Broughty Castle is a historic castle on the banks of the River Tay in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland. It was completed around 1495, although the site was earlier fortified in 1454, when George Douglas, 4th Earl of Angus, received permission to build on the site. His son, Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus, was coerced into ceding the castle to the crown. The main tower house forming the centre of the castle with four floors was built by Andrew, 2nd Lord Gray, who was granted the castle in 1490.
History
The Rough Wooing
The castle saw military action during the 16th-century War of the Rough Wooing. After the battle of Pinkie in September 1547, it was surrendered by purchase to the English by its owner, Lord Gray of Foulis. A messenger from the castle, Rinyon (Ninian) Cockburn, who spoke to the English supreme commander the Duke of Somerset before the castle was rendered was given a £4 reward. The Scottish keeper, Henry Durham, was rewarded with an English pension, income from the fishing, and an import/export licence. Durham later lent the English commander £138. William Patten, the English writer who accompanied Somerset, noted the castle's strategic importance;"it standeth in such sort at the mouth of the river Tay, that being gotten, both Dundee and St. John's Town (Perth), and many other towns else shall become subject to this hold or be compelled to forgo their use of the river."
The position of the old castle itself was advantageous to modern warfare, as it was discovered that the swift river current made naval bombardment impractical. Soon after taking possession, the English garrison further fortified Broughty by building a ditch across the landward side of the castle's promontory. Edward Clinton began the refortification, on the advice of an Italian engineer, Master John Rossetti, and left 100 men guarded by three ships. William Bruce of Earlshall feared the English would build an outpost on the south say of the Tay. The garrison was first led by Sir Andrew Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland's brother, who hoped to distribute Tyndale's Bible in Dundee. Andrew Dudley wrote in October 1547 that; "never had a man had so weak a company of soldiers given to drinking, eating and slothfulness," although, "the house stands well." His garrison included Italian and Spanish soldiers, and he hoped that Grey of Wilton would send him an expert French surgeon. The town of Dundee agreed to support the garrison and resist the Governor of Scotland, Regent Arran on 27 October 1547. The Constable of Dundee, John Scrimgeour, and the baillies and council signed the agreement, although under the duress of Dudley's two gunships.
The Earl of Argyll tried to capture the castle on 22 November 1547 and again in January 1548 with 150 men led by the soldier Duncan Dundas, without success. Thomas Wyndham brought two more ships in December 1547 and burnt Balmerino Abbey on Christmas Day. On 12 January 1548, one hundred matchlock guns were delivered from Berwick, with powder flasks, matches, touch boxes, and bullet moulds. Sir Thomas Palmer and the Italian military engineer "Master John", Giovanni di Rossetti, who was made master of ordnance at Broughty, made plans to improve the fortifications, noting that the castle was overlooked by a nearby hill. In February 1548, 100 workmen were sent from Berwick and new armaments including falcon guns, cannonballs for demi-culverins, bows, bills, pikes, cresset lights, cables and anchors. Palmer set to work fortifying the hill in February and also considered ambitious plans to build a citadel in Dundee with the demolition of the church and tolbooth. Andrew Dudley waited for lead to make a new platform (probably for artillery) on the castle tower in March 1548.
Andrew Dudley was succeeded by John Luttrell who had been the commander at Inchcolm. On 11 May 1548, the English commander at Haddington, Grey of Wilton wrote to Luttrell that he could not expect more supplies because of the expected French fleet. Grey of Wilton warned him against Scottish assassins in June, and Somerset required him to dismiss the German mercenaries in his command. There was some relief for Luttrell, as Lord Methven took away the guns of the Scottish counter-battery for redeployment at the Siege of Haddington on 6 June 1548.