Ally:Batties (The Gatehouse Record of the Aglionby Platt)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Berryscaur; Black Esk Tower, Westside; 'ally Batties' Tower; 'blaikesk'; Blak Esk

In the civil parish of Eskdalemuir.
In the historic county of Dumfriesshire, Scotland.
Modern Authority of Dumfries And Galloway, Scotland.
1974 county of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

OS Map Grid Reference: NY231929
Latitude 55.22500° Longitude -3.21058°

The given map reference is suggested as the probable location of Ally:Batties shown on the Aglionby Platt.

There are no visible remains.

The likely form(s) of this building in 1590 are;

Tower House (gentry)
Pele House ('bastle').

Reproduced by permission of the National Library of Scotland

Description

For (successor) farmstead (NY 2310 9296), see For Shaw Cottages, Berryscaur (NY 1616 9074)
A slab, measuring 2ft 4 ins by 1ft 2 1/2ins forms the lintel of a cottage door facing the high road at the E end of Berryscaur (NY 161 907). It is sculptured in relief with a shield, showing a lion rampant - the Royal Arms of Scotland; also a holly leaf and saltire - the arms and badge of the Lords Maxwell, and the initials AB.
This stone is said to have been found in 1783, underground, in the remains of an ancient building at Westside (NY 231 929) and was then transferred to Berryscaur. The initials AB are probably those of a member of the Beatty family, one of whom, in 1532, was King's sergeant and officer in Eskdale. The tower of Ally Battie is marked at a place corresponding with Westside on the map of 1590. (RCAHMS 1920, visited 1912)
Dr Brown states that the stone (described by the RCAHM supra, and) noted on was found on Westside farm by Adam Marchbank, who found it when digging in his garden. It bore traces of lime, but the building at Westside has long been demolished. (J and R Hyslop 1912)
Westside is now completely ruined and there is no evidence of a tower to be seen. The stone, allegedly from this site, is still in use as a door lintel in a cottage at NY 1617 9074. The cottage has been modernised and the stone painted over. Visited by OS (BS) 12 October 1978.
(Location cited as NY c. 229 929). There are no visible remains of 'Ally Batties' tower which is noted on a map of 1590 and named 'Blak Esk' in Blaeu's Atlas of 1654. 'Alie Baty of Blaikesk' is on record in 1595.
Carved in relief on a slab in use as a lintel of a cottage door at (Shaw Cottages) Berryscaur is a shield bearing the royal arms of Scotland together with those of the Lords Maxwell and the letters A.B. The slab 'is said to have been found in 1783, underground, in the remains of an ancient building at Westside'. (RCAHMS 1980, visited July 1980. J Blaeu 1654; W Fraser 1878; J and R Hyslop 1912; RCAHMS 1920)
Listed as Westside, 'Ally Batties', tower. (RCAHMS 1997) (Canmore)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Canmore (The online National Monument Record for Scotland) Number 67393.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MDG7720.

Books
- Maxwell-Irving, A.M.T., 2014, The Border towers of Scotland 2: Their Evolution and Architecture p. 235
  Coventry, M., 2008, Castles of the Clans: the strongholds and seats of 750 Scottish families and clans (Musselburgh)
  RCAHMS, 1997, Eastern Dumfriesshire: an archaeological landscape (Edinburgh) p. 116
  RCAHMS, 1980, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. The archaeological sites and monuments of Upper Eskdale, Annandale and Eskdale District, Dumfries and Galloway Region (RCAHMS Archaeological sites and monuments of Scotland 12)
  Hyslop, J. and Hyslop, R., 1912, Langholm as it was: a history of Langholm and Eskdale from the earliest times p. 301, 572 online copy
  RCAHMS, 1920, The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments and Constructions of Scotland. Seventh report with inventory of monuments and constructions in the county of Dumfries (Edinburgh) p. 113-14 no. 308 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Ellis, H., 1829, 'Copy of a manuscript tract addressed to Lord Burghley, illustrative of the Border topography of Scotland, AD 1590, with a platt or map of the Borders taken in the same year' Archaeologia Vol. 22 p. 161-71 online copy
Maps (Early maps)
- 1590, A Platt of the opposete Borders of Scotland to ye west marches of England (The Aglionby Platt) British Library online Gallery and Old Cumbria Gazetteer

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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The Gatehouse website record of

Ally:Batties (Westside Tower)

a location shown on a 1590 map of the West Marches of Scotland (The Aglionby Platt)