This page is a stub.
There are inconsistencies between sources and the article should be read
as being for background only.
Herbertshire is believed to have taken its name from a
man by the name of Herbert, who donated tracts of land in Dunipace to
the Abbey of Cambuskenneth about the year 1200. Herbert was the son of
Herbert de Camera. During the time that Herbert made the donations to
the Abbey, the lands fell within the jurisdiction of the barony of
Dunipace. After the donations, Herbertshire became the principal barony
that remained. It was located within the county of Stirling.
Once a substantial structure, nothing remains of
Herbertshire Castle.
This was the principal barony of Dunipace
and Denny; at the time of the Scottish Wars of Independence it was known
as the Barony of Dunipace and it was not until some time after these
that the name Herbertshire emerges. In that early period the lairds of
the barony were the de Morehams and, as his sons had both died in the
Wars, Sir Thomas, the last laird, was succeeded by his grand-daughter.
She married John Gifford and they had four children - all girls.
The youngest, Elizabeth(1), married
John Douglas, son of James, Lord Douglas and
the estate went to them during the reign of David II.. In their charter the name 'Herbertshire' is
first found. John Douglas was killed by order of Sir David Barclay of
Brechin some time before Shrove Tuesday in 1350
In 1369 it was in the hands of Archibald, Earl
Douglas and when his son,
William, Lord of Nithsdale, married a daughter of King Robert II the lands
were gifted to them. Their daughter married Henry Sinclair, Earl of
Orkney and the estate passed to that couple in 1407.
Herbertshire
remained with the Sinclairs for 200 years. Presumably, it was during the
early part of their tenure that the castle was built for in 1474 a
charter to a succeeding Sinclair contains the phrase, 'lands and barony
of Herbertshire with the castle and fortalice thereof'.
When, in
1510, the king re-incorporated the barony it is stated that its
principal messuage was to be at 'the Courthill'. This might suggest that
the castle had been built of the location of an earlier motte and,
certainly, the site of the castle has much to commend that supposition.
In 1608 Alexander Livingston, Earl of Linlithgow, bought the estate from
the last of the Herbertshire Sinclairs and then was sold on to John
Stirling, son of William Stirling of Achyle in 1632.
In 1657 Herbertshire was noted as a ‘Houss with yairds, orcheards, woodes, fishing parkes and mylnes’. In 1697 a traveller wrote: ‘Hence I went to Harbertshire. This is a strong, high tower house built by the Laird of Rosin in King James the 5th time’.
The
Stirling family remained in possession until 1768 at which time the
estate was sold once more, this time to the Trustees of William Forbes
of Callendar. In 1914, while members of the Forbes family were living
there, the castle was damaged by fire(3) and it stood as ruin until 1950
when it was demolished.
Notes:
1.
electricscotland.com has this:
With Hugh Gifford of Yester, who was
dead before 11th March 1409, the male line failed. Hugh had, however,
four daughters, his coheiresses. 1st, Jean, or Joanna, married Sir
William Hay of Locherworth, sheriff of Peebles, ancestor of the marquis
of Tweeddale, to whom she brought the barony of Yester, and that family
quartered the arms of Gifford with their own. 2d, Alice, married Sir
Thomas Boyd of Kilmarnock; 3d, Mary, married Eustace Maxwell of Tealing;
4th, Euphemia, married Dougal Macdougall of Makerstoun.
My records
show that Elizabeth Gifford, daughter of James Gifford of Sheriffhall,
married James Douglas, 2nd Lord Dalkeith, and that they were the parents
of James Douglas, 1st Earl of Morton.
2. Sir Hugh Giffard
(b.c.1322 - d. before 16 Mar. 1366) was the last Lord of Yester in the
male line, which had begun with the first Hugh Giffard in 1166. Hugh
Giffard III came of age after 1340, and is first found in a charter
dated Oct. 15, 1345. This was a confirmation charter of King David II
regarding the granting of the lands of Lethington to Sir Robert Maitland
of Thirlestane by "Hugh Giffard, son of the deceased John Giffard of
Yester." A second confirmation of King David II was to a charter of Hugh
Giffard, Laird of Yester, to John de Douglas son of James, Lord Douglas,
concerning lands in the baronies of Yester, Morham, Duncanlaw, Tealing,
Polgavie, and Herbertshire. The purpose or intent of this charter
remains unclear, and is not mentioned in the Yester writs. The charter
is undated, but is very likely to have been done in 1346.
Hugh
Gifford married c1345 Joanna Douglas (m.2. c.1366 Nigel Cunningham, d.
after 1400). Joanna was the daughter of James Douglas of Lothian (d by
04.1323)
3. At 5.30 am on 20 December 1914, Mr and Mrs Forbes, the then owners, were awakened by the screams of their four daughters – the tower house was on fire. The smoke was so thick that nothing could be seen and the parents escaped via a back staircase. A maid had led the four girls to a window where they were rescued by a ladder but two housemaids were trapped on the upper floor. In desperation they jumped from a window ledge 21 feet onto the flat roof of an adjoining building to their severe injury. There were two other girls in the tower, friends of the daughters who were staying over for Christmas, who were even less fortunate – they died in their beds.
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