Rowallan Castle

Rowallan Castle stands on a low knoll beside the Carmel Water in East Ayrshire. The original stronghold rose from a marshy loch fed by the burn, giving the site its old name of Craig of Rowallan. The present ruins show a southern front built in 1562 by John Mure and his wife Marion Cuninghame, whose initials and date appear on a carved tablet. Over the main entrance the Royal Arms of Scotland and the shields of the Cumin family are still visible. A rare Hebrew inscription above the porch reads a verse from Psalms. The castle once had a stone from which riders could mount, and nearby King William’s well supplied pure water. The castle’s owners read like a roll of Scottish history. The Mure family held it first, then the Boyles, the Campbells of Loudoun and the Corbett barons. In 1989 Niall Campbell bought it back into the Campbell line. Elizabeth Mure, born here, became the first wife of Robert the Steward, later King Robert II. John Mure fell at Flodden in 1513, and the estate took its present shape that same year. The 10th Countess of Loudoun spent large sums in the 19th century to keep the building standing. Inside, almost every wall carries the names and verses of past visitors. One room, known as the Woman’s House, shows how women worked with clothes and linen apart from the main household. Lord Loudoun once slept in another chamber. Outside, a marriage tree marks the spot where Dame Jean Mure eloped under a minister’s watch. Nearby, a fox once lived in a tree in the old garden, watching the world until hunters startled it away.