Balvaird Castle in Perthshire is a particularly fine and complete example of a traditional late medieval Scottish tower house. It is located in the Ochil Hills, around 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Abernethy. Balvaird Castle is a scheduled monument, and is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.

Balvaird was built around the year 1500 for Sir Andrew Murray, a younger son of the family of Murray of Tullibardine. He acquired the lands of Balvaird through marriage to the heiress Margaret Barclay, a member of a wealthy family. It is likely that Balvaird Castle was built on the site of an earlier Barclay family castle. Substantial remnants of earthwork fortifications around the Castle may survive from earlier defences.

Additions and later history
Over the years the castle was extended and altered. A gatehouse was built in 1567. An outer courtyard was attached to the main gate which possibly contained stabling as well as adding an extra layer of defence to the castle. Another courtyard to the south was a garden, while a much larger walled area to the north-east was an orchard or 'pleasance.'

The family continued to live at Balvaird until they inherited the Earldom of Mansfield and in 1658 moved to the rather more comfortable Scone Palace, near Perth. Thereafter the castle continued to be inhabited, though not by the family itself. In its later days, it probably accommodated farm workers.

The Castle was restored and partially excavated in recent years by Historic Scotland, by whom it is maintained, although it was owned by the Murray family until 2017. The site is open at all times, but the tower-house itself can only be visited on a restricted number of days every year. Balvaird Castle is the caput of the feudal Lordship and Barony of Balvaird and is currently owned by American entrepreneur, Brady Brim-DeForest.

Architecture
Balvaird is notable among Scottish castles of its date for its refined architectural detail. Features include corbels in the form of carved heads supporting the corner-roundels of the wall-walk, an unusually elaborate aumbry (wall-cupboard) in the first-floor hall and a cap-house above the stair in the form of a miniature tower-house. It has been suggested that some or all of these carved stone features may have been brought to Balvaird for re-use from an ecclesiastical building.

Balvaird Castle

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Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. Today it is under the stewardship of the Marquess of Bute, who delegates most of his duties to The National Trust for Scotland.

Early years
Before Falkland Palace was built a hunting lodge existed on the site in the 12th century. This lodge was expanded in the 13th century and became a castle which was owned by the Earls of Fife – the famous Clan MacDuff. The castle was built here because the area could be easily defended as it was on a slight hill. The surrounding land eventually became the Palace gardens.

There was a great wood of oaks to the north between the royal stable and the River Eden, with many groves merging into the surrounding parkland. Timber was occasionally cut in the forest for royal ships of war. The castle would also have been surrounded by meadows, fields, orchards, glades and Falkland Park which was a managed forest surrounded by a Pale, which is a ditch with a fence on top of it. This pale would have been used to keep game inside the park for the royal family and courtiers to hunt. The land near the palace which is currently the orchard would have originally been meadows. The castle and the palace would have had their own orchard somewhere close by. In 1371 Falkland Castle was destroyed by an invading English army.

In 1402 Robert, Duke of Albany imprisoned his nephew and rival David, Duke of Rothesay, the eldest son of King Robert, in the Well Tower at Falkland. The incarcerated Duke eventually died there from neglect and starvation.

16th century improvements
Between 1501 and 1541 Kings James IV and James V transformed the old castle into a beautiful royal palace: with Stirling Castle it was one of two Renaissance palaces in Scotland. To address the poor state of the garden and park, James V appointed a new Captain and Keeper, William Barclay, Master of Rhynd, in March 1527. Ten years later, James V extended his father's buildings in French renaissance style. He built a Royal Tennis Court in the grounds of the Palace which was completed in 1541. The court still survives to this day and is the oldest in Britain. James died at Falkland Palace in December 1542, from an illness induced by the shock and grief of his army's defeat at Solway Moss and of his wife's failure to give him a male heir, instead giving birth to the future Mary, Queen of Scots. His body lay in the Chapel Royal for almost a month and the Chapel was draped in black. On 4 January 1543 messengers ordered the gentlemen of Fife to convey the king's body to North Queensferry on its way to Holyrood Abbey.

Falkland became a popular retreat with all the Stewart monarchs. They practised falconry there and used the vast surrounding forests for hawking and for hunting deer. Wild boar, imported from France, were kept in the Park, within a fence made by the Laird of Fernie. They also loved using the Royal Tennis Court; Queen Mary became especially fond of the game, and it is recorded that she scandalised the people of Scotland by wearing men's breeches to play.

Nearby Myres Castle is the hereditary home of the Royal Macers and Sergeants at Arms who served Falkland Castle since at least the 16th century. John Scrimgeour of Myres supervised building at the Palace from 1532 to 1563.

