BRUCE, OF CLACKMANAN AND COWDEN, OR NEWTON. BRUCE, MISS MARGARET, of Cowden, Perthshire, succeeded her father, Captain William Bruce, of Cowden, on the 22nd January, 1807. Lineage. The present proprietrix is descended both of the Bruces of Clackmanan, and of the Bruces of Cowden, or Newton, sprung from the family of Airth, an early and distinguished branch of the former. The direct line of the Bruces, of Clackmanan-eventually chiefs of all the Bruces in Scotland-having been only seriatim traced down to Sir David Bruce, of Clackmanan, who succeeded in 1405, under the article of Bruce, of Kennet, in the second volume, (p. 485, et seq.) it may be proper to observe, that the same Sir David, Laird or Baron of Clackmanan, was succeeded by John Bruce, of Clackmanan, his son, who was the father of Sir David Bruce of Clackmanan, which last had issue, Sir David Bruce, of Clackmanan, from whom the direct male representation and descent was continuous, and came to centre in Sir Henry Bruce, of Clackmanan, proprietor of the Barony of Clackmanan in the year 1669. This SIR HENRY BRUCE, of Clackmanan, m. first, Mary, daughter of Sir Alexander Shane, of Sauchie; secondly, Lady Ann Ramsay, daughter to the Earl of Dalhousie, Countess Dowager of Dundee, and by the former had three sons, 1. DAVID, his successor, who m. Lady Margaret Mackenzie, daughter of George, Earl of Cromarty, but died without progeny. Alexander, who predeceased him unmarried. HENRY, his successor. JANET, who married William Bruce, of Newton, afterwards of Cowden, of whom and her descendants in the sequel. The son and successor, HENRY BRUCE, of Clackmanan, the heir by the death of Alexander, his elder brother, m. Catherine, daughter of Alexander Bruce, of Newton, and sister of William Bruce, of Cowden, his brother-in-law, by which lady, who survived him, he had no issue who came to maturity. There is the following intimation of his death in the Scots Magazine for the year 1772 :—“ Died 8th July, 1772, at Clackmanan Castle, Henry Bruce, of Clackmanan, esq. aged 72, descended of John de Bruce, 3rd son of Robert, Lord of Annandale, who was competitor for the crown of Scotland with John Baliol. He was heir of Sir Robert Bruce, of Clackmanan, who in 1359 obtained a charter from King Robert Bruce, in which he is designated the king's beloved and faithful cousin, and from whom all the other families of the name of Bruce in Scotland are descended." By his death without issue, his representation undoubtedly on the descendants of JANET BRUCE, his only sister. This lady by her husband, William Bruce, of New ton,* alluded to, (who sold that property, and acquired Cowden, by which he and his heirs were afterwards designated, and who was, also in another capacity, brother-inlaw of the last Henry Bruce, of Clackmanan, who married his sister,) she had issue, HENRY, captain in the East India Com pany's service, who d. unm. WILLIAM, captain in the Bengal artillery, who continued the line. Jean, d. unm. Sarah, d. unm. The only surviving son, CAPTAIN WILLIAM BRUCE succeeded to the estate of Cowden, m. Margaret, eldest daughter of Dr. Robert Oliver, (by Margaret, second daughter of William Russel, esq. late of Kingseat and Slipperfield, in Tweedale,) and dying 22nd January, 1807, left issue by this lady, MARGARET, his successor, proprietrix of Cowden, and sole heir and representative of HENRY BRUCE, the last of Clackmanan, and of HENRY BRUCE, of Clackmanan, his father.t *The Bruces of Airth, of whom Captain Bruce, of Cowden, father of the lady in question, was descended in the male line, were the oldest cadets of Clackmanan, being sprung from the latter more than four centuries ago. They were affluent and of great distinction both in Scotland and foreign countries, and spread into various respectable branches. SIR ALEXANDER BRUCE, of Airth, their representative after the middle of the sixteenth century, m. Janet, daughter of Alexander, Lord Livingstone, ancestor of the Earls of Linlithgow and Calender, by whom he had WILLIAM BRUCE, younger of Airth, who predeceased his father, but left issue by Jean, daughter of John, Lord Fleming, ancestor of the Earls of Wigton, three sons, 1. JOHN, of Airth, who m. Margaret, daughter of Robert, Lord Elphinstone, whose male line is extinct, but of whom Robert Bruce Dundas, esq. of Blair Castle, is the heir of line. II. WILLIAM (Sir), of Stenhouse, created in 1629, baronet of Nova Scotia, with remainder to him and his heirs male general, of whom the knightly house of Stenhouse, now the heirs male of the ancient family of Airth. III. PATRICK. The third son, PATRICK BRUCE, of Newton, who acquired the estate which lay in the barony of Bothkenner, Stirlingshire, in 1627, upon the resignation_of Dame Jean