Interior, principal floor, front hall, view of doorway. Drumlanrig Castle.

Description Interior, principal floor, front hall, view of doorway. Drumlanrig Castle.

Date 16/11/1998

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 764674

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 41619 CN

Scope and Content Main Entrance, Front Hall, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway This entrance, through a sturdy oak studded door reinforced by a massive iron yett, is the main entrance to the castle. The yett, a hinged open-work gate constructed of iron bars, was a defensive device possibly in use in the earlier castle on the site although it is more likely to date from the late 17th century. The entrance opens into the front hall which runs the length of the north wing of the house. The walls are hung with 17th-century gilded leather stamped with the Douglas emblem, a winged heart surmounted by a crown, an emblem which reappears in the modern carpet, made in Ayrshire in 1985. The portraits on either side of the door are (left) Charles, 3rd Duke of Queensberry by the 18th-century artist, Thomas Hudson, and (right) James, Duke of Monmouth. Charles, 3rd Duke of Queensberry, grandson of the 1st Duke who built the house, was born in Edinburgh in 1698, and succeeded to the title in 1711. He became Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King George I in 1720, and also to Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1758. In 1720 he married Lady Katherine Hyde, patroness of the English poet, John Gay, and sponsor of his 'Beggar's Opera'. Charles resided mostly in London, but concerned himself with the management and improvement of the Drumlanrig estate. Under his gardener, David Low, he continued the landscaping of the gardens initiated by his father, James Douglas, the 2nd ('Union') Duke. Both of his sons predeceased him so that, on his death, in 1778, the title passed to his cousin, William, Earl of March, the notorious 'Old Q' who led a dissolute life in London at the expense of his Scottish estate. Drumlanrig Castle, one of the great Renaissance courtyard houses of Scottish domestic architecture, was built between 1679 and 1690 for William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry, on the site of a late 14th-century Douglas stronghold. The castle passed to the Dukes of Buccleuch in 1810, and is now the home of the 9th Duke (11th Duke of Queensberry). It houses many great family treasures and important works of art, including magnificent carvings and a fine collection of paintings. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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