Scanned image of a drawing of a landscape, entitled: 'Bucholie Castle'; from David Nicolson's sketchbook. Brother of John Nicolson.

Description Scanned image of a drawing of a landscape, entitled: 'Bucholie Castle'; from David Nicolson's sketchbook. Brother of John Nicolson.

Date 27/8/1859

Collection Papers of John Nicolson, antiquarian, Keiss, Caithness, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 880437

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of E 49424 CN

Scope and Content Watercolour of Bucholie Castle, Caithness, Highland Bucholie Castle sits on a steep cliff on the north-east coast of Caithness. The ruined castle stands on an inaccessible and dangerous peninsula 30m above the sea, joined to the mainland by a neck of land only 2m wide. The site would originally have been entered across a drawbridge, which crossed a ditch. The doorway to the keep lies directly opposite where the drawbridge would have stood. A passage passes through the building to the rear where a narrow courtyard turns sharply to the right providing access to a row of outbuildings and quarters. The castle is said to have been built during the 12th century by Sweyn, a Norse pirate. Hence, the site is often referred to by the Norse name Lambaborg. However, the present visible structures were built by the Mowat family, who were granted a charter of the lands of Freswick by Robert the Bruce, and had settled there by the 14th century. It was the Mowats who brought the name Bucholie with them from their castle and estate of the same name in Aberdeenshire. It remained their principal seat in the north until it was sold to the Sinclairs of Freswick in the 17th century. This drawing, dated August 27th 1859, is by David Nicolson, John Nicolson's (1843-1934) brother who emigrated to Canada. It is one of a number from a small sketch book found amongst a collection of drawings by John Nicolson. John Nicolson was born in Stemster, John O' Groats, and lived most of his life at Nybster. He was a skilled sculptor and artist with a keen interest in the archaeology and history of the area and undertook many excavations. The majority of Nicolson's surviving drawings are of archaeological sites and monuments under excavation or of the artefacts recovered. This is one of only a few drawings of an upstanding building in its landscape setting. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap