Yester Castle
Encyclopedia
Gifford, East Lothian
Gifford is a village in the parish of Yester in East Lothian, Scotland. It lies approximately 4 miles south of Haddington and 25 miles east of Edinburgh.-History:...
in East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The only remaining structure is the subterranean Goblin Ha' or Hobgoblin Ha' (Goblin Hall). It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...
, recorded as such by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government 'sponsored' [financed and with oversight] through Historic Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government...
(RCAHMS).
History
Originally known as Yestred (from the Brythonic Ystrad, meaning strathStrath
A strath is a large valley, typically a river valley that is wide and shallow .An anglicisation of the Gaelic word srath, it is one of many that have been absorbed into common use in the English language...
or dale
Dale (origin)
A dale is an open valley. The name is used when describing the physical geography of an area. It is used most frequently in the Lowlands of Scotland and in the North of England, where the term "fell" commonly refers to the mountains or hills that flank the dale.The word dale comes from the Old...
), the barony of Yester was granted by King William the Lion
William I of Scotland
William the Lion , sometimes styled William I, also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough", reigned as King of the Scots from 1165 to 1214...
to Hugo de Giffard, a Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
immigrant given land in East Lothian during the reign of King David I
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
.
The original stone keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
, built before 1267, is generally considered to be by Sir Hugo de Giffard. A grandson of the first Laird of Yester, he served as a guardian of the young Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III of Scotland
Alexander III was King of Scots from 1249 to his death.-Life:...
, and was by repute a magician and necromancer. Alexander III is known to have been at Yester on and around May 24, 1278, where he corresponded with Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
. Following the Scots Wars of Independence
Wars of Scottish Independence
The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the independent Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries....
, Yester was rebuilt as a castle of enceinte
Enceinte
Enceinte , is a French term used technically in fortification for the inner ring of fortifications surrounding a town or a concentric castle....
.
In 1298, during the Battle of Falkirk
Battle of Falkirk (1298)
The Battle of Falkirk, which took place on 22 July 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence...
, Alexander de Welles, Master of Torphichen Preceptory
Torphichen Preceptory
Torphichen Preceptory, is a church in the village of Torphichen, West Lothian, Scotland. It comprises the remains of the Preceptory of the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in Scotland...
, was killed. Based on the heraldic evidence there is very little doubt that Alexander de Welles was a member of the Lincolnshire Welle(s) family. Also at Falkirk was Adam de Welle(s) of Lincolnshire and of the Castle of Yester in Lothian, to whom the English King Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
,during his occupation of Scotland, gave various properties.
In 1357, there being no male line left of the Giffards, Joanna, a daughter of the last Sir Hugo de Giffard, married Sir William Hay of Locherwart (now known as Borthwick
Borthwick Castle
Borthwick Castle is one of the largest and best-preserved surviving medieval Scottish fortifications. It is located twelve miles south-east of Edinburgh, to the east of the village of Borthwick, on a site protected on three sides by a steep fall in the ground...
, Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
), the Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of Peebles
Peebles
Peebles is a burgh in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders, lying on the River Tweed. According to the 2001 Census, the population was 8,159.-History:...
. He was invested with the barony and lands of Yester through his wife. The barony has stayed with the Hay family ever since.
David Hay of Yester was in 1487 created a Lord of Parliament
Lord of Parliament
A Lord of Parliament was the lowest rank of nobility automatically entitled to attend sessions of the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland. Post-Union, it is a member of the lowest rank of the Peerage of Scotland, ranking below a viscount...
, as the first Lord Hay of Yester. In 1513 during the disastrous Battle of Flodden, John, second Lord Hay, was killed along with a great proportion of the country's fighting men. Later that century, in 1547 during the period known as the Rough Wooing, Yester was attacked by an English force, and was defended stoutly by John, 4th Lord Hay. Lord Hay was to be captured later that year at the retreat from the Battle of Pinkie and was held in the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
for three years.
1557 saw the death of the 4th Lord Hay. His son, also John, abandoned the castle and moved into a new tower house
Tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...
on the site of the present day mansion of Yester House
Yester House
Yester House is an early 18th-century mansion near Gifford in East Lothian, Scotland. It was the home of the Hay family, later Marquesses of Tweeddale, from the 15th century until the 1970s. Construction of the present house began in 1699, and continued well into the 18th century in a series of...
. In 1646 the 8th Lord was created Marquess of Tweeddale
Marquess of Tweeddale
Marquess of Tweeddale is a title of the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1694 for the 2nd Earl of Tweeddale. Lord Tweeddale holds the subsidiary titles of Earl of Tweeddale , Earl of Gifford , Viscount of Walden , Lord Hay of Yester , and Baron Tweeddale, of Yester in the County of Haddington...
