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Craigmillar Castle
Watson, Mary Anne, 1800, Watercolour
Craigmillar Castle
Craigmillar Castle
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Item no
43427
Title
Craigmillar Castle
Description
Image from James Grant's sketchbook with inscription on back - 'Craigmillar drawn by my mother Mary Anne Watson'.
Artist / maker
Watson, Mary Anne
Date
1800
Type
Watercolour
Location
Edinburgh and Scottish Collection
James Grant owned a small watercolour painting of Craigmillar Castle by his mother, Mary Anne Watson, made 'in her girlhood' - probably the late 18th or early 19th century. Grant's mother had died in 1833, when he was only ten years old, and he later decided to mount her painting into his sketchbook alongside his own images of Craigmillar Castle. Mary Anne has shown the castle from the south-east corner, so that we can see the ruins of the main keep and the curtain wall running around it with one of its four corner towers making it look strong and defensive. Below that is an exterior wall. Rather poignantly she has shown a mother and child walking in the foreground - perhaps Mary took her son to see Craigmillar Castle. Grant included a mother and child in the engraving of Craigmillar Castle in the third volume of his Old and New Edinburgh series.
The origins of Craigmillar Castle are shrouded in mystery, but its history from the 15th century onwards is an exciting tale of royalty and tragedy. The name 'Craigmillar' is said to be derived from the Gaelic 'craig-moil-ard', meaning a high and bare rock - the castle is built on a small rocky mound. The Preston family, who acquired the land in 1374, were important in local affairs; family members often held the positions of Provost and Sheriff of Edinburgh. There is still debate over when exactly the castle was first constructed, but it is generally thought to have been begun in the late 14th or early 15th century.
Exhibitions with this item
James Grant: the artist's imagination
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