Old Slains Castle
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site
| image =Old Slains Castle - geograph.org.uk - 3662.jpg
| caption = The remains of Old Slains Castle
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-wikidata = yes
| coordinates = {{coord|57.3609|-1.91438|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| gbgridref = NK052300
| built = 13th-century
| built_for = Comyn, Earl of Buchan
| rebuilt =
| architect =
| embedded = {{Infobox designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = Scheduled Monument
| designation1_offname = Slains Castle
| designation1_type = Secular: castle; earthwork; tower
| designation1_date = 26 December 1972
| designation1_number = {{Historic Environment Scotland|num=SM3250|short=yes}}
}}
}}
Slains Castle (otherwise known as Old Slains Castle) is a ruined castle near Collieston in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is not to be confused with New Slains Castle, a separate building located {{convert|5|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} northeast. Built in the 13th century, it was partly destroyed in 1594.
History
The 13th-century castle was originally the property of the Comyn, Earl of Buchan. After the forfeiture of the Comyns in the 14th century it was given to Sir Gilbert Hay by Robert the Bruce in recognition for his support against the English.{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=SM3250|desc=Slains Castle|access-date=8 March 2019}}
Slains Castle next comes into prominence when Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll took part in a Catholic Rebellion in the north of Scotland. King James VI came to Abedeen in April 1589 and placed a garrison of soldiers at Slains Castle.[https://archive.org/details/lettersandpapers00grayuoft/page/150/mode/2up Papers of the Master of Gray (Edinburgh, 1835), pp. 151] In January 1593, the Earl of Erroll was said to have welcomed so many English and Scottish Catholics in a tower at Slains that he was put to great expense.Annie Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 35. The rebellion culminated in the Battle of Glenlivet in 1594, which left the Catholic army substantially weakened, and the rebellion collapsed.
James VI marched north with an army intent on capturing the leaders of the rebellion, including Francis Hay, however they evaded capture.{{Cite book |last=Shepherd |first=Mike |title=Slains Castle's Secret History |last2=Stoker |first2=Dacre |publisher=Wild Wolf Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=979-8469387046}} He then proceeded to blow up their castles, including Old Slains Castle. At the king's request, Aberdeen Council provided {{convert|20|st|kg|abbr=off}} weight of gunpowder together with pickaxes and other tools, required for ‘demolishing and casting down of houses and fortalices to the sum of 548 pounds six shillings’.{{Cite book |title=Extracts from the Council register of the Burgh of Aberdeen, 1570-1625. Volume 2. |publisher=Spalding Club, Aberdeen. |year=1848 |pages=}} The castle was destroyed with gunpowder and cannon on 1 November.Thomas Birch, Memoirs of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, vol. 1 (London, 1754), p. 192. Aberdeen town council sent the stonemason John Fraser and other workmen to the demolition work at Huntly Castle and Slains, equipped with new shovels.[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044025671272&view=1up&seq=149 Spalding Club Miscellany, vol. 5 (Aberdeen, 1852), pp. 61-2] Two walls meeting at a corner survived the explosion.
Next year, Elizabeth Douglas, Countess of Erroll, a friend of Anne of Denmark, hired masons to repair the building.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1952), p. 10 no. 8. However, it was beyond saving. She then moved into the farmhouse of Clochtow, {{convert|1/2|mi|m|abbr=off}} northwest of the ruined castle. She remained in this ‘mean abode, and continued there sometime after 1597, when the honours and estates were restored... The Countess, all her remaining days, preferred to her noble title of Countess of Erroll the plain designation of “Guidwife of Clochtow”, because this designation had never been taken by the crown from her, and she had been known by it during the period of her husband’s exile, when he was a wanderer abroad, and only plain “Francis Hay”.’{{Cite book |last=Rust |first=James |title=Druidism Exhumed. |publisher=Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh. |year=1871}}
Francis Hay later built a tower house called Bowness on what is now the site of New Slains Castle.{{Cite book |title=A View of the Diocese of Aberdeen. |publisher=Spalding Club, Aberdeen. |year=1843}}
Structure
Originally a strongly built 5-storey oblong keep (of which a small part remains), a wall defending the landward side was added in the early 16th century.
Modern day
Two sections of wall remain standing, at approximately {{convert|25|m}} in height. The south-facing wall partially collapsed on 31 May 1979. An estimated 100 tons of rubble fell on the road next to the castle, blocking the road and partially burying a lorry.{{Cite news |date=1 June 1979 |title=Slains Castle wall falls... |work=Press and Journal}}
In the 1950s, a 3-storey house was built within the ruins, adjoining a fishing cottage built in the 18th century. Since 1991 several archaeological excavations have been carried out, the last one in 2007.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} The remains of the old castle are designated as a scheduled monument.
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- Aitken, Margaret. Six Buchan Villages Re-visited (2014)
- Moncreiffe, Iain. Slains and the Errolls (1973)
- Shepherd, Mike. When Brave Men Shudder: The Scottish origins of Dracula (2018)
- Shepherd, Mike and Stoker, Dacre. Slains Castle’s Secret History (2021)