Rare Books

Kilravock Castle Archive: A Chronicle of Highland Heritage

2 June 2025

Cathy Marsden

Situated between Inverness and Nairn in the Scottish Highlands, Kilravock Castle served as the ancestral seat of Clan Rose from the commencement of its construction in 1460 until its transition to the Kilravock Christian Trust in 1984. Long before the castle’s foundations were laid, however, the Rose family had established their presence on the estate, with records tracing their settlement back to 1293.

Lyon & Turnbull is honoured to present the first section of the Kilravock Castle archive for sale in June 2025 (Lots 1 - 32). Although the Lairds of Kilravock held only the title of Baron - the lowest rank in British nobility - their influence and connections were anything but modest. The archive offers a unique lens into the workings of medieval Scottish feudal society and includes signed letters from monarchs such as James V, Mary Queen of Scots, and James VI & I. It is a collection of exceptional depth, well preserved, and is rich in early documents rarely found outside institutional holdings.

Books & Manuscripts

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Letter signed, 1565

Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), Queen of Scotland 1542-1567

A key reference for the archive is A Genealogical Deduction of the Family of Rose of Kilravock, published in 1848 by The Spalding Club and compiled by Cosmo Innes and Lachlan Shaw. Many of the documents here are referred to, and often transcribed, in the work (page references have been supplied in the cataloguing). The book, at least initially, is an edited printing of Mr Hew Rose, Minister of Nairn’s genealogical manuscript of the family, seemingly commissioned by the fourteenth Laird around 1683. Two manuscript copies of this original account - one possibly penned by Rose himself - are included in the archive. Reflecting the structure of the genealogy, this first part of the archive is arranged chronologically, documenting the history of the family from the mid-13th century through the tenure of the fourteenth Laird in the 1680s.

Perhaps unusually, the story of the Clan Rose at Kilravock begins with a woman: Elizabeth de Bosco (née de Bisset), Lady of Kilravock. Through her marriage to Sir Andrew de Bosco, she appears to have brought the Kilravock lands into the union. With no surviving male heirs, Elizabeth’s daughter Marie de Bosco married Hugh Rose of Geddes. Documents from the mid-13th century detail Elizabeth transferring the Kilravock lands to her son-in-law, marking the formal beginning of the Rose lineage at Kilravock and Geddes.

Document signed, dated 13th October 1542

James V (1512-1542), King of Scotland

Innes and Shaw observe that the narrative found in the archive - and in Hew Rose’s manuscript - frames Scottish history through a distinctly familial lens:

“Our author’s method of presentation is peculiar. He takes his eras from the chronology of his family; the periods of time being divided according to generations of the Barons of Kilravock…it comes to pass that the most important events of our own country and of the world are ranged with reference to the succession of these Nairnshire Barons…”

Yet major historical figures and events still surface throughout the archive. A 1360 papal supplication for indulgence underscores the Church’s influence in 14th-century Scottish life. A 1461 license from John MacDonald, Fourth Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, obliges the construction of Kilravock Castle amid renewed national defence efforts following King James I’s return from English captivity. Royal documents signed by James V call for military action and civil obedience, while letters from Mary of Guise expose the fragile balance of power she held during her regency. In 1638, the leaders of the Covenanting movement urged the 12th Baron of Kilravock to “repair to Edinburgh with all convenient speede, that you micht be truelie informed of the estait of our effaires, and give your concurrence and advyce how these innovationes of the Service Booke, His Comission, Canons, and other abusis, so much threatning the overthrow of religioun and law, micht be removed…”

Five letters, signed, 1555-1559

Mary of Guise (1515-1560), Queen of James V Scotland, Regent of Scotland for Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1560)

Particularly striking are five letters signed by Mary, Queen of Scots - four also co-signed by her ill-fated husband, Lord Darnley. These letters highlight the Crown’s reliance on the Roses to maintain stability in the Highlands. In 1562, Mary requested the Laird’s assistance in upholding regional order. Letters from September and October 1565, signed by Mary and Darnley, reveal the shifting dynamics of royal favour: Hugh Rose was first entrusted with command of Inverness Castle and appointed Sheriff, only to see the castle handed to the Earl of Huntly weeks later.

Despite a fire at Elgin Cathedral in 1390, destroying a quantity of the family documents, an incredible amount of early material has been preserved in the archives of Kilravock Castle. It is almost impossible to give a fully comprehensive overview of its contents and significance here. Nevertheless, we invite potential bidders and historians alike to explore the extraordinary contents of this archive and to appreciate its intricate role in the wider tapestry of Scottish history.

Letter signed, 1565

Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), Queen of Scotland 1542-1567

Department

Books & Manuscripts

About the Author

Cathy Tait

Head of Department