Redhall House

Image: © kim traynor Taken: 22 May 2013

An 18th-century house, with later additions, built around 1758 by the Inglis family. One of its members was John Inglis, Captain of HMS Belliqueux at Admiral Duncan's naval victory in the Battle of Camperdown in 1797. He is immortalised in naval histories for having become so frustrated by the muddle of confusing battle signals that he threw his signal book onto the deck and, cursing, gave the order "Up wi' the hel'lem and gang into the middle o't!" This, apparently, was precisely what he was meant to do. The house stands on a bluff above the Water of Leith which was formerly occupied by Redhall Castle. The ground behind falls steeply to form a ravine. In 1650, when the castle belonged to a cadet branch of the Hamilton family, General Monck's Regiment of Foot (nucleus of the later Coldstream Guards after the Restoration) besieged it about a fortnight before the Battle of Dunbar. Cromwell's forces had been probing the southern defences of Edinburgh and attempting to lure the Scottish army into battle, but the Scots were not prepared to risk battle, believing it would be only a matter of time before the English withdrew from lack of provision and their poor tactical positioning. Cromwell decided to push on towards Queensferry, but was afraid to bypass the Redhall in case its garrison cut off a possible escape route for his troops if forced to retreat to their base at Eskmouth. The Scottish general, David Leslie, appears to have reinforced the castle's garrison strength from about 20 men to three or four times that number, and, although Monck brought up cannon from Musselburgh, the besieged managed to hold out for two days until their ammunition ran out. The attackers, numbering about 200 and armed with petards [small bombs] and pickaxes, managed to breach the castle's walls and white sheets were hung out. Cromwell, in a magnanimous gesture, saluted the garrison's bravery by granting them quarter and letting them go free. After the removal of the obstacle Redhall posed, his troops continued their march north-westwards along the line of the Murrayburn, but following an inconclusive encounter with the main Scottish army at Gogar his forces withdrew and began to fall back slowly on his coastal position and westwards to Haddington and Dunbar. See also Image

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