301 



ions,' -( vied the descendant.** of their niece 

 >H-t"ii ( lurdons." 



DTKKS OF GORDON. Elizabeth of Cordon, tip- 

 heiress of Sir Adam, married before 1408 

 Alexander of Seton (son of Sir William oi' Seton), 

 \\ho before. 14.'{7 was created Lord of (iordon. 

 Their son Alexander, who t4>ok the name of 

 Cordon, \\a- made Earl of Huntly in 1449, and 

 J.onl of Badenoch a few years afterwards. He 

 acquired liy marriage the baronies of (Jinny, 

 .\l>o\ne, and Clenmuick in Aberdeenshire ; and 

 had grants from the crown of the lordship of 

 Itadcnoch and other lands in Inverness-shire and 

 Moia\. Me died in 1470, and was succeeded by 

 hi- second son George, who had married Anna 

 bella. daughter of King .lames I., and who 

 added to his territories the lands of Schivas in 

 Aherdeenshire, an<l lloyne, Enzie, and Nether- 

 dale in Itanll'shire. He was chancellor of Scot- 

 land from 1498 to 1301, and, dying soon after- 

 wards, was succeeded by his son Alexander, the 

 third earl, who acquired Strathaven (or Strath - 

 doun)in Hanll'shire, and the Brae of Lochaber in 

 Inverness-shire. He commanded the left wing of 

 the Scottish army at Flodden. Dying in 1524, he 

 \\a-siicceeded by his grandson George, the fourth 

 earl, who acquired the earldom of Moray, held the 

 offices of lieutenant of the north and chancellor of 

 the realm, and was reputed the wisest, wealthiest, 

 and most powerful subject in Scotland. The crown, 

 counselled to clip his wings lest he should attempt, 

 like the Douglases in the previous age, to overawe 

 the throne, stripped him or the earldom of Moray, 

 and, rushingiiito revolt, he fell (or died of apoplexy) 

 at Corrichie in 1562. Sentence of forfeiture was 

 pronounced upon his corpse, but was rescinded in 

 1565, and his son George succeeded as fifth earl. He 

 died in 1576. His son George, the sixth earl, was 

 conspicuous as the head of the Roman Catholics in 

 Scotland. He defeated at Glenlivet a roval force 

 sent against him under the Earl of Argyll in 1594, 

 but, submitting to the king, obtained an easy pardon, 

 and was made Marquis of Huntly in 1599. He died in 

 1636. His son George, the second marquis, espoused 

 the royal cause in the great civil war of his time. 

 ' You may take my head from my shoulders,' he 

 said, in answer to tempting oilers from the Coven- 

 anters, ' but not my heart from my king.' When he 

 resided in Aberdeen in 1639 he was attended daily 

 by twenty- four gentlemen, of whom three were 

 barons, while eight gentlemen guarded his mansion 

 by night. He was beheaded at Edinburgh in 1649. 

 His son Lewis, the third marquis, was restored by 

 King Charles II. in 1651, but died in 1653. His 

 son Crorge, the fourth marquis, was created Duke 

 of Gordon in 1684. He held the castle of Edin- 

 burgh for King James VII. at the Revolution ; and, 

 dying in 1716, was succeeded by his son Alexander, 

 the s.vond duke, who died in 1728. He lived, Bos- 

 well says, ' in sequestered magnificence, correspond- 

 in- with the grand-dukes of Tuscany,' with whom 

 he believed that he could count kindred. His son 

 ( 'osmn George, the third duke, died in 1752, leaving 

 three sons. The youngest, Lord George Gordon 

 q-O, led the Protestant mob which sacked Lon- 

 don in 1780; the eldest, Alexander, who liecame 

 fourth duke, was the author of the well-known song, 

 'Cauld Kail in Aberdeen.' His wife, the sprightly 

 Jane Maxwell, daughter of Sir William Maxwell of 

 Monreith, was even more noted for her beauty than 

 her wit, and was known as the ' l>eautiful Duchess 

 of Gordon' (died 1812). The fourth duke died 

 in 1827, and was succeeded by his son George, 

 the fifth duke, on whose death, without issue, in 

 1836, the title of Duke of Gordon (being limited 

 to the heirs-male of the body of the first duke) 

 became extinct, the title of Earl of Huntly 

 fell into abeyance, and the title of Marquis of 



Huntly wan adjudged to the Earl of Aboyne, an 



heir male of the Inxly of the first marqui*. The 

 estates \\i-nt to the duke's nephew, Charles, fifth 

 Duke of Richmond and Lennox, grandson of the 

 fourth Duke of (iordon. Elizabeth, Duchess of 

 Gordon ( 1774-1864), widow of the fifth duke, long 

 survived her husband, and was a woman of noble 

 character and eminent piety (see her Life atul 

 Letters, by A. M. Stuart, 1866). The title of Duke 

 of Gordon was revived in 1876 in the person of the 

 sixth Duke of Richmond. 



