Lethington Castle

Lethington Castle is a fifteenth–century castle located near the town of Haddington, Scotland. It stands proudly amongst the dark woods planted two centuries ago by John, Duke of Lauderdale. The castle is a large example of an L–plan, with the main body measuring 54 feet 10 inches from north to south by 38 feet from east to west, and the walls varying from 8 to 10 feet in thickness. The castle has been the occasional residence of Lord Blantyre, the current proprietor. There are two entrance doorways, one in the re–entering angle on the north side of the wing and the other near the north end, which leads directly into the vaulted ground floor. There is also a seventeenth–century mansion attached to the old fortalice on its eastern side, although it has been considerably altered and modernised. The arched and moulded entrance gateway still remains, although it is of a later date than the castle. On the lintel of the main entrance doorway of the keep is carved an inscription: ‘Qvisnam e Maetellana stirpe fundamenta jecerit, qvis turrim exitaverit invida celavit antiquitas. Luminaria aux on the lintel is the date 1626, attributed to John, Earl of Lauderdale. The other entrance doorway features the Maitland arms. Clan Maitland is a Scottish clan whose chief is the Earl of Lauderdale and whose seat is Lethington Castle. They have been associated with the castle since  the 16th century and are very proud of their history and association with the castle. Inside the castle, on the first floor, is a spacious vaulted apartment, measuring 39 feet long by 20 feet wide and lighted on three sides by four deeply–recessed and wide windows. On the second floor there is a small room with the initials I M S, for John, second Lord Maitland and Earl of Lauderdale, and his wife, Isabel Seton, a daughter of the Earl of Dunfermline, repeated on the ceiling. T