Additional Ogilvy-Lindsay Trouble and the Last of the Lindsays

The Ogilvy-Lindsay family hatred flared up, after earlier trouble, in the late 16th century when Ogilvy of Inverquharity killed Lindsay of Blairriefeddan.  The next notable killing occurred around 1585, when Sir John Lindsay of Woodwray slew Ogilvy of Ballinshoe Castle near Kirriemuir and occupied his lands.  Sir John's brother David, 11th Earl of Crawford, stayed out of the blood-letting and befriended the Master of Ogilvy, paying a bond for his good behaviour.  But the earl's youngest brother Alexander, who was created Lord Spynie, was dragged into the violence.  Two Ogilvy associated - Reid John and Black Sandy - attacked Spynie's house at Kinblethmont.  A few days later, Spynie allegedly killed two Ogilvy men at Leys, though he claimed that actually they had attacked him and left him for dead.

   In the winter of 1599-1600, a group of Ogilvys led by the Master accidentally encountered Lord Spynie in a narrow pend in Arbroath.  A fight inevitably occurred, echoing the lamentable Battle of Arbroath, after which the Lindsay party took to their heels.  The two parties were put under house arrest and the king arranged a temporary truce and acted as arbiter in their dispute.  He gave his judgement on New Year's Day, 1601, finding that the Arbroath skirmish had been accidental, but that the Ogilvys had been illegally armed.  He told both factions to 'forgive uthers all slauchter and blood...and to keep in future guid friendschip and neighbourhood as becomes kinsmen and friends...'

   But the hatred was too deeply ingrained to be easily solved. On Sunday, 18th July 1603,  another of the Master's brothers, David Ogilvy, was walking with his valet to Holyrood Abbey Church in Edinburgh.  Unknown to them, they were stalked by David Lindsay, a bastard son of the Earl of Crawford, who had sworn revenge on every Ogilvy.  Following the service Lindsay and his men followed Ogilvy back to the Canongate, then attacked them  from behind.  'After many deidly wounds,' the Privy Council report said,'...William Innes [Ogilvy's valet] immediately departed this lyfe, and the said David Ogilvy is in grit hazard and peril of his lyfe, without any hope of recoverie.'

   But David Ogilvy did recover and in November 1603 he and his brothers, Sir John of Craig, George of Friock and Francis of Newgrange, joined the Master of Ogilvy's violent raid on Lord Spynie.  The Ogilvys gathered at Bolshan and made their way to Kinblethmont House, blasting the gates and firing cannons at the windows.  They managed to break in and searched the house for their enemy.  But Lord Spynie had been forewarned of the attack and had removed his family to Brechin Castle.  The raiders had to be content with ransacking the property and removing all the gold and silver they could find. As previously stated, Spynie ironically met his end when he tried to break up a brawl between members of his own family.

   The Crawfords were crippled by misfortune throughout the 17th century.  The 12th Earl of Crawford expired in Edinburgh Castle in 1620, having been placed there by his family to prevent financial ruin.  Then George Lindsay, the 13th earl, sold Finavon Castle and estate to Lord Spynie and was killed by a fellow officer in the Dutch army.  Alexander Lindsay, his brother and the next earl, died insane.  The 16th earl, named Ludovic, was a keen supporter of Montrose and was eventually forced to hand over the earldom to his distant Fifeshire relative, Lord Lindsay of the Byres.  The Lindsays of Edzell Castle also went into terminal decline.  The curse of Cardinal Beaton had put an end to the Lichtsome Lindsays in Angus.