Borve Castle (Sutherland)

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Borve Castle is a ruined castle in Kirtomy Bay near the settlement of Farr in the Scottish county of Sutherland (today: Highland administrative unit ). It is also called Farr Castle .

history

The castle, believed to have originally been built for a Viking named Torquil , was a fortress owned by Clan Mackay , who used it as a base for raids on their neighbors, Clan Sutherland . The Mackays did not appear before Marie de Guise , mother of Maria Stuart , as they were told. Therefore, John Gordon, 11th Earl of Sutherland , clan chief of the Sutherlands, was ordered to demolish the castle. Marie de Guise rented a private ship, the Lion , to attack the castle in August 1554 . Sir Hew Kennedy of Girvamains , the earl's stepfather (or stepbrother), sent 50 soldiers and the royal rifleman Hans Cochrane on board with a cannon. It is also said that a cannon was pulled up all the way from Edinburgh . Rory Mor Mackay , the castle's captain, was apparently shocked to see that the enemy was armed with a cannon, when the castle had withstood all previous sieges. The castle was destroyed and Rory Mor Mackay was hanged. In November Kennedy returned to Edinburgh with Ive Du Mackay, 12th of Strathnaver . This was imprisoned first in Dumbarton Castle and then in Edinburgh Castle .

After the destruction of Borve Castle, John Mor Mackay rallied a force of Clan Mackay and went into a battle with Clan Sutherland, which became known as the Battle of Garbbarry . The Mackays were defeated; this was the final battle between the two clans.

Historical documents

The historian Sir Robert Gordon (1580–1656), a younger son of Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland , wrote about the siege of Borve Castle in his book A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland :

The Queen commissioned John Gordon, Earl of Sutherland, to take action against Ive MacKay and his country. The Earl of Sutherland raised a tremendous force with the help of Huntly and with the order of the regent and fell as the first Earl of Sutherland to venture into the land of the MacKays. So Earl John gathered all his troops, invaded Strathnaver, looted and destroyed before him in hostile fashion, and occupied all dubious places, so that - as Hollinshed said - there was no more hole for them to escape from. But when Earl John realized that Ive MacKay was not staying and fighting him, he besieged the strong castle and fortress called Borwe, the most important fortress in this country, not even two miles from Far. After a brief siege, he took it by force and hanged Rory MacKean-Voir, the castle's captain.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Peter Mazell: Borve Castle. ambalie.org, accessed March 16, 2017 .
  2. ^ A b Martin Coventry: Castles of the Clans. Goblinshead, 2008, ISBN 978-1-899874-36-1 . Chapter: The Strongholds and Seats of 750 Scottish Families and Clans. Pp. 376-377.
  3. ^ Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland . Volume 10, 1913, pp. 233-234.
  4. ^ Gordon Wilson: Caithness Field Club Bulletin - Borve Castle. Caithness.org, accessed March 16, 2017 .
  5. ^ Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland . Volume 10, Part I-IV, 1913, pp. 294-295, 314.
  6. ^ Conflicts of the Clans . Foulis Press, 1764. based on a manuscript from the time of King Jacob VI.
  7. ^ Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet (1580-1656): Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland. Pp. 134-135.

swell

Web links

Coordinates: 58 ° 32'45.7 "  N , 4 ° 11'35.7"  W.