The first Leslie in Aberdeenshire was Alexander who was appointed Constable of the Bass of Inverurie in 1080 on behalf of the king, his brother-in-law.

[4] Bartolf was said to be a man of intellect and bravery and as a result Malcolm III made him governor of the royal Edinburgh Castle and gave him estates in Fife, Angus, the Mearns and Aberdeenshire.

[5] Bartolf's son was named Malcolm and was made constable of the royal Inverury Castle, which he held for David II of Scotland.

[5] The family sided with Robert the Bruce against firstly The Comyn in the Buchan and secondly King Edward I and as a result were awarded further tracts of Aberdeenshire.

Sir Andrew de Lesly was one of the signatories of Declaration of Arbroath, was sent to the Pope in 1320 asserting Scotland's independence.

[6] The chiefly line of the Clan Leslie passed to a junior branch of the family, from whom the present Earl of Rothes descends.

[7] The third Earl, also George, carried out a private family vendetta on the life of David Beaton, cardinal Archbishop of St Andrews.

[5] George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes, was one of the Scottish commissioners at the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots, as heir to the throne of France in 1558.

[5] George, along with the Earl of Cascillus and two others, died in mysterious circumstances, believed to be poisoning for refusing to allow the crown of Scotland to be settled on the Dauphin of France.

[5] Fetternear which became the home of the Leslies of Balquhain, Wardes, and Warthill includes the remains of a 14th-century palace, home of Bishop Alexander Kininmund who, in 1320, drafted the Declaration of Arbroath, the letter sent to Pope John XXII in Avignon declaring that the Scots would never be subjected to English rule.

[5] Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, fought on the Continent and then returned to Scotland to command the Covenanter army.

[8] Commanding the Covenanters Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven, and General Robert Monro captured Edinburgh Castle with a thousand men.

In 1644, Leven commanded Scottish Covenanter forces to victory over English Royalists at the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644.

It resulted in a Parliamentarian victory, which meant that the north of England was effectively lost to King Charles for the rest of the war.

[5] John Hamilton-Leslie, 9th Earl of Rothes, was Vice Admiral of Scotland and governor of the royal Stirling Castle.