Tantallon Castle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tantallon Castle is located 3 miles south-east of North Berwick in Scotland. It sits atop a cliff face opposite The Bass, looking out onto the Firth of Forth. Now a ruin, it is in the care of Historic Scotland.
Contents |
[edit] Construction
Tantallon is of a singular construction within Scotland. A Castle of Enceinte, with its massive Curtain wall blocking off access to the promontory on which it is built. The castle is built of the local red sandstone, and has a tower at either end of the Curtain wall and possesses another heavily fortified Barbican in the middle. The Northwest Douglas Tower is rounded and contains a pit prison and also vaulted garderobes above. The East Tower is of a 'D' plan construction, the flat face of which faces into the castle's enclosure. The central Barbican contained The Earl's private chambers over the gatehouse. There are two corner Bartizans facing in toward the courtyard, where there is a turnpike staircase by which the head of the wall can be reached. The walk beneath impressive crenels connects the Douglas Tower with the Barbican and the East tower. Within the courtyard there is the the remains of what was the Great Hall of the Castle, with a Bakehouse below. and to the Northwest athe ruins of what was the gatehouse giving access to the sea through a cleft in the cliffs below. Outside the main part of the castle there were two ditches which formed the Bailey of the castle with a Ravelin which faced the only approach to the castle. Within this fortification, there is the Outer-gate, complete with gun-loops.
[edit] History under the Douglases
The history of the castle dates back to 1358. Twelve years prior, William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, chief of the Clan Douglas had returned from France to Scotland to claim his inheritance after the Battle of Neville's Cross. By murdering his godfather, William Douglas, The Knight of Liddesdale, in the Ettrick Forest, William became the undisputed head of the House of Douglas; he was made the 1st Earl of Douglas in 1358.
The building of Tantallon Castle during this time was probably the result of his newly acquired wealth and status. In 1377 the earl made his close friend Alan de Lawedre of The Bass, etc., Keeper of Tantallon Castle. Alan de Lawedre witnessed a charter by the Earl, of Kimmerghame, Berwickshire, to Sir John St.Clair, Lord of Herdmanston, dated and signed on January 2, 1378 at Tantallon castle. A further charter by Margaret, Countess of Mar & Angus, daughter and heir of the late Thomas Stewart, 3rd Earl of Angus, was signed at Tantallon Castle on August 12, 1381. The signatories were: Sir James Douglas, Lord of Liddesdale, son and heir of the Earl of Douglas, knight, Alan de Lawedre, and John & James St.Clair, the granter's brothers(-in-law). "Alano de Lawedyr, for his good service" was granted certain specified Douglas lands, with their liberties and pertinents, in the burgh of North Berwick, sometime between 1381 and 1388 by Lord James Douglas (refer the North Berwick Chartulary). Sir William Fraser says that Alan de Lawedre was still Constable of Tantallon Castle in 1389.
William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, died in May 1384. His heir James did not long survive him, dying in 1388 at the Battle of Otterburn.
In 1389 Margaret, Countess of Angus, resigned her Earldom in favour of her son, George. George Douglas thus became the first Douglas Earl of Angus and Mar, and lord of Tantallon Castle. This contributed to the division in the House of Douglas. Archibald "the Grim", illegitimate son of Good Sir James Douglas, became head of the main line, known as the ‘Black Douglases’. The Douglases of Angus being known as the ‘Red Douglases’.
[edit] Capture and fortification
In 1491 Tantallon Castle was besieged by King James IV, but did not suffer much damage. It was besieged again in 1528, and this time passed into the hands of James V. To repair the siege's devastation, a new Fore Tower was built up to the battlements. The East Tower was also altered; it had originally consisting of five floors, but the bottom three were reduced to two by inserting stone vaults, which improved resistance to artillery. Defenses were further improved by wide-mouthed gunholes punched through the landward walls of the tower. Crenellated parapets were added to the main curtain wall.
On March 17, 1565/6, Sir Robert Lauder of Popill, Knt., (d. 1575), was appointed Captain of Tantallon Castle, the Keeper then being the Earl of Atholl. This appointment followed the surrender of Sir William Douglas of Lochleven who was one of those charged wih the murder of David Rizzio. Lauder later had a remission, with other members of his family, for fighting on the side of Mary, Queen of Scots at the Battle of Langside in 1568, and was succeeded by Gavin Hume of Shiells, a younger son of Alexander Hume of Polwarth, Berwickshire (d. 1532 - whose third wife was Margaret Lauder, Dowager Lady Waughton). The Yester Writs (no.798) record an Andrew Hume as Captain of Tantallon Castle in 1577.
[edit] Civil War Destruction
When Oliver Cromwell's forces invaded Scotland, Tantallon Castle was alleged to be occupied by 'a small group of bandits', who set about attacking Cromwell's lines of communication across south east Scotland and were said to be more effective than all the regular troops opposing Cromwell across Scotland combined. By February 1651 Tantallon Castle was in the care of Alexander Seton, 1st Viscount of Kingston with fewer than 100 men at his disposal. Sorties from the castle continued. When Cromwell discovered this, he retaliated swiftly. He took a force of 3,000 men, including much of the artillery he had in Scotland, to Tantallon and laid siege to it.(Seton was enobled on the 14th February, during the siege). Following twelve days and a "battering with grate canon" the defenders were compelled to surrender, but only after quarter had been granted to them in recognition of their bravery.
After the siege Tantallon was left in ruins.
[edit] References
- The Buildings of Scotland:Lothian, except Edinburgh, Colin McWilliam. Penguin 1978
- The Douglas Book, by Sir William Fraser, vol.3, p.398, Edinburgh, 1885.
- Historic Manuscripts Commission - MSS of Colonel David Milne-Home of Wedderburn Castle, London, 1902, p.257.
- Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol.XI, 1559 - 1566, Edinburgh 1916, p: lxxi.
- The Parliaments of Scotland - Burgh & Shire Commissioners, edited by Margaret D. Young, M.A., vol.2, Edinburgh, 1993, p.407.
