The Bard of Banff
King Edward Castle

King Edward Castle

The Old Bridge at King Edward Castle

The Castle was owned by the Earls of Buchan,
it was a Comyn stronghold,
but at the Battle of Barra they sided with the English,
so the story is told.

So after the battle in 1307,
Bruce took an army to the North East,
he ordered the ‘Harrying of Buchan’
and all the Earls castles were seized.

A castle named after an English King,
has got no right to stand,
here,
on this Scottish Land.

So lift your torch
and set it alight
and let it burn,
long into the night.

So the Castle met its fate,
at the hands of ‘The Bruce’
and to the English,
it was of no further use.

The ruin of the castle,
what’s left of it, is crumbling and overgrown,
stands at the side of the Banff to Aberdeen road,
to many its existence is still unknown.

I have seen a live Badger here.

The Old Bridge (built in 1771).

The ruins of King Edward Castle
(The base of the Gate Tower).

The view from the bridge looking East.

NB: It is unlikely that the castle was actually named after King Edward I of England.  The parish of King Edward has had approx 24 variations of the name: Kynedor (12^th Century), Kynedward and Kinedart to name a few.