Edzell Castle

Coordinates: 56°48′41″N 2°40′55″W / 56.8115°N 2.6819°W / 56.8115; -2.6819
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Edzell Castle
Near Edzell, Angus, Scotland
grid reference NO584691
Edzell Castle and gardens
Edzell Castle is located in Angus
Edzell Castle
Edzell Castle
Coordinates56°48′43″N 2°40′48″W / 56.811827°N 2.68002°W / 56.811827; -2.68002
TypeTower house and courtyard
Site information
OwnerEarl of Dalhousie, managed by Historic Environment Scotland
Controlled byLindsays of Edzell
Open to
the public		Yes
ConditionRuined
Site history
Builtc. 1520 – 1610
Built byDavid Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford
In useUntil 1715
MaterialsOld Red Sandstone

Edzell Castle is a

esoteric traditions, including Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry
.

History

Origins

The first castle at Edzell was a timber

motte and bailey structure, built to guard the mouth of Glenesk, a strategic pass leading north into the Highlands.[3] The motte, or mound, is still visible 300 metres (980 ft) south-west of the present castle, and dates from the 12th century. It was the seat of the Abbott, or Abbe, family, and was the centre of the now-vanished original village of Edzell.[4] The Abbotts were succeeded as lords of Edzell by the Stirlings of Glenesk, and the Stirlings in turn by the Lindsays. In 1358, Sir Alexander de Lindsay, third son of David Lindsay of Crawford, married the Stirling heiress, Katherine Stirling.[5] Alexander's son, David
, was created Earl of Crawford in 1398.

Edzell became the property of a junior branch of the Lindsay family descended from the 3rd Earl, and in 1513 it was inherited by David Lindsay (d. 1558). Around 1520, David Lindsay decided to abandon the original castle, and built a tower house and barmkin, or courtyard, in a more sheltered location nearby. The selection of a site overlooked by higher ground to the north suggests that defence was not the primary concern.[6] David became the Earl of Crawford in 1542, on the death of his cousin the 8th Earl, who had disinherited his own son Alexander, the "Wicked Master". He proceeded to extend the simple tower house, in around 1550, by the addition of a large west range, incorporating a new entrance gate and hall. Lord Crawford also built Invermark Castle, 12 miles (19 km) north of Edzell, possibly as a hunting lodge, at around the same time.[7]

Mary, Queen of Scots, came to Edzell on 25 August 1562. A plan to meet Elizabeth I in England had been abandoned, and she was making a progress to Aberdeen and Inverness.[8]

Sir David Lindsay, Lord Edzell

Arms of Sir David Lindsay, and his wife, Dame Isabel Forbes, over the garden gate
Further information: David Lindsay of Edzell, Lord Edzell

David Lindsay, the 9th Earl's son, was educated in Paris and

Lord of Session (a senior judge), taking the title Lord Edzell, in 1593, and in 1598 was appointed to the Privy Council. A Renaissance Man, he undertook improvements to his estates, including mining and woodland planting. Two German prospectors from Nuremberg, Bernard Fechtenburg and Hans Ziegler, were invited to search for precious metals around Edzell.[9]

In August 1562, David Lindsay received

Dominican friar, Jacques Clément.[12]

Sir David further extended the castle in the late 16th century, with the addition of a large north range with round corner towers. He laid out the garden in 1604, with symbols of England, Scotland and Ireland, to celebrate the

Elizabeth I. Sir David died in 1610, heavily in debt as a result of fines handed down for the unruly conduct of his son, and with both the garden and the north range incomplete.[13]

The outer wall of the west range, looking north

Damage and decline

Edzell was not affected by the campaigns of the Royalist

minister, he was barred from the parish church, and Episcopal services were held in the great hall at Edzell.[14]

The castle began to decline around the time of the

1715 Jacobite rising. The last Lindsay lord of Edzell, another David, was a Jacobite, a supporter of the exiled James Stuart, the "Old Pretender". Faced with mounting family debts, David sold the castle to the 4th Earl of Panmure, a fellow Jacobite, for £192,502 Scots, equivalent to £16,042 sterling.[15] Lord Panmure, however, forfeited his lands and property for taking part in the failed rebellion. Edzell was sold, by the Crown, to the York Buildings Company, a London waterworks company which had branched into the buying and selling of forfeited property.[16] They proceeded to "asset strip" the property.[14]

The castle saw its last military event in 1746, when a unit of government troops, of the

Earl Panmure, nephew of the attainted Earl of Panmure. He died in 1782, and the property passed to his nephew, George Ramsay, 8th Earl of Dalhousie.[17]

Later history

The castle remained the property of the earls of Dalhousie, who appointed a caretaker from the 1870s, and built a cottage for him in 1901, which is now in use as a visitor centre. In 1932, the walled garden passed into state care, followed by the rest of the castle in 1935. The castle and garden are currently maintained by

