Menstrie Castle

Menstrie Castle is a three-storey manor house in the town of Menstrie, Clackmannanshire, near Stirling, central Scotland. From the early 17th century, it was home to Sir William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling, who was instrumental in founding the colony of Nova Scotia. It was later owned by the Holburn or Holborne family, who were created Baronets of Menstrie in 1706. The castle was restored in the 20th century, won a Civic Trust award, and now incorporates holiday accommodation, private flats, and a museum and cafe run by the National Trust for Scotland.

History

Alexander family

The castle was built around 1560 by the Alexander family, a branch of the Clan MacAlister, who had anglicised their surname. Sir William Alexander was born here around 1577, and later became known as a poet. He gained a place in the Royal Household of James VI, eventually becoming a member of the Privy Council of Scotland in 1615, Principal Secretary of State in 1626, and Earl of Stirling in 1633.

In 1621, William Stirling was appointed governor of Nova Scotia, an area of North America including the modern Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and the Gaspé Peninsula. In order to populate his territory, the Baronetage of Nova Scotia was devised in 1624, whereby baronetcies were sold to support colonists. The scheme was a financial failure, and in 1632 Nova Scotia was returned to the French, who had claimed the area originally. Alexander, Earl of Stirling, died bankrupt in London in 1644.

Holborne family

Menstrie Castle was burned by the Royalist James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose in 1645, during the English Civil War. It was sold to James Holborne of Menstrie in 1648. A major general in the Scottish army, Holborne had a chequered career during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An additional property, named Windsor House, and now demolished, was once situated opposite Menstrie Castle, to serve as a second laird's house. In 1719, most of the Menstrie estate was sold on, but the Holborne family kept the smaller house, probably as a dower house. A stone heraldic panel, from over the door of the demolished house, was preserved, and later built into the gable-end of the residential home now standing on the site. The motto ''DECUS MEUM VIRTUS'' is still legible, but differs from the motto on the Holborne family crest (''Decus Summum Virtus'', roughly translated as "Virtue, the Chief Ornament"). The last surviving heir of the Holborne family of Menstrie was a Miss Mary Anne Holborne of Bath, daughter of Francis, 4th Baronet, who left an endowment of £8,000 in 1882, for the church of Menstrie.

Later history

The castle was purchased by George Abercromby of Tullibody House in 1719, and his family held the estate until 1924, although the buildings had begun to deteriorate from around 1750. George's son, Ralph Abercromby, who became a major British military hero, was born here in 1734. From around 1740 the castle was only used for summer use and the family relocated to Tullibody House each winter, and the castle was allowed to decay somewhat. In both 1752 and 1753 the house was occupied during the summer during the visits of John Ramsay of Ochtertyre who was a friend of Ralph.

By the end of the Second World War, the castle was in such disrepair that the Scottish actor and conservationist, Moultrie Kelsall