SIR JOHN CHARLES GRANT OGILVIE, BARONET, SEVENTH EARL OF SEAFIELD, VISCOUNT OF REIDHAVEN, LORD OGILVIE OF DESKFORD AND CULLEN, FIRST BARON STRATHSPEY OF STRATHSPEY, K.T. THE HONOURABLE CAROLINE STUART, HIS COUNTESS.1853-1881.
[487] THE recent death of this nobleman, and the fact of his memory being still fresh in the hearts of those who knew and loved him, render the task of his biographer no easy one. It is proposed in this memoir merely to record some of the chief events in the life of the late Earl, and to preserve a few of the numerous contemporary testimonies given to the worth and nobility of his Lordship's character.John Charles, seventh Earl of Seafield. was born on 4th September 1814, and was the third son of Francis William, sixth Earl of Seafield, by his wife Mary Ann Dunn. He adopted the navy as a profession, entering as a midshipman about the age of fourteen, and for some time served on board the vessel commanded by Sir John Franklin, from whom he received much kindness and attention. Letter from Colonel Grant, dated 19th February 1836, at Cullen House. After the death, in 1840, of his elder brother, Francis William, Mr. Grant retired from the navy, and a few months later, by his father's accession to the estates and honours of Grant and Seafield, he enjoyed the courtesy title 0f Viscount Reidhaven and Master of Grant.
In the following year, 1841, Lord Reidhaven contested the representation of Banffshire in opposition to Mr. James Duff, afterwards Earl Fife. In offering himself as a candidate, Lord Reidhaven avowed himself a Conservative, and also came forward as an advocate of protection for the agricultural interest. He was, however, unsuccessful, his opponent being elected by a majority of forty-three votes.
He succeeded to his father on 30th July 1853, as seventh Earl of [488] Seafield, and in the same year was elected one of the representative Peers of Scotland. He held that position till 14th August 1858, when he was created a Peer of the United Kingdom, under the title of BARON STRATHSPEY OF STRATHSPEY. Under that title he continued to sit in the House of Lords till his death. Great rejoicings were held - on the occasion of the granting of the dignity of Baron Strathspey, and a few verses extracted from a poem and written at the time are here given:
Why are the hills of proud Strathspey
Crowned with a blaze of light?
Why do the dazzling fires burst forth
Amidst the calm of night?
Is it the beacon's warning gleam?
Is the invader near ?
And doth the land call forth her sons
To aid with sword and spear?
The Chieftain of their ancient line
Has won another name,
A title dearer to his Clan
Than any he can claim;
The bells were ringing far and near.
The throng came forth to-day,
To render homage to their Lord,
The Baron of Strathspey.
He's richer in these loyal hearts
Than in his princely lands.
They're true and constant as their Rock,
Which ever firmly stands.
Titles and wealth, by royal might,
May be bestowed at will;
The choicest gift - a people's love -
Must flow spontaneous still.
But now the bonfires' ruddy glow
Streams all the country o'er,
From Tullochgorum's lofty height,
On Freuchie and Craigmore.
On Cromdale's Hill, on Garten's crest.
The rival flames ascend,
In honour of the Lord Stzathspey,
The Chieftain and the Friend.
Lord Seafield, like his father, took a warm interest in the prosperity a and happiness of his tenantry, and in their interest and that of the country effected extensive improvements on his estates, thus giving employment to a large number of the labouring classes. As a landlord, he commanded the respect and regard of all his tenantry, in whose affections he held a foremost place. He possessed in a large degree the spirit of kindness, justice, and liberality, and it was his sincere wish, as it was his constant endeavour, that every one of his numerous dependants should be happy and comfortable. He did not like changes on his estates, and when in the administration of these, any tenant objected to a renewal at a liberal valuation, no one regretted the fact more than the landlord. If any tenant fell into arrear in the payment of his rent, great consideration [489] was shown by Lord Seafield, who granted indulgence after indulgence, till better times came to the unfortunate tenant.
Lord Seafield's improvements on his estates took a very practical form, the erection of new steadings and farm-houses, the reclamation of waste land. and the construction of roads. So extensive and liberal were the improvements made by Lord Seafield during his twenty-seven years' possession of the Grant and Seafield estates, that the sum expended by him amounted to upwards of half a million of pounds sterling. He also enlarged the extensive plantations made by his father, and in a recent journal devoted to agriculture, he is mentioned as the greatest planter of the district in regard to Scotch fir alone. The pine woods and plantations, it is also stated, already extend over 40,000 acres, and it is intended to increase the breadth of timber to 60,000 acres. The woods and forests are in three divisions, Grantown, Abernethy, and Duthil; the nursery of young firs at Abernethy is said to extend to thirteen acres, and to contain at that date about three millions of Scotch fir plants. The Agricultural Gazette, January 1, 1877 In another article on the same subject, it is stated that since 1866, fourteen millions of firs have been planted in the Duthil district, and a self-sown crop is continually coming on. Ibid., March 5, 1877. As a breeder of Highland cattle, Lord Seafield was unrivalled, so much so, that the Castle Grant herd everywhere received the highest awards. Though his Lordship sent his cattle to the annual shows of the Strathspey Farmers' Club, it was merely for exhibition, as the tenantry complained that otherwise it was of no use competing.
