Yester Castle

Yester Castle stands in farmland 2.5 kilometres south-east of Gifford in East Lothian. The only complete part left is the Goblin Ha’, a large underground vault beneath the vanished keep. The site is protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Originally called Yestred, it was granted to a Norman settler, Hugo de Giffard, in the 12th century. Stone walls were raised before 1267, and later rebuilt after the Wars of Independence. The castle’s ruins are now roofless, with grass and nettles reclaiming the masonry. The castle’s fame rests on its 13th-century owner, Sir Hugo de Giffard, nicknamed the ‘Wizard of Yester’. Chroniclers record a vast cavern under the keep, said to have been shaped by magic. Local legend claims hobgoblins raised the walls at Hugo’s command. In 1544 English troops burned the castle during the Rough Wooing, and by the 17th century the stone was being taken for other buildings. The Goblin Ha’ survived until 1737, when it housed the marquess’s falconer. Visitors find a grassy mound with low walls and a yawning entrance to the Goblin Ha’. The vault is brick-lined and stretches under what was once the great tower. Beyond the ruin lie rolling fields and the Pentland Hills on the horizon. A path from Gifford leads across fields to the site, where only the underground chamber remains intact. The surrounding farmland is quiet, broken only by the occasional farm vehicle. The castle’s story lingers in the names of nearby places and in the old tales told of its sorcerer lord.