Alloa Tower | |
---|---|
Scots Gaelic: Túr Alamhagh | |
General information | |
Type | Defensive structure |
Architectural style | Medieval |
Location | Alloa Park, Alloa, Clackmannanshire, FK10 1PP, United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 56°07′07″N3°47′06″W / 56.1186°N 3.7851°W |
Owner | National Trust Scotland |
Height | 68 feet |
Technical details | |
Material | Stone |
Floor count | 3 |
Designations | Category A listed building |
Website | |
https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/alloa-tower |
Alloa Tower in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, in central Scotland, is an early 14th-century tower house that served as the medieval residence of the Erskine family, later Earls of Mar. [1] Retaining its original timber roof and battlements, the tower is one of the earliest and largest Scottish tower houses, with immensely thick walls. It was designated as a scheduled monument in 1960 [2] and is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland. [3]
The four-storey tower is 68 feet (21 m) high, excluding the attic. The building is made from coursed rubble and measures 62.5 by 39.5 feet (19.1 by 12.0 m) in size. [2] The building has been extensively re-fenestrated during its history, but retains some internal medieval features. [4] It was originally built as part of a line of fortifications defending the north shore of the Firth of Forth. [5] Several 19th-century works, including Groome's Gazetteer, [6] date the tower to the year 1223. [7] Archaeological investigations from the early 1990s date the original fortified house to the early 14th century, where it had a cellar that sometimes served as a pit prison. By the mid-14th century, it had been enlarged with a great hall and rose to three storeys in height, with the entrance on the first floor. In the 15th century, it was further enlarged to four/five levels while retaining its first-floor access.
Late in the 16th century, ground-floor access was probably added. [5]
John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar, built a very large mansion (Alloa House) in 1710 that incorporated the tower as its annexe. Mar wrote:
There is something in the Old Tower, especially if made to conform to the new design, which is venerable for its antiquity & makes not a bad appearance & would make one regret the being obliged to pull it down. [8]
Mar made plans to remodel the tower's interior, but it is unclear what changes were actually made. The house burned down in 1800 [5] and was rebuilt by George Angus in 1834–1838 for the 9th Earl. It was demolished sometime after 1868. [2]
In February 1497, the gardener of Alloa brought trees to plant in the garden at Stirling Castle. [9] Margaret Tudor met the Chancellor James Beaton at Alloa on 11 July 1524, to discuss transferring power from Regent Albany to the young James V. [10]
Mary, Queen of Scots visited John, Lord Erskine and his wife Annabell Murray at Alloa on 16 June 1562, and again in May 1565. Mary returned to Alloa on 28 July 1566, soon after the birth of Prince James. [11] This visit subsequently attracted the attention of her enemies, and the details are disputed. [12] A chronicle mentions that she left her servants at Newhaven, and took a small boat to Alloa, crewed by "simple men of seafare trade". [13] According to George Buchanan and the "Book of Articles", the crew were "notorious pirates", associates of the Earl of Bothwell including William and Edmund Blackadder. [14] [15]
Mary wrote from Alloa on 31 July to Annabell Murray's brother-in-law, the Laird of Abercairney, on behalf of the evicted widow of one of his tenants. [16] Claude Nau wrote that Mary's only companions were her ladies in waiting and the earl, and Darnley only made a brief visit. [17] When Darnley came to Alloa by road, Mary told him to go away. [18] Mary enjoyed dancing at Alloa during this visit. [19] It is also said she went to Stirling in disguise dressed as an ordinary townswoman "in homely sort" and joined in a dance around the Market Cross. [20]
James VI of Scotland stayed at Alloa for four days in August 1579. [21] In December 1592, the widower John Erskine, Earl of Mar, married Marie Stewart, a daughter of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox. James VI and Anne of Denmark gave the bride clothes, [22] and wedding celebrations were held at Alloa following the marriage at Holyroodhouse. [23] One version of the Memoir of David Moysie mentions that the King and Queen were "in Alloway the earle of Mars house at the bankett at Yuill and at Nursemes". [24] Newersmes was a Scots Language word for New Year's Day. [25]
Festivities, customarily held at a bridegroom's family home known as the infare, [26] were mentioned by one of the invited guests, the courtier John Elphinstone. [27] Costume was bought for a masque at Alloa in which Anne of Denmark performed, dressed in silk taffeta and "gold tock", a kind of tinsel fabric. [28] The party was cut short when Sir John Carmichael and Sir George Home arrived from Edinburgh with news of the crisis caused by the discovery of the Spanish blanks. [29]
John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl, called the Fair, was a Scottish nobleman and courtier. He was favoured by Mary, Queen of Scots, but later turned against her.