Fleming, Lady Airth, his mother, left issue, WILLIAM BRUCE, of Newton, who succeeded in 1655, father of ALEXANDER BRUCE, of Newton, the father of WILLIAM BRUCE, of Newton, (who sold Newton, and acquired Cowden,) formerly referred to, the husband of JANET BRUCE, only sister of Henry Bruce, of Clackmanan. This last William Bruce, of Newton, as already mentioned, had a sister Catherine, married to Henry Bruce, of Clackmanan. + It clearly follows, therefore, from the above deduction, that Miss Bruce, of Cowden, is preferable heir of line of Clackmanan to the Bruces of Kennet, who are sprung (in the female line) from Thomas Bruce, of Kennet, younger brother of Sir David Bruce, of Clackmanan, who suc ceeded in 1405, and (in the male line) from a younger son of Sir Robert Bruce, of Clackmanan, in 1506; whereas this lady traces her descent directly from the male representative of Clackmanan, in 1741, lineally descended of that very Sir David, independent of being heir of Henry Bruce, last of Clackmanan, son and heir of the former. It is especially incumbent to notice this circumstance, as the Bruces of Kennet, owing to some error or misconception, are represented 2" as heir male, and of line to Sir Robert de Bruys, of Clackmanan, who died in 1405," the father of the previous Sir David, which is obviously incorrect. 1 Sir Alexander had also a younger son, Mr. Robert Bruce, of Kinnaird, tutor to his two nephews, Sir William Bruce, of Stenhouse, and Patrick Bruce, of Newton, in their pupillarity. His male issue have failed, but his heir of line was James Bruce, esq. of Kinnaird, the celebrated traveller and explorer of the Nile, who was a male descendant of a branch of the family of Hay, in the north. 2 In the article of Bruce, of Kennet, referred to, second volume of the present work, p. 485. FORBES, OF CULLODEN. FORBES, DUNCAN-GEORGE, esq. of Culloden House, in the shire of Inverness, b. in London, 17th June, 1781, m. 29th March, 1818, Sarah, only daughter of the late Rev. Joseph Walker, of Lancaster, Ash, and Satley, in the county of Durham, by Eliza, his wife, daughter of Edward Boys, esq. of St. Albans, and had by her, who died at Culloden House, 18th January, 1838, aged forty-three, deeply lamented, three sons, ARTHUR, b. at Douglas, Isle of Man, 25th January, 1819. Joseph-William Forbes, b. at Ryefield Lodge, Ross-shire, Mr. Forbes, who succeeded his father, 26th May, 1803, is a magistrate and a deputy lieutenant for the counties of Inverness and Nairn, and was formerly colonel of the Culloden volunteers. He is also patron of the parish of Urquhart, in Ross-shire, and a director of the Royal Academies of Inverness and Tain. Lineage. The founder of this distinguished family was DUNCAN FORBES, (the great-grandfather of the Lord President Forbes,) a member of parliament and provost of Inverness. He was descended from the family of Lord Forbes, through that of Tolquhoun, and by the mother's side, from that of Keith, Earl Marischall, (as a narrative in the hand-writing of the President's father informs us). He purchased the barony of Culloden from the Laird of Mackintosh in 1626. During the civil commotions which disturbed the kingdom in the reign of CHARLES I. and after the death of that prince, he seems to have adhered to the presbyterian party, and to have aided all the measures in which the Marquis of Argyll participated, and from his situation as chief magistrate of an important town, his assistance must have been of much consequence. Duncan had two brothers, JOHN, whose son Malcolm became Marquis of Montilly, in France; and PATRICK, (commonly called Black Patrick, bailie of Inverurie,) from whom descended the family of Forbes, of Foveran. Duncan Forbes died 14th October, 1654, aged eightytwo. ter of James Forbes, of Corsinday, a family 111. Duncan (Capt.), who lived in Assynt, 1. Elizabeth, married to William Bail- The eldest son, JOHN FORBES, the second of Culloden, married (contract dated 1643,) Anna, eldest * From the Epitaph on Duncan and his Wife. daughter of Alexander Dunbar, of Grange, by his first wife, Jean Campbell, daughter of Sir John Campbell, of Cawdor, (a family since raised to the Earldom of Cawdor,) and by the said Anna had six sons and two daughters, 1 "Oft the cloud which wraps the present hour, Serves but to brighten all our future days." The truth of this observation, if not felt by John Forbes, was at least evident to his family after his death. The frowning aspect of government by introducing the habits of 1. DUNCAN, who succeeded him. 11. David, afterwards Sir David Forbes, economical and private living, instead of of Newhall, under the title of Lord excessive hospitality and expense, into his Newhall, one of the judges of the family, must