Adam Gordon of Auchindoun Adam Gordon of Auchindoun ( 1545 – 1580 ) , Scottish knight , younger brother of the Earl of Huntly and military leader during the Marian civil war on behalf of Mary , Queen of Scots in north west Scotland . In Scottish ballad lore , Adam became known as Edom o ' Gordon . Supporter of Mary , Queen of Scots . Adam was the son of George Gordon , 4th Earl of Huntly and Elizabeth Keith , daughter of Robert Keith , Master of Marischal . Adam Gordon was taken prisoner at the battle of Corrichie in 1562 , but was restored to royal favour and made Laird of Auchindoun Castle . During the civil war he fought for the exiled Queen Mary , particularly against the Clan Forbes who followed the cause of James VI of Scotland against his mother . In 1571 Adam defeated the Forbes at the battle of Tillieangus . In November at Craibstone , or Aberdeen Bridge , he defeated the Forbes and a troop of the Regent ' s soldiers commanded by Captains Chisholm and Wedderburn . Adam then defeated an army of Regent Mar at Brechin . The major historical sources for Adam ' s role in the conflict are the near contemporary accounts of John Knox ' s secretary Richard Bannatyne and the chronicles , the " Diurnal of Occurrents " and " History of King James the Sext " . Bannatyne said that Adam had 1 , 000 men at Tillieangus against 300 Forbes on 17 October 1571 . Adam concealed his superior numbers to draw the Forbes into an ambush . The brother of Lord Forbes , Arthur Forbes was killed and 12 or 16 Forbes . William Forbes and 16 others were taken prisoner . Twenty - two Gordons were killed , including John Gordon of Buiky . Before Craibstone , he or his men were involved in a massacre of the Forbes family at Corgarff Castle . According to Bannatyne , 24 people were burnt to death in the castle including Lady Towie , although a day ' s truce was agreed . Only one escaped , by crawling through the heather and straw which the attackers had piled to fire the castle . The " Diurnal " says that Adam sent his lieutenant Captain Ker to Lady Towie to ask her to surrender " Carrigill or ( Corgarffe ) . " When she said no , Adam ordered the place to be burnt , with about 27 casualties including Lady Towie and her daughters . According to the " Diurnal " , the Master of Forbes and Captains Chisholm and Wedderburn marched from Cowie to Aberdeen on 20 November 1571 . Chisholm and Wedderburn , the Regent ' s men , commanded two bands of musketeer s called " hagbutters . " Their whole strength was about 800 men . Adam and Captain Ker had 900 men in the town . The Forbes came over the bridge of Aberdeen , and fought with Adam ' s men for an hour ( at Craibstone ) . The Forbes retreated , Chisholm and 300 men were killed , and the Master of Forbes and 200 men were captured . Two hundred Gordons were killed . Bannatyne mentions that some cavalry commanded by Alexander Campbell fought with the Forbes . Bannatyne says that the Forbes and the Regent ' s troops came to Aberdeen because they were short of food . Adam was reluctant to fight because he was outgunned , but saw his chance after the troops wasted their ammunition . The Forbes bowmen or archers fled , Bannatyne wrote they " gave backis , and did no guid . " A chronicle written by an Aberdeen man , Walter Cullen , records the casualties at ' Craibstayne ' as about 60 , three score , on each side ( unless this a copyist ' s error for three hundred ) , and mentions the death of ' Guid ' Duncan Forbes . The chronicle " History of King James of Sext " described Adam ' s vigilance in Aberdeen as like a " valiant chiftayne , having alwayis his men in reddienes , " and adds there were 600 cavalrymen against him . The fleeing Forbes were pursued for four miles . According to the " History of James Sext " ( which has a bias against the Regents of Scotland ) , there were 300 Forbes casualties against thirty Gordons . Adam ' s victories against the Forbes were marred by the " infamy " of the burning of the Lady Towie . Exile and death . Adam was included in the peace called the " Pacification of Perth " of 23 February 1573 . He was then allowed to go to France , where he tried to rally support for Queen Mary . Then in 1574 , Adam was in touch with the English diplomat in Scotland , Henry Killigrew , and in France , and Francis Walsingham trying to secure his reconciliation with Regent Morton . At the same time , his brother , the 5th Earl of Huntly , wrote to Elizabeth I of England distancing himself from Adam ' s activities in France . In September 1574 , Morton arrested Alexander Duff , a servant of Adam Gordon who came to Scotland . In the summer of 1575 Adam Gordon returned to Scotland and was imprisoned at Blackness Castle , then in 1577 released under a bond to live in Galloway . On 9 April 1580 , Adam Gordon came to Stirling when , according to John Cunningham of Drumquhassle there was a scare that James VI might be abducted to Dumbarton Castle and taken to France . He died at Perth on 27 October 1580 .