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Traquair House, approximately 7 miles southeast of Peebles, is claimed to be the oldest continually inhabited house in Scotland. Whilst not strictly a castle, it is built in the style of a fortified mansion. It pre-dates the Scottish Baronial style of architecture, and may have been one of the influences on this style. The estate contains the famous Traquair Brewery.
The house is built on the site of a hunting seat used by the Scottish kings from the 12th century, though no part of the present building can be dated with certainty before the 15th century. Alexander I was the first Scottish king to stay and hunt at Traquair. At that time it was a remote "castle", surrounded by forest. Upon Alexander III's death in 1286, the peace of the Borders region was shattered and Traquair became a key link in the chain of defence that guarded the Tweed Valley against English invasion.
Over the next two centuries Traquair's ownership changed often, at times coming under the control of the English, and at others, the Scottish throne. In the 1460s James III conferred the estate on Dr William Rogers, an eminent musician, and one of his favourites. After holding the lands for upwards of nine years, Dr Rogers sold them for an insignificant sum in 1478 to the Earl of Buchan. The Earl gifted the estate to his illegitimate son, James Stuart (1480-1513), 1st Laird of Traquair, in 1491. James Stuart obtained letters of legitimation and married the heiress of the Rutherfords, with whom he received the estates of Rutherford and Wells in Roxburghshire. He was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. His daughter, Jane Stewart, had a daughter Janet with the Earl of Angus born out of wedlock, who married Patrick Ruthven, 3rd Lord Ruthven. James VI visited Traquair on 9 March 1602. [1]
Traquair remained the family seat of the Earls of Traquair for the next four centuries.
In 1875 Traquair passed to a cousin of the Stuarts, Henry Constable Maxwell. He was a direct descendant, but via the female line. The National Portrait Gallery holds a 1992 portrait of Catherine Maxwell Stuart, 21st Lady of Traquair. [2]
Traquair is a 50-room house. The rooms include "The Drawing Room", containing ancestral portraits and photographs of the current residents; "The Dressing Room", which is decorated to demonstrate life in former times; "The Museum Room", containing a mural dating from 1530, one of the oldest to survive in a secular building in Scotland, as well as charters stamped with the royal seals and signatures of the Scottish Kings; "The King's Room", where Mary, Queen of Scots stayed in 1566 and which contains some relics belonging to her and the Jacobites, such as her rosary, crucifix, purse, a silk quilt, and letters bearing her signature; "The Still Room", where breakfast is taken among the 18th-century porcelain that decorates the shelves; and "The Dining Room", one of the last additions to the house, built in the late 17th century. There is a Roman Catholic chapel built in 1829, following the Catholic emancipation. The 18th-century library contains more than 3,000 volumes. Although three lairds made alterations to the house prior to the 17th century, Traquair has changed little, architecturally, since then.
The Bear Gates at the main entrance to the grounds were installed by the fifth Earl, Charles Stuart, in 1738. When they were closed, after Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) passed through in 1745, the Earl vowed they would never be opened again until a Stuart king returned. [3] [4]
The 1970 horror film Tam-Lin was filmed at Traquair. It starred Ava Gardner; other cast members included Joanna Lumley, Stephanie Beecham and Ian McShane. [5] [6]
The Traquair House Brewery was revived in 1965 by Peter Maxwell Stuart, the 20th laird of Traquair, using the 18th-century domestic brewery equipment that had previously been used to make beer for the house. [7] Ale is fermented in the original oak tuns, some of which are over 200 years old. [8] The brewery makes a range of beers, though the two main brands are Jacobite Ale and House Ale. [9]
Ale was brewed at Traquair during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. In 1739 a 200-gallon copper was installed in the brew house under the chapel. [10]
The maze was designed by John Schofield and originally planted with Leyland cypress until the severe winter in 1983 when over two thirds of the trees died. It was replanted with hardier beech trees. [11]
David Rizzio or Riccio was an Italian courtier, born in Pancalieri close to Turin, a descendant of an ancient and noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts di San Paolo e Solbrito, who rose to become the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary's husband, Lord Darnley, is said to have been jealous of their friendship because of rumours that Rizzio had impregnated Mary, and he joined in a conspiracy of Protestant nobles to murder him, led by Patrick Ruthven, 3rd Lord Ruthven. Mary was having dinner with Rizzio and a few ladies-in-waiting when Darnley joined them, accused his wife of adultery and then had a group murder Rizzio, who was hiding behind Mary. Mary was held at gunpoint and Rizzio was stabbed numerous times. His body took 57 dagger wounds. The murder was the catalyst of the downfall of Darnley, and had serious consequences for Mary's subsequent reign.
