Keith Marischal
Encyclopedia
Keith Marischal is a Scottish Baronial Country house lying in the parish of Humbie
, East Lothian
, Scotland
. The original building was an "L-shaped"
Tower house
, built long before 1589 when it was extended into a "U-shaped" courtyard house. In the nineteenth century the courtyard was filled in presenting the building one can see today. The house is protected as a category B listed building.
in 1010, the mythological ancestor of the Keith family
.
The lands of Keith were possessed in the reign of King David I
by Simon Fraser of Keith, the first of that surname to appear on record in Scotland. Fraser was one of the Normans who accompanied King David II
back to Scotland. Fraser was made Sheriff of Tweeddale
. He is recorded in a charter gifting some lands and dedicating a church to the Tironensian
Brothers at Kelso Abbey
.
It is unclear however, how the policies at Keith were transferred to another Norman
, Hervey de Keith
the King's Marischal. It is likely that the lands formed part of a dowry
. Hervey, certainly held the lands at Keith when he erected a Church there at the end of the twelfth century obeying a royal decree to that effect. Latterly Hervey's progeny took their name from their estate as was common at the time
Today's parish of Humbie was originally split into the divisions of "Keith Harvey" and "Keith Hundeby"(occasionally "Keith Symmars") and formed the major part of the estate of the Keiths, until they were granted the rock of Dunnottar
in Aberdeenshire
at the close of the fourteenth century. Hervey's descendants were made hereditary Marischal
of Scotland in 1176.
before 1589 by George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal
on the remainder of a previous construction which is heavily obscured, only just discernible in the massive thickness of the southern ground floor internally. Within the grounds, there is evidence of a Barmekin and earthworks in the adjoining cattle meadow which would indicate a mediæval or earlier settlement or castleton.
George, 5th Earl Marischal had stood proxy for King James VI during his marriage to Anne of Denmark
in August 1589. The roof trusses of the tower are reputed to have been made from timber gifted to him by the Danish King Christian VI
, for services rendered. King James went to Norway
in November 1589 to collect his bride in person., returning the following spring. As they were entering the Firth of Forth
a storm broke out, which threatened the royal flotilla. The superstitious James blamed the tempest on witchcraft
, this led to the infamous North Berwick Witch trials. Although the coven was reputedly led by Francis Stewart, 1st Earl of Bothwell, one of the leading accused was Agnes Sampson
. Sampson was known as the "Wise Wife of Keith" and lived at Nether Keith, some quarter of a mile from the house. Indeed one of the latest witch trials in Scotland took place at Humbie in 1678. The accused were held within the Chapel at Keith Marischal for the evening prior to their execution, which took place at Dow Syke (lit. dismal hollow) one mile to the south of the house.
the Keiths were attainted as Jacobites. The Earl Marischal was coerced into the redistribution of his properties, Keith Marischal included. The property was sold to either Sir Thomas Hope, 1st Baronet or his son Sir James Hope of Hopetoun
. The Hope family were engaged in wholesale acquisition of the property of Jacobite sympathisers and eventually managed to amass massive estates in the Lothians over the course of the eighteenth century. it is they who carried out the quasi-symmetrical extension to the west of the house to construct a new wing, forming a courtyard house. The east wing being the original tower.
Before 1889, it was sold to the family of Patrick Fraser Tytler
who hired the Edinburgh firm of Peddie and Kinnear to construct an extension that would fill in the courtyard and provide corridors in the building rather than the more archaic passage from room to room. It is at this time that the exterior was baronialised with faux turret
s and crawstep gabling
to complement those extant. In 1953 the property was acquired by the architect Sir Robert Hogg Matthew
and is currently owned by the Rogers family.
The ruined chapel that stands in the grounds of the House, is a scheduled ancient monument
, which is of early Norman
Gothic
style. The structure is presumably that church that Harvey de Keith raised by decree of King David. There is a 19th c. plaque commemorating this on the chancel gable. Although unsympathetically restored and stabilised in that period as a folly, there is still a wealth of detail that points to its antiquity. These include a fine early seventeenth century monument to the Anderson family, spiro-form
carvings on the exterior of the Ogee
window of possible Rosicrucian
significance, and the unidentified tombstone of a crusading knight. It is possible that this is a memorial to Sir William Keith, a companion of Sir James Douglas
on his campaign to take the heart of Robert the Bruce
to the Holy Land
. Upon the failure of that mission Keith brought back the heart of Bruce to Melrose Abbey
, and the body of Douglas to St. Bride's Church, Douglas
.
Humbie
Humbie is a hamlet and rural parish in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies in the south-west of the county, approximately 10 miles south-west of Haddington and 15 miles south-east of Edinburgh. Humbie as we know it today was formed as the result of the union between Keith Marischal and Keith Hundeby in...
, East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, 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 original building was an "L-shaped"
L Plan Castle
An L-plan castle is a castle or towerhouse in the shape of an L, typically built in the 13th to the 17th century. This design is found quite frequently in Scotland, but is also seen in England, Ireland, Romania, Sardinia, and other locations. The evolution of its design was an expansion of the...
