in December 1550. Reformation crisis Mary of Guise came to Dunbar Castle in June 1559 in fear of the Protestant Lords of the Congregation who occupied Edinburgh. In May 1560, an Italian engineer was working on further improvements for the French garrison. These works were inspected by Robert Hamilton in Briggs, keeper of Linlithgow Palace and Master of the Royal Artillery, and Robert Montgomery in July 1560, after the death of Mary of Guise, on behalf of the Lords of the Congregation who reported that it was "more ample by the double than it was of before" and capable of holding 500 more soldiers. The new work was immediately demolished as a provision of the Treaty of Edinburgh. 100 English workmen called "pioneers" were sent to the castle in August. Local landowners were tasked with the demolition of part of a "rampire," a rampart with its ditch and counter scarp, and a great platform for artillery. However, the French captain of the Castle Corbeyran de Sarlabous remained in charge of the castle and refurbished a cavern which was within the area scheduled for demolition. The rebel Lord Sempill found a refuge in the castle in August 1560. The Castle remained garrisoned by 60 French troops under the command of Sarlabous until September 1561. Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots made Robert Anstruther captain of Dunbar in July 1561. He took charge of the cannons and ammunition according to an inventory made by Robert Hamilton of Briggs. Soon after her return to Scotland in August 1561, she appointed her half-brother Lord John keeper of the castle. In November 1561 John Chisholm, comptroller clerk of the royal artillery provided six culverins. The master of work William MacDowall and David Rowan, an expert gunner from Edinburgh castle surveyed the fort. Mary stayed at Dunbar with Lord John on 30 December 1562. Chisholm shipped cannon and gun carriages from Dunbar north to Aberdeen and back in October 1562 during operations against the Earl of Huntly. Mary appointed Simon Preston of Craigmillar captain of Dunbar. She visited in February 1564 and came to stay at the castle for a week in November 1564. In August 1565, during the rebellion against Mary, Queen of Scots called the Chaseabout Raid, she ordered repairs to the gun emplacements and artillery, and hand tools that might be needed to re-build the ramparts during a siege. She was