Castle of Rattray

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Castle of Rattray
Castle Hill 2008, to the left of the original castle grounds

Castle Hill 2008, to the left of the original castle grounds

Creation time : 12./13. century
Castle type : Niederungsburg
Conservation status: departed
Place: St Combs
Geographical location 57 ° 36 '36.4 "  N , 1 ° 51' 15.8"  W Coordinates: 57 ° 36 '36.4 "  N , 1 ° 51' 15.8"  W.
Height: 15  m ASLTemplate: height / unknown reference
Castle of Rattray (Scotland)
Castle of Rattray
The castle on a map of the Ordnance Survey from 1931 as the "Site of Cas" in the southeast of Loch Strathbeg
Castle of Rattray, one of the nine Castles of the Knuckle

Castle of Rattray is an abandoned medieval castle near the former village of Rattray in the northeast of the Scottish county of Aberdeenshire . Over the course of six centuries the castle has been fundamentally changed over and over again. Originally, a moth was built on this site in the late 12th or early 13th century to defend the port of Starvy Keppie and the village of Rattray . Between 1214 and 1233 William Comyn, Earl of Buchan , had it expanded before it was destroyed at the Harrying of Buchan in 1308 . After Comyn's wooden castle was burned down, it was replaced by a stronger stone castle. This fell victim to a sandstorm in 1720 together with the village of Rattray . After the storm, the castle was not dug up again and its remains are covered in sand to this day. W. Douglas Simpson describes the castle as one of the nine Castles of the Knuckle , a name that refers to the rocky headland in the northeast of the county of Aberdeenshire.

Location

The castle stood on Castlehill on the south bank of the now closed estuary that flowed into Strathbeg Bay - the north bank was protected by the opposite Lonmay Castle . The castle was precisely located "next to an inlet that led from the sea into the sheltered harbor, on the harbor side" of the village of Rattray . The later stone castle is said to have had an "entrance from the harbor side".

Castlehill, which originally lay on "a rock by the sea", is now about a mile (1.6 km) inland as sand shifts have significantly changed the shape of the coast. Today it is located south of the Loch of Strathbeg as a grassy, ​​"circular mound ", "oval and of course with a slightly flattened summit". A book from 1791 describes it as "a summit (...) [of] half a Scottish acre [about 1000 m²], 38 feet [11.6 meters] (...) over a small plain in the ( ...) [northeast] but only 12 or 14 feet [3.7 or 4.3 meters] above the higher ground "in the southwest.

history

12th Century

The first construction on Castlehill was a small "wooden castle or moth" to protect the estuary.

Comyn period (c. 1200–1308)

In the 13th century, the Castle of Rattray was "the headquarters of the Cummings [alternative spelling: Comyn], Earls of Buchan", who appeared there at the beginning of this century. Between 1214, when he inherited the Earldom of Buchan and his death in 1233, William Comyn had Comyn built on top of the Motte, but it is unclear whether he was just adding to existing structures or building a completely new castle. He is said to have built a "country house with a beautiful, wood-paneled knight's hall [(the castle) in connection with a private Lady Chapel] a quarter mile [0.4 km]" south, in the village of Rattray.

In the mid-1270s, it is reported, a "castle reinforcement program in (...) Rattray" took place.

Comyn's castle survived until the Harrying of Buchan in the summer of 1308 when all Comyn lands were bloody burned and buildings burned to the ground after John Comyn, 7th Earl of Buchan , was defeated in the Battle of Inverurie . The wooden Castle of Rattray was certainly attacked by Robert the Bruce or his younger brother Edward , after which "the castle fell into ruin" if it was not burned to the ground.

1308-1720

After the Harrying of Buchan, a “stone hall” was built on the site of the wooden Castle of Rattray. Like its predecessors, this stone structure provided shelter for the port of Starnie Keppie and the village of Rattray .

The Earldom of Buchan and with it the castle inherited the two nieces of John Comyn after the Harrying of Buchan. Henry de Beaumont , the husband of one of the nieces, Alice Comyn , claimed the title on his wife's behalf and was therefore disinherited in 1314 with regard to the lands. Robert the Bruce loaned the Lordship of Rattray to Sir Archibald Douglas in 1324 . In 1382 the land changed hands again when Alexander Stewart received the earldom from his father, King Robert II .

Mary Queen of Scots declared Rattray a Royal Burgh in 1563 , " to put an end to the disputes over rulership between William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal , and George Hay, 7th Earl of Erroll ". The meaning of the burgh is questionable because "it appears that it did not long enjoy the privilege of not being placed in the role of boroughs of many ages" and because "it has been said to have had all the privileges of a royal borough except [the right] to send members to parliament. "

In later years, the Castle of Rattray was run on a feudal system by lords who administered the land for the Crown. Some of them are known by names from charters they issued. "David Rivis (...), lord of the lands of Rattray, [issued a charter in 1617], William Watson of Haddo, Baillie der Burgh Rattray and lord [von Rattray issued a charter in 1675 and] Charles [Hay, 13. ] Earl of Erroll, lord of the lands of Rattray [issued a charter in 1711]. "

The destruction of the stone castle and the nearby village of Rattray is said to have happened “according to legend” during the great storm of 1720, in which Strathbeg Bay was partitioned off. It is thought that the castle "was blown with sand on a Sunday evening while the [residents], an ungodly troop, were playing cards on the Sabbath [when] they were buried alive."

