Interior, 1st. floor, drawing-room, view of fireplace.

Description Interior, 1st. floor, drawing-room, view of fireplace.

Date 16/11/1998

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number D 41663 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 767321

Scope and Content Fireplace in Drawing Room, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway This fireplace, in white, black and veined marble, forms the focal point of the north wall of the drawing room. The white marble panel in the centre is carved with the 1st Duke of Queensberry's coat-of-arms in deep-cut relief. It comprises a shield (centre), divided into four quarters, each of which bears a family crest, and supported by two winged horses. The Douglas emblem, a crowned winged heart, and a ducal coronet surmount the shield. The Douglas emblem appears everywhere at Drumlanrig - in stone, lead, iron, wood, leather and carpeting. Its origins are founded in the story of the 1st Duke of Queenberry's ancestor, Sir James Douglas, 'The Good' or 'Black' Douglas who was one of the foremost supporters of Robert Bruce, King of Scots in the early 14th century. When Bruce died in 1329 before being able to go on crusade, Sir James was entrusted to carry the king's heart to Jerusalem for burial. Douglas, unfortunately, was killed in Spain before reaching the Holy Land, but before he died is said to have hurled the royal heart, contained in a silver casket, before him with the epic cry 'Forward, brave heart!' From that time the Douglas motto became 'Forward' and the family emblem, a winged heart surmounted by the crown of Robert Bruce. Drumlanrig Castle, one of the great Renaissance courtyard houses of Scottish domestic architecture, was built between 1679 and 1690 for William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry, on the site of a late 14th-century Douglas stronghold. The castle passed to the Dukes of Buccleuch in 1810, and is now the home of the 9th Duke (11th Duke of Queensberry). It houses many great family treasures and important works of art, including magnificent carvings and a fine collection of paintings. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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