Editing Castles in Scotland (section)

==Middle Ages==
[[File:The Bass of Inverurie. - geograph.org.uk - 117762.jpg|thumb|The [[Bass of Inverurie]] in Scotland, a large [[motte and bailey]] castle built in the mid-twelfth century]]
Castles, in the sense of a fortified residence of a lord or noble, arrived in Scotland as a consequence of the centralising of royal authority in the twelfth century.<ref name=Simpson&Webster2003p225>G. G. Simpson and B. Webster, "Charter Evidence and the Distribution of Mottes in Scotland", in R. Liddiard, ed., ''Anglo-Norman Castles'' (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 2003), {{ISBN|978-0-85115-904-1}}, p. 225.</ref> Prior to the 1120s there is very little evidence of castles having existed in Scotland, which had remained less politically centralised than in England with the north still ruled by the [[List of Norwegian monarchs|kings of Norway]].<ref name=Tabraham2005p11>C. J. Tabraham, ''Scotland's Castles'' (London: Batsford, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-7134-8943-9}}, p. 11.</ref> [[David I of Scotland]] (r. 1124–53) spent time at the court of [[Henry I of England]], becoming [[Earl of Huntingdon]], and returned to Scotland with the intention of extending royal power across the country and modernising Scotland's military technology, including the introduction of castles.<ref>D. Carpenter, ''The Struggle for Mastery: The Penguin History of Britain 1066–1284'' (London: Penguin, 2004), {{ISBN|978-0-14-014824-4}}, p. 182.</ref> The Scottish king encouraged Norman and French nobles to settle in Scotland, introducing a feudal mode of landholding and the use of castles as a way of controlling the contested [[Scottish Lowlands]].<ref name=Simpson&Webster2003p225/><ref name=Tabraham2005p11/> Historian Lise Hull has suggested that the creation of castles in Scotland was "less to do with conquest" and more to do with "establishing a governing system".<ref name=Hull2006pxxiv>L. Hull, ''Britain's Medieval Castles'' (London: Greenwood, 2006), {{ISBN|0-275-98414-1}}, p. xxiv.</ref>

These were primarily wooden [[motte-and-bailey]] constructions, of a raised mount or motte, surmounted by a wooden tower and a larger adjacent enclosure or bailey, both usually surrounded by a fosse (a ditch) and palisade, and connected by a wooden bridge.<ref name="West1985p21">T. W. West, ''Discovering Scottish Architecture'' (Botley: Osprey, 1985), {{ISBN|0-85263-748-9}}, p. 21.</ref> They varied in size from the very large, such as the [[Bass of Inverurie]], to more modest designs like [[Balmaclellan]].<ref>C. J. Tabraham, ''Scotland's Castles'' (London: Batsford, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-7134-8943-9}}, p. 16.</ref> In England many of these constructions were converted into stone "[[keep|keep-and-bailey]]" castles in the twelfth century, but in Scotland most of those that were in continued occupation became stone castles of "[[enceinte]]" from the thirteenth century, with a high [[battlements|embattled]] curtain wall.<ref name="West1985p26">T. W. West, ''Discovering Scottish Architecture'' (Botley: Osprey, 1985), {{ISBN|0-85263-748-9}}, p. 26.</ref> The need for thick and high walls for defence forced the use of economic building methods, often continuing the Scottish tradition of dry-stone rubble building, which were then covered with a lime render, or [[harl]]ed for weatherproofing and a uniform appearance.<ref>I. Maxwell, ''A History of Scotland's Masonry Construction'' in P. Wilson, ed., ''Building with Scottish Stone'' (Edinburgh: Arcamedia, 2005), {{ISBN|1-904320-02-3}}, p. 24.</ref> In addition to the baronial castles there were royal castles, often larger and providing defence, lodging for the itinerant Scottish court and a local administrative center. By 1200 these included fortifications at [[Ayr Castle|Ayr]] and [[Berwick Castle|Berwick]].<ref>C. J. Tabraham, ''Scotland's Castles'' (London: Batsford, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-7134-8943-9}}, p. 12.</ref> In Scotland [[Alexander II of Scotland|Alexander II]] (r. 1198–1249) and [[Alexander III of Scotland|Alexander III]] (1241–86) undertook a number of castle building projects in the modern style. Alexander III's early death sparked conflict in Scotland and English intervention under [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] in 1296. The resulting [[Scottish Wars of Independence|Wars of Independence]] brought this phase of castle building to an end and began a new phase of siege warfare.<ref name=Reid2006p12/><ref name=Stell2000p278/>

