Inverey Castle (6 of 6)
More than 20 years after the murder of John Gordon of Brackley, Farquharson of Inverey made the pages of the 'Press &amp; Journal' for a second time!  As I have done before (and will shortly do so again), I shall use Fenton Wyness' Legends of North-East Scotland to tell the tale!

<i>About a mile below the Linn of Dee is the little hamlet of Inverey.  It stands at the junction of the Ey with the Dee and is one of the most picturesque villages in the county.  At the west end of the hamlet is the castle on Inverey, now a mere heap of rubble, but in the 17th century, the stronghold of Farquharson of Inverey.

The most outstanding member of the family was John, 3rd of Inverey.  He was a tall dark-complexioned man, and a fearless fighter, known to all as 'The Black Colonel.'

The Black Colonel spent most of his time at Inverey castle, where he lived with a small band of retainers, led by Alisdair McDougal.  When the Colonel wished to call his henchman McDougal, he did not ring a bell or shout for him, but fired a pistol at a targe which hung on the wall, so those that formed the Colonel's household had to have strong nerves.  Much of the time was passed at Inverey preparing for war, so when Viscount Dundee sent a letter to the Colonel asking him to raise an army, he required no second bidding.

Alasdair McDougall was sent round the Farquharson lands with a 'fiery cross' - a cross made from two pieces of wood, one end burning and the other dipped in  blood - for this was the signal for the clan to gather.  In a short space of time, the Farquharson men gathered at Inverey, and headed by the Black Colonel, marched off to war.

The Colonel and his men took part in the Battle of Killiecrankie, which you will remember was fought in 1689.  The Farquharsons lost many men, but the Black Colonel and a number of his retainers survived, returning to Inverey where they remained in hiding.

All went well for a time, but one night, after the household had gone to bed, there was a knocking at the courtyard gate.  McDougal hastened to see who could be about the glen at that late hour.  It was an old woman, who had come from Braemar to warn the Colonel that the 'red-coats' were coming up the glen, searching for Killiecrankie fugitives.

The Black Colonel leapt from his bed and, with McDougal at his heals, took the little path up Glen Ey.  Nor were they any too soon, for by the time they had reached the cottage of Loinavoick, the 'red-coats' were at the castle gate.

There was a sharp encounter between the few retainers left in the castle as a rear-guard and the 'sudgers', who easily overpowered them and set the building on fire.  As the fire spread to the upper storeys, a heavily cloaked figure was seen to dash from the burning building, through the smoke and away up the glen.  The 'red-coats', thinking it was the Colonel, gave chase, but it proved to be his housekeeper, Annie Ban, who by her daring had allowed the Colonel a little more time to get safely away.  After questioning her regarding the whereabouts of the Colonel, of which she pleaded complete ignorance, the 'red-coats' let her go and returned to the castle, which was now well alight.

On the summit of Creag a' Chait, the hill above the castle, the Black Colonel with his henchman watched his homestead burning in the valley below.  McDougal felt sorry for him but dared not express his sympathy, but suddenly the Colonel broke into loud laughter, explaining that he had put all the gun-powder into the Charter room, which was securely locked so that when the flames reached it there would be a violent explosion and many of the 'red-coasts' would be killed.  Hardly had he finished speaking when there was a loud bang which resounded among the high hills of Inverey.  The flames had reached the gun-powder.  How many 'red-coats' were killed, nobody knows, but in the morning a small band of them still remained in the hamlet and from there set out in parties to search for the Colonel.

He was never found, for he hid in a cave cut out of the rocks in the Ey valley, and Annie Ban carried food to him and his faithful McDougal every day.

When the 'red-coats' left Inverey he came down from his hiding place and sadly inspected his burnt-out home.  Nothing daunted, however, he rallied his men and put the 'red-coats' to flight in a skirmish which took place on the lower slopes of Craig Choinnich at Braemar.  

</i>(He actually forced the Government troops garrisoning Braemar Castle to abandon it and then burned it.)

<i>John Farquharson, the Black Colonel, died about the year 1698, and expressed a wish to be buried with his ancestors in the little graveyard at Inverey.  His request however, was forgotten and he was buried at Castleton of Braemar with all the ceremony due to a chieftain.

The day after he was buried, passers-by were horrified to see the Black Colonel's coffin resting on the ground beside his grave, and arrangements were made for it to be buried again.  Three times it was buried and three times it was found above ground again.  Only then did his retainers remember the Colonel's dying request to be buried at Inverey, so, as the road to Inverey was blocked with snow, they made a raft and placing their dead chieftain's coffin on it, pulled it up the river to Inverey.  Here they buried the Black Colonel among his ancestors.

The old graveyard at Inverey can still be picked out with difficulty </i>(I am not sure that's still true)<i>, now completely overgrown, but no stones mark the graves of the Farquharsons or their retainers, for Alisdair McDougal and Annie Ban are also buried there.  The Black Colonel's broadsword and targe are preserved at Invercauld House, while the Colonel's cave in Glen Ey is visited my many every year</i> (and is marked on the OS maps).
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