Bannatyne Club > Tracts by Dr. Gilbert Skeyne, Medicinar to His Majesty [James I., King of Great Britain and Ireland]

NOTICE OF DR GILBERT SKENE.
" Maister Gilbert Skeyne, Doctour in Medecine," the
author of this httle tract upon " the Pest," was one of a
rather remarkable family of brothers, who, emerging
about the middle of the sixteenth century from a farm
house in the north of Scotland, and receiving from their
father as good an education as the times afforded, and
probably inheriting from their mother a strong will
and a vigorous understanding, made their way in differ-
ent parts of the country, and in various spheres, to
distinction or wealth. Their father was James Skene,
or as it was then spelt, Skeyne, younger son of Alexander
Skene of Skene, by his wife Ehzabeth, daughter of Lord
Forbes.
About ten miles from Aberdeen there is a considerable
sheet of water, termed the Loch of Skene. Near it is
the Church of Skene, from which the Parish takes its
name, and on the north bank, at a little distance iVom
the loch, stands the "House" of Skene, a rude but some-
what imposing building of granite, constructed atdiflferent
times, but the oldest part of which is a square tower,
with massive granite walls, so thick as to leave but a
limited space for accommodation within. It is said by
tradition to have been the first built stone house in Mar.