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knight, and fought at Otterburn; he died about the year 1433, leaving two daughters co-heiresses, one of whom brought by marriage the Estate of Tolquhon to the Forbeses, and theother Fyvie to the Meldrums, in whose possession it continued until 1596, when Alexander,afterwards the first Earl of Dunfermline, became by purchase the proprietor.
In 1597, he obtained a letter, under the Great Seal, erecting the Barony of Fyvie intoa free Lordship, with the title of a Lord of Parliament , to him, and his heirs male. Hehad charge of the education of the Prince, afterwards Charles the First, until his father’s suc-cession to the Crown of England; he became subsequently President of the Court ofSession, First Commissioner of the Treasury, Vice Chancellor, and Lord Chancellor ofScotland .
Charles, the second Earl, appears also to have been a distinguished man; dying in 1672,he was succeeded by his son Alexander, who, surviving but a short time, his brother Jamesbecame the fourth Earl of Dunfermline, and consequently the fourth of the Seton family,proprietors of Fyvie Castle.
Earl James having served with reputation in the Netherlands , became, upon his re-turn to Scotland , a firm adherent to the fortunes of the House of Stuart , and fought underthe Viscount Dundee at Killiecrankie ; he died in exile at St. Germains, in 1694. On the 24thOctober, 1644, the great Marquis of Montrose occupied Fyvie Castle, and in its domain ex-hibited against the army of Argyle those military talents which had previously established hisrenown. Fyvie appears in those days to have been considered a place of strength, and capableof defence ; even when regularly attacked, but it was inconsistent with the character ofMontrose, to adopt the resolution of garrisoning it; he preferred the warfare of the openfield; speedily proving to his opponent his superior qualifications as a commander; and at atime when opposed to a very superior force, when desertion had reduced his ranks, and whendespair of the cause had attained the mastery over many a stout heart in his camp, he con-tinued to display an intrepidity and presence of mind worthy of his character, and whichalone extricated his followers from the dangers that surrounded them.
After the forfeiture of the Estate, by the last Earl of Dunfermline, in 1689, the pos-session of Fyvie Castle appears marked by no event of importance until the year 1723when it was sold, under authority from the Court of Session, and purchased by William, Earlof Aberdeen, the great-grandfather of the present Earl, and the second Peer of that name.Earl William was thrice married, and by his last wife, the Lady Anne, sister of Cosmo, Dukeof Gordon, he had General the Honourable William Gordon ; Alexander, who became aSenator of the College of Justice, assuming the title of Lord Rockville; Colonel CosmoGordon, and other children. By that marriage, the Earl became bound to settle an Estate ofa certain value upon his eldest son, by Lady Anne Gordon, and, on his death, which occurredearly in 1746, the castle and domain of Fyvie became the property of William, afterwardsGeneral Gordon, long a Groom of the Bedchamber to George III. , and its possessor for aperiod of seventy years.
The Duke of Cumberland marched through the grounds of Fyvie, on his route to the