Castle of Rattray

The castle was sited on Castlehill, on the south bank of the now-closed estuary flowing into Strathbeg Bay- the north bank was protected by the opposite Lonmay Castle.{{cite web|url=http://www.webhistorian.co.uk/pages/index.php?id=43|title=An introduction to the Royal Burgh of Rattray|access-date=2007-06-13|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070517221437/http://www.webhistorian.co.uk/pages/index.php?id=43|archive-date=2007-05-17}} Specifically the castle was "beside an inlet which led from the sea into a sheltered harbour" on "the harbour side" of Rattray village. The later stone castle is known to have had a "harbour-side entrance".{{cite web|url=http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/archaeology/smr/smr_recdetails.asp?Rno=NK05NE0004&curpage=1&RefNo=&Name=&Mapsheet=&Period=*&Typ=&Typ2=&Typ3=&Parish=B06|author=Aberdeenshire Council|title=Castlehill, Rattray|access-date=2007-09-03|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927030604/http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/archaeology/smr/smr_recdetails.asp?Rno=NK05NE0004&curpage=1&RefNo=&Name=&Mapsheet=&Period=%2A&Typ=&Typ2=&Typ3=&Parish=B06|archive-date=2007-09-27}}

Originally situated on "a rock near the sea",Bruce (2005); quoted as book source at [http://www.world66.com/europe/unitedkingdom/scotland/rattray_head World66.com "Rattray Head Travel Guide"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927191103/http://www.world66.com/europe/unitedkingdom/scotland/rattray_head# |date=2007-09-27 }} article on Rattray. Castlehill is today about 1 mile inland as shifting sands have significantly altered the shape of the coast. Located to the south of Loch Strathbeg it can be seen as a grassy "circular mound" which is "oval & natural with its top slightly dished". A 1791 book states it has a "summit"... [of] "half a Scots acre"Playfair (1819), p.78 (approx. 0.25 hectare) and "rises 38 feet"... (11.6 metres) "above a small plain on the"... north-east "but is only 12 or 14 feet"... (3.7 or 4.3 metres) "above the higher ground"Sinclair (1791), p.419 to the south-west.

The first construction of Castlehill was a small keep during the late middle ages, or a 12th century "timber castle or Motte" built to protect the estuary.

In the 13th century, the Castle of Rattray was "the principal seat of the Cummings"... [alt. spelling of Comyn] "Earls of Buchan"Kennedy (1818), p.323 who arrived at the start of that century. Between 1214 when he inherited the Earldom of Buchan and his own death in 1233, William Comyn, jure uxoris Earl of Buchan{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/gaztext_page.jsp;jsessionid=98054EA7DAA3A642A519085D7E2787C0?u_id=10146380&c_id=10107260|title=Descriptive gazetteer entries for Crimond|author=History of Britain.com|access-date=2007-08-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201210/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/gaztext_page.jsp;jsessionid=98054EA7DAA3A642A519085D7E2787C0?u_id=10146380&c_id=10107260|archive-date=2007-09-30|url-status=dead}} built upon the motte but it is unclear whether he upgraded the existing buildings or built an entirely new castle. He is known to have completed a "manor house"Murray (1993) with "a fine timber-framed hall" (the castle) which was accompanied by the private St Mary's Chapel which he constructed "a quarter of a mile" (0.4 kilometres) south, in Rattray village itself.

In the mid-1270s, it is reported that "a castle-strengthening programme Rattray"Young (1997), p.150 took place.

Comyn's castle survived until the Harrying of Buchan in the summer of 1308, when all the Comyn lands were bloodily burned to the ground after John Comyn, Earl of Buchan was beaten at the Battle of Barra. The timber Rattray Castle was almost certainly attacked by Robert the Bruce or his younger brother Edward after which the "castle fell into ruins" if not burned to the ground.

Following the harrying, the site of Rattray's timber castle was rebuilt with a "stone-built hall". This stone incarnation provided protection for Starnie Keppie Harbour and the village of Rattray, as the previous incarnations did.

