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

BLACKIEMUIlt, BALMAKEWAN, AND MORPHIE. 321
veth or Laurencekirk, and was acquired by the first Earl of
Crawford in 1390 J* but the term of its occupancy by the family
is unknown to us. It had been held either under the superiority
of the Abbot of Arbroath or the Prior of St. Andrews, the greater
part of the district having been given to the former establishment
at an early date,f the lesser part being gifted to the latter by
Roger de Wyrfaud, who had the " territory of Cunveth " from
Rechenda, daughter and heiress of Wyrfaud de Berkeley}: — hence,
perhaps, the origin of the name of Conveth, which, according to
Skene, means " duty paid to an ecclesiastical superior."§
The lands of Balmakewan lie in the parish of Marykirk.
They were possessed by Allan Fawsyde from at least 1329 to
1371, about which time, perhaps, they were acquired by a family
who designed themselves de Balmaquin. This race failed in the
male line about 1450, when Hugh Arbutlmott, second son of
Robert of that Ilk, married the heiress, and thus came to the
estate. || It probably continued in the Arbuthnott family till the
time of its acquirement by Lord Menmuir, the first Lindsay of
Balcarres, who was proprietor of it in 1580. A son of Barclay
of Johnstone was designed of Balmakewan at a later date.
The lands of Morphie and Canterland, in the parish of St.
Cyrus,^" were also in the family for a limited time. The first
of these was acquired by Sir David Lindsay of Edzell in 1588,**
and is called Morphyfraser, from the fact of their having been
granted to Frazer of Cowie, the trusty follower and relative of
* Reg. Mag. Sigill.
t The Wisharts of Pitarrow held the lands of Mill of Conveth, Hilton, and Scotstown,
from Abbot Aditm of Arbroath, A.D. 1242. — Reg. de Aberbrothoc.
X Lyon's Hist, of St. Andrews, vol. ii., pp- 289-90.
§ Laurencekirk, the present name of the parish, was assumed from the old kirk of Con.
veth having been dedicated to St. Laurence. This church stood about a mile east of the
town of Laurencekirk, which owes its existence to the late Lord Gardenstooe, a Lord of Session,
who obtained a charter for erecting it into a free burgh of barony in 1779. Ruddiman, the gram-
marian, taught the parish school here for some time ; as did Ross, the author of " Linrly and
Nory," at a later date. Dr. Beattie, author of "The Minstrel," was born here in 17o5. This
place is also famous for the manufactory of a species of snuff boxes, similar to those of Cum-
nock in Ayrshire. || Nisbet's Heraldry, vol. ii., App., p. 89.
f The church of St, Cyrus, or Ecelesgrig ( i. e. St. Gregory's Church), was dedicated to
St. Cyr, whose remains were interred in the old churchyard by the sea side. The church
was given to St. Andrews by Bishop Richard (Reg. de S. And. p. 13S), and the chapel, which was
inscribed to St. Laurence, and stood at Chapeltownof Laurieston, was in the same diocese (utsup.,
n. p. 24). David Herd, the well-known collector of old Scotch Ballads, was born here in 1751 ; and
George Beattie, author of the popular local poem of " John o' Arnha'," was also a native of the
parish, and lies buried in the Nether churchyard where some admirers of his genius erected a
monument to him. Sir Joseph Straton, of Kirksidi 1 , K.C.D., who died in 1840, aged 63, is also
interred in the same romantic burial place. He bore a prominent part in the wars of the Pen-
insula and at Waterloo. *» Reg, Mag. Sigill.
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