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Pitlurg Castle was a 16th-century keep, about south of
Pitlurg Castle was a 16th-century keep, about south of Keith
Keith may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters
* Keith (surname)
* Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949)
* Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...
, Banffshire, Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, north of the Burn of Davidston, at Mains of Pitlurg.Coventry, Martin (1997) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p.280
History
The name 'Pitlurg', meaning 'the hillside place', suggests there was an earlierPict
The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ear ...
ish settlement on the site.
A Gordon
Gordon may refer to:
People
* Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters
* Gordon (surname), the surname
* Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War
* Clan Gordon, ...
family, descended from Jock o’Scurdargue, owned the lands until 1724. It was partly occupied until the 1760s. General Gordon, 1815, a descendant, took the name for his estate of Leask and Birness, Formartine.
When James VI
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
was at Aberdeen, on 4 August 1589 he wrote to John Gordon of Pitlurg asking him for a hackney horse for his use and the use of his bride-to-be, 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 from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...
. The Earl of Huntly
Marquess of Huntly (traditionally spelled Marquis in Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: ''Coileach Strath Bhalgaidh'') is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existin ...
and other Gordon lairds sent him to Edinburgh to speak for them in 1593. In 1594 James VI invited him to the baptism of Prince Henry to be a companion to the ambassadors. In October 1594 James VI made him keeper of Huntly Castle
Huntly Castle is a ruined castle north of Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where the rivers Deveron and Bogie meet. It was the ancestral home of the chief of Clan Gordon, Earl of Huntly. There have been four castles built on the site that ...
.''Miscellany of the Spalding Club'', 1 (Aberdeen, 1841), p. 9.
Robert Gordon of Straloch was born and resided here, inheriting the estate from his brother John.
Structure
Pitlurg Castle was a Z-plantower 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 ...
and courtyard
A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky.
Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...
. Only one round tower with two vaulted
In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...
storeys
A storey (British English) or story (American English) is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the word are ''storeys'' (UK) and ''stories'' (US).
Th ...
remains. It is now a doocot
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...
.
The castle was built on rock. To the south was the Den of Pitlurg, while there was an open view to the west. There was a well in the castle courtyard, while it is thought that the castle was surrounded by a deep ditch, and there was a long range of buildings to the west. The structure to the east has been removed, but it is marked by a rebuilt doorway, and by the remains of a stone staircase leading to the second floor of the tower on the south-east side.
See also
*Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
Castles have played an important military, economic and social role in Great Britain and Ireland since their introduction following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Although a small number of castles had been built in England in the 1050 ...
*List of castles in Scotland
This is a list of castles in Scotland. A castle is a type of fortified structure built primarily during the Middle Ages. Scholars debate the scope of the word "castle", but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord o ...
References