Town in The Lothians, Scotland

Dalkeith

Dalkeith sits where two rivers become one, and a palace built for the widow of an executed duke rose on the spot where a Regent once ruled from a castle called the Lion's Den.

Key information

County: The Lothians
Nation: Scotland
Population: About 12,000 (2011 Census)
Known for: Dalkeith Palace and Dalkeith Country Park, the Buccleuch family, a historic grain market
Famous people: Anne, Duchess of Buccleuch; James Douglas, Regent Morton; George Monck
Football clubs: Dalkeith Thistle

About Dalkeith

The town where two Esks become one

Dalkeith sits on a high tongue of land between the North Esk and the South Esk, which meet beside the town and carry on to the Firth of Forth as the River Esk. That natural moat made it a very good place to build a stronghold. A castle stood on the spot for centuries, held by the Douglas family. The palace you can still see from the park is the successor to that fortress, and it shaped almost everything about the town that grew up outside its gates.

A Regent in the Lion's Den

In the 1500s Dalkeith Castle belonged to James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, one of the most powerful men in Scotland. He became Regent for the young James VI, and his hold on power was so fierce that the castle was nicknamed the Lion's Den. His fall was brutal. In 1581 he was executed in Edinburgh on the Maiden, an early Scottish beheading machine. Folklore says he had helped to bring that device to the city, though that story is better left as legend. The Douglases also left a mark in stone. St Nicholas Buccleuch Parish Church, at the top of the High Street, began as a collegiate church founded in the early 1400s by Sir James Douglas of Dalkeith.

Cromwell's general moves in

In the 1650s, when Oliver Cromwell's army held Scotland, General George Monck made the castle at Dalkeith his base. He governed Scotland from here, and in 1660 he marched south and helped bring Charles II back to the throne. That makes Dalkeith an unlikely launch pad for the Restoration. It also shows how long the town has sat close to the centre of events, with Edinburgh only a short ride away.

The duchess who built a palace

The palace owes its existence to Anne Scott, Duchess of Buccleuch, who was only a child when she inherited one of the richest estates in Scotland. She married the Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's illegitimate son, who was beheaded in 1685 after his failed rebellion against James II. Anne kept her own title and her fortune, and between about 1702 and 1711 she rebuilt Dalkeith as a grand house to a design by James Smith. It became the family seat of the Dukes of Buccleuch. The next generations brought great names to its doors. Adam Smith, the economist, travelled Europe as tutor to Henry Scott, later 3rd Duke of Buccleuch, who grew up here. In 1842 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert made Dalkeith Palace their first stop on their first visit to Scotland, a royal welcome that had been seen before when George IV visited in 1822. For years afterwards an American university used the palace as a study centre.

A market town that fed Edinburgh

Under the Buccleuch estate, Dalkeith became a major grain market. Farmers from across the Lothians brought their crops here, and the town's weekly market had a name well beyond Midlothian. The Corn Exchange, built in the 1850s, is a reminder of when wheat and oats set the rhythm of the High Street. The surrounding area later turned to coal, and mining villages grew up nearby in Midlothian. Dalkeith remained the busy market and service centre, tied to the estate and to the capital.

Woods, bridges and Fort Douglas

Today the old parkland is Dalkeith Country Park, with ancient oak woods running along the river. An elegant bridge from the 1790s crosses the water, and there are walks through the trees below the palace walls. The park's big draw for families is Fort Douglas, an adventure playground built around a timber fort, along with a farm-style yard and cafe in the old estate buildings. It is a very Scottish twist, with children now running around grounds where a Regent once held court. In town, Dalkeith Thistle carry the football flag, and the High Street still runs from the old church down towards the park gates.