ILS... ONE TALE There Are Many Places in Dumfries and Galloway Associated with Robert the Bruce and His Story
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THRE E TRAILS... ONE TALE There are many places in Dumfries and Galloway associated with Robert the Bruce and his story. You can visit these B7040 Ericstane Key: Wanlockhead locations individually, but if you wish to follow the Trail, it A701 has been divided into three regions to make travelling more B797 (M) trail locations manageable. These are the Eastern Trail, Central Trail and Sanquhar A76 trail route Western Trail. Annan principal trail towns Tibbers Western Trail Thornhill THE Central Trail EAST ERN AIL Eastern Trail TR B7020 THE EASTERN TRAIL is about 120 miles with 3.5 hrs driving - Dalswinton it takes in a number of attractive towns and villages. Lochmaben Caerlaverock Castle Hightae Caerlaverock Castle is one of Scotland’s great medieval fortresses. In Clatteringshaws Dumfries 1300, King Edward I of England launched an invasion into Galloway A75 B7020 Glentrool B725 Kirkpatrick and besieged the castle. It remained in English hands until 1312, when Fleming it fell to King Robert the Bruce, who ordered its demolition. Today, Sweetheart A75 with its moat, twin towered gatehouse and imposing battlements, A75 Abbey B724 Creebridge Buittle Annan Caerlaverock Castle is the epitome of the medieval stronghold. Castle Caerlaverock Annan Castle Loch Ryan Creetown Douglas Castle A714 A75 A710 Annan’s 12th century castle was the base of the Norman de Brus Glenluce family, who rose in power and influence as generations went by. It A755 was strategically placed on the River Annan, but flooding damaged the foundations, and the site was abandoned for Lochmaben. Built as Kirkcudbright a motte and bailey castle, it is the oldest man-made formation still standing in Annan, although only earthworks remain. Whithorn Kirkpatrick Fleming The Robert the Bruce Trail The story of Bruce and the spider was created by Sir Walter Scott and based on the fact that Bruce was a fugitive from 1306 to 1307. The cave here has a popular local association with the story, and is carved out of a red sandstone cfiff, about 30 feet above the Kirtle Water. Until 1927 it could only be reached by a rope from the THE CEN THE WE overhang, but the council built the present path so that the cave TRAL TRAIL STERN TRAIL could be visited safely. THE CENTRAL TRAIL is about 115 miles with 3hrs driving ~ it THE WESTERN TRAIL is about 100 miles with 3hrs driving ~ it Hightae takes in the fabulous coastline of Dumfries and Galloway. takes in the quiet yet beautiful western coast The area around Hightae was granted to the Brus family in 1124, and Sweetheart Abbey Glentrool it is one of the Royal Four Towns of Lochmaben ~ Greenhill, Heck, Sweetheart Abbey is the heart of the tiny Now part of Galloway Forest Park, Hightae and Smallholm ~ founded by Bruce to provide garrisons community of New Abbey, and was built Glentrool is the scene of King Robert’s and food supplies for Lochmaben Castle. The rights granted to the for Lady Devorgilla of Galloway, to first significant victory over the English: tenants passed down through a small group of families to the present commemorate her late husband John time, producing a proud community with a unique history. in April 1307, he hid in these hills with Balliol. She had his heart embalmed and no more than around 300 men, waiting Lochmaben kept it in a casket ~ her “sweet, silent, companion”. Their son John became King for the chance to pounce on his prey. In medieval times, forest and marsh of Scots in 1292. The abbey, initially called At Glentrool he lured the Earl of forced travellers from England up New Abbey, was renamed by the monks in Pembroke and 1,500 heavy English through Annandale towards Lochmaben, her memory Dulce Cor ~ Sweetheart Abbey. cavalry along the narrow track on the and it was a key point of conflict south side of Loch Trool, bombarded between England and Scotland. The Buittle Castle them with rocks and debris, then fell Bruces built a motte and bailey castle The remains of this once-important castle consist today of a large, on them as they scattered. which survives today as part of the grass-covered motte built by Allan, Lord of Galloway. When Robert golf course. The later castle built at the Bruce seized the throne in 1306, his brother Edward Bruce Whithorn Castle Loch was begun by Edward I of England c. 1300. beseiged the castle which fell in February 1313. Robert took the Ericstane surrender and Buittle Castle was subsequently razed to the ground. In 1328 Bruce had secured independence from England, but In 1325 the lands of Buittle were given by King Robert I to Sir James he was a dying man. At the age of 