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Pinkie House is a historic house, built around a three-storey tower house located in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. The house dates from the 16th century, was substantially enlarged in the early 17th century, and has been altered several times since. Its location at grid reference is to the east of the town centre, on the south side of the High Street. The building now forms part of Loretto School, an independent boarding school. Pinkie House is not far from the site of the disastrous Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, fought in 1547.
The Long Gallery is noted for its framed and inscriptions. When Ben Jonson visited the house in 1619, he wrote to William Drummond of Hawthornden to enquire after this emblems.Bath M. (2007) 'Ben Jonson, William Fowler and the Pinkie Ceiling', Architectural Heritage, Volume 18, Page 73-86, Available on-line
Seton also altered his northern property Fyvie Castle before his death in 1622. In his will, he hoped the inner court at Pinkie would be completed with the roofing of a new low wing.George Seton, Memoir of Alexander Seton (Edinburgh: William Blackwood, 1882), pp. 157–58: National Records of Scotland, 30 September 1625, CC8/8/53 p. 255.
In 1694 the property passed to the Hays, the Marquess of Tweeddale adding a door to the east front. In 1745, following victory at the Battle of Prestonpans, Charles Edward Stuart, the "Young Pretender", stayed here, as well as using the building as a field hospital. In 1778 the Hays sold the building to Sir Archibald Hope, 9th Baronet Hope of Craighall, who made further alterations, and added a stable block in 1800 by John Paterson. Extensions and remodelling (crowstep gables) were carried out in 1825, designed by William Burn.Buildings of Scotland: Lothian by Colin McWilliam
In 1951 Pinkie House was bought by Loretto School, and altered again in the 1970s, with the addition of two other buildings in the grounds. An annexe has been built at the north side and the south wing now serves as the headmaster's house. The rest of Pinkie House now has a number of functions including a 6th-form boys' boarding house. Loretto pupils also sit their examinations in the painted gallery.
Seton's main addition was the long three-storey south wing, which includes on its upper floor the 96-foot Painted Gallery. His mason may have been William Wallace, although this attribution is only stylistic.See McWilliam, p.336 On the south facade is a bay window, a feature new to Scotland in the early 17th century. The east façade is dominated by seven tall chimneys. There is a fine wooden ceiling, with classically inspired paintings in tempera, in the long gallery, as well as many 17th-century plaster ceilings. Another small painted ceiling was removed in 1951 and installed at the Huntly House museum in Edinburgh. Later interiors are by William Burn.
A Latin inscription above the door states that "Alexander Seton built this house not to the measure of his desire, but of his fortunes and estate".Translated in McWilliam, p.336
A walled garden lies to the east of the house, with a shelter, doocot, and sundial. There is a Renaissance fountain or draw-well in the corner of the L, to the west of the house. This heavily ornamented structure was built around 1610. NMRS Site Reference NT37SW 4.01
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