Peeblesshire, the County of Peebles or Tweeddale is a historic county of Scotland. Its county town is Peebles, and it borders Midlothian to the north, Selkirkshire to the east, Dumfriesshire to the south, and Lanarkshire to the west.
William Maxwell, 5th Earl of Nithsdale, was a Roman Catholic member of the Scottish nobility who took part in the Jacobite rising of 1715. He was attainted with his titles forfeited. However, Lord Nithsdale made a celebrated escape from the Tower of London by changing clothes with his wife's maid the day before he was due to be executed. The lordship of Herries of Terregles was later restored to his descendants and remains extant.
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Clan Murray is a Highland Scottish clan. The chief of the Clan Murray holds the title of Duke of Atholl. Their ancestors were the Morays of Bothwell who established the family in Scotland in the 12th century. In the 16th century, descendants of the Morays of Bothwell, the Murrays of Tullibardine, secured the chiefship of the clan and were created Earls of Tullibardine in 1606. The first Earl of Tullibardine married the heiress to the Stewart earldom of Atholl and Atholl therefore became a Murray earldom in 1626. The Murray Earl of Atholl was created Marquess of Atholl in 1676 and in 1703 it became a dukedom. The marquess of Tullibardine title has continued as a subsidiary title, being bestowed on elder sons of the chief until they succeed him as Duke of Atholl.
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan (1442–1499) was a Scottish noble. He was the uncle of James III of Scotland who granted him the Earldom of Buchan. Buchan repaid his nephew by fighting for his cause against rebellious southern barons. Through his marriage to Margaret Ogilvy he acquired the title Lord Auchterhouse.
Callendar House is a mansion set within the grounds of Callendar Park in Falkirk, central Scotland. During the 19th century, it was redesigned and extended in the style of a French Renaissance château fused with elements of Scottish baronial architecture. However, the core of the building is a 14th-century tower house.
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Clan Irvine is a Scottish clan.
Terregles House was a late 18th-century country house, located near Terregles, in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire around 2 miles west of Dumfries in Scotland. It replaced an earlier tower house, which had served as the seat of the Lords Herries, and later the Earls of Nithsdale, until William Maxwell, the 5th Earl, forfeited his titles in 1716.
The Much Honoured is an honorific style applied to the holders of certain Scottish feudal baronies, lairds, and chiefs and chieftains.
Traquair is a small village and civil parish in the Scottish Borders; until 1975 it was in the county of Peeblesshire. The village is situated on the B709 road 2.0 miles (3.2 km) south of Innerleithen at grid reference NT330346.
The Douglases of Mains are a branch of the Clan Douglas, related to the Lords of Douglas through Archibald I, Lord of Douglas. The first Laird obtained land through marriage into the Galbraith family, which had been granted land in New Kilpatrick by Maldowen, Earl of Lennox. The family produced minor nobles in the Scottish court, perhaps the most notable of which was Malcolm Douglas, the 8th Laird, executed for treason in Edinburgh for conspiracy in the Raid of Ruthven. His second son, Robert Douglas, was made Viscount of Belhaven and is buried in Holyrood Abbey. The family intermarried in the Glasgow area, having links with the Campbells of Blythswood, with landed families across Scotland and more latterly the United Kingdom. The title became extinct in the 20th century; the last 33+1⁄2 acres of the estate was sold to Dunbartonshire county and was subsequently used for the erection of the secondary school, Douglas Academy, in Milngavie prior to the death of the last heir in 1977.
David Paton was a Scottish artist active between 1660–1700.
Sir Hugh Paterson, 1st Baronet of Bannockburn, was a Scottish baronet and landowner.
William Stewart of Monkton and Carstairs was a Scottish landowner and courtier.
Catherine Margaret Mary Maxwell Stuart, 21st Lady of Traquair is a Scottish landowner, politician, hotelier, brewer, and writer. She is the first female Laird of Traquair and, at the time she succeeded her father in 1990, she was the only female laird in Scotland. She took over the management of the lairdship from her mother in 1999, which includes a bed and breakfast and ancient brewery. A lifelong socialist, Maxwell Stuart ran for public office four times as a Labour Party candidate, including in the 2003 Scottish Parliament election and the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.
John Stewart of Traquair was a Scottish landowner.
Catherine Maxwell Stuart, 21st Lady of Traquair by Bob Collins NPG x137506 - September 1992
18th century domestic brewery
55°36′30″N03°03′50″W / 55.60833°N 3.06389°W
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