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Castle Fraser, Miss Bristow's Memorial
Commemorative Monument (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Castle Fraser, Miss Bristow's Memorial
Classification Commemorative Monument (Period Unassigned)
Alternative Name(s) Castle Fraser Policies; Miss Bristow's Wood
Canmore ID 83646
Site Number NJ71SW 6.12
NGR NJ 7244 1211
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/83646
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Cluny
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Gordon
- Former County Aberdeenshire
Field Visit (May 1996 - May 1996)
A029 Commemorative monument, Barrow (possible).
The monument known as Miss Bristow’s Monument is sited on a mound that is circular, measuring 15.0m in diameter and standing up to 1.5m high. This feature is surrounded by a ditch that is 0.5m wide and 0.3m deep. It is impossible to determine whether this feature is contemporary with the construction of Miss Bristow's monument or whether the latter was constructed on this site because the mound already existed.
B022 Miss Bristow's Memorial
A squat stone obelisk approx. 3.0m high set on a square base erected to commemorate Miss Elyza Fraser's friend, Miss Bristow. Located near Butler's or Bristow Cottage in Miss Bristow's Wood on a small mound. The 1st Edition OS shows a small path encircling the monument with links onto a main woodland path (C13).
Two earlier inscriptions commemorate the friendship of the two ladies; later ones commemorate Elyza herself and her nephew, Alexander, whom she made her heir instead of his elder brother, Charles. The inscriptions are as follows:
North Face
ENDOWED
WITH A BENEVOLENT HEART
ELEGANT TASTE
UNASSUMING MANNERS
AN INFORMED MIND.
UNRUFFLED BY PASSIONS
A SINCERE CHRISTIAN
UNTAINTED BY PREJUDICE.
SUCH WAS THE FRIEND
WHOSE LOSS IS DEPLORED
BY
ELYSA FRASER
SUCH WAS
MARY BRISTOW
West Face
MARY BRISTOW
DIED
AT CASTLE FRASER
XXIX OCTOBER MDCCCV
------
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
A FRIENDSHIP
WHICH SUBSISTED
40 YEARS.
ELYSA FRASER
ERECTS THIS MONUMENT
IN THE GROVES PLANTED
BY HER LAMENTED FRIEND.
------
VALE! HU QUANTO MINUS EST
CUM RELIQUIS VERSARI
QUAM TUI MEMINISSE
South Face
IN MEMORY OF
LIEUTENANT GENERAL
ALEXr McKENZIE FRASER
GENERAL OF THE 78TH REGt.
DIED 13 SEPTr 1809
AGED 51.
IN ALL HIS MILITARY CAREER
FOR ZEAL & STEADINESS
SURPASSED BY NONE.
A LENGTH & VARIETY OF SERVICE
EQUALLED BY FEW.
WARM IN HIS AFFECTIONS
COOL IN HIS JUDGEMENTS.
MILD IN HIS MANNERS
FIRM IN HIS PURPOSES.
BELOVED ESTEEMED AND REGRETTED.
INSCRIBED TO HER NEPHEW BY
ELYSA FRASER
East Face
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
ELYSA FRASER
LATE POSSESSOR
OF THIS CASTLE.
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
ON THE 8TH JAN. 1814
AGED 80.
-----
DISTINGUISHED BY HER
INTELLECTUAL ATTAINMENTS
& POLITE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
AND STILL MORE
BY THOSE VIRTUES
WHICH DIGNIFY & EXALT
HUMAN NATURE:
AFTER A LIFE SPENT IN THE
UNIFORM & ACTIVE DISCHARGE
OF EVERY CHRISTIAN DUTY
SHE RESIGNED HER BREATH
IN THE JOYFUL HOPE
OF A GLORIOUS IMMORTALITY.
THAT HER MEMORY MAY BE CHERISHED
BY THE INHABITANTS OF THIS PLACE
IS THE SINCERE PRAYER
OF HER
GRATEFUL RELATION & SUCCESSOR
CHARLES FRASER
(CAF96 A029/B022) Information from (BNM) March 2014