54, his body was wracked In February 1306, Bruce rode north for Glasgow, having killed John Douglas. but the motte is now owned by Balliol College, Oxford. with a skin disease, possibly leprosy, after a lifetime of harsh Comyn at Greyfriars Monastery, Dumfries. His party halted here at living. In April 1329, he made a last pilgrimage from his home the Devil’s Beeftub, where the Annan rises, and was met by a small Kirkcudbright Castle at Cardross to Whithorn to pray at St Ninian’s Shrine. He riding party led by the young James Douglas, carrying a message of support from the Bishop of St. Andrews. Douglas pledged his loyalty Kirkcudbright Castle was built by King Alexander III in 1264, was a pious man and prayed for forgiveness for the murder to the would-be king, a promise he kept all his life. occupying an almost impregnable position on a tidal inlet of the sea. of John Comyn, and for the suffering and death of his loved When Edward I of England invaded Galloway in 1300 he stayed here ones. The award-winning Whithorn Story tells the story of Wanlockhead for ten days, accompanied by 7500 men and 60 ships, the biggest fleet Whithorn’s early Christian past, the churches on the site and ever seen in Scotland. The castle was probably demolished by King the archaeology discovered there during the last century. This village is the highest in Scotland, and its mines produced lead Robert 1 after his victory over the English at Bannockburn in 1314. for making weapons. Gold and silver were mined for minting coins and for making the Scottish crown and regalia. Other local resources Creebridge Glenluce Abbey were King Robert’s ‘palfreys’: small, agile ponies ideal for battle in the Glenluce Abbey was founded around 1192. The Cistercian The flat estuary here is the site of an indecisive battle between Scottish landscape. Today, the Museum of Scottish Leadmining here is monks here probably came from Dundrennan Abbey, near a major visitor attraction. Edward 1 and Scottish forces led by Edward, Earl of Buchan. On seeing the English army bearing down on them, the Scots cavalry fled Kirkcudbright. They brought with them an austere way of life, Sanquhar Castle for the hills, but the English were ill~prepared to make pursuit over but also the splendour of their architecture. Glenluce Abbey this terrain, so most Scots escaped. The River Cree was the limit of came into State care in 1933, and during clearance of the Sanquhar Castle was captured by William Wallace during his uprising Edward’s 1300 invasion and, starved of funds, he returned home. rubble, many artefacts were discovered, now on display in of 1297. The Castle had links with Robert the Bruce but most of the visitor centre. When King Robert made his final journey what survives is from the 1400s. The Castle ruins are privately- Clatteringshaws owned and not open to the public, but may be viewed from the to Whithorn, he travelled down the coast, resting at several Southern Upland Way, which passes them. In March 1307 King Robert hid out in the hills around Moss Raploch places along the way including Glenluce Abbey. and Glentrool. An English army camped here was set upon by the Tibbers Castle Scots at dawn and, as the Scots picked over the dead for weapons Loch Ryan and booty, the king rested against a large stone, now known as the Only earthworks and some stone walling remains of Tibbers Castle. When Bruce returned to the mainland to start his campaign, Bruce Stone. The battle site itself is now submerged by the reservoir., Early in 1306, Tibbers was garrisoned by English troops, but captured but the stone can be visited in Galloway Forest Park. its landscape provided shelter and hiding places, and access by the Scots soon after John Comyn’s death at the hands of Robert to the sea was crucial in supplying men, ships and support for Bruce. Today the site is owned by the Duke of Buccleuch. Castle Douglas his cause. In February 1307 King Robert’s brothers, Thomas and Alexander, landed on the shores of Loch Ryan to attack Dalswinton Castle Douglas was the scene of a massacre in 1308 when Sir James the English supply route from Carlisle, but they were betrayed, On 10 February 1306 John Comyn set out from Dalswinton Castle Douglas raided the south west. The town was under the English command of Robert Clifford. Douglas killed most defenders and and fell into the hands of the Macdowalls, Bruce’s enemy in to meet Robert Bruce at Greyfriars Monastery, Dumfries. A few Galloway. hours later, Comyn lay dead and Bruce seized Dumfries Castle. The destroyed the fortifications. The nearby castle at Threave was attacked present Dalswinton House stands on the site of Comyn’s medieval by Edward Bruce in the same year..The present Threave Castle was built by castle.