Argaty
Encyclopedia
Doune
Doune is a burgh in the district of Stirling, Scotland, on the River Teith. Doune's postal address places the town in Perthshire, although geographically it lies within the District of Stirling, and administratively Doune is under the control of Stirling Council...
, Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. 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...
, Scotland
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...
. The present Argaty House, now largely destroyed by fire, dates from the 19th century with baronial additions in the 1860s and 1920s.
Administratively Doune is under the control of Stirling Council.
Today, Argaty farm is host to central Scotland's only red kite
Red Kite
The Red Kite is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species is currently endemic to the Western Palearctic region in Europe and northwest Africa, though formerly also occurred just...
feeding station where visitors can come and watch the birds, recently reintroduced to their former natural habitat through a program managed by the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage
Scottish Natural Heritage
Scottish Natural Heritage is a Scottish public body. It is responsible for Scotland's natural heritage, especially its natural, genetic and scenic diversity. It advises the Scottish Government and acts as a government agent in the delivery of conservation designations, i.e...
.
History
Argaty was originally part of the Doune estate, property of the Dukes of Albany, ancestors of the Clan Stewart of BalquhidderClan Stewart of Balquhidder
Stewart of Balquhidder is a Perthshire branch of the Stewart clan. They are descended from Sir William Stewart of Baldorran , who was the great grandson of Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany, executed by King James I of Scotland for treason in 1425...
. When Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany was executed for treason by King James I of Scotland
James I of Scotland
James I, King of Scots , was the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. He was probably born in late July 1394 in Dunfermline as youngest of three sons...
in 1425, the Stewart lands were forfeited to the Crown, and Argaty was among the forfeited properties. After the forfeiture the Crown granted the lands of Argaty to John Sinclair, Esquire to the King's Chamber. The property then passed to Sinclair's younger daughter who married Patrick Home (or "Hume") of Polworth, and Argaty thus came into the possession of the Home family. About a century and a half later the property again fell upon a daughter, Mary Hume, who married George Stewart, 2nd of Ballachallan, whose descendants took the name Home-Stewart (or Hume-Stewart). Ironically, through this circuitous route of forfeiture and marriages the property of Argaty actually returned to the descendants of the same Stewarts who lost it three centuries earlier.
In 1758 Argaty was inherited by George Hume Steuart
George Hume Steuart
George Hume Steuart, was a physician, tobacco planter, and Loyalist politician in colonial Maryland. Born in Perthshire, Scotland, Steuart emigrated to Maryland in around 1721, where he benefited from proprietarial patronage and was appointed to a number of colonial offices, eventually becoming a...
of Annapolis, Maryland, son of George Stewart and Mary Home. Steuart held lands in both Maryland and Perthshire and, at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1775, Steuart left Maryland and returned to Scotland. His son, also named George Hume Steuart (1747–1788), inherited Argaty estate in his turn, changing his name to George Steuart Hume
George Steuart Hume
Dr George Steuart Hume was a Maryland physician and landowner who emigrated to Scotland before the American Revolutionary War. Born George Hume Steuart in Maryland, he left for Scotland in 1758, where he studied Medicine, changing his name to his maternal name of Hume in order to inherit his...
.
On Hume's death in 1788, Argaty passed to Hume's infant daughter Sophia. Hume's younger brothers unsuccessfully sued their niece Sophia for the Scottish inheritance.
On 30 April 2011 a fire broke out in Argaty House. The Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service
Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service
Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of Central Scotland, Scotland.-History:Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service was formed in 1975 when control of fire services was passed from local authorities to the new Central Region Council...
estimated the next day that 90% of the building was totally destroyed by the fire.