460 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY , 1935TH 13 F Y .O S MA , IV. THE CASTLES OF DUNNIDEER AND WARDHOUSE, IN THE GARIOCH, ABERDEENSHIRE. BY W. DOUGLAS SIMPSON, M.A., D.LiTT., F.S.A.ScoT. Dunnideer is an elongated hogsbacked hill, with its long axis lying E.S.E. by W.N.W., about a mile west of the town of Insch, in the upper Garioch. Rising abruptly to a height of 876 feet, the hill is rendered conspicuou e singleth s y (figb ,) lofty.1 shattered an , d ancienn wala f o l t Fig. 1. Dunuideer. General view from east. castle that crown . sit Thi s wal pierces i l larga y deb ruinous window, formin strikinglga y picturesque object whic sees hi n ove wida r e extent of country. On a closer inspection, the old tower is found to stand withi vitrifiee a wal nf th o l d fort, beyond which agaiearthworn a s ni k rampart with a ditch on either side. The whole thus forms one of the most remarkable archaeological ensembles in the north of Scotland. towee s measureTh ha r ) (plan4 d dfigsd ,an aboufigan 3 . , fee8 .2 3 t t CASTLES OF DUNNIDEER AND WARDHOUSE, GAR10CH. 461 in feelengt9 breadth2 n i t y hb , within wall fee6 s inche3 t s thickn O . the outer face of the west wall, which stands to a height of over 30 feet, there is a splayed plinth about 3 feet above present ground level, carrying the face 9 inches back. Remain narroa f so w window with splayed jambs basemene existh t a t te eas wesd leveth an t tn i l walls: the latter window has its ingoing crudely arched. The great window on the upper floor on this side, already referred to, has a pointed rear- arch, well though roughly formed in small flat stones; but its original shape below the arch is obscured by modern repairs. The masonry con- sist excellenf so t well-coursed rubble facings, with a cor f pebbleo e s grouten limeru n .i d Where this masonry has been patched, pinnings are Pig. 2. Dunnideer Castle: freely employed, but on the undisturbed faces these are absent and the rounded- or subangular pebbles are closely compacted together with flat chips bringin o course—t p gu a modf o e Fig. 3. Dunnideer Castle: view of tower from east. building which with the regular coursing produces in the general effect a markedly striated e westextured nortth an tn hO .inne r sidee th s lowee facingth 9 feef r o ts have been e wallpeeledth sd an hav, e subsequently been reface a heigh o t d t varying feet6 betwee d . an 3 n 462 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 13, 1935. e broketh f o e soutn th d wes t hen A t "walld partlan , y caughy b p u t modern underpinning, are eleven courses of dressed yellow freestone at the first floor level (seen to the left in fig. 4), every alternate stone being a cloured-away tusk, while the others are set to a uniform vertical e onllineTh y . probable explanatio f thi no s tha i s t ther s beeeha a n garderob somr eo e such projecting structur t thiea s point. Fig . Dunnidee4 . r Castle: vie towerf wo from west. The appearance of the tower in 1788, when a great deal more of it was standing shows i , gooa y nb d etchin Adan gi Cardonnel'e md s Pictur- esque Antiquities f Scotland.o This towef ro e wesstandd th en tt a s the vitrified fort, which forms (plan, fig. 5) a rectangle with curved corners, measuring fee 5 abou8 feet0 y interiorlyb t23 t mosn I . t places the vitrifaction has been very thorough. The largest remaining mass norte th hn o (fig sid, 6) .e nea towere fee 2 rth length 2 n i t s i , fee9 , t thick, and 7 feet in height. I found a fine piece of the melted stone showing CASTLE F DUNNIDEEO S WARDHOUSED RAN , GARIOCH3 46 . seven distinct impression f charreso d wood, severa t ends whicf cu o l e . har The vitrified materia s chemicallwa l y examine r CharleM y db s Proctor, who pronounce composee b o same t th t d i f e do granitwhicf o t e hth eou bana hilease d formed.s kth i len tt seemA mar o s t positioe kth a f no cross-wal1 l cuttin fore gt whetheth tofcurvebu e f ;o fth d rden this cross- wal prehistoris i l r connecteco d wit mediaevae hth l castl impossibls i t ei e a distanc t fee6 A 3 tsayo f t eo beyon. d thi sa curve easd en td cross- ditch is drawn athwart the hogsback; it measures 29 feet broad and is now abou fee3 t t deeappeard traversee pan b o a t causewas y db f yo access. The earthwork fortification (plan, fig. 5) encircles the hill at a distance DUNNIDEER """'""''iiimiuwiiiiimmiiiiiiiiimiimi '""'Hlliliii """"""""""MfllllUllllllllllllllllllllin™"1""""",',';,',,,.