the killings, the king divided the Gowrie estates and bestowed them on the men who had been with him that night. Erskine received the gift of Dirleton Castle in November 1600, which some perceive to be a form of “blood money.” This perception is further substantiated by the fact that Erskine was created Baron Erskine of Dirletowne in 1604. Erskine sold the castle to Sir James Douglas in 1625. Douglas sold it on to Alexander Morieson of Prestongrange, who sold it in turn, in 1631, to James Maxwell of Innerwick (d. c. 1650), who was created Earl of Dirletoun in 1646. In October 1641 the Earl of Argyll, Marquess of Hamilton and Earl of Lanark were forced to flee from Edinburgh to Dirleton, the home of Hamilton's mother-in-law, Elizabeth de Boussy, due the conspiracy known as the Incident. Cromwell Oliver Cromwell's army invaded Scotland in 1650, during the Third English Civil War, and defeated the Scots Royalists at Dunbar on 3 September. With this victory, Cromwell gained effective control of southern Scotland, but bands of Royalist moss-troopers continued to harry the English supply lines. One such band was based at Dirleton, and Cromwell ordered General Monck and General Lambert, with 1,600 troops, to capture the castle. This was achieved on 10 November, using mortars to destroy the drawbridge and inner gate. The captain of the moss-troopers was hanged from the walls with two of his comrades. The castle was slighted once more, and although briefly used as a field hospital, it was then left to decay. The soldier and engineer responsible for Cromwell's effective use of artillery was a German, Major Joachim Hane. He also designed fortresses near Inverness and in Ayr, and directed the mortar fire at the siege of Stirling Castle in August 1651. He later spent a year spying for Cromwell's Secretary of State, John Thurloe. Nisbet Dirleton Castle and estate were purchased, from the widowed Countess of Dirletoun, by the lawyer John Nisbet (c. 1609–1687) in 1663. Nisbet, who took the title Lord Dirleton when he was appointed as a judge, built a new house at Archerfield, to the north-west of the village. The Nisbets continued to maintain the gardens around the castle as part of the park around Archerfield, and installed the bowling green. The 19th-century garden walls were added by Mary Nisbet, Lady Elgin (1778–1855), wife of the Earl of Elgin, as part of