Ravenscraig Castle, also known as the Craig of Inverugie, is a ruined 15th-century L-shaped tower-house north-west of Peterhead,

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. It is a scheduled ancient monument. The castle was the seat of the barony of Torthorston, held by the Cheynes family, and passed to the Keiths in the mid-14th century. A licence was granted to build a new castle in May 1491, with the castle built on the banks of the Ugie and defended by a moat. It is thought that King

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

visited the castle in 1589 to attend the wedding of Rebecca Keith and Sir James Gordon of Lesmoir. At that time the castle belonged to John Keith of Ravenscraig, whose half-brother

William Keith of Delny Sir William Keith of Delny (died 1599) was a Scottish courtier and Master of the Royal Wardrobe. He also served as ambassador for James VI to various countries. He was an important intermediary between George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal and the kin ...

was a courtier and diplomat who had tried to save the life of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

, in 1587.Miles Kerr-Peterson, 'Sir William Keith of Delny', ''Innes Review'' 67:2 (2016), p. 157. Most of the castle's decorative features and dressed stone have been robbed; however, the vaulted ground floor and principal apartments on the first are still visible. "A circular stair in the re-entrant angle rose originally above the wall head into a

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

Literary inspiration

;''The Mitherless Bairn'' by William Thom William Thom was inspired to write this deathless poem after sighting a "pretty

governess A governess is a largely obsolete term for a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching. In contrast to a nanny, th ...

" in the castle grounds in 1844.

References

External links

Ravenscraig Castle Virtual Tour
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravenscraig Castle History of Aberdeenshire Castles in Aberdeenshire Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Aberdeenshire 1491 establishments in Scotland