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The name Moncrieffe comes from Moncrieffe
Hill south-east of Perth made from hard ancient
lava. The River Tay lies to the north and the River Earn to the south;
they join just east of the
hill.
The Celtic name Monad Croibhe
(which is in fact Gaelic but the Pictish would have been similar ie.
Old Welsh Minit) meaning Hill of the Tree. The Battle of Monad Croibhe
is said to have been fought in 28AD between two Pictish armies. Moncrieffe
Hill overlooks the sacred Pictish sites of Scone and Abernethy and the royal
Pictish palace of Forteviot.
This area was granted to Sir Robert
de Meyneris, Chamberlain of Scotland, in 1248 after which time one branch
of that family took their name from the lands. The Moncrieffe badge displays
an oak, that revered tree of ancient Celtic times.
Malcolm Moncrieffe (died 1465) was
a member of the council of James III. Sir John Moncrieffe died with James
IV in the disasterous Battle of Flodden in 1513.
The Barony of Moncrieffe was created
in 1626.
In 1679 Moncrieffe House was created,
incorporating an older tower house, by the renowned architect Sir William
Bruce. Sadly this burned down in 1957. |
