# Fast Castle

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fast_Castle
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fast_Castle.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Castle
> Source revision: 1344146036
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Medieval castle in Scottish Borders, Scotland

Fast Castle Coldingham, Berwickshire, Scotland GB grid reference NT860709 The landward approach to Fast Castle. The wall stack on the right has since collapsed. Site information Type Courtyard castle Owner Private Open to the public Yes Condition Ruin Location Fast Castle Location within the Scottish Borders Coordinates 55°55′57″N 2°13′26″W / 55.9324°N 2.2239°W / 55.9324; -2.2239 Site history Built Unknown, rebuilt 1522 Built by First phase: unknown Second phase: Earl of Dunbar Third phase: George Home, 4th Lord Home Materials First phase: unknown Second phase: Stone

**Fast Castle** is the ruined remains of a coastal [fortress](/source/Fortress) in [Berwickshire](/source/Berwickshire), south-east [Scotland](/source/Scotland), in the [Scottish Borders](/source/Scottish_Borders). It lies 4 miles (6.4 km) north west of the village of [Coldingham](/source/Coldingham), and just outside the [St Abb's Head](/source/St_Abb's_Head) [National Nature Reserve](/source/National_nature_reserve_(United_Kingdom)), run by the [National Trust for Scotland](/source/National_Trust_for_Scotland). The site is protected as a [Scheduled Ancient Monument](/source/Scheduled_Ancient_Monument).[1]

## The castle

Fast Castle, in its heyday, comprised a courtyard and [keep](/source/Keep), built on a narrow sloping plateau, 27 by 82 metres (89 by 269 ft), on an eponymous promontory overlooking the [North Sea](/source/North_Sea).[2] Cliffs up to 45 metres (148 ft) high on either side rendered the castle relatively impregnable.[2] The plateau was surrounded by a curtain wall with towers, with the keep at the northern extremity of the promontory. The castle could only be reached by a [drawbridge](/source/Drawbridge) over a narrow ravine, protected by a [barbican](/source/Barbican). Little remains today of the keep or the courtyard walls except foundations, and a section of the north-east wall.[2] The layout of the castle is very similar to that of [Dunnottar Castle](/source/Dunnottar_Castle) in [Aberdeenshire](/source/Aberdeenshire), though Fast Castle is on a smaller scale. Access to the sea was via a pulley system with basket. There is a cave at the foot of the cliffs, which, it has been suggested, could once have acted as an access to the interior of the castle by its inhabitants.

## History

It is unclear when the first structure appeared on the site, but its defensible position must have made it attractive to even the earliest inhabitants of the area. There is evidence of [Iron Age](/source/British_Iron_Age) habitation here, and it was centrally positioned in the [British](/source/Brython) kingdom of [Bryneich](/source/Bryneich), and its [Anglo-Saxon](/source/Anglo-Saxons) successor state of [Bernicia](/source/Bernicia).

Fast Castle is first recorded in 1333.[2] In 1346 the site was occupied by an [English](/source/Kingdom_of_England) garrison and was used as a base to pillage the surrounding countryside.[3] In 1410, a force led by Patrick Dunbar, second son of the [10th Earl of Dunbar and March](/source/George_I%2C_Earl_of_March) seized the castle and imprisoned the governor, Thomas Holden. Its new Scots governor William Haliburton was also able to seize [Wark Castle](/source/Wark_on_Tweed), [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland), in 1419.

The castle fell into the hands of the [Home family](/source/Earl_of_Home) (pronounced "Hume"), and in 1503 they hosted [Margaret Tudor](/source/Margaret_Tudor), daughter of [Henry VII of England](/source/Henry_VII_of_England), at Fast Castle *en route* to her marriage to [James IV](/source/James_IV_of_Scotland). Following the Scots' defeat and the death of James IV at the [battle of Flodden](/source/Battle_of_Flodden) in 1513, in which numerous Homes were killed, a power struggle ensued between the [Regent Albany](/source/John_Stewart%2C_2nd_Duke_of_Albany) and various other nobles including [Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home](/source/Alexander_Home%2C_3rd_Lord_Home), [Chamberlain of Scotland](/source/Great_Chamberlain). Fast Castle was destroyed in the chaos in 1515, and Alexander Home was executed in 1516 and his land forfeit.[3]

