- Casualty: Battle of Flodden
Biography
Alexander Adair of Kilhilt was born circa 1445 in Kilhilt Tower, Portpatrick, Wigtownshire, Scotland to William Adair (1418-1485) and Miss Vaux (1420-) and died 9 September 1513 Battle of Flodden of unspecified causes. He married Euphemia Stewart (1454-1525) 1468 JL in Scotland.
This Adair was designed of Kilhilt and was killed with many others of the Nobility and Gentry of Scotland at the famous battle of Floudon in 1513, where King James IV likewise lost his life.
Dunskey Castle
Dunskey Castle
Dunskey Castle is a ruined, 12th-century tower house or castle, located 0.5 miles (0.80 km) south of the village of Portpatrick, Rhinns, Wigtownshire, on the south-west coast of Scotland overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. On a clear day, the coast of Ireland is visible 21 miles away. Dunskey Castle is a scheduled monument, a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The castle was home to the Adair family for over 300 years, with a brief period when it fell into the hands of the Kennedy family in 1455. The original fortification was plundered and then destroyed in 1489 by Sir Alexander McCulloch. The tower house was then rebuilt in 1510 by Ninian Adair which is when it took on its L-shaped tower house layout. This version of the castle would have had a curtain wall and a watch tower out on the cliff edge.
"Dunskey was built around 1510 by Adair of Kilhilt, replacing an earlier building which had been plundered and burned by Sir Alexander McCulloch of Myrtoun in 1489 after laying siege to the castle and starving out it's defenders."
1496 Legal Complaint
In about 1489, Sir Alexander McCulloch (knight) and his forces, attacked, plundered, burned and caused serious damage to Dunskey Castle as described in this legal complaint filed 7 years later.
In the Scottish Government Records "Acts of the Lord of Council in Civil Causes, vol. II, AD1496-1501, published in 1918, page 38 of 29 August 1496 it reads (in old English)in part -
"Anent the complaynt made be Wilzeam Adaire of Kilhelt and Archibald Makculloch of Ardwell apoun Schir Alexander McCulloch of Mertoune, knicht, Owchtre McDowell of Gerthloy, and thare complicis, that quhair thai war dylatit of art and part of the slauchter of umquhile DYONYSE of Hammyltoun, quilkis was slane on Mydsummer evin that last was, in the toune of Wigtoun, thai bean innocent thareof, and was redy al tymes to underly our soverane Lordis lawis tharefore as was allegiit, quharefore the persons forsaid with thare complicis assegit the place of DUNSKAY pertenyng to the sade Wilzeam Adair and rasit fyre and byrnt the sammyn and skaithit the said Wilzeam in househald geire tharethrou, extending to the soume of xl li., throw the quhilk fyre rasing thai birnt ane box pertenyng to Elyse McCulloch quhilk thai had in keping and in it j li. and the skaith of the birnyng of the sade Wilzeam house extending to xx li., and als that thai tuke and spulzeit fra the sade Wilzeam foure horses with a part of barkit hydis, as was rychtsa allegiit, and als fra the sade Archbald McCulloch and his pure folkis insicht gudis of househald to the availe of xxx li., togidder with ix of ky and oxin, xviij of schepe, xvj horses and meris, tane be the sade Schir Alexander and his complicis as was inlikewise allegiit."
1513 Battle of Flodden
The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English victory. The battle was fought near Branxton in the county of Northumberland in northern England, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey.[1] In terms of troop numbers, it was the largest battle fought between the two kingdoms.[2]
After besieging and capturing several English border castles, James encamped his invading army on a commanding hilltop position at Flodden and awaited the English force which had been sent against him, declining a challenge to fight in an open field. Surrey's army therefore carried out a circuitous march to position themselves in the rear of the Scottish camp. The Scots countered this by abandoning their camp and occupying the adjacent Branxton Hill, denying it to the English. The battle began with an artillery duel followed by a downhill advance by Scottish infantry armed with pikes. Unknown to the Scots, an area of marshy land lay in their path, which had the effect of breaking up their formations. This gave the English troops the chance to bring about a close-quarter battle, for which they were better equipped. James IV was killed in the fighting, becoming the last monarch from Great Britain to die in battle; this and the loss of a large proportion of the nobility led to a political crisis in Scotland. British historians sometimes use the Battle of Flodden to mark the end of the Middle Ages in the British Isles.
Kilhilt Tower
Kilhilt was the name of the Adair Family castle / manor home that stood in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries in the village of Portpatrick, County of Wigtownshire, Scotland. Nothing remains of the site today. Portpatrick sits on the southwest cost of Scotland and on a clear day you can see Ireland only 21 miles west. In the 17th century, much of the Adair Family moved to County Antrim in Ireland as part of the Ulster Plantation.
- See Also Kilhilt Castle - Stravaiging.com
Descendants
No documentation found to support existence of any other children except for these:
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Ninian Adair (1470-1525) | 1470 Scotland | 1525 Scotland | Katherine Agnew (1469-1575) |
Siblings
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Alexander Adair (1445-1513) | 1445 Kilhilt Tower, Portpatrick, Wigtownshire, Scotland | 9 September 1513 Branxton, Northumberland, England | Euphemia Stewart (1454-1525) |
| Madena Adair (1447-1525) | 1447 Kilhilt Tower, Portpatrick, Wigtownshire, Scotland | 1525 Scotland | |
Residences
References
- ^ Remembering Flodden | Map of the Battle
- ^ "The Seventy Greatest Battles of All Time". Published by Thames & Hudson Ltd. 2005. Edited by Jeremy Black. Pages 95 to 97.ISBN 978-0-500-25125-6.
- Battle of Flodden - Wikipedia
See Also