dumfries-1920/04-102

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CAERLAVEROCK.] -- HISTORICAL MONUMENTS SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. -- [CAERLAVEROCK.

century a new Caerlaverock was being raised.
A little after the middle of the century,
Robert, second Lord Maxwell, is credited with
having "completed the bartizan * of Car-
laverock." ³ Thus, in the conflicts of the
16th century the castle is again a place of
interest. In the autumn of 1545 negotiations
were being carried on with lord Maxwell for
its transference to English hands, which ulti-
mately occurred. For the purposes of Henry
VIII. the castle was regarded as having the
advantage of being accessible by sea. The
Scots again recovered it, but Maxwell's support
of Queen Mary brought an English force in
1570 under the Earl of Sussex to harry the
district, and Caerlaverock is included in the
list of castles which that Earl reported he
"threw down." ⁴ But in 1593 we find that
the Catholic Maxwell has "many men work-
ing at his house, five miles from Dumfries." ⁵
So repairs were in hand again.
The final reconstruction dates from the
time of Robert, first Earl of Nithsdale, in
the first quarter of the next century, when
the Renaissance wing to the east and the
southern work were added. In 1640 the
place was beset by the Covenanters, and, after
the longest siege on its record - three months
and a week - fell for the last time and was
dismantled.
Le Siège de Karlaverok (Harris); Calendar
of Documents relating to Scotland, vols. ii., iii.;
The Book of Caerlaverock, vol. i.; Grose's Anti-
quities, vol. i.; ¹ Reg. Mag. Sig., i. (1912), p. 456;
² Scotichronicon, Lib. XIV. cap. [X Inserted in pencil] V.; ³ Book of
Caerlaverock, i. p. 56; ⁴ Cal. Scot. Papers, ii. p.
327; ⁵ Calendar of Border Papers, i. p. 470
lxi. S.W. -- October 1914

34. Bankend or Isle Castle. - This ruined
castle occupies a spit of marshland on the west
bank of the Lochar Water, by which it is
almost surrounded on three sides, while indica-
tions of a ditch remain on the south-western
side. The site is near the south-eastern ex-
tremity of the Lochar Moss, distant some 5 1/2
miles by road from Dumfries and about 2 miles
to the north of Caerlaverock Castle. The
building is of the type known as the T plan

* Apparently the battlementing, "bartizan" or
"bertisene" being, by metathesis, for "bratticing";
but sometimes, in the 17th century, applied to a
high castle wall.

consisting of an oblong, measuring some 2 1/2
feet by 15 1/2 feet, within walls fully 3 feet in
thickness, and a staircase wing in the centre of
the north-west wall with a projection of 9 feet
6 inches and a width of about 11 feet. The
doorway is on the ground level at the eastern
re-entering angle, and has a deep bar-hole
formed in the north-western jamb, also a lamp-
recess adjoining it at the stair-foot. The
ground floor appears to have been vaulted and
defended on three sides by circular loopholes
widely splayed to the exterior and square
within, while on the north-east side facing
the Lochar Water is a window measuring
about 18 inches in width. The castle is now
a complete ruin; almost the whole of the
south-east and south -west wall has fallen,
but the remaining fragments of the staircase
wing and of the north-west wall indicate that
it was originally four storeys in height. The
entrance doorway appears to have been
defended by a bretasche supported by moulded
corbels placed near the level of the wall-
head. On the north-eastern wall of the
staircase wing is a panel containing the arms
and initials of Edward Maxwell and Helen
Douglas, his wife, with the date 1622 carved
in relief.
"The Bank Ende" was selected in the
Military Report of some date between 1563
and 1566 as one of the places which would
strengthen an English occupation of the
district. ¹ "It will havand Annande forti-
fyed -- may (make) that way to Drum-
freis for Englande to be free, and bring all
Nythisdale in subjection. It is a straite
passage, and may be well kept being ones
fortifyed." So important was its position
considered that Caerlaverock was to be
relegated to the position of "a garrisone
assistant."

1 Armstrong's Liddesdale, App. lxx. p. cix.
lxi. N.W. -- August 1913.

DEFENSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS.

35. Fort, Ward Law. - The Wardlaw Hill,
which rises to a height of 313 feet over sea-
level, overlooks the Castle of Caerlaverock,
from which it is distant about 1 mile, and
commands also a prospect over a great extent
of surrounding country. It is surmounted by

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