Oct 102024
Reid’s Close, Edinburgh EH8 8BZ
Sir John Nisbet, Lord Dirleton (1610–1688), was a Scottish lawyer and judge who, as Lord Advocate, led the prosecution of Thomas and Jean Weir in 1670. His Edinburgh townhouse was on the Canongate at the head of Reid’s Close, distinguished by a projecting square turret.
In 1663, Nisbet purchased the estate of Dirleton, including Dirleton Castle, in East Lothian. Between 1649 and 1650, in Dirleton, six witches had been accused of dancing upon the green with the Devil and had been imprisoned in the castle dungeon.
Sources:
- Wikipedia: John Nisbet, Lord Dirleton
- Historic Environment Scotland, “Statement of Significance: Dirleton Castle”, 2019.
- A. J. Mann, ‘Nisbet, Sir John, Lord Dirleton (1610–1688), judge and politician’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).