Malcolm's Tower facts for kids
Malcolm's Tower, also known as Malcolm Canmore's Tower, is an important historical place in the Scottish town of Dunfermline, Fife. Today, you can see the stone foundations of what was once a rectangular tower. These old foundations are surrounded by a newer oval-shaped wall. This site is protected as a scheduled monument, meaning it's a very important historical place that must be preserved.
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A Royal Stronghold in Dunfermline
Malcolm's Tower was built on a rocky area that stuck out like a finger, high above a deep valley. This made it a very safe and hard-to-attack place. In fact, the city of Dunfermline gets its name from this very spot!
This tower became the main place where the Scottish kings ruled. Around the mid-1000s, Malcolm III of Scotland moved the center of his government from another town called Forteviot to Dunfermline. This made Malcolm's Tower a very important royal home.
The King and Queen
The tower is first mentioned in history around 1070. This was when King Malcolm III married Princess Margaret. As queen, Margaret brought new ideas that greatly changed the Church in Scotland.
Close to where the tower stands, you can also find the remains of Dunfermline Abbey. Later, a royal palace was built nearby too. These places show how important Dunfermline was to Scottish royalty.
What Remains of the Tower?
Today, only the stone foundations of Malcolm's Tower are left. But for a long time, an image of the tower was used as the official symbol for the town of Dunfermline. Old wax seals, which were used to stamp important documents, show us what the building might have looked like.
These seals suggest it was a two-story building with an attic. It might have had about twenty small rooms inside. Before the main road into Dunfermline was built, Malcolm's Tower would have been almost impossible to attack. It was like a very strong castle, perhaps similar to an ancient Scottish building called a broch. This strength is why Dunfermline's motto is Esto rupes inaccessa, which means "Be an inaccessible rock."
The Tower in Scottish Stories
The tower is even mentioned in old Scottish songs! The first lines of a famous traditional song called "Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens" are thought to be about Malcolm's Tower:
The King sits in Dunfermling Toun
Drynking the bluid-red wyne …
This shows how deeply Malcolm's Tower is connected to Scottish history and culture.
