General Introduction
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
III. CRAIG CASTLE AND THE KIRK OF AUCHINDOIR, ABERDEENSHIRE. BY W. DOUGLAS SIMPSON, M.A., D.Lrrr., F.S.A.ScoT. GENERAL INTRODUCTION. In early medieval times, from the western half of the Province of Mar, and from the group of important passes across the Mounth out of Strathmore and the Braes of Angus, the main access northward into e Provincth f Moravieo r Moraao througy yla e opehth n strath, about a mile and a half in average width, that intervenes between the Correen e Cabrace westh th e easd Hilltth n an o th(se n so e map, fig. Thi1) . s gap in the watershed provides an easy means of communication between Strathdoe middlth d ean n reache e Deveron s th natural f wa o s t I ,. therefore, that a strong hand should have been laid upon so important arterian a Anglo-Normale routedaye th th f o sn i , n penetratio f Marno , durind an protractee gth bitted dan r wars wageCanmore th y db e dynasty against e earlMorae twelftth th y d n yi thirteentan h h centurye W . find significant proof of this in the fact that, in the period under dis- cussione stratth f ht o eithe a , d ther s planteen r ewa e da castl th f eo firs ts souther rankit t A . n inlet, Bishop Gilber f Caithnesso t behaln o , f of Alexander II., founded the great stronghold of Kildrummy, the capital messuag f Mareo powerfua , l stone castlenceintee th f eo type introduced e earlth ye n thirteenti th par f o t h century e locatioTh . f thio n s " nobles northerf to n castles intelligibls "i e onl strategi e vien yth i f wo c CRAIG CASTLE AND THE KIRK OF AUCHINDOIR. 49 situation s abova , e described. e northerth t A 1 n e stratoutleth f ho t the Normanised Celtic Earls of Fife, transplanted thither by William [J. F. Wyness, del. Fig. 1. Map of the Early Routes from Mar into Moray. (NOTE.—Matte indicatee ar s dota y db ; stone castle circlea y sb d dot; churche circlea y sb d cross.) the Lion (1165-1214), threw up a strong castle, not of stone but in earth- work—on e besth tf o epreserve d example nort e a Normath f ho n i s n a ful r l 1discussioFo f thino s questiopapey m n "The o r se ne Early Castle f Maro s n "i last year's Proceedings, vol. Ixiii . 125-6pp . 4 VOL. LXIV. 50 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 9, 1929. mount-and-bailey fortress.1 Next to Kildrummy, Strathbogie Castle be- cam mose eth t important baronial sea western i t n Aberdeenshired an ; latee inth r Middle Ages, owin politicao gt othed an l r causes whicI h have set forth elsewhere,2 the Donside ca'stle came to be quite over- shadowe s neighbouit y e Deveronde b headquarterth th n o w r no , f o s the powerful and widely ramified Gordon family. From Strathbogie Castle the high road into Moray led either by Glen Fiddich and Balvenie Castle to the ford of Spey between the castles of Bohar d Rothesman e northward, morth or ; o t e t y KeitS b , f o h Maelrubha (Keth-malruve) and Orton, where in 1228 there was a bridge ove Speye rth , wit hchapea t NicholaS f lo s founde Muriey db e Pollocd l , lady of Rothes, prior to 1242. Although Queen Mary chose the Balvenie- Boharm r northwarrouthe n o e d march agains3 e Gordonth t n Sepi s - tembe r ordinar 1562,fo t ye 4 y traffi bridge th c t Ortoea n seem havo st e bee e mosth n t favoured crossing e approacthrougy th la t s i a , ho t h more leve fertiled an lthereford an , doubo n e t more settle saferd dan , country. But for travellers who did not mind risk, or for armies to whom roving band f Highlano s d cateran terrorso n d otheo ha stw , r modef so access into Moray offered themselves, more direct even than the Strath- bogie-Balvenie road. The two modes of access to which I now refer both traverse Cabrache dth speao t , kor : more accurately, fro e Cabracmth h westward the e reall yar cross-countre yon y road, witalternativo htw e method f reachino s e Cabracgth h fro e uppemth r par f Strathbogieo t . On f theseo e alternatives branche f fro e higof sm th h roa t Rhynieda , and holds directly westward by Scurdargue and Essie: the second leaves the high road at Auchindoir, nearer the headwaters of the Bogie, and runs north-westward to join the other above the Kirk of Cabrach. The