John Erskine, 1st Earl of Mar was a Scottish aristocrat and politician. He was the custodian of the infant James VI of Scotland and Regent of Scotland.
John Erskine, 2nd Earl of Mar was a Scottish politician, the only son of another John Erskine and Annabella Murray. He is regarded as both the 19th earl and the 2nd earl.
George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar, KG, PC was, in the last decade of his life, the most prominent and most influential Scotsman in England. His work lay in the King's Household and in the control of the State Affairs of Scotland and he was the King's chief Scottish advisor. With the full backing and trust of King James he travelled regularly from London to Edinburgh via Berwick-upon-Tweed.
John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane, of Lethington, Knight (1581), was Lord Chancellor of Scotland.
Seton Palace was situated in East Lothian, a few miles south-east of Edinburgh near the town of Prestonpans. Often regarded as the most desirable Scottish residence of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the palace was erected in the 15th century by George, 4th Lord Seton.
Sir John Carmichael was a Scottish soldier, the Keeper of Liddesdale, a diplomat, and owner of Fenton Tower at Kingston, East Lothian.
Mar's Wark is a ruined building in Stirling built 1570–1572 by John Erskine, Regent of Scotland and Earl of Mar, and now in the care of Historic Scotland. Mar intended the building for the principal residence of the Erskine family in Stirling, whose chief had become hereditary keeper of the nearby royal Stirling Castle where the princes of Scotland were schooled. Wark is a Scots language word for work, and here it means building. The house is also called "Mar's Lodging."
Marie Stewart, Countess of Mar (1576-1644) was a Scottish courtier. She was the daughter of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox and Catherine de Balsac d’Entragues (d. c.1631) and a favourite of James VI of Scotland. After her marriage, as was customary in Scotland, she did not change her name, and signed her letters as "Marie Stewart".
Annabell Murray, Countess of Mar (1536–1603), was a Scottish landowner, courtier and royal servant, the keeper of the infant James VI and his son Prince Henry at Stirling Castle
George Young was a Scottish churchman, courtier, member of the Privy Council of Scotland, diplomat, and secretary depute.
On 17 May 1590, Anne of Denmark was crowned Queen of Scotland. There was also a ceremony of joyous entry into Edinburgh on 19 May, an opportunity for spectacle and theatre and allegorical tableaux promoting civic and national identities, similar in many respects to those performed in many other European towns. Celebrations for the arrival of Anne of Denmark in Scotland had been planned and prepared for September 1589, when it was expected she would sail from Denmark with the admirals Peder Munk and Henrik Gyldenstierne. She was delayed by accidents and poor weather and James VI of Scotland joined her in Norway in November. They returned to Scotland in May 1590.
Sir William Keith of Delny 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 king, the king and courtiers, and the king and foreign governments.
William Murray of Tullibardine was a Scottish courtier and leader of the Clan Murray.
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Margaret Fleming, Countess of Atholl (1536-1586) was a Scottish courtier and landowner rumoured to be involved in the occult. She served as lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots.
Magdalen Livingstone was a Scottish courtier. She was a favoured lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots, and later belonged to the household of Prince Henry.
Tullibardine Castle was a castle located in the village of Tullibardine, 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Auchterarder in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.
William Stewart of Caverston and Traquair, was a Scottish landowner and Captain of Dumbarton Castle.
Anne of Denmark (1574–1619) was the wife of King James VI and I, and as such Queen of Scotland from their marriage by proxy on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from 24 March 1603 until her death in 1619. When Anne intended to sail to Scotland in 1589 her ship was delayed by adverse weather. Contemporary superstition blamed the delays to her voyage and other misfortunes on "contrary winds" summoned by witchcraft. There were witchcraft trials in Denmark and in Scotland. The King's kinsman, Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell came into suspicion. The Chancellor of Scotland John Maitland of Thirlestane, thought to be Bothwell's enemy, was lampooned in a poem Rob Stene's Dream, and Anne of Denmark made Maitland her enemy. Historians continue to investigate these events.