Craigie Castle, in the old Barony of Craigie, is a ruined fortification situated about southeast of
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
and southeast of
Craigie village, in the Civil Parish of Craigie,
South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire ( sco, Sooth Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir a Deas, ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. On 30 June 2 ...
,
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 ...
. 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
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 ...
.
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.
[Clan Wallace website](_blank)
/ref> It was the belief of Mrs Frances Dunlop
Frances Anne Wallace Dunlop (16 April 1730 – 24 May 1815) was a Scottish heiress, landowner, and correspondent and friend of poet Robert Burns.
Life
Frances was born on 16 April 1730. She descended from a brother of William Wallace, the Scotti ...
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 due to the burgeoning size of the family and the lack of space at Craigie.
Descriptions of the castle
The present Gothic castellated ruins date mainly from the 15th century, with some 12th or 13th century work. Another view is that the main part of the building was a hall house
The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples wer ...
dating from the 12th or 13th century, incorporating an even earlier building which may have been built by the predecessors of Walter Hose who held sway prior to Anglo-Norman control.
The buildings were surrounded by ditches and natural lochans; enclosing an area of about . It had a high quality rib-vaulted hall consisting of three bays over an unvaulted basement, but architectural historians have found traces of an earlier hall which had a crenellated parapet rising flush with the main wall-face. In the centre of one wall was a round-arched doorway, and opposite this a late medieval fireplace, added in the 15th century, was built over another round-arched opening.
The castle contains one of the finest examples of a vaulted hall in Scotland, easily equal to any Scottish abbey or church. The only rivals of the same period are Tulliallan
Tulliallan (Gaelic ''tulach-aluinn'', 'Beautiful knoll') was an estate in Perthshire, Scotland, near to Kincardine, and a parish.
The Blackadder lairds of Tulliallan, a branch of the Blackadder border clan, wielded considerable power in the 15 ...
, Bothwell, and Auchendoun. It has been stated that in its time Craigie was the most impressive building of its kind in Ayrshire.
Due to the condition of the structures it has proved difficult to determine the original plan, but the remains suggest that it was originally a simple rectangle of suitable size for a building such as an early hall-house. Craigie Castle may originally have been a hall-house of the late 12th or early 13th century with a wide crenellate parapet enclosing a saddleback roof
A saddleback roof is usually on a tower, with a ridge and two sloping sides, producing a gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed ...
. During the 15th century it seems that these crenellations were built over and a new hall fashioned on the walls of its predecessor.
The ruins stand upon a knoll rising out of a plateau, between what appears to have been two marshes or lochans, and the ditches were originally cut between them. One ditch cuts the ridge 117m NE of the castle to form an outer bailey. The castle would have been effectively isolated from the 'mainland', and a significant barrier raised by the water to any potential besiegers at the period when the use of gunpowder was unknown. Two crumbling gables, portions of walls, and shreds of battlements remain, and in the 19th century several underground vaulted chambers survived, although partly filled with rubbish, and home to foxes and bats. The entrance to the castle was at the south-west side by a drawbridge,[Mackintosh, page 77] of which the abutment still survives. The entrance pend or arched passage had a circular watch-tower or bastion to defend it. Within the closing wall was a courtyard surrounded by buildings, and from this courtyard there was an entrance into the great hall, long blocked up.
In 1895 Smith records that ''at a distance of 145 paces from to the north-east of the castle a deep trench has been cut in a north-west and south-east direction for a distance of 162 paces, to connect the two lochans. Near the south wall of the castle there is another trench, and a section of building is to be seen on the outside of it. On the west side there are the remains of a third trench.''
In 1863 Paterson records that the tower was undergoing some repairs at the end of the 17th century when a part of the roof fell in, after which the castle was completely abandoned. He praises the high degree of military science employed in the construction of the castle where besiegers would be exposed to raking crossfire even after crossing the ditches / moats and would be outflanked on nearly all sides.
A 'Kragy' castle is marked on Timothy Pont
Rev Timothy Pont (c. 1560–c.1627) was a Scottish minister, cartographer and topographer. He was the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an a ...
's map of c.1600. It is shown on an elevated area with a prominent entrance way, wooded policies and a surrounding pale
Pale may refer to:
Jurisdictions
* Medieval areas of English conquest:
** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558)
** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland
*Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...
.
Although now a minor road, the road running near the castle (B730) was the main route from Irvine to Dumfries via Sanquhar, with a nearby link to the Ayr–Kilmarnock road; Craigie was therefore on one of the few reasonable standard communication routes in the area in the 18th and earlier centuries. The numerous rigs on Roy's 1752 map show that the whole area was intensively cultivated at the time.
