Hallyards Castle

Coordinates: 56°06′31″N 3°16′09″W / 56.10861°N 3.26917°W / 56.10861; -3.26917
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Ruins of Halyards Castle

Hallyards Castle (

Bishops of Dunkeld
; it remained so until the first lay proprietor took possession in 1539.

The influence that Halyards had on the district cannot be overstated. When

William Kirkcaldy
fought for the reformers.

According to Knox, after French troops blew up the house, Mary of Guise declared, "Where is now John Knox's God? My God is now stronger than his, yea, even in

Fife".[4] In February 1560 it was reported the castle was 'clean overthrown'.[5] Kirkcaldy took his revenge on a Savoyard captain called Sebastian and his 50 French troops.[6]

After the

Fife. They visited Hallyards.[7]

In later years Halyards passed to John Boswell of Balmuto, William Forbes of

Craigievar, members of the Skene family then the Earls of Moray.[8] The castle’s name was changed to Camilla, popularly held to be in honour of a countess who bore that name,[9] though no so-named Countess of Moray is recorded.[10]
Camilla is the name more commonly known in Auchtertool today.

With the Earls of Moray living at a distance, Halyards eventually fell into disuse. In 1819 the castle was revisited by a member of the Skene family, who found it in a dilapidated state. The great house was largely demolished in 1847. The remains can be found on farmland to the north-west of the village.

Another Hallyards Castle, near Kirkliston in West Lothian,[11] was the focus of a feud which resulted in the shooting of John Graham, Lord Hallyards in February 1593.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Fife Place-name Data :: Hallyards". Fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  2. ^ "History – Auchtertool Kirk".
  3. ^ Knox, John, "from History of the Reformation, book 2". Archived from the original on 29 August 2009.
  4. ^ Knox, John, History of the Reformation, book 3, various editions e.g., Lennox, Cuthbert, ed., (1905), 187
  5. ^ Joseph Bain, Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 310, Randolph to Sadler & Croft.
  6. ^ Maxwell, John, Historical memoirs of the reign of Mary Queen of Scots (Abbotsford Club, 1836), p. 47
  7. ^ Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1563-1569, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), pp. 308, 310.
  8. ^ "Hallyards Castle | Castle in Auchtertool, Fife | Scottish castles | Stravaiging around Scotland". Stravaiging.com. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  9. ^ Scotland (1803). "The gazetteer of Scotland - Google Books". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  10. ^ "Fife Place-name Data :: Camilla". Fife-placenames.glasgow.ac.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  11. ^ Hallyards, West Lothian, HES CANMORE
  12. ^ Thomas Thomson, The Historie and life of King James the Sext (Edinburgh, 1825), p. 265.

External links

56°06′31″N 3°16′09″W / 56.10861°N 3.26917°W / 56.10861; -3.26917