The Earldom of Buchan and hence the castle was inherited and divided after the harrying between John Comyn's two nieces.{{cite web|url=http://home.arcor.de/glenn.cummings/deutsch/Clan1.html|title=History of the Comyn Clan|author=Sir William Gordon Cumming, BartChief of Clan Cumming|access-date=2007-07-13}} Henry de Beaumont, the husband of one niece; Alice Comyn, claimed the title under her name but was disinherited from the lands in 1314. A 1324 charter from Robert the Bruce then gives the "lordship of Rattray" to Sir Archibald Douglas.Robertson (1847), p.394 The lands again change hands in 1382 when Alexander Stewart was given the Earldom by his father Robert II of Scotland.

Mary, Queen of Scots, declared Rattray a Royal Burgh in 1563 "to put an end to the disputes about superiority over it between William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal and George Hay, 7th Earl of Erroll".{{cite web|url=http://www.rattrayhead.net/history/buchanfieldclub.htm|title=Buchan Field Club|author=Rattray Head.net|access-date=2007-08-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303195843/http://www.rattrayhead.net/history/buchanfieldclub.htm|archive-date=2016-03-03|url-status=dead}} The importance of the Burgh is questionable due to the fact "it does not appear to have long enjoyed that privilege not being ranked in the roll of boroughs for many ages" Kennedy (1818) p.323 and as it was "said to have had all the privileges of a royal borough, except sending members to parliament."{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TnBbAAAAQAAJ&q=Rattray%2C+said+to+have+had+all+the+privileges&pg=PT481|title=Gazetteer for Scotland|year=1806|at=CRIMOND}}

In later years Rattray was run by a feudal system of superiors who maintained the land for the Crown, some of whom are known due to charters that they granted. "David Rivis"... "superior of the lands of Rattray"Sinclair (1791), p.420 (footnotes) granted a charter in 1617; "William Watson of Haddo, bailie of the burgh of Rattray, superior" [of Rattray] granted a charter in 1675 and "Charles".. [Hay, 13th] "Earl of Erroll, superior of the lands of Rattray" granted a charter in 1711.

The destruction of the stone castle and the nearby village of Rattray, is said by "a tradition" to have happened during the great storm of 1720 which cut off Strathbeg Bay. It is believed that the castle was "blown over with sand one Sunday evening while the" inhabitants, "a godless crew".{{cite web|url=http://www.visitpeterhead.org.uk/history/strathbegrattray.htm|title=Strathbeg and Rattray - a brief history by Derek Jennings|publisher=Visit Peterhead|access-date=2007-06-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929062438/http://www.visitpeterhead.org.uk/history/strathbegrattray.htm|archive-date=2007-09-29|url-status=dead}} "were engaged in playing cards". "on the Sabbath, [when] they were buried alive."

Another story says that the site was "buried because of the plague." However there is no date or record of which plague and it is a very unlikely account.

Today there is not much to be seen at the site as the remains have "for a long period [been] covered with a deep soil, and now- the swords of the warlike house beaten literally into ploughshares".Fraser (1859), p.131 In c. 1730, a dig at the south-east "side of the Castle Hill"... "found a great number of stones, supposed to belong to the kitchen of the castle, as"... "workmen found very large hearthstones covered with ashes."Sinclair (1791), p.419 (footnotes)

Items recovered include; "a quantity of regularly-laid stones were removed c. 1734 and some silver coins" as well as two kilns stands found in 1829 (today held in Marischal Museum, Aberdeen).{{cite web|url=http://www.abdn.ac.uk/virtualmuseum/index.php?page=object_detail&prefix=ABDUA&num=19289&firstview=true&mt=&sign=&viewnumber=&resultsperpage=9|title=Item: Vessel, kiln.stand|author=University of Aberdeen|access-date=2007-06-11}}

In 1740 "a man who drove his spade through the panel of a door was immediately suffocated" having got caught in the sand and at an unknown date, a "well-made causeway was discovered at the foot of the mound under which the Castle is said to be buried."

