Finavon Castle

[2] Extravagance ruined the Crawford fortunes, and in 1625 the barony of Finavon was disposed of by a forced sale to Alexander Lindsay, 2nd Lord Spynie.

His descendant, Lieutenant-Colonel Alan David Greenhill Gardyne died in 1953, leaving the estate to a daughter, Mrs Susan Mazur.

[3] The house is a Scottish baronial style mansion built in 1865 for the then laird, David Greenhill Gardyne, by Messrs Carver and Symon of Arbroath.

B. Burke recorded what life was like at Finavon Castle, saying: The inner life of the family was of an [sic] uniform but enjoyable character; martial exercise, the chase, and the baronial banquet, enlivened by the songs of the minstrel and the quips of the jester, occupied the day and the evening was wiled away in ‘the playing of the chess, at the tables, in reading of romans, in ringing and piping, in harping, and in other honest solaces of great pleasure and disport,’ the ladies mingling in the scene throughout, whether in the sports and festivities of the morning, or the pastimes of the evening—though a portion of the day was always spent in their ‘bowers’ with their attendant maidens spinning or weaving tapestry.

Occasionally, indeed, a higher responsibility devolved upon them,—during the absence of the Earl, whether in attendance on the Parliament or in warfare, public or private, his wife became the chatelaine or keeper of his castle with full authority to rule his vassals, guide his affairs, and defend his stronghold if attacked at disadvantage during his absence.