Andrew
Spratt contributes:
Some
25 miles east of Edinburgh is the small coastal town of North
Berwick. Beside the sea shore sits a ridge known locally as
'Castle Hill', which conceals in it's grassy mound the almost
non-existent remains of the little known North Berwick castle. The
castle was held by three noble families, the MacDuffs, the
Stewarts and the Lauders. The first 13th century 'Castle' was a
wooden motte and bailey built by the MacDuffs Thanes of Fife,
who's principal seat was MacDuff 's castle on the Fife coast. In
1304 King Edward I of England stayed at Macduff's castle in Fife
then held by Michael Wemyss a MacDuff descendant. By 1306 Michael
sided with King Robert the Bruce (1306-1329) resulting in
MacDuff's castle being attacked by the Earl of Pembroke. Which
goes some way to explain the illegal occupation of North Berwick
castle by Pembroke's troops around the same time. By 1312 the
local church pledged support to King Edward II of England
(1307-1327), probably induced by the English presence on 'Castle
Hill' .
In
1314 King Robert the Bruce defeated King Edward II at the battle
of Bannockburn near Stirling castle. Edward fled down the coast
passed Edinburgh and on towards Dunbar pursued by James the
'Black' Douglas. The English garrison at North Berwick, on hearing
of their King's flight and the approach of the 'Black ' Douglas,
deserted their posts; "they gave up this castle and retired
to the castle of Dunbar",
as Lord Dunbar was still in league with the English and ships
could safely dock here to evacuate Edward and his men to 'South
Berwick' (Berwick on Tweed), which was still in English hands
since the massacre of the entire Scots population in 1296. Because
Dunbar was too strong for Douglas to besiege, he probably slighted
North Berwick, as like the Bruce he had a policy of destroying
castles in the Lowlands to prevent them from being used by the
English as stepping stones for re-invasion.
During
the reign of King Robert II of Scots (1371-1390) the Stewart Earls
of Fife held the Barony of North Berwick with it's 'Castle'. In
1373 North Berwick was granted a charter as a Royal Burgh since it
was the key ferry port to and from Fife. In the late 14th century
a stone tower with barmkin was raised on the site by the Lauder
family, who also constructed a keep on the Bass Rock island some
three miles east of North Berwick in the Firth of Forth. For some
unrecorded reason the 'Castle Hill' appears to have been abandoned
in favour of the more secure Bass Rock castle some time before the
1420's and may have been used as a quarry by the Lauders, who by
1426 had added 'a curtain wall and a landing stage' to their Bass
castle. Also their manor house of Tyninghame was reconstructed
around this time, so little remained of the 'Castle' when the site
and lands around were given to the church in 1435. The Lauders
were originally Constables of Tantallon castle, a great coastal
fortress perched on the cliffs east of North Berwick. The
principal seat of the 'Red' Douglas family. However in 1406 the
Lauders came into conflict with their Douglas masters over the
ownership of Tantallon,
which may explain the sudden disappearance of 'Castle Hill'. The
background to this conflict is complex.
In
1388 James 2nd Earl of Douglas was killed at the battle of
Otterburn. His title should then have passed to his young half
brother George the 'Red' Douglas of Tantallon. However the title
was seized by Archibald the 'Grim' Douglas (an illegitimate son of
the 'Black' Douglas). There was even an attempt to seize Tantallon
by the Stewart faction through the 2nd Earl's brother-in-law
Malcom Drummond. But the Lauders with the young 'Red' Douglas's
mother and her kin the Sinclairs of Herdmanston refused Drummond
entry by show of force. They along with the Lyndsays of Byres also
blocked any Stewart claim to Tantallon. Though the Stewarts held
the nearby Barony of North Berwick the castle of Tantallon was
originally built by William 1st Earl of Douglas around 1360 and
was therefore a Douglas stronghold.
In
1389, Drummond's failure to become keeper of Tantallon, resulted
in him seeking English help in pursuing his own land claims to the
Douglas estates. However, as he led his English army into
Scotland, he was ambushed by Archibald the 'Grim' 3rd Earl of
Douglas. With his forces destroyed, Drummond is thought to have
fled to France as his body was never recovered from the
battlefield. The 'Red' Douglas then became 1st Earl of Angus, when
his mother resigned her title to give him the status required to
hold Tantallon in his own right. The Stewarts then agreed to his
continued occupation of Tantallon.
These
double dealings were not only confined to the nobility but
extended to the Royal Stewart household. In 1402 Prince David was
'arrested' by his Uncle the Duke of Albany and his brother-in-law
Archibald 4th Earl of Douglas to keep the peace. But as the Prince
was 'long guarded' at Falkland castle he died of starvation. Since
King Robert III of Scots (1390-1406) was a sick, weak willed man
his brother Albany escaped punishment for this crime and continued
to plot the King's overthrow and the murder of young Prince James
(later King James I of Scots 1406-1437).
