Skulferatu #139 - Macduff's Castle, East Wemyss, Kirkcaldy, Fife

 

After taking a trip to the Wemyss Caves, I made my way around and up to the hill above them. On top of this hill, there sits a ruinous and crumbling tower, this is all that remains of Macduff’s Castle.  This Castle has traditionally been associated with the Eleventh Century Thane of Fife, Macduff, and was the setting of a very famous fictional murder.  It was here that Shakespeare had the evil assassins, sent by Macbeth, brutally murder Macduff’s wife and children. Of course, Shakespeare made all of this up and none of it actually happened, and though it was believed the Thane of Fife had a fortification somewhere around the area, it is not known where.  

 

A model of how Macduff’s Castle may have looked

 

Sketch of the ruins of Macduff’s Castle circa 1892

 

The earliest part of the castle that stands here now was built in the Fourteenth Century by the Wemyss family, who were descendants of the Macduff’s.  Later buildings were added in the fifteenth and Sixteenth centuries and the castle ended up consisting of two towers connected by a gatehouse sitting between them.  As with many castles, Macduff’s castle was owned over time by several families who added some buildings and modified others. Then in 1630 it was bought back by the Wemyss family.  The last records of it being in use was in 1666 when Lady Jean Wemyss, Countess of Sutherland, sent her children to live there as she was worried that the plague ravaging parts of England would reach Edinburgh.  It didn’t.  At some point after this the castle was abandoned and fell into decay and ruin.  Up until 1967, two of the castle’s towers still stood, but then fearing for the safety of children playing around the ruins, Fife Council had the eastern tower demolished.  Then, in the 1970s a Dovecote that had stood on the shore down from the castle was destroyed by the sea. What remains of the castle is crumbling and cracked with much hidden in deep undergrowth.  It is however now a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

 

The ruins of Macduff’s Castle

 

The ruins of Macduff’s Castle

 

Macduff’s Castle, like all good castles, has tales of a ghost wandering its empty ruins.  Known locally as the Grey Lady, she is said to be the ghost of Mary Sibbald.  The story goes that she was a servant girl at the castle who was accused of theft.  At her trial she vehemently denied the charges, but was found guilty and sentenced to be publicly flogged.  The executioner who carried out the flogging was a cruel man, and so severely did he strike her that she died a few days later of her injuries.  Ever since, she has wandered the castle and its grounds silently protesting her innocence to anyone who may see her.

 

* * *

 

Ignoring the danger to life signs, I pushed myself through bushes and undergrowth and made my way around the castle. 

 

Ruins of Macduff’s Castle

 

Macduff’s Castle rising up from the undergrowth

 

Tower at MacDuff’s Castle

 

View from Macduff’s Castle

 

At the back there was an entrance of crumbling stone into what I assume was a cellar.  Inside it was damp and dank with a floor littered with cans, bottles and a condom or two.  Lovely.  Leaving the cellar and cutting around, I made my way to the main part of the remaining tower and clambered up onto the crumbling stage like floor. 

 

The crumbling ruins of the castle

 

The tower stairwell

 

A fireplace, maybe?

 

Weather worn stones of the castle

 

Inside Macduff’s Castle

 

The place was a perfect setting for a performance of Macbeth, and I could almost imagine the arrival of the assassins –

 

Lady Macduff: (On being told by a messenger she should flee the castle)

Whither should I fly?

I have done no harm. But I remember now

I am in this earthly world, where to do harmed

Is often laudable, to do good sometime

Accounted dangerous folly. Why then, alas,

Do I put up that womanly defence

To say I have done no harm?

 

(Enter Murderers)

 

Lady Macduff:

What are these faces?

 

Murderer: 

Where is your husband?

 

Lady Macduff:

I hope in no place so unsanctified

Where such as thou mayst find him.

 

Murderer:

He’s a traitor.

 

Macduff’s Son:

Thou liest, thou shag-eared villain!

 

Murderer:

What, you egg?

(Stabbing him) Young fry of treachery!

 

Macduff’s Son:

He has killed

me, mother.

Run away, I pray you.  (Dies)

 

(Exit Lady Macduff crying - Murder!)

 

* * *

 

Before leaving the castle, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me in a hole in the wall of the tower.

 

Skulferatu #139

 

Skulferatu #139 in a hole in the wall of the castle tower

 

Skulferatu #139 in a hole in the wall of the castle tower

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #139

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are -

 

Latitude 56.162476

Longitude -3.058048

 

what3words: chuck.steep.womb

 

I used the following sources for information on MacDuff’s Castle –

 

The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Century, Volume 4

by David MacGibbon and Thomas Ross

1892

 

The Complete Works of Shakespeare

The Alexander Text

1951

 

Leven Mail - Wednesday 19 July 1967

 

East Wemyss, Macduff's Castle | Canmore

 

 

Skulferatu #126 - Coastal Turret, Ravenscraig Park, Kirkcaldy

 

It was one of those days made for walking, cool and sunny with no wind.  So, I jumped on a train and headed over to Kirkcaldy, a town in Fife.  I have always meant to do a bit of exploring around Kirkcaldy, as I don’t think I’ve had a serious wander about there since I was in my early teens.  All I can really remember from then is going to a swimming pool somewhere near the sea front, and that there was a big ugly shopping centre, now demolished.  There was also a café, which may have been part of the swimming pool complex, that had a really good jukebox.  I have memories of drinking cups of tea to Bowie, Blondie, The Undertones, and lots of other stuff that blew my mind at that age.

