century. The layout of Doune has similarities with those of the contemporary castles at Tantallon and Bothwell, and appears, at various scales, in other buildings of the period. Grounds The castle is surrounded by woodland and parkland along the banks of the River Teith and Ardoch Burn. In 2022 a new footbridge was constructed, spanning the Ardoch Burn. It was built using locally sourced larch timbers and provides a link from the immediate grounds of the castle to the site of an old mill. In fiction and drama Doune Castle has featured in several literary works, including the 17th-century ballad, "The Bonny Earl of Murray", which relates the murder of The 2nd Earl of Moray, by The 6th Earl of Huntly, in 1592. In Sir Walter Scott's first novel, Waverley (1814), the protagonist Edward Waverley is brought to Doune Castle by the Jacobites. Scott's romantic novel describes the "gloomy yet picturesque structure", with its "half-ruined turrets". The castle was used as a location in MGM's 1952 historical film Ivanhoe, which featured Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor. The BBC adaptation of Ivanhoe in 1996 also featured Doune as a location. The castle was used as a set for Winterfell in the first season of the TV series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), an adaptation of the A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels by George R. R. Martin. The castle depicted the fictional "Castle Leoch" in the TV adaptation of the Outlander series of novels. The castle was also used as a location in Outlaw King, a 2018 historical action drama film about Robert the Bruce, the 14th-century Scottish King who launched a guerilla war against the larger English army. The film is largely set in the 3 years from 1304, when Bruce decides to rebel against the rule of Edward I over Scotland, thus becoming an "outlaw", up to the 1307 Battle of Loudoun Hill. Monty Python and the Holy Grail The British comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail – a parody of the legends of King Arthur by the Monty Python team – was filmed on location in Scotland in 1974. The film's producers had gained permission from the National Trust for Scotland to film scenes at several of their Scottish castles, as well as the permission of Lord Moray to film at Doune Castle. However, the National Trust later withdrew their permission, leaving the producers