Skulferatu #145 - Threave Castle, Threave Island, Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway

 

Imagine taking a walk on a sunny, summer morning through the countryside while hundreds of birds sing in the hedgerows and trees around you, bees buzz, butterflies flap, and dragonflies appear in a brief flash to just then disappear again in the magical way that dragonflies do.  While you walk, the ruins of a castle tower appear in the distance and as you get closer you see it is on an island in the middle of a river.  By the river there is a wooden jetty with a bell on it and when you ring the bell a boatman comes from over on the island to ferry you across.  Ah, doesn’t that just sound like an ideal way to spend a summer morning? And yup, that’s just what I did today while taking a visit to Threave Castle just outside Castle Douglas.

 

 

Threave Castle – in the distance

 

 

A view of Threave Castle

 

 

A view of Threave Castle

 

 

Over the river to Threave Castle

 

Threave Castle is one of those imposing ruins, a symbol of the once powerful might of the Douglas family, who were at one time the Lords of Galloway and Earls of Douglas. Going by the name of the Black Douglases, they were a mighty and influential family in Scotland up until their downfall in 1455.

 

The castle was built in 1369 for Archibald Douglas when he was appointed the Lord of Galloway by King David II.  Archibald appears to have been a rather unpleasant character who was also known as Archibald the Grim, a nickname that some say was given to him due to his sinister looks and the harsh and cruel way he treated the people of Galloway, while others say it was because of his ‘countenance in warfare against the English.’ It could have been both, given that he ruled the lands he held with an iron fist and also seemed to enjoy battling with the armies of England.  Rising to become one of the most powerful men in Scotland, Archibald died an old man at Threave Castle in 1400.

 

 

Bridge over to the castle entrance

 

 

Threave Castle

 

 

The Artillery House

 

 

Gun loop

 

After Archibald’s death, Threave Castle remained with the Black Douglases, and over time their hold on so much power led to some jealousies and plots against them. One of these being from a member of their own extended family.  Things all kicked off when in 1437 King James I died and Archibald Douglas, the grandson of ‘The Grim’ was appointed the Lieutenant General of Scotland.  He was in effect the Regent as the new king, James II, was only six years old.  Unfortunately for Archibald, his role in the affairs of state didn’t last long as he died of a fever in 1439.  This left his son, William, who was around fourteen or fifteen at the time as his heir.  Various factions in the aristocracy realised that there was now a chance to step in and seize control, one of these being William’s great uncle, James Douglas, Earl of Avondale.  He, along with several powerful allies, including the Chancellor William Crichton, decided to break up and end the power of the family of the late Archibald Douglas.  They engineered an invite for William and his younger brother David to come and dine with the young King James at Edinburgh Castle.  There, while the boys were eating and chatting with the young King, Crichton and his men burst in, with Crichton placing a bull’s head on the table as a symbol for the execution of traitors.  He and his men then seized William and David, dragging them off to a show trial before having them beheaded on Castle Hill.  James Douglas then inherited his nephew’s wealth and titles to become the most powerful man in Scotland.  Enjoying his riches, James dined on the best foods and drank the finest wines.  So much so, that he became quite fat and earned the nickname ‘James the Gross’.

 

When James died, Threave Castle passed down to his son William. William, much like his father, enjoyed committing a bit of murder.  He, also like his father, wanted more land, more power, more everything.  So, firstly he improved the defences at the castle by fortifying it with an artillery house and then, along with the Earls of Crawford and Ross, he hatched a plot against King James.  Wanting a few more backers in his plot he also invited Patrick Maclellan, the Sheriff of Galloway to join with them.  Maclellan turned him down wanting no part in the scheme.  This didn’t sit well with William and the more he dwelt on this rejection, the angrier he became.  So much so, that he and his men seized Maclellan and took him to Threave Castle where they held him prisoner.   Maclellan’s uncle, Sir Patrick Grey, on hearing about his nephew’s plight appealed to the King who wrote a letter ordering William to release him.  Sir Patrick then rode to Threave and delivered the letter.  However, rather than handing Maclellan over, William hanged him from the battlements in front of his shocked uncle.  Sir Patrick then fled for his life.

