Scotland Thirlstane Castle, Scottish Borders

On a hilltop near Lauder, Thirlstane Castle is one of the oldest still inhabited castles in Scotland and possibly one of the most impressive. It is the ancient seat of the Earls and Duke of Lauderdale and has been home to the Maitland family for over 400 years.

The family originally lived in the now ruined C12th Old Thirstane Castle, a fortified Tower House.

The Maitlands arrived with William the Conqueror and rapidly rose to be one of the most influential families in Scotland with close links to the Scottish monarchs.

In 1590, John Maitland was made Lord Chancellor to King James VI of Scotland and ennobled as Lord Maitland of Thirlestane. He decided that his family needed an impressive home to match his status, and commissioned a huge three-storey castle to be built on a hill overlooking the town of Lauder.

This was a rose pink sandstone tower block with a drum tower at each corner and a series of smaller turrets rising up the sides of the building. James VI made several visits here.

His grandson, another John, was made First Duke of Lauderdale and appointed Secretary of State for Scotland in 1660, a position of unrivalled power and influence. He had been a staunch Royalist and having been captured after the Battle of Worcester, was imprisoned in the Tower of London under sentence of death. After the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, he was given a personal pardon by Charles II absolving him of any crimes. He became a member of Charles’s inner cabinet and his representative in Scotland.

Using his wife’s money, he employed the architect Sir William Bruce to transform the castle into a residence suitable for conducting the affairs of state. Between 1670 and 1676 substantial alterations remodelling of the front entrance with the addition of the grand external staircase and terrace over the rooms below, flanked by two short wings. A grand wood staircase was added to replace the stone spiral staircases along with lavish staterooms with magnificent plasterwork ceilings, all designed to meet the highest fashion in C17th planning and furnishing...

Unfortunately he died without an heir and the castle and estate passed to his younger brother.

The C19th was the heyday of the grand house and shooting parties, with large numbers of guests and their servants. More space was needed as well as modern conveniences. The central tower was raised with its distinctive ogee roof with conical turrets. Two side wings were added using a slightly different colour stone, with kitchens. pantries, laundries and servant’s quarters, carriage house and stables.

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During the First World War, the castle was used as a military hospital for convalescing officers. In the Second world War, it housed a girl’s school evacuated from Edinburgh.

In 1972, Gerald Maitland-Carew, grandson of the 15th Earl of Lauderdale, inherited the castle from his grandmother. The castle was in a very poor state and needed extensive renovation. There was extensive dry rot and the central tower was in imminent danger of collapse. In 1984 the castle and contents were given to a charitable trust to ensure its preservation - one of the first historic houses to do so. It was opened to the public for the first time. The north wing is still lived in by the family.

 

[Eleanor]

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The castle is T shaped with the oldest part forming the stem of the T. Only the upper ground floor and first floor rooms in this section are open. The floors above can only be reached by narrow spiral staircases. The north wing rooms are the private accommodation Maitland family. Rooms in the south wing let out to visitors.

Entry is up the exterior stone staircase into what is described as the upper ground floor.

The first room is the Entrance Hall with its plaster ceiling. The wood panelling and fireplace were added as part of the 1840s improvements. Around the top of the walls are swords and flintlock rifles as well as the ceremonial spade used by the 13th Countess to cut the first sod of the Lauder Light Railway in 1837. The grand staircase leads off this room.

The sedan chair is late C18th although the leather was replaced in the C19th. There is an Armada Chest thought to have been recovered from a Spanish ship that sank off Tantallon in 1588. The weighing chair was used for jockeys and not to weigh guests before and after a house party...

Behind the entrance hall is the Panelled Room which is in the oldest part of the house with very thick walls and was the original entrance into the castle. Before the 1840 modifications this was part of the family quarters. It was then used as a morning room and has views of the gardens and part of the 1840s wings.

Like the entrance hall it has panelled walls and a plaster ceiling and a grand piano in the window.

Above the pink Peterhead fireplace is a painting of Mary Queen of Scots. To the right is Sir William Maitland, who was Lord Chancellor to King James VI. To the right is his younger brother William who was secretary to Mary.

The personal pardon from Charles II to John, First Duke of Lauderdale is displayed on the wall as well as the original Charter from James IV to the Royal Burgh of Lauder granted in 1502.