have conduced to the accumuCourt of Session; was an eminent lation of his fortune, and about the year lawyer and man of letters; an in- 1670, his landed estate was doubled by the fluential patron of Allan Ramsay, purchase of the extensive and valuable ba(the "Sir William Worthy" of Ram-rony of Ferrintosh and the estate of Bunchren. These estates were the patrimony say's "Gentle Shepherd,") and ancestor of the family of Rae, of Esk- of Inverallochy, a son of Lord Lovet. The grove, baronet. Sir William Rae, word Ferrin-tosh, it may be mentioned, siglate lord advocate of Scotland, and nifies "The Land of the Thane," it having now member of parliament for Bute- anciently formed part of the thanedom of shire, is descended from a daughter Forbes died about the year of the RevoluCawdor, (celebrated in "Macbeth"). John of Sir David Forbes, by Katherine Clerk, daughter of John Clerk, of tion, 1688, and was succeeded by his eldest Pennicuick. Their marriage contract in the charter chest at Culloden House, is dated 12th February, 1680. 111. Thomas, m. Jean Cuthbert, daughter of David Cuthbert, in Inverness. IV. Alexander, who went to New Eng land. v. Jonathau, physician in Elgin, m. a son, DUNCAN FORBES, the third of Culloden. He had received a liberal education at Bourges and on different parts of the continent, and acted a decided and distinguished part in the great events of his time. He married (contract dated 1668,) Mary, daughter of Sir Robert Innes, of that Ilk, a family long established in the county of Moray, with the dignity of baronet, and which, VI. John, who was Lieutenant Colonel through the female line, has lately sucJohn Forbes, of Pitnacrieffe, in Fife-ceeded to the dukedom of Roxburgh. By shire. Happening at the time to be this lady he had two sons, JOHN, his leaving London for the north of Scot- heir, born about the year 1672, and DUNland, he was employed to carry the CAN, afterwards lord president; and seven order respecting the massacre of daughters. The eldest, Jean, married to Glencoe, to Sir John Hill, governor Sir Harry Innes, of that Ilk; the second, of Fort William. It is but justice to Anna, to Peter Forbes, of Phyline, in Asthe memory of both, to state that synt; the third, Mary, (contract dated 1698,) when the letter was opened, they exto Robert Urquhart, of Burdsyards; the pressed their utmost horror at the fourth, Margaret, (contract dated 1699,) to contents. He m. Elizabeth Graham, George Munro, of Newmore; the fifth, Isodaughter of Baillie Graham, of Edin- bell, to Fraser, of Achnagairn; the sixth, burgh. Naomi, to Dr. Alexander Paterson, of Inverness; and the seventh, Grizell, (contract dated 21st April, 1709,) to David Ross, of Kindeace. 1. Jean, married (contract dated 1681,) to Sir Robert Munro, of Fowlis. 1. Naomi, married (contract dated 1682,) to Robert Dunbar, of Burgie. John Forbes was provost of Inverness, (we believe member of parliament for the county,) and the friend and co-adjutor of the Marquis of Argyll. At the Restoration, although he escaped the unhappy fate of that nobleman, and of others who were put to death, still, his name being in the list of persons exempted from the Act of Indemnity, he was involved in all the vexations and tyrannical acts of vengeance, short of death, which disgraced the reign of CHARLES II. He was severely fined, and both himself and family were tormented with every species of civil and ecclesiastical oppression, but Duncan Forbes was among the first and the most strenuous of those who, in Scotland secretly prepared or openly hastened the events which tended to produce the overthrow of James, and to secure his exclusion; and as he was a member of the Scottish parliament, his decided love of freedom made him a very conspicuous character in that assembly. The year after the Revolution, his estates of Culloden and Ferrintosh were ravaged by the soldiers of Buchan and Cannon, and his houses and other property destroyed, to the amount of £54,000 Scotch money, as ascertained by a regular proof. His hostility to the jacobite interest was the avowed cause of these out rages, and his known merit in promoting | the Revolution, no doubt was the real cause of the favourable result of his claim for compensation by the Scotch parliament. This compensation was made by the perpetual grant of a liberty to distil into spirits the grain of the barony of Ferrintosh, upon paying a small specific composition of 400 merks Scotch, or £22. 