Alloa Tower

Alloa Tower
Scots Gaelic: Túr Alamhagh
Alloa Tower - Rear View from Across the Lawn
Map
General information
TypeDefensive structure
Architectural styleMedieval
LocationAlloa Park, Alloa, Clackmannanshire, FK10 1PP, Scotland
Coordinates56°07′07″N 3°47′06″W / 56.1186°N 3.7851°W / 56.1186; -3.7851
OwnerNational Trust Scotland
Height68 feet
Technical details
MaterialStone
Floor count3
DesignationsCategory A listed building
Website
https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/alloa-tower

Alloa Tower in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, in central Scotland, is an early 14th-century tower house that served as the medieval residence of the Erskine family, later Earls of Mar.[1] Retaining its original timber roof and battlements, the tower is one of the earliest and largest Scottish tower houses, with immensely thick walls. It was designated as a scheduled monument in 1960[2] and is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland.[3]

History

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The four-storey tower is 68 feet (21 m) high, excluding the attic. The building is made from coursed rubble and measures 62.5 by 39.5 feet (19.1 by 12.0 m) in size.[2] The building has been extensively re-fenestrated during its history, but retains some internal medieval features.[4] It was originally built as part of a line of fortifications defending the north shore of the Firth of Forth.[5] Several 19th-century works, including Groome's Gazetteer,[6] date the tower to the year 1223.[7] Archaeological investigations from the early 1990s date the original fortified house to the early 14th century, where it had a cellar that sometimes served as a pit prison. By the mid-14th century, it had been enlarged with a great hall and rose to three storeys in height, with the entrance on the first floor. In the 15th century, it was further enlarged to four/five levels while retaining its first-floor access.

Alloa Tower in 2006

Late in the 16th century, ground-floor access was probably added.[5]

John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar, built a very large mansion (Alloa House) in 1710 that incorporated the tower as its annexe. Mar wrote:

There is something in the Old Tower, especially if made to conform to the new design, which is venerable for its antiquity & makes not a bad appearance & would make one regret the being obliged to pull it down.[8]

Mar made plans to remodel the tower's interior, but it is unclear what changes were actually made. The house burned down in 1800[5] and was rebuilt by George Angus in 1834–1838 for the 9th Earl. It was demolished sometime after 1868.[2] The tower is a public attraction and hosts events for different holidays like Easter and Christmas every year.

Royal history at Alloa

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In February 1497, the gardener of Alloa brought trees to plant in the garden at Stirling Castle.[9] Margaret Tudor met the Chancellor James Beaton at Alloa on 11 July 1524, to discuss transferring power from Regent Albany to the young James V.[10]

Mary, Queen of Scots

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Mary, Queen of Scots visited John, Lord Erskine and his wife Annabell Murray at Alloa on 16 June 1562, and again in May 1565. Mary returned to Alloa on 28 July 1566, soon after the birth of Prince James.[11] Some sources say the French ambassador Michel de Castelnau came with the Bishop of Ross to Alloa to congratulate Mary on her safe delivery.[12] They would later exchange dozens of letters in cipher code.[13][14]

Mary's visit to Alloa subsequently attracted the attention of her enemies, and the details are disputed.[15] A chronicle mentions that she left her servants at Newhaven, and took a small boat to Alloa, crewed by "simple men of seafare trade".[16] According to George Buchanan and the "Book of Articles", the crew were "notorious pirates", associates of the Earl of Bothwell including William and Edmund Blackadder.[17][18]

Mary wrote from Alloa on 31 July to Annabell Murray's brother-in-law, the Laird of Abercairney, on behalf of the evicted widow of one of his tenants.[19] Claude Nau wrote that Mary's only companions were her ladies in waiting and the Earl of Mar, and Darnley only made a brief visit.[20] When Darnley came to Alloa by road, Mary told him to go away.[21] Mary enjoyed dancing at Alloa during this visit.[22] It is also said she went to Stirling in disguise dressed as an ordinary townswoman "in homely sort" and joined in a dance around the Market Cross.[23]

James VI and a wedding masque

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James VI of Scotland stayed at Alloa for four days in August 1579.[24] In December 1592, the widower John Erskine, Earl of Mar, married Marie Stewart, a daughter of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox.[25] James VI and Anne of Denmark gave the bride clothes,[26] and wedding celebrations were held at Alloa following the marriage at Holyroodhouse.[27] One version of the Memoir of David Moysie mentions that the King and Queen were "in Alloway the earle of Mars house at the bankett at Yuill and at Nursemes".[28] Newersmes was a Scots Language word for New Year's Day.[29]

Festivities, customarily held at a bridegroom's family home known as the infare,[30] were mentioned by one of the invited guests, the courtier John Elphinstone.[31] Costume was bought for a masque at Alloa in which Anne of Denmark performed, dressed in silk taffeta and "gold tock", a kind of tinsel fabric.[32][33] The party was cut short when Sir John Carmichael and Sir George Home arrived from Edinburgh with news of the crisis caused by the discovery of the Spanish blanks.[34]

Witch trials

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John Erskine, the second earl of Mar, is known to have been involved in two trials. The first, in 1596, concerned Margaret Crawford. She had been accused of practicing mass in the Catholic way, and John Erskine was asked to raise a commission for a trial. The second trial, held from 1613-1614, concerned the Erskine of Dun siblings: Robert, Anna, Helen, and Isobel. They were found guilty of consorting with a witch, Janet Irvine, in order to poison their nephews so that they could claim their inheritance.[35]

