We now continue our exploration of the Clackmannanshire Tower Trail by moving onto Alloa and visiting one of the largest and best-preserved tower houses in Scotland – Alloa Tower!
In the previous post we visited Clackmannan Tower and mentioned that the namesake town for the county, Clackmannan, slowly lost its importance and influence, to the neighbouring town up the River Forth – the Town of Alloa. It’s now time to learn more about why that happened, and the short answer is - location, location, location.
Alloa is located closer to the Firth of Forth, so it was easier to maintain its harbour than the silt-filled receding harbour of Clackmannan. Alloa was also in the junction of Firth of Forth and where the firth becomes the River Forth. Alloa is closer to Stirling and the ruins of Cambuskenneth Abbey (an extremely important abbey in Scottish history that we’ll write a post about in the near future).
Alloa is also closer to Glasgow, so when Glasgow started to develop, Alloa harbour provided a vital connection for Glasgow to the European continent. That is why the political and administrative power within Clackmannanshire slowly transitioned during the nineteenth century into Alloa.
I do want to point out that this lovely ‘wee County’ remains wee to this day because the entire county currently has just over 50,000 inhabitants; Alloa is the largest of the county’s municipalities with a population of about 20,000 people. This is baffling to me because Clackmannanshire is so centrally located within Scotland, and it is stunningly beautiful in its landscape. The Ochil Hills, in particular, provide a magnificent background to the entire region. Hopefully more people will start to discover what the ‘Clacks’ has to offer.
Aside from the location, we cannot tell the history of Alloa without telling the history of its peoples. Now, I would love to take a deep dive into the social history of Alloa by talking about all the industries- milling, glassmaking, brewing, coopering, weaving, etc.- and how those industries shaped the lives of the people working within them. However, we are here for the tour of Alloa Tower. So, we will revisit all that history at a later date. But don’t worry, the history of the Alloa Tower is also very intriguing and it revolves around a very powerful and influential family in Scottish history – the Erskine family.
Whereas the Clackmannan Tower involved the Bruce family, a family that had significant importance to Scottish history for a thousand years, we are now going to visit the home of the Erskine family. This is a family that had political power in Scotland for nearly as long as the Bruces. And, just like the Bruces, the fortunes of the Erskines have varied over the centuries. However, in fairness to the Erskines, they were literally cursed!
Intrigued yet?! Well, follow us into Alloa Tower, and we’ll tell you more.
There is some discrepancy over the age of Alloa Tower between historians and archaeologists, with the estimates varying from the 13th to the 14th century. Therefore, I will mostly focus on the Erskine family and their history with the tower. It is likely that the tower, or some other form of fortification on this location, predated the Erskines due to its strategic location in relation to the Forth River and the Firth of Forth. However, since the more accurate historic records begin with the Erskine family, we’ll start there, in 1360.
Alloa Tower became the home for the Erskine family, but the Erskines were closely tied to the Earldom of Mar (now also to Earldom of Kellie). Starting in 1404, the first Earl was Robert Erskine, 1st Lord Erskine, 13th Earl of Mar. Although, the Erskines did have historical connections to the previous Earls, they started to benefit and gain more privileges when their close allies– the Stewarts (later known as the Stuarts)- rose to power in Scotland. I know, it’s not quite that simple either, because on few occasions the Stewart monarchs removed the Earldom from the Erskines, only to have it be bestowed on them again later. It’s all about the alliances, right? In any case, that history gets complicated and confusing very fast, so I will try to keep it simple. For the most part, the Erskines supported the Stewarts- sometimes to their benefit and sometimes to their detriment.
At this point, you’re probably wondering how this all relates to the tower. Well, as the importance of the family grew, it all reflected on the house. First it was enlarged with the Great Hall rising to three stories high in the 14th century. In the following century it was further expanded to five stories. On the ground floor, a grander entrance was added in the 16th century.
Beginning in the 18th century, a large mansion house– the House of Alloa- was built. At this point, the ‘Old Tower’ became a mere annex to the more modern house, but I am glad that Erskines decided to keep the old relic standing. They had some plans to have it renovated and modernized, but, unfortunately, that never happened.
While I wish we could see the House of Alloa today, you cannot. Why not? Well, I did mention a curse, right?
Alright, so let’s go back to the history. In 1565, the Earldom of Mar was restored to the Erskine family by Mary (Stuart), Queen of Scots. John Erskine, 6th Lord Erskine, became the 1st Earl of Mar (also the 18th Earl of Mar – I did warn you that the peerage system can get a bit confusing, especially due to the numerous creations of the system). He became one of the most influential Earls in Scottish history, but it was also he who brought on the curse to Alloa Tower!
The curse was quite complicated, and perhaps could inspire a whole book, but I will try to keep it somewhat brief. Here we go –
In 1571, Lord Erskine, 1st Earl of Mar (pictured below), sent his troops along with a group of masons to the afore mentioned Cambuskenneth Abbey. He ordered the destruction of it, and that the stones from it to be used to build him a new mansion house in Stirling – Mar’s Lodgings (now known as Mar’s Wark). This is how Mar's Wark looks today:
This destruction of the abbey did not go over well with the monks who were left homeless or with the Church in general- destroying a place of worship tends to have consequences. The last Abbot of Cambuskenneth, Abbot Patrick, was especially angry, and it was he who placed the curse on the Erskines- by the door of Alloa Tower.
