Tour
historic Doune
 The
little burgh of Doune in Stirlingshire is a proud place,
and worthy of its pride. It is the capital of Menteith,
more properly Monteith, the mounth of the River Teith,
which was once one of the great earldoms and divisions of
ancient Scotland. Near by stands one of the finest castles
in this, or any other, land. Doune had, inevitably, a stirring
history. And it is an attractive place, attractively sited,
old fashioned and authentic.
The town stands where the Ardoch Burn comes down from
the northern heights to join the Teith, 4 miles west of
Dunblane and 8 miles south-east of Callander, where the
A.84 and A.820 roads also join; and behind it, the Bracs
of Doune--not to be confused with the "banks and braes
of bonnie Doon", in Ayrshire--rise in great folds to the
high heather hills of the Ben Vorlich and Forest of Glenartney
range. The Teith, rushing down from its double sources
in the Trossachs and Lubnaig areas, has formed here a
great and wooded valley through the foothills, so that
Doune is a comparatively hilly place. The main street
is picturesque at both ends, with in the center, the great,
gaunt parish church of 1822, with its 1150 sittings, tall
tower and graveyard. At the west end, is the little
triangular market place, with its typical old Mercat Cross
in the center, relic of the days when cattle and sheep
fairs, authorized by special Act of Parliament in 1665,
made Doune a busy place. To the south from here, the main
road crosses the Teith by a fine two-arched bridge, later
widened, but first built in 1535 by Robert Spittal, the
Stirling tailor of James IV's widow, Margaret Tudor--the
same who founded Spittal's Hospital, Stirling, and built
also the bridge at Bannockburn. He was a great public
benefactor--but the story of this bridge shows a less
noble side of the man; for it is said that he erected
it to spite the ferry-man here, who had refused the wealthy
tailor passage because he had no money about his person
at the time. It was built, therefore, to do the other
out of a living--though no doubt to the great advantage
of the good folk of Doune.
The town used to be greatly famed for the manufacture
of Highland pistols by its craftsmen--and indeed the burgh
sign still shows two pairs of crossed pistols on either
side of the Mercat Cross. Nowadays Doune pistols are almost
worth their weight in gold. Sporrans also were made here.
But when, after the Forty-Five, the Proscription Acts
from London banned the wearing of Highland dress, and
pacification was the order of the day, a different kind
of manufacture came to replace these--cotton-milling and
distilling.
At one time there were no fewer than five churches in
the little town--the Parish, the Free, the United Presbyterian,
the Roman Catholic and the Episcopalian--something of
a plethora, surely, for a population which could not even
fill the first.
Doune Castle is not readily glimpsed from the town itself,
strangely enough lying in a low but strong position at
the junction of Ardoch and Teith. It is a large and magnificent
courtyard-type castle of the 14th and early 15th
centuries, and its splendors and exciting history may
only be hinted at here. It consists of two great and tall
keeps,, linked by a lower range of building containing
a notable Great Hall with center-of-the-floor fireplace,
to form the north side of a quadrangular court, the other
three sides being enclosed by a tremendous 4o-feet-high
curtain-wall, 8 feet thick and topped by a parapet and
wall-walk. Of the two keeps, the older and higher is to
the north-east, with the doorway pend driving through.
Although undoubtedly there was an older nucleus, most
of the present castle was built by Robert, Duke of Albany,
brother of Robert III, who had married the heiress Countess
of Menteith, and by his son, Murdoch, 2nd Duke, both Regents
of Scotland during young James I's enforced exile in England--for
which exile, in due course, the said James had off Duke
Murdoch's head. The original principal messuage-place
of this ancient Celtic earldom was the castle on the island
of Inch Talla, in the Lake of Menteith; but this proving
an inconvenient place when times grew a little more settled,
it was moved to Doune--which really should be called the
Doune, or Dun of Monteith. After the execution of Murdoch
Stewart and his sons, the castle and earldom was merged
with the Crown, until James IV settled it on his English
queen, Margaret Tudor--who, in 1525 passed it to her third
husband, Henry Stewart, Lord Methven, actually a descendant
of Albany. James V granted it to another of the same Stewart
line, who became Lord Doune and whose grandson married
the Regent Moray's daughter, to become himself the famed
Bonnie Earl of Moray of the ballad. Their descendant is
still the owner; and though the castle fell into partial
ruin, the then Earl of Moray restored it in 1883. It is,
naturally, a magnet for visitors, and is open from 9 to
6 daily, or dusk if earlier. Here stayed Mary Queen of
Scots, and many another royal figure. Rob Roy's nephew,
Gregor MacGregor of Glengyle, garrisoned it for Prince
Charles Edward in 1745--during which siege one of the
prisoners was the young Reverend John Home, of Athelstaneford,
captured while fighting for the government at the Battle
of Falkirk. He managed to lower himself from a window
by a blanket-rope and made his escape. An exciting episode
for a clergyman, a poet and the author of the Douglas
tragedy--for which last flirtation with the theatrical
he aroused the wrath of the Presbytery of Edinburgh and
had to vacate his pulpit.
Not far to the east of Doune Castle, on higher ground,
is the most attractive late 6th century lesser laird's
house of Newton Doune, a small L-planned fortalice, harled
and pink-washed, unusual in that its wing has a rounded
not a square gable. It was the residence of a branch of
the Edmonstone of Duntreath family, who became hereditary
captains of the great castle close by, for the Earls of
Moray. Like their masters, they remained loyal to the
royal house of Stewart, and in 1708 the Edmonstone Laird
of Newton was one of the five Perthshire lairds arrested
in an abortive Jacobite attempt. It is interesting to
note that, in September 1745, Prince Charlie 'pree'd the
mou'--kissed the mouth--of Miss Robina Edmonstone, at
Doune Lodge, near by--although this house was then called
Cambuswallace. It is a handsome white mansion, standing
pleasingly on a green terrace above parkland, just over
a mile west of the town, and is now the seat of the Earl
of Moray's heir, Lord Doune.
My Personalized Small Group Tours of my homeland are paced
for discovery and understanding - not just notching sites.
You will see behind the tourist facade visiting with "
locals " and see sites not normally seen by the regular
tourist. You will not have to move your base each and
every day, for each Hotel will be chosen to minimize the
number of times you have to pack and unpack. Scotland,
being a small country, it is perfectly possible to visit
most everywhere on the mainland from a couple of base
locations. This makes for a much more relaxing experience
and also allows you to get to know local people. I do
not put 52 people on a huge coach with an endurance test
for an itinerary. In fact, each small group travel party
will be limited to an absolute maximum of 18 people.
The most common small-group size has been between 8 and
12 people.
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