Tag Archives: Jacobite history

Leith Hall, Kennethmont, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

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Leith Hall, Aberdeenshire

It’s months since we visited Aberdeenshire, but it’s only now that I’m getting around to blogging about our visit to Leith Hall near Kennethmont. The oldest part of the building dates from 1650, but it has been added on to over the centuries. Like many such grand houses it was made into a temporary Red Cross hospital during World War 1.

Leith Hall hospital plaque, Aberdeenshire

In 1945 Leith Hall was presented to the National Trust for Scotland. As you can see from the photo below it’s a good place to have a snack or some ice-cream.

Leith Hall , Aberdeenshire, Scotland

This house apparently has quite a reputation for being haunted and according to Wiki the writer Elizabeth Byrd and her husband rented 16 rooms in Leith Hall in the 1960s and she later wrote about her paranormal experiences there! The hall is set in a 286 acre estate.

In 1745 the then owner of the hall fought on the Jacobite side, below are some relics of the time.

Leith Hall,Jacobite relics, Aberdeenshire

Strangely there’s a scarf which apparently belonged to Napoleon on show, nice scarf but the photo is blurry as you can see.

Leith Hall , Napoleon's scarf

It’s the gardens that impressed me most though. We had a lovely afternoon here last August on what was a beautiful day, it’s definitely worth a visit if you’re in the Aberdeenshire area. This place isn’t very far from Balmoral, but we decided to leave that for another trip. I sort of wish we had gone then as the Queen was there at the time – for the last time.

Leith Hall garden, Aberdeenshire

Leith Hall garden, Aberdeenshire

Leith Hall garden, Aberdeenshire

Leith Hall Garden, Aberdeenshire

An Edinburgh Reel by Iona McGregor

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An Edinburgh Reel by Iona McGregor was first published in 1968. I’ve been reading a fair few books set in historic Edinburgh recently and this is another one. The setting is mainly around the Royal Mile, six years after the battle of Culloden, so 1752.

Christine has left her family home of Strathdallin in the Highlands to go and meet her father in Edinburgh, it’s her first visit to the capital and she’s not impressed as the place stinks. So although her family home at Strathdallin had been trashed by the Redcoats after the battle and there are only a few rooms left standing and the roof is leaking, she’s still homesick for the place. Living in a couple of freezing rooms at the top of a tenement building doesn’t suit her at all, despite having friendly but much better off relatives living in the same building.

John Murray, her father has spent most of the past six years in France after he managed to escape from a prison hulk after his capture, he knows that he had been betrayed by another Scotsman after Culloden but doesn’t know his name. He’s still a loyal Jacobite and is determined to get back at whoever betrayed him.

When Christime first sees her father she’s shocked that the he doesn’t look at all like the handsome tall man that she remembers. She must only have been nine years old in 1745 and she has grown while her father seems so old and shrunken, he has permanent health problems because of his treatment by the English and his estate has been seized by the government, so they are penniless.

Christine is worried for her father as he’s in danger of getting dragged into another Jacobite plot and ending his days kicking on the end of a rope.

This was a great read, very atmospheric with a wee bit of a romance too. I’m sure that Iona McGregor got it exactly right when she has the wealthy Edinburgh inhabitants getting all teary eyed and sentimental over the songs sung about ‘The Chevalier’ – despite the fact that most of them hadn’t been supporters of the Jacobites during the Rising.

This book was apparently aimed at children aged 11 and over, but like all well written books it’s appreciated by people of all ages.