Mary queen of Glasgow; Astonishing Glasgow Ep 60

How did Mary Queen of Scotland have some good times and some bad times in Glasgow?
On the 456th anniversary of the battle of Langside I thought I would tell you all about Mary’s links to Astonishing Glasgow.
Now I am not a trained historian so I hope I have all the details correct and presented clearly enough for you to understand the significance of the city to the life of Mary.

If you enjoy this episode, remember to hit the like and subscribe buttons and dont forget to check out the other episodes on my channel.

Treat yourself to some merch from the Astonishing Glasgow shop;
https://astonishing-glasgow.myspreadshop.co.uk/

If you want to get in touch, leave a comment here or via my social media pages on Facebook and Instagram pages here;

https://www.facebook.com/Astonishing-Glasgow-101887402043234
https://www.instagram.com/astonishingglasgow/

Thank you for watching and see you next time in Astonishing Glasgow.
Dave.

what is the second oldest building in Glasgow it’s not this one and what happened right here that changed the course of British history find out now in this episode of astonishing [Music] Glasgow if you know anything about Scottish history you’ll have heard of Mary Queen of Scots born in L lithco Palace in 1542 how did she become a glass region and what is her story within the city well her life was a long an eventful one which would take hours to tell in detail and there are plenty of movies and books which can do that far better than yours truly so I’ll just start at 1565 when she was 23 years old she had returned to Scotland after her first husband Francis II the king of France had died of an ear infection in 1565 she began courting Lord darnley which brings us to KRON Castle the lands of the KRON estate lie in the very Southwest edge of the city and only became part of Glasgow in 1926 as the city expanded there has been a castle on this site since 1170 when Norman Lord Robert COC was granted Deeds by David the of Scotland no relation the name KRON comes from the gelic for a small null or dun crook the castle we see today dates from the 1400s when John Stewart of darnley had his Stone castle built it took a right beaten in 1489 when the Earl of lenx rebelled against King James IV this didn’t go down very well so James ivth sent in his troops along with M’s Meg the cannon to teach him a lesson the dirty we Rascal soon gave up when the West End of his castle was destroyed and Mon’s mag was wheeled all the way back to Edinburgh there were a few more sieges on the castle during its lifetime but in quieter times Henry Stewart Lord darnley was said to have come here to woo his future wife Queen of Scots they would tour the estate on Horseback and according to Legend This sycamore tree that stands around 2 mi from the castle in darnley is where Mary nursed Lord darnley back to health after a short illness it was also a convenient place to pick up messages and a Maad on the way back to the castle although I’m not sure if the Stewarts and the McDonald’s would go to too well anyway it must have worked like a charm as it was below a u tree in the grounds of the castle that Henry and Mary would become engaged spoiler alert the romance didn’t last but the castle survived as a Ru until 1757 when it became the property of the Maxwells of poock the Maxwells partially restored the castle in 1847 to honor Queen Victoria when she visited the city now Sir John Sterling Maxwell was pivotal in the formation of the national trust for Scotland and the very first building to fall under its care is crion Castle which was donated to the trust in 1934 it hadn’t yet finished its role as a defensive structure however during the second world war the castle was once more called into battle as an anti-aircraft Watchtower which explains the metal stairways and concrete floors that give access to the roof of glasgow’s second oldest building that’s right it’s the second oldest building in Glasgow after Glasgow Cathedral if you have the time come and pay the castle a visit it’s free to enter just check the opening times and you can climb right up to the top some of the people who have already been here include rabie Burns and Sir Walter Scott they both mention krton Castle in their works but Sir Walter Scott makes a claim in his novel The Abbott in 1820 that Mary Queen of Scots watched the Battle of langside from a tree beneath this Castle a bold claim that even today with good weather and a 30 time zoom on my camera is completely impossible there is however Another Castle in Glasgow which claims to have hosted Mary while she watched the battle but for that we need to travel just over 4 mil east of here now while I change location please hit that like And subscribe button to help me grow my channel and don’t forget to treat yourself to a sticker cap t-shirt or hoodie in the astonishing Glasgow spreadshirt shop all the links are down below in the time it has taken to reach kithcart on the city’s South Side the area where I grew up Mary’s story has moved on another year and would you believe another husband she’s now to James hebburn of bwell and it is thought that James was the man who orchestrated the demise of Lord darnley who was murdered in February 1567 when his residence was blown up and his body was found in his garden now James hebburn of bwell sounds like a right wronging he abducted and raped Mary to lay his claim to the throne and after divorcing his first wife just 12 days earlier