[[File:Dunstaffnage Castle 20080428.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dunstaffnage Castle]], one of the oldest surviving "castles of enceinte", mostly dating from the thirteenth century]]
The first recorded siege in Scotland was the 1230 siege of [[Rothesay Castle]] where the besieging Norwegians were able to break down the relatively weak stone walls with axes after only three days.<ref name=Stell2000p278/> When Edward I invaded Scotland he brought with him the siege capabilities that had evolved south of the border, resulting in the rapid fall of major castles. [[Edinburgh Castle]] fell within three days, and [[Roxburgh Castle|Roxburgh]], [[Jedburgh Castle|Jedburgh]], [[Dunbar Castle|Dunbar]], [[Stirling Castle|Stirling]], [[Lanark]] and [[Dumbarton Castle|Dumbarton]] castles all surrendered to the English king.<ref name=Tabraham2005p56>C. J. Tabraham, ''Scotland's Castles'' (London: Batsford, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-7134-8943-9}}, p. 56.</ref> Subsequent English sieges, such as the attacks on [[Bothwell Castle|Bothwell]] and Stirling, again used considerable resources including giant siege engines and extensive teams of miners and masons.<ref name=Tabraham2005pp58-9>C. J. Tabraham, ''Scotland's Castles'' (London: Batsford, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-7134-8943-9}}, pp. 58–9.</ref> As a result, [[Robert the Bruce]] (r. 1306–29) adopted a policy of castle destruction (known as [[slighting]]), rather than allow fortresses to be easily retaken and then held by the English, beginning with his own castles at Ayr and [[Dumfries]],<ref>J. S. Hamilton, ''The Plantagenets: History of a Dynasty'' (London: Continuum, 2010), {{ISBN|1-4411-5712-3}}, p. 116.</ref><ref>D. Cornell, "A Kingdom Cleared of Castles: the Role of the Castle in the Campaigns of Robert Bruce", ''The Scottish Historical Review'' 87 (224), pp.&nbsp;233–257 (2008) {{JSTOR|23074055}} {{doi|10.3366/E0036924108000140}}</ref> and including Roxburgh and Edinburgh.<ref>D. Cornell, ''Bannockburn: the Triumph of Robert the Bruce'' (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2009), {{ISBN|0-300-14568-3}}, p. 124.</ref> After the Wars of Independence, new castles began to be built, often on a grander scale as "[[livery and maintenance]]" castles, to house retained troops, like [[Tantallon Castle|Tantallon]], Lothian and [[Doune Castle|Doune]] near Stirling, rebuilt for [[Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany]] in the fourteenth century.<ref name="West1985p26"/>

Early gunpowder weapons were introduced to Scotland by the 1330s.<ref name=Tabraham2005p76>C. J. Tabraham, ''Scotland's Castles'' (London: Batsford, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-7134-8943-9}}, p. 76.</ref> The new technology began to be installed in Scottish castles by the 1380s, beginning with Edinburgh.<ref name=Tabraham2005p148>C. J. Tabraham, ''Scotland's Castles'' (London: Batsford, 2005), {{ISBN|978-0-7134-8943-9}}, p. 148.</ref> In the fifteenth century, [[gunpowder]] weaponry fundamentally altered the nature of castle architecture. Existing castles were adapted to allow the use of the new weapons by the incorporation of "keyhole" gun ports, platforms to mount guns and walls that were adapted to resist bombardment. [[Ravenscraig Castle|Ravenscraig]], Kirkcaldy, begun about 1460, is probably the first castle in the British Isles to be built as an [[artillery]] fort, incorporating "D-shape" bastions that would better resist cannon fire and on which artillery could be mounted.<ref name=West1985p27>T. W. West, ''Discovering Scottish Architecture'' (Botley: Osprey, 1985), {{ISBN|0-85263-748-9}}, p. 27.</ref> It also used "letter box" gun-ports,<ref>P. Harrington, ''English Civil War Fortifications 1642–51'' (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2003), {{ISBN|978-1-84176-604-1}}, p. 9.</ref> common in mainland Europe, although rarer in England, they rapidly spread across the kingdom. Scotland also led the way in adopting the new [[caponier]] design for castle ditches, as constructed at [[Craignethan Castle]].<ref>D. J. C. King, ''The Castle in England and Wales: An Interpretative History'' (London: Routledge, 1991), {{ISBN|0-415-00350-4}}, p. 172.</ref>