Friars Carse
Friars' Carse is a country house about 2 km southwest of Auldgirth on the main road to Dumfries in the Scottish administrative division Dumfries and Galloway . Located on the west bank of the River Nith, the property is known for its close association with Robert Burns , who lived for a time on the nearby Ellisland Farm . The country house is not considered a historic building, but the stables and hermitage , which Historic Scotland has listed as Category B Historic Buildings, are.
House and estate
Today's country house hotel was built in 1873 in Scottish Baronial Style from clad red sandstone by the architects Barbour and Bowie around an earlier house and expanded by the same architects from 1905 to 1909. The main building in the southeast has a complex, wide front facade and includes a peculiar round tower with a rectangular tower. A coat of arms from 1598 was built into the entrance tower in 1909. The house has an entrance hall and a snooker room with beautiful wood paneling as well as an elegant staircase and 21 bedroom suites . It is located in the middle of a park and light forest of 18.2 hectares.
The name "Friars' Carse" is derived from a monastic settlement that was founded near the Cistercian monks of Melrose Abbey in the 13th century. Carse Loch is a nearby lake and once served the monks as a fishing pond; his crannóg served as a hiding place for valuables during raids or wars. Today's spelling with or without an apostrophe is a version of the older spelling "Carse of the Friars".
In the 16th century there was a tower with a caphouse , surrounded by a clearly visible parapet (see engraving). In the 17th and 18th centuries, this was expanded to include residential buildings with stepped gables and a castle courtyard. In 1771 Robert Riddell had the old, ruined buildings demolished to make way for a new country house. Frances Grose wrote that when he visited in 1789, the monks' refectory, with its 2.43 meter thick walls and its 3.65 meter wide, open fireplace, was still standing.
The stables and Beech Cottage
These outbuildings mainly date from the beginning of the 19th century, but the south-eastern (main) building line was rebuilt around 1873 and a two-tier tower was added. The stables consist of four ground-floor building sections that are laid out around a square courtyard. The passage under the tower is arranged in the middle and there is a pigeon house with gables.
The Riddells
In the 17th century, William Riddell , son of a baronet from Nova Scotia , bought the lands of Friars Carse from Roxburghshire . The older buildings have been replaced by a simpler Georgian country house called Glenriddell . This country house was built by Robert Riddell (or Riddel ), friend and supporter of the poet Robert Burns (1759–1796).
Mackay noted that Walter Riddell of Newhouse , Robert Riddell's grandfather, married his cousin Anne and through her inherited the Glenriddell estate, which her family had owned since the Reformation and the associated secularization of the Melrose Abbey lands .
After Robert Riddell's death in 1794, his widow could have agreed that the property would go to Walter Riddell , her brother-in-law, who, according to his brother's last will, would hardly have had to pay an annual rent to keep the property. Robert's widow, however, hated Walter Riddell so much that she refused to honor this legacy, and so the property was given to a buyer outside the family. Walter Riddell was rich himself because he had fortunes in America. He was with the poet Maria, geb. Banks Woodley , married in Antigua and named his new estate in her honor.
Dr. James Crichton
A Captain Smith was the buyer of Glenriddell and he in turn sold the property to the Provost John Crichton of Sanquhar , brother of John Crichton , who bought it for himself in 1809. House and property were like that for Dr. James Crichton (1765-1823), who had made his fortune with the East India Company in trade with China and lived in Canton . In 1812 he moved into the country house and changed its name from "Glenriddell" back to "Friars' Carse". He died here in 1823. His widow, Elizabeth Grierson , stayed at Friars' Carse until she died in 1862. The Crichton Royal Hospital in Dumfries was founded by her with a bequest of £ 100,000 in honor of her late husband or, according to other sources, by Dr. Crichton founded himself.
The Nelsons
Elizabeth Grierson from Lag, Dr. Crichton's widow, sold the property to Mr. Thomas Nelson of Carlisle , who is believed to have worked as an engineer on the Forth Bridge . Nelson had the country house expanded considerably, but the most interesting part of the old building, the Whistle Room, was retained. At the hermitage, in recognition of Robert Burns' interest in the craft, he had mason's marks attached. The two windows in the main hall show an anchor and chains indicating the owner's connection to the Forth Bridge.
