Ethie Castle is a 14th-century

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

covering . It is located approximately 3 miles north of the fishing town of

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

Angus, Scotland Angus (; ) is one of the 32 Local government in Scotland, local government council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Dundee City (council area), Dundee City and Per ...

History

Ethie Castle dates to around 1300, when the monks at nearby

Arbroath Abbey Arbroath Abbey, in the Scottish town of Arbroath, was founded in 1178 by William I of Scotland, King William the Lion for a group of Tironensian Benedictine monks from Kelso Abbey. It was consecration, consecrated in 1197 with a dedication to th ...

built a

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

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 residen ...

. The castle passed through the hands of the de Maxwell family and into the ownership of Scotland's last

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

David Beaton David Beaton (also Beton or Bethune; 29 May 1546) was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish cardinal prior to the Reformation. Life David Beaton was said to be the fifth son of fourteen children born to John Beaton (Bethune) of Balf ...

who was murdered in St. Andrews in 1546. Its association with Cardinal Beaton is still evident as the castle includes a small chapel and the Cardinal's Sitting Room, with its secret staircase to the Great Hall above. The castle was purchased in 1665 by the Carnegie family, who later became the

Earls of Northesk Earl of Northesk is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1662 for John Carnegie, who notably served as Sheriff of Forfarshire. He was given the subsidiary title of Lord Rosehill and Eglismauldie (or Inglismaldie) at the same ...

. The 7th Earl was a Vice Admiral and commanded with Nelson at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

in 1805. As a tribute, the Earl was entitled to incorporate Trafalgar in his arms and this can still be seen set in a dormer at Ethie. In 1927 the castle and grounds were bought by Glasgow artist and antique collector William Cunningham Hector. The castle is reputed to be the basis for the fictional Castle of Knockwhinnock in Sir Walter Scott's novel ''

The Antiquary ''The Antiquary'' (1816), the third of the Waverley novels by Walter Scott, centres on the character of an antiquary: an amateur historian, archaeologist and collector of items of dubious antiquity. He is the eponymous character and for all prac ...

''. Sir Walter Scott was a close friend of

William Carnegie, 8th Earl of Northesk William Hopetoun Carnegie, 8th Earl of Northesk (16 October 1794 – 1878) was a British peer. Born to William Carnegie, 7th Earl of Northesk and Mary Ricketts, he died on 5 December 1878 at age of 84. Lord Northesk married Georgiana Maria ...

and frequently stayed at Ethie Castle. The castle was restored by the chief of the Forsyth Clan, Alistair Forsyth and it now serves as the clan's seat.

Ghosts

The castle is said to be haunted by a Grey Lady spectre as well as by

who was

Abbot of Arbroath The Abbot of Arbroath or Abbot of Aberbrothok (and later Commendator) was the head of the Tironensians, Tironensian Benedictines, Benedictine monastic community of Arbroath Abbey, Angus, Scotland, founded under the patronage of King William I of ...

in the 16th Century.

References

External links

Ethie Castle Home Page
{{coord, 56.6124, -2.5109, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Ethie Castle Ethie Castle Category A listed buildings in Angus, Scotland Listed castles in Scotland Reportedly haunted locations in Scotland