Kildrummy Castle in N.E.Scotland, a fortress connected with Wars of Independence and Jacobites


This evening I am posting information on Kildrummy Castle, an extensive ruin which is located about 35 miles N.W. of Aberdeen, between the rivers Don and Dee, in N.E. Scotland.

Summary information as follows:
  • Ancient seat oi the earls of Mar which commands strategic routes from the south into Moray and Buchan.
  • Visited by Edward I of England in 1296 and 1303 in context of his military endeavours to dominate Scotland in what were known as the Wars of Independence.
  • In 1306 King Robert the Bruce (Scotland) placed the castle under the care of his brother, Neil Bruce.
  • In the summer of 1306 the English attacked  with the garrison forced to surrender following an arson attack by a traitor within the castle. Neil Bruce was later executed at Berwick.
  • Edward lingered at the castle undertaking repairs to the damaged gatehouse.
  • In 1335, during the Second War of Independence, a disaffected group of Scottish nobles joined forces with Edward III who attacked the castle with an army led by David de Strathbogie, the earl of Atholl.However, the occupants, under Lady Christian Bruce, successfully resisted the attack.
  • David de Strathbogie subsequently suffered a defeat by the Scots at the Battle of Culblean on Nov 30th 1335. The Scots were led by Sir Andrew Murray, husband of Lady Christian Bruce.
  • In 1626 the Erskine earls of Mar won control of the castle. This family were loyal to the catholic leaning James II/VII following his exile in 1688 and hence known as Jacobites.
  • In 1715 John Erskine joined a rising in support of James VII's son, James Francis Edward Stuart (the 'Old pretender') but the rising failed after which Erskine went into exile and the castle ceased to be a noble's residence.

Visitors should note that close to the castle site stands the Kildrummy Castle Hotel, a fomer private mansion dating from 1900. This location is a good base for touring the many castles and distilleries in Scotland's Grampian region.

The castle is open to visitors from April 1st. to Sept 30th.



The name Kildrummy is a corruption of Kindrummie which means 'at the ridge end' . In this context 'ridge' means a hill type feature on the landscape.


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