Rathillet

Hackston's Home

Along the main road from Kilmany in the direction of Newburgh is Rathillet village, ancient property of the Earls of Fife. Duncan, Earl of Fife, to whom the estate was given in the 12th century by Malcolm IV, granted an annual rent of £5 from Rathillet towards the support of the Monastery of the Preaching Friars which he had founded near Cupar. This sum-the payment of which was scrupulously specified on every charter in the estate's long history-was paid throughout the centuries until the Reformation.

In 1670 David Hackston was entered as the heir to the estates of Rathillet. It is by his name that the name of this village has become so stamped on Scotland's history. It was this Hackston of Rathillet who was one of the leaders of the band of Covenanters who assas-sinated Archbishop Sharp on Magus Muir.

Near to Rathillet is the estate of Mountquhanie, where can be seen the ruins of Mountquhanie Castle. One of the illustrious owners of Mountquhanie was that redoubtable Robert Lumsden who, when called upon by General Monck to surrender Dundee to the Crom-wellian forces, replied with that famous letter dated at Dundee, August 1651, in which he retorted with a demand that Monck and his officers and soldiers and ships should lay down their arms "and join with His Majesty's forces in this Kingdom".

"If you will obey," wrote the courageous Robert Lumsden, "we shall continue, Sir, your faithful friend in the old manner."

Even after Dundee fell to Monck, Lumsden held out in the Old Steeple and is reputed to have given in only when he was assured of honourable terms. But he and his comrades were butchered and his head was displayed on a spike above the steeple.

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