The curse was essentially a list of predictions that were powerful and scary. This is most likely because many (if not all) of the angry abbot’s predictions came true! For instance, he predicted that, “Proud Chief of Mar, thou shalt be raised still, higher, until thou sittest in the place of the King”. Well, the 1st Earl did become the Regent and the guardian for King James VI, and as a Regent – he literally sat in the place of the King.
While predictions in the Alloa Tower curse might have started positive, they got dark and negative quickly. The very next part of the curse predicted that the Earl’s new mansion would never be completed because no man should ever benefit from the desecration of a holy place. Well once again, that prediction became true– Mar’s Wark in Stirling was never completed.
The Abbot then also predicted the downfall of the Erskines by claiming that, “thou shalt have riches and greatness, and shalt be true to thy Sovereign, and shalt raise his banner in the field of blood. Then, when thou seemest to be highest – when thy power is mightiest, then shall come thy fall; low shall be thy head amongst the nobles of the people. Deep shall be thy moan among the children of dool. Thy lands shall be given to the stranger; and thy titles shall be among the dead.”
In this case, you could argue that this became true a few generations later, when John Erskine, 6th (and 23rd) Earl of Mar, remained loyal to the Stuarts in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715. King James VII of Scotland (King James II of England) was deposed in the 1688 ‘Glorious Revolution’ for being Catholic. His son, James Francis Edward Stuart, led the rebellion to restore the crown back to the Stuarts. However, his forces were led in Scotland by John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar. Therefore, he raised the banner of his sovereign in the field of blood- in this case the Battle of Sheriffmuir- without much success. In fact, James fled to France to live out his days in exile. Meanwhile, the Earl was charged with treason, and he had all his lands and titles taken from him, including Alloa Tower.
However, the former Earl’s brother was able to at least purchase the forfeited tower, thus bringing the tower back to the Erskine family. The Earldom was even restored to the Erskines in 1824, but that is jumping ahead in terms of the curse. Because it is going to get even darker first…
As the angry Abbot Patrick decreed: “The branch that springs from thee shall see his dwelling burnt, in which a King is nursed, his wife a sacrifice in that same flame; his children numerous but of little honour, and three born and grown, who shall never see the light of day.” This is the part of the curse that really impacted Alloa Tower. Well, sort of.
In 1800, the home of the Erskines (the 7th Earl) was destroyed- ‘burnt’ in a fire. There is some contradicting information as to the extent of the damage to the tower. However, there is no doubt about the damage to the adjacent House of Alloa as it was completely destroyed, and that is why we are not able to visit the former magnificent mansion house in the present day.
As for Alloa Tower, the real damage resulted from its abandonment in the aftermath of the fire in 1800 because, with the House destroyed and gone, the Erskines moved away. They do, however, return to Alloa and build a new, even more modern mansion house- Alloa House- in 1834. Unfortunately, that was demolished in the 1960’s. And, no, it wasn’t the Abbot’s curse, just the curse of the 1960’s, when so many beautiful and historic homes were destroyed, and replaced by horrendous, brutalist blocks of cement.
But, back to the curse for wee bit more as the 7th Earl not only witnessed his home burnt, but also three of his nine children were born blind – “three born and grown, who shall never see the light of day.” Are you getting spine-tingling heebie-jeebies yet? Well, speaking of “little honour”, the oldest son was disinherited by the Earl, and he is also believed to have died from an opium overdose.
To the credit of Abbot Patrick, he didn’t curse the Erskine family to all eternity and even provided predictions of the family’s redemption- “Thou proud head and daggered hand must dree thy eird, until horses shall be stabled in thy hall, and a weaver shall throw his shuttle in thy chamber of state. Thine ancient Tower – a woman's dower – shall be a ruin and a beacon, until an ash sapling shall spring from its utmost stone. Then shall thy sorrows be ended, and the sunshine of royalty shall beam on thee once more. Thine honours shall be restored”.
You could argue that this all too came to be, because shortly after the devastation of the fire of 1800, the tower, and its great hall were used as the staples for the Yeomen Cavalry unit. Later, a residence in the derelict tower was taken over by a local weaver, who set up his looms in the tower without proper permissions. And, finally, by the time of 1824, little ash tree saplings were spotted sprouting from the top of the tower and the Earldom was restored to the Erskine family in 1824!
There are a lot more theories and conspiracies related to the curse. However, we’ll leave it there for now because I feel that we’ve covered some of the highlights that best introduce you to the Erskine family and Alloa Tower. You’ve been so patient through all the history thus far, and I’m pleased to say that it is now time to see some more of the tower.
Alloa Tower, is an absolute must see when visiting Scotland. From the medieval dungeon to the information of the 20th century restoration of the tower, all visitors are given a brilliant introduction into Scottish history on your visit. I can also speak from experience that it’s possible to learn something new even when revisiting Alloa Tower!
Obviously, it was impossible for me to include all the fascinating history in this article (I even omitted ghost stories- don’t worry we can revisit those later). However, one thing is undeniable, the Erskine family were and are essential to the history of Alloa Tower, and to the history of the town of Alloa that developed around it. So, I cannot think of a better way to wrap up this post, than to climb to the very top of the Alloa Tower and show you the magnificent vistas of the town and surrounding area.
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Until next time- Explore & Discover!
