Tour Scotland travel video, with Scottish music, of Threave Castle on visit to Dumfries and Galloway. This Scottish castle is situated on an island in the River Dee, West of Castle Douglas. Built in the 1370s by Archibald the Grim, it was a stronghold of the Black Douglases, Earls of Douglas and Lords of Galloway, until their fall in 1455. For part of this time, the castle and the lordship of Galloway were controlled by Princess Margaret, daughter of King Robert III and widow of the 4th Earl. In 1449 Threave was regained by the 8th earl, Scotland's most powerful magnate, who controlled extensive lands and numerous castles. He fortified Threave with an artillery house, a sophisticated defence for its time. The excessive power of the Black Douglas lords led to their overthrow by King James II in 1455, after which Threave was besieged and captured by the King's men. The castle, along with the lordship of Galloway, was annexed by the Crown, and a succession of keepers were appointed. King James II returned in 1460, on his way to the siege of Roxburgh Castle, where he would be killed by an exploding cannon. James III gave the castle to his wife Margaret of Denmark, though it is not known if she ever visited. James IV visited in 1502, when royal accounts record cloth, wine and falconers being brought to Threave. In 1513, Robert Maxwell, 5th Lord Maxwell, was appointed keeper following the death of the previous keeper, John Dunbar of Mochrum, at Flodden. In 1526 the position was made hereditary to the Maxwells, later Earls of Nithsdale. In 1542, Robert Maxwell was captured after the battle of Solway Moss, and forced to hand Threave over to the English invaders. It was retrieved for Scotland by the Earl of Arran in 1545. The Catholic Maxwell family, based at Caerlaverock Castle, were often suspected of treachery as Scotland turned to Protestantism, and Lord Maxwell was required to surrender Threave temporarily as the Spanish Armada approached the English coast. During the Bishops' Wars of 1638 to 1640, the Maxwells supported King Charles I. A garrison of up to 100 men was installed at Threave, and further earthworks were added to the Castle's defences. The army of the Covenanters, opposed to the royalist cause, arrived in summer 1640 and laid siege to the castle. After holding out for 13 weeks, the garrison surrendered on the orders of King Charles. The Covenanters ordered the buildings to be dismantled, and the materials to be disposed " to the use of the public."

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