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Dirleton Castle - Dirleton, Scotland (HS)

One of the less well-known of castles, Dirleton was an agreeable surprise. Virtually deserted on an early Summer afternoon, enough of the fabric remains for a satisfyingly thorough exploration through the centuries of use and abuse at Dirleton. The castle's story is largely that of three successive families, the de Vauxs, the Halyburtons and the Ruthvens.

The de Vauxs came from Normandy with William the Conqueror and were granted land first at Pentney in England. Then Hubert, the elder brother gained land at Gilsland in Cumbria and built the motte castles at Brampton and Irthington. The motte at Brampton still stands high over the town but is now wooded over. The nearby Lanercost Priory was founded by the de Vauxs. The second brother, John, came to Dirleton in Scotland and also helped to found an abbey, at Dryburgh in the Borders. The close ties between the two branches of the family included the grant of lands around Dirleton to the abbey at Lanercost. In less settled times however, Robert of Gilsland in Cumbria had custody of his cousin John of Dirleton, who was being held by King John as guarantee for 'good behaviour' of the Scottish King.

In 1220, William de Vaux gifted Fidra Island, where the first castle is presumed to have been built, to Dryburgh Abbey, continuing the family tradition and storing up good works for the life hereafter. William's son John took the family a social step up when he became steward to the young Queen, Marie de Coucy. By building a new stone castle in the middle of his estate, he proclaimed his higher profile and all the estate's produce kept the life at Dirleton a life of plenty. A large part of this original thirteenth century castle survives today, making it one of the most complete of its period in Scotland. The narrow pointed door and window arches, surrounded by well dressed ashlar, distinguish the older parts of Dirleton. The great drum tower, once echoed by another on the other side of the entrance, dates from John's time. You can see where the stonework 'grows' from the bedrock. This was once at least one storey higher and formed the lord's private apartments. Inside the curtain walls would have been the great hall and other more functional wooden buildings, now long gone. On the outer walls of the towers and curtain walls were arrow slits, but defense was primarily carried out from the top of the walls. As well as providing stability, the flared or battered bases provided a deflecting surface from which dropped objects bounced onto any attackers. The castle's defenses were tested in 1298, when Edward I of England sent Bishop Beck of Durham to besiege Dirleton. At first, it held fast, but renewed ammunition and provisions by the English forced a surrender. By this time, the two family branches found themselves on either side of the Scottish-English wars.

The castle passed from English to Scottish hands and back again and by 1314 and the battle of Bannockburn, Robert Bruce determined that Dirleton was too important to be made of use by the English again. The towers at the north-east and south-east corners were demolished and the castle became a shadow of its former self. Regeneration came under the Halyburton family who inherited Dirleton through marriage. Close ties with the Scottish Crown were maintained and in 1402, the young heir, Walter, married a niece of the King, Isobel, the daughter of the Duke of Albany. Their son, also Walter, was one of the hostages sent to England in exchange for James I. He married a daughter of the Douglas family, the powerful lords of nearby Tantallon.

Throughout much of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the Halyburtons built at Dirleton, adding to the old fabric a new gatehouse, where their arms can still be seen and a new range of up to date lodgings along the east side of the castle. A new Great Hall occupied a large part of this range, with stone vaulted storage space underneath. This part of the castle has subsequently suffered badly, but the vaults give a clear impression of the scale of the Halyburton's undertaking. Little now remains of the Great Hall, but you can still see the skeleton of a once splendid stone buffet at one end of the Hall, where the family silver would have been displayed on important occasions.

In 1505, Dirleton passed by marriage into the Ruthven family when the eldest daughter and co-heir married William, second Lord Ruthven. They divided their time between the Court, Dirleton and their estates in Perthshire, including the charming Huntingtower Castle. Despite a tendency to plot against the king (the family was heavily involved in both the 'Raid of Ruthven' and the 'Gowrie Conspiracy') the Ruthvens found the time and energy to further improve Dirleton by the addition of the Renaissance house to the left of the main entrance. Once harled over and whitewashed, the still impressive and decorative facade housed the family in some luxury, with decorated floor tiles, books and paintings. The first Earl of Gowrie took a keen interest in the gardens at the castle, importing trees from France and he may be responsible or the present lay-out. The stunning bee-hive shaped dove-cot, built at this time to house a fresh supply of meat, can still be seen.

In 1600, the third and last Earl of Gowrie and his brother Alexander Ruthven were killed at their Perth townhouse for their part in the 'Gowrie Conspiracy'. Dirleton was forfeited to the Crown and King James gifted it to Gowrie's killer, Sir Thomas Erskine. During the English invasion under Cromwell, Dirleton suffered siege and bombardment and thereafter fell into further ruin and decay.

The last owners, the Nisbets, who bought Dirleton in 1663, built a new mansion house at Archerfield rather than try to rebuild an old fashioned castle. In the mid nineteenth century however, their head gardener David Thompson laid out new geometrical parterres at Dirleton, where the gardens and orchards had been continuously maintained and a new interest was generated in the place. In the 1920s, an Arts and Crafts style garden was created and this has now been restored to provide a wonderful walk up to the ruins.

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