Friars Carse

Standing a few miles north of the lovely town of Dumfries is Friars Carse, today a splendid 21-bedroom hotel occupying a 45-acre estate; however, this site is one of great antiquity. The lands were in the possession of Melrose Abbey up until the reformation of 1560/1 when the lands passed to the Clan Kirkpatrick and the site of the building today almost certainly contains fragments of a fortification dating from the 1300s built by the clan Maxwell. Scotland's National Poet, Robert Burns, was a frequent visitor being friends and drinking buddies with the then Laird, Robert Riddle. The estate later passed to the Clan Crichton and would remain in their possession until the castle and estate were sold in 1938, and was, thereafter, converted into a hotel. Beware when visiting: the grounds are said to be haunted by the ghosts of the monks. Robert Burns, The Bard (left) was a frequent visitor to Friars Carse; his own mother said that this likeness of her son was the most accurate she had ever seen.