The Kinlochs of Kinloch owned the Kinloch Estate, which included much of Meigle village, and although he was a member of the landowning classes, George Kinloch (1735-1833) was a prominent figure among those who were arguing in the early nineteenth century for the reform of the UK Parliament and the extension of the franchise to include working people.  This earned him the nickname ‘The Radical Laird’ and a seat in the Reform Parliament of 1832 as Liberal MP for Dundee. 

Among other things he was chairman of the Dundee and Newtyle Railway Company, which built the first passenger railway in Scotland. 

In another complexity, some of Kinloch’s wealth came from his inheritance of the Grange Plantation in Jamaica, including its enslaved workers. Kinloch sold the plantation in 1804, at the age of 29, and by 1832 the abolition of slavery was part of his election platform. 

Sadly his parliamentary career was cut short by his death in the following year.  

Although George Kinloch forfeited his estates, they were regained by his son, who was made the first Baronet Kinloch of Kinloch in 1873. 

Patrick Murray of Simprim was the illegitimate son of Lord Elibank of Simprim, Simprim being about five miles north of Coldstream in the Borders. 

Patrick had a difficult childhood and was only about seven years old when his father died. As an illegitimate child, he could not inherit the title of Lord Elibank, which passed to his uncle George Murray (though on occasion he did use the title anyway). However, he was able to inherit his father’s fortune, though this was contested in the courts for decades. 

In 1785 he bought the Cardean Estate from the Earls of Strathmore, though he would only have been about 14 years old at the time. He then stamped his eccentric stamp on his estate by renaming 'Potento' to 'Cardean' and 'Easter Cardean' to 'Simprim', after his birthplace which is why Wester Cardean is actually to the east of Cardean. 

Patrick Murray was a close friend of Sir Walter Scott and shared his interest in collecting antiquities. Sometime in the early 1800s, Patrick Murray built the Steading, which incorporates a quantity of medieval masonry, much of which would almost certainly have come from the Abbey at Coupar Angus. The Steading used to have Patrick Murray’s coat of arms on the section nearest the road but, sadly, this feature has now gone. 

In 1838 Patrick Murray bought the Arthurstone Estate. He immediately added extensively to the original house. When his elder daughter, Susan, married Captain Popham in 1841, they set up home at Cardean and Patrick Murray had some of the new build at Arthurstone dismantled stone by stone, to be then reconstructed on the Cardean site. 

Patrick’s younger daughter, Maria, married James Talbot, 4th Baron Talbot of Malahide and it was at Malahide Castle, near Dublin, that Patrick Murray died in 1855. Both Patrick Murray and his wife, Susan, are commemorated on a plaque in the small mausoleum which stands beside the last remaining masonry from the Abbey still in situ within the grounds of Coupar Angus Abbey churchyard. 

Three families with the name Dargie were among the first to settle in the newly founded village of Ardler in the 1830s, as recorded in the census of 1841.  While many of the residents of Ardler in the mid-nineteeth century were employed as agricultural workers, labourers and weavers, Andrew Dargie stood out as a teacher of dancing and deportment. A small publicity booklet published by him in the 1890s shows that he was able to teach ‘Scotch, Irish, English and Modern’ dances, by private tuition or in public classes offered across the country from London to Inverness and Elgin.    

In 1404 Meigle passed from William de Megill into the hands of Sir David Lindsay, the 1st Earl of Crawford and son-in-law of King Robert II, and the lands around Meigle remained with the colourful dynasty of the Lindsays for many years. 

The 1st Earl of Crawford died at Finavon Castle only three years after acquiring Meigle and so it passed to his son, Alexander. He was knighted at the coronation of James I in 1424 for agreeing to be held hostage by the English in exchange for James himself. 

On Alexander’s death in 1438, his son, David Lindsay of Meigle and 3rd Earl of Crawford, inherited the estates. His son, Alexander, had been appointed Baillie of the Regality by the abbot of Arbroath Abbey who later regretted the appointment and instead appointed Alexander Ogilvy, 2nd Baron in Inverquarity. Alexander decided to reclaim his position in what became the Battle of Arbroath and David rode between the two armies in an attempt to prevent any bloodshed, but was mortally wounded by a spear. 

Alexander then became the 4th Earl and was also known as 'The Tiger Earl' or 'Earl Beardie'. He was a major player in the Douglas Rebellions which came to an end in 1452 with his defeat at the Battle of Brechin. However, remarkably, King James II showed clemency and restored his estates to him, including Meigle. 

His estates then passed to his son, David Lindsay, 5th Earl of Crawford, who was made the 1st Duke of Montrose by James III in 1488 for his loyalty, becoming the first Scotsman not of royal blood ever to be granted a Dukedom. However, later that same year, James III was killed during the Battle of Sauchieburn when his troops were defeated by rebels supporting his son, James, Duke of Rothesay who was to become James IV. David Lindsay was stripped of his titles and offices but, like his father, he was fortunate to have his titles restored to him just the following year, albeit only for his own lifetime. 

As a result, following his death in 1495, the Meigle estates passed to the Lyons of Glamis. This stoked animosity between the two families which was to endure over several generations. A significant event in this feud was when his grandson, yet another David Lindsay, the 11th Earl, was involved in a street brawl in Stirling, which resulted in the Lord High Chancellor of Scotland, John Lyon, 8th Lord Glamis, being shot dead. 

Almost 10 years later, in 1589, Crawford’s men, together with those of the Earl of Huntly, ambushed Thomas Lyon, Master of Glamis. The Master of Glamis took refuge in Kirkhill Tower House (now part of Belmont Castle) but, when he refused to give himself up, the men set fire to the Tower. As a result, Lyon was captured and kept prisoner for some weeks 'somewhere in the North'. 

In the same year that Thomas Lyon was taken prisoner, David Lindsay, the 11th Earl, was convicted of treason, due to his associations with Catholic nobles and conspiring with Spain. However, he was released from St Andrews Castle the following year.