Crannog
As late as the 19th century a likely crannóg
A crannog (; ga, crannóg ; gd, crannag ) is typically a partially or entirely artificial island, usually built in lakes and estuarine waters of Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Unlike the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, which were bu ...
was visible in the boggy hollow 'just to the south-west' of Craigie Castle; it was described as ''a slight rise in the meadow...mostly composed of stones''. When the hollow was drained an oar was found.
Moot hills
Smith records moot hill
A moot hill or ''mons placiti'' (statute hill) is a hill or mound historically used as an assembly or meeting place, as a moot hall is a meeting or assembly building, also traditionally to decide local issues. In early medieval Britain, such h ...
s near Craigie village, Knockmarloch and Highlangside. The barony would originally have had a Moot or Justice Hill and a gallows hill.
Borland Farms
Three Borland Farms have been recorded near Craigie village and this may relate directly to Craigie Castle. The name 'Boarland' could refer to the presence of wild boar, however a more likely origin is that a 'Boor' also meant a serf and Norman lords often apportioned lands near their castles for their servants.[Bayne, John F. (1935). ''Dunlop Parish – A History of Church, Parish, and Nobility''. Pub. T.& A. Constable, pages 10–16.] The Borland or Bordland also meant the land that was specifically used to furnish food for a castle.[Mackenzie, W. Mackay (1927). ''The Mediaeval Castle in Scotland.'' Pub. Methuen & Co. Ltd. P. 29.] A 'Boirland' is marked on the Timothy Pont
Rev Timothy Pont (c. 1560–c.1627) was a Scottish minister, cartographer and topographer. He was the first to produce a detailed map of Scotland. Pont's maps are among the earliest surviving to show a European country in minute detail, from an a ...
map as far back as the late 16th / early 17th century.
Craigie Mains farm
An armorial plaque from the castle ruins is set in the wall of the steading (NS 4 062 3174). The naive peasantry at one time believed that the stone showed two wild men playing at draughts
Checkers (American English), also known as draughts (; British English), is a group of strategy board games for two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform game pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over opponent pieces. Checkers ...
. It bears the impaled arms of the Lindsays and Wallaces.
James Kilpatrick of Craigie Mains was a great horseman who considerably improved the breeding lines of the Clydesdale horse and was famous throughout Britain and the World. Some his champions were: 1918, Craigie Litigant; 1921, Craigie Excellence; 1924, Craigie McQuaid; 1925, Craigie Exquisite; 1929, Craigie Winalot; 1930, Craigie Beau Ideal; 1933, Craigie Realisation; 1935, Craigie Magnificent; 1939, Craigie Independent; 1941, Craigie Topsman; 1942, Craigie Chieftain; 1947, Craigie Supreme Commander; 1948, Craigie True Form. In 1951 Craigie Mains had about 80 head of horses. James Kilpatrick regularly exhibited his Clydesdales, colts and fillies in all their finery at the annual Craigie Agricultural Show in the 1900s.
The famous 'Baron of Buchlyvie' was purchased for £700 by Mr Kilpatrick in 1902 and was the stud horse at the mains in 1903. Mr William Dunlop of Dunure Mains had a half share and after much disagreement the 'baron' ended up at Dunlop Mains, having been sold at auction or £9,500; an unheard of sum for a Clydesdale at the time. The mounted skeleton of this horse is now on display at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.
Matthew Anderson the 'Policeman Poet' wrote a poem in honour of Symington and Craigie.
This is an extract –
The Hoses and Lindsays of Craigie
In the 12th century Walter fitz Alan, Steward of Scotland, held these lands and Walter Hose held his fief from the Steward.[Campbell, Page 159] In 1177 Walter Hose of Cragyn had given the church of Cragyn to the monks of Paisley. John, probably Walter's son, inherited and his son Thomas had no heir, resulting in his sisters Christiana and Matilda inheriting. Walter de Lyndesay, Knight, was the son of Christiana, the father being William Lyndesey of Crawfurd. The male line ended with John de Lyndesey, whose daughter married John Wallace of Riccarton.
File:Craigie Castle keep - West view.JPG, A view of the keep facing North
File:Craigie Castle - West Keep wall from the East.JPG, The keep from the South East
File:Craigie Castle - Keep and Great Hall.JPG, The keep and great hall
File:Craigie Castle - East keep wall.JPG, The South facing wall of the keep
File:Craigie castle view.jpg, Craigie Castle in 1850
File:Barnweill. View of Craigie Castle, etc..JPG, A view of Craigie Castle in its landscape from Barnweill Kirk ruins.
