Bothwell

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This article is about the Scottish town. For other places and people called Bothwell, see Bothwell (disambiguation)

Bothwell is a small town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, that lies on the right bank of the River Clyde, nine miles east-south-east of Glasgow. It is predominantly a residential town.

The choir of the old Gothic church of 1398 (restored at the end of the 19th century) forms a portion of the parish church. The poet Joanna Baillie (1762–1851) was born in the manse, and a memorial honours her.

A suspension footbridge crosses the Clyde joining Bothwell to Blantyre; below this bridge is a weir system previously used to power a spinning mill, which was the birthplace of David Livingstone. Another bridge crosses the Clyde near which, on June 22, 1679, the Royalists, under the duke of Monmouth, and the Covenanters fought the Battle of Bothwell Brig, in which the Covenanters lost 500 men and 1000 prisoners. Adjoining this bridge, on the level northeastern bank, stands the castle that once belonged to James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh (fl. 1566–1580), the assassin of the regent James Stuart, 1st Earl of Moray; and near the present farmhouse a Roman bridge spans the South Calder.

The picturesque ruins of Bothwell Castle occupy a conspicuous position in Uddingston, which here takes the bold sweep famed in Scottish song as Bothwell bank. The fortress belonged to Sir Andrew de Moray, who was fatally wounded at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297, and passed by marriage to the House of Douglas. The lordship was bestowed in 1487 on Patrick Hepburn, 3rd Lord Hailes, 1st Earl of Bothwell, who resigned it in 1491 in favor of Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus, known as "Bell-the-Cat". It thus reverted to the Douglases and eventually descended to the earls of Home. The castle furnishes a fine example of Gothic architecture, and mainly consists of a great oblong quadrangle, flanked on the south side by circular towers. At the east end stand the remains of the chapel. A dungeon bears the nickname of "Wallace's Beef Curtains". An unpretending mansion was built nearby by Archibald Douglas, 1st Earl of Forfar (1653–1712), and was known as New Bothwell Castle, but suffered mining subsidence and was demolished in 1926.

As of 2005, Bothwell has two primary schools, Bothwell Primary School and St Bride's School, golf and bowling clubs, as well as a nursing home. It also has several small shops and businesses, all of which are situated on "Main Street".