The castle was rebuilt by 1522, when the Home estates were restored to Alexander's brother [George Home, 4th Lord Home](/source/George_Home%2C_4th_Lord_Home). During the "[Rough Wooing](/source/The_Rough_Wooing)" of Scotland by [Henry VIII](/source/Henry_VIII_of_England), the castle was captured again by the English in 1547, but was back in Scottish hands by the time of [Mary, Queen of Scots](/source/Mary%2C_Queen_of_Scots)' stay here in 1566.[3] The recapture of Fast Castle from the English is said to have been instigated by Madge Gordon, a Coldingham widow.[4] Again back in the ownership of the Homes, the English ambassador [Nicholas Throckmorton](/source/Nicholas_Throckmorton) stayed at the castle with the [5th Lord Home](/source/Alexander_Home%2C_5th_Lord_Home) on 11 July 1567, where he was "intretyed very well, according to the state of the place, which is fitter to lodge prisoners than folks at liberty, as yt is very little so yt is very stronge."[5]

After the rebellion known as the [Rising of the North](/source/Rising_of_the_North), [Anne Percy, Countess of Northumberland](/source/Anne_Percy%2C_Countess_of_Northumberland) was lodged at Fast Castle in March 1570.[6] Fast Castle was briefly held by an English force led by [William Drury](/source/William_Drury) in April 1570, while the [Earl of Sussex](/source/Thomas_Radclyffe%2C_3rd_Earl_of_Sussex) besieged [Hume Castle](/source/Hume_Castle) acting against the rebels and their supporters in Scotland.[7] Some of the guns of Fast Castle were taken to [Berwick on Tweed](/source/Berwick_on_Tweed). These cannon included two brass merlins and four [falcons](/source/Falconet_(cannon)).[8]

Ownership of the castle passed to [Robert Logan of Restalrig](/source/Robert_Logan_of_Restalrig) through his mother, a widow of Lord Home. In April 1584 the keepers of Fast Castle, [Innerwick](/source/Innerwick_Castle), and [Tantallon](/source/Tantallon_Castle) were commanded to surrender their castles to the crown.[9]

Sir Robert Logan was a notorious dissolute and "ne'er do well" who was implicated in the [Gowrie conspiracy](/source/John_Ruthven%2C_3rd_Earl_of_Gowrie) to kidnap the young [King James VI](/source/James_I_of_England). In 1594, Logan contracted with the famed mathematician (and supposed wizard) [John Napier](/source/John_Napier) to search Fast Castle for treasure. He was to "...do his utmost diligence to search and seek out, and by all craft and ingine to find out the same, and by the grace of God either find out the same, or make it sure that no such thing has been there."[10] For this, he was to be awarded a third of any treasure found. There is no record of any discovery he may have made. Logan died in 1606, and his estates forfeited in 1609, his corpse having been exhumed and put on trial.

19th-century engraving of Fast Castle

The castle was by now ruinous. It passed briefly to the Douglas family, then back to the Earls of Dunbar, then the family of Arnot, back to the Homes and finally to the Hall family. The castle is accessible from nearby Dowlaw farm with a steep trail leading to it. A concrete footway now replaces the drawbridge. Between 1971 and 1986 excavations were carried out at Fast Castle by the Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society.[11]

Fast Castle was originally known as *Fause (lit. False) Castle*, on account of the lights that were hung from it to mislead shipping. Shipmasters would see the lights while travelling in darkness, and consider that they had reached a safe haven, only to find that they had been guided on to rocks, where [wrecking parties](/source/Wrecking_(shipwreck)) awaited for plunder.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## Literary links

View of Fast Castle, from Waverley Novels vol iv (1844)

The castle is thought to have inspired [Sir Walter Scott](/source/Sir_Walter_Scott)'s description of the fictional "Wolf's Crag", which features in his 1819 novel *[The Bride of Lammermoor](/source/The_Bride_of_Lammermoor)*.[12] Fast Castle and Logan of [Restalrig](/source/Restalrig) both appear in [Nigel Tranter](/source/Nigel_Tranter)'s trilogy of historical novels, *[The Master of Gray](/source/Historical_novels_by_Nigel_Tranter_set_between_1286_and_1603#Master_of_Gray_trilogy)* series. The castle also features heavily in Tranter's *[Mail Royal](/source/Historical_novels_by_Nigel_Tranter_set_after_1603#Mail_Royal)*, a sequel to the former trilogy. It is the setting for [Kathleen Fidler](/source/Kathleen_Fidler)'s 1970 children's story *The Gold of Fast Castle*.

