Balquhain Castle is a ruined tower house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It served as the stronghold of the Leslies of Balquhain. The castle is located to the west of Inverurie, and is protected as a scheduled monument.
History The place name was sometimes written as "Boquhane". The castle was built in the 15th century on lands held by the Leslie family from 1340.Coventry, p.329. On 5 July 1441, John Leslie of Balquhain made an indenture with four masons, David Hardgat, David Dun, Robert Masoun and Gilbert Masoun that they would complete his building work.John Stuart, Extracts from the council registers of Aberdeen (Spalding Club, 1844), p. 397, note of the indenture recorded 23 June 1442.
The castle was sacked during a feud with the Forbes family in 1526. The castle was rebuilt in 1530. On 1 September 1562, Mary Queen of Scots stayed at the castle. William Leslie, laird of Balquhain, was a leader of her vanguard at the Battle of Corrichie.W. A. Gatherer, The Tyrannous Reign of Mary Stewart : George Buchanan's Account (Edinburgh, 1958), p. 73.Charles Joseph Leslie, Historical Records of the Family of Leslie, 1 (Edinburgh, 1869), p. 103.Diurnal of Occurrents (Edinburgh: Bannatyne Club, 1833), p. 73.Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, 3 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1852), p. 319.
In March 1563, Queen Mary forgave William Leslie of Balquhain for his dealings with the George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly.James Beveridge and Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 5:1 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1957), p. 340 no. 1271. She wrote to him to make provisions for her when she visited again in August 1564.Michael Pearce, "Account of George Wishart of Drymme", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, 17 (Edinburgh: SHS, 2025), p. 31.
In 1588, John Leslie, laird of Balquhain, was involved unsuccessfully in a fishing dispute, supporting the rights of Thomas Leslie of Banff against burgesses in Aberdeen. John Leslie's son fought with some men from Aberdeen and the families of the wounded men protested with bloody shirts or sarks. The dispute was settled by James VI and the Earl of Huntly.Keith M. Brown, "Burgh, Lords and Feuds", Michael Lynch, The Early Modern Town in Scotland (Croom Helm, 1987), pp. 106–108.
John Leslie and Bessie Roy John Leslie of Balquhain was married to Elspeth or Isobel Grant, a daughter of John Grant of Freuchie.Scots Peerage, 7 (Edinburgh, 1910), p. 463. John Leslie was accused of adultery with Janet Hunter in Aberdeen.Keith M. Brown, "Burgh, Lords and Feuds", Michael Lynch, The Early Modern Town in Scotland (Croom Helm, 1987), p. 107.
John Leslie employed a nurse for his children called Bessie Roy. In August 1590, she was involved in a trial for witchcraft and was acquitted. Among the accusations, it was said she had conjured up a worm in a lint field, and caused the death of a woman using a "plaid full of enchantments and sorcery". The incidents were supposed to have occurred when she worked for William King at Barra Castle around 1578, and she was alleged to have recently stolen a jewellery box from Balquhain by magic.Robert Pitcairn, Antient Criminal Trials, 1:3, pp. 207–209George F. Black, "A Calendar of Witchcraft Cases in Scotland", Brian P. Levack, Witchcraft in Scotland (Garland, 1992), p. 151.Robert Chambers, Domestic Annals of Scotland, 2 (Edinburgh, 1874), pp. 206–207.
The castle Balquhain was burned by the forces of Prince William, Duke of Cumberland in 1746 and was abandoned. The tower measures , and is surrounded by the remains of a barmkin.
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External links https://web.archive.org/web/20060820100206/http://www.clanleslie.org/Castles4.html