Boyne Castle

Boyne Castle, near Portsoy in northeastern Scotland, was constructed in the sixteenth century by Scottish hands. The land on which the castle stands was held in the early fourteenth century by Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray, around 1320. Ownership later passed to the Edmonstone family, and during the reign of David II the property was granted to Sir John Edmonstone of Edmonstone in recognition of services performed while the king was captive in England. Sir James Edmonstone, John’s son, formed alliances by marriage that linked the family into wider nobility active in contemporary records.

By 1437 the estate passed by marriage into the Ogilvie family. Some accounts attribute the later building of the standing house to Sir George Ogilvy of Dunlugas late in the sixteenth century, while others credit Alexander Ogilvy of Boyne with erecting the castle before 1575 for his bride Mary Beaton. Mary, Queen of Scots lodged at a place called the Craig of Boyne on 19 September 1562, a riverside location that may have been separate from the present ruins. James VI spent time at the castle in July 1589 when envoys brought news from Denmark concerning his marriage and preparations of ships, jewels, and a silver coach for Anne of Denmark. Occupation of the castle continued into the eighteenth century, with use recorded after 1723. Local tradition holds that an heir once fell from an open window into the gorge and that a girl who jumped after him was also lost, a story said to have contributed to the house’s decline. In 1869 objects recovered from a kitchen midden at the Craig of Boyne included bone sewing needles, brass pins, and a lead tag used as a quality mark on imported cloth.