Between May and August 1658, many residents of Alloa were also involved in a witch-hunt. Margaret Duchell was arrested by the Alloa kirk session, and, after interrogation, confessed to making a pact with the devil, harming others, and attending witches sabbaths with six other witches. Four of these six; Margaret Taylor, Bessie Paton, Janet Black, and Katherine Rainie, were arrested between June and August. Duchell died in prison in May.[35]

References

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  1. ^ "Alloa Tower". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Historic Environment Scotland. "Alloa Tower (LB20959)". Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  3. ^ "Alloa Tower". Visit. National Trust for Scotland. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  4. ^ MacGibbon, David; Ross, Thomas (1889). The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth century. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: David Douglas. pp. 155–156. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  5. ^ a b c "Alloa Tower | Canmore". canmore.org.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Alloa". The Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  7. ^ Ballingall, William (1872). The Shores of Fife. Edinburgh: Edmonston & Douglas. pp. 54–57. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  8. ^ Charles Wemyss, Noble House of Scotland (Prestel Verlag, 2014), p. 228.
  9. ^ Thomas Dickson, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), p. 377.
  10. ^ Ken Emond, The Minority of James V (Edinburgh, 2019), p. 174: State Papers Henry VIII, vol. 4 part 4 (London, 1836), pp. 83-4.
  11. ^ Steven J. Reid, The Early Life of James VI, A Long Apprenticeship (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2023), p. 26: Edward Furgol, 'Scottish Itinerary of Mary Queen of Scots, 1542-8 and 1561-8', PSAS, 117 (1987), microfiche, scanned
  12. ^ John Parker Lawson, History of Scotland by Robert Keith, 2 (Edinburgh, 1845), pp. 444–445.
  13. ^ George Lasry, Norbert Biermann, Satoshi Tomokiyo, "Deciphering Mary Stuart’s lost letters from 1578-1584", Cryptologia, 47:2 (February 2023), pp. 101–202. doi:10.1080/01611194.2022.2160677
  14. ^ Jade Scott, Captive Queen: The Decrypted History of Mary, Queen of Scots (London: Michael O'Mara Books, 2024), p. 29.
  15. ^ John Guy, My Heart is My Own: Mary, Queen of Scots (London, 2004), 270: Gordon Donaldson, The first trial of Mary, Queen of Scots (New York: Stein and Day, 1969), 148–149.
  16. ^ Ane Cronickill of the Kingis of Scotland (Edinburgh: Maitland Club, 1830), p. 105.
  17. ^ James Aikman, History of Scotland by George Buchanan, vol. 2 (Glasgow, 1827), pp. 485-6
  18. ^ John Hosack, Mary Queen of Scots and her accusers, 1 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1869), pp. 524–25.
  19. ^ Historic Manuscripts Commission 3rd Report (London, 1871), p. 418.
  20. ^ Joseph Stevenson, The History of Mary Stewart (Edinburgh, 1883), pp. 29, 238.
  21. ^ James Aikman, History of Scotland by George Buchanan, vol. 2 (Glasgow, 1827), p. 486: Ane Cronickill of the Kingis of Scotland (Edinburgh: Maitland Club, 1830), p. 106.
  22. ^ Thomas Finlay Henderson, Mary, Queen of Scots, her environment and tragedy, a biography (London, 1905), pp. 401-2
  23. ^ R. H. Mahon, Mary, Queen of Scots, a study of the Lennox Narrative (Cambridge, 1924), pp. 122-3.
  24. ^ James Dennistoun, Memoirs of the Affairs of the Scotland by David Moysie (Edinburgh: Maitland Club, 1830), p. 24
  25. ^ Claire M. Elder, "Stewart [Stuart], Marie, countess of Mar", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 8 August 2024. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000382587
  26. ^ Jemma Field, 'Female dress', Erin Griffey, Early Modern Court Culture (Routledge, 2022), p. 402.
  27. ^ Robert Chambers, Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1848), p. 244: HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 4 (London, 1892), p. 252.
  28. ^ James Dennistoun, Memoirs of the Affairs of the Scotland by David Moysie (Edinburgh: Maitland Club, 1830), p. 161
  29. ^ 'New-ȝere', Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue
  30. ^ 'infare', Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue
  31. ^ HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 4 (London, 1892), pp. 247, 252.
  32. ^ Michael Pearce, 'Anna of Denmark: Fashioning a Danish Court in Scotland', The Court Historian, 24:2 (2019) pp. 146, 148-9 doi:10.1080/14629712.2019.1626110: Hermann W. Haller, John Florio: A Worlde of Wordes (University of Toronto, 2013), p. 728, "toccadoro".
  33. ^ Michael Pearce, 'Maskerye Claythis 'Maskerye Claythis for James VI and Anna of Denmark', Medieval English Theatre 43 (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2022), pp. 109, 121-122
  34. ^ Alexander Courtney, James VI, Britannic Prince: King of Scots and Elizabeth's Heir, 1566–1603 (Routledge, 2024), p. 137: Steven Veerapen, The Wisest Fool: The Lavish Life of James VI and I (Birlinn, 2023), p. 177: Thomas Thomson, The historie and life of King James the Sext (Edinburgh, 1825), p. 260.
  35. ^ a b Jones, Ciaran (October 2021). "Histories of the Witch Trials: The Connections of NTS Properties to Witch Trials, 1563-1736". National Trust For Scotland: The Histories of the Witch Trials Report. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alloa Tower.

56°06′45″N 3°47′18″W / 56.11242°N 3.78825°W / 56.11242; -3.78825

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