History
The Stewart family, as Earls of Orkney and Shetland, had a dramatic impact on both groups of islands. Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney was the illegitimate son of James V of Scotland and one of his mistresses, Euphemia Elphinstone. He was born in 1533, and in 1564 he was given the recreated Earldom of Orkney and Shetland and the position of the Sheriff of Orkney.
Robert's interest lay mainly in the richer farmlands of Orkney and though he did build the Old House of Sumburgh, he left much of the day to day running of Shetland to his half brother Laurence Bruce, who was appointed Sheriff of Shetland.
Robert died in 1593 in the Bishop's Palace, Kirkwall, largely unmourned by a population he had systematically oppressed. He was succeeded by his son, Earl Patrick, who took a much more direct interest in Shetland. Patrick also carried on the family traditions of corruption and brutality that had characterised his father's dealings on Orkney, and those of Laurence Bruce on Shetland.
Patrick's interest in Shetland caused Laurence Bruce to fear for his position, and he built Muness Castle on Unst in 1598 as a bolt-hole. His fears were to prove well founded. The following year Earl Patrick confirmed his interest in Shetland by starting to build Scalloway Castle.
Scalloway Castle was built under the direction of Andrew Crawford, the Earl's master of works, who had also built Muness Castle for Laurence Bruce. And given the similarities in style and sophistication, he also seems to have been the hand behind the later and grander Earl's Palace built in Kirkwall by Earl Patrick in 1607.
Patrick's growing collection of enemies eventually became just too numerous and too powerful. He was in prison in Edinburgh when his son Robert rose in revolt in 1614 and seized Kirkwall. It took a royal army under the Earl of Caithness and a siege (during which Kirkwall Castle was destroyed and St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, was threatened) to displace him, and both Patrick and his son Robert were later executed. It is an oft-quoted comment on Patrick's ignorance that his execution had to be delayed to give him time to learn the Lord's Prayer.
After Patrick's demise, Scalloway Castle remained the administrative centre for Shetland and it was still in good shape when used as a barracks for Oliver Cromwell's troops in the 1650s. By 1700 there were reports that the roof was leaking, and the shift of Shetland's capital to Lerwick a few years later confirmed Scalloway Castle's decline.
The last straw was the removal in 1754 of much of the stone from the lesser buildings that originally surrounded the tower house to build a nearby mansion. In 1908 the castle was placed in the care of the State, and it is now looked after by Historic Scotland.
Read more about this topic: Scalloway Castle
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