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Lochmaben was granted to Robert Bruce in the mid-twelfth century by King
David I. Robert was of Norman descent and his ancestor, Adam de Brus,
had accompanied William I in the conquest of England. The family had
been granted lands in Cleveland, North Yorkshire but Robert was enticed
to come north as the Scottish King sought to encourage Norman
immigration. Such men were given lands in unruly parts of Scotland and
used their martial skills and castle building expertise to help bring
Scotland firmly under Royal control. Granted the Lordship of Annandale
in 1141, flooding of his property saw Robert take over Lochmaben shortly
after. He built the first Lochmaben Castle, an earth and timber motte-and-bailey
fortification, at this time.
This initial castle was still in use in the late thirteenth century at
the outbreak of the First War of Scottish Independence. In 1290 the
English King had been asked to arbitrate on the Scottish succession
following the death of the Alexander III's only heir, Margaret. The then
owner of Lochmaben Castle - Robert Bruce, Fifth Lord of Annandale - was
one candidate but Edward I ultimately ruled in favour of John Balliol
whom he anticipated would be his vassal. However, when faced with
impossible demands for manpower to support a continental war, Balliol
rebelled. A swift English victory at the Battle of Dunbar (1296) led to
Balliol being deposed but soon after William Wallace rebelled and
defeated an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge (1297). The
English gained the upper hand the following year in a campaign that also
saw Lochmaben Castle taken by Edward I. In 1299 Sir John Maxwell led a
force from nearby Caerlaverock Castle and tried but failed to retake the
castle. Soon after, the English commenced construction of a new earth
and timber fortress - Lochmaben Pele - on the site of the current castle
as a replacement intended to control the road between Carlisle and
Glasgow.
Lochmaben Pele came under attack in 1301 and was burnt but the site was
re-occupied and rebuilt by the English under the oversight of Richard
Siward. When Robert the Bruce, Seventh Lord of Annandale started his
1306 rebellion (which would see him become Robert I) he captured
Lochmaben Pele but it was re-taken by Edward, Prince of Wales. In 1314,
after the decisive English defeat at
Bannockburn, Lochmaben Pele was
voluntarily surrendered to the Scottish King but was captured back by
the English in 1333 when Edward III, fresh from his victory at
Halidon
Hill, resumed the war with Scotland. Lochmaben would remain an English
stronghold for the next 50 years acting as a supply base for military
operations in Scotland.
The inner bailey of the castle was rebuilt in stone in the fourteenth
century with two substantial towers projecting over a flooded moat. The
rest of the defences remained earth and timber however as the frequent
fighting with the Scots did not afford an opportunity for more permanent
works to be undertaken. Indeed by 1385 the castle had been captured,
lost and recaptured no less than eleven times! The final exchange left
it in Scottish hands when Archibald the Grim, Earl of Douglas and Lord
of Galloway seized it in 1384. The castle remained under the control of
his family until 1455 when it was confiscated by James II as part of his
suppression of the Black Douglas. It then remained a Royal possession
and hosted several Royal visitors over the years including James IV
(1503), James V (1542 before the Battle of Solway Moss) and Mary Queen
of Scots (1565).
In 1588 the castle was seized by Lord Maxwell, a Catholic who was
seeking to overthrow the Protestant monarchy. Along with Maxwell's other
castles - Caerlaverock, Langholm and Threave - the King ordered
Lochmaben to surrender. At that time it was held by David Maxwell,
brother to the Laird of Cowhill, who refused to surrender believing
himself safe due to the lack of Royal artillery. But James VI had
borrowed numerous artillery pieces from the English Warden in Carlisle
and bombarded the fortress. On 9 June 1588, after a two day siege, the
castle fell and David, along with five of his supporters, were hung
outside the walls despite previous pledges of safe conduct. This was the
swan song of the castle though as just 15 years later the 1603 union
meant it ceased to have any military purpose and fell into disrepair.
The Lochmaben Stone is a megalith standing in a field,
nearly a mile west of the Sark mouth on the Solway Firth, three hundred
yards or so above high water mark on the farm of Old Graitney in
Dumfries & Galloway in Scotland. Together with a smaller stone it is all
that is left of a stone circle dating back to around 3000BC
The Lochmaben Stone was a well known, well recognised and easily located
'marker' on the Scottish Marches and as such it performed a number of
functions prior to the Union of the Crowns, such as arrangements for
truces, exchange of prisoners, etc.
Raiding parties met here before launching expeditions into England and
Scottish armies assembled here before major incursions or defence
operations took place. It may well have been a tribal assembly point. An
army was ordered to assemble here as late as 6 February 1557.
In 1398 an exchange of prisoners took place when English and Scots
representatives, the Dukes of Rothesay and Lancaster met at the
Lochmaben Stone. The prisoners were released without ransoms and any
that had already been paid were to be returned.
Its use by the Marcher Lords or Wardens suggests that the Scots regarded
the Lochmaben stone as being the southernmost limit of the Scottish
realm. In 1398 an indenture was made at 'Clochmabenstane' for the men of
Tyndale and Redesdale to meet from Whitsunday to Michaelmas at Kershope
Bridge. The Commissioners not only met here, but "gave bail for their
good behaviour to one another."
The Auchinleck Chronicle records that on 23 October 1448 a Scottish Army
under the command of Hugh Douglas, Earl of Ormonde, and Sir John Wallace
of Craigie won a resounding victory over the invading English forces of
the younger Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland. There is nothing to
mark the site of the River Sark battle ground. 3,000 Englishmen were slain or
drowned in flight. Many prisoners were taken. Estimated Scots losses
range from a low of 26 to a high of 600, the most serious of whom was
Sir John Wallace of Craigie, Sheriff of Ayr, who was mortally wounded,
dying some time after the battle.
In 1473, the Scottish and English Ambassadors met to agree that more
frequent meetings of the marcher Wardens were to be held at the six
recognised sites on the marches. These were 'Newbyggynfurde, Redaneburn,
Gammyllispethe, Belle, Loumabanestane and Kershopebrig and the meetings
were to be held at successive venues. On the 26th. March 1494 the
commissioners of both countries met at the Lochmaben Stone to finally
settle the long running dispute over the 'Fish Garth' across the River
Esk.
The Merkland Cross is a monolithic floriated wayside
cross, standing 3m high, which was erected on a conspicuous site in
Kirkpatrick-Fleming parish, SE Dumfriesshire, 21/8 miles WNW of
Kirkpatrick village at the side of the Roman road that became the main
route into Annandale. The M74 motorway now passes by just a few metres
away the monument. The sculpture is traditionally thought to be of
15th-century date. The floriated cross-head is an evolved form of the
bracelet motif.
But why the cross was erected here is a mystery. It could have been
erected as:
a marker for a market or meeting place, for the now lost village of
Markland
a preaching cross
a memorial, being said to commemorate the site of the violent death of a
member of the Maxwell family.
But, there are at least three versions of a tradition in which a
military commander is reputed to have been slain here in unusual
circumstances, the least implausible of which relates to the death of
John, Master of Maxwell, Steward of Annandale, in the running fight
which started in Lochmaben in
July 1484, between the English force under the outlawed Scots,
Alexander, Duke of Albany, and James, Earl of Douglas.
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