Barony of Cowie, Stirlingshire facts for kids
The Barony of Cowie, Stirlingshire is a special type of Scottish land area that was created a long time ago, in the early 1100s, by King David I. A barony was a large piece of land ruled by a baron, who was like a local lord.
In 1563, a man named Adam Erskine, who was in charge of Cambuskenneth Abbey, gave some of the Abbey's lands to John, 6th Lord Erskine. These lands included Cowie, Murtoun, and Baddnidayth, all located in the area around Stirling. John Erskine later became the Earl of Mar, an important title. The original Barony lands were located between the village of Cowie and the city of Stirling, just north of Bannockburn.
Contents
History of Cowie
What's in a Name?
The name Cowie probably comes from an old Gaelic word, Collaidh, which means "wooded place." This suggests the area was once covered in trees.
Early Times
People have lived in the Cowie area for a very long time, even since Neolithic times, which was thousands of years ago when people first started farming. In the Middle Ages, Cowie was directly owned by the King of Scotland.
The Abbey and the Reformation
In the early 1100s, King David I gave the lands of Cowie to Cambuskenneth Abbey, a religious house. This was confirmed again in 1207.
However, in the middle of the 1500s, a big change happened in Scotland called the Protestant Reformation. This was when Scotland officially became Protestant in 1560. One of the major changes was that monasteries and abbeys, like Cambuskenneth, were closed down. Many of their buildings were damaged or destroyed, and stones from Cambuskenneth Abbey were even used to build parts of Stirling Castle.
The Erskine Family and the Jacobite Rebellion
After the Abbey closed, the Barony of Cowie mostly stayed with the Erskine family from 1563.
In 1715, John, 6th Earl of Mar (who was also the 9th Baron of Cowie), became a leader in a rebellion known as the Jacobite rebellion. This rebellion supported James Edward Stuart, who was known as the Old Pretender, in his claim to the throne.
Mar was not a very good military leader. In a battle called Battle of Sheriffmuir in 1715, he couldn't defeat a smaller army. When the rebellion failed, Mar had to flee to France with the Pretender and lived there for the rest of his life.
Changing Hands
Because of his role in the rebellion, a special law called a Writ of Attainder was passed against Mar in 1716. This law meant that he and his family lost all their lands and titles.
The Murray family of Polmaise then gained ownership of Cowie. Sir William Murray became the first Murray owner in 1716. The Barony stayed with the Murray family until 1926 before it returned to the Stewart family.
Today, the current (20th) Baron of Cowie is Alan Robert Dennis. He is a professor at Indiana University in the United States.
See also
- Barons in Scotland
- Barony of Cowie (Aberdeenshire)
- Stirlingshire
- Stirling Castle
