Fullarton Castle (site of)

Fullarton Castle was a late 15th century castle but only architectural fragments of it remain.

The castle is supposed to have been built in 1497 by the Beaton or Bethune family but was demolished in the 19th century.

Several carved and dressed stones have been built into the walls of the steading at South West Fullarton, including chamfered window rybats and a pediment bearing a shield with the initials DME for Dame Margaret Erskine, widow of Sir William Fullarton of Ardo.

Three triangular pediments were removed from the farm steading and installed in the wall of a house in The Square, Meigle.

One is carved with the words “YIS.HOVS.IS.BULDS B ELESOBETH.BETOVN L.FVLLERTOVN” and the initials EB and WF. This has been assumed to refer to Elizabeth Bethune, daughter of Robert Bethune of Balfour, who married David Lindsay in 1609, and William Fullerton.

However Fullerton married Margaret, the eldest daughter of Elizabeth Bethune and David Lindsay, so this is perhaps an unlikely combination. There were however three William Fullertons so the carving may represent one of the others who married an EB.

The second pediment is carved with the quartered arms of Balfour and Beaton, representing the Bethunes of Balfour.

The third pediment bears the arms of Fullerton of that ilk and the initials WF, presumably for one of the aforementioned William Fullertons.