1241-1300
By Gwen Sinclair
In part one of chapter 5 of the Chronicles of Castle Hill, referencing the 1archaeological studies of 80s and 90s in the period between 1241-1300, the steady rise in fortunes of the High Stewards finds their probable wooden motte and bailey fortification replaced with a high status castle built from stone. And likely within sight of Dundonald during this chapter, an integral part of Scotland’s medieval history, may well have played out before their eyes…
“Our son shall be named 2James – after your father, Séamus MacSomerled MacRory, James Mac Angus, once Lord of Bute & Arran, son of Angus, grandson of Somerled, my dear,” declared Alexander 4th High Steward of Scotland, gazing proudly at his new-born son, nestled cosily in the arms of his wife, Jean. Perhaps now, Alexander could rest a little easier knowing he had an heir to the High Steward lineage; perhaps too in naming him James, this placed a tiny foot in both camps to help sweeten any bitter taste which still remained between these two families, within whose legacies lay of the battling of James’ two great grandfathers, when Walter Fitz Alan defeated and killed Somerled, the Gaelic-Norse leader when he invaded Renfrewshire in 1164.
As the last of the light faded to starlight across Jean’s tired eyes, Alexander leaned down to kiss her shining brow “And made for great things, our beautiful boy will also be named for St James, whose great shrine at Santiago de Compostela I pilgrimaged, and so will grow to be a fine young man, under the trusted, and most watchful eye of St James.”
The High Stewards of Scotland, their wives and families, were well accustomed to sharing their home on Castle Hill with soldiers, guards, cooks and servants, and by c.1241, evidence suggests architects, planners, haulers, labourers, masons, lime mortar makers and carpenters arrived to begin the monumental task of transforming their probable wooden motte and bailey into a stronghold made of stone.
Over the course of the decades to follow, archaeologists have theorised that mammoth construction took place at Castle Hill where a huge castle containing two double-D twin towered gatehouses, diametrically opposite each other, both with front facing rounded edges to ensure wider defence periphery, straight edged at the back where the towers over looked an internal kite-shaped court yard. Evidence also suggests that each of these gatehouse towers was 4.5 m across internally, and both were likely to have been connected by a great exterior curtain wall built along the 56-57m contour of the south-east part of the hill, continuing around to the contour on the North side. To add extra visual protection, and further lodgings, possibly set at the obtuse angles of its ground plan, it’s likely that other towers were constructed, as was typical of the architectural trends of the time.
.
Castle Hill probably had in residence some of the finest craftsmen in the land at this time, but mystery still surrounds many details of this once great stone stronghold which loomed large on its skyline. However it is perhaps the well, still to be found on the east of the current barmkin wall, which offers most bemusement. As yet only excavated to just a little below the water seepage level to a depth of 1.85 m, we can but wonder that it was merely a shallow underground water storage area, or cistern, or perhaps involved gargantuan engineering in order to tunnel some 30 m down to reach the water table through the solid quartz-dolerite surface of Castle Hill, if it was ever a fully functioning well. If this were so, then this would’ve further involved permanently lining this subterranean tunnel with cut stones and mortar to ensure that the water remained there for those who served to ensure a constant supply of water for the whole population of Castle Hill.
Either way, the water supply was well guarded, as archaeology suggests it was once located inside a small, almost square room beneath one of the towers of the eastern gatehouse, and is still clearly visible to this day. This tower appears to have been located on one side of a passage entrance 4 m wide and 12 m long, assumed to have served as the chief entrance of this impressive High Steward residence.
3Walter the 3rd High Steward of Scotland was said to have died at Dundonald in 1246, with the work of this once bold defender of the realm now passing to his son 4Alexander (c1214-83). Evidence suggests that the work of building this castle continued, or may even have begun with Alexander as 4th High Steward of Scotland, and the structure is often referred to as Alexander’s Castle.
Meanwhile as king Alexander II (1214-49) ventured to pacify Galloway, Alexander the High Steward accompanied him, and could well have been in attendance with the king in his fevered final hours in July 1249 in Gylen Castle on Kerrera, thus ending the king’s attempts to assert control over the Norse held Hebrides at this time. And so it was that the throne passed to the king’s young son, Alexander, aged only 7, and as he grew, began to have ambitions to carry on the work of his father. Emissaries were dispatched to the court of king Haakon IV (1217-63) in Norway to request exchange of these islands for coin – an offer which was most soundly refused. In response by 1262, King Alexander III (1249-86) dispatched William Earl of Ross (c1220-1274) to seize the Isle of Skye, and in doing so untethered the wrath of king Haakon, who set sail on his Kronssud or Kross-Clinker, said to have been the largest ship then ever built in Norway, its dragon-head glistening with plated gold, as a leviathan of ships followed its wake, to exact vengeance on the Scots.