The Crichton Royal Institution
In 1895 the trustees of the Crichton Royal Institution owned Friars' Carse with 189 acres, etc. The country house became a sanatorium for the treatment of the mentally ill. It served as a summer residence for selected, paying patients, mostly aristocrats and even members of the royal family. Non-paying, “poor” patients were also billeted there, but as servants. The directors of the Crichton Royal Institution sold the property in 1908 for £ 21,150.
The Post Office Fellowship of Remembrance
After the property belonged for a while to Mr. Charles Wedderburn Dickson , who had the manor extended, his widow sold it to Bryn Asaph Ltd , a post office staff organization, and it became their rest home and guest house in memory of the men and women of the post offices who died in the two world wars. The Post Office Fellowship of Remembrance (POFR Ltd) still owns the property today.
Earlier story
It is written that the lands of Carse were given to Melrose Abbey by Affrica , a daughter of Edgar , around 1215 . Edgar was the son of Dunevald and grandson of Dunegal of Stranith . Edgar owned these lands under King William the Lion . A grangie of the Cistercian monks could have existed nearby, as the name “Grange Mill” suggests. Abbot Andrew leased the abbey's lands in 1536, giving the Freirkers £ 4 lands and their Grange Mill, along with the limited milling constraints of the Dalgonar and other £ 36 lands to John Kirkpatrick of Ellisland . In 1565, Thomas Kirkpatrick and his wife, Janet, née Gordon , the property.
After the Reformation, the Commendator gave the property to the Laird of Elliesland or Allisland , a branch line of the Kirkpatricks of Closeburn . The Kirkpatrick left the Tower House of Freerscarss at this point, as Timothy Pont on his map of Nithsdale noted from the 1595th Francis Grose wrote that the old walls of the refectory were 2.4 meters thick and the fireplace 3.6 meters wide when it was demolished in 1773 to make way for the country house.
There was a lake near the house, the friars' fish pond. In the middle of this lake was an artificial island, a crannóg , made of large oak planks and boards. It served as a hiding place for the monastery's valuables during the not infrequent incursions of the British into Strathnith. When the lake was drained, a dugout canoe and other finds were found.
Friars' Carse was owned by the Stirlings for some time in the early 17th century ; this line ended with Jean Stirling , an heiress who married John Maxwell from Templand . From this line the Riddells bought the property in 1737. Before 1647 a merchant named John Irving Friars' Carse had acquired and it passed to the Maxwells and eventually to the Riddells as shown above, with £ 1,500 compensation to the Maxwells was paid.
Friars' Carse fell in 1634 from the Kirkpatricks to the Maxwells of Tynwald and from them to a branch line of the Lords of Maxwell, the Barncleugh family . The Riddells of Glenriddell received the Barncleughs Estate in 1784.
A cross from the 9th or 10th century stands on a modern pedestal on the property; it is the only remaining specimen of a collection of miscellaneous stones put together by Captain Robert Riddell and once lined up along the driveway. One or more of these may originally have been on the site. Francis Grose wrote that stones from the nearby castles of Lag Castle and Morton Castle were once in the collection. The initials "IG" and the coat of arms of the Griersons , in particular three pillows in the center of a star, were carved into the stone from Lag Castle . Robert Riddell went so far that he had the imitation of a stone circle from the Bronze Age made of weathered stones. This circle has 38 stones, all but three of which are standing; one of them is in the middle and one directly west of the stone circle. The facility was called "Templewood".
The lands of Carse belonged to Red Comyn in the 14th century and after his assassination fell to King Robert the Bruce .
North of Friars' Carse is an area on which the Roman general Gnaeus Iulius Agricola can be shown to have set up a camp.
