6) Corgarff Castle
(A shot taken just inside the star shaped outer wall. The old tower is on the right, and one of the two single-storey pavilions added by the Hanoverian troops in the centre.)
In June 1645 Corgarff Castle was occupied by Montrose, after he had sent his second-in-command, "Colkitto" Macdonald, to recruit among the western clans. General Baillie's march north, threatening the Gordons, drew the Marquis away from his mountain fastness, without awaiting Macdonald's return, and the brief campaign that ensued led to Montrose's crushing defeat of the Covenanting general at Alford (2nd July 1645). At the time of Montrose's visit the castle was in ruins.
It must subsequently have been repaired, at least enough to make it habitable, as it was burned by the Jacobites in 1689 or 1690, in order to prevent its being used as a garrison post by the Government party — a fate suffered on the same occasion by the two other Mar strongholds, Braemar and Kildrummy. After the collapse of the Jacobite effort, the Earl of Mar drew up a memorandum of his losses incurred through the burning of the three castles and petitioned the Government that such forfeitures and fines as might be levied upon those of his own tenants that had borne arms in the rising, should be applied towards the restoration of the buildings - which is what seems to have been done in the cases of Kildrummy and Corgarff - all a little ironic when one considers that this was the same Earl of Mar that was to lead the next Jacobite rising! It was his tendency to change sides that earned him the nickname "Bobbing John"!
When John Earl of Mar launched the 1715 Jacobite rising from his ancestral castle of Kildrummy at the end of August, Corgarff Castle was used as a rendezvous. "From Kildrummy, where he was joined by a number of men, Mar marched his troops to Corgarff, another Erskine stronghold, where his forces again received considerable additions, and where he obtained a large and much-needed supply of ammunition. At Corgarff, Mar and his little army remained encamped 'some days', after which they proceeded to Braemar, where the standard of King James was raised on 6th September 1715."
6) Corgarff Castle
(A shot taken just inside the star shaped outer wall. The old tower is on the right, and one of the two single-storey pavilions added by the Hanoverian troops in the centre.)
In June 1645 Corgarff Castle was occupied by Montrose, after he had sent his second-in-command, "Colkitto" Macdonald, to recruit among the western clans. General Baillie's march north, threatening the Gordons, drew the Marquis away from his mountain fastness, without awaiting Macdonald's return, and the brief campaign that ensued led to Montrose's crushing defeat of the Covenanting general at Alford (2nd July 1645). At the time of Montrose's visit the castle was in ruins.
It must subsequently have been repaired, at least enough to make it habitable, as it was burned by the Jacobites in 1689 or 1690, in order to prevent its being used as a garrison post by the Government party — a fate suffered on the same occasion by the two other Mar strongholds, Braemar and Kildrummy. After the collapse of the Jacobite effort, the Earl of Mar drew up a memorandum of his losses incurred through the burning of the three castles and petitioned the Government that such forfeitures and fines as might be levied upon those of his own tenants that had borne arms in the rising, should be applied towards the restoration of the buildings - which is what seems to have been done in the cases of Kildrummy and Corgarff - all a little ironic when one considers that this was the same Earl of Mar that was to lead the next Jacobite rising! It was his tendency to change sides that earned him the nickname "Bobbing John"!
When John Earl of Mar launched the 1715 Jacobite rising from his ancestral castle of Kildrummy at the end of August, Corgarff Castle was used as a rendezvous. "From Kildrummy, where he was joined by a number of men, Mar marched his troops to Corgarff, another Erskine stronghold, where his forces again received considerable additions, and where he obtained a large and much-needed supply of ammunition. At Corgarff, Mar and his little army remained encamped 'some days', after which they proceeded to Braemar, where the standard of King James was raised on 6th September 1715."