Civil war
After the Union of the Crowns (1603), Kings James VI, Charles I, and Charles II all visited Falkland. A fire partially destroyed the palace during its occupation by Cromwell's troops, and it quickly fell into ruin.

19th Century
In 1887 John, 3rd Marquis of Bute purchased the estates of Falkland and started a 20-year restoration of the palace using his two right-hand architects: John Kinross and Robert Weir Schultz. At the time the Palace was a ruin with no windows or doors. Thanks to his sympathetic restoration work and considerable budget the Palace is still standing to this day. Many features in and around the Palace show evidence of his work, such as the "B" on the guttering and portraits of his children carved into a cupboard door in the Keeper's Dressing Room.

During the time of Lord Bute, the ornamental kitchen garden was enhanced by a pergola and decorative vases. The north part of the "upper garden" was redesigned to express the foundations of Falkland Castle and Palace North Range which were uncovered during the Marquis's archaeological excavations. Walls were built on top of the foundations for the Well Tower and the Great Hall to emphasise the structures.

The Orchard and Palace gardens were linked to the House of Falkland by the private walk and new bridges. Houses were built near to the palace and connected into the ornamental kitchen garden and orchard by a system of new public and private paths. The ground around the curling pond (to the North East of the orchard) was planted with trees and shrubs and laid out in flower plots.

The enclosing yew hedge around the pond garden is a typical feature of period. The lime tree avenue which is north of the palace gatehouse was built sometime between 1894 and 1912–13 according to the Ordinance Surveys of those periods. The Victorian glass house was built in 1890 by Mckenzie and Moncur from Edinburgh for Lord Bute and was used mainly to grow flowers and exotic plants. Plant hunting was popular at this time and people of wealth would travel the world to find specimens and bring them home to plant in their gardens and show them off to their friends. There is also evidence that there was a second glass house in the garden near the existing one.

Modern era
In 1952, the Hereditary Keeper Major Michael Crichton Stewart decided to appoint the National Trust for Scotland to take care of the Palace. The National Trust thus became Deputy Keeper of the Palace, and they now care for and maintain the Palace and its extensive gardens. An NTS virtual tour of the palace is available.

Gardens
Falkland Palace stands on three hectares of ground on a sandstone ridge which is dominated by the Lomond Hills in the background. As you walk around the garden today you will see a distinct and overlapping timeline which tells of the ever-changing purpose and style of the grounds.

The first record of a garden here was in 1451. At that time the garden had a courtyard and stables in the gatehouse, where King James IV kept his great Belgian steed. There was also a fish pond which provided the King with fresh fish. Fruit, vegetables and herbs were grown in the local area for the Royal plate and meat could be hunted in the ancient forest surrounding the Palace known as Falkland Forest, by hawking and hunting wild boar and deer.

The celebrated garden designer Percy Cane redesigned the gardens in the 1903s. He was a horticultural writer, artist and a garden designer. He had designed the palace grounds at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Percy Cane was born and educated in Essex where he studied horticulture and architecture. In 1930 Cane founded and edited the quarterly journal Garden Design and wrote many books on garden design. Cane’s style can best be described as Arts and Crafts and his curvy borders were seen as innovatory at the time.

Conservation in the garden is achieved through general maintenance, which includes clearing leaves, mowing the main lawn, tidying the flower beds and planting, enhancing and create wildlife habitats. A wildflower meadow, native hedges and spring flowering bulbs have been planted to provide food and protection to various small insects and small mammals. Conservation means work has to be carried out in a sympathetic way throughout property, not only to the aesthetics and history of the palace but also for the climbing plants and bats that live in the cellars. Bats are endangered and protected in Scotland and it is important that they are not disturbed. The walls of the palace have been repointed (replacing the cement between the stones) and replaced with lime mortar which is a traditional material and better suited for this purpose as it is breathable and prevents damp.

The current Head Gardener Sonia Ferrás Mañá is restoring the Percy Cane garden back to his original design and flower choice. Sonia, the garden staff and volunteers have been working on various projects over the last few years to conserve the garden and to encourage wildlife.

