Queensberry House

It stands on the south side of the Canongate, Edinburgh, Scotland, incorporated into the Scottish Parliament complex on its north-west corner.

[1][2] In 1679, it was sold to Charles Maitland, Lord Hatton, who had been obliged to give up his 'grace and favour' accommodation at the Palace of Holyrood House.

[3] Archaeological excavations in advance of the building of the Scottish Parliament complex found evidence of metalworking in the kitchen, likely related to the assaying and refining of precious metals.

[4] Previous domestic buildings on the site included two dwellings which the master of the king's wine cellar Jerome Bowie bought in 1581 from the family of a prominent stone mason, Gilbert Cleuch.

[6] He died in the house in 1695 and it then passed to his son, James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry, who was one of the Scottish peers signing the Treaty of Union in 1707.

On his return, Queensberry discovered his son sitting in front of the kitchen fire, turning a spit on which the body of the servant was being roasted.