Skulferatu #106 - Innerwick Castle, Dunbar, East Lothian

The ruins of Innerwick Castle sit on a sandstone outcrop, above a steep, rocky ravine that drops down through Thornton Glen, to the shallow waters of Thornton burn.  On the other side of the glen once stood Thornton Castle, of which nothing now remains. Whether there was some strategic importance to the castles being so close together I don’t know, though they were near to the Great North Road that ran from London to Edinburgh, so maybe they were some sort of strongholds against the English army, that occasionally marched up that way to carry out an invasion or get up to some mischief making. 

 

Built in the 14^th Century, Innerwick Castle was once the stronghold of the Hamilton family, and the history of the castle, like that of many castles, is bloody and violent.  It fell into the hands of the English after their success at the battle of Homildon Hill in 1402.  Then, in 1406, it was besieged by the army of the Scottish nobleman, Robert Stewart, and was recaptured and destroyed.  A few years later it was rebuilt and appears to have enjoyed a period of prosperity when it was extended several times.

 

View of the ruins of Innerwick Castle

 

View of the ruins of Innerwick Castle

 

View of the ruins of Innerwick Castle

 

View of the ruins of Innerwick Castle

 

Sketch of Innerwick Castle from ‘The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland’

 

This period of peace and prosperity ended in the mid-16^th Century when Scotland and England became involved in a series of vicious and violent confrontations, known as the ‘Rough Wooing’.  During this time the English forces carried out a series of attacks and invasions into Scotland, in an attempt to compel the Scottish Parliament to confirm the terms of the Treaty of Greenwich.  This treaty, which had been agreed by Henry VIII of England and James Hamilton, the Regent of Scotland, included a proposal that Mary, Queen of Scots, and Henry’s son Edward should wed when they were of age.  However, the Scottish Parliament had rejected the treaty, much to Henry’s displeasure.    In 1547, Henry was dead, and his young son was King, though the real power lay with his Protector, Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset.  And Seymour, being an ambitious sort, decided it was time to get the treaty sorted, so he led an army into Scotland.   

 

On the 6th of September 1547, a unit of English hakbutters (men armed with an early form of musket) besieged Innerwick Castle. The castle was defended by the Master of Hamilton and eight other men.  They barricaded the doors, blocked up the stairs and defended from the castle battlements. However, the hakbutters blasted away at them with their guns, and managed to force their way into the vaults below. There they piled up straw and wood and set the castle ablaze.  Blinded and suffocated by the smoke, those defending the castle cried out for mercy, but the hakbutters burst through the doors onto the battlements and shot dead eight of them on the spot.  The ninth, who saw what fate had befallen his comrades, jumped from the castle battlements in a desperate effort to save himself, falling 70 feet down the ravine and into the river below.  Miraculously, he survived and on seeing this, the hakbutters above in the castle, allowed him to escape.  Unfortunately for the poor man, he ran towards nearby Thornton Castle, unaware that it too was being attacked by English troops.  On being spotted by them he was ‘slain’.  Shortly after his death, Thornton Castle also fell into the hands of the English troops who blew it up with gunpowder.

 

Innerwick Castle from ‘The Antiquities of Scotland’

 

View of the ruins of Innerwick Castle

 

View of the ruins of Innerwick Castle

 

View of the ruins of Innerwick Castle

 

View of the ruins of Innerwick Castle

Vaults at Innerwick Castle

 

Vaults at Innerwick Castle

 

Tree over entrance into the vaults

 

Vaults at Innerwick Castle

 

Hole in the wall

Stones in the wall

 

Graffiti on the vault walls

 

Vaults at Innerwick Castle

 

Though much of Innerwick Castle was badly damaged by the attack in 1547, parts of it must have been habitable, as in the 1650s the Covenanters used it as one of their bases from which they harassed and attacked Oliver Cromwell’s troops.  Later, in the 1820s, the castle was home to a local man called Sandy Cowe.  Living there on his own, he grew garden plants in parts of the castle and on its grounds, which he sold around the county.

 

The ruins of Innerwick Castle have been an inspiration for many artists from the amateur to the well-known.  In 1831, J.M.W. Turner was invited up to Edinburgh to meet up with Sir Walter Scott and his publisher, to discuss his illustrating of Scott’s Poetical Works.  On his way up, after a stop off at Berwick upon Tweed, he spent a couple of days in East Lothian sketching some of the ruined castles there.  One of these castles being Innerwick.  The series of sketches he drew are now held by the Tate.

 

J. M. W. Turner - Innerwick Castle, East Lothian, 1831, Photo © Tate

 

The land in which the castle sits in is now a nature reserve owned by the Scottish Wildlife Trust.  A steep, narrow, earth trodden path leads up to it, and it was up this path that I trudged on a fine, still day.  Ignoring the sign warning of the dangers of loose masonry, I made my way inside the castle and wandered through what remained of the vaults and once grand rooms.  I took in the views over Thornton Glen and then after my wanderings, left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me, in a gap in the wall of a swirling tower where a stairwell to the upper levels had once stood.

