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cotemporary with, and cousin german to, Humphry, the son of Theobald de Berkeley, theprogenitor of the family of Mathers, in the county of Kincardine.
Alexander was the name of the founder of the family of Tollie. At what time he acquiredthe estate does not appear, but he died in 1136; he might therefore be, and probably was, theson of Walter, above referred to, and the constant recurrence of that name in the family,renders it likely that he was so ; for, during the whole 617 years the barony was in their pos-session, Walter and Peter were alternately the name of the lairds, with but four exceptions,namely, one Alexander , (the founder), two Johns, and one William . It is also probable thatthis Alexander was ancestor of the Barons of Gartly. The disputed point as to the chieftain-ship, being whether the eldest son was called Walter after his grandfather, or Alexander afterhis father.
The antiquity of the castle is proved by the following inscription, still extant on itswalls:—
Sir Alexander Barclay of Tolly, foundator , decessit A.D. 1136.
And on the same stone is carved—
P In tim of valth, all men sims frendly,
An frind is not knawin but in adversitie—1593.
Higher up the building, on a scroll, appears—
Sir Valter Barclay, foundet Tollie Mills, 1210.
There were other inscriptions, which are now removed or obliterated. The venerable buildingcontinued in a tolerably entire state until about the year 1792, when Mr. Irvine, the thentenant, took off the roof, removed the turrets and embrazures, and razed two stories from itsheight, placing upon the dilapidated castle, a vulgar modern roof; he also filled up the fosse,which constituted the only remaining feature of former baronial consequence.
The first charters of the estate were carried off by Edward the First of England. Inthe roll of missing charters, in the reign of Robert Bruce , is “ Carta to W alter Berkley deKerko, Burgess of Perth,” over the lands of Tollie. Robert granted a like charter, dated firstAugust, 1322, in the sixteenth year of his reign.
About the year 1385, Andrew Berkeley, Laird of Garutellie, (Gartley), gave “ the landsof Melrose, with the Mill, to Janet de Berkeley, widow of Sir John of Monymous, Knight,” inquittance of certain lands of her father , John Berkeley . Among the witnesses to this charter,is William Berkeley of Tollie. This estate of Melrose, with Cullen, in Buchan, remained inthe family for upwards of three hundred years ; they also possessed Drumwhindle, and otherlands about Ellon , as also at one time, Fintry and Craigfintry, in the parish of King Edward,and were a very powerful family previous to, and long after, the reign of Robert the First.
In the metrical legends of the achievements of Sir William Wallace , the names of “theBerkeley,” “ the Bisset,” and “ the Boyd,” are of constant occurrence, as his companions inarms. With their relative, David, Earl of Huntingdon and Garioch, the Barclays led theirfollowers to the holy war, one of the most disastrous enterprizes in which they ever engaged,