According to tradition, it was customary for the Earls of Wintoun once a year to ‘ride the marches’ of their estates, which were so extensive that a whole day, from sunrise to sunset, was required to ride in state round the boundaries of their lands. On these occasions the head of the house was always accompanied by a large retinue of friends and retainers, mounted on gaily caparisoned horses, the charger of the chief being arrayed in cloth of silk adorned with gold tassels. The festivities which followed this ceremonial lasted several days.

Seton Palace was a favourite resort of Queen Mary. It was visited often by her in her royal progresses. It was her first halting-place when she and Darnley made their escape from Holyrood after the murder of Rizzio. She was entertained there by Lord Seton in 1567, and on that occasion she and Bothwell won a match in shooting at the butts against Lords Seton and Huntly. The forfeit was a dinner, which the losers had to provide in an inn at Tranent. When James VI. revisited his native country in 1617, he spent his second night in Scotland at Seton. Charles I. also, on his journey from London to Edinburgh, in 1633, in order to be crowned there as well as in England, halted a night at Seton, and was magnificently entertained by George, third Earl of Wintoun. The castle was held for a short time in 1715 by Brigadier Macintosh and a detachment of Highlanders before their march to the Borders to join the Northumbrian insurgents under Mr. Forster and Lord Derwentwater.

The fine old castle or palace of Seton, as it was called, owing to its having been frequently the residence of royalty occupied a commanding position on the coast of the Firth of Forth, closely adjoining the battlefield of Prestonpans. The date of its erection is unknown, but it had undergone at various times considerable alterations and enlargements. The building consisted of three extensive fronts of freestone, with a triangular court in the middle. The front to the south-east—which appears to have been built early in the reign of Queen Mary—contained, beside other apartments, a noble hall and drawing-room. The state apartments, which were very spacious, consisted of three great rooms forty feet high, and their furniture was covered with crimson velvet laced with gold. There were also two large galleries filled with pictures. Altogether, the mansion was regarded as the most magnificent and elegantly furnished house in Scotland.