Besides setting before his dependants an admirable example in all branches of agriculture and farming, Lord Seafield delighted in presiding over and encouraging the sports of his dependants. Year after year the Highland Gathering in Strathspey brought to Castle Grant not only a succession of distinguished visitors, but a large concourse of the tenantry and others on the estates, all interested in the athletic sports, the reel-dancing and other games dear to Highlanders. And while the men rejoiced in displaying their strength and agility, the women were not forgotten, their contributions to an industrial competitive exhibition of native manufactures being encouraged and rewarded by liberal money prizes, which were usually presented by the hands of the young chief. All this was the result of Lord [490] Seafield's kindly rule and fostering care. As illustrative of his love for Highland institutions, down even to the garb of old Gaul, at these gatherings Lord Seafield seldom failed to remind his countrymen how much he disliked their appearance in modern Lowland dress instead of the full Highland costume. His Lordship and the young chief invariably set the clan an example in that respect.
In other things, also, Lord Seafield was thoroughly sensible of the responsibilities of his high position. As a holder of many ecclesiastical preferments, he was always careful and conscientious in the exercise of his duties as patron, till the Act of 1874 abolished the exercise of these patronages. His Lordship was very successful in his anxious choices of presentees. He took also a deep and intelligent interest in all questions affecting the welfare and prosperity of the country. Especially was this the case as regards education. He was the patron of a large number of valuable bursaries, notably those of Redhyth, which were originally founded for the education of poor boys, by Walter Ogilvie of Redhyth, in the county of Banff, in 1678. The University Commissioners proposed, in 1862, to alter the destination of these bursaries. But Lord Seafield successfully opposed the change in the Privy Council as the court of review of the proceedings of the Commissioners. For that good service Lord Seafield earned the gratitude of the poorer class in his neighbourhood. A subscription was spontaneously entered into to present his Lordship with a public testimonial. But it was not accepted, and the money was applied for two Seafield gold medals at the University of Aberdeen, and a silver medal at the school of Fordyce.
In Parliament Lord Seafield took no very prominent part, his natural disposition not inclining him to the active turmoil of political life; but the weight of his position, his sound judgment, strong good sense, decided force of character, and transparent honesty of purpose, were ever at the service of his party, and available for the interest of the community at large. He was a staunch Conservative, and one of the chief supporters of his party in the north of Scotland. He was an office-bearer in the Established Church of Scotland, and a very regular attender on the services of his parish church. He was frequently returned as ruling elder to the [491] General Assembly, and attended their meetings in Edinburgh. When Lord Derby was Prime Minister, his Lordship made offer to Lord Seafield of the office of Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly, but Lord Seafield, at the time, did not see his way to accept the honour.
In 1879, Her Majesty invested Lord Seafield with the Order of the Thistle.
When Lord Seafleld was not in London attending Parliament, he resided at one or other of the three mansions which he maintained on his extensive estates. Cullen House was the largest of these mansions, and it received from his Lordship a wealth of improvement which gives it quite a palatial splendour and appearance. Castle Grant was his residence in Strathspey, and Balmacaan is the family residence in Glen Urquhart. All these mansions have ever been famed in the north of Scotland for their splendid hospitalities.
Lord Seafleld's last illness was of comparatively short duration, and his death took place at Cullen House on the evening of the 18th February 1881.
After his decease, his widowed Countess and the present Earl received many spontaneous and gratifying proofs of the sympathy of the whole country with their bereavement. Upwards of thirty addresses of condolence voted at public meetings were forwarded to them, and in these the reference to the late Earl was as the "good Earl," the character of the grandfather as the "good Sir James" being thus inherited by, and attributed to, his grandson. To the nobility of Lord Seafield's character in every phase of life, testimony has already been borne in the introduction to this work, and it may suffice to add here only one or two sentences which the regret for his loss, coupled with the remembrance of his many sterling qualities, drew forth from some who knew his Lordship. "Rarely," says one, shall we have to lament a man of more true and honest purpose, of kinder and more generous heart, more desirous of furthering the best interests of all over whom he was placed, or whose memory is more likely to he treasured in after-times, than he whose departure is now so deeply lamented over so wide and extensive a territory." Edinburgh Evening Courant, February 19, 1881
[492] The pulpits of the country also re-echoed the universal sorrow in strains of mournful regret, blended with grateful recollections of that wisdom with which Lord Seafield exercised the noble gifts and talents conferred upon him by a bountiful Providence. One clergyman spoke thus: "The late Earl was a nobleman of high honour, sterling integrity, and good sense. Not one who sought the voice of the people, he was real, without gilding or varnish of any kind, and one that hated show for the sake of show." Sermon at Deskford, reported in Banffshire Journal, March 1, 1881. And another: "What I have said of Lord Seafield in his public capacity is in entire harmony with the excellency of his private character, or rather an outcome of the true goodness of the 'inner man.' Naturally of a very retiring disposition, he was not known to the general public as he otherwise would have been. Devoid of everything approaching to ostentation, his religion was not of a demonstrative kind; but . . . . . . in private and domestic life he was the pattern of all that is true and kind and just and good, animated by real Christian principles, and exemplifying in himself the character of true nobility." Sermon in Fordyce Parish Church, reported in Banffshire Journal, March 1, 1881.
