Barr Castle, Galston

Barr Castle in Galston used to be known as Lockhart’s Tower. One of the Lockharts from Galston is reputed to have been one of the men associated with returning Robert the Bruce's heart to Scotland after it had been lost in a battle abroad by James Douglas who carried it to the Crusades as a dying wish of the famous King. There are two local legends associated with the tower. The first has Wallace escaping from English soldiers by jumping from a window of the tower into the branches of a tree (although if true, it must have been an earlier tower as this one architecturally dates to around the 15th century and Wallace was active in the 13th).  The other involves a handball game that Wallace's men supposedly played against the tower walls (again probably an earlier tower) to keep fit. The people of Galston continued to play this game until quite recently.