Publication Account
Date 1951
Event ID 1097509
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1097509
1. Edinburgh Castle.
The Castle Rock is a compact oval-shaped mass of basalt with a marked columnar structure rising to a maximum height of 437 ft. above sea-level. Its sides are precipitous except on the E., where glacial action has formed a slope of gentle gradient by moulding into "tail" formation the sedimentary rocks lying behind the basalt crag. The rock must have been marked down from prehistoric times as a secure and convenient place for habitation, but continual occupation has obliterated all traces of structures older than the eleventh century. In old Welsh literature, however, the place appears in the Brythonic form of Dineidin*in the Gododdin of Aneurin (late sixth century). In the same poem there appears to be another reference to the Hill of Eidin (eidinfre) which may be the same as the minit eidin (Mountain of Eidin) in an early text in the Black Book of Carmarthen, and refer to the Castle Rock (1). Later it appears in versions of the Gaelic form of Dun-eideann (Dunedin) and in mediaeval legend becomes the abode of Leudonus, traditionally the eponymous hero of Lothian and grandfather of Saint Kentigern. In the various mediaeval Lives of Saint Monenna, an Irish saint traditionally assigned to the early sixth century; she’s said to have founded a church at Dunedene, quae Anglica lingua dicta Edenburg, or in another recension, apud Edenburgh in montis cacumine in honore Sancti Michaelis, which may refer to an early tradition of a chapel on the Castle Rock (2). Symeon of Durham, writing in the 12th century an account of earlier events, mentions "Edwinesburch" as pertaining to Lindisfarne about 854 (3); and with this Northumbrian connection may be contrasted the abandonment of "oppidum Eden" by the Angles about 960, when the stronghold was left to fall into the hands of lndulf, King of Alban (4). At the end of the following century Edinburgh makes a more dramatic appearance in history. In the winter of 1093, when Malcolm Canmore was invading England for the fifth and last time, his queen, later known as St. Margaret of Scotland-, lay dying "in Castro Puellarum."* According to the Life ascribed to Turgot, a contemporary, she made her last confession on November 16 and went into the church to hear Mass. When she came back to her chamber, she was met by her second son Edgar, returned from the war with the tidings that his father had been killed three days before at Alnwick, where moreover his brother Edward had been so grievously wounded that he had died that morning at Jedburgh. The queen, already at the point of death, expired almost immediately, and while her son was still mourning at her bier, his uncle, Donald Bane, laid siege to the Castle in an attempt to secure the throne. This is the first of its many sieges that are on record. Donald, however, neglected to invest the entire rock, guarding only the front gate in the belief that there was no other exit. When the defenders became aware of his oversight, a party sallied forth by a postern door(posticum) on the W. side, bearing with them the queen's body which they deposited in the Church of the Holy Trinity at Dunfermline (5). Little is known of the Castle during the reigns of Donald Bane and Duncan II, but it must have been at least an occasional residence of the Crown at this period as it was the scene of Edgar's death in January, 1106-7. It reappears in history after the accession of David I, youngest son of Malcolm Canmore and Margaret. That king, in his charter to the canons of Holyrood, which was written about 1143 and consequently some years after the Abbey Church had been consecrated and the canons installed,*** confirms his grant to them of the Castle Church with its fruits and of St. Cuthbert's Church with its pertinents, including ground below the fortress extending from the spring at the corner of the royal garden to a crag on the E. side-a strip, that is to say, bordering the Rock on the N., W., and S.W. In 1174 the Castle of Edinburgh, like those of Jedburgh, Berwick, Roxburgh and Stirling, was handed over to Henry II of England as security for the ransom exacted for William the Lion, then prisoner at Falaise, and was only restored on King William's marriage to Ermengarde de Bellomonte (Beaumont) in u86. It is also on record that Alan, son of Ruhald, strengthened its defences in 1175 (6). After