#Tantallon Castle

[inkylizard]

Tantallon, from Auldhame

[edinburgh-by-the-sea]

distant Bass Rock

[scotianostra]

Tantallon Castle from Seacliff Beach last week

[venicepearl]

Tantallon Castle is a ruined mid-14th-century fortress, located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland. It sits atop a promontory opposite the Bass Rock, looking out onto the Firth of Forth. The last medieval curtain wall castle to be constructed in Scotland, Tantallon comprises a single wall blocking off the headland, with the other three sides naturally protected by sea cliffs.

Tantallon was built in the mid 14th century by William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas. It was passed to his illegitimate son, George Douglas, later created Earl of Angus, and despite several sieges, it remained the property of his descendants for much of its history. It was besieged by King James IV in 1491, and again by his successor James V in 1527, when extensive damage was done. Tantallon saw action in the First Bishops' War in 1639, and again during Oliver Cromwell's invasion of Scotland in 1651, when it was once more severely damaged. It was sold by the Marquis of Douglas in 1699 to Hew Dalrymple, Lord North Berwick and the ruin is today in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.

[septembergold]

Tantallon Castle, North Berwick

[bletheringskite]

Tantallon Castle: History

Tantallon was the last truly great castle built in Scotland. William Douglas, a nobleman, built the mighty fortress in the mid-1300s, at the height of his power.

The house of Douglas split into two branches in the 1380s: the ‘Black’ and the ‘Red’. Tantallon passed to the junior line – the earls of Angus also known as the ‘Red Douglases’. They owned the castle for the next 300 years, often clashing with the Crown.

The castle was besieged by:

James IV in 1491

James V in 1528

Oliver Cromwell in 1651

[charlesyoung]

Dovecot, Tantallon

21 x 22.5 x 15.5cm

Painted wood

Based on the dovecot at Tantallon Castle, East Lothian

[xavierbautistagarcia]

A ghost in the window

Tantallon Castle is no longer the fortress built by the first Earl of Douglas atop the cliffs that plunge into the waters of the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. But it is the prototypical Scottish castle with a ghost.

After a siege during the invasion of Scotland by Oliver Cromwell's army, it was largely demolished in 1651, having already suffered a partial demolition ordered by King James V of Scotland in the first half of the 16th century.

In 2008, a tourist took a photograph of the castle showing a figure presumably in period costume (that of James V to be precise). The fact of finding a Scottish castle with a ghost should not sound so far-fetched, but the London newspaper The Times took notice of the case and spoke of a speck of dust on the photographer's lens.

Tantallon is a unique construction in Scotland: the castle's defences consist of a single great wall that secures the promontory. The south-east, north-east and north-west approaches are naturally defended by sea cliffs and only protected by relatively small defensive walls. In the southwest, a huge curtain wall blocks the end of the promontory, forming the inner courtyard.

When they also became Earls of Angus, the Douglases were called Red Angus and managed to collect a number of other titles with which they built up their power in the East Lothian area over three centuries.

However, during the reign of James V, the Angus allied themselves with Henry VIII of England and staged a full-blown coup d'état, including the capture of the infant king, around 1525. However, the king fled and eventually organised the Siege of Tantallon, which took place around 1528.

At the end of the 17th century, the 12th Earl of Angus had to sell what were already ruins to cover his gambling debts. The new owner, who already had some of the former Red Angus holdings in his hands, left the castle derelict and allowed its stones to be used for building.

In the 19th century they allowed some restoration work and in the 20th century they handed it over to the authorities for further conservation.

[rain-dere]

Two brothers on the same beach and an ocean away.

Lyrics are from Older by Searows. Rest of credit is below the cut.

Jean-François Millet, Fishing Boat / Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet, Beach at Dieppe, The Fishing Boat / Margaret W. Tarrant / Charles Euphrasie Kuwasseg, The Beach / Frederic Edwin Church, Stormy Sea / William Trost Richards, Luminist Coastal Scene / Winslow Homer, Dad's Coming! / Alexander Nasmyth, A View of Tantallon Castle with the Bass Rock / John Wilson Carmichael, A Cutter in Distress to the South of Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland

[mightywellfan]

Tantallon Castle, East Lothian

[inkylizard]

Tantallon Castle

[edinburgh-by-the-sea]

sunlight pouring over empty ruins

[scotianostra]

Alba gu bràth

[venicepearl]

Tantallon Castle is a ruined mid-14th-century fortress, located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland. It sits atop a promontory opposite the Bass Rock, looking out onto the Firth of Forth. The last medieval curtain wall castle to be constructed in Scotland, Tantallon comprises a single wall blocking off the headland, with the other three sides naturally protected by sea cliffs.

Tantallon was built in the mid 14th century by William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas. It was passed to his illegitimate son, George Douglas, later created Earl of Angus, and despite several sieges, it remained the property of his descendants for much of its history. It was besieged by King James IV in 1491, and again by his successor James V in 1527, when extensive damage was done. Tantallon saw action in the First Bishops' War in 1639, and again during Oliver Cromwell's invasion of Scotland in 1651, when it was once more severely damaged. It was sold by the Marquis of Douglas in 1699 to Hew Dalrymple, Lord North Berwick and the ruin is today in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.

[zou-san]

Tantallon Castle, East Lothian, Scotland

[oldsardens]

William Thornley - Tantallon Castle