{{Short description|Castle in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Use British English|date=March 2025}} '''Baldoon Castle''' was a 16th-century castle about {{convert|1.5|mi}} south west of Wigtown, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, south of the river Bladnoch.<ref name=Coventry>Coventry, Martin (2001). ''The Castles of Scotland''. Musselburgh: Goblinshead. p. 65 {{ISBN|1-899874-26-7}}</ref>
==History== The Dunbars of Westfield owned the property for almost three centuries from 1533-34.<ref name=Coventry/> It was a gift from King James V to Archibald Duncan.<ref name=Canmore>{{cite web |url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/63381/baldoon-castle|publisher=Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland|title=Baldoon Castle |accessdate=2016-08-26}}</ref>
==Structure== Little remains of the castle:<ref name=Coventry/> only a length of the south wall with the springing of at least three walls on its north face, and the remains of an entrance gateway lying {{convert|50|m}} to the north. The gateway dates from the 17th century, and are described as a good example of Renaissance work.<ref name=Canmore/>thumb|left|Baldoon Castle The gate piers which were part of the entrance to the castle with bands of stylised rock-faced rustication alternating with lozenges. They are topped by cornices and moulded scroll caps.<ref name="British Listed Buildings">{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/sc-10109-baldoon-castle-gatepiers-kirkinner#.V8A03mdRHL8|title=Baldoon Castle Gate Piers|publisher=British Listed Buildings|accessdate=2016-08-23}}</ref>
The gate piers are registered as a Category A Listed Building.<ref name="British Listed Buildings"/>
==Tradition== It is said that the ghost of Janet Dalrymple of Carscreugh haunts the ruin, in a bloodied wedding dress. Janet was forced to marry Sir David Dunbar of Carscreugh Castle although she had fallen in love with another man,<ref name=Coventry/> the impoverished Archibald 3rd Lord Rutherfurd. She either was murdered on her wedding night or died insane shortly afterward.<ref name=Coventry/>
The story is the basis for both Sir Walter Scott’s The Bride of Lammermoor and Gaetano Donizetti’s opera Lucia di Lammermoor.<ref>The Douglas Archives [https://www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/Places/baldoon_castle.htm The Douglas Archives]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Castles in Dumfries and Galloway}}
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Category:Castles in Dumfries and Galloway Category:Category A listed buildings in Dumfries and Galloway