Brunstane Castle (alternatively Brunston, Brunstain or Brunstone Castle) is a ruined

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

, dating from the 16th century, around south-west of

Penicuik Penicuik ( ; sco, Penicuik; gd, Peighinn na Cuthaig) is a town and former burgh in Midlothian, Scotland, lying on the west bank of the River North Esk. It lies on the A701 midway between Edinburgh and Peebles, east of the Pentland Hills. Na ...

, on the north bank of the North Esk, in Midlothian,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

.Coventry Martin (1997) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Goblinshead. p92 It is not to be confused with Brunstane House, Edinburgh.

History

The castle was originally a property of the Crichtons. A charter of the lands of Brunston granted by

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauchi ...

in 1493 to Edward Crichton and his wife Agnes Cockburn specified a feudal rent of a red rose on the feast day of St John the Baptist. In 1546, the

Protestant reformer Protestant Reformers were those theologians whose careers, works and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. In the context of the Reformation, Martin Luther was the first reformer (sharing his views publicly in 15 ...

George Wishart George Wishart (also Wisehart; c. 15131 March 1546) was a Scottish Protestant Reformer and one of the early Protestant martyrs burned at the stake as a heretic. George Wishart was the son of James and brother of Sir John of Pitarrow, ...

stayed at Brunstane with

Alexander Crichton Sir Alexander Crichton (2 December 1763 – 4 June 1856) was a Scottish physician and author. Medical career Born in Newington, Edinburgh, Crichton received his M.D. from Leiden University, The Netherlands, in 1785. He developed his medical ...

and was arrested soon after at the house of

John Cockburn of Ormiston John Cockburn, (d. 1583) laird of Ormiston, East Lothian, Scotland, was an early supporter of the Scottish Reformation. He was the eldest son of William Cockburn of Ormiston and Janet Somerville. John was usually called "Ormiston." During his lif ...

. Wishart was taken to

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

, where he was

martyred A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

. Crichton and Cockburn and other Lothian Lairds sided with England during the war now known as the

Rough Wooing The Rough Wooing (December 1543 – March 1551), also known as the Eight Years' War, was part of the Anglo-Scottish Wars of the 16th century. Following its break with the Roman Catholic Church, England attacked Scotland, partly to break the ...

Regent Arran A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...

brought four cannon from

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

at the end of February and captured their houses. The lairds of Brunstane and Ormiston were declared traitors and the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

ordered the

demolition Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...

of Brunstane, Gilberstoun, and Ormiston. In March 1548, slaters were employed to take the roof off the House of Brunstane, and the roof timbers were dismantled and taken to

. The woods at Brunstane were harvested and the workmen were protected by 10 gunners armed with

culverin A culverin was initially an ancestor of the hand-held arquebus, but later was used to describe a type of medieval and Renaissance cannon. The term is derived from the French "''couleuvrine''" (from ''couleuvre'' "grass snake", following the La ...

s. Timber and stone from Brunstane Castle was used in the construction of the new Spur fortification at

Migliorino Ubaldini Ubaldini Migliorino (active 1548), known also as "Captain Mellerin," was an Italian military engineer working in Scotland. He designed new fortifications at the entrances of Edinburgh Castle, Dunbar Castle, and possibly the walled town of Leith. ...

. On 6 April 1548, the English commander Grey of Wilton reported that Alexander Crichton's house had not been burnt, but, "Marry! the topp is pulled downe, so much of the stone as was lyked, which laye in redyness to bylde, caryed to Edynborough, his yong trees cut up, and all worse handled than if it had been with fyer." The house and gardens were reconstructed in the later 16th-century. John Preston of Penicuik, Lord Fentonbarns, acquired the castle by 1613. There are remains of a designed landscape to the west of the castle, possibly laid out by James Preston or his son. The design includes four quadrangular islands now set in a marshy area. This would have been a decorative home for fish and waterfowl and visible from the tower house. In 1632

John Maitland, 1st Earl of Lauderdale John Maitland, 1st Earl of Lauderdale, Viscount of Lauderdale, Viscount Maitland, and Lord Thirlestane and Boltoun, (died January 1645) was President of the Parliament of Scotland as well as the Privy Council, a lawyer and a judge, who sided with t ...

, acquired the Crichton family property nearer

Portobello Portobello, Porto Bello, Porto Belo, Portabello, or Portabella may refer to: Places Brazil * Porto Belo Ireland * Portobello, Dublin * Cathal Brugha Barracks, Dublin formerly ''Portobello Barracks'' New Zealand * Portobello, New Zealand, on Ot ...

, called Gilbertstoun and also called "

Brunstane Brunstane is a northeastern suburb of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies on the A1 and is served by Brunstane railway station on the Borders Railway. Brunstane partly consists of new housing, such as the Gilberstoun estate, and also ...

", which he extended.

Structure

The castle, which has two stories and a garret, has a square stair tower. The stair tower has a

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

led-out

cap-house A cap-house (sometimes written cap house or caphouse) is a small watch room, built at the top of a spiral staircase, often giving access to a parapet on the roof of a tower house or castle. They provided protection from the elements by enclosin ...

. Under the windows there are gun-loops. There is a large fireplace in the kitchen, which is in the basement. The Hall was on the first floor. Over the doorway is an armorial panel. There are still remains of the courtyard, with a square tower dated 1568. The courtyard has a round-arched

postern A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often located in a concealed location which allowed the occupants to come and go inconspicuously. In the event of a siege, a postern ...

in the east wall. The building is a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

.{{Historic Environment Scotland, num=SM1192 , desc=Brunston Castle , access-date=24 February 2019

References

Castles in Midlothian Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Midlothian