Birsemore (site of)

Birsemore Castle was a summer residence of the Bishop of Aberdeen but nothing of the tower now remains and its exact location has been lost.

The last pre-Reformation Bishop of Aberdeen was William Gordon, third son of Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly, and in 1562 he granted several properties including Birsemoir to his nephew, John Gordon. John was the son of William’s brother, Alexander Gordon of Strathavon.

John Gordon of Birsemore was shot and killed when a group of Gordons besieged the Earl of Moray’s Darnaway Castle. He was succeeded by his son, Patrick Gordon.

The Gordons owned Birsemore until the 17th century when it passed to the Forbes family.

Patrick Gordon, the first governor of Pennsylvania, was the great grandson of John Gordon of Birsemore.

I have placed the site of the castle at Birsemore farmhouse pending further research.