In
February 1406,Sir David Fleming with Robert Lauder and a 'strond
band' of the 'leading men of Lothian' accompanied by Prince James
as a symbol of Royal authority marched on Tantallon castle. It
appeared King Robert or rather his lackeys were re-asserting the
Stewart claim to Tantallon made and abandoned in 1388. As plots
were afoot to kill the Prince, Tantallon was an ideal coastal
stronghold to hide him until he could be shipped to France. The
Sinclairs of Herdmanston acting as protectors of young William the
'Red' Douglas 2nd Earl of Angus refused the Royal party entry. The
violent verbal barrage between the gatekeeper and Fleming exploded
into actual violence which 'shocked' the Royal army into a quick
flight to Robert Lauder's North Berwick castle. Expecting an
assault by the Tantallon garrison the Prince was rowed out to the
even safer Bass
Rock castle to await a ship to France. Fleming and the Royal
escort appeared trapped. To the east was Tantallon, to the south
Herdmanston castle and Byres castle both held by garrisons loyal
to the 'Red' Douglas faction. To the west was Dirleton castle held
by the Halyburtons whoses loyalties were doubtful. Beyond that lay
Edinburgh castle held by Archibald Douglas's brother James the
'Gross' Douglas who as an ally of the Duke of Albany wanted Prince
James dead so Albany could become King.
With
great haste, the Royal army raced passed Dirleton,
flying the Royal banner implying the Prince was present. The army
was shadowed by the Halyburtons and the Sinclairs who had already
sent riders to Edinburgh castle which drew out the 'Black' Douglas
army from there. After a lengthy pursuit, the Royal force was
'overtaken' at the battle of Long Hermiston Moor and after 'a
terrible fight' routed with their leader David Fleming killed.
No
doubt the rebel army was sent by the Duke of Albany as Prince
James was the only stumbling block to his goal of seizing the
Scots throne. The rebel army marched on 'Castle Hill' to check the
location of the Prince, though there is no written record of a
siege of North Berwick or of the Bass castle as the rebels were
unwilling, or unable, to assault the Bass, which was said to be a
'fortress'. It may have been the case that the 'Red' Douglases
sacked 'Castle Hill' because the Lauders had betrayed their trust.
Later Prince James boarded a ship the 'Maryenknecht',to France but
was intercepted off Flamborough Head by the English and held
captive for 18 years. On hearing of his son's plight, heartbroken
King Robert died. His brother Albany then took control of the
Kingdom as 'Governor'.
Eventually,
in 1424 Prince James, now King James I of Scots, returned to
Scotland. In that same year the 4th Earl of Douglas, ally of the
Stewarts of Albany, was killed in France at the battle of Verneuil.
In the confused aftermath of his death King James moved quickly,
sending Robert Lauder to seize Edinburgh castle from the 'Black'
Douglases. Then, when the time was right, the Duke of Albany was
arrested, taken from his home of Doune
castle near Stirling to St Andrews castle for a mock trial then
down to Caerlaverock
castle in Dumfries by the new 5th Earl of Douglas, who unlike his
predecessor was in subjection to his King. Albany's son Walter was
taken to the Bass castle by the Lauders, his wife the Duchess of
Albany was imprisoned in Tantallon
castle's dungeon by the 'Red' Douglas and his father-in-law, the
Earl of Lennox, was held at Edinburgh castle, also by the Lauders.
The
stage was set for James's revenge. The Duke of Albany, his son and
his father-in-law were all reunited at Stirling castle, then
beheaded. Bizarrely the three heads were taken first to the Bass
castle, then the Lauders shipped them to Tantallon castle where
the 'Red' Douglas in turn threw the heads into the dungeon beside
the Duchess in an effort to drive her insane. No one knows what
pain and grief she must have experienced as she peered in the
half-light to identify the head of her husband, then her son, then
her father in turn. Likely the King was present to hear her
despairing cries. Soon after the 'Red' Douglas took pity on the
Duchess and moved her to a more comfortable chamber, where at his
insistence she signed an acknowledgement to say what the King had
done was just as the Stewarts of Albany were rebels. This kept the
King happy as he moved on to seize Albany lands.
Douglas
continued to confine the Duchess within the bounds of his castle
for her own safety, since King James was such a volatile character
and, given his later treatment of the MacDonalds and the Dunbars,
could turn on the Duchess at any time if she were left
unprotected. Ironically the Duchess outlived the King, who was
murdered by rebel Lords at Perth. She then re-asserted herself as
Duchess of Albany, reclaiming most of her stolen lands.
Today
in North Berwick only the name 'Castle Hill' hints at where King
James I as a boy sought sanctuary from the Stewarts of Albany in
1406 which led to such bloody reprisals when he became an adult.
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