Thirlestane Castle, which overlooks Leader Water, is about twenty-eight miles south of Edinburgh, Scotland. A fort was first built on the present site of Thirlestane Castle in the 13th century. The present castle was completed in 1590 and remodeled in the 1670's and the1840's. In 1250, Sir Richard Maitland married Avicia, the daughter and sole heiress of Thomas du Thirlestane. Through this marriage, the lands of Thirlestane, Hedderwick and Blyth in the county of Berwickshire came into the Maitland family...