A history of Rosneath Castle

One of the first mentions of Rosneath Castle is in the poem Blind Harry’s Wallace, thought to have been written between 1478 and 1488.

Then to Dumbarton Cave with merry speed,
March’d long e’er Day, a quick Exploit indeed.
Towards Rosneath, next Night they past along,
Where English-Men possest that Castle strong.
Who that same Day unto a Wedding go,
Fourscore in Number, at the least, or moe.
In their return the Scots upon them set
Where Fourty did their Death Wounds fairly get.
The Rest scour’d off and to the Castle fled,
But Wallace who in War was nicely bred,
He did the Entry to the Castle win,
End slew the South’ron all were found therein.
After the Flyers did pursue with Speed;
None did escape him, all were cut down dead.
On their Purveyance seven Days lodged there,
At their own Ease, and merrily did fare.
Some South’ron came to visit their good Kin,
But none went out, be sure, that once came in.
After he had set Fire to the Place,
March’d straight to Faukland in a litle Space.

A brief translation tells of how Wallace and his men, travelling from Dumbarton, came across at least 80 English
soldiers who were going to a wedding at Rosneath Castle. Forty were killed instantly and those who escaped
ran to the castle where they later met their fate as Wallace stormed the castle killing all within. Seven days
passed when a patrol of English soldiers came to visit their countrymen. Again Wallace fought them, setting fire
to the castle for good measure before marching to Faukland Castle in Fife.

Other stories say that Wallace, while being chased by the English soldiers, jumped with his horse off the cliff
now known as ‘Wallace’s Leap’. He managed to escape by swimming to Cairndhu Point, just across the water in
Helensburgh.

Rosneath Castle was gifted to Colin Campbell, 1st Earl of Argyll on the 9th January 1490 by King James IV. In the
1600’s it was an L shaped, 3 story building with a tower in one corner. In October 1743, Archibald Campbell,
succeeded his brother to become the 3rd Duke of Argyll. In 1744, he visited Rosneath Castle and found it to be
an empty shell after his brother’s widow had decided to sell the furniture. This was to be the start of a major
reconstruction and plans to make the castle square but the reconstruction never happened.

In August 1745 architect, William Adam, was computing estimates for the building when the news of Bonnie
Prince Charlie’s landing threw the country into complete turmoil. It was the Duke’s cousin, John Campbell (4th
Duke of Argyll), who questioned Flora MacDonald and produced a written document of her confession in aiding
the escape of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Eventually in 1757 the Duke was able to stay at Rosneath Castle following a
complete refurbishment which took several years to complete.

At around 6pm on the 30th May 1802, Ronseath Castle met its final fate and was consumed by fire. The 5th
Duke, John Campbell, was frequenting Ardincaple Castle at the time. As he saw his home burning, he
supposedly, calmly, expressed great gratitude by saying, ‘I thank my God I have another house to go to’.
Although some parts were still habitable the Duke decided to build a new home further inland and so Rosneath
House was built.

In his book ‘Rosneath Past and Present’,published in 1893, William Charles Maughan describes the house as being 184 feet long and 121 feet in breadth.

From the high circular tower in the centre there is a good panorama of the woods, water, lawn and moor. You look right up the Estuary of the Clyde far beyond Dumbarton and down the river as far as Bute in another direction and towards the north.

The stone is the finest sandstone from the famous Garscube quarry near Glasgow. Each door and window is of stately proportion and the interior is of the same scale of classical sculptured adornment. A spacious corridor extends from one end of the building to the other of which large public rooms open up, from each window is a beautiful view. The rooms are very lofty and handsomely proportioned and have decorative friezes on the upper portions of the walls and ceilings.

One extremely elegant room is the circular library under the tower with sandstone walls and classical ceiling decorations. Downstairs the kitchen is of great size with various other vaulted halls and rooms, several of these at the east end being unfurnished and used for storing plants. The upper part of the castle has a number of large rooms, all plainly fitted up for there is little splendour in any of the internal furnishings.

There is believed to be only one internal picture of the house which is a picture of the drawing room.

Rosneath Castle was not only home to the Dukes of Argyll but also home to the Rosneath Terrier, better known today as the West Highland Terrier. Scottish Terriers have been around since before James VI but it was this king who ordered that 12 of these white dogs be procured from Argyll and presented to the Kingdom of France
as a gift.

The name of West Highland Terrier was recognised in 1908. Previously they went under two names, the Rosneath Terrier and Poltalloch Terrier. Edward Donald Malcolm was the 16th Laird of Paltalloch, near Lochilphead. He started breeding white terriers after he mistakenly shot his beloved dog thinking it was a fox.

Around the same time George John Douglas Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll was also breeding white terriers. It is thought that Malcolm and Campbell got together at times but mostly concentrated on their own breeding programmes. In 1904 the first Rosneath Terrier breed club was set up by Niall Campbell, 10th Duke of Argyll. A
few years later the Countess of Aberdeen set up a breed club for the Paltalloch Terrier. The club was later chaired by Malcolm himself and in 1908 the Kennell Club recognised both terriers under the name of West Highland Terrier and so the name has stuck to this day.