The River Nith from the front door of the cottage
Old warehouse for venison
South facade of Friars' Carse
Side tower at the country house
Fishing center
South Lodge
Cultural history
Robert Burns lived at the nearby Ellisland Farm from 1788 to 1791. Burns was presumably born by his friend and landlord Patrick Miller from Dalswinton Captain Robert Riddell and his wife, Elizabeth, née. Kennedy, presented from Manchester . In September 1788 he composed The Day Returns in thanks to Riddell and his wife; who commented: "I've had more pleasant evenings in front of their fireplace than all the fashionable people's homes in this country put together." Robert Riddell, who had fought in the American Revolutionary War, was an accomplished composer and musician, as well as an archaeologist.
In April 1791 Burns completed a collection of his poems for Robert Riddell's library, which became known as the "Glenriddell Manuscripts". It was later returned to Burns.
Burns visited Wanlockhead in January 1792 to explore lead mines. He was accompanied by Maria Riddell , Robert Riddels sister. They took their breakfast in Sanquhar and then took the chaise to the mines. They walked a good distance into the mines, where they withstood the darkness, the dampness and the tightness, but then they had to turn back because Burns found the bad air very excruciating. Burns did not write about the visit, but Maria mentioned the details in a letter.
Robert Riddell founded the Monkland Friendly Society together with Robert Burns in Dunscore and helped organize and evaluate their library with 150 volumes. Riddell was the chairman and Burns was the secretary of the society, whose members met every fourth Saturday. Wanlockhead and Leadhills also had libraries at the time that were built and maintained with membership fees.
Burns mentions Riddell's coin collecting in his Election Ballad of 1790: -
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Glenriddel, skill'd in rusty coins |
Robert Riddell discovered a 1 ounce gold ring with a pale blue stone near Friars' Carse in May 1791.
In December 1783, the friendship between Burns and the Riddells ended after an alcoholic incident in Friars' Carse, known as the " Rape of the Sabine Women ". It was an "attack" on the women that was too realistic and exuberant for good taste. Burns was expelled from the house and Elizabeth Riddell never forgave him. Robert Riddell passed away at the age of 39 before friendship kitten was possible. Walter and Maria Riddell moved to London after Robert's death and, when Maria returned to Tinwald House near Dumfries, she eventually forgave Burns for his improper conduct.
News of this dissolute and dissolute affair appears to have reached the ears of Burns' supervisor in Edinburgh and damaged his reputation.
Annie Laurie
Alexander Fergusson from Craigdarroch House married "Bonnie" Anna Laurie , daughter of Sir Robert Laurie, Bt. , From Maxwellton in 1710 , the "Annie Laurie" from the song of the same name. Although she lived at Craigdarroch House for over 50 years, she died on April 5, 1764 in Friars' Carse at the age of 81. It is not known exactly where her grave is, but she may have been buried at Craigdarroch House. She was the great-aunt of Robert Riddell and was born in Maxwellton House a few miles away near Moniaive .
Francis Grose
Well known antiquarian, artist and writer Francis Grose stayed at Friars' Carse for a few months when he visited places such as Lag Castle in the area to be included in his book The Antiquities of Scotland , published in 1797. Grose had a close friendship with Robert Burns and their artistic collaboration sprang from Burns' poem Tam o'Shanter . Burns described his plump friend as “Fine, fat, fodgel Grose”.
The pipe and the drinking competitions
On Friday, October 16, 1789 (or 1790), Robert Burns was present at a well-known drinking competition at Friars' Carse, at which three lairds were preparing to determine which of them was the last to blow an ebony pipe that Robert Riddell had inherited. This was a repeat of previous competitions in which the winner received the old ebony pipe as a trophy; the competition was immortalized in the poem The Whistle .
The winner was able to drink more than eight bottles of Clairet (others say five or six). Alexander Fergusson of Craigdarroch House won because he could still stand and blow the pipe; Sir Robert Maxwellton collapsed and lay on the floor and Robert Riddell pulled back and went to bed. The Chamberlain of the Duke of Buccleuch , McMurdo from Drumlanrig, was the referee for this competition and two other neighbors served as witnesses.
