Located in the heart of Speyside in the Highlands of Scotland, Gordon Castle was originally built in the 1470s and is the spiritual home of the House of Gordon. Enlarged in the 1770s as his principle residence by Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon who until his succession to the Dukedom in 1827 was the 7th Marquess of Huntly, it became one of the largest houses ever built in Scotland.
His son, The 5th Duke of Gordon, who like his father before him was known as the Cock o’ the North, died without legitimatemale issue in 1836 and Gordon Castle, the Scottish Estates and eventually the Dukedom of Gordon passed to his nephew, The Duke of Richmond. Meanwhile, the Marquessate of Huntly (traditionally the name of the eldest son of the Duke of Gordon) passed to hisdistant cousin, the then Earl of Aboyne.
During the Great War the Castle, like the fictional Downton Abbey, was used as an Auxiliary Hospital for the wounded returning from the front.
Frederick Gordon Lennox, The 9th Duke of Richmond and 4th of Gordon (in the new creation) sold Gordon Castle and his Scottish estates in 1938 as a result of penal death duties following the deaths of his father and grandfather in 1935 and 1928 respectively. The Castle fell into disrepair, but was bought back by one of the 7th Duke’s other grandsons, Lieutenant General Sir George Gordon Lennox after World War Two. He was forced to knock much of it down due to significant dry and wet rot but then turned it into the wonderful family home it is today. His son, Major General Bernard Gordon Lennox successfully continued this legacy with his wife Sally-Rose, and now his grandson Angus and his wife Zara havetaken over the running of Gordon Castle and Estate.
The Gordon estates stretched from Deeside to Speyside, encompassing lands and rivers where many of the most famous Malt whisky distilleries are to be found. It was the 5th Duke of Gordon, who in 1823 sponsored an Act of Parliament, which legalised the distilling of whisky in the Highlands of Scotland. Knowing very well that his tenants in Strathavon and Glenlivet could not be prevented from distilling whisky, the Duke persuaded the government that it was better to legalise the activity and collect the taxes.
As soon as the Act was passed, the Duke encouraged one of his tenants, George Smith, to take advantage of the new law to produce whisky legally. George Smith started the first licensed distillery in Glenlivet in 1824. In 1858, the Duke provided George Smith with the land on which the present day Glenlivet distillery is sited.
The famous Scottish regiment The Gordon Highlanders were raised on the 10th February 1794 by the 4th Duke of Gordon and assisted by his wife the celebrated Duchess Jean, who rode to the country fairs in highland bonnet and regimental jacket on a recruiting drive. It is told how she would place a golden guinea between her lips and offer a kiss to any man who would take the kings shilling.
On one occasion, a certain blacksmith, renowned for his strength and good looks and who had turned down other offers of recruitment, took the kiss and the guinea; but to show it was not the guinea that had tempted him, threw the guinea into the crowd.
The Gordon Highlanders were recruited mainlyfrom the large Gordon estates in Badenoch, Lochaber and Strathspey and also from the counties of Aberdeen, Banff and Elgin.
At first the Regiment was numbered the 100th Regiment of Foot, but the title of the “Gordon Highlanders” was used along with the number, in 1798 they became the 92nd under which number they won their first battle honours and by which they were known until their amalgamation in 1881 with the 75th Regiment.
Lieutenant General Sir George Gordon Lennox was the Colonel of The Gordon Highlanders between 1965 and 1978. The association with the regiment continues with the currentEstate Factor, Lieutenant Colonel David Duncan. Hejoined the Gordon Highlanders as a Junior Leader in 1969, andretiredfrom the regiment after an illustrious 39 year career.
The mighty ash (Fraxinus excelsior) which stands on the lawns to the front of Gordon Castle presents an imposing figure.
Ash as a species is relatively short-lived, with few trees exceeding 200 years before old age and decay set in. The Gordon Castle tree is clearly something of an exception, and is of considerable antiquity. The site has been a stronghold of the Gordon Clan since the 15th century, with the original castle of 1470 being replaced by the 4th Duke of Gordon in 1769. It is likely the tree dates from around this time, making it over 250 years old.
The trunk is of exceptional girth for this species, measuring a staggering 7.79 metres (25 feet 7 inches) in girth at 1m (3 feet 3 inches) above ground level. Above this, the girth becomes grossly exaggerated because of large swellings and limb bases, attaining 8.74 metres (28 feet 8 inches) at 1.5 metres (4 feet 11 inches) above ground.
The huge, stately canopy is equally impressive, with the massive limbs which form the framework of the crown reaching 28.5 metres (93 feet 6 inches) in height. The tree appears to have been pollarded many years ago, and displays a typically low-branching and multi-stemmed crown form.
As is typical with most old ash trees, the trunk is heavily decayed and largely hollow. It is a remarkable testament to the strength of its timber that the thin outer shell of sound wood is capable of supporting such a capacious canopy.
Permission for pedestrian access to view the Ash can be obtained from the Estate Office at Gordon Castle.
Beauty, brains and bird sense are the outstanding qualities of this handsome black and tan setter from Scotland. Although history suggests the existence of black and tan setters as far back as the 16th century, Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon, The Cock o’ The North, is credited with establishing the breed we now know as the Gordon Setter. His home, Gordon Castle was where he established his kennel of black and tan setters. They were bred to work and the best dog was the one that could achieve that. It was not till later that appearance started to count. His dogs were either black, white and tan, black and white or black and tan.
He built wonderful kennels for hi s dogs and bred actively, crossing his dogs with other followers of the breed including the Cokes of Norfolk. History has it that the Duke would not shoot over his setters until they were 5 years old, as they were very wild when they were young and slow in maturing. Most breeders and Gordon owners would say the Gordon Setter has remained unchanged in this respect today.
Alexander the 4th Duke died in 1827 and George the 5th Duke in 1836. During these 9 years the kennel was reduced. Dogs were probably given to various friends and possibly many went to the Duke’s keepers. At the dispersal sale at Tattersalls in July 1836 only eleven setters were sold and of these only one (“Duke”, a 5 years old male) was black and tan. Five were black and white, one black, one black white and tan, one red and white and two black and white 4 months old pups.
On the death of the 5th Duke Of Gordon in 1836 the estate was passed on to his nephew the 5th Duke of Richmond who later revived the kennels, purchasing “Juno” at the Tattersall sales for 34 guineas which illustrate his efforts to get together a strong kennel of working Gordon Setters.
In spite of conflicting reports, the weight of evidence suggests that after the kennel was revived by the Duke of Richmond and Gordon the principal colour was still black, white and tan with a few black and tans, but the latter seems to have died out gradually at Gordon Castle. This is confirmed by the fact that when the kennel was finally closed in 1907. Mr. Isaac Sharpe of the ‘Stylish’ gundog kennels bought all of the remaining setters and these were all black, white and tan.
In short, the first part of the Black and Tan or the Gordon Setter history goes back some two and half centuries and the Duke of Gordon developed its working ability making it famous. As the Rev Pearce wrote (under the pseudonym of ‘A Breeder of Great Experience’ in the original edition of Stonehenge’s book 1867) ‘The origin of the breed is not well known. The late Duke of Gordon, at any rate, brought it up to its present excellence. However, no less important than the development of the breed by the Duke of Gordon has been its establishment and perfecting during the latter half of the nineteenth century and after.