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Foulis Castle is a white washed mansion that incorporates an old tower house with gun loops. The castle was held by the Clan Munro from the 12th century or earlier and they had a stronghold there. The remains of an 11th-century Motte (man-made mound topped by a wooden palisade), believed to be the very first fortification at Foulis, still remain in the castle grounds today.
Foulis Castle itself is mentioned briefly in records that date back to the 14th century although the original Tower of Foulis was believed to have been built in 1154. In 1542 Donald Mackay of Strathnaver, chief of the Clan Mackay was imprisoned in Foulis Castle, when he was captured after the Battle of Alltan-Beath.
The castle survived up to the 18th century until it was attacked by Jacobites in 1746. Sir Robert Munro, 6th Baronet was killed at the Battle of Falkirk Muir in 1746 and the castle was sacked and burned by the Jacobites in the same year. Robert's son the next successive chief, Sir Harry Munro, 7th Baronet returned home from captivity to find the castle had been set on fire and much of the castle had been destroyed. The Jacobites were defeated just a few months later by Government forces at the Battle of Culloden. Sir Harry Munro set about rebuilding the castle incorporating what he could of the original building. However as the Battle of Culloden had brought a complete end to the Highland clan system there was no need for such a defensive fort anymore. As with many castles at this time it was re-built as a large mansion house as we see it today. The castle was re-built as a large classical mansion between 1754 and 1792. Foulis Castle still remains the home of the Chief of Munro, Hector W Munro of Foulis.
References:Dryburgh Abbey on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders was founded in 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland. The arrival of the canons along with their first abbot, Roger, took place in 1152.
It was burned by English troops in 1322, after which it was restored only to be again burned by Richard II in 1385, but it flourished in the fifteenth century. It was finally destroyed in 1544, briefly surviving until the Scottish Reformation, when it was given to the Earl of Mar by James VI of Scotland. It is now a designated scheduled monument and the surrounding landscape is included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.
David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan bought the land in 1786. Sir Walter Scott and Douglas Haig are buried in its grounds.