ABERDEENSHIRE, SCOTLAND—According to a report in The Scotsman, volunteers who assisted in excavations at Castle Fraser, the historic stronghold of the Fraser Clan, uncovered large quantities of broken window glass that could date to an attack on royalist supporters in the structure by Oliver Cromwell’s forces sometime between 1653 and 1655. “The mid-seventeenth century was a volatile time in the northeast,” commented archaeologist Daniel Rhodes of the National Trust for Scotland. The investigation also recovered two coins—one made of a copper alloy, and a Turners, or two pence piece, marked with the image of Charles I and dated to between 1632 and 1639. Charles I had been executed by Cromwell and the English Parliament in 1649. His son, Charles II, was restored to the throne in 1660. To read about the aftermath of a battle in which Cromwell's forces defeated the Scottish Covenanting army, go to “After the Battle.”