The garden team at Falkland Palace are now encouraging wildlife by bringing back the meadow. To create the meadow the grass has been cut only once a year for the last four years and more than 10,000 wild flowers and a similar number of spring flowering bulbs have been planted. This work is thanks to the garden staff, volunteers and support from Fife Environmental Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage, NTS Member Centres and other donations. These flowers and un-mown grasses encourage beneficial insects to the orchard which aid in the fruit trees pollination and in turn attract other animals. There are currently forty different fly species in the orchard, some of which are rare or unusual and some are found nowhere else in Scotland. The insects, especially the moths, have attracted Pipistrelle and Soprano Pipistrelle bats which have been seen hunting and living here. There have also been sightings of red squirrels in the forest which are now considered endangered animals due to the disappearance of their habitats and the competition from grey squirrels. A Red Squirrel Project is carried out at Falkland Palace to encourage them back into the gardens. A shelter was built in the orchard for invertebrate (animals without backbones i.e. insects and worms) and small animals which will encourage them to stay longer in the garden and maybe live here. The orchard has been planted with native trees such as hawthorn, oak and willows which would have been growing here in the 15th century. The Maspie Burn that runs between the garden and the orchard is a fantastic place for water wildlife, including trout!

The palace has two wings arranged in an 'L' shape, now called the South and East Quarters or Ranges. The palace courtyard is entered through the gatehouse tower at the west end of the South Quarter. The external ashlar façade of the South Quarter has gunloops at basement level. Above these are the small windows of the private lodgings, and on the second level the large paired windows of the Chapel Royal. Between these windows are weathered niches and statues. The corbels show the instruments of the passion; the chapel at Falkland was dedicated to St Thomas and is the Catholic parish church for Falkland with Mass every Sunday at 9 a.m. The wallhead is finished with a decorated cornice and battlement which continues around the west side of the gate tower. To the east of the chapel there is small rectangular sectioned tower which once housed a circular staircase, and beyond is the partly reconstructed gable of the East Quarter. Although some writers have attributed part of the South Quarter to the time of James IV, the form of the gunloops, the continuous parapet, and the documented payments to Peter the Flemishman for the 5 statues in 1539 adequately demonstrate that the present appearance dates from the works of James V. Within, visitors can view the Keeper's Apartments in the Gatehouse tower, the Chapel Royal and gallery.

The East Quarter, apart from its courtyard façade is ruined. The centrally placed access tower, the Crosshouse, was reconstructed by the Marquis of Bute. The National Trust's architect, Schomberg Scott recreated the King and Queen's bedchambers within. The northern section of the East quarter was originally a lodging built by James IV. The master of works, James Murray of Kilbaberton was ordered to repair the flat roof of the King and Queen's galleries and the roof of the lodging of the East Quarter in 1616 in anticipation of the visit of James VI.

The South and East courtyard façades were decorated and unified with pilasters in a French Renaissance style between 1537 and 1542. Their appearance is comparable to the French Chateau of Villers-Cotterêts. The buttresses on the East are dated 1537, and on the South, where the masonry is more sophisticated, 1539. The later work may be connected with Nicolas Roy, a French mason sent to Scotland in March 1539 by Antoinette of Bourbon, the mother of Mary of Guise. The chapel ceiling dates from the time of James V and was re-decorated for the visit of Charles I in 1633. James Murray, master of works, was ordered to repair the roof of the South Quarter in 1625, with instructions to "have a special care and regard" that the great ceiling of the Chapel be "preserved and kept as far as possibly may be."

The courtyard was originally finished with a great hall to the north. The footprint of the building was established by excavation and laid out with paving slabs by the 3rd Marquis of Bute.


Falkland Palace

Elcho Castle is located a short distance above the south bank of the River Tay approximately four miles south-east of Perth, Scotland. It consists of a Z-plan tower house, with fragments of a surrounding wall with corner towers. The Castle was built on the site of an older structure about 1560, and is one of the best surviving examples of its date in Scotland. A large portion of the Castle is accessible, although floors in some rooms have fallen, and much of the building can be walked through. The wall-walk is accessible at two points.

The property is still owned by the family of the original builders, the Wemyss family (the style of the heir to the Earl of Wemyss is Lord Elcho), though it has not been inhabited for some 200 years. It has nevertheless been kept in good repair - one of the earliest examples in Scotland of a building being preserved purely for its historical interest. It is managed by Historic Scotland as a scheduled monument.

The castle is open to visitors throughout the summer. There is an entrance charge.

An apple- and pear-tree orchard adjoining the castle has been replanted in recent years, and a 16th-century 'beehive' doo'cot (Scots for dovecote) survives nearby. The dovecote is a Category A listed building.

Elcho Castle

Loch Leven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the location of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1357). In the latter part of the 14th century, the castle was granted by his uncle to William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, and remained in Douglases' hands for the next 300 years. Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned here in 1567–1568, and forced to abdicate as queen, before escaping with the help of her gaoler's family. In 1588, the Queen's gaoler inherited the title Earl of Morton, and moved away from the castle. It was bought, in 1675, by Sir William Bruce, who used the castle as a focal point in his garden; it was never again used as a residence.

