| Glamis Castle | |
|---|---|
| NearGlamis,Angus, Scotland, United Kingdom | |
 Glamis Castle | |
| Site information | |
| Open to the public | Yes |
| Condition | Preserved |
| Location | |
  Glamis Castle Location within Angus | |
| Coordinates | 56°37′13″N3°00′09″W / 56.6203°N 3.0024°W /56.6203; -3.0024 |
| Site history | |
| Materials | Stone |
Glamis Castle is situated beside the village ofGlamis (/ˈɡlɑːmz/,glahmz) inAngus, Scotland. It is the home of theEarl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and is open to the public.
Glamis Castle has been the home of theLyon family since the 14th century, though the present building dates largely from the 17th century. Glamis Castle was the childhood home of the lateQueen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. Her second daughter,Princess Margaret was born there on 21 August 1930.
The castle is protected as acategory A listed building,[1] and the grounds are included on theInventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.[2]
Glamis is set in the broad and fertile lowland valley ofStrathmore, inForfar,county town of Angus, which lies between theSidlaw Hills to the south and theGrampian Mountains to the north, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) inland from theNorth Sea. The estate surrounding the castle covers more than 57 square kilometres (14,000 acres) and, in addition to parks and gardens, produces several cash crops including lumber and beef. There are two streams running through the estate, one of them the Glamis Burn. Anarboretum overlooking Glamis Burn features trees from all over the world, many of them rare and several hundred years old.
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The vicinity of Glamis Castle has prehistoric traces; for example, a noted intricately carvedPictish stone known as theEassie Stone was found in a creek-bed at the nearby village ofEassie.[3]
In 1034,Malcolm II was murdered at Glamis,[4] where there was a Royal Hunting Lodge.[2] InWilliam Shakespeare's playMacbeth (1603–06), the eponymous character resides at Glamis Castle, although the historicalKing Macbeth (d. 1057) had no connection to the castle.
By 1372, a castle had been built at Glamis, since in that year it was granted byRobert II toSir John Lyon,Thane of Glamis, husband of the king's daughter. Glamis has remained in the Lyon (later Bowes-Lyon) family since this time. The castle was rebuilt as anL-plantower house in the early 15th century.[5]
The titleLord Glamis was created in 1445 forSir Patrick Lyon (1402–1459), grandson of Sir John. John Lyon, 6th Lord Glamis, marriedJanet Douglas, daughter of theMaster of Angus, at a time whenJames V was feuding with the Douglases. In December 1528, Janet was accused of treason for bringing supporters of the Earl of Angus to Edinburgh. She was then charged with poisoning her husband, Lord Glamis, who had died on 17 September 1528. Eventually, she was accused of witchcraft, and was burned at the stake at Edinburgh on 17 July 1537. James V subsequently seized Glamis, living there for some time.[2]
In 1543, Glamis was returned toJohn Lyon, 7th Lord Glamis. In 1606,Patrick Lyon, 9th Lord Glamis, was createdEarl of Kinghorne. He began major works on the castle, commemorated by the inscription "Built by Patrick, Lord Glamis, and D[ame] Anna Murray" on the central tower.[1] The English architectInigo Jones has traditionally been linked to the redesign of the castle, thoughHistoric Scotland consider the King's Master MasonWilliam Schaw a more likely candidate, due to the traditional Scottish style of the architecture.[1]
During theCommonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland, soldiers were garrisoned at Glamis. In 1670,Patrick Lyon, 3rd Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, returned to the castle and found it uninhabitable. Restorations took place until 1689, including the creation of a majorBaroque garden.[1][2]John Lyon, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, succeeded in 1753, and in 1767 he marriedMary Eleanor Bowes, heiress to a coal-mining fortune. He set about improving the grounds of the castle in the picturesque style in the 1770s.[1] The south-west wing was rebuilt after a fire in the early 19th century. In the 1920s, a huge fireplace fromGibside, the Bowes-Lyon estate nearGateshead, was removed and placed in Glamis' Billiard Room. The fireplace displays the coat of arms of theBlakiston family; Gibside heiress Elizabeth Blakiston had marriedSir William Bowes.[5][6] Several interiors, including the Dining Room, also date from the 18th and 19th centuries.[1]
In 1900,Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born, the youngest daughter ofClaude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and his wife,Cecilia (née Cavendish-Bentinck). She spent much of her childhood at Glamis, which was used during the First World War as a military hospital.[1] She was particularly instrumental in organising the rescue of the castle's contents during a serious fire on 16 September 1916.[7] On 26 April 1923 shemarriedPrince Albert, Duke of York, second son ofGeorge V, at Westminster Abbey. Their second daughter,Princess Margaret, was born at Glamis Castle in 1930.[1]
Since 1987, an illustration of the castle has featured on the reverse side often pound notes issued by theRoyal Bank of Scotland.[8] Glamis is currently the home ofSimon Bowes-Lyon, 19th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, who succeeded to the earldom in 2016.
