Moodie book

The Moodie Book. it
[II. William Mudie, M.A., of the diocese of Orknejr, who is found
practising as a Notary Public in Perth and Dunblane from 1534
to 1547. It is thought that he may have been the ancestor of
the Mudies of Muir, co. Perth.]
IV. Gilbert Mudie, probably son and heir of the preceding, and grandson
and heir of the first Gilbert Mudie, would, if such, be the last to enjoy the lands
granted to the latter by the Bishop. He married, before 20th Jany. 1544,
Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew Halcro of that ilk in Orkney, and was doubtless
father of —
I. William Mudie of Breckness and Melsetter.
II. Gilbert Mudie, who is named as a brother of William Mudie of
Breckness. 1
III. Thomas Mudie, named as a brother of William Mudie of Breck-
ness, 22nd October 1564, and again 1st August 1565.
IV. A daughter.
V. William Mudie of Breckness, near Stromness, in the Mainland of
Orkney, and of Snelsetter Castle 2 and Melsetter, 3 in Walls, Chamberlain of
Orkney under Queen Mary, probably eldest son and heir of the preceding, with
whom the pedigree ceases to be conjectural, and the descent of the Melsetter
family can be traced in a clear and unbroken line. On the 3rd March 1563,
William Mudie granted a charter to his eldest son, Adam Mudie, of his sundry
lands in Walls, including Melsetter, and that conveyance was confirmed by a
charter of Mary Queen of Scots in favour of the said Adam, March 10, 1564.
The next mention of him occurs in two entries in the Registers of the Privy
1 Captain James Moodie of Melsetter, writing to his uncle, the Commodore, says : — " William
Moodie, in anno 1563, entailed his estates upon his son, Adam, and his airs, to return to Gilbert
Moodie, Brother German to the said William, which failing, to his nearest airs male bearing the
surname and arms of Moodie."
2 Snelsetter is about 4 miles from Melsetter, and was a very ancient fortification, the original
Castle being on a detached rock in the sea. " Snelsetter, the old manor house of the Moodie family,
is probably 'the place of strength' said to have been built by Earl Robert in Walls." — Tudor's
" Orkneys and Shetlands," p. 329.
3 Melsetter, which afterwards became the designation of the family, " lies at the head of the bay,
and is surrounded by the most beautiful gardens in the Orkneys, and, embowered as it is in trees, one
can hardly realize it is situated in the storm-swept Orcades. In 1745, the house was twice burnt
down by parties of Jacobites from Caithness." — Ibid. Hossack gives particulars re the looting of
Melsetter in 1746, from which it appears that M'Kenzie of Ardloch was specially detailed for the
business by Prince Charles on the representation of Fea of Clestrane, a Jacobite Orcadian laird.
Benjamin Moodie, as appears in another part of the book, writes to headquarters after Culloden
telling them that Robert Strange (afterwards Sir Robert) could give information regarding Fea's
Jacobite intrigues. According to Mr J. G. Moodie Heddle, the house was also sacked in 1714. The
above-mentioned James Fea of Clestrane was the capturer of Gow, the pirate, in 1725. Tudor,
appendix Q, p. 627, gives an amusing correspondence between him and Miss Betty or Elizabeth
Moodie, then residing in Edinburgh, both belonging to Orkney. Mr J. G. F. Moodie Heddle remarks
that " Miss" was hardly in use at that date in Scotland, and suspects that some transcriber has
misread the contraction of " Mistress," and that this Mrs Elizabeth Moodie is none other than
Elizabeth, daughter of Harie Moodie of Elsetter, who married George Richan.