 

Arriving in Kirkcaldy, I wandered down through the town, down the High Street to the seafront.  Though lively, the town seemed almost to have a bit of a split personality with trendy sushi places and cafés sitting next to run down looking betting shops, charity shops, bargain shops and derelict buildings.  The town centre is one of those places full of potential and screaming out for a bit of investment.  Maybe one day it will get some.

 

Wandering along the seafront I passed by old industrial buildings, new industrial buildings, and a few rather bland housing estates.  After cutting down by a rather ancient graveyard I ended up on the beach along from the castle at Ravenscraig, and just down from Ravenscraig Park.  There I spotted a small turret on a wall reaching out towards the sea.  It looked like it should be part of some grand Disney style castle, so intrigued I decided to go and explore. 

 

Ravenscraig Beach

 

View along to the Coastal Turret

 

The Coastal Turret

 

Bathing…at this point

A view of the Costal Turret

 

A view of the Costal Turret

 

Leaving the beach, I wandered up some stairs past an old Doocot and moseyed on to the little tower.  There was no castle, just this little turret on the curve of a sea wall.  It was nothing more than at attractive little folly to add a bit of interest to the wall.  The wall that runs around Ravenscraig Park and overlooks the Forth.  The park was originally part of the grounds of Dysart House and was gifted to the people of Kirkcaldy in 1929 by Sir Michael Nairn, an industrialist who owned several linoleum factories in the area.

 

A view of the Costal Turret and the Forth

 

Doorway into the Coastal Turret

 

View out from the Coastal Turret

 

View along the coast from the Coastal Turret

 

The Lookout Tower was built in the early 19^th Century, it serves no real purpose and was built as a folly or a gazebo.  It is however quite an aesthetically pleasing little building, especially when viewed from the beach.

 

After taking in the views, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me, in a gap in the wall by the tower.

 

Skulferatu #126

 

Skulferatu #126 in a gap in the wall by the Coastal Turret

 

Map showing the location of Skulferatu #126

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are -

 

Latitude 56.118922

Longitude -3.136093

 

what3words: decent.orange.reduce

 

I used the following sources for information on the Coastal Turret –

 

Historic Environment Scotland - Ravenscraig Park Lookout Tower

Skulferatu #123 - Lochore Castle, Glencraig, Fife

Needing somewhere new to explore, I headed off to the deepest, darkest depths of Fife, where I visited a castle so ruined that it is barely more than some tall toothy stumps of walls jutting out of the ground.  Not to disparage this castle, as I think that out of all the various castles I’ve visited in my lifetime, my favourites have all been the ones crumbling into rubble.

 

After taking a train to Lochgelly, I walked down to Lochore Meadows Country Park where, near to the entrance, Lochore Castle stands.  The park, now a tranquil place of lochside walks, trees, and bird song, was once a hive of industry with a colliery, a railway and all the heavy industry associated with coal mining.  All of that is now long gone, with only the winding tower of the mine standing as a monument to its industrial past.  

 

Lochore Castle originally stood on the intriguingly named island of Inchgall, the Island of Strangers, on Loch Ore.  While the castle still stands where it always stood, the island it stood on is an island no more, after the loch around it was drained in the 1790s.  Confusingly, the loch is now back, though not quite in the same place it used to be.  Get your head around that one.

 

Lochore Castle

 

The ruins of Lochore Castle

 

The ruins of Lochore Castle

 

The ruined walls of Lochore Castle

 

On arriving at the castle, I wandered around and through what remained of it.   The whole middle section of the main tower has now gone, leaving only some of the thick outer walls.  Sitting on the top of these were the brittle and dead remains of plants from last summer.  Once green and bright with flowers reaching up to the warmth of the sun, they were now brown stems and seed husks that swayed lifelessly in the gentle afternoon breeze. As I walked out and round the outer walls my feet crunched through the strimmed remains of dead bramble bushes, and I had to shield my eyes from the low, bright, and blinding winter sun.  Jutting out from one of the walls was a tree stump.  In the dead wood and twisted knots, I found what looked to me like a surprised face peering from the distant past out onto our ‘modern’ world.  I waved hello and walked on by. 