 

Skulferatu #106

Skulferatu #106 in the swirling stairwell tower

 

Skulferatu #106 in the swirling stairwell tower

 

Skulferatu #106 in a gap in the wall

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #106

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.955625

Longitude -2.425939

 

what3words: aimlessly.stealthier.superhero

 

I used the following sources for information on Innerwick Castle –

 

Canmore

Innerwick Castle

 

The Antiquities of Scotland

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

 

Tudor Tracts 1532 - 1588

Of the Expedition into Scotland by William Patten

1903

 

The Autobiography of a Working Man

1848 

by Alexander Somerville

 

Tate

Innerwick Castle, East Lothian (d25977)

 

Landscapes of Memory 

Turner as Illustrator to Scott

by Gerald Finley

1980

  

Skulferatu #105 - Shell Grotto, Newhailes, Musselburgh

 

On a stroll through the Newhailes estate, I took shelter in the woods from the ominous dark clouds gathering in the sky.  There I came across a small and rather sorry looking building, this being the remains of the Shell Grotto.  It was once a rather grand, little structure that stood as a central feature in the water gardens.  These were a series of pools that were fed by a burn that runs through the estate.  The pools are now long gone and are just a series of dips in the ground.

 

The Shell Grotto

 

In the Eighteenth Century, Shell Grottos were the must haves for fashionable, rich British landowners, and the owners of Newhailes, the Dalrymples, were rich enough and fashionable enough to have one built.  The Shell Grotto in Newhailes was one of the first built in Scotland and was probably built in the 1770s. 

 

The Shell Grotto

 

Entrance to the Shell Grotto

 

The Shell Grotto was constructed of large boulders and rubble, with the façade at the entrance being decorated with furnace slag and sponge-stone to give it a mysterious and eerie look, like the entrance to a volcanic cavern.  It was originally roofed in slate and had a floor of black marble.  The walls inside were at one time lined with wood covered in plaster, in which were embedded thousands upon thousands of seashells, precious stones and fragments of coloured glass all arranged into various patterns. 

 

The shells in the walls not only came from the local beaches, but also as far away as China.  In 1774, Jenny Dalrymple wrote to her brother William, who was in Canton, and asked him to find her shells from there for the grotto.

 

As well as being designed as a place for quiet contemplation, reading or just retreating from life for an hour or two, the Shell Grotto was also meant to be a place of mood and mystery.  Excavations there a few years ago, found that there had at one time been a chimney and a ‘stoke hole’ behind the grotto as well as flues in the walls of the building.  Rather than being constructed for heating the grotto, they appeared to have been designed to produce and emit smoke, to add a mysterious atmosphere to the building.

 

Though abandoned for many years, the interior of the Shell Grotto was intact up until the 1950s, when it was vandalised and set on fire.  Now the roof and the interior decoration are all gone.  Today, there are thousands of shells lying on the floor of the Grotto, but I don’t think any of them are the original shells from the walls, but rather are a recent addition in an attempt to put some shells back into the Shell Grotto.

 

Shells in the Shell Grotto

 

I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my stroll to the Shell Grotto, in a dimple on a rock in the entrance façade.

 

Skulferatu #105

 

Skulferatu #105 in a dimple on a rock in the entrance façade

 

Skulferatu #105 in a dimple on a rock in the entrance façade

 

Map showing the location of Skulferatu #105

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.942634

Longitude -3.081671

 

what3words: crops.impose.park

 

For an idea of what parts of the decoration inside the Grotto may have looked like when it was complete, visit the website for the Shell Grotto in Margate.

 

I used the following sources for information on the Shell Grotto –

 

 

Tourist Information sign at site

Newhailes
By Hilary Horrocks
2004

 

Canmore
Shell Grotto, Newhailes

 

Skulferatu #104 – Ladies’ Walk, Newhailes, Musselburgh

 

I discovered the delights of the estate at Newhailes a decade or so ago when I was out cycling.  Going down a narrow path I came across a slight hill on one side with a path leading up to a gate.  So, of course, I had to go through and have a wander about to see what was there.  And what was there, was a pleasant walk through some woods up the Palladian style country house, which is Newhailes House.  Built by the architect, James Smith, in 1686, the house was once the home of the Bellenden family and was then inherited by the Dalrymple family, close relatives of the Bellends, sorry cheap joke, Bellendens.  In 1997 the house was given to the National Trust.

 

Newhailes House

 

Today, on a leisurely walk through the estate, I cut along the pathway through the fields in front of the house, to the Ladies’ Walk.  The Ladies’ Walk is an elevated path that runs for about a quarter of a mile through the grounds of Newhailes.  It was designed to allow the rather delicate, aristocratic ladies who lived in, or were visiting Newhailes House, to partake in gentle exercise and conversation with each other.  The path bordered a sheep field on one side and a field of cattle on the other, so being elevated it meant the good ladies of the time wouldn’t be bothered by pesky livestock.  It also provided views over the surrounding grounds and countryside.  At one time there was a humped bridge that led to a viewing platform.  There, visitors had unimpeded views to the Forth and down to the hectic and the busy harbour in Musselburgh. 

