Drumlanrig Castle is situated on the Queensberry Estate in

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkc ...

, Scotland. The

category A listed This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland, which are among the listed buildings of the United Kingdom. For a fuller list, see the pages linked on List of listed buildings in Scotland. Key The organization of the lists in th ...

castle is the Dumfriesshire home of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry. It is open to the public at set times.

Construction

The 'Pink Palace' of Drumlanrig, constructed between 1679 and 1689 from distinctive pink sandstone, is an example of late 17th-century Renaissance architecture. The first Duke of Queensberry, William Douglas, had the castle built on the site of an ancient Douglas stronghold overlooking the Nith Valley. The castle has 120 rooms, 17 turrets and four towers. In 1984, aerial photography revealed the outline of a substantial Roman fort some 350 yards to the southeast of Drumlanrig Castle. The fort was partially excavated in 2004 by the ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'' television programme.

Art collection

The castle is home to part of the Buccleuch art collection which includes

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consi ...

’s '' An Old Woman Reading'', and Leonardo da Vinci's '' Madonna of the Yarnwinder'', which was stolen in 2003 and returned in 2007 after being found in Glasgow, and many other paintings, tapestries and objects of art. The ''Madonna of the Yarnwinder'' is currently on loan at the Scottish National Gallery. The stableyard houses the Stableyard Studios and cafe.

Etymology

The earliest record for Drumlanrig is from 1384, spelled ''Drumlangryg''. There are a number of possible etymologies for the name. It may represent

Cumbric Cumbric was a variety of the Common Brittonic language spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North" in what is now the counties of Westmorland, Cumberland and northern Lancashire in Northern England and the southern ...

''drum'' 'ridge' + ''-lanerc'' 'small area of cleared woodland'. However, the first element may also be Gaelic ''druim '''ridge', either added to a Cumbric name or to Scots ''*lang-rigg'' 'long ridge'.

Gallery

File:DrumlaningCastle.jpg, Drumlanrig Castle Image:Castelodedrumlanrig.jpg, Drumlanrig Castle in 1880 Image:Drumlanrig plan.jpg, Plan. The building extends 145 feet (44 metres) Image:Drumlanrig elevation.jpg, The entrance front. Image:Drumlanrig Castle Garden.jpg, Drumlanrig Castle and its garden

References

External links