early, and perhaps the greater, importance of the Scurdargue-Bssie road is showface e riva th th uses t n ly nthai wa db armie t i t f Malcolo s m Canmor Lulacd ean Fatuoue hth campaige th n si t f 1058;neei no d dan 5 not therefore surprise us to meet on this route with characteristic evidenc Normae th f eo n penetratio anciene th n i t castle-sit f Lesmoieo r e associateth d an d churc f Essieo h e scenth , f Lulach'o e s death.t Bu 6 thae Auchindoir-Cabracth t h s roaals f importancwa o od n earli e y medieval times is proved, in no less unmistakable fashion, by the fact that, just at the point where it parts company with the strath, we find mottee th Auchindoirf o closd an , e besid t thei e thirteenth-century parish descriptioy m e 1Se f thesno e earthwork Proceedings,n i s vol. Ivi147-Spp . Castlee ' OpTh . ocit.,f48 . Kildrummy,p 202-4. pp . 4a Proceedings, vol. Ix . 134p . ; vol. Ixiii . 126p . , not . e3 5 Ibid., vol. Ixiii . 127p . ' Ibid., vol. 274Ix. p . CRAIG CASTLE AND THE KIRK OF AUCHINDOIR. 51 cburche finesth f to , specimene whicon s hi f Transitionao s r earlo l y First Pointed architecture thas surviveha t northern di n Scotland. Whic f thes ho routeo e arm th s tw euse f Edwary o wa sdb d n I.o , s marchi h from Invercharac e Cabracth n hi o Kildrummyt h t 1s n o , August 1296impossibls i knot e i ,say o t W w.w thaeno t another column under Anthony Beck warlike th , e Bisho f Durhampo , cam differena y eb t road; and it may possibly be that the King used one and the Bishop the other of the two roads under discussion: though I am inclined, on wholee th thino t , k thachronicle d language ol th t e th f reo must imply a more serious divergence on Bishop Anthony's part, and that the troops under his command most probably came down on Donside and Kildrummy via Strathbogie Castle.1 Althoug onle hw y begin, very naturally t definitge o t , e information f roado e sus wite beginnine th h th o t strictle s th a f go y medieval period in the eleventh century, it is self-evident that these natural cross- country tracks must have come into prominence from the very beginnings of human occupation hardlyn ca t I ,. therefore a coincidenc e b , e that we find early church sites planted by St Moluag of Lismore in the sixth century, one at Mortlach and another at Clova in Kildrummy. A map of the Moluag sites in Pictland seems to me to show, in quite an un- mistakable waythiw sho , notable missionary must have come fros mhi starting-point at Lismore up the Great Glen by Ballagan on Loch Ness into Moravia (Rosemarkie) and thence made his way via Mortlach and Clova, along the road which we have been discussing, into Mar and the western Garioch, where he has left foundations at Tarland arid Clatt. On Tap-o'-Noth, overlooking Scurdargue, is Clochmaloo, Moluag's stone or seat —a hint, ventur perhapy ma e suggesto et s on , tha usee Essith e dth e road on his journey from Mortlach to Clova. Very remarkable indications of such early line penetration—indicationf so s whic presene h th often n i s ta , case confirme,are medievadby l archaeologica documentarland y evidence— obtainee b n ca constructiny db g track-chart Celtie th f sco missionary saints. It is a curious result of the great development of motor traffic in recent times that our ancient cross-country routes are everywhere regaining an importance which they had lost in railroad days. Stirling Bridge pasn i , t age strategie sth c centr f Scotlandeo casa s pointn i e,i . buildine Forte Th th f gho Bridge drew northwarmuce th f ho d traffic away from the older crossing ; but now that motor transport has assumed such huge proportions, Stirling Bridge is again, as of yore, one of the busiest nodal point Scotland.n si wits i e ancien t hi th o S 2t road from Auchin- doir to the Cabrach: in the eyes of the motorist to-day this is coming 1 Proceedings, vol. Ixiii . 127p . See my Stirlingshire (Cambridge County Geographies), pp. 1-2. 3 52 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 9, 1929. into ever-growing favoue mosth s t a rdirec t access from Aberdeeo t n s e Northreneweit th Elgi d d an ;nan d importanc costle sees th ei n yni improvements now being made upon it by the county road authority.