Bonkyll Castle

Bonkyll Castle stands on a low motte four miles north of Duns and four miles south of Grantshouse in the Scottish Borders. Once a powerful fortress of enceinte, only the earthen mound and a short stretch of curtain wall remain today. It was the seat of the Stewart of Bonkyl family, a junior branch of the Stewarts who later gave rise to the Darnley line that produced King James VI & I. The castle’s history is tied to the de Bonkyll family, whose arms featured three buckles. Sir Alexander de Bonkyll’s daughter Margaret married Sir John Stewart, and their son Sir Alexander Stewart of Bonkyll became the first of the Stewart line to hold the title. The castle was slighted during the First War of Independence but later restored to Margaret after she reconciled with Edward I. Through marriage and inheritance, the estate passed to the Earls of Angus and eventually to the Earls of Home in the late 18th century. Visitors find a quiet grassy mound surrounded by farmland, with little visible stonework beyond a fragment of wall. A nearby rhyme in Berwickshire dialect recalls the castle’s fate alongside Billie and Blanerne, noting how all three fell to ruin. The site is protected as a scheduled monument, offering a glimpse into medieval power struggles and the shifting loyalties of the Scottish nobility.