Re: Terrain Challenge #37 (Solved by Pete) (Score: 1) by CSO_Talorgan on Wed Feb 16, 2011 12:49 am
I think I owe you guys an apology for not being around much while this challenge was going on. The moral is: do not set up a terrain challenge while studying for exams. By way of penance though I have written the topic up more fully. Much of this info has yet to make its way into Ph.D theses, let alone textbooks.
BUITTLE CASTLE(S)
There have been at least three Buittle Castles. The first was a 12th Century, Norman, mote-and-bailey castle which would have been situated under the words "Medieval Castle" in the picture. Its mote would have been smaller than that in the picture.
Galloway was semi-independent in the 12th Century. Its rulers were desperately trying to fend off the Kings of Scots and the riverlines became military frontiers. The (rivers) Dee, Urr (pictured) and Nith have several motes on both banks. Indeed the Motte of Urr, 3 km north of Buittle is said to be the most perfectly preserved mote and bailey remnant in the country. Buittle's bailey does not show up on the satellite photos but the archeologists assure us that it was extensive. They are also confident that the first castle was destroyed by fire as they have found evidence of this in their digging. This happens to match local folklore which has it that the Normans were one arrogant bunch of bar stewards who, confident of their superior technology, tried to lord it over the locals. The locals didn't take to being lorded over and the Normans found themselves besieged in a castle with a wooden frame. The outside would have been smeared with clay or wet animal hides would have been hung over the vulnerable wood. Unfortunately, this superior technology was no match for local ingenuity and the Normans were wiped out in the inevitable fire. No quarter given!
A century later and the political landscape had changed. Galloway was no longer independent, but one of the richest provinces in the kingdom, held by the Balliol family. The Balliols were of Norman decent, but by this time the Normans were partially integrated into wider society, while still retaining International links. Needless to say they built the second castle whose larger mote is what you see in the picture. It is thought that this was finished in the 1280s soon after Edward Longshanks' castle-building programme in Wales. Buittle is not as big as Harlech or Conway or Caernarvon but shares many design features which would have been the cutting edge of technology at that time:
Construction was of stone
The basic design of the castle was a ring of (six) towers linked by a curtain wall
These towers were round, not square
The gate was flanked by twin towers
... which made the gatehouse strong enough to act as the citadel, so that a central keep was no longer required
The drawbridge was in two parts (although the archeologists have not yet figured out its exact configuration)
Resupply from the sea was possible. You know that in the Middle Ages the lowest bridging point and the highest point a sea-going ship could reach were usually the same place, which is why towns sprang up where they did? Well, Buittle was that sweet spot on the Urr. Sea level has fallen a bit since then.
The presence of a mini-Harlech in our midst does make you think though about what might have happened had we lost the war which was soon to follow ...
Eeek!
The turbulence of the 1280s and -90s probably explains why the second castle was built. The head of the Balliol family became King John and the pile of earth you see in the picture was the de-facto capital of the country for a few years immediately before events kicked off in 1295.
By 1309 the war was going very badly for the Balliol family. John, by this time the "Toom Tabard", was still alive, but was living in exile in France. Robert I finished pacifying the North that year and began his strategy of picking off enemy garrisons one by one. Buittle was allocated to his brother Edward.
It took Edward Bruce *four years* to reduce Buittle Castle! I have not been able to find another example of a seige in this country lasting that long. Presumably the reasons for the long duration would have included Buittle's strength, Edward's lack of ability and Hestan Island. Hestan in 8 km south of Buittle and was Balliol held. Indeed it became famous later in the war as the last part of the country they did hold. They must have been running resupply missions up to the castle. It's the only way it could have held out for so long. Presumably they would have loaded up a couple of ships (which remember would have been not much bigger than a modern yacht) and run them up the river at night or in bad weather. Sails would not have been much use in the confined waters but oars or even tow ropes could have been used.
There were several seiges going on at the same time in the area and it is possible that the beseigers had stretched themselves too thinly to prevent such a mission's escort from gaining temporary, local control. Of course the resuppliers would have to be gone before the reinforcements arrived and remember that for about 4 of the 8 kilometers between Buittle and Hestan the river is narrow enough for you to be able to throw things from the bank with a reasonable chance of hitting any boats present.
Bet that would make one helluva game!!
:)
Resupply or not the garrison were reduced to eating rats and making arrows from the furniture. The castle finally fell to a night escalade. That was a favourite tactic of The Black Douglas, which makes me wonder if there was a change of commander at the end; or maybe Edward was in charge of "softening up" while Douglas and Randolph toured the country delivering the coup de grace. Either way, Edward's next assignment was Stirling Castle which triggered the Bannockburn campaign ...
Meanwhile, Buittle was flattened. So the mote in the picture has changed little since 1313.
The bailey, to the north, saw brief action during the Rough Wooing in the 16th Century when a heavy cavalry raid passed by. The entire local population is said to have sought shelter within its walls. Clearly, a bailey is no castle, but the English would have been looking for low hanging fruit. They had limited time and no artillery, so they simply left. The bailey, on this occasion, had resisted its brief seige.
The next significant event on the site was the construction of the third castle; "Later castle" on the picture. This was in the 17th Century and took the form of a simple tower house, typical of its day. As such it was a much less significant fortification than the second castle even though it was built from the material of the second castle which had been left strewn around. The Covenanter War would explain why the third Buittle Castle was built but the action all happened further west and north. By the 18th Century the third Buittle Castle had fallen into ruin. I guess it wasn't needed. The Wars of the British Succession did not involve Galloway.
As you can see from the satellite photograph the third castle is no longer a ruin. Somebody bought it and renovated it in the 19th Century, but as a glorified farmhouse, rather than a castle. The current owner is one Jeffrey Burn, whose name will be familiar to those of you who are fans of Osprey's "Men at Arms" series. Jeffrey runs re-enactment events, so the area still reverborates to the sound of ancient firearms being discharged and the vault under the castle is said to reverborate to the sound of revellry during the re-enactment of medieval banquets!
In August of 2004, Zappi, Homba, Bambam887, RedScorpion and MOOXE all pitched
in to create this Close Combat site. I would to thank all the people who have visited
and found this site to thier liking. I hope you had time to check out some
of the great Close Combat mods and our forums. I'd also like to thank
all the members of our volunteer staff that have helped over
the years, and all our users that contributed to this site!
