Crookston Castle, pp.323-324.

[Gazetteer of Scotland Contents]

CROOKSTON CASTLE, an interesting relic of feudal times, crowning the summit of a wooded slope overhanging the southern bank of the White Cart, in Renfrewshire; about 3 miles south-east of Paisley. When Crawford wrote, this building consisted of a large quarter, and two lofty towers, with battlemented wings. Much of it has since crumbled into further ruin; but a portion of the walls, about 50 feet in height, yet remains, and was put into a state of repair in 1847 by John Maxwell. The moat and rampart also may be still distinctly traced. The surrounding scenery is pleasingly broken in its outline, and the view from it is very commanding. John Wilson, the author of the poem ‘Clyde,’ has these lines:-

“Here raised upon a verdant mount sublime,

To Heaven complaining of the wrongs of time,

And ruthless force of sacrilegious hands,

Crookston, an ancient seat, in ruins stands;

Nor Clyde’s whole course an ampler prospect yields,

Of spacious plains, and well-improven fields;

Which, here, the gently-swelling hills surround,

And, there, the cloud-supporting mountains bound;

Now fields with stately dwellings thronger charged,

And populous cities, by their trade enlarged.”

An anonymous poet has much more beautifully apostrophized Crookston castle in the following lines:-

Thou proud memorial of a former age,

Time-ruined Crookston; not in all our land

Romantic with a noble heritage

Of feudal halls, in ruin sternly grand,

More beautiful doth tower or castle stand

Than thou! as oft the lingering traveller tells.

And none more varied sympathies command;

Though where the warrior dwelt, the raven dwells,

With tenderness thy tale the rudest bosom swells.

–

Along the soul that pleasing sadness steals

Which trembles from a wild harp’s dying fall,

When Fancy’s recreative eye reveals

To him, lone-musing by thy mouldering wall,

What warriors thronged, what joy rung through thy hall,

When royal Mary – yet unstained by crime,

And with love’s golden sceptre ruling all –

Made thee her bridal home. There seems to shine

Still o’er thee splendour shed at that high gorgeous time!

–

How dark, a moral shades and chills the heart

When gazing on thy dreary deep decay!

Robert Croc, a gentleman of Norman extraction, held the barony of Crookston in the 12th century, and in 1180 founded here an hospital for infirm men, and a chapel. In the 13th century, this barony was carried by a female heiress into the illustrious family of Stewart, whose regality now comprehended Crookston, Darnley, Neilston, Inchinnan, and Tarbolton. In 1565, Henry, Lord Darnley, eldest son of Matthew, Earl of Lennox, became the husband of Mary, Queen of Scots; and some traditions say that it was at Crookston that ill-fated betrothment was arranged. “Another traditionary report,” says Mr. Ramsay, in his interesting Descriptive Notices of Renfrewshire, “represents Crookston as the place from which Mary beheld the rout of her last army at Langside. This report, and a kindred superstition which still lingers among the peasantry, have been finely embodied in the following lines by Wilson:-

‘But dark Langside, from Crookston viewed afar,

Still seems to range in pomp the rebel war.

Here, when the moon rides dimly through the sky,

The peasant sees broad dancing standards fly;

And one bright female form, with sword and crown,

Still grieves to view her banners beaten down.’