. The castle gradually fell in to disrepair, and by the late 17th century was in a very parlous state, the stones having been much quarried for building material. Although the castle almost disappeared completely, Sir Hugo's original Goblin Ha' was tenanted by the Marquess' falconer until 1737. Yester House
Yester House
Yester House is an early 18th-century mansion near Gifford in East Lothian, Scotland. It was the home of the Hay family, later Marquesses of Tweeddale, from the 15th century until the 1970s. Construction of the present house began in 1699, and continued well into the 18th century in a series of...
with its Adam interiors was sold in 1972 to Italian/American operatic composer Gian-Carlo Menotti whose adopted son, Chip, still lives there.
The Wizard of Yester
Sir Hugo de Giffard was known as the 'Wizard of Yester', and was considered to be a powerful warlockWarlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
and necromancer. It is in the undercroft of the castle that he was thought to practise his sorcery. 14th century chronicler John of Fordun
John of Fordun
John of Fordun was a Scottish chronicler. It is generally stated that he was born at Fordoun, Mearns. It is certain that he was a secular priest, and that he composed his history in the latter part of the 14th century; and it is probable that he was a chaplain in the St Machar's Cathedral of...
mentions the large cavern in Yester Castle, thought locally to have been formed by magical artifice. Legend supposed that Hugo was able, via a pact with the Devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
, to raise a magical army to his aid, and use them to carry out his will. It is this army of hobgoblin
Hobgoblin
Hobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to describe a friendly but troublesome creature of the Seelie Court.The most commonly known hobgoblin is the character Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck, however, is only another name given to a much older character named Robin...
s that was considered the builders of Yester Castle. The vaulting of the Goblin Ha' is one of the earliest examples of secular gothic arch building, and this may have contributed to that opinion, given the superstitious nature of the age.
The Colstoun Pear
When his daughter Margaret was to marry, Sir Hugo gave her and her husband-to-be, Broun of ColstounClan Broun
Clan Broun also known as Brown is a common Scottish clan name, it was located primarily in Lowland Scotland.-Origins of the Name:As well as the name being Scottish, Broun or Brown is also common name in Old English charters from an adjective meaning brown or dark red. It also occurs in Old High...
, a hand picked pear with the proviso that should anything happen to this fruit it would spell disaster for the Broun family. The pear was encased in a silver box and kept safe; the Brouns prospered.
A few hundred years later however, in 1692, on her wedding night, the fiancée of Sir George Broun, a Baronet of Nova Scotia and inheritor of Colstoun estate, decided to remove the pear from its casket. The fruit looked as good as when it was picked, and she could not resist taking a bite. Misfortune quickly followed. Sir George Broun amassed enormous gambling debts and was forced to sell the estate to his brother Robert. Robert with his two sons was soon after killed, en route to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
; they were swept away by a flash flood caused by the River Tyne
River Tyne, Scotland
The River Tyne is a river in Scotland, UK. It rises in the Moorfoot Hills in Midlothian near Tynehead to the south of Edinburgh, at the junction of the B6458 and the B6367. It continues for approx...
bursting its banks. In destitution, Sir George died in 1718 without a male heir. It was said that after the pear was tasted it turned as hard as rock, and with its bitemark in evidence, it is still at Colstoun House to this day.
Literary references
For his supposed role in the struggles between King Haakon of NorwayHaakon IV of Norway
Haakon Haakonarson , also called Haakon the Old, was king of Norway from 1217 to 1263. Under his rule, medieval Norway reached its peak....
and King Alexander, ultimately culminating in the Battle of Largs
Battle of Largs
The Battle of Largs was an engagement fought between the armies of Norway and Scotland near the present-day town of Largs in North Ayrshire on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland on 2 October 1263. It was the most important military engagement of the Scottish-Norwegian War. The Norwegian forces were...
, Sir Walter Scott immortalises Giffard in Marmion:
- "A clerk could tell what years have flown since Alexander filled our throne third monarch of that warlike name, and eke the time when here he came to seek Sir Hugo, then our lord: A braver never drew a sword, a wiser never, at the hour of midnight, spoke the word of power; the same, that ancient records call the founder of Goblin hall"----"Lord Gifford deep beneath the ground heard Alexander's bugle sound, and tarried not his garb to change, but, in his wizard habit strange, came forth, —, a quaint and fearful sight: His mantle lined with fox-skins white; His high and wrinkled forehead bore a pointed cap, such as of yore Pharaoh's Magi wore; His shoes were marked with cross and spell, upon his breast a pentacle"----"and in his hand a naked sword without a guard". Marmion, Canto III, Edinburgh 1808.