Mauchline Castle

Captain Francis Grose was one of the first systematic recorders of architectural and archaeological remains in Britain. His six volume Antiquities of England and Wales published between 1773 and 1787, was followed by Antiquities of Scotland in two volumes published in 1789 and 1791. Robert Burns met him while he was undertaking the latter, and became a friend – writing three pieces about him including On Captain Grose’s Peregrinations through Scotland. This is a plate from Antiquities of Scotland showing Mauchline Castle.   Grose's description reads: "This castle stands in the town of Machlin; it formerly belonged to the Earls of Loudoun, and gave the second title to that noble family.  In 1789, when this drawing was made it was the property, by purchase, of Gavin Hamilton, Esq."