The Royal Celtic Society’s next members’ event will be to visit Dirleton Castle in East Lothian on Sunday 9th July, where we will be welcomed by Andrew Spratt, Historic Scotland’s Custodian at the castle, who will speak to us about the castle’s architecture and historic significance. A particular attraction is that Andrew will be dressed in armour for the occasion and will demonstrate the use of medieval arms. Andrew will later join us for lunch as the Society’s guest.
Dirleton is a splendid example of a medieval fortress, originally constructed by the Vaux family in the 13th century. It survived the Wars of Independence and was subsequently home to the Haliburton, Ruthven and Maxwell families, the last of which became Earls of Dirletoun. After the Cromwell era, the building was sold by the Countess of Dirletoun to a lawyer named James Nisbet. It later passed via a Nisbet heiress to the Earls of Elgin and came into the care of the state in the 1930s. It continues to be managed by Historic Scotland, the agency of the Scottish Government which has responsibility for our ancient monuments.
We are invited to arrive at the castle any time after 10.00 am, which will allow plenty of time to explore the ruins and grounds before proceeding to Duck’s Restaurant in nearby Aberlady for lunch at 12.30 pm.
Entry to the castle is free to Historic Scotland members and costs a very reasonable £5.50 for everybody else. On this occasion, the Society will make no charge – we will each be responsible for our own entry to the castle and for our bill at Duck’s – but if you would like to attend please advise the Secretary on info@royalcelticsociety.scot as we will need to record numbers for the castle and the restaurant.