History and traditions of the land of the Lindsays in Angus and Mearns

EDZELL — JACKIE STIKLIN'. 27
the lovely daughter of a neighbouring baron, his offer of mar-
riage had been accepted. This was altogether contrary to the
wishes and expectations both of his sister and her lover, the
gallant Sir Alexander Lindsay, and all remonstrance having
failed to prevent the nuptials, they laid a deep and heartless
scheme for his overthrow ; and one evening, while taking an
airing alone in the wooded defile, he was pounced upon by a
masked assailant, and summarily despatched at a place still
pointed out, a little to the north of the castle. He was buried
in the family sepulchre, and many old people believe, that amongst
the broken bones with which the vault is so profusely strewn,
they have often beheld the crooked remains of the poor luckless
knight !
It was under these circumstances, according to local story,
that Lindsay married the daughter of Sir John Stirling, and fell
heir to one of the largest districts in Angus, which, together with
the importance of his own family connection, made him so greatly
courted by his brother barons, that he had little leisure to reflect
on the enormity of his crime. But, as a day of retribution comes
sooner or later, his heart began latterly to fail, and, according to
the custom of the period, he determined to atone for the foul deed
of his youth by large gifts to the church and a pilgrimage to
Palestine. With a view to his safety, he rebuilt the church of
Finhaven, and gifted it to the cathedral of Brechin, where the
Prebendary had a stall in the choir, and said mass daily for his
safe conduct. These precautions were of little avail, however ;
the avenging angel pursued him wherever he went, and he
breathed his last in a distant country, long ere he reached the
devoted haven of his penitential sojourn.
Of the genealogy of the great Scottish family of Lindsay, the
celebrated Prior of Lochleven, remarks, with a caution which
would have done credit to many writers of subsequent ages : —
" Of Ingland come the Lyndysay.
Mare of thame I can-nocbt say."*
Notwithstanding this fine example of caution, future writers have
invested the origin of this family with all the romance and im-
probability with which the early genealogies of other notables
abound. These need not be dwelt upon ; suffice it to say, that
* Wyntown's Cronykil, vol. ii, p. fi8.