Thorough excavations at Castlehill in 1985-1989 revealed the remains of the stone castle and traces of the previous timber one. Traces of the stone castle revealed a "perimeter wall".. and "two mural buildings". It also ascertained that the later stone castle was approximately "20m by 6.5 m" and "divided into three parts, a central room, and two smaller end rooms". It likely supported more than one storey, due to the "indication of a possible forestair"... and "the wall thickness."

The results of this excavation can be found in the Journal article (available free from the link in the journal citation below) "Excavations at Rattray, Aberdeenshire. A Scottish deserted burgh" by "Murray & Murray" and forms the most complete modern and peer-reviewed academic account of the Castle of Rattray available to historians and archaeologists today.

Aberdeen City Council today holds various artefacts from Rattray and the Castlehill site and has previously held a temporary display of artefacts at James Dun's House in Aberdeen.

{{reflist|2}}

• {{cite book |last=Bruce |first=Stanley |title=The Bard O' Buchan |volume=1 |year=2005 |publisher=Bard Books |isbn=0-9547960-2-0 }}
• {{cite book |last=Fraser |first=J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ptYAAAAAYAAJ |title=Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country |volume=LX, July to December 1859 |publisher=John W. Parker and Son |location=West Strand, London |year=1859 }}
• {{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=William |url=https://archive.org/details/annalsaberdeenf00kenngoog |title=Annals of Aberdeen, from the Reign of King William the Lion, to the End of the Year 1818 |year=1818 |publisher=A. Brown and Co., Aberdeen }}
• {{cite book |last=Playfair |first=James |url=https://archive.org/details/ageographicalan00playgoog |title=A Geographical and Statistical Description of Scotland |year=1819 |publisher=Archibald Constable And Company; Edinburgh }}
• {{cite book |last=Robertson |first=Joseph |url=https://archive.org/details/illustrationsto03robegoog |title=Illustrations of the Topography and Antiquities of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff |publisher=Printed for the "Spalding Club" |location=Aberdeen |language=en, la |year=1847 }}
• {{cite book |last=Sinclair |first=John |url=https://archive.org/details/statisticalacco15sincgoog |title=The Statistical Account of Scotland: Drawn Up from the Communications of the Ministers of the Different Parishes |publisher=William Creech |year=1791 |oclc=4261705 }}
• {{cite book |last=Young |first=Alan |title=Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1212-1314 |year=1997 |publisher=Tuckwell Press |oclc=37976670 |isbn=1-86232-053-5 }}

• {{cite journal |author=Buchan Field Club |title=Excursion to Loch Strathbeg and Vicinity |journal=Transactions of the Buchan Field Club |volume=1-2 (1887-1892) |pages=82–85 |year=1892 |issn=0959-2806 |oclc=22144239 |url=http://www.rattrayhead.net/history/buchanfieldclub.htm |access-date=2007-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303195843/http://www.rattrayhead.net/history/buchanfieldclub.htm |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=H. K. |last2=Murray |first2=J. C. |year=1993 |title=Excavations at Rattray, Aberdeenshire: A Scottish deserted burgh |journal=Journal of the Society for Medieval Archaeology |volume=37 |pages=109–218 |issn=0076-6097 |oclc=1607565 |url=http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-769-1/dissemination/pdf/vol37/37_109_218.pdf |doi=10.1080/00766097.1993.11735559}}

• Artists impressions of the site from the Scran database of: [http://www.scran.ac.uk/000-000-576-899-C 12th to 13th-centuries]; [http://www.scran.ac.uk/000-000-576-901-C 13th century]; [http://www.scran.ac.uk/000-000-576-900-C 14th century].

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Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1308

Category:History of Aberdeenshire

Category:Castles in Aberdeenshire

Category:Former castles in Scotland

Category:Clan Comyn

Category:Buildings and structures in Buchan