![Barscobe Castle 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Barscobe_Castle_1.jpg)
Barscobe Castle is a 17th-century
tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...
in
Balmaclellan
Balmaclellan (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile MhicIllFhaolain'', meaning town of the MacLellans) is a small hillside village of stone houses with slate roofs in a fold of the Galloway hills in south-west Scotland. To the west, across the Ken River, the ...
,
Kirkcudbrightshire
Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative county ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. It is a typical house of a country
laird
Laird () is the owner of a large, long-established Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a baron and above a gentleman. This rank was held only by those lairds holding official recognition in ...
, and according to a panel above the entrance, was built in 1648.
The
L-plan
An L-plan castle is a castle or tower house in the shape of an L, typically built from the 13th to the 17th century. This design is found quite frequently in Scotland, but is also seen in England, Ireland, Romania, Sardinia, and other location ...
tower was constructed using stone taken from
Threave Castle
Threave Castle is situated on an island in the River Dee, west of Castle Douglas in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland.
Built in the 1370s by Archibald the Grim, it was a stronghold of ...
. The main block is three storeys high with the stair wing one storey higher. The gables have a modification of
crowstep
A stepped gable, crow-stepped gable, or corbie step is a stairstep type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building. The top of the parapet wall projects above the roofline and the top of the brick or stone wall is stacked in ...
s found only in
Galloway
Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway.
A native or i ...
.
[ It is a fine example of a mid-17th-century house which was unoccupied for many years until 1971 when it was restored. It has a modern byre (barn) attached, which has been converted into a garage. Barscobe Castle is a category A ]listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
Above the entrance to Barscobe Castle is an armorial panel bearing the arms of Maclellan and Gordon with the initials of William Maclellan, who built the castle, and his wife Mary Gordon, the natural daughter of Sir Robert Gordon of Lochinvar, 4th Viscount Kenmure
Viscount of Kenmure was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created by Charles I in 1633 for the prominent Presbyterian Sir John Gordon, 2nd Baronet. He was made Lord Lochinvar at the same time, also in the Peerage of Scotland. Both titles w ...
and Commissioner of War for the Stewartry
Stewartry was a local government district from 1975 until 1996 within the Dumfries and Galloway region in south-west Scotland. Under the name Stewartry of Kirkcudbright the area of the former district is still used as a lieutenancy area. Dumf ...
from 1645-1648.
When William Maclellan died in 1654, his eldest son Robert Maclellan, an ardent Covenanter
Covenanters ( gd, Cùmhnantaich) were members of a 17th-century Scottish religious and political movement, who supported a Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and the primacy of its leaders in religious affairs. The name is derived from ''Covenan ...
, succeeded to the castle and lands of Barscobe.
During the long War of the Covenants that followed the National Covenant of 1638, Barscobe became the meeting place for the late 17th century Covenanters, secretly gathering at the Holy Linn waterfall in Barscobe Wood to carry out illegal Conventicles and baptisms in their struggle for religious freedoms
Robert Maclellan was involved in a skirmish in 1666 at the Clachan Inn in nearby St. John's Town of Dalry
St John's Town of Dalry ( gd, Clachan Eòin), usually referred to simply as Dalry ( / 'dal-RYE'), is a village in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire.
Location
St Johns Town is located close to the ...
, when he wounded Corporal George Deanes of the Royal Dragoon Guards by shooting fragments of his clay pipe into his leg. Later, in November of the same year, he led a force of 200 men to Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...
where he captured Sir James Turner, district commander of the Royal Dragoon Guards, who had been sent to Galloway
Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway.
A native or i ...
to deal severely with Covenanter disturbances, a period known as The Killing Time
The Killing Time was a period of conflict in Scottish history between the Presbyterian Covenanter movement, based largely in the south west of the country, and the government forces of Kings Charles II and James VII. The period, roughl ...
. Maclellan then marched towards Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. There many of his force were slaughtered at the Battle of Rullion Green
The Battle of Rullion Green took place on 28 November 1666, near the Pentland Hills, in Midlothian, Scotland. It was the only significant battle of the Pentland Rising, a brief revolt by Covenanter dissidents against the Scottish government.
S ...
in the Pentland Hills
The Pentland Hills are a range of hills southwest of Edinburgh, Scotland. The range is around in length, and runs southwest from Edinburgh towards Biggar and the upper Clydesdale.
Etymology
The name is first recorded for the farm of Pentlan ...
, their actions becoming known as the Pentland Rising.
He continued to fight the Covenanters' cause until he was finally captured by Claverhouse
Claverhouse (also known as Barns of Claverhouse) is a residential area located on the northern outskirts of Dundee, Scotland with the city centre located 2 miles (3.2 km) from the area.
Overview
Claverhouse is primarily an affluent resid ...
in 1682 and was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered. However, he had his sentence deferred after he took 'the Test' and swore allegiance to the Crown in order that he may return to Barscobe. But, just a year after his return, he was murdered at Barscobe by Robert Grierson of Mylnemark, a fellow Covenanter who felt Maclellan had betrayed the cause.
Barscobe remained in the Maclellan family until 1775 when it was sold to the Carson family. Later, in the 1920s, the estate was sold to Hugh Laing, a shipbuilder who built Barscobe House. It was sold again in 1961 to hotelier and politician Sir Hugh Wontner who restored Barscobe Castle in the 1970s under the guidance of its first tenant, Dame Bridget D'Oyly Carte. The architect for the restoration was Ian G Lindsay. After Sir Hugh’s death in 1992, his daughter Jenifer Emery inherited the estate. She subsequently passed on the estate to her son Alistair Emery in 2007. Barscobe Castle has been inhabited since November 2011 by Stewart Gibson and Lorraine Belshaw and as of 2015 was running as small seasonal bed and breakfast.BarscobeCastle CASTLE KITCHEN & BED AND BREAKFAST
References
{{Authority control
Category A listed buildings in Dumfries and Galloway
Listed castles in Scotland
Castles in Dumfries and Galloway
Houses in Dumfries and Galloway
Houses completed in 1648
1648 establishments in Scotland
Tower houses in Scotland