Old family; or, The Setons of Scotland and America

154 AN 0LD FAMILY. [a.d. 1615
Sir John married in September, 1588, at the house of
Lord Ogilvv, in Angus, where a numerous assembly of
northern lords and their families was gathered, Ann, daughter
of the seventh Lord Forbes,* bv whom he left a son who suc-
ceeded him. He "got for his appanage, from his father,"
the lands of Barnes, which are situated on the eastern slope of
the Garleton Hills, where he began an immense and magnifi-
cent structure, intending it for a Court, but which he never
lived to complete. Had he survived he would have been
surely raised to the peerage, but he died on the 25th of May,
1594, "in the strength of his age, and was buried in the
College Kirk of Seton." In The Castellated and Domestic
Architecture of Scotland (II., 233—234) there is a plan and view
of Barnes, of which the learned authors say:
" The most remarkable features connected with the structure are the six
square projecting towers which surround the walls. . . . These towers
are provided with shot-holes which enfilade the walls. They give the ruins
a thoroughly military character and it is this combination of the character-
istics of Feudal architecture, with an advanced symmetrical style of domestic
planning, which makes this a most interesting and valuable plan."
Barnes Castle was probably inspired by Sir John's residence
in Castile, the land of Towers par excellence, and his earlv
association with the Order of Calatrava. It is easily visited
from Haddington.
II. Sir John Seton of Barnes. Sir John Seton of Barnes
was served heir to his father on the 3d October, 16 1 5.
He was a gallant man, and was made an officer of the Court
by King Charles I. He acquired " from Sir Robert Gordon
of Lochinvar, land in Ireland worth five hundred pounds ster-
* The surname of Forbes is derived from the lands so called, in Aberdeen-
shire. It is a great Scotch family whose peerage dates from 1442. Jean,
eldest daughter of this seventh lord, was married to James, fourth Lord
Ogilvy, which accounts for the marriage being celebrated at his house.
The noble family of Ogilvy derives from the ancient Maormors of Angus.
It is now represented in the peerage by the Earl of Airlie, a title conferred
on his ancestor the sixth Lord Ogilvy in 1639.