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The name dates from 1189, when the monks of Newbattle Abbey granted land to Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester to build the castle on the site. It was in the possession of Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby, the son in law of Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, on behalf of his wife, when it was besieged by Sir William Douglas in 1288. The land was lost to Robert the Bruce after the De Quincy family declared their loyalty to Edward I of England. Bruce granted the lands to the Seton family.
 
The Fawsydes of that Ilk acquired land in the area from the Setons in 137 The earliest part of the present building was constructed by the Fawsydes in the 15th-century.
 
The castle was burned by the English before the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, which was fought nearby on 10 September 1547, suffocating or burning all those inside. Mary, Queen of Scots left Fa´side on the morning of 15 June 1567 for the Battle of Carberry Hill. George Buchanan wrote that Mary surrendered dressed only in a short shabby robe, that scarcely reached below her knee. Mary had left her more elaborate outfit in a chest at Fawside Castle; a black dress sewn with grains of jet, a crimson coat and cloak, and her gold and silver embroidered hat.