The Wallaces of Craigie
John Wallace of Riccarton in the reign of David II had a charter of lands of Moorlecere in Forfarshire and was styled 'Wallayis of Richardtoun'. John married the heiress of Lindsay of Craigie circa 1371 and from this date Craigie was the chief residence of the family.
John Wallace was Lieutenant-General to James II, and fought at the Battle of Sark on 23 October 1448, killing the English General Magnus with his own hands. John was injured on the battlefield and died of his wounds at Craigie Castle about three months later.
In the second half of the 15th century the Wallace family had Blind Harry
Blind Harry ( 1440 – 1492), also known as Harry, Hary or Henry the Minstrel, is renowned as the author of ''The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace'', more commonly known as '' The Wallace''. This wa ...
write his poem '' The Wallace'', which recorded the story of Sir William Wallace, albeit 150 years after his death.[Coventry, Page 586]
An Adam Wallace was Comptroller of the Household of James III in 1468. John Wallace was killed at the Battle of Flodden
The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...
in 1513; his brother Adam inherited and became oversmen of Prestwick
Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...
in addition to Bailie of Kyle Stewart. In 1515 he was made alderman of Ayr and controlled the Royal Burgh for a decade.[Strawhorn, page 28]
In 1559 Sir John Wallace accompanied the Earl of Glencairn, the Lords Boyd and Ochiltree, the Sheriff of Ayr, the Laird of Cessnock and others, with a body of 2500 men to Perth in support of the Covenanters or reformers.
Sir William Wallace commanded a cavalry under James VII (James II of England) and went into exile in France with him. He was at the Battle of Killiecrankie
The Battle of Killiecrankie ( gd, Blàr Choille Chnagaidh), also referred to as the Battle of Rinrory, took place on 27 July 1689 during the 1689 Scottish Jacobite rising. An outnumbered Jacobite force under John Graham, Viscount Dundee and S ...
and died circa 1700; his brother succeeded to the estates, much impoverished by Sir William's adherence to the Jacobite cause.
The Wallaces of Craigie became hereditary Bailies of Kyle Stewart and as such were the chief local representatives of the Crown. In 1489 John Wallace obtained a lease to mine coal near Kingcase in Prestwick.
In 1527 Gilbert Kennedy, 2nd Earl of Cassillis was ambushed and murdered on the sand dunes at Prestwick. Adam Wallace was implicated in this essentially Campbell inspired feud, as his wife, Dame Isabelle, was said to have planned the assassination. The controversy resulted in a loss of prestige and influence.
Sir Hugh Wallace was a supporter of the Royalist cause of Charles I and II, for which his estate was sequestered and only returned when Charles II came to the throne. Sir Hugh had raised a regiment of foot at his own expense, resulting in great debts, sale of lands and in 1626 the disposal of the heritable Kyle bailieship to the Crown for £10,000 Scots. Sir Hugh Wallace, the laird referred to below, was knighted by Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
and in 1669 Charles II conferred a Baronetcy upon him. All his sons predeceased him and Thomas, a grandnephew inherited. He was most liberal in his ideas, fought with Montrose at the Battle of Philiphaugh
The Battle of Philiphaugh was fought on 13 September 1645 during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms near Selkirk in the Scottish Borders. The Royalist army of the Marquis of Montrose was destroyed by the Covenanter army of Sir David Leslie, ...
and died about 1650.[Macintosh, page 78][Adamson, pages 63–65.]
In 1770 Sir Thomas Wallace died and the baronetcy was inherited by his grandson Thomas Dunlop, who sold off the estate of Craigie in 1783, moved to England and died within three years. He adopted the name Wallace, his mother being Frances Anne Wallace of Dunlop, Sir Thomas's daughter and sole heir; his father was John Dunlop of that Ilk. His son was Major-General Sir John Alexander Wallace who fought in India, Egypt, Spain and France and died in 1857.
The Wallaces married into a number of local aristocratic families, notably the Campbells of Loudoun and the Blairs of Blair. At Blair Castle above a door are the armorial bearings of the Blairs Of Blair and the Wallaces of Craigie, dated 1617. Bryce Blair married Annabel Wallace.
In the 1560s the Wallace family acquired Fail Monastery
Fail Monastery, occasionally known as Failford Abbey, had a dedication to 'Saint Mary',Love (2003), Page 209Groome, Page 561 and was located at Fail (NS 42129 28654) on the bank of the Water of Fail, Parish of Tarbolton near the town of Tarbolto ...
