The lands of Kinneil with Larbert and Auldcathy were given to Walter Fitz Gilbert, an ancestor of the Hamilton family, by Robert the Bruce in 1323.

[4] A charter of 1474 mentions the castle of "Kynneil called Craig Lyown", lands to be reclaimed from the sea, and saltpans which added to the estate income.

[5] The Castle of Lyon may have been near the sea at Snab Brae, and is remembered by the name of Castleloan housing estate.

One of its bells is preserved in the nearby Kinneil Museum and has an inscription "EN KATHARINA VOCOR UT PER ME VIRGINIS ALME", which may be translated as "I AM CALLED KATHARINE, AND THROUGH ME, OF THE VIRGIN MARY, ARE".

[11] The east wing of the surviving building, and perhaps the earlier tower with wide-mouthed gunloops, was built by James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran (c.1516–1575).

[13] Some payments for building at Kinneil were recorded in the royal treasurer's accounts; timber for roofing, floors and panelling was sent by boat from Leith in 1549 and 1550 to complete one section.

[14] Around this time Friar Mark composed a "History of the Hamiltons" for Regent Arran which connects his heraldry to an incident at Kinneil or "Borough Muir".

[19] The 16th-century painted interior decoration and a stone armorial carry Arran's ducal coronet, and the collar of the Order of Saint Michael, French honours he received in 1548.

It was said that Bothwell proposed they kidnap Mary, Queen of Scots and imprison her in Dumbarton Castle and kill her half-brother Lord James Stewart and her secretary William Maitland of Lethington.

[24] After the Battle of Corrichie in October 1562, Arran's father, the Duke of Châtellerault was the reluctant keeper of George Gordon at Kinneil, the forfeited heir of the Earl of Huntly.

[26] Lennox was assisted by an English force commanded by William Drury and they also burnt houses at Pardovan, Binny, and Kingscavil.

[30]James VI of Scotland stayed in May 1582, to receive an envoy, Signor Paul, sent by the Duke of Guise with a gift of horses and gunpowder.

[37] King James VI held court at Kinneil again at Christmas-time in 1588 as the guest of John Hamilton, Commendator of Arbroath.

He played at the "maye", possibly the card-game "maw" now called "Forty-fives" or a long game resembling a form of Whist, with his English courtier, Roger Aston.

This painting was almost certainly the work of Valentine Jenkin, described as an Englishman, a burgess of Glasgow and painter of the Chapel Royal at Stirling Castle.

[41] When Anne Cunningham died in 1644, she left Kinneil with its new tapestries and the furnishings she had made to her son, James, 1st Duke of Hamilton.

She had laboured to make the coal mines and salt pans profitable and urged him to employ faithful servants and never put it out of his own hand.

[42] The main house was rebuilt by William Douglas, 3rd Duke of Hamilton in 1677 with a uniform facade and a pair of stone staircases at the ends.

[3] By 1936 the Hamiltons had abandoned the house, and Bo'ness Town Council were demolishing it when Stanley Cursiter, director of the National Galleries of Scotland, heard that wall paintings had been discovered.

[48] The Ministry of Works quickly secured the wing with the paintings, and recovered the oak ribbed ceiling of the Parable Room.

Her host Helen D'Arcy Stewart told her about "Lady Lilyburn" who flutters on top of the castle and leaps into the sea, or stomps around the house in boots frightening the maids.

[52] Alice's name "Lilyburn" seems to derive from a Commonwealth soldier, Colonel Robert Lilburne, who briefly possessed some Hamilton lands.

This followed on from previous excavations carried out in 1960 which were sponsored by the Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments, Ministry of Public Building and Works.