Tower house
Tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...
, built long before 1589 when it was extended into a "U-shaped" courtyard house. In the nineteenth century the courtyard was filled in presenting the building one can see today. The house is protected as a category B listed building.
Early and Mediæval
In legend the lands of Keith were granted to Marbhachir Chamius (or Camus Slayer), in recognition of his valour at the Battle of BarryBattle of Barry
The Battle of Barry is a legendary battle in which the Scots, purportedly led by Malcolm II, defeated a Danish invasion force in 1010 AD. Its supposed site in Carnoustie, Angus can be seen in early Ordnance Survey maps. The history of the event relies heavily on tradition and it is currently...
in 1010, the mythological ancestor of the Keith family
Clan Keith
Clan Keith is a Scottish clan associated with Aberdeenshire and Caithness.-Origins:It is said that a Scottish warrior slew the Danish General Camus at the legendary Battle of Barrie in 1010. For this, King Máel Coluim II of Scotland dipped three fingers into the blood of the slain and drew them...
.
The lands of Keith were possessed in the reign of King David I
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
by Simon Fraser of Keith, the first of that surname to appear on record in Scotland. Fraser was one of the Normans who accompanied King David II
David II of Scotland
David II was King of Scots from 7 June 1329 until his death.-Early life:...
back to Scotland. Fraser was made Sheriff of Tweeddale
Tweeddale
Tweeddale is a committee area and lieutenancy area in the Scottish Borders with a population of 17,394 at the latest census in 2001 it is the second smallest of the 5 committee areas in the Borders. It is the traditional name for the area drained by the upper reaches of the River Tweed...
. He is recorded in a charter gifting some lands and dedicating a church to the Tironensian
Tironensian
The Tironensian Order or the Order of Tiron was a Roman Catholic monastic order named after the location of the mother abbey in the woods of Tiron in Perche, some 35 miles west of Chartres in France)...
Brothers at Kelso Abbey
Kelso Abbey
Kelso Abbey is what remains of a Scottish abbey founded in the 12th century by a community of Tironensian monks first brought to Scotland in the reign of Alexander I. It occupies ground overlooking the confluence of the Tweed and Teviot waters, the site of what was once the Royal Burgh of Roxburgh...
.
It is unclear however, how the policies at Keith were transferred to another Norman
Scoto-Norman
The term Scoto-Norman is used to described people, families, institutions and archaeological artifacts that are partly Scottish and partly Norman...
, Hervey de Keith
Hervey de Keith
Hervey de Keith was a Scoto-Norman nobleman and first recorded Marischal of Scotland.-Life:Keith took his name from the Barony of Keith, in East Lothian, which he held the north eastern part; the south western part was held by SimonFraser...
the King's Marischal. It is likely that the lands formed part of a dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
. Hervey, certainly held the lands at Keith when he erected a Church there at the end of the twelfth century obeying a royal decree to that effect. Latterly Hervey's progeny took their name from their estate as was common at the time
Today's parish of Humbie was originally split into the divisions of "Keith Harvey" and "Keith Hundeby"(occasionally "Keith Symmars") and formed the major part of the estate of the Keiths, until they were granted the rock of Dunnottar
Dunnottar Castle
Dunnottar Castle is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-east coast of Scotland, about two miles south of Stonehaven. The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th–16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been an early fortress of the Dark Ages...
in Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
at the close of the fourteenth century. Hervey's descendants were made hereditary Marischal
Earl Marischal
The title of Earl Marischal was created in the peerage of Scotland for William Keith, the Great Marischal of Scotland.The office of "Marischal of Scotland" had been held heritably by the senior member of the Keith family since Hervey de Keith, who held the office of Marischal under Malcolm IV and...
of Scotland in 1176.
16th and 17th Century
The house was built as an L plan towerL Plan Castle
An L-plan castle is a castle or towerhouse in the shape of an L, typically built in the 13th to the 17th century. This design is found quite frequently in Scotland, but is also seen in England, Ireland, Romania, Sardinia, and other locations. The evolution of its design was an expansion of the...
before 1589 by George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal
George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal
George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal was a Scottish nobleman and Earl Marischal. He succeeded as earl on 7 October 1581, upon the death of his grandfather, William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal....
on the remainder of a previous construction which is heavily obscured, only just discernible in the massive thickness of the southern ground floor internally. Within the grounds, there is evidence of a Barmekin and earthworks in the adjoining cattle meadow which would indicate a mediæval or earlier settlement or castleton.
George, 5th Earl Marischal had stood proxy for King James VI during his marriage to Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I...
in August 1589. The roof trusses of the tower are reputed to have been made from timber gifted to him by the Danish King Christian VI
Christian IV of Denmark
Christian IV was the king of Denmark-Norway from 1588 until his death. With a reign of more than 59 years, he is the longest-reigning monarch of Denmark, and he is frequently remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects...
