This is an
attractive small rubble built house, located in the middle of a farm steading.
Drumcoltran was built around
1550 for the Maxwell family, with Sir John Maxwell marrying the Herries heiress. A Latin
motto over the door translates as "Conceal secrets, be timid of speech, be truthful,
beware of wine, remember death, be pitiful." The panel which would have borne arms
and a date is missing.
In 1669 the tower was sold to
the Irvings, followed by the Hynds in 1799, the Herons, and the Maxwells again in 1875. It
was still inhabited in the 1890s. |