By high summer of 1263, the residents of Castle Hill could well have witnessed their imposing arrival, for within sight of its lofty peak, 100-200 Norse ship are said to have dropped anchor at Lamlash Bay on Arran. As dancing sparks of crackling campfires were lit on Arran’s shores, Alexander 4th High Steward, assembled the king’s retinue of heavy cavalry, supported by a significant infantry recruited from Ayrshire, and awaited their next move on the opposite shore at Ayr, some 12 miles south of his castle at Dundonald. On the last night of September, an ill-wind blew in slashing at timbers and sails, forcing a great number of Norse vessels to berth near Largs.
By morning of 2nd October, combat began with 5 accounts telling of a fierce and bloody battle on the nearby grassy uplands, and on the beach surrounding Largs, eventually forcing the outnumbered Norse to flee. A noted hero under Alexander the Steward’s command was a young knight from the Steward’s lands in Mauchline, Peter or Piers de Curry, who ventured to defend Scotland, it was said, more boldly than any other. As for King Haakon, he withdrew to the island of Cumbrae, and then to Kirkwall in Orkney, to await reinforcements before continuing his campaign, but unexpectedly fell ill and died there. By July 1266, a treaty was signed by Haakon’s son and heir, Magnus VI (1263-80), effectively ceding possession of the Hebrides, and the Isle of Man to the Scottish crown.
In 1283, Alexander the 4th High Steward took his own last breath, and so it was that his son James took up his distinguished banner. As we shall find out in Chapter 5, part 2, as 5th High Steward of Scotland, James, found himself in the thick of fates more calamitous and cataclysmic than anyone could ever have foreseen…
Footnote: 2We don’t know exactly why James was chosen as the name for Alexander and Jean’s son, and have surmised that he was partly named after his maternal grandfather, Séamus MacSomerled MacRory, with Seamus being the Gaelic version of James, or indeed as was also popular, named after a saint, and so this is an imagined scene. Yet, the first known within the High Stewart dynasty, the name James became a weighty one within their family legacy – with 6 Stewart kings, beginning with James 5th High Steward of Scotland’s own great, great grandson king James I of Scotland (1406-37), and as time moved on, from attempts at restoration of the 7th king James, the Jacobite cause – from Latin: Jacobus – emerged, whose political importance in Scotland spanned from 1688 until at least the 1750s, and whose legacy is also woven into later chapters of the Chronicles of Castle Hill.
Meanwhile, find out more about medieval Scottish Masons, and some fascinating description of the work that went into building castles by Iain Ross Wallace, MA MRes FSA Scot from our Winter Talks Series from our Youtube Channel:
3Find out more about Walter, 3rd High Steward of Scotland from our previous blog:
4Find out more about Alexander 4th High Steward of Scotland from our earlier blog:
Find out more about the mystery of the well at Dundonald Castle:
Find out more about Alexander’s Castle at Dundonald in this short film from our YouTube channel :
#TalesOfScotland #YearofStories2022 #DCYearofStories #YS2022
Sources
1Dundonald Castle Excavations 1986—93
Author(s): Gordon Ewart, Denys Pringle, David Caldwell, Ewan Campbell, Stephen Driscoll, Katherine Forsyth, Dennis Gallagher, Tim Holden, Fraser Hunter, David Sanderson and Jennifer Thoms
Source: Scottish Archaeological Journal, Vol. 26, No. 1/2, DUNDONALD CASTLE EXCAVATIONS 1986—93 (2004), pp. i-x, 1-166
Published by: Edinburgh University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27917525
Hume Brown, P. A Shorter History of Scotland. Oliver & Boyds Education Series. Edinburgh 1907.
5Cowan, E. The Battle of Largs. Ayrshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. Airdrie Print Services. 2017.
Prebble, J. The Lion in the North- 1000 years of Scotland’s History. Book Club Associates. Secker and Warburg.
https://archive.org/details/scotspeeragefoun05pauluoft/page/30/mode/2up
https://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/castle5.htm
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/berwick/berwickupontweed/index.html
http://www.battlefieldsofbritain.co.uk/battle_largs_1263.html
https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/monarchs/margaret.html
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Jacobite-British-history
Images
Cover Image by Gwen Sinclair for FoDC
Timeline image by Gwen Sinclair for FoDC
Rhuddlan Castle (similar to Alexander’s Castle) By Julie Anne Workman – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19808130
Model of Alexander’s Castle from Dundonald Castle Museum by Gwen Sinclair for FoDC
Dundonald Castle Visitor Centre Museum Alexander 4th High Steward museum displays by Gwen Sinclair for FoDC
Steward banner inside Dundonald Castle by Gwen Sinclair for FoDC
Prows of viking ships and medieval boats moored to the pier in the harbour of the small city of Tønsberg, Norway: “Saga Oseberg” By Wolfmann – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86680572
Location of the Battle of Largs images by By Dave Hitchborne, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13022801 and By No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=568896
