Rusco Tower
Rusco Tower | |
---|---|
Type | Tower house |
Location | Near Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway |
Coordinates | 54°55′06″N 4°12′38″W / 54.91833°N 4.21056°W |
Built | Circa 1500 |
Built for | Mariota Carson and Robert Gordon |
Restored by | Graham Carson |
Listed Building – Category A | |
Designated | 1971 |
Reference no. | LB3299 |
Rusco Tower, sometimes called Rusco Castle, is a tower house near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built around 1500 for Mariota Carson and her husband Robert Gordon, on lands given to them by her father, it was used to incarcerate a number of the Gordons' rivals in the 16th century. After Robert Gordon died and Carson remarried, their eldest son James Gordon seized the tower and imprisoned his mother, fearing that she would make it over to her new husband, Thomas Maclellan of Bombie. Gordon went on to kill Maclellan on the High Street in Edinburgh, while a court case intended to settle the matter was ongoing.
The Gordons sold the tower in the 17th century, and it was inhabited continuously until the late 19th or early 20th century. By the middle of the 20th century the building was uninhabited and had fallen into a state of disrepair. In 1971 it was designated a
The tower was the subject of a poem, "Rusco Castle, a Tale of the Olden Time", published in 1841.
Name
The building's name is recorded by Historic Environment Scotland as Rusco Tower,[1] but some authors refer to it as Rusco Castle,[2][3] and it is sometimes spelled Rusko.[4] In 1515, when a charter was signed at the tower, its name was recorded as "Ruschen",[5] and it appears in records of 1575 as "Ruschew".[6]
Description
Rusco Tower is located about 5 kilometres (3 mi) north of
Exterior
The external footprint of the tower is rectangular, roughly 11.8 metres (39 ft) by 8.8 metres (29 ft), and it is about 15 metres (49 ft) high.
The
On the north side of the building, the lower sections of the west and north walls of a 17th-century extension survive. This was already dilapidated by the 19th century,[13] and most of it has since been demolished.[14]
Interior
The tower is noted for its unusual sophistication in the arrangement of small rooms built into the thickness of its walls,
Taking up most of the first floor is the great hall, 7.8 metres (25.6 ft) by 5 metres (16.4 ft) in size,[8] with a beamed ceiling supported by corbels projecting from the walls, and arched windows. One of the stone seats in the west window serves as a step up to a concealed door. This gives access to a small room, again built into the thickness of the wall, which has an external window and also a laird's lug (Scots language for lord's ear): a small listening hole into the hall.[14]
The second floor and the attic, which would each originally have been occupied by single large rooms, have been subdivided.[14]
History
Construction
The tower was built between 1494 and 1504 for Mariota Carson (or Acarsane) and her husband, Robert Gordon, within the Glenskyreburn estate that had been gifted to them by her father, John Carson.[5] Gordon, heir to the Lochinvar estate, took on the designation "of Rusco" after its completion, and is sometimes referred to by his wife's surname in records.[6] He was brought before the Lords of Council in 1501 or 1502, charged with the destruction of a house on Crown lands within the barony of Kirkandrews in order to remove timber and slates, possibly to be used for the construction of Rusco Tower; he claimed that the house belonged to him, but was unable to prove it, and was ordered to pay 1,000 merks in damages.[15]
16th century
Gordon was forced to leave Rusco soon after it had been constructed. With his brother Alexander, he was implicated in the murder of John Dunbar of Mochrum around 1503, and while his brother fled the country, Gordon was
Rusco Tower was used to incarcerate a number of people in the 16th century. Gordon seized and imprisoned Janet Porter, an heiress who had recently married John McCulloch, a lesser member of the Cardoness McCulloch family. Gordon attempted to force her to sign over her inheritance, the Blacket estate, to him instead of her new husband, and McCulloch, who was not powerful enough to recapture his wife by force, applied to the courts. Gordon did not appear at the hearing, but in his absence the court ordered him to return Porter to her husband. It is not clear whether the order was obeyed, but records show that the Gordon family came to own the Blacket estate shortly afterwards.[17]
Gordon spent several years in litigation with the Agnews of Lochnaw, who were related to him by marriage. In 1523 he sought to bring the legal dispute to an end by abducting Andrew Agnew, the heir of Lochnaw and his own grandson, and imprisoning him at Rusco. When the boy's uncle, Matthew Agnew, demanded that he be returned within three days, Gordon claimed that he had been placed in a school in Dumfries. The records do not show how this affair was concluded.[16]
But lo! a little ruined tower,
Erected by forgotten hands,
Though once the abode of pride and power,
That by the river's margin stands—
Of old the Lords of Lochinvar
Here dwelt in peace, but armed for war;
And Rusco Castle could declare
That valiant chief and lady fair
Had often wooed and wedded there.