Today, the remains of the castle are protected as a scheduled monument in the care of Historic Scotland. Loch Leven Castle is accessible in summer by the public via a ferry.

Early history
A castle may have been constructed on Castle Island by 1257, when the 16-year-old King Alexander III of Scotland was forcibly brought there by his regents. During the First War of Scottish Independence (1296–1328), the invading English army held the castle, then named Loch Leven Castle, which lies at a strategically important position between the towns of Edinburgh, Stirling and Perth. Parts of the present fortification, the curtain wall, may date from this time and were perhaps built by the occupying English. The castle was captured by the Scots before the end of the 13th century, possibly by the forces of William Wallace.

English forces laid siege to Loch Leven in 1301, but the garrison was relieved in the same year when the siege was broken by Sir John Comyn. King Robert the Bruce (reigned 1306–1329) is known to have visited the castle in 1313 and again in 1323. Following Bruce's death, the English invaded again, and laid siege to Loch Leven Castle in 1335 in support of the pretender Edward Balliol (d. 1364). According to the 14th-century chronicle of John of Fordun, the English attempted to flood the castle by building a dam across the outflow of the loch. The water level rose for a month, until the captain of the English force, Sir John de Stirling, left to attend the festival of Saint Margaret of Scotland. The defenders, under Alan de Vipont, took the opportunity to come out of the castle at night, and damaged the dam, causing it to collapse and flood the English camp. The story has, however, been doubted by later historians.

Loch Leven Castle was strengthened in the 14th or early 15th century, by the addition of the five-storey tower house or keep. According to Historic Scotland, it is of the 14th century, making it one of the oldest tower houses in Scotland which still substantially survives. In 1390 King Robert II (reigned 1371–1390) granted the castle to Sir Henry Douglas, the husband of his niece Marjory. From the 14th century, the castle served as a state prison. Prior to becoming king, Robert II was held here in 1369, as was Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas (d. 1439) in the first half of the 15th century. Patrick Graham, Archbishop of St Andrews, died in captivity at the castle in 1478.

The 16th century
Mary, Queen of Scots (reigned 1542–1567) first visited Loch Leven in 1565 as a guest of Sir William Douglas of Lochleven (d. 1606). She held an interview here with the Calvinist preacher John Knox.

Mary returned to Loch Leven as a prisoner, from 17 June 1567 until her escape on 2 May 1568. At the "battle" of Carberry Hill on 15 June, Mary surrendered to her noblemen, who opposed her marriage to the Earl of Bothwell. She was taken to Loch Leven and given into the custody of Sir William Douglas of Lochleven, spending most of her captivity living in the early 16th-century Glassin Tower, at the south-east corner of the castle. Aside from Sir William, the household included his mother Lady Margaret Douglas, mother of Mary's half brother the Earl of Moray, and his brother George Douglas, as well as Willie Douglas, a young orphaned relative. Mary fell ill on arrival due to suspected poisoning, and sometime before 24 July she miscarried twins that she had conceived with Bothwell, who were hastily buried in the grounds. Only a few days later she was forced to abdicate as Queen of Scots, in favour of her infant son James.

Mary recovered during the autumn and winter, and gradually won over George Douglas to her own cause. A contemporary wrote that George was "in fantasy of love wythe hir." Mary had multiple escape attempts at Loch Leven. Once, Mary pretended to be a laundress, while one of her ladies took her place inside the castle. However, as she was leaving the boatman that was taking her across the loch recognized her and took her back. Another attempt was made to escape by scaling the seven-foot wall outside the castle, but another lady-in-waiting injured herself when they were practicing the escape. On the night of the successful escape, Willie Douglas stole the keys and let Mary, dressed as a servant, out of the castle. She was rowed across the lake to where George Douglas awaited her, alongside 200 horsemen, and they fled to Niddry Castle in Lothian. The Castle is one of many in Scotland said to be haunted by Mary's spirit, as it is said she was waiting for her twins to return to her so they would know their loss of life was not her fault. The sadness she felt about their loss, kept her trapped within the castle walls.

The English Earl of Northumberland was also held here, after offending Elizabeth I of England. He was confined at Loch Leven for two years before being sent back to England for execution. In 1588, Sir William Douglas of Lochleven succeeded to the earldom of Morton, as the 6th earl. With the title he inherited other properties, including Aberdour Castle in Fife, and Loch Leven Castle became less frequently used.

Sir William Bruce
From around 1546, Margaret Erskine and her son William Douglas built a house on the shore of the Loch which was known as "Newhouse." The "Newhouse" replaced the island castle as the legal centre of the estate in 1619.

