THE BARONY OF GREENHALL FOR SALE
The Murray Clan Society
Added on 01 October 2024
The Dignity of 'The Barony of Greenhall' in Perthshire is being offered for sale and the vendors have indicated that they will give serious consideration to offers of £95,000.
Following the passing, and coming into effect of the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 barony titles are separated from their former lands. The purchaser of The Barony of Greenhall will not acquire any land as a result of his/her acquisition of the barony title. The new holder of the title will be able to style him/herself ‘The Baron/ Baroness of Greenhall.’ Following a decision 3rd December 2008, by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, and ratified by the present Lord Lyon 21st August 2014, the ownership of a Scottish baronial dignity will bring the owner within the heraldic jurisdiction of the Lord Lyon; the acquisition of a Scottish baronial dignity will enable the holder to petition Lord Lyon for a coat of arms. The Lord Lyon has said that he will accept any barony presented to him as a valid barony provided it has been registered in the Scottish Barony Register.
Greenhall, also historically spelled Grenehall or Greinhall, lies in the Strathearn district of Perthshire at the heart of Scotland. It is six miles east of the town of Crieff and a few miles from the Gleneagles Hotel and its famous golf course. Greenhall today is in the Bellyclone or Bellicloan area (also known anciently as Balmaclone) within the parish of Madderty. It is situated just north of the Gask Ridge and its important Roman road and to the south of the remains of Inchaffray Abbey. The wider region of Strathearn was an ancient province of the early medieval Kingdom of Alba.
The Madderty area has a long history with King William granting lands there to Earl Gilbert of Strathearn in the 1180s. Gilbert, or Gille Brigte and his family had a long tradition of service to the Crown of Scotland. He was the 3rd Mormaer or Earl of Strathearn. His grandfather Malise had been the first attested Mormaer of Strathearn, a regional ruler second only to the king, and had fought at the Battle of the Standard in 1138 during King David’s invasion of England. Gilbert rose to become Justiciar of Scotia, the highest legal official in the realm. In a charter of around the year 1200 he and his countess, Maud, founded a religious house dedicated to the honour of God, the Virgin Mary, and St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. This foundation, known at first as Inchaffray Priory stood by the village of Madderty, originally upon an island in a marsh which was later drained. Gilbert of Strathearn further granted the lands of Bellyclone to the Priory, including land for a mill on the Pow Burn. Inchaffray later became an Abbey and was an important religious house in late medieval Scotland. Two of its Abbots contributed to the wider history of the kingdom by becoming involved in the conflicts against England which characterised this period of history. During the Wars of Independence Abbot Maurice of Inchaffray carried the relics of Saint Fillan to bless the Scottish army before the pivotal Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Some believed at the time that these relics had helped sway the battle in favour of the Scots. Two hundred years later in 1514, Commendatory Abbot of Inchaffray Laurence Oliphant, who came from a notable Strathearn family, was killed at the disastrous Battle of Flodden.
With the Reformation of the mid-sixteenth century, sweeping change came to Scotland and her religious houses. These had become substantial landowners and powerful political institutions. Inchaffray, along with many other foundations, was turned into a secular lordship. Much of what remained of the abbey was destroyed during roadworks in the nineteenth century, though some ruins still stand today. In 1556 the Abbey of Inchaffray’s lands were granted to the Drummond family. James Drummond, son of David, 2nd Lord Drummond in turn received from his father the lands which had belonged to the Abbey. The younger Drummond had been educated with King James VI and the two remained close during their adult lives. Drummond was present during the so-called Gowrie Conspiracy in 1600. There are many theories as to the motives of this mysterious affair but the Earl of Gowrie and his brother seem to have made an attempt to kill or kidnap King James VI but were both killed in the attack. As a result, their honours were forfeited to the Crown. James’ loyal supporters on that day were rewarded. Drummond’s lands at Inchaffray were raised to the new Lordship of Madderty. King James (soon to become King James I of England) visited James Drummond at Inchaffray in October 1601.
In this period it seems that the lands of Belliclone, possibly including a property at Greenhall, were held by clients, including other Drummonds who were likely a branch line to the main family. The lands were divided between several holders. The Drummonds remained Lords of Madderty in seventeenth century and were regionally prominent nobles. In the 1610s it appears that Patrick Lyndsay, advocate, held half of the lands of Belliclone. In 1624 James, Lord Madderty was confirmed in the lands of Belliclone. During the Civil Wars of the mid-seventeenth century John, 2nd Lord Madderty and his son David, 3rd Lord Madderty were locally important figures and supported the Royalist cause. However, the 2nd Lord Madderty did not take up arms on behalf of Charles I until after the battle of Kilsyth in 1645, which appeared to turn the course of the conflict in Scotland to the king’s favour. He then joined the standard of Montrose at Bothwell, along with the Marquis of Douglas, the Earl of Linlithgow and others who had held back until they saw which side was likely to prove the strongest. He does not appear to have accompanied Montrose to the Border, but he was afterwards imprisoned for the adherence which he had professed to the royal cause. His son David, 3rd Lord Madderty is known to have suffered imprisonment in 1644, along with other Royalists. In 1652 Lord Madderty signed a document at Greenhall, indicating that he had property there at this time. In 1684 the same Lord Madderty resigned the lands of Greenhall and others to Gavin Drummond of Belliclone. Upon the death of the 3rd Lord Madderty in 1692 the family titles and estates passed to his younger brother. William Drummond, who had been made 1st Viscount Strathallan. A soldier and politician Drummond had held a command during the Engagement of 1648, in Ireland and at the Battle of Worcester. After the Restoration of the Monarchy he was made Major-General of forces in Scotland. In 1698 Strathallan was confirmed in the lands of Belliclone.
