Johnstone Castle, Renfrewshire

A-Z Challenge 2012 - J

Johnstone Castle

All that remains today of Johnstone Castle in Renfrewshire, Scotland is the protected Category B square central tower and a crow-stepped section of an older date. The original building dates back to the 16^th century. Its L-shape consisted of three storeys and a wing remodelled as a Gothic tower.

Johnstone Castle - North west elevation 2009

The lands in Renfrewshire had passed to Sir Ludovic Houston in 1645; it was the fourth laird of Johnstone Castle, George Houston who in 1771 and 1812 had it extended in the castellated Gothic style.

Frederick Chopin, the Polish composer visited the castle in 1848. It’s said that a relationship existed between Chopin and Jane Stirling, the sister-in-law of the 5^th laird. He became sick after a concert in Glasgow and was nursed by Jane and her sister for some weeks. A few months later Chopin died in Paris.

During World War II the MOD took over the castle and a POW camp was set up in the grounds. A Polish soldier who died at the castle is buried in the nearby woods. Supposedly Chopin’s music is sometime to be heard on moonlight nights between the castle and the woods.

Johnstone Castle - viewed from south 2009

Most of the house was demolished in 1950 and the land taken over by the local council. The remains of the castle are now surrounded by a housing estate.

Hilary Melton-Butcher's Scottish Castle yesterday was Inveraray Castle

Attributions:

• Johnstone Castle, North West Elevation; by wfmillar; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
• Johnstone Castle; by wfmillar; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Inverness Castle

 A-Z Challenge 2012 - I

Inverness Castle

The red sandstone Inverness Castle on the cliff overlooking the River Ness in Scotland is a comparatively modern castle. Although a series of castles have stood on the site since the 11^th century, the castle we see today was built as recently as 1836.

Inverness Castle - 2005

The 12^th century earth and timber fortress was occupied by English troops under King Edward I; King Robert the Bruce took and destroyed the castle in 1310. A stone castle founded in the early 15^th century by the Earl of Mar had a square stone tower added by George Gordon, Earl of Huntly in the 1548. Gordon was constable of the castle until 1562.

He was hanged by Mary Queen of Scots after the castle had been taken for the Queen by the Frasers and Munros. Earlier the Queen had found the gates of the castle shut against her.

The castle was defended against the Jacobites more that once. During the second major Jacobite rising in 1745 it fell to Bonnie Prince Charlie (Prince Charles Edward Stuart). It was blown up after the Battle of Culloden.

The castle now standing on the site was built to house the Sheriff Courthouse and County Hall. A deep well and part of a bastion wall are all that remain of the medieval castle.

Inverness Castle front - 2007

Hilary Melton-Butcher's Castle H - Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex

Attribution

• Inverness Castle, 2005, by Dave Connor, originally posted to Flickr; Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
• Inverness Castle – Front, 2007, by Conor Power (Waterford, Ireland); Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. 

Huntington Castle - The Wailing Wife and the Phantom Bishop

A-Z Challenge 2012 - H

Huntington Castle - The Wailing Wife and the Phantom Bishop

Huntington Castle stands in Clonegal, County Carlow, Ireland. During his conquest of Ireland Cromwell captured the castle in 1650.

Back in the 13^th century there had been a Franciscan monastery on the site. The Jacobean castle built in 1625 by Sir Laurence Esmonde replaced an earlier stronghold on the site of the monastery.

Huntington Castle - 2008

Huntington is a site that abounds with ghosts. The original monks planted a yew tree walk which survives to this day. It is there that you might just come across their ghostly forms.

The marriage of the Protestant Sir Laurence and his Catholic wife, Ailish had its problems. It’s said that one night Ailish took her baby son and stole away to her Connaught family. Sir Laurence promptly took a new wife. Ailish’s wraithlike spirit sometimes stands in the garden combing her hair and wailing in anguish at the unfairness of it all.

The tale is also told of the ghosts of Barbara St Lege and her maidservant, Honor Byrne. They wander the corridors, keys jangling and Honor polishing door handles with her hair.

Should you hear a knock on the castle door it may turn out to be a spectral soldier from Cromwell’s time. Sent to gather information from the enemy his comrades did not recognise him when he returned, still in disguise. His ghostly face may be seen at the grille through which he was shot.

The Bishop of Limerick died at the castle in 1770. Occupants of the Four Poster Room in the bedroom wing have claimed to see his ghost standing at the foot of their bed. From time to time his friendly face is said to replace that of a Spanish flower girl in the portrait by Murillo above the fireplace.

At ground level stone steps lead down to the space which in 1640 Cromwell’s men used as a dungeon. In modern times (1976) Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, his wife and sister converted the cellars into the head-quarters of the Fellowship of Isis which now has a worldwide membership.

