Lord Kinfauns
[1] As recorded in the Great Seal in crown charter, but possibly created earlier for Sir Thomas Charteris circa 1340.
Charteris became a loyal ally of Wallace and supported King Robert the Bruce in his campaign for the Scottish crown and against the English.
In the early 1820s, the 15th lord constructed Kinfauns Castle in a striking Gothic style on the site of an earlier medieval stronghold.
The castle is situated between the village of Kinfauns and the city of Perth.The spot is hallowed by memories of Wallace and Bruce during the long struggle for Scottish sovereignty; and a popular legend survives, which declares that the first lord of Kinfauns (Sir Thomas de Longueville later Charteris) was a noble French warrior, who received these broad acres as a reward for his valorous aid to the Bruce against the English invader.
Tradition has it that all vessels sailing along the river once recognised the power of Lord Kinfauns by saluting the castle or by lowering their colours as they passed it.
De Longueville was supposedly of noble stock but had been forced into exile after committing murder in the presence of the King of France.
There is a cave called the Dragon Hole in Kinnoull Hill in the parish of Kinfauns which is believed to have been an occasional hiding place of Wallace.
[6] De Longueville later joined King Robert the Bruce and is said to have been alongside him in the vanguard of the capture of the key stronghold of Perth in 1313.
De Longueville was considered a great warrior and supposedly wielded a two-handed broadsword nearly six feet long.
During the struggles of the mid 16th century the Charteris family were supporters of the Queen Dowager, Cardinal Beaton and the Regent Arran.
For his continued support of the king, he was imprisoned by the English in Edinburgh Castle during the tumultuous civil wars of the mid-17th century.
The Hay family's loyalty to the Stuart monarchy caused them to lose the greater part of their estates around this time.
Around 1660 Sir William Blair succeeded to the lands and Lordship of Kinfauns and Craigtoun, including the keeping of the waters of the Tay.
Apparently, the Duke received him coldly and haughtily and Lord Gray immediately returned home and resolved to join the Rising and Bonnie Prince Charlie.
His wife, who could see the dim prospects of the Rising, prevented her husband from leaving through trickery, knowing he would not listen to reason.
This Lord built the new mansion house of Kinfauns in the 1820s and vastly improved the estate by building new farmsteads and cottages of artistic design.
During the construction of the Dundee and Perth Railway it is said that Lord Gray would only allow the line to pass through his estate for the then huge fee of £12,000.