, however it was later granted to Walter Whytford and passed out of their hands.
Coat of arms
Those of Sir John Alexander Wallace were quarterly : first and fourth, Gules
In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple).
In engraving, it is sometimes depict ...
, a Lion rampant, Or, within an Orle; second and third, Gules, a fesse Cheque of three, Argent
In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...
and Azure. The Supporters were two savages, proper, with Clubs erect. The family crest was an Ostrich neck and head erect, issuing out of an open crown, with a horseshoe in the mouth. The motto was Esperanza
Esperanza is the Spanish word for hope, and may refer to:
Places Philippines
* Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, a municipality
* Esperanza, Masbate, a municipality
* Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat, a municipality
United States
* Esperanza, Mississippi, ...
, Spanish for 'Hope'.
The legend of the fall of the Wallaces of Craigie
The Lairds of Craigie are said to have cared little for the religious discipline of the presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
s, and the Laird of Craigie, Sir Hugh Wallace, allowed his tenants or servants to work on Sundays, and he himself traveled openly upon the Sabbath day. The other local ministers of the places involved wrote to the Laird's local minister, Mr. Inglish, about ''such open and scandalous breaches of the Sabbath''.
The Laird ignored the ministers' advice and when in church he actually threw his sword at the minister, the sword sticking in the wood at the back of the pulpit. The minister recovered and told the Laird that God will reduce your ''great stone house'' to a pile of stones and ''no one will be able to repair it; and your son, of whom you have great hopes, will die a fool''. Before long the castle was in need of repair, and when the stonemasons started work a great part of it fell down and had almost buried them all. The story may have a grain of truth as Sir Hugh, as stated, was an ardent supporter of the episcopalian
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
sentiments of Charles I and II and was no friend of the Presbyterians.
Craigie House
In the 1730s, Craigie House (NGR NS 34970 21386) in Ayr was built as a replacement residence for Sir Thomas Wallace of Newton-on-Ayr Castle, the fifth baronet; nothing of Newton Castle, previously known as Sanquhar,[ now remains. In 1783 William Campbell, who made his fortune in India, purchased the principal portion of the Craigie estate. His brother, Richard Campbell of Craigie inherited the estate in 1823 and the property remained in the Campbell family for a number of generations. The family included lawyers and politicians, one being the Member for the Ayr Burghs.
Craigie House and estate was purchased from the Campbell family by Ayr Town Council in 1940. The gardens that run from the centre of Ayr northeast alongside the River Ayr are open to the public free of charge, however the house is used as offices for the ]University of the West of Scotland
The University of the West of Scotland ( gd, Oilthigh na h-Alba an Iar), formerly the University of Paisley, is a public university with four campuses in south-western Scotland, in the towns of Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, Blantyre, South Lanar ...
and various building works are proposed for the gardens area.
Newton-on-Ayr Castle or Sanquhar Castle
The Wallaces constructed this castle, previously known as Sanquhar, circa the 15th century, however James V
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 duri ...
granted it to Sir William Hamilton, Provost of Ayr in 1539. William Hamilton of Sanquhar became a favourite of Regent Arran
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...
and Captain of Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
. His daughter Isobel married George Seton, 7th Lord Seton
George Seton V, 7th Lord Seton (1531–1586), was a Lord of the Parliament of Scotland, Master of the Household of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Provost of Edinburgh. He was the eldest son of George Seton, 6th Lord Seton, and Elizabeth Hay, a daughter ...
in August 1550 and the wedding feast was held at Edinburgh Castle. Inventories of Newton Sanquhar castle mention the fine carved furniture made in the "most courtly manner" that Hamilton had installed.
John Wallace of Craigie with forty others forcefully regained the castle in 1559 but were compelled to return it to the Hamiltons. It was returned to John Wallace of Burnbank, but was then occupied in 1587 by James Stewart, Earl of Arran
Captain James Stewart, Earl of Arran (died 1595) was created Earl of Arran by the young King James VI, who wrested the title from James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran. He rose to become Lord Chancellor of Scotland and was eventually murdered in ...
, now called "James Stewart of Sanquhar", his brother Harry Stewart, and his wife Elizabeth Stewart, Lady Lovat.
In 1598 the Wallaces confirmed their ownership and moved in shortly after. The castle was severely damaged in a storm in 1701 and was finally demolished in the second half of the 18th century. Nothing of the tower now remains.
