Neil Gointe Stewart~ Laird of Garth Castle ~
Neil Gointe Stewart
~ Laird of Garth Castle ~
(The following is a reprint of an article by James Irvine Robertson of Aberfeldy Perthshire)
"GARTH CASTLE was probably built Alexander STEWART, Earl of Buchan,
who is better known to history as the 'Wolf of Badenoch'.
Son of the first Stewart king, Robert II,
and grandson of Robert Bruce,
he was a law unto himself north of the Highland line
and an uncomfortable man to have in any position of authority.
So much so, that the Gaels called his descendants 'Children of the Accursed Whelp'
and there were plenty of them.
David Stewart, he of the statue, estimated in 1820,
that 4,000 people in Blair Atholl
descended from the Wolf's son, Sir James STEWART,
who settled at the castle.
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For a century the family were pillars of the community,
slaughtering only the king's enemies,
until the time of Neil Gointe STEWART, grandson of John Gorm.
A free translation of his name would be 'Neil, the Bitter and Twisted.'
Neil Gointe married Elizabeth STEWART,
daughter of
Thomas STEWART, laird of Grantully and Margaret HAY of Tulliebodie.
(Neil Gointe begat Neil Roy STEWART of Garth & Fothergill
who married firstly Lady Christina STEWART,
daughter of the Earl of Athole (Atholl) who died childless in 1538.
Secondly, he married Mariota McQUEEN
by whom he had a son John (who drowned)
and a daughter Marie who married her uncle Donald STEWART,
son of Neil Gointe and Elizabeth.)
Excerpt told by General David Stewart in his 'Sketches~
"Soon after inheriting Garth, Neil Gointe fell out with his neighbours,
particularly Sir Robert MENZIES
who was charged by the king to keep order in Rannoch,
but Neil protected the gangs of outlaws who preyed on the people
and incited them to direct their assaults on Sir Robert and his dependents.
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Sir Robert was stuffed into the dungeon of Garth Castle and starved
in order to encourage him to sign over to Neil local estates that he coveted.
King James IV then came north to sort out the affair.
Neil kept his head by surrendering his captive
once he had extracted a document in which the prisoner forgave his captor.
Having been deprived of control of much of his estates,
Neil's later years are obscure but he survived until 1554.
He was suspected of murdering his wife by dropping a rock on her head
when she was down in the burn below the castle.
Tradition has it that his last nine years after her death
were spent in the dungeon of his own castle.
It is interesting to compare this,
the oral tradition's vilification of Neil,
with documented history.
The dispute was about land and Neil was supported by
the Stewarts of both Grantully and Bonskeid.
Three years after the burning of the Menzies stronghold,
the king confirmed Neil in the lands he inherited.
And, the Menzies never did win possession.
The Earl of Huntly, married to Neil's sister-in-law,
became titular lord of the disputed estates, but Neil retained control.
His wife Elizabeth STEWART was killed by a stone falling from above
but the man responsible is named as Alexander Stewart
and the use of 'negligently' in the contemporary report would, at worst,
indicate a culpable homicide rather than murder.
The tradition that Neil lived his last nine years in his own dungeon
would seem to be a confusion with his ancestor 'The Wolf'
who built Garth Castle
and did indeed spend a considerable time imprisoned by his father, the king,
after the burning of Elgin Cathedral. "
James Irvine Robertson states:
"My reference for this family at this period is
'The Book of Garth & Fortingall'(1888) by Duncan Campbell.
He was the Fortingall schoolmaster, later a journalist,
and native of Glen Lyon where he is buried.
He also wrote the Lairds of Glenlyon."
* LINKS *
Blair Atholl ~ Home of my Highland Stewarts
Stewarts of Duntanlich ~ Royal Connection of the 'Illegitimate Ilk'
Lady Marjorie Bruce ~ Princess of Scotland & Daughter of Robert the Bruce
John Gorm Stewart ~ Great Grandson of Robert the Bruce