DOUNE, a town, in the parish of Kilmadock,
county of Perth, 8 miles (N. W.) from Stirling, and 44
(N. W. by \V.) from Edinburgh; containing 1559 inhabitants.
This place, which is situated on the banks of
the river Teith, near its confluence with the Ardoch,
owes its origin to a castle founded here, according to
some (but disputed) accounts, by Murdoch, grandson of
Robert II., and who in 1370 was created Earl of Monteith,
and in 1398 Duke of Albany. Murdoch was taken
prisoner by the English at the battle of Homelden in
1401, and detained in captivity till the year 1411, when
he was exchanged for Percy, Earl of Northumberland,
from which time he continued to live in retirement till
the death of his father in 1420, when he succeeded to
the regency, which, however, after a disastrous government
of four years, he resigned. Subsequently a charge
of high treason was preferred against him, his two sons
Walter and Alexander, and his fafher-in-law Duncan,
Earl of Lennox, who were all seized and carried prisoners
to Stirling, where, being brought to trial and found guilty,
they were beheaded. Isabella, the wife of Murdoch,
was taken from the castle of Doune, and conveyed to
that of Tantallan in Lothian, to which place, upon their
decapitation, the heads of her father, husband, and children
were sent to her in her prison, with a view to extort
a revelation of the alleged treason; but she heroically
replied, that "if the crime alleged against the parties were
true, the king had done justly and according to law".
The castle of Doune was seized by James I., and annexed
to the crown, of which it continued to form an
appendage till the year 1502, when Margaret, daughter
of Henry VII. of England, on her marriage to James IV.,
obtained it as part of her settlement. After the death
of James IV., Margaret married, in 1528, Henry, Lord
Methven, a descendant of Murdoch, Duke of Albany;
and, with the consent of her husband, granted to James
Stuart, a younger brother of Lord Methven, the constableship
of the castle for life. This grant was confirmed
to him and to his heirs for ever by James V., and the
office is still held by his descendant, the present Earl of
Moray. Mary, Queen of Scots, and her husband Lord
Darnley, frequently made the castle their resort as a
hunting-seat; and in 1745 it was garrisoned by Mc
Gregor of Glengyle, nephew of Rob Roy, who held it
for Prince Charles Edward. A party of royalist volunteers
from the university of Edinburgh, among whom
was Home, the author of Douglas, having in one of their
excursions ventured as far as the Teith, were all captured
by Glengyle, and confined in the castle, from which
they ultimately effected their escape by climbing over
the walls, as related by Mr. Home in his History of the
Rebellion of 1745. The remains, situated on a peninsular
eminence, at the confluence of the Teith and the Ardoch,
convey a tolerably adequate idea of the ancient magnificence
of the castle; the walls, though roofless, are still
entire, forty feet in height and ten feet in thickness, inclosing
a quadrilateral area ninety-six feet in length and
of equal breadth. In the north-east angle is a massive
tower eighty feet in height, and at the opposite angle is
another tower, forty feet high. The great hall is sixtythree
feet in length, by twenty-five feet wide; and the
kitchen, and many of the family apartments, are spacious
and in tolerable preservation. In the lower portions of
the building are several cells and dungeons of frightful
appearance. The whole of the ruins have a stately and
imposing aspect, and, from their situation, form a strikingly
romantic feature in the scenery.
The TOWN has been much improved since the establishment
of the cotton-works in the adjacent village of
Deanston. It consists principally of three streets diverging
from the market cross, which is situated on the
spot where the roads from Bridge of Teith and Callander
meet; the houses are generally of neat appearance, and
several of the more modern are of handsome character.
The manufacture of Highland pistols was formerly carried
on here to a great extent, and the town was in high
reputation for them; the pistols made varied in price
from two to twenty-four guineas per pair, and were
supplied to most of the nobility of Europe. The manufacture
of Highland purses was also extensive, but these
have totally disappeared, and the population is at present
employed chiefly in agriculture or in the adjacent
manufactory. A post-office is established here, and
there is a savings' bank. Fairs are held on the second
Wednesday in February, for the sale of grain and for
general business; the second Wednesday in May, for
milch-cows and cattle; the last Wednesday in July, for
horses and cattle, the hiring of shearers, and other business;
the first Tuesday and Wednesday in November,
for sheep and black-cattle (a very large fair, called the
Latter fair); the last Wednesday in that month, for
horses and cattle; and the last Wednesday in December,
for fat-cattle, grain, and general business. Facility of
communication is afforded by parish and turnpike roads,
as well as by the Scottish Central railway, to which
there are regular conveyances. In 1846 an act was
passed for the construction of a line from the Scottish
Central railway, to Doune and Callander. Here is the
parish church with its handsome tower, and the members
of the Free Church have two places of worship, one
of them formerly belonging to the Old Light body.
There are also a place of worship for Wesleyans, and a
congregation of Independents. Doune gives the title of
Baron to the Earl of Moray. See Kilmadock. >
DOURA, a village, in the parish of Kilwinning, 'V \A^~AJji
district of Cunninghame, county of Ayr, 3^ miles
(N. E. by E.) from Irvine; containing 3'20 inhabitants.
This place is situated on the road from Irvine to Dunlop,
and between the Annock water on the south-east
and the Lugton river on the west. The population is
chiefly employed in the coal-mines in the vicinity. A
branch of the Glasgow and Ayr railway, proceeding
from the collieries here, supplies Ardrossan and various
other places with coal, which is very abundant in the
parish. Large school premises have lately been erected
at the expense of the Earl of Eglinton.