The Lairds of Brodie
A presentation by Jamie Barron, NTS Brodie Castle
Thursday 19th March at 2pm at Elgin Community Centre
46 members attended Jamie Barron’s interesting and entertaining talk about the Lairds of Brodie, complementing his talk last year on the women of Brodie. This was well illustrated with contemporary portraits and images from the Castle.
A brief summary :
The12th Laird, Alexander Brodie,began the building of the castle,completing the south west tower in 1567.
His great grandson, the 15th Laird, also Alexander, succeeded to the title in 1632; he was an ardent Puritan and responsible for acts of destruction in Elgin Cathedral, including two important paintings. He signed the Solemn League and Covenant in 1638, was defeated in battle at Auldearn by Montrose, after which Clan Gordon sacked Brodie Castle. In 1649, he was one of the commissioners who were sent to Holland to negotiate with Charles II, and he attended the coronation at Scone in1651. All this activity left him bankrupt, a situation from which the Brodie Clan never really recovered. Subsequent lairds proved to be equally profligate and were often rescued by the dowries and good sense of their wives.
The 19th Brodie, another Alexander, (laird from 1720 until 1754) sided with the government during the second Jacobite rebellion. He was appointed Lord Lyon King of Arms in 1727 and spent much of his time in Edinburgh. His chief legacy was a fine 18th century garden. He left debts of over £18,000.
The 21st Brodie, James, married Margaret Duff, daughter of the Earl of Fife, who purchased the bankrupt estate and returned half of it to his son in law. James’ younger brother, Alexander, made his fortune in India; and Alexander’s daughter made another fortuitous marriage to the 5th and last Duke of Gordon.
James’ son, also James , followed his uncle’s example and went to India; he met Anne Storey on the boat and married her, and she bore him seven children. Sadly he died in a boating accident near his house in Madras, so his son William became the 22nd Laird in 1824. William Brodie was no better at managing his money than his predecessors, and undertook an extensive rebuilding of the castle which created even more debt. However the Duke and Duchess (Elizabeth Brodie) of Gordon were childless, and on the death of
Elizabeth Gordon in 1864, the Brodies became beneficiaries of the Brodie estate.William
Brodie died in 1873.
Ian Brodie became the 24th Brodie of Brodie in 1889. His legacy was the collection of
daffodils for which Brodie Castle is still famous – at one time there were over 400 species
of daffodil growing at Brodie.
Ninian Brodie was Ian’s only surviving son and inherited the title in 1943. Prior to this he
had been an actor in London, Birmingham and Perth. He lived in the castle until his
death in 2003, and was a familiar figure to regular visitors to the castle.He bequeathed
the castle and estate to the National Trust in 1978.
