Findlater Castle
{{Short description|Castle on the coast of Banff and Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox military installation
|name = Findlater Castle
|image = Findlater Castle.jpg
|caption = Ruins of Findlater Castle
|mapframe = yes
|mapframe-wikidata = yes
|location = Banff and Buchan, Aberdeenshire
|country = Scotland
|coordinates = {{coord|57|41|32.60|N|2|46|13.47|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|built=
|builder =
|demolished =
|condition = Ruined
|ownership =
|open_to_public =
|events =
|embedded = {{Infobox designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = Scheduled Monument
| designation1_offname = Findlater Castle
| designation1_type = Secular: castle
| designation1_date = 23 December 1969
| designation1_number = {{Historic Environment Scotland|num=SM2846|short=yes}}
}}
}}
{{Location map
|United Kingdom
|lat=57.69227
|long=-2.77159
|width=180
|float=right
|caption=Findlater Castle shown within the United Kingdom
({{gbmapping|NJ541672}})
}}
Findlater Castle is the old seat of the Earls of Findlater and Seafield, sitting on a {{convert|50|ft|m|adj=on}}-high cliff overlooking the Moray Firth on the coast of Banff and Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Location and etymology
History
The first historical reference to the castle is from 1246. King Alexander III of Scotland repaired this castle in the 1260s in preparation for an invasion by King Haakon IV of Norway. The Norwegians took and held the castle for some time. The castle remains that are still there are from the 14th-century rebuilding, when the castle was redesigned based on the Roslyn Castle model. Walter Ogilvy obtained a licence to repair and rebuild the castle from James II of Scotland in February 1445.HMC 3rd Report: Earl of Seafield, p. 404.
James V of Scotland visited Findlater in November 1535 after a pilgrimage to Tain.National Records of Scotland, Household books, E32/4. The Laird of Findlater, an Ogilvy, was Master of Household to Mary of Guise. He lost his inheritance following sexual misconduct with his mother-in-law and making a plan to imprison his father in a cellar to deprive him of sleep and drive him insane to obtain his lands. After his father's death his mother married John Gordon, a son of the Earl of Huntly, who then took possession of the castle and lands, and promptly imprisoned her.Jennifer Morag Henderson, Daughters of the North (Whittles, 2025), p. 33: Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 655-6.
John Gordon, now of Findlater, fought with Lord Ogilvy in July 1562 and injured his arm.Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 637 no. 1121. Gordon was imprisoned in Edinburgh until his victim healed, according to custom.Extracts from the Records of Edinburgh (Burgh Records Society, 1875), pp. 138–139. In September 1562 Mary, Queen of Scots sent an army equipped with artillery from Dunbar Castle to besiege Findlater, and eject John Gordon of Findlater.Joseph Bain, Border Papers, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1894), p. 1. When Mary was nearby on 20 September, she had sent her trumpeter messenger to deliver the castle to the captain of her guard, but he was refused.Jennifer Morag Henderson, Daughters of the North (Whittles, 2025), p. 39: Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 653. In October 1562 the Earl of Huntly sent Mary the keys of Findlater and Auchindoun, but she was suspicious of the low status of the messenger.Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 658
James Ogilvy, 1st Earl of Findlater, was given the earldom in 1638. He built the nearby Cullen House to take the place of the castle as the family seat and by the time he died in 1653 it was little used and in decline.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.findlatercastle.com Official website]
- [http://www.findlater.org.uk/Castle.htm Findlater family site]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20011020084939/http://website.lineone.net/~embaillie/findlater.htm#findlaterpoem Portsoy poets site]
- [https://360castles.com/findlater-castle Take a 360 Virtual Tour of Findlater Castle]
{{Banff and Buchan, Aberdeenshire places|state = collapsed}}
Category:Castles in Aberdeenshire