Some sources state that the ebony pipe was brought over from Denmark by a courtier in the service of Queen Anne's husband, Prince George of Denmark . Confusion arose because the first drinking competition was won by a former Sir Robert Laurie , the original owner of the pipe and courtier in the service of Queen Anne of Denmark , wife of King James IV of Scotland . In a second competition, his son Walter lost the pipe to Walter Riddell , an ancestor of Robert Riddell.
Groome wrote that the ebony pipe became the focus of the drinking competition because of the custom of the original Danish owner, a man of "gigantic stature" who measured himself against all visitors in drinking. Sir Robert Laurie came after the massive Scandinavian, drank his courtier under the table in a competition that "lasted three days and three nights," and claimed the pipe.
Allan Cunningham relates that "the bard himself who drank bottle after bottle seemed well able to win the competition when dawn came," but the veracity of this source is doubted by more reliable biographers.
Burns, with the owner's permission, borrowed the ebony pipe a few days after the competition to show to his friends in Mauchline , and he also organized a second drinking competition at the New Inn in Sanquhar , in which he, Edward Whigham , John King and William Johnston faced. The participants ate whiskey grog, which was served in a punch glass. It is not noted who the winner was on that occasion, but the umpire was John , the son of Edward Whigham. Joseph Train wrote this story down as well, adding that the pipe has been partially renewed since it was won by the courtier of Anna of Denmark and that it usually appeared with "a towering Scandinavian drinking horn". Burns had borrowed both.
The Laugh Moor Cross
In the old putting green sits the only remaining cross from Captain Riddell's collection, which also contained a cross with a basin, sundials and later a baptismal font, all of which are now in the museum in Dumfries. The Laugh Moor Cross is believed to have originally been a 9th century village cross taken from Morton Castle. It was in the style of a Celtic cross, but the ring and arms were broken off. The cross was reused as a grave slab and the large scissors on one side could indicate that the body could have been that of a woman.
The square sandstone foundation is not contemporary, it has an incised cross and the words "Laugh Moor" on the front. The upper surface of this square foundation bears the words "Ora Pro Anima Comerchie De Laugh" (Eng .: Pray for the soul of the wickedly murdered De Laugh) When Robert Riddell found the cross, it served as a goal post, which you can see on the alcove Back of the stone sees.
The hermitage
Captain Robert Riddell of Glenriddell had a small summer house, an "ivy-overgrown bed" called the Hermitage, built in a hidden part of the estate, just a few fields away from Ellisland. Burns made frequent use of the building in this idyllic spot to do poetry after receiving the key to the gate in the Ellisland dike and apparently also appreciating the drinking party with Robert Riddell.
After Riddell's death at 39, the hermitage slowly fell into disrepair; In 1803 it was used as a hay store, and in 1810 Cromek reported that it had fallen into disrepair, expressing dismay that the building had not been maintained while Captain Smith owned the property because the floor was covered with straw, cattle had Trees knocked down and the window panes were missing. The hut was 3.19 meters by 2.43 meters and had a single window and an open fireplace. Around 1870 William Douglas noted that the only part of the building that was still standing was part of the east gable wall. “BURNS” was written in capital letters above the lintel.
Although the original building is no longer there, there is a new hermitage that Mr Nelson von Friars' Carse had built in 1874 on the same site in a different style. British Listed Buildings sees it as "a new facade built around 1790". Adamson visited it in 1879 and noted that it had "the strict shape of a monk with a tonsure , his nose cut off and his hands clasped, lying on his back at the entrance." In 2009 it was restored again and is now provided with a plaque explaining its history. A guide indicates his location.
Burns wrote the following lines on the hermitage window in memory of Robert Riddell:
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Thou whom chance may hither lead , Life is but a day at most , |
The original has been saved and is now in the Ellisland Farm Museum. It had been removed by a new owner and put up for sale in the aftermath of the old lady's death in 1835. It was bought for five guineas. The same lines were added to the window of the new building, but this is now housed in the country house and the new window no longer has any inscriptions. The original manuscripts of Burns ' The Whistle and Lines Written in the Hermitage were once found in Friars' Carse .
The second window from the 1874 building was inscribed with the following verses:
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To Riddel, much lamented man , |
A watercolor of the original hermitage shows it near the River Nith and therefore some distance from the current building.
