Ravenscraig Castle, Aberdeenshire Explained

Ravenscraig Castle, also known as the Craig of Inverugie, is a ruined 15th-century L-shaped tower-house north-west of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.[1] It is a scheduled ancient monument.

The castle was the seat of the barony of Torthorston, held by the Cheynes family, and passed to the Keiths in the mid-14th century. A licence was granted to build a new castle in May 1491, with the castle built on the banks of the Ugie and defended by a moat.

It is thought that King James VI of Scotland visited the castle in 1589 to attend the wedding of Rebecca Keith and Sir James Gordon of Lesmoir.[2] At that time the castle belonged to John Keith of Ravenscraig, whose half-brother William Keith of Delny was a courtier and diplomat who had tried to save the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587.[3]

Most of the castle's decorative features and dressed stone have been robbed; however, the vaulted ground floor and principal apartments on the first are still visible. "A circular stair in the re-entrant angle rose originally above the wall head into a turret."

Literary inspiration

The Mitherless Bairn by William ThomWilliam Thom was inspired to write this deathless poem after sighting a "pretty governess" in the castle grounds in 1844.[4]

References

57.5291°N -1.8423°W

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ravenscraig Castle . . 29 July 2013.
  2. John Alexander Henderson, Aberdeenshire Epitaphs and Inscriptions (Aberdeen, 1907), p. 165.
  3. Miles Kerr-Peterson, 'Sir William Keith of Delny', Innes Review 67:2 (2016), p. 157.
  4. Book: McKean . Charles . Banff & Buchan: An Illustrated Architectural Guide . 1990 . Mainstream Publications Ltd. . 185158-231-2 . 147.