The Sunday Class
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Taught/practised on: 2013 April 7 th
LOCH LEVEN CASTLE (R8x32) 2C RSCDS Book 21  1- 8 1s lead down, ½ turn RH, lead up to 2 nd  place opposite sides  9-16 1s+2s dance Ladies Chain 17-24 2M+1L followed by 1M+2L Promenade & end with 1M dancing to own partner as 2M casts to 2 nd  place to meet his partner 25-32 1s+2s dance Poussette
Loch Leven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland which was the location of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence. In medieval times, the island of Lochleven was much smaller than it is today. The stout stone defensive wall may have been built around 1300 during the Wars of Independence with England and may have been built by the English themselves, to serve as a strong safe place from which to control the surrounding countryside. A later tale tells of Sir William Wallace himself capturing the fastness and killing all 30 ‘Inglismen’ he found there. In 1333, after the defeat at Halidon Hill, Lochleven was one of only five castles holding out against the English. Dominating the castle ruins is the lofty four-storey tower house - its 14th century date makes it one of the oldest in Scotland. The original entrance (subsequently closed up) is 5m above ground level, and gave access directly into the lord’s hall on the third floor. This is most unusual – perhaps the residents feared the additional hazard of flooding. When Queen Mary was a prisoner, the walled castle enclosure with its little garden to the north were all that appeared above the water. The interior is arranged in the usual manner, with kitchen and service accommodation in the bottom two floors and living space above. The floor above the hall served as Mary’s prison; Sir William Douglas, her gaoler, had a window converted into a tiny oratory specially for her. The top floor housed her doctor (Mary miscarried of twins while held here), and it was there that Mary disguised herself prior to her escape. The island fastness of Lochleven is associated with many colourful events and has been visited by countless distinguished personalities during its history. Some of those taking the boat across Loch Leven came of their own accord, including King Robert Bruce (in 1313 and 1323). Others were held prisoner within the castle’s walls – such as Robert, the High Stewart, in 1369, two years before his coronation as Robert II, the first of the royal house of Stewart. But the castle will be forever associated in the memory with another Stewart sovereign, Mary Queen of Scots. She first visited in 1561 as a guest of the owner, Sir William Douglas. But her last stay, in 1567–8, was as his prisoner. It was at Lochleven that she was compelled to abdicate her throne in favour of her infant son, James VI. The castle walls held her for less than a year and in May 1568 she escaped across the loch and then into exile in England.