Lochleven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1357). In the latter part of the 14th century, the castle was granted to William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, by his uncle. It remained in the Douglases' hands for the next 300 years. Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned there in 1567–68, and forced to abdicate as queen, before escaping with the help of her gaoler's family. In 1588, the queen's gaoler inherited the title of Earl of Morton, and moved away from the castle. In 1675, Sir William Bruce, an architect, bought the castle and used it as a focal point for his garden; it was never again used as a residence.
The remains of the castle are protected as a scheduled monument in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Lochleven Castle is open to the public in summer, and access is available by ferry.
History
Early history A castle may have been built on Castle Island as early as 1257, when King Alexander III of Scotland, then 16 years old, was forcibly brought there by his regents.Lindsay, pp. 342–344 During the First War of Scottish Independence (1296–1328), the invading English army held the castle, then named Lochleven Castle; it lies at a strategically important position between the towns of Edinburgh, Stirling and Perth. Part of the present fortification, the curtain wall, may date from this time period and may have been built by the occupying English. The castle was captured by the Scots before the end of the 13th century, possibly by the forces of William Wallace.Coventry, p. 301
English forces laid siege to Lochleven in 1301, but the garrison was relieved in the same year when the siege was broken by Sir John Comyn. King Robert the Bruce (reigned 1306–1329) is known to have visited the castle in 1313 and again in 1323. Following Bruce's death, the English invaded again, and in 1335 laid siege to Lochleven Castle in support of the pretender Edward Balliol (d. 1364). According to the 14th-century chronicle of John of Fordun, the English attempted to flood the castle by building a dam across the outflow of the loch; the water level rose, but after a month the captain of the English force, Sir John de Stirling, left the area to attend the festival of Saint Margaret of Scotland, and the defenders, under Alan de Vipont, took advantage of his absence to come out of the castle under cover of night, and damage the dam, causing it to collapse and flood the English camp. However, this account has been doubted by later historians.Grose, pp. 225–227
Loch Leven Castle was fortified in the 14th or early-15th century by the addition of a five-storey tower house or keep. According to Historic Scotland, it was built in the 14th century, making it one of the oldest tower houses in Scotland that still substantially survives. In 1390, King Robert II (reigned 1371–1390) granted the castle to Sir Henry Douglas, the husband of his niece Marjory. Beginning in the 14th century, the castle served as a state prison. Several notable men were imprisoned there, including Robert II in 1369 (before he became king), Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas (d. 1439), early in the 15th century, and Patrick Graham, the Archbishop of St Andrews, in 1478 (who died in captivity there).
16th century Mary, Queen of Scots (reigned 1542–1567), stayed at Lochleven for a week in May 1562 to recover after she fell from her horse while riding out from Falkland Palace,Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1547–1563, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), pp. 622–623.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer: 1559–1566, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1916), p. xxxv. In April 1563, she had an interview there with the Calvinist preacher John Knox.Edward Furgol, 'The Scottish itinerary of Mary Queen of Scots, 1542–8 and 1561-8', PSAS, 117 (1998), p. 227.Thomas Thomson, History of the Kirk of Scotland by David Calderwood, 2 (Edinburgh: Wodrow Society, 1842), p. 212.
In June 1565, Mary stayed at Perth, at Ruthven Castle, and Innerpeffray Castle.Edward Furgol, 'The Scottish itinerary of Mary Queen of Scots, 1542–8 and 1561-8', PSAS, 117 (1998), scanned microfiche It was said the Earl of Moray and the Earl of Argyll plotted to capture her and Lord Darnley as they returned to Edinburgh riding by Loch Leven.Robert Keith, History of the affairs of church and state in Scotland, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1844), pp. 309–311 Mary would have been imprisoned in Lochleven Castle and Darnley taken to Castle Campbell to prevent their marriage.John Hosack, Mary Queen of Scots and her Accusers, 1 (Edinburgh: William Blackwood, 1869), pp. 107–108. The alleged attempt to kidnap the couple and imprison them was known the "Raid of Beath".Retha M. Warnicke, Mary Queen of Scots (Routledge, 2006), pp. 110–111.
In September 1565, Mary visited Loch Leven again as the guest of William Douglas of Lochleven (d. 1606). Two years later, Mary returned to Lochleven as a prisoner. She was held there from 17 June 1567 until her escape on 2 May 1568. She had been imprisoned there after the Battle of Carberry Hill on 15 June, when she surrendered to her noblemen, who opposed her marriage to the Earl of Bothwell. She was taken to Lochleven and given into the custody of William Douglas of Lochleven. For most of her captivity she lived in Glassin Tower (built in the early 16th century), at the south-east corner of the castle. Some of William Douglas's daughters slept in her bedchamber for extra security.Agnes Strickland, Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots, vol. 1 (London, 1842), p. xx.
