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

This page of the sketchbook shows Lochmaben Castle.  Lochmaben Castle was originally a motte, or wooden tower, built in 1160s by the Bruce family, Lords of Annandale.  The motte ruins remain on what is now the local golf course.   Robert the Bruce’s father became Earl of Carrick when he married Marjorie, the Countess of Carrick who was a descendant of the Celtic Lords of Galloway.  The future king was born at Turnberry Castle near Ayr, but local tradition has it that he was born in the family’s castle at Lochmaben.   The second stone built castle, which overlooks Castle Loch was built by the English during the period that Edward I of England gained control over Scotland in the 1290s.  It played a significant role in the defence of the English -Scottish border.  The castle last saw action in 1588, and after the Union of the Crowns in 1603, the castle fell into disuse.   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.