Bonkyll Castle was a medieval fortress situated in the eastern Scottish Borders

Scottish Borders

The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...

 of which little remains. The site is protected as a scheduled monument.

Description

Excepting the motte

Motte

Motte may be:*Motte-and-bailey, a type of construction used in castles*Isaac Motte, an 18th century American statesman*La Motte , various places with this name-See also:* Mote * Mott...

 on which it stood, and a small section of curtain wall

Curtain wall

A curtain wall is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, but merely keep out the weather. As the curtain wall is non-structural it can be made of a lightweight material reducing construction costs. When glass is used as the curtain wall, a great advantage is...

 there is little left of the structure of what was once a very powerful Castle of Enceinte.

History

The caput

Caput baroniae

In English customs, the Caput baroniae was the ancient, or chief seat or castle of a nobleman, which was not to be divided among the daughters, in case there be no son to inherit. Instead, it was to descend entirely to the eldest daughter, caeteris filiabus aliunde satisfactis....

 of the wealthy honour of Bonkyll, the castle originally belonged to the eponymous Bonkyl family, passing by marriage in the late 13th century to Sir John Stewart

John Stewart of Bonkyll (d.1298)

John Stewart of Bonkyll was a son of Alexander Stewart the High Steward of Scotland and Jean, daughter of Séamus Macrory, Lord of Bute. He was a military commander during the First Scottish War of Independence and during the Battle of Falkirk, he commanded the Scottish archers, and was killed on 22...

, son of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland

Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland

Alexander Stewart was 4th hereditary High Steward of Scotland from his father's death in 1246.A son of Walter Stewart, 3rd High Steward of Scotland by his wife Bethóc, daughter of Gille Críst, Earl of Angus, Alexander is said to have accompanied Louis IX of France on the Seventh Crusade...

. Sir John's grandson, also Sir John Stewart

John Stewart, 1st Earl of Angus

Sir John Stewart, 1st Earl of Angus & suo jure uxoris Lord of Abernethy was a medieval Scottish nobleman.Stewart was the son of Sir Alexander Stewart of Bonkyll, grandson of Alexander Stewart, 4th High Steward of Scotland and an unknown mother. Sir Alexander died c...

 married Margaret de Abernethy, the heiress of the Lordship of Abernethy in 1328 and the following year he was created Earl of Angus

Earl of Angus

The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish province of Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is currently held by the Duke of Hamilton.-Mormaers:...

, thus combining broad territories in Berwickshire

Berwickshire

Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...

, Angus

Angus

Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...

, and Kinross-shire

Kinross-shire

Kinross-shire or the County of Kinross is a registration county, electoral ward and historic county in the Perth and Kinross council area in the east central Lowlands of Scotland...

. Sir John's grandaughter, Margaret Stewart, being his sole heiress inherited the Earldom of Angus and Lordship of Abernethy, and the honour of Bunkle. She had an illicit affair with William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas

William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas

William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas was a Scottish magnate.-Early Life:William Douglas was the son of Sir Archibald Douglas and Beatrice Lindsay, and nephew of "Sir James the Good", Robert the Bruce's trusted deputy...

, of which liaison, a child was produced, George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus

George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus

George Douglas, 1st Earl of Angus was born at Tantallon Castle, East Lothian, Scotland. The bastard son of William, 1st Earl of Douglas and Margaret Stewart, Dowager Countess of Mar & Countess of Angus and Lady Abernethy in her own right....

. From the Countess Margaret's death in 1417 Bunkle remained under the ownership of the Douglas Earls of Angus until the late 18th century when it passed to the Earls of Home.

A popular Berwickshire rhyme refers to the medieval strengths of Bonkyll and the nearby fortresses of Billie Castle, and Blanerne Castle

Blanerne Castle

Blanerne Castle is the remains of a 16th-century fortified house, located in the grounds of Blanerne House, an 18th-century country house between Chirnside and Preston in the Scottish Borders. The house and castle sit on the north bank of the Whiteadder Water, around north-east of Duns. The house...

 referring to their construction in the time of David I

David I of Scotland

David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...

 and their destruction following the Rough wooing:

Bunkle, Billie and Blanerne

Three castles strong as airn

Built when Davie was a Bairn

Theyll all gang doon,

Wi Scotland's Croon

An ilka ane shall be a cairn