 The original meaning of the term 'donjon' referred to the mound or motte, not the dungeons.The estate had cost John Snodgrass Buchanan the sum of £23,309 and 2d Scots when he purchased them on 23 January 1728.At the time of its construction Cunninghamhead House was held to be amongst the most elegant in the country, however by Robertson's time (1823) it had been altered and had lost much of its previous elegance.