This leads through into the Library which was converted from a dining room in the 1840s. The walls are lined with over 2000 books which are mainly C18th literature and political works. They were bought by the yard with matching bindings, designed to impress rather than be read. The oriental porcelain displayed above the bookcases was brought here by the wife of the 15th Earl around 1900.

Above the fireplace is a portrait of John, Duke of Lauderdale, who was responsible for the C17th remodelling of the castle. This was painted by Mary Beale an accomplished portrait painter.

The Billiards Room is at the end of the wing. Mary, Queen of Scots brought the game to Scotland from France after the death of her husband the Dauphin of France. The game was originally played outside and the green baize cloth acted as a grass substitute for the indoor game.

The billiard table was made around 1880 and is well lit by gas lights above. The panelled walls are covered with photographs taken the 14th Earl who won many prizes and medals . The screen is covered with about 1000 different salmon ties used on the River Tweed. It is repiuted to have come into the family as payment of rent or a gambling debt.

Off the billiard room are two smaller rooms. One is houses a collection of photographs taken by the 14th Earl along with more books.

The other is the Small Library and was used by Viscount Ivor Maitland who was killed in action in 1943. It is a small compact room used when he wanted to be private. The ornate Rococco bookstand has the family Bible which dates from 1772 and is still used to record family births and deaths.

A spiral staircase leads up to the state rooms on the first floor.

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[Eleanor]

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The first floor comprises of the Duke’s bedroom, Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Room and the State Drawing room.

The Duke’s Dressing Room is the small room above the small library. This was designed for private and intimate discussions of John Mailtand, Duke of Lauderdale, who was possibly the most important and influential man in Scotland after the king. His Ducal coronet is displayed in each corner of the ceiling with the Maitland crest in the centre. `The wallpaper dates from 1870.

His portrait hangs on the wall.

Opposite is his second wife, Elizabeth, Countess of Dysart.

It was her money that was used to refurbish Thirlstane. John had no heir, so after his death, the castle and its belongings passed to his younger brother Charles. In a fit of pique, Elizabeth packed up all the castle belongings into 14 wagons to take back to her family home, Ham House in London. The people of Lauder were incensed by this and managed to intercept the last wagon, returning its contents to the castle. The Boule desk displayed here is one of the few pieces of furniture rescued.

The State Bedroom was where the Duke conducted most of his business. It has a splendid plaster ceiling made by George Dunsterfield who also worked at Holyroodhouse. The wallpaper is similar to that in the dressing room.

The room is dominated by the bed which is on loan from Burghley House and was made for the Marquess of Exeter in the C17th.

The fireplace is made of yellow Sienna marble which was much easier to carve than the Peterhead marble used on the upper ground floor rooms. Above is a large mirror, reflecting all available light back into the room.

In the opposite corner to the Duke’s Dressing Room is Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Room. Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed at the Castle in November 1745 following his victory at Preston Pans. His troops camped in the parkland while the Prince slept in the castle.

The room has another splendid plaster ceiling and is furnished as it might have been in the C19th with a Victorian boat bed and hip bath.

The State Drawing Room takes up much of the first floor wing and was originally two rooms. The wallpaper is a modern copy of the original.

The gilded musical instruments on the ceiling of the first room suggest this may originally have been the Duke’s music room.

The second room ceiling is much more ornate with laurel leaves, the symbol of nobility and power with the Lauderdale eagle at the corners.

The ornate mirrors over the fireplaces not only reflected more light into the room but would also let guests view the ceilings without craning their necks.

Visitors would climb the main staircase and wait in the Anteroom before entering the drawing room.

The Chinese Room is used to display a collection of Chinese porcelain from the father in law of the 15th Earl, from when based in Hong Kong as the chairman of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.

The State Dining Room is in the southern of the two wings added in the 1840s. The chairs were rescued after the grand ball held by the Duchess of Richmond in Brussels on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo. This was interrupted by the unexpected advance of Napoleon and the Duchess fled the scene leaving her furniture behind.

The room has an ornate Jacobean style plaster ceiling and one of the largest complete collection of family portraits in Scotland. Only the 12th Earl is missing.

Sir John Maitland is in pride of place above the mantlepiece.

The splendid ram’s head snuff box dates from around 1880 and has a huge cairngorm stone. It is set on wheels for easy movement at the dining table.

From the windows there is a good view of the oldest part of the castle.

The grand staircase with another elaborate ceiling leads back to the upper ground floor.