The murder of George Drummond and his son William on Sunday 3 June 1554 is said to be the bloodiest and most violent incident in the history of Blairgowrie. 

Around 1550 George Drummond purchased the land of Newton of Blair, which extended from the Mause district north of Rattray, and followed the River Ericht as far as Parkhead. 

George Drummond went on to build Newton Castle on the site of an earlier building. 

> Newton Castle photo coming < 

He and his wife Janet Halliburton of Buttergask had two sons George and William. 

Some of the local lairds strongly resented this newcomer and the extent of his lands. 

The ringleader, John Butter of Gormack, called a meeting with William Chalmer of Drumlochy and John Blair of Ardblair, to discuss how they could deal with this newcomer. It was decided that George Drummond and his two sons George and William should be murdered. 

Now the Drummond Family regularly attended Sunday worship in the Parish Church, the Hill Kirk on Kirk Wynd, and the conspirators agreed that this would provide the perfect opportunity to take them by surprise. The murder was to take place on Sunday 3 June 1554. 

Each of the three lairds gathered as many relatives, friends and servants as they could. In all it is said that 80 well- armed men made their way up Kirk Wynd to the Hill Kirk. George Drummond and his two young sons were not going to stand much of a chance. 

Perhaps they were forewarned, because, most unusually, the Drummond family did not attend Sunday worship that morning. The lairds posted look-outs at Newton Castle to report on the movements of the Drummonds, while John Butter provided a mid-day meal for the conspirators back at Gormack. 

At last came the news that George Drummond and his son William were playing a game of row-bowls at the High Mercate -Gait behind the Hill Kirk. Row-bowls, an early form of today’s game, was popular in the 16th century. 

By this time, some of the original 80 strong group were having second thoughts, but some 60 armed men followed the three lairds back up Kirk Wynd to the Hill Kirk. 

They surrounded George Drummond and his son William and ‘cruelly slew them’. Father and son lay dead on the ground with blood flowing from their many wounds. 

Their bodies were carried back to Newton Castle. 

On 13 June 1554 a summons was issued for the arrest of John Butter of Ardblair, William Chalmer of Drumlochy, John Blair of Ardblair and their accomplices. Most of the conspirators went into hiding to avoid punishment. 

On 12 December 1554 the trial took place in Edinburgh and it is fully reported in ‘Pitcairn’s Criminal Trials’. 

This is one of the earliest documents about the history of Blairgowrie. 

The fate of two of the men involved is detailed in Pitcairn : ‘ Patrick Blair, in Ardblair, and Robert Smyth, in Drumlochye, alias Henry, convicted of the slaughter of George Drummond and William, his son. Beheaded.’ 

Well aware that they would very likely suffer the same fate, the ringleaders, John Butter of Gormack, William Chalmer of Drumlochy and John Blair of Ardblair, tried to negotiate a deal with the young George Drummond. Pitcairn lists the five parts of the offer made to George Drummond. Each part, in the 16th century language, is followed, in brackets, by an explanation. 

In primis – To going or cause to gang to the four heid pilgromaigis in Scotland. 

(Firstly, they offered to visit the four chief places of pilgrimage for persons under penance for crime at that time. These were Melrose, Dundee, Scone and Paisley.) 

Secondlye – To do suffrage for ye saul of ye deid at his Paroche Kirke or what uthir kirk they pleis for certaine yeiris to cum. 

(They would have prayers offered in the Parish Kirk, or any other preferred kirk, for the repose of the souls of their victims.) 

Thirdlye – To do honour to ye kyne and friendis as effeiris as use is. 

(To do honour to the kin and friends in the manner of the day, would have involved kneeling before the deceased’s next of kin with a halter round the neck, offering a drawn sword by the point and humbly begging forgiveness.) 

Ferdlye – To assyth ye partye is content to gyf to ye kyne wyf and bairns – Imp. 1000 merks. 

(They would pay 1000 merks to the kin, wife and children of the deceased. A merk was a silver Scottish coin in circulation in the 16th and 17th centuries.) 

Fyfthlie – Gif thir offeris be noch suffeycent thocht be ye partye and ye friendis of ye deid, we ar content to underlye and augment or pair as reasonabil friendis thinkis expedient in so far as we may lefsumlie. 

(If these offers were considered inadequate, they were prepared to negotiate further.) 

When these offers were considered inadequate by the Drummond family, William Chalmer of Drumlochy made two further extraordinary offers. Firstly, he offered his son in marriage to the daughter of the murdered man i.e. young George’s sister, and secondly, a Bond of Manrent. 

A Bond of Manrent is a Scottish contract in which someone pledges loyalty and service to a superior, in return for protection. 

A copy of this extraordinary document may be read in John A.R. Macdonald’s book ‘ A History of Blairgowrie. 

William Chalmer was spared. 

However, the Drummond family were unable to forgive and forget. Years later, when one of William Chalmer’s sons fell in love with the daughter of the murdered laird and rode down to Newton Castle to ask for her hand in marriage, the widowed Janet Drummond stood at the window above the door of Newton Castle brandishing her husband’s blood soaked shirt and shouting for him to get back over the hill where he belonged. 

We move forward to a time just before WWI when a visitor rang the bell at Newton Castle. He introduced himself as a member of a Psychical Society. Having read about the Green Lady of Newton and how, every Hallowe’en, she walks down from the Knockie to enter the castle, he asked if it might be possible for him to spend the following Hallowe’en in the castle. 

It so happened that the Macpherson family were to be away from home over Hallowe’en, but the gentleman was told that he was welcome to spend the night and that he would be well looked after by the servants. 

Shortly after Hallowe’en he returned and was welcomed by the Macpherson family who were eager to learn if he had seen Lady Jean, the Green Lady of Newton. 

He explained that, since on his first visit, he had learned that what was now the garden door in the east wall had originally been the main entrance to the castle, he had assumed that Lady Jean would use the entrance she’d used during her lifetime, and so he had kept watch from the drawing room window above that door. However, his plan had been thwarted by one of the servants who stood waving a red duster and blocking his view. 

He may not have seen Lady Jean, but he had seen the ghost of Janet Drummond brandishing her murdered husband’s blood soaked shirt. 

For more about the merk go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merk_(coin) 

For more about the Bond of Manrent go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manrent