The Mysterious Britain entry for Penkaet Castle says a beggar named Alexander Hamilton allegedly cursed the family after being turned away. He was found, arrested and tried for witchcraft, found guilty and hanged at Edinburgh Castle. Lady Ormiston and her daughter died mysteriously soon after, and Hamilton's apparition is said to haunt the castle doors. The castles list adds that a beggar executed for witchcraft is one of three ghosts at the site.
The sixteenth century mansion, also called Fountainhall, was owned by the Lauder family from 1685 to 1922. The account has no date for the curse, and the details do not match the record of the vagrant witch Alexander Hamilton tried at Haddington in 1630, so the two should not be assumed to be the same man. Penkaet is a private house.
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