 

 

Threave Castle

 

 

Threave Castle – East front and entrance gateway

 

King James on hearing of Maclellan’s murder and of William’s plotting decided that rather than go to all-out war with him, he would invite William to Stirling Castle under a promise of safe conduct and would try and reason with him. Surprisingly, William turned up.  Less surprisingly, things did not go well.  The King, after growing tired of trying to reason with William lost his temper and stabbed him in the neck.  His courtiers then joined in and hacked William to death, before throwing his bloodied and broken body out of a nearby window.  After this, things did not go well for the Black Douglases.  They lost much of their land and most of their power.  In 1455, after a siege, Threave Castle was surrendered to the King.

 

 

South side of the tower and the artillery house

 

 

South side of the tower

 

 

South side of the tower and artillery house

 

 

Atop the tower

 

 

Looking up the castle tower

 

The castle remained under the ownership of the Crown until 1526 when it was handed over to the Maxwell family.  It then enjoyed a relatively peaceful time until 1640.  The Maxwells were keen supporters of Charles I, and this led to the castle being besieged by the Covenanters.  The siege lasted for 13 weeks before the castle defenders agreed to surrender and were allowed to ‘march out with, bag and baggage and all the honours of war.’  The Covenanters then briefly occupied the castle before it was decided that it should be made uninhabitable.  The roof was removed, along with the ‘the lofting, doors, and windows’ and ‘the ironwork’.  Despite this, the castle was used again briefly in around 1810, this time to house French prisoners captured during the Napoleonic Wars.  In 1913 the castle was entrusted into state care.

 

 

View over River Dee from Threave Island

 

 

View from Threave Island

 

After having a good wander around the castle and the island, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my visit in a hole in the ruins of the artillery house that stands at the side of the castle tower.

 

 

Skulferatu #145

 

 

The Artillery House

 

 

Skulferatu #145 in a hole in the wall

 

 

Skulferatu #145 in a hole in the wall

 

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #145

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are -

 

Latitude 54.9394

Longitude -3.969712

 

what3words: quality.prank.mash

 

I used the following sources for information on Threave Castle –

 

The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Century, Volume One

David MacGibbon and Thomas Ross

1887

 

Castles and Keeps of Scotland

Frank Roy Fraprie

1907

 

Traditions and Stories of Scottish Castles

A.H. Millar

1927

 

Historic Environment Scotland – Threave Castle

 

Canmore – Threave Castle

 

 

Skulferatu #133 - Lincluden Collegiate Church, Lincluden, Dumfries

On a recent trip down to Dumfries, I ventured away from the main thoroughfares and into a large housing estate where I cut through to a peaceful bit of land sitting just outside it.  On this bit of land, that sits on a curve where the River Nith and the waters of the Cluden meet, are the ruins of an ancient abbey and church by the name of Lincluden. Once a hive of religious activity, and a bit of scandal, the ruins are now mainly a hangout for bored kids, where in the evening and away from disapproving eyes, they go to drink cheap booze and smoke and vape.  During the day however, the ruins also attract the occasional tourist like me.

 

Lincluden Collegiate Church

 

College Tower

 

The history of Lincluden Abbey goes way, way back to 1164 when it was founded by Uchtred, Lord of Galloway.  It was originally a Benedictine nunnery and though small, it was endowed with various gifts from Uchtred such as farmsteads and land from which it could benefit and derive wealth.     It was probably just as well that Uchtred had given them land rather than cash, as his life ended suddenly and brutally. From 1161 to 1174 he had ruled Galloway along with his half-brother, Gilbert.  In 1174 both Uchtred and Gilbert took part, along with William I of Scotland, in an invasion of Northumberland.  This ended in disaster and King William was captured.  The brothers, seeing a way to be free of William, seized his properties in Galloway and then petitioned King Henry I of England to ‘take them from the authority of the King of Scots, and govern them himself.’  Before this could happen, the brothers fell out and things between them got quite heated.  So much so, that Gilbert and his son Malcolm, seized Uchtred at his home, tortured him horribly and then killed him.  King Henry, on hearing of Uchtred’s murder decided that Gilbert was not a man to be trusted and refused the request to remove Galloway from King William.  Gilbert then had to apologise to both kings, promise not to get up to any mischief again, and pay out a wodge of cash to make amends for killing his brother.

