And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Corgarff Castle, I too drove past it in 2015. It has a tale of woe associated with it. From here: https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/corgarff-castle/history/
The castle may have been the location of the tragic events told by the old Scottish ballad, ‘Edom o Gordon’.
In November 1571, Adam Gordon came with his men to seize the castle from the Forbeses. Gordon was laird of Auchindoun Castle, in Glen Fiddich, over the mountains to the north. The two families were often feuding, and his plan was to capture Forbes of Towie.
The laird was away, but his wife Margaret was at home and refused Gordon entry. The assailants set fire to the castle, burning to death Margaret, her family and her servants. In all, 27 people perished.
All Scottish castles had walls to protect them from the Scots. The English, as well, but mainly the Scots. Think, blood feuds. George MacDonald Fraser’s “The Steel Bonnets” covers this in detail.
I always wanted to build a house based on the Vaubian Star layout. Up in Groesbeck, TX, the fort where Cynthia Ann Parker was abducted from had lookouts on the corners with firing ports in the floor. I thought that was worth doing as well. Keeping the corners under observation and direct fire....
I bet there is a story on why and when the walls were added.
ReplyDelete"star" fortress style
DeleteI imagine they're to protect the English Lord. God knows why anyone would lay claim to that land.
ReplyDeleteSay what you want about that place, he does have excellent fields of fire around it.
ReplyDeleteI drove past it when I was in Scotland in 2005. The surrounding landscape is as stark as it appears in this pic.
ReplyDeletePost-Vauban achitecture.
ReplyDeleteBut without paying attention to the efficacy of cannon artillery on taller structures.
Certified safe from Zombies and all walking dead.
ReplyDeleteCorgarff Castle, I too drove past it in 2015. It has a tale of woe associated with it. From here:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/corgarff-castle/history/
The castle may have been the location of the tragic events told by the old Scottish ballad, ‘Edom o Gordon’.
In November 1571, Adam Gordon came with his men to seize the castle from the Forbeses. Gordon was laird of Auchindoun Castle, in Glen Fiddich, over the mountains to the north. The two families were often feuding, and his plan was to capture Forbes of Towie.
The laird was away, but his wife Margaret was at home and refused Gordon entry. The assailants set fire to the castle, burning to death Margaret, her family and her servants. In all, 27 people perished.
Places like that are always damp and drafty.
ReplyDeleteAll Scottish castles had walls to protect them from the Scots. The English, as well, but mainly the Scots. Think, blood feuds. George MacDonald Fraser’s “The Steel Bonnets” covers this in detail.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/Steel-Bonnets-Anglo-Scottish-Border-Reivers/dp/1632204568
I always wanted to build a house based on the Vaubian Star layout. Up in Groesbeck, TX, the fort where Cynthia Ann Parker was abducted from had lookouts on the corners with firing ports in the floor. I thought that was worth doing as well. Keeping the corners under observation and direct fire....
ReplyDelete