The same report having been adopted by Sir Walter Scott, not only in a historical romance, [The Abbot,] but even in the sober pages of history itself, [History of Scotland, Vol. II. p. 131.] it has attained a currency almost universal. Now Crookston castle lies 4 miles west from the field of battle, and the swelling grounds which intervene prevent the one place from being seen from the other. Apart from this consideration altogether, it is quite incredible that the Queen could be at Crookston castle on the occasion in question. It will be recollected, that she had just escaped from Loch Leven, and fled to Hamilton, from whence she was proceeding, under the protection of an army, towards the castle Dumbarton as a temporary place of safety, when her troops were confronted and utterly defeated by the Regent Murray, at Langside, which is about 2 miles south of Glasgow, and nearly parallel with that city. The belief that the Queen was at Crookston during the battle necessarily infers the supposition that she had needlessly endangered her personal safety, by proceeding 4 miles in advance of the troops, which were expressly called together for her protection. As has been mentioned in a previous notice, it was from an eminence in the neighbourhood Cathcart castle, and rather in the rear of her army, that Mary beheld the decisive struggle; and as on its termination she fled to the south, it is evident that on that disastrous day she could not be any nearer to the castle of Crookston. Sir Walter Scott having been informed of the error into which he had been led, he at once admitted it in a note to the revised edition of ‘The Abbot;’ expressing, at the same time, his unwillingness to make the fiction give way to the fact, in this particular instance, from a persuasion that the representing Mary as beholding the battle from Crookston tended greatly to increase the interest of the scene in the romance.¹ Unfortunately, the error has hitherto been allowed to pass uncorrected in his popular History of Scotland. On the whole, having searched in vain for any contemporary authority on the subject, we are constrained to rest satisfied with the only probable form of the tradition, that, namely, which bears in general terms, that the Queen and Darnley passed some days at the castle of Crookston soon after their nuptials. This has been incidentally stated by Sir Walter Scott in his historical work; and akin to it is the statement which he represents the good Lady Fleming as making in the romance, that here the Queen held her first court after the marriage. – On a small mount, close to the east side of the castle, there stood a stately yew, called, ‘The Crookston Tree,’ the situation of which was such that it for ages formed a conspicuous object for many miles round. Under the ill-omened branches of this funereal tree, Mary and Darnley were accustomed to sit during the brief period of sunshine which they enjoyed. In 1710, Crawfurd spoke of it as ‘a noble monument,’ of a large trunk, and ‘well spread in its branches;’ and so it continued to be within the recollection of some persons yet living. In 1782, the trunk, to the height of 7 feet from the ground, measured 10 feet in circumference. Shortly before that time, the tree was unfortunately pruned, by way of experiment, in consequence of which the growth upon the top was retarded, and the tree itself gradually withered and died. Blasted and leafless, it formed a dismal, and therefore not unmeet, memorial of the unhappy pair with whose melancholy story it was connected. Its extinction was accelerated by relic-collectors, who, ‘undisturbed by conscientious qualms,’ cut down and carried away large portions. At length, the worthy proprietor, Sir John Maxwell, in order that he might secure his right to what was left, found it necessary to root out the stump, and take it into his own immediate possession. This he did in the year 1817. The greater part of the wood having remained sound, fragments of this celebrated tree are to be found dispersed over the country, some as female ornaments, and others in less appropriate forms, such as snuff-boxes and drinking-cups. Connected with the old tree there is a popular error, which some writers of good repute have followed. In the reign of Mary, there was struck a silver coinage of three sizes, bearing on the reverse the figure of a tree, crowned, with the motto, ‘Dat Gloria Vires.’ It is generally believed that this tree represents the Crookston yew, and that it was put upon the coin in order to commemorate the meeting of Mary and Darnley under its branches: accordingly, the coin of the largest size goes under the name of ‘The Crookston dollar.’ Now, to show the groundlessness of this story, it is only necessary to refer to the order of the Privy council for the formation of the coinage in question, dated 22d December, 1565. By that order, it is expressly enjoined, that the coinage shall bear ‘on the ane side, ane palm-tree, crownit;’ and, in conformity to this, the tree upon the coin is found to resemble a palm and not a yew.” – After the death of Darnley, his estates underwent many vicissitudes of proprietorship, till at length they passed to the Duke of Montrose. See LENNOX. In 1757, the castle and lands of Crookston were bought from William, 2d Duke of Montrose, by Sir John Maxwell of Nether-Pollock, in whose family they have since continued.

–

¹ The Abbot, edition 1881, Vol. II. p. 339. The reader who is unacquainted with the locality will be embarrassed by Sir Walter’s having inadvertently said, in the note here referred to, (p. 340.) that he had “taken a liberty in removing the actual field of battle somewhat to the eastward,” whereas the removal made by him was to the westward. – Note by Mr. Ramsay.