4s. 5d. sterling, in lieu of excise; the whole excise within Scotland, at the time, being £40,000 sterling. The act conveying this grant was passed 22nd July, 1690, and was afterwards confirmed and explained by another of 16th July, 1695, which declares the said lands to be liable only to their proportion, conform to the original act, of what additional excise then was, or thereafter should be imposed by law upon the kingdom. This valuable privilege was supported in its fullest extent by a decision of the parliament of Scotland in 1703, and by another of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland in 1711. In 1784, government resolved to resume the privilege of Ferrintosh, after it had for nearly a century been enjoyed by the family of Culloden. The representatives of the family being employed abroad for many years, this part of the estate was much neglected, and arrangements had just been made with a company to bring it to an increase of value, when government came to this resolution. Of the value of this privilege we may form some idea from Mr. Arnot's statement, in his History of Edinburgh, that more whisky was distilled in Ferrintosh, than in all the rest of Scotland. If we suppose the number of arable acres (and they amount to a great deal more than this) to be 1800, and take the produce at only five bolls of barley per acre, this would give 9000 bolls. If the profit to the proprietor upon the distillation of these 9000 bolls into whisky, (duty free) should be taken at the very low calculation of two pounds sterling per boll, the return to the family would amount to no less a sum than £18,000 sterling, per annum, besides insuring the conversion into arable land of the rest of the barony upon easy terms. The family, as might be expected, urged every argument to induce government to desist from resuming its own grant of a perpetual property of such value, but in spite of every opposition and appeal to justice and good faith, it was taken away early in 1785, for the miserably inadequate compensation of £21,500. Duncan Forbes latterly served in parliament for the county of Nairn, and died in 1704. He was succeeded by his eldest son, JOHN FORBES, the fourth of Culloden; member of parliament for Inverness-shire; an affectionate friend and brother; a truly upright man, of considerable talents and knowledge of the world, and one who acquitted himself on all occasions, both in public and private life, as an enlightened and worthy member of society. He married (contract dated 1699,) Jean Gordon, daughter of Sir Robert Gordon, of Gordonstone, by Margaret, eldest daughter of William, Lord Forbes, and dying without issue, in the year 1734, was succeeded by the lord advocate of Scotland, his only brother, THE RIGHT HONOURABLE DUNCAN FORBES, fifth Laird of Culloden, and afterwards lord president of the Court of Session. From the Edinburgh Review, (Feb. 1816,) of the "Culloden Papers, comprising an extensive and interesting correspondence from the year 1625 to 1748," discovered in 1812, by the late Hugh Robert Duff, esq. of Muirtown, and under his superintendence, published by Cadell and Davies in 1815, we extract the following passage:-" The Culloden Papers are a collection of documents, consisting chiefly of letters of correspondence, which were lately found in Culloden House, belonging to the family of Forbes, in the vicinity of Inverness. That family had long been distinguished as the head or principal member (it is now indifferent which) of one of the great highland clans, and was formerly still more conspicuous by the share which it took in all the public transactions of its native land. But the most brilliant and honourable part of its history, is that which records the life of Duncan Forbes, who died president of the Court of Session, in the year 1747. This eminent man raised himself to that high station by the unassisted excellence of a noble character, by the force of which he had previously won and adorned all the subordinate gradations of office. He took the lead in all affairs touching Scotland, for nearly half of the last century, was particularly active during the two rebellionsmaintained a constant intercourse with all the great men of his day, both Scotch and English, and died, leaving behind him a bright and unenvied reputation, of which the recollection is scarcely yet effaced in this country. Forbes displays one of those characters which are sometimes to be found in what Hume calls the corners of history, but which deserves to be blazoned at large on its broadest page. He is in every situation so full of honour, of gentleness, of true wisdom, of kindness and intrepidity, that we doubt if there be any one public man of this part of the empire, or of the age that is gone, whose qualities ought to be so strongly recommended to the contemplation of all those who wish truly to serve their country. There are various lords and lairds who make but a shabby figure in this collection, but our great pride and consolation is in the |