Glamis

Glamis, a village and parish of Forfarshire, Scotland, 5¾ m. W. by S. of Forfar by the Caledonian railway. Pop. of parish (1901) 1351. The name is sometimes spelled Glammis and the i is mute: it is derived from the Gaelic, glamhus, “a wide gap,” “a vale.” The chief object in the village is the sculptured stone, traditionally supposed to be a memorial of Malcolm II., although Fordun’s statement that the king was slain in the castle is now rejected. About a mile from the station stands Glamis Castle, the seat of the earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, a fine example of the Scottish Baronial style, enriched with certain features of the French château. In its present form it dates mostly from the 17th century, but the original structure was as old as the 11th century, for Macbeth was Thane of Glamis. Several of the early Scots kings, especially Alexander III., used it occasionally as a residence. Robert II. bestowed the thanedom on John Lyon, who had married the king’s second daughter by Elizabeth Mure and was thus the founder of the existing family. Patrick Lyon became hostage to England for James I. in 1424. When, in 1537, Janet Douglas, widow of the 6th Lord Glamis, was burned at Edinburgh as a witch, for conspiring to procure James V.’s death, Glamis was forfeited to the crown, but it was restored to her son six years later when her innocence had been established. The 3rd earl of Strathmore entertained the Old Chevalier and eighty of his immediate followers in 1715. After discharging the duties of hospitality the earl joined the Jacobites at Sheriffmuir and fell on the battlefield. Sir Walter Scott spent a night in the “hoary old pile” when he was about twenty years old, and gives a striking relation of his experiences in his Demonology and Witchcraft. The hall has an arched ceiling and several historical portraits, including those of Claverhouse, Charles II. and James II. of England. At Cossans, in the parish of Glamis, there is a remarkable sculptured monolith, and other examples occur at the Hunters’ Hill and in the old kirkyard of Eassie.

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