Eithie Castle, Inverkeilor, Arbroath

 It is the second longest continuously inhabited castle in Scotland. The longest continuously inhabited castle is Castle Mey in the far northeast of Scotland, near John o’ Groats. Records of Ethie Castle date back to the early 13th century. Because the nearby, gently sloping Lunan Bay offered a perfect landing point, it is believed that the Vikings built a house on the site where Ethie was later established. In the 14th century, monks from the neighboring Arbroath Abbey built a sandstone tower house on the present site of Ethie, where they lived for several years. 

In the following years, the de Maxwell family owned Ethie Castle before it reverted to the monks of Arbroath and the only and last cardinal of Scotland, David Beaton, in 1524. He lived unmarried at Ethie Castle for about 20 years with Marion Orgilvy (c. 1545–1575), daughter of James Ogilvy, 1st Lord Ogilvy of Airlie, and they had eight children. Around 1530, major expansions were undertaken in the Ethie courtyard in preparation for the expected visit of King James V, whose advisor David Beaton was.Cardinal David Beaton was born in Balfour, Fife, in 1494. 

After studying at the University of Glasgow and St. Andrews, he became a monk at Arbroath Abbey and a member of the Scottish Parliament. In 1539, he became Archbishop of St. Andrews. On May 29, 1546, Cardinal Beaton was murdered by Protestants in St Andrews during the Reformation and subsequently hanged from a window of his castle, St Andrews Castle. 

The trigger for his murder was Beaton’s instigation of the burning of the preacher George Wishart on March 1, 1546. It is said that during the Reformation, the abbots hid the silver treasure from Arbroath Abbey within the walls of Ethie Castle. In 1665, Ethie was acquired by the Carnegie family (later the Earls of Northesk). 

 On November 1, 1647, John Carnegie (1580–1667), 1st Lord Lour and 1st Earl of Northesk, became Earl of Ethie. The 7th Earl of Northesk (1756–1831) was a vice admiral under Admiral Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar on October 21, 1805. As tribute, the Earl of Northesk was permitted to incorporate naval insignia from the Battle of Trafalgar into his arms, which can still be seen in a dormer window at Ethie Castle.