The nith
Main article: Nith
The course of the Nith River runs near the Friars' Carse country house. The fishing grounds run along the right bank for over 2300 meters. Fly fishing , lure fishing or worm fishing for salmon , sea trout and grayling is possible.
Light forests spread along the river bank and there the old, large oaks are particularly noteworthy, mostly pedunculate oaks , associated with tree fungi , e.g. B. the oak liver screeching . There are also some old plane trees and mountain maples .
Friars Carse Country House Hotel
The old country house was operated as a country house hotel since 1938; it lies in 18 hectares of light forest and pastures. Two farmhouses on the property near the old stables have been converted for use by guests. Friars' Carse is the only place on the Nith where you can both fish and live.
Other buildings and facilities
An old summer home is noted on the Ordnance Survey Map from 1855 along with the presumed location of the old monastery near the putting green. An oak hill is entered near the stables. A Deadman's Hole is marked on the opposite side of the river from the country house. Black Pool is on the river above the hotel. The Brandy Burn Farm is located on the opposite bank; their name is often associated with the smuggling and storage of illicit spirits. A statue and a seat are at the beginning of the path to the hermitage. A small lake is marked on the Penflowing Bridge at the Carse Mains .
A mill was on the Mains Burn near the Carse Mains , as seen on the Ordnance Survey Map from 1855.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ↑ a b c d Derek Hall: Scottish Monastic Landscapes . Tempus, Stroud 2006. ISBN 0-7524-4012-8 . P. 169.
- ^ A b A. MT Maxwell-Irving: The Border Towers of Scotland. Their History and Archeology . 2008. Chapter: The West March (Dumfries and Eastern Galloway) . ISBN 978-1-899316-31-1 . P. 145.
- ^ Friars Carse. The History . Post Office Fellowhip of Remembrance Ltd, 2012. p. 4.
- ↑ James A. Mackay: Burns-Lore of Dunfries and Galloway . Alloway Publishing, Ayr 1988. ISBN 0-907526-36-5 . P. 432.
- ↑ Friar's Carse . Burns Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
- ↑ Patrick Scott Hogg: Robert Burns. The Patriot Bard . Mainstream, Edinburgh 2008. ISBN 978-1-84596-412-2 . P. 235.
- ↑ a b c d e f James A. Mackay: Burns-Lore of Dunfries and Galloway . Alloway Publishing, Ayr 1988. ISBN 0-907526-36-5 . P. 106.
- ↑ a b c d e Prof. Wilson, R. Chambers: The Land of Burns . Blackie and Son, Glasgow 1840. p. 17.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Francis H. Groome: Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland . Caxton Publishing, London 1903. p. 622.
- ↑ a b c d e f Friars Carse. The History . Post Office Fellowship of Remembrance Ltd, 2012. p. 6.
- ^ The Burns Country . Retrieved July 27, 2017.
- ↑ a b Logans, page 9.
- ↑ a b Derek Hall: Scottish Monastic Landscapes . Tempus, Stroud 2006. ISBN 0-7524-4012-8 . P. 168.
- ^ A b Francis Grose: The Antiquities of Scotland . Hooper and Wigstead, High Holborn 1797. p. 147.
- ↑ Notes on a Crannog at Friars' Carse . Archeology Data Service. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
- ^ A b A. MT Maxwell-Irving: The Border Towers of Scotland. Their History and Archeology . 2008. Chapter: The West March (Dumfries and Eastern Galloway) . ISBN 978-1-899316-31-1 . P. 146.
- ↑ a b c d e James A. Mackay: Burns-Lore of Dunfries and Galloway . Alloway Publishing, Ayr 1988. ISBN 0-907526-36-5 . P. 104.
- ^ Francis Grose: The Antiquities of Scotland . Hooper and Wigstead, High Holborn 1797. p. 154.
- ^ Temple Wood South . The Megalithic Portal. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
- ↑ Patrick Scott Hogg: Robert Burns. The Patriot Bard . Mainstream, Edinburgh 2008. ISBN 978-1-84596-412-2 . P. 185.