Scheduled Ancient Monuments,[19][20] and the garden is included in the Inventory of Historic Gardens and Designed Landscapes,[21] the national listing of significant gardens. The caretaker's house is a Category B listed building.[22]

Description

Ground floor plan of the castle, showing phases of construction

The motte

The motte, still known as Castlehillock, is the only remainder of the first Edzell Castle. It lies 300m south-west of the later castle, by a bend in the West Water, and comprises a low, partially natural mound. The motte is aligned north-west to south-east, and is around 36 metres (118 ft) long by 16 metres (52 ft) across at its broadest point, and around 4 metres (13 ft) high. An outer

bailey, or courtyard, up to 61 metres (200 ft) across formerly surrounded the motte, and was bordered by a deep ditch.[23][24]

The castle

The castle comprises the early 16th-century tower house, the slightly later west range, and the late 16th-century north range. Other buildings to the east and south have now vanished. The red sandstone walls were originally

harled
.

The four-storey tower house was named the Stirling Tower after the original lords of Edzell, the Stirlings of Glenesk, although it is not old enough to have been built by them.[25] It is 16 metres (52 ft) high, and measures 13 metres (43 ft) by 10 metres (33 ft) on plan. The walls are over 2 metres (6.6 ft) thick at the basement, narrowing to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) on the first floor.[26] The tower house is entered from the north, via a door protected by "inverted keyhole" shaped gun holes. A slot adjacent to the door would have held a draw-bar, to reinforce the entry, and several mason's marks remain around the door. The hall occupies the first floor, above two vaulted cellars. Marks in the wall show the position of a minstrels' gallery and a timber screen, which concealed a serving area accessed via a narrow stair from the cellar. The broad main spiral stair led up to three further storeys of private chambers, before reaching a cap-house, a small rooftop chamber giving access to a parapet walk.[27] The four corners of the tower have bartizans, or open turrets, and similar projections occur halfway along each wall. The parapet is supported on projecting stones, or corbels, arranged in a pattern of two tiers which alternate, rendering the lower tier purely decorative. Edzell represents an early occurrence of this style, known as chequered corbelling, which became more widespread later in the 16th century.[25]

Remains of decorative carving around the door to the courtyard stair tower

The two-storey west range contains the main entrance, which enters the courtyard via an arched passage. Above the outside gate are spaces where

armorial panels were once displayed. The windows on this front, larger than the original ones in the tower house, had iron grilles, and small gun holes beneath them. Beside the entrance was a kitchen, and above, a larger hall and drawing room. Only the western part of the three-storey north range was completed, although the Lindsays planned to complete the courtyard. This range had another kitchen, as well as private chambers within the round tower at the north-west corner. It was entered via a stair turret in the courtyard, fragments of which remain, including parts of an intricately carved door surround. Only the foundations of the east and south buildings remain, which probably contained a bakehouse and stables.[28]

The walled garden

The walled garden, viewed from the upper floor of the tower house

In addition to extending the castle, Sir David Lindsay also created Edzell's most unusual feature, the walled garden, or "Pleasaunce".[29] Similar gardens were probably relatively common in Scotland during the Renaissance, but Edzell is a rare survivor.[2] The garden would have provided a retreat from the castle, and was intended to delight, entertain, and instruct Sir David's distinguished guests. It was started around 1604, and shows signs of being hastily completed at his death in 1610.[30]

It is a rectangular enclosure some 52 metres (171 ft) north to south, and 43.5 metres (143 ft) east to west, surrounded by a 3.6 metres (12 ft) high wall. The north wall is part of the castle courtyard, but the remaining three are intricately decorated. The walls are divided by pilasters (now removed) into regular sections, or compartments, each 3 metres (9.8 ft) across. Each compartment has a niche above, possibly once containing statues. Those on the east wall have semi-circular pediments carved with scrolls, and with the national symbols of thistle, fleur-de-lis, shamrock and rose, recalling the

chequy, or chequered band, surmounted by three seven-pointed stars, taken from the Stirling of Glenesk arms. Several spaces within the walls, including inside the stars, may have been intended as nesting holes for birds.[30]

The carved panels

Reconstruction drawing of Geometria, using information from Jan Sadeler's engraving, upon which the original stone carving was based. Image created by Thomas Small.

The sets of carved panels depict the seven

Liberal Arts to the south, and the seven Planetary Deities on the east wall. Each panel is approximately 1 metre (3.3 ft) high by 60–75 cm (2-2½ ft) wide. The deities are depicted in vesica-shaped (elliptical) frames, the arts under arches, and the virtues in plain rectangles. W. Douglas Simpson describes the arts panels as the weakest set of carvings, again suggesting money was short for the west wall. He declared the arts panels to be the finest work, and compares the style of the deities to contemporary carvings found in Aberdeenshire, suggesting that the mason responsible may have come from there.[31]

The carvings are all based on popular series of engravings, which were often published in pattern books. Nuremberg was the origin of numerous such books, and one may have been brought to Edzell by the miner Hans Ziegler.