 

Inside the castle ruins

 

A crumbling stump of the castle walls

 

The ruins of Lochore Castle

 

A tree stump in the walls of the castle

 

A face in the tree stump

 

It is believed that there was a castle on this site from around the Twelfth Century, this having probably been built for Robert the Burgundian.  He appears to have been a French knight who was granted the lands around Loch Ore, and an excavation at the castle in 2015 found pieces of Medieval French pottery.  Robert’s family then appear to have taken on the Lochore name and in 1291 the castle and lands around were owned by Constantine de Lochore.  Constantine was the Sheriff of Fife, and a man of changing loyalties.  He originally swore allegiance to the English king, Edward I, but then changed his mind and joined William Wallace to fight in the war for Scottish Independence.  After being captured and held prisoner for a time, he again swore allegiance to Edward and was allowed to return back to Fife.

 

The ruins of Lochore Castle

 

In the Fifteenth Century the castle passed into the hands of the Wardlaws of Torry, and much of it was rebuilt for Robert Wardlaw.  The castle was described at that time as being a ‘strong square tower, with many lower buildings, surrounded by a wall, with round towers’ and that it was ‘washed by the waters of the Loch, which abound with pike and perch.’ It was also said to be one of the strongest castles in Fife.

 

Loch Orr Castle – illustration from The Antiquities of Scotland

 

 

Loch Ore Castle - illustration from The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland

 

At some point in the Eighteenth Century the castle was abandoned, and it fell into ruin.  In 1938 there were calls for the remains to be demolished, as they were seen by some to be dangerous due to subsidence in the area caused by mining.  The local council found that they did not have the powers to order the demolition, and luckily the owner of the land was unwilling to do so.  The castle ruins are now seen as being of special interest, given that it was probably one of the earliest castles built in Fife.

 

After my wander around the ruins, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me in a gap in the crumbling cement of the walls.

 

Skulferatu #123

 

Skulferatu #123 in in a gap in the crumbling cement

 

Skulferatu #123 in in a gap in the crumbling cement

 

Map showing the location of Skulferatu #123

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are -

 

Latitude 56.148461

Longitude -3.329002

what3words: hammocks.unroll.winters

 

I used the following sources for information on Lochore Castle –

 

The Antiquities of Scotland, Vol 2

by Francis Grose

1797

 

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

By David MacGibbon and Thomas Ross

1889

 

Dundee Courier - Saturday 29 September 1906

 

Dundee Evening Telegraph - Thursday 15 December 1938

 

Canmore - Lochore Castle

 

Fife Coast & Countryside Trust - The Story of Fife Pilgrim Kingdom

Skulferatu #96 - Tickleness Point, Burntisland, Fife

Sometimes I go and have a wander around a place just because I’ve seen it named on a map and have liked the name.    And that was the main reason I decided to go for a walk around this bit of the Burntisland coastline, I mean how could I resist a name like ‘Tickleness Point’?  Why it bares that name I have no idea, but it brought back childhood memories of the Mr Men books and Mr Tickle.  Hmmm, do you think in this day and age that particular Mr Man would be written into existence, what with his proclivity for the inappropriate touching, or tickling, of random people?  Probably not.

 

Only a short walk from the railway station, Tickleness Point is part of the Lammerlaws, on a peninsular that sticks out from the coast at Burntisland. 

 

I made my way along a path that curved up and around the hill at Tickleness Point.  Nearing the top, the earth was exposed and crumbling under the charred branches of burnt gorse.  Blackened branches that looked like they had been clawing their way out of the ground in a futile attempt to escape the flames. 

 

View up Tickleness Point

 

Burnt gorse

 

Burnt gorse and rabbit burrow

 

At the top of the hill were some ditches and mounds which are all that remains of a fort which once stood there.  The fort was believed to have been built by Oliver Cromwell’s men in the early 1650s, during the Third Civil War.  And, given the view over the Forth I could see why they would have built a fort there.

 

View over the Forth to Edinburgh from Tickleness Point

 

The military history of Tickleness Point did not end with Cromwell, as during World War II it was in use again, and a concrete pill box from that time still stands above some steep rocks overlooking the sea.

 

Pill box on the rocks overlooking the sea

 

Near to where Cromwell’s fort stood are the remains of some lime kilns.  Lime kilns were used in the production of quicklime (Calcium Oxide), a product which had, and still has many uses.  It is used in the manufacture of cement and mortar, as a fertilizer, and was once used to mask the stench of rotting corpses.  Something that would have been quite important in the overcrowded graveyards of old.

 

Lime kilns at Tickleness Point

 

Lime kilns and rainbow

 

Lime kilns at Tickleness Point

 

Nothing much is known of the history of the lime kilns, but they do make a nice landmark.

 

I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk around Tickleness Point in a gap in the crumbling cement of the lime kilns.

 

Skulferatu #96

 

Skulferatu #96 in a gap in the crumbling cement

 

Skulferatu #96 in a gap in the crumbling cement

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #96

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 56.057339

Longitude -3.223469

 

what3words: spray.distracts.fats

 

I used the following sources for information on Tickleness Point –

 

Canmore – Tickleness Point

Canmore - Tickleness Point, Burntisland

 

 

The History of Burntisland

by Andrew Young

1913

 

For anyone unfamiliar with Mr Tickle, a narrated cartoon of the book is available on –

https://youtu.be/gPC3MmdTb-E