Glenbuchat Heritage

46 Duff Defiance

Duff Defiance

An old right-of-way track runs from Bellabeg in Strathdon, over the Ladder Hills, to Glenlivet. Previously a route for whisky smugglers from Glenlivet. See entry 49 on Smuggling in the Ladder Hills. As the route climbs out of Glen Nochty it passes an ruined old house that goes by the curious name of Duffdefiance.

History has it that a local character by the name of Lucky Thain once squatted in the house and refused to move even when the laird himself, a gentleman by the name of Duff, the Earl of Fife's factor came and tried to make him move on. Duff, however, may refer to the Earl of Fife himself as the first Earl was James Duff.

Aldachuie. Burn of the cattle-fold. Allt, burn; a', of the; chuith (th silent), gen. asp. of cuith, fold.


Letter from Fred McGregor to Ken Cruickshank 21.1.8
‘”I’ve heard many tales of ‘Lucky Thain’. She had been quite a character, and lived at Duff Defiance, where she had a small croft. She ran a ‘Shabeen’ and was widely known to traffic in illicit whisky.
Her ‘Houf or Hovel’ was on the drovers right of way, crossing Mount ?/Sach and he ladder hills, linking up with the Muir of Ord, Rosshire and Falkirk Trysts.

There was a relationship between her and a family named Taylor who lived at Blarnamuick, Nochtyside and a descendant, Willie Taylor lives at Ivy Cottage Sawmill of Newe”

Ken Cruickshank added the following comments:

“Fred Mcgregor was born and brought up in the Glen. He was son of the stone mason at Maryfield who wrote ‘My Life as a Mason’, and related to the McGregor’s at Upperton. He worked for a time at Glenbuchat Shop and ran the shop at Bellabeg for many years. He was a local celebrity in the area as secretary of the Lonach Society and was well versed in local history. He features in the Glenbuchat Archive several times. He retired to a house in Thomson Street Aberdeen and the house at the top of the brae on the Glennochty road behind Bellabeg Shop

Fred gave me information on Lucky Thane which I included in the Lime Kiln book” (along with details on her from J G Phillips book).
“At the head of Glen Nochty, beyond Aldahuie, ‘Lucky Thane' lived at Duffdefiance. Evicted from Glenbuchat for illegal distilling, she continued her livelihood out with the Estate's boundaries, in defiance of Lord Fife (family name- Duff) and the excise-men. She had a ready market for her produce from the many thirsty travellers passing her door, crossing the hills between Strathdon and Glenlivet by the Ladder Road.”

The Lime Kilns of Donside. Click for details

Lucky Thane features in this web site in the following page, click for link:

91 Wandering in the Highlands 1881

Lucky Thain is recalled in the article ‘Wandering in the Highlands of Banff and Aberdeenshire’ written by J.G. Phillips (formerly Curator of the Elgin Museum and printed by the Banff shire Journal Office in 1881.It describes in detail a walk through Strathdon including Glenbucket. In his wandering Mr Phillips meets many people and visits places easily still identifiable form the other information available in this web site. He also relates stories and beliefs still held by older residents in the area
The article states

‘Leaving Auchernack, we trudged onward, for the dim twilight was now giving place to the darker and deeper shades of night. We passed several small farm steadings before we reached Mrs Thane's, better known as " Lucky Thane," an old woman, over 90 years of age, who lives at the very top of Glennochty, a house well known in the days of smuggling, and many are the spirit-stirring tales which old Lucky can tell of the daring deeds and hairbreadth escapes of those hardy men. We could not wait to hear them, how- ever, but once more started forward, and soon entered the heather. We had a long climb before us up the Ladder not the best of roads in the dark but the thought of the many who had trod that path before us, in, perhaps, worse circumstances, cheered us on.’