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Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Dirleton Castle

Today I changed our normal routine which on a Tuesday is fairly undramatic and ventured out into the wilds of East Lothian. Once there we scrabbled around the Sat Nav options and chose to visit Dirleton Castle and Gardens. We had been there once before when the kids were little but had little memory of it.

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/propertyresults/propertyoverview.htm?PropID=PL_089&PropName=Dirleton%20Castle%20And%20Garden



The de Vaux family (or de Vallibus) came to the British Isles with the Norman Conquest from Rouen in Normandy and settled in Pentney, in eastern England. Two brothers came north at the invitation of David I, King of Scots. Hubert, the elder was given the barony of Gisland in Cumbria (then part of Scotland) while John, the younger was granted Dirleton. The original wooden castle was replaced in the 1200s by a massive stone structure. This castle was demolished by Robert the Bruce after the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 to stop the English continually making use of it in their forays northwards.

The lands passed by marriage in the hands of the Haliburton (from Berwickshire) family by 1350 who built a new castle. The last Lord Haliburton died in 1505 leaving the estate divided between 3 daughters. One of them married into the Ruthven family who acquired the title. The castle looked like this in 1550.



The castle was demolished yet again in 1650 when General George Monck laid siege on the orders of Oliver Cromwell. The defenders included 60 moss-troopers, some of whom were shot after the battle. The lands were then bought by the Nisbet family who made the ruined castle the centrepiece of their landscaped garden.

The castle now looks like this:


On leaving the castle the view was dominated by the local inn which lead us to have lunch before the short drive back to Edinburgh. And what a nice lunch it was too, Mediterranean soup to start, my wife had steak pie (made with local beef) and I had a haggis tower. (my American readers will be aware that the haggis is an endangered species, only the three legged strain being allowed to be used as food today)


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11 comments:

  1. Tim Gow28 February 2012 at 17:39

    I have a vague memory of visiting Dirleton 20+ years ago - good to hear it's still standing!

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  2. Jim Duncan Wargamer28 February 2012 at 18:13

    Hi Tim

    Yes, Historic Scotland do a fairly good job in the keeping these sort of places going.

    Jim

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  3. tradgardmastare28 February 2012 at 20:41

    A splendid day out - havn't been to Direlton for even longer than Tim- must remedy that I feel.
    BTW have you been to the battle of prestonpans recently I believe there are some interesting signage there now.

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    1. Jim Duncan Wargamer28 February 2012 at 23:25

      Hi Alan

      I haven't been to the Pans battle site for quite a few years. Some of the guys from my club (SESWC) were taking part in an exhibition relating to the battle and were putting on a wargame. I got roped in to providing a model of Bankton House which I had to scratch build. I sketched the building from the car on a very rainy day before producing the model from cardboard.

      There's a future blog topic for me.

      Jim

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  4. Robert (Bob) Cordery28 February 2012 at 22:28

    Jim,

    Thanks for sharing this with the ret of us. If i ever manage to get up to Scotland again, I will try to persuade my wife to visit Dirleton Castle ... which should not be too difficult if a haggis tower is on offer at a nearby hostelry!

    All the bet,

    Bob

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    1. Jim Duncan Wargamer28 February 2012 at 23:27

      Hi Bob

      It is only about twenty miles short of Edinburgh in a beautiful part of the country. You'd both be very welcome.

      Jim

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  5. Ken H28 February 2012 at 23:03

    Jim great photos, but you are quite disgracefully misleading our far travelled U.S. Cousins. You know as well as I do that the three legged haggis is protected now. Apart from the numerous "macsween", none can be culled. I think that you have been a tad disingenuous!!

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    1. Jim Duncan Wargamer28 February 2012 at 23:30

      Hi Ken

      The three legged haggis may well be protected by law but come many a spring morning in several parts of the country 'special deliveries' are often made to the kitchen doors before the local constabulary make their rounds.

      You can keep a secret can't you!!

      Jim

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  6. David29 February 2012 at 11:40

    I don't know if you saw my blog post on our visit about a month ago. It was a bit chilly but it made an enjoyable afternoon trip. We ate at the same pub and I can only echo your sentiments as we too had a really good lunch.

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    1. Jim Duncan Wargamer29 February 2012 at 15:16

      Hi David

      No I didn't see your blog post but I will look it up now.

      Jim

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    2. Jim Duncan Wargamer29 February 2012 at 15:24

      Now that I've read the post on your blog David I do remember it now. It must have got lost in my subconscious somewhere.

      I've done quite a few castles in my time, up North, down South, Wales, Portugal, Czech Republic, Italy, Canaries and Florida. The one in Florida was pink and blue and was heaving with kiddies!!

      Jim

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