Castle Stead, Castle Place, Montrose, Angus

Image: © Adrian Diack Taken: 29 Jun 2023

Castle Stead is reputedly the birthplace of James Graham, (1612 - 21 May 1650), the 1st Marquess of Montrose. His diaries record that he bought two golf clubs ‘in Montrois’ for 24 shillings to play golf with his brother in law, Sir John Colquhoun on the 9th November 1629, which was the day before his wedding at Kinnaird Castle. Both James Graham and his bride, Magdalena Carnegie, were aged 17 when they married. James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose is known as the Great Montrose. As a man of many facets and abilities, he was a nobleman, a poet, a soldier and later viceroy and captain general of Scotland. He was a brilliant, battle commander and tactician and he fought a number of spectacular campaigns which identified him as one of the great military commanders of his age and perhaps of any age. At first, he joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but he subsequently changed sides and supported the Royalists and King Charles I. Ultimately, he shared the same gruesome fate as King Charles 1 by being decapitated. After the Restoration, King Charles II paid for a lavish funeral in 1661, when Montrose’s reputation was changed from traitor to that of martyr. Around 1810, Nicholas Carnegie bought Castle Stead from James Graham, the 4th Duke of Montrose, (1799 – 1874), who was the great-grandson of the Great Montrose. Nicholas Carnegie, HEICS, had a tenuous family connection to David Scott, Chairman of the East India Company through his mother, Susan Carnegie. This slight connection was critical to his military career in India where he gained the rank of Major-General and commanded the Bengal Artillery. A plaque on one of the entrance pillars outside Castle Stead informs the reader that this was the site of the 12th century Montrose Castle which was destroyed in 1297. The assertion that this is the site of Montrose Castle is disputed, however, as there is little or no archaeological evidence to support this view. At present, the Category B Listed Building of Castle Stead, at 3 and 4 Castle Place, serves as Montrose Job Centre. In addition to Castle Stead, the photo also shows the nearby statue of the Great Montrose. This statue was unveiled by James Graham, 8th Duke of Montrose, on the 4th August 2000, to mark the 350th anniversary of the execution of the 1st Marquess, in 1650, at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh.

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