Dundonald Castle
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Dundonald Castle
Dundonald Castle is situated on a hill overlooking the village of Dundonald, between Kilmarnock and Troon in South Ayrshire, Scotland. Dundonald Castle is a fortified tower house built for Robert II on his accession to the throne of Scotland in 1371 and it was used as a royal residence by Robert II and his son Robert III. History Dark age hill fort The present castle stands on land where evidence suggests there was a hill fort. It is thought that a mixture of large timber-built roundhouse and straight-sided structures occupied the interior. A timber-laced stone rampart defined and defended the fort. The timber lacing caught fire and burnt with such intensity that the surrounding stonework melted, or vitrified. This firing happened about 1000 AD and seems to mark the end of the hill-fort’s existence. It was about this date that the British Kingdom of Strathclyde ceased to exist, being absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland. The place name Dundonald means "fort of Donald" ...
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Dundonald, South Ayrshire
Dundonald (Gaelic: ''Dùn Dhòmhnaill'') is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland. The village The village is mostly known for Dundonald Castle, which was built in the 14th century by King Robert II, on the ruins of a castle built earlier (in 1260) by his grandfather, Alexander Comyn. It served the Scottish kings for 150 years. The ruins of Old Auchans Castle lies nearby, the previous residence of Susanna Montgomery, Lady Eglinton. In Dundonald Woods near the old Hallyards Farm are the ruins of Kemp Law Dun, an Iron Age vitrified hillfort, close to the site of St Mary's Chapel. Since 1945, it serves mostly as a dormitory town for the larger towns in the area. The parish church The present church (NS 366 343) was built in 1803, however the first recorded church was present in 1229 when it was gifted to the convent at Damilling and later to Paisley Abbey, with whom it stayed until the Reformation. ;Views in and around Dundonald File:The Auchans Burial Ground, Dundonald.JPG, ...
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Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as both Irish and Manx, developed out of Old Irish. It became a distinct spoken language sometime in the 13th century in the Middle Irish period, although a common literary language was shared by the Gaels of both Ireland and Scotland until well into the 17th century. Most of modern Scotland was once Gaelic-speaking, as evidenced especially by Gaelic-language place names. In the 2011 census of Scotland, 57,375 people (1.1% of the Scottish population aged over 3 years old) reported being able to speak Gaelic, 1,275 fewer than in 2001. The highest percentages of Gaelic speakers were in the Outer Hebrides. Nevertheless, there is a language revival, and the number of speakers of the language under age 20 did not decrease between the 200 ...
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Auchans Castle, Ayrshire
Auchans Castle,Adamson, Page 85 House, House of AuchansPaterson, Pages 432 or Old Auchans, is a mock military mansion, Category A listed, T-plan building of a late 16th-century date converted to the L-plan during the early-to-mid-17th century; its ruins stand about 1 km W of Dundonald, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Parish of Dundonald. It was held at various times by the Wallace, Cochrane and Montgomerie families. Description McKean refers to Auchans as being amongst Scotland's principal châteaux which he defines as the ''dwelling of the owner of a great property, a large and beautiful pleasure house in the countryside'', and records that James Wallace added the fashionable square stair-tower in the re-entrant angle, with its viewing platform and broken pediments in 1644. The spelling on Joan Blaeu's map of 1654 is 'Aghans'. The castle stands on a slightly elevated knoll and is constructed mainly of whinstone. Cummell recorded in the 18th century that the building rem ...
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James V Of Scotland
James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and during his childhood Scotland was governed by regents, firstly by his mother until she remarried, and then by his second cousin, John, Duke of Albany. James's personal rule began in 1528 when he finally escaped the custody of his stepfather, Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus. His first action was to exile Angus and confiscate the lands of the Douglases. James greatly increased his income by tightening control over royal estates and from the profits of justice, customs and feudal rights. He founded the College of Justice in 1532, and also acted to end lawlessness and rebellion in the Borders and the Hebrides. The rivalry between France, England, and the Holy Roman Empire lent James unwonted diplomatic weight, and saw him secure two politica ...
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Craigie Castle
Craigie Castle, in the old Barony of Craigie, is a ruined fortification situated about southeast of Kilmarnock and southeast of Craigie village, in the Civil Parish of Craigie, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The castle is recognised as one of the earliest buildings in the county. It lies about west-south-west of Craigie church. Craigie Castle is protected as a scheduled monument. History of Craigie Castle Craigie Castle, Gaelic Caisteil Chreagaidh, was originally built for the Lyndesay or Lindsay clan. The castle passed to John Wallace of Riccarton through marriage about 1371 as the last heir was a daughter. This line of the Ayrshire Wallaces then lived at Craigie Castle until they moved to Newton Castle in Ayr in 1588. Craigie Castle was then left to fall into ruin. It was the belief of Mrs Frances Dunlop of Dunlop, a lineal descendant of William Wallace, that he was born at his grandfather's home of Craigie Castle. William only moved away after a number of years had passed du ...
