Aiket Castle

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Aiket Castle with outbuildings

Aiket Castle is a castle in the Scottish county of East Ayrshire . The name is derived from "Oak Wood" (German "oak wood").

history

Aiket House in the 19th century

Aiket Castle was a four-story tower block with a square floor plan, as was customary as the residence of smaller barons. The building, originally ditched, was built by the Cunningham clan soon after purchasing the site in 1479. After the murder of the 4th Earl of Eglinton , the tower was destroyed, but then rebuilt in 1592 and an annex was added. 1734 the castle was sold and the new owners they left in a semi-classical country house in Georgian style rebuilt, with the top floor was removed. At the beginning of the 19th century the property belonged to the Dunlops and eventually the house was used as accommodation for farm workers. In 1957 the building was damaged by fire and then restored by the current owners to the condition it was in before 1734. The restoration was awarded the Diploma of Merit by Europa Nostra in 1987 .

The Lairds

The Cunninghams of Aiket descended from the Cunninghams of Bedlands , a branch line of the Cunninghams of Glencairn . Alexander Cunningham is documented as the first resident of Aiket; he received the land in 1479 through a charter of the crown. Elizabeth Cunningham had previously loaned lands to the Lord Hay of Yester without permission from the Crown .

Robert Cunningham appears to have been a disgusting personality who killed Sir John Mure of Caldwell . His own wife, Helen , née Colquhoun from Luss , apparently tried to poison him. She was therefore sent to the Court of Session in Edinburgh to face the indictment, but apparently never got there.

The murder of the 4th Earl of Eglinton

Robert Cunningham was also implicated in the murder of Hugh Montgomerie, 4th Earl of Eglinton in 1586; a daughter of the Cunninghames from Aiket was the wife of the Lairds of Lainshaw and played a central role in the murder. The Aiket Cunninghams lost all of their lands and Robert Cunninghame was shot in revenge on or near his own doorstep later that year. Three daughters from Aiket were married to protagonists in the murder of Hugh Montgomerie, two to Cunninghams and one - Lady Margaret - to a Montgomerie. In 1564 the "Cunninghame of Aicket" were named "Larde of Halkhede".

Robert Cunningham's wife complained bitterly when the property was finally returned in a ruinous condition in 1592:

“(...) the destruction of the policy of Aiket's property, houses, gardens, orchards and planted trees, so that they are ruined and unusable, with the exception of doors, windows, locks, roofs, or that they need repairs have, and the obligations stipulate, rigorously carried out, to the great detriment of the poor tenants, what are not dependent (...), as it was blackmailed from them. "

She seems to have had the castle rebuilt in the style of the late 16th century, with a kitchen wing with two floors being added to the west.

In 1566 the last Roman Catholic Vicar of Dunlop, John Houston , granted the lands of Dunlop Church to William Cunningham of Aiket Castle with the permission of Gavin Hamilton , Commander of Kilwinning Abbey . He kept 0.4 hectares of land at the rectory for his own use and that of his successors.

James Cunningham was closely involved in the Darién project and accompanied the first expedition. When he returned from there, he showed himself to be a militant opponent of the Association of Parliaments of 1707. He lost so much money on various financial ventures that he was forced to sell his lands.

In the 18th century the Dunlops had the castle modernized by removing the tower and adjusting the windows. A terrible fire in 1957 left only two vaults and three walls of the castle, but Robert and Katrina Clow had the building restored in the mid-1970s.

It is a tradition, that of his Aiket the Cunninghams a Gemmill in Temple House hung, for which he used the rafters of the victim's own house.

The haunted knight of Hessilhead and the bride of Aiket

Hessilhead Castle 1876
Main entrance to Aiket Castle

Anna Cunningham from Aiket Castle was promised her true love, Henry Montgomerie from Hessilhead Castle . They were supposed to get married as soon as he returned from the Crusades , but Allan Lockhart , the son of the neighboring baron, increasingly began to visit the residents of Aiket Castle. His amorous efforts were in vain until Henry Montgomerie was called to participate in the crusade. After many more months had passed, Allan Lockhart decided to use a ruse: he won over a foot soldier who had recently returned from a crusade to tell a phony story of the death of Henry Montgomery. The ruse was successful and after a short time Allan Lockhart stepped up his efforts to get Anna again and a date was set for the marriage. It was just that day that Henry Montgomerie returned to Hessilhead Castle and discovered the fraud; but on the way to his bride he fell from his horse and died within a few minutes.

