[3] Until the early 20th-century there was a raised terrace close to the tower reached by steps, overlooking the famous Whittinghame yew tree.

[7] It is said that they conferred together in the shelter of a yew tree in the grounds to plot the murder of Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, Queen Mary's unpopular and increasingly estranged husband.

[8] Morton, just returned from exile in England after the murder of David Rizzio, was unenthusiastic, and requested the queen's direct guidance.

[9] Mary's half-brother, the Earl of Moray, was received at Whittingehame by Morton and Lethington about 18 months later, and they concurred with his expression of horror at the murder of Darnley.

[10] The first cider gum (Eucalyptus gunnii) in Great Britain is said to have been planted in the grounds of the castle in 1853, and to have survived for over one hundred years.