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Saint Inan
Saint Inan (Evan) was the patron saint of Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, where he is said to have resided during the 9th century AD. He is reputed to have come from Iona, and to have died in Irvine, where his tomb was reputed to have been the site of miracles. History Although he is said to have been a hermit, according to tradition St. Inan is said to have often visited the town of Beith, frequenting Cuff Hill with its rocking stone and various other prehistoric monuments. A cleft in the west-front of Lochlands Hill is still known as 'St. Inan's Chair' and said to have been used by the saint as a pulpit. and a crystal-clear holy well existed nearby, now sadly covered over (2006). An unsuccessful search for the saint's writings which were said to be preserved in the library of Bonci, Archbishop of Pisa was made by Colonel Mure of Caldwell in the 19th century. Saint Inan has said to have preached to the assembled people from the chair on the hill and stayed on the site o ...
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Barmkin
Barmkin, also spelled barmekin or barnekin, is a Scots word which refers to a form of medieval and later defensive enclosure, typically found around smaller castles, tower houses, pele towers, and bastle houses in Scotland and the north of England. It has been suggested that etymologically the word may be a corruption of the word ''barbican'' or ''berm''. The barmkin would have contained ancillary buildings, and could be used to protect cattle during raids. In 1535 a Parliament of James V of Scotland enacted that "every landed man dwelling in the inland or upon the borders having there a hundred pound land of new extent shall build a sufficient barmkin upon his heritage and lands in the most suitable place, of stone and lime, containing three score foot of the square, one ell thick and six ells high, for the protection and defence of him, his tenants and their goods in troublesome times, with a tower in the same for himself if he thinks it expedient." Places which had barmkins ...
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Great Hall
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages, and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great chamber for eating and relaxing. At that time the word "great" simply meant big and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence. In the medieval period, the room would simply have been referred to as the "hall" unless the building also had a secondary hall, but the term "great hall" has been predominant for surviving rooms of this type for several centuries, to distinguish them from the different type of hall found in post-medieval houses. Great halls were found especially in France, England and Scotland, but similar rooms were also found in some other European countries. A typical great hall was a rectangular room between one and a half and three times as long as it was wide, and also higher than it was wide. It was ente ...
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Wars Of Scottish Independence
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of Scotland in 1296, and ended with the signing of the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton in 1328. The Second War (1332–1357) began with the English-supported invasion by Edward Balliol and the 'Disinherited' in 1332, and ended in 1357 with the signing of the Treaty of Berwick. The wars were part of a great crisis for Scotland and the period became one of the most defining times in its history. At the end of both wars, Scotland retained its status as an independent state. The wars were important for other reasons, such as the emergence of the longbow as a key weapon in medieval warfare. The First War of Independence: 1296–1328 Background King Alexander III of Scotland died in 1286, leaving his three-year-old granddaughter Margaret, ...
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Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward Of Scotland
Alexander Stewart (about 1220-1282), known as Alexander of Dundonald, was a Scottish magnate who in 1241 succeeded his father as hereditary High Steward of Scotland. Origins He was the son of Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland. Career He apparently fought on the Seventh Crusade under King Louis IX of France, during which his younger brother John was killed at Damietta in Egypt in 1249. He also seems to have made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain and in honour of the saint baptised his eldest surviving son James, a name rare before then in Scotland. In 1255 he appears as one of the Regents of Scotland during the minority of King Alexander III. He seems to have commanded the right wing of the armed force which, at Largs in October 1263, successfully defended Scotland against attempted invasion by King Haakon IV of Norway. It appears to have been in his time that the Stewarts acquired the lordship of the Cowal peninsula, with their castle at Dunoon. He i ...
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Walter The Steward, 1st High Steward Of Scotland
Walter FitzAlan (1177) was a twelfth-century English baron who became a Scottish magnate and Steward of Scotland. He was a younger son of Alan fitz Flaad and Avelina de Hesdin. In about 1136, Walter entered into the service of David I, King of Scotland. He became the king's ''dapifer'' or steward in about 1150, and served as such for three successive Scottish kings: David, Malcolm IV and William I. In time, the stewardship became hereditarily held by Walter's descendants. Walter started his career as a minor English baron. Upon arriving in Scotland, however, he received a substantial grant of lands from his Scottish sovereigns. These included the western provincial lordships of: Mearns, Strathgryfe, Renfrew and North Kyle. The caput of Walter's holdings is uncertain, although there is reason to suspect it was either Dundonald Castle or Renfrew Castle. Walter was a benefactor of several religious houses, and was the founder of Paisley Priory. There is reason to suspect that ...
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