Etymology

It is likely that the name Lochmaben represents the Roman name Locus Maponi.^[2] This name is Brittonic in origin,^[2] and contains the element luch, meaning "marshy or brackish water" (Welsh llwch, Gaelic loch),^[2] and the name Mapon, a deity name meaning "Great (divine) son or youth".^[2] The first part of the name could also be explained as log,^[2] an element derived from Latin locus, "a place".^[2]

Early inhabitants

Lochmaben has been inhabited since earliest times, owing to its strategic position on the routes from England to Scotland and Ireland, to the small lochs surrounding it and to the relatively fertile soil in the area. The first inhabitants may have lived in crannogs in the lochs.

After the Roman departure from the area around Dumfries the locale had various forms of visit by Picts, Saxons, Scots and Danes culminating in a decisive victory over the native Britons in 890 for Giric mac Dúngail (Modern Gaelic: Griogair mac Dhunghail,^[3] known in English simply as Giric and nicknamed Mac Rath ("Son of Fortune");^[4] fl. c. 878–889), who was a king of the Picts or the king of Alba, at what is now Lochmaben.^[5]

Lords of Annandale

By 1160, the Anglo-Norman de Brus (Bruce) family had become the Lords of Annandale. Robert de Brus Lord of Skelton in the Cleveland area of Yorkshire, was a notable figure at the court of King Henry I of England, where he became intimate with Prince David of Scotland, that monarch's brother-in-law. When the Prince became King David I of Scotland, in 1124, Bruce obtained from him the Lordship of Annandale, and great possessions in the south of Scotland. (de Brus was nevertheless buried at Guisborough, the place of his birth). By the 15th century the Lordship was in the hands of Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany. Following his death in 1485 it, and the castle of Lochmaben, were annexed to the Crown by Act of Parliament dated 1 October 1487.^[6]

Castles and battles

At some point in the 13th century the Bruces built a castle, probably a keep, at Lochmaben, the remains of which now lie under a golf course. It is claimed that King Robert the Bruce was born there, which is why the town adopted the motto "E Nobis Liberator Rex" ("From us is sprung a liberator king") on its coat of arms.^[7] However, this claim is relatively late; it cannot be ruled out, but his birthplace was more likely Turnberry Castle. Bruce certainly battled the English over this area during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

The English King Edward replaced the castle with a much sturdier structure at the south end of Castle Loch around 1300 and its remains still show the massive strength of its defences. Archibald Douglas, Lord of Galloway, with the assistance of the Earls of March and Douglas, after a siege of nine days, took Lochmaben Castle from the English and "razed it to the ground" on 4 February 1384/5. The castle and barony became a possession of the Earls of March, but when the 10th Earl was forfeited and then reinstated, in 1409, it is noted that it was "with the exception of the castle of Lochmaben and the Lordship of Annandale."

The Battle of Lochmaben Fair was fought on 22 July 1484: a force of 500 light horsemen led by Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany and James Douglas, 9th Earl of Douglas invaded Scotland, but were defeated.

On 16 January 1508/9, at Edinburgh, Sir Robert Lauder of The Bass (d.1517/8), knight, was appointed "Captain and Keeper of the King's castle and fort of Lochmaben, with all pertinentes" and other privileges etc., for three years.^[8] In 1605 the Depute Lieutenant of the Borders, Sir William Cranstoun of that Ilk (later 1st Lord Cranstoun), was Keeper of Lochmaben Castle.^[9]

Lochmaben remained important and had a turbulent history until some time after the early 17th century by which time the castle had seen its last siege and was gradually abandoned.

Town

The town had prospered and become a Royal Burgh in 1447, and a Royal Charter in 1579. Its importance waned with the peace that was to become the norm, but it had sufficient resources to build a substantial tolbooth (which later known as Lochmaben Town Hall) in 1723.^[10]

The town is well found with a broad main street and the town is set in rolling countryside. The railway came in 1863, with Lochmaben a stop on the Dumfries to Lockerbie line, and brought easy communication both north and south. It closed to passengers in 1952 and to freight in 1966.