Old Photograph Castle of Park Scotland

Old photograph of Castle of Park near Glenluce, Wigtownshire, Scotland. This Scottish castle was begun in 1590 for Thomas Hay, the son of one of the Commendators of Glenluce Abbey, and his wife Jonet MakDouel. It was completed by 1599. The building was extended in the 18th century, and was used by the Hay family until Sir John Dalrymple-Hay sold the Park estate in 1875; it was then left uninhabited until it was restored in the 1950s and 1960s.



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Old Photograph Kames Castle Scotland

Old photograph of Kames Castle near Port Bannatyne, Isle of Bute, Scotland. Originally the seat of the Bannatyne family, Kames is one of the oldest continuously inhabited Scottish houses. Sir William Macleod Bannatyne, Lord Bannatyne, born 1743, died 1833, was a distinguished lawyer and judge in Edinburgh. He lost his fortune and was forced to sell Kames in 1812. Kames was the birthplace, and early home of the critic and essayist John Sterling. Thomas Carlyle in his biography refers to the castle as " a kind of dilapidated baronial residence to which a small farm was then attached. "



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Old Photograph Closeburn Castle Scotland

Old photograph of Closeburn Castle near Thornhill north of Dumfries, Scotland. The Kirkpatrick family was confirmed in their lands of Closeburn in 1232 by King Alexander II. The Scottish tower house castle was probably built in the late 14th century, although some sources give a date as early as 1180 or as late as 1420. Sir Roger de Kirkpatrick was with Robert the Bruce at Dumfries in 1306, and assisted in the murder of John " the Red " Comyn. His son, also Sir Roger, commanded a force which recaptured Caerlaverock and Dalswinton castles from the English in 1355. He was then murdered by Sir James Lindsay at Caerlaverock in 1357.



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Old Photograph Ashintully Castle Scotland

Old photograph of Ashintully Castle, located near Kirkmichael, north of Blairgowrie, in Strathardle, Perthshire, Scotland. This Scottish castle was built in 1583 as a fortified tower house by the Spalding family; the Feudal Barons of Ashintully. The Spalding Barons were chiefs of the Spalding Clan and followers of the Duke of Atholl, the Chief of the Murray Clan. The Spaldings of Ashintully and their cadet branches were Jacobites, or followers of the House of Stuart. The castle is reputed to have many ghosts, one of whom being a figure dressed in green known as Green Jean, who is thought to be the spirit of a young woman murdered by her uncle. It is said that her footsteps can still be heard as she walks the castle in sadness. In some tales she was murdered in a green dress, and then stuffed unceremoniously up the chimney by a servant. She is also said to wander the family burial ground. Green Ladies are common ghosts in Scottish castles, with a surprising number of them called Jean or Jeanie, suggesting a supplanted tradition. The castle is also thought to be haunted by the ghost of a tinker, hanged for trespassing by one of the Spalding Barons. He cursed the family, warning that the family line would soon come to an end, the prophecy being fulfilled a short time after his death. He is said to haunt the spot near where he was hanged, by an avenue of tall trees. The Spalding family must have had something of a reputation for cruelty, as the other ghost said to haunt the grounds is that of a misshapen servant, murdered by another member of the family. He is known as Crooked Davie on the account of his hunched back.



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Old Photograph Ravenstone Castle Scotland

Old photograph of Ravenstone Castle near Whithorn in Wigtownshire, Scotland. This, now ruined Scottish castle also known as Ravinstone, or Remeston was one of the principal buildings in the parish, belonging to Robert Stewart, brother of the Earl of Galloway; it is first mentioned soon after 1455, and it is called Lochtoun alias Remistoun in 1585. It was extensively altered during the 18th century reconstruction, but retained two barrel vaulted basements, a number of original windows, and two gun loops. Earl of Galloway is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1623 for Alexander Stewart, 1st Lord Garlies, with remainder to his heirs male bearing the name and arms of Stewart.



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