Old Photograph Cockburnspath Tower Scotland

Old photograph of Cockburnspath Tower near Cove, Scotland. Cockburnspath was held by several Scots Clan families, the Dunbars, the Homes, the Sinclairs and the Douglases who stole lands and castles from each other on a regular basis. Originally the Dunbars and Douglases fought unitedly against the English. At the first battle of Nisbet in 1355, for example Sir Patrick Dunbar supported William 1st Earl of Douglas's ambush of the garrison from Norham castle England and the abortive raid on Berwick castle. Patrick travelled abroad to France with William and his cousin Archibald the Grim, later 3rd Earl of Douglas, to fight on behalf of the French King John II at the battle of Poitiers in 1356, against the invading English. Although the Scots French army was defeated and King John captured, these three Scots knights returned home relatively rich men with French monies paid as mercenaries. William building the great red curtain wall of Tantallon castle, near North Berwick. Archibald, once he had cleared the English out of Dumfries as Lord of Galloway, built his grey island Keep of Threave to protect Dumfries and Galloway. While Patrick chose to use his money to go on pilgrimage to the Holy lands where he died in 1357, leaving his son George to become Earl of March and inherit Cockburnspath tower and several other family castles, including the great coastal fortress of Dunbar castle.



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