- ↑ Patrick Scott Hogg: Robert Burns. The Patriot Bard . Mainstream, Edinburgh 2008. ISBN 978-1-84596-412-2 . P. 191.
- ↑ Colin Hunter McQueen: Rantin Rovin Robin . Irvine Burns Club, Irvine 1999. ISBN 1-899316-41-8 . P. 135.
- ↑ James A. Mackay: Burns-Lore of Dunfries and Galloway . Alloway Publishing, Ayr 1988. ISBN 0-907526-36-5 . P. 156.
- ↑ Colin Hunter McQueen: Rantin Rovin Robin . Irvine Burns Club, Irvine 1999. ISBN 1-899316-41-8 . P. 127.
- ↑ Patrick Scott Hogg: Robert Burns. The Patriot Bard . Mainstream, Edinburgh 2008. ISBN 978-1-84596-412-2 . P. 221.
- ↑ Entry on Friars Carse in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
- ↑ James A. Mackay: Burns-Lore of Dunfries and Galloway . Alloway Publishing, Ayr 1988. ISBN 0-907526-36-5 . P. 105.
- ↑ Patrick Scott Hogg: Robert Burns. The Patriot Bard . Mainstream, Edinburgh 2008. ISBN 978-1-84596-412-2 . P. 292.
- ↑ Patrick Scott Hogg: Robert Burns. The Patriot Bard . Mainstream, Edinburgh 2008. ISBN 978-1-84596-412-2 . P. 280.
- ↑ a b c Friars Carse. The History . Post Office Fellowhip of Remembrance Ltd, 2012. p. 5.
- ↑ Patrick Scott Hogg: Robert Burns. The Patriot Bard . Mainstream, Edinburgh 2008. ISBN 978-1-84596-412-2 . P. 225.
- ^ A b Charles S. Dougall: The Burns Country . A. & C. Black, London 1911. p. 287.
- ^ Charles S. Dougall: The Burns Country . A. & C. Black, London 1911. p. 288.
- ↑ James A. Mackay: Burns-Lore of Dunfries and Galloway . Alloway Publishing, Ayr 1988. ISBN 0-907526-36-5 . P. 144.
- ↑ Joseph Train: Original Anecdote of Burns in The Ayrshire Wreath . Crawford & Son, Kilmarnock 1843. p. 90.
- ↑ a b c William Douglas, p. 324.
- ^ Written in Friar's Carse Hermitage . Readprint. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
- ^ Charles S. Dougall: The Burns Country . A. & C. Black, London 1911. p. 285.
- ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ^ A b Archibald R. Adamson: Rambles through the Land of Burns . Dunlop & Drennan, Kilmarnock 1879. p. 231.
- ^ Charles S. Dougall: The Burns Country . A. & C. Black, London 1911. p. 286.
- ^ Eileen Doris Bremner: The English Poetry of Robert Burns (1759-1796) . ISBN 0-9553279-0-3 . P. 19.
- ^ Ian Grimble: Robert Burns . Lomond Books, 1986. ISBN 1-85152-734-6 . P. 102.
- ↑ a b Fishing Courses & Events . Friars' Carse. Archived from the original on July 9, 2017. 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 July 28, 2017.
- ^ Ordnance Survey Map: Dumfriesshire, Sheet XLI (includes: Kirkmahoe; Tinwald). Survey Date: 1855. Publication Date: 1861 . National Library of Scotland. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
- ^ Ordnance Survey Map: Dumfries Sheet XLI.9 (Dunscore). Survey Date: 1855. Ublication Date: 1861 . National Library of Scotland. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
Web links
- The Old Dunscore Cemetery . YouTube.
- The River Nith from Friars Carse Hotel . YouTube.
- History Insight: Robert Burns and 'The Hermitage' at Friars' Carse . YouTube.
- Friar's Carse 1878 . Scran.
- The Hotel's History . Friars Carse.
- Ellisland Farm website.
Coordinates: 55 ° 8 ′ 24 ″ N , 3 ° 41 ′ 24 ″ W.