 

Picture of how Ladies’ Walk would have looked in the 18^th Century

from the tourist Information sign at site

 

Built around the 1740s, the walk originally had a hedge on its eastern side to act as a barrier against the wind. Now, most of the walk is covered in trees, bushes, thistles and lots of prickly plants, though there are bits that are covered in wild grasses which are accessible. 

 

While out on my walk I clambered up a low stone wall and walked through the thick, damp grass on part of the pathway.  Feeling quite genteel, I took in the views and breathed in the fine summer air, just like the ladies of old would have done a couple of centuries ago.

 

The present view along Ladies’ Path

 

The present view along Ladies’ Path

 

View of Newhailes House from Ladies’ Path

 

View from Ladies’ Path

 

Making my walk to the red brick remains of where the bridge to the viewing platform had stood, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me in a gap where the cement had crumbled away.

 

Remains of the platform for the bridge

 

Remains of the platform for the bridge

 

Skulferatu #104

 

Skulferatu #104 in a gap between the bricks

 

Skulferatu #104 in a gap between the bricks

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #104

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.944467

Longitude -3.077433

 

what3words: starts.fines.civic

 

I used the following sources for information on Newhailes and Ladies’ Walk –

 

Tourist Information sign at site

 

Newhailes 

by Hilary Horrocks

2004

 

Canmore

Canmore - Ladies Walk, Newhailes

 

 

 

Skulferatu #100 - The Lost Village of Gleghornie, North Berwick, East Lothian

I know, from the photographs it looks like nothing more than a grass covered hill and some rocks, but back in the 15^th Century there was a small village nestling here.  A survey of the area in 1962 found some remnants of the village, a few traces of walls and the outlines of a building, but nothing much else. When the village was abandoned, and why, no-one knows. Maybe the inhabitants were wiped out in one of the plagues that swept through the country several hundred years ago, or maybe the village just died a natural death.  People moved out and away, the last of the old inhabitants died and the few remaining houses were abandoned to time and the elements.

 

The land where the village of Gleghornie once stood

 

The land where the village of Gleghornie once stood

 

The remains of a wall

 

Dandelion in a wall

 

The village was once home to the philosopher, theologian, historian and scholar, John Major (also known as John Mair or John Mayr), 1469 – 1550. He was born in the village and spent his childhood and early youth there.

 

Major left the village, and Scotland, during the 1490s to study at Cambridge and then Paris. He later taught at both the Sorbonne and Montaigu College. While in Paris he wrote Historia Majoris Brittaniae, a history of both England and Scotland, which unlike previous histories written about Scotland, cut out much of the myth and magic, and saw the country as being an integral part of Britain. In 1518 he returned to Scotland as Professor of Philosophy and Divinity at Glasgow University. There his pupils included both John Knox (theologian, preacher, and misogynist nutter) and Patrick Hamilton (Protestant reformer burnt at the stake in 1521 for heresy). In 1522, Major moved to the University of St. Andrews, and taught there for a while before briefly returning to Paris. He then returned once more to Scotland and St Andrews, where he was made Provost of St Salvator's College. He remained there until his death in 1550.

 

A contemporary drawing of John Major, taken from his work

In Petri Hyspani Summulas Commentaria, published in 1505

 

Now largely forgotten, much like his namesake, you know the one – the Grey Man of politics, Major was seen as an important figure during his lifetime and beyond. Some of his teachings seem quite enlightened for the time, in that after the Spanish ‘discovery’ of America, Major argued that the native peoples there had political and property rights and that at the very least they should be compensated for any land taken from them.

 

Despite having travelled and lived in some of the fabulous cities of that age, Major never forgot his roots and he styled himself as ‘Glegornesis’ in the titles of several of his works. He was also known to often reminisce about the oatcakes his mother cooked on the gridle over the ashes in the fireplace hearth, of catching lobster and crabs at North Berwick, and of how the Solent Geese nested on the Bass Rock each year.

 

Rocky area near where the village once stood

 

Tree and boundary wall

 

I walked out from North Berwick to Halflandbarns, and then down a dirt farm track to Gleghornie farm. Just past the farm I made my way down another dirt track which led me out to the open and rocky area where the village once stood. There, in a gap in the old stone wall running around the boundary of the land, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk.

 

Skulferatu #100

 

Skulferatu #100 in a gap in the boundary wall

 

Skulferatu #100 in a gap in the boundary wall

 

Map showing the location of Skulferatu #100

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 56.036317

Longitude -2.654008

 

what3words: bandstand.passwords.prowess

 

I used the following sources for information on Gleghornie and John Major –

 

Canmore - Gleghornie

Canmore - Gleghornie

 

Pre-reformation Scholars in Scotland in the XVIth Century

by William Forbes-Leith

1915

 

The Catholic Encyclopedia

Catholic Encyclopedia: John Mayor

 

 

John Major of Haddington

E. J. G. Mackay

1892