Hi Anne Thanks for clarifying the position as regards Gordon Castle and the land. After I had posted the message I found some more information which clearly indicated that the ownership had changed. However, as I said I did find some minor references in the archives at Edinburgh and amongst them there was the mention of the estate workers being invited to the Castle for a pre-Christmas meal. My transpiration of the visit read as follows: A visit to the National Archives of Scotland at General Register House, Edin burgh to examine some of the papers relating to Gordon Castle found several references to Andrew Scott working as a Sawyer and his attendance during the period 1835 to 1839 at what appear to have been annual functions held in Gordon Castle for the workers. There was also one reference to Andrew Scott being paid £1.16/- for 24 days work in the sawmill in 1842. But it is probable he worked on the Estate in various capacities as he is mentioned as being a Carter in 1834 and 1835. The papers included copies of an 'invitation' to the annual function and one of these was transcribed in full and is included here. "In giving tickets to the workmen they are to be made to understand that no one can possibly be admitted till they give their ticket at the Door. Each may give a ticket to his wife, daughter or female friend if he wishes it but the name of each of these females must be sent to the Carpenter's Shop at the Castle by ten o'clock tomorrow when their tickets will be given out and must be produced at the Door before admittance. The men to dine at a quarter before four o'clock on Wednesday first, the 8th November and the women to be asked to come at six." Gordon Castle Monday, November, 6th, 1837 The one for the previous year was couched in similar terms but the men were to dine at 4 o'clock and the ball, when the women were to join the company, was to commence at half past five. Included in that 'invitation' there were words 'females to be of good moral character' and at the bottom 'Each man to take with him a knife, fork and spoon'. In 1837 106 men and 60 women attended and the record shows the provisions consumed and the costs were: 354 1/2 Pounds of Beef (marked barely sufficient) £8.17.3 2 cheeses for evening 65 bottles of whisky £5. 2.11 nearly 4 Ankers beer £1. 0. 0 60 loaves ) 18 doz hard biscuits ) £2. 5. 6 Grocers Bill £4. 9. 1 Hire of stoneware 15. 0 A total bill of £22 . 9s .9d or expressed in decimal format £22.49 (Note: An Anker, as far as I can ascertain, is equivalent to 10 wine gallons.) The band and servants were thirteen in number. The 1836 bill was a bit cheaper as it totalled £15 with the Meat costing £4.8/- and the whisky £5.4/- and that appears to have provided for around 200. In each case there was a full list of the names of those present at the function. I hope this is of some interest to readers of the messages on the list. Ian A C Scott .

Hi Ian, thanks for such a wonderful insight into the goings on at Gordon Castle. One of my relatives was told her ancestors worked at the Castle - as farm managers sometime in the 1800's...I have not been able to figure out who they were - we have KERR, BARRON, DOW, BOYNE and maybe HOSSACK as possible names... and I see someone else has posted their family info as DAWSON who was farm manager from about 1880, so my guess is they worked there before 1880 I was wondering if you still have all the names of those who attended the functions and if so, I am sure many folk would really appreciate the names posted to the List......:-)) Kind regards Jocelyn ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 12:21 AM Subject: Re: [MORAY] Castle Gordon/ Family Hi Anne Thanks for clarifying the position as regards Gordon Castle and the land. After I had posted the message I found some more information which clearly indicated that the ownership had changed. However, as I said I did find some minor references in the archives at Edinburgh and amongst them there was the mention of the estate workers being invited to the Castle for a pre-Christmas meal. My transpiration of the visit read as follows: A visit to the National Archives of Scotland at General Register House, Edin burgh to examine some of the papers relating to Gordon Castle found several references to Andrew Scott working as a Sawyer and his attendance during the period 1835 to 1839 at what appear to have been annual functions held in Gordon Castle for the workers. There was also one reference to Andrew Scott being paid £1.16/- for 24 days work in the sawmill in 1842. But it is probable he worked on the Estate in various capacities as he is mentioned as being a Carter in 1834 and 1835. The papers included copies of an 'invitation' to the annual function and one of these was transcribed in full and is included here. "In giving tickets to the workmen they are to be made to understand that no one can possibly be admitted till they give their ticket at the Door. Each may give a ticket to his wife, daughter or female friend if he wishes it but the name of each of these females must be sent to the Carpenter's Shop at the Castle by ten o'clock tomorrow when their tickets will be given out and must be produced at the Door before admittance. The men to dine at a quarter before four o'clock on Wednesday first, the 8th November and the women to be asked to come at six." Gordon Castle Monday, November, 6th, 1837 The one for the previous year was couched in similar terms but the men were to dine at 4 o'clock and the ball, when the women were to join the company, was to commence at half past five. Included in that 'invitation' there were words 'females to be of good moral character' and at the bottom 'Each man to take with him a knife, fork and spoon'. In 1837 106 men and 60 women attended and the record shows the provisions consumed and the costs were: 354 1/2 Pounds of Beef (marked barely sufficient) £8.17.3 2 cheeses for evening 65 bottles of whisky £5. 2.11 nearly 4 Ankers beer £1. 0. 0 60 loaves ) 18 doz hard biscuits ) £2. 5. 6 Grocers Bill £4. 9. 1 Hire of stoneware 15. 0 A total bill of £22 . 9s .9d or expressed in decimal format £22.49 (Note: An Anker, as far as I can ascertain, is equivalent to 10 wine gallons.) The band and servants were thirteen in number. The 1836 bill was a bit cheaper as it totalled £15 with the Meat costing £4.8/- and the whisky £5.4/- and that appears to have provided for around 200. In each case there was a full list of the names of those present at the function. I hope this is of some interest to readers of the messages on the list. Ian A C Scott . ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message