Friars Carse
Friars' Carse is a mansion house and estate situated southeast of Auldgirth on the main road to Dumfries, Parish of Dunscore, Scotland. The property is located on the west bank of the River Nith and is known for its strong associations with Robert Burns who lived for a while at the nearby Ellisland farm. The mansion house is unlisted, however the stables and hermitage are Category B listed buildings.
The house and policies
The present mansion house hotel is of a baronial style in dressed red sandstone, constructed around an earlier house in 1873 by the architects Barbour and Bowie and extended by the same architects 1905 – 09. The principal range has a complex wide faced frontage and incorporates a peculiar round tower with a rectangular second stage corbelled out above. An armorial panel dated 1598 was built into the entrance tower range in 1909. The house has a fine panelled entrance hall and snooker room, together with an elegant staircase and 21 en suite bedrooms; it is placed within 18.2 ha of parkland and woodland.The name Friars' Carse derives from a monastic settlement which was established nearby by the Cistercian monks of Melrose in the 13th century. Carse Loch is located nearby and was once used as the monastic fish pond and its crannog was used as a hiding place for valuables during times of war or raids. The present punctuation convention for Friars Carse, with or without the apostrophe, is at variance with the older convention of Friars' Carse; the 'Carse of the Friars'.
By the 16th century, there was a tower here, with a cap-house surrounded by a prominent parapet. In the 17th and 18th centuries, this was extended to include lodgings with crow-stepped gables, enclosed within a courtyard. In 1771 Robert Riddell pulled down the old and ruinous buildings to create room for a new mansion. Frances Grose recorded that on his visit in 1789 the monks' refectory still stood with walls eight foot thick and a twelve foot wide fireplace.
;The stables and Beech Cottage
These estate buildings date mostly from the early 19th century, however the principal range side was re-modelled circa 1873, with a tall 2-stage tower built above. the Stables consist of four single storey ranges built around a quadrangular court. The pend beneath the tower is placed centrally and a gabled dovecot or doocot is present.
The Riddells
In the 17th century William Riddell, son of a Nova Scotia baronet, from Roxburghshire purchased the lands of Friars' Carse. The older buildings were replaced by a more modest Georgian mansion, known as Glenriddell, built 1771–73 for Robert Riddell or Riddel, a friend and patron of the poet Robert Burns.McKay records that Walter Riddell of Newhouse, grandfather of Robert, married his cousin Anne and through her inherited the estate of Glenriddell that her family had held since not long after the reformation and the concurrent secularisation of the lands held by Melrose Abbey.
On Robert Riddell's death in 1794, his widow could have allowed the property to go to Walter Riddell, her brother in law, who, under the terms of his brother's will, would then merely have had to pay her an annuity to retain the estate. Robert's widow disliked Walter Riddell to such an extent that she refused to exercise this option and the property was sold, passing out of the family's hands. Walter was wealthy in his own right, having made his fortune overseas; he had married the poet Maria Banks Woodley in Antigua, naming his new estate in her honour.
Dr James Crichton
A Captain Smith was the purchaser of 'Glenriddell' and he in turn sold the estate on to Provost John Crichton of Sanquhar, brother of John Crichton, who purchased it on his behalf in 1809. The house and estate had therefore been purchased for Dr James Crichton, who had made his fortune with the East India Company in the trade with China and had lived at Canton. In 1812 he took up occupancy and changed the name of the property from Glenriddell back to Friars' Carse and died here in 1823. His widow remained at Friars' Carse until her own death in 1862. The Crichton Royal Hospital in Dumfries was founded by her with a bequest of £100,000 in her husband's memory, or in other accounts founded by Dr Crichton himself.The Nelsons
Elizabeth Grierson of Lag, Dr Crichton's widow, sold the estate to Mr Thomas Nelson of Carlisle, said to have been an engineer working on the construction of the Forth Rail Bridge. Nelson added to the mansion house considerably, although he preserved the most interesting part of the old building, such as the 'Whistle' room and added masonic emblems to the hermitage building in recognition of Robert Burns' interest in the craft. The two lead-light windows in the Main Hall show an anchor and chains that may commemorate his link with the Forth Rail Bridge.The Crichton Royal Institution
In 1895, the trustees of the Crichton Royal Institution became proprietors of Friars' Carse and 473 acres of estate policies, etc. The mansion became a convalescent home in connection with the treatment of the insane. The residence was used as a summer residence for selected paying patients, mainly aristocrats and even royalty. Non-paying 'paupers' were also accommodated and were used as servants. The directors of the Crichton Royal Institution sold the property in 1908 for £21,150.The Post Office Fellowship of Remembrance
After a spell of ownership by Mr Charles Wedderburn Dickson, who extended the mansion still further, his widow sold the estate to Bryn Asaph Ltd., a Post Office staff organisation, and it became a convalescent and holiday guest home as a memorial to the men and women of the Post Office who died in the two world wars. The Post Office Fellowship of Remembrance still owns the estate today.Ancient history
It is recorded that the lands of Carse were given by Affrica, a daughter of Edgar, to Melrose Abbey in around 1215. Edgar was a son of Dunevald and grandson of Dunegal of Stranith. Edgar had possessed the lands under William the Lion. A Monastic grange of the Cistercian monks may have existed nearby as indicated by the name 'Grange Mill'. Abbot Andrew feued out the abbey's lands in 1536, granting the £4 lands of Freirkers and its Grange Mill, together with the restricted multures of the £36 lands of Dalgonar, and other lands to John Kirkpatrick of Ellisland. In 1565 the property was held by Thomas Kirkpatrick and his wife Janet Gordon.At the reformation the commendator granted the property to the Laird of Elliesland or Allisland, a cadet branch of the Kirkpatricks of Closeburn. The Kirkpatricks built a tower house of 'Freerscarss' here as recorded by Timothy Pont on his map of Nithsdale circa 1595. Francis Grose noted that when demolished in 1773 to make way for the mansion house, the old refectory walls were measured at 8 feet thick and the fireplace 12 feet wide.
