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Dunnottar Castle , Scotland

copyright castlepictures.com 2002

    Dunnottar Rock juts out from the coastline two miles south of Stonehaven. There were fortifications located here and a chapel. English troops occupied a stockade on the rock in 1297, but it was taken by William Wallace, who burned the church and the English garrison inside. Later on , at the start of the 14th century , English soldiers recaptured the rock, and called it as "Dunnottar Castle", which was burned in 1336. David II then gave the rock to William, Earl of Sutherland, so he could build a castle. Whether he did this nobody knows. Dunnottar came into the possession of Sir William Keith-Marischal at the end of the 14th century. He soon began construction of a fortalice , doubtless the keep and other early structures that still exist. William was excommunicated by the Bishop of St. Andrews for building a castle on "sacred soil", and later reinstated for a price.

    Over the years, a whole complex of fort, castle habitation and religous edifice evolved Dunnottar into a major Scottish stronghold. King James IV was lavishly entertained there in 1504. Queen Mary visited after the battle of Corrichie in 1562, and again in 1564. James VI stayed at the castle on several occasions, and held a Privy Council there. King Charles II stayed at Dunnottar several times, during wars with England, and here deposited the regalia of Scotland for safe keeping. John Keith, youngest son of the Earl, became responsible for these items as Cromwell's English neared the rock. In May of 1652, Dunnottar, under siege, remained the last of Scotland's strongholds still flying the flag. Before the castle was taken, John Keith smuggled the regalia away to safety, and for this service was richly rewarded after King Charles was restored to the throne.

    Dunnottar was also infamously used as a state prison. In 1685, during the religious persecutions under Charles II, when it housed 167 men and women who were seized and kept in a single gloomy cellar. The cellar, located beneath the Earl's bedrooms, was later dubbed the "Whig's Vault", and it remains in fair condition to this day. A memorial to the dead (later erected in the courtyard) is . Other prisoners included a James Keith who escaped (in 1629). Accused Jacobites from Aberdeen of the late 1600's, such as George Liddel, professor of Mathematics from Marischal College, were brought to Dunnottar's dungeons. It all ended after the Stewart failure in 1716.

    Dunnottar later fell into the hands of the York Buildings Company which had intention of doing any building at all. The company stripped the castle and sold its roofs, floors and rich furnishings.

The 9th Earl Marischal regained possession of the castle , but when he learned of its condition he declined to visit there or to rebuild it .In 1766 Alexander Keith, the writer and descendant of the 2nd Earl Marischal, bought it but little was done with the dilapidated buildings. In 1925 some restoration was done due to the efforts of Lady Cowdray. Today, Dunnottar is a ruin , albeit a spectacular one .

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