The Pandemonium Witches: Murders, Mystery, and Mayhem · TPW3MPodcast

S1.E107 - Scotland’s Haunted Fortress: Edinburgh Castle, Ghosts, Siege, and Secrets

·1 hr 42 min·5 clips

A 2014 study counted 26 sieges in 1,100 years, making Edinburgh Castle one of the most attacked places in the world.

The Pandemonium Witches start in their usual loose, talkative way. There is sister talk, kid talk, matching shirts, and the kind of friendly derailments that make the room feel busy before the story even starts. The hosts keep the pace quick and informal. Their banter moves around the table the way the show always does, with fast reactions and small personal asides carrying the opening stretch. Then the episode settles into Edinburgh Castle. The castle is framed as a place shaped by hard use and a long memory. The hosts lean into the practical reality of fortress life. They talk about how a castle has to be stocked with food if people are going to be sealed inside it. They point out the obvious problem of being shut up on a hill with no easy way to grow anything. The castle becomes a lesson in what happens when supplies run low and there is nowhere to go. From there, the episode moves into the 15th century. Edinburgh Castle is increasingly used as a place to live and as an arsenal and armaments facility. The first known purchase of a gun is placed in 1384. Mons Meg arrives in Edinburgh in 1457 and is still there. The first recorded mention of an armory for gun manufacture comes in 1474. By 1498, master gunner Robert Borthwick is casting bronze guns in Edinburgh. By 1511, Edinburgh has become the principal foundry in Scotland, with Scottish and European smiths working under Borthwick, who is later appointed master melter of the king's guns. The episode names the Great Michael and the Seven Sisters as examples of the output. The Seven Sisters are captured by the English at Flodden in 1513. Even the English lord admiral is impressed by the cannons' shape and finish. Dutch craftsmen are also making hand culverins by 1510. After Flodden, Borthwick's work continues, then French smiths take over in the 1550s and begin manufacturing hag butts. By 1541, the castle's gun stock reaches 413. The hosts linger on how absurdly packed that is. Royal life shifts too. The family starts staying more often at Holyrood Abbey, about a mile away, because it is probably comfier and a lot less noisy. The castle's role keeps expanding from home to fortress to machine shop for war. That practical history sits underneath the haunted reputation and gives the episode its shape. The show closes the way it opened, with warmth, jokes, and a little slapstick nonsense.

As heard by us

A lively castle episode that pairs fortress history with loose, bantering hosts.

This episode treats Edinburgh Castle less like a postcard landmark and more like a working fortress, shaped by food stores, closed gates, and the practical business of keeping people inside.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want castle history, gunpowder lore, and a gloriously unruly roomful of hosts.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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