Linguist and custodian of Colliston Castle

Born: December 28, 1925;

Died: February 15, 2017

GORDON Stuart, who has died aged 91, was a hyperpolyglot - a multi-linguist who spoke or understood, as confirmed by international linguistic organisations, no less than 28 languages. Few people in history can have equalled or surpassed that. Apart from the "usual" West European languages, he learned to speak fluently Dutch, Flemish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Czech, Slovakian, Russian, Ukranian, Afrikaans, Welsh and our own Scottish Gaelic. Add to that Wendish, spoken by ethnic Slavs in Germany, and Catalan, the original language of Barcelona and Catalonia in Spain.

In his native Scotland, he was also known as the longtime owner of Colliston Castle near Arbroath, where he lived most of his life. The castle dates from the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century.

Richard Alexander Gordon Stuart - always known as Gordon - was born on December 28, 1925, in Kobe, Japan, where his Scottish father Robert Alexander Stuart was an expat banker for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Baking Corporation (HSBC). In Kobe, Robert met Dorothy Kirby, a Welsh-English girl who had been born in Kobe to an expat English businessman in Japan. They married and had Gordon.

After leaving Japan at the age of two, following his father's banking travels, young Gordon was educated at King William's College on the Isle of Man - known to locals and pupils as King Bill's - at the time a boys only school. Going up to Downing College, Cambridge, he graduated with a degree in Latin, Greek, French and German, followed by a further degree in Polish and Russian at the University of London. At Cambridge, he was captain of the university's fencing team in the first few years after the war.

He returned to Scotland to work as a farmer in Angus, still studying languages in every spare moment, before becoming a teacher, latterly at Arbroath High School. For health reasons, he was unable to serve in the armed forces but instead volunteered for the Royal Observer Corps, a civil defence organisation involved in aircraft recognition and nuclear warfare analysis. Mr Stuart did some important work during the Cold War, spotting and monitoring potential enemy aircraft.

In 1983, he inherited from his father Colliston Castle which, outside his family and a fascination with aircraft, became the love of his life. After retiring from teaching, he remained much in demand as translator into English from multiple languages, particularly those, such as Hungarian and Finnish, for which few translators were available in Scotland or indeed the UK.

"Language and translating was a huge part of his life," his wife Judy told The Herald. "He was the go-to person for anyone who sometimes didn’t even know what language the document they needed translated was in! Every year he would attend a linguist conference in Western Europe. Had he been an MEP, he wouldn't have needed an interpreter as he could use all those languages freely."

Mr Stuart became a member of many professional institutes of linguistics and until his death was president of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (Scottish Society). He was named a Fellow of the Institute of Translating and Interpreting and in 1990 came second in a linguistic competition entitled Polyglot of Europe.

He was also hugely interested in politics and government and stood for parliament in West Lothian for the Unionist Party in the 1964 general election. He had no chance against Labour (the late Tam Dalyell) or the SNP but he did double the Tory vote.

Especially after his retirement, while still doing translation work, taking care of Colliston Castle was Mr Stuart's passion. It was built in 1545 by Cardinal Beaton, abbot of nearby Arbroath Abbey, originally as a Z-plan Tower House and later extended in the 18th and 19th centuries. The castle features a pepperpot turret, a magnificent barrel-vaulted ceiling in the hallway and a "priest hole," a hiding place for priests during the time of persecution of catholics.

Mr Stuart, his wife Judy and their family made the castle a site for parties and receptions, with marquees in the 10 acres of mature gardens, woodland and parkland. Before Mr Stuart sold the castle five years ago, his daughter Valerie said:

"Four generations of my family have lived here, from my grandfather down to my own children. The castle really does have the wow factor when people walk in but it is also a fabulous family home. It has the character and sense of history which gives it an amazing feel.”

Gordon and Judy Stuart sold the castle to be close to Valerie and her husband Jonny Orchard, who run the picturesque Camusdarach campsite between Arisaig and Mallaig on the Road to the Isles.

"Gordon spent many a happy hour loving language and latterly battling technology as he got to grips with computers," said his wife Judy. "He loved to travel and visited every country in Europe, learning the languages of most along the way. He was a keen skier and hill-walker and he loved history, recently even writing a simple history of Scotland for his grandchildren. And he was an avid reader of the Sunday Post throughout his life.

"He was also a keen member of the Stewart Society, serving for some years as their European Commissioner, when he had contact with Stewarts all over the continent, many of them relieved to hear him speak their language fluently. The Swedish Stewart Society made him an honorary member."

Gordon Stuart, who died at home in Arisaig, is survived by Judy, his wife of 51 years, four children, six grandchildren and his two sisters.

PHIL DAVISON