Sorbie Castle

My DNA tingling, I couldn't let this week's Theme Thursday subject
"castle" pass, without mentioning Sorbie Castle, my ancestral home.

Although I've never visited, I feel a strong kinship with this place and

it's at the very top of my bucket list. Located one mile east of the

village of Sorbie in Wigtownshire, southwestern Scotland, Sorbie

Castle, or Tower, is a late 16th Century L-plan tower house which

was built for the Hannay family and is now held by the Clan Hanna

Society.

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The castle was most likely built by Alexander A'Hanna of Sorbie, who

succeeded his father, Patrick, after the latter's murder in 1543. At

the time the castle was built, the A'Hannas were at the height of

power, as Lords of the Manor. Their land stretched across the

Machars of Galloway, to such an extent, that it was known as

Machars Hannay. It certainly appears that the Hannay and Sorbie

family histories are intertwined. The big question is whether the

Sorbies were a family in their own right, with their own distinct

history, or an offshoot of the Hannay or some other family, who took

the name Sorbie to denote their place of origin.

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In its day, Sorbie Castle was a structure of considerable importance
and may have actually been preceded by an earlier wooden castle,
since there is a nearby mound, which MacGibbon and Ross mention
in their work, The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of
Scotland. In 1993, the Archaeological Department of Glasgow
University carried out a dig on the mound, finding shards of pottery,
identified as coming from Bordeau around 1250. They also found
pieces of coins of Henry III of France and traces of the base of a
flying bridge, like appear in the Bayeux tapestry.

For more photos of Sorbie Castle, click on a tour by Scott Hanna.
[HERE] Although, I've not met Scott personally, he is a fellow Hanna

descendant.

Looking east from Sorbie Village.

Map showing Sorbie Village, including Sorbie Tower, center

This just in...

FireLight just pointed out how much Sorbie Castle looks like the
ruins of Moy Castle, pictured below, used in the filming of one of
my favorite movies of all time, Powell and Pressburger's 1945
film, I Know Where I'm Going. She is so right. I've gotta watch it
tonight. Now, where'd I put those woolly socks?

Moy Castle