In 1675, the Loch Leven estate was bought from the Douglases by Sir William Bruce (c.1630–1710), royal architect in Scotland. Bruce built nearby Kinross House on the lake shore from 1686, aligning the principal axis of house and garden on the distant castle. The "Newhouse", which was finally demolished in 1723, was just to the north of Bruce's site. Kinross was one of the first buildings in the classical style erected in Scotland. Thereafter Loch Leven Castle was no longer used as a dwelling, but it was preserved by Bruce as a picturesque focus for his gardens.

Recent years
Loch Leven Castle had fallen into ruin by the 18th century, but the ruins were conserved and rubbish removed in 1840. The estate passed from the Bruces to the Graham family in the 18th century and then, in the 19th century, to the Montgomerys, who still occupy Kinross House.

Loch Leven Castle was given in to state care in 1939, and is now managed by Historic Scotland. Today, the castle can be reached by a 12-person ferry operated from Kinross by Historic Scotland during the summer months. The remains of the castle are protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Loch Leven Castle

Collairnie Castle is an L-plan castle in Dunbog, Fife, Scotland. The castle was extended in the 16th century, with a wing added of 4 storeys with an attic. The main block has been reduced to a single storey, and the tower is now incorporated into a 19th-century farm steading. It is described as having "become an embarrassment as the work of the farm subscribes" it. Inside the remaining floors are two painted ceilings. The castle is protected as a scheduled monument.

Owned by the Barclay family until 1789, it passed to the Balfours. On her way to St Andrews in 1564, it is said that Mary Queen of Scots spent three nights at Collairnie.

Collairnie Castle

Tullibole Castle is a 17th-century castle in Crook of Devon, a village in Perthshire. It was built by John Halliday in 1608 and is currently owned by the Moncrieff family. The castle was designated a Category A listed building in 1971.

History
The first evidence of a building on the site was in 1304. The current castle began as a 16th-century tower house before it was expanded in 1608 by John Halliday who bought the land in 1589 from the Herring family. The castle was extended again later in the 18th century before it was passed to the Moncrieff family in around 1740. The interior of the castle and the gardens were renovated in the late 1950s. The name of the castle changed from Tulliebole Castle to Tullibole Castle during the same period.

In 2012, a memorial was unveiled at the castle, commissioned by the current owner of the castle, Rhoderick Moncrieff. It commemorates the Crook of Devon witch trials in 1662 where previous members of the Moncrieff family sent 11 people to their deaths because they were believed to be witches.

The castle is now primarily used for weddings and events as well as a bed and breakfast.

Tullibole Castle

Huntingtower Castle once known as Ruthven Castle or the Place [Palace] of Ruthven is located near the village of Huntingtower beside the A85 and near the A9, about 5km NW of the centre of Perth, Perth and Kinross, in central Scotland, on the main road to Crieff.

Huntingtower Castle was built in stages from the 15th century by the Clan Ruthven family and was known for several hundred years as the 'House (or 'Place') of Ruthven'. In the summer of 1582, the castle was occupied by the 4th Lord Ruthven, who was also the 1st Earl of Gowrie, and his family. Gowrie was involved in a plot to kidnap the young King James VI, son of Mary, Queen of Scots. During 1582 Gowrie and his associates seized the young king and held him prisoner for 10 months. This kidnapping is known as the 'Raid of Ruthven' and the Protestant conspirators behind it hoped to gain power through controlling the king. James eventually escaped and actually forgave Gowrie, but after a second abortive attempt by Gowrie and others to overthrow him, Gowrie was finally executed and his property (including Huntingtower) was forfeited to the crown.

The Castle and lands were restored to the Ruthven family in 1586. However in 1600, the brothers John and Alexander Ruthven were implicated in another plot to kill King James VI and were executed. This time, the king was less merciful: as well as seizing the estates, he abolished the name of Ruthven and decreed that any successors would be ineligible to hold titles or lands. Thus the House of Ruthven ceased to exist and by royal proclamation the castle was renamed Huntingtower. The Castle remained in the possession of the crown until 1643 when it was given to the family of Murray of Tullibardine (from whom the Dukes of Atholl and Mansfield are descended).

John Murray, 1st Duke of Atholl resided in the Castle, where his wife Lady Mary Ross bore a son 7 February 1717. The Castle began to be neglected and after Lady Mary died in 1767, it was abandoned as a place of residence except by farm labourers. The last inhabitants of the castle were the family of the castle custodian Niel Cowan. The Cowan family of Niel, Margaret, Alexander and Lorraine left in late 2002.

Today, the castle can be visited by the public and is sometimes used as a venue for marriage ceremonies. It is in the care of Historic Scotland (open all year; entrance charge).