Mary fell ill on her arrival, which was suspected to be the result of a deliberate poisoning, and sometime before 24 July she miscarried twins that she had conceived with Bothwell; they were hastily buried in the grounds.Fraser, p. 409 She was probably nursed back to health by Agnes Leslie.Rosalind K. Marshall, Queen Mary's Women: Female Relatives, Servants, Friends and Enemies of Mary Queen of Scots (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2006), p. 138. Only a few days later she was forced to abdicate as Queen of Scots in favour of her infant son James.Fraser, p. 412
The household included Sir William Douglas's mother Lady Margaret Douglas (mother of Mary's half-brother the Earl of Moray), his brother George Douglas, and Willie Douglas (a young orphaned relative).Fraser, pp. 401, 423 There were five or six ladies, four or five gentlewomen, and two chamberers, one Scottish and one French. Mary asked for an apothecary, a valet for her chamber, and an embroiderer who could draw patterns for her needlework.Retha M. Warnicke, Mary Queen of Scots (Routledge, 2006), p. 164: Joseph Stevenson, Selections from unpublished manuscripts illustrating the reign of Mary Queen of Scotland, pp. 205, 200. Mary wrote that her household at Lochleven was reduced to just two serving women, a cook, and a surgeon or doctor, when her keepers were persuading her to resign the throne. She signed the demission on 24 July 1567.Jane Dawson, "A Fife 'Murder Mystery'", Gender in Scotland, 1200–1800, Place, Faith and Politics (Edinburgh University Press, 2024), p. 24: Henry Ellis, Original Letters, series 1 vol. 1 (London, 1824), p. 233.Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 700.
William Maitland of Lethington and Mary Fleming sent her a gold jewel depicting the lion and mouse of Aesop's fable.Rosalind K. Marshall, Queen Mary's Women: Female Relatives, Servants, Friends and Enemies (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2006), p. 148.Joseph Stevenson, The History of Mary Stewart by Claude Nau (Edinburgh, 1883), p. 59. This was a token alluding to the possibility of escape, and his continuing support for her, the mouse could free the lion by nibbling away the knots of the net. Mary wore the jewel at the castle and Marie Courcelles, one of her women and sometimes described as her French chamberer, provided a description.Thomas Duncan, 'The Relations of Mary Stuart with William Maitland of Lethington', The Scottish Historical Review, 5:18 (January 1908), 157: David Hay Fleming, Mary Queen of Scots (London, 1897), 472–473: Joseph Robertson, Inventaires de la Royne Descosse (Edinburgh, 1863), xlix–l. For a time, Mary was moved into the main tower, considered easier to guard at night than her first lodging.Allan James Crosby, Calendar State Papers Foreign Elizabeth, 1566–1568 (London, 1871), p. 314 no. 1570.
Mary recovered during the autumn and winter of 1567, and gradually won George Douglas over to her own cause.Fraser, p. 418 A contemporary wrote that George was "in fantasy of love wythe hir."Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 2 (1900), p. 404 no. 652, 9 May 1568. Mary asked her servant Servais de Condé to send her materials for textile projects and embroidery. She also made multiple attempts to escape. Once, she pretended to be the laundress, Margaret Aitkin,Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, 1568–1579, 20 (Edinburgh, 1899), p. 38. while one of her ladies took her place inside the castle.John Parker Lawson, History of the affairs of church and state in Scotland, 2 (Edinburgh: Spottiswoode Society, 1845), pp. 789–793 However, as she was leaving, the boatman who was taking her across the loch recognized her, and took her back to the castle.Thomas Wright, Queen Elizabeth and her times, 1 (London, 1838), pp. 266–267 Another time, she planned to escape by scaling the wall outside the castle, but one of her ladies-in-waiting, Jane Kennedy, injured herself while they were practising the escape. On the night she finally successfully escaped, she dressed as a servant,Patrick Fraser Tytler, History of Scotland, 7 (Edinburgh: William Nimmo, 1866), p. 378 Willie Douglas stole the keys, and Marie Courcelles let her walk out of the castle. She was then rowed across the loch to where George Douglas was waiting for her, along with 200 horsemen, and they fled to Niddry Castle in Lothian.Fraser, pp. 427–428 Three days after, her French cook Estienne Hauet and his wife Elles Boug packed her silk and velvet gowns and other items in a chest to send to Mary wherever she might be.David Hay Fleming, Mary Queen of Scots (Edinburgh, 1897), pp. 511–512.
Old keys found when the level of the loch was lowered in the 19th-century are said to be those taken by Willie Douglas.Ellen E. Guthrie, The Leisure Hour, 42 (1893), pp. 701–702: Keys found in Loch Leven, NMS Scran The castle is one of many in Scotland said to be haunted by Mary's spirit because she is waiting for her twins to return to her so they would know their loss of life was not her fault; the sadness she felt about their loss kept her trapped within the castle walls after her death. Janet Boyman, Marion Nicnevin, and William Stewart of Luthrie were subsequently accused of witchcraft and charged with making predictions about Mary's escape.Julian Goodare and Liv Helene Willumsen, Scottish Witchcraft Trials (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 2025), pp. 34–35, 39, 44–45.
The English Earl of Northumberland was also held here, after offending Elizabeth I of England.Cuthbert Sharp, Memorials of the rebellion of 1569 (London, 1840), p. 323. He was confined at Loch Leven for two years before being sent back to England to be executed. Regent Morton retired to the castle in 1578 and spent his time "making the alleys of the garden even".Thomas Thomson, Memoirs of his own life by Sir James Melville (Edinburgh, 1827), p. 264. James VI made plans to visit Lochleven on 7 July 1580 as part of his first progress in Scotland.Registrum Honoris de Morton: Original Papers of the Earls of Morton, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1853), p. 122. In 1588, when Sir William Douglas of Lochleven succeeded to the earldom of Morton as the 6th earl, he inherited other properties along with the title, including Aberdour Castle in Fife, and as a result Loch Leven Castle became less frequently used.
Sir William Bruce