The Book
That Tock'd

Elizabeth Dunbar entered the clan's story through a web of alliance and inheritance that helped shape fifteenth-century Scotland, a turbulent age where instinct, diplomacy and resilience were essential to survival.

Celebrated in her lifetime as the 'Dove of Dunbar', she entered a succession of influential marriages, each reflecting the political alliances and family obligations expected of noble women during the fifteenth century.

Her marriage to Sir John Colquhoun brought her to Rossdhu, placing her at the heart of the clan during a period when continuity, stewardship and careful leadership were vital to its future. Though history offers only fleeting glimpses of her life, they reveal a woman navigating influence with purpose and quiet resolve.

Her greatest legacy survives through the legendary Rossdhu Book of Hours, a richly illuminated devotional manuscript closely associated with Elizabeth and one of the clan's most remarkable surviving treasures.

The manuscript later embarked on an extraordinary journey, travelling from Colquhoun Country to a London bookshop, where it was purchased in 1863 before eventually finding its permanent home in Auckland Library, New Zealand. Both devotional object and personal record, it continues to preserve Elizabeth's presence within the enduring story of Clan Colquhoun.

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