stirling-1963-vol-1/05_048

Transcription

INTRODUCTION : GENERAL
his holding in Stirlingshire to include parts of the lands of Carnock, Plean and Gargunnock.
In 1510 Alexander was created Lord Elphinstone on the occasion of the baptism of Prince
Arthur. During the 16th century the family built a castle on their Elphinstone estate (cf.
No. 198), while another evidence of their prosperity is the fine series of late 16th- and early
17th-century tombstones that remains in the Elphinstone aisle at the old parish church of
Airth (No. 137). By the middle of the 17th century, however, the financial position of the
family had become unstable and the estate began to break up, parts of the lands of Airth being
sold to Captain Alexander Bruce, who was seeking at that time to retrieve the fortunes of the
Bruces of Airth. At the end of the 17th century the barony of Elphinstone was sold to a cadet
of the family, Richard Elphinstone of Calderhall; Charles, 9th Lord Elphinstone, managed to
regain part of the property, but soon after the middle of the 18th century the lands and barony
of Elphinstone were acquired by the Earl of Dunmore, whose name they now bear.
The Stirling family was represented in the county by three main branches, those of
Craigbarnet,¹ Glorat ² and Garden. ³ John Stirling of Craigbarnet was in possession of lands
in the parish of Campsie about the middle of the 15th century; his son John, who was knighted,
was Comptroller of the Household to James IV and Keeper of Dumbarton Castle. Apart from
a short period in the 18th century when the property passed to another branch of the Stirlings,
Craigbarnet remained in the direct line of the family until the death of John Stirling, 9th of
Craigbarnet, in 1805. Sir John Stirling, 2nd of Craigbarnet, had acquired the lands of Glorat,
which lie about four miles east of Craigbarnet, in 1508, and these were almost immediately
granted to his son William, the founder of the house of Glorat. George Stirling, 8th of Glorat,
was created a baronet in 1666, and the family has retained its Stirlingshire estates up to the
present day. The Stirlings of Garden are a branch of the family of Stirling of Keir, Sir John
Stirling, 1st of Garden, having obtained the estate from his father, Sir Archibald Stirling of
Keir, in 1613. Before this the lands of Garden were in the possession of the Forrester (Forestar)
family. James Stirling, a younger son of Archibald Stirling, 3rd of Garden, was an eminent
mathematician; he also played an important part in the development, in the middle of the
18th century, of the Scots Mining Company at Leadhills. The family also possessed the
estate of Steuarthall (No. 293), a little to the east of Stirling, and frequently resided there;
the old tower of Garden was removed in the 18th century and a new house was built, which in
turn was greatly extended and altered by James Stirling, 6th of Garden, in the 19th century
(cf. No. 338). Another branch of this family in Stirlingshire is that of Stirling of Muiravonside
(cf. No. 316).
The Stirlingshire interests of the Napier ⁴ family originated in the marriage of John Napier
of Merchiston to Elizabeth, one of the heiresses of the Lennox earldom, some time after 1455.
Elizabeth's share of the Lennox estates included the lands of Gartness, Dalnair, Blairour,
Gartocharn, Ballochairn and Edinbelly, all of which were incorporated in the barony of
Edinbelly Napier in 1509. The most celebrated member of the family was John Napier, the
inventor of logarithms, who was born in 1550. After completing his studies he settled at
Gartness and devoted himself to the study of mathematics and the Scriptures; his Description
of the marvellous Canon of Logarithms was published in 1614. John Napier's eldest son

1 Fraser, W., The Stirlings of Keir, 127 ff.
2 Ibid., 137 ff.
3 Ibid., 83 ff.
4 The Scots Peerage, vi, 402 ff. Cf. also Strathendrick, 175 ff.

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