Carleton Castle

01 / The documented castle

Five storeys above the bay

Carleton stands above the coastal village of Lendalfoot, around six miles south of Girvan. This is the South Ayrshire tower associated with the Cathcarts of Carleton and Killochan. Killochan itself is a separate castle; the family connection should not turn the two places into one.

The Royal Commission’s June 1981 survey describes an oblong, five-storey tower house, probably dating from the fifteenth century. By then only its shell remained. Much of the north-east corner had collapsed, with a nineteenth-century wall partly replacing the missing masonry. That repair helps explain the changing stonework visible in photographs.

Historic Environment Scotland’s listing records stone vaults over both the ground floor and the hall, with part of the upper vault surviving. These are clues to the rooms once stacked inside the tower. Carleton has been Category B listed since 1971, recognising the architectural interest of a building whose roof and domestic life have long disappeared.

02 / Reading the surrounding ground

A castle mound and a misleading neighbour

The tower is only one part of the local archaeological landscape. The same Royal Commission survey identifies a motte, an earthwork castle mound, about 60 metres east of Carleton. Known as Little Carleton, it has a level summit and surviving traces of a ditch on its northern and eastern sides.

Lousey Knowe, farther north, is a different feature. Surveyors described it as a natural, steep-sided knoll and found no evidence that it had served as a motte. Keeping these places separate matters: a striking mound and an evocative name do not, by themselves, establish a second castle or a place of punishment.

03 / The Carrick tradition

The bride who would not follow the others

In the local legend, Sir John Cathcart makes a fortune by marrying wealthy women and taking them walking near the Games Loup cliffs. One after another, they fall to their deaths. His final intended victim is Mary or May Kennedy of Culzean, who discovers what awaits her when he demands her valuable clothes and jewellery before killing her.

She agrees to undress, but asks him to turn away. When he does, she seizes her chance and sends him over the edge. The story’s power lies in that reversal: the man who expects another helpless victim is undone by her presence of mind.

Details vary. The regional tourism account makes Mary his ninth bride. Greg Stewart’s January 2024 Scottish Paranormal telling has her resist becoming his eighth victim, with marriage still ahead of them. These differences belong to the tradition and are worth preserving, rather than smoothing into a single supposedly historical sequence.

04 / An older printed source

Following May Colvin into print

The Ballads and Songs of Ayrshire, published in 1847, prints a version called May Colvin. Its false Sir John leads the young woman away with money and horses from her father’s household. Beside the water, he announces that he has drowned seven kings’ daughters and intends her to be the eighth. She makes him turn aside and throws him into the sea.

The song continues beyond his death. May rides home at daybreak, where a talkative parrot threatens to reveal her secret. That memorable ending is often absent from modern castle accounts. It places the tale firmly in the world of song and storytelling, with a heroine whose escape continues after she leaves the shore.

The accompanying notes connect the tradition to Carleton and the Carrick coast, but also discuss another setting near Peterhead and a version involving a churchman at Maybole. The editors recognised that names and places travelled with ballads. This is an early record of the story’s local attachment, while its changing geography makes a precise historical identification difficult.

05 / The family in the records

Which John Cathcart?

There were historical men named John Cathcart of Carleton. Sir James Fergusson’s study of the family, compiled from published and unpublished records, follows successive generations and cautions against errors in earlier genealogies. A familiar name alone cannot identify the ballad’s villain.

One John completed rebuilding or enlarging Killochan in 1586. Fergusson records his marriage, apparently in 1563, to Helen Wallace. John died in October 1612; Helen survived until January 1624. The study lists a wider family than the two sons often mentioned in short modern summaries.

Those dated records give us people whose lives can be investigated through documents. They do not establish a series of murdered brides or a fatal encounter at Games Loup. The link between a particular Cathcart and the song remains unproven; the legend should therefore retain its own place alongside the family history.

06 / The reported haunting

Cries around the ruined walls

The haunting grows from the legend. Modern accounts say that Sir John’s screams, or those of him and the women he killed, can be heard around the ruins and cliffs. Our original castle entry cites the Paranormal Database, whose Carleton record leaves the incident date unknown. Its March 2003 date records the entry’s addition, not an encounter. Greg Stewart’s later Scottish Paranormal article preserves the tradition without presenting a personal experience.

The sources reviewed here provide no named witness, dated incident or recording for these cries. That leaves a reported haunting to investigate, with its story clearly identified. No HSI investigation result is claimed in this guide. A future first-person account would add something distinct: what the person actually heard, when and where it happened, and what else was occurring around them.

07 / Planning a visit

Start with the coastal setting

Carleton stands beside farm buildings above Lendalfoot. No current visitor-opening arrangement, staffed entrance or safe interior route was verified for this guide. Treat it as a ruin to appreciate from outside, and establish an appropriate approach with the land manager before planning close access. Our photograph was taken in December 2018 and does not establish today’s condition.

The Scottish Outdoor Access Code distinguishes countryside access from entry to buildings and farmyards. Rights of way and core paths have their own provisions; follow an available signposted alternative around a yard and respect farm work and residents’ privacy. This guide does not verify a particular path through the farm.

Keep clear of damaged masonry and cliff edges, and leave entrances clear when stopping. Lendalfoot and Carleton Bay provide the wider coastal context without needing to enter the tower. Access guidance was checked on 15 September 2026; obtain current local advice before travelling specifically to the ruins.