A brief relative history of the upland of Mar
As much as I’m interested in the lives of the ordinary people who lived in the upland of Mar it is impossible to understand their place in it without the contextual framework of those who owned, or effectively owned, the land – the following timeline provides some of that contextual framework.
1689 – Viscount Dundee's Jacobite Rising
In 1869, John 'Black Colonel' Farquharson, 3rd of Inverey burned Braemar Castle to prevent its use by government forces during Viscount Dundee's Jacobite Rising
1715 – Earl of Mar’s Jacobite Rising
In 1715 the ‘modern’ story of Mar Forest begins with the instigation of the Jacobite Rising by John ‘Bobin Jock’ Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar. The resulting forfeiture of 1716 marked the beginning of the end of the essentially feudal landholding system in the upland of Mar.
1724 – James Erskine and David Erskine
In 1724 James Erskine, Lord Grange (the Earl of Mar's brother) and David Erskine, Lord Dun (a relative) bought the forfeited property from the Government. Life in Mar Forest was about to change – to finance the purchase Grange and Dun had ‘greatly extended themselves’ by borrowing money and urgently needed to turn some of what they’d bought into cash.
In 1726 they prepared Gleann Laoigh for selling its timber by ‘ejecting’ the tenants of James McKenzie of Dalmore – who, they believed, had illegally rented the glen to farmers. Between 1730 and 1735 they sold the land – mostly to the existing Farquharson tenants, but also to an incomer William Duff, Baron Braco.
Birth of Lord Byron – 1788
George (later 6th Baron Byron) Gordon Byron
Battle of Waterloo – 1815
Forces under the Duke of Wellington defeated forces under Napoleon Bonaparte
