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Black-Castle,

OR

Cakemuir Castle.

BLACK-CASTLE, more generally known by the ancient name Cakemuir Castle, is situated in the county of MidLothian, about fourteen miles south-east of Edinburgh, and a mile west from the great London road.

This fortalice is placed in a picturesque situation; it stands on the edge of a steep bank, surrounded on two sides by a deep grassy glen, interspersed with trees, through which Cakemuir Water winds its gentle way.

This Castle is evidently of remote antiquity, although the date of its foundation is not known. Cakemuir formed part of the Lordship of Crichton, and was in the possession of the family of Wauchope during the reign of Mary, as vassals of the Earl of Bothwell.

The family of Wauchope exhibit a striking instance of the uncertainty of human life. Francis Wauchope of Cakemuir, advocate, who succeeded his father in 1690, married the Honourable Miss Bothwell, eldest daughter of Henry Lord Holyroodhouse, and by her had seven sons and five daughters, all of whom died without issue. Henry Wauchope of Cakemuir, the eldest son of this marriage, died in 1768. He was Member of Parliament for

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Bute and Caithness, and private secretary to Lord Bute during that nobleman's administration. Having already mentioned Lord Holyroodhouse, and as his ancestors were in some degree connected with the history of Queen Mary, the following account of that family may not be unacceptable.

Richard Bothwell was provost of Edinburgh in the reign of King James III. His son Francis was also provost of Edinburgh, and Lord of Session, in 1535. Richard his son was provost of Edinburgh in the reign of Queen Mary, while his brother Adam Bothwell was promoted to the See and Bishoprick of Orkney in 1562. He was appointed a Lord of Session in 1565, and commendator of Holyroodhouse in 1569. This individual performed the marriage ceremony betwixt Queen Mary and the Earl of Bothwell, according to the rites of the Protestant church, in the Palace of Holyroodhouse, on the 15th May 1567. This illustrious man left three sons, the eldest of whom, John Bothwell, a Lord of Session, accompanied King James VI. to England in 1603, and was created Lord Holyroodhouse in 1607. He held the barony of Broughton and Glencorse, near Edinburgh, and many other lands, which his descendants continued to enjoy for a considerable period.

Henry Lord Holyroodhouse, whose daughter was married to Wauchope of Cakemuir, died in the Canongate, Edinburgh, 10th February 1755. He married Mary, daughter of Lord Neil Campbell, son of the Marquis of Argyle, by Lady Vere Kerr, daughter of William Earl of Lothian, by whom he had five sons, who had no issue, and four daughters, of whom there were no male descendants, and the sirname of Bothwell, once so common, is now almost extinct.

The ancient part of Black-Castle consists of a square tower, four stories high, with bold projecting battlements surrounding the roof, terminated by sharp pointed gables, in which are two niches of hewn stone, supposed to have

been made for centinels. The extraordinary thick and massive walls, as well as the style of architecture, prove its remote antiquity. The building is still entire and inhabited. On the steep banks around the Castle, are some venerable trees of great dimensions, one of which, a beech tree, measures 17 feet in circumference, at 5 feet above the ground, and a plane tree near the same spot, measures 29 feet in circumference at the base.

The tradition of this tower having afforded refuge to Queen Mary, on her flight from Borthwick to Dunbar, is entitled to credit, and from this conviction, we have introduced it in the present work, as forming a peculiar feature in the history of that Queen.

Mary, as we have noticed in the foregoing description, disguised in male attire, booted and spurred, fled from Borthwick to Dunbar, and from what we can glean from ancient history, took her way by a precipitous and winding path, through a glen east of the present farm of Affleck-hill, and arrived at Black-Castle, which is about a Scotch mile from Borthwick, and where she was met by the retainers of Bothwell, probably headed by Wauchope his vassal. Here it is said she halted and exchanged her dress, and pursuing her way by Fala, and the north side of the Lammermoor hills, in order to avoid observation, she arrived in safety at Dunbar Castle. The following distinct account of Mary's flight is taken from Beton's letter to his brother, Archbishop of Glasgow, dated June 1567.

"Ye sall understand, quhow the said day my Lords Morton, Mar, Hume, Lindsay, &c. with sundrie oderis Baronis to the nommer of nine hundreth, or a thousand horsemen, aryvit in the morning about Borthwick, in deliberation to comprehend and tack my Lord Duke, quha was in said place with the Queens Majestie. My Lord Duke hiring of this enterpryze, thinking weil he suld be in mair securitie on the feild than in an houss, passit forth and red away.

"Her Majestie, in mennis claiths, butit and spurrit, departit that saming neight of Borthwick to Dunbar, quhair of na man knew saif my Lord Duke and sum of his servants, quha met her Majestie a myll of Borthwick, and convoyit her Hieness to Dunbar.”*

In the tower there is an apartment still called Queen Mary's room, which is said to have been occupied by her on this interesting occasion. The room is almost square, measuring 20 feet by 15, and about 9 feet in height, the walls are about 6 feet in thickness. The apartment is lighted by two small windows, one of which looks to the south, and the other to the east. Off this room is a small light closet taken out of the thickness of the wall, which is so ingeniously contrived as to be imperceptible from within and without, and must have anciently formed a place of concealment in the event of a surprise.

The Tower of Black-Castle remained in the Wauchope family till within the last fifty years, having held these domains upwards of 300 years. Black-Castle is now the property of Alexander Mackay, Esq.

Those who admire the scenes which have been consecrated by the presence of Mary Queen of Scots, will not deem their time mispent in visiting this sequestered refuge of royalty.

* Laing's Hist. of Scotland, vol. I p. 102.

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