Crawford Castle

Crawford Castle, substantially in ruins, is located on the north bank of the River Clyde, around half a mile north of Crawford, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The ruins stand on an earlier motte and bailey earthwork. The castle was formerly known as Lindsay Tower, after its former owners, the Lindsay family. The strategic location of the castle, at NS954213, guards the approach from England into the upper Clyde Valley.

Archaeological excavations to the north-west of the castle have shown that a Roman fort, with a garrison of perhaps 300, existed at this site between 80 AD and 170 AD.

This site was the administrative center for the Barony of Crawford, at that time the largest and most influential barony in southern Scotland. The Barony was established before 1100 when records of the period show Thorlongus of the Merse as Overlord of Crawford. From this line descended the surname of Crawford as the original occupants of the barony. Crawford Castle was in existence by 1175, and was probably built as an earthwork and timber castle some time before this by the Crawford family.

The Lindsay family inherited half of the Barony of Crawford, known as Crawford Parish, via a marriage in 1215 to the younger daughter of Sir John Crawford, who died in 1246 without male issue. (Sir John's elder daughter Margaret married a Douglas scion.) The Crawford family retained the other half, known as Crawfordjohn Parish, as the Barony had been divided among the Crawford family four generations earlier. Crawford Castle is located in Crawford Parish. From an early date, the Clan Carmichael of Meadowflat acted as hereditary constables of the castle, retaining this post under successive owners.

In 1398, Robert II granted the title of Earl of Crawford to David Lindsay, who had won great praise on St George’s Day, 23 April 1390 for bravery in a duel with the Englishman Baron Welles on London Bridge after Welles, at a banquet in Edinburgh, and presumably after too much alcohol issued, as Champion of England, the challenge: "Let words have no place; if ye know not the Chivalry and Valiant deeds of Englishmen; appoint me a day and a place where ye list, and ye shall have experience."

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