ABERCROMBY, Alexander of Pitmedden ²

   Cause of his death was murder.

   Another name for Alexander was ABERCROMBIE, Alexander of Birkenbog.¹

   User ID: Y409.

  General Notes:

"Alexander Abercrombie was under age on 19 April 1550, when he, as fiar of Pitmeddan, got a royal charter of these lands to himself and his wife Elizabeth Leslie, having resigned them for re-infeftment in the King's hands with consent of his curators."

"Alexander of Pitmeddan, who thus got the fee of the lands, is said to have been murdered at the moss of Coltstown 12 March 1593. He was certainly alive in September 1592, and died before July 1595."

from Scots Peerage (vol 4)

Note:

There is a certain muddle in secondary sources regarding the order of generation of 'Alexander Abercromby of Pitmedden', and their wives and chilren of the Abercrombys of Pitmedden, including in the above source. The 'story' has been presented here as best fits the facts and the logic of what has been stated elsewhere in a variety of sources.




"On February 2, 1610, Alexander Gordon of Oxhill and James Gordon in Over Auchinraith, eldest son to John Gordon of Leitcheston, were 'delaitit of airt and pairt of the slauchter' of Alexander Abercromby of Pitmedden on March 12, 1594 (Pitcairn's Criminal Trials, iii., 78-80)." (page 20)

from House of Gordon (Lesmoir)




"1592-1610. - The most notable event in Leichestoun's career was his vendetta with the Abercrombys of Birkenbog, which reached a climax in the brutal murder of Alexander Abercromby in 1594, and lasted close upon twenty years, affecting other branches of the house of Lesmoir, notably the Gordons of Newton. It is somewhat difficult to discover the cause of the quarrel, for the genealogical points are far from clear. John Gordon of Leichestoun's wife is described as the 'dochter-in-law' of Alexander Abercromby, who was murdered in 1594. But the phrase 'dochter-in-law' is always vague in documents of the period. There also enters into the dispute a John Gordon of Muirake, a minor, the 'oy' of Alexander Abercromby. Furthermore, at least at a later period, John Gordon's daughter, Marjorie, married Hector Abercromby, the son of the man murdered in 1594. Mr. Murray Rose has suggested, in his Tragic History of the Abercrombies (p. 14), that Leichestoun may have married John Gordon of Muirake's mother, thereby creating some ill feeling as to the division of property among Leichestoun's own sons ; but there is nothing to corroborate this theory. Alexander Abercromby had succeeded his father, James, who was murdered by the Leslies, 1546. Alexander had had a great deal of trouble with the Leslies, and, as they were intermarried with the Gordons, the latter may have taken up their cause. The ostensible cause of the vendetta between Abercromby and the Leichestoun family was created by one William Gordon in Donemad, a tenant of John Gordon of Muirake. The four elder sons of John Gordon of Leichestoun, including Patrick, gave Abercromby a very bad time indeed ....... (There follows more detail of the history of the feud)" (page 226)

from House of Gordon (Leichestoun) ^{2 4 5 6}

Alexander married Elizabeth LESLIE, daughter of Alexander LESLIE 4th of Pitcaple and Margaret GORDON 'of Achanachie'.^{1 2} (Elizabeth LESLIE was born about 1531 and died by 1572 ⁴.)

  Marriage Notes:

"VI. Elizabeth, (daughter of Alexander Leslie 4th of Pitcaple) married to Alexander Abercrombie of Birkenbog."

from Family of Leslie




"Alexander..... married Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Leslie of Pitcaple, and by her had issue ... "

from Scots Peerage (vol 4) ^{1 2}

Alexander next married Margaret LESLIE, daughter of William LESLIE 9th of Balquhain and Janet FORBES.^{2 3} (Margaret LESLIE was born about 1550.)

  Marriage Notes:

He (Alexander Abercromby) married Margaret, daughter of William Leslie of Balquhain ... "

from Scots Peerage (vol 4)




"V. Margaret, married to Alexander Abercrombie of Birkenbog. It is said that she got as her dowry the barony of Fetternear, about 1593, subject to its being redeemed. But whether this was the case, or William Leslie, ninth Baron of Balquhain, wadsett it to Abercrombie on these conditions, it is certain that the second son by this marriage succeeded to Fetternear."

from Family of Leslie

Note:

On the webpage History of the Fetternear Estate, the author says:

"On 15th June, 1625. John Leslie, eleventh baron of Balquhain, mortgaged Fetternear for 11.000 merks to his brother-in-law, Sir Alexander Hay of Delgaty, and to William Hay his son, from whom in 1627 Hector Abercromby of Westhall, second son of Alexander Abercromby of Birkenbog, acquired the mortgage title and rights. ln 1645, Abercromby was declared by Parliament to be a 'malignant,' and warrant was granted for the uplifting of his rents (Acts of Parliament.)"




^{2 3 7}