Caerlaverock Castle, from The Antiquities of Dumfries and its Neighbourhood Collected and Drawn by John McCormick

This page of the sketchbook shows Caerlaverock Castle.  The Castle lies to the south of Dumfries, near the mouth of the River Nith, close to the Solway Firth.  It is a distinctive triangluar shape with a broad moat.  Caerlaverock Castle was built up over the years by the Maxwell family, on the old foundations of an earlier castle, built in 1220.  Due to its location in the Scottish/ English borders, it was involved in many feuds during the Middle Ages.  The castle switched between Scottish and English occupation several times, until 1603 when after 400 years of sporadic warfare, the union of the crowns offered the promise of peace.  However, wars of religion, doctrine and kingship were to follow, resulting in further damage in the 1640s.  Repairs to the castle were never made.  It is now looked after by Historic Scotland.   These sketches of various buildings in and around Dumfries were mainly compiled through McCormick's own study of the area and by speaking to those who remembered the buildings, as the majority of them were no longer in existence or in a ruinous state by McCormick's time.  The drawings are all in pencil with extensive written notes.