Rosyth Castle

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Rosyth Castle, a ruin on the coast of Inverkeithing parish, Fife, 1¾ mile NW of North Queensferry. It stands on a small sea-rock, connected by a causeway with the mainland, but surrounded at high water by the tide; and is a square, thick-walled tower of considerable height, somewhat resembling a Norman keep. ver its main entrance on the N side is the date 1561, with the initials M. R. (Maria Regina). A large mullioned window on the E side is dated 1655, when the damage was repaired of Cromwell's men four years before. And on the S side is this quaint inscription:-

` In dev tym dra yis cord ye bel to clink
Qvais mery voce warnis to mete and drink.

Rosyth Castle is said to have been the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell's mother, a tradition noticed by the Queen under date 6 Sept. 1842; and it figures in Scott's novel of The Abbot. The barony of Rosyth was purchased by Sir David Stewart about 1435, and remained with his descendants till about the beginning of last century. It was then sold to the Earl of Rosebery, but belongs now to the Earl of Hopetoun.—Ord. Sur., sh. 32, 1857. See vol. ii. of Grose's Antiquities of Scotland 1791).

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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