The Pitreavie estate was owned by Lady Christina Bruce, sister of Robert the Bruce, in the 14th century, and by the early 17th century, it was owned by the Kello (or Kellock) family. Henry Wardlaw of Balmule (later Sir Henry Wardlaw, 1st Baronet of Pitreavie) bought the estate in 1608 for 10,000 merks Scottish. Wardlaw was Chamberlain to Queen Anne, wife of James VI of Scotland. When James acceded to the English throne in 1603 and travelled south to London, he left Dunfermline Palace in Wardlaw's care. Henry Wardlaw became a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1631, and died in 1637, succeeded by his eldest son, also Henry. Wardlaw's granddaughter, Elizabeth Wardlaw, was the reputed author of the poem "Hardyknute" and the ballad "Sir Patrick Spens".