History and stories

Palace of the Earls of Orkney

Robert Stewart was the illegitimate son of James V by his mistress Euphemia Elphinstone and half-brother to Mary Queen of Scots. He was granted the royal and earldom estates of Orkney and Shetland in 1564, but not the title itself.

In 1567, Robert Stewart was temporarily dispossessed. Queen Mary appointed her third husband, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell as Duke of Orkney. This was largely a device to confer sufficient status on him so that he could marry her. The following year, Bothwell fled Scotland via Orkney. He never returned, and his dukedom was forfeit soon afterwards.

Robert Stewart moved north and between 1569 and 1574 he built the Earl’s Palace. His nephew, James VI, created him Earl of Orkney, Lord of Shetland and Knight of Birsay in 1581.

The palace complex was entered via an elaborate southern entrance. Around the courtyard were four ranges of two-storey buildings, while three-storey towers projected from the corners. Service rooms were located on the ground floor were service rooms, with the upper floors housing two halls, chambers and a gallery. These were reserved for the earl.

View through a narrow stone opening toward grassy courtyard and a ruined tower of Earl’s Palace.

A wide view of Earl’s Palace showing rough, layered stone walls around a grassy inner courtyard. Broken arches and tall, uneven wall remnants give a sense of the palace’s age and decay under a soft, cloudy sky.

Three generations of tyrants

Over the front door of his new palace, Robert Stewart placed the inscription: ‘ROBERTUS STEUARDUS FILIUS JACOBI 5ti REX SCOTORUM HOC AEDIFICUM INSTRUXIT’ (‘Robert Stewart, son of James V, King of Scots, commissioned this building’).

The use of ‘rex’ rather than ‘regis’ made it appear the king was Robert himself, not his father. This was technically treason! While this could have been a simple error of grammar, it may have been intentional – Robert ruled his new domain as if he were king.

In 1593, Robert died and was succeeded by his son Patrick. He continued his father’s ruthless practices, earning the nickname ‘Black Patie’. Patrick was arrested in 1609, but his son, also Robert, attempted to cling to power.

In 1614, the younger Robert recaptured the palace and marched on Orkney’s capital, Kirkwall. He seized the Earl’s Palace there, but was eventually captured. He and his father were executed within a month of one another in early 1615. One story claims Earl Patrick’s execution had to be delayed while he learned to recite the Lord’s Prayer.