Qualla: Craignethan Castle

Craignethan Castle: Introduction

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit No machine-readable author provided. Supergolden assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0. James Hamilton of Finnart had a problem and an obsession. The problem was that he was a bastard, the illegitimate son of the Earl of Arran, with no settled place in the world. The obsession was architecture, and specifically artillery defense, the new science of how a stone wall could survive cannon. In 1530 his father gave him lands above the River Nethan, and Finnart set about building a castle that would show what he had learned in his European travels. The result was Craignethan, perhaps the last truly serious private artillery fortress built from scratch in Scotland. It was meant to be uncannon-able. It would also outlive its builder by only ten years, before he was executed for treason and his masterpiece passed to a king.

Read more: Craignethan Castle on Qualla

Image: No machine-readable author provided. Supergolden assumed (based on copyright claims). | CC BY-SA 3.0

Craignethan Castle: The Bastard of Arran and His Showcase

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tom Parnell from Scottish Borders, Scotland, CC BY-SA 2.0. Finnart was no amateur. He had toured Europe studying the new Italian style of artillery fortification, returned to Scotland as an accomplished engineer, and been appointed King's Master of Works. He oversaw the defenses at Blackness Castle and the Renaissance facades of Linlithg...

Read more: Craignethan Castle on Qualla

Image: Tom Parnell from Scottish Borders, Scotland | CC BY-SA 2.0

Craignethan Castle: Mary, Queen of Scots, Comes Calling

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Tom Parnell from Scottish Borders, Scotland, CC BY-SA 2.0. The Hamiltons regained Craignethan two years later. Finnart's half-brother, James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, added the large outer courtyard and made the place a private royal residence in all but name. He was, after all, regent of Scotland during Mary, Queen of Scots's infancy...

Read more: Craignethan Castle on Qualla

Image: Tom Parnell from Scottish Borders, Scotland | CC BY-SA 2.0

Craignethan Castle: The Slighting of 1579

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Brian D Osborne, CC BY-SA 2.0. By 1579 the Hamiltons were outlawed and Lord Claud had fled to France. Royal artillery rolled toward Craignethan. Both Craignethan and the Hamilton stronghold at Cadzow offered to surrender on terms; the king's men refused. The House of Hamilton surrendered unconditionally on 18 ...

Read more: Craignethan Castle on Qualla

Image: Brian D Osborne | CC BY-SA 2.0

Craignethan Castle: Tillietudlem on the Nethan

Fri, 29 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Dave souza, CC BY-SA 3.0. Two and a half centuries later, Sir Walter Scott published Old Mortality, a novel of the Covenanter risings, partly set at a fictional fortress called Tillietudlem. Readers, looking for a real place, settled on Craignethan as their model, even though Scott protested that he hadn'...

Read more: Craignethan Castle on Qualla

Image: Dave souza | CC BY-SA 3.0