Near the house was the loch or Lough, the fish-pond of the friars. In the middle of this loch was an artificial island, a crannog, built from large oak piles and planks; the hiding place of the friar's valuables upon occasions of the not infrequent intrusions by the English into Strathnith. A dugout canoe and other finds were made when the loch was drained.
Friars Carse had been held by the Stirlings for a time in the early 17th century and this line ended with Jean Stirling, an heiress who married John Maxwell of Templand and it was from this line that the Riddells purchased the property in 1737. Prior to 1647 a merchant, John Irving, had acquired Friars Carse and they were eventually passed following arbitration to the Maxwells and finally to the Riddells as stated, with £1500 in compensation paid to the Maxwells.
Friars' Carse passed from the Kirkpatrick's to the Maxwells of Tynwald in 1634, and from them to a cadet branch of the Lords of Maxwell, the Barncleugh family. The Riddells of Glenriddell obtained the estate from the Barncleughs in 1784.
A ninth or tenth century cross stands on a modern base in the grounds and is the only remaining example surviving from a collection of several stones, put together by Captain Robert Riddell, and once placed along the driveway to the house; one or more may have been at the site originally. Francis Grose recorded that stones from nearby Lag and Morton Castles were in the collection at one time; the Lag stone cut with the letters I. G. and the arms of the Grierson family, namely three cushions, in the centre of a mullet. Robert Riddell went so far as to construct an imitation Bronze Age circle of weathered stones. This bogus stone circle of 38 stones, all standing except three, one of which is in the centre and one just west of the circle; the site was named Templewood.
The lands of Carse once belonged in the 14th century to the Red Comyn and upon his murder eventually passed to King Robert the Bruce.
To the north of Friars' Carse is a site reputed to have been an encampment built by the Roman general Agricola.
; Views at Friars' Carse
Cultural history
Robert Burns lived at the nearby Ellisland Farm from 1788 to 1791. Burns was probably introduced to Captain Robert Riddell and his wife, Elizabeth Kennedy of Manchester, by Patrick Miller of Dalswinton, his friend and landlord. In September 1788 he composed The Day Returns as a compliment to Riddell and his wife, commenting that At their fire-side I have enjoyed more pleasant evenings than at all the houses of fashionable people in this country put together. Robert had fought in the American War and was an accomplished musical composer and musician as well as an antiquarian.In April 1791 Burns completed a collection of his poems and songs for Robert Riddell's library and these have become known as the Glenriddell Manuscripts. The one completed volume was later returned to Burns.
Burns visited Wanlockhead in January 1792 to explore the lead mines. He was accompanied by Maria Riddell, Robert Riddell's sister. They breakfasted at Sanquhar and then took a poste-chaise to the mines. They went a considerable distance into the mines, braving the dark, wet and cramped conditions at first, however they had to turn back as Burns found the poor air very distressing. Burns did not record this visit, however Maria included the details in a letter.
Robert Riddell set up the Monkland Friendly Society at Dunscore together with Robert Burns and helped to organise and censor its library of 150 volumes. Riddell was the president and Burns was the secretary of the society that met on every fourth Saturday. Wanlockhead and Leadhills also had libraries at this time, set up and run through the subscriptions of members.
Burns refers to Riddell's coin collecting in the Election Ballad of 1790: –
Robert Riddell discovered a gold ring weighing 1 oz. and set with a pale blue stone near Friars' Carse in May 1791.
In December 1783 Burns's friendship with the Riddells ended following a drunken incident at Friars' Carse known as the Rape of the Sabines; a 'raid' against the ladies which was too realistic and exuberant for good taste. He was ordered off the premises and Elizabeth Riddell never forgave Burns. Robert Riddell died at the age of 39, before any chance of a healing of friendships was possible. Walter and Maria Riddell moved to London upon Robert's death and when she returned, to Tinwald House near Dumfries, she eventually forgave Burns for his indiscretion.
News of this dissolute and dissipated affair seems to have reached the ears of his Excise superiors in Edinburgh and harmed his reputation.