, for services rendered. King James went to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
in November 1589 to collect his bride in person., returning the following spring. As they were entering the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
a storm broke out, which threatened the royal flotilla. The superstitious James blamed the tempest on witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
, this led to the infamous North Berwick Witch trials. Although the coven was reputedly led by Francis Stewart, 1st Earl of Bothwell, one of the leading accused was Agnes Sampson
Agnes Sampson
Agnes Sampson was a Scottish healer and purported witch. Also known as the "Wise Wife of Keith", Sampson is most famous for her part in the North Berwick witch trials in the later part of the sixteenth century....
. Sampson was known as the "Wise Wife of Keith" and lived at Nether Keith, some quarter of a mile from the house. Indeed one of the latest witch trials in Scotland took place at Humbie in 1678. The accused were held within the Chapel at Keith Marischal for the evening prior to their execution, which took place at Dow Syke (lit. dismal hollow) one mile to the south of the house.
18th Century to the present
Its sale in the late seventeenth century to the Earls of Hopetoun, was to see much structural alteration to the building. The Hopes were originally an Edinburgh family with strong links to the law. During the Williamite RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
the Keiths were attainted as Jacobites. The Earl Marischal was coerced into the redistribution of his properties, Keith Marischal included. The property was sold to either Sir Thomas Hope, 1st Baronet or his son Sir James Hope of Hopetoun
James Hope of Hopetoun
James Hope of Hopetoun , was a Scottish industrialist and politician.He was the owner of Keith Marischal.-References:*Dictionary of National Biography, Hope, Sir James , of Hopetoun, lawyer and lead-worker, by T. F. Henderson. Published 1891....
. The Hope family were engaged in wholesale acquisition of the property of Jacobite sympathisers and eventually managed to amass massive estates in the Lothians over the course of the eighteenth century. it is they who carried out the quasi-symmetrical extension to the west of the house to construct a new wing, forming a courtyard house. The east wing being the original tower.
Before 1889, it was sold to the family of Patrick Fraser Tytler
Patrick Fraser Tytler
Patrick Fraser Tytler was a Scottish historian.-Life:The son of Lord Woodhouselee, he was born in Edinburgh, where he attended the Royal High School. He was called to the bar in 1813; in 1816 he became King's counsel in the Exchequer, and practised as an advocate until 1832...
who hired the Edinburgh firm of Peddie and Kinnear to construct an extension that would fill in the courtyard and provide corridors in the building rather than the more archaic passage from room to room. It is at this time that the exterior was baronialised with faux turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s and crawstep gabling
Crow-stepped gable
A Stepped gable, Crow-stepped gable, or Corbie step is a stair-step type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building...
to complement those extant. In 1953 the property was acquired by the architect Sir Robert Hogg Matthew
Robert Matthew
Sir Robert Hogg Matthew, OBE, FRIBA was a Scottish architect and a leading proponent of modernism.- Early life & studies :Robert Matthew was the son of John Matthew . He was born and brought up in Edinburgh, and attended the Edinburgh College of Art.- Career :Robert was apprenticed with his...
and is currently owned by the Rogers family.
Other Buildings
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...
, which is of early Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style. The structure is presumably that church that Harvey de Keith raised by decree of King David. There is a 19th c. plaque commemorating this on the chancel gable. Although unsympathetically restored and stabilised in that period as a folly, there is still a wealth of detail that points to its antiquity. These include a fine early seventeenth century monument to the Anderson family, spiro-form
Spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a central point, getting progressively farther away as it revolves around the point.-Spiral or helix:...
carvings on the exterior of the Ogee
Ogee
An ogee is a curve , shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends are parallel....
window of possible Rosicrucian
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe...
significance, and the unidentified tombstone of a crusading knight. It is possible that this is a memorial to Sir William Keith, a companion of Sir James Douglas
James Douglas, Lord of Douglas
Sir James Douglas , , was a Scottish soldier and knight who fought in the Scottish Wars of Independence.-Early life:...
on his campaign to take the heart of Robert the Bruce
Robert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...
to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. Upon the failure of that mission Keith brought back the heart of Bruce to Melrose Abbey
Melrose Abbey
Melrose Abbey is a Gothic-style abbey in Melrose, Scotland. It was founded in 1136 by Cistercian monks, on the request of King David I of Scotland. It was headed by the Abbot or Commendator of Melrose. Today the abbey is maintained by Historic Scotland...
, and the body of Douglas to St. Bride's Church, Douglas
Douglas, South Lanarkshire
Douglas is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located on the south bank of the Douglas Water and on the A70 road that links Ayr, on the West coast of Scotland, to Edinburgh on the East, around 12 miles south west of Lanark. The placename is of Gaelic origin, derived from the Old Gaelic...
.
Sources
- Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland,:A survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical Vol.IV, ed. Francis H. Groome. Thomas C. Jack, Edinburgh 1883