ABERLADY DIG

The lands around the current house were a part of the estates of the Gospatrick Earls of Lothian, but in the 12th Century they were given to the Lindsay family in marriage and this family constructed a castle on the site in the 13th century, this was described as a large and strong fortress. Some of the property was donated to the Church as a memorial to Sir David Lindsay, High Chamberlain of Scotland in 1256 and a Regent for Alexander III, who died on crusade which was under the leadership of Louis of France. On his deathbed Sir David promised to donate land for a religious house so long as his remains were returned to Scotland. A Carmelite friary was then built nearby in 1293 and remnants of the priory still exist overgrown within the woods. Edward I and an English army occupied the castle in 1311. It was…