Queen Victoria gave the then Marquis of Lorne, the position of Governor General of Canada. At the age of 33 he was the youngest person to have held the position. During his time in Canada, Lorne was greatly interested in Canada and Canadians. He constantly travelled meeting people from different backgrounds and cultures including the First Nations. Lorne and Louise made lasting contributions to Canadian society, especially in the arts and science, including the establishment of the Royal Society of Canada, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and the National Gallery of Canada. Lorne also helped in the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

During their time in Canada, Lorne and Princess Louise were involved in a sleigh accident. Their horses were spooked causing them to bolt and the sleigh was turned upside down with its passengers dragged along until the horses eventually stopped upon meeting another sleigh on the road. The Princess was concussed and her ear was torn with a shard of glass later found embedded in it. She never fully recovered from the accident having reoccurring headaches.

The time in Canada was a stain on the marriage. Princess Louise felt home sick and returned to London resulting in long periods of distance between the pair. The marriage was also a childless one thought to be due to a childhood illness of the Princess but also the rumoured sexuality of Lorne. They grew close again with Princess Louise nursing her husband towards the end of his life until his death.

Along with his interests in arts and science, Lorne was the first president of Rangers football club, founded by Moses McNeil who is buried in Rosneath Old Graveyard. In 1907, great efforts were made ensuring Lorne wasn’t involved in the investigation into the theft of the Irish Crown Jewels. Lorne was a close friend of Lord Ronald Gower who, although himself innocent, was an associate of the people believed to be involved.
In 1895 Lorne and Princess Louise raised £170,000 to purchase Rosneath House from his father. The 8th Dukes third marriage disgusted Lorne and he didn’t want Rosneath falling into the hands of his father’s new wife.
While Lorne and Princess Louise were away from Rosneath, the house was rented out to pay for repairs and improvements needed on the Campbell estate. These included fixing Kilcreggan pier and construction of offices at Rosneath pier.

Lorne died at Kensigton Palace in May 1914 and is buried in Kilmun Parish Church. Before being buried his funeral possession stopped at Rosneath where the whole village, including the crew of the training ship Empress, turned out to pay their respects. His coffin spent the night in St Modan’s church guarded many groups of the area before being taken to his final resting place. Princess Louise continued to visit Rosneath until her death in 1939.

Princess Louise was born Princess Louisa Caroline Alberta on 18th March 1848. She was the 6th child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The birth of Princess Louise would be the first to be aided by chloroform. During their childhood, Prince Albert thought it important that his children be taught practical skills such as cooking, farming, household tasks and carpentry. These skills were obviously important to Princess Louise as she set up a school to teach the ladies of the Rosneath village to sew amongst other skills. In 1916 she became the 1st royal patron of the Girl Guides with the Dunbartonshire Girl Guides became Princess Louise Own Girl Guides.

She was a very skilled artist and sculptor, one of her most famous pieces of work is of her mother which can be seen outside Kensington Palace. Other works can be seen across Canada and Inveraray Castle.

In 1890, Princess Louise bought Ferry Inn, which she was originally indenting to use as a Dower house. With the help of architect Edwin Lutyens, the Princess redesigned Ferry Inn but she never lived there instead gifting the house to injured soldiers of the Boer War to convalesce. Princess Louise also became the 1st Patron of Erskine Hospital originally known as Princess Louise Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers. She regularly visited the hospital until her health made it impossible to do so.

Along with Erskine Hospital, Princess Louise was patron of many places including St Modan’s church in Rosneath. She contributed to the church’s organ fund, building of the vestry and the installation of electric lighting in the church and manse. On her suggestion a stained glass window in memory of the men of the parish who died during WW1 was installed behind the Communion table. In memory of her husband and father in law, a carved picture of the Last Supper was also installed behind the Communion table and a bible used by Queen Victoria was also donated.

While in Canada with her husband, Princess Louise made a really good impression on the Canadian people. As well as being patron to many projects, there are many places named after her including the Province of Alberta, Mount Alberta and Lake Louise. The names of Alberta rather than Louise are because Princess Louise wanted to pay tribute to her father and so the name Alberta was settled upon.

Princess Louise died 3rd December 1939 at Kensington Palace. If she had died in Scotland she would have been buried with her husband but is instead cremated and laid to rest at Frogmore House next to her parents. A memorial service was held at St Modan’s Church at the same time as the service in England.

Sources:
Books:
Rosneath Past and Present by William Charles Maugh
The Wallace by Blind Harry
A Victorian Burgh by Richard Reeve
United States Navy Base Two: Americans at Rosneat 1941-1945 by Dennis Royal
Websites:
RIBA Architure.com
Helensburgh Heritage
Wikipedia
Canmore