Dunbeath Castle (8 of 8) by arjayempee

Almost all Scottish castles have had their 15 minutes of fame, and Dunbeath is no exception. It has had two actually! As I described recently under the sequence of photos I took of Toward Castle in Argyll, James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, was forced to go into exile following the surrender of Charles I, in September 1646. Following the execution of Charles I, Charles II re-appointed Montrose to the (now nominal) lieutenancy of Scotland in September 1649. In March 1650, Montrose landed in Orkney, from where he made his way to Caithness, expecting to recruit the northern (Catholic) clans to his standard. His hopes were disappointed and on 27 April he was surprised and routed at the Battle of Carbisdale in Ross-shire. He was subsequently captured and taken to Edinburgh for execution. Sir John Sinclair of Dunbeath, on hearing that Montrose had landed in Caithness, hopped onto his horse and set off southwards to take the news to Edinburgh, leaving his wife in charge of defending his castle. Montrose meanwhile, sent Sir John Hurry* (a former adversary, who he had defeated at the Battle of Auldearn) ahead to take control of the Ord of Caithness, and Hurry, not wanting to leave an occupied castle in his rear, laid siege to Dunbeath, which he took quite quickly. The garrison left at Dunbeath by Hurry when the Royalist army moved south to its eventual defeat at Carbisdale, was in turn besieged by government forces, but were forced to surrender after the water supply ran out. <i><u>Sir John Hurry</u></i> *General Sir John Hurry (aka Urry) had a remarkable military career. He was born in Aberdeenshire and gained military experience in Germany and Flanders before returning to Scotland in 1639 to serve in the Bishops' Wars, where he was appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the Army of the Covenant. In October 1641, Hurry was approached by Royalist conspirators to join the plot known as &quot;The Incident&quot; against the Marquis of Hamilton and the Earls of Argyll and Lanark. Hurry declined to join and revealed details to Alexander Leslie, which resulted in the failure of the conspiracy. When the English Civil War broke out in 1642, Hurry hurried to join the Parliamentarian army. He was with Sir William Waller at the siege of Portsmouth, then fought with distinction at Edgehill and Brentford under the Earl of Essex. Early in 1643, Hurry was nominated for the rank of major of horse under the Earl of Bedford. He did not consider this a high enough rank and in April 1643, Hurry deserted Parliament and joined the King's army at Oxford. He gave information on Parliamentarian positions and rode with Prince Rupert in the raid that culminated in the action at Chalgrove Field and the death of John Hampden. Hurry was knighted on his return to Oxford. He then led a detachment of Royalist cavalry which swept around the rear of Essex's army and plundered West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, causing alarm in London. In 1644, Hurry accompanied Rupert on the York March as colonel of a regiment of horse and fought at Marston Moor. After the Royalist defeat, Hurry thought that the King's cause was lost and fled to Sir William Waller's army. Although the Committee for Both Kingdoms initially ordered his arrest, Hurry was allowed to rejoin the Parliamentarian army in October 1644. In February 1645, Hurry transferred back to the Army of the Covenant with the rank of major-general and colonel of dragoons. He went as second-in-command to Lieutenant-General William Baillie when he marched into Scotland against the Marquis of Montrose. Baillie and Hurry had fought on opposite sides at Marston Moor and disliked one another. Hurry captured Aberdeen from the Royalists on 15 March 1645, but abandoned it the following day. His unsuccessful pursuit of Montrose after the sack of Dundee earned him further disdain from Baillie. When Baillie divided his forces, Hurry attempted to mount a surprise attack on Montrose but he was defeated at the battle of Auldearn in May 1645. Hurry himself fought courageously and was one of the last to leave the field. Shortly after this defeat, he resigned his commission on the grounds of ill-health. During the Second and Third Civil Wars, Hurry went back to the Royalists. Against the orders of the Covenanter Committee of Estates, he marched with the Duke of Hamilton and the Engagers in August 1648, only to be taken prisoner at the battle of Preston. He succeeded in escaping to the continent. In 1650, Hurry served as major-general to the Marquis of Montrose on his final campaign in Scotland. Wounded and captured by the Covenanters at the battle of Carbisdale, Hurry was beheaded at Edinburgh on 29 May 1650.