If I wanted to visit Castle Douglas and Castle McClelland in the lowlands, what's the best way to get there? Are there coaches, or do you have to rent a car? What's the best place to stay in those towns? They look very small (maybe not much choice?).

Do you mean MacLellan's Castle in Kirkcubright?

If so, they are both in Dumfries and Galloway which is a lovely part of the country and there are MANY places to stay in either and nearby. Yes, you will want a car.

This tool http://www.travelinescotland.com/public-transport links every single public transport service in the country, I'd choose a car but, if you want to check, use the tool.

Thanks very much to both of you for the info! Good to know there are many places to stay as I'm not quite sure how this road trip will go, so I'm flying a bit by the seat of my pants.


And yes, I meant MacLelland's Castle in Kirkcubright, but our family spells it "McClelland," so I guess my stubborn heritage is showing a bit.

>>MacLelland's Castle << Getting closer No 'd' . . . MacLellan's Castle

How long do you have for the trip? Where are traveling from? Are you flying to the UK? If so, to which airport? We can give you lots of suggestions where to go and what else to see.

Castle Douglas is a good sized town and nearby Threave Castle and Threave Gardens are not to be missed.

This sends shivers down my spine.

This is our back door step and I have to say I don't know enough about the history of the McClellands. This is going to be interesting.

As far as I can remember, it is one family which historical scribes changing the spellings in the 1700s from the Celtic MaClelland to McClelland. The main families in our area have been the McClellands, Douglas and Maxwell and all three have lost influence over the years.

There are still farming families around Gatehouse of Fleet with notable land holdings but the McClelland we currently know is Hamish McClelland whose family owned much land around the coast near Castle Douglas. Over recent centuries the family has gifted land to the National Trust and still own land in the Rockcliffe area.

If you would like me to make contact with Hamish I would be glad to do so. He is a huge character and will probably have much of th family history stored in his head from Duncan (1200) onwards.

email me at [email protected]

BTW rent a car, there's very little on the roads around here and the are so many fascinating places to visit which are far more accessible by car.

Oh -- I'm soooooo glad BritishCaicos saw your thread! He will be a terrific resource - he lives very near there.

I seem to remember that the family lost most of its land holdings in the late 1600s during the Civil War of Three Kingdoms. Dumfries and Galloway was fiercely royalist at the time and the family heavily backed Charles I. The debts that the family ran up, effectively ruined them.

The local stories of the royalist actions against the Covenanters is the stuff of legend. Some were tied to a stake on the beach and drowned when the tide came in. One such Covenanter, Margaret Wilson was the subject of a famous painting by Millais , "The Martyr of the Solway" which hangs in the Walker Gallery, Liverpool. It's an extremely haunting piece and a copy has hung in my study wall for 20 years, a reminder of the intolerance of man. I'm sure that a McClelland was executed with Margaret Wilson? Not sure.

This is coming back to me.

The family was also badly damaged during the transfer of power from the Douglas' to James II.

James II transferred the land holdings to the Buccleughs and after 500 years they still hold more than all of it. Their residence at Dumlanrig is 20 minutes north of Dumfries and well worth a visit if just for the art collection. The family are the the largest land owners in Europe, unfortunately for the most of the land isn't in Chelsea (like the Duke of Westminster) but in rural Scotland.

When are you coming?

I only ask, as Galloway Show is in the grounds of Drumlanrig Castle on the 19th and 20th. It's a large country show and we go to embarrass ourselves at the gun dog trails. This year should be no different.

The show would really give a visitor and incredible view of life in the Scottish Borders, there's many high quality local food stalls, including the highland cattle beef from our village and the best ice cream in the world : Cream of Galloway.