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In the 17th century four "brazen" statues were placed on the approach avenue: Charles I in boots; James VI in a stole; Charles II in Roman dress; and James VII as in his Whitehall portrait. The first two were sculpted byArnold Quellin.[9]
The most famous legend connected with the castle is that of the Monster of Glamis, a hideously deformed child born to the family. Some accounts came from singer and composerVirginia Gabriel, who stayed at the castle in 1870.[10] In the story, the monster was kept in the castle all his life and his suite of rooms bricked up after his death.[11][12][13][14] Another monster is supposed to have dwelt in Loch Calder near the castle.[citation needed]
An alternative version of the legend is that to every generation of the family a vampire child is born and is walled up in that room.[12]
There is an old story that guests staying at Glamis once hung towels from the windows of every room in a bid to find the bricked-up suite of the monster. When they looked at it from outside, several windows were apparently towel-less. Though this is more likely due to the owners removing them in order so that the guests would not find the rooms, according to several relatives of the family.[12]
The legend of the monster may have been inspired by the true story of the Ogilvies.[12][15][16]
A legend tells of the 15th-century "Earl Beardie," who has been identified with both Alexander Lyon, 2nd Lord Glamis (died 1486),[11] and withAlexander Lindsay, 4th Earl of Crawford (died 1453).[17] Several versions exist, but they all involve "Earl Beardie" playing cards. However, it was thesabbath, and either his hosts refused to play, or a servant advised him to stop. Lord Beardie became so furious that he claimed that he would play until doomsday, or with theDevil himself, depending on the version. A stranger then appears at the castle and joins Lord Beardie in a game of cards. The stranger is identified with the Devil, who takes Earl Beardie'ssoul and, in some versions, condemns the Earl to play cards until doomsday.[11][18]
According to the official website for Glamis Castle, in 1034,Malcolm II was mortally wounded in a nearby battle and taken to a Royal Hunting Lodge, which sat at the site of the present castle, where he died.[citation needed]
The towers in front of the castle each measure 7 metres (23 ft) in diameter and are about 4 metres (13 ft) high, each having a modern parapet. The walls are 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) thick.[5]
There is a small chapel within the castle with seating for 46 people. The story given to visitors by castle tour guides states that one seat in the chapel is always reserved for the "White Lady" (supposedly a ghost which inhabits the castle), thought to beJanet Douglas, Lady Glamis. According to the guides, the chapel is still used regularly for family functions, but no one is allowed to sit in that seat.[citation needed]
The clock tower houses the castle's archives which include a wide range of historical material relating to the castle and the Bowes and Lyon families. These include apapal bull and the memoirs ofMary Eleanor Bowes. The Glamis archives have a close connection with the archives at theUniversity of Dundee, and researchers who wish to consult material held in the Glamis Castle Archive do so in the search room at the university.[19]
In the British children’s television seriesThomas & Friends, Lord Callan’s castle is based on Glamis Castle.
The cover design of the 1982Yoko Tsuno albumLa Proie et l'ombre, byRoger Leloup, prominently features the fictional "Loch Castle", which is drawn as being near-identical to Glamis Castle.
InStar Trek The Next Generation, season 7 episode 14, "Sub Rosa", Glamis Castle is mentioned by the planet's Governor.
