STRACHAN, James of Fettercairn ¹

   Another name for James was STRAQUHANE, James of Fettercairn.²

  General Notes:

"James Straquhane, who in 1635 is so designated as of Fettercairn when acquiring possession of the lands of Craigniston, was probably a son of the above-named Alexander Stathauchin (see note). The site of his house in Fettercairn, burnt in 1645 by the soldiers of Montrose, cannot now be determined, although a spot west of the mansionhouse garden looks, from its hard and uneven surface, like the site of some old buildings. If after the burning James Straquhane betook himself to the Castle of Kincardine, it could only be for a few months, as it too was burnt down and finally reduced to ruins by his kinsman John Middleton, afterwards Earl Middleton, on the 16th March,
1646.

This event ended the connection of the Strachans with Fettercairn and Kincardine. Middleton's mother was Catherine Strachan, and the cause might be a big family quarrel; but the presumption is that the Strachans were Royalists, and that he, at the head of the Covenanting forces, sought to make himself master of the situation, and owner of the lands, like as he had just done at Montrose's castle and lands of Aid Montrose.

Two years later, after his turning round and gaining the favour of Charles I., the lands and barony of Fettercairn were confirmed to him by a Royal Charter, dated 29th July, 1648, being that he John Middleton, supremus dux exercitus locum tenens generalis (Lieutenant-General of the army), and Grizel Durham his wife, and the longest liver of them in conjunct fee, and the heirs legitimately procreated between them, are granted the Barony of Fettercairn in the County of Kincardine, formerly belonging to James Strachne."

This grant, no doubt, included the town and lands of Kincardine. They were Middleton's property in 1670, according to the date on the Market Cross of Fettercairn, as the part of it bearing this date was erected by him at the old town of Kincardine. Besides, in the interval from 1648 to 1670, no other owner appears, and these lands have ever since formed part of Fettercairn estate."

"Although not stated by Spalding, James Strathauchin or Strachan was the proprietor, and not the minister of Fettercairn, as supposed by Jervise, Fraser, and others. The minister was a David Strachan, also connected with the Strachans of Thornton, who from time to time had grants, the last of these in 1637, of the lands of Fettercairn and Kincardine."


from The History of Fettercairn

NOTES:
1 James Strachan was not the son of Alexander Strachan, who, we are told had three sons none of whom were named James, but was probably his grandson.
2 There was a James Strachan who was a parson in Fettercairn about a hundred years before the events above.


" John, called eldest lawful son of Robert Middleton, of Caddam, is first mentioned as witness to a seisin in favour of James Straquhane of Fettercairn, May 11th, 1637."

from The Earls of Middleton

"Decree Books: Vol.VIII Contents
1644
April 30
Rent Mr James Straquhan of Fettercarne v Gilbert Buchane, sometime in Maynes of Arnage then in Blindburne. Certain arrears of rent of Maynes of Arnage, crop 1641, were decerned for, with £3 of expenses.

from Records of the Sheriff Court of Aberdeenshire volume 3

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