The towering walls of Tantallon Castle must have looked impressive and almost impenetrable when it was built in the 1370s.  It stands on a promontory with steep cliffs above the sea on three sides and would have been easy to defend from attacks from the sea with deep defensive ditches protecting it from invaders by land. When the resident Earls were being regarded as traitors the castle managed to withstand sieges by the troops of James IV and James V.  Finally it was no match in 1651 for Oliver Cromwell’s superior troops and artillery when they rampaged through the land and a garrison of fewer than 100 men tried to hold the castle against 3000.  They managed to defend it for 12 days before it was so badly damaged that the castle was abandoned.
As Mary Queen of Scots visited in 1566 I have included it in my links with Mary Queen of Scots.  No 38