Virescit Vulnere Virtus (Courage Flourishes at a Wound)
The House of Burnett is the worldwide Burnett Society
Early History
The designation ‘of Leys’ as applied to the heritor of the Burnard/Burnet lands emerged about 1446 and referred to the property and, in particular, to the area of the Loch of Leys, which was noted in the charter by King Robert the Bruce dated 1323. This included lacum de Banchory cum insula ejusdem or the ‘lake (loch) of Banchory with the island within it’.
It has been recorded that is a place of very ancient note on account of it being the burial place of St. Ternan, known as the Archbishop of the Picts, who was one of the first Christian missionaries in the north-east predating the arrival in Scotland of St. Columba by about 100 years. Apart from the fact that an island in the Loch of Leys would seem a logical choice of last resting place for such a person, there does not appear to be any positive proof that his grave was there. St. Ternan, traditionally, is said to have been born at Fordoun in Kincardineshire and baptized into Christianity by St. Palladius to whom Fordoun Church was dedicated. He died before 500AD.
On John Thompson’s 1832 county map of Kincardineshire, the Loch of Leys is depicted with a small building on an island labeled ‘Gowhouse’. While on the First Edition 6” OS map, surveyed here in 1864 it is labeled as ‘Goo House’, which is also recorded in the New Statistical Account apparently referencing the islet’s use as a nesting site for sea birds.

Description
It is a marshy area formed when meltwater, from glaciers moving towards the coast, was left trapped in a depression below the Hill of Fare. The area still carries the vegetative features of marshland with low scrub and reedbeds.
The Loch, when drained in 1850, covered 140 acres but it could have been 4 or 5 times as large. Alexander Burnard not only received land but also took possession of the crannog, a fortallis, which had been built by the Wachopes and of which they were dispossessed by King Robert.
Wachopes/Wauchopes are known to have been holders of land on Deeside in the reigns of Alexander I (1107-1124) and Alexander II (1214-1449).
The area covered by water before draining can be seen from the following map.

It is also shown on General Roy’s military survey of 1747-55 in the image below.

The loch was drained in two stages. After the first operation, the floor of the loch dropped and there was a second scheme. The ditch which is crossed on the way to the Crannog is the outlet for the water from the loch and is partially lined with stonewalling which show the two stages of works. The walls are kept apart with wooden struts thereby demonstrating the need for attention. Images of the ditch/outlet are pictured below.
*NOTE: If you visit on site: Do not attempt to view this. It is clearly dangerous.


Burnett’s residence on the crannog lasted no more than 165 years (1323-1488). For that reason, it is certain that the castle would have been built prior to the 16th century.
The crannog, the translation of which from the Gaelic simply means ‘made of wood’, was not confined to Scotland and Ireland nor was it only associated with very early periods of land occupation. Lake dwellings of similar construction existed throughout many parts of the world.
Construction
A crannog was normally constructed by creating an artificial island, or by enhancing an existing natural one, by driving timber piles, usually of alder or oak, into the bed of the loch often in the shape of a circle. Between the piles, and to well above the high-water line, stones were heaped and leveled so that a platform of timber poles could be laid to form a floor.

Excavation of the Leys crannog found it to be composed of earth and stones resting on a foundation of oak and birch trees and surrounded by oak piles. The timber used, along with hazel and alder, was readily available in the vicinity as these were naturally occurring species. Because this was such a valuable resource for the construction of homes, animal shelters, weapons, and utensils, the properties of each species were well understood, the timber managed during growth, certain species encouraged by coppicing and any wood used carefully selected.
The walls of a crannog building were often constructed from wooden hurdles woven from pliable hazel and the roof trusses made from branches thatched with mature reeds which grew profusely as an annually renewable resource. The floor would have been strewn with straw and bracken.
The heat and cooking source came from a central hearth from which smoke seeped through at roof.
Design
Some crannog dwellings were round and others more rectangular in shape, the Leys crannog being one. As the ‘Castle of Leys’ has been described as having been a strong substantial building and rectangular in shape, it is reasonable to assume that the walls would have been constructed predominantly in stone.

Of course, depending on the size of the island, a crannog home could have comprised not only the substantial building for the laird and his family but also a collection of other small dwellings for his immediate servants and for crop storage. The supplementary building would most likely have been of timber construction.

Recorded information about the Leys crannog comes primarily from the efforts of Sir James Horn Burnett to drain the Loch in 1850 as part of the land improvement movement of that period. He noted in his diary on 23 July of that year Digging at the Loch of Leys renewed. Took out two oak trees laid along the bottom of the lake, one five feet in circumference and nine feet long; the other shorter. It is plain that the foundation of the is