This was a mediaeval castle which is believed to have been built between 1339 and 1381 by Gilbert de Umfraville third Earl of Angus and Lord of Kyme.
Douglas' father William Longleg was Lord of Fawdon, and had as his superior Gilbert de Umfraville, Earl of Angus, Longleg was acquitted of withholding rents by a jury, Umfraville notwithstanding attacked Fawdon, imprisoned Longleg at Harbottle Castle and made off with some £100 sterling of goods.
Angus | James Earl Jones | Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex | Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma | Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener | Earl | Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts | Earl of Derby | Earl Warren | Earl of Pembroke | Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer | Earl of Warwick | Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford | Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby | Earl of Shrewsbury | William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham | Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester | Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick | Earl of Leicester | John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon | Angus cattle | Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex | Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester | Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer | Earl of Devon | Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig | My Name Is Earl | Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon | Earl Scruggs | Earl of March |
In June 1497, with the Earl of Angus, he opened talks for the surrender of Perkin Warbeck at 'Jenyn Haugh'.
It passed, on their forfeiture in 1516, to the Douglas Earl of Angus, but was besieged and destroyed by the English under the Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland in the winter of 1532, and again under the Protector Somerset in 1547, when held by Sir George Douglas.
In 1515 Margaret Tudor, the widowed queen of James IV of Scotland and sister of Henry VIII, having been banished by the regent, the Duke of Albany, came to the castle with her second husband, the Earl of Angus.
In 1515 Margaret Tudor, the widowed queen of James IV of Scotland and sister of Henry VIII, having been banished by the regent, the Duke of Albany, came to the castle with her second husband, the Earl of Angus.
When the battle was lost Bohun retreated with the Earl of Angus and several other barons, knights and men to Bothwell Castle, seeking a safe haven.
He had the benefit of Arbroath until 1579, although he had previously had struggles with George Douglas (later Bishop of Moray and son of the Earl of Angus) over tenure.
The title Earl of Angus is now held by the Dukes of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldest son of the heir apparent to the current dukedom.