![Buittle Old Kirk, near Castle Douglas - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/Buittle_Old_Kirk%2C_near_Castle_Douglas_-_geograph.org.uk_-_69641.jpg)
Buittle is an ecclesiastical and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...
, southwest Scotland, in the traditional county of
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 ...
. It lies to the west of the
Urr Water
Urr Water or River Urr ('' arc. River Orr'') is a river in which flows through the counties of Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshire in southwest Scotland.
Course
Entirely within Dumfries and Galloway, the Urr Water originates at Loch Urr and flow ...
, between
Dalbeattie
Dalbeattie (, sco, Dawbeattie, gd, Dail Bheithe meaning 'haugh of the birch' or ''Dail'' ''bhàite'' 'drowned (''i.e.'' liable to flood) haugh') is a town in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Dalbea ...
and
Castle Douglas
Castle Douglas ( gd, Caisteal Dhùghlais) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the lieutenancy area of Kirkcudbrightshire, in the eastern part of Galloway, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet. It is in the ...
, and extends from
Haugh of Urr
Haugh of Urr (), is a village in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is approximately NNW of Dalbeattie, NE of Castle Douglas, west of Dumfries and east of Kirkcudbright.
Description
The villa ...
in the north to Almorness Point on the
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in ...
in the south. The main settlement is the small village of
Palnackie
Palnackie is a village in the parish of Buittle in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council ...
.
Etymology
The name is derived from
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''bōtl'', meaning "a dwelling, dwelling-place, house", giving ''Buittle'' the same etymology as
Bootle
Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449.
Histo ...
in England.
History
Northumbrian expansion into what was the kingdoms of
Rheged
Rheged () was one of the kingdoms of the ''Hen Ogledd'' ("Old North"), the Brittonic-speaking region of what is now Northern England and southern Scotland, during the post-Roman era and Early Middle Ages. It is recorded in several poetic and ba ...
and
Strathclyde
Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...
in the 7th and 8th centuries left a number of
Anglian names throughout southwest Scotland, and it would appear that the name Buittle is one of these relics.
Buittle was in the semi-independent
Kingdom of Galloway which is recorded between the 11th and 13th century. It remained part of that lordship until
Dervorguilla
Dervorguilla of Galloway (c. 1210 – 28 January 1290) was a 'lady of substance' in 13th century Scotland, the wife from 1223 of John, 5th Baron de Balliol, and mother of John I, a future king of Scotland.
The name Dervorguilla or Dervorgil ...
, daughter of the last King,
Alan of Galloway
Alan of Galloway (before 1199 – 1234), also known as Alan fitz Roland, was a leading thirteenth-century Scottish magnate. As the hereditary Lord of Galloway and Constable of Scotland, he was one of the most influential men in the Kingdom of S ...
, married the Anglo-Norman
John de Baliol
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
in 1223. John and Dervorguilla raised
Buittle Castle
Buittle Castle, also known historically as Botle or Botel Castle, is a Motte and Bailey site in Galloway, south-west Scotland with significant early and medieval history comprising a significant ruined Norman style Motte, and several extant buil ...
to replace an earlier motte, and the remains of the castle can still be seen.
![Buittle Castle - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Buittle_Castle_-_geograph.org.uk_-_718206.jpg)
John de Baliol established
Balliol College
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
, one of the oldest colleges of the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
, in around 1263. Following his death in 1269 Dervorguilla provided the college with a permanent endowment, and her statutes of 1282 are preserved by the college. The statutes conclude with the sentence "''Dat' apud Botel in octauis Assumpcionis gloriose uirginis Marie anno gracie MCC octogesimo secundo.''" That is, "Given at Buittle, in the
octave
In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...
of the
Assumption of the Glorious Virgin Mary, in the year of Grace one thousand two hundred and eighty two."
Buittle became the Scottish residence of their son
John Balliol
John Balliol ( – late 1314), known derisively as ''Toom Tabard'' (meaning "empty coat" – coat of arms), was King of Scots from 1292 to 1296. Little is known of his early life. After the death of Margaret, Maid of Norway, Scotland entered an ...
, who was King of Scotland from 1292 to 1296. Galloway remained faithful to King John and his son
Edward Balliol
Edward Balliol (; 1283 – January 1364) was a claimant to the Scottish throne during the Second War of Scottish Independence. With English help, he ruled parts of the kingdom from 1332 to 1356.
Early life
Edward was the eldest son of John Ba ...
throughout the
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 ...
, which saw the Balliols defeated the
Robert the Bruce
Robert I (11 July 1274 – 7 June 1329), popularly known as Robert the Bruce (Scottish Gaelic: ''Raibeart an Bruis''), was King of Scots from 1306 to his death in 1329. One of the most renowned warriors of his generation, Robert eventual ...
and his son
David II. The latter, in 1369, appointed
Archibald the Grim
Archibald Douglas, Earl of Douglas and Wigtown, Lord of Galloway, Douglas and Bothwell (c. 1330 – c. 24 December 1400), called Archibald the Grim or Black Archibald, was a late medieval Scottish nobleman. Archibald was the bastard son of ...
as Lord of Galloway, ''"becaus he tuke git trawell to purge the cuntrey of Englis blude"''. Archibald forbore to remain at Buittle and took up the residence of the older Kings of Galloway at
Kirkcudbright
Kirkcudbright ( ; sco, Kirkcoubrie; gd, Cille Chùithbeirt) is a town, parish and a Royal Burgh from 1455 in Kirkcudbrightshire, of which it is traditionally the county town, within Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.
The town lies southwest of C ...
.
Old Place of Buittle also known as Buittle Tower, late C16 fortified house.
Buittle Parish Church
![Buittle Old Kirk - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Buittle_Old_Kirk_-_geograph.org.uk_-_225429.jpg)
The present Buittle Parish Church, now closed, was built in 1818 by architect
Walter Newall
Walter Newall (3 April 1780 – 25 December 1863) was a Scottish architect and civil engineer, born at Doubledyke in the parish of New Abbey in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. He was the leading architect in the Dumfries a ...
to replace a medieval church, the remains of which stand in the churchyard. This church was dedicated to
Saint Colman
Colmán or Colman is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:
Medieval Irish people
* Colmán Bec (died ''c''. 585), Irish dynast
* Colmán mac Cobthaig (died ''c''. 622), Irish king
* Colmán mac Lénéni (died ''c'' ...
, the nave has been dated to the 13th century. Around 1381 the church was given to the monks of
Sweetheart Abbey
The Abbey of Dulce Cor, better known as Sweetheart Abbey ( Gaelic: ''An Abaid Ur''), was a Cistercian monastery founded in 1275 in what is now the village of New Abbey, in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway, ...
at New Abbey. The old church is a
scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
.
See also
*
*
Buittle Place
*
Orchardton Tower
Orchardton Tower is a ruined tower house in Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located south of Dalbeattie, and south of Palnackie, in Buittle parish. It is remarkable as the only cylindrical tower house in Scotland. ...
References
External links
Buittle Parish Home PageHistory of Buittle CastleInscriptions and Photographs of Buittle Gravestones
{{Coord, 54.942, -3.866, display=title, region:GB_scale:10000
Parishes in Dumfries and Galloway
Kirkcudbrightshire