Monboddo House

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Monboddo House (56°53′N 2°25′W / 56.89°N 02.42°W / 56.89; -02.42) is a historically famous mansion in The Mearns, Scotland. The structure was generally associated with the Burnett of Leys family. The property itself was owned by the Barclay family from the 13th century, at which time a tower house structure was erected. In 1593, the Laird was James Strachan, and thence it passed into the Irvine family and thereafter the Burnetts of Leys. There is a notable datestone adornment on the structure with the arms of Irvine impaling the arms of Douglas with initials R.E. and I.E. and dated 1635, representing the 17th-century couple who reconstructed the house, Robert Ervine (sic) and Ilizabeth Ervine (sic). Monboddo House, with its crow-stepped gable design, is situated in the Howe of Mearns near the village of Auchenblae approximately nine miles (14 km) from the North Sea. The original landholding of the Monboddo Estate was approximately 200 square kilometres (77 sq mi).

In 1714 the well-known judge and philosopher James Burnett, Lord Monboddo was born in Monboddo House. Lord Monboddo is renowned for his service as a member of the Court of Session, an author of several works during the Scottish Enlightenment and a precursive contributor to the theory of evolution. When he was appointed to the Court of Sessions, Burnett took the title of his father's estate, Monboddo House. In 1773 the author Samuel Johnson, accompanied by James Boswell, visited Monboddo House to call upon James Burnett. It is a category B listed building.^[1]