and his brothers and the heirs male of their bodies respectively. On the 10th of July, 1606, he was raised to the rank of Earl of Tullibar-
dine, and died in 1609. He married a daughter of the second Lord Drummond, and they had a charter of the lands of Coyg, is Perth- shire, December 20, 1576. William, his eldest son, who succeeded as second Earl of Tullibardine, happening to be in the town of Perth on the 5th Of August, 1600, the day of the famous Gowrie tragedy, came to the _rescue of the King when the commonalty clamoured around Gowrie House against "the son of Davie," and for this service had conferred on him the hereditary sheriffship of Perthshire, which the Earl of Gowrie had enjoyed. His second
wife, the match which made the family, was the Lady Dorothea Stewart, eldest daughter of John, fifth Earl of Athole, by whom he had a son, John (his successor), and a daughter, Lady Mary, married to Sir John Moncrieffe, of Moncrieffe, Baronet. The Earl of Tullibardine petitioned King Charles, setting forth the claim of
his wife, the house of Innermeath, which had sueceeded to the Athole title on the demise of her father, having become extinct. The petition was favourably received, and the King gave his word that the title of Athole should be revived in favour of Tullibardine and his Countess. The Earl on this, wishing to preserve the earldom of Tullibardine as a distinct title, surrendered it into the King's hands, April 1, 1626, that it might be conferred on his brother, Sir Patrick Murray, but before the patent could be made out the Earl died, the same year, and the plan was not carried into execution till 1629. On the 6th of August, 1628, John, only son and successor of Earl William, was served heir to John, first Earl of Athole, and on the 17th of February, 1629, the King confirmed this service of "John Murray, sow Earl of Athole," as heir (in right of his mother) of John, Earl of Athole, "brother uterine of King James H." On the breaking out of the civil convulsions in Scotland the new Earl of Athole raised 1,840 men, and assumed a threatening position, but Argyll being sent against him, and a conference taking place between that nobleman and Athole with eight gentlemen of his country, in June, 1640, Argyll detained them as prisoners, and obliged them to send an order to their forces to disband. Athole joined the auti-Covenanting association at Cumbernauld in January, 1641, but luckily for him- self died in the June, 1612, following. By his wife, Jean, daughter of Sir Duncan Campbell of Glenurchy, he had two sons, the elder of whom, John, second Earl of Athole, a child of about seven years of age at his father's death, joined the Earl of Glencairn's standard in 1653 with 2,000 men, then being only eighteen years old, and was excepted by Cromwell out of his Act of Grace and Indemnity in April, 1654. At the Restoration in 1660 he was sworn a Privy Councillor, and on the 28th of August obtained a grant of the here- ditary sheriffship of Fife. In 1663 he had the appointment of Justice-General of Scotland, was constituted Captain of the King's Guards in 1670, Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1672, and an extraor- dinary Lord of Session January 14, 1673. In 1670 he succeeded to the earldom of Tullibardine, which had, as we have seen, been granted in 1629 to Sir Patrick Murray, third son of John, first Earl of Tullibardine. Sir Patrick's younger son, William Murray of Redcastle, joining Montrose, was made prisoner at the disastrous battle of Philiphaugh, September 13, 1645, and sentenced to be executed, and the sentence was carried into effect on the 27th of November following, his elder brother, James, Earl of Tullibardine, declaring that since the young man had joined with that wicked crew he did not esteem him as his brother, and he would take it as no favour if on that account any indulgence were shown to him. This James, fourth Earl of Tullibardine, espoused the cause of the Covenant heartily, except that he opposed the delivery of the King to the English Parliament in January, 1647. He had a grant in December, 1649, of the constabulary and stewardship of Hunting- tower, acted with Argyll and the other Covenanters in favour of the King of Scots in that year, and was fined by Cromwell's Act of 1654 1,500/. He dying in January, 1670, without issue, the title of Tullibardine devolved, according to the patent of creation, on his cousin, the Earl of Athole. The latter was created Marquis of Athole by patent of February 17, 1676.
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