^'^" ,o """"""/in """"""'""""WWWWIIIIIIIIIIillMIIM"1""""""""""" ,,inu\»'wv>1> ItSO foo J5O GOO Afo 7OO TsO Pig. 5. Dunnideer. General plan showing mediaeval tower, vitrified fort, and earthworks. (The line of the vitrified rampart is shown hy cross-hatching ; portions of vitrifaction cropping out situn tintee i ar d black.) of roughly one-third below its summit, and encloses an egg-shaped area measuring aboufee 0 feegreates 0 n lengti n t36 i t 60 t d han t breadtht I . consist a centra f o s l bank betwee ditcheso ntw . These earthworke ar s most conspicuous at the two ends (fig. 7), and on the north side they are now reduced to a mere track along the hill. So far as surface appearances chiegoe th , f dimensions follows(takes wese a th e t n ar a end : )— Se . MacdonaldeJ , Place Names Strathbogie,n i . 52 . p CASTLE F DUNNIDEEO S WARDHOUSED AN R , GARIOCH5 46 . Basal breadth of rampart, 28 feet. Height of rampart above present solum of outer ditch, 8 feet. Breadt innef ho r ditch feet9 , . Breadt outef ho r ditch feet4 1 , . The earliest scientific description of Dunnideer occurs in a remarkable pape vitrifien o r d forts publishe y Jameb d s Anderso f Monkshilo n n i l SLOPE TO BARTHOLOMEW SHEVACK BURN THE FLEMING'S CASTLE OF WEREOORS Pig. 8. Plan of moated homestead at Wardhouse. Archceologia, vol. vi (1792), pp. 88-95.J In this account, which is illus- trated by a sketch plan and three drawings, reference is made to a still lower line of circumvallation, of which no trace appears now to be visible, though ther sligha s ei t terracnorte th n heo flank whic havy hma e given rise to the idea of a lower rampart. The large hollow marked G on Anderson's plan, outside the west end of the earthwork rampart, still exists. Possibly it is a quarry out of which stone for the tower was dug. At the western foot of the hill are the earthwork remains of the old castl Wardhousf eo e (fig. 8). They for mtypicaa l exampl Normaa f eo n motte——or rather perhaps a homestead moat, as there is no indication of the area within the ditch having been much mounded up above the Auderson republished this account, with the plans and engravings poorly reproduced on a reduce1 d s scaleperiodicahi n i , Bee,e Literaryr Th lo Weekly Intelligencer, . 206—12 pp vol . x . , 274-8 (August 15 and 29, 1792). VOL. LXIX. 30 466 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY, 193513 TH Y F . O S MA , surrounding level. The area is roughly oval, measuring about 176 feet fee0 breadthn lengti n 14 ti s enclose i d d ditca han an ,y db h abou0 6 t feet wide, with an outer rampart. On the east side both ditch and rampar e obliteratedar t . Immediately north-eas e far th f Mainm o s i t s of Wardhouse, representing the old demesne or mensal lands of the castle, from whic lord'e hth s tabl supplieds ewa . The earliest referenc Dunnideeo t e r Castla en i tha s i I havtt me e note of an agreement, dated 1260, which is preserved in the Chartulary of Lindores. That great Tironensian abbey "was founde n 117i d y 8b David, Earl of Huntingdon and of the Gtarioch, brother of William the s endowewa t i dm wit hi e revenue Liony hth B . f eigho s t parishen i s s northerhi n earldom, including Insch whicn i , h Dunnidee s situatedi r . agreemene Th t referremads wa eo t dbetwee e Abbo nth d Conven an t t of Lindore r GoceliSi d r Joscelinno an s e Balliold e , lor f Dunnideero d , and brother of Sir John de Balliol, husband of Dervorgilla, lady of Gallo- way, the founder of Balliol College, Oxford, and of Sweetheart Abbey domainn withiow r .nhe Dervorgill a granddaughte s wa a f Davido r , Ear f Gariocho l thid s clearlan i s, e Ballio e reasoth yth y l nwh famil y obtained ha interesn da t agreementhere.e Th t mentions that Gocelin held "his lands i1 n Garviach ... of the gift of Sir John de Balliol, his brother. t narrateI " s that "the aforesai r GocelinSi d r himselfo , f s heirs hi s give granted d ha , nan an perpetuad fren di an e l alm frea s e intercourse from the Ouri [River Ury], measuring four feet and a half in breadth, as far as the mill of Inchemabani [Insch], by the middle of the land which he has on the east of his castle of Donidor," on condition that "the aforesaid Abbot and convent shall give to the aforesaid Sir Gocelin and his heirs a pair of white gloves every year at Whitsunday at his castle of Donidor l service al lien i ,f uo , exaction, suitseculad an , r demand."- Somewhat earliee samth en i r centur meete yw e Lindore, alsth n oi s Chartulary, with our first mention of Wardhouse, in a deed whereby Bartholome Flemine wth g '' grantchurce t Drostath S o f st ho Inchef no - maban acreo arabltw f so d tofa i an et land adjoinin vils hi ltofe n gth i t of Rauengille between the great road and the moor towards Gillandres- ton 3 .