 

College Tower at Lincluden

 

Inside the College Tower

 

Inside the College Tower

 

In the late 14^th Century, the abbey and its lands became part of the fiefdom of another Lord of Galloway, Archibald Douglas.  He was known as Archibald the Grim, a nickname given to him because of his sinister looks and evil deeds.  As you may guess, his arrival did not bode well for the nuns at Lincluden.  Archibald decided he didn’t want a nunnery there, he wanted monks praying for his soul, proper blokes, not woosie women.  So, he started some rumours that the nuns were all a bit naughty.  He spread round lies that they weren’t virgins and rather than praying they were bonking their brains out with any man who would have them, the abbey was no longer a house of God, but rather a nursery full of the nuns’ illegitimate children.  Turning the local populace against the nuns, he then had them expelled, rebuilt the abbey and also had a large church built there.  Amongst the clergymen who resided there, Archibald paid for twenty-four bedesmen, men whose soul purpose was to pray for Archibald’s soul.

 

When Archibald died, his son, also called Archibald, took over his lands.   He married Princess Margaret, the daughter of King Robert III of Scotland, and the pair spent a great deal of money on the church at Lincluden.  They had various heraldic symbols relating to their families carved into the stone there, some of which can be seen around the buildings today.  In 1424, Archibald left for France with a large force of troops to assist Charles VII of France in his war against England.  There the King made him Marshal of France and Duke of Touraine. Unfortunately for Archibald, despite being given these grand titles, he was killed a few months later during the Battle of Verneuil when the Franco-Scottish force was heavily defeated by the English army. 

 

After Archibald’s death, Margaret bestowed even more wealth on the church at Lincluden and had carvings of the heraldic symbols showing Archibald’s French titles added.  On her death, Margaret was buried in the church, her tomb still a prominent feature there.

 

Tomb of Princess Margaret

 

Doorway to the Sacristy

 

The Sacristy

 

A view to the heavens above

 

Looking up

 

Windows in the wall of the Nave

 

Window in the wall of the Nave

 

Lincluden stayed with the Douglas family and survived the Reformation.  In 1585 the last Mass was held there, this being organised by a Catholic nobleman, John Maxwell, the Earl of Morton.  This did not go down well with Protestant authorities who had him summoned before the Privy Council and imprisoned for several months.  On his release Maxwell promptly travelled off to Spain to help plot the Spanish Armada.

 

The Abbey passed through various owners, and at one time part of it was converted into a house.  It was eventually abandoned in the early 1700s and quickly fell into disrepair.

 

View of the abbey from the motte and gardens

 

View of the abbey from the motte and gardens

 

In 1775 Lincluden was visited by the traveller and writer Thomas Pennant.  He described the buildings as looking desolate with much of the roofs gone.  Inside the church he found that the figure on Princess Margaret’s tomb had been mutilated and wrote that – ‘the bones of the deceased had been scattered about the floor of the choir by some wretches who broke open the repository in search of treasure.’

 

Lincluden Abbey and College by William McDowall - 1886

 

Princess Margaret's Tomb by William McDowall - 1886

 

The ruins were later cleaned up and a caretaker installed to look after them.  Then in 1922 they were taken into state care and are now looked after by Historic Environment Scotland.

 

After wandering around the ruins in the afternoon sunshine, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on a mossy stone in one of the old, vaulted chapels.

 

Skulferatu #133

 

One of the old, vaulted chapels

 

Skulferatu #133 on a mossy stone in one of the old, vaulted chapels

 

Skulferatu #133 on a mossy stone in one of the old, vaulted chapels

 

Map showing the location of Skulferatu #133

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are -

 

Latitude 55.084991

Longitude -3.620781

 

what3words: analogy.sprouted.wolf

 

I used the following sources for information on Lincluden Collegiate Church –

 

Chronicles of Lincluden

William McDowall

1886

 

Scotland's Ruined Abbeys

Howard Crosby Butler

1900

 

The Scots Peerage

David Douglas

1907

 

National Art Survey Of Scotland

Examples of Scottish Architecture from the 12^th to the 17^th Century

Volume II

Thomas Ross & Robert Lorimer

1923

 

Historic Environment Scotland - Lincluden Collegiate Church