Slains Castle (otherwise known as Old Slains Castle) is a
ruined
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
near
Collieston
Collieston is a small former fishing village on the North Sea coast in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The village lies just north of the Sands of Forvie Special Protection Area, between Cruden Bay and Newburgh.
History
The earliest recorded history ...
in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
,
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 not to be confused with
New Slains Castle, a separate building located five miles to the north-east. Built in the13th century, it was partly destroyed in 1594.
History
The 13th-century castle was originally the property of the
Comyn,
Earl of Buchan. After the
forfeiture of the Comyns in the 14th century it was given to Sir
Gilbert Hay by
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 ...
in recognition for his support against the English.
Slains Castle next comes into prominence when
Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll
Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll (30 April 156416 July 1631) was a Scottish nobleman. A convert to Catholicism, he openly conspired with the king of Spain to try to unseat the Protestant Queen Elizabeth.
Biography
He was the son of Andrew Hay, ...
took part in a Catholic Rebellion in the north of Scotland. It was said in January 1593 that
Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll
Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll (30 April 156416 July 1631) was a Scottish nobleman. A convert to Catholicism, he openly conspired with the king of Spain to try to unseat the Protestant Queen Elizabeth.
Biography
He was the son of Andrew Hay, ...
welcomed so many English and Scottish Catholics in a tower at Slaines that he was put to great expense. The rebellion culminated in the
Battle of Glenlivet in 1594, which left the Catholic army substantially weakened, and the rebellion collapsed.
King
James VI marched north with an army intent on capturing the leaders of the rebellion, including Francis Hay, however they evaded capture. He then proceeded to blow up their castles, including Old Slains Castle. At the king's request, Aberdeen Council provided twenty stone weight of gunpowder together with pickaxes and other tools, required for ‘demolishing and casting down of houses and fortalices to the sum of 548 pounds six shillings’. The castle was destroyed with gunpowder and cannon on 1 November. Aberdeen town council sent the stonemason John Fraser and other workmen to the demolition work at
Huntly Castle and Slains, equipped with new shovels. Two walls meeting at a corner survived the explosion.
![Old Slains Castle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Old_Slains_Castle.jpg)
Next year,
Elizabeth Douglas, Countess of Erroll, a friend of
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...
, hired masons to repair the building. However, it was beyond saving. She then moved into the farmhouse of Clochtow, half a mile to the north-west of the ruined castle. She remained in this ‘mean abode, and continued there sometime after 1597, when the honours and estates were restored... The Countess, all her remaining days, preferred to her noble title of Countess of Erroll the plain designation of “Guidwife of Clochtow”, because this designation had never been taken by the crown from her, and she had been known by it during the period of her husband’s exile, when he was a wanderer abroad, and only plain “Francis Hay”.’
Francis Hay later built a tower house called Bowness on what is now the site of
New Slains Castle.
Structure
Originally a strongly built 5-storey oblong keep (of which a small part remains), a wall defending the landward side was added in the early 16th century.
Modern day
Two sections of wall remain standing, at approximately in height. The south-facing wall partially collapsed on 31 May 1979. An estimated 100 tons of rubble fell on the road next to the castle, blocking the road and partially burying a lorry.
In the 1950s, a 3-storey house was built within the ruins, adjoining a fishing cottage built in the 18th century. Since 1991 several archaeological excavations have been carried out, the last one in 2007.
The remains of the old castle are designated as a
scheduled ancient monument.
References
{{reflist
Further reading
* Aitken, Margaret. ''Six Buchan Villages Re-visited (2014)''
* Moncreiffe, Iain. ''Slains and the Errolls (1973)''
* Shepherd, Mike. ''When'' ''Brave Men Shudder: The Scottish origins of Dracula (2018)''
* Shepherd, Mike and Stoker, Dacre. ''Slains Castle’s Secret History (2021)''
Clan Hay
Ruined castles in Aberdeenshire
Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Aberdeenshire