Another story states that the site was "buried because of the plague," but there is no date or record of the plague. This is a very uncertain source.

Approx. 1720-1988

Today, there is not much to see on the former castle grounds, because the remains of the castle "were covered with deep earth for a long time and now - the swords of the bellicose house were literally forged into plowshares." on the south-east "side of Castlehill (...) a large number of stones were found, which probably belonged to the castle's kitchen, as (...) the workers found very large hearth stones covered with ash."

"A number of regularly laid stones were removed around 1734, and some silver coins," as well as two kiln stands found in 1829 (now in the Marischal Museum in Aberdeen).

In 1740 "a man who pushed his spade through a door leaf immediately suffocated" because he sank in quicksand , and at an unknown point in time, "a carefully built dam was discovered at the foot of the mound under which the castle is said to be buried."

Excavations 1985–1989

Careful excavations at Castlehill in 1985–1989 uncovered the remains of the stone castle and traces of the previous wooden castle. The traces of the stone castle included a “surrounding wall (...) [and] two wall buildings.” It is also certain that the later stone castle [covered] an area of ​​“20 meters x 6.5 meters [and] in three parts was divided, a central room and two smaller rooms at the ends. ”Presumably it also had more than one floor because there were“ signs [of the existence of] a possible external staircase [and because of] the wall thickness. "

The results of the excavations can be read in a magazine article. This is the most complete, modern and peer- reviewed source on the Castle of Rattray available to historians and archaeologists today.

1989-present

The Aberdeen City Council owns a number of artifacts from Rattray and the Castlehill grounds and has also organized a temporary exhibition of these artifacts at James Dun's House in Aberdeen.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ HK Murray, JC Murray: Excavations at Rattray, Aberdeenshire: A Scottish deserted burgh . S. 1. 1993. doi : 10.1080 / 00766097.1993.11735559 . Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  2. ↑ Simpson, WD: Cairnbulg Castle, Aberdeenshire . Pp. 32-44. 1949. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  3. ↑ a b An introduction to the Royal Burgh of Rattray . Archived from the original on May 17, 2007. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 13, 2007. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.webhistorian.co.uk
  4. ↑ a b c d e f H. K. Murray, JC Murray: Excavations at Rattray, Aberdeenshire: A Scottish deserted burgh . 1993. doi : 10.1080 / 00766097.1993.11735559 . Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h Aberdeenshire Council: Castlehill, Rattray . Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 3, 2007. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk
  6. ↑ a b Stanley Bruce: The Bard O 'Buchan . Volume 1. Bard Books, 2005. ISBN 0-9547960-2-0 . cited as a source in World66.com Rattray Head Travel Guide ( memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved April 27, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.world66.com
  7. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Rattray Head.net: Buchan Field Club . Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 27, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rattrayhead.net
  8. ↑ a b History of Britain.com: Descriptive gazetteer entries for Crimond . Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 6, 2007. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.visionofbritain.org.uk
  9. ↑ James Playfair: A Geographical and Statistical Description of Scotland . Archibald Constable and Cie., Edinburgh 1819. p. 78. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  10. ^ A b c d John Sinclair: The Statistical Account of Scotland: Drawn Up from the Communications of the Ministers of Different Parishes . William Creech, 1791. p. 419. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  11. ^ A b William Kennedy: Annals of Aberdeen, from the Reign of King William the Lion, to the End of the Year 1818 . A. Brown and Co., Aberdeen 1818. p. 323. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  12. ^ Alan Young: Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314 . Tuckwell Press, 1997. ISBN 1-86232-053-5 . P. 150.
  13. ^ William Gordon Cumming: The History of the Comyn Clan .
  14. ^ Joseph Robertson: Illustrations of the Topography and Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff . Spalding Club, Aberdeen 1847. (English and Latin). P. 394. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  15. ^ Gazetteer for Scotland . 1806. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  16. ^ A b c John Sinclair: The Statistical Account of Scotland: Drawn Up from the Communications of the Ministers of Different Parishes . William Creech, 1791. p. 420. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  17. ↑ a b c Strathbeg and Rattray - a brief history by Derek Jennings . Visit Peterhead. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 22, 2007. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.visitpeterhead.org.uk
  18. ^ J. Fraser: Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country . Issue LX (July-December 1859). John W. Parker and Son, West Strand (London) 1859. p. 131. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  19. ^ University of Aberdeen: Item: Vessel, kiln . Stand . Retrieved June 11, 2007.

Web links

Commons : Castle of Rattray  - collection of images, videos and audio files