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ever, in 1874 that paper published a history of them. It was compiled 

 from authentic sources, including the testimony of his grandson, Mr. 

 R. Barclay-AUardice of Jordanstoue House, and contemporaries such 

 as Mr. E. H. Budd of Swindon, Captain Ross of Rossie Castle, also 

 Mr. A. W. Kinnear of Stonehaven, who, for many years, was his agent 

 and factor. It may, therefore, be taken that the record is perfectly 

 truthful, so from it I extract some particulars, which are as follows : — 



The Barcliy-Allardice family can boast of a genealogy as old as 

 any in Scotland. It can be traced back to a.d. 1110. Originally the 

 name w^as spelt Berkeley, and they were described as " of Mathers," 

 but some three hundred years ago it was changed to Barclay, and the 

 head of the family came to Ury, since when, until near the end of the 

 last century, they were called the " Barclays of Ury." The paper from 

 which I am taking these particulars gives an exhaustive history of the 

 family, by which is seen it always held the highest position in society, 

 and among its members were some of the most celebrated men of the 

 day and friends of the reigning sovereign. I skip all this and come to 

 the father of the subject of this present memoir. He was Robert 

 Barclay, and is described as a most handsome man of six feet high 

 and very athletic. He was a great pedestrian and often walked 

 from Ury to London, on one occasion doing the 510 miles in ten days. 

 William Pitt was his great friend, and he represented the county of 

 Kincardine in three Parliaments. He was a great agriculturist, and by 

 his good management reclaimed his large property froui a treeless 

 wilderness into one of the most beautiful in North Britain. He 

 married Miss Sarah Anne Allardice of Allardice Castle, about nine 

 miles from Ury, and with her the Allardice estates, which w^ere in the 

 possession of that family since 1167, came to the Barclay? , and Allardice 

 was added to the surname. 



Believing as I do that good breeding is a necessity in man, even 

 more so than in an animal, to enable him, u'heji the inncli comes, to go 

 straight, I make this short reference to the pedigree of the man some 

 of whose deeds I am about to record. " Soft ones " we have in man 

 and animal, no matter how well-bred they may be, but when in a 

 difficult 2Kjsitioji, either as regards honour, pluck, or determination, 

 give me the man who has had, at least, a grandfather ! 



The other gentlemen to whom I have made mention in this chapter 

 were likewise descendants of ancient families of the highest standing, 

 but not having any record of their pedigrees or means of obtaining 

 them I am unable to give reference thereto. 



Captain Robert Barclay-Allardice w^as the eldest son of Robert 

 Barclay and Miss Allardice just mentioned, and was born at Ury on 

 August 25, 1779. He was thus twenty-two, six, and eight years 

 older respectively than Captain Ross, Mr. E. H. Budd, and Mr. George 

 Osbaldeston, all of whom in after life were intimate friends of his and 

 witnessed most of his extraordinary feats. 



Omitting reference to his boyhood, I come to August, 179G, when 



