James Stewart, Earl of Moray — the Bonnie Earl of Moray of the famous ballad — was hunted down and murdered at Donibristle House on the Fife coast in February 1592 by George Gordon, Earl of Huntly, acting with royal connivance. Huntly and a party of Gordon horsemen surrounded Donibristle House, set it alight, and killed Moray as he tried to escape through the burning building. Moray was badly burned before being finished with swords. Huntly reportedly slashed Moray's face and said he had spoiled a better face than his own. The murder caused popular outrage — Moray was handsome, Protestant, and popular — and the ballad that preserved his memory became one of the most celebrated in Scotland.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
Research a location near this battlefield