Captain Wimberley refers to arguments advanced by him in a recent work identifying James Gordon 1^st of Lesmoir with James of Coldstone and James of Foddirletter; also considering whether his first wife was a daughter of Stewart of Laithers and his second a daugher of Ogilvy of Ogilvy. It also emerges that James was apparently also on kinship terms with the Gordons of Huntly.

Captain Wimberley also details the results of a field trip to Lesmoir by his nephew and niece, neither of whom he names.

In a lengthy P.S., he further provides a description of what then remained of Terpersie Castle.

Inverness.                                    1 Sept. 1898 My dear Sir,                    I have now finished co- pying my notes into a book : I called them to begin with Notes on the Gordons of Terpersie, but I began with the head of the family, and the result is a vol- uminous series.     I made out both a Table of descent of the Terpersies and another of the Bad- inscoths, intending to add notes on a good many individuals.     But when I came to James 1st of Lesmoir and his two marriages, and the proofs of his identity with James of Coldstone &c, & the question as to which Foddir- letter, which I told you about, the story & proofs became a long one.     It has been of immense interest to me, and I must confess I compiled it rather for myself to keep and add to my genealogical papers rather than for you only.     I have no doubt you will like to copy the Ped. of the Terpersies and the notes on it pp. 33 to 43 : & perhaps, the Pedigree & notes on the Badinscoths.     I also hope you will find the long series of notes on James of Lesmoir & his family pp. 1 to 31 sufficiently interesting to read through : and I think that after doing so you could easily dictate to some one a short condensed statement from the marginal summary I have added in red ink.     There is a good deal of argument where absolute proof is wanting e.g. as to which of two Foddirletters gave a designation to James and as to whether James 1st wife was a daughter of Stewart of Laithers.     What I have collected fairly corroborates the statement in an old M.S. pedigree – though it does not amount to proof ; and the same applies as to whether the 2nd wife was a dau. of Ogilvy of Ogilvy.     One point greatly interested me being to see the very intimate footing on which James was with the Huntly family : See espy 1548 A. D. p. 32, where he was evidently regarded as one of the fam- ily to advise & consent as to Lord Gordon’s marriage when old enough.     My nephew & niece were at the Cabrach for 2 or 3 days last week & went to Lesmoir : the former paced the several sides of the dike within the moat & made a rough sketch of it : it is bigger than I sup- posed – I am going to get the Ordnance Survey sheet 25 in. scale, so can com- pare his results with what I find there.     You will see that the area is a sort of truncated oval with a bulge in the northern side : length about 100 yards, average width about 70 : my nephew’s paces were about a yard long.     He succeeded in spite of rank vegetation and debris in tracing remains of walls where the dotted lines are : the only part there is any wall standing, & a few feet high is at a gable beside where “20 paces” is written.     His discovery agrees with that was a very common form of building castles abt beginning of 16th century, & I see he has marked in the angle what was proby a stair case in a turret.     I came to the conclusion myself that the entrance being at the SE corner of the enclosure the building fronted nearly south and had a Courtyard in front of it.     I suppose you know that the old road to Gartly was pretty high up the hill above Mains of Lesmoir & farm of Scordarg ; I walked by it some years ago to Gartly : proby the old road to Rhynie from K. of Esse was pretty much where the present one is, only that any one riding to or from the Castle would have to join the roads East of the Castle instead of at the back of it.     About the Kilmartin book, I shall put up a copy of it along with my M.S. book, and shall be glad if you can take or send it over to Major Macrae to look at. If he is connected with the K. family perhaps he will like to keep it. I have got a few copies taken by people interested at 5/ to help me to pay cost of printing &c : but as yet I have only recovered about £50 out of some £170 which my 4 family histories cost me.     Mrs. Campbell, Ballimore, was good enough to take I think 2 copies of that book.     Since the K. book was printed I have got an immense quantity of new authentic information and with dates : when I was com- piling I came upon such bare items as a daughter of Campbell Edinample married C. of Inverawe, or the laird of Inverawe : and all I could do was to calculate which laird she proby married. When I got reliable in- formation I found that the lady married the 2nd son of the laird I had assigned her to : got the name of his two wives, and of his eldest son’s two wives, and that in fact in several cases I had mated them wrong.     I am putting loose into the book a corrected pedigree for some genera- tions.     I have no idea how Maj. Macrae is connected with the family, perhaps through a female & two or three gener- ations back.     I suppose Mrs Burnley Campbell was a Miss C. of Ormidale or of Ballimore : one of the C’s Shiwan married Arch C. Ballimore but proby 150 years ago.     I should rather like Mrs. Burnley Camp- bell to see the corrected pedigree.     I must now go out & defer putting up the parcel                      Yours very truly             Douglas Wimberley William Leiper Esq.     I have been trying to find something about Stewarts Ardclach : I wonder whether it was a Stewart Auch- ancart. P.S. I have forgotten to speak about the old Castle of Terpersie -     I approached it going up the glen : There is a small new steading beside the burn, below the road, which leads to Lumsden village & also to Drumimor & Rhynie, but whether I took a turn or went straight to a face of the old build- ing I cannot remember – I don’t think there were any large trees at right angles to the side I approached, I think they were poor specimens : but the large ones might have been felled.     I turned to my own left after looking at what seemed to me the front, which as far as I remember looked down the Glen. At the Angle was a round tower, and a Corbel in the angle of apparent front with Gr below : a little way off in main building several loopholes & below one this date 1561. There was also a doorway or gateway near the Corbel, but a lot of rubbish accumulated and I did not stoop to look in.     I went round the end nearest to said road, & the new house & looked at the back (if it was the back) & the round tower at other end, but did not go the 4th side.     From the pen & ink sketch in your letter the part marked as destroyed appears to have been beyond the sort of square with angle towers, and I did not, I believe see that 4th or end wall.     In what I took to be the front, the wall was standing to the eaves, but all the masonry about windows was much shaken, stones fallen out &c.     I saw a little bit of low wall, & foundations beside the round tower probably part of low buildings like byres shown in your sketch. I think most of the leaves were off the trees.

Captain Douglas Wimberley to William Leiper