Hilary Melton-Butcher's Castle G - Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire

Attribution

• Image - Huntington Castle 2008 by Liam Hughes, Milwaukee, WI, USA; the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

British Architecture - Sunday Stamps

I've had these stamps in mind for a long time, waiting for the right theme.

British Architecture - Cathedrals

These stamps were issued on 28 May 1969. The cathedrals are from the top:

• Durham Cathedral  and York Minster
• St Giles Edinburgh and Canterbury Cathedral
• St Paul's Cathedral and Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

The colours have not scanned well and tend to be deeper and harsher than on the actual stamps.

For more architecture check the stamps posted by others at Viridian's Sunday Stamps 65

Glenbuchat Castle

A-Z Challenge 2012 - G

Glenbuchat Castle

Glenbuchat Castle - 2007

 Glenbuchat Castle sits on a bluff above the River Don, near Kildrummy in Aberdeenshire. The Z-plan castle has a rectangular central tower with two square towers at diagonally opposing corners.

The castle was built in 1590 to mark the wedding of John Gordon of Cairnbarrow and his wife Helen. A later John Gordon, known as ‘Old Glenbucket’ (an older spelling) supported the Jacobite cause and became a hero of the Jacobite Risings.

So far my posts have managed to include ghostly hauntings. It was the infamy achieved by Old Glenbucket that supposedly haunted the dreams of King George III.

After the sale of the castle in 1738 the castle fell into disrepair. Purchased by James Barclay in 1901, it was handed to the state in 1946. The main spiral staircase to the castle’s upper levels has been restored.

Glenbuchat is usually unmanned and access to a viewing platform erected across the central area is restricted. Visitors may however explore the first floor and the vaulted ground-floor rooms.

However if you wanted to see Scotland’s most haunted castle then you should go to Glamis which I wrote about here in November 2010.

Hilary Melton-Butcher's Castle  for F - Framlingham Castle Suffolk

Attribution:

• Glenbuchat Castle 2007; By Stanley Howe; Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license; Geograph Project collection.

Fotheringhay Castle and Mary Queen of Scots

 A-Z Challenge - F

Fotheringhay Castle and Mary Queen of Scots

The village of Fotheringhay is situated six kilometres north east of Oundle in the county of Northamptonshire. There is nothing left of its castle today other than the motte on which it was built which provides excellent views of the River Nene.

Site of Fotheringhay Castle - 2009

Site of Fotheringhay Castle The motte and bailey is all that remains of Fotheringhay Castle, where Mary, Queen of Scots was executed. Behind is the modern Castle Barn and beyond, Fotheringhay Church. 

The Norman castle was built around 1100. The motte topped by a stone keep was surrounded by a moat. King Edward III (1312-77) rebuilt the Norman castle and granted it to his son, Edward, Duke of York. In 1452 the wife of a later Duke of York gave birth to the future Richard III. The reign of Richard III was short (1483 – 85) as he was killed at the Bosworth during the War of the Roses.

Henry VIII gave it to Catherine of Aragon as part of her dowry but she refused to go there. The castle became infamous as the site for the imprisonment and execution of the tragic Mary, Queen of Scots. She was tried and convicted for treason and beheaded in the Great Hall on 8^th February 1587.

(If you are squeamish you may want to give the video a miss)

 The castle fell into disrepair and in 1627 it was razed to the ground, its fixtures and fittings sold. The great horned windows and the staircase down which Mary walked to her execution ended up in the Talbot Hotel in Oundle. Reputedly Mary’s face is seen occasionally gazing out at passers-by.

 Hilary Melton-Butcher's Castle E - Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire

Attributions

• Site of Fotheringhay Castle:  By Ian Simpson 2009 – Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license. (Geograph Project Collection)
• Video: Execution scene taken from the BBC series 'Elizabeth R' (1971). Starring Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth and Vivian Pickles as Mary, Queen of Scots. No copyright infringement intended

Sepia Saturday's Library

Despite the amount of time I spend in the local libraries and my love of books this is what I found.

Unknown Library (?) Art

However at the British Library some works need translation.

Miniature of the martyrdom of Thomas Becket, and the beginning of his suffrage, Book of Hours

(18 January 2012 Source British Library manuscripts blog)

For the interior of a library the years have moved on.

Library - 1842

Perhaps the linguists among my readers can translate the description: Source - Eberhard Gailer: Neuer orbis pictus für die Jugend oder Schauplatz der Natur, der Kunst und des Menschenlebens. 5. Auflage, Reutlingen, Joh. Conr. Mäcken jun., 1842.

The source for may photos shown on Sepia Saturday is often the Library of Congress so here's another from there.

Low Library Rotunda - Columbia University, New York City - 1900-1910

 Then there is this shot where a Pets for Therapy dog was the star. The venue's a library.

Luka, a Bernese Mountain Dog in Yarm Library

 For more bookish library posts pay a visit to Sepia Saturday 120