The funeral obsequies of Lord Seafield were celebrated on the 25th and 26th of February, and had there been no other testimony to his worth, the multitude who gathered to pay their last regards to his remains would, by their unfeigned manifestations of sorrow, have demonstrated what manner of man he was. Nearly ten thousand people assembled in the course of the funeral procession, and no such gathering as that which took place at Grantown on that occasion, was previously witnessed by the present generation in Strathspey.
The arrangements and progress of the funeral procession were some what similar to those already detailed in the memoir of Francis William, sixth Earl of Seafield. About two thousand people assembled to take a place in the cortege at its departure from Cullen House. As the funeral procession passed through the town of Cullen, the whole inhabitants turned out to witness it, while every token of respect was shown. At Keith, whence the body of the deceased Earl was conveyed by special train to Castle Grant, there was a great assemblage, while at Elgin and Forres [493] there were also public demonstrations of regard. At Castle Grant, his ancestral home, the Earl's remains lay during the night, and in the early morning many came desiring to look upon the coffin of their beloved chief.
Notwithstanding a heavy snowstorm, many hundreds assembled to fier the last tokens of respect, and to assist in performing the funeral rites. In this part of the proceedings, the scene, even more than on the previous day, represented a sorrowing clan mourning for their lost chief. The funeral cortege, as it moved from Castle Grant to Grantown, contained upwards of a thousand mourners, who walked slowly to the music of the "Flowers of the Forest," and the "Land o' the Leal," played by the pipers who headed the procession, though the Castle Grant pipes, which the late Earl had loved to hear, were on that day hushed and silent. At Duthil, amid the strains of the pipes, the body was borne to the mauso leum; and the latest Laird of Grant was then laid to rest with his fathers in the place which has been their burying-place for upwards of three hundred years.
The late Earl of Seafield married, on 12th August 1850, the Honourable Caroline Stuart, youngest daughter of Robert Walter, eleventh Lord Blantyre, who survives his Lordship. This is neither the time nor the place to speak of that happy union, which was unclouded to the end; and his last gentle sigh was breathed in perfect peace in the presence of his loving son and devoted wife, who through life had been such an helpmate to him. Their only child became the heir and representative of the longdescended Lairds of Grant, as well as of the noble house of Seafield.
[494] LINES WRITTEN AFTER SEEING LORD SEAFIELD'S BODY
As a humble tribute of affection to his memory.
What a brave look his face doth wear!
As calm in death he lies;
A look that's wholly free from care,
And full of meek surprise.
Such look is his as knight might wear
Exploring dark recess,
Ready with sword in hand to dare
All danger and distress.
Of coward fear no trace is here,
And pride is absent quite
A glory reigns around his bier,
Befitting stainless knight.
What sweetness dwells in mouth and eyes!
How placid is the brow!
The loving heart no longer sighs.
All, all is peaceful now.
So might have looked Sir Galahad
In quest of Holy Grail
As on he rode in heart right glad,
Knowing he could not fail.
His couch with flowers love's hand hath strewn
Nor purer they than he;
The spirit from the clay that's flown
Dearly them loved to see.
The Thistle, Scotland's emblem dear.
Right worthily he wore;
A knight without reproach or fear,
As bravest knight of yore.
His coronet the mountain pine
Delighted to adorn;
Its wreaths, alas! we now must twine
To deck this couch forlorn.
Firm as Craigellachie he stood,
Aye holding by the right;
That which was just, and true, and good,
Weighed more with him than might.
As Laird o' Grant, Chief of the Clan.
Grandly himself bore he -
A leal true-hearted Highlandman
Of noblest ancestry.
For him full many a tear's been shed,
By those that loved him well
But tears will not bring back the dead,
Though from the heart they well.
Strathspey, Glen-Urquhart, Cullen's stream,
Will miss his presence dear;
This world to me seems more dream
Now he's no longer here.
JAMES McINTYRE, SEAFIELD MANSE, 21st February 1881.
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Volume 1 Chapter 20(ii) |
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