Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland > Volume 1

CAERLAVEROCK
1220, or a little later; and one which stood upon it then
belonged to the family of Maecnswell or Maxwell, the
progenitors of Lord Hemes, the proprietor of the present
pile. The castle was occupied for a night in 1296 by
Sir William "Wallace ; and it was taken by 3000 English
under Edward I. in July 1300, after a two days' defence
by only 60 men. A Norman-French rhymed chronicle
of the siege, written by a contemporary Franciscan friar,
is preserved in the British Museum ; and this, as rendered
by its editor, Sir Harris Nicolas (1828), says respecting
the fortress : — ' Caerlaverock was so strong a castle that
it did not fear a siege ; therefore, the king came himself,
because it would not consent to surrender. But it was
always furnished for its defence, whenever it was required,
with men, engines, and provisions. Its shape was like
that of a shield, for it had only three sides, all round, with
a tower on each angle ; but one of them was a double one,
so high, so long, and so large that under it was the gate,
with a drawbridge well made and strong, and a sufficiency
of other defences ; and it had good walls and good ditches
filled to the edge with water. ' The castle, towards the end
of August, was the scene of a notable interview between
Edward I. and Rt. Winchelsea, Archbishop of Canter-
bury ; and it remained some years in possession of the
English. It speedily reverted to the Scots, though in
what year or by what means is not known ; and, in
1312, it was held by Sir Eustace Maxwell, in support of
the cause of Bruce. Sir Eustace maintained it against
a second siege by the English, and successfully resisted
them, but afterwards saw cause to dismantle it ; and he
received from Robert Bruce a charter of compensation
' for demolishing the castle of Caerlaverock. ' The pile,
however, appears to have been soon and effectually re-
paired ; for, in 1347, after a shifting of the political
scenes, it was held by the son of Eustace Maxwell as
liegeman of Edward III. Sir Roger Kirkpatrick of
Closeburn, who remained faithful to the cause of Bruce
amidst the general defection of the nobles, re-took the
castle from the English in 1355, and he is usually said
to have then levelled it to the ground ; but he at least
retained as much of it as was suitable for habitation ; for
he lived in it for two years, and was assassinated in it
by Sir James Lindsay in 1357. The castle of his times,
and of previous times, is sometimes alleged to have
stood on other ground than the present pile, and at
some distance ; but it clearly has left both its general
outline and some of its courses of masonry in the present
pile. A new castle, on the old foundations, appears to
nave begun to be built near the end of the 14th century,
and is presumed to have been completed about the year
1420 ; and that new edifice, with the exception of ex-
tensive dilapidation, continues to stand till the present
day. Murdoch, Duke of Albany, was confined in it on
a charge of high treason in 1425 ; and the round tower
at its western angle is still called Murdoch's Tower.
Several of the Lords Maxwell, its proprietors, in the
latter half of the 15th century and the former half of
the 16th, made it a base of warlike operations against
the North of England. James V., at the time of the
rout of the Scots at Solway Moss in 1542, was residing
in the castle, which, delivered over by Lord .Max-
well to Henry VIII. in Oct. 1545, was by him
retained till the following May. The English,
under the Earl of Sussex, again besieged and took it
in 1570 ; and they partially destroyed it in 1572.
Robert, first Earl of Nithsdale, repaired it in 1638,
and probably then added to it its most modern
existing portions. The Covenanters, under Lieut. -
Colonel Home, besieged it in 1640 ; and, after a siege
of fully 13 weeks, obtained possession. The castle, from
that time, ceased to be an object of contest, or even a
place of habitation. The Maxwells, its proprietors,
transferred their residence to a small square tower on
the margin of the Lochar, near the parish church.
