Brodie History
This most ancient family takes
its name from the lands of Brodie near Forres in
Morayshire. The family lost most of its early
charters and other documents when the Gordons
burnt the castle in 1645. Shaw suggests that the
name itself is derived From the Gaelic word,
'brothaig', meaning ditch'. He suggests that they
may have shared S common ancestry with the Morays
and Inneses who were all settled along the Moray
Firth in the twelfth century, pointing to the
similarity of their coats of arms, each of which
bears three stars.
Michael Brodie of Brodie
received a charter of confirmation of his lands
of Brodie from Robert the Bruce. The charter
declares that Brodie held the thanage of Brodie
by right of succession from his paternal
ancestors. It has been suggested that the family
may even have Pictish origins, being descended
from the royal Family who carried the name,
'Brude'. There is much evidence of Pictish
settlement around Brodie, and although there is
no certain proof of the claim, it must be
considered as at least a reasonable explanation.
The Brodies were certainly
prominent among the local nobility, and the name appears throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries in charters of the diocese of Moray.
John 'de Brothie' is recorded in a church charter
attending on the Earl of Mar, Lieutenant of the
North, in 1376. Thomas de Brothie, and his sons
John and Alexander, are mentioned in connection
with the Vicarage of Dyke, a living eventually
bestowed on Alexander. Alexander Brodie of Brodie
appears to have been a local judge as he was
summoned before the Lords of Council in Edinburgh
in January 1484 to give account of one of his
verdicts. John of Brodie is mentioned many times
as an arbiter of disputes particularly in 1492.
He may be the same John of Brodie who assisted
the Mackenzies in their battle against the
Macdonalds at Blairnapark in 1466. He witnessed
a contract between the Calders and the Baron of
Kilravock in 1482. His great-grandson, Alexander
Brodie of Brodie, was denounced as a rebel, along
with 126 others, in 1550 for attacking Alexander
Gumming of Altyre and mutilating one of his
servants. The rebel's eldest son David had his
lands of Brodie erected into a free barony under
charter of the Great Seal in July 1597. He had
several sons; the second, Alexander, purchased
the lands of Lethen and is ancestor to the
Brodies of Lethen. The eldest son, another David,
inherited the estates in 1626, but he died only
six years later when they passed to his son
Alexander, later the judge, Lord Brodie.
Alexander Brodie of Brodie,
who was born in 1617, was a vigorous supporter of
the reformed religion, and in 1640 he attacked
Elgin Cathedral and destroyed its carvings and
paintings, which he considered idolatrous. He
represented Elgin in Parliament, and in 1649 was
one of the commissioners sent to negotiate with
the exiled Charles II his conditions for his
return to Scotland. He was an able politician, as
after the defeat of the royalist forces at the
Battle of Worcester in 1651 he was summoned to
London by Oliver Cromwell to consider a union
between Scotland and England. He resisted
attempts to appoint him to judicial office under
the Protectorate, although he finally accepted
after Cromwell's death in 1658. This brought him
royal disfavour after the Restoration, when he
was fined for his actions. He died in 1679. In
1727 Alexander Brodie of Brodie was appointed
Lord Lyon, King of Arms. A splendid portrait in
his official robes still hangs in Brodie Castle.
He was Lyon during the Jacobite rebellion of 1745
and attended on the Duke of Cumberland throughout
his Scottish campaign. His son, Alexander, died
in 1759, and the chief ship passed to a cousin,
James Brodie of Spynie. He married Lady Margaret
Duff, youngest daughter of William, first Earl of
Fife, and was a talented botanist and
agriculturist who made many improvements to the
estate. His eldest son died in a drowning
accident and the estate passed to his grandson,
William Brodie, in 1824. William Brodie of Brodie
was Lord Lieutenant of Nairn from 1824 to 1873.
There are other distinguished
branches of this family, including the Brodies of
Lethen and a distinguished family of English
baronets who claim descent from the chiefly line.
Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, whose family are
believed to have left Banffshire to settle in
England around 1740, was one of the most
distinguished surgeons of his time, and was
president of the Royal Society. He was surgeon to
both William IV and Victoria. He was created a
baronet in August 1834. Brodie of Brodie still
lives at Brodie Castle, but in 1979 the present
chief placed it in the care of the National Trust
for Scotland.
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Brodie
