Old travel Blog photograph of Holm Woods by Sanquhar, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Sanquhar is a town on the River Nith, North of Thornhill and west of Moffat. During the war of Scottish Independence the English army took over the old castle at Sanquhar. The Lord of the Castle, Sir William the Hardy, Lord of Douglas, learned of this and came up with a clever plot where one man sneaked into the castle and threw open the gates, allowing Lord Douglas to seize it. The English began a counter-attack, but William Wallace learned of the battle and came to the rescue. As the English army retreated, Wallace chased them down and killed 500 of them. Wallace visited the castle on several occasions. Mary, Queen of Scots, cousin of Queen Elizabeth the 1st, came to Sanquhar in May 1568 after her defeat at the battle of Langside. Lord Crichton of Sanquhar was loyal to Mary, and harboured her until she escaped across the River Nith. For this, he was punished after the Scots lairds besieged and captured Sanquhar castle once again. The Scottish poet Robert Burns was a frequent visitor to Sanquhar.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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