At midnight, however, the wedding celebration came to an abrupt end when the figure of Henry Montgomerie in full armor strode into the great hall of Aiket Castle, picked up Lady Anna and disappeared with her into the night. Neither the knight nor the bride were ever seen again. A Lockhart, Loccard or Lockhard family are said to have been the first owners of the Kilmarnock Barony .

"For there, by Glazert's lonely stream,
A lovely maiden swore
to be my bride, when I returned
Again to Scotia's shore. "

Anna Inglis and William Cunningham

Historiography provides some facts related to the legend of the "ghostly bride". A Montgomerie from Hessilhead Castle was promised to Anna Inglis , daughter of Thomas and Marion from Corsflat in Paisley . Anna's mother, Marion, b. Peibles , was related to the Montgomeries. Tomas Inglis died and Marion then married an Allan Lockhart (* 1593), son of Allan Lockhart from Cleghorn near Lanark . Allan Lockhart forced his stepdaughter, who was not yet 12 years old , to marry William Cunningham of Aiket Castle, his cousin.

William Cunninghame received a dowry of 40,000 marks on his marriage , but beat his young wife and starved her while he was spending his time with whores in Paisley . His wife asked for a divorce and was successful in 1641, but William († 1645) left her 10,000 marks in debt. Anna had a son, James Cunningham , who became a Paisley council worker in 1668.

Gardens

The castle gardens have been carefully laid out; Recycled stones form the steps, the old quarry was landscaped and many ornamental trees and bushes were planted there.

In 2011 the castle went up for sale for £ 1.1 million.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Thorbjørn Campbell: Ayrshire - A Historical Guide . Birlinn, Edinburgh 2003. ISBN 1-84158-267-0 . P. 115.
  2. ^ Martin Coventry: Castles of the Clans . Goblinshead, Musselburgh 2010. ISBN 1-899874-36-4 . P. 134.
  3. ↑ James D. Dobie, JS Dobie (editors): Cunninghame, Topographized by Timothy Pont, 1604-1608 . With comments and illustrative notes. John Tweed, Glasgow 1876.
  4. ^ A b c Robert Clow (editor): Restoring Scotland's Castles . John Smith & Son, Glasgow 2000. ISBN 0-900673-26-5 . P. 90.
  5. ^ John F. Bayne: Dunlop Parish - A History of Church, Parish, and Nobility . T. & A. Constable, 1935. pp. 10-16.
  6. ↑ James Rollie: The Invasion of Ayrshire. A Background to the County Families . Famedram, 1980. p. 83.
  7. ^ John F. Bayne: Dunlop Parish - A History of Church, Parish, and Nobility . T. & A. Constable, 1935. p. 50.
  8. ^ John F. Bayne: Dunlop Parish - A History of Church, Parish, and Nobility . T. & A. Constable, 1935. p. 47.
  9. ^ Dugald Campbell (editor): Dunlop Ancient & Modern. An exhibition . March 1998. p. 17.
  10. ↑ Michael C. Davis: The Castles & Mansions of Ayrshire . Spendrift Press, Ardrishaig 1991. p. 387.
  11. ^ William Robertson: Historical Tales and Legends of Ayrshire . Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1889. pp. 340-357.
  12. ^ John MacIntosh: Ayrshire Nights Entertainments: A Descriptive Guide to the History, Traditions, Antiquities, etc. of the County of Ayr . Kilmarnock 1894. p. 301.
  13. ^ A b Rev. Charles Rogers: Scottish Monuments and Tombstones . Volume 1, facsimile. Heritage Books, Westminster 2008. ISBN 978-0-7884-0684-3 . P. 425.

Web links

Commons : Aiket Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 55 ° 42 ′ 20 ″  N , 4 ° 34 ′ 2 ″  W.