Blairlogie Castle

The lands of the Blairlogie estate were held by the Scottish Crown until 1513, when James IV granted them to a James Spittal, a Stirling based merchant who was said to have served as tailor to Queen Margaret. James Spittal died in 1528, and his younger son, a second James, inherited the lands of Blairlogie. His son, Alexander Spitall, had the tower built in 1543, and it was Alexander’s son Adam Spittal who extended it with a stair wing in 1582 making it into a L-plan tower. Blairlogie was a possession of the Spittal family from the late 15th century until 1767, when the last to bear the name, Elizabeth Spitall, married Robert Dundas of Blair, near Culross. The estate hence passed into the…

The castle is perched above the village of Blairlogie with a small burn running to the east. The Castle is at its core a 16th-century tower house and consists of four parts: the old tower, composed of three storeys and at least two corner turrets; a rectangular block to the rear; two extensions on the eastern side. Three dormer windows bear carvings of a fleur de lis and initials A. S. (most likely for Alexander Spittal), a thistle and initials E. H. (for Ellen Holbourne or Hay, Alexander's wife), and a man's head, or rose, and date 1513 (year of Flodden) or 1543. The walls are thick, rubble-built and harled. The gables are crow-stepped and the roof is composed of slate. The tower retains…