1346 William Douglas returned
from France to Scotland to claim his inheritance after the battle of Neville’s
Cross.
1353 By murdering his godfather
William ‘Knight of Liddesdale’ in the Ettrick Forest, William became the
undisputed head of the House of Douglas.
1357 William Douglas married
Margaret, sister of Thomas, Earl of Mar. They had a son, James. Later, William
took the widow of his brother-in-law, Margaret, Countess of Angus and Mar, as
his
mistress. They too had a son, George.
1358 William is created the first
Earl of Douglas. The building of Tantallon Castle during this time was probably
the result of this newly aquired wealth and status.
1384 William, Earl of Douglas,
died.
1388 His heir James dies at the
Battle of Otterburn.
1389 Margaret, Countess of Angus,
resigned her Earldom in favour of her son George. Thus George became the first
Douglas Earl of Angus and Mar and lord of Tantallon Castle. In a way the Battle
of
Otterburn lead to the division into
the two Houses of Douglas. The head to the main line was Archibald, illegimate
son of James. This line became known as the ‘Black Douglases’, the Douglasses
of Angus became the ‘Red Douglasses’.
Now we skip some Scottish rulers. I don’t want to
bore you.
ca. 1400 The main ditch of
Tantallon Castle is widened and a barbican gets built directly in front of the
Mid Tower.
1491 Tantallon Castle is besieged
by King James IV.
1528 The castle is besieged and
taken by James V. To repair the devastations by this siege, a new Fore Tower is
built up to the battlements. The East Tower is altered. Originally it consisted
of five
floors. Now the bottom three floors
are reduced to two by inserting stone vaults. Thus the resistance against
artillery bombardment was improved. To better attack the opponents, wide-mouthed
gunholes were punched through the
landward walls of the tower. The crenellated parapets on the main curtain wall
were added after this year, too.
1544 English forces occupy the
castle.
1651 Tantallon Castle is besieged
and taken by Cromwell’s army.
This information was taken from: Tabraham, Chris
and Doreen Grove: Tantallon Castle, Scotland 1994
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Happy waymarking
Ras Tafari