Duntreath Castle

Duntreath Castle, Stirling
Photo © Iain Thompson, 18 November 2005

The Edmonstone Baronetcy, of Duntreath in the County of Stirling, is a title in the Baronetage of Great Britain. It was created 20 May 1774 for Archibald Edmonstone, 11th of Duntreath, Member of Parliament for Dumbartonshire and Ayr Burghs. He was succeeded by his third but eldest surviving son, the second Baronet. He represented Dumbartonshire and Stirlingshire in the House of Commons. On his death the title passed to his eldest son, the third Baronet. He was a writer and traveller. He died without surviving issue and was succeeded by his half-brother, the fourth Baronet. He was an Admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament.

The family seat is Duntreath Castle, Blanefield, Stirlingshire.The historian Mary McGrigor is the sister of the seventh Baronet.

--DUNTREATH CASTLE, STIRLING

Duntreath Castle is situated in the valley of Strathblane, about two miles from Blanefield Railway Station. It stands surrounded by wooded parks and swelling hills, the most remarkable of which, the lofty conical peak of Dungoiach, rises like a gigantic pyramid beyond the castle.

About the year 1740 Duntreath was abandoned, and allowed to fall into ruin. It stood for upwards of a century roofless and untenanted, till, in 1857, Sir Archibald Edmonstone of Duntreath had it restored as the family seat. The building is quadrangular in plan, and measures on the outside about 100 feet from east to west by about 120 feet from north to south. The entrance is through a gatehouse in the centre of the west side, and presents one of the most complete and extensive erections of this class in Scotland. The picturesque gateway at Hills Castle, in Dumfriesshire, is small beside this one; and most of the others, such as Stobhall, Balvaird, Balcomie, Balgonie, and others, are at most arched passages, with a guard-room or two adjoining ; but here the gatehouse is a three-story structure, with a frontage of about 30 feet by 20 feet in depth. A wheel-staircase, entering from the courtyard, led to the upper floors; and two round turrets on the angles of the west or outer face served to defend the gateway. Although this castle is not to be considered as a stronghold, still, from its situation in a valley which must always have formed a highway between the Highlands and Lowlands, security against the hasty incursions of lawless marauders and cattle-lifters was a most desirable element in any house, and especially in such a mansion as Duntreath. The remains of an iron yett, of peculiar and unique construction, are still preserved here. Instead of having the usual open cross bars, it is solid, with thin cross laths rivetted to a framing, all of iron, and hung to open in two leaves, with heavy hasps, bolts, and padlocks.

At the north-west corner of the courtyard is situated the keep, which measures about 48 feet from east to west by 26 feet 6 inches from north to south, about 39 feet from the ground to the parapet walk, and 13 feet more to the ridge. It is shown in the sketch of the courtyard, where also, on the left hand, is seen the gatehouse as altered. The entrance to the keep from the courtyard is unusual, being in a slightly projecting porch, which gives space for the wheel-staircase, and is carried upwards and diminishes in size, with offsets, as it ascends. The round cape-house at the top of tlie stair is modern, as is also the roof; but all else is old. The keep is divided into two apartments on each floor by a thick central wall.

Adjoining the keep on the east was the chapel. It measures 47 feet 9 inches from east to west by 19 feet 10 inches within the walls, and has a wide lintelled and moulded door entering from the courtyard. The chapel has not been restored, but is still a roofless, ivy-covered ruin, as is likewise the adjoining eastern range of buildings. At the south end of this range, and on the ground floor, was the kitchen, with a fireplace measuring 14 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 8 inches wide. This part of the castle consisted of a two-storied range of buildings, with pointed dormers, as shown in geometrical drawing, from which it will be seen that this range was divided into three separate apartments or ofiices, each having an outside door, and a small window at a high level to the courtyard. An approach is now made through the centre of this side of the courtyard, right opposite the gate- house entrance.

Adjoining the kitchen, and projecting into the south-east corner of the courtyard, is the building known as the " Dumb Laird's Tower." This contained a scale and platt stair as far as the first floor level, at which point, as usual, this main stair terminated, and a turret stair projecting in the angle between the south wall and the kitchen gable led to a room in the top floor of the tower. The south side of the castle seems before the restoration to have been in complete ruin, and it is supposed that it had not been finished at the time of the abandonment of the castle. This wing has now been entirely rebuilt.

Duntreath was granted to Sir William Edmonstone of CuUoden by King James I. about the year 1434, and it has remained in the possession of the same family down to this day. Sir William's wife was Lady Mary Stewart, second daughter of King Robert III.

Sir James Edmonstone, sixth of Duntreath, had, in 1578, a grant from the Earl of Argyll, Justice-General of Scotland, for holding justiciary courts at the fortalice of Duntreath. The "Dumb Laird" was William, the ninth of Duntreath. He was never actually in possession of the estate, as, from the circumstance of his being born deaf and dumb, he was precluded from succession. He was, however, a man of great intelligence and quickness, and apparently well able to transact affairs with his fellows. He lived principally at Duntreath, and his memory is still preserved there in the name of "Dumb Laird's Tower," given to the tower which he used to occupy.

He died about the end of the seventeenth century.

The gatehouse was built by Sir James Edmonstone, who died in 1618. This is supposed to be the last addition to the house till modern times, nothing being known about the date of the southern wing. On the wall of the gatehouse, towards the courtyard, are the initials S.J.E.K, (for Sir James Edmonstone, Knight). On the outside the same initials (S.J.E.) are carved, along with the Edmonstone arms, supported on the hump of a rather attenuated camel. This stone is an object of great heraldic interest, as there is no other example known of such an arrangement of a single supporter. The supporters of the Edmonstone arms are lions, and the present crest is a swan's head and neck. This crest is no doubt a mistake, and comparatively modern. In the earliest known Edmonstone coat the crest is a camel's head and neck, and in the seal of Sir William Edmonstone of Duntreath, a.d. 1470, the crest is not a swan's head and neck, but those of a camel. The Strathblane herald of the early part of the seventeenth century was thus so far right when he sculptured for the Knight of Duntreath this curious scutcheon.

After the death of the Dumb Laird the family resided principally in Ireland for many years, and Duntreath was allowed to decay. In 1783, however, the family returned to Scotland, and Redhall and the other property in Ireland were sold by Sir Archibald Edmonstone, first baronet and eleventh of Duntreath, who then purchased the estate of Kilsyth in Stirlingshire. Thenceforth Colzium became the principal seat of the family, till Duntreath was rebuilt and reoccupied in 1863 by Sir Archi- bald, third baronet and thirteenth of Duntreath.

THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND BY DAVID MACGIBBON AND THOMAS ROSS, 1889--