Mary was forced to marry him and it was not a happy marriage now her marriage to James was also very unpopular with the LOLs of Scotland she was denounced as an adulteress and she was forced to abdicate the crown in favor of her son the then one-year-old James she was imprisoned at lle Castle and James bwell fled to Denmark but with the help of George Douglas whose brother owned La cleav Castle Mary escaped and raised an army of 6,000 men the plan was to march to London to seek Queen Elizabeth’s help to regain her throne but she didn’t get very far the army of the Earl of Mor who was Mary’s half brother and now in control of Scotland through Mary’s son James cut off her Escape right here and what is now the south side of Glasgow in May 1568 Mary’s forces were outnumbered and at a major disadvantage Murray’s forces occupied The High Ground right up the hill behind the library next to the National Tires garage but Mary’s Army were stranded at the bottom of the hill and swampy land at the time of the battle it was said that Mary was watching on from court now right here in kithcart and at the top of the hill there is a marker Stone on this location with her royal Cipher and the date of the battle but just like Walter Scott’s account of Mary watching the battle from krton Castle there are problems with this account a few hundred meters from this location stands cathart Castle or at least it did it seems incredible that this medieval castle which dated back to the 1400s would have been demolished by mechanical diggers as recently as 1980 it’s so recent that I can remember seeing the castle as I walked past it to get to nursery school and my dad was able to take these pictures before it disappeared the problem was that the castle had been abandoned in the 18th century the simple family built a new home cathart house right here in 1740 and the castle was left empty Stones were then taken for use elsewhere the roof was removed and the sandfill walls slowly became saturated leading to a collapse in 1980 the building was now unsafe and after being purchased by Glasgow City Council in 1927 along with ly park it was their decision to demolish the remaining walls for safety reasons now as stories go it does seem like a perfect place for Mary to have camped during the Battle of langside but there are a few major problems with this account firstly the simples who occupied the castle and owned the land were supporters of Mar’s enemies and as such would have captured her and imprisoned her in the castle the other major flaw of this account is the lack of view of Battlefield it’s thought that the idea of mar being here is no more than a Victorian Romanticism the only clue to her relocation during the battle was a letter which said that M watched from a hill to the south of the battlefield which would make Prospect Hill a far more ly vantage point but why let details get in the way of a good story either way it didn’t end well for Mary spoiler alert after fleeing she was thrown into custody at Carlile Castle on the 16th of may she was moved South and put on trial for treason but protested that as a foreign Queen she had never been an English subject and therefore could not be convicted of treason on February the 1st 1587 Elizabeth signed Mary’s death warrant and 7 Days Later at fing gay Castle she knelt on a cushion placed her head on a block and after three blows from the Executioner her head was SED and held a loft the Executioner calling God Save the Queen her request to be buried in France was refused by Elizabeth and she was was buried in Peterburg Castle in 1587 in 1612 when our son James v 6 was King he had her remains exhumed and moved to Westminster Abbey where she rests in a tomb opposite Queen Elizabeth to this very day the events of May the 13th 1568 certainly left a mark on the British crown and in Glasgow this part of the city is still called battlefield after the battle of langside which happened on these lands the events are marked locally in two places the residents of veil View Terrace and Prospect H road now have this date in history honored by the Gateway above their bin Lane and a plaque to the right and at the top of the hill there is the battlefield Monument erected in 1887 to design by Alexander skirving a friend of Alexander Greek Thompson skirving design was chosen ahead of those by 11 other Architects it features thistles Rosies and Flur de to Mark our times in Scotland England and France during its construction the monument plans newspapers of the time and a copy of Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Abbott were buried below the pedestal in a time capsule so maybe now you will know why the monument stands in the middle of the roundabout you will you know why Battlefield got its name and you will go and climb to the top of kton Castle thank you very much for watching this episode of astonishing Glasgow if you have enjoyed my content please hit that like And subscribe button it really does boost my channel if you want to help support me make more episodes of astonishing Glasgow hit that super thanks button every penny helps and these are the supporters who left the donation after the last video remember to go and treat yourself to some merch over on the spread shop page get in touch through the comments or via the social media feeds all the links are down below where you need them thank you very much again and I will see you next time in astonishing Glasgow [Music] right I’m wa for a bloody mary see yall