Upon the eastern bank of Fleet,
Castramont smiles—a hamlet sweet
Just fronting Rusco Tower,
Of peace and war two emblems meet—
None fairer than the first we meet,
The other seems a dark retreat
Where savage passions lower.
Robert Gordon died in 1524, and within a year his wife Mariota Carson married Thomas Maclellan of Bombie.[16] Since she owned Rusco Tower and its lands in her own right following the death of her husband, there would have been nothing to prevent her from leaving them to her new husband's family upon her death; her eldest son, James Gordon of Lochinvar, was so concerned that this might happen that he seized Rusco, where his mother was still living, and had her transported to the Borders and imprisoned.[20] Her husband appealed to the courts, but before the case was concluded Maclellan was killed, in broad daylight, by Gordon and his retinue on the High Street in Edinburgh.[20]
Later history
The later history of the tower was less turbulent. It was of minor importance to the Gordons once they had taken possession of Lochinvar, and was mostly used as accommodation for minor family members.[21] It was sold in the 17th century, around which time a two-storey extension was added to the north side.[1] It was described in the poem "Rusco Castle, a Tale of the Olden Time" published in 1841 by Dugald Williamson of Tongland.[18][19]
The tower was lived in until the late 19th or early 20th century,[3][8] but was abandoned and allowed to fall into ruin between the First and Second World Wars.[2]
In 1971, Rusco Tower was designated a
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Historic Environment Scotland: Rusco Tower 2020.
- ^ a b c Reid 1947, p. 27.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lindsay 1986, p. 416.
- ^ Canmore: Rusko Castle 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Gifford 1996, p. 502.
- ^ a b Reid 1947, p. 31.
- ^ Hume 2000, p. 174.
- ^ a b c Reid 1947, p. 29.
- ^ a b MacGibbon & Ross 1889, p. 213.
- ^ a b c d e f Gifford 1996, p. 503.
- ^ MacGibbon & Ross 1889, p. 214.
- ^ Reid 1947, p. 28.
- ^ MacGibbon & Ross 1889, p. 216.
- ^ a b c Gifford 1996, p. 504.
- ^ Reid 1947, p. 32.
- ^ a b c Reid 1947, p. 33.
- ^ Reid 1947, pp. 32–33.
- ^ a b Reid 1947, p. 35.
- ^ a b McLachlan Harper 1876, p. 100.
- ^ a b Reid 1947, pp. 33–34.
- ^ Reid 1947, p. 34.
- ^ a b Scotsman: Graham Carson Obituary 2012.
- ^ Herald: Graham Carson Obituary 2012.
- ^ National Trust for Scotland Newsletter 2018.
Sources
- "Galloway Members' Group Newsletter" (PDF). National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- Gifford, John (1996). The Buildings of Scotland:Dumfries and Galloway. London: Penguin. ISBN 0140-71067-1.
- "Graham Carson". The Herald. Herald and Times Group. 22 November 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- Historic Environment Scotland. "Rusco Tower (Category A Listed Building) (LB3299)". Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- ISBN 1-873-190-344.
- Lindsay, Maurice (1986). The Castles of Scotland. London: Constable. ISBN 0-09-473430-5.
- MacGibbon, David; Ross, Thomas (1889). The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland, from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Century: Volume III (PDF). Edinburgh: David Douglas. OCLC 1110962732. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
- McLachlan Harper, Malcolm (1876). Rambles in Galloway: Topographical, Historical, Traditional and Biographical. Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas. OCLC 894541889.
- "Obituary: Graham Carson; Entrepreneur and Community Champion who Designed a Tartan and Rebuilt a Castle". The Scotsman. JPI Media Publishing Ltd. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- Reid, R. C. (1947). "Rusco Castle" (PDF). Transactions and Journal of Proceedings of the Dumfriesshire and Galloway Natural History and Antiquarian Society. 24: 27–35. OCLC 650280267. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
- "Rusko Castle". Canmore. Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 13 August 2020.