the insurrection in Galloway in 1235, Thomas, the bastard son of Allan, Lord of Galloway, was imprisoned for a time " in Castro Puellarum." In the spring of 1296 the place was successfully attacked by Edward I, who used engines and for three days and nights hurled stones without ceasing through the roofs of the buildings standing inside the walls (7). Among the booty that he carried off to England after this campaign were the Stone of Destiny or Coronation Stone,**** the muniments, and the jewels that had been safeguarded in the Castle (8). In April of the following year, when most of the strongholds in the kingdom had been recovered by the Scots, Edinburgh Castle was still in English hands. In the year 1299-1300 the garrison numbered 347, with 156 horses, but two years later it had been reduced to 81 men (9). On March 14th, 1312-3, when held by Peres Lebaud, a Gascon knight who was at that time Sheriff of Edinburgh, the fortress was recaptured by the Scots under Sir Thomas Ranulph, Earl of Moray. While a feint was made "ad portam australem " - literally the south gate, but in fact probably one of two facing east - a party of thirty led by William Francis ascended the cliff on the north side (10) §. Placing scaling-ladders against the twelve-foot wall, they mounted, rushed the defenders from the rear, gained the gates and admitted their comrades. The whole place was then captured by the combined forces, and the English put to the sword. In pursuance of King Robert's settled policy the buildings were subsequently razed to the ground. For the next twenty years the Castle lay dismantled, but at the beginning of August, 1335, Guy, Count of Namur, who was in the English service, having been defeated on the Burgh Muir, near Edinburgh, by Ranulph, third Earl of Moray, and Patrick, Earl of Dunbar and March, stood at bay on the Rock for a night and a day and then surrendered on terms, while his English comrades were held to ransom. From 1335 to 1341, however, the place was in English hands. Its condition at this time may be judged from an indenture, dated 2nd November, 1335, between an outgoing and an incoming Warden, which records that “there is no dwelling (habitacoun) within said castle, save a chapel a little unroofed (a poy descouerte), a little 'pentice' (lean-to) above the chapel, and a new stable quite unroofed, except about a quarter." (11) In fact “it would seem that the site was actually let for grazing, since we find that 'the Mote of the Castle of Edinburgh' (Mota castri de Edenburghe)-apparently the hill as a whole-was supposed to yield a revenue to the sheriff” (12).
[see RCAHMS 1951 1-25 for a full history and architectural description]
RCAHMS 1951
(1) Williams, Canu Aneirin; Antiquity, xiii, pp. 25ff.; ibid., xvi, pp. 237 ff. (2) Skene, Celtic Scotland, ii, p. 37. (3) Ibid., i, p. 240 n. (4) Skene, op. cit., i, p.365. (5) Inventory of Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan, No. 197. (6) Calendar, i, No. 141. (7) Chronicon de Lanercost, Maitland Club, p. 178. (8) Calendar, iv. p. 487, and ii, Nos. 526, 528, 638 and 840. (9) Ibid., Nos. 1132 and 1324. (10) Chronicon de Lanercost. Maitland Club, p. 223. (11) Calendar, iii, No. 1186. (12) Mackenzie, The Medieval Castle in Scotland, p. 61.
*The meaning of the second element in this name was regarded by Professor Watson as quite obscure (History of the Celtic Place Names of Scotland, p. 341). He rejected as etymologically impossible the popular derivation from the name of Eadwine, King of Northumbria, which is implied by such forms as Edwinesburch (Symeon Dunelmensis, Histona Regum, etc., Surtees Society, i, p. 68), Edwinesburg (Lib. Cart. St. Crucis, p. 5), or Dinas Etwin (Ar chiv fur celtische Lexicographie, ii, p. 168), and saw the genuine anglicised form of the Celtic name in St. Monenna's Dunedene (supra) and in other approximations to the modern" Edinburgh " which occur in 12th century charters (e.g. Registrum de Dunfermelyn, pp. 12, 13).
**On this name, see RCAHMS 1951 p. xxxv
***According to Father Hay, who is the sole authority for the statement, the canons lodged in the Castle until their home was ready.
****Described in the contemporary inventory to which reference is here made as ‘Una petra magna super quam reges Scociae solebant coronari’.
§ There is some discussion as to the point where the escalade took place. The available evidence is summed up in P.S.A.S., xlvii (1912-3), pp. 423-6...