## See also

- [List of places in the Scottish Borders](/source/List_of_places_in_the_Scottish_Borders)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Historic Environment Scotland](/source/Historic_Environment_Scotland). ["Fast Castle,950m NNE of Dowlaw (SM4328)"](https://www.trove.scot/designation/SM4328). Retrieved 21 February 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-rcahms_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-rcahms_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-rcahms_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-rcahms_2-3) ["Fast Castle, Site Reference NT87SE 1"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121019062208/http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/59944/details/fast+castle/). *[CANMORE](/source/Canmore_(database))*. [Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland](/source/Royal_Commission_on_the_Ancient_and_Historical_Monuments_of_Scotland). Archived from [the original](http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/59944/details/fast+castle/) on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2010.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-gaz_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-gaz_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-gaz_3-2) ["Fast Castle"](http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst6225.html). *Gazetteer for Scotland*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Wilson, John Mackay (1885). "The Guidwife of Coldingham; or, the Surprise of Fast Castle". [*Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland: Historical, Traditionary, & Imaginative*](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/29030/29030-h/29030-h.htm). Vol. VI. pp. 1–21.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Joseph Stevenson, [*Selections from unpublished manuscripts in the College of Arms and the British Museum illustrating the reign of Mary Queen of Scotland* (Maitland Club, 1837)](https://archive.org/details/selectionsfromu00stevgoog), pp. 191, 197.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Jade Scott, *The Life and Letters of Lady Anne Percy* (Catholic Record Society, Boydell, 2024), pp. xxxviii.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Krista Kesselring, *The Northern Rebellion of 1569: Faith, Politics and Protest in Elizabethan England* (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), p. 108

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** *Calendar State Papers Scotland*, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 156.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** David Masson, *Register of the Privy Council of Scotland: 1578-1585*, vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1880), pp. 649, 657.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** "Weaknesses of the Wise". [*Chambers Edinburgh Journal*](https://books.google.com/books?id=LVQZAAAAYAAJ). Vol. 132. 9 August 1834. p. 217.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["About us"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090624192303/http://www.cyberpict.co.uk/eafs/about.cfm). Edinburgh Archaeological Field Society. Archived from [the original](http://www.cyberpict.co.uk/eafs/about.cfm) on 24 June 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Fast Castle Berwickshire by John Horsburgh after the Rev. J. Thomson"](http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/portraits/engravers/images/fastcastle.html). *The Walter Scott Digital Archive*. Edinburgh University Library.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Fast Castle](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Fast_Castle).

- Douglas, William (1921). ["Fast Castle and its owners: some notes on their history"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070611063143/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_055/55_056_083.pdf) (PDF). *Proceedings of the [Society of Antiquaries of Scotland](/source/Society_of_Antiquaries_of_Scotland)*. **55**: 56–83. Archived from [the original](http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_055/55_056_083.pdf) (PDF) on 11 June 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2011.

- [Sepia postcard of Fast Castle](http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-093-826-C), [SCRAN](/source/SCRAN)

- [Scottish Castles Photo Library - Fast Castle, Scottish Borders](http://www.rampantscotland.com/castles/blcastles_fast.htm), Rampant Scotland

v t e Castles in the Scottish Borders Ayton Castle Billie Castle Branxholme Castle Cessford Castle Cranshaws Castle Cavers Castle Drochil Castle Dryhope Tower Duns Castle Edrington Castle Fast Castle Fatlips Castle Ferniehirst Castle Floors Castle Fulton Tower Greenknowe Tower Hermitage Castle Hume Castle Jedburgh Castle Kirkhope Tower Mangerton Tower Mervinslaw Pele Neidpath Castle Newark Castle Nisbet House Roxburgh Castle Smailholm Tower Thirlestane Castle Tinnis (Yarrow) Traquair House Venlaw Wedderburn Castle Whitslaid Tower

Authority control databases International VIAF Other Kulturenvanteri monument

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fast Castle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Castle) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Castle?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.