Kenmure Castle lies a mile to the south of the village of New Galloway, Scotland’s smallest Royal Burgh and to the north of Loch Ken. The oldest part of Kenmure Castle dates from the 16^th Century and was the seat of the West March Gordons of Lochinvar. John Balliol may have been born in Kenmure and used the place as a headquarters. After a visit there by Mary, Queen of Scots, the castle was burned. It later suffered the same fate at the hands of Cromwell. The Sixth Viscount Kenmure was beheaded in the Tower of London as a result of his Jacobite allegiances. The castle was visited by Robert Burns who wrote the Jacobite song “Kenmure’s up and awa’, Willie”.