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In a ravine, to the westward of the Castle , formerly stood the “ Ward-house” ofDunnideer, erected probably for a two-fold purpose, that which its name denotes, and also asan outwork on the most assailable point, by which enemies, in those days, passing to theGarioch from the north or west, were accustomed to travel. Nothing of the masonry of thisfabric now remains, but its locality is strongly marked by the fosse which has surrounded it.
The only remaining wall of the Castle of Dunnideer, is composed of the strongest masonry,and is likely for ages to withstand, as it has done, the gales that assail its elevated andperfectly unsheltered position. It is from fifty to sixty feet in height, and, perforated in itscentre by the enlarged opening occasioned by ruined windows, it has a picturesque andstriking effect.
Dunnideer, in the year 1724, was the property of Tyrie of Dunnideer, whose residencewas placed on the bank of the Burn of Shevack, at the southern base of the hill. Itsubsequently came into the possession of the Leiths of Overhall, who were succeeded by theGordons, in default of male issue to George Leith, the last of his family; it has since, bypurchase, come into the possession of the proprietor of Old or Meikle Wardhouse, which, withthe old Castle , are again united in property in the person of John David Gordon, ofWardhouse and Kildrummie.
Although no historical information regarding Dunnideer appears to be extant, some recordis preserved with reference to its “ Ward-house,” from which it would seem, that the latterhad continued a place of strength long after the Castle had ceased to be habitable. In thehistory of the Gordons, it is mentioned, that, in the year 1647, Young Leith of Harthill, garrisoned the house of Wardhouse for the King, but was compelled to surrender it by theParliamentary Generals, Middleton and Leslie, who appear to have visited the delinquency ofits garrison by a very different mode of treatment: “ the Scots in the house were set at liberty;but there were sixteen Irish taken in it, all of whom, with the Captain who commanded them,were hanged.”