Introduction
The site dates from the late 13th century; the earliest charter for the lands dating from 1256, but the remains of the building are of 15th and 16th century origin. One tradition is that the castle was built by the Danes and another states that the Mackinnons held the castle from Alexander III, as a reward for their valour at the Battle of Largs.
The castle is the point of origin of the Kennedys of Carrick, who once ruled over much of south western Scotland and were granted the lands in 1357. Sir James Balfour described Dunure as a grate and pleasand stronge housse, the most ancient habitation of the surname of Kennedy, Lairds of Dunure, now Earles of Cassiles. This family should not be confused with the renowned American Kennedy family which came from Co. Wexford in Ireland.
In August 1563, Mary, Queen of Scots, visited the castle for three days during her third progress round the west of the country.
The Celtic name Dunure or Dunoure is said to derive from the "hill" or "fort of the yew tree".
Read more about this topic: Dunure Castle
Famous quotes containing the word introduction:
“For better or worse, stepparenting is self-conscious parenting. You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”
—Anonymous Parent. Making It as a Stepparent, by Claire Berman, introduction (1980, repr. 1986)
“We used chamber-pots a good deal.... My mother ... loved to repeat: “When did the queen reign over China?” This whimsical and harmless scatological pun was my first introduction to the wonderful world of verbal transformations, and also a first perception that a joke need not be funny to give pleasure.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“The role of the stepmother is the most difficult of all, because you can’t ever just be. You’re constantly being tested—by the children, the neighbors, your husband, the relatives, old friends who knew the children’s parents in their first marriage, and by yourself.”
—Anonymous Stepparent. Making It as a Stepparent, by Claire Berman, introduction (1980, repr. 1986)