Whitslaid Tower
| Whitslaid Tower | ||
|---|---|---|
 Ruins of the Whitslaid Tower |
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| Creation time : | 16th Century | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg (Tower House) | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Standing position : | Scottish nobility | |
| Construction: | Grauwacke, quarry stone | |
| Place: | Lauder | |
| Geographical location | 55 ° 41 '32.5 " N , 2 ° 42' 19.7" W | |
| Height: | 147 m ASLTemplate: height / unknown reference | |
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Whitslaid Tower is the ruin of a lowland castle ( Tower House ) high above the east bank of the Leader Water , about 3 km south of Lauder in the Scottish administration unit Scottish Borders . The 16th century tower was the seat of the Lauder family in old Berwickshire for over 300 years . During the feudal period, the property belonged to a detached segment of the Renfrew baronate . The ruin is a Scheduled Monument .
The tower
It stands on a sudden bump in the shade of ancient ash trees, and beyond that is a flat, open space that was enough for a garden and offices at the landowner's residence in those ancient, warlike times with which it is associated. An old dirt road winds down from the ridge into a ravine that extends north from Leader Water; the immediate vicinity of the tower can be monitored from here. The walls of this Peels square plan are now in ruins. The large vault on the ground floor has largely remained undamaged and the straight stairs in the wall still lead to the first floor. The ceiling of the vault consists of broken greywacke , which splits into panels that are butted together without great finesse. In the 1880s, when much of the building was still intact, a square opening could be seen on top of the tower through which boiling liquids, such as molten pitch, could be poured over the heads of the attackers. The main living rooms were on the 2nd floor and were still undamaged in the 19th century, as was the roof. Both have now collapsed. Many of the foundation stones are huge, uncut boulders that must have been dragged there by oxen. The north side was built from field or river stones, the edges of which have been ground off, as if they had been rolled by water or ground by glaciers. This site has fallen into disrepair today and trees have grown through the walls. Most of the bricks in the building are made of greywacke; some of the corner stones were broken off, and the stone cladding on the fireplace and windows were stolen.
The tower has a rectangular footprint of 7.6 meters × 5.1 meters. Its walls are on average 2.1 meters thick. The entrance is at the north end of the east wall. The north wall of the quarry stone , originally at least three-story building, has collapsed, the upper floors have fallen into disrepair.
Records of the Whitslaid Lauders
There are letters of surety from Robert, Steward of Scotland (later King Robert II ), the Earl of Strathearn and Baron von Renfrew, with the consent of John Steward, Earl of Carrick , his eldest son, the Alan de Lawedir, Crown tenant of Whytslade, to empower their land and tenant keepers of Byrkynsyde, Ligeardwod (Legerwood), Morystoun (Morristown), Whytslade and Auldynstoun, in the sheriff's office of Berwick-upon-Trent , to judge misconduct in any place the gentlemen approve of punishing men living on their land, restoring their freedoms, etc., as well as doing any other thing pertaining to the office of Keeper, dated October 16, 1369. One of the witnesses was Sir John des Lyle (or d'Lisle ), whose family belonged to the Stoneypath Tower near Garvald, but in Whittingehame parish .
Two years later, on June 30, 1371, various charters were confirmed to Alan de Lauder : In two of these, Alano de Lawedre, Lord of Whitslaid, had confirmed to him again by the crown that he had owned the lands of Whytslaid (where he had already been confirmed as feudal lord ), Birkensyde, Legerwood and Morriston in Berwickshire and the lands of Mertoun in Roxburghshire (forfeited to the Crown by Alan le Suche ) plus half the lands of the Regality of Lauderdale and half of the Fulling Mill at Lauder (forfeited to the Crown by John Balliol ) plus the lands of Newbyggyng in the constable of Lauder belonged with all liberties and tithes thereof. The first charter was "signed in the old reign of Whitslade" on the feast of John the Baptist. This indicates that the Whitslaid Tower was old by then.
Robert Lauder of Whitslaid appears as a witness in a notarized document from Sir Alexander Home of Home, signed in Dryburgh on June 21, 1468.
Sir George Lauder of Whitslaid (later of Haltoun ) and his brother Alexander Lauder, Deputy (and later Provost) of Edinburgh , were "Seneschalls" or stewarts of Kirkcudbright . There is also a charter of Alexander Lauder of Haltoun, Knt., Drawn up with the consent of George Lauder of Quhitslaid (Whitslaid) (who fell at the Battle of Flodden Field ), his son and designated heir, dated October 21, 1506 .
In 1565, a warrant under the Signet obliged the Sheriff of Berwick and his assistants, Gilbert Lauder of Quhitslaid († before 1590), Richard Lauder of Lauder († June 1567) and William Lauder, brother of the aforementioned Gilbert, to arrest those responsible for the murder George Wedderat, Lauder's deputy, were held responsible, but holed up in the house of "Quhitslaid" that they had fortified. Alexander Home, 5th Lord Home , has been instructed to assist the sheriff. Drawn in Edinburgh by Queen Mary and King Henry, October 20th 1565.
It is recorded in the Register of the Privy Council of Scotland on February 22, 1572 that the Kers of Ferniehirst gathered a force of rebels, along with "thieves and outlaws" from the Scottish Borders. A screening of "defensible people" in certain southern counties was in Jedburgh proclaimed to the Burgh to defend and protect. A general troop was then raised from numerous Lairds and others, including Gilbert Lauder of Whitslaid .
In a document dated June 24, 1662, a later Gilbert Lauder of Whitslaid agreed to pay a debt of 400 marks , according to James Wright, clerk in Edinburgh . His guarantor in the original commitment, dated July 3, 1650, was "William Lauder of Gladswood, his brother".
In 1662 a commission of various people was commissioned to sit in court over two witches in Lauder. One such person was Gilbert Lauder of Whitslaid. This Gilbert Lauder of Whitslaid appears to have had financial problems and was forced to part with Whitslaid in favor of a lawyer named Mr John Peter . The tower was still inhabited in 1700.
There was another Whitslaid at Selkirk that belonged to the Scotts .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Scheduled Monument - entry . In: Historic Scotland .
- ^ A b History of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 1885-1886. Berwick-upon-Tweed 1887. p. 355.
- ↑ Reference GD 86/7. National Archives of Scotland.
- ↑ Sir James Balfour Paul: The Scots' Peerage. Edinburgh 1908. Volume VS 550.
- ↑ John Maitland Thomson, LL.D. (Editor): The Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, 1306-1424. New edition, Edinburgh 1984. Volume 1.
- ↑ Historic Manuscripts Commission - 12th report: MSS of the Duke of Athole, and the Earl of Home. London 1891. p. 114.
- ^ Exchequer Rolls of Scotland. 1497-1501. Volume 9. Edinburgh 1888. p. 383.
- ↑ Reference GD 135/1059. National Archives of Scotland.
- ↑ Reference SP 13/89. National Archives of Scotland.
- ↑ Reference RD 2/5 fol. 470. National Archives of Scotland.
- ^ P. Hume Brown (Editor): The Privy Council Registers of Scotland. Edinburgh 1908. p. 264.