Hill of Fare

The Hill of Fare was the scene of a battle in 1562 between George, the 4th Earl of Huntly and Mary Queen of Scots, his first cousin. Huntly’s wife had been in consultation with the witches of Strathbogie who told her that Huntly would be lying in the Tollbooth at Aberdeen without a wound on his body by nightfall. This spurred Huntly to move on Aberdeen and amass his Gordon clan on the Hill of Fare (Hill o’Fare). Mary won the day and just as he was captured, Huntly fell from his horse stone dead from an apoplexy. Described as “he burst and swelled”, his body was taken to Aberdeen Tollbooth where his body was laid out without a wound, thus fulfilling the witches prophesy. In the following May his corpse was put on trail and found guilty of treason, having its belongings and titles seized. Eventually he was buried in Elgin Cathedral in his family’s tomb.