Architecture
The original 'Huntingtower' (now known as the 'Eastern Tower') was a free-standing building, constructed primarily as a gatehouse. It consists of three storeys and a garret under the roof. Around the end of the 15th century a second tower (the 'Western Tower') was built alongside the Huntingtower, with a gap of about 3 metres between them. This second tower was L-shaped in plan and was connected to the Huntingtower by a wooden bridge below the level of the battlements. It is thought that this construction was for defensive reasons: if one tower was attacked and taken, residents could flee into the second and draw up the bridge between the two. The space between the two towers was built up in the late 17th century resulting in the Castle as it stands today. At the same time the number and size of windows was greatly increased, particularly in the Western Tower.

A great hall was built against the north side of the Western Tower in the 16th century, but nothing remains of it above ground except a raggle showing the position of the roof against the Tower. The defensive walls that originally enclosed the Castle (and probably other vanished subsidiary buildings) have also been removed.

Among the features of interest at Huntingtower are early 16th-century paintings which survive on the first floor of the Eastern Tower. These include fragmentary wall paintings showing flowers, animals and Biblical scenes, and a largely complete decorative scheme on the wooden ceiling. Among the designs are grotesque animals (including a version of the green man) on the main beams, and Renaissance-style knotwork patterns on the overlying planks. This painted ceiling is believed to be the earliest of its kind to survive substantially in Scotland. Minor fragments of wall-paintings also survive in the Western Tower.

Lady Greensleeves and other legends
Huntingtower is said to be haunted by "Lady Greensleeves", a young woman named Dorothea who was the daughter of the 1st Earl of Gowrie. The legend states that she was in love with a servant at the castle and that the two used to have clandestine meetings at night in the eastern tower, where the servants slept. One night the girl's mother, the Countess, is supposed to have discovered what was going on and made her way across the bridge from the family's quarters in the western tower to the eastern tower to catch the pair. Dorothea heard her mother's footsteps on the bridge and, unable to return to the other tower by that route, made her way to the roof. Here she leapt from the tower to land safely on the battlements of the western tower and so return to bed where she was discovered by her mother. The distance between the towers was several metres and thus she accomplished quite a feat in leaping the distance. The following day the girl and her lover eloped and no records exist to tell us what happened to them.

A number of sightings of the figure of a tall young woman in a green silk dress have been seen in and around Huntingtower over the years, usually at dusk but sometimes in full daylight. Her appearance is said to be an ill omen and a forewarning of some disaster to come. A traveller staying at Huntingtower in the 1930s is reported to have seen Lady Greensleeves in a corridor of the castle. The following day he resumed his journey to Fife and was drowned when he fell from the ferry taking him across the River Tay.

A second Huntingtower legend concerns St Conval's Well, which is beside the road below the castle. The water from this well is meant to have the power to heal, but those who go to collect it must do so in silence: any word spoken on the outward or return journey renders the water useless. Those who go to fetch water are also supposed to leave a small token behind at the well, such as a coin or charm. The well is in good condition and to this day runs clear.

Huntingtower Castle

Balgonie Castle is located on the south bank of the River Leven near Milton of Balgonie, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) east of Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland. The castle keep dates from the 14th century, and the remaining structures were added piecemeal until the 18th century. The keep has been recently restored, although other parts of the castle are roofless ruins. Balgonie, excepting the tower which is used for residential purposes, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The lands of Balgonie were held by the Sibbalds from at least 1246. Probably in the 1360s, the Sibbalds built a barmkin, or fortified courtyard, with a tower house at the north-west corner. The lands and the castle were left to a daughter, who married Sir Robert Lundie, who extended the castle in 1496, following his appointment as Lord High Treasurer of Scotland. Sir Robert built a two-storey range of buildings to the east of the keep, enlarging the accommodation with a long hall and a solar. This range incorporated an earlier corner tower and the 14th-century chapel. King James IV visited Balgonie on 20 August 1496, and gave 18 shillings to the masons as a gift.

In 1627 the castle was sold to the Boswells, who sold it on in 1635 to Sir Alexander Leslie, a Scottish soldier who had fought for the Swedish army during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), rising to the rank of Field Marshal, and who led the Covenanters during the Scottish Bishops Wars. Leslie was created Lord Balgonie and Earl of Leven in 1641, and finally retired in 1654. He carried out further improvement of his home, adding a two-storey building at the south-east corner of the courtyard.

Etching of the castle by James Fittler from Scotia Depicta, published 1804
The initials FSAL and DAR, for Field Marshal Sir Alexander Leslie, and his wife Dame Agnes Renton, were found inscribed within the south-east block, suggesting that this was built prior to Leslie's elevation to the peerage. He also rebuilt the late 15th century north range with an extra storey, and laid out a park around the castle, remnants of which remain.

