In the Middle Ages the area was part of a royal hunting forest named Drumselch, which extended north to Holyroodhouse.

By this marriage Sir Walter acquired half of the Gilmerton estate, including the lands of Drum.

[3] Subsequently, Lord Somerville re-established himself at The Drum, and in 1584 he commissioned the mason-architect John Mylne to build a new house.

The project was advised by Somerville's kinsman Robert, Lord Seton, and the house was built between June 1584 and October 1585.

[1] William Adam also laid out new parks around the house, including avenues focused on several buildings and monuments, few of which survive.

[1] His second son Hamilton More Nisbett (1868–1955) trained as an architect under John Kinross, and inherited The Drum on his older brother's death in 1939.