Castle Dangerous

We stopped to see where Neils brother, John Douglas Harley got his middle name.

Our guide

this one tried to eat my mitten

This is all that remains of the famed Douglas Castle first built sometime before 1288 by captain William Douglas, he of the Clan Douglas. One of the oldest, largest and at one time most powerful clans in Scotland. It was captured and garrisoned and burned and rebuilt many times before the final fire in 1775 that destroyed all but the corner tower. An immense mansion was then built near the castle remains, had it been completed it would have been the largest in Scotland but that duke of Douglas died before that happened and it was only about half the size of the original design. Sadly, in the 30's coal mining was allowed in the park next to the castle causing major subsidence and it was then demolished. So it's just that one tower, some beautiful trees and plenty of sheep left at the place that once inspired Sir Walter Scott's Castle Dangerous.