The next additions were carried out by John Leslie, 7th Earl of Rothes, who disputed the earldom of Leven with David Melville following the death of the second earl in 1664. Lord Rothes, with the aid of John Mylne junior, the king's master mason, built a grand stair linking the keep and north range, where previously a wooden bridge stood. On his death in 1681 David Melville inherited Balgonie, along with the earldom of Leven. He too added a range of buildings in 1706, this time a three-storey section linking the north range with the south-east block. The work was completed by master mason Gilbert Smith.

Rob Roy MacGregor captured Balgonie Castle during a raid in 1716, although the castle was soon returned to the Melvilles. David Melville, 6th Earl of Leven made minor improvements in the 1720s, including the insertion of sash windows. Further buildings were also added within the courtyard.

n 1824 the castle was sold to James Balfour of Whittingehame, father of James Maitland Balfour, and grandfather of Arthur Balfour, who served as British Prime Minister from 1902-1905. He was unable to arrest the decay which was advancing, and in the mid nineteenth century the roofs were removed to avoid paying tax on the property. Much vandalism occurred in the 1960s, and it was not until 1971 that restoration of the castle, then owned by David Maxwell, began. Work continued through the 1970s and 1980s, aided by European funding as part of European Architectural Heritage Year, in 1975. The keep and chapel have now been fully restored, and the castle is once again lived in by its current owner, Raymond Morris, originally of Walsall, and his family. The castle is open to the public, and the restored chapel and great hall can be hired for events such as weddings. The current owners have expressed their intent to continue the restoration of the entire building.

The castle is still entered via the 15th century gatehouse. This is semi-ruinous above ground level, but a guardroom and prison can be seen within. The gate opens onto a courtyard, containing a well, around which the buildings are arranged.

The ground and first floors of the keep are vaulted, the first floor containing the hall, which unusually had no great fireplace. This would originally have been entered via a moveable timber stair, prior to the construction of the present stone stair. Above the hall are two further floors, each with a fireplace and connected by a turnpike stair. The keep is topped by a pitched roof with crow stepped gables. Outside, the parapet walk and cannon spouts are of 17th-century origin, and contemporary with the enlarged windows. Some of the smaller trefoil-headed original windows survive.

In the basement of the north range is the vaulted chapel, although the remainder of the range, and the east buildings, are roofless. Walls and chimney stacks remain. The remains of earlier buildings within the courtyard were uncovered during excavations in 1978. It appears that these were demolished in the early 17th century to allow rebuilding.

Beyond the castle walls, the extensive boundary walls of the deer park survive, although damaged in parts. Large mature trees remain from the 17th century landscaping.

Balgonie Castle

Methven Castle is a 17th-century house situated east of Methven, in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.

The lands of Methven were owned by the Mowbray family from the 12th century. The Mowbrays supported the claim of John Balliol against Robert the Bruce, and on the latter's victory, Methven was confiscated by the crown, and given to Walter Stewart, the Bruce's son-in-law. His descendant, Walter Stewart, Earl of Atholl, was deprived of the lands following his involvement in a plot to kill King James I. The castle sustained a siege in 1444, and was visited by King James II in 1450. King James IV visited several times in the 1490s.

Methven Castle was the home of Margaret Tudor (1489-1541), queen of James IV, King of Scots, and daughter of Henry VII of England, after her third marriage to Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven in 1528. Margaret Tudor died here on 18 October 1541. After the third Lord Methven died without heir in 1584, King James VI gave Methven to his favourite, the Duke of Lennox. In 1664 the estate was purchased by Patrick Smythe of Braco.

The present building is dated 1664, and was designed and built by the mason-architect John Mylne. It may incorporate older work. The Smythe family remained in possession throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, making additions to the castle and the grounds. In 1923 the castle was sold, and changed hands several times until 1984, when restoration work began. The east wing was demolished, following the west wing which was pulled down in the 1950s, leaving only the 17th-century house, which was given a new roof. The castle is currently owned by David Murdoch, and is a category A listed building.

Architecture
It comprises a square, four-storey main block, with narrow circular towers at each corner. These have ogee-shaped roofs, and the whole building is harled. The north front has a pair of crow-stepped gables, linked by a balustrade. An east wing was added first, then a western extension with a bay window, built around 1815, probably by James Gillespie Graham. Graham produced designs for rebuilding the whole structure, but this was never carried out. The building also had a clock tower, but this was demolished around 1965. Inside, the building was remodelled in 1800, and only a stair remains of the original interiors.