In August 1730 the lands and estate of Bellyclone were put up for sale to settle the debts of the owner. These lands were said to have been erected into the free Barony of Greenhall. In the 1730s the lands of Bellyclone, Greenhall and others were however still held by a Drummond, George, son of Gavin Drummond who is likely the man who had held these lands from the 2nd Lord Madderty. The problems of the Drummonds however continued. The family had it seems come into opposition with their powerful neighbours, the Morays of Abercairny. In 1731 Robert Moray issued against George Drummond and others on the estate of Bellyclone a precept of warning, a written instruction given by a landlord to notify a tenant to remove from his property within 40 days. However, the following year George Drummond was returned as heir to his father Gavin Drummond in the lands of Bellyclone, Greenhall and others. In a 1734 charter Patrick Campbell resigned the lands of Greenhall to Sir William Moray of Abercairney who had purchased them. The Moray or Murray family were a historically significant clan with strong roots in Perthshire back to medieval times. Abercairney, the seat of the branch of the same name, was a few miles to the north-west of Greenhall. The estate had been in the possession of the Morays since c.1300 and by the nineteenth century the family held over twenty thousand acres of land in Perthshire. Sir William and his brothers were said to be staunch Jacobites, including at least two who went into exile to the court in exile at St Germains. By 1739 documents belonging to the Morays of Abercairny include rentals of their baronies of Abercairny, Ogilvy, Abernyte and Greenhall. Sir William was succeeded by his son James Moray of Abercairney. He married Lady Christian Montgomerie, daughter of the Earl of Eglinton. While James is said to have shared his family’s Jacobite sympathies, his father-in-law supported the Hanoverians which seems to have provided him with some protection. Papers regarding the policing of the district following the Jacobite Rising of 1745 name a John McLachlan of Greenhall, possibly a tenant of the Morays. Though it is not known whether he committed, was a victim of or simply reported a robbery. This shows the tumultuous times with vagabonds roaming the area.
In the 1770s Greenhall was listed as one of the townships of the Moray family including Bellyclone, Cowdens, Carselairg and Littlefauld. In this period James and Christian’s eldest son Alexander succeeded to the estates though he and his wife Clementia Stewart of Grandtully died without children. The estates, including the barony of Greenhall, passed to Alexander’s brother Colonel Charles Moray. Charles married Anne daughter and heiress of William Stirling, 4th Bart. of Ardoch. Upon inheriting his wife’s estates Charles added Stirling to his own name. In 1810 Greenhall passed to their son James Moray of Abercairney. In 1813 Greenhall was valuable enough for William Menzies to offer to purchase it from James. Menzies appears to have been the tenant of the property for some years. Moray declined. In turn he was succeeded in the family estates by his brother William Stirling Moray. William had been a professional soldier serving in India and at Waterloo. Both James and William were passionate about horse riding and foxhunting. William married Fanny, daughter of Lord and Lady Douglas of Castle Douglas. William made various improvements to Abercairney. His mansion is known for Queen Victoria stopping her carriage to look at it during building works in 1842. He also instigated improvements on the Pow of Inchaffray, the watercourse which was central to farming in the area. Upon William’s death in 1850 he was succeeded in the Abercairney estates by his sister Christian who had married Henry Home Drummond, 7th Laird of Blair Drummond. By the middle of the nineteenth century Greenhall was a collection of buildings and lands at Bellyclone, at the south-east of the Abercairny holdings. In the 1850s it was listed as consisting of a farmsteading, dwelling house and offices, the property of the Home Drummonds of Abercairney and in the possession of the Reverand Thomas Gun, Mr David Ritchie and Mr Andrew Davidson.
Christian was succeeded in the Abercairney estates by her son Charles Stirling Home Drummond. Charles was born in 1816 and was commissioned into the XVth Hussars, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He married Anne, daughter of Sir Charles Douglas of Kelhead. During his time he made various improvements to the family estates. He was succeeded by his son William Stirling Home Drummond who attended Eton before serving in the army in Egypt and Sudan in the 1880s. William was in turn succeeded by his son Jamie Stirling Home Drummond who also attended Eton and joined the army, serving in the Scots Guards between the First and Second World Wars. The family continued to hold the estates, including Greenhall, throughout the twentieth century and up to the present day. This is the first time the Barony of Greenhall has been offered since the family acquired it in 1730.