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Raecleuch Farm
Dryfe Sands A Novel of Scotland’s Bitterest Clan Feud Now available as hardcover, e- book and paperback on Amazon
Dryfe Sands now has readers in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, and Australia! SIGN UP FOR UPDATES, NEWSLETTER AND GOOD STUFF! Welcome to my latest newsletter! A number of years ago, before the M-74 was built to Glasgow, my wife and I visited a working farm in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, that was still called called Raecleuch (sometimes spelled Raecleugh) after hundreds of years. The farm was in Moffat Parish near the border of Lanarkshire. The farmer showed us the remains of of a building foundation next to a barn. There wasn't much to see, but that was all that was left of the sixteenth century structure that had once stood at Raecleuch. Since that time, the motorway has been built through the area and Raecleuch farm has been abandoned. It used to be thought that the old building, the remains of which are located at Raecleuch, had been a Tower House. It is now thought more likely that the building was a Bastel or bastle, a form of fortified farmhouse, said to be so called from the French "bastille." There are not many examples of bastels remaining in Scotland, although there are a number of well-preserved bastels in northern England, near the Scottish border. The sixteenth century building at Raecleuch was the home of Robert Johnstone of Raecleuch, a real historical person and the main character in the novel Dryfe Sands.
Castles in Dumfries and Galloway Map of Parishes in Dumfriesshire
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Jeffrey Johnstone | 62 Babcock Drive, Rochester, NY 14610 jeffreyjohnstone.com
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