The Bass

The Bass Castle stands on Bass Rock, a steep-sided island off North Berwick in East Lothian. The first castle there dates from the early 15th century, when it sheltered Prince James from the Duke of Albany. A hermitage built by Baldred of Tyninghame once stood on the rock, and the chapel was consecrated in 1542 by David Beaton. The Lauders of Bass owned the island for more than three centuries until 1671, when it passed to the Crown. The garrison once lived on fish dropped by seabirds, according to the French soldier Jean de Beaugué who visited during the Rough Wooing. In the 17th century the castle held a small prison, and later parts of it were demolished. King James VI came to the island in 1581 and offered to buy it from George Lauder, but was refused. Today the castle survives as a ruin, its remaining walls rising beside a lighthouse built in 1902. The rock itself is a landmark for seabirds and sailors, visible from the shore at North Berwick. Visitors can walk the shoreline and watch gannets circle above the ruins. The island’s long history is written in its stones and the stories of those who once lived there.