MAiiMfisEs OK HUHTLT. Lord John Gordon, 

 | second son of the first Marquis of Ilnntly, was 

 made Viscount of Melgund and Lord Aboyne in 

 Iti'J". Three years afterwards lie was burned to 

 death in the tower of Frendraught. In 1632 

 his elder brother George was made Viscount of 

 Aboyne, which title, on his succession to the 

 Marquisate of Huntly in 1636, devolved on his 

 son Lord James, who distinguished himself on the 

 king's side during the ware of the Covenant, and 

 died, it is said, of a broken heart, a few days 

 after the execution of King Charles I. in 1649. 

 His younger brother, Lord Charles Gordon, was 

 made Earl of Alm'ne in 1660 ; and his great-great- 

 grandson, George, who had been a favourite at the 

 court of Marie Antoinette, succeeded as fifth Earl 

 of Aboyne in 1794, on the death of his father, and 

 as ninth Marquis of Huntly in 1836, on the death 

 of the fifth Duke of Gordon. In 1853 the ninth 

 I marquis was succeeded by his eldest son Charles, 

 ! tenth marquis, who died in 1863, and the marquis- 

 ; ate of Huntly and earldom of Aboyne fell to his 

 i eldest son Charles, eleventh marquis. 



EARLS OF SUTHERLAND. About the year 1512 

 Adam Gordon of Aboyne, second son of the second 

 Earl of Huntly, married Elizabeth, the heiress of 

 Sutherland, and was progenitor of the Gordon 

 Earls of Sutherland, who bore the surname of 

 Gordon till the beginning of the 18th century, when 

 they exchanged it for that of Sutherland, which 

 had been borne by the earlier earls. 



LOCHINVAR AND KfiNMURE. William of Gordon 

 (1306-29), the second son of Sir Adam of Gordon, 

 was the progenitor of the knightly family of Lochin- 

 var, which in 1633 was raised to the peerage by the 

 titles of Lord of Lochinvar and Viscount of Ken- 

 iii ure. William, the sixth viscount the 'Kenmure's 

 on and awa' ' of Jacobite song was beheaded in 

 1716 for his share in the rising of the previous year. 

 The peerage, then forfeited, was restored in 1824, 

 but has been in abeyance since the death of Adam, 

 the ninth viscount, in 1847. 



EARLS OF ABERDEEN. According to old tradi- 

 tion this house descends from one of the illegitimate 

 brothers of Sir Adam of Gordon, who was slain at 

 Homildon in 1402. Its first authentic member was 

 Patrick Gordon of Methlic, who died on the banks 

 of the Ythan in 1445. In 1642 its chief, Sir John 

 Gordon of Haddo, was created a baronet of Nova 

 Scotia. He was beheaded at Edinburgh in 1644, 

 bequeathing the name of ' Haddo's Hole ' to one of 

 the aisles of St Giles' Church, which had leen his 

 prison. His son, Sir George Gordon of Haddo, 

 became a Lord of Session in 1680, Lord President 

 in 1681, and Lord Chancellor in the following year. 

 He was raised to the peerage in 1682, by the titles 

 of Earl of Aberdeen, Viscount of Formartine, Lord 

 Haddo, Methlic, Tarves, and Kellie. He died in 

 1 720 with the character of being ' a solid statesman, 

 a fine orator, speaking slow but strong.' Some of 

 these lineaments, it has been thought, reappeared, 

 with his love of letters, in his great-great-grandson, 

 the fourth Earl of Aberdeen (q.v.). Among other 

 members of the house of Gordon not mentioned 

 above were < 'ohmel .John Gordon, one of the assassins 

 of Wallenstein : Cordon Pasha; and, through hi* 

 mother, Lord Uyron. 



