Ochiltree Castle (East Ayrshire)
| Ochiltree Castle | ||
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 Summit of the Mound of Ochiltree |
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| Creation time : | 12th Century | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg, moth | |
| Conservation status: | Burgstall | |
| Standing position : | Scottish nobility | |
| Place: | Ochiltree | |
| Geographical location | 55 ° 28 '48.4 " N , 4 ° 22' 41.2" W | |
| Height: | 98 m ASLTemplate: height / unknown reference | |
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Ochiltree Castle is a decayed hill castle (moth) on a headland on Lugar Water , across from Auchinleck Castle , in the East Ayrshire administrative district of Scotland . The name "Ochiltree" means "sublime abode". The motte was built by the Colville family in the 12th century and destroyed by William Douglas of Glenbervie in 1449 .
history
The old Baronate Ochiltree belonged to the Colville family, who were Normans and who came to Scotland around 1174. The castle stood on the high, rocky bank of Lugar Water. In 1449 the castle was conquered by Douglas, Colville and his male descendants were killed and the lands were annexed. This was an act of revenge for the massacre Colville wrought on a friend of Douglas’s Auchinleck of Auchinleck .
After the castle was destroyed, all the building blocks of the ruins were carried away and used to build houses and dykes on the adjacent farms. In 1530 Sir James Colville exchanged the Baronate Ochiltree with Sir James Hamilton of Finnart for the Baronate East Wemyss in Fife . As early as 1534, the new owner Sir Hamilton exchanged it again with Andrew Stewart, 3rd Lord Evendale , for the Baronate Evendale . After the latter swap, Stewart was named Lord of Ochiltree .
Two interesting circumstances are connected to the history of the old castle: one of them is the marriage of John Knox there in March 1564 to Margaret Stewart , daughter of the Lord of Ochiltree, and the other is the marriage of John Graham of Claverhouse to Jane Cochrane , niece by Sir John Cochrane , which was celebrated at the castle in June 1684.
The title of Ochiltree was suspended in 1675 and the baronate passed through many hands until it came to that of the 1st Earl of Dundonald , who bequeathed it to his second son, Sir John Cochrane . In 1685 it was forfeited to the Crown by Sir John, but received from the Crown by his son in the following year. The Cochrane family sold it to Governor M'Crae in 1737 , who left it to Miss Macquire , later Countess of Glencairn . In 1817 it was finally sold in parts to different owners. The remains of the castle along with documents, signs and other treasures are said to have been completely destroyed in a fire.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c John Macintosh: Ayrshire nights' entertainments: a descriptive guide to the history, traditions, antiquities etc. of the county of Ayrshire . Dunlap & Drennan. Pp. 89 ff. 1894. Accessed December 5, 2017.
Web links
- Ochiltree Castle . In: Canmore . Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments in Scotland. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
- Ochiltree Castle and the Colville Family, Ayrshire . Retrieved December 5, 2017.