OS1/6/7/48

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Castle Continued "greatly more obscure circumstances, but its original is now hid in the mist of ages. It first comes into historical notice in 1228; when Husbec, Norwegian chief feudatory King of the Isles, and Grandson of Somerled, beseiged it, but he was mortally wounded, and soon after died. Immediately afterwards, Olave, King of Man, who was at that time a fugitive from his own dominions, then assumed the command, and in a short time procured a recognition of the title of King of the Isles from Haco, King of Norway, who alleged that Bute, Arran, and the Cumbraes, belonged to the Hebrides, which his predecessor, Magnus Barefoot, had conquered. Olave being provided with a fleet of eighty ships by Haco, and with troops, came to Bute, and laid siege to the Castle, which was at that time commanded by a Steward of Scotland, who ranked as an Earl of the Kingdom. It was defended nobly by the Scots, who, among the means of defence, poured down upon their enemies boiling pitch and lead; but in order to protect themselves against so warm a reception, they prepared a covering of boards, under the shelter of which they undermined the walls; and thus gained an entrance after three days of severe conflict with the besieged, and found in it a rich booty. The Norwegians in this attack lost about 300 men, before the castle was taken. Having been recovered from the northern invaders, it was again taken by them in 1263 and retaken by the Scots shortly after the Battle of Largs. During the inglorious reign of John Balliol, it was occupied by the English; but in 1311 it submitted Robert Bruce. King Robert II visited the castle in 1376 and again in 1381, when he appears to have staid a considerable time. His court consisted of his eldest son Prince John (afterwards called Robert III) Earl of Carrick & Steward of Scotland, his 2nd son Robert Earl of Fife & Monteith, William Bishop of St Andrews, William Earl of Douglas; John de Carryk, the Chancellor, James de Lyndesay, the King's grandson, Robert de Erskyne, and Hugh de Eglynton, Knight. Robert III died in the Castle of Rothesay on the 14th April 1406. On the death of this monarch the castle was committed to the Keeping of the family of Bute, and it became their mansion though it was not untill August 1498 that the head of that family was constituted hereditary Governor and Constable of it, an office which still continues in the family, & is held by the present Marquis." Wilson's Guide to Rothesay

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DANIALSAN, Jeannette

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