Fast Castle

Fast Castle is an amazing place to visit. Walking down the path from Dowlaw Farm, you look down upon the remains of the castle teetering ontop of a steep promitary. As you wander down the hill, you start to realise what an exceptional position this castle maintained in its heyday. The headland jutts out into the North Sea with an amazing panoramic view (on a good day!) of over 180 degrees encompassing Siccar Point, Dunbar, the Bass Rock, Fife, May Isle and St. Abbs Head.

                                     Looking East from Fast Castle to St. Abbs Head.

Looking West from Fast Castle to Siccar Point.

It is not known why, when or by whom the castle was built, but there have been a substantial number of artistic interpretations of the site and a few historical accounts of the castle's history. There was an archaeological dig in the 1970's at the site of the castle ruins and a number of interesting articles were found.

Fast Castle as a long and chequered history. It was built as a keep (stone tower) with a courtyard and a drawbridge over a deep chasm. It is first mentioned in documents in 1333. Being so close to the border with England, and its strategic positon at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, it was a prime target for any invading force from the south.

It was captured by the English in 1346 after the Battle of Neville Cross (during which King David II of Scotland was captured by the English King Edward III). It was not retaken until 1410, when the son of the Earl of Dunbar recaptured it in a surprise attack.

The castle was rebuilt by the Homes in 1521 but was retaken by the English in 1547 during the "Rough Wooing" prompted by demands by Henry VIII that his son, the future Edward VI of England (aged 10) should marry Mary Queen of Scots (aged 5), a proposition rejected by the Scottish Parliament. Mary Queen of Scots later stayed at Fast Castle (there are few castles she didn't visit during her reign).

The castle passed to the Logans of Restalrig by marriage but after their involvement in the Gowrie conspiracy in 1582 (when James VI (aged nearly 8) was abducted and taken to the Castle of Ruthven by the Earls of Mar and Gowrie) the castle was forfeited and became ruinous.

Sir Walter Scott used the setting of Fast Castle in his novel "Bride of Lammermoor" calling it "Wolf's Crag". A cave below the castle is reputed to have been used by smugglers.

It is a fantastic place to visit any time of the year, but special mention for June when the seabirds (guillimots, razorbills, shags and kittiwake's) are nesting on the cliffs at the seaward end of the castle, and November when grey seals pup on the beaches at either side of the castle.
Guillimots nesting on the cliffs below Fast Castle.


Further Reading of Interest:

Kennaway, Mary. (1992), Fast Castle, The Early Years, Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society.
Mitchell, Keith L. (1988), Fast Castle, A History from 1602, Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society.