The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-21
HAUNTED BY A CRIME. Scottish Family That Has Been Pursued by a Nemesis.

How true 1t is that the iniquities ot the father are visited upon the child ren to remote generations! An instance in point is called to mind in the recent hapless death of Lord Moray of scot land, He was childless and his family is nearly extinct. A blight has rested on Moray ever since James V. wrested title and lands from Huntley to bestoW them on his base-born son, haif-brother of Mary Queen of Scots. That earl Of Moray, the regent of Scotland, was shot like a dog by Bothwellhaugh in Linlithgow street, and his son, the bonny earl,' was murdered at Doni- bristle by his hereditary enemy, Hunt ly, Varying fortunes followed the Morays through the civil wars, but little luck came to them; although in- deed. the ninth earl married the daughter of Lord Gray and his children inherited through her the barony or Gray, and to him was granted the tltle of Baron Stuart of Castle Stuart, that English peerage which gave him seat in Parliament. He was the father of twin boys. When the six unmarried sons of the elder twin were dead the earldom devolved on the son or the younger twin, the late earl Of Moray. Very strange it is to note that he' al though married was chlldless. HIS brother. the new earl. is childless; but the next brother, Morton Gray, Is the proud posesssor of three boys. If the
 title descends regularly to the next helr it will present the extraordinary spec tacle of seventeen successive chilaless earls. Surely a unique thing III the annals of the British peerage.
 Donibristle castle, where the "oonny earl' of Moray was dirked to death by
 Huntly, is on the north shore of the
 Firth of Forth. looking over toward
 Delmeny and Edinburgh. It IS said that when Huntly surprised his foe the bonny earl fled through an unoer- ground passage and so to the sea-
 where he tried to jump into boat.
 But Huntly was close on his heels and killed him there on the rocks. They point out the secret passage to this day, and the weed-covered reef with rocks outstanding rom the rest Vined with dull red, the blood mark which | no tide can wash away. The castle it. self was burnt some years ago, but its gaunt walls and broken mulnoned win dows stand yet amid the flowers of the pleasance and the beautifully-kept | lawns. The late earl used some rooms | in the servants quarters which escaped | the fire, and he was devoted to the place. which, indeed, used to be one Of | the most beautiful in Scotland.
 Darnaway, the family seat in Moray shire, is in the center of an oak forest said to be the most extensive in the
 British Isles. A man may walk for 2o
 miles without losing the shelter of these ancient trees. The estate borders the romantic Findhorn, one of the love- Hest rivers of the north. The Regent
 Moray stocked a heronry in remote corner of the forest and the herons
 rest there to this day. It was in the
 Randolph hall at Darnaway that Queen
 Mary held her first council after Darn leys death.
 | Lord Moray only went to London | once a year, when he remained for two
 or three weeks. spending much of his | time visiting churches and chapels to hear famous preachers. He was rich.
 and though he was by no means gcner-
 ous. he was just. and he was good landlord. He had extensive estates in
 the counties of Elgin, Fife, Perth and | Inverness.