History of the Fife Pitcairns

60 THE FIFE PITCAIRNS.
These Gellets lands, or rather Western Gellets, was bought in
1600 by Sir George Bruce of Carnock, and is now Broomhall, Lord
Elgin's place. See ' Fife Pictorial and Historical,' vol. ii.
As the Balfours were connected by marriage with the Pit-
cairns, there is a short account of their family inserted here.
Sir Michael Balfour of Burleigh was served heir to his
father, Sir Michael Balfour of Burleigh. He had a charter
of half the lands of Kinloch, married Christian, only
daughter of John Bethune of Criech, and had an only
child, his sole heiress, Margaret Balfour, who married Sir
James Balfour of Pittendreich and Montquhannie, Lord
President of the Court of Session, who had three sons and
six daughters. Their eldest son, Sir Michael Balfour of
Burleigh, was made Lord Balfour of Burleigh by James VI.
He married Margaret Adamson, and, secondly, Margaret,
daughter of Lundie of Lundie, by whom he had a daughter,
Margaret, who succeeded him as Baroness Balfour of Bur-
leigh. She married Robert Arnot, the son of Robert Arnot
of Fernie, Chamberlain of Fife. This Robert Arnot as-
sumed on his marriage the name of Balfour, and had the
title of Lord Burleigh in virtue of a letter from the king. 1
The Balfours of Balbirnie.
During the reign of Malcolm IV. the lands of Balbirnie
belonged to Orun, the son of Hugh, Abbot of Abernethy,
the ancestor of the family of Abernethy. He exchanged
them with Duncan, Earl of Fife, the charter being con-
firmed by William the Lion. Sibbald says that anciently
these lands belonged to a family who took their name from
them, and were designed Balbirnie of that Ilk. About the
end of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth
century the lands of Balbirnie were purchased from the
Balbirnies, who held them under the Earls of Fife, by
George Balfour, son of Martin Balfour of Dovan and Law-
lethan, the ancestor of the present proprietor. This Martin
Balfour was in 1596 served heir to his grandfather, David
1 From Conolly's ' Eminent Men of Fife.'