David Hay of Yester was in 1487 created a Lord of Parliament, as the first Lord Hay of Yester. In 1513 during the disastrous Battle of Flodden, John, second Lord Hay, was killed along with a great proportion of the country's fighting men. In May 1544 during the conflict known as the Rough Wooing, the castle, village, and harvest were burnt by the English army returning from the burning of Edinburgh. John, 4th Lord Hay defended the castle from an English force in 1547, and was captured later that year at the Battle of Pinkie and held in the Tower of London for three years. In February 1548 the English commander Grey of Wilton captured the castle and put George Douglas of Pittendreich in charge of Yester and Dalkeith. French soldiers taken at Yester were used at hostages by the English.