Airlie is a civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 in the Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 council area

Council Area

A Council Area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Act.-Legislation :1889...

 of Angus

Angus

Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...

. It is the seat of the Earl of Airlie

Earl of Airlie

Earl of Airlie is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created on 2 April 1639 for James Ogilvy, 7th Lord Ogilvy of Airlie, along with the title Lord Ogilvy of Alith and Lintrathen...

, and the location of Airlie Castle

Airlie Castle

Airlie Castle is a mansion house near the junction of the Isla and Melgund rivers, 9 kilometres west of Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland. A castle was built on the site in c. 1432 and was burnt out in 1640, with a mansion house being built incorporating and on top of some of the ruins in c. 1792–93 and...

. It comprises Craigton of Airlie, Baitland of Airlie and Kirkton of Airlie. There is a standing stone in a field just east of the Baitland; various Pictish and Roman relics (stone coffins etc) have been uncovered and the primary school is reputed to have been built on the site of an old graveyard. Airlie also contains one of the finest examples of a Pictish souterrain in Scotland, with the carving of a snake clearly visible in the ceiling.

Airlie Castle is not currently open to the public, however it is remembered in the song 'The Bonnie Hoose o' Airlie' which is mentioned in Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....

's novel Kidnapped

Kidnapped (novel)

Kidnapped is a historical fiction adventure novel by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Written as a "boys' novel" and first published in the magazine Young Folks from May to July 1886, the novel has attracted the praise and admiration of writers as diverse as Henry James, Jorge Luis...

. The song commemorates the burning of the castle (some of the stonework is still black) by the Earl of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, 8th Earl of Argyll, chief of Clan Campbell, was the de facto head of government in Scotland during most of the conflict known as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil War...

, claiming to act on behalf of the anti-royalists, while the earl was away fighting for the Jacobite

Jacobitism

Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...

 cause. However, it is also claimed that Forter Castle in Glen Isla

River Isla, Perthshire

The River Isla is a tributary of the River Tay in Angus and Perthshire, Scotland. It runs for 46 miles through Glen Isla and Strathmore .-External links:*...

was the "bonnie hoose" destroyed in 1640.