Grounds
Parkland was laid out around the castle from the late 18th century. David Smythe, Lord Methven planted many of the woodlands, and a walled garden was constructed in 1796. In 1830 a pinetum, an arboretum consisting of conifers, was established, and is considered the first in Scotland. David's son William continued to expand the estate and constructed glasshouses. Although the woodlands continued to be managed into the 20th century, the gardens were neglected and numerous trees felled, including much of the pinetum, in the 1950s. The largest surviving tree is the Pepperwell Oak, with a girth of 22 feet 10 inches (6.96 m), as measured in 1985. In 1883 this tree was thought to be already 400 years old. The parks and gardens are listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.

Methven Castle

Scotstarvit Tower is a tower house in Fife, Scotland. It is situated 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Cupar, between Tarvit Hill and Walton Hill, south of the River Eden, near the A916 road.

History
The six-storey L-plan tower, still largely intact, was built in the third quarter of the 16th century by the Inglis family. It was bought, in 1611, by Sir John Scot, author of the satirical The Staggering State of the Scots' Statesmen. Scot rebuilt the tower in the 1620s. Scotstarvit later passed to the Wemyss family, and in 1948 it was given to the National Trust for Scotland, and it is now in the care of Historic Scotland. The castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and a category A listed building.

Scotstarvit Tower

Ravenscraig Castle is a ruined castle located in Kirkcaldy which dates from around 1460. The castle is an early example of artillery defence in Scotland.

The construction of Ravenscraig Castle by the mason Henry Merlion and the master carpenter Friar Andres Lesouris was ordered by King James II (reigned 1437-1460) as a home for his wife, Mary of Guelders. The castle is considered one of the first - perhaps the very first - in Scotland to be built to withstand cannon fire and provide for artillery defence. The king was involved with the planning but, ironically, was killed in a tragic accident with a loaded cannon at the Siege of Roxburgh Castle near Floors Castle in the Scottish Borders. The castle was eventually started around 1460 by his wife, Mary of Guelders, as a memorial to him and as a dower house. Mary of Guelders lived in the castle until her death in 1463, when only the east tower and the basement of the central section were built. Ownership passed to her son James III (reigned 1460-1488) but in 1471 he gave the castle to William Sinclair, Earl of Orkney and Caithness in exchange for the Earldom of Orkney and associated lands which James annexed from Norway to the Scottish Crown. After 1471 Ravenscraig was finally completed by the Sinclairs, who also had an interest in artillery fortifications.

During the 1650-51 invasion of Scotland by English forces under Oliver Cromwell, Ravenscraig was invaded, attacked and damaged. The castle remained in the ownership of the Sinclairs, who built nearby Dysart House (1755-1756) on the estate, and later passed to the Sinclair-Erskines, Earls of Rosslyn. The estate and castle remained in the family until sold in 1896, by the 5th Earl, to linoleum magnate Sir Michael Nairn who lived in Dysart House.

The castle was used as an ammunition depot during the First World War. In 1929, 85 acres (34 ha) of the estate, including the castle, was given to the town of Kirkcaldy by the Nairn family as a public park. Ravenscraig Castle was passed into state care in 1955 and has been open to the public by the owners Historic Scotland since 1971. It is now managed by Historic Scotland, and is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Celtic punk band The Real McKenzies filmed the video for their song Drink Some More at Ravenscraig Castle.

The castle
Ravenscraig is a small castle, built on a narrow rocky promontory in the Firth of Forth. It is naturally defended on three sides by steep cliffs dropping to the sea, and the main part of the castle forms the northern, landward, defence. This comprises two D-plan towers, with outer walls 4.25 metres (13.9 ft) thick, designed to withstand cannon fire. Battlements between the towers formed an artillery platform, with gun holes pointing to landward. The whole is defended by a deep, rock-cut ditch, and is accessed via a bridge.

The towers
The west tower stands to four storeys, and has a single small room on each floor. At the ground floor is a vaulted cellar, with a hall above, accessed via a stone forestair, or outside stairway. A spiral stair links the upper levels, although the timber floors are no longer present. Chimneys rise through the walls to form features of the castle's skyline. The east tower is of three storeys, although its base is set lower into the cliff. A well is located at the lowest level, with a single chamber on each level above, although again the timber floors are missing. The floors are linked by a straight stair within the thickness of the west wall. The rooms of both towers are windowless to landward, due to the thick walls, but have windows with stone seats to the other sides.

Linking building and courtyard
The towers are linked by a central block, which contains the main gate and entrance passage. Vaulted cellars and a guard room lie to either side. These vaults support the artillery platform above. The gun holes are of the "inverted keyhole" type, which became common in the late 15th century. Beyond the main block, only the foundations remain of the buildings on the promontory.