Regency Estates: Eglinton Castle

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Eglinton Castle by John B. Fleming (1792–1845), Photo credit: North Ayrshire Council, CC BY, source: artuk.org

Eglinton Castle, in Scotland just south of the town of Kilwinning, was replaced by a large mansion in 1802, also called Eglinton castle.  It would be the site of a medieval tournament, called the Eglinton Tournament, held in 1839, that attracted thousands of visitors.  Depictions of the tournament are featured here: Eglinton Castle | The Castles of Scotland, Coventry | Goblinshead or you can go to the source: Guide to the Tournament at Eglinton Castle.

By the 1925, the house was long abandoned and began being exploited for target practice, explosions and is now a scenic folly in the Gothic style.

In the Regency era, it was the home of the Montgomery’s, who had been on the land since the 14th century.  There were some lovely pleasure gardens attached to the home, with a variety of trees, flora and fauna, and a number of stately buildings both as hot-houses and stables.


EGLINTON CASTLE THE stately homes of Scotland How beautiful they stand Amidst their tall ancestral trees O er all the pleasant land The deer across their greensward bound Through shade and sunny gleam And the swan glides past them with the sound Of some rejoicing stream HEMANS THE princely demesne amid the groves of which stands this splendid residence of the noble family of Eglinton lies in the parish of Kilwinning about two miles from Irvine and seven from Ardrossan The castle is within sight of the sea but is distant nearly two miles from it The grounds of Eglinton are very extensive consisting of upwards of 1500 Scots acres They certainly cannot boast of the romantic or picturesque interest of many of those we have hitherto met upon the Clyde but their mild features and highly cultivated beauties are not the less worthy of admiration nor do they afford less intense delight to the visitor Throughout the whole extent of the grounds there is hardly any variety of surface but where there is a gentle eminence it has been taken advantage of and made to add to the general beauty Alexander the tenth Earl of Eglinton who was one of the early improvers of agriculture in Scotland planted a considerable quantity of wood and otherwise highly embel lished the grounds of Eglinton but it is to the fine taste and cultivated mind of the late Earl Hugh that this magnificent residence is indebted for its pre sent beauties It stands partly on the site of the old castle which in the original plan was intended to have been retained as a part of the building In digging the foun dations of the new portion however the old building exhibited symptoms of giving way and it was found necessary to take it down From the park the castle has a noble appearance and its battlemented towers when seen rising over the trees with which it is surrounded forcibly arrests the attention and carries the mind back to the times of its ancient lords In examining the in terior the visitor is particularly struck with the beauty and proportions of the hall and the circular saloon into which it opens The saloon indeed has a peculiarly grand appearance as it rises through the whole height of the build ings to the top of the centre tower from whence it is lighted by a dome
The mansion house is an extensive square building in the castellated style flanked by lofty circular turrets at each corner and from the centre of which rises a lofty octangular tower on which is placed a flagstaff It was com menced in 1797 and finished in 1800 from a design from Paterson by the late Earl who succeeded to the title in 1796 This magnificent mansion and the adjoining grounds were in the autumn of 1839 the scene of a gorgeous pageant intended to represent the chivalric encounters of an ancient tournament The Lordship of Eglinton in very early times belonged to a family who took their name from the lands Hugh the most remote ancestor of this family mentioned flourished in the reign of Malcolm Canmore between 1057 and 1093 Eglun was the second in succession from Hugh From him or some previous possessor of the same name the lands in all likelihood received the name of Eglunston hence Eglinton and subsequently the name of the lands was taken as the name of the family Sir Hugh de Eglinton supposed to have been the fifth in succession from the first mentioned Hugh was Justiciary of Lothian in the reign of David II He married the daughter or sister of Godfredius de Ardrossan the last male of that ancient family and by this lady acquired the lordship of Ardrossan Sir Hugh died without male heirs leav ing an only daughter and heiress Elizabeth de Eglinton This lady after wards married Sir John de Montgomery of Eaglesham in Ayrshire who in consequence acquired the Lordship of Eglinton and Ardrossan From this Sir John the present noble family of Eglinton is descended He signalized himself with Earl Douglas at the battle of Otterburn in 1388 taking Henry Piercy prisoner with whose ransom he built the castle of Pulnoon on his estate of Eaglesham He was the sixth in descent from Robert de Mondigumbri a baron of Norman extraction who accompanied Walter the son of Alan the ancestor of the Stewart family when he came to Scotland during the reign of David I Walter conferred the manor of Eaglesham upon his friend and thus the family of Montgomery acquired their first lands in Scotland The estate of Eaglesham has thus been about 700 years in the possession of the family The present Earl succeeded his grandfather in 1821 Leighton, J. M. (1840). Strath-Clutha; or, The beauties of Clyde. United Kingdom: Joseph Swan.

Eglinton Castle was the site of a masquerade ball in 1809 that was well decked out with transparencies, festoons of lights, and a delightful Christmastime spread of rare fruits, rich wines, and other delightful dishes.  The Earl’s nephew, Master Montgomery, was dressed in Highland garb and looked so much like one of the paintings of his ancestors, that it sent a ripple of delight through the crowd.

You will find more details about the Eglinton Castle masquerade in my new historical non-fiction book, Masquerade Balls in Regency Britain:

Readers are saying: “fascinating read and it really opened the doors to see what masquerades were really like in the era of Bridgerton and other of my favorite period dramas”

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“This fascinating work of scholarship is a feast for the imagination. The level of detail is incredible; the author definitely did her research!… it is a must-read for anyone who enjoys reading or writing about the Regency era in England.”

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