James VI in 1589.[34]

Planetary Deities

Representations of the seven classical deities, associated with the seven planets known in classical times, appear on the east wall.

Liberal Arts

Figures representing the

trivium of subjects (grammar, rhetoric, and logic) which traditionally formed the syllabus of a bachelor's degree, plus the quadrivium which led to a master's degree
, are depicted on the south wall.

Cardinal Virtues

Personifications of the three Christian virtues (trust, hope and charity), plus the four Cardinal virtues of ancient Greece, are carved on the west wall.

Mars
Arithmetica
Prudentia
The summer house, showing the decoration on the garden walls

Buildings and planting

To complement the garden, a bath house and

groin-vaulted lower room, with an upper chamber, containing the only surviving example of the castle's carved-oak wall panelling. Charles McKean attributes the design and construction of the garden buildings to Thomas Leiper, an Aberdeenshire stonemason, based on the elaborately decorated gun holes in the summer house.[35]

The planting was recreated in the 1930s. No original plan of the renaissance garden survives, although records show fruit was grown in the 17th century.

Dum Spiro Spero (while I breathe I hope), and Endure Forte (endure firmly).[36]

Interpretations

The symbolism of the garden, particularly of the carvings, as well as the repetition of

threes, has inspired many interpretations. The engravings upon which the carvings are based were commonplace in Scotland at the time, and were frequently used in the art of memory, a mnemonic memory technique associated with Freemasonry. The art of memory had become a feature throughout Scottish culture, from the court of Queen Anne, Danish consort of James VI, to the lodges of operative stonemasons.[37] The potential influence of Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe's symbolic garden at Uraniborg, which was visited by James IV of Scotland in 1590, has also been noted.[38]

Sir David Lindsay would have been well aware of the symbolic allusions of the carvings. In correspondence with his brother,

Rosicrucians
.

Historian

tarocchi or tarot deck, includes all these images amongst its symbols.[40]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Simpson & Tabraham (2007), p.1
  2. ^ a b c McKean, pp.77-78
  3. ^ Simpson (1930), p.117
  4. ^ The present village of Edzell, further to the east, was originally named Slateford; it was renamed in the early 19th century when the parish church was moved.
  5. ^ Simpson & Tabraham (2007), p.25
  6. ^ Simpson & Tabraham (2007), p.4
  7. ^ Simpson & Tabraham (2007), p.26
  8. ^ David Hay Fleming, Mary Queen of Scots (London, 1897), 74, 520.
  9. ^ Simpson & Tabraham (2007), p.30
  10. ^ Simpson & Tabraham (2007), p.29
  11. ^ Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 132.
  12. ^ James Dennistoun, Moysie's Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1830), p. 78.
  13. ^ Simpson & Tabraham (2007), p.31
  14. ^ a b Simpson & Tabraham (2007), p.32
  15. ^ Simpson (1930), p.118
  16. ^ Carr, Cecil Thomas (ed.) (1913), pp. cxxvi-cxxvii
  17. ^ Simpson (1930), p.119
  18. ^ Simpson & Tabraham (2007), p.33
  19. ^ Historic Environment Scotland & SM90136
  20. ^ Historic Environment Scotland & SM137
  21. ^ Historic Environment Scotland & GDL00169
  22. ^ Historic Environment Scotland & LB11258
  23. ^ Simpson (1930), pp.119-120
  24. ^ Canmore & ID 34998
  25. ^ a b MacGibbon & Ross, pp.359-366
  26. ^ Simpson (1930), p.122
  27. ^ Simpson & Tabraham (2007), pp.12-13
  28. ^ Simpson & Tabraham (2007), pp.6-11
  29. ^ Brown (2015), 141-156
  30. ^ a b Simpson (1930), pp.135-140
  31. ^ Simpson (1930), pp.152-153
  32. ^ Simpson (1930), pp.158
  33. ^ "Music and Justice Rediscovered". Historic Scotland. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
  34. ^ Edzell Castle, The Movie: Souvenir Programme, London Psychogeographical Association, 1994
  35. ^ McKean, p.147
  36. ^ Simpson & Tabraham, p.35
  37. ^ Anderson, Clarence A. "The Art of Memory and Masonry". Retrieved 30 April 2008.
  38. ^ Glendinning, et al. p.59
  39. ISBN 0-87728-920-4
    . p.45
  40. ^ a b McLean, Adam. "A Rosicrucian/Alchemical Mystery Centre in Scotland". The Hermetic Journal, Vol. 4, No. 11, 1979

Bibliography

External links

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