Claypotts Castle, Dundee - Ref: WC1146
This Alexander Wilson photograph shows Claypotts Castle, which stands at the north eastern edge of Dundee, from the east. The house was built by John Strachan in the late 16th century to defend his land from a local tyrant, Henry Lovell of Ballumbie.
His grandson was still a boy when he inherited the estate. His mother and her brothers tried to seize it for themselves, but the plot was foiled and the Maxwells (and the Strachans) lost everything. The Grahams of Ballunie bought the castle from the Abbey of Lindores.
Later it passed to the Calverhouse branch of the family, but they, too, lost everything when "Bonnie Dundee" (Viscount John Graham of Claverhouse) was killed at Killiecrankie and the land was granted by royal charter to the Marquis of Douglas.
Alexander Wilson who took this photograph, was a supervisor in a Dundee jute mill for over 20 years. He bequeathed much of his collection and £50, to cover the costs involved, to the Free Library Committee of Dundee in 1923.