Micro-history
The Eglinton Hunt regularly visited Craigie's hill, cover, knowes and glens in the 1900s. A kill resulted in a meal for the dogs and the bushy tail presented to the first lady.
The small loch below the manse was used as the curling pond in the 1900s; the curling house
A curling house was used to store curling stones, brushes and other equipment used to maintain a curling pond and play the game of curling in Scotland and elsewhere.
Introduction
The houses were often purely functional in character, being relat ...
ruins are still standing (2009).[Walls, Page 62]
In 1584 William Wallace of Ellerslie held the lands of Mains of Helentoun and Bogend, together with the tower, fortalice, and manor place of Helenton, together with half of the mill.[Paterson, Page 749]
See also
* Auchans, 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; i ...
, a Wallace castle
* Earlston, East Ayrshire
Earlston is a hamlet in Riccarton, East Ayrshire, Scotland. The habitation dates from at least the early 18th century and is near Caprington Castle and Todrigs Mill. It was for many years the site of a large sawmill and a mine pumping engine, an ...
References
;Notes
;Sources
# Adamson, Archibald R. (1875). ''Rambles Round Kilmarnock''. Kilmarnock : T. Stevenson.
# Campbell, Hugh (1817). ''The Wanderer in Ayrshire : A Tour''. Kilmarnock : Hugh Campbell.
# Campbell, Thorbjørn (2003). ''Ayrshire. A Historical Guide.'' Edinburgh : Birlinn. .
# Close, Robert (1992). ''Ayrshire and Arran: An Illustrated Architectural Guide''. Pub. Roy Inc Arch Scot. .
# Close, Rob and Riches, Anne (2012). ''Ayrshire and Arran, The Buildings of Scotland''. New Haven : Yale University Press. .
# Coventry, Martin (2010). ''Castles of the Clans''. Musselburgh : Goblinshead. .
# Cuthbertson, David Cuningham (1945). ''Autumn in Kyle and the Charm of Cunninghame''. London : Jenkins.
# Dobie, James D. (ed Dobie, J.S.) (1876). ''Cunninghame, Topographized by Timothy Pont 1604–1608, with continuations and illustrative notices''. Glasgow : John Tweed.
# Dougall, Charles S. (1911). ''The Burns Country''. London : A & C Black.
# Groome, Francis H. (1903). ''Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland''. London : Caxton.
#
#
#
# Hogg, Patrick Scott (2008). ''Robert Burns. The Patriot Bard''. Edinburgh : Mainstream Publishing. .
# Love, Dane (2003). ''Ayrshire : Discovering a County''. Ayr : Fort Publishing. .
# Love, Dane (2005). ''Lost Ayrshire : Ayrshire's Lost Architectural Heritage''. Edinburgh : Birlinn Ltd. .
# MacGibbon, T. and Ross, D. (1887–92). ''The castellated and domestic architecture of Scotland from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries'', 5v, Edinburgh.
# Macintosh, John (1894). ''Ayrshire Nights' Entertainments''. Kilmarnock : Dunlop and Drennan.
# Millar, A. H. (1885). ''The Castles and Mansions of Ayrshire''. Glasgow : The Grimsay Press. .
# Paterson, James (1847). (Edit). ''The Ballads and Songs of Ayrshire.'' Edinburgh : T. G. Stevenson.
# Paterson, James (1863–66). ''History of the Counties of Ayr and Wigton''. V. – III – Cunninghame. Edinburgh: J. Stillie.
# Reid, Donald L. (2009). ''Discovering Matthew Anderson. Policeman-Poet of Ayrshire.'' Beith : Cleland Crosbie.
# Robertson, William (1889). ''Historical Tales and Legends of Ayrshire''. Pub. Hamilton, Adams & Co.
# Shaw, James Edward (1953). ''Ayrshire 1745–1950. A Social and Industrial History of the county.'' Edinburgh : Oliver & Boyd.
# Smith, John (1895). ''Prehistoric Man in Ayrshire''. London : Elliot Stock.
# Strawhorn, John (1994). ''The History of Prestwick''. Edinburgh : John Donald. .
# Strawhorn, John and Boyd, William (1951). ''The Third Statistical Account of Scotland. Ayrshire.'' Edinburgh : Oliver & Boyd.
# Walls, William (1926). ''Life, Love, and Light''. Edinburgh : Privately Published.
External links
Robert Byden's drawing of Craigie Castle
{{Castles in South Ayrshire
Castles in South Ayrshire
Ruins in South Ayrshire
History of South Ayrshire
Scheduled Ancient Monuments in South Ayrshire