Dunbar Castle (5)
The tenure of the Earls of Dunbar & March ended in 1435. George, 10th Earl, after spending time in England, found that his enemies had been plotting against him in the meantime and when he returned to Scotland he was arrested and confined in Edinburgh Castle. He was accused, not with any treason he had committed, but of holding the earldoms and estates which were claimed to have been forfeited by his father. In vain did he plead that his father had been pardoned and restored by the Duke of Albany, being told in reply "that a forfeiture incurred for treason could not be pardoned by a Regent"! The forfeited Earl retired into obscurity in England and Dunbar Castle became a property of the Crown.
Dunbar Castle was restored by James IV late in the 15th century, the castle having come under the control of the Duke of Albany and it was during this period that the bulwark to the west (the Battery) was built. It is thought to have been designed by Antoine d'Arces, Sieur de la Bastie who was placed in charge of the castle in December 1514 (before being murdered by the Homes in 1517). Albany organised further repairs and amendments in July 1527.
(The title 'Duke of Albany' has been granted/created 8 times, the last time to Leopold, 4th son of Queen Victoria. The Duke referred to above was John Stewart, grandson of King James II.)
During the 'War of the Rough Wooing' (the English attempt to persuade the Scots to marry Princess Mary (the future 'Queen of scots') to Prince Edward - it was obviously thought that flowers were going to be ineffective, so they sent an army and destroyed and burned everything they could!), Dunbar castle was burnt by the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1548.
It must have been repaired and re-occupied by the Scots shortly afterwards, because there is a description of another attack the following year, this time by Peter Landstedt, one of the German mercenaries employed by the English. Despite cannon fire from the castle, Landstedt got a foothold in a house in Dunbar, and used the furniture to start fires in the town. From there, he planned to make an entrenchment in front of the castle, where he could place his guns, as he considered the walls of the castle near the town were "very old and low," and now "revised with earth and mounds", these old walls being stone on the natural rock. He thought the old high walls of the inner court could be broken by bombardment to destroy the "first walls" of the castle. In the end though, these plans were not carried out.
Dunbar Castle (5)
The tenure of the Earls of Dunbar & March ended in 1435. George, 10th Earl, after spending time in England, found that his enemies had been plotting against him in the meantime and when he returned to Scotland he was arrested and confined in Edinburgh Castle. He was accused, not with any treason he had committed, but of holding the earldoms and estates which were claimed to have been forfeited by his father. In vain did he plead that his father had been pardoned and restored by the Duke of Albany, being told in reply "that a forfeiture incurred for treason could not be pardoned by a Regent"! The forfeited Earl retired into obscurity in England and Dunbar Castle became a property of the Crown.
Dunbar Castle was restored by James IV late in the 15th century, the castle having come under the control of the Duke of Albany and it was during this period that the bulwark to the west (the Battery) was built. It is thought to have been designed by Antoine d'Arces, Sieur de la Bastie who was placed in charge of the castle in December 1514 (before being murdered by the Homes in 1517). Albany organised further repairs and amendments in July 1527.
(The title 'Duke of Albany' has been granted/created 8 times, the last time to Leopold, 4th son of Queen Victoria. The Duke referred to above was John Stewart, grandson of King James II.)
During the 'War of the Rough Wooing' (the English attempt to persuade the Scots to marry Princess Mary (the future 'Queen of scots') to Prince Edward - it was obviously thought that flowers were going to be ineffective, so they sent an army and destroyed and burned everything they could!), Dunbar castle was burnt by the Earl of Shrewsbury in 1548.
It must have been repaired and re-occupied by the Scots shortly afterwards, because there is a description of another attack the following year, this time by Peter Landstedt, one of the German mercenaries employed by the English. Despite cannon fire from the castle, Landstedt got a foothold in a house in Dunbar, and used the furniture to start fires in the town. From there, he planned to make an entrenchment in front of the castle, where he could place his guns, as he considered the walls of the castle near the town were "very old and low," and now "revised with earth and mounds", these old walls being stone on the natural rock. He thought the old high walls of the inner court could be broken by bombardment to destroy the "first walls" of the castle. In the end though, these plans were not carried out.