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The Stewarts, the Clyde and the Castle of Rothesay
-I’m going to begin by giving a brief outlook at the early history of the Stewarts in the Clyde region and then move on to look at the castle of Rothesay and how different sections of the castle correspond to different eras in an attempt to date those parts of the castle.
- The kings tended to give lands to members of their households and the Stewarts were part of this new aristocracy of royal service who received possessions directly from the crown.
- 1st Stewart was Walter Fitz Alan, who came to Scotland in 1136 and was steward to David I, Malcolm IV and William I. He received lands on the southern shore of the Clyde, from Renfrew down to Kyle by Ayr and also in Northumbria as well.
- In the 13th C they began expanding west. Stewart lordship became the gate to Islands and the west Highlands for Royal authority.
- Alan, Walter’s son, received Bute in 1200 from the crown and his grandsons picked up lands in Cowal and much of Knapdale as well as Arran.
- By the end of the 13th C the Stewarts had become a regional power as demonstrated by Kg. John Balliol’s plan to make James the Stewart sheriff of Kintyre, lower Cowal, Arran and Bute.
- The Castle:
- Circular plan – reason unknown – if “rath” then may be on celtic fort – probably too large. Layout a problem for arranging domestic buildings- positioning of loopholes left much ‘dead’ area – not the best design but some amount of masonry skill to construct.
- Outer wall 135 ft diameter, 9 ft thick and 30 ft high- all ruble faced with squared sandstone. – original gatehouse flush w/ wall but second constructed shortly afterward.
- There’s a problem of dating this early stonework. According to the Hakon Hakonnson’s Saga, the Norse laid siege to the “castle of Bute” in 1230 with a ‘certain Stewart inside.’ The Scots poured boiling pitch onto the Norse, who “bound over themselves shields of wood” and “hewed into the wall with axes, because the stone was soft; and the was fell down after that.” The castle fell after 3 days.
- Some insist Rothesay was compacted clay and wood at this time, but the sagas says “stein” – could mean brick but that was only in Baltic region and not Scotland.
- Stonework - cubical, closed-jointed ashlar typical of 13th C stonework found elsewhere. Similar work was done in St. Blane’s Church on Bute in the late-Norman period and it is thought that the stone of both structures came form the same quarry.
- Rothesay Castle was therefore likely built under Alan the Steward, who received Bute in 1200 or his son Walter, who held it from 1204 to 1241.
- This means it was this structure the Norse attacked- it is a soft sandstone and the eastern portion of the wall is missing part of the base, appears somewhat sunk and has a very irregular masonry.
- Impossible to say when it was built- the castle also fell to the Norse in 1263.
- Other Additions- James IV and James V were both interested in extending their authority over the wild Scots in the western islands and found Rothesay to be an ideal base for expeditions into those regions.
- James IV stayed at Rothesay in 1495 and Exchequer records him spending 191 lbs. For the construction of the “Dungeoun” or forework of the castle up to 1518.
- James V visited in 1536 and 1540 and in 1541 he gave a sum for construction on the castle so that “he might remain there some time of the year at his pleasure with his court and queen.
- * different periods of construction of forework
- * design of forefront – France – separate housing.