June 04, 2010
Corse Castle
Filed under: TrespassingI seriously promise, for really reals, that this is the last entry of its kind (at least for awhile). I originally meant to do a second write-up of our (unplanned) Hieros Gamos day out using the pictures we took (of the souterrain, Cairngorms and Corse Castle), but we've been crazy busy so I've had to split the photos up by landmark and deal with them individually. This one, featuring the ruins of Corse Castle, is the last of the Hieros Gamos day out pictures.
Excerpt from Lost and Found: Ventured forth to find 2000 year old souterrain to see if suitable for magic sex. (Executing hieros gamos / sacred marriage Underground in ancient grain storage passage? A+ IDEA!) Accidentally mistook Torphins for Tarland; extra 15 minutes (approx.) added to journey. Road closed 6 miles from Tarland, not awesome. Ms. Graveyard Dirt? NOT amused.
"OH LOOK! A TANNERY! THEY SELL SHEEP SKINS, RUGS AND COATS! OH MY GOD!"
Bump down small country lane towards tannery. Stumble over ruined castle. Recognize walled up windows and doorway. "OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD THESE ARE THOSE RUINS I FOUND ON THAT ALFORD PHOTO ALBUM SITE!"
Preen after accidentally finding local site of personal interest. (Grudging feelings towards closed road lessened.) Decide against tannery visit, decide for finding alternative route to Tarland (and 2000 year old earthen passage). See familiar mound. (<- ANOTHER LOCAL SITE OF PERSONAL INTEREST.) See headstone way in distance. Can't believe luck; self-congratulatory preening overload.
Instead of rehashing hastily learned information I'm going to be even more fucking lazy - I'm simply going to copy and paste shit from various sources about this particular roadside ruin. When confronted with the prospect of narrowing photos down I gave up without even starting; too much concentration, too much effort. You'll see duplicates, but at least you won't see the blurred images that got tossed into the recycle bin.
Corse Castle is three miles NW of Lumphannan in Aberdeenshire. The castle is built on a slightly modified version of the Z plan, with a central block lying north and south, a square tower projecting to the south-east, and the remains of a round tower to the north-west. In addition there is a tall circular stair tower on the south side. The site was strengthened by the damming of the Corse Burn, to form a small lochan along the south side. Corse was formerly a handsome building, with angle-turrets on the main block and square tower, and the usual profusion of gunloops and shot-holes for deterring unwanted visitors. Little remains inside, except, let me assure you, stinging nettles! Corse is and always has been a Forbes house. The land was given to Patrick Forbes, son of the 1st Lord Forbes, by James III, whose armour bearer he was. A successor, another Patrick, whose former house had been plundered by Highland catarans, declared “If God spares my life, I shall build a house at which thieves will knock ere they enter”. Corse Castle was the result! The family produced a number of famous and successful men, and their descendant, Sir Andrew Forbes, lives in the mansion nearby.
SOURCE: RJM Paxman
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A good example of the compact 16th century, Scottish Z-plan tower house or small castle. These fairly small castles, quite common in Aberdeenshire, were the fortified homes of the minor aristocracy, regionally powerful landowner and successful merchant. As such they differ in function and design from the larger castles of the royal and political class, the need being for family comfort and security against a lawless country as opposed to the garrisoning and martialling of troops. Hence the single small entrance to the castle and absence of windows on the ground floor but provision of large, elegant windows to the 1st floor where the main hall was located. When the previous house was sacked by brigands in the early 16th century William Forbes of Corse vowed, "if God spares my life I shall build a house at which thieves shall knock ere they enter".
SOURCE:Alford Images
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Inscription above the door reads WF 1581 ES. WF was William Forbes who built the castle, and ES was Elizabeth Strachan his wife, daughter of Strachan of Thornton (note that this is incorrectly recorded as SS not ES on the CANMORE website). One of their sons, William, later purchased Craigievar Castle in 1610 and on account of his success as a merchant trader became known as "Danzig Willie". Notice the spyholes to the immediate left, and to the left above the doorway on the first floor.
SOURCE: Alford Images
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Corse Castle, now a roofless ruin, was built by William Forbes in 1581. Its general form is L-shaped, and the two long faces each measure 36ft. In the middle of the southern face of this L-block is attached a round stair tower and, with another round tower on the NW corner the castle forms an unusual combination of L and Z plans.
SOURCE: Scotland's Places
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