Robert, the second Earl of Nithsdale, commonly called
the Philosopher, died in that tower in 1667. William,
the fifth Earl, suffered attainder for participation in the
rebellion of 1715, but escaped forfeiture of his estates by
his having disponed them to his son in 1712 ; and they
210
CAIRN
afterwards passed, through failure of direct male repre-
sentatives, to the Maxwells of Terregles. The title of
Baron Herries had been held by these Maxwells from
1489, but was attainted in 1716, and it was revived in
favour of William Constable Maxwell by Act of Par-
liament in 1848, and by adjudication of the House of
Lords in 1858. The courts of Caerlaverock then rang
with festivity and rejoicing, at a great gathering of the
tenants of the estate. The pile, though long a ruin,
still wears a noble and imposing aspect. Presenting a
grand entrance gateway, flanked by massive round towers,
and surmounted by the Maxwells' motto, ' I bid ye
fair,' it diverges from those front flanking towers right
and left, and is closed in the rear by an elevation connect-
ing the ends of the diverging elevations, so as to have a
triangular outline enclosing a triangular court, which,
measuring 123 feet along each of the divergent sides, is
three lofty stories high. It exhibits on the E side, which
was the family residence, finely sculptured doors and
windows ; it shows there decorative features of the best
periods of ancient Scottish domestic art, similar to
those in Linlithgow Palace ; it had machicolated gates,
successive portcullises, and two deep wide fosses ; it
retains, in a ruinous condition, many of the features,
both exterior and interior, which characterised it as a
fortress ; and, studied as a whole, either in itself or in
connection with its surroundings, it has very high at-
tractions for both the artist and the antiquary. See
William Fraser's Book of Caerlaverock : Memoirs of the
Maxwells, Earls of Nithsdale, Lords Maxwell and Her-
ries {2 vote., Edinb. 1873).
Caerwinning, a hill in Dairy parish, Ayrshire. It
rises to an altitude of 634 feet above sea-level, shows
vestiges of ancient fortification, and is believed to have
been occupied by the Scottish army immediately before
the battle of Largs.
Cailam or Chaluira, a loch of NW Caithness, on the
SE border of Reay parish, 9 miles SSE of Reay church.
Lying 435 feet above sea-level, it has an extreme length
and breadth of 5 and 4 furlongs, and communicates with
Cnocglass Water, and it abounds in trout.
Cailleach, a headland in Loehbroom parish, Ross-shire.
Cailliaeh. See Inch-Cailliaoh.
Cainail, a glen in Torosay parish, Mull island, Argyll-
shire. It runs parallel to Glenforsa ; measures about 3
miles in length ; and is flanked, on the NW side, by
Benmore. A considerable lake is in its lower part.
Caiplich, an upland moss on the mutual border of In-
verness, Kiltarlity, and Urquhart parishes, Invemess-
shire. It occupies a plateau nearly 10 miles long ; and
it contains many sepulchral cairns, supposed to indicate
the sites of early clan conflicts. A hamlet of its own
name is on the Kiltarlity part of it.
Cairn, a ridge of high hills on the mutual border of
Edinburgh and Peebles shires, extending from the Pent-
land range south-westward to the vicinity of Lanark-
shire. East Cairn and West Cairn are their highest
summits ; culminate respectively 6J and 7i miles SW
of Currie village ; and have altitudes of 1839 and 1844
feet above sea-level.
Cairn, a hamlet, with a small proprietary school in
Eirkconnel parish, Dumfriesshire.
Cairn, a small river of Dumfriesshire and Kirkcud-
brightshire. It is formed, in the parish of Glencairn,
by the confluence of the Castlefern, the Craigdarroch,
and the Dalwhat burns, a little below the village of
Moniaive ; it runs about 6 miles south-eastward through
the lower half of Glencairn parish ; it then goes If mile
southward along the boundary between Glencairn and
Dunscore ; it then receives, on its right bank, the tribu-
tary Glenessland Burn ; it then runs 1J mile, partly along
the boundary between Dunscore and Holywood and
partly across a narrow part of Holywood, to the boundary
between Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshire ; it then
runs nearly 2 miles east-south-eastward along that bound-
ary to a confluence with the Cluden, coming in from
Kirkcudbrightshire ; and it thenceforth, over a distance
of 6| miles eastward, to a confluence with the Nith, 1 J mile
N by W of Dumfries, bears the name of Cluden. Its