The Laird of Udny’s Fool

Jamie Fleeman is a fascinating Aberdeenshire character, hired by the Laird of Udny as his personal fool. He might have been paid to act like a jester but he was no idiot, in fact, Jamie had razor-sharp wit and his retorts and phrases were legendary. One well-to-do gentleman who looked down his nose at something Jamie said in town asked, "Who's fool are you?" Quick as a flash he replied, "I'm the Laird of Udny's fool. And who's fool are you?"

Jamie wasn't just a joker. When an accidental fire ripped through Knockhall Castle in 1734, the Udny family were all sound asleep inside. Jamie's dog was first to react, alerting him to the danger but the blaze kept him from reaching the bedrooms to wake anybody else up.

He was only 21 years old but had incredible strength, so he picked up a chest full of family documents and launched it through a window. The noise raised the alarm to everybody else and they managed to escape safely.

Later in life, Jamie was such a well-known figure in Aberdeenshire that he was used to smuggle Jacobite messages during the 1745 rising. He could travel freely between the Countess of Erroll and Lord Pitsligo who was in hiding from the government after Culloden. Nobody suspected a common fool to be up to anything serious.

Even though Jamie had an interesting life and was better known than the Laird of Udny himself, his death was tragically undignified. While in his 60s, he was soaked to the skin while travelling through a storm and developed a fever. The only shelter to be found was a barn where he promptly fell asleep.

The farmer had no idea that Jamie was inside and when he forced the door open, it struck the fool in the head. Even with a serious head injury, Jamie walked 8 more miles to his sister’s cottage where he passed away from his injuries. His final words were "dinna bury me like a beast" but sadly without sufficient funds, he was left in an unmarked grave.

Thankfully, 80 years later locals funded a gravestone to be erected in Longside, finally answering Jamie Fleeman's dying wish.