claims that the house was first known as a heather hut, about 950, deep in
the Forest of Ettrick. When King Alexander I stayed here and granted a
charter from Traquair in 1107 it must have already been a substantial
building. His stay was the first of many by the Scottish Kings throughout
the Middle Ages when it assumed the importance of a Royal Residence.
local justice was administered, and of course, royal pastimes indulged,
Hunting, Hawking and Fishing. The Forest was known for its abundance of game
and bears. Massive pillars surmounted by two carved stone bears holding the
family coat of arms flank the famous closed gates at the end of the Avenue
to the house.
With the death of Alexander III in 1286 the Golden Age of peace came to an
end. By the end of the century Scotland was at war with England.
Traquair was fortified to become part of the
defence against an English invasion, but was occupied by English troops.
Both King Edward I and II of England stayed here at this time, but with the
accession of Robert the Bruce in 1306 the house was restored to the Scottish
next 150 years the house was owned by a number of families, reverting to the
Crown at intervals, until James III gave Traquair and all its lands to his
favourite, Robert Lord Boyd. Then a few years later to his "Master of Music"
who in turn sold it on to the King's uncle the Earl of Buchan for the
equivalent today of a few pounds. Buchan's second son, James Stuart, became
the first Laird of Traquair in 1491, and it is from him that the present
family is descended.
at this time as the "turris et fortalicis de Trakware", it stood with walls
averaging nearly 6 foot thick, and can still be seen at the North West
corner of the house.James Stuart had plans to extend the tower, but he fell
with his King at the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513. In the Museum Room is
a large mural painting dating from about 1530, the time of James Stuart's
son William, the Second Laird. William's second son, John, the Fourth Laird,
was knighted at the time of Mary Queen of Scott's marriage to Henry, Lord
Darnley, and was appointed Captain of the Queen's Guard. In 1566 following
the murder of Rizzio and the conspiracy against the Queen, he was
responsible for her flight to safety to Dunbar from Hollyrood Palace in
Edinburgh. Later that year Sir John was host to Mary and Darnley and their
baby son at Traquair during a hunting expedition. During this time of
religious conflict Mass had to be celebrated in secret. A hidden escape was
made for priests in case the suspicious authorities searched the house. The
present chapel dates from the middle of the 19th century when at last the
Catholic Emancipation Act enabled the family to worship openly.
Earl, Charles, married the beautiful daughter of the Fourth Earl of
Nithsdale, Lady Mary Maxwell. She bore 17 children between 1695 an 1711. In
the winter of 1715 her sister-in-law, Lady Nithsdale, rode to London where
she successfully organised Charles's escape from the notorious Tower where
he had been sentenced to death for his part in the Jacobite Rising. The two
wings extending from either side of the front of the house date from his
time, as does the wrought iron screen between them.
tradition another loyal Jacobite, the Fifth Earl of Traquair, is associated
with one of the most romantic episodes in the history of the house, the
closing of the Bear Gates. He closed the gates
one late autumn day in 1745 after wishing his guest, Prince Charles Edward
Stuart, a safe journey, with a promise that they would not be opened until
the Stuartís were restored to the throne. They have remained closed ever
since. Having been involved in power and politics for some 700 years,
Traquair has, more recently, experienced quieter times. Still very much a
family home, it has remained largely unchanged in a landscape of ancient
woodland, gardens, and forests of the Tweed valley.
last war, the 19th Laird and his wife began a programme of restoration and
repairs, which has continued to this day. As the 20th Laird wrote; "We are
happy to continue the work they started so that new generations of visitors
will delight in and learn much from a house that has become a part of
© John A. Duncan of Sketraw, KCN, FSA