By the tenth century Norse influence had grown, and Arran formed part of Sudreys or Súðreyjar, administered either from Dublin or Orkney (Nordreys or Norðreyjar) and nominally under the control of the King of Norway.

This can be deduced by the number of Scandinavian place-names on the island including Brodick, or Breiðvík (Broad Bay, also spelt variously Brethwic, Brathwik, Brethwik, Brathwic, Bradewik, and Braizay).

Alexander III of Scotland had inherited his father's desire to control the islands in order to stabilise his kingdom, and made numerous unsuccessful advances to that effect.

After linking up with the fleets of Magnus and Dougal, and showing his might throughout the Hebrides, Hákon's force anchored in Lamlash Bay[4] on Arran, where they were approached by envoys from the Scots King.

[5][6] During Robert the Bruces's time in hiding, following his escape from the English after his coronation and defeat at the Battle of Methven, he is said to have had his legendary encounter with a spider on Arran.

Acting with Sir Robert Boyd of Kilmarnock, Douglas was able in January 1307 to dislodge the English from Brodick, one of the first castles to fall to Bruce's forces in his struggle to regain his country.

At this point Hamilton added the Lymphad of the Isles to his Armorial bearings The castle had been rebuilt by the Earl by 1510 in the form of a tower house, but suffered at the hands of the Campbells and the MacLeans.

[9] In March 1552 live partridges and hares were sent to Brodick for the Regent's table and a special boring tool called a "wombill" was bought to make holes at the rabbit warren.

In 1650, Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads had taken control of the castle and had extended it by building an Artillery battery to defend the Firth at this strategic position.

Duchess Anne returned to her estates in Lanarkshire and West Lothian and in 1656 married William Douglas, 1st Earl of Selkirk.

Anne did not return to Brodick, however her husband the newly created Duke of Hamilton for life, used the castle as a base for hunting excursions.

The 2017 obituary in The Times of London of Lady Jean (who, among other things, had worked at Bletchley Park, the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War) quotes her as saying that the loss "of the castle and all its contents .

[15] A black-and-white copy of William Woollett's engraving of the painting The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West can be seen at the castle.

Since 1972, an illustration of the castle has featured on the reverse side of twenty pound notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.